"And I told you," another man said, his tone as dark and threatening, "this is where I put it. Right here, damn it. Maybe a cougar dragged it off."
"Then start searching for her. We have to bury her, or she'll bury me if someone runs across the body. And believe me, if I get caught, so will you."
The two men headed in Cassie and Alex's direction. She could outrun them, avoid them, but Alex was at too much of a disadvantage. Heart in her throat, she dropped the salmon and covered it with leaves with her paw.
Alex wasn't moving, as if he was worried about her safety. She was worried about his! Move it, Alex!
She dodged into the woods away from the menace. Someone ran in her direction. She glanced back. Alex was hot on her trail. She could lead him away from the men for a while, and she'd have soon outrun Alex and the men, but one of them fired a shot in their direction. The bullet made a cracking noise as it hit a nearby tree trunk.
"Someone was spying on us," one of the men shouted. "He's gone this way!"
Oh, God, no. Alex was the kind of man who might scatter broken hearts all over the place because of his easy way with women and his inability to stick with a girl for the long term, but he was a nice enough guy as men went. She slowed down her run. Barely breathing hard, Alex was running toward her, his face not even sweating, a fine blond stubble just appearing on his taut jaw, his blue eyes full of worry.
When she paused, he waved at her to keep going as if she should know human signals. But the men were running straight after them, finding the trail of stomped-on ferns and broken twigs, hearing Alex's crashing through underbrush and heavy footfalls. And they were gaining. Maybe she could delay them. Or sidetrack them so Alex could get away. She couldn't communicate with him to let him know what she had in mind to do. She had to factor in that although their bullets wouldn't kill her, an injury could put her in peril.
When she stopped, so did Alex. She shook her head. He would try to protect her. He pulled out a hunting knife, and she stared at it and then looked into his eyes. He had a desperate look in his expression.
She hadn't thought to kill the men, but Alex was right. They were in danger of being murdered. Or at least Alex was. The men drew closer. Alex couldn't survive when the men carried guns and he was only armed with a knife.
Before she could change her mind or think about the wolf pups and what would become of them if she didn't help the mother or worry about facing down a pair of hunters, she focused on Alex. Her only thought was saving a human's life. A human she respected in the field of wolf biology. A friend, not close, but close enough.
She charged off in the direction of the men.
"No!" Alex shouted.
Damn it! Stay hidden and be quiet. He ran after her. He'd get himself killed.
"Over here," the one man said and switched direction, coming straight for her.
She circled around a ponderosa pine and came face-to-face with one of the devils himself, Blackbeard, his black hair long and curly, his beard just as black and scruffy, his clothes Army-issue olive-drab that blended into the new green leaves of the forest. She couldn't get a hint of his scent. Since she was downwind of him, she should have sensed something. What he'd eaten, garlic, beef, his male human scent, sweat, fear. Something. Hunter's elimination spray.
She narrowed her eyes at the menace. As a wolf, her instincts would be for self-preservation. As a lupus garou, she had to be concerned with secrecy at all costs. As a human and fellow wolf biologist, she had to save Alex. Yet what she was about to do was not only dangerous, but also went against her better lupus garou judgment.
The hunter aimed his rifle at her. She leapt at him, noticing his brown eyes were nearly black as he regarded her with shock and surprise. A distressed cry pealed from his lips.
Her action so startled him that he didn't shoot. But the cocking of a rifle to the left of her forced the fur to bristle along Cassie's back to the tip of her tail. Half-hidden in the shadows of the woods, the man's companion in crime pulled the trigger.
The shot rang out across the forest, the sound deafening to her sensitive ears. The bullet hit her in the shoulder, like a rock striking her, but she didn't feel any pain. Not yet. Her lunge had knocked the first man flat on his back, and she figured the other would shoot her again.
She had no choice but to run and hope like hell Alex took care of himself. She bolted for the woods, and the man fired again two more times but missed her both times, the bullets splintering bark off two nearby trees. She ran straight past Alex, who was crouching in the ferns, knife still in hand.
"Hell, man, you all right?" one of the murdering bastards said to his companion.
The other just groaned.
Good. Maybe Alex would still have a chance to get away. But new gunfire rang out from somewhere in the distance. Three shots in rapid succession. She zigzagged away from the new gunfire, the adrenaline in her system running so high that she didn't feel the pain yet. She knew when it hit, she'd better be somewhere safe or she'd be in a hell of a lot more trouble.
Despite pushing herself, Cassie felt her run slowing, but she didn't hear any sound of the men following her. Was Alex all right? Staying hidden? With her wolf speed, she'd managed to put a good deal of distance between her and them. Which in part was good--maybe they wouldn't catch up to her, although she was sure they'd be more interested in killing the human who had overheard them than a wounded wolf that would probably die anyway, to their way of thinking. But that meant they would probably continue to look for Alex.
Cassie stumbled, her loping run slowing to a trot now. A cold wetness matted her fur. Her heart beat too hard, and her breathing was labored, making her lungs ache. She stumbled again and swore at herself. She couldn't save anyone if she didn't keep moving, didn't stay on her feet...
She fell. Just collapsed against her will, the strength gone, unable to move an inch in any direction, the pain now streaking through her wound. Sprawled on the woodland floor half-buried by new spring ferns, she lay panting on her side while purple trillium wildflowers pointed at her muzzle as if identifying her hiding place. A few hours and she hoped she'd heal enough to make her way back to check on Alex.
The sound of two people running through the underbrush in her direction fed into her worst nightmares. She held her breath. The murderers would kill her if they found her. Then the footfalls abruptly stopped. For several seconds, they were quiet, which heightened her sense of fear.
Had they lost her trail?
Chapter 8
Despite Leidolf's insistence that he drive, Elgin wouldn't let him, and Fergus and Carver backed his sub-leader up. Who the hell was the pack leader around here, anyway?
Elgin kept defending his actions. "You could barely dress without my help."
Leidolf gave him a look warning him not say another word about it. Carver and Fergus tried to appear serious, but he noted the slight humor in their expressions. He ignored the other men, not wanting to see the same kind of smirks on the rest of his people's faces.
Not once had Leidolf ever shown a "drunken" side of himself, and they wouldn't ever see him like this again, if he had anything to say about it. "That was dressing. I can drive just fine."
His men looked half worried that he'd give them hell when he was feeling more like himself, but he could see they were proud of themselves for sticking up for what they felt was right. All of them stood taller, their chins raised, their expressions determined, their brows slightly furrowed.
Even in his fog-clouded mind, he knew that their standing up to him when they thought it was the correct action to take was a positive step in the right direction. If only he hadn't been so mad that they overrode his every order.