“I don’t know.” My mind was racing from hearing Sasha say she was going to kill me. I couldn’t even be sure this wolf
I swallowed as I watched the wolf, large and black as pitch. God, he was so much bigger than a regular wolf. Massive even. Fear lit through me like wildfire, but I didn’t move from where I stood. When his eyes flicked toward me again, I knew. His eyes were a bright green, even in the glow of the moon. And then I caught the glint of silver—the silver bullet still dangled from his thick furry neck.
This massive wolf was Adam.
Part of me wished I could run to him and run my fingers through his fur. I wanted to see this other part of the man I’d come to count on, to love. But I couldn’t reach him. I wasn’t even sure if he’d let me touch him.
I didn’t know how to communicate with him in this form, but I didn’t want him to run at Sasha and get shot. I had to do something. Slowly I looked over at the gun, then I met his eyes again. He tipped his snout down and then peered back up at me as if he understood what I was trying to tell him. I was grateful when he didn’t move.
Sasha kept her eyes on the wolf. “Time for you to go, Sebastian.”
“I can’t let you give Lana to Nero, Sasha.”
“You can’t stop me either.”
Without a warning, without a noise, Sebastian knocked Sasha to the ground. Adam started to lunge forward and I shook my head. He flattened his ears and shifted his weight back and forth on his front feet, but thankfully didn’t approach.
Sasha and Sebastian grappled on the ground and after a moment, he broke free with Sasha’s gun in hand and a pair of red scratches on his face. She had also broken the split on his lip wide open. Sasha was quick to get back on her feet, her hair mussed up but otherwise not looking like he’d hit her.
Her eyes narrowed. “Give me the goddamned gun, Sebastian. Haven’t you fucked up my life enough?”
He tucked the gun into the waistband of his pants. “It is not my intention to ruin your plans or your life, Sasha.” His voice softened. “It never was.”
“Ha!” She shook her head. “You could’ve fooled me. I’ve lost everything, you bastard! All of it. Gone. All because of you.”
The bushes rustled, and my heart jumped in my throat. I couldn’t see the other wolves, but I knew they were there. The Pack was together, and I was a jaguar.
An unarmed jaguar. One Adam’s family wouldn’t recognize as an ally.
I took a step back from Sebastian and Sasha, toward Adam. Before I could get much closer, we were bathed in headlights. Sasha was on me again before I even noticed she’d moved.
She tugged my arm up behind my back until I had to walk on my tiptoes, shoving me toward the headlights. A silhouette stepped in front of the lights.
“Is this our subject?”
I frowned. “I don’t belong to you.”
Sasha rewarded me with jerking my arm up even higher behind my back. My eyes brimmed with tears.
“Yes, this is her,” she answered. “Now give me what I want.”
I don’t think the tranquilizer dart that shot toward her was what she had in mind. Sasha crumpled to the ground, and the pain in my arm ceased. I backed away from the lights and Sasha’s body when Adam bolted from the trees, apparently unable to keep the wolf in check any longer. He stood in front of me, growling and baring his teeth at the men in what I could now see was a black van.
I heard the slide of a rifle being cocked and instantly the other wolves appeared from the tree line, springing into action. The headlights shut off then, followed by screams and growls. I reached down to touch the back of Adam’s neck. I couldn’t help but wonder if the Pack would come after me when they finished with the men in the van.
Gunfire broke through the chaos, and a pained yelp came from the same direction. Howls ensued, and I saw a wolf dragging a large body back toward the trees. One of the men from Nero fired his gun up into the sky.
“Enough!” he yelled. “Take out the Alpha.” Then he pointed directly at Adam.
Guns and rifles cocked. Without hesitation, I vaulted over Adam, landing directly in front of him. “No!” I shouted. “Don’t shoot. I’ll go with you. Just no more killing.”
The other wolves backed up, circling around Adam, growling and baring their teeth. Would they kill me before the Nero guys got me? Other than Aren, and a brief peek at Luke, I’d never seen any of them before, and I definitely didn’t know what they looked like as wolves. Plus, they knew nothing about me except that my scent made me a jaguar. I was the enemy. How could they know I was trying to protect Adam?
Adam moved through their protective line and stood between the rest of the Pack and me. The wolves shifted, looking at each other then back up at me. A few bared their teeth, but none of the large animals moved toward me. My fingers slid into Adam’s fur, letting him know I recognized him.
A very light, tan-colored wolf stepped forward. He had bright orange, almost hazel eyes. His hackles were raised up on his back, and he nudged at Adam, but the black wolf didn’t move. I could feel the rumble of Adam’s growl. The other wolf snapped at him, but backed away just the same. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but as other wolves stepped forward to challenge him, Adam resisted their attempts to reach me. They didn’t seem to like it, but it was obvious they respected him.
But Adam told me his father was the Alpha. Not him. Not yet.
A lone howl broke the tension, and all of the wolves turned. This was my chance to give myself up to Nero. No one had to die because of me.
I bent down close to Adam’s head and whispered, “I don’t know if you can understand what I’m saying, but I love you, Adam. I love you.”
And then I turned to go.
Adam snapped at the leg of my pants. I tugged but I couldn’t break free. I stared into the blinding lights of the Nero van and held my hands up.
“Give me a minute,” I called out. I couldn’t see them, but I didn’t hear anyone moving, and no bullets were fired.
When I looked back to try to get Adam to let me go, a huge silver wolf stepped forward. The other wolves parted to let him through. As he got closer I could see his intelligent emerald eyes sparkling in the moonlight, and I knew.
This was Adam’s father.
His upper lip rose up to reveal long, sharp canines, but he didn’t growl. Adam immediately let go of my pant leg, but he didn’t move from in front of me. The Alpha pushed against him and finally snarled, but Adam stood his ground. Circling me, the silver wolf sniffed the air toward the lights of the van, and then started along the back of my leg.
I tried to hold still partly out of fear. This was a wolf, regardless of what he might have been an hour ago, and I stood still for his inspection because he wore the mantle of Alpha. Although I wasn’t a werewolf, on an instinctive level, I recognized his station and respected him for it. But deep down, I really wanted him to accept me. Besides not wanting the Pack to turn on me, I also knew this was Adam’s father. Adam’s family.
I bit back tears. Adam had just admitted his affection for a jaguar, the enemy, in front of his entire family. I wasn’t a secret anymore.
Sadly, it didn’t solve anything. The other wolves made it obvious they wanted Adam away from me. Would he be willing to disobey his father, his Alpha, in front of the Pack? It would humiliate both men. I couldn’t do this. This was Adam’s family, not mine. I didn’t have a family. I had to go.
I spun on my heel to walk to the Nero van, only to come face-to-face with the silver wolf. He barred his teeth and growled again. Before I realized what was happening, the rest of the wolves charged the van, and then the bullets started flying.
“No!” I screamed.
Adam lunged up against my back, knocking me to the ground while gunfire echoed around us. He barked in my face, and I got the distinct feeling he was telling me to stay put. With bullets flying, I was fine with lying low. Adam loped off, and my heart raced. He should be lying low too.
