She wasn’t sure how long it took, but when she blinked, she knew she was looking at the world from an entirely different angle. She threw back her head and Sister Wolf howled, a loud, mournful sound even though her heart was light.
She looked down at her paws—the soft fur that covered her was the same color as her hair. Her eyes would have the same glow Jinx’s did. And the rustling was gone, replaced by a low, growling voice that told her,
When she looked at Jinx, he’d shifted as well. Brother and Sister Wolf nosed one another. And then, they ran, her wolf reminding her of the promise she’d made to Jinx to run toward the Dire mansion.
She did so. The power she released as she ran was incredible, a rush beyond her wildest imagination. Her paws were strong on the earth, her balance, perfect. She jumped and sidestepped, swiveled and cut as she navigated the dark woods path, her eyesight better than ever.
Her life would never, ever be the same. And if Jinx hadn’t come to find her, to save her, who knew where she’d be.
But now, she was happy. And she simply kept running, because that was all that was expected of her.
Gillian was happy. Sister Wolf was gorgeous. Graceful. Jinx would have a hard time talking her out of staying a wolf for days at a time, but taking the first three shifts quickly was important.
They’d already run for hours before her shift and she showed no signs of wanting to stop. She was powerful—he’d been right about her warrior ways. They were a part of her bloodline, bred into her, a birthright she’d come into.
She was trying to run in a direct line toward the mansion, but Sister got easily distracted by scents, different trails and he had to rally her to stay on track. They still were several miles away when shots rang through the air. He saw something whiz by his head and hit the tree behind him. Tranquilizer darts.
Trappers.
And they were after Gillian, for no other reason than she was a wolf. He knew he should be grateful for the small miracle of them not being able to recognize her as Gillian Blackwell, but that didn’t make the danger any less real. He supposed they were here and out for blood to avenge their friends.
When the darts went right above her head, it must’ve frightened her enough that she shifted. Naked, crouched on the ground of the woods, her face shone fearful in the moonlight as she looked to Jinx silently.
He didn’t shift, went to her and crouched down, hoping she’d understand. She did, pulled herself flat onto his back with her hands in the thick scruff around his neck and she hung on for dear life as he ran them out of the darkness and toward the Dire house, where they’d be safe again. As they ran toward the house, Vice’s white wolf ran past him, followed by Stray and Killian.
Jinx didn’t stop until they were safely inside the screened-in porch that would forever be protected by Seb’s magic. Jinx eased Gillian off of him and shifted. Gathered her into his arms and walked her through the hallway until he got to one of the guest bedrooms in the twins’ apartment area. He wrapped her in a blanket because she was shivering, checking her first to make sure she hadn’t been hit.
Her eyes hadn’t changed back all the way yet.
“I froze,” she whispered, lowered her face as though terribly ashamed.
“You’re new at this, Gilly. Not used to shifting, never mind having people shoot at you.”
“I’ll do better next time,” she promised.
“I don’t mind being your hero.”
She hugged him, her body relaxing a bit. She was still shaking, though. Most Dires weren’t the object of target practice during their first shift and it was most definitely affecting her. He was about to called for Gwen—or just carry Gillian to her when Harm came around the corner with a medical bag. Jinx studied him for a long moment before nodding that it was okay for him to come forward. When he touched Gillian’s arm, though, Jinx growled and Gillian said, “He can’t help it.”
“I know. I’m Harm.”
“I haven’t met you before.”
“They keep me in the attic,” he deadpanned. “I’m Gwen’s dad.”
“Oh,” she said and Jinx added, “We don’t force him to stay in the attic anymore—he just likes it there.”
Harm rolled his eyes but continued checking on Gillian. It was, of course, something Jinx could’ve done himself, but since all he wanted to do was bed her, it was best to have someone else make sure she was all right.
“Any problems coming out of the shift?” he asked.
“It just . . . happened. I got scared when the shooting started.”
“That’s natural,” Harm told her. “But you have to let Sister Wolf take over next time that happens. Because, for you, you’re safer in wolf form these days.”
“Right. So no one will be able to know who I really am,” she agreed. “Okay, that makes sense. I’ll know what to expect next time.”
“It gets easier. And you seem to like what you are,” he said as he checked her blood pressure.
“Don’t you?” she asked and Jinx waited to see what Harm said. It took a good minute of silence before the Dire male who should’ve been king said, “For a long time, I didn’t. But since I’ve been back among these particular wolves, I’m beginning to.”
Vice’s white wolf had blood marring his otherwise pristine coat. Stray and Killian weren’t hit but they’d bested this group of weretrappers, catching all four of them.
Inside one of the men’s backpacks, they’d found disturbing pictures of other Weres the weretrappers had captured and tortured recently, all over upstate New York. These groups were working without a leader and they were thugs, just taking down as many Weres as they could.
Hunters had been taking these kinds of weretrappers down as well, but Vice wondered if the hunters would be able to tell if these trappers died because they’d tried to hurt wolves, or if wolves killed them for sport.
The thing was, Weres hadn’t killed humans for sport in centuries. They’d learned it was the only way to survive in this world filled with more humans than wolves. And if the hunters didn’t know that . . .
“You all right?” Killian asked.
Vice had been hit in the biceps. Burned like a bitch but, of course, he’d live. “They were trappers,” he said.
“After Gillian or all of us?” Stray asked and Vice shrugged and asked, “Does it say Kreskin on my forehead?”
“You can be such an asshole,” Stray muttered and Killian smiled.
Chapter 22
That night, Vice ran with Cain and Rogue. Rogue had asked for Cain specifically, and it made Cain proud that his omega skills were helping the Dire. Liam also liked knowing that a Were in his pack was in high demand.
It was better this way. Liam needed an alpha with him at all times and Cyd was good playing the role as bodyguard for him. He excelled at fighting.
Cain was still trying to shake off the violence of the other night, even though he had to admit that a part of it had excited him. His wolf needed the violence, the fighting, to survive. But as an omega, Cain was built to crave peace. To have all of that coexist in one body was at times frustrating and exciting and scary as fuck.
“Come on, Cain, let’s roll,” Vice said, and speaking of coexisting and scary as fuck . . .
“Have you heard from Jinx?” he asked as they stripped down in the woods. He’d texted and called, gotten a brief
“He’s in hiding with Gillian,” Vice said. Cain noticed the tightness in Rogue’s expression when Jinx was mentioned and he made a mental note to keep his mouth shut on the subject around the wolf from this point
