Luke still snarled at the lot of smaller wolves that advanced on him, but he still backed up as they stepped forward. There were bite marks and blood now on his muzzle and paws, and a piece of his right ear was missing, but there was nothing on the places where the fur was heavier.
These werewolves knew better than to attempt to bite through all that protective fur. They’d gone for the more exposed areas instead.
Cole barked loudly at the wolf, and so did another one. This wolf was slightly larger than Cole was, had dark-brown fur, and had a scarred face.
Shit, that was probably Cole’s alpha. That would be the man that Everett was going to have to answer to when all this shit was over with.
At least it was finally coming to an end, and both he and Cole were going to survive.
Finally, with his black lips still pulled back in a snarl, Luke turned tail and ran back into the forest.
Everett’s heart pumped so fast that he actually collapsed to his knees and then fell on his ass when Luke was gone.
Did the other man even know what he was doing while in that form? Did he have any control over himself at all?
Everett didn’t even want to think about what either answer could mean.
“Rhett, Everett?”
Everett looked up just as Cole’s smooth hands touched onto his cheeks.
He put his hands on top of Cole’s and smiled. All of his bandages were now off thanks to the transformation he’d just done, so everyone in his pack could see all the damage that had been done to him when they’d both been captured.
Oddly enough, no one glared at him for his involvement in that.
Then Phillip came back into view, and beside him stood the large form of the man with the severely scarred face.
“You’re James DeWitt?” Everett asked, though he already knew the answer.
The man nodded. “I am.”
Everett snarled at him. “Where the hell were you all this time?” He wanted to know how it was that Everett had been able to kidnap Cole and drag him so far away from his pack and no one in the land could catch up to him before the hunters did.
James glared back at him. “By the time we finished cleaning up the dead hunters and seeing to our injured, the scent you left behind wasn’t exactly fresh. We made a wide circle to search in, and if we found nothing, we would have extended our searching areas.”
“Maybe you should’ve done that in the first place.”
“Everett,” Cole said, putting his hands onto his shoulders and trying to calm him down.
He wouldn’t be put off of this, even if it mean that all the werewolves in the group were still either growling at him with their hackles on end or glaring at him while cracking their knuckles. “Where the hell were you all this time?”
“Couple miles south of here. How else did you think Phillip managed to get to us so quickly so we could save your sorry human ass from that thing that was chasing you?”
“You—” James’s words sank in before he could say something he’d probably regret.
That was right. Even on the four-wheeler, and even if they’d driven it all day and night, they still wouldn’t have made it back to James’s pack, and James DeWitt and all the alphas standing around him now wouldn’t have been able to get here so quickly either.
They had been out sniffing around after all.
Mortification crawled up Everett’s neck in a slow-burning heat.
The men and wolves who weren’t still growling at him were now snickering and elbowing each other, like it was the funniest thing in the world.
“See?” Cole said, with no trace of superiority in his voice. “I told you it would be okay.”
Everett tried to remember when precisely that had been, but there was definitely a conversation or two when Cole had to defend the honor of his pack whenever Everett questioned it.
He might as well just admit defeat right now. “That you did.”
Cole looked over to his alpha. “Did you say Phillip?”
James nodded. “Yeah, he actually came back.”
James nodded to the man that had helped Everett and Cole get away from the hunters. Everett didn’t really know why the sight of the other man was so impressive to his lover, or to the other werewolves for that matter. Phillip must be someone important to them.
“What are you going to do about Luke? The giant werewolf,” Everett clarified when all he got were a few confused looks.
James looked off in the direction the giant animal had run off in, and he sighed. “We’ve been away from the pack for long enough. Cole is safe, and that’s what matters. We all need to go home.”
Everett wasn’t entirely expecting that answer. “What if he hurts someone? He’s a wild werewolf.”
“Hunting and killing werewolves is your trade, not mine, hunter,” James said. His already angry-looking face became even meaner when he snarled. The scars probably had a lot to do with that.
Everett felt that familiar hot feeling rush up his neck again. “It’s not my trade,” he muttered.
James looked between him and Cole. “Either way, if you two are mated, then we’re all going to have a nice long chat when we get back home. Your friend Luke—”
“He’s not my friend,” Everett said quickly.
James’s lips thinned at being cut off like that. Everett offered no apology.
“Whoever he was, if he’s a wild werewolf of that size, nothing less than a whole pack of werewolves will be able to take him down, and he’ll take several more with him.” James stopped, seemed to think about it, and then shook his head. “We’ve all been too far away from home for too long. We need to get back. If his mind is fully in wolf form, then he’ll likely stay away from
