Page 8 of Wed Or Dead

Chapter Eight

She was still out.

Gage paced beside the bed, shooting frowns at Kayla’s unconscious form. Just how long was the woman gonna stay that way? They’d gotten away from the compound. Made it back to the safe houses he’d set up for the wolves.

He’d met with his aides. Gotten extra guards to start patrolling.

And she was still out.

Had he drugged her too much? He put a knee on the bed and leaned over her. She was breathing okay. His hand lowered to her chest. Her heartbeat was good. Steady. No, um, actually, it was picking up now and?—

Her eyelids flew open. She kicked out at him and landed an attack right to his groin.

Sonofabitch.

“Tell me you weren’t groping me while I slept!” Kayla yelled.

He sucked in a breath. Well, at least she was awake, and she seemed very, very aware. No gradual waking for her. Just slam-bam, wake-up, ma’am. “No, I was…just…checking your heartbeat.” He’d been too worried for a grope. But now that she was awake?—

Her eyes narrowed. “Where the hell am I?”

Awake and enraged. He’d try to play things cool, for a while. “You’re in a shifter safe house.”

“Oh, hell, no.” She jumped from the bed and rushed to the door. “This place might be safe for you, but I’m not a shifter. I’m a hunter. That puts me at the top of any shifter’s kill list.”

He caught her arm. Stopped her before she could race into the hallway. “You’re my wife. None of my wolves would dare to hurt you.” Or he’d tear them apart. Simple fact of pack life.

Her breath huffed out. “Yes, well, what about me hurting them?”

“You won’t.” Because she wasn’t a cold-blooded hunter, out to destroy every shifter she saw. She’d never been like that.

Her shoulders fell. “I am so mad at you.”

His aching cock attested to that fact.

“And I am going back for my brother.”

Yes, he’d been rather afraid she’d say that.

“Those hunters—they all have to learn the truth, Gage. When they realize what Lyle is, they’ll fight him. I know they will.”

She had an optimistic side. He hadn’t noticed it before. The optimism was cute. Kind of.

He freed her hand. Stared down at her and had to tell her, “Your brother’s gone.”

Her face drained of color. “What do you mean?”

“When Curtis came back to the SUV, he told me the guards had already reported your brother as missing. Even before we left the compound, he’d already broken out.” He kept his voice flat as he delivered the news she had to hear.

She’d been so worried about leaving her brother, but?—

He left you.

He didn’t say the words. There was no need. She’d understand.

Now Kayla was the one who grabbed his hand. Her nails dug into his skin. “Find him for me.”

Uh, he had enough problems of his own to handle. A pack to protect. A traitor to smoke out. A wife to woo.

Her dumbass of a brother could wait a bit.

“You owe me, wolf.” Kayla’s voice rose a notch. “You drugged me, you clawed my brother…now you find him.” She licked her lips, then whispered, “Please.”

Hell. Like he could resist when she stared at him with those big, lost, golden eyes. She looked so sweet and innocent, but she’d shot a man less than six hours before.

“Wolves are the best trackers out there,” Kayla added. Damned straight they were. “You can get his scent. You can find Jonah for me.”

She seemed to be missing the point. So he had to say, “What if he doesn’t want to be found?”

Her lashes lowered. “I need to make sure…Lyle is so good at lying…what if Jonah didn’t leave? What if he died?” Pain broke in her voice.

Gage nodded, then realized she couldn’t see the movement. “I’ll find him.” He had to be careful. If he didn’t watch it, the woman would realize just how much control she had over him.

Too much.

“But you have to help me find someone else first.” Because he needed her just as much as she needed him.

A small furrow appeared between her brows as she glanced back up at him. “Who?”

“The mangy wolf who sold out my pack.” He’d rounded up all the men and women in the Vegas pack. A pack he’d assembled.

Wolves on their own didn’t survive. They needed the strength of a family. The security of a pack. Without a pack?

Hello, insanity .

There was a reason most serial killers were actually wolf shifters. They couldn’t control their beasts. Not when they were on their own.

Hell, just look at what had happened to Lyle. The guy was grade-A psychotic, with no pack in sight.

The wolves needed the bond of a pack. Or the bonds of a mate.

Mated wolves never lost their minds. They never went down that slippery slope that led to the total darkness of the beast.

I won’t go now, thanks to her.

Hell, yeah, he owed Kayla. She had no idea how much. When this battle was all over, he’d make sure he paid his debt.

“I didn’t even know there was a wolf giving intel to Lyle—” Kayla began, but he cut through her words.

“You know now,” he said simply. They both knew for certain now. “You can help me find the SOB. And stop him.”

“Uh, yeah, I do have my awesome days,” she stated with a roll of her eyes. “But I’m not psychic. I can’t just magically tell you which wolf has been selling you out.”

“Sweetheart, we don’t need magic.” Because he’d already narrowed the field down to two wolves. The two that he’d trusted the most in the pack.

Those two wolves were being held in lockdown. Contained, away from the others.

His two closest friends.

One would be dying soon.

“Come with me,” he told her and offered his hand. “Because I don’t want to kill the wrong wolf.”

She stared at his hand. Hesitated.

Come with me. He wanted her at his side.

“Fine,” she growled, almost sounding like a wolf, “but if I’m gonna be in a den of shifters, you’d better give me my gun back.”

He almost smiled. Such a bloodthirsty little hunter.

Lyle stared out at the desert. It just stretched as far as he could see. Appearing empty. Almost never-ending.

The hunters were scrambling behind him. Trying to secure the facility.

The facility could burn for all he cared. He was tired of it all. He just wanted to shift. To run. To kill.

The quiet kills in secret weren’t good enough anymore. Why should he have to hide? Act like he was something else?

The power was growing within him. The beast wanted out.

He’d come to this city, planning to take over. The place had been ripe. He’d been ready. No longer just taking orders from dicks in suits, he’d been set to change the game. To show them the real face of the paranormals they needed to fear.

Sin City had been meant to become his. He’d set his little dominoes up, then gotten ready to watch them fall.

Only Gage Riley was in his way.

He’ll fall.

Lyle would make sure of it.

His weapon in this world was his gift at deceit. His mother had been right. He really had been born to lie. He’d fooled the hunters so easily. Would keep fooling them. They were his tools, and he’d bleed them until they were dry.

Then, once the other wolves were gone from Vegas, once the city was his, he’d let his wolf out. He’d let his beast rage, and he’d tear and claw his way through any hunters who were still left standing.

He wasn’t a fucking lap dog. Not anymore. He was an alpha.

Time the rest of the world bowed to him.

Psychotic? Insane? Those words had been tossed around plenty by his parents. They’d seen him for what he was long before anyone else did.

So he’d stopped them from seeing. From hearing. From breathing.

Wolf shifters were supposed to maintain their control and balance if they lived in a pack. If they took a mate.

He’d thought about living in a pack once.

Even almost taken a mate.

But he’d had more fun killing her than anything else. Kayla’s mother had sure been blessed with one sweet scream.

Mates and packs weren’t for him. He didn’t want the rigid bonds of control that would hold his wolf in check. He liked the blood. He liked the violence.

The desert stared back at him.

He liked the kill.

The wolves were chained to the wall. Chained with silver. Oh, jeez—who’d been the unlucky shifter who’d drawn that duty?

Kayla walked silently into the darkened room with Gage. Her gun was tucked into the waistband of her pants. Hell, yes, she’d gotten it back. Like she was gonna just walk into this room unarmed? She still wore the black hunter’s uniform she’d taken before the big escape from the facility. Not like she had a lot of clothing options.

She didn’t really know how Gage thought he’d be able to use her, but—wow. Damn, that one shifter was smoking. Smoke literally rose from the blisters on the blond man’s wrist where he was bound.

Two shifters. One blond and fair. One dark, dangerous.

They’d been at the cabin. When Gage had first brought her to the desert, these wolves had been there. Like she would have forgotten them so soon.

I’ve narrowed it down to two. Now she knew what Gage had meant.

“Since you said there was no tracking device on you,” Gage said as he crossed his arms and stared down at the wolves, “that means the hunters found us in the desert by another means.”

A traitor.

“I didn’t sell you out!” The blond wolf jerked against his chains. More smoke plumed in the air. The blond should know that the more he struggled, the more he’d burn. “Dammit, trust me, Gage!”

“That’s the problem, Davis,” Gage replied quietly. “I did trust you.”

Kayla’s gaze darted between the wolf shifters.

“Just as I trusted you, Billy.” Gage’s gaze swung to the silent, glaring wolf. The intense and dangerous one. “I trusted you both. With my life and the lives of the pack.”

Only his pack members were under attack. Two had been taken.

Where were Shamus and Faye now?

Gage studied the two chained shifters. “Only two wolves knew that Kayla and I took shelter at that cabin. Just you fucking two .” Rage snapped through his words.

The dark-haired wolf, Billy, still wasn’t talking. He just sat there, the silver chaining him, and glared back up at Gage with narrowed eyes.

“I’ve been with you for five years,” Davis shouted, spittle flying from his mouth. “Do you really think I’d betray you to a human?”

“No.” Gage spoke so instantly that Davis relaxed. The blond started to look confident.

But Billy quickly shook his head, obviously thinking the blame was coming his way. “No way, alpha, it wasn’t?—”

“I think,” Gage said, cutting through Billy’s words and still staring right at Davis, “that you’d betray me to a wolf.”

Had Davis tensed at that charge? Yes, he had. His hands were straining against the cuffs. The shifter was desperate to break free. Not that Kayla blamed him. If she were burning, she’d be feeling pretty desperate, too.

But just how strong were the bonds on Davis? If another one of his pack mates had chained him, would that individual have felt some sympathy for the shifter? Maybe not tightened the silver chains enough?

“A wolf?” Billy asked, frowning. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Kayla stepped forward. Gage had brought her in there, so she figured it was time she did her part. “Lyle McKennis, the leader of the hunters…He’s actually a wolf shifter.”

Billy started to laugh. “You’re shitting me.”

“No, I’m not.” Carefully, she studied the chained wolves. Davis had widened his eyes and the blond looked surprised. But his hands were still twisting within the bonds.

“And you knew?” Billy threw at her. “You knew what he was and you were still working for him?”

“I didn’t know. I thought he was human.” She’d been blind. Only seeing what she wanted to see. And was that why Gage had brought her in? Did he think he was blind where these two wolves were concerned?

She could understand that fear. When you trusted someone so much, it was easy for the person to mislead you. To lie right to your face.

But this time, things were different. It wasn’t just about blind faith. Because this time, Kayla had a way to help Gage. After all, this really was her area of expertise. “Lyle’s sent other operatives undercover in packs before.” He liked to do that. Divide and conquer, that was his strategy.

“Like he sent you?” Davis demanded. His hands stilled as he looked up at her. “He just tossed you right at the big boss.”

“I’ve been working with Lyle for years, so he didn’t track me like he does others under his charge.” No, when Gage had first asked her about a tracking device, she’d immediately denied having one. But, actually, years before, Lyle had implanted one just under her right shoulder.

She’d dug it out. She wasn’t a dog to be tracked. Not even by the man she’d put up on a stupid pedestal.

And he sure did fall.

So Lyle checked in with her via regular calls. He didn’t use the calls with his other hunters. That would have been too risky. Or so he said. He’d given her special privileges because she’d been his top hunter.

So he’d said. Lying asshole.

“They all have trackers,” she whispered. “All the other hunters. In case they’re ever captured or for when they find a target so they can be located easily.” The better to apprehend the prey they’d caught. The better to send in the team for retrieval.

Just like the team that had come for her and Gage.

The chained men frowned at her. The silence in the room seemed heavy. Too thick.

“And you don’t have a tracker, Kayla?” Gage asked, voice deep and rumbling as he broke through that silence.

She shook her head. But, hell, maybe that wasn’t good enough. She pulled over the neck of her shirt, revealing the thin scar that sliced around her shoulder. “I took it out two years ago.”

She’d thought it would be hard to figure out which member of the pack was betraying Gage. Checking all the pack for trackers? She didn’t see that going over real well. Like they’d all be willing to strip for a hunter and let her search their bodies.

But with just two men, finding the tracking device would be a piece of cake.

“Who has it?” Kayla asked as her gaze darted between Davis and Billy.

“Search me all you want, sweet thing,” Billy invited, his slight accent thickening. “Strip me. Feel me up. I don’t have anything to hide.”

Davis lunged away from the wall—and his hands were free. Tricky wolf, he had been breaking out of his bonds.

But she’d suspected that. She dodged when he came at her, slicing with his claws. Kayla hit the floor and missed the claws that could have cut her open. Davis twisted and tried to come at her again.

But Gage had him. He caught the other shifter’s hands and held them above Davis’s head.

“You sold us out!” Gage snarled.

But Davis just laughed. “So the fuck did you. You’re the one screwing a hunter.”

Kayla grabbed the silver chain that had fallen behind Davis. “No, he’s not just screwing me.” She wanted to set that record straight. “He married me.” She slammed the chain into Davis’s side and watched him fall, howling. “So don’t forget that!”

Then she turned to the other wolf. Billy. He was watching her with a slight grin on his face.

The silver.

Okay, if he was innocent, then it was time to free him. She rushed to him and started jerking on the chains.

“If Gage hadn’t married you,” Billy said as his grin widened a bit more, “then I would’ve. I love it when a woman kicks ass. There’s nothing sexier.”

The door opened. More wolves came rushing in. Wolves and that enhanced hearing of theirs. She guessed the guards outside had heard everything.

One shifter—a woman with short red hair—tossed Kayla a pair of keys. While Kayla went to work on Billy’s chains, the other wolves closed in around Davis.

This wasn’t gonna be pretty. Shifter battles never were.

“Why?” She heard Gage demand. “Why would you turn on your pack? You let them take Shamus and Faye. You let them take our own damn family.”

Because to the wolves, pack was family. A bond that went even deeper than blood.

“They’re not my family. They’re strays. Strays that didn’t belong in my pack.”

Shamus shoved through the crowd of wolves. His claws were out and his face twisted with his fury. It took three other wolves to hold Shamus back when he went for Davis’s throat.

Free now, Billy stalked to Gage’s side. Good. He was showing that he stood with the alpha. Even if the alpha had ordered him chained.

“You were a stray, too,” Gage fired, voice lethal. “We all were. That’s why we came together. To be more. To be stronger.”

“With you at the lead.” Davis’s lips turned up in a sneer. “Because you think you’re the only damn alpha around.”

“And you thought you could take me?”

“When the time was right, I fucking was!”

The right time…“When was that gonna be?” Kayla asked, her own body tight with fury. “When you’d let the hunters take out all the other wolves? When you thought no one would come to Gage’s aid? When you thought he was gonna be weak?”

“And I would be strong!” Davis yelled.

More growls from the wolves.

Kayla caught sight of Faye. Faye’s claws were out. She wanted her pound of flesh, too. From the look on the shifters’ faces, they all did.

Did Davis realize just how screwed he was?

“You think that you’re strong?” Gage challenged as he yanked off his shirt and tossed it to the ground. “Then come and see if you can take me out. Fight me.”

Oh, damn. She’d heard of this before. When one wolf turned on the others in his group, the shifter would have to face?—

“Trial by pack,” Billy said grimly.

Gage nodded. “Damn straight.” Gage stared at the wolf who’d betrayed him. “And I’m going to rip you apart.”

Kayla felt a shiver go down her spine. These men and women—right then, they were all barely human. She could feel the rage and wildness in the air. The wolves wanted out. They wanted to rip and tear and kill.

The line between human and beast was blurring.

“Here. Fucking now,” Gage blasted.

The other wolves stepped back. Formed a circle around Gage and Davis.

Um, here? Now?

Gage began to shift. No wonder he’d tossed his shirt aside.

“I should’ve been alpha,” Davis shouted. His eyes were wild. Shining too brightly. “I’m stronger. Smarter. You’ve been in my way for years.” His bones popped.

Broke.

She hated the sound of shifting wolves. The growls. The pain.

The fury.

“It’ll be over soon,” Billy told her. His shoulder brushed against hers. He seemed to be trying to comfort her, when he’d been the one caged moments before. “Gage doesn’t play with his prey.”

That was supposed to make her feel better?

Kayla glanced around the room. She saw claws and lengthening canines everywhere she turned. It looked like every wolf there—except Faye—was about to shift.

And Kayla remembered another time. Another place. A big black wolf, one that came at her with his fangs bared.

Gage had finished his shift. He stood in the middle of that snarling circle. Big, strong, dark. His body vibrated with fury as he bared his fangs .

Her mother had still been alive. Broken, bloody, but breathing.

Davis had shifted. His coat was white. His eyes burning so brightly. He pushed down with his hind legs, then leapt at Gage.

She shook her mother. Begged her to get up. Then heard the growl.

A growl broke from Gage’s beast. He swiped out with his claws, and blood spilled on Davis’s white coat.

“First blood,” Billy said, excitement thick in his voice. “Alpha always gets first blood. Hell, yes!”

The wolf had sprung at Kayla from the shadows. She’d tried to run, and his claws had raked down her back. She’d slammed into the floor, and he’d been on top of her. His mouth had gone for her throat.

The white wolf leapt up and sank his teeth into Gage’s throat.

Then the door had opened. She’d told Jonah to wait outside. When they’d first arrived back at the house, something had been wrong. She’d known it. Because she’d heard her mother cry out for help. And she’d smelled the blood when she’d stepped onto the back porch.

Jonah had said that he’d wait outside for her. Jonah had promised. She’d made him promise.

Gage shook off the other beast. More blood flowed. The shifters in the room were shouting. Lifting their clawed fingers up as they cheered.

Cheering for death?

He’d broken his promise. Jonah had come in. Had she screamed? She couldn’t remember. Would never remember, but she thought…she thought she had. She’d screamed and he’d come to help her.

Gage slammed his body into Davis’s. They both hit the floor. Didn’t get up.

The wolf had attacked her brother. Biting and clawing and Jonah had screamed. She’d been crying. Begging the wolf to stop.

“Stop,” Kayla whispered.

The black wolf’s head jerked toward her. In that wild stare, was there any of Gage actually left? Only the beast.

But when he turned to look at her, Davis used that moment to attack. His claws sank into Gage’s shoulder.

Gage howled, and the memories blurred in her mind. “You can’t distract him,” Billy growled to her as his arms wrapped around her, and he pulled her back. She didn’t even remember stepping forward. “He needs to kill the bastard.”

Killing…that was all she’d known since that long ago night.

She’d managed to get to the drawers near the kitchen sink. She’d crawled her way there. Kayla had yanked open the top drawer and grabbed one of the knives inside. “Get away from him!” Her yell had distracted the wolf. He’d let go of Jonah.

Gage knocked the other beast away. Attacked again. Again. More blood. More howls. Gage was definitely stronger, but Davis was a dirtier fighter. And Davis wasn’t giving up, no matter how much blood soaked his white coat.

The wolf came at her. She screamed and thrust the knife out. The silver handle glinted in the light before it sank into the beast’s thick fur. The wolf stared at her, eyes burning bright, then leapt away.

With that knife still in him, he’d run through the open door.

Gage had his teeth at Davis’s throat now. No more cheering calls came from the wolves. Only silence filled the room.

Like the kind of silence she’d known when the wolf left her alone in the house that reeked of death.

Her mother hadn’t been moving. Her brother—he’d been so broken. Eyes shut, barely breathing. All because of a wolf.

“Stay with me, Jonah! Stay!” Her hands had grabbed him. Shook him. “It’s gonna be all right!”

Her father was due home soon. He’d get there. He’d take care of them all. Everything would be all right.

Gage wasn’t ripping Davis’s throat out. Why not?

Her breath burned in her lungs. She didn’t want to watch this anymore. She’d never wanted to watch.

Couldn’t she have more than blood and death? Just once?

She turned away and pulled from Billy’s arms.

She’d managed to drag and stumble her way into the living room. She’d grabbed the phone so that she could dial nine-one-one, then, there, in the corner, she’d seen ? —

Her father had already made it home.

“What the hell is the alpha doing?” Billy asked, voice whisper soft. “He can’t let him live.”

Kayla glanced back. Gage was shifting. Muscles and bones reshaping. The fur seemed to melt from his flesh. Golden, strong flesh.

Davis was on the floor. Bleeding. Chest heaving. But not fighting, not anymore.

The shifters—at least a dozen, maybe two—were muttering. Glancing around uneasily. But they weren’t attacking. For the moment, no one was.

“You wanted to join Lyle,” Gage snarled and his voice was still closer to that of a beast’s than a man’s. “Then you fucking will. I’ll deliver you to him and the hunters.” His hands clenched. Hands now, not the paws of a beast. “From this moment on, you’re out of this pack. Banished. If any one of us ever sees you again, you’re dead.”

Gage wasn’t killing Davis? He wasn’t going to rip the other shifter open in front of the pack?

“You’re Lyle’s bitch, so he can cut you up himself. And I’m sure he will.” Gage turned away from the wolf. “You’re not worth my claws.”

Billy whistled. “That is cold.”

Gage’s eyes were on her now. He was stalking toward her. Naked. Powerful. He…hadn’t killed. Wolves killed. It was what they did.

She knew all about the pack trials. Two wolves. They fought until death. Only, this time, neither wolf was dead.

“I’m more than you think,” Gage gritted out, and she barely could hear the words. Barely—because her attention wasn’t on him in that instant.

It was on the beast behind him. The wolf that was now up, not looking nearly so injured. Up—and launching at Gage’s back.

Kayla didn’t waste time on a scream or a warning. Billy was already charging for Gage. He slammed into Gage, knocking the alpha out of the way.

But Davis wasn’t stopping. He charged for both Gage and Billy.

Enough.

Kayla yanked out her gun. Aimed in an instant, and fired.