Page 9 of Wed Or Dead

Chapter Nine

Because Davis had jumped into the air, the bullet slammed into the middle of the wolf ’s chest. He fell to the floor and landed with a thud.

Gage tossed Billy aside. No one spoke. No one moved.

No one, but Kayla.

“I guess that ends the trial.” She lowered her weapon. Gage heard no emotion in her voice. And she was so pale.

Kayla’s gaze swept the room. “Any other pack problems we need to solve?” Her tone implied there had damn well better not be any.

The wolves glanced his way. They had a dead wolf on the floor, one who’d died by a hunter’s hand. Not exactly the way a trial by pack was supposed to end.

Gage looked back at Davis’s body. Such a waste. And why? Power? Why hadn’t the guy understood? Being alpha was a pain in the ass most days.

You had to put the pack first, when you wanted something for yourself.

I want her. A hunter, mated to a wolf.

You had to turn on your friends, even lock them up when necessary.

Billy wasn’t meeting his gaze . Hell. How was he supposed to soothe that one over? A little, “Oh, sorry, man, I thought you were setting me up to die,” wasn’t gonna cut it.

And you had to lie to the woman you’d claimed as your wife.

Your brother’s missing. No. Jonah wasn’t. That line had been pure bull. Jonah was right where he was supposed to be—at Lyle’s side. But Gage had to keep her away from that compound. He couldn’t let her race back there. So he’d lied.

I’ll save her brother. I’ll make everything okay.

Davis’s eyes were closed. The silver bullet had lodged in his heart.

The bastard had been his friend. “See you in hell,” Gage muttered. Funny. He’d always thought he’d get there long before Davis did.

“Get rid of the body,” he told Shamus. The redheaded wolf was glaring down at Davis’s form. Yeah, after all that had happened to him, Shamus sure as hell wasn’t taking betrayal well.

I don’t take it well, either.

Neither did Kayla. So he was gonna have to be real careful how he played this next scene.

Except she was turning away. She kept her grip on her gun and she walked toward the door. The other wolves eased back for her, clearing the path.

Alpha.

They might not like her, but they respected her. Bullets and death had a way of showing a woman’s spirit. No wolf within, but the lady was one hell of a fighter.

She killed to keep me safe.

And he hadn’t killed because he wanted her to see him as more than a beast. More than a monster.

Could she even truly see him that way?

“Kayla!” Gage hadn’t meant to roar her name so much as just say it, but the beast was too close to the surface for much control.

She stilled and looked back at him. She had a “don’t-try-me” expression tightening her face.

He held out his hand to her. Some things had to be done.

For the pack.

For me.

Just in case something happened in the next battle, Kayla had to be protected. Her safety was what mattered.

“My wife.” Now these words were softer, but still growled. It was time to claim his mate in front of the pack. She wasn’t a hunter anymore. She was one of them.

Forever.

Confusion swept over her features. She glanced at the other wolves. Then back at him.

Gage kept his hand up. The pack needed to see them as unified.

Kayla licked her lips and took a step toward him. “Uh, Gage?”

Shamus hauled the body out of the room. Left a trail of blood in his wake.

Yeah, wolf pack life wasn’t exactly sunshine and paradise, but his Kayla wasn’t the sunshine type.

He didn’t speak again, just waited for her to come to him. And she did. With slow, uncertain steps, when she wasn’t the type for uncertainty, either. Her hand lifted and, hesitantly, her fingers curled around his. “What, ah, what am I supposed to be doing?”

She’d taken his hand. And he’d take her. “This,” he said simply, then pulled her against him. His lips found hers in a hot, hard, openmouthed kiss.

The pack cheered around him. Blood, sex, and violence—yes, they all understood those three things.

He kissed her harder. His tongue tasted her. So good. The best he’d ever had.

Never let go. No matter what happened. No matter what he had to give up, Gage wasn’t letting Kayla go.

And that was why he’d married her. Not for the pack. Not to get intel on her boss. Not even because she might be able to give him children since her scent marked her as a genetic match for a shifter.

He’d just wanted her. So he’d taken her.

His head lifted. Her lips were swollen. Red. “Mine,” he said simply.

No one spoke.

Kayla glanced around. “Um…mine?” Kyla pointed at Gage’s chest.

The shifters roared their approval.

She winced.

Damn but she was cute.

Gage lifted her into his arms. She was all that mattered. She might not realize it, but he’d pledged his life to her with that one simple word.

Mine.

Mine to protect. To care for .

Mine to put above all others.

Some of the pack might be pissed over Davis’s death. Some wouldn’t think that a human should have been involved in the trial. Some might even be wanting her blood.

Not anymore.

With that one word, he’d given a warning. Any who touched her would regret it because…

Mine.

No one hurt what was his.

Gage carried her from the room that smelled of death and blood, and he didn’t look back.

When the bedroom door closed behind them, Kayla knew just what Gage had planned.

Not like it would take a genius to figure this one out.

“Gage, I need to find?—”

He kissed her. Lowered her feet to the floor, then pushed her back against the wall. Her wolf was aroused, no doubt about it. And, okay, maybe she was, too. Gage certainly knew how to kiss.

Hell, yes, he did. Adrenaline still spiked in her blood, making her heart beat faster and letting that wild heat inside of her surge ever hotter but…

She pulled her mouth from his and sucked in a fortifying breath. “We have to?—”

“Fuck,” Gage finished, voice guttural. “I need you.” His eyes blazed down at her. So bright. She loved the blue of his eyes. “Not about the pack. Not about hunters. I just need you.”

Her breath seemed to freeze in her lungs. Wasn’t that what she’d always longed for? Someone who needed her? Someone who just wanted her, exactly as she was? Darkness, scars, and all?

His hands tightened around her arms. “I didn’t marry you because you might be able to give me children.”

That whole mate thing again. It could make a woman tense.

“I married you because I couldn’t breathe without tasting you.”

Oh, well. She wasn’t even sure what to say to that, but his words sure made her feel good.

Besides, it didn’t matter that she couldn’t toss out a ready comeback. Gage didn’t give her a chance to respond. He kissed her again. His aroused cock pressed against her. Long, full, so thick.

Why did I marry him?

Not for the mission. Not because he was a job.

Because I wanted him.

She still did. Always would.

So she didn’t push him away. Why couldn’t she have what she wanted? Couldn’t she just take it? Take him? Her clothes were seriously in the way.

Her hands wrapped around Gage’s powerful, broad shoulders, and she pulled him closer. She loved the way he kissed. The slow thrust of his tongue. The sensual press of his lips. She got wet just from his kiss.

His hands slid down her body. Curved around her ass. Lifted her up against his cock.

Yes.

Her body was already eager for him. She rubbed against him and liked it when he tensed against her. Power. It could come in so many forms.

His mouth lifted from hers. He stared into her eyes. “I’m not letting you go.”

He wasn’t talking about that moment. She got that part. But she didn’t want to think about the future. About what could happen or who could tear them apart.

Then he was kissing her neck and she could just moan and shudder because, oh, yes, that part of her body was sensitive. When he used the edge of his teeth in the lightest of caresses, her eyes closed and her tight nipples pushed into his chest.

“Bed,” he muttered against her. “I want?—”

Her eyes opened. “No.” Because this was also about what she wanted. Her hand pushed against his chest. That wonderful, naked chest and all those fabulous muscles.

Her sex clenched in eager anticipation. Soon he’d be thrusting deep and hard into her, but first, Kayla had other plans.

He was naked. His thick cock pushed up toward her. So she wrapped her hands around the aroused length that she craved. Stroked him. Pumped once. Twice. He swelled even more beneath her fingers.

Her mouth had gone dry. She wanted to taste him.

Kayla eased onto her knees.

“Sweetheart, you don’t have to do this.”

She put her mouth on him. That move shut up her wolf. Gage’s eyes seemed to roll back into his head. She licked him. Sucked him. Loved his taste.

Her hands wrapped around the base of his cock as she took him into her mouth. Deeper. Deeper . She tasted him with each caress of her lips and tongue. Salty, wild. He tasted just the way she’d thought he would.

His hands were slammed against the wall now. Not on her. Gage wasn’t trying to guide her movements or force her to take more of him. No. He was staring down at her with feral eyes. His claws were out— in that wall. And a ragged groan that was her name tore from his lips.

She smiled up at him, then took him deeper.

“Kayla.”

She wanted him to come so she could taste every single bit of him.

His claws ripped from the wood. He grabbed her. She started to flinch away. His claws?—

“Never…hurt you.” His voice was barely human.

And he wasn’t hurting her. He was yanking her clothes off, tossing them aside, and pretty much shredding the material with his claws, but he wasn’t hurting her.

Then he was lifting her against the wall. His claws never even skimmed her skin. He lifted her up and parted her legs.

Kayla guided his cock to her core. When he thrust, she arched toward him so that his dick sank deep within her. Yes.

Their eyes locked. She couldn’t look away from him. There was so much intensity in his stare.

Her sex clenched around his cock. Thrust. Withdraw. Thrust.

Kayla’s hands locked around his shoulders as she rose up and then slid down, pushing back against him. She wasn’t going to be able to hold back for long. She was too aroused. Slick, sensitive, her body greedily clutched him with every driving thrust of his cock. Again and again and again.

She opened her mouth. Screamed his name. Kayla didn’t care who heard her.

Then he came inside of her. A hot rush of release that just sent the pleasure crashing over her again. She held onto Gage, digging her nails into his flesh. Marking him because no matter what the hell else happened between them, there was one thing that she was sure of. One absolute thing.

Mine.

Gage belonged to her.

New clothes were brought to them. A good thing, because the ripped look wouldn’t have worked so well for Kayla. She dressed quickly and tried to peek at Gage’s ass only three times.

Four.

Clearing her throat, she turned away. “I need to talk with the demon.” Curtis might be able to tell her more about what had happened to her brother. She’d drill him, then start a search plan.

If her brother had left the compound, that meant he’d realized the truth about Lyle. He’d known she wasn’t lying. He believed her.

“I’m afraid that’s not gonna be possible.”

Frowning, she glanced back over her shoulder. Gage was dressed now. No more sexy peeks at his ass. Pity. “Why not?”

“Because I had two of my pack escort Curtis to a safe location.”

Her eyebrows rose. She’d thought they were already in a safe house. “Then escort me to this same location.” Seemed simple enough to her.

But Gage didn’t exactly look agreeable as he said, “I didn’t want the demon knowing where I’d hidden the rest of the pack, so I didn’t let him get close.”

Right, okay, sounded fine to her. “He probably had a tracker on him anyway.” Unless he’d dug it out. Without Lyle knowing? Maybe. The demon seemed to have plenty of secrets. “I would have mentioned that tracker bit to you,” she muttered and some nice, remembered fury spiked her blood. “But you know, you drugged me first.”

His lips tightened.

Speaking of trackers…“We need to check Davis’s body. If he was tagged, then Lyle could already be on his way here.”

Gage didn’t look particularly worried about that scenario. “Yes,” he agreed slowly, with a faint nod. “He could be.”

Just like that, the light finally dawned. “You want him here.” Gage wanted Lyle to come after them.

Gage held her gaze. “I dug the tracker out of the demon before I let him go to the safe house.”

So he hadn’t been so clueless after all. Tricky wolf.

“And I brought it here with me.”

What? Her breath expelled in a rush.

“So I figure with the demon’s tracker and Davis’s both giving off a signal to this place, we’ll be having company soon.”

The killing kind of company. “Why?” Why would he want to bring the hunters to him?

“I brought in reinforcements.” Gage shrugged and didn’t even look a little bit concerned about the coming attack. “Wolves from other packs. Wolves who are tired of being hunted.”

She couldn’t read his expression. Nothing showed past the stoic wall of determination that hardened his strong features. “You’re setting your own trap.”

“It was my turn.”

Or had it been his plan all along? Suspicion slipped through her.

“Shamus will be coming soon. He’s going to make sure you’re taken away from this place during the battle.”

Was Gage saying she couldn’t handle a fight? What? Did she look like a piece of fluff? “I’ve been battling since I was sixteen years old,” she pointed out.

“So aren’t you due for a break?”

She blinked at him, then forced her clenched jaw to relax. They’d gone from hot sex straight to him kicking her out? That was too fast of a one-eighty for her. “I’m not going to leave you when you need me.” That was not who she was.

His lips tightened. “And I don’t want you to see what I do to the hunters you once considered friends.”

Her heart was about to slam through her chest. “You’re not killing them all.” That wasn’t an option. “They think they’re making the world a better place! That they’re out there fighting monsters!”

“Then they should be prepared for when the monsters fight back.”

She shook her head. No, no, she wouldn’t let a bloodbath happen on her watch. “They only thought they were taking out killers. We had files, reports! We didn’t attack innocents!”

But he just stared back at her, and her words seemed so hollow to her own ears. Nausea rolled through her. So many lies. Lyle had fooled them too well.

They’d let themselves be fooled.

“He’s the one who should be stopped,” she muttered and refused to back down. “The others—give them a chance, Gage.”

“So they can fill my heart with silver? Cut off my head?” His smile held a cruel edge. “Sorry, sweetheart, that’s not happening, not even for you.”

A light rap sounded at the door.

Gage’s nostrils flared. “Shamus.”

“I don’t want you to lose your damn head.” She didn’t move. She could still feel Gage inside her. She wasn’t walking away and leaving him to a bloody battle. This was more than sex. Gage had better realize that fact.

“I won’t. I’m rather attached to my head.”

He was driving her crazy. “This isn’t a joke!” She tried to keep her voice calm and make the wolf see reason. “The hunters will come in expecting a trap. Lyle will be ready to use and lose them all, if he can take you out.” Because she’d seen the fury in Lyle’s eyes. He wasn’t stopping, not until he’d taken over this town.

And if he had to kill a few dozen humans and wolves? So what? He could always recruit more hunters, and he sure didn’t care about the wolves.

“There’s another way,” she said, desperate. “There’s always another way.”

Gage shook his head. “There’s no time.” His steps were slow as he stalked toward her. His hand lifted and the back of his fingers slid down her cheek. “The wolf is at the door, and I’m gonna tear him apart.”

Or he’d get torn apart. The humans would die.

This didn’t have to happen. “What about my brother?”

Gage looked at the door. “We’ll find him when the fight’s over.” Then his hand dropped. He marched away from her. Opened the door.

The redheaded wolf waited, with his arms loose at his sides.

“Take her back home, Shamus,” Gage directed.

Home?

The thought was so foreign to her that Kayla blinked at first. But, she did have a home. An apartment in the city. One that gave her a night-time view of the strip that took her breath away.

So why didn’t that place feel like home ?

She took a deep breath and straightened her spine. “Sorry, Shamus,” she said—and then she slammed the door shut in the shifter’s face.

Gage blinked. He looked surprised. Really? Had he truly thought she’d just follow meekly along to his plan? Not happening.

Kayla jabbed her finger in his chest. “I don’t walk away from fights. Not ever. I don’t tuck my tail between my legs and run?—”

His brows shot up. Whoops, okay, wolf reference. Her bad.

Kayla cleared her throat. “I don’t run because things get tough, got it?”

“This isn’t?—”

She jabbed him harder. “You don’t get to spout ‘mine’ bullshit one minute and then toss me out the next.” And it hurt. To go from the best sex ever to a cold toss out the door, yes, that was tough. But she wasn’t about to let him see her pain. She’d never let anyone see.

Only Jonah.

Where are you, Jonah?

“Those men don’t deserve death, and I’m not letting you claw your way through humans because a psychotic wolf has been jerking us all around.” Kayla took another deep breath. Weren’t deep breaths supposed to calm down fury? She wasn’t feeling calm. “I’m working with you, and we’ll make sure we take out the real monster.”

There was still no emotion showing on his handsome face. “Just how are we gonna do that?” Gage wanted to know.

Yes, how the hell were they gonna do that? Plans and options spun through her mind. Think. “When the hunters come, don’t send any wolves out. Not a single one.” This was crazy, she knew it but crazy just might work. “I’m the only one who will face them. I’ll make them see reason.”

“Uh, sweetheart, no one believed you before.”

Good point.

“You broke out of your cell. You ran from them.” His lips tightened. “Those assholes will just shoot first and dump your body later. No dice.”

He reached for the doorknob again. Yanked open the door.

Shamus was still there. One red brow was up. With his shifter hearing, a closed door would not have stopped him from eavesdropping on their little conversation.

There had to be a way of stopping this hell. She just had to show the others what Lyle really was.

But Lyle wouldn’t be in that first wild rush of hunters who came to storm the place. He always held back. Gave the orders from a distance. Moved in when the targets were secure.

When the hunters attacked, they’d be out for blood. Mine. Dammit, yes. And Gage’s. So to save all their sorry asses, one dark options sprang to mind. “We have to attack first.”

Shamus whistled. “Bloodthirsty. I like that.”

Gage punched him.

“They’re coming after us. Getting ready. Moving out.” Kayla was talking faster now because she had this . “So this is the time when we go for them. We attack while they’re en route. We close in on Lyle, we take him out of the caravan.” When heading into new territory, the hunters swept in on a straight line. “The last SUV.” That was his. Always. “We take him out, and we make the others see what he is.”

They’d drag his sorry ass out of that SUV. Tie him in silver. When he started to burn, the other hunters would be forced to see him for what he truly was.

“And you think that’s gonna stop them?” Gage demanded, his voice full of doubt. “They’ll just shoot him and then keep coming after my pack.”

Because hunters hated wolves. They thought shifters were monsters that needed to be put down.

It was Kayla’s turn to shake her head. “We’re not all like that.” I’m not. She needed him to recognize that truth in her eyes. “Give us a chance to show you that we can be more.” Better. I can be better. Not just a lost soul seeking justice for crimes long ago. A woman now, wanting to fight for the man she was craving more than life.

Slowly, very slowly, Gage nodded. “But if this doesn’t work…if they keep attacking…” He lifted his claw-tipped hands. “They will be stopped.”

And she knew what he really meant was…they will be dead.

Gage paced down the hallway with Shamus. Kayla was arming herself. Getting bullets. The silver that the pack handled only with reinforced gloves.

She was hot when she got battle ready.

She was also dangerous.

“Hunt for me,” Gage told Shamus, because no one in the pack hunted like the red wolf.

Shamus gave a slight nod. “The prey?”

“Her brother.”

Surprise flickered briefly over Shamus’s face. “You want me to kill him?”

“No.” If he did that, he’d lose her. “I want you to make sure his fool ass stays alive.” Gage yanked out a scrap of cloth he’d taken from the compound. Cloth that had once been Kayla’s shirt. “His blood’s on this.” When it came to humans, Shamus could track a scent with deadly accuracy. “Take him out of the fight.”

Because Jonah would be coming, Gage had no doubt about that. Coming for his sister and coming for vengeance.

Shamus took the cloth. Turned. Walked quickly away.

“You can’t lie to her.”

Billy’s voice. Coming from a few feet behind him. But then, he’d known Billy was there, watching.

Slowly, Gage turned to face the wolf he’d considered his friend. The burns from the silver had faded. Mostly. “I’m sorry.” For the pain Billy had suffered.

Billy lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “You’re alpha. You do what the hell you want.”

Not when it meant that he hurt the ones he cared about. So he tried to explain, even though an alpha wasn’t supposed to justify. Just act. Rule. Dominate. There was more to Gage than that, though, there always had been. “Only you and Davis knew Kayla and I were at that cabin. And you two were both close with the other wolves who went missing.” It was easier to be lured out into the open, easier to be attacked, when the one luring you wore the guise of a friend.

Shamus had told him that both Davis and Billy were near the site when he was taken. He’d broken away from them and attacked the hunters. Been trapped, but the other two had both gotten away.

And when Faye had gone missing, they’d been there, too. Been there, but hadn’t managed to save her.

“So you shackled me in silver.” Billy exhaled and glanced away. “Damn painful, hoss. Damn painful.”

For the pack. “The silver wasn’t about pain. It was to make sure neither of you ran before I could find the real traitor.”

Billy peered back up at him. “You could have asked me first.”

Asked him. Asked Davis. One wolf would have lied, and no matter what the stories said, Gage wasn’t the sort of wolf who could actually smell a lie.

He didn’t think those beasts existed.

So Gage just stared back at Billy. “Davis wanted you to look guilty.” He’d been setting the other wolf up all along. Timing their guard duty together, even tossing seeds of suspicion out among the pack. “He planned to let you take the fall.”

“Yes, I figured that. The bastard probably thought he’d kill me.” Billy’s claws flashed out. “But I’m tough to kill.”

So others had discovered. There was far more to the shifter than met the eye. He’d run from his home in the South because he’d wanted a fresh start.

But Gage knew what he’d left behind. The death and hell that waited in the South was one of the reasons he’d suspected Billy.

“We can’t run forever,” Gage warned. It was a lesson they all needed to learn. Maybe it was time for Billy to face his own demons.

Time for them all to face that darkness.

Gage kept his hands by his side. “You want to charge at me, come the fuck on.” Billy deserved his pound of flesh. The first slice would be free. After that, Gage would slice back.

Billy shook his head. His claws were out, but he made no move to attack. “I don’t like fuckin’ silver.” He turned away. “But I like this pack. Pack first. Always.”

Gage knew that Billy understood. The pain didn’t matter. Not when there was a pack to protect.

“Next time, ask, ” Billy snarled over his shoulder.

Before the wolf could storm away, Gage grabbed his arm. “I will.” He exhaled a rough breath. “And for now, right now, I’m asking you to help me.”

Billy’s brows shot up as he looked back at Gage.

“We’re going after Lyle. Taking out the last SUV that comes onto our land because Kayla says he’ll be in that one.” Minimum bloodshed. Right. He knew that was what she wanted. Wolves—well, they liked the blood.

A lot.

But for her, he’d try.

“I want a scent blocker.” It would be the only way they could sneak up on Lyle. Lyle couldn’t know they were closing in if he couldn’t smell them. “I know you’ve got a stash.” Another reason he’d suspected Billy. “Get it.”

The shifter nodded and rushed away.

Gage watched him go. He’d try it Kayla’s way, for a time. He’d give the orders for all of the other wolves to stand down. But if her plan didn’t work, if one of those hunters fired at them first, then the wolves would be the ones to finish the battle that the humans had started.