Lone Wolf(53)

Ellison and Dylan tried to sprint ahead of it, Sean climbing to the roof, his claws leaving long gouges in the car’s body.

Deni, motionless, watched the Cadillac come at her. Pablo grabbed both women to yank them out of the way, but Deni came alive.

She snatched the gun out of Pablo’s hands, aimed it, and fired three practiced shots through the windshield and into Bradley’s head.

The car kept coming. Maria slammed herself into Deni and Pablo, pushing them out of the way. The car rushed past them, Bradley’s dead foot still on the gas, and crashed, head-on, into the house.

The car’s engine spluttered and died, and all was silent.





Chapter Sixteen




Ellison stood in the ring at the fight club, naked, flexing his hands, ready to go. His ribs hurt, his torso was streaked with deep scratches, and his neck ached from too many shocks of his Collar, but still he was here.

Shifters filled the vast space of the abandoned hay barn out east of Austin, the darkness broken by trashcan fires, huge flashlights, and LED lanterns. Broderick climbed over the cinder blocks that marked out the ring, a big smile on his face. He had come away from the fight at Bradley’s relatively unscathed and exuded confidence he’d win the Challenge.

Fuck that.

Ellison felt the pull of the growing mate bond with Maria, stretching between him and her as she stood outside the ring with Spike and Ronan, Ellison’s seconds.

Connor stood next to them, too keyed up to stay home. He’d been restless and hungry after they’d all made it back to Shiftertown, Connor eating everything in sight and insisting he go to the fight club. Cubs weren’t technically allowed at the fight club, but Connor was given slack tonight, with the approval of all Shifters. Though he wouldn’t fight, Ellison imagined that Connor would find a way to work off his steam. Apparently Bradley had taken him because a woman had asked Bradley to find her a strapping young Shifter for her entertainment. Pablo had related this after he and his girlfriend, restored to Austin, had gone through Bradley’s desk and computer.

Maria stood close to Connor, her shoulder touching his. Ellison scented her goodness, her courage and passion.

He also scented that she was very, very angry.

Maria had argued long and hard for Ellison to not meet Broderick tonight. By the time they’d all limped back to Shiftertown, Maria driving, Ellison was sore, tired, clawed all over, and aching from a couple bullets that had grazed his arm.

At the same time, he was buoyant. Maria loved him. The mate bond was forming. He’d had the joy of holding her in his arms, being inside her yesterday in the soothing pond. Tonight, after he battered Broderick until the man begged for mercy, Ellison would carry her home and take her to bed.

That is, if he could still stand up.

Around them, Shifters shouted and laughed. Broderick’s pack stood behind him to cheer him on. The air was thick with scents of anticipation, eagerness, and mating frenzy. A Challenge brought out the mating need in Shifters, both male and female.

Pablo had come, betting on the fight in his quiet way. Ellison guessed he’d bet on Broderick. But then, Broderick hadn’t fallen from a balcony onto stairs and had two crazed cheetahs in their Transition land on him.

Dylan and Tiger had taken charge of the cheetahs. When they’d turned to human, they’d been two males in their late twenties, twins, who had lived as captives on a wealthy woman’s estate in New York. The woman had asked Bradley to take them back when they hit their Transition and became too crazed.

Tiger had been solicitous of the two, and Dylan was arranging for them to be taken into the Austin Shiftertown.

They owed another debt to Pablo. He’d stayed behind after the Shifters had piled into various vehicles to leave, taking care of the remaining mercs and saying he’d make Bradley’s death and the torn-up house look like a gang hit. Bradley had made many enemies. Pablo had looked around the house and at the kitchen with approval, and said he’d try to buy the place. Ellison suspected he’d provide jobs for Bradley’s mercenaries, now that their boss was dead. The battle today was all to Pablo’s gain.

As for Deni . . . she stood straight and tall beside Maria. Shooting Bradley seemed to have released something in her. The haunting worry in her eyes had gone, and her cubs, standing behind her, were there to comfort her. Whether she’d thrown off the episodes of her memory blanking remained to be seen, but Deni now knew exactly what had happened to her, and who had done it.

Bradley might have been trying to capture her—maybe he’d mistaken her for a cub, or maybe someone had asked for a female Shifter the same way the woman had asked for someone Connor’s age. Ellison’s rage hadn’t calmed down about that. Maria had declared her new mission to track down all those who’d purchased Shifters—adult or cub—and release the captives. Ellison agreed. They’d start tomorrow.