River Wolf(103)

Her ears canted forward, then flattened against her skull. She saw through the ruse, but as with Trent before and Luc himself, the need of others reached her where protecting herself wouldn’t.

Dammit. Kneeling, he opened his arms and she came straight to him. Owen gave him a brief glance then withdrew and walked to the other end of the porch. Holding Colby close, he whispered and willed her to remember his words. “I need you to be safe, my love. I need you to be with people I know can protect you.” He needed to claim her, to know she would be there for him and him for her. “I need you to remember these words…” If they were the last he ever spoke to her? His wolf clawed him. No, the animal was right. They wouldn’t think that way. “I love you, Colby. I love your willfulness and independence. I love your mind, but most of all, I love your compassionate heart.”

She nuzzled his cheek, then leaned into him and energy surged through him again. Molten heat caressing his muscles, and too late he realized what the little…his fatigue vanished, his stress eased and the tautness in his shoulders was gone. She sagged, exhausted and Brett growled then kissed her furred forehead. “Thank you, sweetheart.” He knew without looking, the scars on his arm would be less. She’d given him everything, and he would give it all back.

“Go on now…” He waited until she was on the porch before announcing to every wolf listening to them. “I will be back. I’m coming for you, Colby. I promise.”

She ducked her head, then threw it back and howled. Her cry echoed, and one wolf after another answered. Their song defiant and filled with joy.

Luc waited for him at the car, and he said nothing as Brett backed them down the driveway and then headed onto the road. “So,” he said drumming his fingers against the open window. “You’ll be back?”

“Damn straight.” The arrogance in the statement wasn’t lost on him. Only fools went into battle with false bravado. “Life doesn’t come with a candy-coated promise of fair, but I have a mate waiting for me. A mate I’ve waited for my whole life. I’m not about to let some damn challenger end my mating before it begins. I don’t know what he came here for or what he expected and more, I don’t care. I am what he is getting.”

“That’s my boy,” Luc said, approval ringing through the sentence. “So what’s our plan?”

“Meet them. Kill them. Then I’m going home to mate my girl and have a party with my pack.”

“I like that plan, I can do that.”

“No, you can’t.” Brett kept his gaze on the road and the speedometer pegged at five miles over the speed limit. The fight with the Russians would happen well away from his pack. If it went wrong, he wanted to give them all time to respond. Every Hunter had their orders and Owen was ready to go. An hour before, he’d called Mason and given him the head’s up. Mason Clayborne, Alpha of Willow Bend had been ticked. He promised to check with Luciana and Julian.

Brett left it to him. Mason wanted to give the Three Rivers Alpha the benefit of the doubt, but it wasn’t the first time she’d proven she was out of her depth. He didn’t give a damn about Luciana’s reasons. She’d made an enemy of Hudson River. If it came to a vote again, he’d end her. Pure and simple.

“Why can’t I party?” Luc dragged him to the present. He’d changed at the house, and added a gun to his ensemble. Brett scented the metal the moment he walked to the car. Not that he blamed him, their last encounter created too much havoc.

“Party yes. Mate my girl, no.”

His best friend laughed. “I’m not mate material. I’m more of a good time guy.”

“Don’t tell your mother you said that.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“Sure I wouldn’t, right up until the next time you piss me off.” Old habits died hard, and Luc belonged at his side and in his pack. It was damn good to have him home.

“Damn, you got mean while I was gone.”

“Sucks to be you, doesn’t it?”

The banter helped, but even Luc grew quiet when Brett pulled his car into the middle of the road and parked it horizontal along a deserted strip which would stay deserted thanks to their wolves. They’d shut down a minor section of the state highway for repairs. Overnight repairs weren’t uncommon, so no innocents would be in the way.

After killing the engine, he and Luc stepped out to lean against the vehicle. His phone buzzed. The Russians were three miles away.

“You ready for this?” Luc’s quiet question filled the night silence.

“To coin a cliché,” he was finally ready to admit it, “I was born for this.”