Xander Read online

  As his alpha, even if Vader refused to acknowledge him as such, Xander could join their minds at any time, as long as they were close, without needing Vader’s permission. Unfortunately, the same didn’t apply to Vader. He was merely a dominant, a male who was supposed to concede everything for his alpha. Once before, he’d done that. The decade Xander had been married to Elizabeth had been the worst of Vader’s long life. Never again would he sit on the outside looking in.

  Vader scanned the woods. No movement. No unusual scents. Only the crackling of the flames engulfing the helicopter reached his ears. “Yes. For the moment.”

  “Good. We’re coming out.”

  A minute passed before Xander and Gwen rushed out the front door. A drawstring sack was slung over Xander’s shoulder while Gwen carried a bundle of blankets. She zeroed in on Vader. Her pace quickened.

  “You’re safe.” Gwen dropped the blankets and threw herself into his arms, not even blinking an eye at his nakedness.

  They didn’t have time for tender moments, but he enclosed Gwen in his embrace, savoring the feel of her and ignoring Xander’s scent on her skin. For just a second, Vader wanted to hold her, then he’d let her go.

  Xander picked up the fallen blankets and moved behind Gwen, blocking her body with his. The living shield he provided gave Vader precious more seconds. He squeezed Gwen tighter before forcing himself to release her.

  “Reno took off on one of the ATVs.” Xander motioned toward the remaining ATV with a jerk of his chin. “But it looks like he left us one.”

  Vader glanced in the direction Xander indicated. “Probably has a tracking device.”

  “My guess is Gwen does too.” Xander echoed Vader’s earlier thought.

  “Yeah. We’re going to have to cut it out. Hope she knows where it’s at.”

  “We can ask her after we put some distance between us and this house. My wolves are anxious. Edgy. They want us to move.”

  “Then, we move.” Vader wouldn’t question Xander in this regard. An alpha’s instincts were sharper than other shifters’. He had the spirit of their pack influencing him, even if Xander could only officially connect with the Winchester pack’s spirit during the full moon’s celebration.

  Xander took Gwen’s hand. Vader took her other one. Then they ran to the back of the house, keeping her as close to their bodies as possible. No danger greeted them on this side of the building, nor did his wolves alert him of any threats.

  They headed toward the shed a couple hundred feet behind the home. No shots fired. Nothing in the woods around them moved. Only the crackling of flames carried through the night.

  Trepidation settled over him with the ease of their escape. He cut a quick glance at Xander. While he ran with them, his gaze remained locked on the house.

  Several feet from the shed where the ATV sat, Xander hooked an arm around Gwen’s waist, lifting her and tucking her against his chest, then he bolted toward the ATV and dove behind the vehicle with Gwen clinging to the front of his body.

  Vader followed. He rounded the ATV just as an explosion rocked the house behind them, spewing flames and debris into the air. Vader arched over both Xander and Gwen, shielding them with his body.

  The stinging bite of ashes and debris rained over his bare back. He didn’t move. Better his than Gwen’s. Or Xander’s. It irritated Vader, but his instincts demanded he protect his alpha, whether or not Vader wanted to admit to belonging to the Winchester pack.

  Finally, the dangerous shower waned. He hopped to his feet and scanned the destruction. One side of the house had been blown away, along with part of the roof. Had Gwen been inside, she would’ve died. And Xander? Only the loss of his head or heart, accidentally or on purpose, would take out a Royal, but regenerating a limb took time. It also hurt. While Xander healed, he’d be vulnerable.

  “They tried to kill us.” Disbelief choked Gwen’s words.

  Vader glanced at where she lay, propped on her elbows under the shelter of Xander’s body. “You sound surprised.”

  “Reno promised to return me to—”

  “They’re all lying pieces of trash,” Vader snapped. Gwen flinched and dropped her gaze. Regret choked him. He couldn’t soften his tone, though. “Why would you believe anything that comes out of their mouths? You’re dispensable. You’re—”

  “Gwen’s trying to save someone she cares about.” Xander cut him off, giving him a warning look to drop his attitude. Vader knew the expression well from those centuries when they’d been inseparable. “That takes courage. It’s not her fault Reno lied to her.”

  Vader shoved away from them and gathered the blankets Xander had dropped in his haste to protect Gwen. She’d need the additional layers for the night ahead of them. “You’re right. It does.”

  She took the blankets from him, shaking off the ashes covering them. “I don’t trust Reno. Not entirely. But I did believe what he’d said about returning me.”

  “You know Reno well?” Xander asked.

  “Not really.” A shiver shook her body. She clutched the pile of blankets to her chest. “But the virgin hunt was his idea. I was told he’d be punished if he didn’t return me. And Reno doesn’t like pain.”

  Vader rested his fingers against her arm. Splotches of dried blood—all Xander’s—covered the dirty jacket she wore. She’d need to lose it once they cut out her tracking device. They couldn’t risk the scent of Xander’s blood drawing a shifter to them. As predators, the stench of blood equated weakness that could be exploited.

  “I want to know more about this man you’re so anxious to save, more about what you suffered, but we need to move.” Vader looked into her eyes, grateful she didn’t glance away as she’d done for years. “Reno will be back to collect Xander’s body before he heals or finish him off once and for all. We need to be far away from here before then.”

  Gwen looked at Xander. “Why would—”

  “To demand money for his return, or they’ll expose him for his participation in the hunt?” Vader shrugged. It was the only thing he could come up with. The Winchester pack was the largest and strongest of the Royal wolf packs. To shame them in the eyes of the shifter community would be a devastating blow. “Who knows, but I’m not letting it happen. Nor will I lose you again.”

  He stretched out on the ground and looked under the ATV before popping the engine cover and scanning the inside. With a modified elongated nail, he removed the tracking devices from under the wheel well and beneath the seat.

  “There. Should be safe.” He met Xander’s impassive gaze. “Take Gwen and head northwest. There’s a lake about ten miles out. There are hunting cabins around it.”

  The moment the order was out of his mouth, Vader regretted it. A dominant didn’t order an alpha around. Ever. Even if the command stemmed from his desire to protect his alpha. And Xander was his alpha. Pissing and moaning about it didn’t change the truth. Unless he was willing to sever the mystical tie linking him to the pack—to Xander—and join another pack, binding his soul to their communal group, he was a Winchester.

  Xander held his gaze for a long moment, then worked his jaw back and forth. “Deeper into the forest? With a storm approaching?”

  Vader breathed a sigh of relief over Xander’s nonaggressive response. Getting into a dominance fight with Gwen’s safety at risk couldn’t happen. “Yes. They won’t be expecting that. It’ll buy us some time. We need all we can get, because unless Gwen knows where they planted the tracking device on her body, we’ll need to strip her and examine her for any lumps or scars, then cut it out. We’ll need shelter to do that.”

  Gwen’s eyes widened. “Tracking device?”

  “Yes.” Xander turned Gwen’s head toward him with a finger against her cheek. “You don’t know where they implanted it, do you?”

  She shook her head, and Xander nodded before meeting Vader’s gaze. “You’ll run ahead and look for shelter.”

  Not exactly delivered as a question, nor as a command. Xander phrased his stateme
nt more as a confirmation, as if he fully expected Vader to have anticipated running recon. The assumption reminded him of a time, before Elizabeth, when they’d been able to accurately guess at each other’s actions and motives.

  “Yes.” Vader nodded.

  “Good.” Xander lifted Gwen, setting her on the ATV’s seat, then draped the blankets around her. With her bundled, he slipped in front of her and reached back, urging her closer with a hand at the base of her spine. She snuggled against Xander and linked her arms around his waist.

  The sight tore a low growl from his wolves. Vader ignored the animals, grateful his seven hundred years of life allowed him the ability to do so, and stepped back.

  Xander started the ATV, then met Vader’s gaze. “And this time, let’s not fail Gwen.”

  Whether he referred to the fact that they’d both given up on her in Alaska, thinking her dead, or how they’d failed her soul in both previous lifetimes when she’d crossed their paths, Vader didn’t know. He did, however, agree with Xander.

  “Never again.” He’d do the right thing for her, being the male she needed, even if that meant sharing her with another man.

  Chapter 9

  The press of Gwen’s body to Xander’s back while they fled to safety eased the dark emotions choking him. She was alive. He hadn’t failed her.

  Had Vlad not shown up when he had, though, Gwen would’ve died. It would’ve been Xander’s fault too.

  He’d had no intention of leaving that house until help arrived, whether that took minutes or hours. He hadn’t wanted to risk her life by exposing her to the elements. The sun had set in the time between when they’d gotten off the helicopter and when they’d showered. With the onset of night, the temperature had dropped, and the wind had kicked up.

  A shiver ran the length of Gwen’s body, as if to remind him of her fragile state. She snuggled closer, crossing her arms over his chest and squeezing him tight as if she never wanted to let him go. The simple move fed his protective and possessive instincts.

  He wanted to comfort her, wrap his arms around her, and hold her. That was impossible while driving the ATV. The need to touch her, even if it were only a simple caress, couldn’t be denied, however.

  With the advantage of his wolves’ enhanced vision, he scanned the darkened woods around them. No movement beyond the snowflakes floating to the ground around them. No sound other than the wind whipping through the trees. No unusual scents except for the stench of smoke clinging to their clothes.

  They were safe. For the moment, at least. He eased his foot off the gas pedal. The roar of the engine dimmed some, allowing for conversation. That was another stimulant both he and his wolves needed. Gwen’s voice with its soft, lulling, and seductive edge calmed him—man and beast.

  Using one hand to guide the ATV, he maneuvered the vehicle to a more level path and stroked Gwen’s arm with his free hand. Her cool skin met his fingertips. They’d forgotten her gloves in the rush to leave. He slipped his fingers inside the sleeve of her jacket and caressed her, from her forearm to her hand, then covered her icy fingers.

  She groaned, a sound of pleasure that didn’t match the simple touch. “That feels good.”

  He urged her to slip her hands under his shirt. “Then keep them against my stomach. They’ll stay warmer.”

  “I’m jealous. Here I am with a jacket and all these blankets.” She slipped her fingertips under the waistband of his kilt and sighed in relief. “And you don’t even have pants on.”

  “I hate pants. It’s the kilt or nothing.”

  Actually, he’d prefer nothing, but society frowned on public nudity. Even among the pack, he wore, at most, a kilt. There were a few females who’d take his nakedness as an invite for sex. He’d never minded engaging them, but over the past few years, they’d started wanting more—conversations, dates, attention. He knew why too. He’d been alpha for many years, yet hadn’t taken a mate. They wanted him to pick one of them as his partner.

  For Royals, the drive to breed and produce the next heir was just as strong as what the single shifters experienced upon maturing. Eternity was a long time to be tied to the wrong mate, however, even if she were nothing more than a breeding partner. Despising the mother of your children wasn’t a fate any honorable male wanted.

  “Why do you hate pants?” Gwen asked.

  Gwen would soon find out he’d slept with most of the females in his pack and many more from other packs. It’d be impossible to hide the truth when the dominant females would gravitate toward him the moment he stepped on pack grounds, whether Gwen was with him or not. Once they got their hands on their alpha, they’d want to greet him…properly.

  He settled on a less damning reason. “They’re too restrictive. In an emergency, seconds count. If I shift while wearing my kilt, the buckle or button holding it up will pop and the material will fall. I won’t have to wrestle out of pants.”

  “But you’ll still have your shirt to deal with.”

  “I rarely wear one except in public.”

  “You had one on today.”

  “I hadn’t wanted to frighten you. I’d figured the less exposed skin, the better.”

  “You didn’t frighten me.” Her softly spoken words didn’t sound convincing.

  He had, but he wouldn’t call her on it. The confusion and shock he’d seen in her eyes when she’d looked into his had been unmistakable.

  After several moments of silence, Gwen asked, “What are your plans for dealing with Reno?”

  “Once we get to the lake Vlad had mentioned, we need to look for a cabin.”

  “What if there isn’t one? We are in the middle of nowhere.”

  “Not nowhere. Canada. And this tract of land used to belong to a private hunting club. There are cabins scattered through this area. We’ll find one.”

  “And you want to get me under a roof so you can dig out the chip Reno’s group put inside me?”

  “Yes. It needs to come out.”

  “I’d wondered how Reno was going to find me in the morning to return me to the compound, but I hadn’t thought he’d be tracking me that way. I assumed he’d…” She made a frustrated sound. “I don’t know. Maybe track me the same way you had, using your instincts. Now that I think about it, I can’t believe how stupid and naïve that was.”

  “Not stupid or naïve. Do not say such things in reference to yourself again.”

  “In this case, I am. I knew the government had developed the technology. All the agents in my stepdad’s unit got them a couple of years ago. Advancements like that don’t stay proprietary for long.”

  “You’re right. The human who’d leaked the information was punished. Severely. But you wouldn’t have known that the technology had been sold. You can’t blame yourself. Besides, even if you had suspected it, you said yourself, you don’t know where they’d placed the chip on you.”

  He felt her nod, but she didn’t speak. Minutes passed while they navigated the terrain before Gwen lifted her head. “Xander?”

  “Yes.”

  “The tracking device. It might be on my hip. I have a scar there. I’d passed out from the blood loss when I’d been injured. I can’t think of any other time when they could’ve inserted one. I haven’t been unconscious since then, and I know I haven’t felt any lumps under my skin. If they’re the same type the agents in my stepdad’s unit had gotten, they’re fairly large, roughly a half inch in diameter and an eighth of an inch thick. The only way I would’ve missed one is if my scar tissue masks it.”

  “How did you get hurt? From the kidnapping?”

  “No, this was a couple of weeks after that. It was my fault. I’d gotten in the middle of a fight.”

  A minute passed in silence, then another as he maneuvered the ATV through the darkened woods. She wasn’t going to say anything else about the fight. How was he supposed to avenge her if she didn’t supply him with details? “Well? Aren’t you going to say more about the fight?”

  “There’s nothing to tell.
Fights happened all the time at the compound where I was held. I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Tell me more about this compound. I want to know everything that happened to you there.”

  “Xander?” She spoke his name hesitantly. “I’ll tell you what you want to know, but right now, I’m concerned about this tracking device. I don’t think we should wait until we’ve found shelter.” Gwen exhaled, her warm breath heating his body. “Because I hate to say it, but it’s going to be hard getting off this mountain on foot in a snowstorm, and we’re running out of gas. We’re going to have to hole up and pray we’re not found. If I still have this chip in me, they’ll know where we’ve stopped.”

  He glanced at the gas gauge. Nearly empty. He sighed. “If I have to strip you, it’ll be cold.”

  “I’d rather be cold than dead. Besides, once we get back on this thing, all I’ll need to do is hold you. You’re a living furnace.”

  “Shifters have a higher metabolism, and we can consciously increase our body temperature.”

  “I know. I’m thankful for that. I likely would’ve frozen to death if it hadn’t been for Killer holding me all night. We didn’t have heat in our cell.”

  Xander tensed with the surge of possessiveness. Another male—a shifter—had slept with Gwen. Every night. “Our cell? You shared living quarters with a shifter male who—”

  “Who called me his little sister.” Gwen pulled her hands from under his kilt and rested them on his hips, the minimum contact she needed to hold on to him. “There was nothing sexual between us. If there had been, I wouldn’t have been offered up in a virgin’s hunt.”

  He maneuvered the ATV toward a cluster of trees that would offer some protection from the wind and fought to rein in his primal nature. The reason why Gwen had remained a virgin, despite being held by a group known for its abuse of their kidnapped victims, male and female alike, made sense.

  This male Gwen wanted to rescue had protected her. Xander should be grateful for that—he was grateful for that. He simply hated knowing another male had done so, just as he hated knowing it had been Vader’s actions that had saved her today. She was Xander’s to protect and cherish.