Sierra Cartwright - Doms of Dark Haven

“Understood.” Kevin's voice was soft, but there wasn't the slightest trace of fear in it. He vanished into the fog, and Sage stepped back into the shadows, melting from sight.

“Damn.” She stared after him in amazement.

Harte clasped Eva's hand. He kissed her lightly, pausing to nuzzle her hair.

“You are a miracle, Eva. I won't let anything happen to you.” With the fog swirling around them, she felt as if they were in their own private world. She was frightened yet oddly calm. For the first time in years, Eva knew what it felt like to be part of a greater whole.

“What's going to happen?”

“We're going to let them herd us into an alley, where my people are waiting.

Chase and his men are standing by for emergency, and they'll do the cleanup.”

“That's not what I meant.”

“I know.” He held her at an arm's length. “You know we belong together.”

She nodded.

“After tonight, we'll get the details worked out. You're part of my pack now.

You're free to continue your life, but I want you to come home with me. We've got plenty of time to work things out. Though I might want to, I'm not going to take over your life.” He grinned and began walking down the sidewalk, her hand tucked into his elbow.

“You really fought vamps?” He glanced at her and then away into the darkness.

“Sure did. When I was on the street, they'd come creeping in while we slept.

Vamps have a really twisted moral code. They go after drunks and junkies, but they prefer criminals. They don't believe in rehab or the justice system. I never hunted them, but they learned not to prey on me and my neighbors in the camps.”

They walked silently for a while.

“Now, Eva, are we alone?”

“No, there's someone at the end of the block behind us. He's starting to move quickly. There's another ahead. He's waiting.”

“Very good.”

“What about Brian and Patrice?” she asked.

“Brian intended to make his move tonight but didn't expect you to come along.

He meant to ambush me. Now that I know of his plans, I can exile him rather than hurt or kill him.”

“Kill.” She automatically tightened her hand on his arm. Over the years, Eva had seen a side of life that most people knew nothing of. It had been hard and cruel and didn't fall in line with human law.

“That does happen sometimes. We aren't human, though we try our best to live within their social structure.”

“I know. I'm just…I'm just glad that things worked out this way. He might have taken you by surprise.”

“No. I've been expecting it. I just wasn't expecting Abraxas.”

There was a deep sadness in his voice. Eva let her hand slip down his arm and clasped his hand. “They change things, don't they?” A wave of guilt washed over her.

“It isn't your fault, Eva. And Abraxas isn't anything new. What is new is Chase's aggressive approach to them. While I didn't join his pack, we struck up a friendship. It was the best possible alliance I could have made.”

They came to a corner and waited for the light to change. When it was green, they continued moving. “Kevin has passed us on the next street over. He'll be waiting.” Harte didn't look like he was focused on anything but her.

The smell of the hunters was acrid in her nostrils. They reeked of aggression and excitement. She caught the distinct scent of lust as well. She swallowed hard.

One of those men enjoyed his job a little too much.

Eva saw the dark entrance of an alley and knew it was their destination. In the heavy fog, they made little noise.

“Now you learn to hunt.” Harte guided her into the alley. She pulled the dark velvet cloak tightly around her body, hiding the pink blouse that she wore. She sensed movement and saw Kevin approach.

Instead of speaking, Harte taught by example. He stepped into the shadows, his body blending into the darkness. Eva tucked herself against a wall, feeling the embrace of the night as she went uncannily still.

Were they alone? Her nose told her that Chase and his men were close, but Brian and Patrice were nowhere near. A quiet growl told her that Harte was aware of their absence too. The sound made the hairs on her neck stand up. A surge of power told her that he'd shifted form, and not far away, a pair of reflective green eyes stared at her from where Kevin had hidden. She swallowed and fought back the primal need to shift.

The air went electric. A muted footstep announced the arrival of her stalkers.

Heavy breathing told her they were nervous, aware that something wasn't as it should be. At the far end of the alley, a dark sedan pulled up, blocking her exit.

She needed them to move closer, to step into the snare they'd set. Eva swiftly moved farther into the alley, allowing her pale blouse to flash against the darkness.

The hunters moved in quickly.

She melted into the shadows and watched as three dark forms slipped into the alley. They moved swiftly, but to her ears they were loud and clumsy. The dull gleam of metal told her they carried guns. Her nostrils caught the harsh scent of sedative, and the sickly sweet fragrance of gun oil tainted the air.

She squeezed her eyes shut. No matter how tough Harte was, how fast and capable, a gun could still kill a werewolf. It wouldn't even take a silver bullet, just a well-placed shot. When she opened her eyes, all color had leached from her vision; she saw only in shades of gray and black. The alley stood out in stark relief before her. This was the vision she had in wolf form, and she was surprised that she'd been able to call it up voluntarily.

She caught the merest hint of movement in the shadows. That was Kevin, adjusting his position behind a bank of trash cans. She couldn't see Harte at all, but her nose told her that he was moving slowly, steadily in her direction.

The hunters had spread out, guns at the ready. She scanned, seeing two; she'd lost track of the third. Eva gathered her courage and moved from the safety of the shadows. She barely had time to brace herself before the third hunter had her down flat on her back, his hand clamped over her mouth.

“Hello, darling.”

Eva's heart stood still and then began to race wildly.

He had no scent of his own. She smelled only the fog and the cold night air on his skin. In the monochromatic landscape of the night, he had no color. She saw a brutally handsome face hovering above her; silvery hair wafted in the moonlight.

She struggled, but his strength was inhuman. Like the others, he was dressed in a dark suit, though his dress shirt was black instead of white.

“If you make any noise, the hunters will know where we are. Understand?” His whisper was so faint that she wasn't sure she'd heard him speak at all. He glanced around, and to her horror, Eva realized that the hunter knew exactly where the other wolves were hiding.

“I know all of you can hear me. If you make a move, I'll be forced to play the game and take her head off.” He paused and smiled coldly, looking right into Eva's eyes. A sense of otherness flooded her. He was no more human than she. “Frankly, I'm getting a little tired of the game.”

The breeze carried the rank scents of the two hunters to Eva.

“I don't have much time. I just want you to take care of the boy.” He glanced around once again. “Chase, I know you're here. The boy's a good kid. Take care of him. Please.” The request was clearly difficult for the phantomlike hunter to make.

Eva struggled to listen, to scent the air. The other two hunters were nearly on them.

“Little wolf, in just a second, you're going to throw me right across the alley.

That'll cover you to run. Get down there to the car. Some of your people are going after him.”

Tentatively she nodded. The hunter grinned and winked, and suddenly his weight was gone. He flew backward as though he'd been thrown and crashed into a trash can. All hell broke loose. Eva scrambled to her feet, then ducked and ran to the car parked at the end of the alley.

She heard angry voices, smelled the sudden arrival of many bodies—some that she knew, some that she didn't know. Shit! Harte's pack was attacking the car with the tracker inside! How had the hunter known it would happen? The car's engine gunned. It skidded away, and she bolted from the alley at full speed, heedless of the angry shouts of the hunters. A bullet sang through the air, missing her by inches.

Eva heard the growls of large animals and the panicked shouts of the hunters.

The scent of blood assailed her, but she kept running until she reached the street, where she watched as the taillights of the car faded into the fog. Brian and Patrice were attacking the car. They planned to kill the tracker.

A powerful form sailed past her, and she followed the huge wolf, running as fast as her human form allowed. She didn't have time to shed her clothing and shift; she could only follow and pray that the car wouldn't make it far.

In the distance, she heard the sound of skidding. Glass shattered and metal was torn. The growls and snarls of the pack were hushed and muted in their fury. A fight broke out, and a gun discharged. Fortunately the sound was muffled by a silencer.

She caught the panicked scent of the tracker. To her sensitive nose, he smelled like prey. He was injured and frightened.

The black sedan had been forced to a stop at the entrance of another dark alley. Shadowy figures flowed around the car in a nightmarish dance. The body of the driver was freshly dead. The back passenger door stood open, but the wolves were being held at bay by the huge wolf that'd passed her in the alley. It was Sage, following his alpha's orders to protect the helpless tracker. A careless pack member darted in, only to be snatched up and flung to the sidewalk. All the time she'd been in the alley, Sage and Chase had been there as well. She hadn't sensed their presence at all. Yet the strange hunter had known Chase was there.

She caught the stench of fear and heard the keening wail of terror. Whatever else it might be, the tracker was to be protected, and this small clutch of wolves were disobeying the orders of their alpha. Dodging past the shifters, Eva scrambled up behind Sage. Without turning her back on the wolves, she glanced into the car to see a naked white form huddled on the floor of the car.

“Mama!” His voice was shrill with panic. “Mom!”

He was bound hand and foot and shook his head, looking into the night with blind eyes. His scent was an enticing blend of familiar warmth blended with something sharp and unfamiliar—something other. Another wolf drew too close to Sage's powerful jaws; it shrieked as he flung it against a wall. In a heartbeat, the beta shifted and stood naked and wild in the darkness.

As though they'd been compelled, Brian, Patrice, and the others twisted into their human forms. They staggered, and Eva felt a backwash of Sage's power. He'd indeed pulled them into a shift. Fear washed over her as she felt the beta's control stretch dangerously thin. If this was his level of power, what did it take to subdue Sage? As though in answer, Chase strode from the mist. He stepped up to the giant shifter and laid a calming hand on the man's bare arm. Sage dropped his forehead to Chase's shoulder; his shoulders heaved as he panted for breath.

Harte appeared, followed by Kevin. They were naked and bloody, but the blood was not their own. He moved steadily toward his wolves. One by one, they dropped to their knees in front of their alpha. The posture they took was the same she'd performed for him earlier. Only Brian and Patrice remained on their feet.

“You disobeyed my orders,” he snarled.

Several of Harte's wolves cringed. Brian defiantly stood his ground. His mate hovered behind him slightly. Interestingly enough, the other three wolves averted their heads from the rebels.

Eva snorted in disgust.

“Brian. Patrice. Start walking. Do not look back.”

“You can't!” Patrice started forward, a look of panic on her face. “Our clothing…our possessions…”

“You lose, Patrice. Everything. If you two had challenged me honorably, I'd have let you and your pack leave. Now you're lucky I simply don't kill you where you stand. You have a car. Take it. Leave. Never come back to us again.”

Brian growled and faced Harte.

“Now he decides to fight.” Sage grinned in wry amusement. He seemed to have recovered now that Chase was at his side