Never Cry Wolf (Night Watch #4)(11)
Author: Cynthia Eden

But he just shook his head and eased away from her. “Babe, they’re coyotes. That means they were born to lie.”

Most Other said that about all the shifters. The shifters were the ones born with two faces, some even thought two souls. Born to deceive.

“You won’t turn me over to them?” The question slipped out.

His eyes burned a bit, the blue heating with the fire of the beast. “Don’t worry, I’ve got plans for you.”

Not the giant reassurance she was hoping for. “You think you can use me, too, don’t you?” Now why did that bother her?

“You mean like you’re using me?”

Hit. Damn the wolf.

“I think we can use each other.”

The words should have been cold, hard, and they should not have sent a shiver of sexual awareness over her. But they did.

“Sure you can’t read my mind?” he murmured and that bright stare slipped down her body.

Didn’t have to be a mindreader to know what he was thinking. “Not in human form.” She’d never been able to read a wolf shifter while he was human. If she had, she wouldn’t have been in this current mess.

A howl echoed outside. His lips firmed. “Go upstairs.”

“Can’t I get a weapon? I mean, you’ve got guns somewhere in this place, right?” Even he would know that sometimes claws and teeth weren’t enough.

“I’m not giving you a weapon.” He turned away and strode quickly toward the foyer.

“Why the hell not?” she called after him.

He fired a quick glance over his shoulder. “Because I don’t trust you. You might use it to shoot me in the back.”

Pretty good reason.

He reached for the doorknob. She ran for the stairs.

The leader of the Mexico coyote pack was a tall, wiry bastard named Jess Ortez. They’d tangled a few times in the past, managed to reach a truce, a rocky one, but usually they stayed out of each other’s way.

Since Jess was on his doorstep, the coyote was doing a real piss-poor job of staying out of Lucas’s way then. Of course, Lucas had known that the coyote would be coming—he’d even left orders for the coyote and his men to be allowed past the gate.

Jess raised his hands when Lucas walked down the main steps. “Amigo!”

“Save the bullshit.” Dane and Piers appeared at Lucas’s sides. Other wolves were in the shadows, waiting. “Just tell me why your ass isn’t below the border like it should be.”

Jess’s wide smiled dimmed a bit. He glanced back at the two pickup trucks behind him and straightened his shoulders. Always had to put on a big front when pack was watching. “I came to pay you my respects.”

“Your respects?” He stalked forward, aware that Piers and Dane had his back. Always. “Two of your men attacked me last night.”

“No, no!” Jess lifted his hands, palms out. Probably trying to look defenseless. Failing because the tips of his claws had already broken through the flesh. “They didn’t attack you.”

“Could have fooled me,” Lucas drawled.

Jess’s dark eyes narrowed. “They just wanted the woman.” The coyote made a real bad mistake then. He glanced up, his gaze zeroing in on the third upstairs window. The window that was in Sarah’s room. He’d caught her scent.

Lucas lunged forward and grabbed the bastard around the throat. He lifted Jess up, letting the shorter man’s feet dangle above the ground. “They’re not getting her.”

The coyotes in the pickup trucks growled.

Jess’s hands flew up and his claws sliced into the flesh on Lucas’s forearm. Lucas didn’t let him go. His blood splattered to the ground.

The coyote’s face began to turn purple. Easy to see that change, even in the waning light. Lucas tightened his hold on Jess’s neck, letting the coyote know he didn’t have control here.

Jess’s eyes burned into his.

Slowly, taking his sweet time, Lucas released the coyote. Jess sucked in deep gulps of air. “B-bring ’em!”

He tensed at that, knowing this wasn’t gonna be pretty. He wanted to glance up at that third window. To see if Sarah was there. She’d be watching, peeking through the curtains, and he didn’t want her to witness this.

Michael had damn well better be doing his job.

Two coyotes jumped from the back of the first gleaming pickup. They were carrying a long tarp. A tarp that had been rolled up, tight.

Two more coyote climbed from the second pickup. They had a tarp, too.

Jess watched him, those black eyes studying Lucas closely. “My pack owed you an apology.”

“Yeah, you did. That’s why I let you past my gates.”

Jess grunted, and motioned with his right hand. The tarps were both tossed at Lucas’s feet.

What was happening? Sarah squinted through the crack in the curtain, trying to see below. Some coyotes had jumped out of the trucks. Were they going to attack Lucas? Were they pissed that he’d choked their leader?

“You need to come away from the window.”

She jumped at the voice and spun around. Michael. His long, black hair brushed the collar of his shirt and his dark eyes bore into her.

“What are you doing here?” Sarah asked. “Shouldn’t you be outside?” Protecting Lucas’s back. Too many coyotes were out there. They way outnumbered the wolves she’d seen.

“I’m where I’m supposed to be.” He filled her doorway. “You’re not. Step away from the window.”

A chill skated down her spine. Her fingers slid over the soft edge of the curtain.

“The coyote alpha already has your scent. He knows exactly where you are.” Michael’s brows rose. “And just in case one of those dogs out there has a gun, you need to move away from that glass.”

Right. Gun. The weapon she’d wanted. She hurried forward. But still wondered . . . what had been in those tarps?

Jess’s claws cut through the ropes that bound the tarps. “They were hunting the woman. She’s got one real high price on her head.” He glanced back at Lucas. “You’ve come into my territory following a hunt, and I never stopped you.”

Right. “I never attacked you during the hunt.”

Jess’s lips twisted. “True.” He sliced through the tarps. “And that’s why I brought you a little present.”

Lucas’s gaze dipped to the open tarps—to the two dead men who’d been gift-wrapped for him.

“I didn’t give the order for them to come at you,” Jess spoke quietly. “They broke the pact we had. The punishment for that was their lives.” He shrugged. “I knew you’d be coming for ’em anyway, so I figured I’d just save you the trouble.”