Never Cry Wolf (Night Watch #4)(72)
Author: Cynthia Eden

He and Jordan turned as one and rushed to the left. The demon wouldn’t get away from them, and she’d soon find out that wolves weren’t afraid of a demon’s fire.

Chapter 18

“It’s been sixteen years,” Lucas’s voice rumbled beneath “her ear and Sarah slowly lifted her head. “But sometimes I feel like I can still smell my father’s blood.”

A chill skated over her skin.

“Hell, I didn’t even know a rival alpha was in town, not until I came home,” he said quietly “and found my father struggling to shift. Kaber had cut his throat open, nearly taken his head, and no matter how hard he tried, my father couldn’t shift to heal. Then . . . Kaber came over and finished the job. To make sure my father was good and dead, he took his head.”

A sure-fire way to kill just about any paranormal out there. Sarah swallowed and pushed up onto her arms, bracing on his chest as she stared into his eyes. In the darkness, she couldn’t see much. But that blue stare seemed to shine. And really, he was all she needed to see.

“The bastard was in my house before my father’s body was even cold.”

She didn’t speak because Sarah wanted to hear this.

“The scent of his blood clogged my nostrils. And that bastard Kaber laughed when he saw me.”

Her hands began to stroke his chest. She knew this moment was important. Lucas trusted her enough to tell her about his past. You can trust me. I won’t betray you.

“Something broke in me. Everything was red, just like my father’s blood. So much red. So much rage. I . . . attacked.”

She wouldn’t cry. Ten. He’d been just ten.

“Kaber shifted and came after me as a wolf. Hell, I knew I didn’t have a chance, but my father’s body was there. Right there, and I wasn’t just gonna let that ass**le take over. The wolves from my father’s pack—they weren’t doing a damn thing. Just standing back, watching Kaber, watching him take everything away.”

“No one tried to help you?” Damn them.

“Dane.” He exhaled. “After Kaber bit half my ear off, Dane attacked him from behind. Dane was only eight then, but he came out, flying on Kaber’s back. He gave me the chance I needed.”

His fingers smoothed down her arms. “My claws broke free. They shouldn’t . . . it was too early for a full shift but I guess the adrenaline pushed me over the edge. My claws came out, and I slashed the bastard, I dug my claws as deep into his side as they could go.” A rough laugh. “That didn’t stop him. It barely slowed him down. He tossed Dane aside and came back after me.”

Silence. She hated silence. Her hand pressed over his heart. The beat was slow, steady. “How did you get away?”

“I had to f**king run. He would have killed me. I would have died right next to my father, lost my head . . . for a pack that wouldn’t stand up for me.”

Except for Dane.

“I didn’t leave the city right away.”

Now this was part of the story that she’d never heard. “Some demons in the area owed my father, and they paid his debt to me. They gave me shelter and helped to hide my scent.” His fingers curled over her shoulder. “And when they got wind of what was happening to Dane, they told me.”

She didn’t want to know, but she asked anyway. “What did Kaber do to him?” Those scars . . .

“He started clawing the flesh off Dane’s body.”

Her gut clenched. “But he was eight, he couldn’t—”

“Kaber knew Dane couldn’t heal, that’s why he did it. Kaber was sending a message to the pack. Either you were with him or you were one of the ass**les he’d torture.”

Sarah sat up in bed, dragging the sheet with her, but she kept her hand on Lucas. She needed to keep touching him. “Guess there’s no doubt Kaber was crazy.”

“Just another psychotic wolf,” Lucas murmured.

Okay, now she wished she could see more in the darkness because she would’ve loved to catch his expression. “What did you do?”

“I went back for him.” Spoken as if there had been no other option. “Two demons took me up there. They wouldn’t go in, but I didn’t need them to. I knew every inch of that place. Still do.”

Because the wolf compound was his father’s old home. She’d known that, but hadn’t realized just how much that truly meant . . .

“I found Dane and I carried him out. I got him the hell out of there and we didn’t look back.”

But, no, wait, he had gone back. He’d grown up and then he’d gone after Kaber and—

“I wouldn’t have ever gone back, Sarah. Those ass**les in the pack turned their backs on me. Together, we could have fought Kaber but . . .” Now he rose, pulling from the bed, leaving her cold and alone with only the too-thin sheet. “Then when I was sixteen, I met a demon named Trace in a shit-forsaken bar in Mexico.”

She wasn’t even surprised to find out that he’d been in a bar at sixteen. Not like the normal rules of society had ever applied to him.

“Seems this demon had been in LA. He’d seen Kaber’s pack, and he’d noticed a kid there—a black-haired, golden-eyed kid who looked, according to Trace, one hell of a lot like me.”

Jordan. “You didn’t . . . you didn’t know about him when you left.” Well, hell, wasn’t that obvious?

“My mother gave birth to me and then she left the pack.” No emotion there. “At least, I thought she’d left, but it turns out she came back a few times over the years. I just didn’t know about her little visits.”

She’d come back and she’d gotten pregnant again.

“She dumped Jordan just like she dumped me, only my dad wasn’t around to keep him safe. She left the kid with Kaber. Kaber.” His fist slammed into the wall and she realized just how fake his calm actually was.

Sarah licked her lips. “You went back for him, too.”

“I went back for everything that was mine. My brother, my house, my pack.” She saw the big shadow of his body stalk to the window. He peered out between the blinds. “I went back for it all, and I made sure Kaber suffered for everything he’d done to me.”

Yes, this part she knew. He’d gone back and given a hard, painful death to Kaber. Everyone at the FBI had known how the story ended, too. That’s why he’d been put on the extermination list. A brutal kill at sixteen—they’d just expected more blood and death to keep coming from him. “And what about the wolves?” she asked. “The shifters who’d been part of your father’s pack?”