Free Black Wolf's Revenge by Tera Shanley Page A

ordered this. The packs in Montana are pretty small, so I’m pretty sure you killed off a majority of it. Jason says he’s sure they’re taking her back to Montana. What did the wolf who got away look like?”
    “Black hair, about five-foot-eleven or six-foot, somewhere around there. Dark eyes, slim build.”
    “Sounds like their second. The alpha, John Gates, is a tall blond Viking-looking guy. Jason tracked down a couple of their pack photos from last year’s Summit, so they are recent.”
    “Do we know where this Gates guy lives?”
    “We’ll know by mid-morning, I think. The guys aren’t sleeping, only tracking. They’re following up on every lead.”
    Propping himself up on his elbows and ignoring the screaming pain from his middle, he asked, “When can I get out?”
    She crossed her arms and frowned thoughtfully. “Dean has the keys, but I know where he hides the spare,” she said with a toothy grin. She came back a few minutes later and opened the lock. He stood stiffly. Bandages constricted his torso and gave him the itch to shrug out of them.
    “How long was I out?” he asked, pulling his shirt gingerly over his head.
    “Only a day. How did they get to Morgan? I thought you were watching them.” There was no accusation in her voice--only curiosity.
    “They hunted as a pack. Maybe they made me and figured I was a threat. Taking Lana must have been their plan to split us up. And when I went after her, two others took Morgan. She wasn’t moving by the time I saw him putting her in the trunk. He must have knocked her out with something. I know she fought him because the whole entryway was torn up.” Stretching stiff muscles, he tested his flexibility with the bandages.
    “Wade says you are healing well, that you are strong. I mean, I’m glad you have werewolf healing power, because I literally saw your intestines poking out of your stomach. You scared me, Grey.” Catching him by surprise, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and leaned her cheek against the bandages. It had been a long time since anyone had touched him, and though it hurt, he patted her back awkwardly. A thirteen-year-old girl had no business seeing a friend bleeding out in front of her, and it had to have been scary thinking she was going to lose a friend after everything she’d seen as a child. “Hey, I’m all right. It’ll take more than a couple of creeps to get rid of me.”
    She laughed thickly and wiped moisture from her eyes. Her effort at a smile faltered as she dropped her gaze to the tile beneath her sneakers. “They won’t kill her, you know.”
    He strode past her and then paused on the stairs. “Marissa, you of all people know certain things are worse than death. An alpha has a potential breeder. How patient do you think he is going to be?”
    “I’m going with you,” she said. “I know you are going after her, and I want to go too. I can help. You know I can.”
    “I know you can help, that’s why I need you here,” he said, looking into her pleading face. “You are my link to the pack and I need the information they are tracking down. Dean isn’t going to like me going off on my own, but I have to bring her back. I can’t explain it, but her being gone? It’s on me. I know what Wolf is capable of, what I’m capable of, but I won’t have blood on your hands if we can avoid it. I need you here.”
    She stood defiantly on the stair below him. “Who is going to change your bandages? I can smell the blood soaking them. You are healing fast, but you are still hurt bad. And I can cover you when you go in there to get her. You know I’ll have your back.”
    “Stop, Marissa.” He shook her shoulders gently. “If you go, I will have you and Morgan to protect. I need to focus, and I won’t be able to if I’m worried about you too. I know you’re scared, but I’ll come back. I promise.”
    She looked down and nodded miserably. “Okay, then what do you need from me here?”
    “I need all of