Plague Wolf: Werewolf Romance (Wolf Wars Book 3) Read online

  "The fire department has confirmed they are responding to reports of a mass shooting at the county social services office."

  "Holy shit," Garrett swore as he concentrated on the radio. "What the hell is wrong with people?"

  Allyson shook her head and took in a deep breath.

  "I don't know. Let's just go. I still need to pack up some stuff so we can get out to the cabin before I turn."

  Garrett nodded and threw the pickup truck into gear.

  The two sat in silence as they listened to the radio report more bad news. Back at the house, Garrett planted himself in front of the television while Allyson packed a cooler of meat to ready herself for the coming nights at the cabin.

  "Hey, take a look at this."

  "What's that?" Allyson called back out to Garrett.

  "The victims of the shooting at the social services center. Not one of them was an employee. None."

  "You mean the shooter went in there just to shoot the people who were applying for help? That's awful!"

  Garrett squinted and concentrated on the television as the news showed photographs of the shooting victims again.

  "It's too random to be a coincidence."

  "What do you mean?"

  "I mean the people who were shot. There's a connection there somewhere other than the fact that they all happened to be sitting in line at social services at the same time."

  "Okay," Allyson said as she sat down to turn on the computer. "Let's take a look, shall we?"

  Garrett leaned over Allyson as she opened up the internet browser and started searching for information about the victims of the shooting. Each had gone to a different school. They’d held different jobs in different fields. Different ages, races, cultural backgrounds. Even different religions. Garrett was about to admit defeat when one article caught his eye.

  "Here, right here. You see this?"

  Allyson clicked on the link at the end of Garrett's finger and made the browser window larger.

  "Adam Winchell, blah, blah, blah, 35 years old, blah, blah, blah, you mean this right here? Hospitalized for nearly two weeks on April 29th of this year after being attacked by an unknown animal. Unknown animal?"

  "Check the others."

  Okay, Jennifer Miller... no reports of an animal attack. Oh, but wait a minute, she and her daughter were missing for several days following an automobile accident that happened on April 29th of this year. Her daughter didn't survive. Oh, that's sad."

  "What about the others?"

  "Right. Let's see. Derek Oaks. He lost his job after an extended camping trip."

  "When was that?"

  Allyson stared at her computer screen for several seconds before whispering, "April 29th."

  "I'm pretty sure the others all had some similar near-death experience that happened on or around April 29th. Am I right?"

  Allyson continued to pound away at the keyboard, running more searches and hoping that Garrett was wrong. She shook her head when she came to the realization that Garrett was on to something. He had found a connection that the police were sure to miss.

  "Yeah," she finally muttered. "George was in a boating accident and Martina had a hunting accident."

  Garrett nodded and stared at the television.

  "They were wolves. They probably haven't even had their first change yet, may not have even known what they were. But the shooter knew."

  "You think the shooter was a hunter?"

  "I'd bet my life on it."

  "So why come out so publicly shooting people like this then? Doesn't that seem dangerous? What if he gets caught?"

  Garrett drummed his fingertips along the back of the sofa.

  "I don't know. None of this makes much sense."

  "Okay. So, to stop this guy from killing other people, we need to find out who else he thinks is a wolf. Right? I mean if he's hunting wolves, then it makes sense that if we find one and watch over him or her, we can catch this guy in the act. Hopefully before he gets a chance to shoot anyone else."

  Garrett turned around and glared at Allyson.

  "Are you crazy?"

  She blinked, taken aback by the anger in his tone.

  "What? Why is that crazy?"

  "The guy is hunting wolves. And you want to go out and find the wolves? Are you trying to get added this this guy's hit list or something?"

  "No. But what do you think we should do? Ignore this and just let him go off and kill anyone he wants? Hope the police take care of it before he kills an innocent person? And what if I'm already on his hit list? What if he's staking the house out right now, waiting for the right time to come and shoot me? Come on, Garrett. This is us. This is what we do. We help people. I can't stop doing that just because things get a little harder."

  Garrett shook his head and stared at the floor.

  "Allyson. I understand why you want to get involved in this. I really do. But I'm not going to let you get--."

  "Let me?"

  "I didn't mean--."

  "You aren't going to let me? Since when do you have to let me do anything?"

  Allyson stormed out of the room and into the kitchen, leaving Garrett alone and growling at his poor choice of words.

  ‘When am I going to learn’ he yelled at himself, mentally.

  *****

  He stopped talking to study her. Allyson took in a deep breath and turned around to face him. Her green eyes speckled with red and brown fire, and her cheeks were heated pink with anger. She bit her lip and gazed at him.

  "I hate arguing with you," he said. "The last time we argued, you ended up getting kidnapped by my old boss from when I was a hunter. I was scared I was never going to see you again."

  Allyson sighed and stared at the floor in front of Garrett's feet.

  "I know," she said. "I hate arguing with you, too. But ever since you and Amber got me back from Tim, it feels like you don't trust me anymore. How can I feel like we're on the same team if you don't even trust me anymore?"

  Garrett stepped up and rubbed her shoulders.

  "I'm sorry, Allyson. I'm so sorry. I never meant for you to feel as though I didn't trust you. I do trust you. I absolutely trust you. How could I not? Before you, I believed werewolves were evil, mindless monsters who killed indiscriminately. You, you're kind," he paused to kiss her cheek.

  "You're gentle," he whispered and then kissed her other cheek.

  "You're honest."

  He brushed her long hair back away from her shoulders and kissed the nape of her neck.

  "Intelligent."

  He pulled the strap of her tank top over to the side to kiss her other shoulder.

  "And you're getting really good with a gun," he said as he stood up straight. "I mean, really good. Scary good. You could probably shoot yourself with a gun in the heart from twenty feet away."

  Allyson fought back a smile and shoved Garrett away from her. He latched onto her hands and pulled her over to him until her lips landed on his.

  He wrapped her arms around his neck and she followed with a light moan. He smiled as he pulled his tongue back from her lips and cupped her face in his hands.

  "I trust you, Allyson. I absolutely trust you."

  She smiled and traced her fingertip along his earlobe. Without a word, she jumped up to her tiptoes and leaned in for a long kiss. Garrett hoisted her up and plunged his tongue into her hot mouth.

  He carried her over into the front room and laid her on the sofa, still kissing her.

  Chapter Four

  Allyson and Garrett rocked in each other's arms as if performing a choreographed dance. They melted into each other's rhythms as they made love on the sofa. When they were done, Garrett kissed Allyson's neck, lapping up her sweat as he tried to catch his breath.

  "Okay," said Garrett. "So let's finish getting ready to go."

  Allyson nodded and smiled. Her eyes stayed shut in peaceful contentment as Garrett started pulling his clothes back on.

  "Come on, Allyson. We've got to go."


  She took in a deep breath and groaned as she sat up.

  "Okay, fine," she said. "Hand me my tank top?"

  Garrett tossed it over to her. His hand froze in the air and his eyes widened.

  "Wait a minute," he whispered.

  "No way. This is not a good time for one of your crazy games that leaves me walking around the house topless for the day."

  "No, not that. Although, yeah, I won't argue if you decide to do that. But no. The wolves, I mean, the victims in that shooting. They were all wolves and they were all infected right around the same time. Right?"

  "As far as we can tell."

  "Okay. But how did five wolves get into Seattle to infect five more people and no one noticed?"

  "Well, I think the fact that someone just shot them all proves that someone did notice."

  "Right. I get that. But no one noticed the initial five. Five wolves coming into Seattle? Any hunter worth his salt would have noticed something like that. They are monitoring everywhere, all the time. It would have caused a stir."

  "Well, you missed it."

  "And so - hey wait a minute. What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

  Allyson giggled and pulled her tank top down over her head.

  "Sorry, go on."

  "Anyway. For five different wolves to come into Seattle at the same time and turn five different people is either an amazing coincidence, in which case hunters should have picked up on it. Or else it was coordinated and planned ahead of time. In which case we can track it."

  "What if it's not five different wolves?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "What if it was one wolf who came into Seattle and turned five people?"

  Garrett stopped moving and stared at Allyson.

  "Someone building a pack."

  "Has that ever happened before?"

  "I don't think so. Wolves form packs with other wolves. But I've never heard of a wolf going on the hunt for a pack."

  "Wait a minute," Allyson said as she jumped to her feet and landed back in front of her computer. "If someone is building a pack, handpicking victims to be a part of that pack, there has to be a reason, right?"

  "I don't follow."

  "I mean, they must have qualities that the one turning them thought would be useful as part of the pack. Kind of like how rats can smell whether or not a potential mate has a disease. He must have sensed something about these people."

  "Uh-uh," Garrett said as he pulled her chair away from her computer desk. "Come on, we have to g--." He stopped his sentence abruptly as his attention settled back on the television. His stare at the television set was so intense, it drew Allyson's gaze over as well.

  "Three more people were left dead when David Hunt, the suspect wanted for questioning in connection with today’s shooting at the social services building, led police on a high-speed chase down the freeway. Police can confirm Hunt is now in custody...."

  "Holy shit," said Allyson.

  "Yeah," Garrett replied. "Come on. Let's go."

  *****

  They loaded the cooler into the back of Garrett's pickup truck and climb in.

  "We'll head out to the cabin," Garrett repeated. "Stay low at the cabin while all this breezes over. The hunter is behind bars now, so there's no reason for us to try to find out who his next planned kills are."

  "Still, though. We should try to find out who turned those wolves in the first place. He might have turned more than just the five."

  Garrett nodded as he pulled out of the gas station.

  "Agreed. But we don't have to worry about that right now. We can worry about that after this lunar cycle."

  Allyson gazed out the window. The three hours it took to drive out to the cabin at Lake Youngss was serene, calming, and boring. She longed for a day when she could prepare for her transformation without having to pack up and leave her home to go stay at the cabin. Which seemed funny to her, since she used to dream of living in a cabin out in the woods.

  She closed her eyes and focused on the stream of wind coming in through the cracked window. It cooled the sweat along her hairline.

  "Allyson," Garrett's voice woke her up.

  "What?"

  "Take a look."

  Allyson rubbed the sleep from her eyes and peered out into the bright afternoon sun. Garrett had parked the truck down the road from the cabin, away from the main driveway. Several men were rummaging through the garage and walking around peering through the windows to the cabin.

  "What the fuck?" Allyson pulled herself from her sleep. "Who are they? Are they here for me or for you?"

  "I don't know," said Garrett. "I'm going to leave the truck running and go check it out."

  "What? No."

  "Yes. Listen. I want you to slip over here to the driver's seat. I'm just going to go up and check it out. If something goes wrong, you throw the truck in reverse and get the hell out of here."

  "Garrett, no. What the hell makes you think I'm going to be okay with this plan?"

  "I don't think you're going to be okay with this plan. But this is the plan we're going with for right now."

  Garrett slipped out through the truck door before Allyson could argue further.

  "Garrett!" she yelled at an intense whisper. "Garrett!"

  Allyson slammed her palm against the edge of the steering wheel and grunted.

  *****

  He didn't bother turning around to listen to her. Garrett was already trotting through the trees and making his way up the main driveway to the cabin.

  "You," he said as he grabbed his gun from the waistband of his pants and pointed it at the man closest to him. "Name. Now."

  The man jumped and whirled around. He reached for the gun resting in its holster at his side, but stopped when he realized that Garrett's gun was pointing at his head.

  "Daryl," he said. "Daryl Winters."

  "What the fuck is going on here, Daryl Winters?" Garrett asked.

  "Who are you?"

  "I'm the man who will blow your fucking head off if you don't answer my questions," Garrett said. "So, again, what the fuck is going on here?"

  Daryl glanced around and then straightened his stance and relaxed his shoulders.

  "You're Garrett, aren't you? You used to be a hunter but then you fell in love with a wolf and turned traitor."

  Garrett pulled back the hammer of his gun without saying a word.

  "All right, all right, all right," said Daryl. "We're hunters. We got word of a large wolf pack forming out here. Something about a war. We tracked you and your girl to this cabin and we just wanted to ask her a few questions. See if she knew anything."

  "What war?"

  "We don't know. We just got a warning that a war was coming. Next thing we knew, we heard there was a wolf out somewhere trying to build an army. Our search led us to Seattle. You mean to tell me that you never saw anything?"

  Garrett clenched his jaw and stared at Daryl. The other men walking around the cabin each froze in place and turned to stare at him.

  "No, Daryl. I never heard anything about any war. But I haven't exactly been in the game for a while now."

  Daryl studied Garrett and shook his head.

  Chapter Five

  "So, you expect me to believe that you never noticed the surge in wolves up here. And you know nothing about this war? That no one has tried to recruit your girl?"

  "That's exactly what I expect you to believe."

  Garrett clenched his lips into a straight line. His eyes darted from one hunter to another. He didn't recognize any of them.

  The idea that groups of hunters seemed to know so much about him and Allyson didn't sit well. Garrett's gut tightened and heated from the nauseating thought. He'd hoped moving to a new house would have helped hide Allyson.

  "Hey Daryl, we found the truck. Girl's inside," the radio hanging on Daryl's belt sounded.

  Garrett's eyes dropped to the radio and traveled back around to the other six hunters standing scattered across the porch of the cabi
n.

  He took a couple of steps back and glared at Daryl. More hunters came out from the trees to surround him.

  "Come on, Garrett. We aren't stupid. I know you'd say just about anything to keep us away from… what's your wolf's name again? Doesn't matter. I know you'll say anything to keep her safe. I'm betting the same is true for her."

  Gunshots echoed through the trees, followed by several screams. The other hunters each walked over closer to Daryl and Garrett, guns drawn. Daryl smirked and grabbed the radio from his belt.

  "God damn it, Boris. I said no guns."

  "Sorry, Daryl," the radio replied. "She got the jump on us."

  "Let her know we have Garrett. She'll cooperate."

  Garrett's heart thumped in his chest. He held his breath and waited to hear the engine of his pickup truck rev and the tires squeal as she made her escape. Instead, five more men stumbled out of the trees dragging Allyson with them.

  Blood trickled down her cheek and mud had splashed up the bottom of her jeans. She jerked her hands free from the hunters and ran over toward Garrett.

  "There's too many of us," Daryl said. "Like I said, we aren't stupid. Just answer some questions and--."

  Garrett didn't wait for Daryl to finish his sentence. He pulled the trigger. Daryl's head threw back and before Garrett's arm reset from the recoil, Daryl fell to the ground, dead. The other hunters start yelling and taking aim. Garrett turned Allyson on her heels and pointed her toward a gap in the circle of hunters.

  "There. Go," he yelled as he pushed her along in front of him.

  She didn't hesitate. Allyson took off running, ducking beneath branches and darting between tree trunks. Garrett's footsteps pounded against the ground behind her, urging her forward. Moments later, guns fired behind them. The hunters started yelling. Garrett knew that someone stepping up to being the new leader would take some time, and while they argued about it, it would be chaos. He just hoped it would take enough time to give him and Allyson a head start.

  Bullets zipped through the air and exploded on tree trunks. Bark flew and cracked as Allyson ducked and twirled to dodge the hunters' aim. Garrett stayed tight on her heels as she ran.

  The truck sat, doors open, just where the hunters had left it when they had grabbed Allyson. She jumped in and closed her door while Garrett ran around to the driver's side. A bullet pierced through the metal door and embedded into Allyson's thigh, invoking a scream.