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

  Garrett jumped in behind the steering wheel and grabbed the spare keys from the top of his visor. He threw the truck into gear.

  "Hold on," he yelled as he grabbed the back of Allyson's head and shoved it down below the dashboard.

  Allyson clutched her leg and screamed while Garrett concentrated his stare out the rear window. Bullets clanked against the front of the truck, and another cut through the windshield. Finally, Garrett backed the truck into a clearing wide enough to be able to turn around. The sound of the gunshots faded as he left the hunters behind.

  "Are you okay?" Garrett asked as he glared at the road ahead of him.

  "Argh," Allyson groaned and tried to sit up. "I'm losing a lot of blood."

  *****

  "Okay, can you hold on? I have to make sure they aren't following us. Then I can stop at the megamart and pick up what we need to sew you up. Can you hang on until then?"

  Garrett's eyes darted to the rearview mirror. An older model black car flew out of the side roads and entered the highway behind him. It came up fast on his bumper. Garrett glanced again, squinting into his rearview mirror.

  "Shit," he whispered as he jerked at the steering wheel. He pulled the pickup truck off the main highway and started darting through more side streets. "Allyson, answer me." He glanced over to the other seat. Allyson's color had faded almost completely from her face. Her grip loosened around her thigh, allowing more blood to spill out through her fingers. "Allyson." Garrett yelled again as he skidded into a turn down another road.

  Allyson blinked her eyes open and tried to sit up straighter.

  "I'm going into shock," she said.

  "We have to stop that bleeding," said Garrett.

  Allyson clenched her eyes shut and moaned her agreement.

  Garrett made a series of turns through a maze of side streets.

  He leaned over her lap into the glove compartment and started tossing items down to the floorboards. His head darted up and down as he tried to dig into the small cubbyhole while keeping his attention on the road ahead of him.

  A sharp corner snuck up on him and he had to grab the steering wheel with both hands to try to keep the truck on the road. Dust from the gravel behind him filled his rearview mirror, making it impossible to see if anyone was following him.

  "Check in there," Garrett said as he studied the road ahead of him. "There should be a needle and some thread in there."

  Allyson nodded and adjusted her seat so she could look. The sewing kit was at the bottom of the glove compartment shoved in the back. She shook her head and curled her fingertips into the hole torn into her jeans by the bullet and pulled.

  "You got it?" Garrett asked as his truck bounded down the gravel road.

  "I think so," said Allyson. She put the needle between her teeth and tore at her jeans more until she could see the wound. "It doesn't look like the bullet stayed in very deep. It went straight across the surface."

  Allyson closed one eye to try to focus on the needle as it bounced along in front of her. "I can't get the needle threaded."

  Garrett jerked the steering wheel again to turn down another road. Gunshots rang out from behind them as the black car pulled out from the side and nearly sideswiped them. Garrett growled as he pulled the pickup truck from one side of the road over to the other. Allyson screamed as her body rocked from side to side.

  "Fucking hell," Allyson said as she licked the end of the thread and squinted her eye to try again. "Do we have any disinfectant?" Allyson asked.

  Garrett scowled at the rearview mirror and then glanced over at Allyson with a cocked eyebrow.

  "Right," she said. "Sorry."

  A few more tries and Allyson managed to get the thread through the eye of the needle. She took a deep breath and used her fingers to close the gash in her thigh.

  The needle popped through the skin with a light cracking sound only Allyson could hear. She whined as she pulled it through. The blood on her hands made the needle slick, forcing her to wrap the thread around her fingers to give her added traction.

  She paused to take a few deep breaths before she could force the needle through again.

  "Argh!" she screamed and cried as she shoved the needle back through. "Fuck that hurts."

  "You have to calm down, Allyson. Come on. What would you tell a patient right now?”

  Allyson gritted her teeth, trying to control her shiver.

  "Have to. Keep. Them warm," she stuttered. She rolled her window up and turned on the heater. "And. Focus. On something. Else."

  "Okay, there you go. That's what you made me do when you had to sew up my should--."

  More gunshots whizzed by the truck.

  Allyson screamed and ducked her head back down. She took in a series of deep breaths and clenched her eyes shut.

  "Come on Allyson," urged Garrett.

  "Would you stop? Saying that?" Allyson yelled between deep breaths. Tears blurred her vision.

  "I'm going to lose them up here," Garrett said. "Just hold tight."

  He jerked the wheel all the way over to the left and pulled out onto a smaller highway. Horns honked and tires screeched as he cut into traffic and swerved between lanes. His eyes darted back to the rearview mirror again.

  The small black car pulled out into the highway and gave chase.

  "Son of a bitch," cursed Garrett.

  "What?"

  "What the fuck do I have to do to lose these guys?"

  Allyson pulled herself back up into her seat and took a deep breath. Then, she shoved the needle back through her skin again.

  Her eyes clenched shut and her head slumped over toward the window.

  *****

  Allyson had no idea how much time had gone by when Garrett woke her up. She glanced around, trying to orient her mind to where she was.

  "We're home? What happened?" she mumbled and rubbed her eyes.

  "You passed out," said Garrett. "I had to finish sewing your leg up for you. It's not pretty, but I managed to stop the bleeding. And I wrapped you up in a blanket and brought you in here."

  "How did you lose them?"

  "Well, it was easy once I blew by the state troopers’ headquarters. Pulled in there, drove around back, and waited. Little while later, I took off down another road and drove here."

  "What if they already know where we live?"

  "I don't think so. If they knew where we lived, they would have just come here instead of trying to get us at the cabin."

  Allyson nodded. Her temples throbbed. She grabbed the edge of the bed and tried to sit up. She rolled her thigh over in front of her to examine the stitches.

  "Wow, you weren't kidding when you said this wasn't pretty. It’ll be fine once I transform, though."

  Garrett smiled and leaned in to kiss her on the forehead.

  "I'm sorry."

  She giggled. "It's fine. It's probably just as pretty as it would have been if I had kept trying. Thank you. So, what happens now? We have to find a new place for me to turn."

  Garrett jumped to his feet. "First, you need to eat. We can try to figure out a plan and put food into your gut at the same time."

  Allyson rolled out of bed and changed into some clean clothes before following Garrett down the stairs and into the kitchen.

  "I ordered pizza," he said. "I know it's not the best of suppers, but given how we hadn't even planned on eating supper here, I figured it would be alright. Besides, we lost the cooler."

  "Lost the cooler? Do I even want to know how we lost the cooler?"

  Garrett chuckled and shook his head as he plopped two pieces of pizza down onto a paper plate and slid it across the table. "Probably not."

  Allyson sighed and stared at the table.

  "Are you okay?" Garrett asked.

  "Yeah," she shook her attention back into focus. "I was just thinking about Amber."

  "What about Amber?"

  "I was just wondering how she was doing out there in Montana. How her new pack was treating her. How maybe she ha
d the right idea to get out of the city."

  "You're thinking about leaving Seattle?"

  "I don't know. Sometimes I think it would be easier."

  "I thought we were doing good here. We just bought a house. I got that new job training security guards. And I thought you quit working at the hospital so you could just focus on you for a while. Maybe find a job you can even do from home so you didn't have to worry about the time off. Plus--"

  "I know," Allyson interrupted. "I know all that. And we were doing well. But then this happens. Every month a four-hour trek out into the woods just so I can turn and it… I just... Sometimes I think it might be easier if we didn't have to always worry all the time like that."

  Allyson crossed over to the refrigerator as she spoke. Garrett jumped up and edged in front of her to grab a pile of papers from the countertop.

  "What the hell was that?" Allyson asked.

  "Nothing. Sorry. I just… these were... I had these packed up for the trip out to the cabin this afternoon, but seeing as how we aren't staying there anymore, I started unpacking and didn't finish. That's all."

  "So why the hell did you run like that? What are you hiding?"

  "Nothing. I just know how much you hate it when I leave my stuff lying around the house."

  "Garrett. Why won't you answer my question?" Allyson said as she reached around to try to grab the papers from his hand.

  He jerked around, bumping into the cupboard and dropping the papers to the floor. A small box tumbled out of the pile. Garrett lunged to catch it, but Allyson beat him to it.

  "What the fuck is this?" she held up the small velvet box.

  "Allyson, before you say anything--."

  She opened the box to reveal a small diamond ring.

  "You were going to propose?"

  Her eyes filled with tears and her lip quivered.

  "Well, I--."

  Garrett couldn't think of the words he wanted to say. Every thought tripped over his tongue.

  "And you changed your mind," Allyson whispered. "That's why you were just trying to tuck it away. Those guys reminded you that my time is limited because I'm always going to be hunted."

  "No, Allyson. It's not like that."

  "Then you realized we can never have the life you want,"

  Allyson all but ignored Garrett. She paced around the kitchen, waving her arms around as she yelled. Garrett paced behind her, trying to grab her arms and turn her to him.

  "Allyson, no. Allyson. Allyson!" he yelled behind her. "Allyson, shut up."

  Allyson finally bit her lip and gritted her teeth. She turned to glare at Garrett, holding the box with one hand while her other hand rested on her hip. She ignored the pain welling up in her leg as she waited for Garrett to explain.

  "Yes, I was going to propose. No, I didn't change my mind about proposing - just about the timing. If Tim couldn't drive me away from you, no way some other random group of hunters was going to. I just didn't want to propose over a gushing leg while bouncing down a dirt road."

  The corner of Allyson's mouth tugged upward into a half a smile until she couldn't stifle it anymore. She giggled and shook her head before handing the box back over to Garrett.

  Seconds later, her giggle turned to more tears.

  "Don't. You were right to change your mind. We can't have the life you want."

  Garrett sighed and wrapped his arms around her. He buried his kiss in the top of her head and closed his eyes.

  "All right," said Garrett a few minutes later. "Where do you want to go?"

  "What?"

  "Come on, let's put a plan together. You tell me where you want to move to, where you think it will be better, and we'll pack up and leave tonight. I'll go online to hire an agent to handle renting out the house and taking care of the apartment, and I can always have our stuff shipped out to us, wherever we end up."

  Chapter Six

  "Do you mean it?" Allyson asked behind glossy eyes.

  "Of course I mean it."

  Garrett stroked her hair.

  "But I'm being so irrational."

  "You're not," Garrett smiled. "Come on, let's think. Where do you want to move to?"

  Allyson took a deep breath to calm her trembling hands and glanced around the kitchen.

  "Well, we won't be able to make it too far before it's time to turn tomorrow night. But we should aim for some place secluded. Where it's normal to live away from everyone else so we don't have to leave every month."

  "Become mountain hermits?"

  "Yeah, let's go to Colorado."

  Ha!" Garrett chuckled and shook his head. "All right, Colorado. I'm game."

  "Oh, or Nevada."

  "Nevada? Secluded?"

  "Well, once you get out of the whole Las Vegas thing, I think it's pretty much just desert and mountains, isn't it?"

  "And military."

  "Oh. Right. Okay so Nevada is out. Colorado?"

  "Colorado it is. I'll go map out a route and see where we can stop tomorrow so you can tur--."

  Allyson jumped into Garrett's arms, breaking off the end of his sentence.

  "Thank you," she said.

  *****

  Allyson awoke the next morning to the sound of fingers banging against the keyboard. She walked downstairs to pour coffee.

  "You didn't come to bed last night," she said as she dropped a mug off at the computer desk.

  Garrett's eyes stayed fixed on the computer screen, but he smiled and grabbed the cup of coffee.

  "Thanks. And yeah, I'm sorry. I meant to. I've just been a little caught up in getting this done."

  "Did you find a place?"

  "Well, kind of. There's this section of forest right here in Oregon that looks secluded. I think we could make it there in about nine hours."

  "Okay, great."

  "No. Not great. That means we would have to leave by noon at the latest. And I don't think we'll be ready to do that."

  Allyson checked the clock hanging on the wall.

  "Because it's already eight. Four hours isn't a lot of time to pack."

  "It's fine to pack for a night or a vacation, but not for a move."

  "Right."

  "So, alternative plan. We start getting ready for a move, but tonight we head to that bunker."

  "The Bunker. The bunker? You mean the place where Tim and his goons kept me caged and tortured me? That bunker?" Allyson's yells grew as she spoke.

  "I know it's not ideal."

  "Not ideal? What the fuck is wrong with you? Not ideal means having to cram into a queen-sized bed when the hotel doesn't have any king-sized beds left. Not ideal means having to pay full price for something retail because you missed the sale. Not ideal doesn't fucking mean going back into the torture chamber to--."

  "I get it. Okay. I understand. But Tim and those hunters aren't there. It's out of the way. It's defendable in case the other hunters show up. We pack, go there for the moon, then come back here and finish packing."

  Allyson bit her lip. Garrett grabbed her hand.

  "Okay, not the bunker. We won't do the bunker. There's an alternative, we can head out this way, toward Olympic. The closest town there is an old ghost town called Grisdale. It'll take about three hours to get there, but we should leave early just to kind of check it out. I have no idea what's out there. People, campers, I don't know."

  Allyson nodded and smiled.

  "Thank you."

  He smiled.

  "Come on. Let's get packed up. We need to go to the bank on the way."

  *****

  Allyson and Garrett ran through the house, rummaging through their belongings and throwing what they needed into boxes and bags. Garrett made several trips outside to pack as much as he could onto the back of the pickup truck.

  "All right," he said after a while. "I think that's all of the essentials. It should at least get us through the next few days."

  "Oh, what about the computer?"

  "I'm not going to be able to use it out there."
r />   "Oh, right. Sorry."

  "You're fine," Garrett chuckled.

  With the last box piled into the truck, Garrett and Allyson crawled in and belted up.

  "You know what, we should really let Sandy know what's going on," said Allyson.

  "Yeah, we don't have to tell her all the details or anything. But we should let her know that we're going to be moving out of town soon. She has the right to know. Plus, that way, if she is interested in being the agent it'll give her the chance to speak up. You know?"

  "Yeah, that's a good idea. Tell you what. I'll park over by the bank so you can get in line, and I'll run into the coffee shop to see if she's working today. If she's there, I'll let her into the loop and then meet you back at the bank."

  "Perfect."

  *****

  "Garrett!"

  Sandy waved as he entered the coffee shop. Her crooked tooth stuck out from her lips just slightly. It always made her look like she was getting ready to drool. But her smile was always genuine and bright.

  "Hi Sandy," he smiled.

  Before he could say anything, Sandy left the counter and started putting together two cups. Garrett checked his watch and shrugged. Always time for coffee, he thought as he leaned up against the counter and watched the barista at work.

  He didn't let the coffee stirrer sit in the coffee very long once she placed the cups onto the counter. Garrett took the stirrer and clenched it between his teeth right away.

  "How are you?"

  "Just peachy!" She smiled again. "How's Allyson?"

  Garrett chuckled and tipped his coffee to her.

  "She's great. Over at the bank right now. Subleasing that apartment to you and getting a house of our own was the best thing for her."

  "Well, Gary and I love the apartment. Thanks again for giving us such a great deal."

  "Of course. About that, Ally--."

  "Oh my God," Sandy's eyes and smile sank as her attention fell on the television in the corner of the room.

  "Oh, I hope it's nothing bad," said Garrett.

  "Is that another shooting? Oh my God, what bank is Allyson at?"