“Malachi, come in.”
Rhett. Malachi sprang to his feet and bolted to the kitchen. “Go ahead.”
“They’re here. They crossed my land, moving fast toward you. Over.”
Adrenaline spurted through his system along with the anger of the wolf.Trespassers. “I’ll meet you out there. Calling the pack—who else is hearing this? Over.”
After barely a pause, Ezra’s voice came over the radio. “I copy, Mal. You and Rhett can go deal with the rogues; the rest of us will head for Rhett’s place. I’ll make sure everyone gets the message. Over.”
“I’m closing in on them, going dark,” Rhett said. “Over and out.”
“Ezra,” Malachi said, “I need to do the same. You stay on the walkie until everyone’s aware and on the move.”
“On it.”
“Over and out,” Malachi said and switched off the walkie-talkie. He could now smell Rhett approaching the cabin at a run.
Tonight he had gone to sleep wearing jogging pants and a T-shirt, in case of another nightmare after which April threw open the bedroom door. In long pants he couldn’t tolerate even the sheet on him without overheating, but that was a secondary concern to facing his mate half-naked again. Good choice after all, given he was about to go hunting. He hurried to the entryway closet and pushed his feet into his running shoes. He tested the air again for scents, especially an unknown wolf’s, but…no. Only his mate’s scent approaching from down the hall. He chafed at the waiting, spoke quickly when she reached him.
“They’re on my land. I’m going after them. I’ll send Rhett back for you as he’s closest.”
“Should I run across to—”
“No.” There wasn’t time for more words. As he stepped out of the house, he said, “Wait for Rhett. I’ll see you there.”
He shut the door and broke into a lope. Rhett smelled enraged in his way, a scent too familiar to cause alarm on its own. Malachi met him just past the property line in the dark.
“They’re close,” Rhett said.
Rage heightened in Malachi’s blood, meeting Rhett’s. But he shook his head. “I don’t smell them.”
“I don’t either now. They’re teasing or baiting or something. Moving in and out of range, I don’t know. But I’m telling you, they’re moving this way as a group of five, coming from the forest behind my place. I think they made a mistake, got too close to me and then retreated. I don’t like that I lost their trajectory, but I don’t need the scent to calculate it.”
“They know she’s here,” Malachi growled.
“Which should be impossible; they haven’t been close enough to smell her, or we’d have smelled them. But the speed they were moving—they’re not sniffing around, Malachi. They’re running straight at your cabin and your mate.”
My mate!The wolf inside began snapping, growling, snarling with such boiling fury, Malachi had to blink, force his mind to think again. He wanted to tear the rogues apart and leave them all in a mangled heap. He had never in his life yearned so hard for blood.Protect my mate. Protect my pack.
Dashing out after them alone would be foolish. Malachi might need Rhett’s nose.
“Come with me,” he said, “in case you smell them first. Then I’ll go after them and you’ll come back here. Get April to your safe room. If anyone hasn’t been reached on the radio, go after them too. I wantno oneleft vulnerable in their homes.”
“And when that’s done, I’ll come in as backup. I’ll bring whoever shows up in time.”
In timewas a sensible qualifier; Malachi would no doubt be finished with the trespassers before Rhett could get back to him. But he nodded. Then they were off, loping headlong, balance and senses perfectly attuned.
Two acres from home, the wave of odors slammed into Malachi’s senses, and he skidded to a stop. Beside him Rhett did the same, heels digging into the forest floor. Yes, five wolves, not six—how had April been wrong about that? Five gamey essences overlaid with individual scents, mostly of bitter herbs.
His body caught fire with the righteous fury of the alpha, and a roar tore from his throat.TRESPASSERS!The word screamed in his head, and the wolf inside him screamed with rage.
Smelling Malachi and hearing his roar, the rogues began to mill in circles, yipping high in their throats, stirring up their scents yet keeping almost out of scent range. Yes, they were playing. Baiting.
“Go on,” he snarled to Rhett.
With a quick nod, Rhett turned and bolted full-speed back to the cabins.
Malachi stalked forward. The rogues drew back. No. They wouldnotescape him. The predator alpha, the one who abused and forced his mate—Drew would not escape him. Another hundred feet, and his nostrils flared. New scents hung in the air, scents that did not belong here. Composite metals. Gunpowder. The rogues had brought guns onto the Lane. Onto Malachi’s land.
