“Then why would she say…” Darien didn’t say anything for a moment, then he grunted. “You said she’s not a gray wolf. Are you certain?”

For a split second, Jake mulled that over. Then he frowned. “Of course, I’m certain. I was with her in Breckenridge that first day.”

“What if she was bitten after you saw her?”

Jake considered that scenario, his hackles instantly rising. “Hell. If she’s been bitten recently, she most likely has very little control over the shift.” But that would explain why he was dream mating with her. She needed him desperately.

“She could have shifted at the gallery and didn’t know what else to do about being stuck in the ladies’ room.”

“It makes sense.” Jake let out his breath. It changed everything between them. “Then who turned her?”

“Someone who’s after her possibly, or someone who’s dead. That may be the reason she’s never tried to hook up with you. Without knowing you’re also a wolf, she wouldn’t want to risk discovery.”

“Hell. Alicia has to be frantic.” He only hoped to hell she was still alive so he could rescue her once again. And then they’d deal with all the issues she had to face—these men, a possible pack, her werewolf genetics, her need for a mate—him.

Silence met Jake’s ears, then Darien finally said, “All right. Well, Peter said she’s in a hell of a lot of trouble. You can’t go it alone.”

“I’m going to track her down, locate her scent, see what I can come up with.”

“Fine. But I’m sending Peter and Tom for backup. And next time you have the urge to rescue some damsel in distress, let me know first, will you?” Darien hung up on Jake.

Jake let out his breath in an exasperated huff. Yes, they worked together as a pack. And Jake was obligated to let his pack leader know what he was up to when there was trouble in the wind.

But that was under normal circumstances. This was way beyond normal. And he wasn’t about to wait for everyone to get a move on when he was well on his way to locating his dream mate, with or without his pack’s help.

Jake was doing this his way.

Chapter 11

As a gray wolf, Alicia bolted out of the hotel and ran at a gallop, tearing through the woods and keeping close to the road that would take her to Silver Town. At this point, she figured she had nowhere else to turn. Although in the back of her mind, she kept telling herself she shouldn’t try to locate Jake. That seeing him again would cause more problems than she was willing to face. He’d want to see more of her, to protect her. And she knew she’d end up having to bite him. Turn him. Just like Ferdinand had done to her. So that Ferdinand—in his own words—wouldn’t be alone. If she turned Jake, she wouldn’t be alone.

But she couldn’t do that to Jake.

So why was she still running toward Silver Town? Because for the first time in her life, she really didn’t know what else to do. And she realized then just how isolated she’d become. No real friends, not after her mother had been murdered by the Mob, and no family left.

Running through the pines and spruce and ash trees, she just hoped no one would shoot her.

She’d have given anything to see those bastards’ faces after she’d bitten the one in the arm who’d swung around to shoot her, once he’d broken into the room and seen his buddy sitting dead against the wall. His jaw had sagged, his eyes had widened, and he’d lowered his gun in surprise. She’d lunged at him as if it was instinctual and bitten as hard as she could, afraid anything less wouldn’t have gotten the message across.

And the other big, burly, black-haired man had squeaked like a girl when she’d swung her head to bite him. Danny Massaro. The guy she was supposed to serve a warrant on. Ferdinand’s brother, whom Ferdinand said would kill Alicia and him if Danny had the opportunity. She recognized his cologne. He’d been at Ferdinand’s condo and had come looking for her when she had hidden under the bed. He was partly responsible for Ferdinand’s death. Maybe even the one who had ultimately killed him or given the order.

Danny had fired off three shots at the night sky as he fell on his butt, trying to avoid the snap of her jaws and her wicked teeth.

For a damned instant, she’d wanted to arrest him! As if he’d have given her time to shift, dress, grab the arrest warrant and gun, and rearrest him. But then she’d regained her senses, and too concerned he might aim the gun at her the next time, she hadn’t stayed around to find out if he was aiming at her for sure.

She thought she might have bitten the other guy a little too hard, though. She wasn’t certain, but he’d lost the gun, which was her whole reason for biting him, and her jaws were so powerful that she hadn’t realized her own strength. It felt as though she’d crushed the bones. He had cried out in the most guttural pain, then dropped to his knees and collapsed on his face. He couldn’t have died, unless she’d given him a heart attack. Right now, she didn’t care. She was alive and wanted to stay that way. And the truth of the matter was, if he had died, that meant one less killer on Mario’s payroll who’d be after her.

She’d run across the street and headed for the woods, only looking back to see Danny still sitting on his butt, staring after her as if he had seen a ghost. Then he scrambled to his feet and ran into the room, ignoring his partner in crime. She was fairly sure he was looking to take care of her—as Alicia the woman, and not in a pleasant way—not realizing Alicia was the wolf that had just escaped them.

Her werewolf condition was wrought with mixed blessings. She didn’t like the lack of control she had with shifting. Especially when she couldn’t always shift at will or fight the shift during the full moon. But this biting business could come in handy. At least she was a lot more frightening as a wolf than she’d been as a woman with a gun. And to an extent, she liked her enhanced hearing, although trying to focus on one conversation at a time had proved difficult sometimes. The sense of smell was something else. She smelled way too many odors that she didn’t want to.

For the first time as a wolf, she’d run good and long and hard, and she wasn’t even tired. As a human, she couldn’t have run half as fast or long without having gotten stitches in her side and leg cramps. She would have been doubled over, trying to catch her breath. In that sense, she loved the freedom that being a wolf gave her. Until she saw a pickup truck on the road beside the woods headed toward her.

Before she could dodge deeper into the forest, the truck applied its brakes and screamed to a halt. She nearly had heart failure and dove deeper into the woods.

A man hurried out of the truck yelling, “Alicia Greiston! Wait!”

She stumbled in surprise to hear the man calling her name, and the odd familiarity in his voice made her pause for a second.

The door slammed and the sound of crashing through the underbrush forced another healthy shot of adrenaline surging through her veins, and she bolted again.

He couldn’t think he could chase her down. And how the hell did he know her name? That she was the woman who was now a wolf? Had Ferdinand told someone that he’d turned her before he died?

That was the only reasonable explanation she could come up with. But even so, how would he know she was in these woods?

“Alicia! It’s me!”

The man’s voice sounded like Jake Silver’s. The truck, now that she thought about it further, did look like Jake’s. But it couldn’t be him. That had to be wishful thinking on her part. Wishing he’d come to her rescue. A wolf’s rescue, rather.

Whoever it was would never catch up to her. Then just as abruptly, she didn’t hear the sound of his crashing through the underbrush any longer, and she slowed to a trot. She didn’t want to get too far away from the road and lose her way.

But then she heard something else. Something quieter approaching her at a run. She whipped around and nearly had a heart attack. A big gray wolf was running toward her, and her heart skipped beats all over the place. She turned to run away, but he leaped and tackled her. Her heart stuttered.

With his heavier weight, she fell beneath him, and he pinned her down, his mouth at her throat, forcing her to hold still. He didn’t hurt her, but she knew that those wicked teeth clamped around her throat could kill her instantly.

Oh, God, she’d managed to save herself from a bunch of thugs only to be killed in the wild by a real wolf.

She whimpered, scared out of her wits, wanting to thrash at him with her teeth but afraid he’d crush her throat. He was panting and so was she. His chest heaved, but hers even more so since she’d been running for so long. Forever, it seemed, he just held her there, not letting her up, pinning her to the forest floor, in charge, in control. Wouldn’t he be surprised if she just shifted into a woman? Yeah, and then he’d kill her for sure.

He couldn’t be thinking of mating with her, could he?

Oh, God, what a horrible thought.

She struggled a little, testing him to see his reaction. He squeezed tighter on her throat, still not hurting, but showing her he was in charge.

She might not have grown up around wolves, but she got the distinct impression his actions meant hold still, don’t move, or else. She held still. She was a quick learner.

She closed her eyes, tired from running and being up late with her dream lover and fighting the bad guys. The wolf relaxed his grip on her throat, but as soon as she moved just a hair, he clamped down again—not injuring her, just keeping her where he wanted her. She’d already gotten the point, but they couldn’t stay like this forever. What did he want with her?

The roar of an engine, braking of a vehicle, and slamming of two doors up at the road forced a fresh wave of panic to swallow her whole. She struggled to get up; the wolf forced her to lie still. He couldn’t be crazy enough to want to keep her here. What if those who were coming were Mario’s men? More than that, no wolf in its right mind would want to remain here when humans were approaching.

“Jake?” a man called out. His voice sounded eerily like the first man who had yelled after her, calling her by name.