Elizabeth's Wolf

Chapter Twenty-Seven

He was in love with her. Elizabeth watched Dash the next morning as he moved through the brush ahead of her, showing her by his actions how to pass through the forest without a sound. It amazed her. As he moved by, he disturbed nothing. Not a leaf or a breath of air. Birds chirped in a steady symphony, squirrels continued to play and the sounds of the mountain remained steady, uninterrupted.

When she moved to follow him, no matter how hard she tried, the forest around them stilled by several degrees and she felt as though the wildlife was laughing at her attempt to mimic Dash’s grace and ease of movement within the forest.

He watched her with narrowed eyes for long minutes.

“Stop. Watch.”

He wasn’t big on words during the training phases he had set up. Since the night before and his whispered declaration, he had been even quieter than normal. She knew she had hurt him. Knew her silence had pricked at him.

She watched him now as he had ordered. Watched each shift of his body, each ripple of muscle. He had discarded his shirt earlier and was now dressed only in the camouflage pants he wore in the wilderness. The dull, forested colors seemed to suit him, blending in with the raven’s black of his hair, the dark tanned tint of his flesh. He moved through the trees and underbrush with a confidence born of his savage DNA. He was natural, a part of the land and the battle for life that flowed through the mountain.

“Your objective is to blend with the area around you as much as possible.” His voice was smooth, flowing, caressing over her like the soft breeze that rustled the trees. “If you know you can’t achieve the silence needed, then wait for the breeze. It ripples through the land, and any slight noise made then can be attributed to it. Your enemy is listening for the unusual, the out of place. He’s not searching for the sounds that are commonplace in his territory.”

He waited for another breeze before slipping through a thick growth of fern and tall, blossoming bushes. She saw the leaves rub together, saw his legs as they parted the brush, but the sound of the wind whispering through the leaves overhead covered it.

“There will be dogs on the estate,” he told her as he paused at the other side of the greenery. “Highly trained animals. We’ll go in downwind of them and time our penetration of the house with the guards’ rounds to keep them from catching our scent. But it means we’ll have to be fast. Fast and quiet aren’t always good companions. So you have to get this right.”

She did love him. She watched him move through the thickest parts of the underbrush, teaching her what she needed to know to survive, to go after an enemy that would kill them if they were caught. He trusted her to cover his back, to fight alongside him. And despite her refusal to give him that final commitment, he hadn’t wavered in his determination to protect her and Cassie as best he could. And he knew she would have to fight, have to be a partner as well as a lover when knowledge of Cassie’s birth was revealed.

“Remember, Elizabeth, the mission comes second place to making certain we survive it. We do nothing that stacks the odds against us, because we can always fight another day. And there are other ways to protect Cassie if we have to. This is the most efficient and the most logical at the moment. If it fails, we pull out. Do you understand me?” His voice had hardened as he turned back to her.

She nodded slowly, watching him with careful intensity. His expression was somber, as he always was while training her.

“Good.” He nodded, a bleak, dark look entering his eyes for just a second. “Any questions?”

“Why do you love me?” The question seemed to surprise them both.

He stared at her in amazement for all of five seconds before his brows snapped into a fierce frown.

He grimaced then, shaking his head. “Hell, Elizabeth, why do you do that?”

“What?”

“Wait until I’m fucking distracted to ask something so idiotic. For a smart female, that was one of your dumber questions.”

Her lips thinned at the insult as she crossed her arms over her breasts and watched him angrily.

“I don’t consider it a stupid question,” she informed him heatedly. “Seriously, Dash. It’s not as though I have a lot of experience with men telling me they love me. Maybe I need a little clarification.”

“Clarification of what?” he snapped, his eyes glittering dangerously. “Figure it out. When you do, let me know, because right now I’m more inclined to turn you over my knee and paddle your ass for asking me that question. Now get your ass over here and don’t make a sound doing it.”

Her blood heated at the order. She more or less stomped over to him, stopping an inch from his body and staring up at him confrontationally.

“You’re dead,” he snarled. “If this was Grange’s estate you would have just alerted every damned guard and dog on the place.”

“Well it’s not Grange’s estate, and I asked a perfectly logical question,” she informed him furiously. Sometimes he reminded her that he was still a man, even if he was a Breed. And men were nothing if not harder than hell to get along with. “I deserve an answer.”

“If you don’t know, then you don’t deserve jackshit,” he snapped.

“Fine.” She was ready to kick his shins for being so damned stubborn. “Keep it to yourself, big boy, and I’ll keep just as quiet about why I love you. Better yet. I’ll be quiet period. I’m going back to the cabin.”

She turned to do just that, but before she moved more than a step he had gripped her arm and jerked her around.

“What did you just say?” he growled.

“Not a damned thing.” She jerked her arm out of his grip. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m hot, I’m hungry and I’m mad. So you can kiss my ass. I’ve had it for the day.”

He snagged the back of her pants, pulling her to a stop as he loomed over her dangerously. “You’re going to keep teasing me with that sweet ass, baby, I’m going to take it.”

She tossed him an exasperated look. “You can stop with the threats. We both know there’s no way. Now, I’m hungry. Go away and hunt or something. You’re bothering me.”

He released her, but she was more than aware he did so not because she was able to jerk away from him, but simply because he decided to do so.

“You go right ahead and convince yourself of that, baby.” He smirked. “Go on to the cabin. If I don’t find my self-control, I’ll show you just how possible it really is. And we’ll discuss your lack of common sense in daring me later.”

An unladylike snort was her only response as she hurried away from him. It would teach her to tell that hulking, arrogant piece of male flesh that she loved him. But she realized she was smiling as she trekked back to the small cabin. She was smiling and filled with a warmth she hadn’t believed possible. He had to really love her, she thought as she came off the mountain. Otherwise, he would have been pissed rather than just irritated.

Then she stopped. For a moment, she wasn’t certain why, she came to an abrupt complete stop and slid behind the trunk of a centuries-old oak. Her heart was suddenly racing out of control, her skin prickling with a sense of danger, with an abrupt change in the air.

There wasn’t a sound. The birds weren’t singing, and it felt as if the forest was held in a suspended state of waiting as the land watched whatever new game was playing out. She felt behind her, gripping the butt of the gun Dash insisted she carry. She pulled it free, checked the clip silently and flipped off the safety.

Where was Dash? She turned, staring back from the direction she had come, but seeing nothing. Could he sense the change from above her?

Don’t do anything stupid. The refrain began to repeat through her mind. Retreat if you have to. Fight another day. But where was Dash?

She forced her heartbeat under control, breathing deeply as she calmed the heavy throb of her pulse in her ears and fought to listen closely to the sounds around her. A breeze, a rustle to her right.

She shifted again, moving along the trunk of the tree to ensure she stayed hidden. Weapon ready, she crouched along the base of the tree, peering around it carefully. There. A swiftly moving shadow as though something or someone had slipped along the edge of that outcropping of boulders several feet from the tree she hid behind.

Oh God. Had Grange found them? Had he somehow learned what they were doing? She turned, putting her back to the tree, watching the area around her with narrowed eyes as she considered her options. Whoever it was was more a danger to her than to Dash. But what if the irritation filling him had dulled his senses? He was upset with her. He might not be as careful as he should be.

How many were there? Where were they?

She breathed in deeply, nostrils flaring as she had watched Dash do, but nothing came to her. She couldn’t sense where they were hiding, had no idea how to get into position for a better view.

“Hey lady, where’s Dash?” She flinched as the male voice echoed from the boulders she had spied seconds before.

She stayed silent.

“Come on. I know he’s up here. I just have to talk to him. Just let me know where he’s at and everything’s cool.”

She was trembling. She could feel the breeze whispering over her chilled flesh as a sense of dread filled her.

Stay silent when uncertain, Dash had told her the day before. If you’re hidden, you’re hidden. No matter how much they think they know where you are, there’s always a chance you managed to move. Your best defense is silence.

She stayed silent. She didn’t shift or move, merely watched the land before her. She could see nothing from her side, couldn’t sense any movement behind her.

“Lady, I’m getting pretty tired of sitting back here. I know you’re there. I can smell Dash all over your body. Now tell me where the hell he’s at.”

Fear flashed through her. Oh God. How could he smell her? He had to be a Breed. Or lying. Lying, she decided. Callan and the Felines were the only Breeds aware of their location and they had Dash’s cell number. They wouldn’t be sneaking around the mountain.

“Killing you would be so easy,” the voice snarled with controlled fury. “Stop being stupid and answer me.”

“Killing you would be easier.” Dash. His voice seemed to echo around her as dizzy relief flooded her body. “Drop your weapon and move out where she can see you. Don’t fuck with me, either. This is my territory. You can’t win.” Silence filled the mountain for long moments. “Elizabeth, move around to your right carefully, keep that gun trained between his thighs until I get there. We don’t want to kill him if he gets stupid, just hurt him real bad.”

Giddy pleasure washed over her as she moved carefully to do as she was ordered. As she rounded the tree, she almost dropped the gun in shock before she managed to direct it as Dash had ordered her.

She blinked over at the stranger, watching as his pale eyes regarded her calmly, his hands held carefully away from his body.

“You’re his woman.” His eyes were narrowed on her intently.

She swallowed tightly, refusing to speak. His lips quirked in amusement.

“He did good.” He nodded. “Better than I expected.”

“Simon, you stupid son of a bitch.” Dash entered the small clearing, anger vibrating through every pore of his body. “Are you trying to get your ass killed?”

He was obviously a soldier of some sort. He held himself with careful readiness, his lean, muscular body poised for action. He had short dark hair, pale blue eyes and the face of a fallen angel.

“Trying to help you.” The other man shrugged. “I waited forever at that cabin and decided to come looking for you. Your woman sensed me, though. She’s good.”

Dash glanced over at her and Elizabeth basked in the approval of his gaze.

“Elizabeth, meet one of the men I fought with overseas. What the hell he’s doing here I have no clue.” He flashed the man a hard look as he lifted his arm and indicated to Elizabeth that she should come to him.

“I told you what I was doing here,” he said with a slow, soft southern drawl. “I’m not alone. I have a unit waiting back at that cabin. We didn’t want to surprise you too bad.”

Elizabeth felt Dash’s body tighten in surprise.

“A unit?” He frowned. “What the hell for?”

“Caught wind of what you were up to here.” He shrugged as he leaned down carefully and retrieved the weapon he had dropped. He holstered it immediately. “Taking that bastard won’t be easy, Dash. I’ve pulled my old team together and we’re here to help.”

Despite the soft, pleasant drawl, Elizabeth glimpsed a stubbornness in the man Dash called Simon that warned her he wouldn’t back off easily.

Dash was watching him, not suspiciously, but in confusion.

“Why?” Dash shook his head. “This isn’t your fight, Simon. Or your units. And I sure as hell can’t afford your fee.”

Simon’s full, sensual lips quirked mockingly. “Consider it a freebie,” he said softly. “Let’s head back to your cabin. I have Stephanie making coffee. Hope you don’t mind. And the others are waiting impatiently.”

There was a long tense silence then.

“Oh hell. You pulled the Ladies in,” Dash groaned as though pained. “Simon, dammit, those women are vicious.”

“Best kind.” Simon nodded. “And they’ve been damned worried about your sorry ass since hearing about this fool’s mission you’re on. Don’t you know better, Dash? Grange will have an Army waiting on this pretty thing you’ve got. And if he gets her, you know damned good and well he’ll have the kid eventually.”

The lazy drawl, the redneck attitude and sinfully good looks were a combination that could have been devastating if it weren’t for the fact her body and her heart belonged to Dash. Simon was the least likely-looking soldier she could have imagined. He looked like a good ole boy playing at being a warrior.

“Is he for real?” Elizabeth asked Dash.

“Unfortunately, he is.” Dash sighed. “Come on, you can meet Simon’s Ladies.”

“His Ladies?” she asked suspiciously.

Dash glanced down at her with something akin to resignation. “Yeah. His Ladies.”