Wild Game (Wilding Pack Wolves 1) - New Adult Paranormal Romance Read online

  She ran her gaze over him in a way that wasn’t at all unpleasant. “I don’t have much time for casual play anymore… but I might make an exception for the man who’s in charge of making sure I live through the day.”

  “Sounds like a fair trade.” But his heart was thumping a little too hard for just walking.

  They had reached the outside of the VA hospital, and the bright Seattle sunshine lit up the street. The VA was an entire campus of medical buildings, tree-lined lanes, and supporting businesses. The black sedan Owen had borrowed from Riverwise stood waiting for them, along with the River pack member who had volunteered to be Nova’s driver. Her father had been killed by a car bomb, so they swept for those every time. The sedan’s windows were rolled down, and Murphy and Simpson were just finishing up their sweep under the vehicle, looking for incendiary devices.

  “All clear,” Murphy said, pulling the long-handled electronics detector out from under the car. Owen did his habitual sweep of the street, but everything looked normal‌—‌several cars parked along the winding, tree-dappled lane, some light traffic winding around the VA complex.

  He held open the door for Nova, and she stepped into the backseat. Owen barely got the door closed behind him when something small and metallic flew through the back seat window. Time slowed. He vaguely noticed a car driving past. His heart thudded once in his chest, then sunk to his stomach. The grenade tumbled to the floor and nestled right between Nova’s boot-clad feet.

  “Grenade!” He screamed and dove for it, knocking Nova into the cushion seat with one hand while the other grabbed at the grenade. Somehow he grasped it by his fingertips and flung it out the window. Then he slammed Nova down on the car seat and covered her body with his. A deafening blast heaved the car into the air and tumbled them.

  Nova screamed. He kept hold of her as the car flipped, pulling her tight against him and bracing out with his other arm. The car rolled, then dropped to a rest. She landed hard on his chest, and his back slammed against the roof, which was now the floor. Shouts sounded outside the car. Owen’s ears rang from the blast, and a sharp pain seared his chest… but it was only Nova’s claws. They had come out and dug into him, holding on for dear life.

  He kept his arms locked around her, but he dipped his face down. “You all right?”

  She gasped in air, then let out a squeak when she saw her claws ripping through the starched white fabric of his shirt. “Oh God, I’m sorry!” Her hands shifted back to human, and she tried to squirm away from him, but he just held her tight.

  “Nova Wilding, tell me if you are injured,” he demanded in his best command voice.

  She stopped her squirming and looked up into his face. Her eyes were wide and panicked. “No, I… I don’t think so.”

  “Then I’m getting you out of here.” He needed her calm so he could remove her from the scene as quickly as possible.

  She nodded shakily. He lifted her off his chest, and they managed to crawl out the window. Murphy helped her, and Owen followed quickly.

  “What the fuck was that?” Murphy was yelling at someone around the side of the car, but Owen didn’t give a shit about explanations at this point. He had to get her away from here.

  He grabbed onto Murphy’s arm to get his attention. “You secure the scene and call the police. I’m getting her out of here.”

  Owen didn’t wait for a response, he just swept his arm around Nova’s waist and practically lifted her off the ground as he hurried her down the sidewalk. He hunched his body around hers to protect her from any possible sniper shots or backup grenade-wielding assailants that might be positioned in case the first attempt went wrong. Hell, for all he knew, the first attempt was just a set up for the real attempt to follow. She was far from out of danger.

  He quickly glanced back at the wreckage of the car. The grenade had detonated out in the street, wiping out two trees and throwing shrapnel into a car across the street… but the worst of it was the driver. He lay motionless on the pavement, in pieces. The car itself had flipped onto its roof on the sidewalk, taking out another tree and smashing out the windshield.

  But none of that was his concern. His only thought was getting Nova to safety.

  He’d already outlined a safe location in the event of something like this, so without thinking, his legs carried them there. Down two streets, past a medical building, up a small winding tree-lined path. The VA complex was vast… they just needed a secure spot to retreat to until the threat was cleared. A loading dock loomed above them. Owen ushered her up the stairs and into the back side of the medical supply shop he had picked out as a safe retreat.

  There was no one in the warehouse, but Owen still pulled her all the way to the back between stacks of giant cardboard boxes and metal supply shelves.

  He spoke into the mic. “I’ve got NovaCaine sequestered. Let me know when ya’ll secure the building.”

  Now that he had released her, Nova backed up against one of the large stacks of cardboard boxes and stared at him with wide eyes. She was shaking so hard, her hair was fluttering around her face. His heart clenched, and he moved toward her on instinct. He took her by the shoulders and scanned her body. Dirt scuffed her costume body armor, but that was it, as far as he could see.

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” he asked again.

  “Y…yes.” But the word was even more jittery than she was.

  He pulled her into a hug. His hold was tight, pressing her to his chest, one hand secure around her back, the other holding her head against him. It was how he would hold a wild animal when it was frightened‌—‌locked down tight, nowhere to run, no sense in struggling. It calmed them… and it seemed to work on Nova as well. She made a little whimper sound and sunk into his chest, her hands bunching up the lapels of his jacket and burying her face.

  “Hey, now, darlin’, it’s over,” he said as softly as he could. “You’re fine now. No need to worry. We will stay put, right here, until everything’s clear.” He could feel the tremors in her body. It gave him the most peculiar feeling‌—‌a pure sort of satisfaction that she was willing to let him hold her mixed with a heady kind of rush that made him want more full-body clinging in his future.

  Her head shook against him, like she wasn’t buying whatever he was sellin’.

  “I promise, you’re safe,” he repeated. “This spot is as secure as it gets, given no one knows where we are. And I’m not fixin’ to leave until I know it’s safe out there again.” The rumble of his words seemed to stop the shaking. Her hair had worked loose and formed a sort of black halo around her head. His fingers worked into it, massaging and soothing her. He hoped.

  “Why?” she asked in a breathless whisper against his chest. “Why do they keep doing this?”

  Why were people trying to kill this amazing, beautiful woman? He didn’t have a good answer for that. Sure, the experiments that had been done on shifters like him had been exposed, and most decent folks were appalled, but some weren’t. And when a brave lady shifter stepped forward to run as the first openly shifter member of the House of Representatives… well, that just tipped the haters right over the edge. They doxed the River and Wilding packs‌—‌posted their personal information on a video on YouTube‌—‌and ever since, the threat of violence had hung over shifters everywhere. An asshole hate group had already taken credit for blowing up her father in a car bomb‌—‌what better way to terrorize the rest of the shifter world than to follow that up with a grisly death for his daughter?

  “They’re evil bastards,” Owen said. It was the only explanation he had for some things in this world.

  Her head started shaking again. Definitely a no. “I should never have come. I risked everyone’s life with this‌—‌”

  He leaned back, not letting her go, but enough that he could peer down into her face. “Hang on now, you did a good thing here. This wasn’t nothing you did wrong. These haters are pure evil on the earth‌—‌they are responsible for this. If anything, this is my fault for n
ot keeping a closer watch. That will not happen again.” It was slicing pain through him that somehow he hadn’t seen this coming… although a drive-by grenade toss wasn’t exactly something you could plan for. He hoped like hell someone had gotten a better look at the vehicle than he did‌—‌he couldn’t even identify the color to save his life.

  Nova peered up at him with those big, dark eyes. “You’re going to protect me.” She said it like a statement.

  “Yes, ma’am.” He wasn’t certain of much else except that.

  The charcoal lining around her eyes had started to smudge, like she had fought back tears but lost the battle. Her lips parted, and her chest heaved against his. Her nearness like this… this was a dangerous thing. He should let her go. But no way would he release her until she was ready. She let go of her hard grip on his jacket and flattened her hands against his chest.

  Then she took a breath and repeated, “You’re going to protect me.” But it was softer this time.

  “Always. I promise, Nova.” His voice had grown soft because somehow… something had changed.

  Suddenly, she slid her hands up his chest and grabbed the back of his head, pulling him down. She lifted up on her toes, and it was clear she aimed to kiss him. It took less than half a second of her lips on his before he was definitely giving as much as he was getting.

  His arms unlocked so his hands could press into her back and bring her closer. Her mouth opened to his, and he didn’t wait for any more invitation. He plunged in deep, tasting her, devouring what she eagerly offered. It was insane and intense… before he could get his head straight, he had her backed up against the cardboard boxes, pinning her petite armor-clad body with his. His hands plunged into her hair and angled her head to demand even more. He lost sense of everything‌—‌the time, the place, knowing this was neither of those. He just reveled in her tongue twisting with his, her teeth nipping at him, the small whimpering sound in her throat that was driving him mad. His body literally ached for more, his mouth watering to taste her everywhere. He was losing his mind in this kiss‌—‌

  “Owen? Owen, report! Are you all right?” The earbud squawked in his ear, and he jerked back, suddenly breaking the kiss.

  His breath was heaving, and her lips were swollen. It took him a full two seconds to come back to his senses and realize how completely messed up this was.

  He slowly reached for the mic clipped to his collar. Shit. Had they heard all of that? “Uh… yes. Everything’s fine.”

  “Strange sounds coming over your mic.” It was Murphy. “Thought maybe you were in trouble.”

  Owen held Nova’s wide-eyed gaze. “No, we’re good. Probably a mic malfunction from the blast. Turning it off for now‌—‌audio still active. Notify me when ya’ll get the place clear.”

  “Copy that.”

  Nova’s gaze dropped, and she straightened her black body armor unnecessarily, smoothing her kiss-mussed hair back in place. That pink tinge had returned to her cheeks.

  She’d never looked so beautiful as she did now, right after he had thoroughly kissed her. A tight feeling in his chest told him to stop, move back, apologize… all the things he had no interest in doing. Instead, he moved into her again, stopping just short of touching her. Or kissing her. Although he desperately wanted to do both.

  “Next time you want to kiss me,” he said, still breathing hard, “remind me to turn off my mic.”

  She shook her head in small rapid movements, looking everywhere but at him. “I can’t kiss you.”

  He leaned closer. “Is that right? Because I’d say you definitely know how.” Why was she pulling back? Just because he was a lowly Army grunt? Or her bodyguard? Never mind that Owen had trampled over every line of professionalism there was… somehow, he didn’t think that was it. Hell, he had no idea why she’d kissed him in the first place, much less decided not to do it again.

  “I just… can’t do this.” She put her hands on his chest again and pushed him away.

  He backed up all the way to the far shelving, giving her a dozen feet of room. He’d heard about the Wilding females, and how they were beyond hot in the sack… but he didn’t know what to do with this kind of hot and cold. Actually, he didn’t know what to do with any of it.

  She pointed a finger at him, but it was shaking. “This never happened. You tell no one.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” But it stoked an angry fire in him. Clearly, he wasn’t quite good enough for her. Not that she was wrong about that, but it still burnt his shorts.

  She folded her arms and retreated against the cardboard boxes again. Some of Owen’s anger dissipated in a wave of concern. What the fuck was he doing? Taking advantage of her distraught emotional state after she’d almost been blown up? Then feeling rejected because she didn’t want to carry on more in the back of the medical supply warehouse?

  He really wasn’t that kind of asshole.

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” He kept his voice soft.

  She nodded. But it was still shaky. “I just want to go home.”

  Fortunately, Murphy chose that moment to speak up again. “All clear. Owen, you can bring her in. Or we’ll come your way. We’ve got alternate transport.”

  Owen clicked his microphone back on. “Copy that.” To Nova’s perked up interest, he said, “Let’s get you home, then.”

  He escorted her all the way back to the office, then home to her apartment, careful to keep his distance, just like before, and to betray nothing on his face or in his demeanor that would hint to anyone watching that anything untoward had happened in that medical supply warehouse.

  But he’d be damned if he wouldn’t be replaying that kiss in his bed tonight.

  She could have died.

  Nova had gone back to the office, then her apartment, then spent most of the night not sleeping. She had gotten up the next morning, had her breakfast, met Owen at the door of her apartment, took a silent ride to Wylderide without speaking to him, claimed the entire pot of coffee from the break room along with her mug, and retreated to her office.

  Half the morning had passed, and through all of it, she’d had lots of thoughts. Thoughts about the new beta edition they were about to launch. Thoughts about how she was going to keep the pack together long enough to get it released. And, sneaking in every once in a while when she least expected it, thoughts about how she could’ve died yesterday… and none of it would’ve made a damn bit of difference.

  Which made her think about that kiss.

  The one that took her by surprise and set her body and soul on fire.

  She hadn’t said a thing to Owen. Shit, she couldn’t even look him in the eye. She’d spent a month watching him watch her, dreaming about how hot he was with those Yes, Ma’ams and that sultry Texas accent and his military politeness… then she damn near attacked him in that warehouse. Then, just as fast, she pushed him away.

  He was the wrong man. Thoroughly wrong. Wrong in every way.

  And that had freaked her out so badly she’d done the only thing she could‌—‌the only thing she ever did with men‌—‌she shoved him away.

  This… to a man who had just saved her life.

  It filled her with a hot-cheeked shame that was all mixed up with the kind of heat that pooled between her legs. She was so messed up.

  She could’ve died yesterday.

  No, check that. She would have died if it hadn’t been for Owen Harding and his quick-witted reaction of just picking up the goddamn grenade and throwing it out of the car. Jesus, who did that? Who had the presence of mind to actually pull something like that off? If she thought he was hot before, with those broad shoulders and sexy shifter muscles, seeing him in action, literally saving her life, hauling her away to safety, reassuring her with his freakishly sexy body wrapped around her… well, it had been too much for her. She’d folded into him with the willpower of a crack addict. But his overwhelming hotness was a pretty shitty excuse for treating him the way she did afterward. She knew that. But if she kissed him
again, she knew herself‌—‌one thing would have led to another, and she’d have been riding that cowboy faster than he could say Thank you, ma’am.

  The only right thing she did in that warehouse was tell him the truth‌—‌that she couldn’t kiss him. The wolves in her father’s pack had been angling to claim her as a mate for years. Since her father’s death, the jostling had only gotten more intense. The pack had no alpha now, and they needed one‌—‌Wylderide needed one‌—‌and she knew eventually she would have to take one of them as a mate. Or pick someone else who could bring the pack together. Right at the funeral, she had put them all on notice‌—‌she wouldn’t be taking a mate until she had properly mourned the passing of her father and given a solid think-through to the future of the company. That held them off, but only barely. And Owen Harding, her sexy bodyguard, wasn’t even close to the right pick. He was hot and brave and sexy as sin… but taking him for a mate would tear the pack apart. And destroy her father’s company. She couldn’t afford to be stupid like that… she had a business to run.

  Nova gazed out the window of her office at the high gloss of sun on Seattle’s downtown. Almost dying tended to put things in a different perspective. Living in the moment‌—‌like that moment when Owen pressed her up against those boxes and kissed the hell out of her‌—‌made sense when you’d just snatched life back from the gaping maw of death.

  But the crazed anti-shifter hate group that killed her father would be very happy if she lived recklessly for today and let her father’s company come crashing down as a result. No matter what, she couldn’t let that happen. They were terrorists, and she’d be damned if she would let them win, not on her watch. She wasn’t a soldier‌—‌not like those brave men she spent the day with, hopefully giving them a little respite from the price they’d paid to defend their country‌—‌but she knew that giving in to this hate group and what they wanted was flat wrong.