Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Kingston
Killing a man changes a person. But watching your best friend show no mercy was just as bad. Zayn had killed Stanley with such a detached look on his face that I was concerned he was about to kill the other two men and whoever else got in his way.
As far as I knew, he hadn't killed anyone before. But the way he looked when he stabbed his claws through Stanley's chest made me think otherwise. I didn't know what he'd been through when he lived with his family, so it was a possibility.
Even if you think you know someone, do you ever truly know everything about them?
As we ran after Zayn, I hoped we could catch him before he killed the two men.
We needed to have someone left alive to give us the answers we needed.
We could have gone back to get the guy we tied up in Marcos's basement, but I also didn't want to return to the scene of our first crime.
The last thing we needed was to deal with the human police on top of the coalition.
Our speed was a little faster than the ATVs, and we slowly gained on them as they crossed the rough terrain of the forest. We were built for the chase and navigating the wild. As we got farther and farther away from the house, the trees and ground were rougher, slowing the ATVs down.
I could smell Wren, which meant she wasn't masking her scent and was on the run.
What I couldn't smell was Zayn's sister anymore.
I had at first, but now her scent had vanished.
Had she gone in a different direction? Was it possible she'd been taken somewhere else by another guy we weren't aware of?
Wren escaping was impressive. Everything about her was. She was a fighter and could take care of herself. But why should she have to when she had us?
My head was still spinning from what I'd seen in the back of my SUV. I should have told Sullivan and Zayn what had happened with her healing Sullivan with glowing hands. It was like he was never injured in the first place.
If fox shifters were like wolf shifters, she shouldn't have had that ability. We had speed and better senses, and if we belonged in a pack, we could have communicated through mental links. But never had I heard of any wolf shifter being able to heal someone.
There were a lot of things we needed to discuss with Wren if we got that chance.
When we got that chance.
Why had she decided to stay and try to help me? Was the coalition going to come and take me away to prison? What did that mean for keeping our kind a secret?
Until she had shown up, I'd been doing a good job of keeping Marcos at bay. But with her distracting me, I'd let my guard down. Did I really want to live the rest of my life under Marcos's thumb, not being able to even breathe?
After we got Wren and Zayn's sister to safety, we needed to find out where Marcos was keeping the videos and who had copies. If we could destroy them, I could be free to live my life. He needed to be stopped, and if that meant I got blood on my hands, then so be it.
The thought of female wolves being trafficked made fury boil in my blood, and I sped up, catching up to Zayn.
I wished we had a mental link, but we weren't a pack.
There were enough wolves in Crescent Valley to start one, but the whole reason we were there in the first place was to get away from that life.
A life that made us feel like nothing more than animals that couldn't control ourselves.
Watching Zayn chase those men with teeth bared and saliva dripping like he was hungry for blood reminded me that we were animals.
Sometimes all it took was one incident for someone to be lost to their wolf, and I hoped that this wasn't Zayn's moment.
One of the men, who I recognized as Mateo, looked over his shoulder and cursed.
He fumbled with something at his front and then turned around, pointing a gun right at me.
He never got a chance to fire because, out of nowhere, Sullivan came from his left and jumped on his back, knocking him from the ATV.
The vehicle ran into the other one and sent Chad flying since he'd only been holding on with one arm. Zayn and I both jumped on him, stopping him from reaching for the gun in his waistband. The forest was dead silent, watching the scene play out.
I shifted back. "Zayn, stop. We need to keep him alive."
He was tugging on his arm, which already looked wounded. He was going to rip the guy's arm off, and I couldn't blame him. I wanted to rip his arm off too. Especially since he was the one that bought Zayn's sister.
Jesus, the thought of one of my sisters being bought and sold made me see red, and I nearly shifted back to rip out his throat.
Zayn wasn't stopping, so I grabbed the scruff of his neck and yanked on him. Chad was a bloody mess and seemed to have passed out.
Sullivan had shifted back too and was walking a crying Mateo to one of the ATVs that had crashed into a tree and was lying on its side. I didn't really know what he was doing, but he seemed to be handling himself just fine.
"Zayn, shift back until we get these guys situated." I turned to watch Sullivan pulling a chain out of a storage box on the back of the vehicle.
Zayn took my moment of distraction to lunge for Chad's throat, ripping it out all the way to the spine in one swift move. He took off in the direction we had been headed.
"Son of a bitch!" I couldn't let him catch up to Wren and his sister when he was in the state he was in. What if his wolf was still pissed at Wren?
"Go! I'll tie this one to a tree and then follow." Sullivan shoved Mateo, who had seemed to have completely given up, against a tree.
It was easy to follow Zayn's scent, but harder to pick up on Wren's. It was definitely there but wasn't as concentrated as it had been when we first started following. She was headed deep into the mountains, through a narrow valley.
After about an hour, I finally caught up to Zayn, who looked ready to keel over from exhaustion. It wasn't terribly hot, but running as fast as we both could took a lot out of us, especially since we hadn't eaten since the night before.
How long was she going to run?
I trotted next to Zayn, who didn't spare me a glance. I wanted to tell him everything was going to be okay, but shifting was going to take too much energy.
Another hour passed, and Zayn came to a screeching halt and sniffed the ground. He was limping slightly but still took off running. Wren's scent was stronger where we'd stopped, and now Zayn's sister's was present too.
Had Wren been carrying her? It was the only explanation. What I couldn't explain was how Wren had done it and stayed so far ahead of us. She couldn't carry another wolf in her fox form, which meant she was on foot.
Following Zayn, I was surprised to see a clearing up ahead and a rickety old cabin. The scents led straight to it.
My heart was beating out of my chest at seeing Wren again.
I could smell the faint scent of blood mixed in with her scent and hoped she wasn't injured.
We were deep in the wilderness and had no way to get medical help if needed.
Although, if she could heal Sullivan, did that mean she could heal herself quicker than our normal accelerated healing?
Zayn shifted as he jumped onto the porch and pushed the door to the cabin open. "There's no one here!"
With a grunt, I shifted as well, my muscles burning from running so hard for the past few hours. My throat felt like it had sandpaper in it and burned when I tried to swallow my saliva. "Maybe they're finding food and water. We need to too."
Zayn sniffed the air and then stepped off the porch. "Wren's scent is that way and Zola's is that way."
He was conflicted on which way to go, so I made it easier for him. "I'll go find Wren. You go after your sister." Putting a hand on his shoulder, he winced and looked past me, avoiding my eyes. "It's going to be okay."
Without a word, he shifted and took off into the trees behind the cabin. The terrain sloped upward, heading around the bottom portion of the mountain. Hopefully, he would catch up with her soon.
I followed Wren's scent, which led me to water. Thank fuck because I was dying of thirst. The stream was small and coming from the side of the mountain, and when I got to it, I fell to my knees, leaned forward, and stuck my whole head under.
My stomach twisted hungrily, but water would have to do until I found Wren. After drinking out of my hands, I stood and sniffed the air. I spun around, and there she was, sleeping in the shade under a tree.
I stood still, watching her. Her red hair fanned out around her body was curled in on itself. She was beautiful.
Being as quiet as possible, I walked to her and looked down.
She didn't look to be injured. In fact, she looked radiant.
She was wearing something different than she was wearing the night before, and it looked like they had been cut to make shorts and a tank top.
Her feet were bare and looked as smooth as a baby's bottom.
I was still deciding on how to wake her when I found myself airborne, flying backward. My body crashed into the hard ground, and I sat up to see a flash of red running toward the stream.
"Wren!"
Pushing to my feet, I took off after her. She was practically a blur, and I thought maybe I was seeing things with how fast she was moving. It almost looked as if she was floating.
"Wren! It's me! Kingston!" My throat burned as I screamed loud enough so she could hear me.
On the other side of the stream, she disappeared into the trees. Panting for breath, I followed, not sure why the hell she was running from me.
"Wren?" I stopped and looked around. She was nowhere to be seen, but I could smell her. "I'm not going to hurt you. We followed your scent and-"
She landed on my back, taking me down to my knees. Her arm wrapped around my neck, cutting off my air.
Was this how I died?
I fell forward with all the momentum I had left, causing her hold on me to slip. It was enough for me to flip her onto the ground and pin her underneath me.
"Are you fucking crazy?"
Her eyes widened in recognition. "Kingston?"
"Did you not hear me yelling or were you running too fast? Jesus, woman! What magical beans are you eating to run like The Flash?" I loosened my hold on her but didn't move off her.
I'd caught her and I didn't plan on letting her go.
"I... I'm sorry." She burst into tears, squirming to get out from under me.
"Hey." I brought a hand to her cheek, and she stilled. "It's okay. You're safe now."
Her green eyes sparkled with her tears, and her bottom lip trembled, trying to stop any more from spilling. I ran my thumb across her bottom lip, and then my lips were on hers.
My brain went fuzzy with lust as she sighed and opened her mouth, letting my tongue swipe in to taste her. Letting her go the first time was one of the stupidest things I'd done. I needed this. I needed her.
Her legs wrapped around me and I settled in between her thighs, my naked cock resting against her center. I wanted to feel her in every possible way, but we were lying in the dirt in the middle of a forest.
Breaking the kiss, I studied her face. "Are you okay?"
"Yes. Kingston, I'm so-" I silenced her with my mouth, not wanting to hear her apologies.
She groaned and rolled her hips up, the fabric of her shorts against my sensitive skin making me hiss in a breath. I kissed her ear and took it between my teeth, drawing a soft squeal from her.
"I'm going to fuck you right here in the dirt unless you tell me to stop." I nipped down her neck, my body shaking with the urge to rip her clothes off and fuck her raw. "I'll put you on your hands and knees and fuck you until your eyes roll into the back of your head."
"Yes," she panted, her hands exploring my back before finding my ass. "I'm-"
"No." I gripped her chin. "The only apology I want is your screams echoing through the trees."
"Someone might hear." Her top teeth pressed into her bottom lip.
"Good. Then they'll know you're mine." I sat back on my heels. "Strip for me and then get on your hands and knees."
Her eyes darkened, and she stood, lifting her shirt and throwing it to the side. Her tits were enough to make me come on my hand as I stroked myself.
"Pinch your nipples until they're nice and plump." My hand glided over my cock, collecting pre-cum and spreading it down the length.
She rolled her nipples between her fingers, her thighs clenching together as she watched me touch myself. "You do the same."
I raised a brow and licked my lips in anticipation. Fuck, this woman was perfect for me. The right amount of give and pull to keep me on my toes. I wouldn't have been surprised if she didn't end up on her hands and knees.
With my free hand, I tweaked one of my nipples, the sensitive nub sending a bolt of pleasure down my spine and straight to my balls. She stopped pinching her own, both now standing at attention and begging for my lips to wrap around them.
Her fingers toyed with the button on the shorts and then they slid down her hips and pooled at her feet. She looked like a fucking goddess, standing naked with the green of the trees surrounding her, her red hair cascading down behind her with a few strands brushing the tops of her breasts.
"Do you like what you see?" She stepped closer as I fucked my hand, my breaths coming in pants. "It would be a shame if you gave your seed to the forest instead of to me."
Groaning, I released myself and licked my lips as she stood right in front of me. Her arousal was thick in the air, and I wanted to taste it, but then she turned and dropped to her knees in front of me. She leaned onto her hands and looked back at me over her shoulder.
I was a goner.