Forbidden Wolf Page 4

  Movement caught his attention, like someone was trying to chase the wolf without detection. Brock narrowed his eyes and waited until the culprit moved again. He might have missed the movement if not for the moonlight reflected off glowing eyes.

  Brock moved quickly in the direction the glow came from. It was a wolf but the scent wasn’t there. He saw the tail as it leaped over a log. He was fast and seemed to know the area. Brock hadn’t been in this direction before and stumbled a few times. He saw something on the ground and looked down briefly. By the time he looked up the wolf was gone. Damn it!

  He walked back to the spot where he’d seen something on the ground. He picked up the object; it was a square of paper that turned out to be a picture. He turned it over and froze. It was a picture of Samantha when she was on the college campus. He lifted the picture to his nose and a familiar scent invaded his nose.

  “Son of a bitch.”

  Chapter 10

  By the time Sam made it back home, Adrian and her mother were waiting for her on the back patio. Her mom held out a robe. Adrian turned his back while she shifted and put the robe on.

  “Did Brock call you?”

  Adrian kept his eyes on the dark woods. “He did, about ten minutes ago.”

  “I couldn’t sense anyone. Maybe he overreacted.”

  “We’ll talk about it inside the house.” He motioned for her and Jackie to enter the house ahead of him.

  Sam glanced back and caught glimpses of several of Adrian’s vampire bodyguards. He must have called them in to secure the area. “What’s going on?”

  “Brock caught a glimpse of someone moving in the woods. This person made an attempt to follow you when you shifted to your wolf. Brock couldn’t detect a scent at all. The person dropped something behind that did have a scent, one that was familiar.”

  Sam had a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. “Whose scent was it?”

  Adrian glanced at her mother, who put her hand to her chest. “The scent was faint but he could tell it belonged to—Carter Johnson.”

  Her mother gasped. “No.”

  “Is he sure?” Sam couldn’t move for fear her legs might give out. This all seemed so surreal. For a short time, she had thought she was finally free of her stalker, the male who had made her a werewolf against her will.

  “He’s on his way here with what he found. You know his scent better than anyone, but if you want I can call Alpha Ric to come and identify the scent.”

  Sam shook her head and wrapped her arms around her waist. “I’ll do it. I want to be sure. This way I won’t second-guess it.”

  Her mother came over and put her arm around her shoulders. She laid her head on her mom’s shoulder like she had done a thousand times, taking the small comfort offered. The three of them waited quietly for Brock to show up.

  Sam and her mother sat down on the couch while Adrian checked on Aiden and made sure the house was secure. It seemed like hours but in reality was only thirty minutes until she caught the scent of Brock before he came in through the back patio doors.

  She stood up and moved toward him. He came to her and wrapped his arms around her, ignoring everyone else. He whispered reassuring words in her ear. She felt safe and breathed in his scent. Once she was calm, she pulled back out of his grasp.

  “Was it him?”

  He held the picture up to her. “You tell us.”

  Sam took the photograph and lifted it to her nose. A faint scent was there. It was almost masked from the other smells associated with it, but she recognized that scent. She felt the color drain from her face.

  “It’s him,” she whispered.

  Her mother gasped and moved toward her. She left Brock’s arms and hugged her mother. Her worst nightmare was back—Carter. Sam had hoped that after these past few years he would move on and eventually forget about her. Would she ever be free of him? Would he always be a dark cloud keeping her from being fully happy with her life?

  Sam looked up and saw Alpha Ric and the twins, Rod and Jay, had arrived. Adrian was talking to them but she couldn’t hear them. There was a buzzing in her ears and everything was moving so slowly. Her hands were shaking and she was starting to go into shock.

  “Baby, are you okay?” her mother asked with concern.

  “I’m just—oh God, he’s back.” She broke down in tears as painful memories of Carter tearing into her flesh flashed in her mind. Pull it together, Sam. You’re not that naive teenager anymore. She was a strong, confident woman and a strong werewolf. She took deep breaths then pulled out of her mother’s arms.

  “I’m okay. This was something we all knew could happen, but I didn’t think it would happen so soon. I’m ready to deal with this.” She straightened her shoulders and looked at Adrian and Ric. “What’s the plan? How do I get this guy and put him away?”

  “You don’t—we’ll get him,” Brock said firmly.

  “I’m not a little girl, Brock. I’m going to be a part of this whether anyone likes it or not.”

  “Samantha—” Her mother was shaking her head.

  “No, I’m the one he’s been stalking for years. I’m the one he attacked, and I’m going to be the one who makes sure he faces justice for the crimes he’s committed.”

  Adrian spoke up before her mother could argue more. “First, we’ll have to find him. He’s using something to mask his scent. It’s not like he’s just going to walk up and—”

  The doorbell rang, surprising everyone. It said a lot about how stressed they were that none of them heard anyone approach. Everyone looked at each other. It couldn’t be…

  “Stay here with your mother,” Adrian told her as he moved to open the door.

  She didn’t listen to him but followed him to the door. As soon as it opened she was shocked to see who it was. “Ben?”

  “Hi, baby. Surprise!”

  Chapter 11

  Sam hugged her boyfriend from college awkwardly. “What are you doing here?”

  “I couldn’t wait any longer to come down and meet your family.”

  She pulled back and gave Ben a fake smile. “This isn’t the best time. We’re having—a family crisis.”

  His smile faded as he looked at her with real concern. “What can I do to help?”

  She smiled for real this time. That was why she dated Ben—his genuine care and concern for her. He wasn’t being fake or trying to hide anything. When he felt something, he really felt it. She loved that about him. Unfortunately, this was a dangerous time for him to be there.

  “Honey, who’s your friend?” her mother asked, coming up to stand next to her.

  Ben straightened his shoulders and gave her one of his sweet, down-home charming smiles. He reached out his hand to shake hers. “I’m Ben Browning.”

  Her mom took one look at Ben then smiled wide. “Oh, it’s so nice to finally meet you. I’m Jackie, Sam’s mother.” She gave him a hug instead of a handshake, making Adrian press forward to pull her from him.

  “I’m Adrian Belliveau, Jacqueline’s husband and Samantha’s stepfather.”

  Ben reached out to shake Adrian’s hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” There was an awkward pause with them all standing at the doorway.

  “Where are our manners? Come in, please.” Her mom ushered Ben into the house despite both Sam and Adrian shaking their heads for her not to.

  Sam walked with Ben behind her mother into the main living space. Ben had his arm around her shoulders, and when she caught sight of Brock she was overwhelmed with guilt. She shrugged out of Ben’s arms, feeling more confused than ever.

  She loved Ben; he was a great guy and one she could always depend on. Brock made her crazy with his hot-and-cold attitude. Sam knew she was going to have to make a decision about them—but right now was not the time.

  Jackie did the introductions and Sam could see things were about to turn really bad really quick as Ben tried to shake hands with Brock. Brock looked like he was ready to tear Ben’s throat out and refused, instead cr
ossing his arms over his chest. Uh-oh.

  Her mother kept the conversation going with Ben but the tension in the room was really intense. “So, Ben, when did you get into town?”

  “About an hour ago. I rented a car and came straight from the airport. I tried to call your cell phone, Sam, but it went to voice mail.”

  “Crap! I left my cell phone in the office at the club.”

  “You haven’t had time to unwind or check into a hotel?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “Maybe you could stay here—” Her mother started to offer but Adrian fixed it.

  “I don’t think that would be good right now, dear. We have that family crisis we need to deal with.”

  Jackie nodded. “I forgot for a minute about that situation.”

  “It’s okay,” Ben said. “I went online to book a room at Strange Lake Falls Inn while I was waiting for my flight.”

  “How long do you plan on staying?” Brock asked, finally speaking for the first time since Ben arrived.

  Ben gave Sam a smile. “Not sure yet. It will all depend upon this beautiful woman next to me.”

  She had to get Ben out of there before Brock decided to drain him of all his blood. “Ben, let me walk you to your car.” She took his hand and led him out of her house. On the front porch, she stopped and took a deep breath. When he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind and pulled her to him, she froze. She put her hands on his and removed them, and then stepped away from him.

  He frowned. “Did I do something wrong?”

  “No, I have…”

  “A family crisis. You’ve said that. What kind of crisis are we talking about?”

  Sam started walking toward the rental car and stopped by the hood. What should she tell him? He didn’t deserve to be lied to any more than she had already. She refused to look at him.

  “When I was about seventeen, I was attacked by this guy I went out with. He seemed nice at first but then he started talking crazy, and when I tried to get away from him, he hurt me to where I almost died.”

  Ben came to her side and wrapped her in his arms. “I’m so sorry, honey.”

  She accepted the comfort she found in his arms. She took a deep breath as she told him the rest. “They guy got away and he’s sort of stalked me over the years. This past year I hadn’t heard or seen any signs of him and thought that I might be finally free of him.”

  “He came back?”

  She nodded. “That’s what we believe.”

  “You need to be protected, then.”

  “My family is all on top of protecting me. We need to figure out how to capture him and send him away once and for all.”

  “That’s what I interrupted, wasn’t it?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “I’d like to be a part of the plans.”

  Sam pulled out of his arms. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea. I can’t put you in danger.”

  “Are you trying to end things with me?”

  She bit her bottom lip. “We decided before I left school to come home that we would put our romantic relationship on the shelf until I got my life in order.”

  “You made that decision. I only agreed to give you a little time before I came down here to sweep you off your feet.”

  She needed to be completely honest. She felt eyes on her and glanced over at the house. No doubt Brock was watching them. “There’s someone else.”

  The disappointment on his face nearly ripped her heart apart. “Do you love him?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t seen much of him while I was in school but when I came back—there’s just something there and I need to figure that out. I think you should return home.”

  “I don’t like it, but I understand your need to figure out your feelings. I refuse to leave you here alone with this other man and with a lunatic running around. I’ll go to my hotel and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

  She couldn’t say anything but, “Okay.”

  He kissed her softly on the lips then got into his rental and drove away. A part of her wanted to go with him, drive away and never look back—but Sam couldn’t do that. She needed to face her demons and take back her life. She turned to head back inside.

  Chapter 12

  Brock was steaming at having to stand there and watch that human male touch his mate. He wanted to leap across the room and drain him dry. He moved to a front window and watched Samantha kiss the male, and nearly punched the glass.

  “Keep it together, Brock,” Adrian warned him.

  “She’s my mate. Mine.”

  “That is up to her to decide,” Jackie warned him.

  Her mother had never really liked him. He suspected it was because she always knew he had feelings for Samantha. He wasn’t going to be pushed away again. He’d let Adrian send him all over trying to locate the lone wolf but he knew it was Adrian’s way of putting distance between them. That was not going to happen again.

  “It is up to her,” he agreed.

  They moved back to the living room and waited for Samantha to return. When she did, he longed to take her back into his arms and remove the other male’s scent from her skin. Patience.

  Brock broke the silence. “He needs to go back where he belongs.”

  Samantha didn’t look at him when she spoke. “I tried to get him to leave but he won’t go. This is going to complicate things. He’s in danger from Carter.”

  Adrian moved forward and put his hand on her shoulder. “We’ll have people watch over him until we catch Johnson.”

  “What about the pack? What about Mom and Aiden? They’re all in danger.”

  “I’ll make sure they are somewhere safe,” Adrian told her, earning a glare from her mother.

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Jackie warned with a stubborn look on her face.

  “Jacqueline, we’ll talk about this later. Right now we need to set up security for a large number of people spread out throughout town.”

  Alpha Ric stepped forward. “Our pack has increased in size so we do have more werewolves who can patrol. We’ll pass the scent around so that everyone is aware of him.”

  Adrian nodded. “I’ll call more of my people to come as well. Most can get here by tomorrow evening.”

  “Samantha needs to be relocated to a more secure location,” Brock said.

  “I’m not hiding anymore. He might strike out at everyone else to draw me out and I won’t let anyone I care about be put in danger any longer. It’s time I took my life back.”

  Brock frowned at her in frustration. “You won’t have a life if he kills you.”

  “He doesn’t want me dead.”

  “We all know what he wants, to claim you as his mate. That is never going to happen.”

  Jacqueline moved between Samantha and him. “Tensions are running high. Sam, come with me and we’ll check on your brother and give Ric and Adrian time to make security plans.”

  Brock watched as Samantha grumbled but followed her mother upstairs. She was right about one thing: it was time to take care of Johnson once and for all so that she could finally have her life back. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to always be looking over your shoulder, never knowing who was stalking you in the dark. The conversation brought his attention back to the others in the room.

  “She’s right. I think that if she went into hiding, he would strike out. He’s left evidence of watching her from school and when she traveled back and forth. He’s smart, keeping his distance and leaving the country when we start tracking him,” Adrian said to Ric.

  Ric snorted. “He’s not too smart if he left that picture with his scent on it.”

  “It’s a warning. He wants Samantha to know that he’s back and that he won’t leave without her this time,” Brock explained.

  “I agree. He’s worked too hard to keep his location hidden to be this careless.” Adrian nodded.

  “We need to move people to safety because he will use those she cares about against Samantha,” Brock added.<
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  “We can’t move everyone out of town. It would make it harder to protect them all and it would send a red flag to Johnson.” Ric folded his arms over his chest.

  “How about this?” Adrian said. “I will take Jacqueline and Aiden to the pack house. Let’s get as many people there as we can.”

  “That will work for part of the problem, but we need to flush him out.” Brock was determined that they end this guy.

  “If everyone is at one location and Samantha is there, he could take out a large number of us before we catch him,” Ric pointed out.

  Adrian looked at Ric and he got a bad feeling about what he was going to say next. “The only one to draw him out is Samantha. If we keep her in a separate but not hidden location, Johnson will make a play to grab her and we can stop him for good.”

  “No.” Brock shook his head. He would not let Samantha be placed in danger.

  “Do you think I would let anything happen to my daughter? She may not be mine by my seed by I love her no less.” Adrian looked furious.

  Ric spoke calmly. “This could work, since Lila and her mate moved out of the apartment above the club. Sam could pretend to move in while we could set up surveillance and security there.”

  “I’m not sure I like that idea but it does sound the most plausible.” Adrian paced back and forth.

  “It won’t work. It leaves her too vulnerable without having someone there protecting her.” Brock folded his arms over his chest.

  “Then we have someone move there with her,” Ric said.

  There’d be no someone—it would be him if they went with this plan. “She’s not going to want to leave her family.”

  “It’s our only real shot at getting this guy. We’ll let her decide.”

  “I’ll do it!” Samantha called out from the stairs.

  Brock closed his eyes for a moment. There would be no way to prevent Samantha from doing what she thought was right. All he could do was make sure she was protected. “Then I’ll be moving in with you.” Let Adrian explain this to his mate. Serves him right.