Bailey Bradford - Southwestern Shifters 07 - Revolution (3 page)

Heart sputtering in his chest, Luuk stumbled as Jamie’s howl rent the air. He hadn’t been quick enough, good enough,
alpha
enough to protect his mate. The failure tore at him, more painful than the bullet had been.

Luuk forced his legs to move. He didn’t think the shot had been fatal, and he should heal quickly. But not as fast as he used to. Luuk had noticed that the last time he’d been injured, but now wasn’t the time to worry about it.

Jamie had done something Luuk very much feared would scar him in a way no amount of shifter healing could fix. There was nothing wrong with killing for defence—hell, in the shifter realm, they often killed for reasons that made Luuk fear for all shifter-kind. But Jamie was a gentle soul, or he had been, before Luuk had dragged him down.

Another howl, this one tinged with more desperation, less hope. Luuk willed his body to mend and he found a burst of energy and strength only Jamie could have inspired in him. Luuk wasn’t particularly steady on all fours when he ascended to where Jamie was sitting, nose up to welcome the night sky as he cried out in misery.

The stench of blood and death was strong, and while Luuk could handle it, he wanted Jamie away from it immediately. He reached for Jamie, first with their mental link, relieved to find Jamie’s resistance there easily bypassed. Jamie lowered his head and refused to meet Luuk’s eyes, whining piteously when Luuk rubbed against him.

Luuk lapped at Jamie’s muzzle, then at his wounds as he tried to coax the man out from the beast. Jamie’s wolf was at the forefront, protecting the more fragile human psyche. Luuk reached inside to his mate, finding Jamie and encouraging him to come into awareness. The pain he felt rush into him told him, as surely as the tears that spilled from Jamie’s eyes, that the man was now back in control of the beast.

Instead of words, Luuk sent every bit of the love and comfort he had in him to Jamie. There were times when no words were the right ones, and only actions and emotions could help. Luuk gave Jamie everything, shifting even in the freezing temperatures so he could embrace Jamie with his arms, cuddle his body close.

Luuk’s own pain was forgotten as he held Jamie, letting him howl and cry through some of his agony. Jamie’s physical wounds were minor compared to what was going on inside him. In fact, Jamie was already healing, much quicker than Luuk. It was one less thing for Luuk to worry over right then.

When Jamie had calmed somewhat, and his tears and sobs had ceased, Luuk shifted back into wolf form. The cold hit him then, oddly enough, and he shivered so hard his teeth ached.

“Luuk, I’m sorry…”
Jamie began, but Luuk stopped him.
“No, Jamie. I should have handled this. It never should have been your burden to bear.”
Especially not when Luuk wouldn’t have felt any guilt over protecting his mate, or himself. Sadness that a life was lost, anger at the one who’d sent the would-be assassin, but nothing more. It should have been him who’d torn the wolf’s throat out.
Jamie didn’t argue, which was worrisome. Mentally, Jamie was putting out what Luuk called ‘static’, a cacophony of thoughts shooting about like debris in a tornado. Jamie was trying desperately not to think about what he’d just done. Luuk wasn’t normally the evasive type, but he knew Jamie was straddling a fine line and might topple over it if nudged at all. Added to that was the fear that the shooter might not have been alone, not completely. There could be more shifters coming or waiting further up near the town ahead.
“We’ll need to go in a different direction,”
Luuk thought, and Jamie’s panicked mind quieted for a moment before he nodded. Luuk wanted to keep him thinking in a calmer manner. He needed Jamie to be alert, and that wouldn’t be the case if Jamie was battling mental demons.
Jamie took a deep stuttering breath before blowing it out slowly.
“I’ll get it together. I can’t promise I won’t break down when we make it to safety.”
The honesty of Jamie’s words made Luuk’s eyes burn and he wished again that Fate had given Jamie a mate who wouldn’t have put him through this hell. Luuk would give anything to have a better life for Jamie, even though thinking about them not being mates hurt as if someone had poured datura down Luuk’s throat.
Luuk reminded himself he was an alpha, and he wasn’t going to let the circumstances take that from him any more than he’d let them take Jamie from him. Fuck those who would see him dead. Luuk would get him and his mate through this, then he’d tear the head off every traitor who’d had a hand in Jamie’s suffering. Luuk had spent the past years trying to survive, trying to sneak by and living on the defensive. One look at Jamie, one touch of his emotions, and Luuk saw clearly how stupid he’d been. In trying to keep Jamie safe, he’d put him even more at risk. How many shifters now thought he was a coward, unworthy of the Alpha Anax title? Luuk had truly fucked up, but no more.
It was time he remembered who and what he was.

As if his determination had brought about the unexpected, Luuk and Jameson encountered no other would-be assassins on the way into town. It was a good thing, as, despite his spirit’s willingness to kill anything and anyone who got in their way, Luuk’s body was not up to the task. And Jamie… Jamie was there, but part of his mind was a thousand miles away—or more likely, thousands of miles away, back where he’d once been safe.

Even though he felt on the edge of collapse, Luuk did keep his senses alert to the best of his ability. Jamie’s life depended on it. Trudging through the dark, cold night, Luuk was inspired to keep on by thoughts of finding a warm place to rest up with his mate. He didn’t know where they were going, but somehow he’d find them a place to recover, mentally and physically.

He was going to come out swinging, as the saying went, even if he did it quietly. He’d still be deadly and effective, and get his position back so he could take care of his people. In order to do that, he needed to recuperate, and so did Jamie. Maybe, if he could find a way to get a message to Jamie’s friend, Adam, that would help his mate. Adam had been a nice guy, loyal to Jamie and guarded around Luuk—as it turned out, rightfully so. Look at the mess he’d got Jamie into.

Wallowing in guilt wasn’t going to help them right now. Luuk buried it along with the pain from his injury. He moved closer to Jamie, rubbing against his side with every step. A warm blast of affection from Jamie filled Luuk with more hope than he’d had in a long time.

Perhaps Jamie had worked through his black mood for now. Luuk knew they’d have to deal with that particular issue when they could, which meant stability and complete removal of fear and struggling for survival daily.

“Almost there.”
Luuk stopped at the edge of a lightly wooded area. The snow was not quite as deep as it had been and for that he was grateful. He sniffed, caught the pungent scent of civilisation and all the poisons man made in the name of progress. He also caught something else, the faint whiff of shifters, some unfamiliar in a way he couldn’t name.

Jamie scented it, too, growling low and looking at him.
“It’s a few days old, and I smell blood. Not yours or mine.”
Or the other’s, the one Jamie killed.
Luuk wouldn’t add that, and was glad Jamie didn’t think it either. But it was the truth.
“We need to check it out before we seek shelter.”
He wanted safety, warmth, a meal and time to love on his mate, but the unfamiliar shifter scent was bothering him. It wasn’t as if he knew the individual smell of every shifter; that was ridiculous. But something about the odours he was picking up was just…different, and he didn’t know why.
Luuk turned them back and into the wind, following the scents. The path he picked was narrow enough that Jamie had to stay behind him, which was safer, Luuk hoped. After about ten minutes, he stopped at a small clearing. Very small, which was likely why the signs of a fight were very obvious. Broken limbs and torn plants, gouges in the ground—and wolf bodies, with very little flesh left on them despite the cold. Even here there were predators that ate the dead.
“Shifters, right, Luuk?”
“Yes, Jamie, but not the ones whose scents seem…off.”
Luuk walked over to the closest body, ignoring the grossness of what he was seeing. He couldn’t tell much other than the obvious—this shifter had fought another one or more shifters, and lost. As had the other two who lay dead.
He returned to Jamie and was relieved to find him calm.
“I counted five tracks, which means two shifters took out these three.”
“They must have been big, because the dead ones aren’t exactly tiny.”
Jamie’s observation was true, but Luuk knew a lot depended on how the fight went down. Had it been a cowardly ambush at first, as had happened to him and Jameson so many times? Or an honourable fight?
“Come on, there’s nothing else to learn here and we need to find a place to stay.”
Luuk had thought about trying to track the two wolves who’d survived, but if he found them, what then? He was in no shape for a fight.
Jameson turned and began leading the way back. He stopped halfway there and cocked his head to the side, sniffing delicately. Luuk did the same just as Jamie darted off in the direction he’d been sniffing.
“Jamie!”
Luuk’s heart ached, like a physical cramp as fear flooded his bloodstream. He sprang after Jamie only to nearly smack into his backside a couple dozen feet ahead. Jamie was pawing at the ground, whimpering and snarling.
Luuk got the message and began helping his mate dig. The ground had been disturbed not too long before, and he smelt it now as well, the scent of the deceased shifters.
It wasn’t long before Jamie stuck his muzzle in the hole and pulled out a pack, swinging it triumphantly around. Luuk’s spirits lifted at Jamie’s delight. Jamie shifted and before Luuk could chide him about the cold temperatures on a human, Jamie had the pack opened and was pulling out a wad of euros and zlotys.
“We can stay somewhere decent with this, right?” Jamie asked, fear and hope making his eyes shine as he waved the stack at Luuk.
And Luuk decided it didn’t matter if that stack was legit or not, he would make sure Jamie had at least one luxurious, decadent night as soon as possible.

Luuk’s planned night of spoiling Jamie would have to wait, however, since he was barely able to stand. He hoped he kept it from Jamie, hoped Jamie hadn’t seen the wobble when he went to turn. He should have known better.

Jamie’s tone was rare, the command all the more effective for it. Luuk not only stopped, he went ahead and sat, knowing his mate was aware of how weak he truly was.
“Why aren’t you healing like I do?” Jamie set the money down and began running his hands over Luuk’s fur. “Was there something on the bullet, maybe?”
Well, there was a question Luuk hadn’t thought to worry about, but it made sense. He hadn’t thought he’d been shot-shot, just a crease, and yet he felt weak as a newborn and what the fuck was wrong with him?
“Stay here, I’m going to see if I can find clothes. Those shifters left money, surely there’s clothes somewhere…” Jamie gave him a worried look and didn’t bother tamping down the fear he felt for Luuk. It broke Luuk’s heart, what he was doing to Jamie, but he couldn’t undo it, and he’d never leave Jamie. Neither of them would survive that, or he’d have found a way to free Jamie of him. No one wanted to be the cause of their loved one’s suffering, and that was what Luuk was.
“You are
not!
”
Jamie snapped in his head, having already shifted back to his wolf.
“The ones responsible are the fuckers who are hunting us, and if I find any of them, I’ll kill them and find a way to live with it!”
Those words stirred more worry than anything else. Luuk knew the toll on Jamie’s soul would be too great if he had to kill again. The best thing he could do was to ensure it didn’t come to that. He began formulating a plan, bits and pieces of one, anyway, but he found it hard to think and exceptionally hard to keep his thoughts buried, so Luuk finally gave up and closed his eyes—only to yelp when his hip was nudged by his mate.
“Shift.”
Since Jamie had a pack in his mouth, Luuk was betting he’d found the clothes he was searching for. Luuk shifted, biting his cheek until he bled to keep from whimpering. But God, his whole side ached, a fiery sensation that seemed to sink into his bones and didn’t do one damned thing to keep him warm.
Luuk shifted, and nearly blacked out from it. It took a great deal of help from Jamie to get him dressed, and the trip into the town, whatever town it was, was more of a blur than anything else.
Jamie’s arm around his waist helped keep Luuk upright, but it was the knowledge that if he fell he’d take Jamie down with him that steadied his legs and kept him trudging on.
“Can you read the signs? Any idea where we are?” Jamie asked as they finally reached civilisation. Luuk wished he wasn’t so out of it. He’d have liked to enjoy Jamie’s excitement, something he couldn’t do since Jamie was too worried about him.
“Polish,” Luuk said, squinting hard. He thought that was right, but his vision was for shit right now. “Wroclaw, I think.” It didn’t really matter, because Luuk was beginning to fear this would be where he died.
“No you won’t, don’t even think that!” Jamie shouted, or it seemed so to Luuk. Then the world went dark and the pain stopped, and his last thought was he’d failed his mate once again.

“No no no no no!” Jameson yelled, reaching for Luuk with his other hand to keep him from toppling over. Luuk wasn’t dead, Jameson could feel him, inside. Luuk was the reason his heart still beat.

Jameson hefted Luuk onto his shoulder, terrified for his mate. Luuk, always so strong, so determined, wasn’t dead yet—no—but he wasn’t long for this world. Jameson had no desire to exist without him, and anyway, he didn’t think his wolf would make it without its mate. Both of them would die of a broken heart, unless he figured out how to save Luuk.

As it turned out, Wroclaw, if that was where they were, wasn’t a small town. It seemed huge to Jameson, who hadn’t really been out of the wilderness in three years or so. Everything about the place set his teeth on edge. He didn’t know the language, or where the local pack was—he would bet there was one, though—or how to find one goddamned thing they needed.