Dreaming of the Wolf (Heart of the Wolf #8)(45)

“There was a 9-1-1 call from the Crestview Motel, just like you said. The caller was a woman who said men were breaking in and were going to kill her. The operator said loud bangs could be heard in the background, and she figured a man was trying to break down the door. But she couldn’t get anything more from the woman. Then shots were fired.”

Hell. “And?” Jake was already barreling down the highway toward Silver Town and would go south on the road toward Crestview from there.

“Her name was Alicia Greiston, with an e-i rather than an a-y.”

Jake felt sick to his stomach. “Was?”

“Well, I’m not sure. She’s gone. By the time the sheriff got there, he found one dead male, his torso riddled with three bullets, and a bullet wedged in the wall across the room. Her purse, clothes, gun, pepper spray, and stun gun were there, and her still-active cell phone was charging on top of one of the dressers, but there was no sign of the woman. And her car is still locked and parked at the motel, driver’s side window bashed in. The car battery was gone, so she wouldn’t have been going anywhere in the car anyway, if she’d tried. Either the man who was dead had broken into the room, and she ran off, or there were others and they’ve taken her.”

He cursed under his breath, not liking any of the scenarios. “Alicia.” Jake frowned.

Peter hurriedly said, “What did you want me to do?”

“For now, nothing. I’m heading out there.”

“Had she called you?”

Jake didn’t say anything.

Peter cleared his throat. “The woman who called from that art gallery in Breckenridge said she gave Alicia Greiston your number.”

“Yeah, but Alicia didn’t call.”

“The phone line was cut to the room, and the cell phone was being charged, so she might not have been able to earlier. But how did you know she needed help if she didn’t call?”

“Family thing,” Jake said vaguely.

“Oh, okay.”

“Thanks, Peter. If I need backup, I’ll give you and Darien a ring.” He wanted to tell Peter not to inform his brother, but Darien was the pack leader and if Peter thought Darien needed to know about this, he’d fill him in. And Jake knew Peter would. Darien would most likely be pissed that Jake was continuing to leave him out of the loop.

Sure enough, Jake wasn’t more than five minutes down the road when his cell phone’s familiar jingle alerted him. He yanked the phone off his belt and said, “Yeah.”

“What the hell is going on?” Darien said hotly.

“She’s in trouble. The woman I keep dreaming about. She’s not pregnant. Or at least she sure as hell doesn’t look that way.”

“Then why would she say…” Darien didn’t say anything for a moment, then he grunted. “You said she’s not a gray wolf. Are you certain?”

For a split second, Jake mulled that over. Then he frowned. “Of course, I’m certain. I was with her in Breckenridge that first day.”

“What if she was bitten after you saw her?”

Jake considered that scenario, his hackles instantly rising. “Hell. If she’s been bitten recently, she most likely has very little control over the shift.” But that would explain why he was dream mating with her. She needed him desperately.

“She could have shifted at the gallery and didn’t know what else to do about being stuck in the ladies’ room.”

“It makes sense.” Jake let out his breath. It changed everything between them. “Then who turned her?”

“Someone who’s after her possibly, or someone who’s dead. That may be the reason she’s never tried to hook up with you. Without knowing you’re also a wolf, she wouldn’t want to risk discovery.”

“Hell. Alicia has to be frantic.” He only hoped to hell she was still alive so he could rescue her once again. And then they’d deal with all the issues she had to face—these men, a possible pack, her werewolf genetics, her need for a mate—him.

Silence met Jake’s ears, then Darien finally said, “All right. Well, Peter said she’s in a hell of a lot of trouble. You can’t go it alone.”

“I’m going to track her down, locate her scent, see what I can come up with.”

“Fine. But I’m sending Peter and Tom for backup. And next time you have the urge to rescue some damsel in distress, let me know first, will you?” Darien hung up on Jake.

Jake let out his breath in an exasperated huff. Yes, they worked together as a pack. And Jake was obligated to let his pack leader know what he was up to when there was trouble in the wind.

But that was under normal circumstances. This was way beyond normal. And he wasn’t about to wait for everyone to get a move on when he was well on his way to locating his dream mate, with or without his pack’s help.

Jake was doing this his way.

Chapter 11

As a gray wolf, Alicia bolted out of the hotel and ran at a gallop, tearing through the woods and keeping close to the road that would take her to Silver Town. At this point, she figured she had nowhere else to turn. Although in the back of her mind, she kept telling herself she shouldn’t try to locate Jake. That seeing him again would cause more problems than she was willing to face. He’d want to see more of her, to protect her. And she knew she’d end up having to bite him. Turn him. Just like Ferdinand had done to her. So that Ferdinand—in his own words—wouldn’t be alone. If she turned Jake, she wouldn’t be alone.