The Pack Rule Number 1 No Mates

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Seven QUINN

As the sound of the air ambulance scattered into the night, I turned my attention back to the task at hand. Any moment now, the cops will be here and we can't have Tedly Gherkin running his mouth about wolves that don't die and lions attacking men, now can we? Racing into the trees at shifter speed, I smile seeing that he is exactly where I left him. Crying like a bitch while Taedora snarls in his face, her thick paws keeping him pinned to the ground. Even though we're pressed for time, I can't help but kneel and fix him with an exhausted look

"Just had to come looking for trouble, didn't you? I taunt, with a shake of my head. "I would have thought you learned your lesson when you lost those teeth,"

His frightened blue eyes flare. "What the fuck, man?" he whispers, too afraid to raise his voice with a full grown lioness drooling on his lovely black jacket, "Is this thing yours or what? Call it off! Please

I meet Tar's eyes, trying to signal to her that we don't have much time We need to get him to her den and fast. Now that I've recognized their jackets, it's not quite time for him to die yet. I want to find out which of these crazies have been breaking into the bar and stealing dirty panties. The sound of screeching tires in the distance snags my attention and after a quick glance around I decide. There's only one way to communicate with The around Ted and that's with him unconscious.

1 take a deep breath then gesture for Tae to get off him. When she does, not only is he in shock, but he's a thousand times more frightened of me than before.

"Get up." I snapped.

He simply stares at me from the ground. "W-why do you have a pet lion

At the sound of the word pet, I laugh and The snarls. "I wouldn't call he that if I were you. Now get the fuck up. We don't have time for this."

"N-no! I won't. You're just going to pretend to let me go and then have her chase me. Fuck you! Give me my rifle, then I'll get up!" Ted argues, his arrogance surging forth as if he wasn't just handed his ass by the cat pacing next to him. WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH, WHOOSH

The sound of at least four sets of tires racing up the street sparks me into action. We're going to have to run with him through the hills to avoid the brigade of law enforcement that's about to crash this party. It were just going to be the cops, I wouldn't be worried. But the girl was taken in after an animal attack and it won't just be Timmons showing up. It will be forest rangers too, and then Fish and Wildlife

officers.

"Fuck this," I say, straddling him.

"What the hell are you doing?" he shouts. "Get the fuck off of me Maxim

CRACK!

I slug him across the face and knock him out cold. Fuck," I say. "Silence truly is golden."

Taedora shifts back into herself, her eyes darting back and forth warily. Why didn't you just kill him?"

I shake my head, reaching down to toss him over one shoulder. "Because we need answers from this little bastard. We're going to have to stow him at your place. Quick, what's the fastest way to your den?"

I don't think-"

1/4

08:58

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Seven

"Now Tar! We're about two minates from being interrupted."

"Shit," she grumbles. "Im going to shift back. I'm not having you store my ass while we climb out of here."

"Aww, Tae. I'm flattered, but no need to worry about that. Haven't you heard? I found my mate."

She smirks, "I'll pray for her. Follow me."

DOMONIC

Rainier and I make it back to the bar, just in time to hear the call come through on Rainier's two-way radio, which is presently resting on Bartlett's desk. Rainier doesn't normally bring it inside when he's not on duty, but it's there and the very first thing we hear when we stroll inside is the out of county call for all Wildlife Officers,

"Shit!" Rainier snaps, picking

ing up the radio to listen in while he gets dressed.

"Possible missing persons and one confirmed injury on Bethel Rd, just outside of Port Orchard at the Rearview RV Campsite, eastside. South Kitsap Fire and Rescue are on the scene. Young adult female/possible minor was airlifted to Seattle Grace Hospital and remains in critical condition. The Emergency Medical report suggests a mountain lion attack and officers should be on the lookout for an adult cougar, possibly seven feet in length and weighing up to two hundred pounds. Orders are to subdue and contain, not destroy Requesting additional assistance to canvas the area. Eye witnesses reported multiple wolf sightings and shots fired on site. All volunteers are advised to be in full gear. Jackets and vests required. Possible hunters in the area, requesting air support to issue a warning. "Holy fucking shit," Rainier hisses. "Possible minor? Fuck Dom. What if they were just kids?"

I'd be lying if I said that the moment I heard the words possible minort didn't want to kick myself for not handling this night a little differently. But what's done is done and there's no way of going back in time, so... "I don't fucking know. What if they were? It's not like they weren't in the woods planning to kill one of us."

"True," Rainier replies. "But, we knew they couldn't. They didn't have the right ammo. So if you think about it, they never really stood a chance and we pretty much swallowed them whole. Rainier shakes his head. "Fuck! They were pretty young. We should have just scared

them off."

I nod, picturing the way I slow hunted that bastard in the woods just to fuck with him. But, I did let him get a couple of shots off at me before I took him down. The intent was there and when I picture his face, I know he had to be about my age. He might have even been a little okler. "That fucker that came after me had beer on his breath, a mustache, and a goatee. So I'm pretty confident that he was old enough to read too. The Warning No Hunting Zone - You Shoot We Shidor sign is pretty fucking big when you drive up. So I won't be shedding any tears over it."

-

Rainier still looks upset, shaking his head and burying his face in his hands as he says, "That kid I tore into looked eighteen... maybe..

Fuck!"

"Hey!" I snap. "Enough of that shit! We aren't the only game out there, you know. There are naturals all over that portion of the forest. They couldn't kill us, no, but they might have gotten one of them," "You're right," he relents, shaking it off as he begins to tie up his boots. But it kind of makes me sick that now I have to play Hunter Hero and join the search for the missing persons that I know are dead."

"No," I state. "You're joining the hunt because it's your fucken job and because it would not do for outsiders to get She hasn't exactly been careful lately."

"Right. Gayle, I forgot. You think she's the one that attacked the female hunter?"

their hands on Gayle.

I nod, "Without a doubt. I just don't see Tardora wasting her time toying with her catch, Besides, the moment I saw that one of them was female, I know better than to touch her. Draven would have skewered my balls to fry them over an open flame," Rainier Laughs. "I think she still might."

2/4

Chapter One Hundred Ninety-Seven

That's another thing. My baby is pregnant. Pregnant! With a possible shifter. Before my child is born, I want this mess dealt with. The our home and I dont want to leave it, especially before we find our mothers killer, but I won't risk losing my child over it. No. No way. The hunters have to be dealt with harshly. I want them afraid to even look in this direction. "Look at it this way. Two years from now my pop could be racing through the woods during his first shift and f'dike to know hes safe when he does it. Can you imagine of those bastards would do if they came across a cub?"

Rainier goes silent, his eyes reflecting the sudden worry that I feel. "We won't let that happen. We're going to put an end to and everything they stand for."

"Yes - the fuck - we are," I say absently as I read a message from Draven that came in about twenty minutes ago. Holy shit well..." I say, texting her a thank you and telling her 11 be there tomorrow, "What?" Rainier asks as he finishes putting on the rest of his

This uniform.

"Gio... that motherfucker is like a library of shifter knowledge." My jaw clenches with what I'm about to say, because I know it's going to open a brand new can of worms, "I think we need to find your dad." Rainier sneers. "Fuck that. Why?"

I show him Draven's text and as suspected, Rainier's eyes go hot and his grip tightens on my phone. "A rogue? But the only scent

Pine needles a

and woodsmoke," I finished for him. "Maybe rogue's smell different than we do. Your dad went rogue when he escaped. If their scent changes, we need to know how and what is different."

"Yeah," Rainier agrees, handing me back my phone. "But we should have scented some kind of wolf-"

""Not if we weren't

expecting one," I point out "It was a full moon after all."

Rainier's growls. "So it's a foreigner. Someone like Gio?"

I stroke my chin slowly. "Makes sense if you think about it. Maybe all this shit about skunking is older than we are. Maybe its thing for their kind to do. Could be that's why it was easy for Gio's men to recognize it as a tactic and it could also be why it was that was used." The pair of us jerk to attention at the sound of someone joining us.

Rainier snickers, shaking his head. "What the fuck are you wearing?"

Quinn is out of breath as he flips Rainier off and saunters into the room. "A rogue, huh?" Quinn repeats, telling me he was outside a minute before he came in panting like an old maid. "Well if that's true, wait until you hear this little twist." K-What?"

Quinn smiles. "I can't be the only one who recognized the jackets they were wearing tonight, right? Because if Jam, I want public recognition."

My brow furrows in annoyance. "What the fuck are you" I cut off when picture it. The jacket the hunter was wearing. No way. I'm about to check the video on my phone when I see Rainier doing the exact same thing. Pulling up the feed to double check, Rainier's eyes go wide with shock. Tll be damned. No wonder he's been so hard to catch."

"And I'll

I know just which one of them it was, too," Quinn says softly and we both stand tense, waiting. "Delilah says the guy training her brother only hunts one kind of game. Can you guess what it is?"

Rainier and I speak at the same time, "Shifters."

3/4

The Pack: Rule Number 1 - No Mates