Destiny of the Wolf

Chapter 18

DARIEN PLOWED THROUGH ANOTHER SNOWDRIFT, GLAD Tom’s four-wheel drive monster truck could handle just about any road conditions, but he still wasn’t letting either of his brothers drive, figuring if he had a wreck it would be his fault, no one else to blame.

“We’ve been driving for an hour in this mess and have barely made any headway,” Jake said. “How was Lelandi acting before you came down to talk to us?”

“Pissed off about Ural. She probably headed to the jail to make sure we didn’t kill him.” He could barely see the road, or whether they were driving on it, the shoulder, or in the ditch. The only thing he could make out were the trees on either side of the road. Darien squinted, but it wasn’t helping.

“Wait, Darien! I think I see something,” Tom shouted from the backseat.

“Where?”

“To the right.., looks like the tail end of a green pickup.”

Darien stopped the truck and they got out. “It’s the Woodcroft boys’ truck. I recognize the crunched right side where Cody backed into their mailbox by accident when he was learning to drive last year.” Now, stuck in the ditch, half-burled in snow and ice. He rubbed the snow off the driver’s side window. No sign of anyone. “Call their dad. See if they made it home, Tom.”

Tom pulled out his cell phone while Jake and Darien scouted around the truck for tracks. “If they hiked out of here on fool, the blowing snow covered their tracks already,” Jake said, rubbing his gloved hands together. “Hope they were dressed warm.”

“Hi, Anthony, this is Tom. Are your boys at home?” he yelled into the phone above the blowing wind.

Darien pointed to a couple of trees nearby. “Branches are broken. They walked this way, marking a trail at least. That abandoned cabin is located half a mile west of here. They’d know about it. Maybe they went there seeking shelter.”

Jake made a disgruntled noise. ‘Hell, the whole thing might have blown down in this storm. But it’s worth checking if their dad says they’re not home.”

They looked at Tom, whose face puckered into a frown. “I’ll let Darien know. We found their truck and it looks like we’ve discovered the direction they’re headed.” He paused. “A mile south of Darien’s place and the truck’s stuck in the ditch and buried in snow.” Tom looked at Darien. “Yeah. Lelandi’s still missing. All right. Let you know if we find anyone.” He pocketed his phone. “Anthony, Sr. said they went sledding and were late in arriving home. Peter called him to help in the search for Lelandi, so he’s heading out, but his wife will be home waiting on news of the boys. Not only that, but the sixteen-year-old twin girls that joined our pack were with the boys.”

“Hell,” Darien said. “Grab some flashlights. They might be able to see them. We’ll check that abandoned cabin. Call Uncle Sheridan and tell him we’ve got some missing teens out here now, too. He’ll need to report the girls are with the boys, have abandoned the vehicle, and are on foot somewhere in the woods. And call Bertha Hastings and tell her to start the alert roster calls to account for everyone else.”

With heartfelt thanks, Lelandl climbed out of the Good Samaritan’s truck and headed for the hospital entrance. Glad to have made it, she felt a sliver of relief, knowing she still might get caught before she discovered anything.

What of the receptionist? Lelandi hadn’t thought about how she could get past her if that blasted Angelina was on duty. With trepidation at being discovered, Lelandi opened the hospital door and let in a blast of cold, but the heated air inside welcomed her like a hot blanket.

A woman she didn’t recognize manned the front desk and was talking to a human mother. The woman’s son was coughing nonstop. While the receptionist was busy. Lelandi slinked on past in her wet clothes down the hallway.

The smell of antiseptics brought a flashback of her stay at the hospital. She shivered, not wanting to think about it. Doc was talking to someone in one of the exam rooms and when she passed it, she saw Ritka adding something to a patient’s IV in the next room.

Ohmigod. Deputy Trevor was peering into a hospital room, his back to her.

Two more hospital rooms to get by and she’d reach Doc’s office at the end of the hall. She hurried past the deputy and into Doc’s office, then shut the door behind her. Her hands shaking, she took a steadying breath. Immaculately neat, everything was in its place. A brass caduceus sat on a stack of papers in the center of the mahogany desk, and she removed Caitlin’s gloves, shoved them in her pocket, then flipped through the papers. Current patient notes, nothing old enough to relate to Larissa’s case.

Certificates decorated the wails, and a portrait of a white-haired, elegant-looking woman and a distinguished- looking Doc was hanging on one of the walls opposite his desk over a file cabinet.

Trying the top drawer, she slid it open. Files of current patients. Files of more patients filled the second drawer also. No Wildhaven here though. No, it would be under Darien’s name, Silver.

And there it was. Lelandi Silver, DECEASED. Lelandi’s skin prickled. She slipped the file out of the drawer and opened it, her heart fluttering at a quickened pace.

9/6 Lelandi cut her wrists as a plea for help.

Her sister had attempted suicide? Hating how much her sister had to have suffered. Lelandi sat down hard on the doc’s chair.

She must have known she couldn’t die in that manner. I’ve tried speaking with her, but she won‘t tell me what’s going on. Nurse Grey spoke with her at some length, but couldn‘t determine the cause of depression. Probably brought on in part by fluctuating hormones from the pregnancy. Suspect underlying reason, but can‘t say without further information.

Lelandi’s eyes pricked with tears, and she wiped away a couple rolling down her cheeks. How could she not have been here for her sister?

9/8 Released Lelandi from the hospital. She seemed more upbeat and I had Doctor Craighton visit her from Green Valley. He’ll be seeing her once a week for a month to work with her through her psychological issues.

9/12 Lelandi seemed somewhat less distraught. Silva has made friends with her as well. I’m hoping that she will adjust to life here with the pack sooner than later as the pregnancy progresses.

10/6 Darien spoke to me about Lelandi’s crying spells. They‘re much more pronounced than for a normal pregnancy. The only thing I can attribute it to is the possibility that the babies aren‘t Darien‘s. I don‘t want to speculate further about that.

Lelandi reread the entry. Did Darien know? What about the rest of the pack? Silva. Maybe Larissa had told her. Or as bad as the news was, maybe not. No wonder Larlssa was so distressed.

10/20 Lelandi had to be hospitalized for dehydration. Darien says she‘s not eating properly. Too ill with morning sickness.

10/24 Autopsy revealed cause of death: broken neck from strangulation. Deemed a suicide, considering suicide note found in patient ‘s handwriting, past history of severe depression, and previous suicide attempt.

10/26 Autopsy of fetuses indicate the DNA does not match Darien‘s.

Tears streaked down Lelandi’s cheeks, and she quickly brushed them away. How could her sister have done this to Darien? To the family? She’d shamed them all. It was bad enough that she’d mated another wolf when she was already mated, although Lelandi could forgive Larissa’s transgressions considering how cruel Crassus was. But how could Larissa have conceived someone else’s babies?

And who was the villain who seduced her sister? Silva said Larissa was seeing a miner. The only one she knew was Joe Keily. If not him, would he know her sister’s lover?

She couldn’t believe how bad the situation with her sister was turning out.

“Doctor,” Ritka said from down the hall. Jarring Lelandi from her morbid thoughts. “Mrs. Waverly wants more medication, but she’s had enough morphine to put a cow under.

“Mrs. Waverly’s bone cancer has spread to many of her vital organs. She doesn’t have long to live. She’s entitled to whatever pain medication helps ease her suffering. Anything else?”

“Just Willy Wilkerson. His lungs sound like they’re full of fluid. Might be pneumonia. And Ural seems to be regaining consciousness.”

Ural was here? Unconscious’ Lelandi ground her teeth. That’s why Deputy Trevor was here. Damn Darien and his men.

The doctor and Ritka walked past the office and Lelandi didn’t stir.

Once they’d reached an exam room, Doc Oliver said. “Mrs. Wilkerson. Well have Willy on medication and better in no time.”

Lelandi refiled her sister’s health records and made for the door. Whether Trevor liked it or not, she was going to see her cousin and find out what they’d done to him.

The door eased open and Lelandi’s heart nearly quit. But it wasn’t Doc.

Joe Kelly hurried inside and shut the door. Snow covered his coat, hair and whiskers, and his eyes had a madman’s look. “Searching for Larissa’s file?” He pulled a gun out and motioned for Lelandi to back up against the wall.

A sickening feeling rippled through her. Her gaze shifted from the gun to his grim face. “You were the father of her triplets, weren’t you?”

‘We thought Darien knew. But he either pretended not to, or was too arrogant to believe someone else had captured his mate’s heart. All that crap about dream mating.”

Hoping for a distraction, Lelandi backed toward the desk where she could reach the caduceus paperweight. Then she recalled her gun. Hell, she could have used it on the wolf stalking her. Slipping her hand into her pocket, she realized with a sinking heart she’d exchanged jackets with Cody. Oh, god, an underage lupus garou had her gun filled with silver bullets. Darien would kill her if this lunatic didn’t beat him to it.

Joe waved his gun at her and spoke in a hushed voice. “Silver bullets, Lelandi. So don’t try me. She was my one true mate. She told me everything about that abusive red mate of hers, how she couldn’t stand Darien’s touch, but went along with the mating so he’d protect her against Crassus. Not to mention that Darien insisted she was his because he’d seen her in the damned dreams, When I saw you, I figured you were the one he dreamed of.

“What... what are you going to do?”

“Clean up loose ends.”

Which meant? He’d kill Doc because he’d known about the pregnancy. She lunged for the heavy brass paperweight, but Joe grabbed her arm, and they fell to the floor with a thud. “Shit, woman. I’m not going to kill you. I have to get rid of the medical records.”

She didn’t believe him for an instant. She and Doc knew about her sister’s babies. Why wouldn’t Joe kill them both? Hell, he had silver bullets in his gun. Why would he even be armed if he didn’t intend to murder someone?

She tried to squirm loose, but Joe kept her effectively pinned down.

“Listen. I’ll get the records for you and you can leave,” she coaxed.

“Nice try, Lelandi. What would prevent you from telling Darien everything you know? Even if you tried to keep your promise, he could force you to tell him the truth. I’ve made arrangements with your cousin Ural to take you away from here, and I want to stay with the pack. So you’ll have to leave,” he whispered against her ear.

And Doc? She wanted to ask him what he intended to do to Doc. but she had a pretty good idea. She feared Joe would be desperate enough to do anything to cover up his deeds.

“Okay, I’ll go quietly with you. Let’s get the files.” She hoped she could come up with a plan before anyone got hurt.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Ritka hollered down the hall at someone. “Visiting hours are from ten to five, and as far as I know you don’t have any relatives in the hospital.”

“I need to see the doctor. It’s an emergency.”

Carol Wood?

“Oh, no you don’t. Darien already said you can’t have a job here.”

“It’s urgent and has nothing to do with working.”

Joe pulled Lelandi off the floor and motioned for her to brace the wall. Then he began shuffling through the files.

“You can’t go down there to see him! He’s with a patient right now!” Ritka’s footfalls pounded after Carol Wood’s.

Then a thud sounded against the doctor’s door. Carol swore, but the door banged open. and she fell into Doc’s office, landing on her hands and knees.

Lelandi and Joe froze.

For a heartbeat, both Ritka and Carol stared at Joe and Lelandi, then Ritka shouted, “Deputy Trevor! Break-in in progress!”

Joe whipped the gun around and fired two shots at Ritka, the gunfire exploding in Lelandi’s ears. She leapt at Joe and seized the weapon as Ritka crumpled to the floor. He thrust Lelandi aside. Carol screamed and scrambled to her feet, but Doc Oliver appeared In the entryway, blocking her escape. Joe fired at Doc. Clutching his chest, his eyes round, he collapsed. Carol dashed out of the office, and Lelandi dove for the brass weight.

With a lightning reaction, Joe struck the butt of his gun against her head and sent her sprawling. Flashes of pain streaked through her skull. Momentarily, she saw nothing but blackness, heard nothing, felt nothing. But then files crashed to the floor while Joe ransacked the file cabinet, until he found Larissa’s. He shoved it inside his jacket, went to the window, and jerked it open.

A mixture of snow and ice blew into the office, chilling her. She bunked her eyes, trying to clear her head.

Where the hell was Deputy Trevor? And what if Doc Mitchell arrived with Caitlin and became embroiled in this mess. And the other teens, too. She could see Cody and Anthony trying to rescue her.

Doc Oliver groaned. His face was sickly pale. Lelandi crawled over to him. Ritka was out cold, and Carol had vanished. Lelandi ripped open Docs shirt and meant to dig out the bullet with her fingers, but Joe grabbed her hair and yanked her back. Pain shot through her scalp. Time to go.”

“No!” she screamed, wanting to save Doc, and clawed at Joe’s fingers to free herself.

Joe seized her arm and wrenched her to the window.

“You hadn’t done anything wrong before this. Why now?” Lelandi struggled to break free of his iron grip, trying to control her tears. She couldn’t fall apart now.

Carol peeked through the doorway with a cell phone to her ear.

“Get the bullets out of the nurse and Doc! They’ll kill them. Don’t wait for help” Lelandi shouted, hoping the bastard wouldn’t shoot her, too.

Joe shoved Lelandi through the window, and she fell into a blanket of snow. Before she could move, he climbed after her, then aimed through the window at Carol. Her heart in her throat, Lelandi scrambled to her feet and jerked his gun arm upward. The gun went off with a bang, and the bullet struck the ceiling. Bits of plaster and paint snowed down on the desk. Carol screamed and ducked down the hallway.

“Damn it. woman. I ought to kill you.”

Lelandi believed he would anyway. “Why shoot Ritka and the doc?” she sobbed. She hoped Carol could save their lives.

Doc knew about your sister’s pregnancy. Larissa was certain of it. He’d have told Darien, and by pack law Darien would terminate me.” He yanked her toward a pickup.

Lights flashing and sirens wailing, several vehicles surrounded the hospital.

“Shit.” Joe took off running, pulling Lelandi into the woods.

Hell, not again. “You can’t outrun all of Darien’s pack,” Lelandi said as Joe nearly pulled her arm out of the socket, tugging her over the rough terrain.

She stumbled knee deep in a snowdrift, and he yanked her up. She growled. He gave her a slight smile, then they scrambled down a steep incline, half-sliding, half-failing until they reached the bottom of the ravine.

He pulled her across a brook, the icy water freezing her to the core again. The snow was still failing so heavily and the wind blowing it so hard, she could barely see.

“Where are you taking me?”

Joe dragged her up the mountain on the other side. “Climb.” he hollered at her.

She balked.

He pointed the gun at her temple. “Darien can’t save you here. If I put a bullet in that pretty head of yours, they wouldn’t arrive in time to get it out. So climb. It’s your only hope.”

Clenching her teeth, her hands numb from the frigid water and her wet clothes sticking to her like Icy Saran Wrap, she struggled to make the climb.

“Keep going straight up.” he ordered.

She looked up, but couldn’t see where he had in mind to take her. They couldn’t climb mountains all day. Unless... She glanced back at him. He was to the right of her, resting while she did.

“Go!”

Unless a cave was up here. She began climbing again. Maybe a secret hideaway where he’d taken Larissa? Lelandi wanted to empty her lunch and kill the bastard for shooting Doc and Ritka.

Men shouted on the ridge from the direction of town. Darien and his men were coming for her. Her heart lifted, but Joe’s expression turned darker. “Move!”

She tried to make it appear she was too weak to climb quickly, although as frozen as she was, it wasn’t all pretense. He drew closer and struck her in the shoulder. She gasped and nearly fell. Her heart pounding furiously, she clung to the rugged rock face, her fingers so numb she couldn’t feel the jagged edges, wishing she could have put Caitlin’s gloves on.

“Move, damn you! Quit stalling. Larissa wasn’t half as capable as you, and she made it up this ridge twice as fast as you’re going.”

“’m half-frozen,” Lelandi snapped back.

She moved at the same pace as before, hoping she wouldn’t fall to her death on the icy mountain, until she saw the ledge he pointed to. He yanked her up the last few feet and pulled her into the cave. Hopefully, someone In Darien’s party knew about it.

‘Was this a silver mine?” She tugged Caitlin’s gloves out of the pocket and shoved her icy fingers into them.

“Until it played out seventy years ago. Then it shut down.” He grabbed a lantern and lighted it, despite not needing it. But even the flicker of flame radiated a tiny glow of heat she welcomed. Inside the cave, it was slightly warmer than the blowing snow outside, and he handed her a hardhat. “Put It on.”

He was going to shoot her in the head with a silver bullet, but now he wanted to protect her from failing rocks? That was the least of her worries though as they traveled deeper into the bowels of the cave. The walls drew closer, the passageway narrower, the ceiling shorter and Lelandi began to feel hemmed in. “Does this open up pretty soon?”

He shook his head.

“They came this way!” Darien shouted.

Lelandi’s spirits soared when she heard Darien’s voice, but it was so far away, she imagined they hadn’t even begun the climb up the mountain.

“Where are you taking me?” she asked Joe, raising her voice, hoping her words would carry through the cave and back down the ridge.

“Shut up!” Joe yanked her deeper, and she gave a hopeful smile, thinking Darien might have heard Joe’s yelling If her words hadn’t carried that far.

Water glistened off the granite walls and dripped on her hat, and she jerked her head to look up. The place smelled like wet earth and the air turned colder. She shivered.

“Forty-four degrees down here no matter what the temperature is outside,” he said.

Still, it was warmer than the raging blizzard outside. But her wet clothes made it feel colder.

The ceiling sank so low, they had to crawl. The rough stone tore at the gloves, and her Jeans were no protection for her knees, bruising with every inch she traversed. The place reminded her of the time she got lost in a cave of tunnels, playing hide-and-seek with her brother and sister, then fell into a small hole she couldn’t get out of. Boy, were their parents mad. But since then, she cringed whenever she had to go into small places, even as a wolf.

Joe forced Lelandi to go first, and her breathing grew more labored. She attempted to steady her breathing, calm her racing heart, ignore the tightness in her chest. But nothing was working. Time seemed to slow and the fear of dying in the tomb-like tunnel escalated.

She paused for the third time, trying to get her anxiety under control, hating that she couldn’t manage it.

“Don’t tell me you’re claustrophobic,” he snarled.

“Weil, I am, damn it. Larissa wasn’t. She could hide in the smallest caves back home, curl up in one and wait my brother and me out when we were playing hide-and- seek, but I can’t do that.”

“Why?”

As if she’d tell the bastard.

When she didn’t answer him, he laughed. “Doesn’t matter. Just suck it up. Now move!” He shoved at her butt and she kicked back with her foot, connecting with some part of him... probably his head as it was so hard.

He yelped. “Damn it, Lelandi, you’re asking for trouble.”

Rocks tumbled together from up above, but the cave was so narrow at this point, she couldn’t look back to see what had happened. The sound of falling rock sent chills racing across her skin. Buried alive in a rock tomb came to mind.

“I have a little surprise waiting for them.”

What was this maniac planning? As she reached the opening into a large cave. the mountain shook and rumbled.

“What have you done?” Her heart nearly stopped. Darien? His men? What if... what if anyone was badly hurt or killed in the rock slide?

She scrambled into the cave and Joe followed her out of the tunnel, her boot’s imprint on his forehead.

“I made some assurances that if anyone tried to come in here when Larissa and I were having our special time, they couldn’t tell anyone, and if they did manage to survive, they wouldn’t be able to locate us.”

He was crazier than she suspected. “But you’ve locked us in a tomb.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Two more tunnels lead out of here that are never used.”

Another rumble of rocks shook her. She looked back at the tunnel they’d come from. Joe seized her arm, but she jerked free, her teeth clenched, tears filling her eyes. She’d found her soul mate only to lose him? “If you killed Darien, you might as well shoot me and get It over with.”

“And if I haven’t? Would be a shame if he found you dead, too.”

He was right, the bastard. If Darien found her dead, he might not get over the grief. A clear plastic bag drew her attention, a pile of furs folded inside.

“I brought them here for Larissa and me, except she died before we had the chance to use them. I tried to convince her to come away with me, but she was afraid Darien would come after us. He still thought the triplets were his. He would have killed me and taken her back if he’d had to tear the world apart looking for her.”

He grabbed Lelandi’s arm again and yanked her toward another tunnel. “This one’s shorter, not as narrow. After we make it down the mountain, we’ll backtrack to town, pick up my truck, and be on our way.”

“You don’t need me. Darien won’t care what happens to you if you leave me behind.”

“Darien took Larissa from me. Now you’ll be her. Just like everyone thought in the beginning anyway.”

“But he’ll look for me, just like he would have searched for Larissa. He’ll never quit coming after us.

“If I’d risked it last time, maybe Larissa would still be alive.”

As much as she didn’t like the idea, Joe might be right. If Larissa had left with this man, whoever wanted her dead might not have bothered to kill her.

“You said you were taking me to Ural. That he knew where my parents were. Were you telling the truth?”