But how was Lila to thwart Kintail from taking Faith for his mate? Then again, Cameron was looking more appealing all the time. She smiled at the thought he'd put Adams and Whitson in their place. Once Kintail had gotten them on the police force, the two had thought they were better than anybody else, not accountable to anyone—except for Kintail. They knew where they stood when it came to the pack leader.
But damn it, before that, they'd listened to her, too. Probably because they'd initially thought she'd be Kintail's mate. Now they weren't sure.
She stalked to the picture window and stared out at the woods where a few of Kintail's men were still searching for David and Owen. Kintail might think he was in charge of those two, but she could have told him David wasn't so much willing to go along with the scheme of things as he put on. She knew that he wasn't being just thoroughly grateful that he was still alive after suffering a massive heart attack. They were a lot alike in many ways—she was openly honest about some aspects of her life, and secretly dishonest about a lot more. But she couldn't help it. Some of her past life, she just didn't want to expose and didn't want to deal with.
David seemed that way to her, too.
But Elizabeth? She never suspected the woman would turn traitor and run off with the men. Yet she should have seen the signs. She'd seen a glimpse of Elizabeth observing David when she thought no one was watching her. But Lila hadn't put two and two together. Too wrapped up in her concern over Kintail. Yet in Lila's heart, something stirred. A desire to be like Elizabeth. To do what the woman had done, defy an alpha pack leader to choose a man she wanted to be with. Not that Lila truly wanted anyone but the pack leader. But she just wished she could show that side of herself again—that she wanted him, no other, and would stake her claim. What if she lost him though? That's what she thought she couldn't handle the most. Another mate's death.
She glanced down at the statue of an Arctic wolf sitting on a chest—a gift she'd given to Kintail. She tried to show she cared about Kintail. He was the typical arrogant alpha male leader who ran the pack, made the decisions, was in total control of everything that went on. And that appealed to her. But her past thwarted her when it came to having any kind of a relationship with a man.
And she suspected he sensed that, maybe concerned she'd never grow to love him. Which was probably why he hadn't mated her yet since she joined the pack two years ago, despite the fact that although there were several available women, none of them was alpha enough to lead the pack like her. She'd hoped when Trevor had told Kintail on her, the leader would have understood her better when she was having a devil of a time explaining herself to him. Even though she hadn't wanted Trevor to tell him her secrets like that. But what did Kintail do? Said he was going to take Faith for his own anyway. She jammed her hands in her pockets and growled.
Cameron she liked. Instantly. There was just some thing she admired about him. And she wanted him. But what if it all had to do with that she didn't know him that well, and he didn't know her? What if it was that she could only want attachments that weren't real? That once she got to know him, she'd have the same difficulty showing any affections toward him as she did with Kintail, too?
She ground her teeth, irritated that she couldn't get on with her life. She just had to get rid of the woman who was a constant reminder that both Kintail and Cameron coveted the cute little forensic scientist. And neither desired Lila. Yet.
Eliminate one threat, maybe Kintail would come around and give Lila another chance.
Baker had missed his calling. She didn't know how he botched his assignment so badly, failing to kill Faith at their campsite, but he did. She ran her fingers down the condensation on the window and stared out at the snowy setting, the forest perfectly still. Not a soul in sight. The lodge itself was eerily empty. The few men who had been left here who weren't trying to locate the killers of their pack members were running around in the woods, searching for their escapees now.
Time for her to change into the wolf and see if she could somehow isolate Miss O'Malley away from the others and do what Baker had failed to do. She reached for her sweater when snowmobiles zoomed up to the kitchen on the other side of the lodge, and she hesitated. Should she stay and see what news the others had? Maybe they'd located David or Owen or both. She'd have a good reason to go to Charles's resort then in the event she ran into Kintail. With news of the men's recapture. Or news of their escape and continued success at evasion of being recaptured, if no one had gone in search of Kintail to apprise him of the situation yet.
She'd warned everyone who had seen Elizabeth take off with the men that the woman had been forced to go with them. Even though a couple of the men seemed reluctant to spread that tale, she'd finally convinced them that David had hold of Elizabeth's hand and was tugging her along. That she hadn't gone of her own free will. Kintail would forgive Elizabeth, if Lila asked him to.
David and Owen? They were another story. She didn't think he'd listen to her about them. Even though she'd speak up for them, again. Kintail didn't like it when she'd let Owen get away with phoning Gavin. But she thought maybe he'd get the message across that they were quitting the job and Gavin would let them go. Didn't work, but she'd tried to help.
A door creaked open to the kitchen. But she didn't hear anyone speaking, which she thought odd. Whoever they were noisily tromped on the tiled kitchen floor, and then loud male whispers reached her ears—but not of anyone she recognized. And no one she knew would have spoken in hushed voices at the lodge.
The hair on her neck stood on end. Kintail had one thought in mind when he arrived at Charles's cabin resort—turn Faith O'Malley before his brother did. When he focused on a single area of interest, he got results. Plain and simple. Until he reached Charles's lodge and saw Charles's cousin George, his eyes widening at the wolf sight of Kintail. George knew him, knew Kintail wasn't any threat to George and his people. But the expres sion on George's face meant Kintail could expect trouble.
Except not as much as he ever bargained for.
Silently, George waved for him to come into the lodge. Kintail loped inside, his temper already rising.
"In here." George motioned to Charles's office. "I'll get you a change of clothes."
Kintail paced. What the hell had happened now?
It seemed to take forever for George to return with a handful of clothes. He set them on the leather love seat by the window and then bowed his head slightly and left the room, closing the door behind him.Kintail shifted faster than he thought possible, and quickly shoved on the trousers, not bothering with the shirt or sweater. "Come in," Kintail hollered, not liking any of this one bit.
George pulled the door open and hesitated to enter until Kintail motioned him to the love seat. "What's happened?"
George was Charles's younger cousin, definitely not an alpha, and if Charles wasn't still at the hospital under observation for the blow to his skull, he was certain, George would have much preferred Charles to talk to him. Kintail wondered where George's older brother, Michael was, who was always in charge if Charles was absent. Maybe he was with Charles.
"Tell me."
George took a seat and wrung his hands, his eyes avoiding Kintail's glower. "Officer Adams and Whitson were injured badly in a snowmobile accident. Michael took them both to the hospital. We couldn't wait to get word to you to send your people here to take care of them. But they'll both be all right, several broken bones, Adams had a concussion."
Kintail stared at him in disbelief. "How did it happen?"
George shook his head, still not looking Kintail eye to eye.
"Guess."
George's gaze flicked his way, and then returned to study the floor. "They were following Cameron and Faith. We think they might have run into a barricade."
"A barricade."
"Yes, hastily made on a trail through the woods. A felled tree had blocked the main road, probably dropped down by whoever is doing the same on other roads and trails in the area. It appeared Cameron and Faith took a trail into the woods to go around the obstacle. Adams said that Cameron was joined by another man. I later found out it was his partner, Gavin Summerfield."
"Where's Faith now?"
"She's at Leidolf's cabin, but she and Cameron are returning to the Black Bear Den to talk with Trevor."
The way George fidgeted, Kintail suspected there was other news. "What else?"
George rose unsteadily from the chair. "Your broth er's been shot. He was in his wolf form and knocked Cameron from his snowmobile. Cameron's partner, Gavin, shot Hilson four times, afraid the wolf planned to kill Cameron. Hilson's resting in Charles's bedroom, feeling well enough to demand three meals already, but not in any shape to go anywhere. Because of the bullet wounds, we couldn't risk transporting him to the hospital and the questions that would follow."
Kintail clenched and unclenched his fists. Half the time he was perturbed with his brother, and he couldn't help being annoyed that Hilson had gone against his wishes, but when it came right down to it, he was Kintail's brother. Damn it.
Cameron and Gavin were dead men.
Kintail hated to ask, although he couldn't imagine anything else could have gone wrong. "Anything else?"
George paused at the office door, his gaze finally focusing on Kintail's. "Cameron's partners escaped your lodge. Elizabeth's with them."
Chapter 18
AS SOON AS OWEN AND DAVID HEARD SNOWMOBILES, THEY darted deeper into the woods with Elizabeth, knowing Kintail's people wouldn't give up on trying to return them to Kintail's lodge. They'd dodged them several times already, and Owen was slightly worried the men were trying to corral them. But he was pretty sure he, David, and Elizabeth were getting closer to Charles's resort also.
That's when he thought something was different about the men in pursuit of them. The snowmobiles were plain noisy, no masking the sound. But they had never heard a peep out of the men stalking them in silence, just like wolves on the hunt. And Owen felt a kinship to them, understood their ways.