Kelley Armstrong - Frostbitten

"If they get to the cabin… " Nick whispered.

"It doubles the odds in their favor. We should them out."

I wasn't in top-notch shape, but still feeling no pain, and Nick was fresh and raring to go. With the element of surprise. We could take them. Nick slipped back to cut across behind them and come up on their left.

Marko was still complaining.

"I don't know why we had to come back from the city. We'd have found the hotel, caught this Danvers, brought him back… "

"If Eddie is right, which he usually is, Danvers is already here. You just wanted to stay in the city. You always want to stay in the city."

"Why not? It's warm. The beds are warm. The girls are warm. This-" He gestured at the surrounding forest and swore in Russian.

"Enough complaining. If you do not like it-"

"The money I like. Eddie, I don't. Always ordering us around. Come to Alaska. No, go back. No, come again. Back and forth, back and forth."

The Ukrainian told Marko to shut up before someone heard.

"That's why I'm talking so much," Marko said. "If this girl is out here, she is alone, afraid. If she hears a voice, she'll come running."

I signaled Nick, who swung out into their path. The Ukrainian leapt out of the way, whistling as he did, but Marko, caught in midrant, just stood there, mouth open until Nick shut it for him with a line-drive upper cut.

I caught Marko and slammed him to the ground, glancing back only long enough to check on Nick. He didn't have the Ukrainian yet, but he'd backed him into the thick bushes. The Ukrainian whistled again.

"That's not going to bring anyone running," I said. "Your buddies just sat down to breakfast."

Beneath me, Marko tried to twist and bite. So I broke his arm. I wasn't in the mood for threats. I would have killed him already, but if I needed information, he was more likely to give it than his friend. I could do without the shrieks of pain, though, so I shoved his face into the snow to stifle them.

When he shut up, I wrenched his head back and hissed in his ear, "I hear you like killing humans, Marko. You're on American Pack territory, and do you know how we treat man-eaters here?"

He swore at me in Russian. I smashed his face into the snow again.

Nick was sizing up the Ukrainian, knowing the mutt couldn't run, but that he'd fight as soon as Nick moved. And a cornered wolf fights hard.

"Tester summoned you boys back the minute he got a whiff of trouble, didn't he? Figured he and his brother weren't enough to take on two Pack werewolves? Poor excuse for tough guys, if you ask me. Did you do any man-eating while you were in the Lower 48?"

"Is that where we were?" Marko turned his head and smiled up at me through the blood streaming from his nose.

"I don't really care where you were. I'm just making conversation."

"Oh, you'll care. You'll care very much soon."

Nick feinted left, preparing for engagement and takedown. Then he stopped short, gaze shooting behind me, lips parting.

"Elena!"

He twisted and lunged at me. The Ukrainian grabbed him. As I shot up off Marko, a shadow passed over me and I caught a whiff of werewolf scent. I wheeled to see a strange mutt, with two more behind him.

"Now do you want to know what we were doing?" Marko said. "Bringing fake passports to the rest of our pack, and escorting them here."

It was a short fight.

MARKO KICKED OPEN the cabin door and shoved me through with his good hand.

"Anybody home?" he called. "We brought you a present, Travis."

"Two presents," said the Ukrainian, pushing Nick in. Two other mutts followed. "I don't know if you wanted this one alive, but I guessed you did."

"And if you don't, I'll take him," said one of the newcomers, a paunchy, graying brute with only traces of an accent. His grin was a picket fence of missing teeth. "He's pretty."

Nick ignored him, taking everything in, unperturbed. I could say he was putting on a brave show, but he just wasn't all that worried. I was with him, so all he had to do was pay attention and await orders. Sometimes it really sucks to be in charge.

Admittedly, I wasn't as worried as I should be either. The others were on their way and I didn't think the Teslers would kill us. Their endgame was killing Clay. What better bait than both his mate plus his best friend?

As for what Tesler would do with me while passing the time, I was surprisingly unconcerned about that, too. I blamed the drugs. I'm sure when they wore off. I'd have blamed them for this whole "captured again" mess. An Alpha-training lesson for me-never make field decisions while under the influence of painkillers.

Even when Tesler walked in from another room, saw me and grinned, my pulse barely jumped. He strode over, took both my hands and held me at arm's length for a once-over, like a groom checking out his arranged bride.

"All that and she still looks good. You hold up well, honey. Too bad you're not going to look so good when I'm done with you."

He pulled me closer and slid his hand under the parka, squeezing my ass. I heard a scuffle behind me, and I glanced back to see Nick struggling against his captor, glowering at Tesler. When I shot him a look, he stopped. I appreciated the sentiment, but if he didn't play good hostage, they might decide they didn't need two of us after all.

"They killed Andrej," the Ukrainian said.

When Tesler frowned, Eddie leaned over and whispered to him, "The big Romanian. Joined up just before we left."

Tesler's expression didn't change. He might remember the guy. He might not. Either way, he didn't really give a shit.

The Ukrainian was right. Eddie pretended his brother was in charge, but it was what Clay and I planned to do when I was Alpha-if mutts wanted to think the big scary guy was in charge, let them. Yet a pack is really no different than a human organization. While the strongest might make the best leader short-term, it took more than that for long-term success. In this case, though, even the pack members themselves couldn't agree who was their Alpha, meaning they wouldn't agree on who to protect. I could use that. I just wasn't sure how.

"Paul? Stefan? Tie him up," Eddie said. "Marko, let's get that arm set. Gavril-"

"Can I eat, please?" Gavril-the chubby guy with the bad teeth-whined. "I haven't had anything since the plane."

Eddie waved him to the kitchen. "Get something and come back. Danvers could show up any minute and I want to be ready. This is our big moment, guys."

"We're gonna wipe out the North American Pack," Tesler said.

"No, we're going to replace them. And you guys are getting in at the start." The others lit up like ground-floor investors about to watch their company go public. "You've worked hard and it's all going to pay off now. By summer, we'll be out of this godforsaken wasteland, living in California, Texas, Florida… We'll have a whole damn country to choose from."

They nodded, true believers at the revival, the Promised Land shimmering before them.

"Anyone who opposes us goes down. Anyone who wants to join up will be welcome, as long as he's willing to pull his weight and understands that you guys are at the top of the heap. You were here first. You'll get the best territory, the best girls and, most of all, the best-paying jobs in the operation."

As he preached, I plotted possible escape routes. I liked the big picture window a few feet from us. Of course, I'd like it even better if I could see some familiar werewolves slipping through the forest to surround the house…

"And remember who got you here," Tesler said. "Me and Eddie, we did all this for you guys."

"We have to give Marko credit, though," Eddie said. "As mad as I was about him killing that guy out here, he gave me an idea. Kill a few humans on Pack territory and look who comes running."