Wolf's Return (Black Hills Wolves Book 1) Read online

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  Wolf’s Return

  Copyright © 2015 by Rebecca Royce

  ISBN: 978-1-61333-702-8

  Cover Art by Fiona Jayde

  All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work, in whole or in part, in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.

  Published by Decadent Publishing Company, LLC

  Look for us online at:

  www.decadentpublishing.com

  Black Hills Wolves Stories

  Coming Soon!

  What a Wolf Wants

  Black Hills Desperado

  Wolf’s Song

  Claiming His Mate

  When Hell Freezes

  Portrait of a Lone Wolf

  Taming His Mate

  Seducing the Schoolmarm

  Alpha in Disguise

  A Wolf’s Promise

  Reluctant Mate

  Diamond Moon

  Tempting the Wolf

  Also by Rebecca Royce

  Another Chance

  Initiation

  Driven

  Bar Mate

  Out of Place Mate

  Mate by the Music

  Unwanted Mate

  Behind the Scenes

  Believe in Me

  Embraced

  Eye Contact

  Rebirth

  Subversive

  Return to the Sea

  I’ll be Mated by Christmas

  One Night With a Wolf

  Paging Dr. Wolf

  Forever

  Love in One Night

  Redemption

  February Lover

  Wolf’s Return

  Black Hills Wolves

  By

  Rebecca Royce

  To all the authors who said “yes” when I said we should do a series like this.

  I couldn’t have done this without you.

  Chapter One

  The rain pounded on the roof of the white center hall colonial, a strong, loud rhythm Drew Tao had come to associate with New Jersey in the early winter. Cold, windy, and gray without any snow to bring beauty to frigid air. But none of that mattered. Not when he could be indoors working. It could be one hundred degrees and sunny. When he was working, he hardly noticed. Finishing his task mattered more than anything else.

  Drew stepped back to survey the entertainment unit he’d spent the last two days building for his client—a couple in their early twenties had commissioned his custom work for their sixty-inch flat-screen television. They would be happy with what he had created. He’d left ample space for every accessory they wanted and some places for the wife to display decorative touches. All oak, as they’d requested.

  He smiled; finishing the piece was a good day’s work, and he took satisfaction in knowing the few useful skills he had in this human world could make others happy. His hands tingled. It was almost time for him to move on. Staying in one place for too long made his wolf-side twitchy. When things started to feel too much like home, he suddenly craved his pack.

  And the spirits knew he’d never have that again.

  The phone in his pocket vibrated, and he ignored it. Several clients were waiting to hear from him about whether or not he’d be able to work for them in the next couple of weeks. Since he needed to move on, the answer would have to be a resounding no. He could wait a few more hours to send his regrets.

  It vibrated again, and he groaned. “Pushy client.” Maybe he’d dodged a proverbial bullet by deciding it was time to go.

  He pulled his phone out of his pocket and looked at the message. It wasn’t a number he recognized, but he never stored any names. What was the point? Anyone calling or texting constituted a temporary client who became a temporary acquaintance during his time with them. No one worth remembering—no possibility of friends or family.

  He’s dying.

  Drew forgot to breathe for a second.

  Another message came through. Are you there?

  Drew had to read the words several times before his brain made sense of what he saw. He exhaled loudly and walked to the window to look outside at the rain. Despite the improbability of anyone from his pack being able to get in touch with him after ten years away, he had no doubt the he in question was his father. No one else’s death—short of B’s—would matter enough to warrant reaching out to him.

  Of course, it could just be a trick, meant to lure him home so the old man could finally kill him.

  Are you there? Was he? Drew could do what he usually did when something brought up memories of home—he could ignore the message. Throw out this phone, get a new number. Move the fuck on.

  Are you there, Drew? His phone vibrated again.

  “Oh, what the hell?” Truth was, he couldn’t keep going on as he’d been doing. Sooner or later, he had to go home. He had to return to the Black Hills and the pack he’d been exiled from. If the Alpha was really dying, then he had to go back.

  I’m here. He texted. Who is this?

  The answer came less than a few seconds later. Who else would be texting you, boy?

  He smiled. For the first time in longer than he could remember, he laughed aloud. Gee. The old Bear. Of course he’d be the one to reach out to him. Not part of the wolf pack, the were-Bear wouldn’t care in the least about the fact that his father had made it illegal for anyone to contact him. Gee lived by his own set of rules, and they were the only ones the Bear cared to follow.

  Decided, he texted. I’ll be back tomorrow.

  Ten years away from the Hills. Would they still feel like home? Would the trees smell the same? Would the woods speak to him?

  Good.

  Well, that remained to be seen. What was the worst thing that could happen? His father had already ripped out his soul when he sent him into exile.

  ***

  Twenty-four hours later…

  The creek trickled in front of Drew, not frozen but bound to be before too long. Winter was a harsh master and had to be properly obeyed lest he find himself frozen to death from lack of care.

  “I see you made it.”

  He turned at the sound. He’d stayed on the edge of pack land. It had seemed easy enough when he’d set out to come home. However, standing in the Black Hills of South Dakota, so close to the werewolves whose absence he had felt for a decade like a hole in his gut, he found it hard to move his feet.

  His mate was somewhere within the borders, too. He had to push thoughts of B from his mind. Thinking of her was too much. Even wondering about B had the ability to bring him to his knees.

  He must have been really out of it, or it had been too long since he’d had to watch his back, because he’d failed to hear the Bear approach. Or maybe that was just what Gee had wanted.

  “I told you I would.” He regarded his old friend and mentor. The Bear hadn’t aged a day. His long narrow face and sunken eyes stared at him like he knew his every secret in the world. Hell, he probably does.


  Gee guarded his privacy like it was his most prized possession, and Drew really had no idea how old the other man was. If Gee wanted him to know, he’d tell him. If not, Drew would probably live and die never knowing certain facts about the were-Bear. In fact, on Drew’s deathbed, he’d likely look up and see Gee appearing exactly the same as if he’d not aged a day.

  It had freaked him out as a child. These days, he found it strangely comforting. Some things should stay the same. Even if it was only Gee’s facial features.

  “How was your trip?”

  He smiled at the other man. “You don’t really care how my trip was.”

  The Bear nodded, his shoulder-length brown hair moving when he did. “No, I don’t.”

  “Since when do you text?” He had to say something. The urge to throw himself at his childhood mentor and hug him felt too strong. Neither of them would be comfortable if he gave into his strange need. Resistance seemed to be the name of the game.

  “Doesn’t everybody text?” Gee looked at the sky, sniffing the air. Drew followed suit, but all he could smell was the winter on the trees and the wood smoke of a small fire in the distance. Someone was always camping in the Hills.

  “How did you get my number?”

  Gee grunted, and Drew clenched his teeth. If he’d gone noncommunicative, then that was going to be the end of the line of questioning. How Gee had acquired his phone number would remain a mystery.

  “Do you guys have wireless here?” It was easier to talk about meaningless details than face what waited for him nearby.

  Another grunt and Gee walked past him into the forest. Drew supposed he was meant to follow, and so he did without comment. Maybe it was time to man up and just ask what he needed to know. He gritted his teeth before he spoke. “What is he dying from? Someone finally stab him in the stomach?” Like Drew should have done years ago. One good shove of a blade….

  Only that wasn’t the werewolf way, and since he hadn’t been able to battle his father the right way, no fight had happened.

  “He’s been poisoned. Slowly. Over time.”

  “What?” He stopped walking. Talk about not the werewolf way. “Someone has been slowly murdering him?”

  “He still might survive.” Gee went left, and Drew hurried to catch up to him. “His food is being better monitored.”

  “So, the part about his dying was what, a lie?” He shouldn’t be surprised. Everyone had a stake in the Hills. Even Gee bent the truth when he wanted to. The question then had to be why Gee had wanted him back and not any time in the last ten years.

  “Subjective word choice. He is dying. That does not necessarily indicate he will die. I didn’t say that.”

  Drew rolled his eyes. Five minutes back and Gee had already schooled him. “Subjective my ass.” A question formed on his tongue. He wanted to ask, needed to know about B. For ten years she’d haunted him, tempted him, and driven him to near madness in his dreams. His body craved hers. But he didn’t say a word because he had forsaken the right to do so when he’d left.

  “Where are we going?”

  Gee stopped moving, and Drew almost plowed into him from behind. “We’re no longer going. We have arrived.”

  “Thanks.” The scent of another shifter reached his nose, and in less than a second, he knew who he’d been brought to see. Ryker Grey. Pack Enforcer. The one who made sure they all obeyed the rules and who brought them to justice if they didn’t. His father’s violent right hand. “Seriously? Did you bring me all the way back here to be killed?”

  “If you had come to Ryker ten years ago instead of leaving like you did, then things would be quite differently.” Gee didn’t talk much. Ryker wasn’t much of a conversationalist either. Or at least he never had been before. Why use ten words when one would do?

  His old—friend?—colleague?—pack mate?—it had always been next to impossible to define their relationship well—hadn’t aged much. If anything, his square jawline had hardened. Like Gee, Ryker’s bloodline traced back to Native American ancestors. Some member of their wolf pack, or in Gee’s case Bear clan, had mated a nonshifter, a pure human. They retained their human ancestors’ line of features. With dark hair and severe eyes, they both gave off the impression of intensity, all the time.

  “I wasn’t going to throw Ryker in the middle of this.” He tried to breathe through the discomfort and fisted his hands. Humans didn’t talk about each other in front of each other. He had to get used to the fact no one in the pack would blink an eye about discussing these things in public and specifically in front of the person being discussed. “And I didn’t want him—you—siding with my father. I had enough troubles.”

  Drew rubbed at his leg. It didn’t hurt right then, but the old wound was a constant ache, in his memory if nowhere else.

  Gee shook his head. “Well, you’re never going to know, are you?”

  Enough was enough. Had Gee brought him back to the Black Hills just to drive him crazy? “Nothing to say for yourself, Ryker? Wanna weigh in on this?”

  Ryker had been kneeling down over a campfire. He stood up and looked Drew straight in the eyes. The jolt of pack awareness Drew hadn’t felt in a decade lanced through him and threatened to take him to the ground. It was a week until the full moon, the only time Drew ever had to shift, but he thought he might lose control and bring on his wolf any second.

  For the first time in ten years, Drew sucked in a deep breath—a real lungful of pure, mountain air.

  “You’re late.” Ryker threw a twig into the fire. It sparked and burst apart with a pop.

  The forest fell quiet. Drew could actually hear his own intake and outtake of breath. “For what? I don’t remember having any appointments. I thought I’d be attending a funeral at some point.”

  Ryker and Gee shared a look Drew couldn’t decipher. And it ignited the flint of his temper. “If you have something to say, say it.”

  “You’re late for starting your life, son.” The bland expression didn’t match Ryker’s near-tolerant tone.

  Drew growled. It felt good to not have to restrain the sound. “You’re not my father. You’re older than me, I don’t even know how much more, but you don’t get to call me son.”

  “Lifetimes older. Take my word on it.” Ryker dismissed his objection with a shake of his head. “I need to see something.”

  “What’s that?” Drew felt edgy. Goose bumps had popped out all over his body. Ryker hadn’t threatened him. Why did he feel like he was about to get into a fight?

  Two seconds later, Ryker struck. He hardly had a second to shift before Ryker slammed him into the ground. It had been years since he’d made the change so fast and it hurt his bones, like he needed to stretch. But there wasn’t any time. Ryker meant business, and although he didn’t smell any intent to kill on the other man, Drew still wasn’t prepared to take a beating just to satisfy whatever issue Ryker needed to work out.

  Drew lunged forward. It had been a decade since he’d been able to spar with another werewolf. Full moons had been tricky in the human world. One time in Manhattan, he’d had to rent a U-Haul and lock himself in it. The thing had been destroyed in the morning.

  He had to face off with a powerful and deadly werewolf. Ryker was the color of rusted leaves in autumn, deep brown with hints of gold in his wolf coat. They were unusual markings for one of their kind, but gods help the person who dared to mention it to him. There was a reason Ryker took care of the rule breakers. The man could be scary as shit when he wanted to be.

  But Drew had never been a coward—not even the day he’d had to leave—and he had no intention of backing down from this fight. He surged forward, lunging for Ryker’s side. He’d get a good bite in if nothing else. The other wolf dodged the full assault, but Drew managed to scrape him. His mouth watered.

  This. Was. Fun.

  Drew swiped one more time at Ryker. He wasn’t certain how long their quasi fight went on, but eventually, Ryker withdrew several paces. Tail straight up and his head raised, hi
s dark eyes locked with Drew’s for what seemed an eternity—the bastard wasn’t even winded. The Enforcer shifted into his human form, a spark shimmering as his clothes coated his bare body. Ryker cricked his neck but, other than that, didn’t utter a word to indicate they’d just been battling in the snow. If not for the few drops of red staining the churned up white, Drew might not believe it either.

  Drew called his shift back on himself. His muscles were sore, his bones ached. How and when did he start to feel like such an old man?

  An expressionless Gee leaned against a tree, and if their only audience was impressed or disappointed—he kept it to himself.

  After stretching his hands over his head to loosen his arms, Drew stared at the two of them. “Was that some kind of test?”

  Ryker nodded. “Yes.”

  “And did I pass? Because I’m not entirely certain I wanted to. I don’t know what’s going on here.”

  “He’s ready.” Ryker nodded to Gee. “Rusty but ready. Centered. But as he said, he doesn’t know what’s going on here. Maybe he doesn’t want it.”

  Gee shook his head. “He does.”

  A sinking realization of what all of this could mean settled on his shoulders. “Enough. The two of you can be as Yoda as you want with each other. I am out of here.” He didn’t know if they’d get the references or not. Drew had had to learn a lot of pop culture over the last ten years. But perhaps things had changed. If Gee could text message, that could mean they were all having movie nights. George Lucas could now be a household name.

  “You limp still. On your left leg.” Gee pointed at it. “You’re harder than when you left. You’re not ranting. Or yelling. Or raging at the unfairness of the pack. Ten years ago, you weren’t ready to take him, not alone anyway. If you’d tried to take power from your father, you would have lost. Few pack members saw him for what he was.”

  “And now?” Was Gee actually suggesting he take back the pack after a decade away from it? Ten years ago, he’d been a native son. The automatic assumption, to everyone but his father, Magnum Tao, was Drew would inherit. These days, he’d be nothing more than a usurper who’d run away. Ten years ago, he’d been mated to the most wonderful wolf on the planet. If he strolled on in, she’d likely, and with good reason, not speak to him—if she even bothered to acknowledge he was alive. Especially because he’d never be able to explain to her why he’d left her behind. Not without shattering her world.