She shook her head. Was she in shock? Injured?

  The only reason Luc was still alive was Etienne didn’t want her to see him kill someone. “Amy, answer me.” He needed all his attention on the injured wolf.

  Colton growled. “You’ll pay for that.”

  “What did you expect? You took my woman.”

  Luc took that moment of distraction to strike. Etienne’s father had trained him well. Wasn’t a sneakier fighter alive than Gator Rollins, and he’d taught his son every trick he knew. Expecting the attack, he went down on one knee, shoved his hands under Luc, and catapulted him out the broken window. The sill cracked, wood splintering.

  A flash of lightning illuminated them all. Amy, Colton, and the woman were all staring at the window. Satisfaction roared through him as thunder rolled across the skies.

  The black wolf jumped back in, the wounds already starting to close. Werewolves healed quickly. So far, all he’d really done was piss the guy off. He’d given him a chance to walk away. He was through playing nice guy. He stripped the rest of the way.

  In a practiced move, Etienne leaped into the air, shifting on the fly—pure black fur and fury. They slammed into one another. The force shook the room. Or maybe that was thunder. Luc’s claws raked his flanks. The pain barely registered. He jumped, using his powerful hind legs to drive the other wolf back. Luc landed hard. Before he could regroup, Etienne was on top of him, his powerful jaws around his neck.

  Red haze blocked out his vision. This wolf had stolen Amy from him.

  “Stop!” Warm arms wrapped around him from behind, her face buried against his fur. “Please don’t kill him.” Anyone else, he would have shaken off. But this was Amy. Her kind heart was going to be the death of him. “Please, Etienne. It’s not what you think.”

  He gave the wolf one final shake, letting him understand how close he’d come to death, before releasing him. Etienne shifted. Blood stained his hands, and his jaw ached to close around his opponent’s throat. His wolf was not happy about leaving the threat to Amy alive.

  Colton and the other woman were both watching him, their mouths open. When he growled, they looked away and hurried over to Luc, who was lying on the floor, one arm over his face, lungs heaving.

  He left Amy long enough to grab his jeans and drag them on. It was time to get her free. Wrapping his hands around the chain, he got a good hold and yanked. Wood cracked and the bolts were ripped from the wall. The chain fell to the floor with a clank. “I’ll get rid of the cuff when we’re out of here.” He coiled up the length of it and handed it to her. Seeing it wrapped around her wrist fired his anger all over again. “We’re leaving.” Now, before he ended up having to fight both men at once. If that happened, one or both brothers would die.

  “No one is going anywhere.” Coughing, Luc rolled to his feet. His earlier cockiness was missing, replaced by uncertainty. Good, he damn well should be worried. Etienne’s wolf wanted to skin him alive for what he’d done.

  This was the second attack on Amy in less than a day. He was in a killing mood. Bad enough he’d spent weeks not knowing where she was, waiting and worrying.

  “Get out of my way or I’ll put you down.” It was the one and only chance he’d give the other male. He looked at the unknown woman, who was visibly trembling. For a wolf, she was a timid creature. “Do you need help?” No way could he leave her here if she’d been taken.

  Amy’s laughter cut through the tension. There was a hysterical edge that worried him. When he raised a questioning brow, she shook her head. “This is a comedy of errors.” When she swiped a tear that rolled down her face, he wanted to take her in his arms and assure her everything would be okay. Until the threat was nullified, he needed both hands free.

  “Luc took me because he thought you were coercing me. Now you want to rescue their sister.”

  Sister? He looked a little closer. Same hair and eye coloring. “At least I didn’t kidnap anyone.”

  Luc faced him, his siblings flanking him, and growled.

  “Will you stop it?” Hands on her hips, Amy scolded Luc. “This is your fault for not listening to me.” She bit her bottom lip. “Is that a guy thing? You think you know a woman’s mind better than she knows herself?”

  Etienne bit the inside of his mouth to keep from grinning at the dumbfounded expression on Luc’s face. Amy’s tongue could snap like a whip when she got going.

  “I don’t need or want your help. What’s between Etienne and me is personal. We’ve known each other since we were kids.”

  “That doesn’t always matter.” It wasn’t the brothers, but Fleur who spoke, her voice soft. Both men wrapped their arms around her. Colton appeared sad, but Luc radiated nothing but fury.

  Well, hell. Now he couldn’t kill them. Their love for their sister was plain to see. What a mess. Etienne shook his head, spraying droplets of water everywhere. “For the last time, no one is going to make Amy do anything she doesn’t want to. That’s not acceptable in our pack. Shouldn’t be acceptable in any pack.” That it was still a problem in this day and age bothered him.

  Amy rested against his side, tilted back her head, and looked at him with those big green eyes. He could practically hear her thoughts. “No way. We have enough problems of our own.” She patted his stomach, making his muscles clench and his cock stir, before turning back to the waiting family. They were a unit—the three of them against the world.

  He was going to regret this. “Who is after your sister?”

  Chapter Twelve

  Amy rotated her wrist. It didn’t hurt, but it was good to have the clunky weight gone. Being chained was not something she ever wanted to experience again. “Thanks.” Colton gave her a sheepish nod and hurried away with the offensive chains when Etienne growled.

  Sitting on the floor beside her, their backs against the wall in the living room, he lifted her hand, examining the lightly bruised area.

  “It’s already fading.” Etienne was outwardly calm, but his anger simmered beneath the surface. She tried to pull her hand away, but he held on and brought her wrist to his lips and kissed the injury.

  He was serious and self-contained, a man in control of himself, a relentless adversary, the best possible friend. But watching him crash through the window like some avenging angel and take down Luc had been a revelation. He was not only dangerous, he was deadly. He would have killed the other man if she hadn’t stopped him, driven by primal instincts to protect. It was as much a part of him as his hair color.

  Luc had no idea how lucky he was that Etienne had such control.

  Was it wrong to admit she found his display of strength sexy as hell? She wasn’t human. None of them were. There were primitive instincts ruling them beneath the veneer of civilization they all wore. They were wolves at the heart of their beings.

  Seeing Etienne away from the pack, watching how he handled difficult situations with cool-mindedness and calculation guided by the wildness of his wolf, was showing her a different side of him.

  “I’m sorry.” None of this had been her fault. Yet she couldn’t help but feel like she owed him an apology. “How did you find me so fast?”

  “Ran after the truck.”

  Fleur’s jaw dropped. “I was driving fifty and went about ten miles.”

  “I know.”

  He was in prime condition, but that would push any wolf to his limits and beyond. “You could have killed yourself,” Amy whispered, horrified at what he’d put himself through. That kind of pace was unthinkable. She’d assumed he’d been able to get back to his truck.

  He shrugged off her concern. “I couldn’t let them take you.”

  Her heart swelled and tears pricked her eyes. Barefoot and bare-chested, his damp hair slicked back from his face, he was a prime male specimen. His abs rippled, and the holes in his jeans exposed tanned, muscled flesh. He had to be exhausted, and starving, but he gave away no weakness.

  No, that wasn’t quite true. He’d hesitated only once—when she’d asked him not to kill Luc. She was his weakness.

  Etienne rested their clasped hands on his thigh. “I’m waiting.”

  Luc swiped a cloth over his chest, wiping off the last of the blood. The wounds were already closed and looked days old rather than fresh. The storm had moved off, leaving a soft but steady patter of rain. It was dry where they sat, but there were two pans in the kitchen catching drips.

  “That’s not a good idea. The less you know, the better for you. You don’t want to get involved.” Luc tossed the cloth away.

  “We’re already involved,” she pointed out. “You made sure of it.”

  Huffing out a breath, he sat on the floor beside his siblings. “I apologize for drugging you. I’m not sorry for interfering.”

  She barely resisted the impulse to roll her eyes. “That’s a sorry-ass apology.”

  The corners of his mouth twitched. “It’s the best I’ve got. My intent was to help.” He hesitated and added, “And maybe try to convince you there were better options out there for you.”

  “Not helping,” she pointed out to Luc.

  He shrugged, unrepentant. “A woman should have options.”

  Etienne’s hand tightened around hers. He remained still, but his muscles coiled. “Luc Landry. That sounds Cajun. Where you from?”

  Now, that was an interesting question. It hadn’t occurred to her to ask. Please don’t say Louisiana.

  “Louisiana.”

  “Of course, you are.” She scrubbed her hands over her face. Things had just gotten even more complicated.

  “Why does that matter?” Fleur asked. She looked from Luc to Colton and finally Amy. “We should part ways and move on to our destination. We have already made much trouble for you.”

  Fleur’s show of spirit surprised Amy. It heartened her. Maybe the other woman wasn’t as timid as she seemed. “You don’t sound Cajun.” And she would know since her father and uncles occasionally fell back into the language of their youth.

  “Fleur,” Luc cautioned, but she raised her hand to cut him off.

  “No, we owe her answers after what we did. After what I allowed you to talk me into. I truly am sorry. I thought I was rescuing you.” Her gaze softened. “I have my brothers to protect me. You have no one.”

  That wasn’t anywhere near the truth, but Fleur had no way of knowing. “You’re forgiven, but a word of advice. As a woman, you have to be the voice of reason.”

  “That so, chère?” Etienne seemed more amused than put out.

  “My momma says so. So does yours. You going to question them?”

  He raised his hands in mock surrender. “Not me. My daddy raised me better than that.”

  The teasing did the job she’d intended. The tension in the room lessened and Fleur smiled. “You two really do have a long history together, don’t you?”

  “Oh, yeah.” That was a discussion for another time. When she and Etienne were alone. “Back to Louisiana,” she prompted.

  “We were born in Arkansas. Our grandfather was from Louisiana, but he left when he was young and ended up mating a woman in the Arkansas pack. Our father was born there. Our grandpa didn’t talk about his former pack, but our father was curious about his heritage. Named us accordingly.” Fleur’s smile was wistful. “Those were good times.”

  Amy’s stomach knotted. “What changed?”

  When Fleur shook her head and went silent, Luc picked up the story. Colton shifted closer to his sister and put his arm around her.

  “Both our parents were killed. Our mother was in her wolf form, went farther afield than normal, and ran across a group of hunters. They took her down with a head shot and skinned her before we could get to her.”

  “Fuck!” Etienne swore.

  “I’m so sorry.” Tears trailed down Amy’s face. She couldn’t begin to imagine dealing with that kind of horror.

  All three siblings were pale. Fleur was silently weeping.

  “Your father?” Etienne asked.

  “He went crazy and went after the hunters. His truck ran off the road. There was a freak explosion.”

  Fire was the fastest way to get rid of a werewolf body. The same genetics that kept them young and gave them twice the lifespan of humans also accelerated their decomposition after death. A fire would turn one to ash within minutes.

  “Our grandparents took us in. Not long after, the alpha from Louisiana contacted our pack. Seems there was a new one in charge, a Jean Paul DuPointe. It intrigued my grandpa enough that he took us down for a visit. Over the years, we traveled back and forth some. Every pack is always looking for new mates.”

  “That doesn’t explain why you’re on the run.” Etienne wrapped his arm around Amy and pulled her into the curve of his body, staking his claim. She supposed she should be grateful he was only rubbing against her and not pissing on her leg. The testosterone was thick enough to choke on.

  “On one visit, one of the males started sniffing around Fleur.”

  “Blaine Mouton,” Fleur whispered. “I did nothing to encourage his intentions.”

  Amy nodded since it seemed important to the other woman.

  “He wouldn’t take no for an answer.” Luc jumped to his feet and began to pace. “We stopped visiting. We hoped that would cool him off, give him time to direct his attention somewhere else, somewhere it was welcome.”

  “It didn’t work?” Etienne absently rubbed his hand up and down Amy’s arm. She doubted he realized he was doing it.

  “He came to Arkansas. Demanded we give her over for mating. Claimed she’d led him on and he was tired of her games.”

  “It’s not true.”

  Moved by Fleur’s distress, Amy scooted over to her and took her hand. “I believe you. But even if you had flirted, tested the waters a little, it didn’t give him the right to demand anything.” The very idea was enough to make her blood boil.

  “What did this DuPointe have to say?” Etienne went straight to the heart of the matter.

  Luc snarled. “He said it was between families. Until Blaine actually did something wrong, it wasn’t his problem. Said it was up to our alpha to deal with it.”

  “Why didn’t he?” Etienne demanded.

  “He’s over a hundred years old, but none will challenge for leadership of the pack. They have too much respect for him and will either wait for him to die or name a successor who would have to defend the position. But if Blaine challenges him, he has to fight. The bastard won’t fight me directly. Believe me, I did everything I could to make that happen. To keep from tearing the pack apart, we left in the middle of the night and have kept on the move ever since.”

  Amy could relate to how difficult that was, but at least they’d had one another. “Do you think he is tracking you? Wouldn’t he have given up by now?”

  “He is obsessed.” Colton had been silent up until now. Amy had noted how he followed his brother’s lead and watched his back, but he was sharp and insightful. “I saw how he watched Fleur. It wasn’t love or lust but obsession. He is out there, and he is looking.”

  “And you thought it was a good idea to draw Amy into the middle of that.” Etienne pushed to his feet, his frown dark enough to scare small children.

  “Blaine isn’t interested in her,” Colton said.

  “God save me from idiots,” Etienne muttered. “You think he wouldn’t use her to get you to hand over your sister? What would you do if it came down to Amy’s life or Fleur’s.” The angrier he got, the lower his voice went. He rarely yelled. He didn’t have to. A wave of pure anger swept over the room.

  “I have a plan,” Luc insisted.

  The Landry brothers were around the same age as Etienne but seemed younger. From what she’d seen, they acted rashly without too much thought or planning. Kinda like she had when she’d taken off and left home.

  “And what is your great plan?” The sarcasm was thick, but she didn’t blame Etienne. He was a planner and would have no patience with their on-the-fly approach to the problem.

  “We heard stories when we were in Louisiana. There’s a pack that even DuPointe is wary of. Everyone down there speaks of it in whispers. They say they’re different, welcome half-breeds and even humans. I’m not saying I believe that, but we hoped they’d agree to keep Fleur safe until Colton and I tracked down Blaine and dealt with him once and for all.”

  Amy thought about banging her head against the wall, but that wouldn’t change anything. Talk about a tangled web. “The Salvation Pack.”

  The three siblings stared in disbelief. “You know it?” Fleur asked.

  Amy ran her fingers through her hair, longing for a brush to tame the tangled mess. And a shower, too. And some food. Anything but having to deal with this mess of a situation.

  Etienne stood with his arms crossed, legs braced, a smirk on his face, waiting for her to drop the news on them.

  Best to make it fast. “That’s our pack. My daddy is one of the founding members.”

  “We are so fucked,” Luc muttered. Colton shook his head and stared up at the ceiling.

  Fleur turned as white as a ghost. “What will we do now?”

  ****

  Etienne wanted to take Amy and leave. This wasn’t their fight. The last thing his pack needed was to get involved in a dispute between the Louisiana Pack and one out of Arkansas. They’d left the past behind. Were enjoying the quiet and prosperous life they’d built.

  “Where are your grandparents?” They’d taken in the family when their parents were killed. He’d have expected them to step up.

  “Our grandfather passed on a month before we left.” Sadness dripped from Fleur’s voice. Amy might look delicate, but she had a core of steel. Fleur was the opposite.

  “I’m sorry for your loss.” The family had been dealt one blow after another.

  She tried to smile. “He was old when our father was born. It is only our grandmother now. She must be protected.”

  Etienne respected the need to protect those weaker. Their actions might be rash, but they came from the right place.

  Their pack hadn’t backed them.

  It was unthinkable to him. That’s what pack did. These three were alone in the world. Amy was watching him, her head tilted to one side, her hair trailing over her shoulder. Her lips curved upward. Damn it, the woman understood him far too well for comfort.