Dark Wolf Running (Bloodrunners) Read online

  In Rhyannon Byrd’s latest Bloodrunners romance, passion and secrets collide and only their love will save two werewolves and their pack.

  With his sharp gaze locked on the most magnificent female he’d ever seen, Wyatt Pallaton did his best to hold himself back. Of course, Elise Drake was hardly just any female. Fiery and cool, strong, yet at the same time achingly vulnerable, she’d turned his entire world on its head.

  No matter how bloody difficult it proved to be, he was done letting her pretend he didn’t even exist. Done with letting her fight her own battles. Done driving himself slowly into this maddening state of frustrated desire. One way or another, things were about to change.

  Come hell or high water, she was done running….

  “Just a dance, Elise. That’s all I’m asking for.”

  Then Wyatt was taking her into his muscular arms, and she had to bite her lip to keep from moaning at the sudden, chaotic rush of emotion. It was such a consuming, overwhelming sensation, being held by a man again, and her breath caught with a sharp, audible gasp as he pulled her against the hardness and heat of his muscular body.

  Trying to remember how to breathe, she placed her hands on his broad shoulders, the soft cotton of his shirt warm beneath her palms, and took a quick glance up at his face to find him watching her, his expression fierce…intense, and yet, somehow impossibly gentle. “I’m dizzy,” she whispered.

  “It’s okay. I’ve got you,” he told her, his beautiful mouth shaping the words, making them sound like something seductive and wicked.

  Books by Rhyannon Byrd

  Harlequin Nocturne

  **Last Wolf Standing #35

  **Last Wolf Hunting #38

  **Last Wolf Watching #39

  **Dark Wolf Rising #152

  Darkest Desire of the Vampire #161

  “Wicked in Moonlight”

  **Dark Wolf Running #173

  Harlequin HQN

  *Edge of Hunger

  *Edge of Danger

  *Edge of Desire

  *Touch of Seduction

  *Touch of Surrender

  *Touch of Temptation

  *Rush of Darkness

  *Rush of Pleasure

  *Deadly Is the Kiss

  *Primal Instinct

  **Bloodrunners

  To browse a current listing of all Rhyannon’s titles, please visit www.Harlequin.com

  RHYANNON BYRD

  is an avid longtime fan of romance and the author of more than twenty paranormal and erotic titles. She has been nominated for three RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Awards, including best Shapeshifter Romance, and her books have been translated into nine languages. After having spent years enjoying the glorious sunshine of the American South and Southwest, Rhyannon now lives in the beautiful but often chilly county of Warwickshire in England with her husband and family. For more information on Rhyannon’s books and the latest news, you can visit her website at www.rhyannonbyrd.com or find her on Facebook.

  DARK WOLF RUNNING

  Rhyannon Byrd

  Dear Reader, Dark Wolf Running is the fifth book in my Bloodrunners series, and I can’t even begin to tell you how excited I am to be writing about this wild, wonderful world of half-breeds once again!

  Sometimes going into a book, you just know the two main characters are going to make their journey anything but easy…and yet, at the same time, you know that in the end all the grief they put you through is going to be more than worth it. That’s exactly how I felt with Wyatt and Elise. They’ve been through so much, each burdened with a painful past that was beyond their control. But once fate throws them together, they find that there’s nothing they can’t survive, so long as they have each other. Their darkly seductive love story is one that I hope will strike deeply at your emotions and tug at your heart, compelling you to root for them to the very end.

  Up next is the mysterious Eli…and I can’t wait to share his story with you. This bad boy Lycan mercenary might think he’s seen and faced it all—but nothing in his vast experience will have prepared him for the woman who’s about to show him what it truly means to fight for what you believe in…and for what you can’t live without.

  Wishing you all much love and happiness, Rhy

  This one is for the lovely Debbie Hopkins Smart.

  It’s not the first book I’ve dedicated to you, Debs,

  and it won’t be the last, because there simply aren’t

  enough ways to say thanks for everything that you do.

  You are and always will be made of awesome!!!

  THE BLOODRUNNERS’ LAW

  When offspring are born of a union between human and Lycan, the resulting creations may gain acceptance within their rightful pack only by the act of Bloodrunning: the hunting and extermination of rogue Lycans who have taken a desire for human flesh. Thus they prove not only their strength, but also their willingness to kill for those they will swear to protect to the death.

  The League of Elders will predetermine the Bloodrunners’ required number of kills.

  Once said number of kills are efficiently accomplished, only then may the Bloodrunner assume a place among their kin, complete with full rights and privileges.

  THE DARK WOLF

  A Dark Wolf bloodline is the purest of the Lycan race.

  They are the most primal and powerful of their kind. Visceral. Predatory.

  Creatures of instinct and hunger.

  They are the potential for all things good and evil.

  And they will forever act with furious vengeance to protect the ones they love.

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  Excerpt

  Prologue

  With his sharp gaze locked on the most magnificent female he’d ever set eyes on, Wyatt Pallaton did his best to choke back the deep, aggressive growl rumbling up from his chest—and for the most part, he succeeded. But then, most was a relative term. Several of the nearby guests glanced his way at the stifled scrape of sound, their eyes narrowed with censure, warning him not to be rude. As if he didn’t already grasp the situation. He knew damn good and well that a wedding was generally considered a “no growling” affair. Even ones where the majority of those attending were a far cry from human.

  Still, he didn’t want to make a scene. Sending the disgruntled werewolves, or Lycans, as they preferred to be called, a tight smile, he waited until they’d turned back around in their seats before allowing his own irritation to show.

  Mindful of the occasion, Wyatt was doing his best to keep a tight rein on himself—but Christ, it wasn’t easy. Predatory hunger, visceral and thick and savage, poured through his veins like liquid fire, burning him from the inside out. His body was tense, muscles so rigid and tight he felt like a bloody volcano on the verge of eruption. Just another ground-shaking, life-altering, cataclysmic event in the making, putting the tension on fate’s bowstring until it was ready to snap. Twang. Hell, it wasn’t as if he and his fellow Runners hadn’t had enough of those “what did I do to piss off the gods?” events lobbed in their faces recently. And here he was, balancing on the edge of a meltdown. Sweet. He was about to take the “biggest jackass of the year” award. Lucky him.

  With his large hands clenched into hard, strai
ning fists in his lap, Wyatt ground his jaw and tried like hell to keep it together. But there was only so much that a man could endure. Based on the pathetic fact that he was shaking apart inside with lust and need and too many damn confusing emotions, he could only assume that he’d finally reached his limit.

  After months of biding his time, waiting for the stubborn woman to acknowledge their mutual attraction and come to him, he’d had enough. Not surprising, he supposed, since as a primal, aggressive male, waiting wasn’t exactly one of his specialties. Undeniably dominant in nature, the thirty-five-year-old Bloodrunner was accustomed to going after what he wanted with single-minded intensity, not stopping until he had it—but these were unusual circumstances.

  And Elise Drake was a far cry from your average female.

  Considering the length of time he’d been without a woman, he’d known tonight wouldn’t be easy. He’d tried to stay calm, but the sight of Elise walking down the aisle in her bridesmaid gown, the flowing whisper of silvery-gray silk accentuating the sumptuous perfection of her figure, had damn near done him in. Now, as the sun melted into the horizon and the lavender shades of twilight darkened the sky, revealing an iridescent spattering of stars, he was forced to sit in his chair and pretend that hunger wasn’t ripping him into tiny, pathetic chunks, one excruciating piece at a time.

  Exhaling a slow, ragged breath, Wyatt forced his hands to relax, flexing his fingers and rubbing his palms into the black fabric of his tuxedo trousers. The monkey suit was strangling his throat, and he couldn’t shake the uncomfortable sensation that he really was coming out of his skin.

  Beside him, his Bloodrunning partner, Carla Reyes, shot him a dark look from the corner of her eye. “Stop fidgeting,” she hissed under her breath.

  “When is this damn thing going to end?” he grumbled, sounding like a petulant child on the verge of a tantrum. He winced, more than a little disgusted with himself.

  “What’s your problem tonight?” Carla demanded, arching one slim golden brow in his direction. “I thought you liked weddings.”

  He grunted in response and tried to force an outer look of calm togetherness. Carla was right, damn it. Unlike most men, Wyatt usually did enjoy these kinds of things. He liked the social aspect of hanging out with his friends and colleagues, the way his parents had often done when he was younger and they’d lived with his mother’s family. He liked the food and the beer, the laughter and the dancing.

  It was the women, though, that he’d always enjoyed the most. Like a bridesmaid banquet, there were always plenty of single ladies to choose from. He’d never been as arrogant about it as Cian Hennessey, one of his fellow Runners, but he was definitely a man who enjoyed his sexual variety.

  Tonight, however, Wyatt had eyes for one woman—and one woman only.

  Of course, Elise Drake was hardly just any woman. Fiery and cool, strong and yet at the same time achingly vulnerable, she was a fascinating combination of opposites that had managed to turn his entire world on its head.

  “Keep staring at her like that and she’s gonna notice,” Carla whispered, jabbing her elbow into his arm.

  “Maybe I want her to notice,” he muttered, appreciating the way the twilight turned the fiery strands of Elise’s hair a deep, vibrant red, her dark blue eyes the color of a storm-ravaged sky. He’d chosen his seat specifically because it afforded him a clear view of her place in the wedding party, but he hadn’t anticipated how torturous it would be.

  “What? Could it actually be true?” Carla gasped, pressing one delicate hand to her bountiful chest. “After months of waiting, you’re finally going to get off your ass and do something about her?” She made a soft, feminine snorting sound and rolled her eyes. “Call me cynical, but I’ll believe it when I see it.”

  Shifting in his seat, Wyatt stretched his long legs out as far as he could and tried to relax. “I’ve been waiting for the right time,” he said tightly, wishing he’d kept his mouth shut. Sometimes he wondered why he even bothered talking to Carla. He loved her like family, but like a bratty little sister, the Runner got too big a kick out of pushing his buttons.

  “Bullshit,” she quietly snickered. “You’ve been waiting for her to make the first move. But guess what, Pall? She’s never going to come panting after you like all the other ladies. Not in this lifetime.”

  Biting back a foul curse, he groaned instead. “Trust me, I noticed.”

  “Anyway, it’s good to see you conquering your fear,” she said brightly, patting his thigh. “I’m proud of you.”

  Turning his head to the side, Wyatt gave her a hard, steely look. “I’m not afraid of her.”

  Obviously unconvinced, Carla just smiled. “Right,” she drawled, her tone making it clear that she didn’t believe him. Problem was...the little brat knew him too well. He’d been Bloodrunning with Carla for almost seven years now, and she no doubt understood him better than anyone. But that didn’t mean he had to like it.

  “Will you stop trying to pick a fight?” he muttered. “I said I’m not afraid of her and I’m not.”

  “Hmm. I know you’re not afraid of her physically. You just don’t know what to do with a woman who doesn’t go all starry-eyed every time she gets near you.”

  Choking back another primitive growl, Wyatt drew a second round of disapproving stares from their neighbors.

  “I suppose it could be that she just doesn’t like you,” Carla offered with a delicate shrug of her bare shoulders, after motioning with her fingers for the frowning guests to turn back around in their seats. “God knows I’ve seen crazier things happen.”

  Wyatt slanted her a mean look. “Reyes?”

  “Yeah?” she asked, giving him an innocent smile.

  “Shut up,” he grunted, while she snuffled a quiet burst of laughter under her breath.

  They listened to the ceremony for a few moments in blessed silence, until she leaned in close again, asking, “So are you on duty later tonight?”

  He sighed, knowing there was no sense in lying to her. “Yeah.”

  “Took another shift again, huh? Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?”

  “Just fucking drop it,” he warned, pushing his hair back from his face in another restless gesture of impatience.

  “Okay, okay.” Her voice softened, as if she’d decided to take pity on him. “Hey, maybe you’ll even get lucky and she’ll actually take you home with her. I’m sure that little scenario would be a hell of a lot more fun than watching her from the woods.”

  As Carla turned her attention back to the love-dazed couple exchanging vows, Wyatt leaned forward and braced his elbows on his parted knees, thinking he had about as much chance of getting invited home with Elise Drake as he did of becoming a friggin’ ballerina. And the hell of it was, he wasn’t even ready to go home with her. Not when he was still trying to wrap his head around how he could get everything he wanted from her without giving more than he was willing.

  And, God, did that make him sound like a dick.

  Yeah, there was a lot he needed to get figured out in his head. But no matter how bloody difficult it proved to be, he was done letting her pretend he didn’t even exist. Done driving himself slowly into this maddening state of frustration, with no apparent end in sight.

  One way or another, he would approach her tonight—and with that firm decision finally came the merciful beginnings of peace. Leaning back in his chair, he kept his avid gaze focused on Elise as he lazily crossed his arms over his chest, the rise of anticipation in his veins like hot, thick syrup. Wyatt figured he might get his face slapped for his efforts. Hell, knowing Elise, he might even get a knee in his balls. But one way or another, things were about to change.

  Come hell or high water, she was done running.

  Chapter 1

  Three hours later...

  Elise Drake hated weddings—even ones torn straight from the pages of a fairy tale.

  Not that the pure-blooded Lycan had anything personal against the institution of marriage. It w
as the event itself that she couldn’t stand: gloms of people gathering around, smiling and incandescent with happiness, while she had to plaster on a beaming smile, doing her best to disguise the truth. To pretend that she wasn’t freaking out at being in a crowd where everyone was expected to act friendly and sociable.

  Brittle. On edge. About to crack at any moment, shattering like a crystal goblet slammed against a craggy surface. That was how she really felt, screaming inside her head, wanting to flee, to run, but forced to play a part, projecting an outward look of cheerful, joyful celebration. Smile, wave, laugh. And all the while thinking that she would do anything—anything—to escape. Twist an ankle. Fake a headache. Hell, at that point she’d have jabbed a freaking pencil in her eye if she thought it would get her out of there.

  But none of those things were going to save her tonight. She was surrounded by too many who “cared”—who made it their mission in life to protect, rather than destroy. Unless, of course, the thing they were hunting deserved to be destroyed. Though years of bad blood stood between the Runners and their birth pack, the Silvercrest Lycans, the werewolves owed their survival to the half-human hunters.

  After all, it was the Runners who had put an end to the gruesome events that Elise’s own father, Stefan Drake, had set in motion the previous autumn. Events that had not only decimated the political structure of the pack, but which had also left the Silvercrest vulnerable to outside forces, with a new set of enemies sniffing at their borders, eager to take advantage of their weaknesses. With her brother’s and the Runners’ help, the Silvercrest were finally entering a new era that would modernize their archaic social structure, and hopefully lead to a day when the pack’s racial injustices against the half-human Runners would become a thing of the past. But it would be a long while before they were the powerhouse they had once been.

  The winter had been rough, rife with lingering animosity and grief, until the snow had finally bled away to reveal a new sense of hope that came with the spring. One not without trouble, but at least the Runners were now allowed in the pack’s mountaintop home of Shadow Peak without it leading to a call for violence.