Into the Fire

By Christy Poff

Edward Lane is still hunting Ali Elias, who is his enemy—as well as the man who abducted his brother to achieve leverage over Lane. Edward follows Elias to a small resort town in northern Montana, vowing to end their war once and for all. Bethany Haslett is a huntress and related to Ardalyn King. Warnings of impending danger to their pack—and their world—fall on deaf ears, when Bethany tries to tell the local pack leader. While Bethany worries about the pack, she has no clue that her future is about to take a huge detour. Can Edward and Bethany walk into the fire their enemy has created and walk out of it as victors in a winner-take-all battle?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Torrid Books
• Release date: Sep 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781611607710

Book preview

Prologue

A cell phone rang, the owner looking at the caller ID but only seeing Blocked Caller listed. Hesitantly, he answered it, a gut feeling telling him he’d be a fool not to.

Yes?

Outlaw?

It’s been a long time since anyone has called me that.

Your dossier is very interesting reading.

What can I do for you, sir?

I’m calling to give you some very good news.

And that is?

Your status with British Intelligence and the international intelligence community has been reestablished and restored. There will be no further actions against you because your records and files have been cleared.

How?

Suffice it to say, I have my ways.

Obviously.

I have also set things up so that you will be able to continue your present mission, only now you’ll be financed instead of you scavenging for what you need.

I don’t come cheap.

I’m aware of that and I don’t expect you to.

But...

When Interpol learned you’ve been tracking our mutual friend, they agreed to let you continue. You won’t have to report in unless you need something or there is news and even then, you will call me.

"So you’re my handler? Why you, sir?’

I want this man for many reasons. He knows who I am and, like you, could ruin me with a word. Aside from the authorities, I’d consider it a personal favor if you’d eliminate our mutual problem once and for all.

Do you know what you’re saying?

Yes.

And your daughter?

Knows nothing and I hope it stays that way for now. That monster nearly caused her death as well as her husband’s but, thanks to you, that didn’t happen. The threat must be taken care of in our world and in our favor. Do you understand?

Yes, sir.

I will look forward to hearing from you.

Yes, sir, as soon as I have something.

Good.

And, sir?

Yes?

Thank you. I don’t know how...

Do your job. Get him, find your brother and we’ll be square.

Aye, sir.

Good hunting, Outlaw...

* * * *

Edward Lane remembered the conversation as if it had taken place yesterday or a few minutes before. For a man like Gordon Banks—international businessman, philanthropist and playboy—not to mention regional pack leader for one of the largest areas in New England—to do what he had done in order to clear Lane’s name meant more to him than anything. Because of this, he owed the man everything and, if Banks wanted someone dead, then dead they’d be.

After several months, it still remained fresh in his mind—word for word, every pause and thought—all of it. By the time the call ended, his life had changed completely. Gordon Banks had literally saved his life and Edward Lane would always be grateful. As long as I don’t screw up...

His reputation restored in the international intelligence community as well as the British Secret Service, he could now live his life without fearing for it. Gordon Banks had saved him and now backed him in his quest to find his brother and Elias. To law enforcement, Elias had proven to be a dastardly corporate raider who left numerous bodies in his wake while in the lupine world, he’d been a huge threat to their way of life. Now, that will change...

He checked the latest movements of Ali Elias, the man he’d been chasing around the world for the better part of several years. His personal feelings about the man had led him to go rogue after he lost his credentials with MI-6 and the international intelligence community. Once a credible agent lost that, he had nothing left to offer anyone because no one trusted him.

A serious frame had been set in motion which centered on screwing Edward Lane completely. For a short time, he had not been able to step on British soil for fear he’d be arrested. Once he learned the identity of the man who’d engineered the set-up, he set out to find him, only Ali Elias had other ideas—and not for just Lane. In one instance, he’d tailed Elias to Morocco where he decided to hold a woman hostage in order to take over a small disillusioned pack of outcasts. Lane slipped into the private estate and saw what had been done to the woman—one who had absolutely no clue as to her real identity.

Best-selling author Tamara Corvis had gone to Marrakech on a book tour. Elias abducted her from her hotel after learning of her true purpose in the lupine world. As the Silver Queen, she wielded the most power of all members of the Elite save the one who sat in the power seat on the council. Legend had it that her eyes could tell the true meaning of her feelings—something Elias relied on to get his way. He met one huge wall with his plans when her destined mate became known to her and they began the bonding process. As soon as he learned the truth, Elias literally walled them away in an ancient mausoleum and quickly left Morocco only Lane followed once he knew the royal couple would survive.

Lane trailed him back to New York where Elias tried once more to take territory from the newly discovered queen, only she and her husband, Marc-Andre Branford, turned the tables on him when the true extent of their union became very apparent. When the Silver Queen and her destined mate became angry, they could do things no human would ever believe possible. In fact, Lane would never have believed it had he not seen it for himself with his own eyes.

Elias fled New York with Lane following, only Elias added another twist to the chase. Somewhere along the way, he’d had Lane’s brother, Eli, abducted and intended to hold him hostage in order to control Lane, only Lane didn’t play the game that way. While knowing the man held his brother’s life in his hands and could, at any time, murder him for some slight, Edward Lane continued chasing him knowing that eventually, Elias would lead him to his brother.

He followed the target to Paris and Canada then back, Elias restless as he looked for another way into the packs of North America. It became apparent that Elias’ latest scheme centered on taking over the largest pack in the Eastern United States. It bordered Canada and entrance could be gained to it through a small area in New Hampshire. Once Elias gained a foothold there, he could virtually walk in the back door to the region governed by Gordon Banks, international financier and playboy who could not afford being ousted in the human world. Figuring the man would go quietly in order to protect those around him and his massive financial portfolio, Elias set the plans in motion to overtake the small to get to the big.

Once again, Lane followed despite a previously issued threat from Banks’ daughter—Doctor Constance Banks—and all-around gorgeous woman. Lane lost his heart to a woman who hated him and he admitted to being at fault for this. He chanced entering the territory of Grant Longacre and walked into a major cover-up thanks to someone trying to murder Longacre by using a fatal dose of wolfsbane. What the perp didn’t know—once he had mated with his destined mate, Longacre took in her immunities to silver, lighting, and wolfsbane. Of course, his destined mate had turned out to be Constance Banks and Lane knew they would cross paths sooner or later.

While Constance had not been happy about it, the information he had, as well as the help he’d been giving them, had been vital. Lane had also saved the good doctor’s life when Elias’ pawn abducted her and left her to burn to death in a cabin she’d set fire to. Lane ran into the flaming building and saved her after kneecapping Scarlet in order to keep her immobile while he concentrated on the one woman he would always love despite the fact he’d never be able to have her in any way since she had found her destined mate, but legend also revealed her to be the Lady Physician to all the packs. Just my luck...

Lane left once he knew her husband would take care of her and for the first time in a long while, he found himself only hours behind his enemy instead of days or weeks. Then the phone call from Gordon Banks—the life-changing one that now enabled him to actually do his job and be supported by those he once worked with. It feels bloody good...

* * * *

Edward Lane looked out his hotel window at the landscape surrounding it. The hunt for Ali Elias had taken them to the wilds of Montana. He’d taken a room in Great Falls while his quarry went about his business and headed to a small area to the northeast ironically called Wolf Pointe.

Due to the fact that Great Falls abutted Maelstrom Air Force Base, Lane figured he’d pick up some supplies, which he could not conveniently board an airliner with though he had Fed-Ex'd his sniper’s rifle to the hotel before he left New York Sstate. For several weeks, he’d been back and forth across the border following Elias until the man changed his mind to head west. At first, they drove west until suddenly Elias changed his plans and caught a flight from Detroit to Great Falls. Fortunately, Lane caught a rare non-stop and reached Great Falls first.

With an hour to kill, he leased a late model Cadillac SRX. While he preferred Range Rovers, this one would blend in better with the area. After stowing his gear, he waited around for Elias’s flight then watched as he went to the leasing counter and signed a contract for a Buick, though Lane couldn’t hear what model he’d chosen. Considering Elias had been the only one in the office, Lane considered his next task to be easy.

He went outside then followed the attendant to a Buick Lucerne sedan. While the attendant made sure of mileage and other details, Lane slipped in behind the car and attached a small GPS unit to the wheel well on the right side rear. Most ops placed their units on the driver’s side though Lane preferred to use the opposite side of the car as the driver’s side always seemed to be the only place anyone looked for tracking devices.

Slipping away from the car and heading to his own rental, he checked the signal which beeped and blinked with high sensitivity. For the amount of money that had been put into R&D for this, it had better work...

Supposed to be able to track someone two states over from his location or into the wilds of Canada, Lane prayed it would do its job while he picked up a few things at Maelstrom. He loved the fact he could give his list to Banks then be able to pick it up at the local base when he needed it. A strangely unique situation, Lane refused to question it. As long as he got what he needed to do his job, he didn’t care.

* * * *

On his way to the eastern side of Great Falls, Lane’s thoughts turned to the one person effectively keeping his enemy alive—his brother Eli.

Shortly after Lane lost everything thanks to Elias’ air-tight frame, he learned Elias had taken out an excellent insurance policy. Because Edward Lane refused to stop trying to learn what had happened that he’d lost an entire team plus bollixing up an important mission, Elias decided to take something more. Elias kidnapped his brother and had been holding him in an effort to get Lane to back off, though both men knew he would never do that until he got his brother back. While the kidnapping had tied his hands at some points, Lane would not back down because he knew the moment he did, Eli would be dead.

As Elias’ attempts to gain control of a pack kept falling apart, Edward Lane closed in. He planned to capture his enemy and interrogate him to learn the whereabouts of his brother. If, after the man told him what he wanted to know, Elias died—so be it. He’d gotten the unofficial/official orders to terminate him from his handler though both men knew it would not take much for Lane to kill the man.

Gordon Banks and his daughter Constance had asked him why he’d yet to take out Ali Elias when he’d had numerous good chances—Elias had definitely bought good insurance.

The images of his brother in a prison somewhere sickened Lane. Always close, the boys had become distant, thanks to several events in their lives. Their parents’ deaths had been a part of it but they had both joined the military and because of having peculiar talents, they’d trained for SAS and Special Ops in Britain while cross-training with the United States military. Lane had become an excellent marksman but his brother had put him to shame when he became one of Britain’s best snipers. The brass constantly split them up, which they didn’t appreciate, though they’d always known it would happen.

After the frame, Lane had seen his brother briefly at a pub near one of the airbases in Northern England. Word had run rampant about Lane’s disgrace but Eli didn’t care. They toasted their parents, God, queen and country. Lane remembered the evening well.

So what the hell happened, bro? his brother had asked.

Lane could never get over the fact that while born in Britain, both of them had American accents thanks to their father.

Somebody decided I’d gotten too close and after they slaughtered my team, I became the fall guy for the entire op going south.

Any idea who?

Oh, yeah, Lane replied as he sipped his beer. I know exactly who.

What do you plan to do?

I’m going to hunt the bastard down, get a confession and kill him.

Don’t do anything stupid... Eli warned. If you want to clear your name...

Lane didn’t get a chance to respond thanks to a group of about eight guys from the base who came over to their table.

What’s this, Lane, socializing with low-life scum? the one said.

Yeah, a traitor... another said.

Knock it off, Doug, Eli Lane said quietly. You, too, Joe...

Why should I? This man is...

...my brother so the subject is closed.

With his chair on two legs as he leaned against the wall behind him, Lane noticed his brother’s hands clenching.

Don’t do anything stupid... he said loud enough for only Eli to hear.

I suggest you all go back to the bar and we’ll forget this ever happened, Eli said evenly. No harm done.

You should take care whom you spend time with. The smell will rub off on you, the senior member of the group stated.

I will take that into consideration... Eli Lane said as he took a step forward closing the distance between him and the group of drunken soldiers.

They turned and went back to the bar. Behind them, Lane raised his hand to signal the waitress. When she came over, he put some money on the table and told her to tell the bartender the next round would be on him. She took the money and disappeared.

Why did you do that?

You know me—I can read people. The two doing the most talking are the ones who will pass out after another drink or two. I’m just speeding up the process.

Eli laughed as he sat down and finished his beer.

Come on, bro, let’s go someplace friendlier.

From there, they headed for the family home which sat just off the edge of the base. After their parents’ deaths, Eli had taken it on because Lane had been in various places all over the world and had no time to take care of it as their mother had. As he realized later, it would be the first time he’d been back to it since the funeral. It’s also the last time I saw Eli...

He pulled up to the gate showing an international law enforcement badge and appropriate credentials. The guard looked at it then at Lane.

Business?

Armory and quartermaster.

The guard returned his papers and gave him directions to the armory. Lane thanked him and pulled through the gate then followed the directions he’d been given. Thank you, Gordon Banks...

He parked the Cadillac in a visitor’s space then turned off the engine before he went inside the building. Another guard met him at a counter then had a corpsman escort him to the Officer of the Day.

Major Stevens, Mister...

Lane, Lane replied as they shook hands.

It’s nice to finally meet the man who ordered the firepower. Starting a little war, are we?

Actually, planning to finish one, Lane answered, snickering at the man’s expression.

Stevens had his aide bring Lane’s order to his office. Lane checked it against his mental list finding everything he’d requested in front of him.

I don’t know who you know, Mister Lane, but they’ve got some strong pull.

I’ve been around but the guy I’m after is wanted in the United States, Canada, Western Europe, the Middle East...

Stevens put his hand up.

I’m convinced, he said.

Lane nodded as he signed the requisition forms for the weapons and ammunition. He picked up the carrying cases and the equipment bag then turned toward the door. The major opened it for him and walked out with him then watched Lane load the things into the rear of the SUV.

Lane closed the hatch then went back to speak to the major.

Thank you, sir.

They shook hands seconds before the major stopped him.

Lane?

Sir?

Good hunting.

Thank you, Major, he said before he went back to the car and started it. The major gave him directions to the quartermaster’s and he took off to get the rest of what he hoped he’d need to get his job done. Once he’d done that, he left the base and headed to his hotel before he went to Wolf Pointe, Montana, in the northeastern part of the state in the morning. The signal on the tracker beeped loudly telling Lane exactly where his target had gone. Sitting back, he relaxed to enjoy the long ride. Thank God, I love driving...

* * * *

Ali Elias picked up his rental car—a Buick sedan—and headed east through the city of Great Falls, Montana, to Wolf Pointe in the upper eastern corner of the state. He’d heard of a pack in need of leadership—small but wealthy and very promising. Maybe this time...

He kept checking his mirrors for anyone that might be following him but only saw open highway once he’d left the city. Seeing no one relaxed him some considering he’d been dodging Edward Lane for the last year, if not longer. He’s worse than the goddamned plague...

On the run constantly since Scarlet Cincotta’s debacle in New Hampshire, he had not been able to rest easy for a long time. Maybe, now?

He’d underestimated Edward Lane to the point where it had become near fatal. Twice, he’d almost been taken but he’d fortunately gotten the hell out of Dodge, as the old saying went. As he went back over the last few days, he couldn’t remember seeing Lane anywhere though something told him Lane had to be near. It’s only a matter of time...

Elias picked up his cell phone and called a number in Scotland.

Mister Elias?

How is the prisoner?

The same, as always. He’s strong and a fighter...

I see, Elias said. I’ll be in touch.

He ended the call and sat back to think. After the Lane shit hit the fan, he’d decided to use the man’s brother as a control. He figured if he used the threat of his younger brother’s death to control Edward Lane, he would be able to carry out his plans to regain power in the lupine world. Unfortunately, Lane had backed off but not enough. What the hell will it take to get him off my back?

Admittedly, he had to admire his adversary’s patience and wondered if he had the same ability. Lately, his patience had been sorely tested with Lane and his people coming out on top while Elias had been forced to flee the area to start over somewhere else—not once but several times. First in Morocco, then western New York state and recently in New Hampshire, Elias had come out on the losing end every time and it angered him to no end. Now he’d found a small pack which could give him entry into Canada and maybe the United States—that’d be if nothing went wrong. Something’s got