Page 74 of Hunted

Time and shifter healing had to take care of most of that—the only thing he could do anything about was the bullet. It must have been a ricochet—it wasn’t even all the way buried. He pulled off his tux jacket and used his pocket knife to dig it out, and tied his cummerbund around the wound as a field dressing.

He hoped he hadn’t lost too much blood while he was unconscious.

Then he pulled out his phone. He’d played this Thanatos’s way for over a year. And it obviously wasn’t working.

Now it was time to do things his way.

He hit the button and called Switch. “Plan B is a go.”

Ten minutes later he heard the helicopter, homing in on the emergency signal Switch had remotely loaded on his phone. He had a small tactical flashlight in his pocket, and he shone it up into the air to give Switch his location. He wished he had flares. James Bond never seemed to have to deal with the limitations of a tux instead of a combat vest.

At least he was in a large field that made a decent landing area.

The helicopter settled on the ground and Gunn hobbled toward it, hunching under the wind from the rotors. Climbing into the passenger seat, he yelled, “Nice flying!” over the noise.

Switch shrugged. “I’m the best.”

Gunn strapped in, and put on the spare headset so they didn’t have to shout.

“You look like shit,” Switch said. “Where we headed?”

“The Ridge. You might want to do a test pass before you land, though. People might be trying to shoot us down.”

Switch just grinned at him. “Just like old times. And who’s going to be doing this potential shooting?”

“My pack.”

“Bro.” Switch shook his head. “Have you thought about becoming a lone wolf? I can recommend it.”

“Not my style. Besides,” he added with a growl, “they have my mate.”

Switch’s eyes went wide. “Your what? Oh, man, what is wrong with you? First you become an alpha, and now this. When are you building the white picket fence around your bunker?”

“Fuck you.”

Gunn texted Hawk, and then filled Switch in on the way to Outlaw Ridge.

They stopped once to return the long-range helo Switch had borrowed, when it was out of fuel, and pick up Switch’s own bird for the remainder of the trip.

When they got near the territory, the wind was picking up, and Gunn saw a streak of lighting flash in the distance. A few seconds later, a rumble of thunder came behind it.

“Storm’s coming,” said Switch, giving him a glance.

“Hopefully you can drop me and get out before it hits.”

“Get out? You really think I’m letting you go in there with nobody but Sheriff Hawk at your back? I don’t think so.”

Gunn opened his mouth to protest, then shut it again. This was what had gotten him in trouble in the first place. Trying to do everything on his own.

“Fine,” he said. “But if you get shot, don’t blame me.”

“I never do.”

Chapter 33

Thanatos’s house couldn’t have been more of a contrast to the last mansion Michelangela had been in—only a few hours ago.

Instead of being stark and white and modern, it was all dark wood, beams, and rich fabrics.