by Sadie Moss
But he was big, and everything about him felt like trouble. He was dressed casually in jeans and a dark t-shirt, but something about his bearing and the deliberateness of his walk made my skin chill.
He was following us. I was sure of it.
I looked back at Molly, who continued to talk, unaware of the danger stalking behind us. Trying to keep my fear from showing in my movements, I reached up and grabbed her elbow—hard. She jerked, trailing off as she looked down at me.
“Molly,” I whispered. “There’s a guy behind us. He’s—”
But before I could finish the sentence, strong arms grabbed me from behind. I shrieked, struggling against the tight hold.
Another man I hadn’t noticed leapt forward and wrapped his arms around Molly just as a large black SUV pulled up alongside us. The doors opened, and before I could even think about fighting against the iron grip wrapped around me, we were both picked up and shoved inside.
Our attackers leapt in after us, and a deep male voice yelled, “Go, go, go!”
The car peeled out, and I slid across the seat I’d been unceremoniously dumped onto. The burly man who’d grabbed me yanked my wrists forward, binding them tight with a coarse rope. From the seat behind me, Molly screamed.
My pulse pounded in my ears, panic and adrenaline stealing all rational thought. I kicked as hard as I could, bucking my body off the seat as I lashed out. The man beside me grunted in pain as I caught him in the ribs, but the angle wasn’t good enough to do any real damage. Cursing, he gathered my feet up, wrapping rope around them too.
“You got her?” the lanky guy in the driver’s seat asked.
“Yeah.” The voice came from the back seat, where I could still hear Molly grunting and jerking. She didn’t scream again, and I wondered if they had gagged her.
The driver peered back over his shoulder. His cheeks were gaunt, and he had tattoos running up his neck to his jawline. His gaze fell on me, and he grimaced.
“Who the hell is that?”
“A friend of hers.” The man sitting next to me shoved my feet away from him, forcing me to curl up into a ball.
“A friend?” The driver scoffed in disbelief. “Did I tell you to just fuckin’ pick up anybody? The point is to teach Carl Lutsen a lesson. We got his girl. What the fuck do we need another one for?”
“I didn’t want her callin’ the cops. We’ll deal with her too, don’t worry about it.”
“Jesus Christ.” Neck Tattoo shook his head in disgust.
My mind reeled, trying to process everything that was happening. Carl’s girl. She was the one they wanted, not me. These guys were after Molly, and I’d just been picked up as collateral damage in her abduction.
Which meant Carl hadn’t betrayed us—hadn’t ratted us out to Strand.
But it didn’t mean we were in any less danger. More, maybe, since I was pretty sure Strand wanted me caught alive if possible.
My breath came in short gasps as the SUV swung wildly around corners, shoving me up against the door and nearly tossing me off the seat onto the floor. Fuck. Where was a traffic cop when we needed one?
The wolf inside me whined, angry and afraid. I reached for her, trying to force the shift, but she slipped away, sinking back deeper inside me.
Damn it, damn it, damn it!
Noah hadn’t been wrong. I wasn’t treating her as a part of myself, but as an entirely separate entity. But I didn’t know how to bridge that gap.
I struggled uselessly as we barreled down the streets of Vegas. Before I had a chance to formulate any kind of plan, the car screeched to a stop. The large, shaggy-haired man who’d grabbed me opened the door then wrapped his hands around my waist, hefting me easily from the seat. He threw me over his shoulder, knocking the wind out of me as his large deltoid slammed into my solar plexus.
Coughing and choking, I tried to lift my head. Behind us, I caught a glimpse of Molly’s attacker dragging her from the car. The bag of clothes I’d been carrying tumbled out onto the curb as she struggled against the man.
“Ah, fuck. Help me! And grab that!” The guy jerked his chin toward my abandoned shopping bag, and the driver scooped it up.
Molly was taller than my diminutive 5’3” height, so the driver helped carry her as they followed us inside a rundown old house.
Every step Shaggy Hair took jostled me, making it hard to get my breath back. My arms and feet dangled uselessly, still wrapped tight in their binds.
The interior of the house was dark, and the whole place smelled of must and rot. Shaggy Hair dumped me on the floor unceremoniously, and sharp pain radiated from my tailbone. I rolled onto my side, trying to rise up to my feet, but he shoved me back down. Molly was tossed on the hardwood floor beside me, and for a moment, her wild, fearful eyes met mine.
What I saw in them scared the shit out of me.
She might not come from Carl’s world, but she’d been around it long enough to know the rules of the game. And in her eyes, I saw the truth. We weren’t getting out of here alive.
Teach Carl Lutsen a lesson. That’s what the driver had said.
I didn’t know what he’d done to piss these guys off, but the lesson they were going to teach him was that they could hurt him too. They could destroy what he cared about most.
We weren’t hostages. We were going to be a message.
The three men gathered around to stare down at us, their booted feet leaving prints on the dusty floor.
“She’s pretty.” Neck Tattoo leered down at Molly before turning his gaze on me. “So’s her friend.” He clapped Shaggy Hair on the back, chuckling. “Maybe you didn’t fuck up so bad after all, bringing that one along. This’ll be more fun if there’s two of them to go around.”
His words drove a spike of fear into my belly, and I renewed my struggles against the ropes binding me, sitting up halfway. “Let us go, you—”
Before I could make our situation worse by antagonizing our captors, Shaggy Hair lunged forward and backhanded me across the face. My head whipped to the side, and my body followed, collapsing in a heap on the floor.
“Mouth on that one.” The third man snorted. “At least blondie here knows to keep her trap shut.”
Molly’s breath picked up, the harsh sound mingling in the dank room with my own. Groaning, I rolled over onto my back, searching inside me for my wolf. I could feel her distress, her confusion. Her anger.
Help me. Please.
Neck Tattoo cocked his head thoughtfully, his gaze flicking between me and Molly.
“You know,” he said, to no one in particular, “Carl really shouldn’t have such nice things. Doesn’t that fucker realize it’s just asking for someone to take them and ruin them?”
His tongue slid out, licking salaciously along his bottom lip. He pulled a butterfly knife from his belt, flipping it open with practiced ease. Then he crouched over Molly’s body, chuckling as she went completely rigid.
“Scared?” His voice was soft, almost crooning. Like he really, really wanted to hear her say yes.
But despite her sweet nature, Molly was also tougher than almost anyone I’d met. She didn’t give him the satisfaction, just watched him with wide eyes, nostrils flaring and jaw clenched.
Neck Tattoo smiled wider, seeming amused by her response. “It’s okay. You will be.”
He dragged the knife down her cheek, pressing just hard enough to leave a small red line in its wake. An involuntary noise of terror fell from her lips, and she squeezed her eyes shut.
I wanted to do the same, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t stop staring at the knife. The wickedly pointed tip, the dull light that glinted off the blade, the way the man held it so steady against her skin.
So many of my relationships for most of my life had been based on lies. After finding out how much I’d been manipulated by the people I trusted, I had wondered hopelessly whether I’d ever trust anyone again.
But I trusted Molly. What was more, I liked her.
I cared about her.
My wolf pawed at the inside of my ribcage, her distress—my distress—rising. These fuckers were going to hurt Molly. They were going to kill her.
A harsh yell tore from my throat, the sound morphing into a howl as I tipped my head back, my back arching off the floor. Every muscle in my body tensed, like a rubber band stretched to the breaking point.
And then it snapped.
Chapter Fourteen
My wolf rose to the surface, tearing her way out of my body as if she had to rend me to pieces to rebuild me whole. Bones broke under my skin, tissues growing and changing. The binds on my wrists and ankles snapped as the shift tore through my body like a hurricane.
The pain was just as intense, but the shift was over faster than ever before. I sprang to my feet, shaking off the last vestiges of pain as a full-throated growl rumbled in my wide chest.
“What the fu—”
Neck Tattoo didn’t even get to finish speaking. I was on him in an instant, viciously and unrepentantly snapping my jaws around his neck. He gurgled, his body jerking once. I shook him for good measure, his blood coating my tongue as he went limp as a rag doll.
My ears pricked as shouts and curses from behind me called my attention. I released the lanky man and spun around, my keen wolf eyes taking in the room. Molly had scooted backward on her butt, her bound hands in front of her.
This time, the fear in her eyes didn’t call out the predator in me.
It called out the protector.
This woman with the soft laugh and kind eyes was my friend, and I’d be goddamned if I let anyone hurt her.
I shifted my gaze away from her, my bloodlust rising again as I faced down the two men who’d intended to do just that. They stared at me in shock, too surprised to even reach for their weapons. As my gaze met Shaggy Hair’s, he finally lurched into action, diving for the gun on the couch. I chased after him, teeth closing around his calf. The fabric of his pants tore, and when he went crashing to the floor, I sprang up to land on top of him, ending his life with the snap of my jaws.
The third man reached the gun, snatching it up and aiming at me with shaking hands. He squeezed the trigger just as Molly swung her bound feet toward him in a wide arc. She caught one of his legs, sweeping it out from under him. The gun went off as he went down, sending a bullet flying up into the ceiling.
Fury ran through my veins like hot metal, and I leapt on the man. My paws landed on his shoulders, pinning him down as I tore at his flesh until blood dripped down my muzzle.
When his struggles finally ceased, I drew back, tongue lolling out as I panted. Memories of my fight in the ambulance crowded my mind as I looked around at the three fallen men. Blood pooled around each of their bodies, and the smell of it hung like a tang in the air, overriding the scents of mold and dust. I whined, shaking my head. Little droplets of blood flew from my fur, peppering the dirt-streaked floor.
Several drops landed on Molly, who’d worked her way up to her knees, her wrists and feet still bound. Her eyes were wide, as if she was realizing for the first time exactly how awful her first encounter with my wolf could’ve been.
I let out a whuff, lowering my head. The sharpened sights and sounds that assaulted me in this form pressed in around me, and I closed my eyes, panting heavily as I tried to force the shift back to human.
The floorboards creaked, and soft fingers stroked my fur. I lifted my head, eyes popping open. Molly had scooted closer, allowing her to reach out and touch me. I could still see fear reflected in her eyes, but she didn’t pull away when I swung my head toward her.
She trusted me.
Warmth spread through my chest at the thought, bolstering my strength of will. With agonizing slowness, I cajoled my wolf into relinquishing control, and the shift finally rippled through my body, retracting my fur and changing my shape.
When the sharp pain finally receded, I found myself crouched on all fours on the floor, slick blood coating my mouth and face. The room felt cold now that I no longer had clothes or fur to cover me—or maybe it was just my body reacting to the shift. Goose bumps broke out across my skin, and I shivered uncontrollably as Molly helped me to my feet, both of us wobbling unsteadily. She’d kept her hands on me the whole time I’d shifted, grounding me and lending me strength.
“Oh my God, Alexis. I can’t believe—” She swallowed, gripping my arm with her bound hands to help me stay upright. “You saved my life.”
By ending three others. I didn’t want to linger on that thought too long, so I just nodded, trying to making my knees stop wobbling.
“We need to get out of here,” I said breathlessly.
“Right. Shit.”
Her gaze flicked down to my naked form before she scanned the room. The place didn’t look like it’d been lived in for a while. Besides the beat-up couch, there was a small table along one wall with a few empty beer cans on it, but not much else. My shopping bag lay on its side by the door.
The open butterfly knife had clattered across the floor when I’d attacked Neck Tattoo, and I stumbled over to it, then used it to cut through the binds around Molly’s wrists and ankles.
“Thanks.” She rubbed at the skin of her wrists, which was raw and red. “Here, let me help you.”
She guided me across the room to where the men had carelessly dumped the bag of clothes that had fallen from the car. After pulling out a soft green sweater, she used it to help me clean the worst of the blood off my face, arms, and torso. Then she tossed the stained red garment aside and dragged another item from the bag—the sundress I’d bought.
“Here.”
She bunched it up and pulled it over my head. The cheerful yellow color turned red in spots where blood still clung to my skin, and a wave of sadness washed over me. This wasn’t what I had envisioned for this dress. Not by a long shot.
Molly darted over to grab my shoes—the only article of clothing that hadn’t been destroyed by my shift—and I slipped them on. With one last look at the bodies sprawled on the floor, we rushed out of the house.
The neighborhood was quiet and rundown. Graffiti tags dotted the buildings, and no cars passed us on the street. My gaze darted from house to house, seeking out the next threat. The lack of activity was threatening rather than calming—this was a neighborhood where people came to do bad things without getting caught.
The soft fabric of my sundress flapped in the wind as Molly and I ran down the street. I had no idea where we were, so I followed her lead, sprinting flat out until we finally came to a larger street. Molly raised her hand and gave a piercing whistle, and a yellow cab pulled up to the curb.
“In. In!” She wrenched the door open, gesturing for me to go first. I slid inside, and she followed, blurting her address to the driver as she did.
The middle-aged man gave us a wary look, and I ducked my head, trying to hide the streaks of blood I was sure still coated my skin. When he put the car in gear and pulled back into traffic, I let out a shuddering breath.
Molly and I both turned to look out the back window. I kept expecting to see the lanky, tattooed man or his shaggy haired friend come running down the street after us.
Except, they wouldn’t.
They were dead.
There was no one left to chase us.
I tried to let that thought comfort me, but it only made nausea roil my stomach.
Three more people were dead because of me. In the space of less than five minutes, I’d ended three lives.
And the most terrifying part of all was that I really wasn’t sorry about it. I could still feel the muscle and bone tearing and snapping between my teeth, could still taste the blood. And the part of me that was wild, that was all wolf, had relished it.
Molly didn’t speak, but her hand slid across the seat, palm up. I grabbed it, squeezing tight, and we stayed like that the entire drive back to her house. She called Carl on the way, and although their conversation was brief, I could practically feel his tension radiating through the receiver.
She in
structed the driver to stop several blocks away from her place, and we waited until he’d driven off before we walked the final distance. Just in case.
Her neighborhood was quiet in the peaceful way, but the friendly palm trees and nicely tended yards didn’t seem to fit the chaotic mess of emotions churning inside me.
I staggered up the front steps behind Molly, my knees shaking. When she pushed open the door, the five men standing in her living room all looked up.
There was a moment where time seemed to suspend, seconds drawing out into little slices of eternity. Four sets of eyes riveted to me, the emotions blazing behind them almost knocking me back a step. Then everyone moved at once.
Carl met Molly in three long strides, sweeping her into his arms and crushing her to his chest. And my wolf shifters converged on me, enfolding me in the warm cocoon of four massive bodies. Even West joined the pile, his nose pressing into my hair as he breathed deeply. I was showered with kisses, eight hands skating over my body as if to verify that I was really here and whole.
Finally, they unwound themselves from around me, pulling back to examine me and let me get some air. I’d barely been able to breathe in the tight hold of their embrace, but I missed it immediately.
West’s awkward coldness returned as he stepped away from me. It somehow felt like every time he touched me, he had failed at something. Like he kept promising himself to never do it again.
Noah held onto my shoulders, his gaze skimming up and down my form, taking in the blood. “You shifted again?”
I nodded silently.
“What the hell happened? Who took you?” Carl looked down at Molly, a dangerous expression on his face. I’d never seen him look so angry, not even when he’d burst into the guest room and found my wolf threatening Molly.
She explained what had happened quickly, her voice low but steady. When she reached the part about me tearing into the three men, she spoke almost robotically, reporting the basic facts without giving any extra details. I wasn’t sure if she was trying to protect me from Carl, or to protect Carl from me. Or maybe she just didn’t want to relive it. I couldn’t blame her.