Wolf Quest

by Bianca D'Arc

  “I wish I could forget about the kid,” she muttered, running a hand through her hair. Dammit. Where was her hairbrush? And why was the damn hair dryer in the bathroom where she couldn’t get at it? She was a wreck.

  She didn’t hear Jesse move, but she wasn’t startled when his arms came around her from behind, tugging her back against his warm chest. She felt him kiss the crown of her head. It was a nice feeling, being with a man who was so tall and strong. She had never been with someone like Jesse. When they parted, she suspected she would probably be a wreck. But that was a problem for another time.

  “You’re cute when you’re flustered, Doc.” He swayed back and forth with her in his embrace, comforting her.

  “I don’t know how you can be so nice,” she mumbled against his arm. “I got my cookie, but you got left holding the bag. I wanted to make it up to you, but you said we didn’t have time,” she reminded him.

  “And we don’t have time. Not for what I want to do to you, babe.” He pulled her backside into the hard ridge of his cock, rubbing lightly. “I want you, Maria.”

  “Oh, Jesse…” She tried to turn in his arms, but he wouldn’t allow it. Resigned, she stayed where she was.

  “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’ll survive. It’s not exactly comfortable, but I’ve dealt with worse in my life.”

  The slight hitch in his voice led her to believe he probably had been subject to far worse. His calming words and reassuring touch made her feel a little better and not quite so self-conscious.

  “I’m sorry, Jesse.” She stroked his forearm, which was resting around her middle. He was just so big that he made her feel petite by comparison. Petite and protected.

  They stood there, facing the television, spooning while standing up until the door to the bathroom opened. The cloud of soap-scented steam that came out of the small room would hopefully mask any trace of their intimacy to sensitive were noses. Maria had become very conscious of the fact that neither of her companions were human. Both had senses and abilities that were well beyond the scope of mere human experience.

  Jesse released her and Maria moved to help Zach. Only one of his injuries needed a new bandage for the night. It had scabbed over, but it would be better if it was protected while he slept.

  When that was done, they cleaned up the debris from their meal and set up the computer for their scheduled video chat. Jesse had set all their phones to charge while eating, so everything with a battery would be fully charged when they were ready to go tomorrow morning.

  Maria stayed in the background during the video exchange, listening with grim attention to everything they’d learned and where all the players were. The storm was interfering big time—both in mundane terms and magically.

  Maria could see two video chat boxes open on the laptop screen. One contained Jason and Sally. The other held two identical men and a gorgeous blonde woman. They must be the Lords Jesse kept referring to. The woman was apparently their wife, Allie. Maria made a note to ask about that relationship if she ever worked up the nerve. Allie was also some kind of priestess.

  The woman claimed the storm was interfering with her attempts to scry. Maria assumed that was some kind of magical location spell. Nobody on the other end of the chat was any closer to locating exactly where Zach’s parents were being held, except for the general area of the eye of the very unnatural storm.

  It became apparent to Maria that Sally was using her detective skills to try to track down leads on Zach’s parents the mundane way while Allie was using magic. Neither was making any real progress, but they both still vowed to continue working on the problem.

  One thing became clear to Maria while she watched the men discuss their options. First, the men on the screen both loved and respected the women with them. It wasn’t quite what Maria had expected. Ever since she’d first discovered weres existed, she figured the males would rule over the females with an iron fist. That distorted view probably came from her first shifter encounter—a female cougar who’d been abused by the man she was with. Maria had just assumed the man had been another shifter, but seeing how these males listened to the women with them as equals, she wasn’t so sure.

  By the time they wrapped up the video chat close to an hour later, Maria couldn’t stop yawning. Not that the discussion had been boring. On the contrary, she’d learned all kinds of interesting things just by listening to the conversation. Still, it had been a very long day and it was catching up with her.

  When the conference ended, Maria climbed under the covers and gave in to her exhaustion. Zach settled in the other bed as well. Only Jesse stayed up, working on the computer and occasionally watching the television screen that showed the expanding circumference of the storm.

  Jesse called Zach’s uncle, Rocky, and talked with him for a while before handing the phone over to Zach. At that point, Maria could barely keep her eyes open. The clipped conversation of facts and data that had taken place between Rocky and Jesse turned into one of reassurance and soft words when the uncle talked with his nephew.

  They were still on the phone when Maria drifted off. She roused for just a moment sometime later when Jesse’s strong body spooned her from behind. Having someone in bed with her wasn’t a common occurrence for her, but it felt perfectly natural and incredibly comforting. She fell back asleep with his arms around her and didn’t know anything more until morning.

  Maria woke sometime around dawn the next day. It took her a moment to remember where she was and everything that had transpired the day before. She heard rain pouring down outside, and when she opened her eyes, she found Jesse sitting at the single desk where he’d set up the computer the night before. He had what looked like real estate records up on the screen, followed by a map.

  Zach was in the bathroom, judging by the empty bed and closed door. Maria stretched and yawned, coming awake slowly. She’d slept remarkably well for being in a strange place, in a strange bed and with a really strange—in a good way—man holding her in his arms all night long. She felt warm and fuzzy just thinking about that. Never in her life had she felt so safe and sort of…cherished was a good word for it, she thought.

  Jesse just made her feel really special. So few men had ever done that for her. He really was one of a kind in many different ways. She wondered idly if it was something common to shifter men or if it was something unique to Jesse.

  “Your cousin is a genius,” he said out of the blue. She’d thought she was being really quiet, but he must’ve realized she’d been awake for the past few minutes. And she knew darn well she’d been staring at his muscular back, so well defined in a well-worn, olive-green T-shirt.

  His words caught her attention and she crawled toward the end of the bed so she could look over his shoulder and try to see more of what he was looking at on the screen. Definitely real estate records. There was a series of photos of a very impressive home.

  “What did she find?”

  “The epicenter. The house where Zach’s parents are most likely being kept.”

  “Are you sure? How did she narrow it down? How can you be sure that’s the place?” She struggled free of the covers and sat on the edge of the bed, wide awake now, looking at the images on the screen.

  “She used the eye of the storm to start her search, then got her computer geeks to hack into real estate records in that area. The Lords and the Master Vampire and his resources worked with Sally, combining intel, and she came up with this estate. Turns out, one of the bloodletters has been watching this place for some time now. They’ve got long memories—some of those guys are downright ancient—and they’ve kept a watch on the Venifucus over the years way more than any of our kind.”

  “Bloodletters? You mean like vampires, right?” She felt stupid saying it, but she wanted to be sure she understood the lexicon in this strange new world she’d just encountered.

  “Vamps, yes.” Jesse grinned over his shoulder at her. “Sharp teeth, they drink blood, burn in the sun. Like in the movies. Well, not all t
he movies. There are a lot of inaccuracies in human literature and film when it comes to most Others, but you’ve got the basic idea.”

  “So a vamp has been watching this house?” She gestured toward the picture on the screen that showed a very attractive living room that looked like it had been staged for a real estate ad.

  “More than a house. This photo is of the carriage house. There’s a mansion, several barns, formal gardens with a maze and outdoor pavilion, pool and pool house, tennis courts, helipad, landing strip for a small plane… You get the idea. This place is enormous. Many places to hide someone and lots of security. But yes, the bloodletter has been poking around this estate from time to time over the years. He’ll be our best source of intel when we get there. Although, there is the question as to whether or not he can be trusted.”

  “Why wouldn’t you trust him? He’s helping, right?” Maria really didn’t understand all the ins and outs of these magical creatures. She was discovering they had a whole secret society with all kinds of peculiar relationships and rules.

  “Most of the Other races don’t usually work together nowadays. We really haven’t since the last time Elspeth threatened this realm. After she was defeated, we all sort of went our separate ways. Bloodletters are odd ducks at the best of times. They live so long. And if they don’t find their mate, their sanity can be questionable. Depending on how old they are, they can stick to antiquated rules of behavior and customs. Some of them are just downright weird, but luckily, they mostly keep to themselves. They also like cities because humans are their natural prey. Weres, generally—with certain notable exceptions—keep to the country. We need open space to run and hunt. Cities are hard for most of our kind, though some do well there, I hear.” He shrugged. “The different types of weres work together more than with other kinds of beings. There are exceptions to every rule, of course. Like the dryad, Leonora, who is friend and ally to my brother’s Pack and lives on our lands. Although, she probably sees it as us living in her forest, but you get the idea. We have a couple of brown and black bear families and the occasional cougar, but mostly, wolves stick with wolves, cats with cats, bears with bears, and of course, vamps with vamps and magic users with magic users.”

  Maria shook her head. “This sounds complicated. And stupid. If this Destroyer woman is trying to come back and take over the world, you guys really need to start working together. Humanity won’t stand a chance if you don’t.”

  Jesse laughed. “Now you sound like my brother. He’s more progressive than most of the old-time Alphas. He’s rekindled the alliance between the Master who lives near our Pack and many Others. The Lords count on Jason since they’ve put out the edict that we need to form alliances with anyone on the side of Light. They use him to encourage the other Packs and send him to talk to other Clans and Tribes when necessary. He’s become quite the alliance broker.”

  Maria heard the pride in his voice when he spoke of his brother’s abilities. It was clear he loved his younger brother, but more than that, he was happy when Jason succeeded.

  “That’s good,” Maria stood, needing something to do. She busied herself sorting through the clothes she would wear for the day.

  If the Others—as Jesse called them—didn’t protect the world from this Destroyer of Worlds, all people would suffer. Humans were unequipped to handle the kind of magic she’d seen so far, and she knew she hadn’t seen much. Humanity would be totally blindsided. Most people didn’t even know magic was real. They relegated it to the stuff of movies and books. Not real life. They wouldn’t know what hit them if the shit really started hitting the fan.

  Look how ill equipped they were to deal with the weirdness of the storm now covering most of the middle of the country. The weather people were increasingly stymied when she watched the television. Nobody knew what to think or how to describe what was happening. It didn’t fit scientifically, though they kept trying to explain it that way. It never even occurred to them to realize it might be magic.

  Or what it might imply. Danger. Not just from the storm, but from what was creating the storm and what might happen if the bad people calling up such violent weather succeeded in whatever they were building up to. Even Maria could tell that would be a seriously bad thing.

  That’s why she was gallivanting across the plains, trying to help Jesse stop them. There was a sense of urgency that was getting more intense as time went on. It had been a sort of annoying hum yesterday, but it had escalated to a buzz this morning. She’d felt this a few times before, but never quite so strongly.

  “We have to go,” she blurted out suddenly.

  Jesse looked at her sharply. Their eyes met and held. She felt breathless. They had to leave soon. Something was coming. Jesse sniffed and cocked his head as if listening.

  “What is it?” he finally asked.

  “I don’t know, but we have to go. Soon. Like within the next twenty minutes.” She felt her spine start to vibrate and she knew she’d picked the right timing. “I’ve felt this before, but never so intensely. Please, Jesse. You have to believe me.”

  “I do, babe.” He turned back to the computer and began shutting things down, much to her relief.

  The bathroom door opened, and Zach walked out looking almost as good as new. He was wearing the jeans she’d scrounged for him and a T-shirt. He looked like any regular all-American teenager, just a bit larger than average. He was built on the big side and had more muscle mass than most kids, but not freakishly so. He’d fit in in a crowd. He just looked very athletic and tall.

  “Pack up, sport,” Jesse told him as he moved economically around the small room, gathering his things. “We’re bugging out in fifteen minutes.”

  Without a word to Maria, Zach started packing the few things he had. When he was finished with that task, he came over and started helping her without comment. Maria was kind of amazed the kid had unbent enough to help her. She had far more stuff than the men because she had a giant first aid kit and more clothes than the guys.

  Between the three of them, they were ready to go in ten minutes. Jesse scouted outside before he loaded the SUV himself, telling Maria and Zach to stay put in the room until the vehicle was ready to go. When everything was organized to his satisfaction, he escorted Maria and Zach out quickly, with very little fuss.

  They left the room as clean as they could—meaning they left as little trace of themselves and their identity in the unit as humanly possible. Maria guessed various kinds of Others might be able to tell more about who was in the room than regular humans. Weres could tell things by scent and would probably be able to say there had been two males and one female in the room. Magic users might have some kind of spell to show them who’d been there, though that might just be her imagination.

  But there was a good chance the people on their trail were only human. In that case, they wouldn’t be able to learn much from the little Maria and the guys left behind in the room. Just a bunch of fast-food wrappers and a mountain of dirty towels.

  Jesse got behind the wheel and headed out of the parking lot at a reasonably fast pace, though not so speedy as to attract attention. When she expected him to head directly for the highway, he surprised her by turning in to the drive-thru lane at the fast-food joint across the way.

  “What do you want for breakfast? We might not have time to stop much today, so it would be good to eat now,” Jesse explained.

  She looked over the menu board, surprised Jesse wasn’t heading away from the area before stopping for food. She told him her selection and waited impatiently while Zach gave him a much bigger order and Jesse relayed it all over the microphone to the girl manning the drive-thru window.

  He pulled the SUV around the corner of the restaurant slowly. Suddenly, she understood.

  “You want to see who’s on our trail,” she accused in a quiet voice. “Isn’t it a little foolhardy to stick around until they get here?”

  “Hide in plain sight, babe. That’s always best. We’re not the droids they’r
e looking for. We’re merely a couple out for an early morning breakfast. Nothing to see here. Move along,” he intoned like the storm trooper in that famous movie scene.

  She had to chuckle despite the antsy feeling that buzzed up and down her spine. Whatever—whoever—was coming was getting really close. She shivered and rubbed her arms.

  “I guess I see your point, but what if they spot us? I feel them coming, Jesse. They’re almost here.” Her teeth chattered as chills gripped her. It had never been this strong before and her reaction shocked her.

  “If they see us, we’ll deal with them. Zach is fit enough now to fight his way out if he has to, and I already know you’re good in a fight. It’d be nice to clear the trail, in a way. Of course, if they don’t spot us, we gain possibly valuable intel about exactly who is on our tail. Either way, we win.”

  Jesse pulled up to the window, paid the bill and began accepting bags of food through the window. As soon as the scent of bacon hit Maria’s nose, her stomach growled. She was hungrier than she’d thought. Jesse winked at her as he handed the bags over with that little devilish smile that made her insides quiver.

  Suddenly, her head turned as if drawn back toward the motel.

  “They’re here.” Dread filled the pit of her stomach.

  Jesse’s smile widened. She had to wonder at his reaction. He almost looked as if he was enjoying this, and in a way, she guessed he was. He’d turned the tables on the hunters and had begun hunting them. Maria assumed a predator like Jesse wouldn’t want to stay in the prey position long.

  “Right on schedule,” he muttered, grabbing the last bags of food and slowly passing them over to her. “Now let’s see who we have here and how good they are.”

  He scanned the area while she focused in on the single car that drew her attention. It was sleek and black. A sports car built for speed.

  “Bad vehicle choice,” Jesse muttered.

  “But it’s fast,” Zach pointed out from the back seat where he was staying low, just barely peeking over the top of the seats.