by Lori Drake
“Grant residence.”
“Hey, Sam, it’s me. Is Mom around?”
“Uh, yeah. You know it’s, like, ten-thirty, right?”
Joey glanced over at Chris, whose smirk said he’d overheard the question. “Of course I know what time it is. Would you put Mom on, already?”
“Is it important? She went to bed an hour ago.”
“Would I be calling this late if it wasn’t? Put her on the damn phone.”
“Hang on.”
There was a click and the line went quiet. Joey stamped her feet lightly, shifting her weight between them in an effort to keep the blood flowing. Maybe she should’ve taken Chris up on his offer. A glance to her left found him gazing up at the sky. It was a clear night, and the stars twinkled overhead. Brighter, it seemed, for the lack of moonlight. The moon was all but invisible in the night sky to the naked eye, but Joey knew right where it was, sensing its power overhead. Why had the attack occurred tonight, of all nights? Did the attacker know it would be when they’d be most vulnerable? The thought lent credence to Eric’s hunter theory, as much as Joey wanted to shrug it off.
Eric. She itched to bring Chris into the loop about Eric, but this wasn’t the time or place. Out in the open like this, where anyone with super-sharp wolf ears could overhear… it was a bad idea. A worse idea, she felt, than leaving him in the dark. Time alone would tell about that.
There was another click and the sound of a receiver being handled on the other end.
“Josephine? What’s going on? Are you still at the party?” There was worry in Adelaide’s voice, and rightly so.
“Yes, hell if I know, and sort of. In that order.” Joey paused a moment, then continued when her mother didn’t respond. “There’s been an attack. One of Eric’s was seriously hurt. Ben patched her up and we’re hoping she’ll be okay.”
“Are you all right? Your brothers?”
“We’re fine, Mom. Weirded out, but fine.”
“What happened?”
Joey wasn’t sure how much detail she ought to go into over the phone. She hesitated, long enough that her mother said, “Josephine?”
“I’m here. Jenny was knifed, and whoever did it wrote ‘run’ on the wall in blood. Presumably hers.”
“That’s troubling. Was the perpetrator caught?”
“No,” Joey said. As she spoke, a loud crack sounded from the direction of the trees. Startled, she whirled to look that direction.
“Was that a gunshot?” Chris asked.
“I want you home. Now,” Adelaide said in Joey’s ear.
“Mom, I gotta go. We’ll be home as soon as we can.” Joey hung up and sprinted for the trees.
“Joey, wait!” Chris called after her, his footsteps pounding the ground in her wake as he followed.
“Someone may need help!”
“I mean wait for me!” Chris said, but Joey ran ahead. Despite his longer legs, she was faster. She’d always been faster.
Joey struggled to hear anything over the pounding of her heart in her ears as she ran through the trees, scanning the forested landscape for any signs of life, human or wolf. Still, she almost didn’t see the big black wolf until it was right in front of her.
“Eric!” she cried, skidding to a halt.
More lupine shapes emerged from the darkness. Joey conducted a quick head count as they streamed past in the direction of the house. Only Eric lingered, to nip at her legs in an effort to herd her in the same direction. Everyone was accounted for—except for Itsuo, anyway. At least, she hoped Itsuo was the one missing. The twins were easy to identify, with their pure white coats, but the others streaked by too fast in the darkness for her to do more than count them.
“What happened? Is someone out there?”
Eric growled and threw a shoulder into her legs, nearly knocking her down.
“All right, I’m going! Yeesh!”
Joey turned and found Chris catching up, long strides slowing as he came in range.
“I passed the others. What’s going on?”
“I don’t know yet. Keep your ears peeled,” she said. As she jogged after the wolves, she glanced behind her now and then to check for signs of pursuit, but found none. She wasn’t running at top speed this time, so Chris kept pace with her easily. When they reached the house, she held the door open for the wolves to go in. Once everyone was inside, she locked the door, and by the time she turned back, there were seven agitated, naked humans all trying to talk at the same time.
Joey couldn’t make heads or tails of it, so she put two fingers in her mouth and whistled shrilly. The room went silent and she made the “timeout” symbol with her hands. “What happened? One at a time, please.”
Crickets. The Granite Falls wolves looked to their Alpha, and he folded his arms across his bare chest. He was a fine specimen of a man, but that didn’t make up for his other glaring shortcomings. He stood in silence for a few seconds before deigning to answer.
“There’s a man in the woods.”
Joey frowned. “A man with a gun?”
Eric hesitated, then nodded. It was a tense movement; the cords on his muscular neck stood out.
Something didn’t add up. Joey frowned as she surveyed the room. Eric’s whole pack—minus Jessica—was practically cowering. Even Jessica had an uneasy tightness to her mouth.
Joey’s eyes eventually landed on Eric again, but before she could press the matter, a commotion sounded behind her. She whirled in time to see Chris finish crashing to the floor. He’d upset a side table littered with beer bottles, cans, and plastic cups on the way down.
“Chris!” She flew to his side and took a knee beside him. He lay on the floor amidst the scattered beverage containers. His eyes were open but had a dazed look in them.
“What happened?” Chris asked weakly, his confusion plain.
Joey’s pulse hammered in her ears as panic gripped her. Something was wrong with Chris. She did her best to push it down and tried to keep the worry from her face, but surely a little concern was warranted. “You fell down. Are you okay?”
Chris tried to sit up, and Joey helped him with a hand behind his shoulder. “The room’s a little spinny.”
“Back off! Give them some room,” Eric barked.
Joey hadn’t realized quite how close the others had crowded around until then. She glanced at the concerned faces looking on. “Could someone get Ben?”
“On it,” Brandon said.
“I’m okay. No cause for a fuss,” Chris insisted, but Brandon was already gone.
“You just stay put for now, okay? You’ve made enough of a mess.” Joey put a hand on his shoulder, to better keep him down if he got any bright ideas about rising.
Chris wrinkled his nose. “If it makes you feel better, I think I’m sitting in a puddle of beer.”
Joey heard a snicker from behind her and barely suppressed one herself. “Serves you right,” she murmured, taking some comfort in his wisecrack. It couldn’t be that bad if he could still make jokes, could it?
“Make room, make room,” Ben said, pushing through the crowd of naked wolves to get to them.
“Go get dressed. Now! Pack meeting in ten,” Eric growled.
The crowd dispersed, if reluctantly, while Ben crouched on Chris’s other side. “What is it with you, little brother? Always gotta be the center of attention?”
Chris laughed weakly. “Sorry, force of habit.”
“What happened?” Ben asked, reaching for Chris’s wrist.
“Not sure. The last thing I remember is feeling lightheaded, and then I was on the floor.”
“You just gave blood, man. You’ve got to take it easy.”
“So, I guess going for a run was a bad idea…”
“Tell me you’re joking.”
Joey grimaced. “He’s not joking. There was a commotion in the woods.” She darted a glance toward Eric, who yet lingered, and gave him an “I’m not done with you” look. He snorted and sauntered away.
Ben groa
ned and rubbed his face. “Okay, you need some calories. I’m gonna raid the fridge. Joey, make sure he doesn’t move, okay?”
Although she really wanted to pin Eric down for some answers, there was no question as to Joey’s priorities. Family first. “Got it.” She gave Chris’s shoulder a squeeze and smiled at him when he looked her way.
Chris held her eyes while Ben walked away. It didn’t get awkward until the room was empty of all but the two of them.
“Why him?” he asked, his voice low.
“What? Who?”
“Eric.”
“Oh.” Joey grimaced. “Do you really want to talk about that right now?”
“It’s eating me up.”
The earnestness shining in his eyes made Joey’s heart constrict. She looked away and hoped that Ben would hurry. “That’s the blood loss talking.”
“He’s a monster. You know that, right?”
His whispered words drew her eyes back to his. Sighing, she shifted closer and slipped an arm behind his back, then laid her head on his shoulder. “It’s… complicated. Let’s leave it at that for now, okay? We can talk about it later.”
They sat in silence until Ben returned a couple of minutes later with a glass of apple juice and a sandwich. Joey lifted her head from Chris’s shoulder and ignored her brother’s questioning look. Instead, she rubbed Chris’s back and said quietly, “I’m going to see if I can get some answers about what really happened out there. Fill Ben in while you eat, okay?”
Chris glanced her way and nodded. “Be careful.”
Joey made no promises, but offered him a small smile as she withdrew. She was of a mind to try and catch up with Kate. The woman had seemed particularly shaken by what had happened. With Jenny resting in Kate’s room, Joey figured Colt’s room was probably the next best bet. She was on her way up the creaky old stairs when Eric appeared at the top of them.
She paused, a hand on the bannister. “Hey.”
“Hey,” he said, smiling. He had a nice smile, but it could become a sneer so easily… “Looking for me?”
Nope. Joey’s thoughts raced. She couldn’t tell him her true errand. If he got a whiff of her trying to go around him for answers… that wouldn’t end well. Maybe she’d just have to grab the bull by the horns. “Um, yeah. Can we talk?”
“Anything for you, babe.”
He held out a hand when she reached him at the top of the stairs. She took it and let him guide her down the hall. He paused outside a set of double doors that obviously led to the master suite, and Joey hesitated.
“Is this your room?”
He fished a key out of his pocket. “Yup. Nice, quiet place for a chat. No one will disturb us.”
Joey groaned inwardly, not particularly wanting to be alone with Eric in any bedroom—much less his. “You lock your bedroom door?” she asked, while trying to come up with an excuse to not go inside.
“Only way to keep the slaves from escaping.”
Joey blinked, and Eric laughed.
“Joking, babe. We had a klepto a few years ago… I guess the habit just stuck.” He smiled that disarming smile of his, which was far from disarming if one knew him well.
Joey chuckled and let him draw her into the room, curiosity momentarily overruling her sense of self-preservation. What did he have in his room that was worth locking up? The answer turned out to be… everything.
While the rest of the house was shabbily furnished in antiquated pieces, Eric’s room was completely modern. There was no trace of peeling wallpaper, not in here. The walls were painted a steel gray. Recessed lighting highlighted modern art pieces on the walls and kept the room from being too dark. There was a seating area off to one side with a massive television mounted on the wall, but, naturally, Eric tugged her in the direction of the king-sized bed. There was an honest-to-goodness mirror on the ceiling. Joey’s stomach turned over.
“Whoa there, that’s not the kind of chat I wanted to have,” she said, digging in her heels.
He chuckled and released her hand, but continued his course to flop on the bed. At least he was clothed now; the only skin on display was what covered his bare feet and muscular arms—not that she would have found his bare flesh enticing in the slightest.
Unaware of this, Eric propped himself up on one elbow and smiled at her from afar. “Damn shame. What can I do ya for, then?”
“Cut the crap, Eric. Are you going to tell me what really happened out there?”
His smile lingered, frozen on his lips, but his brown eyes were calculating as they studied her. “What do you mean? I told you what happened.”
Joey snorted and folded her arms. “Don’t blow smoke up my ass. There was more to it than some guy with a gun. It was painfully obvious. Your people were scared, and just because they’re not alphas, it doesn’t mean they’re cowards.”
Eric patted the mattress. “Come sit with me and I’ll tell you.”
Joey rolled her eyes. “Come on, be serious. There’s a girl fighting for her life downstairs.”
“You think I don’t know that?” Something dark and dangerous glittered in Eric’s eyes as his smile faded. He pushed himself up to sit on the edge of the bed.
“Then why won’t you tell me what’s going on?”
“How about a little tit for tat?”
Joey’s brow furrowed. “What are you talking about?”
“You tell me what’s going on with you and Chris, I tell you what happened in the woods.”
“Going on with me and— Don’t be absurd. There’s nothing going on with me and Chris,” she said firmly. Maybe too firmly. “He’s like a brother to me.”
He stood, and Joey took an involuntary step back before she caught herself and held her ground as he approached to stand in front of her. His flat expression was a mask that gave nothing—and everything—away.
“Then why,” he said, thumb sliding along her throat as his hand settled lightly along the arch of her neck, “does he look like he wants to rip my throat out every time I touch you?”
She wanted to break his fingers, but settled for swatting his hand away. “Because you’re a possessive asshole that likes to make trouble?” It might not have been the best thing she could have said, but she’d never been very good at self-filtering, and he’d known her long enough that anything else would probably rouse his suspicions… and he was a very suspicious person. Case in point, this conversation.
Eric reached for her hips next. The smile was back, lips peeled back from even white teeth. “I love it when you get sassy.”
Joey snorted softly, pressing her palms against his chest but letting him pull her against him. She could feel the heat of his skin through his tight black T-shirt. “Well, there’s plenty more where that came from. How about that tat?”
He dipped his head, leaning down to brush his nose along her neck. It’d be sexy if she didn’t find him repulsive. Plus, she knew what he was really doing: looking for any trace of another man’s scent. She humored him, fingers curling behind his stubbly, shaved head.
“There was a man with a gun in the woods,” he said, lips brushing her skin as he spoke. His breath was hot and moist on her skin.
She shivered in revulsion, but it wasn’t like he could tell the difference. “And?”
“That’s all.”
Joey tensed, ready to push him away and go another round, but Eric latched on to her neck suddenly. Her eyes flew open and she gasped. A low growl rumbled from his throat as he drew hard on her flesh. Her fingers scrabbled at the back of his head instinctively, but he had no hair to grab on to. She pushed at his chest with her other hand.
He responded by biting down, and it was pretty firm for a “love bite.” Pain flared and she growled, pushing with both hands now. His arms clamped around her waist in response.
“Eric, stop!” Her mind raced. For a moment, she thought he was trying to rip her throat out, but no… it was almost worse than that. He was marking her. Anger surged within her, white-hot and burning.
Joey brought her knee up between his legs. It connected, hard, and he let go with a gasp. She shoved him away, ready to face his rage with her own. He stumbled backward, but what he did next surprised her.
He laughed.
It was a breathless, pained sort of hysterical laughter, but laughter nonetheless. He collapsed on the floor, clutching his junk, overcome by hilarity.
Joey brought a hand up to her neck, fingers brushing the wet spot where his mouth had been. They came away slippery with saliva, but fortunately not bloody.
“You son of a bitch!” She glared daggers at him while he literally rolled on the floor laughing.
It took him a few moments to simmer down, but once he did, he looked up at her with a wide, shit-eating grin. “Mine.”
Joey growled, hands balling into fists at her sides. She strode forward with murder on her mind. A red haze clouded her vision and her wolf howled in rage, but she kept that part of her caged. She couldn’t actually kill him, but she could, and did, give him a pretty savage kick to the gut. He crumpled around her foot and “oofed” as his breath rushed out again, then dissolved into laughter once more.
Bereft of even a glimmer of satisfaction for having made him suffer, she turned on her heel and stalked for the door. Even slamming the door behind her didn’t help; the faint echo of his laughter followed her out into the hallway.
9
Once Chris got some food in him, he felt like a complete dolt for asking Joey about Eric. It was exactly the sort of thing he’d resolved not to do. Sure, he was still pretty messed up over what had happened between them, but he didn’t want her to know it. That was the thing about inner turmoil: it was supposed to remain on the inside or it became… outer turmoil. Or something.
Once his blood sugar was stabilized and the room stopped spinning, Ben let him stand up and move around. Chris couldn’t escape the stench of cheap beer clinging to him courtesy of whatever it was he’d been sitting in. He couldn’t discern the vintage by scent alone, but the fact that he was walking around smelling like a frat party didn’t please him.