“I will fucking end you!” Lou shouted into the phone. “Your life is over! Get the fuck out of town now, you fucking dog, before I get my hands on you. Whatever you think you’ve built here, I will burn it to the ground. You are dead meat.”
“Don’t let your mouth make promises you can’t keep,” Jake snarled. “I dare you to even try.”
He killed the connection before Lou could say anything else. Levi arched an eyebrow. “That sounded like it went to shit fast.”
“Real fast.” Jake blew a big gust of air out between his lips. “Guess Lou figured it out. He called up to threaten me about Anita. Pretty sure I didn’t help the situation any.”
Levi shook his head. “Pretty sure you didn’t, either. You better call Shane before Lou does.”
“It’s probably too late for that,” Jake said, but he hit Shane’s entry in the phone’s address book all the same.
Jake counted four rings before Shane picked up. “You want to tell me what the hell happened?” he asked, without any other greeting. “Lou’s on the other line, and he’s pissed. I told you to leave it alone, damn it.”
“He called me, Shane. Started off with threats, and it didn’t get any better from there. I tried to clear it up, but he wouldn’t listen.”
“The hell you did. Look, keep your head down tonight. I mean it, Jake. Don’t go out, don’t talk to Anita, don’t even fart too loud. Not until I can get our bikes back from Lou. We’re already going to have to find another mechanic, and clean up the fallout from this. We do not need to have Travis without a bike until he can buy a new one, and I do not need to have Nicole breathing down my neck about hers.”
Jake frowned. “None of that sits well with me.”
“I don’t give a shit.”
“So, what? You’re gonna kowtow to a piece of shit who thinks he can own you? Maybe he was your friend once, Shane, but friends don’t do this shit to each other.”
Silence on the line. “What is it you think we ought to do?” Shane asked in a dangerously flat voice. The tone Jake knew for a warning that what he said next better be the best idea of his life.
He didn’t have faith in that, but he said it anyway. “We go get the bikes out of that shop. Roll up and take them. Lou gets away with this, and folks will think the Bully Boys are pushovers.
More silence. Jake wondered if he’d tanked his relationship with his alpha in a couple short, bold sentences. You just suggested your alpha ought to go burn down a bridge he’s kept up for more than a decade. Nice going. Want to suggest he dump his useless girlfriend next? Maybe do that over the phone while you flee the damn town.
But then, Shane spoke. “Be at the shop in half an hour. I’m calling in the pack.”
“Yes, Alpha.” Jake backed straight down, like a respectful wolf ought to. No smart wolf wanted to cross the leader of the pack when he’d hit this point. Jake had pushed hard enough already.
The connection cut off. Jake ran his hand over his face. “Shane’s calling the pack out. We’re going to get the bikes back from Lou.”
Levi gave Jake a long, measured look. “You have big, brass balls, you know that? I’m gonna go pay for our gas. And I’m going to take a long time doing it. We don’t want to get to the garage before Shane does.”
“Thanks, Levi,” Jake said, and leaned his backside against the seat of the bike. No, he didn’t want to get to the garage before Shane did, either. It wouldn’t end well, not with Lou, and not with the alpha, either.
Wild wolves used howls to communicate. Modern werewolves used texts. Before Levi got back out from the storefront, Jake’s phone buzzed with Shane’s message. “All pack ordered to Lou’s garage in half an hour. Expect trouble. Meet up at the shop on the corner.”
As he cleared the notification, Jake noticed he had other messages waiting. Anita had called a couple times, and he hadn’t noticed in all the excitement. He frowned at the display as his thumb hovered over the button to listen to the voicemails. On the one hand, he wanted to hear her voice. Wanted to hear she was okay, that she’d gotten her stuff and abandoned the house.
On the other, he’d want to call her. Then he’d have to tell her the alpha had told him to keep away from her for the night. Worse, he’d have to tell her that in half an hour, the Bully Boys would cut ties with the mechanic they needed, and they’d do it in the name of what she’d started by leaving her husband. He didn’t want her to feel guilty, or like she ought to give in to Lou to keep the peace.
But maybe worst of all, she might tell him Lou had done something stupid when she went back home that morning, and then Jake wouldn’t be able to keep his head when they showed up at the garage. If Lou had laid a hand on Anita, Jake would rip his head clean off.
He didn’t need that kind of inspiration, when he knew Shane would want this confrontation to go as smooth as possible. It can wait half an hour. Then it’ll be a done deal, and no one will make any damn fool mistakes.
His phone went back in his pocket, where it felt heavier than it had any right to.
The fight started before they had ridden out from the convenience store where the pack met up. Jake thought it looked like it had started before they’d even gotten there. Shane wore a tight expression as Nicole gesticulated in the direction of the garage. “…not even finished repairing it!”
“That’s why we had Travis bring the truck and trailer,” Shane said, patience worn thin. He jerked a thumb toward where Travis stood next to his double-cab monstrosity, with a trailer for vehicle transport hooked up to the hitch. They used it when a bike died out in the desert, or on the road headed for the garage. It would hold two if it had to, and today, it had to.
“Then what? How are we going to get it fixed if you tell the mechanic to fuck himself?” Anger made her voice shrill. Too shrill for just anger, Jake thought. A note of real desperation crept into her tone, and he was sure Shane didn’t notice. He’d gotten used to her rants by now.
And Shane’s temper had already burned most of the fuse before the explosives. “Then we tow it to Kingman, or to Laughlin, and we get it fixed there,” he snapped.
Either Nicole realized she’d gone too far, or she saw her tactic wouldn’t get her what she wanted. She took a deep breath, let it out, then set a hand on Shane’s arm. “I’m sorry. I’m worried, Shane. The town depends on the pack. If we’ve got to take bikes hours away to get them fixed, it’ll be harder to protect the people here. And honey, Lou’s your friend. He’s always been your friend. I’m worried about you.”
“If Lou were my friend, he would not be pulling this shit.” Shane’s statement came out a snarl. “Not to me. Not to my pack. And not to his damn wife. I am done, Nicole. I am fucking done.”
Fear flashed through Nicole’s eyes. Before Jake could gauge more than that, she had it under control. “All right. Then get it over with. I’ll wait here.”
Shane’s eyes narrowed. “It’s your bike we’re getting.”
“I don’t want to see you break a friendship over my bike,” she tossed back. “And I’m not one of your pack. If this turns into a fight, I don't want to get in the way.”
She had to know she’d said the wrong thing when tense silence descended. Kerri, one of the pack harriers, cleared her throat. “I’m pretty sure you didn’t mean to insult us, Nicole, but a wolf’s mate is pack, werewolf or not. And we extend the respect to girlfriends, too.”
A subtle distinction. Girlfriend versus mate. With that one statement, Kerri had both put Nicole in her place and thrown a significant amount of shade. Jake resolved to buy Kerri a beer.
Nicole licked her lips. “No. No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant I’m not one of the fighters. The fighting part of the pack.”
“Mm-hmm,” Kerri said, and let it drop. No one else looked convinced, either.
“Nicole, get on the bike. We need to move out.” Shane cut off further discussion with his curt commands. He slung a leg over the seat and scooted forward to make room for his girlfrien
d to climb on. “Let’s get this over with.”
Unhappy, Nicole got on the bike behind the alpha. Jake would have sworn he saw her hand drift to the pocket where he could see her phone stored.
Calderon Auto Repair hadn’t closed for the day, but they’d started to wrap up their business as the sun sank into the final hours before night fell. A mechanic stepped out of the repair bay as he heard the pack of motorcycles roar onto the property. He didn’t stay long. One look, and he turned back around to duck into the office portion of the garage. Jake didn’t blame him.
Lou Calderon strode out not a minute later. His face was a mask of attempted machismo and ugly, suppressed anger. Jake tried not to imagine Lou turning that expression on his wife. Or putting those dirty, clenched hands on her. Get hold of yourself before you make a scene, asshole.
Shane’s bike rolled to a stop. He kicked down the stand, then got off the seat with care so as not to kick Nicole. She hadn’t moved to dismount. Instead, she stared at Lou, the corner of her lower lip caught between her teeth.
Lou glanced at her before his gaze settled on Shane. “I told you how it is,” Lou said. “One of your pack took something from me, amigo. I’m keeping what’s yours until you pay me back for what your dog stole.”
A complicated expression crept over Shane’s face. Anger. Hurt. Betrayal. Disgust. To Jake, it looked like the expression one wore to the funeral for a friendship. “No one stole anything, Lou,” Shane said, quiet and implacable. “You threw her away. She’s not a something. She was your wife. And you drove her off by treating her like shit. Like you’re driving me off right now.”
“She is my wife! She’ll always be mine. And he-” Lou pointed toward Jake, who lifted his chin. “He disrespected me. Anita and I were working shit out until he put his dick where it didn’t belong.”
“You’re the one who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.” Shane took three slow, deliberate steps forward. He had half a foot on Lou, and twice the muscle mass. “You weren’t working shit out. She didn’t want anything else to do with you. And right now, I don’t blame her.”
“You think you don’t want anything else to do with me? Fine.” Lou pointed behind Shane, though the smaller man took a step back. “There’s the fucking road. Go back the same way you got here. Good luck finding another mechanic to fix your shit when you drive it into the ground.”
“What happened to you?” Shane took two steps forward. He had to look down to meet Lou’s angry gaze now. “Have you always been this way? Or did you turn into a gigantic asshole when I wasn’t looking? Doesn’t matter now. Get our bikes and we’ll go.”
Lou smirked, all bravado and arrogance. “Already told you twice today. I’m not giving them up until I get a word with the pendejo who fucked my wife.”
“Not going to happen.” Shane made a motion without taking his eyes off his former friend. “Chance. Levi. Ethan. Go and get our bikes out of that garage. Anyone tries to stop you… You know what to do.”
Faces grim, the three werewolves moved out. Lou took a step toward the repair bays, but Shane shifted his stance to put himself between the mechanic and the building. The werewolf’s eyes turned gold. “Let me tell you how it’s going to be. We are taking our bikes. We are leaving. You get in my way, and I will stop daydreaming of punching you in your fat mouth. I’ll just do it.”
Lou’s jaw worked. Rage twisted his features. His hands clenched, and his arms trembled with his efforts to suppress his urge to throw a punch. “You remember last month? When four bikes went to shit at the same time? You drove them off the ledge, chasing that big group of Ferals. I had you back on the road in two days.”
“Right in time to drive off another group of Ferals. You did good work.”
“What are you going to do next time, huh? Ain’t no one in this town going to touch your bikes now.”
Shane shook his head. “The town counts on you, Lou, and I can’t figure out why. We’ll work something out. We are wolves, after all. Not like bikes are the only way we can get around.”
“No, but it’s the fastest way. You can chase Ferals for miles until they tire out. Running on foot all the time? You’re going to get pretty tired yourselves. And you aren’t the only wolves around.” Lou forced another smirk onto his face. “Maybe I’ll make a few calls. Maybe I’ll tell another pack there’s a place for them here.”
Fur scurried down Shane’s arms to cover a now-clawed hand. “Threaten my territory again, and the whole town will be short a mechanic. Whatever friendship we had has saved you for the last time.”
“However you want it, amigo,” Lou said, but dropped the threat. It seemed even he knew when he’d gone too far.
Chance walked the first bike out of the garage and up the trailer’s ramp. Jake wondered if they’d left Nicole’s motorcycle last on purpose. God knew, Jake would have.
They got the second bike tied down as the sun touched the horizon. On another night, the pack would already have headed into the desert to start the hunt for Ferals. This show of force had set them behind schedule, and they hadn’t gotten the bikes dropped off so Travis could exchange truck for motorcycle to join the night’s hunt yet. Jake thought about volunteering to help out, even though their usual rotation gave him the night off.
Then he thought about Anita, and kept his mouth closed.
“We’re good to go,” Travis told Shane.
The alpha took two steps backwards. His gaze never left his former friend. “I wish it hadn’t come to this, Lou. Let me know if you ever get your shit together.”
“Fuck you,” Lou said, anger still at a low boil. He looked toward Jake and pointed. “Watch your back, dog. And stay away from my wife.”
“Let me know when you find one, and I’ll keep clear of her,” Jake said.
Lou tensed. Muscles stood out on his forearms as he clenched his fists. “You think I can’t take you down? You think I won’t fucking end you?”
“Let’s go,” Shane said, voice hard as steel. “We’re done.”
Done at the garage. Done with the friendship. Just done. Jake wished he believed Lou felt the same.
By the time they got the bikes back to Travis’s place, the western horizon hoarded all the light in the sky. Jake pulled his phone out of his pocket as the rest of the pack decided who would double up on whose bikes. Anita’s notifications stared at him still. Guilty for the delay, he tapped the icon to listen to the voicemails.
On foot. Walking from her place to his. Given the timestamps, she would still be on the road, probably in the long stretch of desert between the town proper and his trailer. Jake frowned as he strode back to his motorcycle. Not sure if I’m glad I waited to listen to these. I could have picked her up sooner. But I might have torn off Lou’s legs and beat him with them if I’d known before I went to the garage.
He tried Anita’s phone. The automated message said it was out of service. Bet she shared an account with Lou, and he canceled it out of spite. Another good reason to beat him unconscious with his own shinbones.
“You out of here, Jake?” Shane called from the cluster of werewolves still loosely gathered around Travis’s truck and trailer.
“Yeah. I gotta go take care of something.” Jake played it cool.
Shane didn’t ask. From the look in the alpha’s eyes, Jake got the idea Shane hadn’t bought the casual excuse, but had decided not to push it. A measure of tacit approval, one he couldn’t give aloud. “So far, tonight sounds quiet. Keep your head down tonight. You’re back on sweep tomorrow night.”
“I’ll be ready. Thanks, Shane.” Jake fired up the engine and rode off before Shane could change his mind. The long ride, Jake decided, would give him plenty of time to sort out how he’d tell Anita what had happened at the garage.
He was thinking about her when he found the corpse on the road. Or most of a corpse. Blood and scraps of torn flesh surrounded the inert torso in a puddle of sludge that turned even Jake’s strong stomach. Through the ruined scraps of shabby clothes
, he could make out the jagged, strange bite marks that bespoke Feral jaws full of mismatched teeth.
Scattered goods littered the dirt next to the pavement, spilled out of a large backpack meant for long treks. The man – Jake thought it had been a man, though he wouldn’t have sworn to it – must have been headed towards town for the night. Or he might have been one of those who protested the treatment of Ferals by giving up his home and wandering from place to place in defiance of the dangers present.
Damn fools get all romantic about our “sick brothers and sisters”, then they’re shocked as shit when those sick brothers and sisters eat them for dinner. Jake looked around. The asphalt disguised any footprints around the remains. He was about to check the dirt for clearer signs, then call it in to Shane, when noticed the green milemarker sign on the side of the road.
Town wasn’t all that far away. This man shouldn’t have met up with any Ferals at all here. And Anita was either still on the road, or sitting outside his trailer like a piece of bait.
Jake gunned his bike until the engine screamed.
6
Heart of the Beast
Halfway through her walk, Anita discovered her phone didn’t work. By now, she regretted her stubbornness, and her bullheaded decision to walk to Jake’s place, damn it, and hell with anyone else. Jake hadn’t called her back, or texted, or given any sign he’d gotten her messages. He does have a life, you know. He isn’t at the other end of a cellular leash, waiting for you to jerk him back to your side.
Maybe he had pack business. Or maybe he’d decided, in the wake of whatever tantrum Lou had to have thrown, she was more trouble than he wanted to handle. Without the ties and history in the town, he had to have a less secure place with the pack than the others did. Shane might have stuck with Lou and told the pack to cut her off.
Out here in the middle of the desert, might have became a huge, terrifying prospect that grew larger with every step. Walking alone on a deserted highway after one’s life had upended could turn the unknown into a giant monster one didn’t know how to defeat. Especially when one’s lifeline to the world had no bars of signal strength, and “No Carrier” across the top.
Dare the Wolf: A Bully Boys Novel of Paranormal Romance Page 6