by R. J. Blain
“What did you just say to me, little bitch?”
At the rate my virus spiked, she’d be ready to rumble and then some given a few minutes and a single iota of provocation. “I said you hit my car with your truck, and you don’t look like the type who pays back his debts.”
“I’m going to make you regret that.”
I remembered those words, as did my virus. The unwanted memory stabbed at me, hitting with the same force as the blows that’d led to my infection and weeks in the hospital.
The truck’s passenger door opened, and a second man, lithe and moving with cat-like grace, joined his friend. The faint hint of a feline teased my nose, but rather than rile my wolf like most cats did, all the smell did was piss her off even more.
Provocation, check.
I wouldn’t even need the few minutes; my virus wanted blood, and she wanted it fresh, hot, and spilled on the asphalt without her having to come into contact with the virus tainting it.
I took her reaction to mean both lycanthropes classified as ineligible bachelors, which worked for me. Dealing with Wayne classifying as an eligible bachelor would cause me enough problems.
“Daryl, deal with the man. I’ll educate the bitch.”
Wayne snorted. “You followed her from Manhattan, didn’t you? You smelled a lady lycanthrope without mate markers, so you tailed her to get somewhere a little more remote before making your move. Not remote enough with the amount of traffic here, so you’re not all that bright.”
I hated the scent markers marking mated lycanthropes. If I wanted to wear a sign around my neck stating I hadn’t gotten laid since I’d been infected with the virus, I would. But no, my damned scent advertised my state as an unclaimed female.
Stupid virus.
For a rare change, my opinion didn’t offend my virus.
Wayne and the brute engaged in a glaring match, one that would end in bloodshed if I let it. Bloodshed would simplify matters for me.
If Wayne bled, I’d legally be able to tear the brute apart, and I could blame my unwilling companion on my behavior. The law took the defense of another seriously, and when two males fought over a single female, bloodshed happened. As long as the bloodshed didn’t involve uninfected humans, the cops wouldn’t care much.
How much depended on a lot of factors, including if I left any corpses on the ground when I was finished with the pair.
“What’s it to you?”
“I enjoy teaching piece of shit lycanthropes like you how to behave.”
Next time, I needed to remember to give better instructions. I hadn’t told Wayne he couldn’t posture and cause problems. I hadn’t told him to play nice with the idiot who had rear-ended me.
I definitely hadn’t told him to avoid bloodshed.
Oops.
While the CDC discouraged lycanthropes from fighting, especially alongside a busy highway, the law favored single females who didn’t want to be saddled with the first male to cross her path. My virus wanted to get in on the action, and I saw no reason to discourage her. Since the asshole lycanthropes in the truck wanted to issue threats, I’d teach them their manners.
I closed the distance, allowed my virus to take hold, and welcomed her at her full strength. Transforming during a fight hurt like hell, but in the moments it took me to reach the brute of the pair, I’d exchanged the illusion of humanity for a wolf’s muzzle and fangs, a thick coat of fur, and claws capable of tearing apart steel if I put my mind and muscles to the task.
I grabbed a handful of his scruffy shirt, crouched, and heaved, lobbing the bastard over the roof of his truck onto his feline friend.
Then, as I could be an asshole and needed a new pair of shoes anyway, I bounded over the truck, landed on the fallen pair, and clubbed them both over the head.
“Care to reevaluate your position, boys?” I growled, and I made sure to show them my fangs. “Next time, I put you through the engine of your fancy truck.”
Shock had a smell, and they both reeked of it. I sneezed, and had I been a better person, I might’ve cared my saliva splattered them both in the face. Huffing my disgust over having played the ace up my sleeve, I rose, snarled at both, and returned to my vehicle. “Fuck the insurance, Wayne. If I stay here with those braindead wastes of air, I’ll kill them both and dump their bodies in the ditch. Write their license plate number down, and I’ll give the CDC a call so they know I had to correct two stupid infected idiots.”
“I already took care of that. I took pictures of them and their truck, and I made sure I got the front plate.” Wayne returned to the passenger side and got into my car.
I joined him, and without bothering to wait to see what the assholes would do, I started the engine and merged back onto the road. “If you enjoy talking to the CDC, you can give them a call and notify them some jerk lycanthropes weren’t playing nice, so I educated them on the side of the highway.”
Wayne regarded my furry hands and my claws, which would make short work of my steering wheel and shifter if I wasn’t careful. “Single, female, and hybrid. And you managed to hide that right under my nose for how long?”
“At least a few years,” I replied, allowing myself a canine grin and showing off my lethal fangs. “I really like the CDC’s perfume. It has treated me well.”
“A little too well,” Wayne muttered, buckling his seatbelt before tapping at the screen of his phone and holding it to his ear. “Wayne Barnes speaking. I need to report an intentional car accident involving a pair of lycanthropes attempting to coerce a lycanthrope female during what was a probable kidnapping attempt. They tailed her from Manhattan and rear-ended her to get her to pull her vehicle over. I happened to be accompanying her, and she opted to decline the invitation through the use of violence. We have left the scene of the crime, as her virus is rather riled up and she would have killed them had they provoked her any further.” After a few moments, he reported the exit and mile marker numbers, described the pair of idiots, and spent a disturbingly long time answering a chain of yes and no questions.
Maybe Wayne’s help would keep me out of jail for a while. If it didn’t, oh well.
They tossed hybrid lycanthropes like me in solitary maximum security to mitigate the infection risk, and nothing sounded safer or better than some peace, quiet, and no bills to pay for however long they kept me behind bars. In the meantime, I’d work hard for the money, keep a close eye on Wayne, and make the most of the days before somebody caught up and arrested me for breaking the rules.
Instead of slipping Wayne more influencer or pixie dust, I decided to play the game safe—for him. I’d regret my choice later, especially when both substances wore off, but I couldn’t afford the risk.
With two pissy lycanthropes out for my blood, he needed to be sharp. For a brief moment, I considered dosing myself with his dust, but my reaction to even the crap grades would turn me into a cuddling monster. The cuddles would lead to sex, the sex would lead to a permanent pairing, and I couldn’t afford a man like Wayne permanently in my life.
Fancy men in suits cost a lot to maintain, and they expected their trophy wives to wear makeup, slinky dresses, and whatever the hell else model-pretty women put on to impress rich men.
My virus didn’t approve of my thoughts, but after our brief brawl with two idiots, she settled and almost minded her own business for change.
I drove halfway across Pennsylvania before stopping at a cheap motel in dire need of renovations, which fit my general budget and lifestyle.
“We’ll get fleas if we stay here,” Wayne muttered, crossing his arms over his chest and refusing to unbuckle his seatbelt. “I don’t like fleas. I refuse. Worse, there might be bedbugs.”
“Bedbugs and fleas can be addressed. All you have to do is pay a fee to a practitioner. Boom. No more pesky bugs. You won’t die if you stay at a motel.”
“This is not a motel. This is a dive.”
“This is a dive I won’t feel shitty about trashing if those two jackasses pay another visit
. I can afford the repairs here—maybe. If I’m lucky. Well, if I’m lucky and verify I used self-defense, which goes a long way with making the bill their problem rather than mine.”
Wayne scowled. “I’m going to need more pixie dust if you’re going to make me stay in a dive motel, Joyce.”
“The kind of pixie dust I have with your name on it also happens to be the kind that makes you do what I want,” I muttered.
“I have no idea where you got that, but I have to say, I’ve always wondered what it would be like to be under the influence.”
He already knew, but rather than confess that truth, I shrugged. Then again, I’d given him the minimum dose, and combined with the influencer, I doubted he would’ve noticed the potency of his high. “Will it make you happy?”
“If it doesn’t, I’m going to be very disappointed.”
Despite everything, I laughed. “All right. I’ll give it to you on one condition.”
“I’m listening.”
“If I happen to get cuddly due to exposure to pixie dust, you will not take it any further than cuddling.”
“Deal. I’m not responsible should you forcibly remove me from my pants and do whatever you wish with me, though.”
“Fair,” I acknowledged. “Also, you’ll get to go clothing shopping for me at the first store I find tomorrow. I only brought one change of clothes with me.”
“As I have not brought any changes of clothes with me, I find this to be a reasonable request. Is there a reason you’re hesitant to handle this yourself?”
I showed him my claws. “This is how you destroy clothes.”
“As I have my own set of those, I’m aware of how destructive they can be. Did nobody teach you how to retract them?”
“They retract?” I shrieked.
“With enough practice, yes. Mine can. It’s a little painful, but I can shorten them enough to be able to use my hands better while in the hybrid form. It’ll take time and effort on your part, but I can teach you.”
“For now, you get to open doors for me and operate the faucets. I deserve a shower.”
“You deserve better than a shower in a shit motel.”
“But those lycanthropes might damage a nice hotel.”
“And should they, they’ll be liable for the damages, and the nice hotel will have a proper bath.”
“You just don’t want to stay at a cheap motel.”
“You are absolutely right. I don’t want to stay at a motel that would need no alterations to be used as the set for a horror film.”
I regarded the building’s exterior, which had seen better days some twenty or thirty years ago. “I bought a new phone, and I think it has a good camera. We could make a budget film. Our budget would be the cost of my new phone. I told the guy if he got me out of there in half an hour, I’d buy the best he had, and he got me out in a hurry. I spent too much, though.”
“How did you afford one of those?”
“Simple. I accepted a sinful amount of money to lure you out of New York City for three days, so you better be good. I don’t want to return my new phone.”
“You’re a bounty hunter.”
“We all have our flaws.”
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re incredible?”
I frowned and wondered what else Wayne might had been getting high on before I’d gotten a hold of him. “No, not particularly.”
He chuckled. “Was I at least worth decent money?”
He found being my target amusing? I needed to work on that. What sort of self-respecting bounty huntress amused her victims? Rather than allow him to rile me up, I kept my expression calm and collected to match my cool tone, “The pay will let me eat for a while.”
Wayne’s expression darkened. “You don’t have to worry about that now, even if we don’t make a deal on the rent. The local packs are responsible for lycanthropes, and now that we know you’re around, we’ll make sure you get enough to eat. Hungry lycanthropes are dangerous lycanthropes. As you have reasons to be shy of the pack, I’ll give you an open invitation to rob my refrigerator at your leisure. I can’t promise there won’t be members of the pack at my place, but dinner is a trip to my fridge away.”
I’d been warned about overprotective lycanthrope males. I shrugged and replied, “I’ll think about it.”
“We’re going to have a fight over this, aren’t we?”
“That depends,” I admitted.
“On what?”
“What you’re wearing, where you’re wearing it, and what sort of mood I’m in.” My answer pleased my virus, and had she been a cat rather than a wolf, she would’ve purred.
“That would be the adrenaline and your spiking virus talking.”
“Yes, and?” I countered.
“No judgment. I’m a bit of a jerk when I’m hopped up on adrenaline and my virus is spiking, too. I am fairly careful to avoid women if my virus is spiking, however.”
Considering how well he wore a suit, he’d be stalked by any woman who believed she might have a chance with him. My virus wanted me to hurry up, claim him, and get on with the important work, which involved him and a bed. If she had her way, she’d keep him in bed for the rest of eternity.
There were worse ways to spend the rest of eternity.
Rather than admit that, I shrugged. “Have you ever looked in a mirror?”
“Apparently, not through a woman’s eyes.”
I laughed at that. “It’ll be a lot cheaper to repair a shit motel, and we could pretend we’re filming a horror movie.”
“But the fleas, Joyce. The fleas. And bedbugs. I don’t want fleas or bedbugs.”
“For fuck’s sake. Fine. Use your phone and point me in the direction of a hotel you can tolerate, but your picky ass is paying for it, and if some idiot asshole lycanthropes come and bust up the joint, you’re paying for it.”
“I’ll even pay for your clothes.”
“That’s not necessary.”
“Well, you saved my suit, because I promise you, suits don’t last long when I shift. I’m a much larger hybrid than you are.”
I scowled. “That’s unfair.”
“You may be small, but you’re fierce and pretty. You had no problems with dealing with those two annoyances.”
I scowled at the reminder of why I’d revealed my hybrid form. “My virus really didn’t like that brute.”
“Nobody likes that brute,” Wayne replied, and his tone implied he knew more about the brute.
“Spill, Wayne. Do you know who he is?”
“I know of him, but I don’t know him personally.”
I bared my fangs and growled. “Who is he?”
“He’s a member of one of New York’s less savory mafia operations. That specific group welcomes lycanthropes that want to toe the line with the law, and if you have a cop who gets an infection while on duty, it’s probably because of one of those assholes. They have a reputation among the sanctioned packs.”
Great. I’d gone from a bounty to keep Wayne busy for a few days to a nightmare, one where I’d have to keep on my toes to keep my disgustingly willing victim safe. “So they’re the type to follow us around because I kicked their asses once already.”
“Yes, they are.”
“You are a pain in my ass, Wayne Barnes!”
He laughed and pointed westbound. “There’s a decent hotel an hour that way, and there’s a few good clothing stores on the way. If we’re going to have to deal with shitty assholes, at least we can do so in style. I need some new clothes, too—clothes better fitted for a hybrid, and I know just the place on the way.”
“Wait. There are stores that cater to hybrids?”
“As a matter of fact, yes, there are, and I’m about to take you to one. Best of all, you can go in with exactly what you’re wearing.”
I regarded my scrapped clothing with a scowl. “You mean almost nothing at all?”
“Precisely. It’s a good look on you, by the way.”
Damned lycant
hrope males. Rather than reply, I sighed, pulled out of the cheap motel’s parking lot, and shook my head over the insanity of it all.
True to his word, he took me to a store that specialized in hybrid fashion. To my horror and dismay, it was located in a town filled with lycanthropes, judging from the overwhelming stench of single male wolf hanging in the air. My virus did the equivalent of bury her head in the sand while whimpering. I pinched my nose closed.
“I hate you, Barnes,” I announced.
“It’s not that bad.”
“Says you. It stinks of males here. It’s not pleasant. I’m going to hide in my car. There is no way I’m going out there with so many damned male wolves. Forget it. I didn’t bring my perfume.”
“You really have no idea how to act around other lycanthropes, do you?”
“Well, I tried to get rid of you, and unfortunately for me, it didn’t work. If I had managed to get rid of you, I wouldn’t have had to deal with any lycanthropes outside of work at all. The perfume works, damn it.”
“All right. That’s fair. And you weren’t brought up in a pack, so it’s completely unreasonable on my part to act like you should know the easy ways to get the men to leave you alone.”
“Is there actually a way to get them to leave me alone, and will it work on you?”
“Yes, and absolutely not.” Wayne grinned at me, got out of my car, and circled to my door, opening it before I could get the finicky lock to do what I wanted. At my refusal to unbuckle, he jabbed the button with a finger, popped it off, and snapped his fingers. “You need clothes, and I don’t want to be at this all night. Come on out. The other wolves will see you with me and make assumptions, and when they see me taking you into a clothing store, they’ll assume we’re courting. There’s no mating markers on courting pairs, but should some man bother you that you don’t want bothering you, as a single male lycanthrope keeping you company, I have certain rights to beat the shit out of anyone who bothers you, should you not beat the shit out of them first.”
Wayne’s cursing amused me. “You’re usually prim and proper.”