by Michelle Fox
She hesitated, pink tongue darting out to lick her full lips. “It’s that bad?”
Tao gave her a kind smile, doing his best to show Audrey he was on her side. “Not really, but it will seem like it the first time you hear it.”
She sat on the edge of the couch, hands anxiously clutched in her lap. “Okay, let me have it.”
Tao noted the way she sat a little straighter and squared her shoulders as she spoke. When the choice to fall apart or hang tough presented itself, she’d opted for the latter. Audrey had fortitude, something that would serve her well because, as much as she might think him being a werewolf was bad news, she hadn’t even heard the worst of it. He still had to explain about what would happen to her come the full moon. And once she’d absorbed that, he would have to tell her about Nick.
“Okay, so let’s review. I’m a werewolf. Werewolves are real and,” he paused briefly, wary of her reaction to the next part, “you’re going to be a werewolf come the next full moon.”
Audrey laughed, covering her mouth with one hand. “Oh my God. This is some kind of joke isn’t it?”
Tao shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, it’s not. The wolf who bit you was my brother.” He winced when he spoke of Nick, feeling the bonds of family tug at his heart. Bonds that didn’t mean what they used to.
“Your brother?” Her mouth opened and closed several times as she started to say something else, only to fall silent as words failed her. Finally, she just sighed. “Well, shit.”
“You can feel your wolf coming, can’t you?” She’d given in without too much protest, which meant, on some level, she already realized something was happening. Good. It would make things easier.
She nodded. “I’ve had strange dreams and I feel things. Strange things.” She bowed her head, cradling it in her hands. “Oh my God. I’m really a werewolf?” Audrey looked up at him, her hazel eyes wide. “This is real, right? It’s not a dream?”
He gave her a sympathetic smile. “It’s real.”
She shook her head. “No, I can’t believe it. I won’t believe it. Werewolves don’t exist.”
Tao kneeled down by where she sat. “Hey, look at this.” He pointed to his chest, showing her the scar of his wound. “Didn’t the wolf--”
“Have a wound in the same spot?” she finished for him. Audrey touched his scar, her fingers cool and tentative. “It’s almost healed,” she said, her voice full of wonder.
“Werewolves heal faster than humans.” Tao repressed a shudder of pleasure as she lightly ran her fingers over the pink line that was all that remained of his injury. The feel of her skin on his was as intoxicating as her scent.
Audrey pulled her hand away abruptly, as if sensing his reaction. “Um, okay,” she said, sounding not at all convinced.
“It’s true,” Tao said with all the sincerity he could muster.
She gave him a skeptical look.“If you say so. I wouldn’t know would I?” She sat back, increasing the distance between them and crossed her arms. “So now what?”
Tao shrugged as he stood, not wanting to crowd her. “You change.” And, he added to himself, I make sure my brother never touches you.
Chapter Four
“Excuse me,” Audrey said to Tao, her mind reeling faster than a tilt-a-whirl ride from everything the big man had just told her. “I want to check something.” She ran into the kitchen to get her phone. She had to look at a calendar. Had to know how much time she had before the next full moon.
Her mind raced as she went. Werewolves? No way. It was crazy, but Tao knew things about her that she couldn’t deny. She grabbed her phone out of its charging station on the kitchen counter and paged through the calendar app she used, looking for the moon phases.
Thumbing through her calendar, she returned to the living room where Tao stood, tall and as wide as a wall, a patient expression on his face. Even with her eyes on the phone, Audrey couldn’t help but be aware of his presence.
One, he was enormous, his sheer size made him impossible to ignore. His head came just a few inches from brushing her ceiling and his broad chest featured sculpted muscles. The man was larger than life, so big he made Audrey feel small despite her own substantial size. Two, he was just as gorgeous as his wolf. Audrey found the combination of jet black hair and blue eyes to be especially alluring, even if everything he said was crazy talk.
Werewolves did not exist.
Did they?
She cleared her throat and focused on the screen of her phone. “The next full moon is less than a week away,” Audrey looked up at him with a frown, “you were a wolf last night, what gives?”
He shrugged his massive shoulders.“The first change is with a full moon. After that it’s at will, although there are weaker wolves who have a hard time unless the moon’s full.”
“Oh. Okay.” She processed that for a moment and then changed the subject. “I’m going to make coffee, you want some?” Maybe with enough caffeine, she would wake up from this dream.
Tao nodded. “Coffee sounds great, thanks.” Looking to her phone, he asked, “You mind if I make a call?”
“Sure.” She handed him the slim smartphone. “I guess werewolves don’t have pockets to carry stuff, huh?”
“No, we don’t.” He nodded to the glass sliding doors in her dining room that led to a small patio in her backyard. “I’m going to step outside, get some fresh air.”
***
Outside, Tao took a minute to collect his thoughts. The sun was brighter now and he could smell the dew in the grass. He scanned the perimeter of the backyard, automatically checking for prey or danger.
Audrey had taken the news as well as could be expected. Although he suspected she didn’t quite believe him, but rather was playing along with him. Either way, he was happy to have her cooperation.
He took a deep breath, inhaling the fresh scent of grass slowly being warmed by the rising sun. What he didn’t smell was Nick, which was a relief. He needed a reprieve after their last run-in.
Tao closed his eyes and flashed back to that night. In wolf form, he’d tracked Nick to a small den in the woods. They’d shifted into their human skins and argued. Loudly. Violently. Tao winced, remembering the feel of pine bark scraping his back as his brother threw him into a tree.
“Stop. This is madness,” he’d growled at Nick.
“It’s not madness, brother. It’s my destiny.” Nick’s eyes gleamed in the moonlight, glittering like hard, soulless diamonds. “I have the bite of the wolf and I will not deny my gifts.”
“The pack doesn’t want you to do this.” Tao grabbed Nick by the shoulders and shook him. “We don’t want made wolves, to rip humans away from their lives or their families.”
“They didn’t want wolf born pups either, but they got us didn’t they?” Nick twisted away from Tao. “But the Deerton pack doesn’t matter anymore. I’ve moved on.”
“Moved on and left a trail of blood behind you,” Tao said, shouting. Why couldn’t his brother be reasonable? Ever since their mother’s funeral last year, Nick had been slipping further and further away from common sense. The loss had hurt them all and his brothers had dealt with their feelings in their own ways. Nick, however, seemed to be taking the darkest, most violent path through his grief.
First, there’d been Owen, a homeless human boy he’d brought into the pack, bitten and about to become a wolf. He’d ordered the poor kid around like a slave, which was when the true horror of Nick’s power had become apparent to everyone. His bite didn’t just give the gift of the wolf, it stole away free will, too. When the boy was found covered in blood and standing over the dead body of a pack elder, a man Nick had argued with at length over land rights, all hell had broken loose.
Nick took off running, not even bothering to protect the wolf child he’d made and possibly forced to commit murder on his behalf. Without Nick, Owen became feral and aggressive. Reverting to his wolf, he retreated to the woods, randomly attacking members of the pack when they went out for runs. A
few times, he went after the pack’s children as they walked to and from school, nipping at their feet and legs.
The pack tried to help him, tried to reach him, but it was no use. Owen couldn’t seem to communicate without violence. When he snatched a baby, tearing it apart with his teeth, the pack rose against him as one.
Tao shuddered. He could still hear the mother’s mournful howls. She’d grieved for a week straight and hadn’t been right in the head since. Not that he blamed her after such an awful loss.
The alpha did the only thing he could, he executed the boy.
Tao put a hand over his eyes, remembering that moment in the pack clearing when the judgment had been announced. In his role as pack enforcer, he had been the one who tracked the feral boy down, bringing him in to face the consequences of his actions. As a result, Tao couldn’t help but feel responsible for Owen’s death, no matter how justified.
It had to be done, he knew that, but it was still a grim thing to see such innocence spoiled and beyond all redemption. He didn’t think his hands would ever feel clean again.
Tao shook his head, trying to cast off the guilt. The truth was, if not for Nick, that boy would still be alive today. Sure, life on the streets was tough, but better than killing babies and ending up dead. Now, he could only hope his brother could be saved from a similar fate. It might already be too late. Tao had no illusions about what his alpha would do to protect the pack if it became necessary.
Finally, unable to put it off anymore, and not wanting to stew in his memories of less-than-pleasant recent events, he dialed his alpha’s number. Time to report in and put a positive spin on his failure to capture Nick.
Dan answered on the first ring. “You find him yet?” The alpha’s voice was gruff. No ‘hello.’ No ‘how are you?’ The Deerton’s pack alpha was all business.
“He’s in the area. We had a run-in, but he got away.” Tao paused, wary of how his next words would be received. “He bit one girl already.”
“He’s building his own pack, isn’t he?’ The sound of Dan grinding his chewing tobacco filled Tao’s ears. Whenever his alpha was particularly agitated, he worked over his chew with increased vigor. Sometimes even his jaw clicked.
“One person isn’t a pack, Dan. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
Dan gave an aggravated sigh. “That’s what I would do in his shoes. Shore up my power base. The last thing anyone needs is a pack run by Nick.”
“I know,” Tao said quietly even though it pained him to admit the truth.
“Good. Glad you understand that because you need to kill the girl.”
“What?” Tao pulled the phone away from his ear and looked at it in disbelief. Had he heard his alpha correctly? “She’s not Owen. In fact, she saved me.”
“Today maybe, but tomorrow will be different. You know how Nick’s bite works. He’ll own her. We can’t shelter her as long as he’s alive.”
“So we’re just going to execute every innocent person he bites?” Tao knew the alpha spoke the truth, but his conclusions didn’t sit right.
“I’m afraid so. It has to be done. Would you want to be a wolf under Nick’s paw?”
“No, sir,” Tao said, his jaw clenched.
“While he’s on the run, we’ve got to contain anyone he can use against us. The sooner you catch him, the better.”
“What happens when I catch him?”
“You bring him home and I’ll convene the elders who will decide his fate.”
“They’ll kill him, won’t they?” Tao asked, his voice tight.
“It’s a possibility, one I happen to think is the right thing to do.” Dan’s voice was heavy with regret. “I love all you boys like my own, but Nick is a danger to himself, to humans and to us. No one wants another Owen.”
Tao swallowed a snort. No one in Deerton had wanted them either. He and his brothers were wolf born, myths come to life, power no one understood and that had made them uneasy outsiders in the only home they’d known. Half the reason Tao served as the pack’s enforcer was so Dan could keep a close eye on him.
Focusing on the conversation at hand, he said, “But why does the girl have to die if you’re going to execute Nick anyway?” Tao had never known his alpha to be bloodthirsty or have a disregard for life. Then again, the pack had never seen such a situation, maybe it was bringing out Dan’s true colors.
“Because she has to do anything he says while he’s alive. I’m not exactly thrilled at the idea of him having dozens of made wolves out there acting on his every command. He could build an army that we can’t stop. What if they came to Deerton?”
When Tao didn’t say anything, Dan continued, “Believe me, son, I’m not happy about this. It’s an awful situation and I’m asking you to do awful things, I know this, but the pack comes first.”
“What if,” Tao paused choking on the words he said next, “I killed Nick instead?” He closed his eyes. A dull ache took up residence in his chest, a ball of guilt and horror. Had it really come to this? How had his brother gone so wrong?
Dan fell silent for a moment and then said his voice heavy, “As alpha, his death should be at my hand, but considering the circumstances, I’ll cede my right to you. But can you do it, son? Can you look him in the eye and kill him? Your own brother?”
Tao swallowed hard. “Yeah, I think so.” No. There’s no way I can do this. I’m not a killer. His stomach roiled with tension. But I can’t kill Audrey either. She doesn’t deserve to die.
“Can I trust you to do what needs to be done to protect the pack? You have to choose, Tao. It’s either the girl or Nick. I’ll let you decide, but it has to be done. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Tao said with a heavy heart.
“You want me to send some of your brothers up to help?”
Tao shook his head. “No.” Let him be the only one with blood on his conscience. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Keep me posted.” The line went dead then as Dan disconnected.
Tao hung up and stared out into the woods that ringed Audrey’s tiny ranch house. He’d hunted deer and rabbits, tasted their blood still hot from their bodies, but he’d never raised a hand against a human or fellow wolf. Not until he’d dragged Owen to the pack clearing.
He rubbed his forehead, the impossibility of the choices before him weighing heavy on his mind. His alpha had taken Owen’s life without blinking, leaving Tao to wonder if he himself was that much weaker to have so many doubts about his orders.
Up until Nick lost his mind, the Deerton pack had been fairly peaceable, making justice black and white. The pack had settled the fate of him and his brothers when they’d been born—they might not be accepted, but they were tolerated and considered pack. His strength had never been tested, not like this and it scared him how close he was to breaking, how hard it would be to do the right thing.
Did he even know what the right thing was?
“Tao?” Audrey opened the sliding door and poked her head out, looking for him. “Coffee’s ready.” She gave him a bright smile and the early morning sun backlit her hair like a halo.
“Coming.” Tao walked into the house and the smell of ripe strawberries filled his nose once again. The woman had been nothing but kind to him, saving him from the cage he’d been trapped in. He couldn’t kill her. But Nick was the brother who’d always had his back.
Somebody had to die. It wasn’t just what his alpha believed, it was the truth, but Tao wasn’t sure he could do it. Not even to protect his own pack.
Chapter Five
“So, tell me about your brother. Does he go around biting people often?” Audrey set a plate in front of Tao. The smell of toasted English muffins hung in the air, making her stomach growl. She thought she heard a deep rumble from Tao’s stomach as well.
Audrey sat across from the big man, once again wishing she had more than a beach towel for him to wear. With her big chest, she often wore t-shirts with extra Xs in the size, but even those were too small for Tao. He
was just massive. All over. She’d been unable to avoid looking when he crawled out of the cage and stood before her for the first time. The view had sent an electric tingle all over her body, which was crazy. She barely knew the man and she hardly believed anything he said.
Werewolves. Riiiight. She’d believe it when she grew a tail.
Still the bite did tingle and itch. And there were the dreams. But werewolves? Ridiculous. There was a simple explanation and she would find it. She had a Master’s degree in Biology after all.
Tao looked down into his coffee as if her question had upset him. “No. He’s just not himself these days.”
“So you said he would be looking for me?” She watched him over the rim of her coffee cup as she sipped the hot liquid.
Tao’s mouth thinned into a grim line. “You’ll belong to him once you change.”
She set her mug on the table a little harder than necessary. “I don’t belong to anyone.”
He continued to avoid meeting her eyes. “I don’t make the rules. Hell, even Nick didn’t make them. It’s just the way it works. Whoever he bites belongs to him.”
“So what does he plan to do with me?”
Tao didn’t answer, but he lifted his head finally, his gaze sliding over her, lingering on her face and then moving pointedly to her breasts.
“Oh. Oh!” Audrey hunched over, mug back in her hands holding it in front of her like a shield. “That’s disgusting. I am not consenting to that.”
“I’m sorry, Audrey,” he said.
“No need to be sorry. That is so not happening.” She gave him a sharp look. “What happened to Bob, by the way?”
“The guy who put me in his garage?” At her nod, he continued, “I don’t know. I didn’t see anything, but I heard the fight.”
“Do you think it was your brother?”
“Maybe,” he said, non-committal. He stared into his coffee cup, obviously uneasy.
Audrey frowned. “Maybe?”
He shrugged. “Yeah, maybe.”