by Kimber White
I had to figure out a way to get out of this. Derek started to sweat. His eyes lost focus for an instant, but he put a hand on the ground and steadied himself. I knew what was happening. This was the toxin at work, however long it was taking.
“You’re wrong about that,” I said. “You think my father would have sent me out on a job without backup? You’re a dead man, Derek Monroe. One way or another. And you should be.”
He rubbed his thumb across his brow. Sweat dripped from his temple. “What did you do to me?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“What did you do to me?” Derek lunged at me. Grabbing me by the shoulders, he hauled me to my feet. The air between us seemed charged. He held me like that, his eyes locked with mine. His fingers seared through my flesh. Fear heated my blood, but something else too.
Desire.
Oh, God. No. No. No. My insides seemed to liquefy as he stared into my eyes. I felt boneless, weightless. Wildfire seared through me, settling low in my core and to points lower down. His touch made me burn for him, short-circuiting logic.
“Let me go.” I choked the words out. This was wrong. Horrible. I shouldn’t feel this way when he touched me. The only good wolf was a dead one. I’d known that since before I could talk.
“Let me go!” I shouted into his face. “Let me go or finish what you started. Get it over with!” God, I wished my hands and feet were free. I wanted to shove him, claw at him, pull him toward me.
Derek reared back as if I’d slapped him. His eyes went wide. He let me go. With my ankles bound together, I lost my balance and dropped to my knees. My chest heaving with ragged breaths, I knelt before him. Derek took a staggering step back. It was the poison. Of course it was. But I sensed something else with it. If I had to name it, it seemed like his reaction to touching me shocked him as much as mine had.
Impossible. This couldn’t be. He was a wolf. I was a Lyle. Without me, he’d be free to wreak chaos and terror on the town. It’s what he was. It’s what he did. What all wolves did.
“Jessa.” The way he said my name. It tore through his throat as if it caused him pain. He knelt on the ground in front of me. He lifted his hand but didn’t touch me. He dropped them to his side and clenched his jaw.
“Jessa. Look at me.”
“I’d rather not.”
“Jessa, look at me!”
My eyes snapped up and locked with his. I wished I could shoot fire out of mine. Hurt him. Push him away. Get him out of my head.
“I’m not a killer. At least, not the way you think.”
“Bullshit.”
Derek lifted his palms, stretching his arms out wide in surrender. It didn’t matter. Bound as I was, I couldn’t touch him. I saw my gun then. He turned slightly, and I saw where he’d tucked it into the waistband of his jeans. So close. And I couldn’t do a damn thing about it. I wished just once I had strength like he did. I could tear through the zip ties and get to my weapon. I could end this once and for all.
“Jessa, think. If I’m a killer, then why are you still alive? Huh? You fucking shot me. You admitted that’s what you were there for. If I wanted you dead, you would be.”
“You want something from me.” The truth of my words struck terror through me. Grammy. I closed my eyes, and the edges of her scars seemed to hover there. They got her. The wolves got her. She swore she’d never let anything like that happen to me as long as she lived. But, she wasn’t here now. Only I was. Nothing stood between this killer wolf and me now. It felt childish, I know. But I felt if I opened my eyes again, that would be the end. Derek would make his move and tear me limb from limb.
Except, why hadn’t he already done it?
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he said. “Jessa. Open your eyes and look at me.”
I did. Derek’s eyes gutted me. Not cold. Not deadly. His were warm and wide. Begging me to believe him. God, he was good. Dad trained me to respect werewolf strength. But, he never told me how mentally cunning they could be. I’d never been alone with one before. Not like this. Not talking. Not . . . human. Which was all the more reason I knew I needed to fear for my life.
“What do you want from me?”
Derek let out a sigh. “Answers. That’s all. Just answers. Tell me who sent you and why they want me dead.”
“And then what?”
“Well, I suppose that depends on you. Are you planning to try and shoot me again?”
I didn’t answer. I pursed my lips together and looked at the ground. I wasn’t as good as Derek was. I knew he’d see the truth in my eyes.
“Well, then I guess neither of us is going anywhere for a while,” he said. Settling back on the floor, he sat cross-legged in front of me.
“I guess not.”
He looked me up and down and raised an inquisitive brow, the one with the scar cutting through it. “You might want to stop kneeling like that, then. It’s bad for your knees.”
Derek reached out, presumably to help me sit without toppling over. He never made it that far. His eyes grew hooded then widened in fear and understanding as the toxin finally started to make its way into his bloodstream.
“Son of a bitch,” he whispered just before he toppled over and his head hit the ground.
Chapter Four
Son of a bitch, indeed. He was out cold. Snoring. Derek’s mouth hung open and drool formed at the corner of those perfect, full lips. Kissable lips. The kind that felt both soft and hard, devouring, driving heat straight through you.
“What the ever loving hell?” I whispered. Wolf pheromones. Something. Whatever it was, it wasn’t natural. It wasn’t real. I was not, repeat not going to get caught up in some wolf thrall or whatever this was.
Great. So I had the upper hand for the moment. Except my actual hands were still bound uselessly behind me. I couldn’t very well hop away with any degree of speed. He was going to come to again. When he did, he’d likely have one sweet mother of a headache and a bad temper.
Unfortunately, Derek had landed on his back. My phone was still out of reach in his back pocket with his full weight on it. I tried anyway. I sat down and backed into him, trying to roll him. He stirred, made a gurgling noise, but fell back asleep. No use. I flapped my bound hands, trying to slide them under Derek and dislodge my phone, but I just couldn’t reach it. Plus, being this close, touching him…even though his lights were out, it still affected me.
Fine. No joy. And now, I couldn’t get back on my feet. I scooted back over to the wall and tried to get leverage by leaning against it. That worked. I strained every muscle in my body, but I managed to get to my feet.
“Dammit!” I whisper shouted. If I could just get my legs free even! I tried to snap the zip tie using the window ledge for leverage. I only succeeded in cutting through the thin skin of my wrists. He’d snapped the damn things so tightly, there was barely any space between them. No give at all.
Sweat poured down my back from the effort of trying to free myself. Mercifully, Derek kept right on snoring. I hopped back over to him to get a closer look. My gun was also basically out of reach tucked into his back pocket. God, if I just had one leg free, I could kick him over. And if I could get to the gun, could I shoot him again? Theoretically, yes. I’d have to aim blind, standing over him facing the other way, but at that range, I didn’t have to be accurate.
I hopped over to the window. I could see a few passing headlights. I had a pretty good guess where we were. This was the old Tucker farm about a mile past the KOA heading west. The last Tucker died about fifteen years ago. The county had tried to sell the farm for a while, but with the economy in the tank, nothing came of it. Last I heard, they were thinking of turning this place into another trailer park.
Bottom line, there was just about no way I could pull off this hit without help now. Derek wasn’t moving unless he wanted to, and I couldn’t wait for him to wake up. I had no choice but to try to get away from him and get to safety. My best bet would be to hop down to the road
and try to flag down one of those passing cars. Except I’d be leaving behind a sleeping werewolf who’d wake up pissed as hell and looking for me. Plus, he had my father’s gun and its special bullets inside. That alone was worth everything. If they got into the wrong hands we were screwed. The Coltranes and the Cavanaughs were likely still out there somewhere. Lying in wait. They might even have eyes on the junkyard to see whether Dad tried to leave again.
“Shit!” I shouted through the open window.
Dammit. There was no help for it. I needed to try and get away from him before he woke up. I knew it’s what my dad would tell me to do. The bullets weren’t worth my life, and I wasn’t stupid enough to believe Derek’s moony-eyed promise that he wasn’t going to hurt me. Of course he was. He was a werewolf, after all.
I hopped over to him and lowered myself to the ground. I had to try one last time to push him over with my feet and take the gun with me. Dammit, he was heavy. Every muscle in his body seemed to have turned to stone. I couldn’t tell if that was the toxin or just the way all werewolves were when they slept. But, I couldn’t stick around to ask him. I struggled back to my feet and hobbled toward the front door.
I pushed it open with my forehead and started my slow hop down the porch steps and toward the road. It was slow going and every muscle in my body ached from it, but I made progress. I found I could alternate hopping with painstaking, shuffling steps. Slower, but less likely to make me lose my balance and fall on my ass. After the third time of doing that, I decided I’d had enough. Shuffle-footed getaway it was!
The yard around the Tucker farm had overgrown, and the tall grasses stung my arms as I made my way through. Also, the land was hillier than I realized. I’d only ever seen the place from the road and driving at least fifty miles an hour. Which meant it was a hell of a lot farther from the house to the road than it looked like. Probably close to half a mile. But, I kept on going.
Of course, with my luck, dressed in all black like I was, I ran a very strong risk of getting run over before someone spotted me. I had one thing going for me in that regard. I’d lost my knit cap and my ponytail holder a long way back, so my blonde hair spilled around my shoulders. It ought to reflect pretty well in someone’s headlights. Hopefully, before they mowed me down.
I was almost there. Just another thirty yards or so. The ground leveled off and my steps got easier. I could barely see in front of me as my hair plastered to my face from sweat and grime. But, I was going to make it. I’d done a mental count on the way down. No more than a minute passed without at least one car zooming by. Plenty of semi-trailers too. Hell, I even recognized a couple the closer I got. These were Banchory people. My people. I was just a few painful steps from help.
Something flashed in my peripheral vision. I’d been so focused on the road and oncoming headlights, I almost didn’t have time to adjust. My brain processed the threat faster than my eyes did.
Danger came for me in the form of the menacing flash of wolf eyes and bared teeth. It moved like lightning. Sleek and gray. I screamed. Every cell in my body wanting to run. I took one step and fell facedown into the dirt. I rolled to my back just in time to see the wolf’s body fly over me in a murderous arc, saliva dripping from his fangs as he came down.
A silencer pulse, quick and deadly. A cloud of red burst from the wolf’s chest as the bullet took him straight through the heart. His back bowed out as he fell. I had the presence of mind to roll to the side as he landed. Otherwise, he would have crushed me.
Strong hands gripped me hard and flipped me to my back. Derek hovered over me, his brow dripping with sweat, his wolf eyes flaring hot and strong inside of his very human face.
He reached down and in one swift movement broke the zip ties binding my ankles. Then, he dragged me to my feet and broke the ties binding my wrists. Derek took a step back. The wolf lay motionless on the ground next to me. Not dead. Paralyzed. Dad’s toxin flooded through his blood vessels as his injured heart pumped for the last few times. Derek lunged forward and grabbed the wolf by the head. In one powerful twist of his arms, he snapped the wolf’s neck. The creature lay still and quiet, the life drained out of him.
“You? I thought…” I don’t know what I thought. What just happened?
“Later,” he said, his voice more wolf than human. He reached forward and grabbed me, lifting me off my feet he threw me over his shoulder and ran.
The world was a blur of motion as Derek’s legs gained purchase. Powerful muscles, ripping through the tall grass at blistering speed. He took me back up the porch steps and burst through the door of the Tuckers’ farmhouse. He dropped me, then turned and slammed the door, locking it then shutting all of the windows. It wouldn’t help. Even I knew that. If a wolf wanted to get in here, wood, glass, and metal locks wouldn’t stop him.
And here I was, trapped inside with one.
“What the hell is going on?” I gasped. “One of yours?”
Derek shook his head. His chest heaved and his wolf eyes still glinted. He seemed trapped between wolf and man. He staggered forward then slid to the ground, running his hand through his hair.
“Not one of mine,” he said, finally able to come back into himself. “Not even close.”
I crossed my arms in front of me. Derek still held my weapon in his hand. I couldn’t take my eyes away from it. Derek saw me looking and let out a bitter laugh. “It’s this, isn’t it?” He waved the gun aimlessly, then pulled out the magazine. “The bullets?”
I swallowed hard and took a step back. The dead wolf outside answered one of my big questions. Dad’s bullets didn’t fail when I shot Derek. They were just as potent as ever. So, there was something different about Derek that made them less effective.
“Goddammit, Jessa. What the hell did you do to me?”
I couldn’t help it, I blinked hard and reared back. “Do to you?”
“Yeah. This!” He waved the magazine at me. “Poison? Magic? Are you a witch? What’s happening to me? Jesus. I just saved your life. That wolf wasn’t here for me. Didn’t you notice that? He was here for you!”
Oh, shit. I took a staggering step back. My knees seemed to have turned to jelly. I sank down and sat on the floor in front of him. Was this the Harlans? It made no sense. If Jeff and Gunther wanted to send someone after me to collect on my father’s debt, they sure as hell wouldn’t go to a wolf.
“Shit,” Derek said. His eyes finally settled back to their human but still piercing amber. “Are you all right?”
“Am I all right?”
“Yeah. And are you ever going to answer a fucking question without asking me a question?”
I couldn’t help it. I laughed. “Sorry. I swear I didn’t mean to. It’s just. Yeah.”
“Okay. So, lemme ask you this then. Other than me, do you normally see wolves traveling alone around here?”
“What? Uh. No.”
“Right. Because they don’t. So, I’m thinking that bastard’s friends aren’t going to be too far behind. Now, I don’t know what your plan was, but you really think this little thing is going to be enough to take down the rest of the pack?” He waved the gun again. “I mean, we’ve already established your aim isn’t exactly infallible.”
I opened my mouth to tell him off, but clamped it shut, thinking the better of it. Derek’s eyes widened and he cracked a smile.
“Right. So, I’m going to ask you again. What the hell did you do to me? It’s poison. I can feel it under my skin. It’s spreading. And I can’t shift.”
“You what?”
“Right. What happened out there? Pretty much if I hadn’t had your nine, that wolf would have ripped you apart. I couldn’t shift. It’s like my muscles were paralyzed. Can you fix it?”
My mouth went dry. The world became the space of two heartbeats. Could I fix it? Even as my wheels turned, I saw strength draining from Derek again. This time, it scared me. No matter what else he was, he had just saved my life. But how did I know he wasn’t lying and that wolf wasn’t one of hi
s? I didn’t. And I couldn’t be stupid.
“Okay.” Derek broke the silence first. “So here’s how this is going to work. You don’t trust me. I don’t particularly trust you either. But, right now it looks like we’re stuck with each other. There’s likely a pack of wolves out there who are about to find out one of their own just got shot through the heart by your gun. I’m not from around here, but I’m guessing they are. They’re going to put two and two together. So, I’m your best bet for not dying before the sun comes up. And like it or not, it looks like you’re my best bet for not dying before then either. You with me so far?”
I crossed my arms in front of me. “You’re right. I don’t trust you. Like . . . at all.”
“Brilliant. I don’t care. But you are going to help me.”
“I can’t help you.” That was the truth. There was no antidote for the toxin in Dad’s bullet. We’d never seen the need to invent one. For all I knew, Derek would die. Probably slowly. Definitely painfully. Even as I thought it, his eyes went in and out of focus. But, he recovered and braced himself with one palm planted on the ground.
“Yeah. You are. I’m not letting you out of my sight until you do.”
“How? Exactly how do you expect me to help you? The only person who has even a sliver of a chance of knowing how to do that is my father.”
Derek smiled. I thought it would be easy. The plan hatched the instant I said the words. If I could just get Derek to take me back to the salvage yard, I’d have Dad ready to plug him again, and Grammy with her shotgun.
But, Derek Monroe was a lot of things. Even with the toxin coursing through his veins weakening him, he stayed sharp and deadly. “Not a chance in hell, Jessa. This is you and me for the long haul. First things first, we’re heading down to my truck. I’ve got some supplies there.”