Wolf Howl (Wolf Ridge Book 2)

by Jayne Hawke

  He growled before he hung up.

  Jake looked at me expectantly when I stepped back out into the hallway.

  “Can I get the address we’re heading to?” I asked.

  He relaxed and almost smiled.

  “Sure, give me a minute. I want to leave soon. Are you packed?”

  I headed back into my room and threw a fresh set of jeans and shirt into my backpack along with two pairs of socks; you always needed an extra pair of socks, and some spare knives. Slinging the backpack on my shoulder, I put my usual knives in their sheaths and went to see if Jake had the address.

  Jake handed me a slip of paper and watched my reaction as I looked at it. Frowning, I tried to figure out why he was watching me, it wasn’t anywhere I knew.

  His gaze burned into the back of my head and I broke.

  “I give in. What’s the big deal?”

  He shrugged and gave me a half-hearted smile.

  “Ready?”

  “Sure.”

  I texted Cole the address as I followed Jake out of the apartment. The feeling that Jake was hiding something from me ate at me. You’d have thought I’d be used to it by then, but it still formed at itch that wriggled between my shoulder blades and distracted me. He looked the same as he always had, but I knew so much had changed. He still wore the same jeans and t-shirts, with the sexy fresh-out-of-bed hair that cried out to be touched.

  It was his eyes, I think. There was a coldness to them now. Gold swirled around the pupils and threatened to pull me into some dangerous whirlpool. I looked away and bit back a sigh. We were friends, it wasn’t the end of the world. It had just been a matter of time once I’d been turned into a garou. That didn’t make it hurt less, but I was doing my best to bury that pain somewhere deep in the back of my mind.

  Once we were safely in Jake’s car and could talk freely, I peppered him with questions about the job.

  “How many coyotes?”

  “Six.”

  It wasn’t like him to give one-word answers.

  “Why hasn’t anyone else taken it on?”

  Four hours was a reasonable distance. I was surprised someone closer hadn’t taken the job, especially if the money was as good as Jake had said.

  “They did.”

  I wrinkled my nose, that sounded like they’d been killed. This was what I’d been building up to. The dangerous jobs that would make people really respect me.

  “What about the humans?”

  “A local witch coven is altering their perception, so they haven’t noticed.” Jake said as if it was nothing.

  I looked out of the window and crossed my arms. The witches had a lot of power at times. That didn’t sit well with me. Part of it was the dismal view they had of garou. I was soon lost in my own head as I watched the world go by. The familiar forest gave way to open roads with rocky surroundings and the edges of a couple of smaller cities. I had felt a slight tug when we’d left my territory. My wolf side whined and huffed in the back of my mind. It wasn’t right to walk in others’ territories without giving them warning.

  I reminded my wolf side that I was a guardian and that meant I was free to wander between territories as long as I was there to protect, not cause harm. The wolf within relaxed, satisfied with the reminder, and I relaxed along with it.

  Jake made no attempts at conversation for the first two hours. I didn’t think I’d ever spent two hours with him without conversation, and it further added to the wrongness of everything. A nasty little voice began to ask if perhaps this was a set-up. He was fae, only three quarters, but still fae. Was he trying to take me out as the garou guardian? It wouldn’t be the first time he’d been pushed into doing things he didn’t want to do by older, more powerful fae.

  I looked over at him, trying to see some sign of malice. He reached over and squeezed my knee like he’d done hundreds of times in the past. I squeezed my eyes closed. I needed to trust him with my life if we were going to survive this job.

  6

  Jake pulled up into a small motel car park an hour or so outside of Portland. It was mostly tidy, with freshly painted single-storey buildings forming an L shape around the car park. I found myself reflexively sniffing the air as I glanced around for potential exits and points to watch for enemies. The scrubby grass was getting long and the flower beds had seen better days. The plants within them were rangy with battered flowers sitting atop the slender stems.

  “We’ll do this after dark,” Jake said as he got out of the car.

  I wrinkled my nose. More painful silence was not what I’d hoped for. His logic made sense though, the witches had their limits and we couldn’t slaughter what would look like normal people in front of the humans. The council would have my head, and Cole wouldn’t be able to stop them.

  Shouldering my backpack, I followed Jake across the nearly empty car park while keeping my ears pricked. The usual sounds of birds came from the nearby woods. Cars flew down the country road and tinny country music came from somewhere I couldn’t quite see. Jake walked into the office with a big fake smile on his face. I felt something shift in the air; the temperature warmed a touch.

  Jake approached the older woman in a hot pink blouse with a stern expression on her face. Her greying hair had been pulled back into a fierce bun so tight it made me wince.

  “Good afternoon, we’re here for the room booked under Connelly.”

  The woman visibly brightened and softened as Jake spoke. I wasn’t sure what fae magic he was weaving, but it didn’t feel necessary. We were just booking into a motel room. She was as human as they came.

  “Of course. You have our finest suite.”

  I bit my tongue. The idea of that place having a suite at all, let alone a finest one, seemed absurd.

  “Thank you,” Jake said in a honeyed tone.

  He took the keys from her and turned to face me. His eyes were shimmering gold and his skin had a pale glow to it. I went to bare my teeth but thought better of it. The Jake I’d grown up with would never have used his magic for something so trivial.

  “Shall we?” Jake said, gesturing to the door.

  I walked out into the fresh air and breathed deep. The scents were very different to home, there was a metallic note to the earth and something sweet and floral carried on the breeze.

  The suite was at the far end of the building. Jake opened the door with a flourish and beamed at me with great pride. I stepped inside and growled when I saw one king-sized bed.

  “Where’s the other bed?”

  “We’ve shared a bed before,” Jake said as he dropped the keys onto the bedside table.

  “I’m getting my own room,” I said turning towards the door.

  “It’s one night, Rosalyn,” Jake said softly.

  “Don’t pull this crap with me, Jake. Why did you use your magic on that woman? It was completely unnecessary.”

  “I was making sure that we weren’t memorable should something go wrong,” he said sharply.

  I thought on it for a moment before I finally accepted that wasn’t a bad idea. If things went south, we didn’t want the human police coming looking for us. There were likely to be a good number of bodies by the end of the night.

  “That doesn’t excuse the lone bed,” I said pointedly.

  “It’s just one night, Rosalyn.” Jake sat on the bed and turned the TV on.

  “You have plenty of money to afford a second room.”

  I wasn’t letting this go. It felt weird verging on creepy to share a bed with Jake at this point.

  Jake lay back on the bed and ignored me. I didn’t know what had happened to the guy I’d fallen for all those years ago, but I missed him in that moment. The man lying before me felt like a complete stranger and that hurt. Sighing, I sat down on one of the chairs near the small round table and pulled out my laptop. At least the room wasn’t bad. The crisp white bedding had far too much lace for my tastes, but it smelled of laundry detergent and softener. Everything was clean and tidy, from the hard-wearing be
ige carpet to the plain pale grey walls. There were certainly worse places to be stuck.

  I texted Cole that I’d arrived ok before I began wandering through Grim to kill a bit of time. Jake had all of the information, and there wasn’t much we could do before dark. It sounded like a pretty easy job. Rock up, kill the coyotes, head home. We’d need proof of the kill, some of their pelt, or photos, but that wasn’t difficult.

  Jake remained motionless on the bed, staring at the TV without saying a word.

  After fifteen minutes, I couldn’t stand it any longer. I closed my laptop and began pacing in the space between the bed and the small bathroom.

  “What’s the plan?” I demanded.

  “They’re holed up in a hunting cabin. We’ll go in and kill them.”

  “Why did you bring me along? Can’t you kill them with a snap of your fingers?”

  I glared at him. His attitude was niggling at me. It got my hackles up and made me want to sink my teeth into something.

  He rolled his jaw and propped himself up on his elbows.

  “No,” he said flatly.

  “Why not?”

  He exhaled slowly.

  “There are consequences.”

  “Which are?” I pushed.

  “Complicated.”

  “What happened to you Jake? We were best friends. You were the light of my life, and now you’re-” I gestured at him, “whatever this is.”

  He pursed his lips.

  “I’m fae.”

  “You’ve always been fae,” I snapped.

  “And now I must live with that fact,” he said coldly.

  “How am I supposed to trust you?” I growled, crossing my arms.

  We were going into a dangerous situation, and I really didn’t know if I could trust him to watch over me.

  A deep frown formed on his face.

  “I’d never hurt you, Rosalyn,” he said softly.

  It was too late for that, and he damn well knew it. My stomach twisted, and my chest grew tight. I closed my eyes and slowed my breathing. We were already there. I had to pull on my big girl panties and get on with the job.

  7

  The coyotes were holed up in a hunting cabin twenty or so minutes away from the motel. My wolf side was happy to be back in the forest, even if it was unfamiliar forest. I kept my ears pricked and walked as quietly as I could. I hadn’t mastered Cole’s true silence yet, but I was getting better. The rich scent of the forest at night wrapped around me like a comfortable old hoodie, making me relax.

  Jake walked at my side, his entire body tense and ready as he looked ahead with a weird, cold unblinking stare. I assumed that he was using his fae magic to see where exactly the coyotes were. There was no point risking giving us away by asking. He held his hand up as we came level with an old pine covered in a thick layer of dark green moss. I instinctively reached out and sank my fingers into the cool damp moss; the sensation of it around my fingers brought a smile to my face. There was something about feeling the nature beneath my feet and hands that calmed and soothed me.

  “There are six,” Jake whispered.

  He pointed to a run-down cabin ahead of us that I could just make out between the broad trunks of the mature trees. He held up five fingers. Then pointed to my left and held up one finger. I nodded in understanding. Our plan was brutally simple. Crash into the cabin. Kill the coyotes. Get the proof. Walk away.

  The familiar itch that came with the desire to shift took hold. It felt as though my very bones were itching. My gums ached where the wolf teeth were right there ready to come through and tear some coyote flesh from bone. I pushed it back down and retrieved my biggest knife from my thigh sheath. As much as I loved my wolf form, it wouldn’t do well against a pack of coyotes. My wolf side retreated back inside of me, sulking.

  I went to walk towards the cabin, but Jake put his arm in front of me and pointed to my left, where the lone coyote was. Was he seriously trying to send me off to take on the single coyote while he took on the main pack? Screw that.

  I levelled a predatory glare at him and went to step forward once more. He rolled his jaw and sighed before he moved his arm out of my way.

  The ground off the trails was far rougher and covered in much more dense undergrowth than I was used to in Vermont. It meant that I had to move more slowly and pay more attention to where I was putting my feet. My wolf side pushed that I’d be able to slip through the dense shrubs and ferns easily in that form. It was increasingly tempting, but the risk of injury was greater.

  Jake made a circling motion when the cabin came fully into view. He pointed from me to the front door and made a semi-circle gesture showing he’d take the back door. I nodded and continued my approach with my body low and my knife securely in my hand. The trail up to the front door was narrow but well-worn, showing the old cabin saw plenty of use. The thick logs forming the walls were grey and pockmarked, and the roof was beginning to sag. The windows were covered in a film of pale green lichen that made it easier for us to approach unseen.

  I stopped when I heard movement from the lone coyote. Footsteps started to approach, and I crouched down, hiding in the vivid green foliage of a spindly shrub. A rangy man in his late twenties casually strolled up to the cabin. His mousey brown hair was cut close to his scalp; it didn’t do anything to improve upon his small amber eyes or angular features. He turned his head upwards and sniffed the air. There wasn’t much of a breeze, so I wasn’t sure if I was truly downwind or not. His thin lips pursed and he pulled his hands out of his scruffy jeans as he turned to look in the direction I was crouched.

  Slowly, his lips pulled back to reveal yellowing teeth that grew longer and sharper with every passing moment. A high-pitched yip came from his mouth just before his eyes rolled back in his head and he dropped dead. Jake must have used his magic to take him out. Movement exploded within the cabin. It was now or never.

  A crash followed by shouts and the distinct sound of wood splintering came from the back of the cabin. Jake always did know how to make an entrance. I ran over to the front door as quickly as I could. The steps sagged beneath my weight as I bounded up them onto the rickety porch. My hand was almost on the handle to open the front door when the door swung open and slammed against the wall. A pair of short lean men with the same mousey brown hair as the dead guy out front growled at me.

  A blood lust filled my veins and drove me forward. My wolf side hated coyotes. I shot forwards, making the most of their surprise, and sliced the one on the left with the red plaid shirt open from navel to sternum. A set of sharp teeth sank into my shoulder and fuelled my blood lust. The now sliced-open coyote stepped back with his mouth hanging open and his eyes beginning to turn glassy. I ignored the other one hanging onto my shoulder and hacked the first one’s throat open, sending a waterfall of blood cascading down his stained shirt. He slumped down onto his knees.

  I should have felt something. The coyote stared up at me accusingly with glassy golden eyes. I’d taken his life and I felt nothing. The pain of the other coyote as he tried to claw at my belly brought my focus back around. I stomped down on his foot, which surprised him enough to make him release my shoulder. A wave of cold passed through the room. I was aware of Jake in my periphery, a whirling dervish of pain and blades. He had always been something to behold as he fought, but I felt none of my usual admiration. There was nothing but the need to spill coyote blood.

  The coyote whose teeth were stained with my blood stumbled over a broken chair with a single leg bent outwards at a sharp angle, revealing a point that could be driven into someone. He glanced between me and the chair. I pulled myself up a little taller and grinned at him, feeling every inch the predator that I was.

  How many innocent people had these ratbags killed? I held that question close as I surged forward and slashed the coyote’s face, blinding him with his own blood. Screams of rage and howls of pain filled the air as we cut our way through the coyote pack. Blood turned the smooth wooden floor slick. Furniture was uptur
ned and shattered to be used as weapons. The largest of the group had spilled some of my blood on that floor, but I was dancing around him with a manic grin on my face while he wildly swung a kitchen knife in my direction.

  Jake had torn the throat out of one of the coyotes. Her lifeless form hung limply over the arm of the sunken grey armchair. I caught the glistening red of blood on his fingers out of the corner of my eye and knew that I should be feeling something. The blood lust overwhelmed everything and kept my focus purely on the death and destruction of the coyotes.

  I had the largest coyote with his mess of a face and blood-stained green shirt exactly where I wanted him. He was panicking, his healing was taking longer than he wanted, and he was backed into a corner. I was just about to end him when Jake swooped in and smashed his skull in with a table leg.

  The blood lust was replaced with pure rage.

  “How dare you!?” I snarled.

  “I was helping you out,” Jake said with a shrug.

  “I didn’t need your help.”

  “You clearly did,” he said as he poked the coyote with the toe of his boot.

  “I am not some pathetic little girl, Jake. I can damn well handle myself.”

  He rolled his eyes.

  “You’re still learning, Rosalyn, and you know it.”

  I flexed my fingers, resisting the urge to hit him. Of all the people to treat me like this, Jake was the last one I expected it from.

  “I don’t know what the hell has gotten into you, but you’re a complete ass these days.”

  He raised an eyebrow at me.

  “I have more experience with these things, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of,” he said gently.

  I punched him. Maybe I should have felt guilty, but he had it coming.

  He stepped back, clutching at his bloody nose.

  “Don’t you ever speak to me like that again, Jake O’Connor. I am a capable mercenary. I have kicked your ass in plenty of fights.”

  He muttered something under his breath and turned away to start getting the proof that we’d completed the job. It was in that moment that I knew our friendship was over.