Stripped (Wolves of Mule Creek #2)

by Katharine Sadler

  “No, I—” A huge yawn stopped me before I could argue and I sank against him, exhausted. “Yeah, okay.”

  I grabbed the soap and cleaned everything vital I could reach. When I'd marched into the bathroom, I'd desperately wanted to wash my hair, because it gets unbelievably oily when I go a day or two without washing it. After a few minutes under the spray, I no longer cared. I just wanted to go back to sleep.

  “Done, sweetheart?”

  “Yeah.” I yawned again.

  Zane turned off the shower and lifted me out. He held me up with one hand and wrapped a towel around me with the other. “You sit and rest, dry off as best you can and dress when you're ready. I'm going to make sure Aron and Payne have us packed up and ready to go.”

  I did as he suggested and emerged what felt like hours, but was closer to twenty minutes, later to see Zane sitting on the bed, staring at his phone. He jumped up as soon as I took a step toward him, and wrapped an arm around my waist. “The guys packed your boots. I figured I'd carry you down.”

  “That's really not—”

  But it was too late, because he'd already lifted me into his arms and it really was so much better than walking. We rode down in the elevator in silence, but Zane's expression was worried, his body tense and not just from my weight. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “I'm just worried Leopold might have some sort of ambush or something set up. I wish I knew his plan.”

  I yawned, too sleepy to think about what I was saying. “He's not going to ambush us. He wants me to be his spy.”

  I slapped a hand over my mouth. I shouldn't have been able to say that.

  His eyes got as round as pancakes. The elevator doors opened and he stepped out and carried me to the truck. He put me in the passenger seat and then got in the driver's seat and looked at me. I'd buckled myself in, but I was already shifting in the seat, getting comfy, my eyes starting to drift shut. “I'm assuming you weren't supposed to be able to tell me that.”

  “He compelled me not to tell you. I don't know how…” I yawned.

  “It's okay, honey. You sleep. We'll figure this out later.” He looked out the windshield and shook his head. Then he picked up his phone and tapped a message into it. He turned the key in the engine. My eyes drifted shut and I fell into the blissful, cool darkness of sleep.

  ***

  My stomach growled me awake from a nightmare about Leopold, a giant pineapple, and a vampire bat. Or was it a fruit bat? I don't know, but I was glad to be awake. I stretched and looked around. I was in a bed and it was comfy, but I had about ten blankets on top of me and I was sweating. I shoved the blankets off and climbed out of bed. My head spun, but I felt better than I'd felt the day before.

  Sunlight streamed into the room from under a heavy drape and birds chirped outside. I was in Zane's master bedroom, still in the yoga pants and t-shirt I'd put on after my shower. Man, I was glad I'd been sleepy when we were shopping and had bought all those comfy clothes. My toiletries were in Zane's bathroom, set out like I lived there. I brushed my teeth, put my hair up in a bun, sniffed my pits, and deemed myself fit for company.

  Zane's kitchen was at the front end of his house, so I headed that way, hoping to find some food.

  “I'm not going to wake her up for this,” Zane said.

  I considered pausing in the hallway to eavesdrop, but my stomach growled again and Zane popped into the hall. “Hey, sweetheart,” he said. “How are you feeling?”

  He was by my side, one arm wrapped around my waist before he'd finished speaking. “Much better,” I said. “I'm just starving.”

  “That's a good sign.”

  He walked with me to the kitchen. I considered telling him I was fine to walk on my own, but I liked him touching me, liked his arm around me.

  In the kitchen, the three burly guys and one very pregnant woman seated at his kitchen table all spun to look at me.

  “Leave her alone,” Zane said. “She needs to eat.”

  I rolled my eyes, meeting the gaze of the pregnant woman, who smiled sympathetically. “You're Julie Jacobs,” I said, like an idiot.

  Her smile didn't falter. “I am. You must be Abby. It's good to meet you.”

  Axel, who was sitting next to Julie, stood. “Have my seat, Abs. I'll stand.”

  I took his seat and told myself it wasn't at all weird that I'd slept with him and was now sitting next to his wife.

  “What do you want to eat?” Zane said. “Toast would probably be safe.”

  “That sounds perfect.” Everyone at the table was staring at me. “If you're waiting for me to dance, I have to tell you, I don't have the energy today.”

  Julie laughed. “Sorry. We don't mean to stare. Well, I do, because Axel told me he used to have a thing with you and—”

  “Jules,” Axel said, his voice gruff.

  Julie rolled her eyes. “He didn't want me to mention it, because he thought it would be weird, but if you ask me it's way weirder not to mention it.”

  This was not the reaction I was expecting. “It was casual,” I said. “We both figured out pretty quickly we don't work as a couple, but he's been a good friend to me.”

  Julie studied me. “He said the same thing. It's just you are different from me, all petite and pretty. I guess I thought I'd see you and get an idea of Axel's type, but—”

  “Told you,” Axel said. “I don't have a type.”

  Julie grinned and winked at me, and I realized she was messing with him.

  “I'd love to be more your type,” I said. “Then maybe I could have kicked Leopold's ass before he bit me.”

  Everyone at the table went still and silent. I seriously think they stopped breathing.

  “Julie,” Axel said, “get away from her.”

  Julie frowned and glared at her husband. “You seriously think I couldn't take her? She doesn't seem to be under a compulsion anyway, she's nothing like those other women.”

  “Alice and Carly,” I said, hoping to break the tension. “How are they?”

  Paulie, seated at the table with Aron and Axel, leaned toward me. “We need you to tell us everything that happened with Leopold, every detail you can remember.”

  “Paulie,” Zane said, a growl in his voice. “Leave her alone until she's had something to eat.”

  “It's fine,” I said. “I can talk before I've eaten.”

  “Sure,” Zane said. He had turned around from the stove and was glaring at everyone seated at the table. “You can talk about the weather or Julie's pregnancy pains or how much you like my house, but that's—”

  The back door opened and Zane's parents popped into the kitchen. Iris's gaze landed on me and she smiled. “Oh, Abby, it's so good to see you awake. When Zane told us—”

  “Okay,” Zane said. “That's enough. I love you all, but Abby hasn't eaten anything in two days, she can barely stand on her own, and she just woke up after her second twelve-hour nap in the past twenty-six hours. I want you all to leave and come back in an hour.” He looked at me like he was taking stock of my health. “Make it two hours. You can all come back in two hours.”

  Iris and Zeke waved and left, all smiles. Paulie and Aron stood and started out of the kitchen, but Axel growled. “I'm the alpha of this pack, Zane, and I need to make sure my pack is safe. You don't give the orders here.”

  Zane stepped toe-to-toe with his alpha, he was a couple inches taller than Axel and a few inches wider, but Axel didn't appear to be worried. I looked at Julie, but she was grinning like she was excited about something. She winked when she caught me looking at her, and I relaxed a bit.

  “This is my house,” Zane said. “If you want to wait on the front porch or station guards at every exit, I won't complain. I'm just asking you to give Abby time to heal. You don't understand how sick she was, man.”

  Axel's arm muscles flexed and released, and his glare narrowed. “I'm the alpha—”

  Julie shoved her chair back with a loud scrape. “We all know you're the big, stron
g alpha,” she said. She grabbed Axel's arm and gave it a little tug. “But Zane's got this, honey. He won't do anything to endanger the pack.”

  “He cares about her,” Axel said. “It's clouding his judgment.”

  “Probably,” Julie said. “So, take his advice and post guards.” She rubbed his shoulder. “Baby's hungry, Axel. Let's go get some food.”

  Julie's belly was so large and round, I wasn't sure how she'd fit anything else in there, but her words made Axel's gaze drop from Zane's face to her belly and his expression softened. “Okay, sweetheart. Let's get you both something to eat.” He glared at Zane. “I'll have guards here in ten minutes. Don't think about leaving.”

  “We're not going anywhere,” Zane said. “I promise.”

  Julie tugged Axel away. “His judgment seems sound to me.”

  Axel nodded once, but his glare didn't falter. “We'll be back in two hours, and I'll get some answers or I'm going to put her in a cage.”

  Zane's expression hardened. “That's not happening.”

  Julie sighed the sigh of the long suffering. “Enough. We'll talk about it in two hours. Come on, you big lug.”

  Julie dragged Axel out of the house and Zane set a plate of dry toast in front of me. “It's hot,” he said.

  I took a sip from the glass of water he placed next to the plate and placed a hand over my rumbling stomach, willing it to be patient. “Want to fill me in on what's going on?”

  Zane sighed and took Julie's seat at the table. “I had to tell them you'd been attacked by a vampire when I called for backup, but I didn't tell them which vampire. Now that they know the vamp was Leopold, they're even more worried.”

  “Why does Leopold want to hurt the pack? I know you got in a fight at the club, but I figured that was just typical werewolf vampire animosity.”

  He rubbed a hand over his face. “Could be it was, but Leopold shut down my studio, and he's been making other moves to cut into our income sources. The previous vamp leaders wanted our pack territory, wanted our pack as their personal blood source. When Leopold took over, he claimed he wasn't interested in our land or our pack, but ordering you to spy on us makes it pretty clear that he wants something from us.”

  “And Axel and the rest of the pack think Leopold has somehow weaponized me?”

  “Yeah.” He hesitated. “I don't want you to talk about this if you aren't ready, but if you remember him telling you something, compelling you to do something that would hurt the pack, tell me now. If I know about it before the others, I can protect you.”

  “You'd protect me over the pack?” I lifted the toast and took a bite. It tasted terrible with no butter or jelly, but it was better than puking.

  He shrugged. “I don't think it'll come to that. If you've been given an order to hurt the pack, I just have to make sure I get you far enough away to keep you from carrying it out.”

  I didn't want to remember Leopold's hands on me, his voice in my ear, but I wouldn't put the pack at risk just because I didn't want more nightmares. “When he told me what he wanted me to do, when he was looking into my eyes, I felt this pull, like I'd do anything he wanted, I'd do it because I wanted to do it. After he bit me, it got worse. I felt desperate to please him, to do what he asked. After I threw up, though, the feeling went away.” I took another bite of toast and chewed, while I searched myself mentally for any sign of compulsion. “I feel like me.”

  He didn't seem reassured. “That could just mean his command is lying in wait for a specific moment. What did he tell you to do?”

  I finished the toast before I spoke again. “He told me not to tell you he'd been there. He told me not to say his name in your presence. But I can say his name. Leopold, Leopold, Leopold.”

  Zane's eyes widened. “You really think the compulsion didn't work? I've never heard of that happening to anyone.”

  “Have you ever heard of anyone puking after being compelled? Alice and Carly haven't vomited up black sludge, have they?”

  He shook his head, his expression full of wonder. “I'm assuming he told you not to tell me what he wanted you to do. Can you tell me that?”

  My stomach was protesting a tiny bit, but otherwise I felt warm and good and, well, a bit sleepy. I took another sip of water and braced myself. I was confident I wasn't under a compulsion, but a tiny part of me worried that trying to tell Zane everything would send me to the bathroom to puke up the dry toast I'd just eaten. “He wants me to spy on you, on the pack. He wants me to meet him in Aspens Whiten every Wednesday to tell him what the pack is doing, what you're planning.”

  He leaned back in his seat, shaking his head. “Damn it, I knew he was coming after the pack. That lying sack of shit.”

  “I don't mean to defend him, but maybe he just wants to know if you're planning to come after him.”

  He considered that. “Yeah, maybe.” He focused on me. “Anything else?”

  “He told me he'd break me, he'd destroy my friendship with you and the pack, so there'd be no one to protect me. And then he bit my lip and sucked my blood.” I licked my bottom lip, still tender from his bite.

  He leaned forward, elbows on the table. “Maybe the compulsion is still all about him coming after you, but he runs the risk of pissing off the whole pack and I can't imagine…” He stared at the table for a long moment, before looking back up at me. “You really are immune to his compulsion.”

  I snorted. “Yeah, I just puke up everything I've eaten for the last twenty-four hours and sleep for a day. I'm a superhero.”

  He grimaced. “You can't get anywhere near him again, I don't know what will happen if he tries to compel you again.”

  “I've got no problem with that. The sooner I get to Denver, the better.”

  He frowned and looked out the window over the sink. He laced his fingers together on top of the table and turned back to me. “How are you feeling? Did the food help?”

  I stretched. “It did. I'm still hungry. Think I can have some more?”

  “I think you should wait a little while. Make sure the toast stays down.” He stood. “Still tired?”

  “I'm foggy and sleepy, but more sleep is the last thing I want. Maybe coffee?”

  “I've got a better idea,” he said. “Follow me.”

  I stood and walked over to where he stood, his gaze intent on me, likely watching me for any sign of a stumble or a sway. “I'm really much better,” I said when he reached for me. “I can walk on my own.”

  “Well, I can't.” He pulled me in tight against his side. “You kind of scared the shit out of me, Abby. I wasn't sure you were going to make it.”

  I snorted. “So dramatic.”

  He pushed me away and turned me to face him. He held me by the shoulders in case I should tip over suddenly. “I'm not being dramatic. You couldn't stop throwing up and, when you finally stopped, you were so pale. I watched you while you slept to make sure you were still breathing, because you looked so fucking fragile. You kept wincing in your sleep like something was hurting you, and I wanted so badly to fix it.”

  His obvious concern and the blatant fondness in his expression made me uncomfortable. “Why didn't you take me to the hospital if I was that sick?”

  “And tell them what? You had an encounter with a vampire and puked up black goo? If you'd gotten worse, if you'd spiked a fever or started puking again, I would have taken you to the hospital. Consequences be damned.”

  “What consequences?”

  He shrugged like it was no big deal, but I could see the genuine concern in his eyes. “Werewolf taking a human to the hospital and accusing a vampire of hurting her kind of consequences.”

  Darn. “I can see how that would be bad.”

  “Yeah. Now, come on.”

  He wrapped an arm around my waist and led me to the center of the house. He opened a door there that revealed steps leading down into complete darkness. I clapped. “Yay, a dark creepy basement. Now, my adventure into the supernatural will be complete.”

  He flic
ked on a light and the steps were revealed to be covered in carpet, nothing remotely creepy about any of it. “I promise, there's nothing down there that's going to creep you out.”

  “How suburban of you.”

  He chuckled. “We'll have to go single-file, but I'll go in front so you'll land on me if you get dizzy or weak.”

  I huffed. “I'll be fine.”

  I followed him down the stairs and into a large, wide-open room with wood floors and full-length mirrors covering one wall. There were yoga mats rolled and piled in one corner and some dumbbells and exercise balls in another. There were other things, but I had no idea what they were or what they were used for, blocks and balls that had been cut in half and placed on discs. Zane grabbed a yoga mat, unrolled it and laid it flat on the floor. “Have a seat,” he said.

  “Why?”

  He rolled his eyes. “We can't leave the house, but I need some exercise. You can watch or you can do it with me.”

  I sat and crossed my legs. I'd never been to a yoga class and I'd never had any desire to try it. I was still weak, but it was yoga, how hard could it be?

  Zane flicked on some music and rolled out a second mat. “I'm just going to run upstairs and change,” he said. “You relax.”

  The music was some sort of slow, mellow elevator stuff I'd usually only hear in a hipster coffee shop. It's the sort of music that was supposed to be relaxing, but for whatever reason it just made me want to punch something.

  I got to my feet and went over to see that Zane's music was coming from an old-school boom box with an actual CD inside. I scanned the table for something else, but I could find nothing but easy listening crap.

  “You aren't thinking about touching my music, are you?”

  “No, grandpa, don't worry. I'm not sure I even know how to use one of these ancient pieces of—” I spun and forgot what the heck I was about to say, because Zane was standing before me in a pair of tight-fitting shorts and nothing else. I had been naked with the man, but my back had been to him and I'd been half asleep. Nothing had prepared me for the perfection that was Zane, standing before me. Seeing him sleeping half-naked hadn't prepared me, he just looked so…