Stripped (Wolves of Mule Creek #2)

by Katharine Sadler

  “Zane had condoms in his night stand.”

  Julie pursed her lips and nodded. “Sure, the local grocery store sells condoms, and over the counter meds. If women in town want birth control pills, I guess they could order them and pick them up in Aspens Whiten. There's not a great need for prescription medicines in a town of werewolves. There's a doctor in town for the broken bones and stitches, but if a wolf needs something more than that, she has to see a doctor in Aspens Whiten and pick up prescriptions at the pharmacy there.”

  “So, if a woman here has unprotected sex and wants to make sure she's not stuck with a baby she doesn't want, she has to go all the way to Aspens Whiten to get the medicine she needs?”

  Julie nodded. “I guess. Honestly, it's so difficult for werewolf women to conceive, I don't think anyone would advertise it to the pack. Of course,… You know, I've only been part of the pack for a little over a year. You should talk to one of the other women, or Zane when he wakes up. Just don't mention it to Iris. She's telling everyone Zane will be giving her grandbabies soon.”

  A wave of guilt washed over me, shocking me. I wasn't ready for a child and there was no reason I should feel guilty, but I could picture Iris' joy at the arrival of a grandchild, how much she'd love that baby, and I felt like I was taking something away from her. I wasn't the right woman for her son and I wouldn't be the one to give her grandbabies.

  “Hey,” Julie said. “Don't worry. Once the pack wakes up, I'll help you find someone who can tell you where to get what you need.”

  “Thanks.” But in my head, there was a ticking clock and I knew I was running out of time. I'd never needed the pill before, but I knew people who had and I knew I only had five days to use it before it would be too late. “So, why didn't you run with the pack last night?”

  She gestured to her belly. “It's dangerous for the baby if I shift, so I stayed home and ate chips and watched a movie.”

  “Sounds relaxing.”

  She shrugged. “I don't do relaxing well. I hate not being able to run as a wolf.” She tapped her fingers on the table. “Do you like babies?”

  “I don't have anything against them,” I said. “Why?”

  “I could use a sitter after she's born so I can run with the pack. Since you're the only non-wolf in town…”

  “I'd love to,” I said, mostly lying. I had zero experience with babies and I wasn't particularly interested in changing that. “But I'm moving to Denver as soon as this mess with Leopold is cleared up.” Whatever that meant. I'd wanted to go to Denver with money and nothing pulling me back toward Aspens Whiten, but at this point, I'd take just getting there. I'd figure the rest out later. “Any chance Axel will let me leave soon?”

  Her eyes widened and she frowned, clearly surprised and displeased. “I thought you and Zane…” She waved a hand in the air in front of her face. “It's none of my business. Axel will want to keep you here at least until Wednesday, when you're supposed to meet with Leopold. He won't want to risk you heading in the direction of Denver only to circle back and cause us trouble.”

  “Right,” I said. “But if Payne or Aron took me there and made sure I had no easy way to get back, maybe—”

  “In a hurry to leave?” Zane stepped into the kitchen wearing low-slung jeans and nothing else. He was smiling, but his eyes were hard as glass. “Morning, Jules.”

  “Wouldn't it be easier for everyone if I left?” I asked. “If I'm a possible threat, it would make sense to get me out of town.” The day before I'd been fine with staying in Mule Creek for a bit, but after my intense sex with Zane, I wanted to get away. Leaving him now would hurt, but if I got any more involved with him, I wasn't sure I'd be able to walk away.

  Zane opened his mouth, his body tensed, ready to argue, but then he stopped, sighed and nodded. “I'll talk to Axel. I'm more worried about Leopold coming after you again, but if you want to go, you should be able to go.”

  His easy acquiescence surprised me and my eyes stung like I was sad. I wasn't sad that he would let me go so easily. I was grateful for his support. “Thanks,” I said.

  Julie looked at her phone, stood, and slipped it into her back pocket. “Hey, Abby. That friend I was telling you about, she's up. You want to pay her a visit?”

  It took me a moment to shift from my conversation with Zane and understand what Julie was talking about. When it clicked, I stood. “That would be great.” I turned to Zane. “Do you mind if I head out for a bit with Julie? We shouldn't be gone long.”

  Zane had his back to me, at the counter fiddling with the coffee pot. “Aron will go with you,” he said. “If I'm not here when you get back, just let yourself in and make yourself at home.”

  I waited for him to turn around and smile or at least look at me, but he didn't. I followed Julie out of the house and pretended I didn't care what Zane thought. In a few days I'd never see him again anyway.

  ***

  I let myself into Zane's house with Julie by my side. We'd been to see her friend, who'd told us where to find the morning after pills. Turns out the local doctor kept a supply of the pills on hand. It wasn't advertised widely, because there were so many women in town who wanted to get pregnant more than anything. They didn't need to hear about women who were opting not to even try. I'd taken the pill and, even though I knew it might not be a one hundred percent guarantee I wouldn't get pregnant, I was feeling mighty relieved.

  Axel had texted Julie when he'd woken up and let her know he was at Zane’s. Zane, Axel, Paulie, and Clarissa were in the living room, laughing about something when we walked in.

  “There she is,” Axel said. He got up and stalked over to Julie like he hadn't seen her for days. He planted a kiss on her that had me looking away in discomfort. I met Zane's eyes and he gave me a weak smile. Clearly, he was still miffed about me wanting to head to Denver. And that was good. He needed to understand how serious I was about not staying in Mule Creek. How serious I was about my career coming first.

  I took a seat in a kitchen chair someone had dragged into the living room and let Julie sit next to her husband on the couch.

  All eyes turned to me, expectantly. “Okay,” I said. “I did some research and there's a crazy wide range of prices online for metalworking. I'd recommend pricing the large pieces at fifteen hundred, the medium pieces at a grand, and the small pieces anywhere from two-fifty to five hundred.”

  “That's insane,” Axel said. “I'm not going to rob people.”

  I ignored him. “If you do custom orders, I would raise the price by fifty percent for each of the pricing levels.”

  Axel looked at Julie. “Am I alone in thinking she's crazy?”

  Julie smiled and patted his shoulder.

  “Just try the prices,” I said. “If your work stops selling, you'll know you've gone too high, but if it does sell, if it sells out as quickly as it did before, raise the prices.”

  “Isn't that price-gouging?” Paulie asked.

  “Only if it's something necessary for someone's survival,” I said. “No one has to buy Axel's art. If they want it and they're willing to pay the higher price, then that's what you should sell the art for. If you could make more pieces more quickly, you could sell at a lower price to more people, but your problem is that you can't keep up with demand. Unless you want to build a factory to pump out these pieces, you need to raise the prices.”

  Axel looked absolutely stricken, but he'd stopped arguing. Julie rubbed his back. She smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

  “As for the rest of you, you should be taking advantage of the reality show attention before it dies out. Axel can build his name as an artist, he can become his own brand. Zane is offering something that a lot of other people are offering, but he can increase his exposure by using that reality show buzz.”

  “Are you speaking English right now?” Zane asked, shaking his head. “I don't have a yoga studio anymore.”

  I pulled in a deep breath. “You don't need a yoga studio. We live in a digital age. Is anyon
e else in town any good at yoga?”

  “A couple of the guys and some of the women take classes in my basement.”

  “And they're as fit as you?”

  He nodded, looking worried. He probably should be worried.

  “Here's my idea. Most yoga practitioners are women. I say you market to them. Get you and two other guys, in shorts and no shirts, and film a class. We'll use the reality show buzz to get attention, but I'm telling you, once women get an eye-full of three hot guys doing yoga, the money will roll in.”

  “I already have a yoga video,” he said, his expression grim. “It doesn't sell.”

  “I'm not talking about a VHS tape you send through the mail.” His frown let me know I'd nailed the nature of his workout video. “I'm talking about a video we post online. You get enough followers and you'll get advertisers wanting to pay you to hop onto your videos. It will bring in a steady stream of income.”

  “A sexy yoga video? That's not what yoga is about. It sounds cheap and trashy, like selling out.”

  His tone was harsh, snippy, and I could feel my own anger rise. “Everything is about sex, Zane. Once you have a following, put your shirt back on if you want. You could make instructional videos about meditation, maybe even teach online. There are a ton of options, but you have to put yourself out there.”

  “I'm not interested in selling my body. I'm good at what I do, I shouldn't have to take my clothes off like some sort of whore.”

  That one struck its target hard. I got that he was upset with me, that he had different expectations of our relationship than I did, but that didn't give him the right to be a jerk. “I'm the only whore in the room, I guess.” I kept my tone light, like I didn't give a shit, but I saw Zane's expression change like he hadn't realized what he'd said could hurt me. That made it worse, because it meant he really felt that way and wasn't just taking a dig at me. “I'm also good at what I do and I made actual money doing it. If you want to continue to be broke, by all means, keep your clothes on and continue doing what you're doing.”

  “Abby, —”

  I turned to Paulie and Clarissa. “How about you guys? What do you do?”

  They told me what they did and gave me a list of other skilled people in town. We discussed ways the town could utilize those talents to make money and other ideas about leveraging the reality show buzz to generate income aside from those talents. I thought we came up with some pretty good ideas.

  After the discussion, Paulie and Clarissa left, but Axel stayed behind with more questions. I answered them as best I could and he seemed to relax into my ideas, including increasing his prices.

  “Thanks,” Axel said, standing. “You've been a huge help, Abby.”

  “Any chance you find me trustworthy enough that you'll let me go to Denver?”

  Axel slowly lowered himself back into his seat. He glanced at Zane, but turned his attention quickly back to me. “I don't want you to feel like a prisoner, Abby, but we don't know what Leopold is going to do when you don't show up on Wednesday. I'm as worried about your safety as I am about the pack's safety. You can leave on Friday, once we're sure Leopold won't try to retaliate for you not showing up.”

  What he was saying made too much sense for me to argue. “Can I at least look for apartments and a job online?”

  “Abby,” Zane said, but I didn't look at him. I couldn't. I needed to get out of this town. I was so sick and tired of small towns and their intolerance.

  Axel hesitated just a moment, giving me time to answer Zane. When I didn't, he shook his head and sighed. “That's fine, Abby. Just don't advertise where you're currently staying.”

  “About that,” I said. “Any chance you can find me another place to stay here in town?”

  “No,” Zane said. I finally looked at him and his glare softened as soon as my gaze met his. “I fucked up, Abby, and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said what I did.”

  “It doesn't matter so much that you said it. It matters that you meant it.”

  His hands clenched into fists. “I didn't mean it the way you think. Can we just talk about this?”

  “I'd like to see Alice and Carly. Are they still locked up?”

  “We've moved them to the barn,” Axel said. “They seem to be free of the compulsion, but we're concerned that if they go back to Aspens Whiten, Leopold will just pull them in again. We were hoping you might have some idea of their options.”

  “I'll talk to them,” I said. “Can I stay with them until I'm free to leave for Denver?”

  “Damn it, Abby,” Zane said.

  Axel didn't even look at Zane. “Of course. I can take you over as soon as you get your stuff together.”

  “I'll take her,” Julie said. She looked at me. “If you want?”

  “That would be great.”

  I stood and went back to the bedroom. I went to the bathroom first, grabbed my toiletries, and stuffed them in a bag. When I turned, Zane was standing in the doorway, blocking my path. He looked furious and I faltered, because he also looked hurt and scared. “You're just going to walk away because I made one idiotic comment?”

  “It's not just about what you said. It's better that we end this now. I'll be leaving for Denver in less than a week.”

  “And I told you I was willing to move to Denver. For you. I'm still willing to move to Denver.”

  “Probably a bad idea,” I said. “In the big city, people like to see a little skin from their yoga instructors.”

  He sighed. “I reacted badly, Abby. It's just that I take yoga very seriously and what you suggested… It feels like tarnishing something sacred.”

  And that one hurt, too. I was under no illusion that stripping was some higher art form, or in any way pure, but I'd never felt dirty, never felt less than, until now. “Lust is a human emotion, Zane. A very powerful one. I'm surprised yoga has no part in that. Aren't you the one who taught me about intimate yoga?”

  “That's personal. It's not for sale.”

  “You sound like someone who's never lain awake all night because you haven't eaten in two days and hunger is the only thing you can feel.”

  He stared at me. “And you have. Is that why you got into stripping?”

  “You should get out of my way now, Zane. I might be smaller than you, but I know where to punch to cause maximum pain.”

  He grinned like he thought I was joking, or he thought I was cute. I wanted to smack that smile off his face.

  “Get out of my way, Zane.”

  His smile faded at the ice in my tone. “Abby, I'm sorry. I don't understand why you're so upset, but—”

  “And that's the whole problem. We're too different, Zane. You deserve a woman who's pure and untouched, who wants to be the little wife and raise your kids. That's never going to be me.”

  Confusion wrinkled his features. “That's not what I want and I don't think you're—”

  I dropped to the ground, and crawled between his legs and out of that bathroom, because I'd heard more than enough. I grabbed my bag on the way out of his room and met Julie on the front porch.

  She gave me a questioning look, but I just hurried down the stairs, away from that house and the man who lived there.

  ***

  “Abby,” Carly shouted as soon as I walked into the barn. She, Alice, and Zed were sitting on a couch, watching television, but the two women jumped up and ran over.

  I hugged them each and looked them over, making sure they were unhurt. “Are you okay?”

  “We're great,” Alice said. “We're over that vampire compulsion and ready to go home.”

  I sat with them at a table off to the side. Julie took their seat on the couch next to Zed and turned her attention to whatever he was watching, giving us space. “What will you do if you go back to Aspens Whiten?” I asked.

  “I don't want to go,” Carly said. “Zed wants us to move to the East Coast. He knows a lot of people there and thinks we can get good jobs. Maybe I can finally get my degree.”

  I sighed wi
th relief, if there was anyone I was worried would easily fall under Leopold's sway again, it was her. She was just a very honest, sweet person and she assumed everyone else was the same. “That's great, Carly. You won't have to worry about Leopold coming after you all the way out there.”

  Alice shivered. “Come after us? Why?”

  “Because of me,” I said. “Leopold is pissed at me and he's the vampire leader at the moment. He could go after you to get at me, or he might just want you to dance in his club or to be his…” I didn't even want to go there. “It doesn't matter. The point is, it's not safe for you in Aspens Whiten. I don't have much money, but I could help you get out of there, help you get to a new town.”

  Alice shook her head, her frown intense. “My family is all in Aspens Whiten, my boyfriend is in Aspens Whiten. I know you've always hated it there, Abby, but I love it. I don't want to leave, and I'm not going to let some blood sucking freak drive me out of town.”

  “Okay.” I didn't know she had a boyfriend. He had to be worried about her. “I get that, but maybe you could take a vacation with your boyfriend, get of town for a couple weeks. I can't send you anywhere fancy, but—”

  Alice smiled. “I'm not going to take your money, Abby. I'll be fine. I'll lay low for a while and Leopold will forget all about me.” She took both my hands in hers and gave them a squeeze. “I swear it, Abby. Everything will be okay.”

  I was terrified for her, but I couldn't force her to move away or stay with the pack. She had a right to make her own choices. “Just be careful, okay?”

  She grinned. “Careful as I've ever been.” She released my hands. “Before I go, we should have some fun. One last party to celebrate the end of our stripping lives?”

  I was in exactly the right sort of mood for a party, for a night of drinking away my worries and my thoughts of Zane. “Sounds good.”

  Julie and Zed joined us at the table when we waved them over, and Alice and Carly produced chips and dip and booze from some secret corners of the barn.

  “So, what have you been doing?” Alice asked. “Or should I say who have you been doing?”