by Julie Wetzel
Elliot twisted his hand to free it from the hellhound. “Yeah, well. He only eats people he’s mad at.”
Phelan laughed again. “Then you had better be careful, my friend.”
Letting out a snort of amusement, Elliot turned his attention fully to the road.
Krissy shot Phelan a confused look.
The werewolf shrugged. “Elliot wouldn’t let Zak follow Vicky and Darien on their honeymoon,” he reminded her.
“Ah,” Krissy said. She didn’t know how the fay was connected to the pair of newlyweds, but if Zak had the same mentality as normal dogs, she could see how keeping him from them could upset him. Krissy relaxed against the door, watching Zak wiggling around in the front seat. The whole situation made the ache in her head worse. Leaning back against the cool glass, she closed her eyes to block out the world for a bit. She just needed a few minutes to clear her mind and come to terms with the changes in her world.
“Hey.”
The softly spoken word broke into the strange dream Krissy was having. She drew in a deep breath. Her nose filled with the smell of something warm and masculine. It was amazing and made her want to cuddle into it. She rubbed her face into the warmth and reached for the comfort of sleep. A gentle touch at the side of her face pulled her further from her goal.
“It’s time to wake up.”
This time, Krissy recognized the voice. When she opened her eyes, she realized she was cuddled up against Phelan with her head resting on his shoulder. She started to tense up, but he hushed her softly.
“You’re okay,” he said reassuringly as he rubbed her cheek with the pad of his thumb before sliding his hand down to join the other one holding her. “We’re not quite there yet, but it won’t be long.”
Krissy let the tension coiled in her muscles drain and melted into Phelan’s hold. She closed her eyes for a moment to revel in the feel of strong arms wrapped around her. It had been a while since anyone had held her in any type of intimate fashion. Her abilities gave her too much insight into the minds of other people for her to stay with someone for long. She could block their feelings out for a while, but they eventually broke through and she discovered how they truly felt. So far, most of her relationships had only lasted a few months before she ended them, unable to deal with the growing number of negative emotions that humans tend to hide from their romantic partners. She much preferred dealing with animals. Their thoughts and feelings were purer. She was rarely ever surprised when she touched their minds.
Curiosity pushed at her and Krissy dropped the wall she usually kept around her mind so she could feel the man holding her. His emotions rushed over her. She drew in a measured breath to keep from being washed away in the torrent. There was a swirl of emotions, but three things rode the top of the wave: concern for his people, mild curiosity about her, and a sense of contentment. She had expected the first two, but it was the third that made her open her eyes and look up at him. She could feel his mind drift as he watched the world outside fly past.
With her barriers down, she could feel other things in the car. While Phelan’s thoughts and emotions swirled, Elliot’s were still. She could feel his mind concentrating on driving, but there was nothing else going on. Either the man was very good at controlling himself, or he was dead inside. She thought back over the short time she had known him. His simple gestures of comforting her, petting Zak, and dealing with his people didn’t seem like someone who had no emotions. She reached for him again and felt him notice her touch. She drew back, but she caught a hint of amusement as she went.
“Just a few more minutes,” Elliot said from the front.
A blush rushed over the tops of Krissy’s cheeks. She looked up to find Phelan looking down at her. The heat in her cheeks rose, and she had an overwhelming urge to apologize for poking around in their feelings. No one had ever caught her checking them out before. A gurgle from the front and a wave of alien emotions slammed into her, pulling her attention.
Zak gurgled at her again and kneaded his paws into the seat.
Elliot’s hand came down on the small dog’s back and scratched him, but the fay’s attention was trained on Krissy.
“He’s waiting for you to accept him,” Phelan said softly.
Krissy looked up at him confused. “What?”
“Hellhounds aren’t normally known for their sensitivity,” Phelan explained, “but Zak has always been concerned with how he’s perceived by his favorite people.”
“Favorite people?” Krissy asked.
“Usually those he doesn’t want to eat,” Elliot said from the front.
Krissy’s eyes widened at this, but she could hear the humor in his voice and feel the tease in his emotions.
Phelan snickered at the joke.
Zak, on the other hand, barked at the comment and circled around in the seat unhappily. He finally settled back where he started, kneaded the edge of the seat with his front paws, and whined at Krissy.
Krissy was still unsure how to take the joke the two men had found funny, but it was obvious the small creature was distressed by the situation. Her feelings truly mattered to him. She held her arms up for him. “Come here, Zak.”
Zak barked and leapt from the front seat to land with a plop on her stomach.
Phelan’s arm pulled back as she caught the dog with an oomph of air. A hint of fear colored the werewolf’s emotions, and Krissy looked up at him. The emotion didn’t show on his face as he reached over and rubbed the dog’s back. Had her barriers been in place, she never would have guessed he feared the hellhound. She looked back at the small dog sitting on her.
Hope glistened in his eyes as he kneaded her chest and whined.
Rubbing her hands down the dog’s sides, she made her choice. “I’m not exactly sure what you are, and your other form is kind of scary…” She paused as Zak whined again. “But if you promise not to eat me, I promise to be your friend.”
Zak yipped in delight and sprung up to lick at her face.
Krissy squealed and turned her head as he lapped at her skin. She nearly jerked away when his fur coiled around her fingers, but Phelan came to her rescue and pushed Zak back before she could freak out.
“Don’t smother her,” he scolded the dog.
Zak barked happily, unaffected by the werewolf’s gentle berating. After a few more seconds, he settled on her stomach and started to purr.
“We’re here,” Elliot said as he shut off the car.
Getting up from Krissy’s stomach, Zak jumped back into the front seat.
Elliot rubbed his hand into the excited fay before getting out of the car and holding the door open so Zak could get out.
Unsettled by the whole exchange, Krissy took a deep breath and started to move out of Phelan’s lap, but he stopped her.
“Thank you.”
She looked up at the werewolf.
“I wasn’t sure what we were going to do if you hadn’t accepted Zak.”
“Why?” Krissy asked in confusion. She moved out of Phelan’s lap to look at him properly.
“Hellhounds are fiercely loyal to their chosen people,” Phelan explained. “But they aren’t known to care much for those outside their sphere of loyalty. Zak is somewhat of an exception to that rule.” He looked out the window at the little dog jumping around Elliot’s feet. “I’m sure he would have still helped because Elliot asked him, but being his friend will ensure he does his best to protect you.” Phelan popped the door and climbed out without waiting for a reply.
Stunned, she sat in the seat for a moment with her mouth open and watched the wolf climb from the car. Once his words had fully sunk in, she scrambled for her door handle and jumped out. She hurried to catch him before he got far. “You’re afraid of him.”
Phelan raised an eyebrow at her. She could see the objection in his eye, but the lie didn’t pass his lips. He turned to look at the fay racing around the yard. “Zak scares the hell out of me.”
“Why?” Krissy asked.
He turne
d back to her with disbelief on his face. “The tentacles weren’t horrifying enough?”
Krissy suppressed a shudder at the memory of the wiggly thing in the front seat. That had been mind numbing, but the fear she felt in Phelan went deeper than that. “Yes,” she agreed, “but there’s more.”
Phelan blew out a breath as they walked towards Elliot and the house. “Yes.” He paused, thinking of the hellhound. “With the exception of Darien, Zak is the most powerful thing around.”
“I wouldn’t go that far,” Elliot corrected. “There are lots of things out there more powerful than Darien. They just choose to stay out of sight. As to our friend here,” he nodded towards the fay in question, “Zak could take Darien apart.” He paused to watch Zak dig in the flowerbed before looking back at the pair on the sidewalk. “If he wanted to.”
Krissy shivered at that statement and looked down at the little dog. Even if he was powerful, he still seemed like a kind and gentle creature. “But that’s not a reason to fear him.” Some of the most powerful animals brought into the clinic were the friendliest as long as you showed them the respect they deserved. So far, the only reason she’d found to fear Zak was his other form.
“No, it’s not,” Phelan agreed. “But he’s also fay.”
“And the fay have a way of turning on you when you least expect it,” Elliot added.
Phelan nodded. “And I doubt there is anything that could stop Zak if he decided to turn on us.”
Krissy glanced between the two men and back to Zak. That put a new spin on things. “Should we be worried?” she asked, starting to understand the hint of fear in Phelan.
Elliot chuckled. “There is only one person who doesn’t have to be worried about Zak, but she’s had a profound effect on him. He isn’t going to abandon her friends without just cause.”
“That I believe,” Phelan added with a soft snort of amusement.
Krissy tried to sort out how she felt about the whole situation. It took her a moment to realize her barriers were down and the feelings bombarding her weren’t hers. She took a few deep breaths and focused so she could rebuild her walls.
“Are you well?” Elliot asked when he noticed she was taking measured breaths.
Krissy looked up into his concerned eyes and nodded. “Fine,” she added. She was far from fine, but she didn’t see any reason to worry him. He couldn’t do anything for the residual fear trying to drive her pulse rate up.
Reaching out, he ran his hand down her upper arm in a comforting way. “It will be all right,” he promised.
Something in his words calmed her heart, and she wondered if it was his strange vampire powers or the confidence in his words. She hoped it was just his confidence. “Let’s get this over with.”
Elliot dropped his hand from her arm. “Zak,” he called.
Zak’s head popped up from where he was tearing up the landscaping.
“Come on,” Elliot yelled.
Zak barked, shook himself free of the dirt, and bolted towards them. He slammed into Elliot’s leg, grabbed the hem of the man’s pants in his teeth, shook his head furiously, and ripped a chunk from the cloth before going over to rub lovingly against Krissy’s leg.
“Damn it, Zak,” Elliot cursed as he looked at the new damage to his pants.
Krissy tried not to laugh. “Maybe you should start wearing shorts?” she suggested.
“Or a kilt,” Elliot said, considering the idea.
“That’s probably not a good idea,” Phelan added as he watched Zak scurry on towards the house. “He might decide your ankle makes a better chew toy than your hem.”
Elliot wrinkled his nose at that thought. “You have a point there.”
Phelan snickered and followed behind Zak.
Krissy finally looked up at the home of Brenton’s alpha werewolf. It was totally not what she’d expected. The beautiful house was a single-story brick building with a high roofline. There could have been a second story to the thing, but there weren’t any windows on this side of the roof. It did have what looked to be an apartment built on top of the attached two-car garage. The design was a little different from the rest of the house, so it had to have been an addition. She glanced around at the neighborhood. The sprawling home sat at the end of a cul-de-sac, but there were other houses, just as nice, marching down the street. This wasn’t where one would expect a werewolf to live.
Phelan led the way into the open garage and stopped by the inside door. “Please come in and be welcome,” he said.
“Thank you,” Elliot said and stepped inside.
A shiver ran down Krissy’s back, and she crossed her arms over her chest as she tried to drive the odd sensation from her. She glanced at the doorway as she stepped inside. She was sure that it had caused her reaction, but she didn’t understand how.
Zak yipped at her and raced into the small mudroom. He shoved his nose into a stack of shoes piled along one wall.
“This way,” Phelan said as he shut the door and headed up the carpeted staircase leading to the addition above the garage.
Elliot held his hand out for Krissy to lead.
Turning to the steps, Krissy followed Phelan up and around the corner. The stairwell opened upon a small seating area that held a battered couch and two comfy-looking armchairs. Behind them was another area lined with shelves filled with a collection of random items. To the right was a desk with a huge array of screens set up. Krissy’s eyes widened as bright colors flashed on the largest.
“Is this what you call working?” Phelan asked pointedly as he went over and yanked the headphones off the head of the young man sitting at the desk.
“Crap,” the man squealed as he nearly fell out of his chair. He slammed on the keyboard, flipping from the game to a black-and-white security screen. “I didn’t hear you come in,” he cried as he turned around in his seat to face Phelan.
“I’m not surprised,” Phelan said, dropping the headset on the floor next to the man. “Aren’t you supposed to be searching the net for signs of werewolves?”
“That’s Trevor,” Elliot whispered in Krissy’s ear as the young man tried to talk his way out of trouble.
Krissy glanced at Elliot before turning her attention back to the tech. He was thin and gangly, not something she would have expected out of a werewolf. He cowered in his chair, trying to explain himself to Phelan.
“I don’t care,” Phelan said, cutting off the rest of Trevor’s ramblings. “But you’d better make sure Rupert doesn’t catch you playing when you’re supposed to be working.” He pulled his coat off and dropped it over the end of the couch before turning back to Trevor. “Any changes?”
Trevor got serious and turned back to his computer. “Not really,” he said, flipping the screen again to show a long, concrete hall. “Since they weren’t drinking anything, Ruby got the bright idea of putting bowls of ice cubes in their cages to see if they would eat them.”
“Did it work?” Phelan asked as he came over, leaned on the table, and stared at the screen.
“Somewhat,” Trevor explained. “A few of them seemed to eat them in the midst of trying to destroy the bowls they were in. I think Bobby got the most down. We’re going to try throwing them in one at a time when the next batch is hard.”
“That’s good,” Phelan said. “I’m starting to worry about him.” He turned to Elliot to explain. “He was the first to lose it. It’s been days since we were able to get anything in him.”
“Then maybe we should start with him,” Elliot said, pulling off his coat. He tossed it over on top of Phelan’s.
Unsure if she really wanted to go through with this, Krissy pulled off her coat and added it to the pile.
“What are you going to do?” Trevor asked, looking over the small group.
“See if we can help,” Phelan said as he patted Trevor on the shoulder. “Right now I need you to hack into the security cameras at Alchemy and check on the situation there. Mac and Marco were going at it when we left Darien’s.”
“Yeah,” Phelan said. “Rupert’s on his way over now, but I need you to go back through the footage and make sure nothing happened that would cause us more problems.”
“I’m on it,” Trevor said as his fingers flew across the keyboard.
Phelan patted him on the shoulder and turned back to Krissy and Elliot. “Shall we?” He held his hand out towards the stairway they had come up.
Krissy swallowed hard and nodded her head, unsure if she could trust her voice not to crack. Fear twisted up her gut. She really didn’t want to go face out-of-control werewolves. A firm hand came down on her shoulder, and she glanced back to see Elliot’s concerned face.
“We’ll make sure you’re okay,” he promised.
His reassurances didn’t do much to calm her, but she followed as Phelan led the way back down the steps.
Zak barked, rubbed against her leg, and raced down, nearly tripping Phelan along the way.
“Dumb mutt,” Phelan growled as he reached the bottom of the staircase and turned the corner. He opened a door that led to concrete steps.
The fay zipped down the second set of steps ahead of them.
“Don’t eat anyone,” Phelan called as he hurried after the hellhound.
Krissy smiled. She followed the pair down into the well-lit stairwell. “Is he always like that?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at Elliot.
“Phelan?” he asked, looking down the stairs towards the wolf chasing after the hellhound.
“No, Zak,” she said, looking at the pair. Phelan had finally caught up with the little Shih Tzu and had scooped him up from the floor. She was still having a hard time believing the animated little dog was the same horrifying monster from the car.
Elliot snickered. “Most of the time, but he can be serious when he needs to be.”
Krissy thought about that as she made her way down the rest of the steps. When she reached Phelan, she took Zak from him, saving the wolf from a horrible licking.
Zak barked happily and wiggled in her arms, making her smile.