by Willow Hazel
He reached toward her, and Sarah choked on her fear. This was it. She was going to die.
Caleb didn’t strangle her, or bite her, or anything remotely like that. He reached down and gave her shoulder a comforting squeeze.
“Just calm down, okay?” he said, his tone level. “I’m not going to hurt you. Hell, about the last thing I would do is hurt you. I don’t hurt women, especially women like you.”
Sarah nodded quickly, still not convinced. “O-okay, but why? Is it just because you’re a nice guy?”
Caleb let out a dark chuckle. “I’m a violent asshole, so no, but it’s more about what I said before. You’re Blooded. You have to understand what that means. It means you have a werewolf ancestor. Your kind is important to my people.”
“Huh? Werewolf ancestor? I think I’d kind of know if I had something like that in my family tree.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “You know, ‘Hey, you’re descended from royalty and werewolves. Or werewolf royalty.’” A strangled, nervous laugh escaped her mouth.
A faint smirk appeared on Caleb’s face. “Would you? Depends on what society they were in. It’s not like we’ve only been hiding things lately, and not exactly like my kind is popular in myths and legends. Back in the day, you didn’t necessarily need an excuse to try and kill someone who was weird. Besides, in a place like America there’s so many immigrants, it’s hard to know who you are descended from, let alone shifters.”
Sarah stopped trembling. Even though her heart was still thundering away, each passing second made it clear that Caleb didn’t intend to kill her. On some level, too, she felt like she could trust him. Maybe that had to do with her being Blooded, even if she didn’t understand all of it yet.
The one thing she did know was that she believed everything he said, no matter how fantastic it sounded. She’d seen them shift, so that proved that werewolves existed. Everything after that seemed minor in comparison.
“Are… all werewolves big?”
“Yeah, actually. Just kind of the way we’re born and grow. Why?”
“Just curious.” Her face heated. She wondered if her werewolf ancestry explained why she’d been attracted to the big and dangerous type all her life. “I still don’t understand what this has to do with you not hurting me,” Sarah said. “Is it just a respect thing because of my ancestry?”
He chuckled. “No. You see, it’s not like in the movies. A werewolf kills you, you just stay dead. If they bite you, it just hurts like hell. It doesn’t turn you into a werewolf.”
“I don’t understand what that has to do with me, but, now I’m even more curious. So where do werewolves come from, then?”
“We’re born this way, but we don’t come into our nature until the first full moon after our thirteenth birthday.”
“That specific? That doesn’t sound all that possible. It sounds like magic.”
Caleb laughed. “And a man changing into a wolf isn’t? Forget what you think you know about the world. There’s a lot more to it. I don’t claim to understand it all. I just know what I am, and what I’ve seen.”
“What does this have to do with me being Blooded?”
“We have a mom and dad, but there’s no such thing as a female werewolf. The less werewolf blood in a partner, the less chance of a new werewolf being born. Shit, my brother’s not a werewolf. So, if you want new werewolves, you need purer blood, and so you need Blooded.”
All her relaxation vanished, and she reached into her purse for the Taser. “You’re going to kidnap me to breed new werewolves?” She shuddered. She needed to get out of there right away.
Caleb groaned and leaned back against the seat. “No. That’s not how I do things, and I personally don’t give a shit about kids. They kind of seem annoying to be honest.” He frowned. “Though you should know not all wolves are as nice, like that asshole Jake.” He stared at her, his dark brown eyes staring into her very soul. “Look, I’m just trying to explain why I wouldn’t hurt you.” He shrugged. “Even if I don’t want a mate, I’m not going to harm our people’s future.”
Sarah took several deep breaths. He could easily overpower her, so he had no reason to lie to her. She chose to believe him for the moment.
“You calm now?” Caleb asked. “Wish I had some booze in the truck.”
“I guess, as calm as I can be, all things considered,” Sarah said. “I know what I saw, but it’s so hard to believe. I don’t get it. I know there are legends and stories, but if werewolves are common enough that I can run into them in Glendale, why aren’t there are more people talking about this? Why isn’t it on TV or YouTube?”
“We call it animal magnetism,” Caleb said. He grinned. “Most normal people, we can kind of just stare into their eyes and erase their memories and put them to sleep. That helps with most of it.”
“Then why didn’t you just do that to me?”
Caleb grunted. “That’s just it. You’re not normal. You’re Blooded, and from your scent, you’re practically pureblood. That’s why I thought you’d leave yourself. I assumed you already knew. Anyway, the stronger your blood is, the less animal magnetism works on you. There’s no way I could wipe your memories even if I wanted to.” He shrugged. “And there’s no way I’m letting anyone harm a Blooded.”
All this new information was starting to hurt her head. “Okay, ignore me then, so a bunch of werewolves are running around erasing everyone’s memories?”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, most aren’t obvious dumbasses like the True Sons. We mostly know how to keep a low profile. Plus, we’re not the only shifters. We don’t all get along, but we also understand that silence is best in all of this. Lots of our shifters have contacts in the government and law enforcement, and then there’s the guys calling the shots. They have a lot of money, time, and patience. So it helps.”
“Who are those guys calling the shots? Vampires?”
“No such thing as a vampire.” He scoffed.
“Oh, I’m so sorry to suggest some mythical creature exists. I mean that’s almost as silly as saying there are werewolves.” She rolled her eyes. “So who are these guys then? The guys who call the shots?”
Caleb gave her a broad grin. “Weredragons.”
Sarah stared at him. She shook her head. “That’s just crazy. Crazier than vampires.”
“Why do you think there are some many conspiracy theories about reptilian aliens ruling the world?” He snorted. “They are half-right. Pompous bastards if you ask me, but they keep a lid on things, and they are all rich pricks for the most part.”
Dragons? Werewolves? Biker werewolves?
Sarah groaned and slumped forward. “So, if I just keep quiet, I’ll be okay?”
“Like I said, you’re Blooded. So wolves don’t want to harm you if they can help it, and other shifters, even if they could smell what you were, know that killing a Blooded would lead to war normally.” Caleb shrugged. “You could go and blab, but then it wouldn’t be just wolves, it’d be one of those asshole dragons who might come a knocking, and we might not be able to stop them. They take our silence very seriously.”
She let out a long sigh. “This is just so much to process.”
“Sure, I get it, but I’ll need your phone. I have to erase any pictures.”
Sarah fished it out of her purse and handed to him. “Go ahead and check, but I didn’t even think to take any.”
His eyebrows lifted, and he nodded. He spent a few seconds thumbing through her pictures.
“Kind have a boring life, huh?” Caleb grinned.
Sarah snatched her phone back. “Sorry if we can’t all be mythical beasts of legend.”
Caleb laughed softly. “There you go. There’s the girl I met at the bar and not this scared chick in my truck.”
Her cheeks heated. She wasn’t scared at all anymore, just confused, but that wasn’t enough to make her not notice the way his muscles strained against his shirt as he stared at her.
“So, that’s the deal, Sarah,”
Caleb said. “I’m going to take you home now and let you think it through and get some sleep. Like I said, as long as you keep your mouth shut, you’ll be fine. I promise.”
“I think I can manage that.”
“Good girl.” Caleb started the truck back up. “Let’s get you back home.”
Chapter Seven
Caleb paced the living room in his small apartment above Devil’s Den. Moving to Glendale was supposed to make things easier for the pack, and now they were dealing with pack threats from other wolves and even Blooded. He half-expected some coyotes and bears to show up and threaten them. It’d be about their luck.
“So did the cops ever show up?” Caleb said after he finished relating everything that he’d discussed with Sarah.
Malcolm was leaning against a wall, his arms crossed. “One guy stopped by to ask about a fight. Apparently one of those college kids called 9-1-1. I was semi-honest. Told him some rough customers had shown up, and we tossed them out. He looked around for a minute, and mumbled something about appreciating our restraint.” He shrugged. “I’m guessing since he didn’t see a bunch of smashed tables and bottles, he figured I was telling the truth, or he just didn’t give a crap since there were no bodies lying around. Point is, he left not that long after he came.”
Caleb growled. “Damn True Sons. I was hoping this shit would either happen right away or not at all.”
“The dragon did warn us.”
“The fucking dragon could have probably taken care of the problem himself. Lazy ass.” Caleb grunted. “I hate reptiles.”
Malcolm shrugged without uncrossing his arms. “Like he told us in April, it’ll be a chance for our pack to prove ourselves. I think we already did. Jake at least knows we won’t show our bellies just because he comes in here to start shit.”
Caleb nodded. “Yeah, no problem with that. Just don’t want our place getting thrashed in the meantime. That’s why I wouldn’t have minded if those bastards came at us when we first got here. But of course they had to wait, and we know they’ve been around.”
Malcolm blew out a long breath. “Anyway, whatever. If we beat the True Sons down a few times, they’ll understand in their stupid little wolf brains who controls this territory. They aren’t the main problem. That woman is, and you know it.”
“I already told you that I explained the situation.” Caleb narrowed his eyes. “So what are you bitching about now?”
“You told her all that and then you just left her at her place,” his beta said, irritation etched into his face. “Which makes no damn sense to me at all, not if you’re trying to keep our secret.”
Caleb shrugged. “What did you want me to do? Knock her out with a club and drag her back here? Sounds like a way to just really piss her off.”
“You didn’t have to knock her out, but, hell yes, you should have brought her back. Just because she’s Blooded doesn’t mean she won’t go running to the news or the police the first chance she gets. Or maybe she’s looking through the internet for werewolf hunters. You said it yourself, she didn’t have a clue about any of this.” Malcolm gestured broadly with both arms. “She could screw us very easily. Maybe even tip off an actual hunter.”
“A hunter?” Caleb scoffed. “Good luck. As for the police or news, what’s she gonna tell them? That werewolves are running around Glendale and dragons rule the world? She’d end up being ignored or locked up in the looney bin. And, hell, even if she does try, it’d get buried soon enough by some shifters.”
Malcolm pushed off the wall. “And then someone like Greg is going to show up at our door and make us pay, probably after killing her.”
A growl ripped out of Caleb. “I don’t care who they are, dragon or not, they kill a wolf Blooded, they die. If that happens, we go get the True Sons, and we go at the dragons together.”
“You want to go up against the dragons?” Malcolm cocked a brow. “Do you hear yourself right now?”
“Are you saying you wouldn’t back me?”
Malcolm said. “I’m just wanting to make sure that you understand that you’re talking about stirring up serious shit.”
“If they want to go up against us, then yeah.” Caleb dropped onto his ratty old couch. The leather had long since torn, but he just loved the damn thing. It’d even shaped to his butt after years of use. Some of his fire drained out, and he waved a hand. “But I’m not going to go looking for trouble.” He grunted. “Anyway, the best way to get Sarah to realize we’re on her side is give her a little room. If I’d grabbed her and locked her up here, then she would have tried to escape and call the cops. Then we would be screwed.”
The other man grunted and shook his head. “I’m just saying if she were closer to us, then at least we could keep an eye on her. Then we’d know if she was going to be trouble or not. I’m not trying to be a bitch about this.”
Caleb shrugged. “I’m not worried. She’ll keep her mouth shut.”
“Not even a little? How can you be so sure?”
“I trust my gut. She didn’t seem scared. She seemed… interested. Hell, she is Blooded. So it’s not like we’re just going to ignore her anyway.”
Malcolm stared at Caleb, the corners of his mouth turned down slightly. “Oh. I see.”
Caleb eyed the other man. “I don’t have time for games. If you have something to say, spit it out.”
“I’ll follow you as my alpha, but please tell me this isn’t about your cock.”
Caleb burst out laughing. “What the hell are you talking about, Malcolm?”
“Come on, you want to screw her. We all do on some level. She’s Blooded, but that doesn’t guarantee crap other than a greater chance at a werewolf kid. Maybe this is about you risking the pack just so you can get a mate, or even worse, wet your dick a little in a rare woman. If this is about just getting sex, go pick up some random woman. You need to think of the pack first, and your needs seconds.”
“I always think of the pack first.” A second later, Caleb was off the couch and right in front of Malcolm, locking eyes with the other man, and growling. “If you want to challenge me to become alpha, then go ahead and challenge me.”
Malcolm didn’t flinch. “Just because I’m not alpha, doesn’t mean I won’t say what I feel if it’s about the pack. You’re an alpha, not our dictator.”
“Let’s make one thing really clear,” Caleb said, his voice low. “This isn’t about my dick or me getting a mate.”
The two men stared at each other for a long moment in tense silence until Malcolm averted his gaze and stepped away.
“Fine, fine,” he said, holding up a hand. “But she’s still not safe. If you don’t want to drag her here, then you should convince her to come here. Just tell her she’s in danger, and she’ll come along willingly.”
Caleb thought that over a second before giving a short nod. “Fine, I’ll set up a meeting here in a day or two when she’s had time to think things over. In the meantime, the pack will rotate keeping an eye on her.”
“Some aren’t going to like that. They’ll bitch about having to babysit a woman, especially since you already made it clear downstairs that if anyone gets a shot at her, it’ll be you.”
“Not just a woman. A Blooded.” Caleb grunted. “And whether not I get with her doesn’t change her importance. So tough shit if they do complain.”
“Just saying.”
“I’ll do it, too. That way they can’t bitch. Once we figure she’s not going to say anything, we can all go on with our lives, and she can figure out if she wants to hang around our pack or not.”
Malcolm’s face darkened. “There’s also another thing we should keep in mind.”
“What?”
“She could be lying.”
“Short of getting a dragon to do their little lie detector thing, there’s no way to know. Besides, I don’t think she’s lying about not going to other people. She really seemed confused about everything, and scared. She thought I was going to kill her. I’m sure of it.” He
shrugged. “Made me feel a little bad.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about. There are different things she could be lying about.”
“Like what?”
“I’m saying what if she’s lying about knowing about werewolves.”
“Huh?” Caleb stared at Malcolm. “Why would she do that?” He shook his head, concern edging into his mind. The idea hadn’t occurred to him.
Malcolm sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. “Think about it. She showed up just right when the True Sons showed up.”
“Might be a coincidence. Shit happens, some good, some bad. I’ve seen weirder crap than that.”
“Or it might not be a coincidence at all. It might be a big trap.”
“Pretty fucking elaborate for a bunch of biker thugs. They aren’t exactly a bunch of Einsteins from what I saw.”
Malcolm shrugged. “Doesn’t mean they can’t set up a trap.”
Caleb grunted. “The play’s the same, even if she is trying to set us up. If we’re watching her, then we’ll know if she’s working with the True Sons or not.”
The other man stared at Caleb, a questioning look in his eyes. “And if she is?”
“Then nothing. Anyone in this pack harms a Blooded, I’ll tear his heart out myself. And if she is, I’ll tell her to get the hell out of here and never come back.” He looked at his door. “For now, though, we just need to keep an eye on her.”
Chapter Eight
Sarah blinked her eyes open and stifled a yawn. She sat up and stretched.
She looked around her small studio apartment. Nothing much there, just her desk with her laptop. The glamorous life of a poor graduate student. She wasn’t special. At least she wasn’t until last night.
It was just another day in Tempe. That’s what she wanted to tell herself, but it was a lie.
All the strangeness replayed itself in her mind. The confrontation, men becoming wolves, Caleb explaining how the world was a lot weirder than she’d ever guessed.