by Anya Nowlan
He couldn’t blame her for acting the way she did. But he was glad that Dakota was now on board with working together. Despite the darkness of her work, Wes found being a part of Dakota’s world oddly thrilling. The fact that she was working toward a noble cause didn’t hurt, either.
If I can help make sure no one else has to go through what Tessa and Tate had to go through…
There was a new sense of purpose to him that he hadn’t really felt back in Pinedale. The wolves there considered him a brother, sure, but he was just another wolf in the pack, not really affecting anything around him. He hadn’t even been able to convince Tate to reestablish patrols…
His train of thought derailed when his wolf suddenly began to whine and claw at him, a primal response to something being very wrong. Wes stiffened beneath the covers, focusing all his energy into sharpening his senses, his gaze swinging around the room.
A change in scent was what hit him first – like a souring of the air, that slowly turned into a rotting smell. Wes bolted upright in his bed, a snarl peeling back his lips. He was instantly reminded of the cloying smell of decay that had followed Loch around, and his hands clenched into fists.
Dakota remained asleep, unaware that anything was wrong, while Wes slowly got up and crept to the door, sniffing as he went. Yet, as far as he could tell, the hallway was empty – no footsteps, no breathing sounds, nothing at all.
The odd thing was, the smell was less powerful near the door…
Heart thudding against his chest, he whirled around, swinging his gaze back to Dakota’s bed. And there it was – a swirl of inky smog forming right above her, formless at first, but quickly taking on a male shape.
Tendrils of the smoke fluttered in a nonexistent wind, winding their way toward Dakota.
Wes started toward her, calling out her name, just as the tendrils wrapped around her throat.
Seventeen
Dakota
Dakota groaned softly, Wes’ voice cutting through a haze of dreams. At first, she tried to ignore it, trying to pull the blanket even further over her head, but when she detected an edge of panic to his tone…
She had hardly snapped her eyes open when suddenly, she couldn’t breathe. Struggling to gasp in some air, she writhed around in the bed until her gaze fixed on a form above her, floating there, half-solid and half made up of smoke.
Fuck!
Dakota worked to keep her cool, despite the fear and confusion pumping through her veins. Her body was still trying to breathe despite her airways being cut off, adding to the panic clouding her judgment.
She reached up to claw at the hand squeezing her neck, but it was like grasping at air.
“Let her go,” she heard Wes snarl from beside her bed, reaching out to pry loose the monster’s grip around her throat.
But his hand went straight through the creature, just like hers had, without disturbing its hold on her for even a moment.
By that point, Dakota was tossing around on the bed, her lungs burning and her vision getting blurry. She could hear Wes growl, and sense him moving around, trying to fight the creature, perhaps. But she could no longer focus on any of that, with every cell in her body crying out for oxygen.
Gagging, with tears in her eyes, Dakota could feel the fight slipping out of her, replaced by a dreadful realization she might not get out of this one. When strong hands grabbed onto her waist, she could barely spare a thought at if the monster killing her had suddenly grown en extra limb, or if the thing had brought a friend along…
A moment later, she was being yanked off the bed, landing on her ass on the hard floor. Disoriented and on the verge of passing out, it took her a second to realize she could breathe again.
Choking and sputtering, she gasped in breath after breath until the haze around her lifted. It was Wes who was holding on to her waist, now pulling her to her feet and away from the bed. The shadow creature was still swirling above it, a low hissing sound escaping at where a mouth should be.
Coughing, Dakota grabbed onto Wes and steadied herself, feet almost tangling together when she ran toward the hotel room’s door and the light switch next to it. The room was instantly bathed in light.
“We have to…” Wes was saying, pushing the door open, but Dakota just shook her head before sagging onto the ground.
“Gone,” she rasped, nodding toward her bed.
The shadow wasn’t there. Aside from her blanket crumpled on the floor, nothing looked out of place. It was as if nothing had happened at all. If her lungs weren’t still on fire, she might even think it was all a bad dream.
She could hear Wes sniff the air before he shut the door, and rushed over to the pitcher on the table in the middle of the room, pouring her a glass of water. With that in hand, he came back and crouched down next to her, taking her hand and wrapping her fingers around the cool glass.
“Here,” he said, urging her to take a sip.
Dakota tilted the glass to her mouth, sighing as the water flowed over her raw throat. It hurt to swallow, but nothing felt majorly injured. Her windpipe was still intact, so that was good. She wasn’t exactly in the mood to try and come up with a story as to why her larynx was crushed for the emergency room.
Something tells me ‘demon attack’ might not fly.
“Are you okay? Do I need to call an ambulance?” Wes asked, and she shook her head, setting the glass down on the floor next to her.
“I’m fine,” she replied, still a little raspy, but starting to feel better.
She pushed herself off the ground and back to her feet, with Wes holding on to her elbow.
“Really, I’m okay,” she said again, running a hand over her neck.
Walking back over to her bed, she sat down, letting her head fall into her hands. Damned if it didn’t feel good to have air in her lungs again, but she had to think about what this meant. Wes, on the other hand, was not content with her assurance of being fine.
“You’re okay?” he scoffed, and she could hear him sit down opposite her. “What the hell just happened, Dakota?” he demanded.
There was a rawness to his voice that she hadn’t heard before. She forced herself to look up at him, and he looked tense enough to shatter at the softest touch. He cleared his throat and looked away, running a hand down the back of his neck.
“Fuck,” he muttered under his breath. “I thought you were going to die right in front of me, and there was nothing I could do.”
“But you did do something,” she replied, reaching out to him without even thinking about it. “If I would have been here alone…” she trailed off, squeezing his hand before hurriedly pulling away.
Touching him was dangerous, especially now when her emotions were so close to the surface. Must have been the almost dying thing that got her feeling more vulnerable than ever. And Wes already had an uncanny ability to get her to open up in ways she never did.
“What was that thing?” Wes asked.
“A demon echo,” she replied. “They’re easier to summon than actual demons, but they have more limitations. They aren’t fully solid, for one, and they can’t stay in this realm for long. And they hate the light. Elias probably thought it was enough to get me out of the picture, though.”
Wes’ eyes widened.
“You think Elias did this?”
“Who else?” Dakota scoffed. “I confront him, and mere hours later, someone summons a demon echo to off me? Excuse me if that’s too much of a coincidence for me.”
“It is more than suspicious,” Wes agreed after a moment’s thought.
“So I guess it’s official. Elias wouldn’t have tried to kill me if he wasn’t using my father’s books for some fucked up shit,” Dakota sighed. “And it’s up to us to stop him.”
Eighteen
Wes
“I called the front desk pretending to be his secretary,” Dakota said, as soon as Wes got out of the bathroom. “Elias checked out this morning. He’s probably on his way back to New York as we speak.”
She was sitting behind the desk with her phone and laptop in front of her, one foot dangling off the chair and the other tucked under her, her hair damp and a purplish bruise around her neck, like a macabre necklace.
Wes had to admit, seeing the life being squeezed out of her by something he couldn’t even touch had terrified him. But it had also strengthened his resolve in being her partner. But it was no longer because he wanted to keep an eye on her. It was because he wanted to keep her safe.
The wolves in the pack had always had his back, and he knew they always would. But Dakota had no one like that. He couldn’t even imagine how lonely that must be. Now, though, he would make sure she could lean on him.
“Then we follow him,” he replied. “He’s not going to get away with this.”
Wes’ fists clenched just at the thought of Elias sending a goddamn demon echo or whatever the hell that thing was last night to hurt Dakota. And if Elias went to such extreme measures with Dakota, who knew what else he was capable of or who he was going to hurt next.
Clearly, the power of the books had gone to the man’s head. Or maybe he had been a dirtbag all along, even before the spells. Either way, Wes meant what he said – Elias was not going to get away with any of it.
“Following him might be a bit tricky,” Dakota said.
Wes walked over and sat opposite her, feeling a bit restless. Elias would get what’s coming to him, and Wes hoped it would be sooner rather than later.
“How so?” he asked.
“I don’t think Elias is just going to stop with one attempt,” she replied. “And who knows what his next move will be. If we get on a plane and a demon suddenly appears in the seat next to us…”
“That would be bad. Very bad,” Wes nodded.
“Yeah,” she leaned back in her chair. “Not only would we have nowhere to hide, we’d be stuck in a metal tube flying through the air with a bunch of innocent bystanders. I’d rather not have a plane crash on my conscience.”
“A road trip it is, then,” Wes sighed.
It would put them way behind Elias, and they wouldn’t even know if he was still in New York when they finally got there, but it didn’t seem like they had any other options.
We’re coming for you, Elias, you just wait.
Dakota had finally let Wes drive and was now sitting in the passenger seat, looking out the window. They would have to stop for gas soon, but Wes was determined to not take any more breaks than necessary. He could drive all night if he had to, but Elias needed to be stopped.
Not that he and Dakota had come up with a solid plan to actually get to the man. But they would worry about that when they were in New York. Right now, Wes was keeping his eyes and nose open, in case Elias had sent any more unwelcome guests their way.
“Did you tell your pack about what happened last night?” Dakota asked, still looking out the window.
“No,” he replied. “I told them we were now working together, though.”
“And how did they take that?”
“They trust my judgment,” Wes shrugged.
Tate had told him to stay on guard with Dakota after Wes had texted him an update, and while Wes appreciated his Alpha’s advice, Tate didn’t know Dakota the way he did. Tate didn’t have his wolf telling him she could be trusted. And Tate hadn’t seen Dakota almost die because she called out a man for using her father’s spell books.
“But they don’t trust me, I bet,” she replied, turning to give him a small smile. “I never even asked you… Do your parents live in Pinedale, too? One of them has to be a wolf, so…”
“No, they don’t live in Pinedale,” Wes replied, pursing his lips. “I don’t know where they live,” he added, not knowing how else to put it.
“Oh,” Dakota said quietly. “You don’t keep in touch then.”
“That would be difficult to do,” Wes shrugged. “Since I don’t know who they are.”
Just a touch of bitterness slipped into his tone, surprising Wes. He had thought he had put all that behind him, the wondering about his family, the anger toward them abandoning him… Yet now, it seemed to be creeping back up on him, after all these years.
“I’m sorry,” Dakota quickly said. “I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s fine,” Wes interjected. “You’ve been open with me, and I don’t mind talking about it.”
Trust was a two-way street, after all.
“So… You never knew them? Not even their names?” she gently prodded, angling herself toward him.
“Whoever they were, they dropped me off near the center of pack land and hightailed it out of there before anyone could see them. Tate’s dad was the Alpha back then. He could smell the intruders, and then heard me crying. Or so I’ve been told. They knew I was a wolf right away, so they decided to take me in.”
“I don’t even know what to say,” Dakota muttered. “Did Tate’s father raise you, then?”
“No, he had his own family to take care of, not to mention the pack to lead,” Wes shook his head. “I spent most of my childhood with an older couple, the Olsens. They gave me their name. But they passed away when I was nine. I stayed with different families after that, mostly because I was a handful. In the end, you could say the entire pack had a hand in raising me.”
It wasn’t something he liked to dwell on. Everyone in Pinedale knew he was different. Strong, fast, but just a little stronger, faster, sharper than his contemporaries. It all pointed to one thing, that he was an Alpha as well… but a pack only had one, so he was never going to be quite what he was perhaps meant to be.
Maybe that’s why it felt so good being on his own for a change, doing something he felt mattered.
From the corner of his eye, he could see Dakota staring at him, looking sad all of the sudden.
“So you never really had a family,” she said.
“I wouldn’t say that,” Wes chuckled. “The pack is my family. They gave me a place to belong, a spot of land to build my cabin on… They are my brothers and sisters. What more could an abandoned pup ask for? If my parents had left me with humans, they wouldn’t have known what to do with me.”
Dakota still looked slightly shocked at this revelation, and he could understand why. She had been so close with her dad, she probably couldn’t imagine someone not having that kind of a bond with a parent.
And yes, there had been a time where Wes had resented his birth family, and yearned to know more about his roots. But as the years went by, he realized it didn’t really matter where he come from. What mattered was being the best man he could be, and staying true to what he believed to be right.
“Don’t feel sorry for me, Dakota,” he said, glancing over at her. “I don’t.”
She gave him a lopsided smile, her eyes shiny.
“I’m lucky to have met you, Wes Olsen,” she said, making Wes raise a brow at her.
“Well,” he replied, “I did tell you you’d come to appreciate my company.”
Her laughter filled the car, making a grin spread over his face. And suddenly, he didn’t feel half-bad about having to make the long drive up to New York. Not when it gave him more time with Dakota.
Nineteen
Dakota
Resting her head against the window, Dakota watched the road stretch out in front of her while Wes drove. Her throat was still a little sore, and she wasn’t sure she’d ever feel safe falling asleep again, but at least she was still alive.
That was something.
Add to that, her mind was still swimming with the knowledge Wes had never had an actual family. He had his pack, sure, and Dakota had heard how strong that bond between shifters could be, but it wasn’t the same. A child deserved more than being bounced around different families all the time.
Dakota felt an unreasonable urge to wrap her arms around Wes and pull him into a hug, and to tell him how sorry she was he never got to know the kind of stability she had had in her childhood, that he never got to even find out where he came from… But she knew he wouldn
’t want her pity, nor did he need it.
It seemed Wes had put his past behind him already. He was really a remarkable man, funny and kind, almost as stubborn as she was… Not to mention she now owed her life to him, basically.
All that was a testament to what kind of man he was – to overcome how he started out in life had to have taken some great personal strength, in addition to his obvious physical prowess.
And speaking of that, Dakota was ashamed to admit tearing her eyes away from him was becoming an even bigger issue, the longer they were cooped up together. The inescapable attraction she felt toward him made her feel out of control, and that was something she wasn’t used to.
Maybe it’s the near-death experience that’s affecting me this way?
But she knew that wasn’t the case. This electricity between them had sparked into existence the moment they met on that hillside in Pinedale. And all they were doing by teaming up was feeding into it.
Trying to distract herself, Dakota got out her phone, and started searching for nearby gas stations. They were starting to run low on gas, and the next rest stop was hours away.
“I think there’s a gas station about a mile away,” she said, squinting at her screen.
“You think?” Wes asked.
“The pictures here make it look like it could be abandoned…” she trailed off, frowning at what looked like a gas station the soon-to-be-dead teenagers visited in every horror movie ever on their way to their demise.
She wasn’t that concerned about it, though. After coming face to face with demons, creepy buildings didn’t really scare her anymore. She tried to zoom in on the picture, but it disappeared altogether, replaced by an ever-rotating buffering wheel.
“Damn it, I’ve lost the signal,” she muttered, trying to refresh the page to no avail.
“We’ll see soon enough if it’s open or not,” Wes shrugged. “And I wouldn’t hope for the signal to come back any time soon,” he added, glancing out the window. “This is the middle of nowhere, after all.”