Click, clack. Click, clack.
She listened intently.
Her mind worked overtime trying to place the sound.
Click, clack. Click, clack.
The noise tugged at her brain.
I know that sound, but from where?
It sounded like…Piper walking in her kitchen.
Did he send a dog after her?
The urge to peek around the corner was great, but she kept her position and tightened her grip on her knives. Heavy pants came closer and closer. She would kill him and his dog.
Sorry pooch.
As soon as the dog rounded the corner she slit it with her knife, one time across the throat, cutting deep to reach its windpipe. She brought up her other knife and stuck it underneath its rib cage. The dog fell to its side. Blood poured from its throat and chest.
Meisha took steps away from the wall. Without the element of surprise on her side she didn’t want the asshole to pin her against it, lowering her chances of winning. She looked down the hall. Empty. She scanned the doors lining the hall. There were seven, which meant Fedir could’ve gone into any one of those to hide.
But why would he hide from me?
Just a few minutes ago he was hell-bent on raping her.
She could wait where she was, hoping he would come out and face her, or she could go back down the hall and help Lajos. But Fedir was probably waiting for her to do that. And when she walked past the door he was hiding behind, he would jump out and attack her.
The element of surprise. Just as she had done.
She looked down at the dog, dead at her feet, and frowned.
What kind of dog is this?
He was black and big…no, huge. He was some kind of Husky for sure. A big Husky. She and Lajos were going to have a hard time trying to move this thing’s body. Leaving it in the hall wasn’t an option. She couldn’t risk someone spotting a dead dog in an office building. That would be enough to start another investigation and she really didn’t need the cops coming back to dust for prints again. While she was smart enough to wear gloves, Lajos was not. His prints would be all over the place.
She cursed him under her breath.
She peered at the dog again.
Something was different. Was it changing? She swore it had longer and thicker hair. Now she could see the skin underneath. And the face. The snout wasn’t long anymore. It looked…almost human.
She stood and watched, dumbfounded, as the dog…changed. Her mouth went dry. Her heart slammed against her ribs and her breaths became uncontrolled.
The dog turned into a human.
The guy who’d been chasing her lay on his side, naked. It was Fedir. His throat gaped and he had a hole in his chest.
“Wh-what are you?” she whispered.
Her hands began to shake. The knives almost slipped from her grip. Heat swept across her body.
“Meisha!”
Lajos’ voice was distant and urgent, but she couldn’t pull her eyes from the anomaly at her feet.
How is this possible?
In the back of her mind she could hear Lajos walking toward her.
“I-I killed a dog,” she kept repeating, trying to convince her mind that the dead man at her feet was some kind of trick.
“You killed a wolf.”
She looked up to find Lajos next to her. He put a hand on hers, pushing the knife that she held down to her side. She let him do the same to the other.
“A wolf?” she asked, confusion overtaking her brain. She looked back down at the man. “But…”
Lajos took a deep breath. “He was a wolf shifter.”
Wolf shifter?
Her head began to swim, making her dizzy. This type of thing doesn’t happen in real life.
“We need to get rid of the body,” he said.
“I-I don’t believe you.” She looked up at him. “W-Where is his friend?”
“He jumped from the office window. I wanted to go after him, but I couldn’t leave you here with Fedir. I didn’t want you to get hurt.”
She indicated with her hand at Fedir. “Is his friend one of these too?”
“Yes.”
“Oh my God, the Yaruzi sent freaks after us,” she whispered.
He brushed past her. “They aren’t freaks.” He stepped over the dead man and crouched behind him.
She stared down at Fedir. Her and her family could get away from the Yaruzi—she’d trained most of her life in tactics geared toward escaping them—but this… She shook her head in disbelief. How would they escape from people like Fedir?
“He changed from a man to a wolf and back to a man again,” Meisha said, her voice sounded distant. “H-How was he—it able to do that?”
“He isn’t a freak and he’s not an ‘it’. He’s a shifter, particularly a wolf shifter.”
“I d-don’t believe you. W-why would I believe something as crazy at that?”
He leaned over and sniffed the guy’s hair. “Because I’m one too.”
Chapter Seven
He knew he probably shouldn’t have just laid the news on her like that. But damn was it worth it just to see the look on her face and render her speechless. He didn’t know Meisha well, but he was sure she wasn’t the kind of woman that could be made speechless easily.
While she stood with her mouth open, watching him, he inspected the shifter’s body for any pack tattoos. It wasn’t necessary to have a tattoo to identify your pack, since most could be identified by other means, but it was the twenty-first century and tattoos were all the rage now. This guy didn’t have any, and despite being able to usually place a shifter to their pack with one whiff, he still couldn’t, which would be genius on the part of whoever hired these shifters. If Lajos couldn’t place them, he’d have a harder time determining who they were working for.
He hooked his arm underneath Fedir’s arms. “I’m going to take the body downstairs. I’ll need you to clean up the blood while I do that.”
She opened and closed her mouth but no words came out.
“Meisha, snap out of it. I need your help.”
“B-but you’re one of them,” she said, staring at him in disbelief.
“Yes, I’m a shifter. I can change into a wolf.”
“You can do that?”
He nodded. “Yes, but we’ll have to save the questions for later. There’s a dead shifter in the middle of a hallway. I’d like to get him moved.”
She looked down at the body again and wavered on her feet. “Shouldn’t we call the police? I-It was self-defense.”
He shook his head. “No police. We can’t risk an autopsy. I’ll call my brother and get a security team down here right away. We handle our own affairs.”
He took one look at her and knew she was in no condition to cooperate. She was confused and scared. Now, he had no choice. He had to push his thoughts to her. He stood and looked her directly in the eyes.
Meisha. You never saw a wolf. It was just a man with long hair. He growled at you and you were so frightened that you thought he was some kind of animal. You killed him, a man—a member of the Russian mafia.
He had to give a good enough reason for Meisha not to want to pursue this madness anymore. Every human he knew was scared of the mafia, it didn’t matter which one, but if she somehow remembered the thick Russian accents that Alexei and Fedir spoke with, it would all make sense to her.
“Right,” she said, with a flat tone to her voice.
“Find a bathroom and get some paper towels. When you’re done, make sure to put all the soiled towels in a garbage bag and we’ll take that with us too.”
“Sure.”
He would’ve liked to spend more time with her, convincing her that everything was still right with the world, but he had to move quickly and get this mess cleaned up. He pulled Fedir down the hall, leaving Meisha where she stood, looking at the trail of blood between her and him. Lajos picked up Fedir’s clothes on the way, stuffing Fedir’s socks in the holes that Meisha had so expertly
put in him. At least now he wouldn’t leave a trail of blood down the stairs.
When she ran from the office his breath had caught in his throat. He knew for sure she was a goner. The plan to keep baiting Alexei for more information fell short against saving Meisha. He was worried that he’d taken too long and imagined her dead at Fedir’s hands. What he wasn’t expecting was to find her standing over the Russian shifter’s dead body, holding knives dripping with blood.
When he got to the stairs he lifted the body over his head and looked back at Meisha. She stared his way. Her eyes had that faraway look and weren’t really focused on anything. “I’ll come back up to help you.”
She nodded.
He kicked open the door leading to the stairs and went down them. It took him minutes to get down the stairs and outside. A cherry-red sports car was parked on the sidewalk near the front doors. One sniff and he knew it was the shifters’ car. He would have to drive it to a safe spot and wait for the clean-up team. His rental car was in a strip mall parking lot across the street and was safe for now. He opened the back door and tossed the body onto the seat and used Fedir’s clothes to cover him effectively. A naked dead guy lying on the back seat would definitely cause some alarm.
He made his way back to Meisha. She was on her knees with paper towels in her hands, scrubbing at the blood streak leading down the hall. Without a word, he went to the bathroom for more towels. He returned with wet soapy ones in hand and began helping her. They worked silently, cleaning up the mess and, before leaving, he stopped by Trudy’s office to right the mess he’d made there. When he exited, Meisha stood by the doors leading to the staircase, waiting for him, with garbage bag in hand.
“Are you going to be okay?” he asked as he walked toward her.
“Peachy.” She put a hand on her head and closed her eyes. He knew some of the fuzziness that she’d felt from the push was wearing off. In a minute of two she would be back to her old self.
“I have the body in the back seat of their car. I guess Alexei was in such a hurry to get away from here that he’d forgotten to take it.”
Her eyes were still distant and vacant. When she didn’t answer, he continued. “Follow behind me.”
In her state of mind he didn’t need her to trip and fall down the stairs. If she was behind him, then at least he’d be able to catch her.
She followed him down the stairs and out the front door. When they stepped out of the building, it was just in time to see the brake lights on the sports car light up.
“Shit!”
He ran toward the retreating car.
Too late. The car peeled out of the parking lot and onto the street.
Meisha ran up behind him. “What do we do now?”
“Now I get you back home and contact my brothers.”
“Why aren’t we going after him?”
Lajos looked toward her and found her eyes alive with vindictive fire.
Yep, she’s back to normal.
He raised his eyebrows. “We? There is no we. I’ll get my security team down here and we—my security team and I—will comb the city looking for Alexei.”
She shrugged nonchalantly. “You could do that. Or you could just call Enterprise Rent-A-Car and give them the license plate number and see what information they have.”
“Enterprise?”
“Yeah, I saw the sticker. And I have the license plate number too.” She tapped the side of her forehead.
“Tell it to me.”
“Only if you let me go with you.”
“Hell no.”
She handed him the garbage bag and turned and walked away. “Have fun scouring the city for that asshole. In the morning I’m going to Enterprise. Let’s see who catches him first.”
Shit.
“Let me call my brother first.”
She stood with arms crossed, as he dialed the number.
“Kristof,” he said when his brother answered the phone. “Meisha and I were just attacked at Trudy’s office.”
“Are you hurt?” Kristof asked.
“No, no. I’m fine. She killed one of the sh…men and the other got away.”
He flicked his gaze to Meisha. He’d almost made a blunder. She hadn’t moved, there wasn’t any sort of “ah hah” recognition written across her face. He’d have to watch his words around her so that he wouldn’t inadvertently jog her memory.
“What in the world are you doing with her?”
“I’ll tell you about that later.”
“You’ll have a lot of explaining to do. Andras wanted us to keep humans away, not bring more in.”
“I know, I know. I’ll dump her tonight,” Lajos said.
“Wait, hold up,” Meisha said, interrupting their conversation. “You’re not dumping anyone. I’m getting that motherfucker.”
Lajos turned away from her. He could deal with Meisha and her stubbornness later. “I was right, Trudy’s computer is gone. On the upside, Meisha was able to get the license plate number and I’ll be contacting the rental company as soon as they open in the morning. But I did find out something. Their names are Fedir and Alexei and they’re Russian. I’ll need you to see what you can find out about them. While you do that I’ll follow the rental car lead and keep in touch.”
“I’ll see what I can find. It might be hard though. The Russians have five different packs and they’re all secretive. They might not want to cooperate.”
“Just try.”
“I will. But I’ll have to do it from the home office. Without Trudy’s computer and with the shifters still out there, it’ll be safer to take her home and let her finish her work there.”
“That’s a good idea,” Lajos said. “When are you leaving?”
“I’ll call the pilot now and have them ready the plane. How about I send it back tomorrow with some help for you?”
“It’s just the one here now. I’m okay to handle Alexei on my own. I’ll call when I’m ready to go home.”
“Are you sure you don’t want me to send Hunter to you?”
Hunter was his cousin and, like his namesake, was one of the best hunters Lajos knew.
“No, this should be easy. I know who I’m looking for now. If my team comes that’ll only spook Alexei into leaving the city. I need him here, where I can get my hands on him.”
“Okay, your call. Keep safe.”
“You too.” Lajos disconnected the line.
“What did he say?” Meisha asked.
“My brother is getting Trudy out of the state. He’s going to take her to our headquarters in Michigan.”
Lajos knew Kristof was right when he said that Meisha shouldn’t be involved with any of this. Alexei had a read on her and would be out for blood. Shifters don’t take lightly to anyone killing one of their own.
“I’ll probably regret this, but it’s best if you come back to the hotel with me. Kristof and Trudy will be leaving soon and it’ll be vacant.”
She recoiled away from him. Actually recoiled. “Hell no. I’m not going to a hotel with you. What kind of girl do you take me for?”
His ego took a blow. His wolf flinched. “No?” he asked, bringing his brows together.
“No,” she said firmly. “I can take care of myself. I don’t need your help.”
“Meisha, you can’t be for real. That guy was Russian mafia. Who knows? He could have his comrades en route to track us down to kill us as we speak. It’s too dangerous for you to be out and about on your own.”
“Russian mafia?” she asked confused.
“Yeah, remember, I told you.” He frowned. He’d pushed correctly. She should still have the memory firmly implanted in her head. “They don’t work alone.”
“But you’re working alone.”
Lajos shook his head slowly. “I’m working with my business. My brother and I came here thinking we would get some vital information from Trudy and then Kristof was going to terminate her contract. This entire situation is becoming too dangerous to involve…um…civilians
.”
Lajos could almost see the wheels turning in her head. She didn’t want to give up so easily. So much for assuming she would be afraid of the Russian mafia.
“But…but I have to go after that guy. I have to stop him from telling the Yaruzi anything and make him pay for what he did to Trudy and Mark.”
He put his hands on her arms. “I told you, they aren’t part of the Yaruzi. Alexei is with the Russian mafia and they’re out to destroy Dark Wolf Enterprises. He’s probably been in touch with his mafia friends and by now they’ll know who you are and what you did. They’ll want revenge.”
Her eyes narrowed.
“Do you honestly think you can take down fifty to sixty Russians and their allies?”
Her eyes shifted to the right in thought.
Crap. He had to get her to see things his way. If she ever found out what he was about to do to her she would probably kill him—that’s if their paths ever crossed again. He’d just have to make sure that never happened.
Meisha, you will give me the license plate number, he began, pushing his thoughts into her head.
Chapter Eight
Lajos didn’t bother going back to the hotel. Since his plan to get Meisha to return with him failed, he’d no other choice but to send her home. He followed her in his rental, trailing behind her while she maneuvered through Friday night traffic, keeping close to her. He thought about pushing her to go back to his hotel, but he’d remembered about Piper. Plus, he didn’t trust Meisha to stay at the hotel once she was in complete control of her mind again. Never before had he expended this much energy to push sensible thoughts into someone.
She’d given up the license plate easily enough, but he met the most resistance when he told her to give up her pursuit of Alexei and get on her bike and go home. He had to keep pushing that thought onto her. When Kristof had convinced Trudy to return to his hotel with him, it appeared an easy feat. With Meisha, Lajos could tell that her mind was working hard to wrestle him for control. He’d never had this much resistance before.
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