Filthy Wolf

by Liza Street

  “How do you know?” Cassie asked, looking pointedly at his right arm and the space where his hand should have been. “If you and I aren’t compatible—and probably we’re not, because I like my men whole—well, there are plenty of other guys in there, right?”

  Sounds came from the trees—Lena and Grant running toward him and Cassie. Thank fuck. Imagine being trapped in here with someone like Cassie. The Junkyard was bad enough as it was.

  Looking over at them, Cassie sighed. “I could do it, you know. Step right over that line.”

  Grant and Lena reached them and Grant said to Cassie, “My mate was tied up and would have been gravely harmed if I hadn’t been able to save her. There are good guys in here, like Marcus, and there are some really, really bad ones.”

  “Exactly,” Cassie said, smiling and taking a step forward.

  Lena grabbed one of her arms, Grant grabbed the other one. Marcus was ready to block her from this side, but there was only so much he could do to keep her out.

  “You need to let me go! I need to find my mate!” Cassie yelled.

  Just then, Barnum came around the edge of the boulder nearest the pond. He was a giant with brown hair and eyes that didn’t seem to hold any depth or any real emotion.

  Marcus pointed to him. “How about this guy? You want him for a mate?”

  “Fuck yeah,” Barnum said, hurrying over to the boundary line. “Come in here, baby. I can take care of you.”

  He grabbed his crotch and leered, and Cassie’s eyes bugged out. She shook her head and allowed Lena and Grant to pull her back another few steps.

  “See?” Marcus said to her. He could have hugged Barnum for showing up right then.

  “Come on,” Grant said to Cassie. “Let’s go meet Caitlyn.”

  Cassie and Grant walked away, and Lena faced Marcus and Barnum.

  “Sorry,” Lena said.

  “Yeah, me too,” Barnum said. “She looked like a good time.”

  Lena sneered. “You’re disgusting.”

  “Get out of here, Barnum,” Marcus said.

  Shrugging, Barnum ambled off, muttering about assholes and bitches. Which made this just like any other Tuesday.

  “What were you thinking?” Marcus said to Lena.

  “I was thinking that you need someone,” Lena said, folding her arms across her chest.

  Un-fucking-believable. “I don’t need anybody.”

  “But you could get out, if you found a mate,” Lena said. “I mean, obviously not Cassie. But someone else. And you could’ve been nicer to Cassie from the start.”

  “Okay, first,” Marcus said, “has it ever occurred to you that maybe I should stay in here? That my alpha put me in this place for a reason?”

  “Yeah, but I know you,” Lena said.

  “And second, I don’t want a mate. There is no one in this world for me. So thanks for thinking of me, but don’t do this again.”

  She wore a stubborn look, and her blue eyes flashed. “Marcus Bylund, you need to get free of that attitude. No, you absolutely should not stay in the Junkyard, and yes, there is a woman out there for you.”

  There was no sense arguing with her; she’d never see reason. “Okay, thanks, Lena.”

  He turned to go.

  “Marcus, don’t you dare dismiss me like that and walk off.”

  Whirling to face her, he glared right back into her blue eyes. “What do you want me to say, Lena? I believe what I believe. I’d thought there might be someone for me, but I was wrong. So let it go.”

  He didn’t tell her that the person he’d thought might be for him, was her.

  “Fine.” She put her hands at her hips. “Are you going to write back to Marianne?”

  He looked down at the note from Marianne still clutched in his hand; he’d forgotten about it. “Yeah.”

  He’d brought a pen with him and took it from his pocket to clumsily write out a message with his left hand. He was getting better at writing left-handed, but it still wasn’t pretty. That was okay, though, because Lena would type the message into an email, anyway. As long as Lena could read it to transcribe it, his handwriting was good enough.

  Marianne’s message wasn’t long. She mostly wanted to know when she could come to visit Marcus. Never, Marcus thought, although the idea of never seeing his half-sister again made his chest hurt.

  Things are too dangerous here, he wrote. I’ll let Lena know when you can come. I miss you too, sis. He hadn’t saved her from one monster only to have her put at risk from others. And he could imagine several different scenarios in which the Junkyard shifters tried to get her over the boundary line. He knew how resourceful some of them could be. They’d tricked Caitlyn into the territory earlier in the year.

  Then again, maybe no tricking was necessary—Cassie and the Junkyard Groupies would waltz over voluntarily if given half a chance.

  “Marcus,” Lena said as he folded up the note. “Really. Are you okay?”

  “I’m good,” he said.

  She wrinkled her nose, as if trying to scent a lie, but I’m good was true enough to pass. Happy? No. But alive and surviving? That was good.

  The note passed easily through the invisible wall, and Lena took it.

  “Thanks for letting me stay in touch with Marianne,” he said.

  “Of course.”

  He couldn’t handle the idea of watching Lena walk away, so he turned around first and made his way back to his cabin.

  Lena was probably watching him go, so he kept his steps upbeat, lying through body language. Only when he was safe in the trees did he allow his shoulders to fall and his steps to slow.

  3

  Jessica leaned up against her bed with her notebook, while Blythe sat at Jessica’s desk with a notebook of her own. While Jessica had no interest in becoming an author, she found she didn’t mind working away on a scene if she had company. Blythe’s dedication was inspiring…plus, Blythe wasn’t interested in talking right now, anyway. Jessica had no choice but to work.

  Staring at her scribbled-on notebook page, Jessica added a few words to the bottom.

  Charlize realized, in that moment, that she was absolutely head over heels in love with Leonardo. It didn’t matter that he was a vampire. All that mattered was that they were together.

  It was a bit over-the-top, but at least she was on a roll. She was really thinking about love, something she hadn’t allowed herself to consider since her freshman year of college. She also knew she had a habit of naming characters after famous movie stars, but she could change the names later if she needed to.

  The pull she felt to Leonardo was all-encompassing and overpowering. It was as if a rope had wrapped itself firmly around her heart and tied itself to his heart. And with every breath she took, the rope shortened, the knots growing tighter and tighter.

  Scribbling out the part about the rope, she changed it to, It was as if she was a redwood tree, and he was the sun, and her entire body yearned to stretch up and up so she could bathe in his light.

  Jessica rather liked that. Anything to do with plants, that was her jam.

  She had to be with him. There was no other option.

  The cabin door burst open, and Jessica squeaked in surprise.

  Silhouetted by the late afternoon sunlight was none other than Professor Chaole.

  Now there was a good villain for Jessica’s story.

  With her pin-thin eyebrows angling downward, Chaole surveyed the room, her blond bun shaking with her movements. Jessica surveyed the room, too, seeing it with new eyes. Jessica’s clothes were strewn everywhere, along with six coffee mugs she’d taken from the kitchen and not yet returned. Three notebooks lay on the floor, one of them open to an ink caricature of Chaole that Jessica had sketched during yesterday’s workshop session. Jessica was no artist, but the giant bun and teensy eyebrows were a dead giveaway.

  And Blythe sat camped out at Jessica’s desk, the bottle of tequila next to her with a shot glass.

  Jessica’s mouth fell open in ho
rror and she met Blythe’s gaze.

  They were in deep, deep shit.

  “It’s not what it looks like—” Jessica began.

  “Blythe,” Chaole said, her voice a hiss, “pack your things. You’ll leave tomorrow morning. Your scholarship is hereby revoked.”

  No, that wasn’t fair at all. Blythe hadn’t done anything wrong. At least, no more than Jessica had.

  “Please, Professor,” Blythe said. “I know I’ve made a mistake, but we’re actually working right now—”

  “The rules are clear. We work alone other than during workshop sessions. We do not drink. I should have guessed a woman with your background would sneak alcohol into the program.”

  “Okay, hold on a minute,” Jessica said, standing up. “I don’t know what the hell that’s supposed to mean about her background, but you can’t talk to people like this.”

  Chaole’s eyes flashed. “I suggest you stay out of this, Ms. Valdez.”

  Jessica had spent her teenage and college years following directions, doing as she was told, and staying out of things that weren’t her business. And she’d had about enough of that.

  “If you make Blythe leave,” Jessica said, “I’m going with her.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Chaole marched over to the desk and picked up the tequila. She looked down her nose at Blythe.

  Blythe lowered her eyes and closed her notebook, her hands shaking.

  This was outrageously unfair. They were grown-ass adults. Jessica was tired of being treated like a child. She’d come here to convince her parents to stop hounding her about being an author, but she didn’t even owe them that much, honestly.

  Chaole continued to glare at Blythe. “Blythe Reimberg, your scholarship is revoked and you will be leaving in the morning. Jessica Valdez, you are free to do whatever you want, but I would recommend against associating with the wrong people.”

  “The wrong people?” Jessica said, incredulous. “This isn’t just about us working in the same room or having alcohol on the premises, is it? It’s about Blythe and whatever judgments you’re making about her background.”

  Chaole didn’t respond, but Jessica could read the truth in Chaole’s mean little eyes.

  “Your behavior is despicable, not ours. I’ll pack my things.” Jessica walked up to Chaole and took the tequila from her hand. “And I’m taking my liquor with me.”

  She didn’t wait to see what Chaole did; she simply began gathering her clothes and notebooks.

  After several long moments of tense quiet broken only by Chaole’s heavy breathing, Chaole turned around and stormed from the room.

  Blythe stood frozen next to Jessica’s desk, her posture defeated.

  Jessica put down her backpack and immediately went to Blythe. “You okay?”

  Blythe shook her head. “You don’t really have to leave, you know.”

  “Yes, I really do,” Jessica said. “I refuse to be a part of a program that hires an elitist asshole like Chaole. Fuck this place. Go get your things and meet me back here. We’ll hike out now and I’ll call for a ride as soon as we get cell reception, okay?”

  Jessica might be disappointing her parents by not becoming a bestselling author like they wanted her to be, but she knew they’d be proud of her for at least being a decent human being.

  The trail had long since disappeared, so Jessica climbed up on a big rock to try for a better view of their surroundings.

  “It’s going to be dark soon,” Blythe pointed out.

  “Yeah. Ugh, I’m sorry for dragging you out here. We should’ve waited for Chaole to call for our transportation.” Jessica could hear her mother’s admonition. You need to think before acting. Have a plan, work the plan. “This is my fault.”

  “No, I was more than ready to be out of that place,” Blythe said. “I would’ve left tonight, on my own. At least now we have each other.”

  Jessica pointed to the west, where sunlight reflected off of water. “I see Cougar Lake over there. If we follow along the shore, I bet we pick up a hiking trail that’ll take us to a trailhead. And cars. And cell reception.”

  “Okay,” Blythe said. “To the lake.”

  It didn’t take long to reach it, and Blythe gave Jessica a high-five.

  “So we’ll just circle until we find a trail, sound good?” Jessica asked her.

  “Yeah. Let’s do this.”

  By the time they reached the shore, it was dusk, and Jessica was beginning to think this had been a terrible idea. “We’re not going to find a trail in the dark like this.”

  “There’s this gravel line,” Blythe said, stepping over it.

  “True,” Jessica said, following her footsteps. “Looks like our best bet, but it would be easy to lose in the dark.”

  “Yeah.” Blythe sighed and sat down on a long flat rock. “I say we try to get comfortable for the night and then find our way in the morning.”

  It was the best option, so Jessica took a pair of pants from her pack and laid them on the ground. Blythe did the same. Thank goodness it was summer. They might not have the most comfortable night, but at least they wouldn’t freeze.

  Jessica sat on her makeshift bed and looked out at the lake. “So, here we are. Free.”

  Blythe snorted. “Yep.”

  “And…now what?”

  “Now, I tell you that you’re a fantastic human being.” Blythe tapped her chin. “And you break out the tequila.”

  “Ooh.” Jessica found the bottle in her pack. “I mean, it makes sense. To keep warm, right?”

  Blythe laughed. “Something like that.”

  They took turns sipping the tequila and talked long past darkness had completely fallen. Jessica’s sides hurt from laughing so hard.

  “Nobody’s ever given a shit about me, really,” Blythe said, “so I meant it when I said you’re a fantastic human being.”

  “Being decent doesn’t make me fantastic.” Jessica bumped her shoulder into Blythe’s.

  Blythe bumped her shoulder back. “Well, anyway. Thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “And on that note,” Blythe said, “I have to pee. Be right back.”

  “Don’t go far,” Jessica said.

  “I won’t.”

  Jessica listened to her retreating footsteps and the noise of brush as Blythe pushed through it. She hoped the elevation was too high for poison oak, because that was the last thing either of them needed when they got back to civilization. She swore she could get a poison oak rash just from looking at the plant from far away.

  A drop landed on her forehead. She looked up, and several more drops fell on her face. The gentle sound of rain falling on the lake reached her ears, too. Dammit. Rain, really?

  And Blythe seemed to be taking a long time for a pee break.

  “Blythe?”

  She waited, listening. Blythe wasn’t the type who would jump out and scare her. It wouldn’t be funny at all right now when they were out here on their own.

  “Blythe? Please just say something so I know you’re okay.”

  She wasn’t sure what possessed her to put on her hiking pack, but she loaded it onto her shoulders. It made her feel bigger, which was nice right now when she was feeling so small.

  “Seriously, let me know you’re okay,” she said again.

  The only response was the raindrops hitting the trees and lake. Jessica put her shoulders back. She wasn’t going to let a single crappy night get her down.

  But what if Blythe had tripped in the darkness and hit her head? She’d need help sooner rather than later.

  No more waiting. Jessica had to find her. She tucked her tequila into her pack. Should she bring Jessica’s pack, too? It would weigh her down too much, she decided. They could come back for it later. And hopefully all that had happened was Blythe got a little turned around in the dark.

  Tightening her pack straps, Jessica strode into the trees in the direction she’d heard Blythe go.

  The good thing was that the trees helpe
d shelter her from the rain. The bad thing was that it was darker underneath them.

  “Blythe?” Jessica called. “Are you back here?”

  No response.

  And then she heard the low growl coming from behind her.

  She had to have imagined the sound. Because being lost and alone in the woods while it was raining was already bad enough. Adding aggressive wild animals to the mix was too much. The universe wouldn’t give her that, too.

  Would it?

  It would not, she decided as she moved farther into the trees. Yet as her boots sank into the soft earth with every step, she couldn’t help but feel as if something was watching her.

  She picked up her pace. “It’s just my imagination,” she muttered. “I’m imagining creepy things because I’m stuck in the creepy woods.” Louder, she said, “Blythe! Where are you?”

  The growl returned.

  She hadn’t imagined it.

  Something was here with her. Something that wasn’t just growling, but giving big, huffing breaths.

  Turning, Jessica saw dark eyes and sharp teeth, bared and waiting to strike.

  Not knowing what else to do, she ran.

  4

  Marcus cleaned his fish, unbothered by the darkness or the rain. He’d caught a couple of good ones just before the sun went down, and he was looking forward to a feast.

  He’d mostly been able to put the weird interaction with the Junkyard groupie out of his mind, but a part of him couldn’t help but wonder how the hell anyone would manage to really keep the groupies out. Would the alphas and witches who’d constructed this place do something about the risk to other shifters—shifters who might try to get into the Junkyard on purpose because they didn’t know just how dangerous this place was?

  Running footsteps reached his ears, muffled by the rainfall. Probably Jase or Ronan getting their nightly exercise.

  Marcus set down the fish he was working on to take a sip from his flask. The flask used to be Carter’s, but Marcus had essentially taken over everything that Carter had left behind, including the cabin Carter had built smack in the middle of the Junkyard.

  The moonshine in the flask was getting a little low. He’d soon have to visit Ephraimson, who made it in the back of an old truck. Maybe he could pay Ephraimson in fresh fish.