Turning slowly, he kept Kendra in his arms and curled his leg over hers. He didn’t know how long he could hold off making love to her. He knew if she asked, if she invited it to happen, that he’d take her up on the offer. That scared him, too. Once they mated, she was his for life. He knew she wouldn’t understand that side of him, especially with what had happened with her ex-husband.
The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He opened his eyes and lifted his head to sniff at the air. Someone was walking through the alley, humming under his breath. Darius narrowed his eyes on the back of Kendra’s yard. If anyone came through or dared to step foot on her lawn, he didn’t like to think what he would do. The humming stopped.
Darius heard the sound of four paws running. The man in the alley whispered, “Shit!” His slow steps became harried as he ran, gravel spitting up and dropping to the earth.
“Matthew,” Darius grumbled, shaking his head. That was a dangerous game to play—chasing people down dark alleys. Not everyone would mistake him for a dog. It was a dumb way to get killed. He’d have to have a talk with his packmate in the morning. Matthew had a lot to learn. He was still young and rebellious. They couldn’t afford to be discovered, and wolves living in suburbia would not be a welcomed reintroduction of the species. It was easy enough for a wolf to get hit by a car. They didn’t need shotguns here. Not like the ranchers I’ve crossed paths with.
Kendra mumbled in her sleep. He kissed her forehead and settled back into the closeness she offered, drifting into his dreams.
Chapter Seven
Kendra shimmied out of his arms and stretched her hands high. It was cold and early in the morning. She hadn’t expected to fall asleep when she invited Darius in the night before, but she was glad she did. She hadn’t slept so well in ages. Last night, there were no nightmares, no waking up panicked. “Hey,” she said, gently shaking his arm.
He looked at her, blinking. “Mmm, good morning.”
“Sleep all right?”
Darius smiled. “Yeah.”
“Hate to run, but I have to get ready for work.” She looked at her watch. “Kids will be there in forty minutes.”
He rolled off the chair and rubbed his eyes. “Want to meet for lunch?”
“Yeah, I’d like that. Twelve thirty. We can go out if we don’t go too far. I can meet you at the school office. She handed him a little note card with sunflowers across the bottom. That’s got my cell number if you need to get a hold of me.”
“Sounds like a plan.” He grabbed hold of her and hugged Kendra tight. “I better get to work, too.”
She hugged him back and followed him through the house to see him out the front door. The leaves on the lawn were worse than the day before. She needed to rake, but there wasn’t enough time.
Kendra locked the doors and headed for the shower. She got ready in record time. As she was grabbing up her papers, she noticed the light flashing on her answering machine. She pushed the button. The machine played that same eerie breathing from the morning before. The display said Unknown Number, and the time was 7:15, the same time she had gotten the call yesterday. A chill swept down her spine. Kendra had been stalked enough to have a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She snatched up her papers, tossed them in her bag, and headed for the door. Peering out the peephole, she made sure there wasn’t anything amiss. A few leaves fluttered down to the ground. No other movement. Nothing suspicious.
Maybe the call is just a wrong number . . . twice . . . at the same time two mornings in a row.
She had changed her name twice, moved far enough away that she didn’t think Jack would find her here. There was nothing to lead him to her. She’d covered her tracks well enough. Kendra unlocked the door and stepped out. Taking a deep breath, she relished the cool, crisp air. As she sprinted to her car, each leaf that crunched beneath her shoes made her cringe. She tried to shake the feeling that someone was watching her. It was probably nothing. She set the key in the car door and turned it.
More leaves crackled. She spun to see the big dog from the other night staring at her through the bushes, its face barely covered by the hedge leaves. “Shoo,” she said.
The dog lowered its big, shaggy head, staring at her with strangely knowing gold-brown eyes. It wasn’t afraid or wearing a collar as far as she could tell. Despite what Darius had said, she thought she ought to call animal control. The dog could be vicious. It shouldn’t be wandering around the neighborhood.
“Shoo!” She stomped her foot.
It took a tentative step forward on long, gangly legs. Ears flattened and then lifted. Kendra opened the car door and jumped inside, but her bag snagged on the door before she could shut it, and a few papers spilled out onto the driveway. The dog had strolled right up to her by then.
She reached down to snatch up the papers.
Its tail wagged. A soft whine made her pause. Maybe it isn’t dangerous. She’d had a little dog a long time ago as a child. Even though this one was huge, he looked like maybe he wanted to play. She stuffed the papers into her bag.
Second-guessing herself and knowing if the dog bit her it would be her own stupid mistake, she held her hand out. A cool nose nuzzled her skin. The dog sniffed, and then ran its face alongside her wrist before jumping back, as if startled.
“It’s okay,” she said softly. “I won’t hurt you.” She wondered if it would be there when she came home. If so, maybe it wanted to stay. A dog isn’t a bad idea, easy protection. “If you’re here when I come back, I’ll get you something to eat.”
Its ears pricked. But then the dog looked back at the bushes, hesitating. Before she could say anything else, it bounded back the way it had come.
She snapped her door shut and set off to work, thinking about Darius. She couldn’t get him off her mind and was surprised he hadn’t tried something more the night before. The drive to school was short. She parked in the teachers’ lot and gathered up her belongings. There was time to drop everything off in the classroom first. Past the familiar posters for student council and through the cafeteria, she cut across the buildings to her room. When she unlocked the door, she noticed that the janitor hadn’t cleaned up from the day before. That was odd. Must be sick, she thought.
Kendra set everything in the cabinet behind her desk and reached to turn on the light switch. Again, a wave of trepidation swept through her, this time stronger than before. “Stop this,” she whispered to herself. “You’re getting spooked over nothing.” Then she looked up at the chalkboard and read the familiar, scrawling cursive there:
Mrs. Jack Hastings.
She let out a gasp. Her heart felt like it had frozen inside her chest. He had been here—in her classroom. “Oh my God.”
She backed to the door, fumbling for the handle, unable to take her eyes off the writing. He’d found her. Jack had been in the building, maybe still was in the building. Her fingers closed over the cold metal. It turned. She spun and saw his face in the window, leering at her. He pushed the door into her body, throwing her backward in the room. She stumbled, and caught herself on the edge of a desk before she could fall.
“Hi, honey,” he muttered. “I’m home.”
Her scream died in her throat before she could even open her mouth. He looked so different—thinner, leaner, as if he’d been on the run for a long time. His dark blond hair was unkempt and overgrown. But what horrified her was that he was wearing the janitor’s uniform, complete with the school-issued name tag, his photo clumsily taped over Mr. Keenan’s.
Although she knew Jack was capable of violence, she didn’t think he would hurt someone other than her. Specks of blood on the lapel disproved her.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
He laughed under his breath. “I don’t care what kind of bullshit papers you signed, you’re my wife. There’s no getting out of that. Until death do us part, baby.”
His hands closed over her throat, choking off her windpipe. He was strong, so very strong. She struggled, but h
e had always been able to overpower her. “I’m gonna teach you a lesson,” he hissed between his teeth.
She knew the worst would happen if she passed out, but there was little she could do.
Chapter Eight
Darius opened the front door and shook his head as Matthew padded into the house. The wolf sauntered to the couch and jumped up onto the seat. Darius shut the door and set the locks. He faced his packmate and gave him a stern frown. “Why were you stalking people last night?”
Matthew cocked his head to one side as the change came over him. It was a slow progression of fur sinking into skin and flesh thickening, changing until a naked, tanned man sat on the couch instead of a wolf. He lay back and wriggled his toes. “People? There was only one.” He combed his fingers through his brown hair and half smiled. “People shouldn’t be wandering out in the alley at that hour. He had no business being there.”
“Was it a homeless person?” Darius stepped closer, asserting his authority.
“Doubt it. Smelled too clean. I’ve been following this one. He has a little black Honda that he parks at the end of the street in that house where the For Sale sign fell down.” Matthew looked away to avoid Darius’s domineering gaze.
“Maybe he bought the place.”
Matthew chewed his cheek for a time. “No, no. He never goes inside. Parks in the drive and writes in a little notebook.”
“Think he’s a private investigator?”
Matthew shook his head. He deftly changed the subject, a habit of his. “I like your girlfriend. Will you keep her?”
Darius waved his hand and turned, avoiding the question. “You want some coffee?”
“Always.” Matthew followed and went to sit in the office while Darius set the grounds to brewing. “Your girlfriend smells nice. She offered me her hand this morning even though she was afraid.”
Darius curled his upper lip in a snarl. “You stay away from her.”
With a petulant sniff, Matthew looked down at the floor. “She’s all yours. I was just being neighborly.”
He took out two coffee mugs. “She’s not our kind. I don’t think it can work out.”
Matthew huffed and pushed up from the chair. “I’m going to grab some shorts. You mind?”
“Help yourself.”
Darius knew what was coming, an argument, and it wasn’t going to go anywhere. Matthew returned wearing an old pair of Darius’s cutoffs. He settled in at the bar, staring at the wrought iron cross on the wall.
“Might as well say it,” Darius said.
Matthew raised an eyebrow. “I don’t know what you mean.”
He sighed and poured out the coffee, then pushed the sugar and milk toward his packmate. “Tell me I should stay with her even though she’s not our kind.”
Matthew dumped three spoons of sugar into his mug and stirred, a sly smirk barely subdued on his lips. “No sense telling you what you already know. Your father was human. It worked out. I just think you need to stop waiting for something that isn’t going to happen.”
Darius sipped at his black coffee, thinking. “But your parents were wolfen—like us.”
“And I haven’t seen them in years. God knows where they skulked off to. I think they were more wolf than human all along. I had a lot of lonely days in that abandoned house on Third.” He poured milk into his mug, his eyes wistful as he looked away. “You know, I’m not one to settle in, but I like this town. I like it a lot.” He smiled when he faced Darius. “I like your girl, too.” He stirred and grinned. “So, if you decide you don’t want her, that she’s not wolf enough for you—”
“Stop it,” Darius growled.
Matthew chuckled. “She’s the one.”
“I don’t know that.”
Matthew snorted. “You do know it. You won’t admit it, but you know.”
“I need a shower. Make yourself at home like you always do. I have to meet her for lunch.”
Matthew sniffed at his coffee, then drank back several large gulps. “Whatever you say, boss.”
Darius stalked out of the kitchen and headed for the bathroom, mulling over what his packmate had said. She wasn’t like him. He had lived so long being alone with what he was that he didn’t think it would be easy hiding his wolf side from Kendra. He wanted her to know him—all of him. He hated hiding, but time had made him an adept at it.
In the bathroom he stared at his reflection while the water heated up. He looked tired and haunted. Darius didn’t want to feel that way anymore. Moving his companions here was a step in a direction he had needed to head for. If this didn’t work out with Kendra, he decided he’d go back to the mountains this time and leave civilization behind. Shifting was a choice. Sure, there was the itch to change when the moon was full or when he heard others of his kind calling him to the hunt. But it was still a choice. He could choose to stay human—or to stay wolf if it came to that.
He stripped and stepped into the shower, letting the water wash away his worries. Darius soaped up and rinsed, shampooed his hair, and hurried through the motions, anxious for his lunch date. They still had a lot of getting to know each other to do before he could dare to share his secret.
When he sat down at his desk and clicked on his computer, a shiver ran down his spine. Darius shook it off and gave Matthew a sidelong glance.
“What?” His friend furrowed his eyebrows and frowned. “You said your house is mine. I’m hungry. Been a long night.” He dug into the eggs he’d cooked while Darius was in the shower.
“It’s not that.” Darius shook his head. “It’s nothing.” He typed on another research article he’d been working on for the last week, but the cold feeling that something was amiss kept niggling at him. He did a final proofread and e-mailed the document to his supervisor, glad that it was finished. By then, Matthew had cleaned up the kitchen and settled on the back porch, sunning himself like the animal he sometimes was.
Twelve thirty wasn’t coming around fast enough. Darius paced in the front room, back and forth so many times he lost count—until he snatched up his keys and left. He’d rather wait by the school. He got in his truck and drove down the street, thinking of the way her lips felt against his mouth, the way her small body fit against his and made him feel like he was strong, able to protect her. Matthew was right. He felt it for her—that undeniable need, lust, longing that a wolf feels for his soul mate. He needed to know if she felt that for him. Kendra’s prior marriage scared the hell out of him. Wolves mated for life. Divorce wasn’t an option.
Flashing red lights greeted him in the parking lot. Three police cars were in front of the school’s office. Again the cold shiver ran through him, this time stronger than before. He pulled in and turned off the engine. His senses fired off. His ears picked up every little sound—a child crying from behind the paned glass in a classroom, a teacher trying to soothe her. He hurried his pace, heading for the office. It was early yet, but he didn’t like the looks of what was going on. When he reached the door, he found it locked. Two policemen were in the office talking to an older lady with delicate-looking glasses. One of the officers turned and started for him.
He didn’t push open the door but said, “School’s on lockdown, sir.”
Darius pondered lying for a moment, anything to get him inside, but the look in the policeman’s eyes told him he wasn’t getting in there. He nodded and backed away, sniffing the air for any trace of her.
He smelled blood, not as fresh as a recent kill, but fresh enough. Darius returned to his truck, nervous now. He drove slowly through the parking lot and passed the blue metal Dumpsters. Next to them he saw tire marks. He rolled down his window and sniffed at the air, taking in the smell of burned rubber. Those were fresh. Someone had peeled out there not too long ago.
He saw Kendra’s car parked in a lot at the rear of the school. Although everything said she had to be in there, he knew she wasn’t. He reached down and found his cell. He punched in her number, impatient to hear her voice, to know his instincts were
wrong. Seven rings and then her voice broke over the line.
“Hi. This is Miss Billings. I can’t answer your call right now, but leave a message and . . .”
He hung up and drove around the entire school. If he were in wolf form, his hackles would have been raised. His eyes narrowed as he made his way back home. Something wasn’t right. The guy in the alley late in the evenings, the strange car parked at the end of the street. Maybe Matthew’s nosiness was nosing for a reason.
He resisted the urge to speed, but couldn’t get to their street fast enough. When he turned the corner and drove past the corner house, he saw the car Matthew had told him about. And the For Sale sign lying in the grass. It hadn’t fallen. Darius knew Realtors slammed those signs deep into the ground. Someone had surely knocked it down on purpose. He scanned the windows and door but saw nothing amiss. His window was still down. He breathed deep and smelled it, that telltale coppery scent of blood
Darius pulled over and turned off the engine. As he stepped out of the truck, he began to doubt himself. What if the guy here was innocent? What if the blood he smelled was there for a legitimate reason? He took a calming breath and walked up the driveway. Smeared across the left taillight of the black Honda was evidence. The blood. Still wet and red with a few bits of string stuck to it. He knelt and narrowed his eyes. Yarn, like carpet bits. And he could smell Kendra’s sweet perfume. He stood straight and squared his shoulders. Darius started for the front door, determined for answers.
Chapter Nine
Kendra stared into the darkness. She couldn’t move, and the rug from her classroom floor that Jack must’ve wrapped her in after she passed out smelled dusty and gross. She took shallow breaths, fearful that, if she breathed in too much, she’d sneeze and he’d figure out that she had come to. Her neck hurt from where he had choked her. Her skin itched from the rug. She imagined he must have lugged her out of the school with ease. They would have thought he was taking the rug out to be cleaned.
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