This was getting better by the second.
Lucas held his mouth shut and growled from deep in his chest. It had the sound of thunder, perhaps enough to snap anyone out of a murderous plan. The man looked toward the woods for a second.
“Who’s there?” he called out. “I have a gun. I’ll kill you.”
The man took a step and Lucas had to expose himself. As he came into view, even in the darkness, it would be shocking to anyone who saw him. The woman let out a small shriek, perhaps stuck between deciding how she wanted to die - by bullet or beast. Lucas continued to take steps, moving toward the road. The gun was pointed at him but he wasn’t worried about it. There weren’t many bullets that could find their way through his fur, his skin, and into his body to hurt and kill him. Judging by the size of the handgun in the man’s hand, the bullet - or bullets - wouldn’t do a thing.
“Stop right there,” the man cried out. “I’ll shoot.”
Lucas growled. He slowly opened his mouth and bared his fangs. He was just a few steps way from attacking. He had no intention to actually kill the man, he just simply wanted to keep the woman from being shot to death.
“Leah, say something,” the man commanded. “Get its attention. So I can shoot it.”
Lucas glanced at the woman. She just stared at him. She looked in awe, in fear, even in hope.
“Leah!” the man yelled. “You stupid bitch!”
Lucas sprang into action. He’d had enough of this guy. He front paws came off the ground and he tightened every muscle in his chest, leaving his mouth open and teeth exposed hoping to speak for themselves. The man did go into a panic. He turned and started to move, firing the gun over and over. A bullet nicked Lucas in his left shoulder, stinging for a second, but he didn’t care. He watched the man get into the car. When he looked in the mirror, Lucas put his front paws on the trunk of the car and let out a louder growl. The car then took off, speeding up the road and turning around fast. Lucas stood next the woman on the ground making sure she would be protected. The car sped by again and was gone for good.
That’s when Lucas looked down at the woman.
“Please,” she whispered. “Please, please, please…”
Lucas jumped over her, hurrying back into the woods. He shifted back into human form and stood, naked. He could see the woman climbing to her feet, her eyes on the trees.
“It’s okay,” Lucas called out. “You’re safe now.”
“Who is that?”
“My name is Lucas. I know your name is Leah. I’m not going to hurt you.”
“Are you… were you… that?” Leah asked.
She was obviously afraid to even consider the idea of saying wolf or thinking that Lucas could be both man and wolf.
“I am the one who just saved you,” Lucas said. “Now I can protect you, but I need you to listen to me carefully.”
Lucas watched the woman standing. She had a hoodie and jeans on. Her hair was pretty much a mess, yet she was beautiful. The smell of her skin, even at a distance, started to drive Lucas’s heart wild.
Leah looked around and Lucas gave her time to make her decision. She could try and walk away, or even run away, and Lucas would let her be. As much as he hungered for her body, he would never harm her.
“Will you listen to me?” Lucas asked. “I don’t have time right now.”
“What do I do?” Leah asked.
“You stay right there. You don’t move an inch. You’re going to hear the sound of a motorcycle approaching in a few minutes. Don’t be afraid, it’s just me. I’ll keep you safe, Leah. But you have to trust me. Do you trust me?”
“What if Richie comes back?” Leah asked. “He’s drunk and has a gun. I’ve never seen him like this.”
“Do you trust me?” Lucas called out, getting annoyed. He thought about Cooper, Ian, and Zayne back with the mauled bodies. They needed to get the bodies burned and soon.
“I… I can’t walk home from here,” Leah said.
“Then tell me you trust me,” Lucas commanded.
“I trust you,” Leah said. “I trust you. I’ll wait right here for you. Okay?”
“Stay put.”
Lucas turned and jumped into the air. Before he landed, he was back to wolf form. His paws hit with hard thuds, pulling himself with intense muscle, creating a lightening fast speed as he made it through the woods. When he made it to the pile of clothes he left behind, he shifted back to human and dressed himself.
Cooper, Ian, and Zayne were down by the bikes, relaxing and enjoying the calm, cool evening.
Lucas walked to them and got on his bike.
“Give me ten minutes and burn those bodies,” Lucas said. “I have to take care of something.”
“What did you do back there?” Ian asked. “Heard gunshots. We were going to come looking…”
“It’s okay,” Lucas said. “Nobody ended up dead.”
“Thankfully,” Cooper said. “No more blood.”
“Yeah, right,” Lucas said. He put his helmet on and fired up his bike. “Like I said, ten minutes.”
Lucas rode away from the scene. The call of the engine, the smoothness of the road, he tried to match the speed he could run, but there was no matching the speed of a beast. It was pretty damn close though, which was why Lucas loved the motorcycle. It was the closest thing to feeling as free as when he shifted.
He move down around a sharp bend and when he saw the figure of Leah in the near distance, he smiled. She had listened. She had obeyed his order. For all Lucas knew, Leah could have had a cell phone on her and called for help. Called for a friend. Called for police. Called the local paper to report a man who could change into wolf and save people.
That was the last thing Full Moon Mercy needed.
If Vince were there, he would have been pissed as it was. There were plenty of unspoken rules within the club that excluded helping, enjoying, and being with humans. The rules were sketchy and rarely followed, but Lucas knew one thing, he wasn’t just planning on taking Leah to safety and leaving it at that.
Lucas pulled up to Leah and looked at her.
“Get on,” he said.
“I’m supposed to leave with a stranger?” she asked.
Lucas unclipped his bucket helmet and handed it out to her. “Take this and get on the bike. I don’t have time.”
Leah looked over her shoulders. She wasn’t stupid and Lucas picked up on that already. She knew something was going on around her, and maybe she was intrigued, or maybe she didn’t want to believe in anything happening.
Lucas reached out and took Leah by the hand and pulled her toward him. “Look at me, Leah.”
Her eyes were beautiful and brown. They were wide, sexy and full of fear. Lucas licked his lips, battling the urges between man and beast. He couldn’t help but wonder what her skin tasted like, with his human tongue and his wolf teeth.
“I have a couple guys in my crew not too far from here,” Lucas said. “They’re handling something that nobody’s allowed to see or know about. If you stay here, you might know something you shouldn’t. You know what happens to people who put their nose in business where they don’t belong?”
“What?” Leah asked.
“They get fed to the wolves,” Lucas said and laughed.
Leah looked at Lucas’s hand and then to the helmet in his other hand. She slowly took the helmet and put it on. Lucas patted the open spot behind him on his motorcycle.
“Where are we going?” Leah asked.
“That’s for me to decide,” Lucas said. “But if you want to do something, you can start with a simple thanks.” Lucas looked over his shoulder at Leah. “I’m pretty sure that guy was going to put a bullet or two into you.”
Leah touched Lucas’s sides, gripping his leather jacket. “Yeah, he was going to kill me. Then himself.”
“How romantic.”
“How sick.”
“To each their own, babe.”
Leah swallowed. “Thanks.”
Lucas
looked forward and started to ride.
The truth was he knew what he wanted to do with Leah, but he wasn’t sure what he should do.
6
“Here, take them up a little more,” Cooper said and pointed.
“Is there a clearing?” Zayne asked.
“What about the blood?” Ian asked. “There’s going to be a trail.”
“Get on your knees,” Cooper said and laughed. “Start licking.”
“Fuck off,” Ian said. He reached down and grabbed the first guy by his non bloody shoulder and started to drag him.
Zayne took the other guy by his ankle and started to follow Ian. The bodies slid along the ground with a scraping sound of rocks, sticks, dirt and the grass trying to create resistance. They moved up the mountain a little more while Cooper hung back. He went to his bike and opened a leather bag on the back of his motorcycle. He had matches, lighter fluid, a couple knives, and two guns. All for the taking because you just never knew what you’d run into on the open road. Especially in Mercy.
Cooper looked around and had the feeling he was being watched. It made his body flex, almost wishing someone or something would try and attack him. He was tired of whatever the hell was going out around town. He’d worked hard to be in the club and he wouldn’t let anything get in the way of that. Not a couple dead guys up in the mountains.
He joined Ian and Zayne where they had a clearing and a shallow grave already dug. The bodies were placed face down, victim one on top of victim two.
“They look like they’re banging each other,” Zayne pointed out.
“Really?” Cooper asked. “That’s what you’re thinking about right now?”
“Just pointing something out.”
“Here,” Cooper said. “Light them up.”
Zayne poured the lighter fluid and struck a match. The three of them then stood back and watched the flames rise up into the air. As the fire tore through flesh and bone, they all inhaled the smell of it. Cooper found his mouth damn near watering. He looked at Ian and saw him with his back to the fire. Zayne, however, lingered closer and closer as though he were going to reach in and grab something. Cooper grabbed Zayne’s leather jacket and pulled at him.
“Calm yourself, bro. They’ve got other blood in them. You don’t want to taste that shit.”
“Let’s get out of here,” Zayne said.
“Can’t until it’s ash,” Cooper said.
It took almost an hour before Cooper felt confident enough to leave. They filled in the grave, mixing the ash with the dirt, covering everything up the best they could. The bodies could be easily found with the right senses. The three men got on their motorcycles, fired them up, and started down the mountain.
A minute into their drive, they watched as an old rusted tow truck with one headlight drove past them.
That would take care of the car. And that would be the end of the night.
7
Lucas rode back down into Mercy but he didn’t go to the club. He couldn’t go to the club right away, not with Leah on the back of his bike. He’d need to go eventually and talk with Vince and the guys about what had happened and what they intended to do. But right now, Lucas had other problems to take care of. He’d done some pretty stupid shit so far that night, and the way his mind raced, it felt like things were going to get crazier.
He needed to know if he could actually trust Leah or not.
A normal woman would have went running and screaming when she saw a wolf, let alone a massive werewolf. A sane woman would have called for help or ran when Lucas told her to stay while he got his motorcycle. Yet Leah remained loyal for no reason.
He needed to know why, and he needed to figure out a way to settle this night once and for all. His intentions had been to go for a goddamn ride through the dark streets, inhaling the air, licking the wind and the scent of all those around him before retreating to the club to find some nightly comfort.
The last thing he needed was a woman on the back of his bike with her hands slowly inching their way around his waist more and more. By the time Lucas pulled over, his mind was spinning. He killed the engine and waited for Leah to climb off. He did the same and leaned against a guardrail, staring at her.
“Why were you up there with a guy and a gun?” he asked. There was no time for pleasant chat. Lucas needed to figure out what to do with this woman, and right away.
“It’s my business.”
“Yeah, well now it’s mine.”
“I’m fine,” Leah said. “I got away from him.”
“You didn’t get away from him,” Lucas said and laughed. “I made sure he went away.”
“So, you were that… thing?”
“I’m not going to talk about this right now,” Lucas said. “I want to know what you were doing up there. People have been getting hurt up on that mountain. The reason why I was moving so fast, Leah, was because… there were two dead bodies in the woods.”
Leah gasped. “Dead?”
Lucas shot forward and took Leah’s arms. “You can’t say a thing, Leah. Nobody is supposed to know about it. My buddies and I… let’s just say we called the proper authorities and they’re taking care of it. That’s why I moved so fast. That’s why I needed you off that mountain.”
“You were worried about me?” Leah asked.
A glimmer came to her eyes, one that made Lucas’s body run warm. He knew that look. In fact, he hoped to see that exact same look from a woman tonight. But not under these circumstances and maybe not even from Leah. She had too much potential and implication to be the kind of woman that would still be there in the morning… and Lucas didn’t need that, and it bothered him.
“I was worried,” Lucas said. “I heard a scream and then I come to find a woman falling from a car and a man coming after her with a gun. Explain.”
Leah blinked, the look in her not changing. The urges running through Lucas were becoming rampant. So much he could do to her – satisfy her, pleasure her endlessly, end her life…
“That guy was just a friend,” Leah said. “Maybe more of a boyfriend, I don’t know. He helped me kill time. That’s all.”
“Kill time?”
“Yes, kill time. I work at Mercy Falls. My job revolves around watching the elderly slip away. I have nothing outside that place, and Richie provides a little excitement in life.”
“A gun to your head?”
“He’s never done that before,” Leah said. “He picked me up and wanted to go for a ride. So I went. He was drunk. I thought he wanted to park and jump into the backseat. He had other things in mind.”
“Jump into the backseat,” Lucas said. Anger flourished in his veins, picturing Leah with another man. He couldn’t stop seeing her nude body being touched by someone else. He wanted to kill someone. “Is that what you do, Leah?”
“What does it matter to you?” she asked.
Lucas let Leah go. He ran his fingers through his hair. “Because it does. Did I just save someone in need, or did I just save a whore?”
Leah jumped at Lucas and slapped him across the face. The sting went away within a second or two but Lucas kept his head turned. He had two options. The first would be to turn into a wolf and give Leah a scare she would never forget. He licked the very corner of his mouth and tasted blood. His second option…
Lucas looked at Leah and stepped toward her. His body touched hers, his hands touching her hips. Before anyone could say a word, he kissed Leah. He pressed his lips hard to hers. When Leah seemed like she wanted to back away, Lucas used one hand against the small of her back to hold her in place. He parted his lips and savored the taste of Leah’s tongue. He tasted her mouth, but only for a few seconds, before breaking the kiss. Anything more and Lucas wouldn’t be able to control himself. He’d end up right there on the ground in an empty parking lot in the middle of Mercy.
As he stared at Leah, his hands still touched her, keeping her close.
“I just want to know if he’s dangerous,” Lucas said.
<
br /> “I don’t think so,” Leah said. “He’ll probably never call me again. He probably thinks I’m dead.”
“He’s never hurt you before?”
“I didn’t say that. I said he never pulled a gun on me before.”
“He’s hurt you?” Lucas asked. “How?”
“How do you think?”
“He hit you?”
Leah’s eyes shied away from Lucas. That was all the answer Lucas needed to hear. He couldn’t and wouldn’t leave Leah alone tonight. If he did and that asshole went to her place with a gun to finish the job, the guilt would be on him.
Lucas moved away from Leah and walked a few steps, thinking. In reality he should talk to Vince and figure out something to do. Leah could go home. They could place a couple guys at her place to spend the night circling the block, keeping the Full Moon Mercy presence known. Leah would be safe. Lucas would be tempted. It would be a true balance with the world.
“You have to spend the night with me,” Lucas said with his back to Leah. “There’s no choice.”
“I… Lucas…”
“You have to realize something right now,” Lucas said. “You must obey what I say. You don’t understand who I am or what you’re about to be involved with. If you don’t want to obey me, then I’ll take you home. I can’t protect you if you’re home.” Lucas turned and walked to his motorcycle. He straddled it and looked at Leah. “Do you understand me, Leah?”
Leah looked hesitant, and rightfully so. She had every right to question everything Lucas said, but Lucas wasn’t going to shift just to impress her or prove any thing to her. That’s not what it was for. Vince had preached to Lucas many times of it being a gift, something Lucas wasn’t exactly sure was true or not. Either way, Lucas sat on the motorcycle and waited for Leah to make her decision.
She came to the bike and put her hand down on Lucas’s hand. “I said I trusted you to come get me, and you did. So I trust you now.”
“Good.”
“Will you answer one thing for me?” Leah asked.
“Probably not,” Lucas said.
The Secret Wolf (A Full Moon Mercy Novel) (shifter / MC romance) Page 3