by Wood, Vivian
He could see the girl strolling down the street about half a block ahead. She was holding a sleek black phone to her ear and frowning. If she was talking to someone, her voice was too soft for even Jace’s hypersensitive ears.
The girl had a tumble of blonde curls that complemented her pale skin and light eyes. She was small, but fleshed out in just the right spots.
She wore an eggplant-colored skirt, a white lace blouse, a yellow cardigan sweater, and simple yellow flats. Her outfit struck Jace as being very girlish, but it looked nice on her.
Jace had to admit that she was pleasant looking. Even if she hadn't smelled so wonderful, she would have caught his eye. That said, he would have dismissed her on the spot, just as he longed to do now. She was female, and helpless. Also rather self-absorbed, if her inattention to her surroundings was any clue.
So like a human. Pretty outside, brainless inside.
That’s why I don’t mess with human women, Jace thought. Even the Ascendants.
Jace scowled as he followed the girl. He couldn’t decide if he wished she would get off the phone and realize she had a follower. Perhaps he wanted her to stay on the phone and remain oblivious. It was possible that the other wolf would wait until the human was off the phone before attacking. They were not far off from the bustling part of Decatur St. There was a slim chance that the girl might make it without noticing her shadow. It was always better to let humans think they were the only species occupying their little world.
Jace scanned the street again. He searched for Jasper McDonough, alpha of the vicious Alabama Shifters pack. Word of mouth said that the Alabama pack were killers and rapists, to a man. Jace could only imagine that Jasper was the same as his malicious pack.
Like Jace, Jasper might have looked human, but they were definitely a breed apart. Jasper was said to be feral, and even surlier than Jace himself. At least he had been the last time they’d seen each other, many back by now. That meeting hadn’t gone too well. Jace didn’t think this one would go any better.
Where the hell is that crazy bastard hiding? I don’t want him creeping up on me, Jace thought.
Jace couldn’t see Jasper at the moment, but the other wolf’s scent was all around. Jace was concerned about Jasper blowing his lid, and not just because he stalked an Ascendant female. Jasper McDonough was no idiot, but his hot temper had led him to expose his nature to outsiders before. This wouldn’t be the first human Jasper’s pack had hurt, either.
That was not an acceptable outcome. Jace had been following the pheromone-laden trail of this female Ascendant for almost a week. He wasn’t about to let Jasper abduct the girl. As if stalking her somehow conferred a duty to protect the human? Jace had dibs, but in a creepy, pathetic way. He gritted his teeth.
Just make sure the human is fine, then get the hell out of here. The last trouble you need in your life right now is a female. Walk away the second you know the girl is safe, and let it go.
Jace didn’t know what had happened to the last female Jasper’s boys had scooped up. The details were no doubt grim. Dead, or maybe some kind of drugged-out groupie for the Mobile pack. In other words, the girl’s lifespan had been cut short.
That doomed girl wouldn’t be the first one taken, but Jace aimed for her to be the last. It was wrong to abduct someone against their will, of course. Over and above that, though, a big scene might draw unwanted heat down on the Shifter community.
And that’s something we definitely don’t need, he thought.
Humans could be vicious when they were scared, and they were worse in big groups. Jace knew that fact better than anyone. He pushed back the flood of images: fire, a child screaming, wolves howling in mourning.
Worry about the human. No time for thinking on the past, Jace scolded himself.
Jace jogged after the girl. She was now spitting angry words into her phone. He caught a flash of movement a block down, something moving fast.
Time had run out, and Jace wasn’t going to be able to prevent Jasper from reaching the girl. With the female between them, there wouldn’t be time for Jace to come up from behind. Jace would have to attack Jasper head-on.
“Sweetheart, I’ve been waiting for you!” Jace shouted. As the girl turned around he shot her a look.
Go along with it, he tried to tell her.
The second their eyes locked, Jace felt a soft but distinct tugging sensation in his chest. His wolf wanted to get closer to her, needed to get closer.
The blonde opened her luscious mouth and stammered a confused apology. Jace cut her off. He didn’t want to give her time to say the wrong thing.
“Come over here and give me a big kiss. I’m getting lonely over here,” he said.
Jasper was coming up on the girl fast. If he got a good hold on the her, it was all over.The foolish human scuttled backwards right into Jasper’s open arms.
Damnation.
Jace watched Jasper lean close to breathe in the girl’s heady scent, saw his pupils dilate in reaction. The blond giant gripped the Ascendant girl, an obvious internal struggle playing out over his face. It seemed that Jace wasn’t the only one affected by gorgeous Tessa Anderson. Unsurprising, but also not acceptable.
As the girl turned to look up at Jasper, Jace held his breath. Would she take one look at the other Shifter and just give up? Or worse, would she enjoy his embrace?
But no, now she was struggling a little. Trying to free herself. Too bad the girl’s instinct had led her astray; in this case a struggle would only fire Jasper up more. Any Shifter male would react that way.
Jace shouldn’t feel a flash of pleasure at her rejection of McDonough, even if it was just a gut reaction. The female was nothing to him, and he had bigger fish to fry.
“Your little game isn’t working, Copeland. The Ascendant doesn’t carry your mark or your scent. She doesn’t even seem to recognize you,” Jasper said, his voice taunting.
As he spoke to Jace, Jasper stared at Tessa. He loosened his grasp by the barest inch, and she broke away from him. She flashed Jace a pleading expression.
The girl was saying something, but Jace found himself distracted by her slender figure. A little late, but now she was attempting to go along with his lie. Jace sighed. He was running out of options, and fast.
“I claim her, McDonough,” Jace said, his voice flat and heavy.
A tingling rush swept through his body, the sensation of old magic stirring. He’d said the words, he’d invoked the charm, and now he’d see firsthand if it worked. He prayed that it wouldn’t, that it would turn out to be some myth.
Jace snapped back into reality. Jasper made a move to grab Tessa’s arm. Before Jace could intervene, the girl whipped around and smashed the heel of her hand into Jasper’s face. A nasty snap sounded, and Jace grinned.
Smart girl.
Tessa took off, her shoes clacking as she fled toward Decatur St. A long strip of boutiques and niche stores drew a large number of shoppers, and she sensed safety in numbers.
Jasper started to shift to his wolf form, and Jace mirrored him. They both watched her with hungry eyes as their bodies rippled and changed. The girl tripped on an irregular bit of pavement and went down hard, with little grace. Just as Jace’s shift ended, he saw that Jasper was on top of Tessa. Jace could tell that Jasper was trying to hold himself back, restrain himself from tearing into the girl’s warm flesh.
The blonde was panting with fear, and her scent hung in the air. She smelled sweet but clean, something altogether different. Jace shook himself, trying to focus on Jasper. Unfortunately, the female looked like she might faint at any moment.
Before Jasper could lose his control, Jace barreled into them both. Both males tumbled across the sidewalk, away from the girl.
For a couple of minutes, Jace and Jasper circled and fought hard. They were both pumped full of adrenaline from shifting, and now that adrenaline was pushing them to go for the throat.
The wolves were well matched. Jasper had an advantage with all his fig
hting experience, but Jace was faster. He was also willing to play dirty, if needs must.
A loud gunshot went off, and Jasper froze. Jace took the opportunity to take a chunk out of Jasper’s back leg. Jasper growled, but a second shot rang closer and kept him at bay. Jace took in the little old lady standing on the stoop of a cheesy voodoo shop with a huge shotgun, and decided to get moving. He grabbed the satchel he’d tossed to the side and bolted, before the storekeeper could get another shot off.
Jasper was streaking down the street ahead of him, trailing blood as he ran. Shifters needed to stay in their animal form to heal in the most efficient way, a kind of blessing. Jace figured he had a few hours to find the human and keep her from talking about what she’d seen.
If I don’t want to kill her, I’m going to have to find someplace to stash her, Jace thought.
There was no way Jace could bring a human female back to the Den, not to mention into his home. His human-hating sister would have a fit of epic proportions. Jace would have to take the woman to a safe house, which meant notifying his alpha.
Shaw is so not going to like this.
The alpha of Jace’s pack was no more a fan of human women that Jace was.
There was nothing for it. Jace could never kill an innocent human, no matter how inconvenient. She did smell amazing, which meant that her Ascendant potential was coming into bloom. The female would find herself drawn to his kind soon enough anyway.
It was safer if Jace brought her in now. Jasper wouldn’t be the wolf in his pack prowling the city, looking for females to drag home.
At least in the Louisiana pack, the human would have a choice of which wolf she wanted. Assuming Jace could figure how to take back his own spoken claim, that was. He’d figure it out sooner than later, he was certain. No way was he getting tied down in this mess.
For now, it was safer that Tessa remained under his claim. He’d figure out how to disentangle himself later.
Jace clenched his jaw and slipped into a shaded doorway to regain his human form. He opened his satchel and pulled on jeans and a t-shirt, then followed her scent across Decatur St.
A stray thought entered his mind, unwanted. He might not want the girl, but he wasn’t going to make it easy on any of his pack mates to claim her. A girl like that deserved a wolf that would protect and appreciate her.
He shook his head. He didn’t even know her. What did he know about the things she deserved? That macho alpha male need got him right in the gut, every damned time.
Steeling himself, Jace scowled. All he had to do was keep his hands off her long enough for her to choose another wolf. She’d become a distant memory, and he would be free to pursue… someone, anyone else.
Angry at his own thoughts, Jace trotted toward the café where the girl had vanished. He had to catch up with the gorgeous but troublesome Ascendant female. Better that Jace find her before anyone else.
Chapter Three
Tessa skidded to a halt in front of a busy coffee shop, using the glass door as a mirror to look for her pursuer. Her heart hammered in her chest, her breath came in shallow pants. Though she’d thought James’s talk of demons and werewolves insane, now there was no way to deny their existence. The two men had changed their forms right in front of her eyes.
Across the street, a tall figure came into view. Tessa breathed a quick sigh of relief before pushing the door open and entering the coffee shop. Instead of getting in line for a drink, she wove her way through the tables toward the back door. She exited the building onto a quiet patio, seating herself at a table facing the building.
Use your weakness to your advantage, James had advised her on the drive to New Orleans. Shifters are macho to the extreme, so the lady in distress hook pulls them in every time.
Tessa dropped her purse to the ground and buried her face in her hands. She didn’t have to pretend to be distressed. She had only to replay scenes from the last two weeks of her life. She imagined Camilla bound and gagged in some abandoned warehouse, a knife pressed against her throat. Tessa’d managed to lead her little sister right into the Legion’s snare.
She squared her shoulders. Defeat was not an option. She’d screwed up and gotten them into this mess. She could damn well get Camilla out of it.
Tessa reached in her purse and pulled out the cell phone James had given her. Camilla’s photo was splashed across the screen, her defiant face making Tessa’s heart ache.
Just as tears threatened to spill down her face, the patio door opened. Tessa dropped the phone in her purse and looked up, trying to look surprised that one of the men had found her. Her eyes narrowed on the man now entering the patio, and for a second she feared it was the blond man, McDonough.
But no. The man who stepped outside, eyes seeking her form, was not Jasper McDonough.
This man, though… this was definitely Jace Copeland.
Copeland was as big as McDonough, but his build was less dense. Jace was muscular but lean, with wavy pecan-colored hair and chocolaty brown eyes. Dark jeans clung tightly to his muscular legs. He wore a heavy black leather motorcycle jacket over a white cotton shirt that emphasized his pecs and fit, flat abs. Shiny, blue-black Doc Martens hugged his big feet, completing his dangerous look. Intricate tattoos twined up his arms to disappear under the sleeves of his t-shirt. He strolled onto the patio with a swagger that announced that he was bigger, bossier, and more dangerous than everyone else.
He was more than just intimidating. He was also the most gorgeous man Tessa had ever seen in person. He looked even more gruff and sexy than his photo had indicated, which seemed impossible. Not to mention unfair.
She had the strongest urge to walk over and touch his face, to check whether he was real or just a fantasy.
That impulse reminded Tessa that he was even more dangerous than she’d expected. Tessa understood men like Jace Copeland, knew that they took what they wanted without a second thought. Tessa wasn’t about to sacrifice herself to his ego.
The spray canister of animal tranquilizer James had given her was still in her pocket, unused. She slipped her hand into her pocket to grasp it, ready to fire if the werewolf came too close.
The man raised his hands, making it clear that he was no threat.
“I just want to make sure you’re okay,” he said. His gaze raked down her body and back up again, assessing.
Tessa was unsure how to reply. Should she fake an injury? She didn’t want him calling the authorities. James had promised painful repercussions if Tessa somehow alerted the police.
“Miss?” Copeland asked again, a hint of worry in his tone.
“Er. Sorry. I’m a little shaken up, I think,” Tessa replied. That much was true. Tessa looked up Jace Copeland, resolving to try to avoid outright lies. If the Legion’s sources were to be believed, these creatures could smell a lie.
“Can I sit down?” the man asked.
“Okay.”
The man settled in the green plastic chair across from Tessa, dwarfing it with his size. He looked uncomfortable, but said nothing. Tessa was too busy trying to take in a few deep breaths to calm herself.
“So, about those big dogs. They got loose from the animal shelter down the street-” Copeland started a rote recitation, explaining away his own impossible existence.
Tessa coughed, cutting Copeland off mid-sentence. She struggled for a full breath before speaking.
“That’s what you’re going with? You breed giant dogs right here in the city, and sometimes they escape?”
Jace paused, taken aback.
“Excuse me?” he asked.
Tessa leaned back, hugging herself as she surveyed the man.
“Don’t spin that yarn for my sake, Mr… what was your name?” Tessa asked.
“Jace will do,” the man replied. He leaned back and crossed his arms, mirroring Tessa’s position. His eyes narrowed with suspicion, if not outright distaste.
“I’m sorry,” Tessa said, softening her tone. “I was trying to be funny. It’s bad mome
nt for humor. What I mean to say is that I’ve run into that blond gentleman before, and I know he’s more than meets the eye.”
Not a lie, to be exact. She had met McDonough before. Earlier in the week, at a popular Magazine Street bar. The fact that Tessa had arranged the chance meeting did not bear mentioning. She'd followed McDonough in from the street, ordered a drink, and spilled it in his lap.
She’d used all her best flirting techniques on McDonough, but she’d given him the cold shoulder at the end of the night. Tessa knew how to make her suitors take notice.
It didn’t hurt that the Legion had given Tessa a lot of info about werewolves. It helped knowing that they were all alpha male personalities on steroids. Know thine enemy and all that, she supposed.
Copeland studied her for a several moments. Then he gave her a slow nod.
“All right, then,” he asked, his tone gone icy. “Since you don’t need my little story about the dogs, how about you tell me who you are?”
“I don’t like to share that kind of information with strangers,” she said. She kept her tone brisk, words clipped. Giving a dangerous man too many words was like giving the hangman too much rope.
A tic pulsed in the man’s jaw.
“What can you share? What do you have to hide? I’m not sure what you think you know, little girl, but I’m willing to bet it’s a big heap of nothing much,” he said, spitting the words like poison.
“I know that big blond creep has been following me around for a while. I know that something isn’t right with him; he’s a little mental. I also know I just watched him change into a giant wolf. I watch True Blood. I can put two and two together,” she said. All true.
“Besides,” Tessa continued. “I’m not worried. You don’t look all that scary to me.”
That part might be a tiny white lie.