Lethal Attraction

by D. M. Turner

  “Good boy. You remember.”

  “I remember that, but I don’t know you from before tonight.” Yet her scent was familiar. Why?

  “Ah, don’t disappoint me. Surely you remember our fabulous night together.” She stepped close enough that her body touched him.

  He tensed and straightened, lifting his head. Arousal and disgust warred within him. There was no denying the effect her heat had on him, but she wasn’t the one his heart yearned for. “I’ve never spent a night with you.”

  “Of course, you have.” Her eyelashes swept down and then up, revealing the light brown eyes of her wolf. She raised a finger to trail it down the buttons from his collar to the middle of his chest.

  He forced himself not to flinch.

  A pout touched her mouth. “I was so sure you’d remember me. After all, it’s not every night someone shares such a wonderful gift with you.”

  “Gift?” Jeremy frowned. Was the woman completely whacked or what? “What gift?”

  “The wolf, of course.”

  His brow tightened. Then realization jolted him. “You? You’re the one who Turned me!”

  “Very good boy.” That fingertip caressed his jaw and chin.

  “What do you want? Why are you looking for me now? It’s been over ten years.”

  “You were one of a handful I discovered during that time. You were the hardest to find, since you were a very bad boy and moved away after medical school.”

  “A handful? You Turned others?”

  “Hm.” She nodded and walked around him.

  Jeremy forced himself to stare straight ahead, not liking her behind him but unwilling to let her think he feared her.

  “Two doctors, not counting you, a couple of lawyers, a CPA. Six total that summer. Oops. I guess that’s more than a handful.”

  “What do you want?”

  “Just… to borrow you temporarily.” She leaned against him, nuzzling his throat.

  He frowned and resisted the urge to growl. “What?”

  “The others proved disappointing. I hope you won’t disappoint me.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I’ve searched far and wide for some forty years for a suitable mate to give me a child. So far, they’ve all failed.”

  Is she serious? Jeremy shook his head. I must have misunderstood. “You’re looking for a mate?”

  “Yes.”

  “Sorry, lady, but I’m spoken for.” The woman was nuts. No-holds-barred, call-the-paddy-wagon nuts. Not a doubt in his mind.

  “If you’re talking about the human I smell on you, she only needs to share you for a bit.”

  “I’m a one-woman man.”

  She stepped back as though he’d slapped her. “You can’t be serious! She’s a human.” She snapped the last word as though it were a vile curse.

  “I’m quite serious.”

  The she-wolf snorted and shook her head. “The others were more than happy to oblige. I only asked for a few days of their life.”

  “Then perhaps you should track one of them down for another go of it. You’re not getting anything from me.”

  “They failed. I have no use for them.”

  “Failed?” Jeremy frowned in confusion, then suspicion filled in the blanks. “You didn’t get pregnant.”

  “No.”

  “You’ve had how many mates in forty years?”

  “Who keeps count of such things?” She waved her hand in a careless flip. “It’s irrelevant. Males are ridiculously infertile. I’ve been searching for one that can actually get the job done.”

  “It seems to me you’re the problem, not them. With that many men in your life, you should’ve gotten pregnant long before now. The fact you haven’t suggests you’re the infertile one.”

  “No.” She hissed, baring her teeth, more like a cat than a wolf. “I’m just fine! It’s the men who are worthless.”

  “Why haven’t you bedded a human male? They’re bound to be more fertile. They reproduce more easily than they’d like sometimes.”

  “Humans.” She snarled again. “They’re weak and even more useless than male wolves. They break far too easily.”

  That didn’t sound good in the least. He’d have to call Ian, let him know a new wolf was in town and highly unstable from all appearances.

  “You owe me.”

  “What?” She had to be joking. “For what?”

  “The gift I gave you. You’re stronger than you were before you met me.”

  “I’m also a monster that has to be carefully controlled or I might hurt someone.” He stepped back. “You need to go back to wherever you came from. Leave me alone. I’m already mated.” Even if it was only in his heart, no doubt existed that he was. Ian had been right from the get-go.

  A low growl rumbled through her chest. “She can’t have you. You’re mine first!”

  “No, I’m not. I decide that, not you. My choice is made.” He lifted his head and stared her down, his wolf wavering between disgusted determination and trembling in fear. “Stay away from me.”

  She snarled, flipped about on her heel, and marched into the night.

  Jeremy listened in case she returned, but footsteps faded into the distance and didn’t return. He quickly unlocked his car, got in, started the engine, and headed home before she could change her mind.

  What a nutcase.

  He’d definitely better call Ian.

  Chapter 10

  Gentle Care Medical Clinic

  Friday, June 9, 2017

  Jeremy made notes on the patient chart and handed it to Sherry on the other side of the counter. He snapped his pen and shoved it into his breast pocket.

  “So, Dr. Richardson, did you have a good evening last night?” Callie leaned on the counter next to him with a wide grin.

  “As a matter of fact, I did.” At least, until the end, but she didn’t need to know about that.

  “Glad to hear it.” She accepted a file from Sherry for an arriving patient. “I bet you’ll be even happier than the rest of us to have Annie back in office on Monday.”

  Sherry picked up the ringing phone.

  He grinned and deigned not to answer.

  “Callie? Dr. Richardson? Have either of you spoken with Annie this morning?”

  “No.” He shook his head and frowned.

  “Me either.” Callie shook her head. “Why?”

  “I’ve got Terry from the other office on the phone. Annie hasn’t shown up for work, and she never called.”

  “That’s not like her.” Jeremy scowled. Uneasiness crawled up his spine.

  “No, it’s not.”

  “Have they tried calling her?”

  “Yes, at home and on her cell. She’s not picking up either one.”

  “Suppose she’s too sick to answer?” Callie’s concern compounded his.

  Another phone rang. Jeremy recognized the ring and yanked his cell out of his pocket. The name on the screen was a relief. He hit the button to answer it. “Hey, Annie, where are you? Everyone’s worried.”

  “Sorry, honey bunches, but it’s not Miss Annie.”

  The voice on the other end made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end. He bit his tongue to keep his mouth shut. Callie and Sherry both stared at him.

  “Don’t worry. She’s in one piece. For now. As long as you do as you’re told.”

  “And that is?”

  “There’s an old factory off in the woods northwest of town. Do you know it?”

  “I think so, yeah.” The abandoned facility had been there for a while. Ian had taken the pack there one winter to hike, in human form of course, so they wouldn’t get too complacent always running the same ground. He’d made a game out of it, hiding small items for them to find in the old factory and the surrounding terrain.

  “Be there in ten minutes, or Miss Annie will have an accident I’m afraid she won’t survive.” The faux concern in the she-wolf’s voice rolled his stomach and pushed bile into his throat.

 
; “I’ll be there as soon as I can.” He glanced at his watch to mark time.

  “Don’t be late.” She didn’t wait for a response.

  Jeremy shoved the phone into a pocket of his slacks. “Tell Terry that Annie had a personal emergency, and shift my appointments to the others for the rest of the day. I have to go be with her.”

  “Is there anything we can do to help?” Callie laid a hand on his forearm.

  “Pray.” He ran to his office, barely sidestepping a patient who suddenly emerged from one of the exam rooms. “Sorry.” He tossed his lab coat on his desk, grabbed his keys, and bolted for the front door.

  Seconds later, he pulled onto the street and hit the speed dial button for Max’s personal office line.

  “This is Max.”

  “Max, it’s Jeremy. I just had a phone call. I’m sure Ian already called you about my visitor last night?”

  “Yeah, she sounds totally whacked.”

  “She is, and she has Annie.”

  “What? How’d that happen?”

  “I don’t know. I didn’t ask. I need you to do me a favor. I’m on my way to meet them at the old factory northwest of town. Remember, the one Ian took us to for that scavenger hunt a while back?”

  “Yeah, sure, I remember the place.”

  “Can you get hold of Ian, tell him what’s happened and where I’m headed? I could use some backup.”

  “Is this something I can help with?”

  “Unfortunately, no. This she-wolf is at least as dominant as I am, probably more.” Given his wolf’s fear the night before… and the fact Max was less dominant than Jeremy… better not to risk it.

  “I’ll call Ian right away.”

  “Thanks.”

  Jeremy hit the button to cut off the call and tossed the phone onto the passenger seat. He disposed of his tie next, followed by his watch, and unbuttoned his shirt in case he needed to get out of it quickly. The thought of a fight left a bitter taste in his mouth, but if it came down to that or losing Annie, he’d kill every werewolf on the continent or die trying. Whatever it took to keep her safe.

  By the time the factory came into view at the end of a long dirt road that wound through the forest, Jeremy had moved from scared right into angry. What business did that she-wolf have dragging Annie into things? He’d made his feelings clear. Taking Annie, threatening her, wouldn’t change his mind. If anything, it just made him all the more determined to stand his ground. Even if he could hold his stomach long enough to touch her, he wasn’t about to risk producing a child with such a headcase. No child deserved that.

  A big truck sat out front with massive dents to the front bumper, grill, and hood, as well as the windshield where it had hit something head-on. She’d run him over?

  He got out of the car, ripped off his shirt, tossed it into the car, slammed the door, and headed for the building, nostrils flared to catch scents that might come his way. Readily picking up Annie’s, along with the she-wolf’s, he followed them.

  Footsteps echoed off bare concrete, brick, and steel. In a warehouse-sized room, he stopped and smelled the air.

  Annie’s scent led him deeper into the room and toward one of the back corners. Then he detected something else. Blood. He growled.

  “Don’t worry, my love. She’s not dead, and I kept my promise. She’s still in one piece. Mostly.”

  Jeremy narrowed his eyes.

  The she-wolf’s form separated from the darkness in the corner.

  He moved closer then saw Annie.

  She sat in a chair, bound by the looks of her arms. Her abdomen had been torn open. Blood ran down the chair legs, pooling on the floor.

  Oh, God, no…. “What have you done?”

  “I haven’t Turned her, if that’s what you mean.” She snarled. “I wouldn’t give such a gift to the competition.”

  Jeremy closed the distance quickly.

  “Wait!” The she-wolf stepped between him and his target. “First, you have to do something for me.” She untied the belt of a robe and dropped the garment to the floor. She wore nothing under it.

  “Don’t do it, Jeremy!”

  “Shut up!” The she-wolf slapped Annie across the face, knocking over the chair she was bound to.

  Annie grunted in pain as she hit the floor.

  Furious at the abuse of his mate and repulsed by unwanted advances, he kept his eyes firmly on her face. “Do you honestly think I’d so much as touch you after what you’ve done?”

  “If you want your human to live, you’ll do as you’re told.”

  “Go back to one of your willing bed partners. I’m not interested. Even if I was, I won’t betray the woman I love.”

  She cocked her head, then a malicious smile curved her lips, and she turned her gaze on Annie. “Miss Annie, did your lover tell you I had him first? We had a wonderful time together.”

  “Liar!” He snarled, baring his teeth. “You attacked me while I was hiking and Turned me without my consent. I never laid a hand on you other than trying to defend myself. Don’t try to make her think anything else happened.”

  “But it’s such a sweet memory.”

  “Maybe for you. There’s nothing sweet about it from my perspective.”

  She tsked him then glanced at Annie again. “He’s never learned to appreciate the gift I gave him. How sad is that?”

  “It’s not a gift. It’s a curse!”

  “No, my love. It’s a fabulous gift. Strength, health, longevity.” She chuckled and shrugged. “Well, assuming you don’t disappoint me like the others.”

  A shiver skittered up his spine. “You killed them, didn’t you?”

  “No one disappoints me and gets away with it.”

  “Why did you try to kill me last week?”

  She frowned. “I knew I should’ve ditched that truck.” Sighing theatrically, she raised both hands out to her sides. “I admit it. I was jealous. I’d seen the two of you together. I didn’t intend to kill you though.”

  Jeremy barked a short, humorless laugh. “So? What? You ran me over as punishment for being with another woman?” And revealed his secret to that woman in the process. The irony of that was almost painful. “You’re crazy!” He shoved her out of his way and marched toward Annie.

  “Stop!”

  Claws and fur struck his back, knocking him to his hands and knees. The sting down the length of his back told him her claws had dug in and ripped flesh.

  She planted herself between him and Annie, growling.

  He called forth the Shift. No one would stand between him and his mate. Especially not an insane murderer. He shook once to rid himself of the rest of his clothes and closed on her. When she didn’t back down, he growled and bared his teeth.

  She responded in kind then leapt for him.

  Jeremy sidestepped her attack and latched into her shoulder with his teeth.

  She yelped and tried to shake him off. Only by wrenching herself from his teeth did she finally break free. That left a large, gaping wound, which immediately began to heal.

  He slammed into her, trying to throw her off balance.

  She whirled to one side, her hips hitting his shoulder.

  Thrown off-kilter, he stumbled but remained on his feet.

  Teeth and bodies clashed. Jeremy tried to make short work of the fight, worried about Annie, but the she-wolf wouldn’t go down. She kept coming back strong. None of her injuries seemed to slow her down.

  A frightened whimper from across the room distracted him for just a moment. It was enough.

  The she-wolf hit him with the full force of speed and weight.

  He flew against the wall, his head connecting with a hard thud. Bone gave way in his skull with a decisive crack, and he crumpled to the floor.

  The world rocked and swirled, reminding him of a bad drunk he’d had in pre-med that had made him swear off liquor. As he struggled to get his feet under him, the she-wolf moved away, headed straight for Annie.

  Jeremy growled and whined all in one
breath, helpless to intervene.

  Chapter 11

  A large gray mass flew out of nowhere, slamming into the side of the she-wolf before she could reach her target, throwing her several yards across the floor.

  Jeremy shook his head, wobbly just lifting his head off the battered concrete. Ian? He blinked. No. Brett Mitchell. The pack’s second-in-command. Defender and enforcer, one of their strongest warriors.

  The she-wolf had bitten off way more than she could chew. She’d never defeat Brett.

  A hand on his side made him flinch. He rolled his eyes to the side to see who dared to touch him. Kelly. Brett’s mate.

  “Easy, Jeremy.” Her hands were as gentle as her voice as she ran them over him, checking his injuries.

  He whimpered softly when she touched the side of his head.

  “Ouch. Hit that wall hard, did you?”

  He whined then looked past her to Annie, who laid quietly on the floor, still bound to the chair. Unable to stand, he crawled, half upright, half on his side, across the room until he reached her. Then he collapsed, panting, his nose against her chin.

  She still breathed, but her respirations were shallow and weak. She’d lost so much blood….

  Kelly pulled a butterfly knife out of her pocket and cut through the ropes binding Annie and eased the chair away.

  Annie lifted a hand to caress Jeremy’s head. “You’re just as beautiful as I imagined you’d be.”

  A soft whimper was all he could offer. Oh, God, please, I can’t lose her. My heart can’t take that. Please….

  He raised pleading eyes to Kelly, who knelt to inspect the damage to Annie’s body.

  She grimaced then met his gaze and shook her head slightly.

  They ignored sounds of the fight that echoed off hard walls.

  He whined again, louder, more insistent. Kelly had to help Annie.

  “I’m sorry, Jeremy. I could call an ambulance, but I don’t think they’ll get here and then back to the hospital in time to save her.” She laid a hand on Annie’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, Annie.”