“We will find their leader either way.” Talen crossed his arms.
“Glad you are confident.” I certainly wasn’t.
“I would say I am surprised by your cynicism, but you are with James after all.”
“And James is always a cynic?” There was so much about James I still didn’t know, but I wouldn’t have expected that.
“Do not listen to him, Ainsley.” James touched my arm gently. “He is just running his mouth.”
I smiled. “I won’t listen too closely.”
12
James
It was mid-day when we pulled into the dirt parking lot out front of The Dump. Although I did not voice it, I agreed with Ainsley. The choice of name did not paint this particular pack of wolves in the best light. Still, we had traveled hours to see them, and we could not let a detail like that get in our way.
I kept Ainsley tight by my side as we walked toward the dingy, abandoned-looking building. A small sign that had fallen on its side was the only evidence we were indeed at the right place. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Henry do the same with Rachel. The first chance I had with him alone I would have to question him about his plans. He had pined over Rachel for years, and I doubted he would be letting her go again.
We carefully stepped over shards of glass from broken beer bottles and reached the entrance. Talen pulled open the door and led the way into the dark bar.
A thick musty smell permeated the completely empty space.
“Hello?” Rachel called out. “Anyone here?”
“Let me do the talking,” Talen snapped. He pushed ahead to the enormous wood bar that ran the entire length of the room.
Rachel shrugged. “Whatever you say.” She was as spunky as I remembered her being.
Ainsley smiled. She seemed to be entertained by Rachel.
“Hello?” Talen called out to the empty bar. “Is there anyone here?”
A man with messy brown hair that fell into his eyes walked out behind the bar. “What can I get you?” His eyes took in the group of us.
“We are looking for someone.” Talen wasted no time before getting to his part.
“As you can see, there is no one here.” The man stretched out his arms. He was taller than I had original thought.
“Are you Hunter?” Talen asked.
“No.” He shook his head. His eyes were locked on Ainsley and Rachel, and I squeezed Ainsley’s hand tighter. I did not like bringing her inside a building with a shifter we knew nothing about.
“Do you know Hunter?” Talen ignored that the man was staring at the girls.
“Yes.” The man wore an amused expression, and his eyes never moved.
“Who are you?’ Talen rested his hands palm down on the bar.
“Who are you?” The man repeated the question.
“We need to speak with Hunter.”
“Lots of people need to speak with Hunter.” The man did not move an inch. “Can I get any of you something to drink?”
Ainsley slipped out of my arm and approached the bar. “We’ve traveled a long way to find this Hunter guy. If you could help that would be great.”
The man leaned onto his elbows on the bar. “Tell me who you are, and maybe I can help.”
“I’m Ainsley. Not that my name would mean anything to you.”
“Why wouldn’t it?” He held out his hand. “I’m Denny.”
She accepted his hand and shook it. “Nice to meet you, Denny.”
I stepped toward them but kept my distance. Ainsley knew what she was doing.
“Pleasure is all mine. Who’s your friend?” He nodded toward Rachel.
“That’s Rachel.”
Rachel tried to move from Henry, but Henry blocked her path. “Would you mind?” She narrowed her eyes at him.
He exhaled loudly. “Be careful.”
I smiled. Henry took protectiveness to a whole new level.
“I’m Rachel.” She held out her hand to the bartender. “I’ll echo what Ainsley said. We really need to find your friend.”
“Who says Hunter is my friend?”
“Your mannerisms. The way you’ve answered questions.” Rachel tapped her foot on the concrete floor.
“Are you a shrink or something?” Denny leaned over the bar slightly to get a better look at her.
“No. I’m a lawyer.”
“Same difference.” He straightened up before pulling out a flask from his pocket. I had never seen a bartender bring his own liquor before.
“Talen, tell him what you are. This is getting annoying.” Ainsley shot Talen a look.
“What he is?” Denny turned to Talen with interest. “Care to listen to the lovely girl’s suggestion?”
A wave of annoyance shot through me. He was right. Ainsley was lovely, but that did not mean I liked hearing him point that detail out.
“You are part of Hunter’s Pack.” Talen phrased it as a statement rather than a question.
“That depends on who you are.”
“I am Arco.”
“Uh, Arco, nice to meet you.”
“I am an Arco.”
“Oh.” Denny stepped toward him. “I didn’t think you guys were around anymore.”
“Our numbers are smaller, thanks to you.”
“My guess is you aren’t here to talk about old war stories?”
Hunter scowled. “We need an audience with Hunter.”
“Need is an interesting word choice.”
“Want is not the right word. It is a need.”
Denny rested his chin in his hand and then turned to Ainsley. “Are you an Arco too?”
“No. I’m human.”
“And you?” He turned to Rachel.
“Human.”
“And you two?” He looked between Henry and me.
“Human.” We were human in the sense he meant, even though we were not of the same world.
“Then why are you with this Arco?” He narrowed his eyes.
“Because he knew how to find you.”
Denny nodded. “Why do you need us?”
“Because Dire Wolves are the only ones I know of who can defeat the darkness.”
“The darkness?” Denny tensed.
“Yes. Can we see Hunter?” Talen repeated his original question.
“Yes, but if I find out any of what you’ve told me is a lie, you three will pay the price.” He looked between me, Henry, and Talen.
“Not us?” Rachel asked.
“I’m a sucker for a pretty face, and I don’t hurt women.” He shuffled out from behind the bar.
“Lucky for us.” Rachel shot Ainsley a look.
“Everything we have told you is the truth, so there will be no trouble.” Talen straightened.
“We’ll see about that.” Denny walked outside, and the rest of us followed. He walked over to a red rusted pick-up truck. The only other vehicle in the lot. “Follow me.”
“You are taking us to Hunter?” Talen asked for clarification.
“You should hope I am.” He hopped into the driver’s seat of his truck. “Either of you want to ride with me?” He looked between Ainsley and Rachel.
“Uh, we’re good.” Ainsley waved him off. “But we appreciate the offer.”
“Suit yourself.”
He turned on the engine of the truck, and we piled into Ainsley’s car. She took the keys from Rachel, and no one argued when I took the passenger seat.
Henry had just shut his door when Denny pulled out of the lot. Ainsley followed close behind as Denny took the country roads far faster than Rachel had been doing. Ainsley kept pace.
“And this whole experience gets crazier and crazier,” Rachel called from the back.
“My guess is we haven’t even seen the crazy stuff yet.” Ainsley stepped on the gas when the truck started to disappear around the bend.
“But I would like to live to see the craziness,” Henry put his hand on the back of Ainsley’s seat. “So try to make sure you watch the road.”
“I’m watching the road. Stop distracting me.”
I gave Henry a warning gaze, and he leaned back against the back seat.
The truck turned again, and we followed. Ainsley kept only the minimally necessary distance between us. The truck slowed and we turned into a thick growth of trees.
“Great, we’re going into the woods.” Rachel groaned.
“Well, they are wolves.” Ainsley gripped the wheel tightly as the road became increasingly bumpy.
“What is that intended to mean?” Talen leaned forward toward the front.
“Nothing. Nothing at all.” Ainsley adjusted her hands on the wheel.
“Exactly what I thought,” Talen huffed.
The truck stopped in the middle of a clearing, and Ainsley pulled next to it.
“What do we do now?” Ainsley asked.
“Deal with those,” I answered absently as two large gray wolves headed toward the car. “I hope we have not driven into a trap.”
“This is a bad time to bring up that possibility.” Ainsley grabbed my hand.
I squeezed hers as reassuringly as I could. “Yes, you are absolutely right.”
13
Ainsley
After a crazy drive following Denny, we ended up in the middle of nowhere. I wasn’t surprised at all. Showing up at a normal house would have been far too easy. Nothing about this experience was easy.
“I will take care of this.” Talen opened his door. “The rest of you can stay here.”
“Wait.” Against my better judgment I interrupted. “You are their enemy. Surely they’d be less likely to kill me?”
“Less likely? Ainsley, you are not getting out of this car.” Rachel leaned forward toward the front. “And neither am I.”
“Of course she is not getting out. You will both wait in the car.” James touched my leg gently. “Please listen to me on this, and it has nothing to do with sexism.”
“Look at those things.” I pointed to the massive grey wolves. “Do you really think staying in the car will protect me?”
“They have no reason to go after innocent humans.” James words were less than convincing.
“Are you sure they aren’t just wolves?” Giant, scary looking ones.
“Absolutely sure.” Talen manually unlocked his door and got out. James went to follow, but I grabbed his hand.
“I’ll be right back.” James squeezed my hand before sliding out and closing the door behind him. Henry got out right after.
“Does this make us wimps?” I asked. “I mean letting the boys risk it?” I didn’t like the idea of sitting back because we were girls.
“Nope. It makes us smart. Why do you think women live longer than men?”
I wanted to laugh, but the precarious situation didn’t allow it. James and Henry were standing right in front of the car while Talen tried to communicate with the giant animals.
A moment later Denny got out of his truck. I hoped he would defuse the situation.
“I’m not dreaming, am I?” Rachel asked. “This isn’t some crazy delusion since I’d finally thought I was over everything?”
“As far as I know, this is real. I admit I had the same thought the other day.”
“This might not be the best time.” Rachel leaned forward again. “But are you okay? I mean you are part of this all willingly?”
“As willing as you can be when your life is being threatened.”
“But the James part?”
“I am willingly with him, yes.” I was. I would have been with him no matter what, but there was also a supernatural thing going on that was completely out of my control.
“What aren’t you saying?’ She turned around for a fraction of a second before turning toward the front.
“Lots, but nothing I can explain now. And nothing that undermines the fact I’m willingly dating James.”
“We’re both crazy.”
“We are.” She was completely right, yet completely wrong. It wasn’t about being crazy, it was about being in a crazy situation.
We fell into silence as we watched Denny converse with the giant creatures. He pointed to us in the car, and the largest wolf, one with a stripe of silver down its back approached the car. James jumped in front of him. The wolf stepped toward him, but James stood his ground.
“Oh my god, James is insane.” I started to open my door.
“What are you doing?” Rachel yelled.
“What we should have done when we first arrived.” I took a deep breath and pushed my door open.
“Ainsley!” James ran toward me.
I shook my head. “Stop. They want to see who we are. This is us. Just two human girls. Nothing to worry about.”
The wolf stepped back slowly. James moved to my side. “I said to stay in the car.”
“And I’m not a dog you can tell to sit.”
“That is not what I meant.”
“I know, but sometimes I like to take care of myself.”
The largest wolf howled, and they disappeared into the woods behind one of several wooden cabins in the clearing.
“That was fun.” Denny laughed.
“No one else is laughing.” James seethed. He moved to my side, and I didn’t stop him. I got the wolves attention, now I had to wait and see what happened next.
A tall shirtless guy and a girl wearing a tank top and jeans walked out of the forest and into the clearing at the exact moment Rachel got out of the car.
“Wow.” Rachel stood close to my side. “And things continue to get more interesting.”
Henry grumbled from the other side of the car.
The man stepped toward us. “You have spunk.” He held out his hand to me.
I accepted his hand, trying to avoid looking at his naked torso. “Thanks, I think.”
“I’m Hunter.”
“So you are the famous one we drove almost eleven hours to meet.”
“Eleven hours?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, we were desperate.”
“And your name is?” He kept hold of my hand.
“Ainsley.”
“And your friend is?”
I assumed he meant my female friend. “Rachel.”
He dropped my hand and moved over to her.
She smiled before accepting his hand. “Nice to meet you, Hunter.”
“What kind of help do you need?”
“Ask him.” Rachel pointed toward Talen.
“The Arco.” Hunter strode toward him. “Isn’t that what you claim to be?”
“I am one.”
“And I suppose you will prove it?”
“Sure.” He pulled off his shirt.
“We will wait over here,” James took my hand, and Henry walked over. “Talen needs to undress before he shifts.”
“We’ve seen naked men before.” Rachel laughed.
“Yeah, I know. But no need to add another to the list.” James stood in such a way to block the wolves from view.
I shook my head. “With everything else going on, you are worried about me seeing Talen naked?”
“I am sparing you the experience.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
The girl in the tank top walked over and looked right at James. “You haven’t introduced yourself yet.”
I tried to ignore the small tinge of annoyance at the way she addressed him alone.
“I’m James. This in Henry,” he pointed to Henry. “And you’ve met Rachel and my Ainsley.”
“Your Ainsley?” A small smile crossed her face and she turned to me. “Did you know you were his?”
Considering how jealous I was of him being hit on a moment earlier, I didn’t mind at all. “He means it in a way I’m fine with.”
She nodded. “I’m Marni.”
“Hey.” I held out my hand, but she made no move to take it. I dropped my hand to my side.
“He’s an Arco,” Hunter said as he walked back over with Talen. “His wolf is white as snow.”
“I didn’t
think there were any around here anymore.” Marni turned to Talen.
“There are, but I am not from around here.” Talen pulled his white shirt back on.
“Where are you from?” Hunter surveyed the area although he was clearly addressing Talen.
Talen looked to James. James nodded. “My people live in Energo.”
“Energo?” Denny’s eyes widened. “The Energo?”
“I am only aware of one.”
“But the gates between the worlds were sealed long ago. When our world split off. Or at least that’s what I’ve heard.”
“Yeah… not all the gates closed.” James smiled.
“Are you all from there?” Denny pulled out a flask from his back pocket. Hunter shot him a look, and he replaced it.
“The girls aren’t.” Hunter walked toward me. “They are from here.”
“How can you tell?” Marni asked.
“I can tell.” Hunter rubbed the back of his neck.
“What, because they are cute?” Marni crossed her arms.
“No, because I can tell.” He barely glanced at her.
“He’s right. We are from here. By here I don’t mean Louisiana.”
“A different part of the south.” Denny smiled, revealing two rows of bright white teeth. “Both of you. Not the same part.”
“You know accents?” I narrowed my eyes. He didn’t seem like the type.
“I do. It’s a hobby of mine.”
“A hobby?” Rachel pursed her lips. “Knowing accents?”
“It’s part of understanding people.” He crossed his arms.
“Got it.” Rachel shook her head ever so slightly.
“But you are from Energo?” Denny turned to James.
“I am. As is Henry.”
“Then how do you know these girls?” Denny paced as though he were walking on an invisible line.
“It is a long story.” James smiled.
“We have time.” Hunter watched me. “Or better yet, Ainsley, why don’t you tell us?”
“He showed up in my bed in the middle of the night.” There. I went no filters.
“Uh…” Denny and Hunter exchanged looks.
“Oh man, I can’t wait to hear the punch line on this one.” Marni grinned.
“Punch line is it was a misunderstanding.” James wrapped his hand around mine. “A misunderstanding that ended very well.”
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