by Dianna Love
Tarski locked her jaws on his wrist and crunched bone, sending the bullet off course. It hit his door panel and ricocheted back.
The titanium bullet struck Tarski in the shoulder, but her wolf held firm in spite of the burning pain.
Josh screamed and kicked Tarski in the face, breaking bone. The Tyrone jackal clamped Tarski’s hind leg in his jaws, dragging her backward.
Her wolf released Josh. His crushed wrist fell loose from his arm and hung by a piece of tendon.
Tarski whined. Nose bones hurt, but Jaz’s tough wolf rounded on Tyrone. She latched onto his ear and ripped it off.
The jackal released her, shaking his head and whining.
The van engine revved.
Tarski limped back a step, looking around for Josh. He slammed the door with his good hand and mud flew as he took off.
Where was Thea?
Still lying face down in the mud.
Was she suffocating?
When the van stopped fifty feet away, the Tyrone jackal spun around and went for Thea. He latched onto her arm and started dragging her.
In spite of broken bones, Tarski went after the jackal before he could get away with the comatose woman.
This time, Tarski had had enough and called up their energy.
When Tyrone’s animal dropped the woman’s arm and came at Tarski, Jaz’s wolf ran at the jackal. Injured, but powered up now, Tarski drove him into a barrel roll. Without any hesitation, she jumped on the jackal, ripping the animal apart. A front leg went flying to the side.
The van raced away.
Tarski clamped her jaws over the jackals throat and tore it free. She spit it out and howled in victory.
Jaz waited as her wolf healed her hind leg enough to put weight on it. She licked at her sore nose, which mended a little, but her wolf needed raw meat and rest. While Tarski did her best to patch up their body, Jaz commended her wolf on a fair fight and killing the jackal quickly.
Tarski said, Jackal too stupid to live.
Jaz smiled inside. Tarski had nothing for idiots.
Need bath, Tarski added.
Jaz promised, We will clean up soon.
When she shifted back to human form, Jaz limped to her clothes and dressed. She’d popped buttons on her shirt, so she had to tie the tails in front at her waist. Her shoulder burned and slowed their healing, but maybe it had passed through. Still, if Jaz pulled on their energy right now, she’d just waste the effort until she got the residual titanium out.
Digging that out would be tough based on the position where it stopped.
She hobbled over to Thea and rolled her over on her back. The woman coughed.
Jaz propped her hands on her knees, swamped with relief. Thea was alive! And breathing. Jaz checked her pulse. Strong. The woman would survive just fine and might not be so quick to behave like a star-struck teenage girl.
Glancing around, Jaz found her cosmetic bandage on the ground from when she’d shifted.
She touched her cheek out of reflex. She had to get a bandage back on her face pronto. That one was too wet to re-attach. First, she’d get Thea up and to her car. Maybe she had a first aid kit. She gave the bandage another look.
It might stick.
She took a step in that direction to find out for sure.
An odd blast of happiness rolled through her from Tarski who said, Wolf back.
Jaz looked up quickly and spun to search around her.
Adrian stood there.
Her heart leaped with joy for all of two seconds.
He stared at her with anger churning in his dark eyes. His hands fisted at his sides.
Why was he here? Now?
She could think of only one reason and bet it had to do with the law enforcement group he worked with.
Chapter 6
Adrian’s heart pounded wildly at seeing Jaz again, but damn if he hadn’t walked up as her wolf killed a jackal. He struggled between being so damn glad to see her and furious at what he’d observed. He’d heard a vehicle driving off, but it had been too far away to read the van’s tag.
What the hell was she into this time?
The first time he’d met her, she’d fought and killed shifters, but he knew for a fact those predators had deserved to die.
What about this jackal?
He’d waited until she shifted back to human form so they could talk.
It hurt to see the bruises on her body and watch her limp. She held one arm against her middle.
The acrid odor of discharged powder still clung to the air. Had she been shot? His fingers trembled with the need to soothe her the way she had calmed him in his nightmare. He still felt her hands on him.
Not the way to think about a woman he hunted with intentions of bringing her to justice.
“Adrian? What are you doing here?” Jaz asked with a mix of surprise and suspicion. She wore clothes that didn’t belong to her, based on the human odor. Her blonde hair fell loose around her face as if to hide her scar. A bandage, being used for no one and the right size to put on her face, remained at the spot where she’d retrieved her clothes.
None of the oversize garments fit her tall frame.
Jaz crossed her arms, still waiting for him to explain why he’d shown up where she hadn’t expected him.
He had to be careful answering. She’d scent a lie. “I’m looking for you.” Truth.
“Why?” All suspicion in her question this time.
He glanced at the carnage. “What are you doing here and what’s the deal with that jackal? Or what’s left of him.”
Jaz drew in a deep breath and replied, “Helping someone and none of your business.”
Still not put off, Adrian’s gaze swept over to a woman on the ground. “Is she alive?”
“Yes, because the jackal is not.”
The jackal had shifted back to human. A missing arm had been tossed aside. The human head hung at an unnatural angle to his neck, which gaped open with a ragged edge.
Ripped open. Same way Kaiser’s wolf died.
Adrian hoped this had been self-defense, but how often could anyone claim that? “Who was he?”
Jaz lifted her chin, answering in a cool tone. “I don’t know.”
Truth, but she held something back.
The woman on the ground moaned.
Jaz walked over and knelt down by her. She lifted the woman’s head from the mud and spoke softly to her.
Adrian picked up something about jackals being liars. He’d smelled at least two. He eased closer and heard the woman’s slurred words.
“They weren’t from Hollywood?”
“No,” Jaz answered softly. “They really were trying to kidnap you. Do you remember what happened?”
“Uh, maybe.” The woman licked her lips and spit out mud. “Yuck. I walked out here, then ... “ Her eyes rounded and she clutched Jaz’s arm. “He picked me up like I was ... nothing. He’s a monster. Then he stuck me with a needle, I think. I ... that’s all I remember. I passed out.” She looked at herself and moaned, “I’m covered in mud.”
“It’ll wash off, Thea. Let’s get you up.” Jaz used one hand to lift the woman to her feet.
When Thea stood, she looked at Adrian and tried to back up. “Who’s he?”
But Jaz had Thea in a firm grip. “He’s a ... he’s not going to harm you. I know him.”
Adrian shouldn’t be disappointed at her not calling him a friend. He’d stomped all over any friendship by showing up hunting her.
Holding one of Thea’s arms, Jaz walked her past him. She flashed him a glare and kept moving.
He let her continue on to the bar parking lot, which still had a couple cars at the back of the lot.
Workers probably finishing up.
He’d parked his SUV rental in that same area.
Based on where he’d tracked Jaz’s scent to, this incident happened too far from the bar for anyone to have seen or heard them.
Unless the bar had more shifters, but the majority of scents
he’d picked up had been humans.
Jaz walked with a limp. He’d smelled titanium. That must be why she hadn’t healed yet.
Following ten steps behind, he catalogued all he’d discovered tonight after he’d taken his human form back from Mad Red.
Wolves hunted golden wolf, Mad Red said in his defense of forcing the change earlier.
Adrian had agreed once he’d shifted and understood Mad Red’s rush to confront the wolf shifters that had been there with Jaz. Adrian’s wolf tracked in stealth mode until they heard the two shifters in human form talking about how to find that golden wolf bitch and make her pay for helping the humans. Mad Red growled viciously and the two men shifted.
Still walking behind Jaz, Adrian replied to his wolf, I agree, but I had just figured out that our next step in finding Jaz had to be finding the closest hospital. She’d been with the human who had been hurt. What if we had arrived at the bar too late and that jackal had been killing her?
Golden wolf powerful, Mad Red declared. Jackal would not kill.
His wolf had an answer for everything.
He’d found the bar when he tracked down the local sheriff, who said he knew of a woman fitting the description Adrian gave. The sheriff explained how she’d helped save his brother-in-law’s best friend and heard she ended up working at the only bar in Clarenceville.
Adrian kept an eye on the blood dripping down her arm. If he guessed right and the titanium scent came from that wound, she needed the slug dug out to get her healing.
She wouldn’t want to do it around here.
With the exception of Thea, Jaz, and the two jackals, Adrian hadn’t picked up any other fresh shifter scent.
Were the women hiding among humans?
Had the jackals tried to kidnap Thea, as Jaz said?
Good questions he hoped Jaz had reasonable answers for.
Why wouldn’t the jackals have grabbed Jaz, too. Not that he wanted her harmed, but she would be the bigger prize to him.
Thea had a smoking shape and pretty features, but she was no Jaz. That golden wolf shifter had confidence and strength of character he found damned sexy. She had a killer body, too, and a face that jump started his heart every time he saw her.
That half-tied blouse swung open again as she guided Thea to their right. He had a flash back to the first time he’d seen her naked.
He needed to slap some sense in his head. What kind of low life thought about a woman naked with her hurt?
She had to be in bad pain. His arm and chest still burned from injuries not yet healed either. He’d been clawed from fighting the two wolves Mad Red took on. Had his wolf not forced the shift, he might have had a chance to capture one or both of the wolf shifters to question.
Mad Red fought with lethal skills they’d groomed overseas. They’d killed larger adversaries, because of the extra edge gained from fighting like a machine and their Gallize power.
That’s how it used to be, but this time, he’d been shunted off and Mad Red had made all the decisions.
He hated that feeling of no control. He and his wolf had enjoyed a balance at one time. Having Mad Red override him while awake left a sick ball of worry in his chest. Were they closer to being put down than he’d thought?
Jaz and Thea reached a late model VW Bug.
Once she had the driver’s door open, she helped Thea into the seat.
Sounding drained, Jaz asked the woman, “Are you awake enough to drive?”
“Yeah.” Thea did seem more alert than a few minutes back. “I still feel the drug, but I’m okay to drive home this time of night. It’s not far.”
As Thea drove off, Jaz wavered where she stood with her arms crossed over her stomach. She listed to the side she’d favored limping.
Adrian took a step toward her and stopped. He glanced away, trying to yank his head together. Wouldn’t it be nice to just grab her and run away for a while? If things were different.
But she had to explain Kaiser’s death and his days were numbered.
He steeled himself to get back on track. She needed medical help first, then he’d get answers. He asked, “Where’s your car?”
She looked around at him. Her nose and face were bruised. She limped. No telling what other injuries she suffered.
He’d never been indecisive in battle.
Leonard often kidded him on being set in his ways.
Leonard. That’s why Adrian stood here. He should keep that at the front of his mind and focus on his investigation.
He hated this internal conflict.
Blowing out a stream of air and sounding exasperated, Jaz’s tone made it clear this would be a short conversation. “I don’t have time for this, Adrian. Why are you here?”
His feet moved toward her in spite of his mind yelling to keep his distance.
When he stood close enough to hold her, he clenched his hands but kept them to himself, and forced out the words he’d been avoiding. “I want to talk to you about Kaiser’s death.”
Chapter 7
“Kaiser? You talked to Tanza,” Jaz stated flatly.
“Yes.” Adrian gave a simple admission. No explanation.
She clenched her jaws to keep from yelling like a lunatic. Her body ached and now her heart hurt. She’d had a foolish moment of thinking he’d hunted her down to find out if she’d survived escaping the tiger shifter’s compound.
No, he hunted her to take her in for Kaiser’s murder.
When she and Adrian had ended up in cages side-by-side in the tiger shifters compound, she’d felt his pain and misery. Once they were free, she should have snuck away, but she joined him again to fight the tiger trying to kill Gan and Scarlett.
It wasn’t until his eagle-shifter boss showed up and took down a Power Baron, she realized Adrian had to be involved with shifter law enforcement. She’d snuck away before that eagle shifter turned his scary gaze to her and recognized a murder suspect in his presence.
She hadn’t wanted to put Adrian in conflict.
Why? Because she’d been attracted to him and no man had interested her in a long time.
Now he dared to look at her with friendly eyes after admitting he came here about Kaiser’s death?
Her lips thinned into a flat line. “Then you know everything since Tanza was the only eye-witness.”
“I only know her side,” Adrian replied quietly as if he thought to calm her. “I’d like to hear yours.”
Foolish, foolish man to chase this particular thread.
She wouldn’t harm him, but the shifter she hunted would. Not that Adrian or his wolf were easy to bring down, but with his current issues he’d be at risk if he lost touch with reality in a fight to the death. With a growing bounty on her head, she said the only thing she could. “Go away, Adrian. You have no idea what you’re sticking your nose into. You have enough problems of your own. Don’t take on mine.”
As if he weren’t already overpowering her personal space, he came closer and her heart jumped. Stupid heart.
He swallowed as if his throat was tight. “I didn’t want to do this, but I owed someone a favor and it got called in.”
Of course, and Adrian’s sense of honor would get him killed, because he would not let someone down. She hadn’t been hurt by someone in a long time and couldn’t comprehend why Adrian hunting her for the killing cut her, but it did.
Even so, she didn’t want to see him torn apart by the predatory shifters she believed had her friend Daisy.
Giving him a flat stare, she ground her back teeth, sick of yet again being held responsible for things out of her control. Her mother blamed her for leaving Kaiser behind. Jaz had been forced to kill him to save Daisy. Now Adrian came here expecting her to what? Hand herself over to SCIS?
Leveling him with a look he had better take as a warning, she said, “I’m not talking to you about that or anything else.”
“Shit fire, Jaz, I’m just ... “
Her anger had a limit and he’d just pushed it. “Say it, Adria
n! You’re just not sure I’m a killer.”
“I’m here to get the truth, Jaz. It’s tearing me apart. I feel like I know you. I just want to get your side in your words.”
She got in his face. “It was a fair fight! I did not murder Kaiser. He attacked me.” She stepped back and rubbed her pounding head. She sucked in air and expelled in hard pants until exhaustion knocked her fury down. Her next breath trickled out along with her anger. She lowered her gaze and quietly repeated, “I did not murder him. Don’t get involved ... please.”
Adrian had been growling quietly, but he calmed down. “Thank you. That’s all I wanted to hear.”
“That’s it?” She looked up sharply, expecting more.
“To be honest, I’d like to hear all the details, but for now, I smell titanium. Will you let me see where you got shot? It’s clearly not healing and won’t until the metal is cleaned out.”
He’d stunned her into silence.
Just like that, he believed her? She hadn’t lied, but he didn’t know she could get a lie past shifters.
“Jaz?”
Jerking her mind back to the wound, she said, “It just grazed me.” Her shoulder felt as if someone had skewered it with a hot poker, but it would be worse if the bullet had not passed through. She could heal a normal bullet abrasion. Titanium turned an inconvenient injury into a dangerous medical issue if left too long.
He reached for her arm again and she leaned away.
Adrian cocked his head at her. “Are you afraid of me now?”
She scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself. You’re not a doctor, are you?”
“Close. I helped the shifter medic when I was overseas. I know a thing or two, like when something looks worse than a normal gunshot wound.”
Curious, she lifted her arm to see past the ragged sleeve where blood still oozed.
His fingers wrapped her forearm in a firm, but gentle hold.
She pinned him with a threatening look and spoke through clenched teeth. “Take. Your. Hand. Off.”
Adrian chuckled. “Or what? You gonna maul me when I’m helping you? That’s literally biting the hand that heals you.”
Just like that, he shattered the tension. She rolled her eyes at him. “That’s not the saying.”