Captive Wolf

by Alexis Calder

  For the better salary and the faster growing savings account, I felt like I sold part of myself.

  No more.

  I am doing this on my own from now on. Was it going to take longer? Sure. But at least I’d have some dignity. There was nothing wrong with waiting three more years for grad school, right? People went back to school later all the time. I just have to hold out till then.

  My savings account is solid. I can easily afford first and last month’s rent somewhere. The kicker is not having a job.

  But I’m good with cars and have a few legit certifications under my belt. Even Lucas doesn’t know I took the exams for them while I was away. I should find work fast enough, but I have to leave. Everything here is so plugged in to everything else. They all know whose daughter I am. And I am done being the poor little wolf who can’t shift. Maybe I can blend in more in Coventon. It’s bigger and faster and there has to be jobs. Some people know me there or know me by reputation, but not like they do here.

  I accelerate as I hit the highway, feeling tension melt away. I know that I’m doing the right thing and I feel free in a way I never have before.

  The feeling of leaving it all behind is heady and I’m already internally celebrating my victory.

  Then my car sputters and then starts to smoke.

  What the hell?

  I pull over to the side of the road and pop open the hood. One look sends rage burning through me.

  My transmission was fucked with. Someone damaged my car on purpose. Someone who knows enough about cars to make it so it would break down a few miles after driving it.

  I scream a string of profanities into the night air and heat bubbles in my chest. The wild part of me is breaking free and she’s pissed.

  Hands balled into fists, I fight to keep from losing my shit. The last thing I need is to lose my temper and end up punching through my windows.

  I take a few deep breaths and calm myself down. I know I have till dawn at least before my godfather comes back. If I can get to the shop and get the parts, maybe I can fix it.

  I look under the hood again and curse. I know I’m not going to be able to fix this without tools and time.

  Shit.

  He knew I’d run. What an asshole. It was even more of a reason for me to get the fuck out of here.

  It was going to eat away at my savings, but I could rent a car and come back for my shit. It was probably my best option.

  Slamming the hood, I scream again, letting out some of the anger before I grab my purse.

  This night is not going as I expected it and the sooner I get away from here the better.

  I start walking down the road, backtracking the way I came. It’s freezing and I didn’t dress for a long walk in the dark. Pulling my scarf up around my nose and mouth, I’m able to block out most of the wind but shit it is cold.

  Shivering, I find that I’m pissed all over again about being stripped of my birthright. If I was a shifter, I wouldn’t feel this cold. I could also just turn into a wolf and run.

  Though, if I were a shifter, I wouldn’t be in this mess right now.

  I stomp my feet as I walk, trying to shake out the anger and regret seeping into my thoughts. There is nothing I can do to control my genetics. If anyone’s to blame for that, it’s my parents. But they aren’t here in this mess and I am. So generally, I’m just pissed at the whole world.

  Cars race by, ignoring me as they pass. Until one doesn’t.

  A white van stops a few feet away from me and I stop walking. Every fucking horror movie ever starts with a girl getting kidnapped by dudes in a white van.

  To my surprise, a woman climbs out of the passenger seat. “Hey, you need some help?”

  I’m startled by the fact that she looks friendly and normal. She’s in a puffy winter coat and long brown hair whips around her face in the wind.

  “I’m good,” I say. Despite the fact that she looks harmless, I’m not dumb enough to climb into an unmarked white van.

  She takes a few steps toward me. “Seriously, girl, I won’t hurt you, but you are not fine.”

  “No offense, but I’m not getting in your creepy van.”

  She laughs. “I get that. How about I run to town and grab you some gas? Would that help?”

  “I wish,” I say. “Car needs towed or a repair.”

  “Girl, it’s below freezing out here, let us drive you to town.”

  I look past her toward the lights of the city. She’s right. It’s freezing and I’m still several miles away from the next gas station.

  But every warning bell in my head is firing. I know I should not get in that van. I can’t make out the driver, but whoever is behind the wheel hasn’t come out to say hello.

  While the passenger could be harmless, which I doubted, the driver could be a serial killer who conned someone into helping him. Or they’re working together. Maybe that’s how they get off.

  Gross.

  And fucking scary.

  “Thanks, but my friend is on her way,” I say.

  Suddenly, someone grabs me from behind and I scream. I never saw anyone leave the van, but a huge guy is lifting me off the ground and carrying me.

  I kick and scream and struggle but his grip is unrelenting.

  “Sweetie, this would have gone so much better if you just got in on your own,” the woman says.

  “What the fuck? Put me down!” I scream.

  Cars speed by, nobody stopping to help me. Nobody cares that I’m being tossed into a van. As soon as the brute’s arms are off of me, I bolt for the still open door.

  The woman is in front of it now and she opens her mouth, baring her teeth with a hiss.

  She has fangs.

  Fucking vampires.

  “Oh no you don’t,” I say. “I am not on the menu.”

  I push past her and she stops me with surprising strength. Brute dude is next to her now. “Settle down, little one and things will go easier for you.”

  “If you think I’m cool with kidnapping, you have another thing coming.” I manage to get away from the vampire chick and nail the brute in the nuts. When he doubles over, I run.

  I’m still running when the brute materializes in front of me. Right out of thin air.

  Holy shit!

  He’s sweating and red faced and panting. Apparently, my kick lingered.

  “Bitch,” he says.

  I sidestep and take off again, but he catches me before I can hit my stride. In a motion too fast to avoid, his fist makes contact with my face and pain splinters through my face and head.

  Tears stream down my face and I’m seeing double. Fighting through it, I stagger forward. He’s got me in his grasp again before I get more than a few steps.

  I am not getting in that van.

  “She smells like a wolf,” I hear the woman say. “We should kill her now.”

  My heart races and I fight like hell, trying to get out of the grip around my arms and chest.

  The man holding me laughs. “If she’s a wolf, why didn’t she shift?”

  “Maybe she’s just fucking a wolf,” the woman says. “Bet if we take her, someone will come for her.”

  Fuck that noise. Nobody is coming for me and I’m not someone’s bargaining chip.

  “Cooperate, and maybe we’ll let you live,” the woman says.”

  The brute holding me pushes me forward. “It’s your lucky day.”

  “Stop pushing me,” I say. “I can walk by myself.”

  “See?” The woman says. “She can be reasonable.”

  I wait until I feel the pressure of his grip ease as I take careful steps toward the van. He no longer sees me as a threat.

  His mistake.

  Faster than I thought possible, I duck down, sliding right through his arms. I crawl a few steps away before standing and taking off at a run.

  “Get back here!” He sounds pissed.

  I head away from the road, toward a patch of trees in the distance. It’s dark out here and I’m hoping that
whatever kind of creature he is, his skills don’t include night vision.

  I cut across a dirt road and keep running, my arms pumping hard, my lungs on fire. I don’t hear footsteps behind me but I keep waiting for him to materialize in front of me.

  Then I hear the van rev up and the unmistakable sound of a car on a dirt road. I don’t have to look back to know they’re driving behind me. And there’s no way in hell I can outrun a van.

  I head for a grove of trees, hoping to lose the van in the woods. I have no idea where I am but right now, I don’t care. I have to get away.

  Ahead, I see signs of other people. A fire glows and a group is gathered. I know it’s the solstice. I know every supernatural group is out doing something tonight. I also don’t know if the people I’m headed toward are friends or enemies.

  I’ve got two choices, let the assholes in the van get me or take my chances with the bonfire people.

  I pump my legs harder, gasping for breath. Please be friendly. Please be friendly. Better yet, be human. Then the people chasing me might not engage. “Help!” I yell.

  I’m at a full sprint as I reach the bonfire and collapse to my knees panting. “Help,” I manage between gulps of air.

  Gasps and mummers of conversation sound around me but I can’t follow the thread of any of them as I work to catch my breath.

  Someone kneels down in front of me and I look up to see the man from the bar earlier today. That’s a good sign, at least. He was flirting with me. I’m lightheaded as I stare into his green eyes, my heart racing from the run.

  “What’s wrong?” he asks.

  “People chasing me,” I say.

  I hear the sound of a vehicle and turn to see the van pulling up to us. I scramble away, nearly knocking over the man who was talking to me. “That’s them.”

  He grabs my hands and helps pull me up. Electricity shoots through me from the point of his touch and for a moment we both stare at each other.

  “Hunters,” someone calls.

  He breaks his gaze from mine. “Stay back. We’ve got this.”

  4

  Carter

  It’s dark by the time I arrive at the party. We have the entire grounds of the conservation center and gardens to run wild every year.

  Everyone is gathered around a bonfire in front of Jim’s trailer. He’s the head groundskeeper of the city’s conservation center and gardens. So we have some 40 acres to ourselves for running on full moons.

  I hear a howl and I know some of the younger shifters are already in wolf form. The pull is too great for them once the sun sets. Us older shifters have more control.

  “Welcome, brother,” Jim says as I walk up to him. He hands me a plastic cup of beer from the keg.

  There’s a good size group already gathered. About fifty men and women stand around the fire, drinking and laughing.

  It’s liberating to be outdoors, under the moon with people we don’t have to pretend around.

  I glance around for Mikey and don’t find him in the group. He probably got stuck with Jen.

  “Hey boss,” James, one of my trainers drags a girl toward me. He’s young and eager and new in town. We’d taken a chance on him at a recommendation of a friend in another pack and he’d turned out to be a good kid. He was tall and lanky, but surprisingly strong. Even our big guys used him as a spotter now.

  “Hey, James,” I say.

  He stops in front of me with a timid blonde girl next to him. “I want you to meet Cassie.”

  “Hey, Cassie,” I say.

  The girl is clearly not a shifter but she’s not human, either. It takes a minute before I catch the scent of salt on the air. Siren. Interesting. The sirens were neutral, but I was still surprised to see one with a wolf at a wolf gathering. Their relationship must be pretty serious.

  “Thanks for letting me come,” she said. “The rave scene isn’t my thing.”

  I laugh. The sirens are well known for their parties in the warehouses by the docks. “I don’t blame you.”

  “Help!” A woman’s voice cuts through the chilly night air.

  I turn, my senses instantly firing into overdrive. My skin prickles and I feel my wolf responding, ready to shift at the first sign of danger.

  A woman runs toward me. She’s red faced and panicked and I instantly recognize her as the stranger from the bar earlier today. She collapses in front of me.

  “Help,” she barely gets the word out between gasps for air.

  I lean down, offering my hand to her. “What’s wrong?”

  “People chasing me,” she says, her eyes wild.

  A vehicle approaches and I look up to see a white unmarked van. I growl and look back at the terrified woman, trying to reassure her.

  The van parks but the engine is still on. I can sense the creatures beyond the doors. It’s a mix of supernaturals which only means one thing. Hunters.

  “Hunters,” someone calls.

  I look back at the terrified woman and we lock eyes. My heart does backflips. I don’t know her, but I know in that moment that I would kill for her if it keeps her safe. “Stay back. We’ve got this.”

  I don’t need to look back to know that my pack is there. I’m sure they are filling in behind me, ready to send these hunters back to whatever shit hole they crawled out of.

  The side door of the van slides open and three hunters step out. A huge dude, a woman who already has her fangs bared, and a third man who smells like a wolf.

  The worst kind of hunter.

  The kind that hunts their own kind.

  “This is a private party,” I say. “You’re going to have to leave.”

  “You have something of ours,” the woman says. “Kindly hand her over and we’ll be on our way.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you, crazy bitch,” the woman behind me says.

  I don’t know her, but I know I have to protect her. The feeling is as strong as if she was a member of my own pack. “You heard the lady, get the fuck out.”

  The other doors open and two more people step out of the van.

  “What is this a fucking clown car?” Mikey asks.

  The newcomers both look like shifters, though they don’t smell like wolves. I’m not sure what they are, but I know they’ll fight dirty. Good thing I don’t believe in fair fights.

  “So you’re going to do this?” I ask. “Come to our house on the solstice and try to take something of ours?”

  “She’s not yours,” the vampire hunter hisses.

  I can feel the woman who ran to us behind me. I think I can even feel hear heartbeat. It doesn’t make sense, but I know she belongs here. And she belongs with me. “You want her, you’ll have to come through us.”

  She bares her fangs and runs toward me.

  I growl, letting my wolf take over as I run toward her. My body breaks and pain erupts as my skin splits and my bones reform. I ignore it, knowing it’s short lived.

  By the time I reach her, I’m in my wolf form and my wolf is pissed.

  The vampire pulls out a hunter gun, probably loaded with silver bullets. She fires but I dodge the bullet. While she’s trying to reload, I tackle her to the ground, ripping her throat out without mercy.

  She makes a sick gurgling sound and her eyes go vacant. I know it’s not enough to kill a vampire but it’ll keep her down for now.

  Around me, wolves are at each other’s throats and the huge man I saw earlier is appearing and reappearing from one place to another. I have no idea what he is, but he can teleport short distances.

  My pack is giving the hunters hell, pushing them back toward their van. The woman who ran to us for safety is standing by the fire with her arms wrapped around her chest.

  I shift back into human form, my only thoughts on her safety. She lets out a little gasp as I approach her, completely naked. Her eyes flick to my package and I grin, knowing I’ve got nothing to be ashamed of.

  Around us, the growls of the battle fade. It’s as if it’s just the two of us. As if
nothing else in the whole world matters.

  5

  Lucy

  My heart races as the man from the bar walks toward the vampire. My skin feels like it’s on fire, I’m no longer cold. He doesn’t even know me, but I know he won’t let the hunters take me. I trust him.

  And I never trust anyone.

  It doesn’t make sense, but as long as he’s here, I know I’ll be safe.

  “You want her, you’ll have to come through us,” he calls out.

  In a blur, he’s running toward her, shifting to his wolf form before he reaches her.

  My jaw tenses. I should have seen that coming. Of course he’s a wolf. Only I would have the luck of running out on an arranged marriage to an overprotective, controlling wolf to run right into another wolf’s territory. Shit.

  And after this, I’ll owe him. I should be worried about that, but I can’t bring myself to care. Right now, I’m only worried about this man who jumped into being my hero without question.

  “Look out!” I cry as I see the vampire lift a gun.

  He dodges the bullet and takes her down, ripping her throat out in a huge bite of his powerful jaws.

  I have to turn away at the sight of all that blood.

  When I look back, he’s coming toward me. His muzzle and fur are covered in sticky red blood. But I’m not afraid of him. He doesn’t strike me as the same kind of beast Jack is. Or even the same kind of beast my godfather is.

  He shifts, right there, back to his human form and I gasp. He’s got incredible control to be able to shift so quickly between the two forms. I wouldn’t doubt if he’s the alpha of this pack.

  He’s covered in blood and naked as the day he was born. And holy shit is he worth looking at.

  He’s head and shoulders taller than me and he might just be the perfect man. My eyes travel down from his handsome face to his curved shoulders to his pecks. Then lower to his six pack and the V that leads to his - holy shit, boy is hung.