Pack

by Jeaniene Frost

  In short, he looked like your typical Yellowstone tourist, not the leader of a secret pack of monsters.

  “I’m Joshua,” he said, holding out a hand.

  At a loss over what else to do, I shook it. Part of me wanted to run screaming out the door, and the other part wanted to burst into tears. Surprisingly, this myriad of emotions left me feeling slightly numb, like I was running on autopilot.

  “Marlee.”

  Joshua sat on the edge of the bed. His posture was casual, but there was nothing relaxed in his gaze. He looked me over as if I were a potentially contagious virus. I fought not to hold my breath.

  “What happened yesterday was very unfortunate,” Joshua began.

  “Yesterday?” I couldn’t help but exclaim, glancing at the window. It was nearly dusk. I’d thought it was the same day as the attack.

  “Yesterday,” Joshua repeated, giving me a frown that said he wasn’t used to being interrupted. “A member of our pack was… distraught over his wife’s death. He and a few others began hunting you. You were lucky Daniel found them when he did, but you’d been bitten, so we couldn’t drop you off at the nearest hospital. You haven’t heard of our kind before, Marlee, and there’s a reason for that. We do whatever’s necessary to protect the secrecy of our existence.”

  We’ll kill for it was left unsaid, but I heard that loud and clear in the subtext. I nodded, striving to hold on to my numbness. Hysteria wouldn’t help me, no matter how tempting it was to give in to that.

  “A person has to be bitten several times to be at risk of transforming, and half the people who’ve been bitten still don’t turn,” Joshua went on briskly. “We won’t know whether you’ll turn into one of us until the next full moon, two weeks away.”

  Two weeks? It would take that long for me to find out whether or not I’d become a monster? I’d go insane wondering until then. And if it did happen… well, suicide didn’t sound like a bad idea all of a sudden.

  “What happens if after the full moon, I’m not… ah… like the rest of you?” I couldn’t bring myself to say a werewolf. I just couldn’t.

  Joshua gave me a thin smile. “That depends on you. Either you stay with us, as a member of the skinwalker part of our pack, or…”

  He shrugged. That single gesture completed his sentence in the most chilling way. Or we kill you.

  One way or the other, I was screwed.

  Chapter Four

  “Hungry?”

  I sat in the chair, my broken ankle finally in a cast, and glared at Daniel before replying. “Somewhere between the death threats and the thought of turning into a four-legged monster, I lost my appetite.”

  Part of me wondered why I dared to be so surly to him. The other part figured I was as good as dead anyway, so it didn’t matter.

  Daniel let out an almost casual grunt. “Suit yourself, but I’m getting something.”

  He stood, stretched, and then held out a hand. I just stared at it.

  “What?”

  “You’re coming with me,” he replied, as if it were obvious. “Who knows what kind of trouble you’d stir up if I left you here alone?”

  “And I suppose you’ll just drag me along anyway if I refuse?”

  A smile quirked his mouth that I would’ve found charming under other circumstances. “You learn fast, don’t you?”

  I gave Daniel another withering look that didn’t seem to faze him. He was extremely handsome in an outdoorsy type of way. His hair was chin length and russet, and he had a faint weathering to his features that spoke of long days outside. Daniel looked only a couple of years older than me, which would put him at about thirty, but there was an air of command about him that made him seem older. None of the lawyers at my office had managed to pull off such a dominating presence, in fact.

  But I wasn’t about to let him know how much he intimidated me. Wasn’t there a saying that showing fear in front of an animal made it more aggressive? That sounded familiar, so I had to play things off as if I weren’t terrified.

  “So, you’re the group’s babysitter, is that it?”

  He smiled at my challenging tone. “I’m the pack’s enforcer, so it’s my job to make sure anyone who’s a danger to us—like you—doesn’t get away. And I’m very good at my job, Marlee.”

  At over six feet tall with muscles bulging from every limb, yeah, Daniel looked like he did a very good job of enforcing. He’d scare anyone with half a brain.

  “What are you going to do with me for the next two weeks? You can’t just keep me tied to your hip.” I didn’t even want to think about after that, or what might happen on the full moon.

  He rubbed a knuckle under his chin as he considered me. “With your limp, you wouldn’t get far even if you did manage to slip away from me—which you wouldn’t. So let’s get some dinner; then you can wash up and begin plotting ways to outsmart us dumb animals.”

  Daniel said that last part with an arch look that let me know he was both aware of my aversion to what they were and of my dreams of escape. I glanced away, gritting my teeth. I had to be a lot better at fooling them if I had any hope of getting away.

  “Didn’t you say you were hungry?” I replied to change the subject.

  He held out his hand to me again. “I did. Come on, Marlee. Let’s eat.”

  ***

  I had to take Daniel’s arm to avoid hopping on one leg to the dining lodge. They didn’t give me any crutches, which I supposed was deliberate so as to keep me at a disadvantage. As I got my first real look at where I was, I was surprised to see that it resembled some sort of tiny Wild West town, of all things. A narrow strip of street ran down between the twin rows of shops, lodgings, and… were those saloons? It was so surreal, as if I’d been transported back in time. I half expected someone to gallop by on horseback, shooting at the moon.

  “What is this place?” I asked, curious despite myself.

  Daniel let out an amused grunt. “Not what you were expecting, right? Let me guess: you thought we’d live in a big den in the woods?”

  From his tone and expression, he was teasing, but I wasn’t trying to make friends with my kidnapper.

  “Hollywood called. They want their Tombstone replica back,” I replied tartly. Two could play at being a smart-ass.

  I was using his arm as a sort of brace, but Daniel managed to keep perfect pace with me. His reflexes were so fast he counterbalanced my every step, allowing me to almost walk at my normal speed.

  “You’re not far off,” he said, ignoring my sarcasm. “This was an old mining town back in the nineteenth century. It was empty for decades after the silver dried up, but then some of my relatives bought it and the surrounding land. We restored many of the original buildings and cabins, plus added upgrades. Now we rent it out seasonally as a private resort area.”

  That brought me to a stop. “Werewolves are running a resort town?” I asked incredulously.

  He shrugged. “We have to make a living just like everyone else.”

  This was like being in an episode of The Twilight Zone.

  As we walked, we passed several people on our way down the street. I was surprised at how normal they looked. There were men and women of varying ages, plus a couple of children, and everyone appeared to be minding their own business—aside from all the sideways glances I was getting.

  “Are all of them like you?” I asked, keeping my voice calm. My heart had started to pound, however, and if the movies were right, they could hear it. There are so many of them. How will I ever get away?

  “Most of them,” Daniel said, his tone as neutral as mine. If he sensed my agitation, he wasn’t calling me on it. “The others are skinwalkers—normal people, to you. But you don’t have to be afraid of anyone, Marlee. We’re not what you think we are.”

  “I’ve already had some of your group try to kill me, and you and Joshua seem pretty open about how you’ll finish the job if you think you need to,” I replied shortly. “So you’ll excuse me if I don’t buy the whole ‘we�
�re misunderstood’ speech.”

  Something hard flashed in Daniel’s hazel eyes. It made me back up a step, but his hand shot out and gripped my arm.

  “Why’d you bring that gun camping with you?” he asked, his voice soft. “You brought it for protection, right? Because if anyone tried to hurt you, you’d hurt them, right? Well, now imagine if someone’s trying to hurt your entire family. How far would you go to stop them?”

  Daniel leaned in, tightening his grip so I couldn’t pull back. “I’d do anything to stop that,” he whispered near my ear. “Including holding you hostage. If you got away, you’d tell people about us. People who would come to hurt and kill my family. So I might not like it sometimes, but I am ruthless when it comes to protecting my pack. And don’t pretend you wouldn’t be the same way if the shoe were on the other foot.”

  That gleam of wildness was in his eyes again. The otherness that reminded me that an animal lurked inside him, no matter the handsome male packaging. His pupils started to elongate and that hazel gaze became overrun with yellow. Wolf eyes, staring back at me from the face of a man.

  I shivered, suddenly feeling every bit of my vulnerability before such a strong, lethal predator. Daniel must’ve felt my tremor because his grip loosened, and that primal, inhuman glint left his gaze. Then, with a gentleness that stunned me, he brushed his fingers across my face.

  “You still don’t need to be afraid of me, Marlee. I might be the pack’s enforcer, but I’m also their protector, and I’m protecting you by keeping you here. If you do turn at the full moon, you’ll need me. And I promise to be there for you.”

  The deep timbre of his voice combined with the light, caressing strokes had the strangest effect on me. I almost believed that he wanted to protect me, would do anything to keep me from harm, even though I knew that wasn’t true. It couldn’t be. He was a monster. A beautiful one, but a monster nonetheless.

  “Let go of me,” I said, the order barely a whisper.

  He did, dropping my arm only to hold his out again. A cool politeness overtook his gaze, until I thought I had to have been imagining his intentness. “We’re almost there,” he said, nodding at the square building to the left.

  I balanced on his arm since my choices were doing that or falling on my face. We didn’t speak as we walked the rest of the way to the dining lodge.

  Chapter Five

  It looked like any normal, rustic restaurant inside, if a little more upscale. Instead of smaller tables scattered throughout, there were several long tables arranged in the room, each seating over a dozen. The food seemed to be served family style, with large dishes placed in the middle of the tables from which everyone took their

  servings. There was a moment of quiet as Daniel and I walked in.

  “This is Marlee,” Daniel said to the room at large. “She’s joining us.”

  I didn’t know if he meant for dinner, as a possible new werewolf, or some other cryptic thing. I didn’t argue though. Not with dozens of pairs of inhumanly sharp eyes focused on me. Now I knew how a piece of meat felt when it was dangled above a crocodile pit.

  “Hi,” I said. God, that sounded stupid, but what else was I supposed to say? Somebody call 911 sounded tempting, but I didn’t think it would do any good.

  An older woman bustled up to me, smiling. “Welcome, dear! Aren’t you pretty? Such beautiful brown hair.”

  I just wanted to sit, hide, and plot my escape, not exchange pleasantries with Mrs. Butterworth’s version of a werewolf.

  “Um, thanks.” That was the best I could come up with, and yes, it was pathetic.

  “Let’s set you up over here; it’s quieter,” she said, leading Daniel and me to a table that only had four other people at it.

  “Thanks, Mom,” Daniel replied.

  I stopped so fast I almost staggered. “Mom?”

  A grin edged his mouth. “Everyone has one, after all.”

  “Quit teasing Marlee; she looks starved,” his mother said to Daniel, holding out a chair for me. “We have some excellent venison stew for dinner tonight. That should help put the color back in your face.”

  I sat at the table, avoiding eye contact with the other four people, though I did notice one was a female. Daniel sat next to me, that challenging little half smile still on his face.

  “Not what you expected again?” he asked.

  I glanced around the room once more. People were laughing, eating, and chatting. Sure, I kept getting discreet looks, but no one was licking their chops in a menacing way at me. Maybe I’d imagined the types of looks I was getting before, because now, it all seemed terribly… civilized.

  “No,” I replied and left it at that. These people might appear to be nice, but they were my kidnappers. My executioners if I refused to become one of their group. All the table manners in the world couldn’t make up for that.

  “Daniel,” someone at the table said. “Introduce me.”

  I glanced up, meeting a pair of blue eyes in a smiling face. Black hair hung past his shoulders, untamed and playful, like his expression.

  “Finn.” There was a hint of a growl in Daniel’s voice that hadn’t been there before. “This is Marlee. Marlee, my younger brother, Finn.”

  Again I was surprised at the family connection, though I shouldn’t have been. Why wouldn’t all of their kind congregate together? Isn’t that what normal wolves did?

  “Hi,” I said in the same noncommittal tone I’d used before.

  “Charmed,” Finn replied, grin widening.

  “Cut her a break, she’s had a bad day,” the girl next to him said before giving me a sympathetic glance. “I’m Laurel, Daniel’s cousin. Sorry about what happened to you.”

  “Which part?” I couldn’t help but ask.

  She sighed, her gaze sympathetic. “All of it.”

  There was no stopping my snort. “Yeah. Me too.”

  Daniel cleared his throat. I returned my gaze to the table in front of me, tracing its edge. It’ll be another day or so before people even realize something’s happened to me. How long after that before Brandy or my parents organize a search, if there is one? How many days will go by before they give me up for dead? How am I supposed to just sit here, surrounded by werewolves, and pretend nothing is wrong?

  I would never see any of them again. Eventually, my parents would bury an empty casket. I’d never be able to tell them I loved them, hear their voices again… I might as well have been killed in that attack yesterday. With that realization, a tear slid down my cheek. I sucked in my breath, trying to hold back the pain, the grief, but that only made it worse. Another one came down. Then another. I bent my head, hoping my hair would hide it, and then a warm hand landed on my shoulder.

  “Laurel, have the food sent to my cabin,” Daniel said, then he scooped me up in his arms before I could even protest. We were out of the dining lodge and down the street in the next few heartbeats.

  “God, you’re so fast.” I gasped in astonishment. Fresh tears spurted. How could I ever get away if he moved this fast and there was a town full of more creatures like him?

  “You’re going to be okay, Marlee,” he said, but his low, resonant tone did nothing to soothe me this time.

  No, I wasn’t. I was trapped in a strange place surrounded by creatures that weren’t supposed to exist. My old life might not have been all champagne and roses, but no one had the right to rip me away from it without my consent. The enormity of what I’d lost between yesterday and today slammed into me. I didn’t care anymore that the tears wouldn’t stop or that I’d started hitting Daniel in silent, useless protest against everything that had been torn from me. My grief was too sharp to worry about embarrassment or consequences.

  Chapter Six

  Wolves were chasing me, biting at my ankles, snarling as they crowded around me, letting out howls that made my blood turn to ice. I ran, twigs stinging me as I darted between the trees, gasping for breath, crying out with each new flash of pain in my legs. They were toying with me. It wa
s only a matter of time until my death.

  The full moon came into view between the trees, illuminating more wolves in my path. I screamed at them, but it came out as a howl. Horrified, I looked down to see that my feet had turned into paws. Fur slithered up my body, replacing my skin. I fell forward, claws shooting out of my fingers…

  “NO!”

  I woke up screaming the word, flinging the sheets away like they were animals attacking me. It took me a second to orient myself. Wood ceiling, wood walls, an antler chandelier above me. Right. I was in Daniel’s cabin. All the better to make sure I couldn’t escape.

  He sat in the reclining chair on the opposite side of the room, eyes slitted. Watching me. He’d slept in the chair last night. I guess I should appreciate him giving me the bed, but my gratitude was in short supply.

  “Another nightmare?” he asked quietly.

  I’d had them all night. Either I was getting eaten by wolves, or I was turning into one. Terrifying no matter which way you sliced it.

  Daniel stretched. The afghan he’d thrown over himself slipped, revealing at some point during the night, he’d taken off his shirt. Cords of muscles flexed beneath taut, tanned skin.

  Despite everything, I looked. I’d never seen such a perfectly muscled body before—at least not one that wasn’t on TV advertising gym equipment. Daniel didn’t have the bloated look associated with steroid users, but he had a thick, brawny frame that usually spoke of many hours in a gym. Absurdly, the image of a werewolf bench-pressing flashed in my mind.

  I glanced up to find Daniel staring at me. He didn’t wink or make a comment, but there was no doubt that he knew I’d been admiring his body. From the new slanting of his pupils, either he liked it or it brought out the beast in him.