by Cheree Alsop
Alia threw me an apologetic look and mouthed, ‘Are you alright?’
I nodded and forced a smile. She smiled back and turned her attention to her friends. Jayco threw me a searching look from where he walked ahead of me. It was obvious he didn’t like Alia smiling at me. I didn’t like the thought of her going on a date with him. The thought made me want to bare my teeth.
Brexton slowed for me to catch up before we reached the doors.
“You actually beat a burglar up without any weapons?” he asked. He held out a hand. “Respect, man. Thanks for protecting Alia. That takes guts.”
I shook his hand, surprised at the acceptance. “Thanks,” I said. I wasn’t sure if that was an appropriate reply, but it felt strange not to say anything, even if his respect came from a lie.
“She said he got a few hits on you, but you had him under control before the cops got there. That’s cool,” he said.
I nodded as if everything he said was true.
Jayco pulled open one of the doors and waited for everyone to pass before he fell in behind us. My muscles tensed at the proximity of his steps. I could smell the turkey bacon he had eaten that morning along with the scent of mustard that had been under his fingernails for at least two days.
He leaned closer. “What I want to know is why you were walking by Alia’s house at that time of night in the first place. Are you some kind of stalker?”
I pictured in my mind the move I was going to make. It would be swift and smooth, something I had practiced more than a thousand times at the Lair. I would sweep my left leg back and turn at the same time, catching him across the jaw with a stiff right hook. When his back hit the floor, I would punch him twice for good measure, flip him with a quick knee roll, and then grab him in a tight headlock. It would only take the slightest pressure to pop his neck. Feeling his body go limp would be rewarding enough without the added knowledge that Alia would no longer have to deal with his company.
Do it, the dark voice in my head growled. One less human in the world. You’d be doing Alia a favor. Take him down.
Chapter Two
All of it flowed through my mind in the space of time it took for Jayco to set his hand on my shoulder. I drew in a steady breath and was about to act on my instincts, but Brexton got there first.
He shoved Jayco back and said, “Hey, lay off him. He deserves a break, not your paranoid accusations.”
Shock at the boy coming to my defense was quickly followed by anticipation for the fight. Surely Jayco would be upset by Brexton’s words. I would get to see how humans fought. Would it be territorial? Would it be to the death? I had no idea. I crossed my arms and ignored the pull to the stitches that lined the back of my shoulder.
Instead of fighting, Jayco lifted his hands. “Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean any disrespect.” He shrugged. “Don’t you want to know what he was doing out there?”
Brexton shook his head. “I’m just glad he was there. Right place and right time, huh, Zev?”
He threw me an affable look.
I was caught off guard by the fact that the fight had been diffused so easily that I could only nod.
“What’s going on?” Alia asked, walking back toward us with the girls. “You guys are going to make me late!”
“Sorry, Lia,” Jayco said. “I was just giving Zev a hard time. You know how it is.”
She looked at me over Jayco’s shoulder. Worry showed in her gaze. “I owe him my life, Jayco. Be nice to him for me, alright?”
“Alright,” Jayco replied with a hint of reluctance.
“Promise me,” she pressed.
Jayco rolled his eyes, but smiled at her when he said, “I promise to be nice to your strange protector, even if I don’t know what he was doing outside your house in the middle of the night.”
She gave a small laugh and said, “Thanks.” She glanced at her phone. “I’m late. I’ve gotta go.” She threw me a look. “Zev, you coming?”
I nodded and hurried to catch up with her.
“Well, I need a mocha. Catch you guys later,” Janie said.
“Me, too,” Trina echoed.
Jayco and Brexton followed the girls. I thought Isley would join them, but she waved them off and caught up to us.
“Got to do my returns first,” she said, lifting her bags at my questioning look. She sighed dramatically. “All work and no play.”
Alia laughed at that. “At least you aren’t going to fold pants and explain why sizes vary in retail for the next eight hours.”
Isley put an arm around Alia’s shoulders. “No, but I’ll be sure to stop by and bring you an orange Julius when I’m done.”
That made Alia smile. “Thanks.”
Isley glanced at me. “And what are you, her bodyguard today?”
“Something like that,” I replied levelly. I doubted she would be happy if she knew just how accurate her guess was.
“I could use a bodyguard,” Isley said musingly. “A few punks have taken over the lot near my house. They think it’s a great place to party. I heard a scream there the other night and called the cops, but I didn’t see any cars pull up.”
“That’s terrible,” Alia told her. “You need to be careful.”
“I know.”
Isley spun to face a store we were passing.
“This is my stop.” She tipped her head at me. “Good to meet you, Steve.”
“It’s Zev,” Alia corrected before I could say anything.
“Zev,” Isley repeated. “I’ve never heard that one before.” She winked at me as she walked away. “Bye Zev the bodyguard. Thanks for protecting Lia. I don’t know what I’d do without her.”
“I’m glad I could help,” I replied, but she was already halfway through the store admiring a shirt that looked far too small.
Alia gave me a searching look when we continued on. “My friends are a bit much.”
“They’re nice,” I said neutrally. I glanced at her. “What’s with the burglar story?”
A blush colored Alia’s cheeks when she replied, “Oh, I was supposed to go to a party last night and Janie texted me a million times while you guys were on the roof looking for the werewolves.” She looked around quickly as if just realizing how strange that would sound if someone overheard. She lowered her voice and continued with, “I was recording her a reply to be quick, but it picked up Ian yelling about the attack, so I had to make up the burglar story.” She gave me a self-conscious smile. “I hope you don’t mind.”
My insides melted a little at the sweet, apologetic way she looked at me. I didn’t know how anyone could refuse her anything. No wonder Virgo the warlock and this Jayco guy couldn’t stop fawning over her. I was supposed to be the strong werewolf soldier, yet I would have thrown myself into a river if she asked with that look. The feeling was unnerving.
“I don’t mind,” I said. “But your brothers and Virgo were the real heroes.”
She shook her head. “You fought hard, Zev. You were torn up bad. It took three towels to clean up the blood in the bathroom.”
I lowered my gaze at the reminder of the mess I had left. “Sorry about that.”
Alia touched my arm. “Don’t worry about it. I was just glad you took the chance to clean up. We’re here now and everyone’s fine. That’s what matters.”
She touched my jaw. It was a small gesture, a brush of her fingers against my skin.
“My friends are right. You clean up really good,” she said.
Someone walked past us and she lowered her hand quickly as if just realizing the intimacy of the gesture. “I, uh, need to get inside before Jalia finds out I haven’t even opened yet.” She pulled a set of keys from her purse and then paused with her hand on the barred, glass door that fronted the store. The mannequins inside watched with impassive expressions in their painted eyes as uncertainty crossed her features. “Are you going to be alright?”
“I’ll be fine,” I reassured her. “I’ll just hang around and keep an eye on things.”
She nodded and turned the key. The door moved up along with several others down the hall. Apparently, everyone was opening their stores a little late that day.
“It’ll be a busy with the holidays,” Alia said. “Everyone’s trying to get an early start on their Christmas shopping.”
I nodded as if I knew what she was talking about. She gave me a little wave and disappeared into the store, leaving me standing in the middle of the hallway without any clue as to what I planned to do for the next eight hours.
I put a hand to my cheek. It still tingled with the whisper of her fingers. Her comment about me cleaning up good made warmth bloom in my chest even though I couldn’t put into words why. I just knew that I really enjoyed being close to her, and Jayco’s possessiveness wasn’t safe for him given all I had sacrificed to defend Alia’s family.
I had almost killed him.
The thought sent shards of ice through my limbs. It was true. I could see it all in my mind, the way I would have dropped him and snapped his neck. The entire thing would have taken less than a minute. The simplicity was terrifying. I shook my head, but the remnants of the voice remained. One less human in the world. Take him down.
A shudder ran through my body. If it wasn’t for Brexton intervening, I would have killed one of Alia’s friends simply for the fact that he was human and he was in my space. There hadn’t been time to think it through. The voice, the Master’s voice, had taken over my logic and fueled my instincts. And I hadn’t denied it.
A shoulder bumped mine, jolting me back.
“Sorry,” a woman said without looking over her shoulder.
Another form slammed into me, knocking me a few steps to the right and sending pain tearing through my shoulder.
“Look where you’re going,” a man in a suit said. He glared at me. “Do you even work here? The mall doesn’t officially open for another ten minutes.”
“I, uh,” I began.
But he was already continuing on his path down the hall.
Kill him.
A human shouldn’t be so disrespectful. Didn’t he know who he was dealing with? I was a werewolf, a predator, trained to hunt human prey for my Masters.
Before I realized what I was doing, I found myself following the man. He hurried on without any knowledge that I was behind him. The sharp tinge of his aftershave colored the air along with a breathy scent of perfume and the lingering odor of a cat. My lips pulled back in distaste. Dogs were far superior than cats. Why anyone would want a feline in their house was beyond me.
I wanted him to know that I was following him. I wanted to smell his fear, to see his eyes widened and taste the coppery scent of realization that would waft from him when he found himself pursued by a predator he couldn’t escape. The need bade me to follow him down the next hallway to a door in the corner near one of the large department stores.
Make him pay for his insolence.
If he was a werewolf, I would have demanded that he fight me so that I could thrash him and teach him to respect my superiority. I had won enough fights and respect that way to know exactly how it would go down.
But this wasn’t a werewolf. He was a human who had a layer of fat over dormant muscles. His shoes were brown leather and glowed with the amount of polish he used on them. The scent of cash in his wallet was tainted by the oil of many fingers. The keys he carried in one hand had a keyring with a horse standing on its back legs in a field of yellow. The smell of a new car lingered on the keys. His suit was of a finer material than what I could see inside the store, yet his odor matched what wafted from beneath the door. He belonged there.
He has no right to exist.
Humans were weak. They lived to die for the Masters. He should be brought to the Masters. By the sound of his heart that beat erratically within his chest, he didn’t have longer than a year to live, anyway. Society would be far better off without his haughty demeanor.
Bring him to us.
I lifted a hand. It wouldn’t take much more than a foot to the back of the leg to drop him to his knees, then an elbow to the side of the neck to end him. If I was fast, I could leave the mall with him before security realized what had happened. I would bring him to the Masters and they would reward me for the meaty prize. I would—
I dropped my hand and backed away. Terror clouded my vision and tightened my chest until I could barely breathe.
One of my shoes that I had borrowed from James scuffed on the floor and the man turned, just noticing my presence.
“What are you doing?” he demanded.
I shook my head wordlessly and spun away from him at a sprint.
“Idiot,” I heard him mutter.
I ran up the hall and skidded around the corner, nearly taking out a woman pushing a cart full of boxes.
“Hey!” she shouted.
“Sorry,” I replied. I gritted my teeth and ran faster.
I found an alcove that led to a small elevator. The sign ‘Workers Only’ hung next to it. A piece of yellow tape with the words ‘Out of Order’ had been fastened across the elevator doors. By the scent of old grease and dust, it had been broken for years.
I sunk to my knees on the cool tile floor. My heart hammered against my ribs. The sound of it drowned out everything else. I buried my head in my hands and clenched my fingers until the pain centered my thoughts.
“I almost killed him,” I whispered.
The realization hollowed me like nothing else. I had only been in the mall for about ten minutes and already two lives had been at stake. What was wrong with me? Who was I fooling to pretend to be human? I was a living, breathing threat to every person around me. Even Alia’s own friends weren’t safe. If Jayco knew how close he had come to death, he would have peed his pants. Jock or not, staring death in the face could do that to a man.
“Zev?”
I barely heard her voice. I was still getting used to the fact that Zev was my name, or that I had any name at all.
“Zev, are you alright?”
I stood up so fast my head swam. I put a hand to the wall to steady myself with the reminder that my body was still recovering from the fight.
A hand touched my arm. I looked down to see Alia’s friend Isley staring up at me. Her green eyes watched me with concern. I backed out of her reach.
“I’m fine.”
“You don’t look fine,” she replied. She moved her hands to her hips. “You looked like you were going to be sick. Alia said you got hit a few times. Do you need to go to the hospital?”
I shook my head. “I’m fine, really.”
Isley didn’t look convinced. “You might have a concussion. I’ve heard people throw up after one of those. Jayco has a truck and we can—”
“No,” I said with more force than I meant to use.
Isley took a step back.
I let out a calming breath and said, “Really, I’m alright. I just felt a little nauseous and needed a minute.” I searched for a change of subject and said, “Some guy who runs the big store down there said nobody’s supposed to be inside yet if we don’t work here, so I figured I should hide out.”
Isley nodded. “Yeah, they get a little testy about that, but Lia usually lets us in early. The food vendors don’t mind, trust me.” She hefted the drink holder she carried. Two cups that smelled like oranges were nestled inside. “We spend money, so they don’t complain.” She gave me a searching look, then pulled one of the cups from the container and handed it to me. “Here. You look like you could use this more than me.”
The gesture caught me by surprise. I hated how often humans managed to do that. It was far easier thinking of them as prey instead of beings with emotions and an apparent affinity for taking care of each other. Giving them the benefit of the latter made the actions of my entire life cruel and beastly. I was beginning to realize just how much I fit the descriptor.
The thought was overwhelming. Unaware of my actions, I shoved past Isley and into the wide hallway beyond. My brash movements crushed
the cup against her shirt, spilling orange-colored liquid down the front of her cream hoodie.
“Hey!” she said. “Thanks a lot, jerk!”
I barely heard her. The need to get away from people pounded inside my skull. I made it to the next hall, then froze. Humans, hundreds of them, filled the mall corridors. Children, mothers, fathers, teenagers, and even grandparents mixed among the fray. Everywhere I looked, masses of faces, the sound of voices talking, laughing, and shouting, and the smell of many bodies in various states of washed and unwashed packed the place.
I put a hand to the closest wall to ground myself. The need to fight my way through would leave a wake of death.
Do it.
“Shut up,” I growled.
A man walking past with a child holding each hand shot me a cold look.
“Not you,” I said quickly. “I just—”
But they were gone as the next wave of families and individuals swarmed.
The scent of cinnamon and spices filled the air. Brightly colored scarves, sweaters with holiday scenes, and coats of every variety carried more smells than the wearers realized. My wolf side sorted through them, categorizing unknown odors and creating scent files for each individual so that if I had to find them, I could easily track them down.
I wanted to shut it off. I had to close the side of me that had spent so many years on guard, being a soldier, an emotionless killer, a trained weapon for the Masters. The problem was that staying with the Willards, even for such a short time, had unlocked those emotions. It had reminded me that my human side was made for so much more than carrying a blade and defending the Lair against dark and sinister threats. It wasn’t just for luring prey, but rather for enjoying the moment. But I had never enjoyed a moment in my entire life.
That wasn’t true. Since the Willards had found me, I had smiled more in the last two days than the rest of my life combined. I had spoken more words than I knew could be said in a day. I had carried on actual conversations that didn’t involve death or blood or stalking techniques. I had been, for the first time in my life, truly human.
