Fighting Furry

by Katharine Sadler

  “Why not just order the Aspens Whiten pack to move on, to find their own place?”

  “They lack the resources we do,” Axel said. “They don't have pack members who can build houses and start businesses. They're more labor-oriented.”

  “So, if I stay, the pack is split up and scattered,” I said. “But if I go, the pack will likely have to move anyway?”

  Axel nodded.

  “If I stay,” I said. “It'll be worse. I'll go if that's what you want.”

  “Fuck no,” Paulie said. “Axel was a miserable fuck with you out of his bed for one night. I don't want to deal with him if you leave for good.”

  I looked to Axel, waiting for what he'd say. He tightened his grip on my hand, but I could see it in his eyes. He would always do what was best for the pack over what was best for him. He would always do the right thing. I needed to go and, maybe someday, things would change and we could be together. I pulled my fingers from his and stood. “I'll be gone before the sun sets.”

  “No,” Clarissa said, her tone so vehement it made me jump. “Axel, don't be an idiot. Julie is part of the pack now and we love her. I know I can go to the diner and ask ten people if we should fight to keep Julie here and they'll all say yes.”

  Her praise warmed me. “If the paps get a shot of us shifting,” I said. “Darius will have Axel killed. It's too much of a risk. I can't stay.”

  Clarissa slumped in her seat, unable to argue with my logic.

  I looked back at Axel, hoping he'd at least walk me out, kiss me one last time, but he wasn't even looking at me, he was staring at the floor.

  I turned and I walked out of the barn alone.

  ***

  “How'd it go?” Lucinda asked from her seat at the kitchen table. She had her laptop in front of her, her fingers poised over the keys like I'd caught her mid-sentence.

  “I have to leave.”

  She smirked. “Moving in with Axel?”

  My throat closed and my eyes burned with unshed tears. Shit. I needed to get it together. “No. I have to go back to LA. I'm bringing too much attention to the pack.”

  Her eyes widened. “Was it Axel's idea for you to leave?”

  Damn, she was nosy. “It was Darius's idea. He didn't give Axel much choice.”

  A growl rumbled from her chest. “I hate the council.”

  “It doesn't matter,” I said. “I have to leave. Can I borrow your car? I'll get it back to you as soon as the paps are off my tail.”

  She waved a hand in the air. “Yeah, sure. I hardly ever use it anyway. If you dent it or wreck it, you're going to pay for it.”

  “I'd expect no less. I'm sorry I won't be able to train you.”

  She stood and wrapped her arms around me in a tight hug. “You're not a very good teacher anyway.”

  I pushed out of her arms and stared at her. I'd worked damn hard teaching her and her friends some moves. “Maybe the problem is that you weren't paying attention when I told you to lead with your dominant hand.”

  She tilted her head to the side. “No. It's your teaching style. You're all punishment, no reward.”

  “I'm not there to make you feel better, I'm trying to teach you how to defend yourself.”

  She sat back down and faced her computer screen. “Confidence has a lot to do with how you comport yourself in a threatening situation. You should always build your students up, not tear them down.”

  It annoyed me more than a little that she might be right. I considered arguing some more, but she was already typing away at the keys, in her own world. I huffed, went back to my room, and packed my meager belongings.

  I rolled my suitcase onto the front porch and carried it down the stairs. Lucinda didn't even say goodbye. After I'd locked my suitcase in the trunk, I headed over to Krista's.

  The sounds of laughter and chatting carried from Krista's house to the front walk, but she answered the door right away. “Julie,” she said. “You're just in time.”

  “Actually,” I said. “I came to say goodbye.”

  “You're leaving?”

  “I'm heading back to LA. My presence here is drawing too much attention to the pack.”

  Her eyes widened in surprise, but she didn't seem too terribly upset about me leaving. “You can't leave tonight. Stay for my party.”

  “Party? Aren't you under house arrest?”

  “I'm not leaving my house, and it's a small party. Just a few close friends.”

  Tempting, but the longer I stayed, the harder it would be to leave. And I needed to leave, needed to get the hell away and draw the paparazzi with me. “I'll visit in a few months,” I said. “After things settle down.”

  Krista waved her hand. “Just stay for an hour then. Come on, I've barely gotten to see you.”

  I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and hugged her tight. “Thanks for being my refuge,” I said. “Even if it was just for a little while.”

  “Any time, sweetie. Have a safe trip and call me when you get back to the city.”

  I released her and stepped back. “Take care of yourself.”

  I hurried to Lucinda's car and took off before I changed my mind. Bumping along the muddy lane away from the small town, I told myself the bumps were the cause of my tight chest and the lump in my throat. I barely knew Axel, barely knew the pack, I'd be fine without them.

  I leaned to the right to pull my cell phone from my purse, but it was caught on something. I almost let it go, I could call Shelly when I got back to LA, but I needed to hear her voice, needed to feel I was going toward something instead of leaving behind everything that mattered.

  Leaning a bit farther over, I glanced at my purse for just a moment to see what my phone was snagging on. It was caught on a hair band, but I couldn't see what the hair band was caught on. I shot a quick glance at the road and then back to my purse, trying to work the phone free as I bounced over potholes and ruts.

  It finally came free so fast I almost fell into the driver's side door. I glanced at the road, already pressing buttons on my phone, only the road wasn't clear. There were four wolves blocking my path.

  “Axel?” I slammed on the brakes. Funny thing about dirt roads, though, they can be really damn slippery and the brakes weren't slowing me down fast enough to avoid hitting the wolves.

  I swerved, the wolves just inches from my front bumper, unmoving. I was close enough to see that I didn't recognize any of them. I was close enough to realize none of them was Axel.

  And then my vision was filled with a tree trunk, approaching way too fast. The crash of metal, an instant to wonder why the airbags hadn't inflated, and my world went black.

  ***

  It was dark, my head was pounding, and my bladder was screaming. Beneath me, was something soft and, I felt around me, wide. I was alone in a bed that smelled stale and dirty.

  Something was very wrong. The room didn't smell or sound like a hospital and, unless I'd been blinded in the crash, it was way too dark. With my new vision, I ought to have been able to see if there was any light at all. I shuffled off the sheet and kicked my legs over the side of the bed, but dizziness overwhelmed me as soon as I sat up.

  My skin itched with the urge to shift, to let my more powerful wolf out. It was probably my body's way of trying to heal and wolf-Julie's way to protect us. I lay back down, nervous about the dizziness and my inability to see, and slipped my clothes off. I rolled onto all fours, my head swimming, and shifted to wolf.

  My wolf, who had been so itchy to get out of my skin, curled up on the bed, content to rest and heal, but I was still present enough to make her get up and sniff around for a way out. My wolf was tired, but healthy, no headache or dizziness troubled her.

  It seemed we were in a room with no windows and only one door, a door my wolf couldn't test. I shifted back to human and tried the door only to find it firmly locked.

  Now that I'd shifted twice, I felt good, but I was starving. I put my clothes back on and pounded on the door, yelling until my voice wa
s hoarse.

  By the time I heard the click of the lock and the creak of the hinges, I was close to giving up on anyone coming to the door.

  A small woman stood in the doorway, the light behind her so bright it burned my eyes. “Julie Jacobs,” she said. “Are you feeling better?”

  I stared at her for a minute, confused by her gentle tone. “I was in a car accident and you locked me in a dark room with no medical treatment.”

  She sighed. “That wasn't me. That was Alpha and his guys. They just treated you the way they would any of the pack who got hurt.”

  I might have questioned that treatment of pack members, but I had a feeling it would be a waste of time. “I'm assuming I'm a captive of the Aspens Whiten pack.”

  She grinned. “You stole back the spirit stick and we needed to send a bold message to Axel. We figured kidnapping his girlfriend would get his attention.”

  “I'm not his girlfriend.”

  She shrugged. “Doesn't really matter, as long as he comes running.”

  My stomach grumbled with hunger, but I sensed this woman might be a good source of information. “And what will you do if he does come running?”

  She smiled. “We'll make sure he understands why he should leave his territory. He's wasted it and it should belong to us.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “I can see that. Why should a bunch of pacifist wolves have such a prime piece of real estate?”

  “We don't care so much about that,” she said. “We just—”

  “Ray-Anne,” a male voice said. “You aren't supposed to be talking to the prisoner.”

  Ray-Anne stepped out of the doorway to see who was talking to her and I followed her onto the green lawn behind the brick pack house I'd visited with Lucinda earlier. Standing a short distance away was Alpha, shirt-less again. I considered my options. I could use my alpha voice and probably get away pretty easily. Or I could stay, pretend to be their friend, and find out what was really going on. “Hey there, Alpha,” I said. “It's good to see you again.”

  He stalked forward, chest out, big belly bouncing. “Thought you'd be pissed at me for kidnapping you and wrecking your car.”

  I shrugged, pretending nonchalance. He knew I was more dominant than him, there was no way he didn't have a plan B. “It's not my car. It's Lucinda's.”

  He put a hand behind his back and grinned. “Nice.” He pulled out a gun and aimed it at my face. “I appreciate you being friendly, but you say one word in that alpha voice of yours and I'll put a bullet in your skull.”

  My stomach roiled. I'd never had a gun pointed at my head before. Certainly, never had a cowardly, lazy, jackass point a gun at my head. My wolf was roaring to get out and lay him flat. I forced a smile. “I ought to thank you,” I said. “Axel had gotten the idea I belonged to him, and I was having a hard time getting away. I'm in the market for a new pack and I thought yours might do.”

  He narrowed his eyes, confusion dominant. “I don't believe you.”

  I shrugged. “I guess I'll just have to find a different pack.”

  I could see the wheels turning in his brain. I'm sure it would be easier for him to let me go, but I was too good a bargaining chip. He thought he could use me to get that mountain territory.

  “I'll handle her.” I heard the voice before I saw him and I smelled him before I heard him. He smelled like blood, cold blood, with a mix of that smell that fills the air right before the first snowflakes fall. He didn't smell like a wolf.

  The man stepped around the back of the house and smiled at me. Even from several feet away, I could see his fangs glinting in the sunlight. A vampire. My own blood turned to ice as I realized my mistake. I could control Alpha, he was no threat to me, but a vampire…I should have run when I had the chance.

  The man wasn't particularly tall or muscular, but strength and power flowed from him with every decisive step he took. He wasn't attractive, his eyes too close together, his mouth a bit small and pinched, but I had a feeling that every woman, and probably every man, who saw him believed him to be gorgeous, because he exuded confidence and charisma. He smiled, like he knew what I was thinking, like he knew he had me right where he wanted me. He didn't look me up and down like Alpha had, he kept his eyes on my face and yet, somehow, he expressed more sexual interest than Alpha's brazen ogling had.

  I could feel myself falling under the man's spell, but I knew it wasn't real, because I'd had real. I'd had Axel. I'd had his warmth and his genuine concern, his blazing lust and his laughter. I didn't fall under the vampire's spell, but I let him think I had. Smiled at him like I didn't understand him as a threat.

  “Finally,” I said. “Someone with real power.”

  “Fuck you,” Alpha said. He grabbed his crotch. “I'll show you real power.”

  I didn't bother to look at Alpha and neither did the vampire. He just kept walking toward me like we were the only two people on that lawn.

  My inner wolf and every bit of my good sense was telling me to run. I knew a chief manipulator when I saw one. If I didn't run, I'd never get away from him. But there was nowhere for me to go, I was between armed werewolves and a vampire.

  It went against every instinct I had to hold my ground, including those of my wolf, who was growling and pawing to be let free. She wanted to fight and so did I, but I wasn't dumb enough to fight an opponent of whom I knew nothing.

  I broke the vampire's gaze for just an instant, looking for an escape, looking for a way out. I wasn't a martyr and I wasn't an idiot. The yard was fenced with a ten-foot tall privacy fence and Alpha still had a gun pointed at me.

  “Alpha,” I said in my alpha voice. “Put down the—”

  Cold arms wrapped around me and a hand clamped over my mouth. “No, no, no,” the vampire tsked. “I'm going to have to ask you to be quiet.”

  Struggling in his grip, I used every move I'd learned in my UFC career, but it was like fighting steel bars, I couldn't get any traction, couldn't break free.

  He shoved me back into the dark room and I heard the door close behind us. My heart rate sped until I felt like I was going to choke on it. I'd promised myself I'd never be in this situation again, never be weak and vulnerable, but I couldn't get free, couldn't do anything to stop this.

  He shoved me back on the bed and my heart tried to pound its way out of my chest. No, no, no, no. I couldn't let this happen.

  “Calm yourself, wolf,” he said. “There's no reason to panic. I'm not going to rape you. I'm just going to have a taste, make sure you're more docile.”

  I wasn't interested in becoming a vampire buffet, and I put every bit of superhuman strength I had into fighting him. I twisted and kicked and scraped my teeth against his hand, but he held tight. He did move a bit, like maybe he was getting a better grip. Slamming my right knee up hard, I aimed for his balls, but got him in the thigh.

  He roared and loosened his grip enough that I was able to flip him over and pin him to the bed. He struggled against me and I knew I wouldn't be able to hold him long. He was stronger than me and, if vampires in real life were anything like in the movies, I'd be at his mercy if he bit me. Of course, he had walked around outside in daylight, so maybe he couldn't control me. I was sure I didn't want to find out the hard way.

  I pressed hard against him and shifted to wolf while he struggled against me. The shift was enough of a distraction, that he got his arms free. He lifted me and tossed me against the wall.

  The hit stunned me and he got to his feet and stalked toward me while I lay on the floor, struggling to catch my breath. “You like it rough? I can oblige.” He smiled, a sickly-sweet expression that sent my wolf into a panic. Wolf-Julie and human-Julie were in complete agreement that this vampire was a threat and nothing good could come of letting him bite us. He stalked closer. “I think I may have changed my mind. You and I might be quite compatible in every way. My name is Jeremiah, you're going to be screaming it very soon. I'll be the best you've ever had.”

  I'd already had the best and I sure a
s fuck wasn't going to let him touch me. As he stalked closer, I growled to warn him off, but he was undaunted. He thought he could beat me, even in my wolf form, and I had a feeling he had enough experiences with wolves to back that theory up.

  I needed an ace in my pocket, I needed some way to surprise him. To take him off his guard.

  Pushing down my panic and my disgust, I pressed my chin and chest to the floor, like I was kneeling in wolf form, like I was begging for mercy.

  He laughed. “Oh, my little wolf. I know you aren't the submissive type, so don't try to fool me. I'm going to have far too much fun breaking you.”

  I whined, deep in my throat, and backed up until I felt the wall against my hind quarters. He wouldn't believe complete submission, but maybe he'd believe fear. It wasn't hard for me to fake, considering I was terrified. Not that he would hurt me, but that he would control me, that my will would cease to be my own.

  He lifted his chin and sniffed the air. “There is nothing quite like that smell. Fear is like the most potent drug, an aphrodisiac with no comparison.” He dropped his gaze back to me. “I've lived an exceedingly long life and my tastes have become more and more difficult to satiate. This pack has been fun, but they are far too easy to manipulate. You. You are exquisite. A fighter.” He stepped back and studied me. “Maybe I'll wait to bite you. Maybe I'll cultivate that fear of yours before I force you into submission.” He stepped forward. “You, Julie Jacobs, are going to be the most fun I've had in a century.” He bent until we were eye-to-eye. “But I'm going to need you to shift back to human. I can force you to do it, but this will all go so much better if you choose to shift. I'll be more willing to be gentle with you, Julie Jacobs.”

  Something was happening to me. His eyes were a glassy, marbled gray and I couldn't look away. I could feel myself getting drawn into his gaze, wanting to do what he was asking. He didn't need to bite me, not really, he could exert power over me with his gaze.