“This is going to be a long drive,” Axel said. “You want to nap for the first shift?”
“Sure. Wake me when we stop for food.”
He didn't answer, just stared at the road, his expression bleak. I was sure it had to be hard to walk away from his pack, to leave them to an unknown fate. I was worried about them and I hadn't even known them that long. I told myself they'd be fine. They were tough and we'd figure out a way to help them. I grabbed a sweatshirt from the back seat, balled it up under my head and got as comfortable as I could flying down the road, bouncing over the occasional pothole. I drifted off thinking of the pack and those horrible vamps. Thinking of cold blood sliding down my throat and the dead bodies at my feet.
When I woke, the sky was dark and we were parked outside a nondescript diner that could have been the eatery in Mule Creek, except it had a neon sign declaring it was Molly's Diner. I sighed, stretched, and followed Axel inside.
“How long was I asleep?” I asked after we'd been seated.
“Four hours,” he said. “We crossed the state line into Arizona about an hour ago.”
The waitress came over and we placed our order. I was pretty sure I could eat all the cheeseburgers, but I just ordered one, with an extra side of fries.
“How much farther do we have to go?” I asked.
“'Bout an hour.” He stared out the window, but it was dark out and his own face was reflected back at him. He had to be exhausted after the day we'd had.
“Want me to drive the last hour?”
He looked at me. “No thanks. I'll crash when we get there.”
The waitress delivered our food and I dug in. I was so hungry, I practically inhaled it. Axel did the same, both silent as we ate.
As soon as he was done, he threw money on the table and stood. “We should get moving.”
I stuffed in my last bite of burger and stood with him. I didn't see the harm of sitting there for a bit and letting our food digest, but I could see the worry and tension on his face and in every line of his body. He needed the security of the safe house. I followed him out of the diner and back to the truck.
“Listen,” he said once we were back on the road. “We're going to have lay low for a while. I know you want to let Shelly know you're okay, but you can't call her. You can't call anyone. It's going to have to be like we died to everyone we know until the smoke clears on this mess.”
I hated the idea of not talking to Shelly. I was sure she'd seen the pictures and the videos by now. She had to be terrified for me. “How long do you think it will be before I can talk to her?”
He reached across the bench seat and laced his fingers through mine. He rubbed the back of my hand with his thumb. “It might be a while, Julie. Someone will let us know when it's safe. You have to wait until we get the all clear, no matter what happens, okay?”
I gave his hand a small squeeze. “Of course. I understand the concept of lying low. It'll be fine.”
“Not every wolf needs a pack, but some wolves…You'll know if your wolf is getting antsy, moody, and wants to go out roaming all the time, you'll know she needs a pack. Once you're safe, you can look for a pack.”
“We,” I said.
He glanced over at me, eyebrows raised. “What?”
“We can look for a pack.”
He cleared his throat and kept his eyes on the road. “That's what I meant. We can look for a new pack.”
A cold feeling of dread sank in my chest. He was already planning not being with me. He was already trying to prepare me for what I'd need to do if the council found us, if he was taken from me. “How would we go about finding a new pack?”
He relaxed and spent the next forty-five minutes telling me how to locate other packs and what qualities to look for when choosing a pack. I listened and made all the right sounds, but inside my brain was furiously working, trying to find a way out of this horrible mess.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The house was on a suburban street, next to a golf course, and it was enormous. I mean, Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous enormous. Mansion would be too mundane a word for it, the place was a palace.
“Are you sure this is the right place?” I asked.
Axel peered up at the sprawling, adobe-style house and grimaced. “Damn it, Max,” he muttered. He turned to me. “This is the address he gave me.”
He got out of the car and I followed him up the driveway to the massive front door. Lining the driveway and the walkway were palm trees, the yard more stone than vegetation. Axel hopped up the stairs and rang the doorbell.
The door swung open moments later and a small, elderly woman in a lush, satin bathrobe stood before us. Her white hair was in a neat pixie cut, her features sparkled with life, and her eyes danced with mischief. “You must be Axel,” she said with a warm smile. “And Julie Jacobs, I recognize you from television. My nephews love to watch that barbaric fighting.”
I stared at her for a long moment, unsure what to make of her and her backhanded compliment.
“Max said you could help us?”
“Of course, dear,” she said. “Come on in. I've sent all my staff home until we can come up with a believable cover story.” She stepped to the side and allowed us to walk in. She closed the door and faced us. “I'm Desiree Adams. You're welcome to tour the main house, but I thought you might prefer the privacy of the guest house.”
“We would,” Axel said.
Outside, an engine revved and died.
“I hope you've taken everything you need from the car. The crew is here to remove it now.”
I held up the duffel Rowan had left in the back for us. “I've got what I need.”
“Convenient timing,” Axel muttered.
Desiree's expression brightened. “I did build and run a Fortune five hundred company, my dear. I can certainly manage having a car towed. Come along, I'll show you the guest house.”
We followed her through the house. It was all hard edges, sleek lines, and vacant spaces. There was gorgeous art on the walls, but little else to recommend the place to my taste.
Axel grabbed my hand as we walked, then pulled me to his side and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him as Desiree opened a sliding glass door and led us out onto an enormous patio. She skirted the Olympic-size swimming pool and led us to a house big enough to squeeze ten of Axel's cabins into. She pressed some buttons on a keypad next to the front door and led us inside.
The interior was less spacious than that of the main house, not cozy by any means, but more tolerable. The furniture, too, was a bit worn, softer and more inviting. I imagined this was the furniture that had been in the main house several years ago and it had been moved to the guest house when it went out of style. She gave us a quick tour of the up-to-date kitchen, formal dining room, living room, office, exercise room, three bedrooms, and two and a half baths and then made herself comfortable on a couch in the living room. “You are welcome to stay here as long as you like,” she said. “It's never used anymore and I owe Max more than a few favors.”
I sat next to Desiree and gave the air a sniff. She wasn't a werewolf, but she didn't quite smell like a human, either. She glanced over at me, her lips twitching. “I'm a witch, dear. Took centuries of witch-lore, herbal healing, and a touch of magic and created the most popular line of lotions and potions ever made.”
I gasped. “You created Lotions and Potions?” I loved her stuff. She sold everything from cosmetics to body lotions to massage oils to sex lubes.
She smiled. “That's me.”
“I adore your stuff. Your eyelash plumper mascara is the only one I use.”
She looked me over. “I'd have pegged you for a natural, no-make-up type.”
“Every woman likes to get dolled up sometimes,” I said.
Her gaze went a bit distant. “It's a shame you're in hiding. I just had the most magnificent idea for an advertising campaign centered around you.”
“But we are in hiding,” Axel said. “You men
tioned a cover story?”
“Right,” Desiree said. “My staff has been with me for over twenty years, now, and they are terrible gossips. They'll be insanely curious about you, seeing as how they've never seen you at the house before.”
“They can't see us now,” Axel said. “They'll recognize us.”
She tapped her chin. “Of course, of course, but that will just make them more curious. Would you consider plastic surgery?”
“No,” Axel and I said at the same time. I was tempted to shout jinx, because the entire situation seemed so bizarre, but I managed to hold my tongue.
Desiree frowned. “You are my second husband's son,” she said, looking at Axel. “They've never met him. And you're staying in the guest house to have a honeymoon out of the public eye. I'll tell them you aren't to be disturbed. Do you think you can manage that?”
“We can't leave the house at all?” It was a big house, but I could feel the walls closing in on me at the very idea. My wolf was already whining with hatred of the idea.
Axel tightened his arms around my shoulders. “Is your staff here all day?”
“Not all of them, no, but there is at least one staff member here at every hour of the day.” She considered us both for a long moment. “Are you sure you won't consider plastic surgery?”
“We'll stay inside,” Axel said. “Most honeymoons last a week. We can handle a week.”
“What will we do after the week is up?” I asked.
“We'll figure that out when we get there.”
“Wonderful,” Desiree said. “I'll leave you kids to it, then. I imagine you're exhausted.”
She gave us the code for the alarm and left us. The fridge was stocked, so we made a light dinner and ate it on a patio table, enjoying a moment outside before Desiree's staff showed up and we had to go back in hiding.
“Swim with me?” Axel asked.
“I don't have a suit.”
He shrugged. “It's dark. Desiree's probably in bed.”
It wasn't that dark with the fairy lights that adorned the back patio and the submerged lights in the pool, but I figured he was right about Desiree being in bed. I pulled my shirt off and slid off my jeans. I was naked underneath. I didn't wait for him to get undressed, I trotted forward and jumped in.
It was chilly outside, the desert air cooling off even in August, but the pool had been warmed by the sun all day and still retained some of that heat. The water moved over my bare skin like silk and I sank down, just enjoying the feel of it and the silence.
Warm hands wrapped around my middle and pulled me up, twisting me to face Axel, his lips finding mine as soon as I was there. He kissed me hard, kissed me like it had been months since my lips had touched his, kissed me and teased my lips so fiercely and so completely that I was entirely ready for him when he slid inside me. I gasped into his mouth, because it felt so good. I was more alive in that moment than I'd ever been, feeling every inch of him, enjoying every bit of him, even as underneath the pleasure was the pain of our imprisonment, the fear of losing him if Darius tracked us down, the worry about the pack and Clarissa.
I kissed him like I could solve all our problems with my kiss. He pressed me against the side of the pool, one hand on my ass and one on my back, protecting me from the roughness of the wall. He thrust hard and fast, hammering into me like he could go forever, like he had a decade's worth of pent-up need and want.
It felt so good my eyes rolled back in my head and I moaned. I loved him like this, out-of-control with lust and need. I loved him when he was slow and tender and I loved him when he was playful. He reached between us and pressed his thumb to my clit. I exploded with pleasure, the words, “I love you,” on repeat in my brain. He reached his release seconds after mine. As he held me up against the pool wall, his breath a heavy pant against my cheek, I said, “I hate how good you feel. I hate how fast you can make me come. I hate you.”
I could feel his smile against my skin, like his smile was a part of me, like his happiness fueled my own. “I hate you, too, baby,” he said. “So fucking much it hurts.”
***
I woke the next morning in a king-size bed, a bed that smelled like sex and Axel. We'd made good use of that bed after we'd finished our swim. I stretched and smiled, thinking of our night together and how satisfied I felt. I rolled to my side to look for Axel, but I already knew he wasn't there. I hadn't heard the steady sound of his breathing, hadn't felt his warmth. I sat up, my smile falling, my heart freezing, because there was no sound of him in the house. It felt empty and cold, echoing with nothingness.
I leapt out of bed, naked as the day I was born, and I searched that house. I checked every room and every closet. He was gone. He'd left me. For one brief moment, I hoped he'd gone to the main house, but I knew he wouldn't have risked it, wouldn't have risked me.
No. I knew exactly where he'd gone and I was a complete fucking idiot for not realizing it sooner. I should have known he wouldn't run. I should have realized his desperate kisses weren't born of stress or worry, they were goodbye. He'd been telling me goodbye and I'd been too fucking blind to realize it. How dare he? How dare he promise me safety and…And forever and then bail on me? He'd bailed on me just when I'd realized how much I needed him, how much I fucking loved him.
I screamed with frustration and anger, my scream bouncing around the cold, empty house, and then I sat on the couch and looked around. The council wouldn't kill him right away. Right? Damn it, why hadn't I asked him? I looked around the living room, trying to find a phone or a computer, only to realize my vision was blurred with tears. I swiped at them, angry at myself. Now was not the time for tears. Now was the time for action.
I kicked the coffee table, needing to channel my rage into something physical. The pile of magazines that had rested there slipped to the floor, a sheet of notebook paper fluttering down with them.
With a growl, I grabbed it, but I had to wipe my eyes three times before I could read it.
Julie,
Clarissa called. The council is in Mule Creek and they're questioning pack members to try and find us. They're hurting my family, Jules. I can't just hide here while they hurt my family. If I go, they should leave you alone. Lay low for a few weeks and then call Max. He'll let you know if it's safe and he might be able to help you find a new pack.
I'm so sorry, sweetheart that I don't get to wake up next to you for the rest of my life. Leaving you is the hardest thing I've ever had to do.
I hate you with all my heart,
Axel
Balling up the note, I tossed it at the wall, but it fell to the ground far short. I kicked the coffee table again and got to my feet. I could throw a tantrum like a big baby, or I could use the rage to fuel the ass-kicking of a century. Why take it out an innocent coffee table when I could take it out on every creature who laid a hand on Axel?
I dug through my duffel and put on sweats and a tank top. I didn't bother with underwear or a bra. I didn't take time for a shower. I let myself out of the guest house and I marched over to the main house. There was a man by the pool and another in the garden, but I didn't care. It no longer mattered if Darius found me. I wanted him to find me so I could rip his cold, dead heart from his body with my bare hands.
My wolf growled in approval. The sliding glass doors to the main house were open, so I marched inside. “Desiree!” I shouted. “Where the hell are you?”
“I'm right here, dear.” She stepped out of the formal dining room and walked over to stand in front of me. She studied me for a moment as I stood there, thrumming with panic. “He left.”
“How could you tell?”
She smiled, but it was a sad smile, an apologetic smile. “Clarissa called me. I woke him and let him use my phone to talk to her. He made me promise not to wake you.”
I curled my hands into fists and reminded myself she was an elderly woman who didn't need my anger. And getting angry at her would solve nothing. “I need to know how much time I have before they execute him
. Do you have Max's number?”
She frowned. “Axel didn't explain the council to you, did he?”
I bit my lip not to scream at her. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“The council isn't just made up of werewolves, dear. It's eighty-five percent wolves, but there are also witches and vampires, even a fairy. As a witch, I know the punishment for revealing your supernatural nature and I know how it's carried out.”
“How long?” I wasn't looking at her, my eyes were on the door. I was calculating how quickly I could get to LA and the council, how fast I could stop them from hurting Axel.
“When they killed my husband, they gave him ten days.”
I looked at her. Really looked at her. I saw the pain in her eyes, the paleness of her skin. I should have been apologetic, understanding, but I needed answers. I needed to get to Axel. “How long does Axel have?”
“They'll want to move faster with Axel, to make the point and clean up the mess before it spirals out of control.”
“Faster than ten days could still give us a week,” I said, relief flooding me. “That's plenty of time. Can I take your car?”
She put her hands on my shoulders. “Julie, you need to put your fear aside and think. If you storm the council, they'll just add you to the pyre. What's your plan?”
I couldn't think. I couldn't even see straight. All I could see was that front door with the stained-glass windows through which I could just make out the pavement of the road beyond. I needed to get out of that house, I needed to—
Desiree gripped either side of my head, right next to my temples and squeezed. I stared at her. Was she trying to kill me? Because she definitely lacked the grip for that.
“You need to relax,” she said. It was insane, but at the word relax, a calm washed over me and my focus sharpened. “To help Axel, you'll need a fool-proof plan. You'll need to do something no one expects. Something no one is prepared for.”
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