by Tina Donahue
Wylder rubbed his fingers over his mouth trying not to smile.
“This color’s awful on me.” Ethra fingered her blue top. “My pink one would be better. Be back in a sec.” She stopped in the doorway. “I did good, don’t you think?” She beamed.
Starr forced a smile. “Once you’re in pink, you’ll be perfect, but we should rehearse a lot before actually making the video.”
“Why?”
“Just part of the process. Every photographer and Hollywood director I met rehearses a lot.”
“If you say so.” She padded down the hall.
Wylder’s shoulders bobbed with suppressed laughter. Starr slapped his arm. “Control yourself.”
“No fucking way.” He pulled her into his arms and kissed her so deeply, she relaxed better than if she’d downed several slugs of booze. Too bad he couldn’t work his magic on her mom.
In front of the camera, Ethra was as stiff as a corpse, her movements unnatural and jerky, her voice an emotionless drone only a zombie could love. Rather than speak to the red light as Starr had directed, she kept glancing at the monitor to the side, stopping to ease back a wayward strand of her hair, lifting her chin at an impossible angle to reduce the slight sag in her jaws.
She was so worried about her looks, she didn’t watch what she was doing and burned her fingers twice. Soon, she was sweating as badly as Starr was.
Still, her mom smiled. “This is fun. It’s going much better than I thought.”
“You’re great.” Wylder applauded.
Giggling shyly, Ethra curtsied. “Thank you, sir.”
Starr sagged against one of the tables. “Let’s break for lunch.”
And a few acting lessons.
With the video to make and Starr accompanying Wylder to deliver the metal artwork, she’d never been busier or happier. The other pack members had finally stopped giving her the evil eye, accepting her as one of their own again. She and Wylder made love most days, always in the woods. She still wasn’t okay with the idea of anyone in the bar hearing them going at each other upstairs.
Eventually, she and Wylder would have to make a decision whether to get a place together. She wanted nothing more, but despite their claiming bites, Starr didn’t rush, content with their current situation.
Summer wound down, the nights crisp, the days still delightfully warm. Her mom put the video and other promo aside in order to meet a huge order from a new store. The proprietor had been in one of the local towns, checking out shops, and had come upon her work. It was love at first sight. She emailed pictures of the pieces she wanted made for her shop and commissioned even more, these original designs just for her.
Starr brought a tray of burgers and chips into the workroom since her mom refused to break for meals. There was so much material lying around, projects started but not finished, she wasn’t certain how her mother would ever catch up. “Can I do something to help? Maybe paint? I couldn’t screw that up too badly.”
“I’m good.” She darted from one project to the other. “As long as I don’t sleep or eat, I should be finished in time.”
“Hey.” Starr rubbed her mom’s back. “Killing yourself won’t get this done. Come on.” She pushed her onto one of the stools and pulled the tray of food in front of her. “Eat. Do you want coffee or water?”
“Neither. I don’t have time for this.”
“Make it.” Suddenly, the daughter was the mother. “These pieces will get to where they’re supposed to be, on time, even if Wylder and I have to break every speed limit in the state to deliver them.”
Ethra bit into the burger. “Won’t help.” She pushed a piece of bun into her mouth. “They’re going to Wyoming.”
Starr’s belly fell, a wave of disquiet rushing over her. “Why there?”
“That’s where the shop is. What’s wrong?”
Kade’s pack was in Wyoming. He’d spoken often of his childhood there. When things had still been good, or at least normal, between them, she’d asked if he’d ever roamed the Black Hills Forest. She hadn’t mentioned the part in South Dakota, afraid she’d let something slip about Los Lobos. He’d told her he’d never strayed from Wyoming until he’d left for Hollywood.
“Sweetie?”
She shook her head. “What town are these going to?”
Ethra told her. Not anywhere near Kade’s, thank God. Starr breathed easier and told herself she was worrying for nothing. He had no way of finding her. Wyoming and this country were huge. He was a prick, not a supernatural being who could locate her in billions of acres of land and within hundreds of millions of people. “When do we leave?”
“If you quit bugging me to eat, I’ll be ready to ship by this weekend. She popped a chip into her mouth. “Then we can get back to our video thing.”
As painful as the project had been, Starr suddenly looked forward to trying again, staying here, remaining undetected and safe.
Wylder came prepared for their three-hour journey, a sack of their fave candy in his hand.
Starr chose several Dove squares.
Ethra shook her head and padded from the room to get the paperwork. “You two need to eat something substantial.”
Wylder leaned into Starr, his mouth pressed to her ear. “We will be. At our spot, right?”
She laughed quietly. “The water might be too cold today. The temps are only supposed to reach the low seventies.”
“That’s outside. You and I will be on fire.”
She liked how he talked.
They gorged on candy and sappy country music on the drive, each of them seeing who could find the worst tune on the available stations. Stuff like Bubba Shot the Jukebox, Don’t Roll Those Bloodshot Eyes on Me, I Changed Her Oil and She Changed My Life, and Starr’s personal fave I Fell for Her, She Fell for Him, and He Fell for Me.
They laughed themselves weak and started again as they critiqued her mom’s performance in the videos.
Wylder affected the stony glare of Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Terminator. “Hello. My name is Ethra.”
God, he even sounded like the former Governator. Starr squealed in delight and clapped her hands. “More.”
“This is a torch.” He held up his hand and turned it slowly from side to side. “It cuts stuff—owie! Darn, I burned myself.”
Convulsed with laughter, Starr sagged against her door. “This isn’t nice.” She slapped his thigh. “Stop it.”
“Whatever you want.”
He gave her a goggle-eyed look like her mom did whenever she faced the red light of the camera.
Starr pointed her finger. “You’re going to Hell.”
“As long as you’re there with me, who the fuck cares?” He leaned over and licked her finger.
Laughter turned to chuckles then smiles and finally contented silence. She leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes.
The pickup stopped.
Startled, she jerked up in her seat. “What happened?”
“Nothing. We’re here.”
Picturesque shops marched down each side of the narrow street. Cars with license plates from as far away as Oregon took up the parking spots. “I fell asleep?”
“Snored, too.”
“I did not.” She smacked his hand.
He kissed her fingers. “Let’s get this stuff to Mrs. Tolliver so we can head back for our picnic.”
“Eating something substantial?”
A grin broke across his face. “What else?”
She hopped out of the cab and stopped dead, heart hammering.
The tailgate of the pickup creaked. Wylder said something she didn’t hear. She was afraid to breathe.
“Baby?”
She flinched at his voice, him touching her arm.
He searched her face. “What’s wrong?”
Kade’s scent. She could have sworn she smelled him on the mild breeze, but couldn’t have. Before she and Wylder had left, she’d researched the gift shop and Mrs. Tolliver on the Net. They were legit. The
woman had been in business at this same location for fifteen years. Nothing connected her to Kade, as far as Google was concerned.
“Nothing.” She caught another breath, relieved the scent was gone, or what she’d thought had been his scent. “Too much sugar.”
“You need meat from now on. No arguments.”
She pecked his hair-roughened cheek. “Bad boy.”
“You have no idea.” After a playful swat on her ass, he unloaded the crates.
Mrs. Tolliver looked exactly like her Internet photos, surprisingly tall with white hair, blue eyes, and a stiff smile. She could have used acting lessons, too. Starr handed her the paperwork. The old woman put the invoices aside. “I’ll look at these in a moment. Young man.” She clapped her hands at Wylder. “Careful, careful, care-ful.”
“Yes ma’am.” He didn’t budge from his spot.
She still shook her head and touched the crates. “I don’t want one scratch on these pieces.”
“No ma’am.”
“Follow me.”
He lifted his eyebrows at Starr and trailed after Mrs. Tolliver to the back.
Alone, Starr looked over. A man in his late thirties or early forties was suddenly behind the counter as if he’d materialized out of thin air. He offered a tight smile, similar to Mrs. Tolliver’s.
Must be her boy.
Starr returned his uncomfortable greeting. He stared at the left side of her face. Quickly, she pulled her hair farther over her cheek, not knowing how he could have seen her scar. Her hair hadn’t been pushed back. Uneasy, she roamed the shop, picturing where her mom’s stuff would go. Several older couples browsed the wares, wrinkling their noses or nodding each time they glanced at the prices.
She checked out a few pieces herself. Next to the items she’d once bought on Fifth Avenue and Rodeo Drive, this stuff was a bargain. She turned. The guy behind the counter was on the landline phone, speaking quietly. When had the thing rung?
The cloyingly sweet scents of the older women made her stomach roll. The walls seemed to press in, the stuffy air hard to breathe. Gripped by an unbearable sense of doom, she wanted to run but wasn’t about to leave Wylder here.
What in the hell were he and the old lady doing in back? Starr couldn’t hear their voices or Wylder unpacking the crates. She bounced on her heels and glanced out the storefront window. Everything seemed the same as when they’d arrived, locals and tourists strolling the streets, traffic rolling by, sun sparkling off windshields, awnings flapping in the gentle breeze.
“Ready?”
She whirled around at Wylder’s question. “Yeah, let’s go.”
“Whoa. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. I’m eager for lunch.”
“Fine. We’ll pick something up here and—”
“No. The food’s better where we live. Come on.”
In the cab of the pickup, she couldn’t keep still, bouncing her legs up and down.
Wylder rested his hand on her knee. “You okay?”
“Fine. Give me your cell phone.”
He hesitated a moment then handed over the instrument. She called her mom. “Hey, it’s me. We delivered your stuff. Mrs. Tolliver even cracked an almost-normal smile.”
“She’s a nice lady,” Ethra said. “You shouldn’t make fun.”
“I’m not. Did you tell her I was coming here today?”
“What?” Wylder turned to Starr.
“No,” Ethra said. “I told her some of my people were coming. Why? Did she recognize you from one of your magazine pictures?”
“No. Just wondering. We’re heading back, but we’re going to have lunch. Don’t expect us too soon.”
“No reason to talk in code, sweetie. I was young once, too. Have fun.”
Starr handed Wylder his phone. “Let’s go.” Her feelings were crazy, but she couldn’t wait to get back on pack land.
Wylder pulled out of the spot and rolled down the street at no more than ten miles an hour.
Crap. “Can’t you go any faster?”
“Not here. The limit’s thirty. There’s traffic in front of me. What happened while I was in back with Mrs. Tolliver?”
Starr turned to him. “Did she say anything weird to you?”
“Besides ordering me not to breathe on her precious pieces? No. She made me wash my hands before I opened the crate, like I was going to perform surgery or something. What’s eating you?”
“Nothing.”
“Bull. You’ve been jumpy since we got here.” He glanced back at the road then frowned at her. “Does Kade live here?”
“No.”
“But he’s from Wyoming, right?”
“Not here. Hours away.”
A kick to his balls couldn’t have made Wylder look worse. He stopped at a red light, gaze turned inward, expression concerned.
She touched his hand. “What?”
“Something’s been nagging me that I couldn’t place until now.” He turned in his seat. “You said he stopped your cellular service. Did he have your phone?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you ever call your mom from it?”
All the time. “He couldn’t find her through it. He’s not that smart. He wouldn’t dare come on pack land. He’s not that brave.”
“Brave doesn’t matter. Crazy does.”
A wave of nausea washed over her. “I asked her if she’d gotten any strange calls since I got home. The only ones she’s had are from salespeople, not him. No hang ups.”
Wylder drove through the green light. “Does he advertise his services online?”
“Not like regular ads, but he does have a website.”
“With the jobs he’s been on and will be on?”
“Yeah.”
Wylder handed her his phone. “Check to see where he is now.”
Her hands wouldn’t stop trembling, her mind flooding with horrible images of Kade running them off the road, shooting Wylder, tearing her apart. The country tunes she’d laughed about only hours before drove her crazy now. She clicked on the upcoming movies tab on his website, scrolled down, and blew out her breath. “He’s in Canada this week and next for a Brad Pitt flick. We’re okay.”
Despite her assurances, Wylder drove faster on the way back than he’d done on the trip out. The traffic thinned considerably after they crossed the state line into South Dakota.
He glanced over. “Still want to have our picnic?”
“At our spot? You bet.” She couldn’t let fear rule her life. Having almost ruined today was bad enough.
He stopped at one of the larger towns, buying ham, turkey, beef, and provolone for their sandwiches. They also had sesame seed buns, brown mustard, dill pickles, and what was left of their candy.
Five miles from their spot, they lost the last of the traffic. The single gray Jeep turned off onto a paved road.
Hungry from the turmoil, she scarfed down two candy bars. “Here.”
He waved away the candy she offered him. “I want meat.”
“So do I, but you need to keep up your energy for me. I’m horny as hell.”
Laughing, he accepted the candy bar, tearing the wrapper with his teeth. As he finished the chocolate, he parked in the same spot he had the last time they were here. The wind was in their faces, animals noisier today. Bushes rustled, twigs snapped, the critters accepting their presence as benign rather than predatory.
Who could want to do any harm on a day like this?
The afternoon sun washed everything in a golden glow, the wispy clouds not daring to come near. There was no rainbow over the water today. No biggie. There would be other opportunities to come here and catch nature at its best.
A bush rustled to the side.
Starr turned, expecting a deer or fawn to be nearby, maybe rabbits.
Nothing.
She pulled her hair away from her face where the wind had blown it. No need to hide her scar any longer, especially as far as Wylder was concerned. He wanted her for who she was inside.
/> After setting their bag of food on the grass, he wiggled his eyebrows at her.
She blew him a kiss and tore off her clothes. He tossed his tee over her head. Laughing, she turned to the side.
The wolf hit her in the shoulder. She fell down, breath knocked out. The thing was on top of her in a second, black fur bristling, fangs above her throat, blue eyes crazed and unmistakable.
Kade.
Not in Canada. A lie. He’d followed her and Wylder here. The man behind the counter of the shop must have been talking to him when she’d been there. Mrs. Tolliver might have also been in on Kade wanting to find her, using the artwork to lure her there.
Starr couldn’t move. She couldn’t find enough breath to scream for Wylder to save himself. Nothing mattered except keeping him safe.
A human bellow cut through Kade’s panting, followed by an animal snarl. Wylder knocked his body against Kade’s, both of them in wolf form. They rolled across the grass, teeth flashing. She scooted back. Her fingers hit a rock. Quickly, she dug it out of the ground.
Twisting free of Wylder, Kade pounced. Wylder rolled out of the way before Kade could touch him. Starr hurled the rock. It smacked Kade’s shoulder with a sickening thud. He yelped then dashed in her direction and leaped.
Time stopped. Gravity no longer mattered. He seemed suspended in air, saliva dripping off his teeth, eyes murderous.
Wylder leaped from the side, slamming into Kade, teeth sinking deep into the wolf’s throat. Kade growled and gurgled, blood gushing out of the wound, staining his fur. Wylder wouldn’t let go, shaking the wolf back and forth, his jaws clamping harder.
Bones crunched. Air whooshed out of Kade’s body. Wylder released the wolf’s throat and sank his fangs into the belly, ripping him open.
Starr should have turned away but couldn’t. The end was over in seconds. In death, Kade stared at something only he could see.
She crawled to Wylder and threw her arms around his shoulders, her face pressed into his fur. Before she’d caught her next breath, he was in human form once more, his cheek against hers.
She hugged him as hard as she could. “Are you hurt?”
“No. Winded. You?”
