by Dannika Dark
I flipped a few switches until a blue light illuminated the pool of water. Jet nozzles spun around, causing the water to noisily bubble and circulate. It all happened so fast that I didn’t have time to gasp for breath. Someone had pushed me in headfirst.
Someone was holding me under.
The motor hummed beneath the water, and the edge of the tub pressed against my stomach. With the lower half of my body still outside the tub, I thrashed and wildly kicked.
Calm. Stay calm, Izzy.
I steadied myself with one arm extended to the bottom and reached around with my right. But I couldn’t grab a hold of anything. A hand fisted the back of my shirt and kept me under.
Oh my God, I was going to drown. Panic set in. My heart raced and my lungs began to constrict, aching for oxygen. I writhed, trying to pull my whole body in so I could turn around and get the upper hand, but whoever was holding me down had pinned himself against the back of my legs.
Then my hair tangled in one of the jets and I screamed underwater.
I gripped the ends of my hair when his weight suddenly vanished and I was free.
But I wasn’t free.
A set of hands tried pulling me out, but met with resistance. A larger chunk of hair threatened to rip from my scalp if he kept pulling. When he let go, my entire body slipped underwater.
Dark shoes splashed in front of me and Wheeler dunked his head in. I frantically tugged, pleading at him with my eyes.
A butterfly knife appeared and sliced off a chunk of my hair. He hooked his arm around my waist and yanked me up.
“Gahhh!” My lungs wheezed as I gasped for air. I coughed immediately, having sucked in some water.
A loud splash sounded when Wheeler jumped out of the hot tub and paced around the yard, dripping all over the concrete. “Fuck. He got away. Took off just as I came outside.”
“Who was it?” My voice strained, and I began coughing up water.
He flipped his knife around until it closed and then tucked it in his back pocket. “One of Delgado’s men. I’d bet my fucking right arm on it. Persistent SOB.”
“I’m okay. I don’t need any help,” I said sarcastically as I pulled myself out of the water and swept back my sopping wet hair.
“You should have shifted,” he said, peeling off his shirt and wringing out the water.
“It happened too fast and I panicked.”
“Your wolf doesn’t have long hair, so she would have been able to turn around and bite that asshole. You have to learn to trust your animal enough to protect you.”
“I know, Wheeler. I’m just not used to men trying to kill me. Real nice town you have here.” I glanced down at my dress, and it clung to my body. I squeezed out the ends and found my shoes scattered next to the hot tub. “Why would he want to kill me? Then he won’t get his stuff. Humans aren’t very smart.”
Wheeler turned off the hot tub and threw the cover back on. “To scare the nightmare out of you. That’s a real threat that makes someone comply. Delgado thinks you’re full of shit and you know where the money is. I’m sure he’s wondering what the hell happened to the man he sent after you at the festival.” Wheeler raked his fingers through his wet hair and wiped off his face. “He’s fucking with one of us now, so he better watch his back. I hope he tries it again.”
“What?” I gasped. “You want him to come after me again?”
A dark look crossed his face. “This is the kind of mud that sticks to a boot, and I can get a footprint. Evidence. Reason to take care of this malignancy of a man the legal way, if I can’t strangle him with my bare hands. And believe me, if Delgado ever crosses me personally, I will dig a grave and bury him myself.”
“I’ve lived a pretty crazy life, Wheeler, but not until I moved here have I had people trying to kill me. No offense, but don’t even think about using me as bait. I have no intention of allowing that human to get the upper hand with me again.”
We headed back inside.
“Right. ’Cause you’re a badass.”
I yanked him back by his shirt and gave him a frosty glare. “My wolf emerged to save April’s life. A human. I’m not a violent person by nature, but my wolf is aggressive and relentless. I’m not going to talk about what she did to a Shifter in Topeka seven years ago who tried to rape a woman in an alley by knifepoint, but let’s just say he’ll have scars for the rest of his life, and deservedly so. I have to balance things out with my energy, so forgive me if I’m not putting on spiked boots and twirling a knife in my hands. I don’t know how to prepare myself for someone shoving me headfirst into a tub of water.”
Wheeler spun all the way around and glared down at me with pale brown eyes. “So tell me why your wolf comes out to save someone else’s life, but not yours?”
“It’s a long story.”
Wheeler had decisive brows, the kind that sloped down in the middle and gave him a sinister expression.
Maybe he wanted to know the answer, or maybe he simply wanted to provoke me, but I wasn’t going to tell him my life story. I’d spent my entire youth in a volatile house and had been forced to cage my animal. After a while, my wolf had given up on fighting for me. But after having been penned for so long, she’d become aggressive and wouldn’t hesitate to come out when someone else was in danger.
To be honest, that kind of relationship with my animal is exactly why I was so perfect to wait tables in crazy bars. I’d seen waitresses who couldn’t control their animal, and all it took was one reckless shift to either get fired or attack someone. Some of those customers could rile you up, but I’d learned over the years to let all the small stuff slide and handle a situation without relying on my wolf.
Plus, she was a pissy little thing. Literally. Years ago, Jericho told me my wolf had pissed on two of his bandmates for taunting her. She didn’t understand what they were saying, but she was smart enough to comprehend their tone.
“We’re going to start collecting dust if we stand in here much longer. Let’s go,” Wheeler said.
***
“There’s nothing here,” I said despairingly. I took a seat at the kitchen table in Hawk’s second home. “We’ve exhausted all avenues and haven’t found a thing.”
After turning the first house upside down, we’d taken a long and arduous drive to the second house, where I’d been held captive. It took a breath of courage for me to walk through that door, but once inside, I remained focused. Wheeler searched the bedroom and basement because I didn’t want to revisit that dark period in my life ever again.
I sighed, looking up at Wheeler. “Did you search the floorboards?”
“I’ve checked every conceivable place, including the toilet tank.”
Wheeler was standing on top of the kitchen counter, looking at the space above the overhead cabinets. He finally rested his arm on the top of the fridge, his eyes downcast. “I crawled around in the attic, but I don’t think he would have put it up there,” he said to himself.
“I don’t think it’s here,” I murmured, circling my finger on the table. “Maybe he sold it all. He could have put the money in the bank.”
“Not likely. That’s the kind of thing that attracts attention,” Wheeler said knowingly. “Men with money like to hide it in overseas accounts, but Hawk seemed like a dumb shit, so I’m not giving him that much credit. A man can leave too many bread crumbs if he starts opening accounts and wiring money around.”
My throat became dry, and I shivered. “What if we never find it? I’ll have no choice but to leave town.”
Wheeler’s shoes slammed against the tile when he jumped down. “Maybe some of the others will pussyfoot around the truth, but I’m going to tell you flat out that I don’t want you taking Jericho away from our pack. That’s a low-down—”
“I’m not—”
“No, let me finish.” His eyes darkened with his expression. “The lowest thing a woman can do is break up a pack. If you leave, Jericho is walking. I’ve known that wolf long enough to know he’ll do it. We
can’t force a man to stay, and in time, we’ll gain new pack members. But by then, you’ve already severed the brotherhood, and the damage is done.”
I stood up and had reached out to touch his arm reassuringly when he stepped back.
“Wheeler, that’s not my intention. I’d never do anything so selfish as take him away from his pack. I care for him too much to want to rupture old wounds. But if I stick around, Jericho’s not going to stand by and watch these guys come after me. That’ll leave me with no choice but to skip town. I wish I’d never met Hawk—he was the biggest mistake of my life. Not because of what he did to me, but what he did to those women. To Jericho. And to you…”
“Look, I’ll tolerate you because I have no choice. But don’t expect me to be nice and warm up to you just because you’re sorry—that’s not going to happen. I may be in your debt, but I’m not going to let you drag my brother away from the only good thing he’s had in this life, and that’s his family.”
“I told you I’m not asking him to come with me!”
Wheeler shook his head angrily. “Doesn’t matter. He’ll follow, and you know it. Jericho had a fucked-up past, and whether you want to admit it or not, you were part of it. So don’t get the idea that your love is going to weather the storm. He’ll resent the hell out of you for making him leave his family, and he’ll go back to that same old bullshit we pulled him out of all those years ago. If you split, then do it quietly in the middle of the night and leave him a Dear John. ’Preciate ya.”
Wheeler turned away and stalked out of the room.
As much as I hated his abrasive candor, he was right. Jericho would follow me if I tried to leave; I was certain of it. But someday he’d start thinking about his family, and maybe that will be the fissure that finally breaks the dam.
I owed it to him to stick around and clean up this mess. I owed it to him not to bail.
When I searched for Wheeler, a light at the end of the hall caught my attention. It came from the room Hawk had kept me in. I heard the sound of Wheeler ripping apart the mattress and I shuddered.
The living room was small and insignificant. I sat down on the sofa and stared at the television, wondering how Hawk could have watched movies while I was tied up in the bed. It made me furious—it made me want to hurt him. But he was gone now, and I needed to let all that anger go before it ate me up like a cancer. It wasn’t good to hold in that much hate; all it does is make your wolf insane.
I stared at an ugly painting on the wall, one with puppies running in a distant field of weeping willows. Hawk liked pastel imagery, and this was a dark oil painting. I got up and stood in front of it, running my fingers down the brassy frame.
“Wheeler?”
“Busy,” he barked out.
“Wheeler?” I said more urgently, tugging at the immovable frame.
“Busy,” he growled loudly.
“Fine,” I yelled back. “Be busy while I’m looking at the drugs and money.”
The door slammed against the wall, and he rushed into the room from my left. “Where?”
I pointed at the painting and stepped aside as Wheeler gripped the edges, tugging so hard his biceps looked like painted rocks.
I ran my fingers along the frame while he scraped his nails on the canvas. Wheeler pushed in, and a clicking noise sounded before the painting opened up like a door.
“Slick bastard,” he breathed. “Doing it old school. How did you know to look at the painting?”
“Hawk hated dogs.”
“And he was dating you?” he said with a snort.
We both stared at the combination lock sunken into the wall. Wheeler was tall, so he leaned in and began turning the dial.
“What was his birthday?”
“Heck if I know. Try the address.”
“He wouldn’t be that stupid.” Wheeler turned the dial and it clicked. “Yeah, he was that stupid. Why the hell did you end up living with a pinhead like Hawk?” Wheeler stretched his arm inside the wall.
“What’s in there?”
He pulled out stacks of money and placed them in my arms. I almost squealed with excitement. Then he pulled out bags of drugs—a larger quantity than I’d ever seen before.
“He’s got compartments on the left and right,” Wheeler said, his voice straining as he reached all the way up to his shoulder and pulled out more money.
“How are we going to get this to Delgado?”
“Maybe we should keep it,” he suggested.
“No! Absolutely not.”
Wheeler shut the painting and smiled darkly. “That’s what I like to hear.”
“So you’re testing me?”
“Just need to make sure my brother isn’t tangled up with a greedy whore.”
I snatched the bags from his arms and flounced out of the room. “You need to learn to talk to a woman properly.”
“Wait a second,” he bellowed, jerking my arm and causing some of the cash to fall on the floor. “We’re not walking outside with an armload of drugs and money. Let me get a trash bag or something. We’ll put it in the trunk and head back. Lexi took Lynn and Maizy to a hotel tonight in case we found something, and Austin needed to work out a plan. They don’t suspect anything because Lynn has a getaway vacation every so often. Austin got the idea so in case we ever needed them out of the house for a night, they wouldn’t freak out.”
“I just hope Austin knows how to get in touch with Delgado.”
A fiendish look of amusement appeared on his face. “Maybe we should leave a note: Found drugs and money. Call this number. Hugs and kisses—the guy who killed your henchman.”
Chapter 22
Jericho regained inner balance after his wolf had taken over for the entire day. The events of the previous night with Isabelle killing a man had left him rattled. The last thing he remembered was shifting and nuzzling against Isabelle’s white wolf as they slept beneath the stars. When he finally shifted back, the sun bronzed the western sky and painted the treetops with gold as it dipped below the horizon in search of night.
He walked inside naked and pulled on a pair of jeans, listening to Denver make a few wisecracks in a cartoonish voice about him hunting rabbits. The mood among the pack was somber, and he found out later that Austin had sent Wheeler to search for the drugs with Isabelle. He hoped going back to the house wasn’t too traumatic, but maybe it would help her put those demons to bed.
Jericho’s band had made plans weeks ago to write up some new music, and Austin didn’t look thrilled when they swung by and trickled upstairs to the game room. It usually went on all night while they sat around, drank beer, scribbled down lyrics, and tested out new sounds. As a collaborative effort, it was important each member participated. This was Trevor’s first session, and he was nervous the boys wouldn’t like his style of music and ideas. But fresh blood always gave them a new vibe.
Jericho was waiting in the game room when they walked in, and Joker and Ren showed up with a few female companions. Jericho wasn’t cool with the distraction, but he didn’t want to be rude and throw them out. Joker had his drumsticks tucked in his back pocket, and Ren’s guitar was slung over his arm in a case.
“They wanted to tag along and be our muses,” Joker said nonchalantly, strutting in the door.
Three girls followed behind, eyes wide as they nibbled on their lips.
Humans.
Joker preferred humans for the obvious reason that he was one. Shifter women always had their sights on Jericho, leaving the rest of the guys in the dust. Human women didn’t really care who they hooked up with, so Joker always had a fair shot. Ren was young, but the kid had game.
“What’s wrong, man?” Jericho asked when Trevor eased up beside him, his hands in his pockets.
“You know,” he whispered.
Trevor wasn’t shy by any means, but he didn’t like intimate situations where he might end up having to explain he was gay.
“Just show ’em how cool you are,” Jericho said. “Make them wish the
y could hook up with you. That drives ’em wild. Do you think I used to hook up with every single hottie who rubbed up against me? They want you even more when you’re aloof. Be aloof.”
“Aloof,” Trevor repeated as a mantra.
Jericho plucked a cigarette from a pack on the bar and tucked it behind his ear. “Where did Reno and April head off to?”
Trevor laughed quietly and shook a few strands of hair out of his eyes. “They had some elaborate date planned. He took her to a concert, and afterward they’re staying at the Four Seasons and getting their nasty on. She packed lube; I’m kind of freaked out.”
“More than I needed to know,” Jericho said as they swaggered across the game room.
“Gina, Tina, and shit… what’s your name?” Joker asked as he stumbled through introductions.
The blonde leaned over the pool table, and it made Jericho’s body go stiff. He turned his eyes away and headed to the bar to light up his smoke.
“It’s Ebony,” she said, her tone snippy.
A girl with a low-cut top and a silver pendant tucked between her breasts took a seat beside Jericho. “So you’re the famous Jericho. I’ve seen you play—you’re hot onstage.”
He lit up his smoke and took a deep drag, deciding he had a fifty-fifty shot at getting her name right. “It’s just a job, Tina.”
“Gina.”
“Right.”
Her left hand abruptly squeezed his thigh. “I think you’re really sexy.” Then she slid off the stool and intruded in his space, inching her hand even higher as her voice became sweet like honey. “If you want to know how sexy, show me your room. If you’re not up for sex, I’ll just give you head.”
How juvenile was this conversation? he thought. Not a seductress by any means. And yet Isabelle could make him rock hard from a single glance with her mesmerizing green eyes. They both shared the same eye color, but hers were so vibrant and full of shine whereas his were dull and often compared to a dark jade. Isabelle had always been the better version of him.
