Cry of the Wolf

by Karen Whiddon

  Whatever answer he made was lost over the sound of the boat engine roaring to life. She had to shout to be heard over the noise. “While I’m staying with you, maybe you can teach me how to shoot.”

  His hands stilled on the wheel. Narrowing his eyes, he studied her. “You’re serious about that?”

  “I am.” She yawned again. “Though not right now. Now, I need to rest.”

  “All right, then.” He used reverse to move the boat back into the water. “Have you already purchased a gun?”

  “Not yet.” Comfortably seated, she brushed her hair back from her face and looked out over the water shimmering in the moonlight. In another life, she might have found this place beautiful. But not today. Definitely not today. “I’d like you to help me choose the right one, if you don’t mind. I’d like a pistol, a revolver, I think.”

  One hand on the wheel, he guided the boat with a quiet competence. His gaze was cool and clear and gave none of his thoughts away. “Why not an automatic? They’re much easier to use.”

  She gave him the only explanation she could—the truth. “Because silver bullets don’t come in cartridges.”

  Though she could see he wanted to ask, he only shook his head.

  He had a boat dock at the edge of his property, and after guiding the boat into the slip, he led her up the path to his house.

  At the back door, she stopped, fingering her wolf necklace. “I don’t have a change of clothes or a nightgown. Hell, I don’t even have toothpaste or deodorant.”

  After a startled look, he touched her arm. “You’re right. Let’s make a quick run into town.”

  Still she balked, not wanting to take even more charity from him, but knowing she had no choice. “I don’t have any money.”

  He brushed a quick kiss on the side of her cheek. Though he’d no doubt meant the kiss to bebrotherly, she felt the touch of his mouth all the way to her toes. “This one’s on me,” he said, leading the way to his truck. “Come on.”

  By the time they made a stop at Wal-Mart to buy her a couple of changes of clothing and toiletries, including a new contact case and new solution, she felt like a refugee. Since cleaning out her modest checking account before Leo closed it, she’d had to pinch pennies, but she’d never been completely, utterly broke before.

  She hated to rely on anyone but herself.

  Worse, she was starving. Again. She needed red meat, preferably steak.

  Her stomach growled, sounding a little like her caged wolf.

  Colton noticed. “I’m hungry too.” He smiled. “I’m a mean griller, if I do say so myself. How about a juicy T-bone? I’ve got a couple of steaks in the fridge.”

  Like he’d read her mind. She grinned back. “As long as you can cook it rare, I’m game.”

  “Rare? Not medium rare, but bloody?”

  “Exactly.” Shifters liked their meat as close to fresh as possible.

  Though he raised a brow, he didn’t comment further. Instead, he started telling her about the garden he kept in the back of his house. Apparently, it had been started by the home’s previous owner, and Colton kept it up for a hobby.

  “Last year I gave away more vegetables than I used.”

  “Rabbit food,” she said, smiling. “Sometimes it’s good, but I like my red meat.”

  As they turned into his drive, she caught him giving her a sideways look. Telling herself that what he thought of her didn’t matter—after all, he was only human—she clutched her Wal-Mart bag to her chest and kept her gaze resolutely straight ahead.

  The sooner she got out of this town, away from these people and this man, the better.

  The more time she spent with Colton, the more chance she’d make a mistake and reveal her true nature.

  Changing into one of the outfits she’d bought at Wal-Mart, she joined him on the patio.

  He grilled the steaks with a quiet competence, serving hers up with a baked potato. Staring at the warm meat, blood oozing around the plate, she had to remind herself to use her fork and knife. She almost picked the T-bone up with her hands and tore into it with her teeth.

  The fine line separating her human self from the caged wolf was growing thinner. This then, was what the descent into madness would be like, if she didn’t succeed in changing soon.

  Such grim thoughts could ruin a perfectly good meal, so she pushed them away, concentrating on the food. Even though she chewed each piece of meat thoroughly, she still finished before Colton, though she’d yet to touch her baked potato.

  She had to cover the bone itself with her napkin as her wolf wanted to gnaw. “Very good,” she told Colton.

  “You were hungry,” he teased, pausing in the act of cutting another piece from his steak. He had no way of knowing she had to bite her lip to keep from reaching across the table and snatching the rest of his meat from his plate.

  Quickly, Jewel focused on trying to eat her baked potato. While she ate that, Colton finished the last of his steak, saving her from possible embarrassment.

  Pushing back his chair, he smiled at her. “You’ve had a tough day. Why don’t you go out onto the porch while I clean up?”

  He’d built a screened-in porch on the back of his house. Two chaise longues overlooked the lake. Jewel settled into one of them, feeling both content and ill-at-ease.

  Instead of relaxing, she should be concentrating on making a new plan of action. Yet, despite her best attempts, Jewel couldn’t keep her eyes open. The failed attempt to change, along with the shock of the fire, was too much. Sated from the meal, her body was shutting down.

  She was asleep before Colton finished the dishes.

  He stood in the doorway and watched her, wondering how she could be such a mysterious bunch of contradictions. To look at her, with her aristocratic features and creamy skin, she belonged in swanky tearooms eating cucumber sandwiches and sipping from fragile china cups. Instead, she ate her steak bloody and wanted to learn how to shoot a gun.

  Though she was the sexiest woman he’d ever met, she never dressed provocatively. Instead, she wore clothing that seemed designed to hide her considerable attributes. Yet she’d tried twice to seduce him.

  Fascinated by her, seriously in lust with her, he also admired the hell out of her. She was the most resilient person he’d ever met. Since she’d arrived in Anniversary, disaster after disaster had struck her, and she’d simply picked herself up and continued on.

  Worse, she’d been right—someone was trying to kill her.

  Maybe, just maybe, if he used his every resource and called in a few favors, he might be able to find out who.

  The next morning, he got ready for work while Jewel slept. He was loath to disturb her this morning, unable to deal with her effect on him, so he let her sleep. Even the sight of her toddling off to bed from the patio had made his mouth go dry.

  She didn’t awake this morning, despite his puttering around in the kitchen and making coffee. She slept the deep sleep of the truly exhausted. When Reba called to check on her, he’d told the Realtor Jewel was still asleep.

  Before heading off to work, he scribbled a note, telling her to help herself to anything in the house and leaving his cell-phone number and a message to call Reba.

  Arriving at the newspaper office, Colton barely made it to his desk before the questions started. It seemed everyone knew about Jewel’s fire and that the beautiful blonde was staying at his place.

  He nearly groaned out loud. How had he managed to forget about small-town gossip?

  Hastily, he put together a “no comment” type statement. “It’s a temporary thing until she figures out where else to go.”

  His boss, Floyd, grabbed a chair and sat, straddling it. Of anyone with questions, he was the only person Colton had to answer to. A former hotshot reporter from New Jersey, he’d retired and moved to Texas to run the small newspaper. “Is she in the Witness Protection Program?”

  Before Colton could answer, Floyd continued. “Because if she is, then they should be the ones worrie
d about moving her. Not you. You don’t want to get involved with something like this, believe me.”

  “She’s not and they’re not.” He tried to make his answers short and to the point, unwilling to give too much of Jewel’s personal life away. As if he knew very much of it, anyway.

  Floyd leaned closer. “Let me tell you, Colt. I’ve lived around these big palookas all my life. People like this Leo Licciardoni, he’s got connections everywhere. You follow?”

  “I know.”

  “And you still got involved?” Floyd whistled. “That woman must be something, that’s all I’ve got to say.”

  “You’ve never seen her?” Joe Davies and Susan Riddler, two of his co-workers, wandered over. Joe winked at Colton. “She looks like she could be one of those models for that lingerie catalog.”

  Susan shook her head. “Give her a break. I heard the fire was deliberate.” Her voice signaled she was in full reporter mode. “Do you think the car accident might have been, too?”

  “Anything is possible,” Colton said in his best gruff, quit-wasting-my-time voice. “Now can I get to work? Believe it or not, I’ve got stuff to do.”

  “Think of the story,” Susan breathed. “What I wouldn’t give to write it.”

  Eyes bright, Floyd snapped his fingers. “That’s it, people. The story of the year has just been dumped in our lap. And we’ve got a man on the inside to cover it.”

  They all looked at Colton.

  He shook his head. “No can do. Conflict of interest.”

  Floyd narrowed his eyes. “Bullshit. You’ve been a major player in a much larger market. Your name on the byline will give this story credibility. I’ll bet all the wire services will pick it up. Our little paper can finally grab some recognition. You’ll write it.”

  Because he needed to keep his job, even though he had no intention of exposing Jewel any further, Colton held his tongue. He could stall them, tell Floyd he was working on gaining her trust. That would keep them off track for a little while.

  Leaving him free to concentrate on finding out the name of her local enemy.

  No money, no car, no home. Repeating the words like a mantra, Jewel paced the streets of Colton’s neighborhood, using exercise as both an outlet for her frustration and a way to stay in shape. Even though she had to keep an eye out for danger, she didn’t think anyone would recognize her now. Not only had she chopped off her long hair, but she’d used the last of the money Colton had loaned her to purchase hair dye, and she’d colored it red. Oversize sunglasses and baggy discount-store clothing completed the disguise.

  She looked nothing at all like beautiful Jewel Smith, even less like glamorous Julie Licciardoni.

  Now, she could come up with a viable plan. First, she needed more money. The only way to get it would be to find a job. Something like waitressing, where she could make instant cash from tips.

  One of the numerous restaurants in town might hire her. And, if she could manage to get a morning shift, maybe she could ride to town with Colton.

  Energized at the prospect, she began walking toward downtown Anniversary.

  A half hour later, perspiring and dehydrated in the blazing sun, she took shelter under a huge pecan tree. If she’d been able to change, she could have made much better time, as well as been able to sniff out water to drink.

  As it was, she hadn’t even thought to bring bottled water. Ahead, she saw a gas station and convenience store. Since she had no money, she couldn’t buy a drink, but maybe they’d have a water fountain inside.

  They didn’t, but the young clerk took pity on her and gave her a bottle of water on the house. She gratefully drained it before hitting the street again.

  The first café she came to wasn’t hiring. Neither was the Cajun place or the Catfish buffet. At the third restaurant she tried, Jack’s Grill on the Water, which seemed more of a sports bar than anything else, the manager took one look at her and hired her on the spot. “Big Al,” as he invited her to call him, accepted her elaborate story of losing all her identification papers in the fire without blinking.

  “Can you work tonight?” He handed her a black and white striped referee shirt and a short black skirt. “Do you have a pair of black high heels?”

  She nodded. She didn’t have a pair of anything except what she was wearing, but he didn’t need to know that. She’d get some, somehow. “What time?”

  Drumming his fingers on the bar, he tilted his head. “The late shift. Come in around eight. You’ll do great. Friday nights, this place is packed. We’ve got a live band starting at nine.”

  Biting her lip, Jewel nodded. She still had to tell Colton, but if she could get tips tonight, she could start stashing back some money and planning her escape.

  If she could stay alive until then.

  Later, after letting herself into Colton’s house with the key he’d provided, she poured herself a glass of iced tea and snagged the rocking chair on his front porch. When she spotted his truck heading toward her, she felt a welcoming surge of joy, as though she were suspended in time, the eternal woman, welcoming her mate home.

  More foolishness.

  As she got to her feet, running one hand nervously through her newly shorn hair and watching Colton climb from his truck and stride toward her, she squashed the urge to run at him, fling herself on him, until they were locked in a deep, drugging kiss.

  His first words dispelled that notion entirely.

  “What happened to your hair?” Prowling around her as though he were truly a shifter, Colton stared.

  Jewel lifted a self-conscious hand to her neck, reminding herself she didn’t care what he thought. “I needed a better disguise.”

  “A disguise?” He shook his head. “You could shave your head and people would still recognize you. Your eyes alone would give you away.”

  “Then maybe I’ll get colored contacts,” she snapped. “I’m just trying to stay alive until I can get together enough money to leave, not trying to win a beauty pageant.”

  His gaze darkened. “Oh, you’re still beautiful.” The intensity of his eyes pulled her in, keeping her legs rooted to the floor when she wanted to run. “If anything, that short, choppy haircut makes you look even sexier.”

  “Sexier?” she repeated stupidly, wondering how she could want to kiss a man and slug him all at the same time.

  “Uh, yeah.” Blinking, he looked away, but not before she saw a hint of red under his tanned skin. “Sorry.”

  No need to ask what the apology was for—they both felt the strong tug of attraction. She ought to be glad he wanted to resist its pull as badly as she did. Instead, she couldn’t help but feel…bereft.

  “I got a job,” she said, needing to distract them both. “I’m now a waitress at Jack’s Grill on the Water.”

  “Really?” Colton frowned. “I know that place. On the weekends it’s the closest thing to a meat market that Anniversary has.”

  Her wolf stirred with interest, though she knew he didn’t mean that literally. “A meat market?”

  “Yeah. For guys on the prowl. You’ll be bait.”

  The idea made her smile. Bait? Though Colton didn’t know it, as a shifter among humans, she was the predator, never the prey. Her smile faded. Until now. Since she couldn’t change, she didn’t know what she was anymore.

  “I should make good tips then.”

  “True.” He still didn’t look happy. She wanted to ask why, but didn’t need to open the door to more complications.

  Instead, she found herself babbling. “The more tips, the better. I really need the money, you know that. I’ve got to get another car and buy a gun. I rescued my stash of silver bullets from the glove box of my wrecked car.”

  “Silver bullets?” He stared. “You mentioned that once before, and I thought you were joking. You’re really serious?”

  Cursing her slip of the tongue, Jewel nodded.

  “And you have a stash?”

  “I like being prepared.”

  “I don’
t know of any place that sells such a thing, outside of horror novels and the kind of movies designed to make teenage girls hold on to their dates.”

  She lifted her chin. “You have to search, but there are specialty bullet-makers. Leo buys them there. I stole them from him. If I could have gotten to one of his guns without him knowing, I’d have done that.”

  “Why silver? Why would he—why would you want something like that? Regular bullets work just fine.”

  “Not for the kind of beast I’m up against.” Again, nothing but truth and again, nothing he’d understand.

  “Kind of…” Colton shook his head. “Sometimes you worry me.”

  “Sometimes I worry myself.” She smiled to take the sting out of her words. Her shorn hair felt light and liberating. “I’ll work my ass off, save as much as I can, as quickly as I can, and get out of your hair, I promise.”

  He stiffened. “I never asked you to leave.”

  “Surely you didn’t think I’d mooch indefinitely.”

  “You’re not mooching.”

  “Whatever.” She shrugged. “What else could you call it?”

  He looked away, his mouth tight, but not before she’d seen the wounded look in his dark eyes.

  “Colton, I appreciate everything you’re doing for me.”

  Now he looked back at her, his expression once again stone. “I’m not doing anything anyone else wouldn’t do.”

  “Ah, yes you are. You’re risking yourself by taking me in, you know.”

  He crossed his arms. “Oh? How is that?”

  “They don’t care what they have to do to get me, as long as I’m dead. That’s the kind of people they are. If you get in their way, you’ll be killed, too.”

  “I’m not worried.” He looked fierce and, like her own people, as if he was hoping they would come after him. As if he welcomed a chance to take them on.

  Her inner wolf growled in approval.

  Jewel shook her head. Surely her imagination was running away with her. Colton wasn’t Pack. Any characteristics he might share with her kind had to be merely wishful thinking.