Pack was Pack. They banded together, took care of their own. Though Jewel was technically one of them, thanks to Leo, she’d become an outsider. Now, on the run, she felt like an outcast also.
“Reba, I still can’t believe Colton’s behind whatever this woman says he did. I’m very, very skeptical.”
Expression grim, Reba nodded, her long earrings swinging wildly. “I was, too, until I heard her story. Jewel, Bettina knew Colton before he moved here. She told me Colton seduced her while he was still married. Between the affair and the abuse, she couldn’t take it. She started using drugs.”
“Have you talked to Colton?”
“I’d planned on talking to him, but Bettina begged me not to. She’s afraid he’ll come after her again.”
Despite the tremor that ripped through her at the memories those words evoked, Jewel crossed her arms. “Talk to him. That woman may be lying.”
“Why would she do that?” Despite the question, Reba looked hopeful.
“Maybe she has a personal vendetta. Maybe she went out with him once and when nothing happened, she couldn’t accept it. Maybe—”
“Jewel, stop. She has a witness. I told you I’ve been seeing a man. He backed her up. He used to be a friend of Colton’s. He swears what Bettina said is true.”
Shaken, Jewel rocked back on her heels. “Who is he? What’s his name?”
“Roy Mansfield. He works in Houston at Channel Four. He’s a very reputable person.”
“I’ll go with you,” Jewel said.
Nodding, Reba led the way. She drove a shiny red Mustang. Jewel climbed in and buckled her seat belt. Neither woman spoke while they navigated the tourist traffic on Main Street. A few minutes later, they turned into the small office complex where Reba ran her business and parked. Jewel had been here once before, when she’d signed her lease.
“Come on.” Jangling her keys, Reba hurried ahead. Skin prickling, Jewel couldn’t help but scent the air. She smelled nothing but exhaust and the hamburger place down the street. Ordinary.
Still, she couldn’t shake the niggling worry in the back of her mind.
Inside, Reba nodded at the receptionist and turned down a hall. “My office is near the back.”
The ornate oak door was closed. “Are you ready?” Reba looked at Jewel.
Throat tight, Jewel nodded.
Reba opened the door. “Here we are. This is Bettina. Bettina, meet Jewel.”
From behind, the other woman appeared normal. Thick, sable-colored hair fell past her shoulders. She had a trim figure, and olive-toned skin. But when she turned to face them, Jewel couldn’t stifle her gasp.
Bettina looked as though she’d come out of a losing bout in the boxing ring.
“I know,” Bettina said, trying to chuckle and merely making an odd, clucking sound. Her lip was split open and the dark bruise around her swollen-shut left eye could only have been caused by a fist. “I’m lucky, I guess.”
“Lucky?” Outraged and horrified, Jewel tried to keep her voice down. “How can you say such a thing?”
“No broken bones.” Bettina shrugged, wincing. “Or, at least I don’t think I have any.”
Looking at Bettina was like looking into a mirror of her former life. “Have you been checked out by a doctor?”
“No.”
“Not yet,” Reba interjected. “I’m trying to convince her to let me run her over to Athens to the hospital.”
“We’ll see.” Bettina sounded noncommittal. “So you’re the one Reba told me about.”
“What did Reba tell you?”
“That you’re living with Colton.”
“Staying with him. There’s a difference. We’re not involved.”
Bettina’s huge brown eyes went from Jewel to Reba, then back again. “If that’s true, that’s good.”
“It is.” Voice firm, Jewel squelched her instinctive horror and sympathy for the other woman. “And let me ask you one more time, so I’m clear on this. You’re telling me Colton Reynolds did this to you?”
“Yes.”
One simple word, but enough to shatter everything Jewel had believed she knew.
“When?”
“Last night.”
After he’d refused her attempt to seduce him and driven away, fast and furious.
Still, despite all the evidence to the contrary, fool that she was, Jewel couldn’t make herself believe. “Did you go to the police?”
For the first time, Bettina looked away. Instead of answering, she hung her head.
Again, the skin on the back of Jewel’s neck prickled. “Bettina, did you?”
Reba made a sound of distress, but Jewel ignored her. “Answer me, please.”
“No. No police. I…couldn’t.” Her voice faint, she sounded about to weep.
“Why not?” Though she herself had done the same thing, too many times to count over the course of her marriage to Leo, this woman didn’t even live in the same town. Any repercussions she might suffer seemed far outweighed by bringing her abuser to justice.
“I just couldn’t. I love…loved him.”
There had to be a better reason than that. Jewel knew all about that kind of inner turmoil. She softened her voice. “Didn’t you want to stop him from doing it again to another woman?”
“Yes.” Bettina raised her head, brown eyes swimming with tears. “That’s why I’m here, talking to you. Reba says you’re her friend, that you’ve been through a lot. I don’t want to hear about another victim to his craziness.”
Colton? Part of Jewel wanted to howl. The other part, the savage, wild part, wanted to attack him with claws and teeth. She took a deep breath, trying for calm. This wasn’t her small town in upstate New York. The police here wouldn’t automatically take the man’s side. Would they? “Call the police. Report him. Do it now, before your bruises fade.”
“No.” Bettina’s voice went sharp. She looked from Jewel to Reba, her puffy eyes narrowed to slits. “You said I only had to talk to her. You didn’t say nothin’ about talking to the police.”
Reba nodded. “Jewel, please. Give her a break.”
“I don’t understand. Why not report him? Why not get him locked up?”
Wiping her nose with the back of her hand, Bettina sniffled. “He threatened to kill me if I did. You might not be so lucky. He might not even give you a choice.”
Shoulders hunched, she began crying in earnest. Instantly, Reba enfolded her in her arms, shooting Jewel a meaningful look over the other woman’s back.
“See what I mean?” she mouthed.
“And the time before last night? How long ago was that?” Not bothering to disguise her rage, Jewel stared at Bettina’s bowed head, waiting to hear her response.
But Bettina was crying too hard to answer.
Reba answered for her. “She told me the last time they made love was three days ago.”
The day of the fire. Sickened, unable to press the issue any longer, Jewel turned to go. She needed some time alone to try and reconcile this woman’s accusations with the man she’d come to know and trust.
And believe in.
“Wait!” Bettina raised her tear-streaked face. “Right now you’re probably thinking I’m crazy. You’re thinking Colton is the kindest, most even-tempered man you’ve ever met.” She sniffled. “He was like that with me, too. At first.”
Like Leo. Leo had disguised his true nature until the marriage ceremony was over and he had his new bride alone in their bedroom.
Blood running cold, Jewel couldn’t keep herself from asking. “What changed him?”
“Sex.” Bettina swallowed, lifting her chin. “Just don’t have sex with him. He likes it rough and hard. That’s when he’ll hurt you the first time, that’s when he’ll draw blood.”
Jewel stared. Leo had used that excuse beyond reasonable bounds. The first time they’d made love, he’d cut her. The second, she’d suffered broken ribs, the third, a broken arm, and lost a tooth. After less than a week, she’d known he mea
nt to torture her until she begged for death, all in the guise of love.
How had she managed to find two violent men? Even here, in the Texas countryside, she’d managed to prove her judgment would never be good.
“I’ve got to go.” Lifting her hand in a halfhearted wave, she couldn’t meet Reba’s gaze. Instead, she focused on the other woman, trying to understand. “Thanks for warning me. Take care of yourself, Bettina.”
Bettina lifted a tearstained face to give her a watery smile. “You, too. And Jewel, please don’t tell him you’ve met me. I don’t want him coming back to finish what he started.”
On the long walk home, Jewel tried to come up with a plan. She had to leave. Mentally, she counted the money she’d been able to save. She had roughly $265. Not enough to buy a car, though she could purchase a one-way ticket on a red-eye to LaGuardia. She wouldn’t need a car in New York and the huge city would swallow her, giving her precious anonymity.
It was a good plan, except for one thing. New York City was crawling with Leo’s associates.
She’d have to reverse direction. Go west. Or south.
Thinking of the South made her think of Colton, with his slow drawl and bedroom eyes. Colton, who like Leo, wore two faces, beautiful on the outside, but rotten at the core.
Just don’t have sex with him. God alone knew how close she’d come.
God and her wolf.
At the thought, her inner beast snarled.
Colton had awakened to sunlight streaming through the windows and an empty house. Wandering into the kitchen, he found a fresh pot of coffee and a note. Jewel had gone into town to look for a job. Squinting, he reread her signature line. She’d even written the time she’d left—eleven. It was now two. She’d been gone three hours.
He pictured her walking to town, unprotected, and his blood ran cold. By choice he lived in one of the more remote areas of the lake, and the winding roads and wild forests provided ample opportunity for someone to get her, or shoot at her, or…
Snatching his car keys off the dresser, he stepped into a pair of shorts, dropped a T-shirt over his head and hurried for his truck.
He’d find her and bring her home.
Rounding the curve that led out of his subdivision, he noticed the traffic seemed unusually light, but then he remembered the tourists usually went home on Sundays.
A sniper wouldn’t try for her unless he had a clear shot.
Colton saw the car before he saw her. Driving way too fast, the white Cadillac Eldorado appeared aimed like a bullet at a figure walking on the side of the road.
Jewel!
He gunned his truck, moving over to the wrong side of the road to shield her.
She looked up. Saw him and the other vehicle bearing down on her.
Moving fast, she leaped for the trees.
The Caddy swerved, missing Colton by inches.
Bouncing over ruts, the truck tried to flip. Muscles screaming, Colton held on, praying he could maintain control. When he finally brought the pickup to a shuddering halt, there was no sign of the Cadillac.
Both the car—and Jewel—had disappeared.
He found her in a small thicket, shaking. When she saw him, she stepped out into a clearing, arms wrapped around her middle.
“They tried to hit me.” Though she gasped for breath, she didn’t sound surprised. But, despite her matter-of-fact tone, her nostrils flared and the whites of her eyes showed. Delayed terror?
When he reached to comfort her, she jerked away. “Don’t touch me.”
“What’s wrong?” Deliberately, he kept his voice soft. Soothing.
“Nothing,” she said, but she continued to watch him as if he were a venomous snake.
“Let me take you home.”
Skirting a wide path around him, she stepped over the ruts in the grass left by his tires, climbed into his truck and buckled herself in.
When he got in beside her, she gave an involuntary jerk, though she looked out the window rather than at him.
“Are you all right?”
“Fine,” she snapped. “Let’s get out of here.”
He started the engine, drove up the embankment, and back onto the road. For the first time since he’d met her, the silence between them felt uncomfortable. He couldn’t put his finger on what, but something had changed.
Was it because of the way he’d surprised her outside in his yard earlier that morning?
Why not simply ask her?
“I want to talk to you about what happened this morning.” Keeping an eye on the road, he also watched her for a reaction. Any reaction.
She gave none. “There’s nothing to say.” The flatness of her voice was as if she were talking to a stranger, not even a stranger she particularly liked.
“That’s it.” He pulled into his driveway and parked, leaving the engine idling. “What the hell is going on with you?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.” She set her chin and crossed her arms. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to go inside.”
“I do mind. I want to know what you were doing when you snuck out of the house before dawn.”
“It’s none of your business.” Shoving her door open, she slammed it behind her and ran for the house.
He’d never seen a woman run so fast.
Moving much more slowly, he got out of his truck and locked the doors before pocketing the keys. The beginnings of a headache hovered at the back of his eyes and he blinked, willing it away.
She wasn’t in the kitchen. Or the den, or the dining room. Suddenly, inexplicably weary, he trudged down the hall to her bedroom, finding the door closed.
“Jewel?” No answer. He knocked twice, then tried the handle, knowing the lock didn’t work. As he opened the door, she spun around to face him.
“Leave me alone.” Her lips drew back in a snarl.
“What’s wrong with you?”
“Wrong with me?” Her tone rose. “Despite the fact that I completely misjudged you, not a whole lot. Unless you take into account the fact that Leo isn’t going to rest until he drives me insane and has me bleeding and cowed. I don’t have a job or money or any way to escape him. So do I start digging my grave and planning my funeral, or what?”
He wanted to hold her, to touch that silky short hair and soothe away the tension in her neck. Instead, he stayed where he was, unmoving. Her eyes, while flashing with anger, also were full of fear. “This really isn’t about me, is it?”
“Get out.” Toneless, she gave the order in a voice so low it sounded like a growl. “Get out and leave me alone.”
Instead, he took a step forward.
She opened her mouth to speak, and convulsed instead. She made a howling sound, her expression stricken. “Oh, God. Not now!”
Heart pounding, instantly, he crossed to her side. “What is it, Jewel? What’s wrong with you? Let me help.”
“Get back,” she snarled.
He reached for her. Dodging him, she dropped to the ground on all fours, facing him from that position, looking for all the world like an animal caught in a rusty trap.
“Jewel!”
“Go!” She convulsed again.
Was it his imagination, or was she suddenly surrounded by fireflies? He rubbed his eyes. Not fireflies, but sparkles of light, like an animated cartoon with magic. Pixie dust.
Was he on drugs? He couldn’t be seeing this. Was her body changing shape? What the hell was going on here? Suddenly uncertain, he took a step back. Then another.
He’d just reached the doorway when she howled. The sound was so full of sadness, so full of pain, he couldn’t leave.
The lights surrounding her intensified. Colors swirled, rainbows danced and sparkles flowed in random patterns.
Once, when he’d been young and stupid, he’d tried taking a hit of acid. He felt as if he were tripping on that right now.
He took a tentative step forward, half expecting to feel the ground tilt under his feet.
“Stay back,” she warned fro
m somewhere inside the maelstrom.
“Are you hurt?”
No answer. For a second he could have sworn he saw a wolf peering out at him. He blinked and the image had vanished.
As quickly as they’d begun, the colors and traces of light vanished.
Jewel lay on the floor, one arm flung out as if in entreaty, unconscious.
He crossed to her, lifting her wrist to check for a pulse.
The blood startled him. It seeped from her fingers, though he couldn’t see any cuts.
As he watched, the trickle slowed, then stopped.
Jewel stirred. “Colton?” Her voice was thick, as though she’d just awakened from a deep sleep.
His first mistake was leaning close. When she kissed him, his second was deepening the kiss.
His body, always half-aroused around her, instantly sprung to life.
“I can’t…” Swallowing, she pushed herself back, staring at him with desperate eyes.
This time, he kissed her. Like a man drowning, having denied himself far too long to continually resist. Her breathing shifted and she raised her hand, caressing his face. “Hounds help me, I need you.”
Her words barely registered. Everything about her, the sleek, silky smoothness of her skin, the faint musk of her desire, trapped him as neatly as any spider with a web.
Desire slammed into him, tsunami strength, and he shuddered. He felt as if he were drowning, sinking slowly as the waves closed over him. He took a breath, trying for sanity, for air, all the while helplessly pushing himself against her.
“Are you…” He swallowed, tried again. “Are you sure?”
Instead of answering, she smiled. It was fierce, that smile, and full of secrets and desire. The power of that smile did him in.
Her hands were everywhere, her breath, soft upon his skin. But his need—oh, his need, it filled him, possessed him, and turned him into a wild thing.
She tore at his clothing. He heard the cloth rip and didn’t care.
Her dress came off easily. At the sight of her, all curves and alabaster skin, he nearly lost control.
Cry of the Wolf Page 13
