by Jane Jamison
Victor pushed Rupert and her to their knees. “Rupert, you and sweet cakes have caused a lot of trouble for me. And you know I don’t like trouble.” His voice echoed around the empty space.
She’d always hated it when he’d called her that. She tried to tell him to go to hell, but her words were muffled by the tape.
“Shut up, bitch. What I want to hear is where you hid the money. Tell me where it is, Rupert, or I swear I’ll skin you alive with my bare teeth.”
Rupert’s eyes were huge as he stammered and tried to speak. “Please, Mr. Morna, you can have the money back. Please, don’t kill me.”
Lace made a noise of frustration. He hadn’t bothered to plead with Victor for her life.
Victor put the gun into the back of his slacks. He flexed his hands, and in only a few seconds, long, vicious claws had replaced his fingernails.
Holy hell, it’s true. He’s a werewolf.
Breathing was becoming harder to do. She fought the dizziness that threatened to take her. She had to stay awake and focused if she was going to survive.
Victor held a claw in front of Rupert’s face, its sharp ends flickering in the sparkling lights in the walls. “Start talking or die.”
“I swear to God I didn’t want to do it. She and Tomas made me do it.”
If she could’ve gaped at him, she would’ve. He was making her take the blame for stealing the money. She shook her head and tried to call him a liar.
“Is that right? Seems there’s more to sweet cakes than I thought.” He snarled, exposing fangs. “But I bet you know where she put the dough, don’t you, little man? You’re the money man behind the operation. Tell me so I can get off this fucking mountain and back to civilization.”
“I—I didn’t put it anywhere. Like I told you in town. She’s the one who hid the money.”
Rupert was lying again. Why had she trusted him? She shook her head violently, refusing his lies.
“Yes, I know that’s what you told me.” Victor pushed Rupert onto the floor of the cave, then turned toward her. “Which is why I haven’t slit your pretty little throat before now. Every time I tried to get you alone to talk, those assholes showed up.”
He leaned closer, his foul breath spilling over her. He studied her, his dark eyes glowing with a red tint. “Something tells me you’re lying, Rupert. I don’t think she has a clue where my money is. Isn’t that right, sweet cakes?”
She glared back at him, unable to speak, but letting her expression say it all.
“Hmm, I think that’s right.” He turned back to Rupert. “This is your last chance. Tell me where it is.”
Rupert was finished lying. “I can get you the money, Mr. Morna. Just give me a chance.”
Victor grabbed what little hair Rupert had left and yanked his head back. He flicked his fingers, then dug the claw into Rupert’s cheek. “Where is it?”
“Please, stop. I’ll tell you. It’s in an offshore account in the Caymans. The account number is in the notebook in my back pocket.”
Victor’s smile was anything but pleasant. Reaching behind, he pulled a small black book out of Rupert’s back pocket. He flipped through it, his smile widening.
“Please, Mr. Morna. Just get me to a computer and I’ll have the money transferred back to your account.”
Victor put the book into the inner pocket of his coat. “No need, little man. I have other, more trustworthy employees to do that.” He yanked the man’s head back even farther. “I have no need for you now.”
Lifting his arm, he whipped back and tore his claws through Rupert’s neck. Lace screamed against the duct tape as a torrent of blood gushed outward. Rupert’s limp body slumped to the ground.
* * * *
Zack groaned and rolled over onto his back. His head hurt like a son of a bitch. Light shone through the windows of the shed, assaulting his eyes.
Someone clocked me.
He turned onto his side and pushed up onto his elbows. Reaching behind him, he found the knot on the back of his head, confirming what he already knew. If he’d been human, the blow would’ve killed him.
Lace.
Fear tightened his chest as he pushed himself to his feet. He was unsteady at first, but once he shifted a little, his skinwalker healing powers gave him the strength and stability he needed. He shoved against the door of the shed, but it didn’t budge.
“Chan! Lace!”
Damn it. It’s blocked from the outside.
His head still throbbed, but that wouldn’t stop him. Stepping back, he hurled his body at the door. The old hinges broke free, sending the door with Zack on top of it flying over the snow like a makeshift sled. He rolled off it and was up and running toward the front of the house when Chan appeared at the front door.
Chan didn’t need to say a word. Zack could see the anger and fear in his face. Without stopping, Zack barreled past his friend and into the house.
“Head to the cave.”
Zack heard Chan fall in beside him.
“How many?” he asked.
“Don’t know.” Chan’s voice was strained. “I heard noises and came downstairs. The front door was left opened. I was just going outside to find her when I saw you come flying out of the shed.”
“I didn’t pick up her scent outside.” Zack slammed to a stop just as he got to the door leading into the cave. “You smell that?” He’d picked up the smell of a werewolf alongside Lace’s and a human’s. “Yeah. It’s like we thought. The guy’s a werewolf. But there’s a human with them.”
Chan met his gaze. “Then let’s fight fire with fire.” He tore at his clothes and shifted, morphing into a large dark wolf.
Zack didn’t bother shedding his clothes. Instead he let his body transform, ripping away the material and changing from human to cougar in less than a minute.
They lifted their noses, able to detect the scents better now, then hurried through the back door and into the cave.
* * * *
Victor stood over Rupert’s body then bent and wiped his bloody claws on the dead man’s slacks. “It’s too bad really. He was a capable accountant.”
Lace pressed her back against the cave wall, trying to keep as far from the edge of the hole as possible. She hated that her body shook, giving him the satisfaction of seeing how frightened she was.
Victor’s eye blazed red. Taking her by the hair, he brought her to her knees. “Ah, if only we had more time. I’d let you enjoy the taste of my cum.”
He tilted his head. “No, that couldn’t happen, could it? You’d more than likely try and take a chunk of my impressive cock off. Unless, of course, I choked you to death with it. Perhaps we should give that a try.”
He tore the tape away from her mouth. His laughter sounded even more sinister as the sound bounced off the walls. “Death by cock. Now that would be an interesting way to go. I’d really like to try that.”
“Fuck you!” She’d yelled as loudly as she could, but the only answer was the rebounding of her voice against the walls.
“That’s no way for a lady to talk.” He tightened his hold on her hair until she cried out in pain. But the pain wasn’t as bad as staring at his erect cock pushing against his slacks. “Poor Lace. You really didn’t have anything to do with this, did you? Other than seeing what you shouldn’t have seen.”
“You’re going to rot in hell for killing Tomas and Rupert.” She gathered up a wad of spit and hurled it at him. It struck him in the face.
“You bitch!”
She didn’t see the slap coming, but felt it as pain shot up her jaw. The force of the blow knocked her to the ground.
“Stand up, cunt. I don’t want to have to bend over to kill you.” He yanked her to a kneeling position, then onto her feet.
He skimmed the back of his fingers along her cheek. “You could’ve made a lot of money if you’d stripped like I wanted you to. It was such a waste to have you schlepping drinks. And look what it’s come to? Shit, now I have to kill you. We can’t have you tell
ing the authorities what you’ve seen.”
It didn’t matter what she said. Promises to keep quiet would mean nothing to a man who liked to kill. Lace’s heart thundered in her chest, but she held her head high. If she had to die, she’d do so with dignity.
Zack. Chan.
She prayed they were okay. And that they’d forgive her for bringing her trouble to their doorstep.
Victor’s face blurred, and for a moment, she wondered if she was about to pass out. Either that, or something was wrong with her vision. But it wasn’t her eyes that were the problem.
He’s changing.
“You’re a monster.”
“Am I?” Saliva dripped from his fangs.
But she could no longer speak as panic gripped her.
“It’s time to die, sweet cakes.”
Terror hit her as reddish fur raced along his jaw then over his forehead and on to cover the scar. His ears elongated and grew more pointed. Contorting into an awful mask, his features changed and his mouth widened to show more of his terrible fangs. A growl rumbled through his chest. Holding her by the hair, he opened his mouth and pushed her head to the side, lengthening her neck.
He’s going to tear out my throat just like he did to Rupert.
She closed her eyes, unable to bear watching him as he drew his fangs closer.
The blow of whatever hit Victor knocked her off her feet. Screaming, she rolled across the cave floor. She came to rest staring at the gaping black hole next to her, then twisted around to the sounds of growls and snarls.
A huge black wolf and an equally enormous golden cougar squared off with the wolf that was Victor. His clothes lay in shreds, his shoes tossed in either direction. He stepped over Rupert’s limp body, then gave a big kick and shoved it over the side and into the enormous pit.
She struggled to sit up, and scoot over to put her back against the wall. Victor had changed into his wolf form, but where had the cougar and the wolf come from?
They faced off, each of them ready to pounce on the other. Cat and wolf eyes glared, glowing blue and amber in the dim light of the cave. Fur stood on end and tails hung low as they flattened their ears against their heads. She glanced at the entrance to the tunnel, but the cougar was too close for her to make a break. She was trapped.
With a roar, the red wolf hurled its body between the cougar and the black wolf as though trying to race past them and into the tunnel. The cougar went onto its hinds legs, sweeping a huge paw out. The black wolf hunkered lower then jumped forward, snagging one of the red wolf’s legs between its jaws.
Victor’s beastly shriek blasted through the cave, and if she’d had her hands free, she would’ve covered her ears against the horrible sound. The cougar’s claws dug into Victor’s flesh, and bright red burst from the wounds. The black wolf went to his belly, dragging Victor down with him.
Victor twisted as he howled in pain and somehow broke free of the black wolf’s hold. He dashed toward the pit, then at the last second, broke to his right and rushed at her.
She screamed, knowing that, even while in wolf form, Victor wanted to kill her before the others killed him.
The howl of the black wolf and the screech of the cougar split the air a second before she turned her head to the side and closed her eyes.
Yet instead of feeling the agony of Victor’s claws as they raked through her flesh, she felt the whoosh of air as two bodies collided with one.
Another yowl of pain and anger joined the growls of the wolf and cougar duo. The noise of their fighting continued, then all at once, stopped.
She opened her eyes to find Victor, his back to her, his tail swishing. The black wolf and the cougar stood near the hole, their rear feet perched dangerously over the edge.
“No!” She screamed, helpless to do anything else.
Victor launched his body at the wolf. The cougar jumped to the side, his mighty claw catching Victor on his belly, ripping lines of red into the soft flesh and fur.
At that same moment, the black wolf leapt up, meeting Victor in midair. The two of them dug in their claws and fangs, their bodies intertwined, spinning around, their momentum taking them over the edge of the hole.
She screamed, realizing that both the black wolf and Victor would plunge to their deaths.
Then, in a blur of movement, the cougar whipped out his enormous paw again and snagged the black wolf by the tail. With a roar, he yanked the wolf back.
As though time stopped, she saw Victor’s red eyes widen as he realized what was happening.
His howl turned into an all-too-human wail as he plummeted out of sight.
Lace took the chance and pushed her back against the wall as the cougar and wolf inched closer to the side of the hole. She took off, running as fast as she could down the tunnel.
Panic tried to take over again, tried to stiffen her legs so that they wouldn’t move as she wanted them to. She already had a pain in her side and her bindings made it even harder to run.
Just as she could see the end of the tunnel, the cougar raced past her then swung around to face her. She skidded to a stop, started to turn around and go back, but the wolf had brought up the rear, boxing her in between them.
“Go away. Leave me alone.” She couldn’t shout, couldn’t summon enough strength to do so. Her voice was only a whisper.
When the cougar’s body started growing blurry, she knew it wasn’t her eyesight. In less than a minute, Zack stood where the cougar had been.
She sucked in a hard-won breath and pivoted to find the wolf changing. Soon, Chan straightened up from a crouching position and held out his arms.
“It’s okay, Lace. It’s us.”
The dizziness that followed came from within. Chan raced forward a second before the darkness swept over her.
* * * *
“She’s coming round.”
Lace turned her head toward the sound of Chan’s voice. Was Zack nearby?
“Hey, babe. Can you open your eyes?”
There he is.
She smiled. Whether or not it actually reached her lips, she wasn’t sure. She forced her eyelids to behave and open.
“You’re safe now.”
Hadn’t she heard those same words from Zack the first day she’d met him?
Sunlight slashed a bright path across the top of the bed. She reached out her arms, feeling the cool sheet underneath her and the comforting warmth of the cover over her. But it wasn’t her bed. It was twice the size of the one she’d been sleeping in. She had to be in the biggest bedroom that was at the front of the house. Windows graced the walls although there was still a skylight above her.
Chan sat on one side of her while Zack stood at the foot of the bed. Even though Chan put on a weak smile, the worry on his face caught at her heart.
“Ooh, déjà vu. Haven’t I been here before?” Her voice sounded strong. In fact, she didn’t feel all that bad. Maybe her arms were a little sore, but that was it.
“Yeah, you could say that. Although it’s not the same bed I put you in that first day. It’s a better one.” Zack came around and sat down by her other side.
Each man took her hand, enclosing hers in their massive ones. She sighed and started to close her eyes.
And then she remembered.
She sat up, pushing away from them. “I saw you. You’re…you’re…”
The sadness that enveloped the men was palpable. Zack’s bright blue eyes dimmed. “Yeah, we’re monsters.”
That hadn’t been the word on the tip of her tongue, but she knew he’d gotten it from her. He must’ve heard her call Victor a monster.
“That’s not what I was going to say.” She waited until her nerves calmed. “That was you? Both of you?”
Chan started to reach for her hand again, then withdrew it. “It was. I’m like Victor. I’m a werewolf.”
She should’ve been frightened. She should’ve screamed for help or tried to run. But these were the men she’d fallen in love with. How could anything make them l
ess than that? “Don’t say that. You’re nothing like him.”
“And I was the cougar you saw.” Zack’s expression hardened.
“So you’re a werecat? Is that what you’re called?”
“I’m what my people call a skinwalker. I can take the form of any animal. Although most of the time I choose to take the body of a cougar.” He lifted an eyebrow. “I like cats more than dogs.”
Chan inclined his head toward Zack then lifted his chin. “Yeah. Besides, I’m the top dog around here.”
“I can’t believe this. I saw you with my own eyes and I still can’t get my head wrapped around it.” She put her hand on top of Chan’s. His flesh felt like any other person’s just as it always had. “You can really change. That’s amazing.”
“And monstrous. Is that what you think?”
“No, Zack. That’s not it at all. I called Victor a monster and he is one. Or was.” She could still picture his body suspended in air a moment before he dropped to his death. “He was a monster as a human. It had nothing to do with his changing into a wolf.”
“Does that mean you’re not afraid of what we are?”
“Are you still you when you change? Did you still know who I was? You wouldn’t hurt me when you’re…like that. I know you wouldn’t.” She saw the confirmation in their faces. “Then how could I ever be afraid of you? I’m safest when I’m in your arms.”
Zack snorted. “Yeah, right. We’ve done a great job of keeping you safe so far.”
She wouldn’t let him think that way. “There was nothing you could do short of gluing yourself to my side.”
“Then that’s what we should’ve done.” Zack blew out a frustrated breath. “We’ve always considered this place to be free from danger. I guess, even after what happened, that we figured we were on top of it.”
“He’s right,” added Chan. “We blew it big-time.”
They’d beat themselves up about it unless she stopped them. “Are you kidding me? You’re the ones who came to my rescue. You’re my heroes.” The thought of Rupert lying cold on the cave floor hit her, making her nauseous. He may have been a thief, but no one deserved to die the way he had.
