by M. A. Church
Over its shoulder I saw Lawson stab the wolf with the knife he carried. Shit, what was Lawson doing? He should have been in the next county by now, not still here. Then I saw something I never thought I’d be glad to see. Janelle stepped next to Lawson, her eyes snake blue and fangs glistering in the light.
“Fucking werewolf!” Janelle snarled. She grabbed the wolf by the neck and yanked.
Even with my claws still embedded in it, she managed to jerk the were off me. Holy hell, just how powerful was she? My vision blurred and flickers of what was happening teased me. I watched as she threw the wolf across the room. It bounced off another wall and fell to the floor. Ha! That had to hurt the fucker. The impact left a nice dent too.
They were never going to get their deposit back if this continued. I shook my head. Wow, random, much? How hard had I hit my head?
Lawson crouched next to me. “Heller? Babe? Come on, look at me.”
Such big, pretty eyes my mate had.
“Yeah, all the better to see you with,” Lawson snapped. “Jesus, Heller, snap to. Admire my eyes later.”
I must have spoken aloud.
“Hellcat, please? We need to get you off the floor.”
A howl screamed through the room, and I remembered where we were. “Shit! Was that Janelle I saw—”
I scrambled off the floor and stood, hurriedly glancing around to find where the howling came from. I looked over just in time to see Janelle try to sink her fangs into the wolf. Fuck me running, those were some of the gnarliest fangs I’d ever seen.
The were must have agreed. It tore itself away from Janelle and threw its body through one of the windows in the living room. Janelle jumped through the window, following it. Neither of us spoke as Lawson and I stared at the window, shocked.
“What a way to make an exit,” I finally said.
“Which one?”
“Either.” I scratched my head. “Um, do you think we need to go check on her?”
“Depends. You want to get yelled at for ‘checking’ on her? I’d rather walk across hot coals. It’d be just as painful.”
“Sarcasm.” Janelle nodded as she walked back in. “Always a good sign. And yes, I’d yell. That overgrown puppy doesn’t scare me.”
“Overgrown puppy?” Seriously she called a werewolf an overgrown puppy?
“Look, we have bigger problems than my word choices.” Janelle glanced at Lawson. “I think I know who the werewolf is. I recognized his scent.”
“But I thought you weren’t friends with any wolves,” Lawson said.
“I’m not, but guess who is. Who had company over not long ago?”
“Marshell? Oh God, yeah, the screamer. I’d forgotten about him. Jesus, Janelle. Are you sure it’s the same guy?”
“As sure as I can be going by scent alone. I didn’t see the guy. Did you?”
“Nope. Lord, Marshell isn’t going to be happy.”
“That’s putting it nicely. Some piece of ass he wasn’t ever serious about threatened you? Yeah, Marshell isn’t going to be happy.”
“I was so very tempted to keep following him.”
“As much as I would have liked to get my hands on that bastard again, chasing him onto pack lands could’ve been messy,” I said.
“At least we’d have a clue as to what pack he belonged to,” Lawson said.
“If he had returned to his pack. We have no way of knowing if he would. He could’ve led her into a trap. If he returned to his pack lands and she followed, that Alpha wouldn’t be happy. They tend to get a little pissy about coming on their land without permission.”
“Well, I tend to get a little pissy about family being attacked, so they can just get over themselves. We need to talk to Marshell,” Janelle said.
“Yeah, we do,” I said. Oh yeah, this was a conversation I couldn’t wait to have.
Janelle glanced at me, then frowned. She stepped toward me and I held up my hand. “Um, hold up. I’m bleeding here. You’re not about to pull a Dracula on me, are you?”
“Hmm. You know, if you could just move your hair to the side a bit….” Janelle rolled her eyes. “Seriously? I can’t believe you just asked me that. Look, kitty, I’m not going to attack you.”
“Just checking. I do recall your kind drinks blood,” I said. “And don’t call me kitty.”
“Don’t be stupid, and I won’t. I’m not in bloodlust, so chill.” Janelle grinned, flashing those mean-looking fangs. “Now do you need to shift or what?”
“Or what,” I said. My shirt was toast, but my jeans were okay. Bloody but in one piece. I stripped and shifted.
“Jesus God, that… that…. What a sound!” Lawson gasped from a few feet away.
Damn. I forgot he hadn’t actually seen me shift. The last time I shifted in the bedroom.
“Yeah, first time I saw Sam shift it made me glad I didn’t. But it’s not as bad as it sounds, or so they say,” Janelle said. “Huh. Heller’s a longhair, I see. Sam’s a shorthair, and he has more brown in his coat. Still a pretty kitty, though.”
I yowled at her.
“Okay! Sorry. Don’t get your fur in a twist.” Janelle rolled her eyes.
“I agree, though,” Lawson said, kneeling down. “You are very handsome.”
I licked at the wounds, testing to see how well my sides and stomach had healed. There was some pulling as the skin knitted back, but I felt better. Lawson scratched above my ears, then under my chin. Ohhhh, that was nice.
Tail held high, I rubbed my cheek against his knee, and then wove in and out between his legs. Lawson carefully ran his hands over my sides, and I only felt a slight twinge. I head-butted Lawson until he sat down, then I crawled into his lap, purring madly.
He continued to stroke me, and I turned my head so he could get under my chin too. Turning in his lap, I reached a paw out toward his face. When he didn’t get down enough for me to reach him, I nipped his finger.
“Toothy kitty,” Lawson mumbled, lowering his face down more.
Finally. I rubbed my face against his, scent marking him. It also helped to remove some of the werewolf’s scent too.
“Can you switch back? We really need to talk. I imagine you have some calls to make too.”
Janelle left the room. Sighing, I licked his hand and crawled off Lawson. He stood and retrieved what was left of my clothes. I visualized my human form and switched back. Lawson handed me my jeans, and I redressed as best I could. I opened my arms and he stepped into them.
“I’m so sorry, babe. But we will get to the bottom of this. I have his scent and so does Janelle,” I said. “I’d recognize it anywhere. We’ll find and handle this guy. I promise.”
“If they find him, first they’ll rip his throat out,” Lawson whispered.
I kissed the top of his head. “Sounds good to me, as long as I get to see it.”
“Hells bells.” Lawson shook his head and stepped back. “You two are bloodthirsty. Come on. Let’s get to work cleaning this mess up.”
Chapter Nineteen
Lawson
AN HOUR later Marshell showed up.
“Lawson?” Marshell yelled. “Where is everyone? Shit, this place reeks.”
“Observant, isn’t he?” Janelle asked us, laughing. She turned and yelled in Marshell’s direction. “Stop yelling, little brother! We’re in the kitchen.”
Marshell joined us, grimacing. “Lawson, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Between Heller and Janelle, the were never touched me. Want some coffee? I just made a pot.” Luckily I’d found Marshell’s old coffeemaker shoved behind some things in one of the kitchen cabinets.
“Thank goddess.” Marshell squeezed Janelle’s shoulder as he walked over to the counter. He poured a cup and joined us at the kitchen table. He looked at Heller. “And thank goddess you were here. I don’t want to think of what might have happened if you hadn’t been.”
“No thanks needed. He’s my mate.”
“Yeah, you’re right, but still.” Marshell sat
the coffee mug down and rubbed his temples. “This is so fucked up.”
“Oh, it gets better,” Janelle said. “Take a good, long sniff, Marshell, and tell me what you smell.”
“What….” Marshell shrugged when Janelle glared at him. “Okay! Okay, fine.”
Marshell did as she asked. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. A moment passed, and then another. Marshell’s eyes popped open, and he gasped. “Son of a bitch.”
“Yeah.” Janelle nodded. “Thought you might recognize that scent.”
“Son of a bitch. I’m going to kill that fucker.” Marshell slammed his hand down on the table.
“That’s all well and good, but could you tell us why first?” Heller asked. “What’s up with this guy?”
“I don’t know. I stopped seeing him because of some remarks he made about Lawson I didn’t like. Plus he was getting clingy and talking about love and forever. He wasn’t my mate. He knew he wasn’t, but he still kept on about it.”
“So are you saying this wasn’t about me?” I asked.
“I don’t think so.” Heller gestured to Marshell. “I think this is about him. When the werewolf shredded your clothes, Lawson, it didn’t bother anything of Janelle’s. It just went after you. Both times actually.”
“How does that make it about Marshell?” I asked.
“If the were had a problem with the Vetala, why go after you? You’re not a Vetala. Why not go after Janelle if this were about Vetala? I don’t think this is about insult or perceived offense to the werewolf.”
“Then what?” Dolf asked.
“Obsession. Look, he didn’t attack Janelle because she’s Marshell’s sister. Lawson, you’re not related at all, and you were living with them. He sees you as an unattached male who isn’t related to Marshell. See where I’m going here?”
“I do, and I don’t like it,” Marshell groaned. “If Heller’s right, that werewolf sees Lawson as a threat to him.”
“I think so,” Heller said.
“Then I’m responsible for this.” Marshell shoulders slumped. “I’m so sorry, Lawson. If he’s right, you lost all your stuff because of me. I never thought my sleeping around could be a problem.”
“Why would it be? You’re not mated,” I said.
“Yeah, but…. Well, it doesn’t matter now. I can’t change what I’ve done,” Marshell said.
“What did you do that was so wrong? You never made promises to this guy. He was just a guy. He was just someone you slept with,” I said. “You’ve never had a problem with the other male or female partners.”
“But he came after you because of me, Lawson,” Marshell said.
“Do you know what pack he belongs to?” Janelle asked.
“I’m afraid not. He was just a hookup. I really didn’t get to know all that much about him. His life history wasn’t what I was interested in, to be honest.” Marshell shrugged.
“What about a name?” Heller asked.
“Gordon Jackson.”
“So what do we do, assuming Heller is right and this werewolf is stalking me because of Marshell?” I asked, turning to Marshell. “Do you even have a picture of the guy?”
“Nope.” Marshell shook his head. “But he can’t be that hard to find. How many packs can there be around here?
“You’re assuming the werewolf is part of a pack in the area. But what if he’s a rogue?” Heller asked. “He could’ve been passing through when he met Marshell and decided to stay.”
“Wouldn’t the Alpha of whatever territory he ended up in have a problem with that?” I asked.
“He would, if he knew about the rogue,” Heller said. “This is all pointless. We don’t have a picture or a pack. We don’t know anything. We’re not completely sure the were targeted Lawson because of Marshell. For now all we can do is keep an eye on Lawson.”
We finished our coffee and went back to cleaning up the mess. The werewolf was thorough, I’d give the bastard that. Out of all my clothes, he’d only missed a few pairs of jeans and a couple of shirts.
Wasn’t much, but it was better than I first thought. My furniture was a total loss. We hauled it to the street for the city to pick up. I offered to rent a steam cleaner to get the urine smell out, but Marshell volunteered to take care of that.
We finished up and returned to Heller’s home. The first thing Heller did was call Alpha Armonty and tell him what happened and who might be a suspect. The excitement of moving in with Heller had dimmed now.
We fixed dinner, showered, and went to bed. Heller held me close, and I finally broke down and shed a few tears. Other than my clothes, I hadn’t lost anything of any real value, but it was the principle of the thing.
Tuesday dawned, cold and clear. The rest of that week we spent buying clothes and just hanging out. We went to the movies a few times, and I talked him into going bowling. Other nights we stayed home and watched TV. Heller’s home had four bedrooms, so I took one as my office.
THE FOLLOWING Monday I went back to work. I’d gotten home before Heller, so I started dinner. He’d called earlier to say tonight we needed to discuss dates for the joining ceremony. We also hadn’t had any more run-ins with the werewolf.
I’d barely started dinner when the doorbell rang. Frowning, I went to answer it, wiping my hands on a dishtowel. I glanced through the window in the door, but I didn’t recognize the man who stood there. After what happened with the werewolf, I was a bit nervous about opening the door.
So instead I spoke through the glass. “Can I help you?”
The guy raised an eyebrow. “Is Heller here? He told me to drop off my laptop. I’ve got a virus on it or something. It’s messed up.”
Heller hadn’t told me he was expecting anyone to drop by. I knew he did lot of odd jobs and computer stuff, but it wasn’t like him not to mention something like this. Especially after what happened.
“Look, are you going to open the door or not?”
I found my hand on the handle before I caught myself. I released it. Damned if he wasn’t going to taunt me into opening the door. “Heller didn’t mention you were stopping by. Um, what’s your name?”
“Jacko Miles. I’m a clowder member, and Heller designed my website too.”
I was being silly. I should just open the door, especially if this was a client of Heller’s, but the mounting feelings of hostility coming from the guy on the other side of the door bothered me.
“So….” Jacko gestured impatiently at the door.
My gut told me not to open the door. “I, um…. Heller’s on the way home, so why don’t you—”
“Seriously? I’m not leaving this laptop on the doorstep. It’s expensive. I’d heard he’d mated, but jeez, nothing was said about his mate being paranoid.”
I guess I was coming across that way. “Look, man, it’s not that I’m paranoid, it’s just… well, it’s kind of hard to explain, but, um—”
Jacko suddenly frowned. “Right. Is there a reason you don’t want to open this door?” He bobbed his head, trying to look around me. “What’s going on in there?”
What was he implying? “Excuse me?”
Jacko looked back at me, a sneer crossing his face. “What are you hiding? We’d heard he mated a human, but I said no, that he wouldn’t, that he didn’t like humans. We really thought he had more sense than that, but guess not. Why are you acting so sneaky?”
Okay, now I was getting pissed. I wasn’t acting sneaky; I was trying to be safe. I didn’t know this man. I certainly wasn’t opening the door now. All I had was his word he was part of the clowder. I didn’t know if he was.
“Tell you what. Why don’t you call Heller and set up another time to stop by?”
“I’m here now, and….” Jacko rolled his eyes at me. “Damn humans. This is just stupid. You better believe I’m going to complain to Heller about this. Maybe even Alpha Armonty.”
Shit. Had I just messed up? I went to open the door just as Heller pulled in the driveway. Jacko flashed a look at me that I c
ouldn’t decipher. It almost looked like he was gloating. Heller parked and got out.
“Hey, Jacko. What’s up?” Heller joined Jacko by the front door.
Jacko faced Heller. “Hey, Heller. I stopped by to drop off my laptop, like you told me.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that.” Heller put his truck keys in his pocket. “Sorry. Things have been a little overwhelming lately, and I—”
“So I gathered. Like I said, I was going to drop my laptop off, but he”—Jacko jerked his thumb at me—“wouldn’t open the door. Does your mate have a problem with us, Heller?”
I still hadn’t opened the door, and now I was afraid to for different reasons. Oh God, what had I done? Had I gotten Heller in trouble?
“He”—Heller growled softly—“has a name. It’s Lawson. I suggest you use it. And no, he doesn’t.”
“Oh really?” Jacko smirked at me. “Then why won’t he open the door? What’s he hiding? Maybe you should go check out your place, Heller. I think your, ah, mate is up to no good.”
Heller stepped toward Jacko. “Oh, fuck me, you did not just—”
I’d had enough and threw the door open. “Now just a damn minute! Are you saying I was screwing around on him? I’ve been home ten minutes, you shit.”
Heller grabbed Jacko by his shirt, his fist wadding up the material, and hauled Jacko up onto his toes. “Lawson was attacked by a were not long ago. Then the fucker broke into Lawson’s home and shredded all his clothes. He destroyed all Lawson had. That’s why he didn’t open the door.”
“I-I…. Come on, man, I didn’t know!” Jacko stuttered.
“So you jump to the conclusion he’s up to no good? Fuck that. Can you even wrap your head around what he lost? How afraid he was? So fucking excuse my mate for being a little leery of opening the door to people he doesn’t know, asshole.”
Jacko turned pale and clutched at Heller’s hand that still twisted in his shirt. “Oh goddess, Heller, I didn’t know. I-I’m sorry. Both of you, I’m sorry.”
I thought his apology was worthless, but I was afraid of what Heller was going to do to a fellow clowder member. “That’s—”
