The food wasn’t ready when I arrived. Since I was a few minutes early, I didn’t mind. As soon as I had the food and paid, I left the restaurant and jogged back toward the hotel.
“Emmitt,” Grey called from the shadows across the street.
I slowed and waited for them. Carlos was stoic as usual, but he was scanning the area around us as they reach my side.
“Just getting back? I thought you two were using a rental.” We started toward the lobby doors.
“We were,” Grey said, looking serious. “Any trouble here?”
“No. Why?”
“We were halfway here when we discovered we were being followed. We left the car and took a cab around town to lose him.”
I frowned. So Blake had been watching the house, then.
The sharp smell of chlorine irritated my nose as soon as I stepped into the lobby. Yet, underneath, I caught the scent of blood.
“Shit,” I said softly, bursting into a run while my heart tried to hammer its way out of my chest. Around the corner, I spotted my open door. Despair gripped me; I knew she wasn’t inside. When I reached the door, I stopped. There was blood smeared on the white jam. Hers. Still wet.
The plastic bag of food clasped in my hand fell to the floor. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. All I could do was stare at Michelle’s blood. I’d told her she would be safe.
Carlos moved past us, grabbed a washcloth from the sink just inside the door, and wiped off the blood. Grey picked up the food and set it inside.
“Let’s find her, son,” Grey said. There was worry in his gaze but determination, too.
Blake wouldn’t kill Michelle. He’d had her for four years. He wanted her back for her premonitions. But, I wouldn’t let him have her.
Curling my hands into fists, I inhaled, ignoring the sting of chlorine. I took off running again, following the scent of Michelle’s blood. Dark drops dotted the carpet here and there as I ran toward the far exit. Just outside, the heavy scent of exhaust clouded the air. Whoever had taken her had used a car.
I inhaled deeply again, searching for Michelle’s trail. It would have been impossible to follow, but I caught the scent of her blood again, mingling lightly with the exhaust.
Growling, I sprinted down the street, uncaring who might see me. Only Michelle mattered.
Her scent crossed side streets then turned onto a main thoroughfare. I slowed, having a harder time following her trail. Then I lost her scent completely at an intersection with another main road.
“No,” I growled, looking around in panic.
“Easy, Emmitt,” Grey said. “He came from this way.” He pointed behind us. “With three of us, we can split up and try to pick up her scent in each direction. We’ll find something.” He clapped a hand on my shoulder.
I nodded and took off toward the left.
Stay in contact, Grey sent me.
Nothing yet, I reported back.
I moved slower, not because I cared if the humans saw me moving fast, but because I didn’t want to miss Michelle’s scent. Cars zipped by, adding more exhaust to the already contaminated trail. I was starting to panic when I caught a hint of something. Stopping, I inhaled. It was barely there. Ahead was an intersection with lights. I crossed the streets, dodging between cars and ignoring honking horns. On the other side, Michelle’s scent grew stronger.
Got her, I sent Grey, along with the street name.
We’ll be right there.
I took off at a run again. Pockets of her scent kept me moving. Worry ate at my confidence. Her scent trail was breaking apart. How would I find her if I hit another intersection like the last one?
The sun continued its slow descent, and the buildings around me cast longer shadows with each passing minute. In a pocket void of Michelle’s scent, I picked up another scent that slowed my steps. Werewolves.
A man stepped from the shadowed alley between two buildings. He grinned at me before retreating out of sight.
Grey, I found a wolf. He’s luring me into an alley. He brought friends.
So did you. We’re right behind you.
As I stepped toward the alley opening, I controlled a partial shift. My teeth and mouth elongated, and my nails hardened and curved into claws.
The narrow alley was filled with trash bins, cardboard, and other debris. At the end, the space opened up into a small, vacant parking area accessed by a neighboring alley. Three men stood between me and that alley. From a fire escape above, a man dropped into the narrow alley I’d just left. Only a few feet separated us, and I turned to face him.
“You shouldn’t have come,” he said. “She’s not yours.”
“That’s my line,” I said a second before I threw my first punch.
He moved fast, ducking under the punch. But, not fast enough to avoid my left swing. He grunted and faltered a step as my fist met his cheek. Behind me, the other three moved in. One caught me in the ribs with a fist, and another wrapped an arm around my neck. I stepped back into him and used his weight and my momentum to bring him forward, over my shoulder, to crash into one of his friends. As the two tumbled to the ground, one of the other mutts wrapped his arms around mine, pinning them behind me. His partner laughed and showed his claws. I jumped up and kicked out, planting my feet in his chest. He staggered back, as did the man holding me. I wrenched an arm free and grabbed a handful of hair of the man still gripping my arm.
Yanking his head down, I brought my knee up to meet it. His nose crunched and he fell to the ground.
Claws raked my ribs, and I spun with an outward kick that missed my attacker. The other two were up and circling me as well. They moved as one, coming at me. A fist crashed into my jaw as I blocked claws from my gut.
Carlos burst into the fight, blocking a kick one of them had directed between my legs.
The men pulled back.
“Thank you,” I panted.
“Jim mentioned you were having a problem with blocking those,” Grey said with a chuckle as he nudged me back. “Go. We’ve got this.”
The man on the ground wasn’t moving. Two against three were poor odds. For them.
I turned and ran back down the alley, going in the direction I’d been heading. Michelle’s scent continued to tease me in spots and disappear in others. Five blocks further, the scent of her blood grew stronger at an intersection. Just two buildings to the left of it, I saw a motel and a rusted-out car parked in front of one of the rooms.
Jogging across the road, her scent only became clearer. Blood smeared the back panel of the car. Her blood. I moved toward the motel room door and heard the low murmur of a man’s mocking voice.
Rage filled me. Thrusting my arm forward, I ripped the strike plate and bolt from the jam and the door flew inward. A man stood midway between me and Michelle. Her ankles were zip-tied to the chair and her hands bound in her lap. A smear of blood across her cheek stood out starkly against her pale face.
I shifted my attention to the man and let my claws come forward.
He loosened his stance to a semi-crouch and rolled his shoulders. Spotty patches of fur erupted from his skin and the tips of his increasingly pointy ears. One leg started to transform, the thigh shortening while the foot elongated.
He had no control over his change.
I let my canines emerge and my mouth extend just enough to use them.
“Your mistake was her blood,” I said as I lunged at the man who’d taken my Mate.
I grabbed the mutt by the shoulders and pulled him in for a head-butt. As he staggered back on his uneven legs, I lashed toward his chest. He leapt out of the way, but not fast enough. Red lines marked where I’d raked his skin.
We circled each other. He eyed my stance and feinted a few times, trying for an opening that didn’t exist. I saw the moment he realized he wasn’t going to walk away. He snarled and came straight at me. Ducking under his swing, I slashed the skin of his exposed sides with my claws. Four bloody furrows erupted. The man swore. His control slipped further, and his feet fully sprouted claws and fur. Desperation lit his eyes, and he glanced at the door.
“They aren’t coming,” I said, striking again. Swipe after swipe, my nails sank deep into his skin. One strike brought me close enough that I could smell Michelle on him. I lost it and sank my teeth into his shoulder. He howled in pain.
“People are coming,” Michelle said.
I nodded, blocked the weak swing he made with his left forearm, and drove my fist into his face. There was a satisfying crack as the man’s head whipped back.
“Tell Blake she’s mine,” I said as his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell.
I turned with a burst of speed and slammed the door shut on the three men who were halfway across the parking lot. The latch wouldn’t hold, but there was a bolt lock above it that still worked. I shoved it into place and turned toward Michelle.
Her hands were darker than her arms, the zip tie too tight. The force of ripping through it with a claw would likely hurt her more. Outside, someone started pounding on the door. The distant wails of sirens reached me. We didn’t have much time. She was already so hurt, though. I swore and knelt beside her. Leaning forward, I gently used my teeth to separate the plastic.
The mutt on the floor behind me groaned.
“Hurry, Emmitt. I think he’s waking up.”
The pounding on the door stopped, and the sirens grew louder. The plastic band popped free, and I moved to the ones around her ankles. Unable to take the same time to remove them gently, I used a claw. Michelle winced, but said nothing.
I stood and pulled aside the faded, blue curtains covering the back window. There was nothing but swamp and trees back there. But for how far?
Michelle stood and moved beside me as I slid open the window. I popped out the screens just as the sirens died. Before I could offer her my hand, she turned and shuffled toward Frank. It was the first look I had of the back of her head. Dried blood caked her hair. I pulled back my lips in a silent snarl and looked at the man on the floor. The urge to kill him rode me hard. Michelle bent down, reached into his pocket, and pulled out a phone.
The man twitched and I took a step forward until I realized he was shifting back to human, too broken to maintain his fur. He opened one eye and looked at Michelle.
“Don’t try this again,” she said. “I choose who I Claim. Not you.”
She stood, and I moved back to the window.
“You’re not the only one,” the man rasped before closing his eyes again.
We’re outside, Grey sent. Police are at the door. I hope you’re not in there.
Leaving out the back window now.
I scooped Michelle up into my arms. She flinched, and I hated myself for what she would likely have to endure until I found us somewhere safe.
She looped her arms around my neck and buried her face against my chest a moment before I jumped out the window. I ran fast, blazing a trail through the swamp before the door in the hotel flew open.
Head east, Grey said over our link. I’ll watch the hotel, and Carlos is circling back to check on the four we left in the alley. Let me know if you run into any problems.
The little daylight that had remained when I’d stepped into the hotel vanished in the trees. I didn’t need it to know east, though. Skirting another area of trees, I slowed my pace and jogged out onto a sidewalk.
Streetlights were intermittent, and I stuck to the shadows to avoid attention. Michelle didn’t move much in my arms. Her scent was a mixture of that musty hotel room, her blood, and the fetid smell of the mutt who’d taken her. Before I could take her somewhere safe, I needed to clean her up.
I slowed when I spotted a trashy looking hotel. It was small and advertised rooms by the hour.
I’m renting a room with cash and cleaning her up. After that, we need a place to stay. She needs rest.
The man you left behind managed to climb out the window before the police caught him. I tailed him back to our first hotel, but I didn’t follow him inside. I’m watching him to see where he goes next. Carlos is with me. The other four went fur and took to the woods. I let your father know what’s happening. Call Winifred’s phone. They’re waiting. They can make new room arrangements under someone else’s name.
He thought that the men who’d come after us already knew what names we’d used for the hotel.
All right. Thank you, Uncle Grey.
Stay safe.
Shifting Michelle’s weight to one arm, I freed the other to open the door. Inside, the place was just as bad as where she’d been taken. The original color of the carpet was buried under layers of dirt.
I carried Michelle to the front desk, unwilling to let her down.
The man behind the counter eyed me then Michelle. It was probably because of the blood on her cheek.
“We need a room for an hour,” I said. “I need soap and a towel. A clean one.” I placed money on the desk, and the man nodded before reaching under the counter and setting out the things I had requested.
Michelle took the towel, soap, and room key. The man cleared his throat uncomfortably, looking at Michelle.
“You okay, lady?”
She was pale, covered in blood, had a gash on the back of her head and was being carried. He was an idiot for asking.
“I am now,” she said. I turned away, furious with myself that she honestly believed that. She wasn’t okay. She was hurt…on my watch.
Michelle rested her head on my chest again as I climbed a dimly lit set of stairs to get to the room number on the key. The place was disgusting. Human odors clung to every surface. The air conditioner rattled but didn’t bring any clean air into the dank, musty room.
I carried her straight to the bathroom and used my elbow to turn on the light. Only one of the three vanity bulbs flickered to life. Stains decorated the laminate counter around the once-white sink.
First, I’d let her be kidnapped. Then, I brought her to a hotel that probably required tetanus shots.
Without much choice, I sat her on the counter and turned on the water. It ran clear so I wet the towel and rubbed the soap against it. Hopefully it would kill any remaining germs on the towel. Carefully, I cleaned the blood from her face then moved to clean the gash on the back of her head. She didn’t move much and kept her hands in her lap as I worked.
Rinsing and re-soaping the cloth often, I gradually worked most of the blood from her hair so I could see what I was dealing with. The cut was a little more than an inch long. It was spread wide and could use stitches. Bringing her to a hospital would be dangerous, though. That meant letting it heal on its own and leaving a large scar.
My temper flayed me from the inside. How could I let this happen to Michelle? She had come to me scared and afraid. I had vowed to keep her safe.
She surprised me by leaning forward and pressing her lips to mine. I didn’t know how she could still want to kiss me, but I wasn’t foolish enough to deny it. I lightly touched her face and returned the kiss. She sighed, melting into it. Her scent sweetened, and I pulled back to look at her.
Her upturned face was clean and had regained some of her usual color. Her closed eyes opened slowly, and she smiled. Her gaze was sweet and full of promise.
“That’s more like it,” she said. “If you tell me we don’t have to sleep here, we can kiss all night long.”
“How can you even want to look at me?” I said, unable to keep the self-loathing from my tone.
“What do you mean?”
“I promised you that you’d be safe.” I moved away from her to put the towel in the sink, and she grabbed my arm.
“You’re beating yourself up because I was dumb enough to open the door for Frank?”
I faced her, frustrated. Her intelligence wasn’t in question. Mine was. I shouldn’t have left her alone. She shook her head at me, and her expression softened.
“To me, safe doesn’t mean I’ll never get hurt. It means you’ll be there to help pick me back up when I do. Now, do we really have to stay here?”
Her forgiveness humbled me.
“This was just to get you cleaned up. I couldn’t take you anywhere nicer, looking like you did, without someone calling the police.”
I rinsed out the towel one last time. She watched me closely.
“Frank got a call while I was with him. Were you followed?” she asked.
“Not for very long. I met up with Carlos and Grey on my way back with our food. As soon as we entered the lobby, I smelled your blood.” I rang out the towel and folded it neatly beside the sink. “We tracked you. A few of Frank’s friends were waiting. Grey and Carlos stayed back to deal with them.”
“So, now what? Are they meeting up with us somewhere? Do you think the guy downstairs is going to call the cops?”
“Now, we go to another hotel. You’ll be harder to follow by scent without the fresh blood. When we find a pay phone, I’ll call my father to make new arrangements. He’ll coordinate with Grey.”
A buzz emitted from her pocket. I’d forgotten about the phone she’d taken from the man I’d knocked out.
Michelle pulled it out and looked at me as she answered it.
“Michelle,” a man’s voice boomed through the receiver, “good to hear you sounding so well. I was afraid Frank might have been a bit rough.” His voice conveyed no concern.
“He was as gentle as a lamb,” Michelle said. “Why are you calling, Blake?”
“Isn’t this why you took Frank’s phone? To talk to me?”
“I guess it is. I have a lot of questions and, according to Frank, you’re the only one who will answer them. What’s an Urbat? What decision was I supposed to make, and who are my sisters?”
There was a long pause before he answered.
“Ah. I see. I’ll explain everything if you meet with me.”
“I’m already meeting with you. Tomorrow morning. Didn’t the lawyer call you?”
“Yes, of course.” A hard edge crept into his voice. “I was hoping for something a bit more private.”
“I don’t think that’d be in my best interest. At least, not until I Claim my Mate.”
The words conflicted me. It was everything I’d hoped for, yet, nothing I deserved.
Blake growled through the phone and Michelle smiled.
“Come on, Blake. You don’t think I’m going to sit around and wait for you to try this again, do you?”
“Then, we part ways for now. You’ll hear from me again, though.”
Before he could hang up, she said, “Oh, and I spoke with the court appointed executor. Looks like you’ll have to spend your own money and leave mine alone.”
He wasn’t quick enough to disconnect the call. We both heard him swear angrily before the line went dead.
Blake just called Michelle. He won’t be at the lawyer’s office tomorrow.
I’ll confer with the others, Grey sent back.
Michelle tossed the phone in the garbage and smiled at me. I shook my head and plucked her from the counter.
