Wild Nights with a Lone Wolf (8 page)

“Emotions, Sherri.” He propped his forehead up with his fingers. “You know that thing about how dogs can smell fear?
Weres
can detect most of the human spectrum by scent. Fear, joy, arousal, even love.”

“So... Oh.” She settled back on the bed, suddenly consumed with the same weighty sense of doom Ash was probably experiencing. “We might like each other a lot, but we’re not in love and they’ll know if we do this ceremony.”

He only shook his head.

“So we’re stuck in a werewolf border town, wedged between a rock and a hard place. You know these folks, so what do you think is our best move?

He looked around the room and so did she. Pegboard and some broken-looking cabinets lined the walls. A horrible refrigerator sat at one end. Not much to work with.

Ash’s hand covered hers. Lips and stubble tickled her ear again when he leaned in again to whisper. “Let’s start with plan A. Help me see if we can find any weapons?”

Sherri nodded against his cheek. When she eased away he grinned at her, and she managed to smile back in spite of there being nearly nothing to get optimistic about. “Lead the way,” she said.

***

J
ett yanked his clothes on at the club door and dragged Kyle out of the old warehouse. “Tell me what you know.” He swept the area visually as he hurried across the parking lot with the kid’s neck under his hand. Nobody he could see might hear them except the door guard, but you never knew. Their kind excelled at blending with shadows, and their hearing picked up sounds a human couldn’t.

“Jesus— Fuck— Would you chill the fuck out already?” Kyle ducked and spun around to face him.

“If what you say is true, I don’t have time to chill.” Jett moved to push past, but Kyle gripped his arms. This tall, lean human had surprising strength in his hands.

“Look,” Kyle whispered. “Just... Here.”

Jett saw Kyle closing in, saw him lick his lips and part them, but was surprised enough to let the kiss happen without questioning. He’d known the younger human from before he’d left the pack, but mostly they’d kept to their own corners. Jett avoided all the other pack groupies, and any relationship with a human came with complications.

Right now, as Kyle’s teeth sank into Jett’s lip, those reasons held less logic.

Strong fingers wiggled into his back pockets, kneading his ass. Pulling him forward. Kyle groaned and tugged them both toward the street, bumping the thick ridge of his erection against Jett’s. “Come on, can you stop acting like a cop for five minutes?”

Jett snarled his impatience against Kyle’s ear. “You found me at an after-hours tail-chaser party. That un-cop-like enough?”

“We couldn’t walk out of that place lookin’ like you were hauling me in for questioning. Any chance someone who knows us both sees that shit, and it’s the end of the line.”

Okay, the pack groupie schooling the detective sounded all kinds of wrong. Jett shook his head.
Pull your shit together, Hughes.

Jett pointed up the empty road. “Car’s that way.”

Kyle ducked under his arm. “Let’s go then, baby.” He managed to do it in a way that kept one hand in Jett’s back pocket. “Got something you’re gonna like once we get there.”

The kid meant information. Pretty sure. Ninety-nine percent. Still, the gruff suggestion teased Jett’s brain and stroked his libido to both turn him on and piss him off. Fucking pack groupies. “Thought you were worrying about someone recognizing us. Wouldn’t it be safer if we were still kissing?”

Kyle chuckled. “You asking because you don’t want us seen? Or cuz you wanna kiss me some more?”

Jesus. Pack groupies.

As they walked, Jett massaged his canines with his tongue while he considered the question. Realizing he could still taste Kyle in his mouth, that he wanted to taste him more, gave him his answer. “Yes. Both.” He tangled his fingers into the man’s thick waves and pulled his head over. Now come here.”

“Ha. I always liked that about you,” Kyle said.

“Liked what?”

“You’re honest. You say what you mean.”

“I’m not honest. I try not to lie so I don’t have to keep up with the stories, that’s all. There’s a difference.” Jett stopped and unlocked the driver’s door to his car. “Get in and slide over.” He waited for Kyle to comply before he followed and hit the locks.

Kyle leaned in for another kiss, but Jett grabbed him and pulled him back. “Time for information. You said you came to the club because Ash was in trouble. Tell me what the fuck is going on.”

The kid ducked his head. “Gotcha. Yeah. So Jojo’s gotten into some messy shit like trading white girls for coke. Some new player’s taking them over the border. Not that they tell me much, but they also don’t notice when I come and go.”

Right. “What happens with the coke?”

“Your father sells most of it. He has a big chunk of the local market. The pack runs some up to other cities. It gets distributed to human gangs and spreads out from there.”

“Most of it?”

Kyle bent one leg and clasped his knee. “I, uh... Jojo’s been using. More members of the pack, I think. Seems like money’s been tight.”

“Fuck. He’s turning them into junkies.” He closed his eyes. For a moment Jett swore he could sense the ghost of his grandfather, powerful and angry, swiping his giant claws through the air.
Our kind is dying of stupid,
he would have said.

He and Ash had left rather than become a part of the pack’s ruin, but this still hurt to hear. He rose up, taking Kyle’s chin in his hand. “What about you, tail-chaser? Are you using that junk?”

Kyle grunted and aimed a defiant stare. “You know I find it funny,
detective,
that you knock me for having an attraction to guys like you. I did find you tonight at a hidden party that exists for the express purpose of hooking up wolves with fur-lovers.”

“Yeah.” Jett dropped his hand. “Well. When there’s a therapy specialty for my particular brand of hypocrisy, I’ll be the first on board.”

“I’m sure you will.” Kyle rubbed at his eyebrow with his middle finger, and Jett wondered if that wasn’t meant to be a message. “Anyway, to answer your question, I don’t use. I used, past-tense. I felt like king of the world for a few hours, and then I was afraid to go to bed because shit was gonna come out of the walls and attack me. That was the end of the party.”

“I’m pretty sure that nasty comedown is why most users keep on using.”

Kyle shrugged. “Fucking expensive solution.”

“Without a doubt. Tell me what happened with Ash. He said he thought Jojo had a girl he knew. I didn’t hear back. He came looking for her at the clubhouse?”

Kyle straightened. “He didn’t just come in. He came in blazing and beat the shit out of Jojo. Said she was his bond mate, and he wanted to take her home.”

“Crazy motherfucker.” Jett drew a deep breath. “I guess it didn’t work.”

“Yeah. Uh...” Kyle tapped a nervous finger on the doorframe. “Not quite.”

Jett turned his phone back on. “Okay, kid, you need to skip ahead to the life and death part, so I can skip ahead to the getting Ash’s ass out of hot water part.”

Kyle’s leg bounced a mile a minute. “I overheard some talk. Jojo doesn’t believe Ash. Your dad does, but he wants to do the bonding ceremony and then hook Ash back into the pack. This close to the full moon, I think he thinks it’ll also bond Ash to the family again.”

Jett slammed his head against the seat back. “He wants Ash to do a mating ceremony. I can’t count how many ways that sounds insane.”

Kyle shrugged. “I still don’t get how all that works with you guys. The important thing is Jojo went ballistic. You know he won’t give up being next in line for alpha. If he thinks your father’s trying to bring Ash back into the fold, I wouldn’t expect Jojo to sit back and allow it to happen without a fight.”

“When and where?” Jett found his fingers tangled in Kyle’s worn T-shirt. Fuck, they were too close to the full moon. He needed to keep his head together.

“Jojo needs the woman for the trade, and he needs Ash compliant. I think if he makes a move it’ll be right after. Or during. Trade’ll be after the moon comes up again.” Kyle took hold of Jett’s hand, firmly pulling the offending fingers from his shirt. “The pack dug one of those tunnels under the border fence. I don’t know the exact location since I always rode in the back of the van, but that’s where they’ll meet.

Jett’s now-empty fingers tightened in a fist. “Why are you bringing me this? Going against the pack will get you killed. Unless this is all some bullshit to point me the wrong way.”

Kyle shook his head. “No bullshit.” He tapped his fist against his thigh. “The way Jojo’s running things, there’s about to be no more pack. And you... were cool to me before.”

“No, I wasn’t. Fuck.” Jett started the car and hit speed dial, ready to rouse his partner out of bed. “Okay, I’m taking care of this.” He pulled the phone away. “Do you need a ride?”

Kyle pushed the door open. “No way. Not gonna chance anyone seeing us together. Hey, Jett?”

“Yeah, kid?”

Kyle stopped half-in and half-out of the door. “Be safe out there.”

“You, too. Thanks for this.”

The young human smiled and shut the door, disappearing into the shadows.

Jett hit the gas. So much for unwinding.

S
herri closed another drawer. “There’s nothing here except a rusty set of needle-nose pliers.” She held them up.

Ash stood from his crouch next to the random and apparently broken refrigerator. “Hey. Those could come in handy.” He slid out a wire shelf. Turning it around in his hands, he found a loosened edge and worked it free. The liberated wire went inside his sleeve before he returned the shelf to its home.

She took a second look at how casually Ash scanned the room while he worked as she tucked the pliers somewhat awkwardly inside her bra. “Dare I ask?”

He grinned—oh God, it
was
kind of a wolfish grin, wasn’t it? “I don’t know. Dare you ask what?”

She put her hands to her hips. “Fine. Has your family held you semi-prisoner before, or is this a general skill set?” Oh. Shit. Or... “Have you been in prison-prison?”

“Prison-prison?” He seemed to find the phrase funny. “No. Local jail? Sure. Lotta folks still aren’t cool with my kind.” He came toward her, his shoulders back, steps easy and confident. “Not to mention I got into plenty of scrapes as a kid, both with the pack and on my own. Couldn’t help myself.”

She caught his hand as he reached for a strand of her hair. “What, like it was part of your nature?”

Son of a gun, that soft, rumbling laugh of his was something else. Had she known him back when she was young and her conservative parents had locked her and her sister in their rooms, his laugh alone would have sprung her bedroom door in a hurry.

“That’s exactly the excuse I used,” he said. “I’m a beast. A wild animal can’t be tamed. It’s in my nature.” His mouth twisted in a show of anger. “I was a stupid punk.”

Sherri ached at the pain that swirled in his amber eyes. “What put you on the straight and narrow?”

“Eh, I don’t know about straight and narrow.” He shrugged. “My brother Jett, he’s the good one. And Christopher, before he died.”

“I’m sorry.” She needed to hug him. He stood there, an island unto himself, with his hands at his sides and his fists clenched, and it wasn’t apparent her comfort would be welcome, but she did it anyway. “That’s... I lost my sister when I was a teenager. I know it’s hard.”

The beat of his heart pounded against her chest. “What happened?”

Sherri closed her eyes. The heat in the room settled over them like a thick blanket as she tried to remember but not remember at the same time. “Our parents didn’t let us leave the house. Beth wanted to go out and have friends. Her need for rebellion got her into trouble with the wrong crowd.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t.” Everyone was sorry. She swiped a hand over her face. Looking up at Ash with his hard but concerned face, she had trouble collecting her thoughts. “You know what? This whole thing is crazy.”

“I told you, we only try to take them if they attack first. But I’m sorry to tell you I think there’s a good chance that they will. Jojo hates me. He always has. I have to assume now that he’s nuts enough to try anything.”

“That’s not what I mean.” She wiped at her eyes again. God, had she left the hotel wearing mascara? She hoped not. In her pacing, the bed came up behind her, so she allowed herself to flop onto her back. “I mean, I spent two years with a man I thought I knew, and I didn’t know him at all. I never did feel this comfortable sharing myself with him. You and I—”

She stopped when Ash’s head perked up and his finger gave the “hang on” gesture. He hurried to the bed and covered his body with hers. “Someone’s coming in,” he whispered in her ear. He slid off to the side and she strangely wished he hadn’t. He had easily a hundred pounds on her, but she didn’t find his mass suffocating so much as reassuring.

He nuzzled her neck and jaw. The nuzzling turned more insistent, into head butts and gentle bites. Honestly, she was surprised to find she liked when he did that, but it seemed an especially curious thing to do when they were probably about to have company.

“What are you doing?”

“Being affectionate.”

“For show, or did you get the sudden urge?”

“Can’t it be both?”

She turned to stare him down. “Why are you being weird?”

He grinned. “For all you know, this is normal.”

That made her cough out a laugh. “Uh, so, I’d love to see what you’d do if you took a woman on a real third date. Mini golf?”

Ash’s finger swept across her cheek. “We’ll have to find out.”

The door opened. In walked the lean, young man she’d seen in the middle of the night when she was first brought through the main house. He’d seemed quiet and polite, but she knew nothing about him other than the fact that he must be low on the pack totem pole the way Ash’s father had smacked him around. He held out a takeout bag. “Thought you guys might be hungry.”

Ash rolled his eyes. “And you brought stale burgers? This is nasty, grease-covered shit.”