3: Fera - Pack City Page 10

  But I envisioned everything terrible. Humans finding us. Wild animals attacking. Hood stepping up, to tower over us. Even Leer and Kayty’s disdainful stares, and the bitches’ snickering insults.

  I felt many eyes. I couldn’t see them. I couldn’t smell them. But my instincts, my sixth sense, it was still intact. I wondered if they were all downwind. Surely I should be able to get a whiff?

  But my nostrils were full of Jack’s scent. And while he was on top of me and in me, I don’t think I could have noted anything but him. Freaking pheromones--is all I can guess. Perfect chemistry or something. Definitely hard on my thinking capacity.

  He eased off, rolled onto his back beside me and promised, “I’ll protect you, don’t worry.”

  “Sh. They’ll hear you.”

  “The full moon’s still up--somewhere else. I’m sure of it. I could probably go crinos if I got angry.” He winked at me.

  I wanted to tell them, whoever was out there, that I was pretty sure he couldn’t do that, even if he tried. Instead, I said, “It’s not funny, Jack. Stop screwing around.”

  He made a face, then smiled, tweaked my nipple and said, “It’s been fun. Never think it wasn’t.”

  That confused me.

  And then he rolled up into a sitting position and called out, “Fucking time.”

  The rustling in the bushes got louder.

  “Show yourself, ya freaking little voyeurs.”

  “Who are you talking to?” I could not even guess--but it sure sounded like he knew who had found us. I was still afraid to move.

  As if he didn’t really care, Jack got up and went into the water, rinsed off. His eyes were on me the whole time. “Show yourself off, Princess. Apparently, they want to see what you’ve got, first.”

  “How do you--?” I sat up, looked around. “Who’s out there?”

  That’s when I smelled them. You could have knocked me over with a feather when the losers started coming out of the trees, sitting on their haunches a distance away from us, ogling us both.

  I jumped up, ran into the water, stood behind Jack, screaming, “Holy shit! How did you find us?”

  Jack said, “Shh. You want the whole pack to hear?”

  My lips clamped shut immediately. I closed my eyes, willed myself to shift to lupus. In that form, I felt a certain sense of control. I needed to shed my newfound vulnerability before it got me gang-raped...by a bunch of damn mangy wolves.

  They circled closer. I cowered more--behind Jack, under the water.

  I asked, “You think the others are near, too?” My mind hadn’t even begun to address the fact that Jack seemed to know who was out there.

  “Probably on their way. I think that was the overall plan, anyway.”

  I assumed he’d just worded it funny. Like, it was obvious that they were all chasing us, and if the losers had caught up, then surely the others would, too. That did seem to stand to reason.

  “I guess you’re right. We probably wasted too much time here.”

  Jack didn’t say anything to that, but I felt tension rolling off him. I figured it was our company.

  That’s when I spotted Mr. Vocal, the loser that had stopped me from leaving Pack City’s perimeter the night before. I specifically recall thinking that if he’d let me out then, none of that chase would have happened, or so I told myself. The impending embarrassment would not be hanging over us.

  That stupid wolf seemed happy. A little too happy. His tongue lolled, and slobber dripped, but he sat on his haunches from a fair distance.

  Jack said, “Go away. You’ve done your job. Twice now. I’d say that it won’t go unappreciated.”

  Mr. Vocal shook his head. “Don’t think so.”

  I whispered, “In human, we can’t outrun them. And we can’t fight that many. Not like this.”

  “I’m a lover, not a fighter, or hadn’t you noticed?” Jack had cleaned himself, spent a few minutes posturing protectively in front of me, made that smug, mind-numbing comment, and then, like a fool, stomped out of the water. I wasn’t sure if I should go or stay. The water seemed colder without him warming it, but it made me feel like my core was protected. I stayed put.

  “Get!” Jack waved an arm like he was talking to bad dogs, not speaking, thinking creatures.

  They thought it was funny, that was obvious. And, honestly, it was, a little. But I had to wonder where he got his nerve from, all naked like that, manly, but no match for wolves, let alone werewolves.

  “Honor is a crooked thing, don’t you think?” Mr. Vocal stretched out onto his belly, as if he planned to stay and watch us for a long time.

  “What’s he talking about?” I asked Jack. I don’t know why I thought he’d know.

  “Some say there is no honor among the degenerates of society.” Jack didn’t seem to be worried, much, about the intrusion. That had me tipping my head, watching closely, wondering, what the hell? Was he trying to hypnotize Mr. Vocal--in a way I couldn’t see? Or did he really not seem concerned about the audience we had?

  The wolf clucked his tongue. “Come now.” And that very short phrase set all the dogs into hoarse laughter. Apparently pleased with himself, Mr. Vocal added, “Show us your manly honor.”

  I’m sure we all looked at Jack’s cock. There was enough honor in that not-so-little tool to keep me happy for a lifetime.

  Jack shook his head. He also put his hands on his hips. Despite the fact that he had looked at his shaft, too, he said, “I don’t think I want to examine myself in front of--you.”

  “You were more than willing to make the deal when your life was at stake.”

  Jack’s spine hardened. I remember thinking, he’s very tall, a lot taller than me. Has a great back. Yeah. I was having a little trouble getting my mind off sex. And the idea that the loser had philosophical thoughts, or riddles--that meant anything to me, just made my mind spin.

  I asked, “What’s he talking about?”

  “I’m talking about a deal we made with the unnatural.”

  “What do you mean, a deal?”

  “Just that. His life in exchange for certain...honors.”

  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “You--you made a deal with these losers?”

  Jack looked over his shoulder at me, then. The expression on his face is one I’ll never forget. Inscrutable. Hard. He said quietly, “Come out of the water, Princess.”

  I shook my head.

  He held out a hand.

  I shook my head again. “No, thanks.” I was beginning to feel betrayed. Like something bad was going to happen, that Jack had already made his choice in the matter. That I was somehow part of a payment on a bad deal somewhere. Very surreal. I had to ask again, “What’s he talking about?”

  As if it were of no consequence, Jack said, “They let me live once.”

  A little surprised to realize he’d made a deal, I croaked, “You mean, you begged?” I would have pegged him for one of those guys that would have taken death like a man. Like a warrior.

  Jack’s lips slid into a smirk. “Claws holding you down, fangs ready to dip in for a third time, makes you lose your dignity. I can speak from experience. Makes you rethink your priorities.”

  My hero was crumbling before my eyes. He’d made a deal with the losers? I couldn’t quite process that.

  “What--what was the deal?”

  “You can’t guess?” He was looking me in the eye. I felt like he was trying to tell me something, maybe willing me not to believe what I was hearing, what was coming out of his mouth. He shook his head. “All I had to do was fuck the princess.”

  That’s why he’d been calling me that. To suit them...?

  Definitely betrayal. I let my gaze drop to the water. My reflection blurred. Then rippled as a tear hit the surface.

  I questioned all that I’d thought I’d found. I couldn’t swallow, the bile was rising in terrible waves, giving me the need to clutch my stomach and fight the nausea as it attacked me from within. I managed to get out, “Ju
st--fuck me?” I saw my face, close to the water, and I thought, this is what I’ve been reduced to. A crying fucking girl. Defenseless. I wondered, what does it take to change back? I closed my eyes, willed myself to shift.

  But a rebellious part of me said, he fucked you over and over again. He enjoyed it. It wasn’t a hardship.

  Mr. Vocal laughed. “Not just to fuck you, but to do it well.”

  I groaned. He’d done it well, all right. Well enough to have me remembering, easily, how it felt to have him inside me. Well enough to nearly rub me raw in places. And well enough that I still wanted more, despite the other.

  Well enough to make me fall in love with him.

  I gulped. That was the worst gall.

  Our intruder said, “I was a little disappointed that he didn’t do it doggy style.”

  “How--how do you know--how we did it?” My every tremor felt jerky. Every word seemed wrenched from my gut, hard to form.

  The wolves laughed. I surmised that I had been more than oblivious for part of the evening. How could they have watched and I not known?

  The missing moments that I’d instinctively felt. Thoughts about gang rapes came to mind. How girls had blanked things out. I wondered, was that why I was so sore? Had Jack somehow...inconceivably...let them at me?

  Was it some price? What he’d exchanged for his life? A pre-planned night and rendezvous here at this far away creek spot?

  I can tell you, there was never a more devastated being than me, at that moment. Crushed. Heart shattered.

  “Don’t listen to him.” Jack finally said something, but it wasn’t convincing enough to me, to make me think that I had it wrong. Seemed like he said it from down a tunnel, just to placate me.

  Mr. Vocal said, “He never does it doggy style. Not to save his life, even. Right?”

  The muscles in Jack’s back rippled with restraint. Fury. But I knew, the bitten couldn’t bring their crinos on by sheer will. He said, “I don’t do it with dogs.”

  I flinched. Technically, I was not a dog, but I knew what he meant.

  He added, “Male dogs. Losers.”

  “Careful,” Mr. Vocal said. “I’m pretty sure we could rip your throat out at this juncture.” Hoarse laughter followed, before he added, “Just like old times, eh, Jack?”

  Jack wasn’t backing down, though. He said, “You’ve had your fun. You got what you wanted. Now go. You’ve done your damage. I took her. Hood’s on our trail. That’s enough.”

  Turning his back on them, he faced me. There was remorse there, in his eyes, but it didn’t make me feel any better.

  I didn’t process his use of my brother’s name, like he knew him well. I knew the losers had wanted to put me down, break my spirit. I focused on that. But Jack’s words made me feel safe enough to know I hadn’t been raped by the lot of them.

  I didn’t understand why they hadn’t just raped me, though, instead of employing an unnatural. Either way, I was tainted for a pure wolf. I asked, “So, what? They paid you?”

  “Not exactly. Well, yeah. They let me live.”

  To my utter surprise, he went behind a bush, picked up a bundle and started putting clothes on. I demanded, “What in hell are you doing?”

  “Look. I don’t really feel comfortable. This ain’t a nudist colony and I’m sure you don’t want me around for what’s going to come next.”

  “What do you mean, what’s going to come next?”

  My eyes popped. Rape came to mind again. I backed up another step in the water. The losers laughed some more. They didn’t have to read minds to get wind of my fear. Like I said, I was totally at their mercy in that girl skin.

  Jack buttoned the front of his jeans. I’d have given an arm and a leg, easily, for a pair of jeans like that, ones that were hard to undo very fast, that fit like a skin. Even then, I remember thinking that he was sexy.

  He said, “Don’t worry. They won’t rape you.” He gave them all an intent look. “They’re just going to keep an eye on you until your brother and Leer pick up your trail again. They should be here pretty soon.”

  Words. Meaningless words. Words for whose benefit? They numbed me.

  And there it was again. Absolute, beyond belief, deafening betrayal. He was abandoning me? Blood rushed through my ears. Numbness pooled in my legs, weighting me like cement blocks. I asked, “You mean, you’re leaving me...for Hood and Leer to find?”

  That might be all it took to turn over the power in Pack City again. Hood’s rage would surely provoke a fight between him and Leer. Leer had turned me down, er, turned his nose up. And it was Leer’s cell that hadn’t held. Leer’s mate on guard when I was stolen from Pack City.

  Never mind that I’d gone willingly. Or that Hood had come before that. He’d left her, Kayty, still on watch in crinos form. She should have been able to head off the intruder and surely to set up a cry that would bring everyone in, but she’d left her post. Oh, my mind was working fast, trying to see the whole damn picture. Only my heart kept trying to back up, to tug at strings that Jack had placed around it. Little sweet things that couldn’t have been faked, or acted out for the sake of an audience’s pleasure. He’d truly enjoyed making love with me. And as much as we’d hard fucked, we’d had that sensual connection.

  His eyes had romanced me. His lips had teased me.

  Oh, I was sick. Confused.

  But I asked, “So, you’re leaving me...with all these losers, like this, knowing that Hood is on his way.” More a statement than a question.

  Jack pulled a shirt over his head, a black T-shirt, and tucked it in. Leaning on a rock, he slipped socks onto his feet, and then pulled black boots on. In the middle of that, he said, “Don’t worry, the pack won’t shun you. Hood will see to that.”

  “How do you know what Hood will do?” My voice slid up the octave scale quickly, “He’ll probably slash my belly open before I can get out of the water, as soon as he smells the air. Just to make sure I don’t birth your offspring.”

  The scent of us was everywhere, for those with good olfactory nerves.

  “Come out of the water. Apply yourself to shifting.” He sounded confident, unhurried, absolutely sure I could do it.

  “Why last night? Why you?” I was putting two and two together. Had Hood hired this--man--instead of the losers? Did I have the story completely wrong?

  I’d originally assumed that the losers had bitten him first.

  Had they gotten in the middle of another deal?

  How could I have been so wrong about destiny and finding my soul mate?

  “Last night was perfect. You were perfect.” Jack was standing now, looking straight at me. Looking too damn sexy. Looking unapproachable.

  And I may be stupid, but I really believed he was sincere at that moment.

  Of course, the wolves started to laugh again. Gaia-damned hyenas.

  I felt like the butt of a joke. And one more time, I felt a doubling pain in my midsection. Wincing, leaning forward, I said, “I can’t believe this is happening. That you lied to me.”