Secret Worlds (500 page)

“Hey man, you can’t shift in public. You know it’s against the law.”

I cared nothing for human laws, they held no power over me. Dismissing his words as the verbal garbage they were, I continued forward, saliva flooding my mouth as I imagined how good their flesh would taste.

“Come on, man. Don’t make me call the cops. I really don’t want to deal with all that paperwork,” he said, his voice still dripping with superiority and ignorance.

What useless sacks of piss and shit these humans are.

When I didn’t respond, the pimple-faced moron joined in. “Dude, don’t be an idiot. You know the cops will just haul your ass off to jail if they catch you.”

They’re not going to catch me. No one can stop me now, not even
her
.

The scent of fear pulsed against my sensitive nose, smelling both sour and sickly sweet, when they realized how much trouble they were truly in. The flabby one, smelling of tomato sauce and cheese, was the first to run, the soles of his sneakers squeaking on the grimy flooring as they fought for purchase. For one comical moment he appeared to run in place, his momentum throwing him off balance, his fingers pawing at the ground. And then he shot through the door, the electronic chime ringing out at his passage. It chimed again a moment later when the clerk vaulted over the counter and ran after him, his feet pounding on the cracked asphalt of the parking lot.

My lips curled back in a wide grin as I watched them go, their frantic breaths steaming in the cold air.

How nice of them to give me a little sport. It’s been far too long since I was able to stretch my legs.

Letting them get a little further, I paused a moment before launching into motion, my long strides eating up the distance between us with ease. The first one went down easily, his body as soft and unresisting as the traces of pizza dough stuck to his shirt. He crumpled beneath me without even a flicker of defiance, and disappointment welled up inside me. His blood spurted hot in my mouth but it couldn’t satisfy my thirst, the ease of the hunt souring the taste of him.

Leaving his pale, chubby body behind, I turned my attention on the other one. His pounding steps slowed as he approached a car across the parking lot, the jingle of keys in his shaking hand like music to my ears.

My body sang with the intoxicating thrill of the chase and my lips pulled back in an excited grin. Raising my nose to the sky, I let a piercing howl flow out of my throat, signaling the beginning of the hunt. This one would be more of a challenge. He would help to sate the burning thirst in my throat. My panting breaths echoed in my ears as I ran towards him, cutting a path between the gas pumps to reach him.

The clatter of my claws on the asphalt made him turn to face me as if in slow motion, eyes growing wide. His keys fell from fingers frozen with fear, tinkling as they struck the ground. Leaving them where they lay at his feet he bolted, long legs pumping furiously as he tried to out distance me. I wanted to howl my jubilation as I closed in on him.

His fingers clawed uselessly at the snow covered ground as he struggled up a steep incline, kicking clods of frozen dirt and rocks at me.

“Oh God!” he cried out, tears thickening his voice. “God, no!”

Your god has no place here, I wanted to tell him, but the wolf’s vocal chords couldn’t form such complex sounds. Instead I scrambled up the incline after him, my powerful legs propelling me forward until he was within reach.

My jaws closed over a wildly flailing leg, the satisfying crunch of snapping bones reverberating through my skull even as his high pitched scream cut through the air. His wails and pleas for mercy didn’t stop until I had pulled him back down to the pavement. I clamped my jaws over his neck, halting the gurgling cry that rose in his throat before it could even begin, while he thrashed like a newborn fawn.

Blood covered my face, dripping from my muzzle to splatter across the ground. I wanted to bathe in it, to cover myself in its wet heat and glorious scent, but my hunger would not be ignored. Rearing back I struck again, tearing gobbets of meat from his arm and shoulder, relishing the slick feel of it sliding down my gullet.

I feasted until my stomach had grown distended and my movements slowed as the lull of sleep called to me, urging me to find a dark hole in which to sleep, but I had one final task to complete before I could allow myself to rest. Returning to the gas station, now blessedly devoid of pointless human noise, I let the wolf recede.

Fur drifted from my skin, dissolving into gossamer filaments even as it floated towards the ground, and once more I assumed the shape of a man. Running my fingers through the cooling blood on my face, collecting it onto my fingertips like scarlet ink, I lifted my hand towards the glass door of a nearby beer cooler and began to scrawl my message.

As the gruesome streaks became words on the glass, the world began to grow fuzzy around me as if I was drifting out of myself, slipping into the ether. Looking up I caught my reflection in the glass and felt my heart clench in horror. Samson’s gaunt face stared back me, manic glee shining in his wolf gold eyes. Blood dripped from his lips as they spread in a leering grin, revealing a row of jagged yellowed teeth.

“I see you, Riley. You can’t hide from me,” he whispered, his voice mangled by the teeth contorting his jaw,
my
jaw.

I reared back in fear, my heart pounding in terror and slipped away completely, spinning into the darkness even as I screamed.

A SHARP TRILL startled me awake, my heart hammering in my chest as I struggled to make sense of my surroundings. Panic flared white hot in my chest and a scream bloomed in the back of my throat. Slowly, the blurred shapes resolved into the blankets tangled around my feet.

The phone trilled again, the sound slicing through more of the cobwebs clouding my mind. My arms, heavy with exhaustion, were slow to react to my commands as I groped for the phone.

“Hello?” I croaked, rubbing a hand over my face to remove the grit from my eyes. Looking at the sketchbook lying open next to me, I felt a shudder ripple down my spine. Glancing at the rough sketch of a twisted face staring at me from the page, I snapped it closed and pushed it away. I’d filled far too many pages with that leering face over the years, but couldn’t ever seem to stop my hand from drawing its familiar lines again and again.

“You awake over there?” Holbrook asked, his voice pitched low in a drowsy purr that intensified his southern drawl. In an instant, arousal flared in the pit of my stomach, chasing away the remnants of my fear as it settled warm and heavy in the crux of my thighs.

“No,” I replied with a yawn, reaching my free hand down to scratch behind Loki’s ears, earning a deep rumbling purr of contentment.

I wonder if Holbrook would purr the same way if I scratched behind his,
I wondered, and then quickly closed off the thought before my daydreams carried me away. Wrestling down thoughts of rumpled sheets and sweat-slickened skin, I puzzled over what was wrong with me. Samson was on the loose and trekking across New Mexico to find me, while I was fantasizing about the FBI agent in the next room.

“You hungry?” he asked, jolting me out of my thoughts but leaving the interwoven threads of confusion and desire in the back of my mind.

I was about to say no, not sure if I could face him without blushing a dozen different shades of red, when my stomach growled. “I guess I could eat.”

“Okay. I’ll be there in five,” he said before hanging up, leaving me holding the phone and staring up at the ceiling.

“Man, I am in
so
much trouble,” I muttered aloud, the tendrils of arousal receding but not withdrawing completely.

Dislodging Loki from his place draped across my legs, I ducked into the small alcove to splash cold water on my face and run a brush through my hair. Leaning over the sink, I considered my reflection.

Eyes the color of a wintry sky stared back at me, golden flecks reflecting the light overhead and hinting at the wolf that lurked just beneath the surface. Water tracked down my face, trailing over high-set cheekbones to drip from a narrow chin. Apart from the slight flush in my cheeks, my skin was the same pale Scandinavian coloring as my grandparents and dad, the dark, curly hair and short stature the only features I’d inherited from my mother. Running wet hands through my hair, I tried to coerce it into some semblance of control, before shrugging and deciding that it wasn’t ever going to cooperate.

Tucking my jeans into big fluffy socks, I’d gotten one boot on before Holbrook knocked. Hobbling to the door with the other boot in hand, I flipped back the security lock and opened the door wide enough for him to slip into the room, the icy wind chasing him inside. Stopping just inside the door he rubbed his bare hands together vigorously to warm them, the ruddiness of his cheeks making his forest eyes sparkle.

“Give me a sec,” I said as I limped back to the rumpled bed, perching on the edge to pull on my other boot.

“No problem,” he replied, his voice colored with amusement.

Rooting through my duffel bag, I pulled out my scarf, a pair of gloves, and a hideous, but dearly loved, woolen hat—complete with ridiculous bobble—that my grandmother had knit for me. It was one of the last things she had ever made for me.

“So, what are you in the mood for?” Holbrook asked, his words innocent though the warmth of his accent made them sound lascivious.

The fierce pulse of need that shot through me was so unexpected that I fumbled my gloves, dropping them on the floor. My stomach tightened with hunger as the wolf raised her head, licking her lips hungrily.

You, naked and sweating beneath me.

I bent to retrieve my gloves, hiding my blush behind the fall of my hair, all too aware of his presence. His gaze was a palpable heat, tracking down my spine to the curve of my ass. Straightening, I whirled around to face him, prepared to catch him staring at my butt, but instead found him inspecting a callous on his thumb.

“Something deep fried and smothered in gravy,” I croaked, my voice sounding tremulous and husky to my ears.

“There’s the diner across the parking lot,” he offered, his face the picture of virtue though the minute twitch of his lips belied his innocence. “That work?”

Not trusting myself, or the wolf, to say anything that didn’t include the words “fuck me” and “now,” I just nodded and hummed in agreement.

Donning my jacket and scarf, I buried my nose in the soft folds that smelled of wood smoke and home. Tugging the wooly hat on, pulling it down over my ears, I looked up to see him regarding me with laughter shining in his eyes.

“What?”

“Nice hat.”

I was about to stick my tongue out at him when he removed a black shape from under his arm and plopped a cowboy hat on his head, adjusting it until it sat just right.

“Ditto,” I fired back with a smirk, voice muffled by the layers of my scarf.

“Why, thank you ma’am,” he said, disarming me with the brilliance and sincerity of his smile.

God, that smile could break hearts and drop panties in a millisecond
, I thought with a wistful sigh, confused by the desire to trust him implicitly.

I’d spent so much time hiding away from the ugliness of the world that I’d almost forgotten that not everyone was only interested in the parts they could hurt and exploit. I was dazzled by the pure honesty of his smile and how it made his eyes sparkle with warmth and openness.

“Ready?” he asked, unaware of the way that he enchanted me.

Nodding, I snatched the room key from the night stand and shoved my hands in my jacket pockets, ready to brave the cold.

The diner was only a quick jaunt across the parking lot, but the blowing snow and minefield of pot holes made it treacherous and slow going. By the time we reached the front door of the diner we were covered in a thick layer of snow. I ducked under Holbrook’s arm as he held the door open. As I stomped the snow from my boots, something about the chiming bell above the door brought back a shiver of fear, like something half-remembered from a dream.

Before I could delve too deeply into the source of my sudden unease, a middle-aged woman in a faded uniform pushed her way through the swinging door from the kitchen. The shuffling of her feet spoke of a long day, but her voice was warm and friendly as she greeted us.

“Just the two of you?”

“Please,” Holbrook answered, flashing his brilliant smile at the waitress as he made a show of tipping the brim of his hat.

Taking two menus from beside the cash register, she led us to one of the booths beside the large windows. “Will this be okay?”

“Perfect, thank you,” my well-mannered companion replied, and with a tilt of his chin gestured for me to slide into the booth first, leaving the seat facing the door open for him.

As I slid onto the creaking vinyl, I tried to ignore the tension that settled between my shoulders, dancing over my skin like icy fingers. Scouring the diner and parking lot outside for someone watching us, I didn’t see anyone except for our waitress and a lone customer who sat several tables away, deeply engrossed in shoveling steak and eggs into his mouth. Gritting my teeth against the unnerving sensation, I gave my head a small shake to dislodge the feeling, attributing the shiver along my spine to the chill emanating from the window beside us.

I thought about taking off my jacket, but as another tremor rippled through me, I settled instead for just unzipping it and shaking off the last few flakes of snow that hadn’t melted.

“Can I get you folks some coffee? Tea?”

“Coffee for me,” I said, rubbing my cold hands together.

“Iced tea please, ma’am,” Holbrook answered with a smile as he shrugged out of his jacket to reveal a red plaid shirt unbuttoned over a pristine white t-shirt and dark blue jeans that hugged his hips in a rather intriguing way. I wondered if I’d find the pointed toes of cowboy boots peeking out from beneath the hem of his jeans if I looked down. Sneaking a glance around the edge of the table my suspicions were confirmed.