Accidentally Wolf (52 page)

“He
’
s going to smell us the second the door is opened.” I glanced at Harris since he was the only one here who had a nose as strong as I did. “Would jet fuel cover up our scents?” I paused and shook my head. Dumb idea. “But then why would there be jet fuel spilled around?”

“Tar? As if they were doing some work on the tires or roof?” Harris threw back after a moment. “That would be less suspicious and definitely screw with his nose long enough for us to get the drop on him.”

“Okay, then let
’
s get it done.” I filled Havers and his team in as Noah and Remus ran off to find some tar or bad smelling roof crap. Whatever the stuff was called.

Fifteen minutes later we had everything in place and Brian gave our agent the go to let Bob know his flight was ready. It still made me nervous to go through all of this given I hadn
’
t made a visual ID yet. I mean, I
’
d seen the security footage from inside but really the guy was so nondescript that I couldn
’
t be sure from black and white. I just hoped it was really him.

My fears were rendered inconsequential the moment I saw Bob step out the door. We waited until he was three steps away and heard the click of the lock, signaling the door was secured behind him.

“Freeze!” I shouted and we quickly advanced on him from where we
’
d been hiding.

“You just couldn
’
t stay out of this could you?” he asked with a snarl, his eyes going all kitty-like. “I warned you.”

“I do my job, Bob. Doesn
’
t matter who tries to talk me out of it or threatens me.” His eyes darted around as if trying to find an escape. “On your knees or I will shoot you and not just clip you this time. Don
’
t make me kill you.”

“Yeah right,” he scoffed. “As if you only clipped me on purpose.” He lunged for the door, bouncing right off of it, cursing when he realized it was ballistic glass and
, like we had thought,
couldn
’
t get through it.

“Give it up. We
’
ve got you surrounded and you
’
re not getting away this time.” I called out, now that we were within fifty yards.

“Never surrender in war.” And faster than I could follow, he shifted. He darted away from me and just as I went to pull the trigger, I saw orange from next to me.

“Harris, no!” I screamed. We could have hit him at a hundred and fifty feet. Maybe. Probably. We were fast and could shoot but then again I
’
d barely clipped the guy at thirty feet he was so fast. “Hold your fire!” Everyone put their guns up as Harris took off in cheetah form after the panther. I swore and did the only thing I could think to do
…
I shifted as well.

I heard my clothes tear and my guns drop to the ground as I raced after my friend and member of my team. This was bad. So bad. Cheetahs were fast, sixty to seventy mile an hour runners for short distances. But he wasn
’
t just a cheetah and I was betting Harris could top that estimate. Panthers were actually slower than wolves, but it would probably take two of us to take this guy down.

Meaning Harris would get to him first and that speed might get him killed.

I heard movement and shouting behind us as people probably scrambled into vehicles to try and catch up with us. I couldn
’
t focus on that now. Every cell in me was determined to catch up to Harris and help him take down Bob.

Man I hated that stupid fucking name. I was going to beat that jerk until he told me his real name.

The paved surface was hard and unforgiving on my paws as I ran after them. I was gaining on the panther but so was Harris, and I wasn
’
t fast enough to catch up to him in time. Harris leapt on the panther when I was still about twenty yards out. They rolled a few times and panther clawed the whole side of Harris
’
s
body. He let out a heart-wrenching yowl but didn
’
t give up.

Let me help!
My siren shouted, coming out of her dormant mental corner. I flicked her off and kept my focus. Sex appeal wasn
’
t going to help us right now.
No, but it will catch him off guard. I don
’
t want to make him ours, just make him want us so he isn
’
t focused on killing Harris.

I gave her a mental nod just as I got to the fight. I felt her power flare as I tackled Bob and got him off Harris. He flinched and tried to shake off my siren
’
s aura. I took advantage of that, using my claws to land several swipes on his face. He kicked out and would have sent me flying if not for the fact that he just clipped my shoulder instead of getting a full body hit.

Shift back! It
’
s more powerful if he can hear your voice and our song.
Hey, I was going to lose so I was up for any help at this point. I did as she wanted, shifting back to human form and ended up on my knees in front of the panther. He was rolling to his feet, ready to attack.

“Submit to us,” my siren ordered, taking over my voice and making it that deep husky sound as before. It was laced with power. “Shift back and be with us, panther.”

I wanted to cry with relief when he did. He was kneeling, too, about five or so feet away from me. I heard the squealing of tires and saw Noah leap out of one of the SUVs.

“You cheated, you witch,” Bob growled, shaking with anger. But he couldn
’
t seem to fight my power.

“Not a witch.” Bob raised his hand, still formed into claws, trying to attack me as he fought my power. I gave Noah a nod and he shot Bob twice in the head. I shook as I watched the life drain out of Bob
’
s eyes. I
’
d never been that close, or unarmed, when someone had been killed. It was one of the scariest moments of my life, trusting Noah would hit Bob and not me.

“Sera, pull back your power,” Noah growled, his eyes glazing over with lust. “You
’
re naked, pulsing out your siren
’
s aura, and covered in blood. You
’
re killing me here.”

“Seriously?” I balked at him. “You just killed a man right in front of me. My ears are still ringing, I
’
m covered in a dead man
’
s blood, and you
’
re turned on?” I didn
’
t have all that much blood on me, but the shots I had taken with my claws had done some damage and I
’
d gotten some splatter from Bob.

“I
’
m a vampire. Blood is blood and your power is calling to every person here.”

I glanced around, seeing that Noah
’
s friends and half the humans looked ready to jump me. Fuck a duck! Really? I was shaken up and I practically begged my siren to pull back her power. She did immediately and I wanted to kiss my inner evil bitch. Though I was going to have to stop referring to her as that. She
’
d proven, without a doubt, she wasn
’
t evil the moment she jumped in with a plan to save Harris.

“Harris!” I gasped, my thoughts bringing him back to the front of my mind. I scrambled over to him, ignoring the way the hard asphalt cut into my hands and knees. “Don
’
t you die on me, you stupid shit. What were you thinking?”

He looked at me without moving his head, and, I swear, if a cheetah could roll his eyes, Harris did at me. I knew he was staying in that form because he had to and it would help him heal faster even if he had the power to change back. The wound wasn
’
t even bleeding anymore but that didn
’
t really quell my fear right then.

“We are so having a talk later about not shifting and chasing after bad guys when we had people who were good shots. We could have gotten him.” Again, he gave me some kind of eye roll.

“Probably not,” Noah said as he squatted down next to me and slipped an FBI coat over my shoulders. I quickly put it on, remembering I was buck ass naked in front of all these people. “That guy was crazy fast.” Then he whispered so only I could hear. “We need to get those slugs out of his head. No one can see that they
’
re gold.”

“Call Chief Monroe,” I replied just as quietly. “He
’
ll know how to handle that. I
’
m not sure what protocol is for this one.” It was hard for me to admit but then again, I
’
d been with MNSTR less than a month.

“I called for an ambulance for your team member,” Havers informed me as he jogged over.

“No need
,
” I chuckled, gesturing to the closing wound. “He
’
ll need to sleep it off and it will hurt like a bitch. But in a few days it will be as if it never happened.”

“How did you get that guy to stop and shift back after you did?” Brian looked me over, now bundled in the FBI jacket that was way too short on me, barely hitting my thighs, as if I was a science project.

“Sera
’
s just too pretty to resist
,
” Noah snickered and shook his head as he helped me to my feet. I let the comment stand and didn
’
t speak. I didn
’
t have any good explanation for Havers and sometimes silence was best.

I was doing better then, but my body still felt a little like gelatin for many reasons. One, I
’
d never run like that at full speed, pushing my wolf so hard. Mental note to work on my wolf
’
s endurance and let her run more. Two, Noah killing Bob while I was right there. Three, a member of my team getting hurt. And four, all the adrenaline from it all leaving my body as fast as it came.

“Sorry, Sera, but your clothes and holster are toast,” Jake said with a wince as he jogged over with the tatters. “The guns are good though.”

“Those were my favorite jeans,” I grumbled as Remus and Cooper gently lifted Harris up and loaded him into the SUV.

“We can get you new jeans.” Noah rolled his eyes as I shoved my guns in the jacket pockets. I took what was left of my jeans, removing my wallet and keys. Then, as if pulling it out of thin air, Remus handed me my badge. I gave him an appreciative smile.

“Do you know how hard it is for a woman to find perfect-fitting jeans?” I raised an eyebrow at him, more than willing to keep the mood light. “I mean seriously? Ever
y
designer thinks one size means different measurements and cuts the jeans different. Then there are the lengths. I
’
m tall for a woman but not gigantic so sometimes normal is too short and tall jeans are too long.”

“And here I thought you weren
’
t a typical woman that
’
s high maintenance,” Noah drawled as we got in the SUV that was taking us back to our cars.

“Dude, I
’
m not.” I snickered, shaking my head. “I only have ten pairs of shoes, including sneakers, and I try to never carry a purse. But I do like my ass and finding jeans to show it off is hard.”

“We
’
ll help you shop until we find the perfect fit for your ass, Sera,” Jake teased,
w
a
ggling
his eyebrows. I rolled
my eyes
. Men. I swear sometimes. They just loved to push people
’
s buttons and make everything dirty most times.

But I gladly welcomed it after the night we
’
d had. Sure the good guys had won and the bad guy was dead, but that didn
’
t mean it wasn
’
t hard on all of us. Personally, I wanted to shower and then sleep for a week. I thought that sounded like a great plan.

As long as someone fed me, too.

Chapter 21

I didn
’
t get my wish. Well, I did eat, but I didn
’
t get to sleep for a week. Harris was almost back to normal the next day when we all came down to the office to fill out the mountain of paperwork.

Monroe had found out where the body had gone and handled getting the gold bullets back without anyone ever being the wiser about it. I wasn
’
t going to think about that though because it broke so many rules and I knew it was breaking the law. But I wasn
’
t the one who did it.
I
t still bothered me
u
ntil he told me that if everyone knew gold could kill us, the world would be a much more dangerous place for Tristan and Riley. Suddenly, I didn
’
t feel so guilty anymore.