First Bite (The Dark Wolf Series) (16 page)

His wolf was suddenly present. More than present, more like a scant layer of skin cells away from the surface.
Mate.

No. No way. Don’t you pull that shit on me.

Mate. Mine.

NO.

Not only did the wolf retreat, Travis could swear it left in a huff. The wolf was part of him, but it was unusual for it to display human emotion.
Weird.
Maybe it was just horny—goddess knew
he
was—and it was likely due to Neva’s presence. Had he ever spent so much time around a woman, especially one he was attracted to? It was probably driving his animal persona crazy.

Apple wine and spice
…Now that he knew what her lips tasted like, he seemed to catch the scent of it everywhere, and it was making him more on edge than his wolf. Still, he was determined to ignore it or fight it. He had to. He had to teach Neva a few more things and then leave her. That was the plan. Only now, instead of looking forward to being on his own again, he thought the plan sucked.

Big time.

“So, what’s the deal with this Meredith bitch?” he asked, partly because he wanted to know but mostly for a distraction. “What the hell did you do to make her send out the goon squad?”

Neva was silent for so long that he thought she might not answer. Then she shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “I didn’t
do
anything, at least not anything in a sane person’s books. Meredith’s always liked things to go her way, and I didn’t play along. I didn’t want to be a werewolf, for one thing.”

No shit
, he thought, but wisely kept it to himself. “You’ve known her for a while then.”

“Yeah. I hadn’t seen her for nearly six years, though—she’d been traveling, and I didn’t hear from her much. Don’t know what she was doing or who she was with. But when she came back, she moved into this big-ass property on the coast. Expensive and utterly gorgeous, like something a movie star would live in,” Neva said, and shifted in her seat. “She called me, invited me to come and visit, said she wanted to
reconnect
, and I stupidly said okay.

“That was before I realized how isolated it was. She e-mailed me a map, but I got lost more than once. The road was damn scary—it turned into one lane, then gravel, then it was practically a goat path through a redwood forest. I
wanted
to turn back, but I didn’t want to be chicken.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “Maybe it was intuition warning me. I should have listened.”

Yeah, and I should have done a lot of things differently in my life, too.
He shook his head as he drove. “Most of us don’t recognize intuition until after the fact. But you can’t go back and fix the past.”

“Isn’t that the truth?” She sighed. She fiddled with the laces on her backpack, as if she needed to channel nervous energy. Sure enough, she talked faster as she continued. “There was some
kind of party going on when I got to the house, a big one in the upstairs reception room, and Meredith said it was all for me. Kind of in my honor. She talked nonstop, gave me the grand tour, and introduced me to tons of people. I was actually having fun, and it seemed like we were really getting along well. I probably had a couple drinks, but not too much. We were laughing and giggling and—well,
girl stuff
, you know?”

No, he didn’t, but Travis recognized his cue to nod as if he did. She nodded back, and he noticed she was hugging her backpack.

“Then everyone was standing back, forming a circle around us and looking expectant. Meredith said, ‘As you know, this little celebration is for Geneva. It’s been years since we’ve gotten together, she and I, and may we never be far apart again.’ It was kind of an odd little toast, but everyone raised their glasses and clapped, and then she suddenly started to laugh. Not like before, though. This time she was laughing at
me
—and everyone in the room started laughing, too, like they were all in on some big joke.

“That’s when she turned into a wolf.” Neva was staring out the windshield, but Travis guessed she wasn’t seeing the road ahead. She was back in that room, in the middle of the crowd, watching the impossible happen. Growing up Changeling, such things were the stuff of daily life. Growing up human was different.

“Must have scared the hell out of you.”

She made a disparaging noise. “I was beyond scared. One minute Meredith was human and the next she was a wolf, a huge silver wolf. Just like that. Jesus, I thought I was hallucinating. I screamed and wanted to know what the hell had been put in my drink. And then she turned back into Meredith like nothing had happened. I wanted to leave right then and there, but she grabbed my arm.”

Still staring out the windshield, Neva rubbed her left biceps. Travis wondered if she was even conscious of it. “I couldn’t believe it. She was so strong—so powerful,” she continued. “I
couldn’t pull my arm away, and I thought for a minute she was going to break it in two. That’s when I lost it. I punched her, and kicked and fought to get away, but nothing worked. Nothing I did had any effect on her at all.”

That would be a shock by itself, Travis thought. A human’s strength was puny compared to a Changeling’s. And even in two-legged form, a Changeling could take a punch that would break bones in a human being.

“‘Time to join the party, Geneva.’ That’s what she said to me, and she was still laughing. All of them were. There was this smell then, this thick, ozone-like smell like you sometimes get after a thunderstorm. My hair suddenly stood on end, just floated up around my head, and so did hers, that’s how much static there was. The lights flickered out and the air was suddenly filled with tiny blue sparks, the kind you see in a dark room when you scuff your feet over the carpet. It was just a minute or two, that’s all—but when the lights came back on, all the people were gone. Meredith and I were completely surrounded by enormous wolves.”

“Jesus.”

“I quit fighting then. Froze. There were close to fifty of them, all snarling and showing their teeth. I was afraid of setting them off, afraid they’d tear me to pieces if I so much as breathed wrong. Meanwhile, Meredith’s going on and on about how great it is to be a werewolf. ‘We’re stronger, faster, smarter than humans. We can take what we want. And you have something I need, dear Geneva.’ That’s what she said just before she bit me. She wasn’t even a wolf when she did it. She lifted the arm she had hold of and bit my wrist to the bone. I—I—”

“Take a breath there, you’re safe.” His first instinct was to reach out a comforting hand, but he quelled that notion at once. Something told him she wouldn’t appreciate being touched just yet.

“I know that. I know I’m safe with you.” She looked at him for the first time since she began her story. “Which makes no sense to me. I mean, you’re a werewolf, too, but it’s not the same. You’re—well, you can be a real jerk sometimes, but you’re
decent
.”

He didn’t know what to say to that. It was probably the best compliment he’d ever received. He shrugged, and Neva looked out the window again as if embarrassed by her admission.

“It’s Meredith I can’t ever get out of my head,” she said at last. “If you’d seen her in that moment—dressed up like a Hollywood diva, all white silk and golden hair. And then she looks up from my arm and smiles, with my blood smeared on her teeth and dripping from her bright-red mouth. That’s the image that wakes me up in the night. Well, one of them…but hey, I’ve had enough of traveling down memory lane for one day.”

“Christ, no wonder. That’s a nightmare and a half,” said Travis. And that was only
one
of her memories? How did she manage to sleep at all? “So you were right, the gift of the wolf was forced on you.”

“Hell yeah. You said that was against the rules, right?”

“The highest Changeling law is
never harm a human
. The second is
never turn anyone against their will
.”

“You gotta be kidding. Meredith breaks both of those rules before breakfast. So what’s supposed to happen if you do turn somebody? Is there some sort of penalty? What if you kill somebody by accident, like hit them with a car?”

Such simple questions. Just a few little words, yet they kicked off a sudden roaring in his head. “Depends on the circumstances. If it was accidental, you could be banished from pack territory,” he said roughly. “And other packs are unlikely to take you in.”

Neva snorted. “Meredith’s pack isn’t about to kick her out. She controls them. And believe me, there’s nothing accidental
about what she does.” She was quiet for a moment. “Other packs don’t accept a banished werewolf?”

“No, not usually.”

“That must be why Meredith is able to recruit some of her wolves. Most of the werewolves in her pack were turned by her, but not all of them. There’s some that joined up—werewolves traveling alone, just like you. That’s why I was so sure you worked for her.”

“Wait a minute—I’ve been around a long time, and I’ve only met one other loner like me. And FYI, I don’t work for anybody.”

“I get that, Mr. Independent. I don’t know where the hell she finds them. I’m just saying that there’s no way that Meredith’s wolves—the ones she recruits or the ones she makes—are going to get rid of her.”

He shook his head. “It wouldn’t be the pack she’s created that would be responsible for dealing with the problem. It’s the founding pack, the pack she came from, that would most likely make a judgment on her crimes.”

“Yeah, but she doesn’t have a
founding pack
. She wasn’t born a Changeling like you. She was turned. So who’s in charge of her, then? Isn’t there anyone who can stop her?”

“Maybe her sire, if they’re still around,” said Travis. “But for such serious offenses, any pack that knows what she’s been doing can take action against her. She’ll be killed if her actions are shown to have been deliberate and—”

“No!” Neva shouted suddenly. “You can’t!”

“For Christ’s sake, what’s the problem? You’ve told me she’s a murderer and she wants to kill you, too. What do you
think
a pack is going to do with her? Put her in
werewolf jail
?”

“You can’t kill her. I won’t let you.”

“I never said I was going to—”

“She’s my sister!”

Travis nearly drove off the road. At the last moment he managed to steer unsteadily to the shoulder, and threw the truck into park with a jerk. “Your own
sister
turned you without your consent? Why the hell didn’t you tell me this before?” he demanded of Neva.

She folded her arms over her backpack. She wasn’t going to be intimidated, even though he looked like he was ready to break something in half. “I’m telling you now.”

“Now?” He left the truck and stalked across the dry shallow ditch to the grassy embankment shaded by a thick stand of trees, where he paced back and forth like a caged lion. “Well, big fucking thanks for telling me
now
. I’ve been working my ass off to keep you safe since I met you. Don’t you think a little information like that might have been useful to know? What other little details are you keeping to yourself?”

“Give me a break, you’re a
werewolf
. You’re the first one I’ve ever met that didn’t work for Meredith, remember?” She slid from the truck and stomped in his direction, dragging the backpack with her and half wanting to hit him with it. “How was I supposed to know I could trust you?” He kept walking, and she was wondering just how far she’d have to chase him when he suddenly whipped around to face her. Neva teetered on her toes for a moment, off balance from the abruptness of the stop.

“I’m no werewolf, and I’m tired of hearing the word. I’m a
Changeling
, okay? And either you trust me or we call it quits right here.” It was his turn to fold his arms, as if he was daring her to convince him.

Right then and there she decided to take on that challenge and dropped the backpack in the grass. “I already told you,” she said as she approached him. She ran her hands over his leather jacket, feeling the muscles beneath it, the wide shoulders, the thick biceps, and broad chest. “Yes, I’m sure. I trust you, Travis Williamson.” She teased her fingertips over the ever-present furrows in his brow, then circled her arms around his neck and drew his face down to hers, brushing the corners of his lips with hers. Gradually his angry expression softened, until finally his arms wrapped around her and their mouths met hungrily. Cars whizzed by on the highway, some honking at the sight of them wrapped around each other. One slowed down, and the passenger leaned out the window.

“Hey, get a room!” the young man shouted. His laughter lingered in the air as the vehicle sped away.

“You heard him,” Travis murmured against her lips.

“There’re no rooms around here,” she managed. His answer was simply to lift her in one arm and, scooping up her backpack with the other, carry her up the slope and into the woods beyond, kissing her soundly along the way. She had no idea how he could see where he was going while his lips were so busy, but not so much as a single twig brushed against her. “Where the hell are you taking me?” She laughed when she came up for air.