Wicked Days with a Lone Wolf (4 page)

They stood on the porch of Ash’s rambling home, half in and half out the front door. Their position felt appropriate, like a statement on Sherri’s life overall. Half in. Half out.

She slept in a hotel when she wasn’t staying here at Ash’s place. She hadn’t found another job. For a month she’d been living off of savings and rental income, but her rental income had gone out the door with her renters after the incident at her condo.

Her job? Well, she should get one of those. She’d quit the FBI thinking maybe she’d join up with the local police, but the idea held no appeal. She’d wanted to help people, but wearing a badge hadn’t been all she thought it would be. She watched Ash’s brother struggle with being a werewolf and a police detective at the same time, and wondered if even as a human dating a
were
she might struggle on the force.

No, she didn’t think she wanted to wear a badge anymore.

So what did she want to do? Where did she want to go?

She could go back home. Fix up her place. Live there, away from men who turned into wolves and away from bodies that looked like they’d been tossed around by those same wild animals. That would be... safer.

Ash pressed against her, his hand coming to her chin so they had to meet face-to-face. His eyes, sometimes dark like coal, took on a warm glow in the afternoon sun.

Indecision swirled through Sherri as she returned the gesture, brushing her fingers over the stubble on his jaw. Was safe what she wanted, if it meant leaving Ash?

“Zoe’s out of the pack in bad standing,” Ash murmured.

“Meaning what? Is that some sort of official pack kiss-off?”

Ash’s head dipped slightly. “That’s the gist. You can leave the pack in good standing, usually by passing away. Or there’s the bad. Kicked out. Ostracized and better off dead, like my mother.”

Oh. Sherri’s heart ached. Ash’s human mother was a tender spot. The way she’d been cast out of the pack and then rejected by the locals for having loved a
were
still hit him hard
.
It should have occurred to her that Ash’s feelings of loyalty might somehow be related. “You should have told me. I know your mother’s death hurts you a great deal. You do what you need to do to help Zoe.”

He pressed his forehead to hers. Warm hands slid under the edge of her shirt, the added warmth making her shiver. With pleasure, with worry. Every day they entered uncharted territory, and the more they got to know each other, the more landmines they risked exploding.

Ash released a breath. “I need to be sure Zoe’s all right and that my father isn’t after her. She helped us after her own mate kidnapped you, and for that alone she’s lucky the pack didn’t have her head. I don’t know if she killed that guy. I do know that she needs someone on her side.”

A desperate ache spread through Sherri’s chest and into her stomach. Ash was a good guy. She’d fallen for him for that reason. But things between the two of them were so new, and this... the timing of it all sucked. “Just be careful. Please.”

“Of course I will.”

She put a hand to his chest and hoped her touch conveyed more reassurance than she felt. “Listen, this will all work out. I’m gonna go up to DC, hire someone to handle the condo damage, and I’m gonna come back. You’ll hardly miss me.”

His uncertain look made her want to cancel her flight. “Hey.” She kissed him, slow and firm as she backed through the door. “Remember when we both said we wanted to have something real together?”

A growl rumbled out of Ash’s throat. “I remember.”

“Well right now, this is life being real.” Boy, was it ever. She put a hand to the back of his neck, letting her fingers tangle in the dark waves of his hair. “It’s inconvenient and messy, but this is what we have right now. Our relationship started with a one-night stand and a kidnapping, for God’s sake. We got through that, we can certainly get through a few days of being apart.”

He followed as she stepped into the living room, pulling the front door shut behind them. “I’m sure you’re right.”

“Of course I’m right.” She
had
to be right.

Sherri turned toward the fireplace. The clock over the slate mantle read four in the afternoon. “Now, I need to confirm my flight, and there’s a full moon coming so you need to go see Zoe and get in a run. Do we have time to say goodbye properly first?”

She’d heard about emotions running hot during a full moon, but she suspected she hadn’t seen the worst. Ash had been hospitalized last time the moon was high, and now she’d be gone. She had to remember that he’d been handling himself longer than she’d been alive. It managed to keep her only marginally sane.

Ash stayed in the foyer for a moment, studying her. Banked heat glowed in his eyes while he silently pulled off his boots. No answer beyond the broody, sizzling stare.

Her hands went to her hips. “Is something wrong?”

He snarled. Before she knew it, Sherri launched into the air, over his shoulder. “Goddamn right. I don’t fucking like you leaving, and you bet your ass I’m going to say goodbye properly. At least twice, and then I’m going to take you into the shower and do it again.”

She gasped. God, her underwear was not getting wet. It was... not. “Ash. I’m not sure we have time...”

“We have time.”

“But...”

“We have time.”

Through the open living room and into what she liked to refer to as Ash’s lair, Sherri landed unceremoniously on his king-sized bed. Decked out in suedes and wood with red-painted walls, the room oozed male energy. Male sexual energy.

Sherri loved this room, because it felt so much like Ash. As usual, she stopped thinking the second his clothes hit the floor. When he stripped off his T-shirt to reveal all the striated muscles in his body and his biceps flexed to toss it to the floor, she definitely stopped caring about bedroom decor. When his pants went down, she remembered all over again how much he hated to wear underwear, and her tongue slipped out of her mouth.

“You’re right,” she said as she rose onto her knees to pull her own shirt over her head. A gentle breeze from the fan overhead made her nipples tighten. Or maybe all her goose bumps came from the predatory look in Ash’s eyes. “We’ve got plenty of time.”

***

K
yle Roth thought a lot about death. Other peoples’... His own... Lately, more and more he wondered about his own.

He hoped it would be a bullet to the head, quick and painless. Hard to tell though, in this life.

He thought a lot about when. Soon? Someday? The leader of Los Lobos Muertos had been alive for fucking ever, but that dude was one mean-ass son of a bitch. Mean never did die easy.

Kyle had done a lot to stay alive. Things he tried not to regret since the past was done and couldn’t be fixed. He thought plenty about those things anyway, alone in the dark when he couldn’t block them out. Wondered if they’d been worthwhile, and then decided it didn’t matter all over again. He’d done what he thought he had to, and he’d answer to someone up above once that trigger got pulled. Or once the lighter got lit. Or the stool got kicked out from underneath him.

Right then, as he sat on an ER gurney that beat the shit out of his regular bed for comfort, he figured the probabilities were more likely to be slow and painful. And sooner than later. Something more like an angry pack rival sending a message to his boss. Or his own alpha finally deciding Kyle couldn’t be trusted anymore. The latter sure was looking good if he couldn’t manage to stay useful.

“Okay, Mr. Roth.” The doctor, a tall guy with thick hair and a booming voice, pulled back the curtain. “I’m gonna dress those burns, and then the nurse will be by with a prescription for some cream. You’ve got a bad one on your palm. I hope you’re not driving yourself home.”

Kyle shook his head. “I’ve got a ride coming.”

The alpha had sent someone to get him. Once he got back to the pack’s land in Lupanar Oscuro, Kyle would have to spell out the whole ugly story. Hope they bought his side. Fuck a fucking chainsaw.

For the better part of a decade, Kyle had been looking for a way out of that goddamned pack. Instead, every turn dug the hole deeper.

The doctor “hmm-ed” as he did his work. “You wanna tell me about these burns?”

My boss’s rivals held me down and used cigars and lighters on me until I coughed up the name of the guy who wanted their pack leader dead. Turned out they already knew. Good times, right?

“They hurt,” Kyle said. “A lot.”

Deep lines creased the doctor’s forehead. “You know, there’s a police detective down the hall. Here on another case. I could get him if there’s anything you’d like to report?”

The doctor’s concern was nice and all, but it wouldn’t help. Kyle gritted his teeth, as much from the question as from the insistent, searing ache in his arms and chest. “I’ve got nothing to report. Thanks though...” He flicked his gaze up to the doctor’s nametag. “Doctor Mendez.”

Another nod. Another thoughtful hum. “I’ve worked on both sides of the border. Treated a lot of them.
Weres.
I know their physiology. I know their pack markings.” He kept his eyes down, focused on his work as he spoke. “I can see you’ve got the markings, young man, but you’re not one of them. I can’t say I understand the idea of a human who would mix it up with their kind, especially if getting covered in burns is the net result.”

“It’s complicated.”

Or not. If I leave, the pack will kill me. If I stay, their enemies will. Which would you choose, Doc?

“I have no doubt you’re in a tough spot.” Doctor Mendez fell quiet while he dressed the burns, murmuring an apology when Kyle flinched at a sensitive spot over his nipple.

“No problem,” Kyle replied.

They’d threatened to burn it right off and then move on to his dick, which was when Kyle had punked out and spilled. Their empty eyes and leering grins told him that they would have kept on until he had nothing left. Some folks were just that fucking crazy, and Kyle wasn’t ready to go out that way.

Pussy.

“I think we’re nearly done,” the doc said finally. He pulled off his gloves and handed over a sheaf of paperwork along with a card. “If you change your mind about getting help, call me.”

Right. Nice thought, but what could this guy possibly do? What could anyone do?

“Doctor, I need to ask some questions about— Oh. Sorry to interrupt.”

Kyle looked up in time to run his stare into the coal-dark eyes of Jett—Detective Hughes—whose largeness had barreled into the area fast enough to mow down the doctor.

At the sight of him, a deep burning flared in Kyle’s wounded chest. Raw emotion scorched his nerve endings, borne of deeply bound want and anger that had nothing to do with his injuries.

The doctor turned. “We were nearly finished.” He nodded to Kyle. “Good luck to you.”

Jett narrowed his eyes at Kyle, no doubt taking in all the gauze on his chest and arms. “What happened? Are you okay?”

Kyle’s fingers dug into the padded gurney under him.
You’re asking about ten years too late.
“You’re not with the pack anymore. You don’t need to worry about me.”

“I do worry about you.”

Do you? Show me.
“I’m fine,” he replied instead.

Jett’s eyes flashed, but he didn’t argue further. Instead, he set his jaw and turned to the doctor. “Zoe Hughes. She’s still unconscious and I haven’t been able to get any information.”

Kyle winced as he straightened. “Zoe’s here? You found her?” Kyle hadn’t seen her since his alpha ejected her from the pack.

Jett whipped his head around. “You don’t worry about her. And don’t you breathe a fucking word to my father or I swear—”

“Come on. You know I wouldn’t.” Frustration surged in Kyle’s veins. He’d helped Jett time and again, and still this was how he got treated? He shouldn’t be surprised. He’d given up on waiting for the guy to see him as someone worthy.

“Gentlemen.” Doctor Mendez put a hand on Jett’s arm. “We’ve got sick people in here trying to get healed. If you can’t keep your discussion quiet and
amicable,
I will have to ask you to leave. I’ll be down to check on Ms. Hughes in a moment.” That last part was said directly to Jett, but he shot a fast look at Kyle before leaving, like he meant to make a point.

“Sorry.” Jett cleared his throat and then nodded to Kyle. “Sherri, Ash’s female, she stumbled onto a pretty messed-up body this morning. Zoe was found fleeing the scene.”

Kyle’s eyebrows pulled together. “No way. Zoe wouldn’t do that.”

Jett crossed his arms over his chest. Kyle wondered if he bought his shirts too tight on purpose, the way the fabric stretched and the buttons looked like maybe they had to work extra hard. They sure made Kyle’s heart and lungs work extra hard.

“She tried to kill Jojo,” Jett said.

Kyle couldn’t keep the disgust out of his voice. “Jojo was abusive and psychotic. My guy treated me like that, I might shoot him in the face too.”

Jett stared hard, before giving up a slight shrug. “I hope you’re right. About it not being her.”

Kyle nodded. “So I haven’t seen you at a party recently.” Underground border parties popped up once in a while to cater to shifters who dug humans, and vice-versa. He’d found Jett at a couple, but not lately. Deep down, Kyle only went to these gatherings to try and find a replacement for the one
were
who had never wanted him. The one standing in the room with him right now.

“I don’t go to those things anymore.” The simple sentence made Jett look bound up and frustrated.

Kyle shook his head, curious. This guy had more issues than National Geographic. How had he lived with Jett in the pack for years and not seen it? “Good luck with that.”

Jett took a step forward. “What happened, Kyle?” The question came delivered on a soft, raspy breath that reminded Kyle of that one night Jett had let him get close. The two of them pressed together in the dark, lips and hands and hips thrusting desperately.

It had been enough to tell Kyle the man he’d always wanted, the
were
he’d always wanted, cranked his ignition the way he always knew Jett would. It hadn’t been nearly enough to satisfy his decade-long crush.