Without Mercy (2 page)

I couldn’t sense if her wolf had risen.
Jasmine was young and it could take a little effort at her age.
Thank goodness for small miracles. I was having a hard enough time
keeping mine corralled without dealing with a second one.

The rankness of Gary’s breath reached my
nose, reminding me of my purpose. It reeked of cheap liquor and
something else, a familiar smell. The scent triggered a red flag in
my mind.

Gary had laced his liquid courage. It was so
elusive, like it was on the tip of my tongue but I couldn’t quite
remember. There was an otherworldly smell to his breath and it
hinted at magic. When my brain finally finished trying to figure it
out, I was stunned.

Vampire. The fool drank vampire blood.

A pulse of fear washed me, leaving an icy
trail through my body that caused my skin to pebble and break into
a light sweat. Here I was thinking I was dealing with a mere human,
but with this extra boost, I had no idea what could happen.

I stood, hovered over his lips, my hand on
his abdomen, my mind searching for my next move. So far, he hadn’t
fallen for my act and time was running out. I needed to go all in
and finish this.

Adding a wriggle to my stance, I reached for
Gary’s belt buckle and pulled his body hard against mine. I wrapped
my other arm around his back, pressing my chest to his. At the same
time, I nipped at his lower lip to let him know I wanted access to
his mouth. As his lips parted, my tongue dove in and I gagged as
the rancid flavor of his breath touched my taste buds. I stumbled
forward, but quickly recovered and applied myself more to the vomit
inducing kiss.

The feel of the gun’s cold metal at my
temple was unmistakable and my body stiffened.

I'd just willingly put myself into his hands
because he hadn’t been fooled at all by my ruse. A quick inhale
through my nose told me the fear I’d been able to smell on him
earlier had morphed into arrogance.

Gary’s deep chuckle resonated through him
chilling my blood instantly and I felt myself sag a little.

Everything changed and my wolf howled in
triumph, knowing that I’d have to accept the inevitable; sooner or
later I was going to have to release her.

Gary ground the barrel of the gun hard into
my temple, a reminder of who was in charge. In a move that I could
only attribute to the vampire blood in him, he turned me around and
he faced me towards Jasmine. His arms circled my chest, crushing
me.

Jasmine looked horrified as a steady stream
of tears flowed down her cheeks. She appeared deathly pale and her
body trembled, telling me she was in shock.

She was too young to witness something like
this, she was still a teenager. Violence amongst the pack was one
thing; senseless violence at the end of a gun was another.

I tried to move, twisting hard in his grip
but it only made him tighten his arm and for a moment I couldn’t
breathe as his embrace constricted my lungs. I continued to
struggle, trying to find a way to break free. There wasn’t a
weakness. Gary’s strength matched mine.

“Shhhh, what Mason doesn’t know won’t hurt
him.” taunted Gary, mocking me with my own words. My knees gave out
as I felt his slippery tongue trail a path on my skin, licking me
from the base of my neck to my ear in one slimy motion.

Jasmine cleared her throat and I saw her
step forward, the beginnings of courage on her face. Her wolf was
beginning to break through the fear and assert herself.
Great.

I raised my hand to stop her, pleading with
my eyes as I mouthed for her to stay where she was.

“Oh by all means, come forward Jasmine. It’s
actually you I’m here for.” Gary’s low chuckle rang in my ear. “You
didn’t think it was you, Darcy? No, I’ve had my eye on Jasmine for
a long time. I’m going to get what I want.”

Confusion hit me. Scene after scene from the
last few months played through my mind as I tried to make some kind
of connection. There had been numerous times when Jasmine and Gary
were together, but never alone and not once had I sensed any
attraction - especially on Jasmine’s side.

We were close and told each other
everything. If she was falling in love with this man, I would’ve
known about it.

Jasmine’s eyes widened in shock from the
declaration and even though I knew I couldn’t move, it didn’t stop
me from wanting to comfort her.

“What do you want with her?”

Gary’s arm tightened slightly as he adjusted
his stance. “I want her as my mate, or whatever it is you freaks
call it, but Mason said no. All summer long, I’ve been trying to
show what a decent guy I am and because I’m not wolf enough, I
didn’t even stand a chance.” It was impossible to miss the bitter
anger as his voice rang out.

“I tried convincing Mason that it didn’t
matter, that I would treat her well and follow any pack rules he
wanted but that animal...” Gary paused to draw an angry breath and
my wolf bristled at the tone being used against my mate. “Mason
wouldn’t hear any of it. Kept apologizing to me and saying that it
wasn’t the way things were done. That he had someone else in mind
for his sister, but hoped we could still be friends. Friends!” Spit
flew from behind me at the force of that last word. “We will never
be friends.”

“Gary, pack marries pack. Mason is right…” I
was silenced by the gun smashing hard against the side of my head.
My wolf practically bounced off my skin in an attempt to break free
over the quick act of aggression.

“I don’t care about your stupid pack or its
archaic rules. They mean nothing to me. I love her and I will have
her, whatever it takes.”

“But vampires? You went to vampires?” I knew
I was tempting my fate but I couldn’t keep the incredulous tone
from my voice. Gary relaxed a little as he took in a breath to
speak.

“I was desperate. Depressed. They found me
and offered me a way to get her.”

“Yeah, but at the cost of your soul!” I
exclaimed. “No one is worth that.”

He moved so quickly. One minute I had my
back to him and next his hand was locked around my throat, in a
death grip, the barrel of the gun resting between my eyes.

“Say it again, I dare you. Say Jasmine isn’t
worth it and I’ll splatter your brains all over the ground.” Gary’s
eyes were crazed and I knew I’d pushed him too far. There’d be no
reaching him. One of us was going to die.

We stared into each other’s eyes, willing
the other to relent. A firm voice broke our concentration. “Let her
go, Gary. It’s me you want and I promise I’ll go with you. Just
stop this madness.”

Gary released me to look at Jasmine,
suspicious hope on his face. I dropped to the floor, gasping for
air with my hand massaging my throat. I’d give this for the human;
he had an iron strong grip.

“Leave us alone. Gary. Please,” Jasmine
growled.

It was the please that drew my attention.
There was a hint of animal in the sound and my stomach dropped as I
watched Jasmine fight to rein in her wolf. It was relentlessly
trying to gain control now, the trauma of the evening triggering it
to break free and surface.

The situation just went from dangerous to
dire. Jasmine didn’t have a good grasp on the beast side of her
nature. She hadn’t been pushed this far. The Pack had decided to
gently ease her into it. This wasn’t the ideal time to learn
mastery.

Judging from the convulsions racking her
body, we were going to have a real problem in a moment. Scratch
that. Gary was about to have a problem and my wolf howled in
anticipation.

“You need to calm down, Jasmine. Take deep
breaths. Everything’s alright,” I spoke softly, watching her
carefully. “We’ll figure this out. Just try to keep your body
relaxed and mind focused. Okay? Don’t give in, fight to stay
human.”

Gary reached down and grabbed me by my
jacket, dragging me to my feet. “What’s happening? What’s wrong
with her?” He used the gun to point at Jasmine, who had dropped to
all fours, panting heavily.

“She’s changing, you idiot, and she doesn’t
have the pack to help guide her. I need to get her to Mason before
it’s too late.” I used my hands to roughly shove at Gary. “Let me
go
now
!” I threw every ounce of compulsion into my voice. I
didn’t care what his issues were, Jasmine needed me and that was
all that mattered.

“No! No Mason. Just you. Fix her.” The gun’s
trigger clicked back on as he aimed it at me. “Now”

I lost my temper. I thought nothing about
diplomacy or trying to ease the weapon out of his hand. It didn’t
matter that he seemed just as on edge as I was. Jasmine’s whimpers
were becoming louder and louder as the change began to take
over.

“There’s no fixing her! This is who and what
she is – she’s a werewolf and if I can’t stop her changing, she may
not be able to hold onto her humanity. Do you get it, you jerk?
Your macho act of stupidity here...” I pointed at his gun, “has
triggered her wolf. She’ll be too strong to fight and will take
control. Maybe forever”

I ran over to where Jasmine was lying. She
was now in the fetal position, lying on her side and I could see
her muscles and joints starting to lengthen and rearrange
themselves. Her nails had grown longer, sharper at the tips and a
light coat of fur rippled and flashed over her skin. It would be
only moments.

“Come on, Jasmine, baby. Fight it.” I groped
my pockets for my cell phone and cursed out aloud. Of course, this
would be the time I left it at home.

I began a silent chant in my head for Mason,
trying to send a frantic call through the pack bond. I wasn’t sure
whether it would work with me being in human form still because I’d
had difficulty with it before. Strong emotions also blocked me from
communicating with Pack sometimes. Mason thought it was because the
intensity overloaded the circuits but I couldn’t focus on it now. I
needed to help Jasmine.

“I can sense her Darcy; she’s desperate to
get out. She’s strong and I’m not sure I can hold on to me too when
she comes.” Fear blazed in her wolfish eyes. The yellow tinge
almost glowed in darkness of the evening.

“Do you remember what we’ve told you in the
past? About how as you feel her pass, to focus on what makes you
Jasmine? Tell me what you’re going to think about?”

“I’m going to think...” Her thought was cut
short as a gut wrenching scream erupted from her mouth. The press
of the gun barrel returned to the side of my head.

“Enough with your damn gun, Gary. Enough!”
My own wolf, hungry for action, felt that much closer.

“What’s happening? Make it stop! It’s not
supposed to be like this. I meant to kidnap her, whisk her away
where I could have a chance to win her over, make her see that she
could love me. I wanted to get her away from pack and all things
wolf, and we would’ve been happy.”

The arrogant facade Gary had been
maintaining started to crumble as hysteria crept into his voice. He
drove his hand through his hair and began to pace back and forth,
the gun still in his grip.

“Just take your gun and walk away! Mason
will arrive soon and you’re not going to want to be here when I
tell him what happened. Forget about Jasmine, about us all. Just
leave!” I screamed the last words at him as I used my hands to try
and soothe Jasmine.

“No, I’m not leaving without Jasmine. Fix
her and we’ll leave together.”

I almost choked on my shock. This guy was
truly delusional if he thought I was letting him anywhere near
Jasmine again. Standing to my feet, I turned to face Gary and
stalked towards him.

“You’ll go and you’ll go now before I rip
your throat out. I’ve had enough of this. You’re wasting my time.
Don’t make me do something I’ll regret.” I shoved him and pointed
to down the street. “Run, while you can. You think Jasmine will be
scary? You have no idea what it’s like to face an infuriated alpha
wolf and Pack members. You have no idea what it’ll be like
facing me.
”

The sound of a wolf growling behind me
interrupted my angry rant. I closed my eyes, not needing to turn
around to know she’d changed and from the electricity that was
dancing over my skin and the tension beneath it, it wouldn’t be
long before I’d change as well.

“
Run
, I will not warn you again!”

A look of revulsion crossed over Gary’s
face. I turned around to face Jasmine and it didn’t take a genius
to see he didn’t like what he saw. His reaction was confusing
because this was nature at its finest.

Jasmine was a breathtaking wolf – silver fur
with white tipped ears and paws. Her snout was ebony and her fur
shined in the moonlight.

“Make her change back!” he screeched.

I reached out with my senses to see whether
I could find Jasmine, but I was too distracted by what was
happening around me. “I don’t know if I can. I don’t know if she’s
there. Mason will have to help her.”

I took a step towards Jasmine, with my hands
raised in a submissive gesture. Technically, we were the same in
the hierarchy of the Pack, I wouldn’t rise until Mason and I had
officially sealed our mate bond. I hoped that my showing her I
meant no threat, she would calm enough for me to reach her. Her
hackles were still raised and there was a low grumble coming from
her, but I was sure it was directed at Gary more than me. Jasmine
would smell I was part of the Pack, whether she was herself or not
and know I wasn’t a threat.

“Don’t go near her!”

“Make your mind up, Gary! You either want me
to help her or not.” I was getting sick of his interference. Sick
of his presence and I was ready to snap. Play time was over and it
was time to put end to this.

Using my werewolf speed, I turned and lunged
for Gary, baring my teeth at him. I caught him by surprise and
quickly had him pinned beneath me on the floor. I wrestled for
control of the gun and misjudged a move. A second later, I was
underneath Gary, with his fist pummeling into my face.