*Grayson*
Someone had to be fucking shitting me.
Even without looking in Keera’s direction I could already feel the unease rolling off her in tumultuous waves. I stared at the ferocious animal on the car’s windshield, trying to swerve the car wildly to get rid of it. I caught Keera staring fixedly at the wolf. “Any idea who they might be?” Keera asked, her voice a bit shaky as another wolf began pounding its paws on her side of the car. I had an idea alright. But it wasn’t something I could say out loud until I confirmed it.
Even if I knew I was going to be right.
“No,” I managed, letting out a grunt of frustration when I realized we weren’t going to lose them so easily. I parked the car, wincing as the pounding of their paws became louder. “Stay in the car,” I ordered Keera, taking my seatbelt off and alighting the car. In a second all three of them were on me, their razor-sharp claws digging into my skin. I was able to shake them off for a few seconds, especially with my wolf being much bigger than theirs.
We rolled around on the ground, fighting and struggling. Their eyes were glowing with rage, their snarls loud and echoing in the quietness of the woods. I took advantage of my wolf’s size, butting into them and tearing their skin with my claws. It didn’t matter that I was bigger and stronger than them, three against one wasn’t a fair fight. In no time, I was pinned back to the ground. I growled, turning and sinking my fangs into one of the wolves. He howled, the pain renewing his rage.
I struggled to shake off their hold, trying to mindlink Ralpha to send back up.
A loud pop suddenly sounded in the air.
One I recognized as the sound of a gun going off.
I shriveled with dread as the sound momentarily distracted the wolves, causing them to turn their heads in Keera’s direction like I did. Sure enough, she was holding her pistol in her hand. The one she thought no one knew about except for her team. Except that I’d spotted it so long ago I couldn’t remember exactly when. Her hand was pointed up to the sky, the bullet she’d shot only a warning.
In an instant one of the wolves had gotten off me and was making a mad dash for her. She quickly aimed her gun at him and fired two successive shots, the bullets hitting him squarely in his forelimbs. Howling in pain, he fell to the ground, a small pool of blood already forming beneath him. Seeing one of their own in pain, the other two wolves snarled loudly, one of them hopping off me to take a swipe at Keera.
Fear sliced through me when her hand wavered.
Luckily she was able to also get two shots in his forelimbs, bringing him down to the ground as well. Feeling a new burst of energy, I shook off the third wolf’s hold, going at him until I had him pinned against a tree, my claws madly tearing his flesh. Our growls filled the air as we struggled on the ground. The sight of Keera falling to the ground distracted me, causing the third wolf to break free of my grip and escape.
I turned to watch as the other two wolves took to their heels as fast as they could with their injuries already healing. I turned my attention to Keera, knowing it was the first time she was truly seeing my wolf. She kept her expression blank, her grip on her pistol still as tight as it had been when she’d fired. Her emotions were shuttered so I couldn’t get a read of them. Was she scared? Was she comfortable? Did she like my wolf?
Why did I even care?
Whatever was going on between us didn’t have to involve her liking my wolf. I wanted so much for her to walk over and touch me but the way she stood with her legs slightly spread and glued to the ground gave me the insight that she wasn’t doing that. Why did that bother me so much? Not that I was ever going to admit it. I trodden to the rear of the car, changing into my human form and getting spare clothes from the car while she stood with her back to me.
Why she thought she needed to be modest was something I didn’t understand.
We’d already fucked.
“You can turn now,” I said to her, pulling the shirt over my head. Concern pulled her brows together as she stared over at me, taking in the injuries on my body. I ignored the expression on her face, circling the car and making sure it was in good condition for us to continue our journey back. Seeing that no major damage had been done, I turned my attention to Keera, just in time to find her tucking her gun into her waistband beneath her shirt. “Why do you have a gun?” I asked, surprising myself with my tone.
It belied the underlying irritation I felt.
Her eyelids lifted as her eyes connected with mine. I held her gaze, standing beside the car and waiting for her reply. I pulled the door on the driver’s side open and held it tightly for good measure. Trevor’s words from a few hours ago echoed in my head. ‘I know you loathe werewolves…’ For a moment I’d forgotten he hadn’t been exaggerating. That was the only way to describe the hate Keera had for our kind.
She raised her shoulder in a shrug.
“I take my gun almost everywhere with me,” She replied, folding her arms across her chest. “It’s just a precautionary measure.” The scent of gunpowder in the air was slowly disappearing, as was my desire to continue the conversation. We both knew her reply wasn’t the full truth but I didn’t want us to get into all that right now. Not when we had more pressing matters on our hands.
I ran a hand through my hair, barely stopping myself from pulling at the strands. “I have a feeling the pack has been attacked as well.” I informed her. The thought that they’d possibly been hurt while I was away caused a dull ache to fill my chest. I tried to reach someone again through the mind link but their barriers were all up. “We have to keep heading back.” I said calmly, inspecting her for any injuries as she walked to the passenger side and pulled the car door open.
We barely said two words to each other the rest of the way.
We were both occupied with thoughts of ways to put an end to the whole chaos once and for all.
***
I’d been right.
The pack had been under attack almost the exact same time those wolves had been attacking Keera and I. Nyx and Ginny were out doing damage control when we arrived. I gave Ralph a small nod, signaling with my hand for him to give me a minute. I had to head upstairs and freshen up before talking to him about the attack. Dropping my luggage at a corner of the room, I stepped into the bathroom, stepping out a few minutes later and hurriedly getting into my clothes.
A knock sounded on the room door, the knob twisting a few seconds after I’d given the permission to come in. I expected to see Ginny, coming to fuss over me after probably hearing we’d been attacked. before the door was pushed open. It was Ria who stepped inside. I tried to hide my surprise. “I came as soon as I heard you were back,” She said, her heels making tapping noises on the floor as she approached me. I wanted to ask why she’d felt the need to come but I didn’t. “Ralph thinks you guys were also attacked.”
“We were,” I confirmed, walking to the long mirror to fix my hair. There was no time to laze around. We had to have a meeting immediately. Word had obviously gotten around about the killer on the loose in the pack and now neighboring packs were trying to take advantage. “How bad was the damage?” I inquired, turning my attention to her.
“Not too bad,” She assured me. “A few properties were the only stuff that were majorly damaged. A small group of people were hurt but thankfully no one was killed.” She nodded when she saw the questioning look on my face. “No, the killer also didn’t strike while you were away.” Well, that was good news. We certainly didn’t need to mourn the loss of our own in addition to knowing the security of the pack had been breached.
Ria’s gaze drifted to my things resting in a corner of the room. “Did you guys get the cameras?” She asked. I nodded. Unpacking them and placing them around the pack. I noticed Ria worrying her lip between her teeth. I arched an eyebrow at her. One she understood quite perfectly. “I had a vision about your attack,” She told me. Surprise had my spine straightening. Since we’d started discovering bodies around the pack, Ria had had a hard time with her abilities, mainly because she’d been overworking them.
We’d finally gotten her to just lay off using them for a while. Hearing she had a vision was as surprising as it was pleasant. “When was this?” I asked. It didn’t escape my notice that her gaze turned a little suspicious then. I felt the hairs at the back of my neck stand. She couldn’t get a vision about Keera and I. Could she? I knew a lot about seeds to know their powers didn’t work that way.
“Last night,” She replied. “It was pretty late and I wasn’t sure how to reach you. I tried calling you but it wouldn’t go through.” Probably because my phone had been dead. After so many hours of touring the city with Trevor in a bid to get the cameras, it had been a relief to head back to my room. All thoughts of plugging my phone in had gone out the window after I’d seen Keera returning from her date with Gabe.
I’d been having sex with Keera at the same time Ria had been having a vision about my attack.
The timing made me slightly uncomfortable.
“My phone was dead,” I said in explanation. “Besides, it’s fine. We didn’t get hurt.” I reminded her, raising my arms and doing a three sixty to drive my point across. The bruises had all healed, leaving no evidence of how fatal the attack had been. I gestured that we needed to head downstairs, trying to distract Ria before she began asking for details about the attack. I wasn’t ready to explain how Keera had pulled a gun out and shot two wolves in the middle of the attack.
We stepped out of my bedroom, heading towards the stairs. I froze when I noticed Keera standing right in front of her room door and staring at me. She seemed like she’d also been stepping out of her room. She shifted to Ria standing beside me and when they came back up to mine, they were closed off. She calculated continuing her walk but thought against it and slipped back inside her room.
Great.
I liked that it bothered her to see Ria walk out of my room. She definitely cared more than she wanted to let on. Ria creased her eyebrows in confusion but I gently steered her downstairs before she could manage a word. Ginny was downstairs by the time we got there. She came to give me a hug, asking if I was okay and letting me know she was going to check up on Keera before dashing up the stairs.
We started the meeting without her.