Pack of Her Own, page 7
Before I could think about what a bad idea it was, I grabbed my wallet and keys and slipped my shoes on. I locked up and headed out after her.
Chapter Thirteen
Wren
The Jeep barreled down the highway as I flattened the accelerator to the floor. As confident as I was that no cop in the county would bother with a speeding ticket if I offered them a few free meals from the diner, it didn’t even really matter. One of my people might be in danger, and damned if I was going to sit back on my ass and drive the speed limit.
I knew I was overreacting. It might very well be that Meg just slept in and her phone died or something. I knew that, but I couldn’t get the thought of her being in danger out of my head. First Jason and his buddies in the diner yesterday, then the hunters with silver last night. I wasn’t willing to take the chance that someone I cared for was in danger.
When I got to the diner, I could see one of the cooks, Leslie, fretting behind the bar. I parked the Jeep and took a moment to breathe, knowing if I went in there showing the anger that I was feeling, it would only make things harder for everyone. When I felt calm enough, I walked into the diner, throwing the door open with more force than I meant to.
Thankfully, nothing broke, but I did get a few curious glances from the early patrons.
I went to the bar where Leslie was wringing her hands. “What happened?”
She took a breath before starting. “My brother and I stopped at Meg’s to pick her up, like we usually do, but there was no answer.” She glanced away sheepishly. “I figured she was just sleeping in or had talked to you about having the day off or something and forgot to tell me. It wouldn’t be the first time. But no one else can reach her either.”
“You’ve been taking care of the front since then?”
She nodded. “We tried calling her, but her phone goes straight to voice mail. We figured we’d see someone come in this morning to cover for her, but when no one showed up…”
“You called me,” I finished. “Okay. We can deal with this. Did you see her when you left last night?”
“I dropped her off at home. She got in fine.” She shook her head. “I should’ve waited longer this morning or something. Maybe she was just—”
I waved a hand and cut her off. “Don’t do that to yourself, Leslie. Whatever is going on it’s not your fault.” From the feeling welling up in my gut, I was certain it was my fault, but I didn’t want to tell them that. “Call Alisha and see if she can come in, otherwise you can keep covering the front until I get back.” I kept my voice calm but firm, like the slightly distant boss I tried to pretend to be. Honestly, I probably cared about my people a little too much, but I couldn’t help that. I refused to have a pack, but that didn’t mean these people weren’t important to me. They were my people, after all. “I’m sure she’s fine. She probably slept in, and her phone is dead or something, you know? I’ll head out and check in with her.”
Leslie hesitated. “It’s not like Meg to miss a shift. She never misses a shift.”
I tried to make my shrug seem nonchalant. “There’s a first time for everything.”
She frowned and I reached across the bar to put my hand on her shoulder.
“Don’t worry. I’m sure she’s fine.” Yeah, and maybe if I told myself that enough, I’d start to believe it. My wolf howled inside my head, her uneasiness making it hard for me to think clearly. She was certain something was up, and I was inclined to take Hikaru’s advice and believe her.
I turned to leave—only to see a very conspicuous truck pull into the parking lot beside my Jeep. I couldn’t help the growl that burst from my throat as I stomped outside when Natalie climbed out of the truck.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I was barely able to keep my wolf in check. Agitated that one of our people was missing, the wolf instantly wanted to keep Natalie nearby. But if Jason or one of his people had possibly hurt Meg, I didn’t want Natalie to be involved. I couldn’t risk letting her get hurt.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you owned the parking lot!”
“It’s my diner! Of course I own the parking lot.”
She faltered. “Oh, right. Well, fuck, I just wanted to come and help. You left so quickly, and you didn’t tell me what was happening!”
I held a hand to my head, fighting the headache that was starting to build. “I don’t have time for this!”
“That’s fine,” she said, heading for the Jeep. “You can tell me on the way.”
“No!” She froze when my voice came out lower than normal. “No, you are not coming with me!”
She stood with her hands on her hips, and I restrained myself from wringing her skinny little neck. “Why the hell not?”
“Because it’s none of your business!”
“I know that! But that doesn’t mean I can’t help out a g—” She cut herself off quickly. “A friend!”
It was my turn to falter. Years of learning that to get through life you couldn’t count on anyone else made it hard to accept help. My wolf—the traitor—clearly had no problem with Natalie tagging along, but I knew I couldn’t put her in any sort of danger. I hoped I was overreacting, that Meg was fine, but I couldn’t take that risk. If Jason hadn’t shown up yesterday, it wouldn’t be a problem, but I wasn’t an idiot. He and his older brother had made my life hell for years when I was in their pack. The last thing I wanted to do was put Natalie on their radar—if she wasn’t already after last night.
Three deep breaths later and I had pushed the wolf down enough that I could think clearly again. “Listen. I appreciate that, I really do. I’m not used to people putting themselves out to help me and you’re an amazing person for doing so, but I don’t want you to get involved with this.”
“Wren,” she said, “I know we only met a few days ago and I don’t mean to pry into your life or anything, but…” She drifted off, looking away until I couldn’t see her eyes. Her voice softened, forcing me to strain to hear it properly. “The way you left the cabin scared me, Wren. I feel this…connection to you. I feel a strong desire to be around you, and I don’t want anything to happen to you if this is as bad as you seem to think it is. I want to help. I want to help you.” She looked up at me with a wide smile that only looked slightly scared. “I mean, who’s going to cook amazing food for me if something goes wrong?”
I couldn’t stop the laugh that came out at her words, and a cute pink flush lit up her cheeks like I’d made her fucking week. It made my wolf howl with need, and it was hard not to let that out of my mouth. She did not know what she was saying. She couldn’t—there was so much she didn’t know about me. But here she was, wanting to help.
She shrugged after a moment as her smile faltered. “And I mean honestly, what else is there to do besides hang out in the cabin all day?”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “Fine,” I said. Natalie’s eyes lit up and she smiled as her feet came off the ground in a happy little jump. “But!” I added, earning a narrowing of her eyes. “You will promise to listen to what I say and do it without argument. I will not send you away or make you do something without good reason, I promise you that.” I shook my head. “Truthfully, I’m probably making a mountain out of a molehill, but I worry all the same. I intend to keep you and the rest of my people safe, and to do that, you need to listen to me.” I held out my hand to her. “Deal?”
My regard for her shot up a few notches as she paused for a moment, apparently considering the terms, before taking my hand in a hearty shake. “Deal.”
* * *
“So,” Natalie said as I pulled the Jeep through the quiet streets of the town. “We’re headed to Meg’s house to check on her?”
“If she’s not there then I can try to track her down, but honestly I hope she just slept in really deeply or something.” But the more I considered that thought, the more I knew it wasn’t the case. My wolf was too riled up, like she knew something I didn’t, and I wanted to listen to her. I worried that I had no idea what I was getting into, though. Between the wolves yesterday and the hunters last night, this was already proving to be more than the usual trouble with wolves coming after me from my old pack. I shook my head. I should never have trusted Ronan, my old Alpha, and his promise that no one would come after me.
Natalie was quiet for most of the ride, and I appreciated her silence. Distractions get people hurt, and she was aware enough not to let that happen. We were both silent until we reached Meg’s house, a small bungalow with only two steps up to the front porch, and siding that looked like it needed to be replaced.
“So, what’s the plan?” Natalie asked, and I stopped with my foot halfway out of the Jeep. I wondered what would be safest at this point. The longer she was with me, the greater the risk she’d be in danger because of me. At the same time, I didn’t want her to leave my side. Neither did my wolf.
“Um, come with me, okay?”
She nodded and was at my side as we approached the front door.
Please be something simple. Please be something silly.
I knew far too well that wishing for something wouldn’t make it come true. I pounded on the front door, shouting Meg’s name through it. The second time I nodded to Natalie. “Let’s go around to the back door.”
“Got it, boss.”
I led the way to the side gate to the backyard. Natalie fell in behind me without a complaint, and my wolf howled in happiness at our closeness.
Easy, girl, I know how you feel.
The backyard was all flat lawn with a single concrete step up to the back door. The moment I noticed the door wasn’t closed, I threw out an arm and stopped Natalie from moving forward.
“Are you okay?” she whispered.
I nodded. “Stay close, and behind me.”
She did as I asked as I moved to the doorway. The back door was hanging by a single hinge, parts of the doorframe cracked and shattered, with debris on the floor. I stared at the mess, clenching my fists and taking deep breaths so I didn’t do something to scare Natalie. Was it bad to think that I hated that my wolf was right?
I stepped through the doorway and stopped, immediately noticing the mess. Meg was a pretty neat girl, always keeping things as tidy as she could, even if she ended up grumbling about lazy coworkers. But the place was a disaster zone.
The kitchen was torn apart, the small table flipped over and drawers pulled out of the cabinets. From the door I could see out into the living room, too, where more destruction lay. I moved slowly into the next room, hearing only Natalie’s steps at my back as I looked around. The couch was overturned, television smashed, and debris from what looked like a fight was scattered everywhere. But what my vision focused on was the remnants of the glass coffee table in the middle of the room—and several shards of glass that were coated in blood. I knelt and picked one up, holding it under my nose. I sniffed.
MINE! My wolf howled, and it came out of my mouth as an angry scream.
“Wren?”
I held up the piece of glass. “Someone took her,” I growled, “someone hurt her!”
She looked from me to the glass to the broken doorframe, and I could smell the wave of fear and insecurity. The growl that had lowered since seeing her came back full force, vibrating in the air between us until she took a step back, then another.
“Is…Is there anything w-we can do?” she asked.
I turned my eyes away from her. “Get in the Jeep.” She didn’t even argue, just ran past and headed for the front door—unlocking it as she went.
They’d come in the back door, probably early, when Meg was in her room, either asleep or just waking. That’s where the trouble started. I moved around the house, following the scents and signs of attack. Besides Meg, Natalie, and myself, I caught the familiar scents of three more people. My wolf growled inside me, and I corrected myself—three wolves. Jason and the other two I’d met the day before at the diner.
“Those sons of bitches! They dared to take one of mine?” I snarled into the empty house. I closed my hand around the bloody glass, feeling it bite into my skin and reveling in the pain. I dropped the glass, letting it shatter on the floor as the cuts on my hand healed. “We need to get her back.”
Hunt!
“Oh, yeah,” I agreed with my other side. “We’re going to hunt. They won’t get away with this.”
With one last look around the house, I walked out the front door. I pulled open the passenger side door, and Natalie stared at me with wide eyes. “Drive.” I growled.
“Are you sure?”
I tried hard not to let her think my rage was directed at her. “Drive,” I said again, forcing my voice to be a little softer. “And follow my directions.” She stayed motionless in the seat. “Can you do that?”
She paused for a long moment, then nodded. “I can do that.” She got out and ran to the other side as I climbed in the Jeep and rolled down the window. I took a long sniff of the air, focusing on Meg’s scent. “Pull out, head right.”
With only the smallest bit of hesitation, she pulled the Jeep out of park, and we hit the road, following a slowly fading scent trail. I was not going to let them get away with messing with one of my people. They were going to pay.
Hunt!
My feelings echoed my wolf’s feelings. Now I just had to figure out what to do with Natalie.
Chapter Fourteen
Natalie
I watched Wren out of the corner of my eye, waiting for her next barked order. I didn’t mind her telling me what to do, especially when I told her I’d do it so she’d take me along. But the way she snarled every word was starting to make me worried. She was angry, I understood that, but that didn’t mean she had to take it out on me. It reminded me of when Misty would get mad at something, taking her frustrations out on me and whatever she felt I was doing wrong in that moment.
But Wren wasn’t like Misty. Yes, I was seeing a different side of her right now, but I could also understand it. She was scared, worried for her friend, and she even seemed worried about me. I couldn’t even understand why she’d worry about me, of all people, but the fact that she did made me feel a kind of warmth in my chest. There was some sort of connection between us, that much I could feel. Maybe that dream had something to do with it.
Wren had the window down, her face halfway out of the Jeep as I turned out of the residential streets and back toward the highway. “Right,” she barked when we were still a kilometer or so away. I had no idea how she knew where the hell we were going, but I was going to trust her.
We hit the highway and I sped up, ignoring the sporadic buildings that passed by. In a minute we were outside of Terabend, moving quickly down a tree-lined highway as I listened for the next direction. Wren’s face tilted upward. She closed her eyes against the rushing wind and left most of her face still out the window. How she could see or hear or whatever was beyond me.
I turned back to focus on the driving, almost feeling like I was in one of those books I used to read when I was waiting for Misty to come home from work. They were always about some mythological being partnering with a scrappy human sidekick to save their people or the world or something else. And of course, that scrappy human sidekick would just happen to show that powerful being that they weren’t so fragile or frail and could keep up with the monsters. Then they’d kiss…
I felt my cheeks heating up at the thought and shook my head a little. Not the time, Nat. Not the time.
And besides, I decided, I’d never been able to find one of those novels that featured someone like me. Sure, there were plenty with lesbians, and sometimes creatures of indeterminate genders, but I never saw another person like myself in the primary role as that plucky human sidekick. I grinned inwardly. Maybe I’d have to remedy that someday.
That thought was quickly followed by a sinking feeling in my stomach. “Shit!” I blurted before I could think better of it.
Wren’s head snapped around to stare at me. “What?”
I fidgeted sheepishly under her hard gaze, wishing I hadn’t said a thing. “I forgot to take my medication this morning.”
She let out a rough breath and her eyes softened a little. “Are you going to be okay?”
“Oh, yeah, I can go a day without them. Or a morning, since I take more in the evening.” I gave her the side-eye and grinned. “It’s when I miss them for an extended period that things get a little hairy.”
She raised an eyebrow and I sighed. Of course she didn’t get the joke. She didn’t know that I was trans. That my pills were a blood pressure medication called spironolactone that blocked testosterone production. Those pills, with the estrogen patches I changed twice a week, helped make me who I was. And as much as I might have yearned to share that information with people openly, I couldn’t.
But oh, how I wanted to, I realized a second later. Especially with Wren. How would she react if she knew? We were just starting a friendship—at the very least—and who knows where it might go. Would she run away if I told her?
“Never mind.” I shook my head and focused back on driving as she only grunted and stuck her head back out the window.
Another ten minutes passed as we barreled down the highway before Wren’s head perked up. “Turn right up here,” she said, not even bothering to look at me.
I stared out the windshield, trying to see where I was supposed to turn. There were no roads, no turnouts, nothing to turn onto. I glanced at her, but she was still facing away. I slowed the Jeep, earning a frantic honking from a car behind me, and flipped on the turn signal, pulling off to the shoulder. The jerk passed with an obnoxious honk and a flip of the bird. I ignored them and watched the trees.
In the distance I could make out a large sign on the side of the road, welcoming drivers to the next county over. But in the trees just ahead of us was a break in the forest and a worn tire-trail that pulled off the highway. Looking to Wren for any kind of sign, I slowed and turned between two large trees. The road—if you could call it that—wasn’t even gravel. Instead, it was only two deep ruts worn over time in the grass. I grimaced as the Jeep bounced, but thankfully it was high enough not to hit the ground. I’d pity anyone who tried to take a sedan or hatchback down this road.
