Shadow Wolf, page 23
“Why were you at the club?” she asked. “You knew the gem could be there?”
“I suspected,” he corrected. “The place is known for all kinds of illegal things. And I know of the group that run it. The man who spoke to you at the event, he is one of the owners. That meant I had my suspects and a place to start, so going to the club—which, I might add, is a place you should never have gone—was the obvious first place to look.”
“Well, aren’t you smart?”
She tried to make a joke, but the club talk dragged her down like lead.
“So are you.”
She glanced at her hands, twisting her fingers together in her lap. “I hope Tahla is all right. I should check on her.”
“You can’t,” he said softly.
A coldness came over her and she met his gaze. “Because…”
He looked away and that leaden feeling settled in the pit of her stomach. There was something he wasn’t telling her.
“Kodiak, what do you know?”
“You need to look out for yourself first.” He smiled; it was kind and slightly sad.
She glanced down at the grass, blinking hot tears from her eyes. She didn’t know why she suddenly wanted to cry. Maybe it was the look on his face, and the fact her friend had simply…disappeared.
“But—”
“Until I get back to you, Tamaska, please stay at home.”
She sighed. Could she do that? Stay home and wait for Kodiak, the last person she’d thought would be her knight in shining armor?
It seemed that was exactly what he was turning out to be.
“I’ve pushed this as far as I can. I really need to get going now,” Kodiak said as he finished his last roll and scrunched up the paper until it turned into a tight ball. Then he scooped up the other containers, too.
She nodded.
“It’s gonna be okay,” he said. “I promise.”
Just like that, with those few words, everything seemed better, brighter.
“Okay.” Full and still buzzing in the afterglow, she would be fine for a few hours by herself.
She planned to sleep since she still needed some recovery time after her wild weekend. And sleep would help her sort everything out in her head.
“Here, I’ll take the rubbish to the bin over there,” she said, pointing at the far side of the park.
“I’m going to get another drink. Would you like one?” he asked.
“A soda, thanks.” She took the rubbish from him and stood at the same time he did.
He pulled her to him and kissed her. She relaxed in his arms, allowing her lips to move with his. Each time they kissed, it was as if they were becoming closer, creating a path into the future, together.
She sighed into the kiss before he broke away and stroked the side of his face, the slight stubble prickling against her fingers.
“Come on,” he said. “Otherwise, I’ll never leave you.”
She grinned. Who would’ve thought they could become so comfortable together? She fully believed Kodiak hadn’t taken the Blood Opal.
“I’ll race you.” She ran over to the bin, laughing while he hurried over to the food van. The vendor was just beginning to pack up, now that most people were heading home in the late afternoon. The evenings were becoming darker earlier now that it was autumn, but the lingering heat made it pleasant to stay out.
She threw the rubbish in the bin, then spun around, ready to run towards Kodiak and surprise him. Something caught her eye on the other side of the bin. Was there something there, at the start of the trees and bush?
The branches rustled, but not in time with the wind. Her stomach fluttered a warning. Maybe she’d imagined the movement.
It came again, this time to the left. A squirrel, maybe? She held her breath as a soft growl undercut the noise of the city. Her heart hammered.
A dog? Was there a stray? The growl came again. Fear rooted her to the spot, even as every part of her screamed run.
Running would be worse. If she ran, it would attack. Gulping in air, trying to calm herself, she watched and listened, but the growl didn’t come again. Nor did the bush move.
It had to have been a dog.
She stepped backward, the grass soft underfoot. Her mouth dried and her pulse increased erratically. The last thing she wanted to see was another dog. She’d had too many encounters in the last week already.
She still couldn’t bring herself to run, just in case the dog was still there watching. She didn’t want it to chase her.
The bush moved again. She almost screamed as a man appeared. He stepped out from the bushes, sticking close to the lengthening shadow.
He gazed at her, like he’d been waiting, like he knew who she was.
She took another step back. “Wait.”
He smiled at her. A chill raced through her.
He wore smart attire, like the men at the club, with pale skin, dark hair, and…her gaze zeroed in on his throat.
Like Cory, there were puncture marks on his neck.
Her blood turned ice cold.
“What do you want from me?” she managed to ask.
“Amdis wants to see you.”
She froze at the name.
Amdis.
Tahla had mentioned him. She’d said she had planned to see Amdis, and then that vampire—because that was what they were, vampires—had whispered in Tamaska’s ear.
Her skin prickled.
Why would this Amdis want to see her?
“Where’s Tahla?” Her voice was barely audible.
The man looked at her, expression cold. “She was no replacement. We need someone like you.”
“Where is she?” Tamaska’s voice strengthened. He knew something. “I’ve called the police, you know.”
He laughed, and anger rolled through her. She stepped forward, hands clenched by her sides.
“What have you done with her?” Tamaska’s voice trembled as her body overloaded with adrenaline.
“Come with me and find out.” He stretched his hand towards her. She could feel him in her mind, pulling at her.
Anger and fear for her friend pushed back and oddly gave her strength to ignore that hand.
“Like fuck I will.” She narrowed her eyes.
“Fine, have it your way.” He stepped forward. “I’ll force you, then.”
A different fear overtook Tamaska’s body, and she froze. The pull was stronger now and it started to fog her mind. It would be easy to take his hand.
Easy, and so very dangerous.
But she couldn’t move.
Something collided with the man, pushing him to the ground.
She slapped a hand to her mouth, muffling her scream.
A large dog rolled the man into the bushes. It was probably coming for her next, but her feet felt as if they were made of concrete, too heavy to lift.
The sounds of the fight chilled and sickened Tamaska, the growling and grunting and hitting. Then the bushes stilled, and the noises stopped.
Tamaska stared, unable to move. The large dog came into sight, its yellow eyes looking directly at her. It was the same dog she’d seen there last week when she was jogging. Had it come to finish her off?
Where was Kodiak, and why wasn’t he coming to help her? He knew she feared dogs. She tried to scream, but her throat constricted.
The oversized dog, with its strong body and well-kept fur, clean and free of knots, wasn’t a stray. The dog clearly had a family looking after it.
The dog lowered its head, keeping its eyes on her as it stepped forward.
“Go away,” she whispered.
It kept coming for her. Its head remained lowered as if it was giving her the upper hand, letting her know she was its mistress.
Her old dog attack scars started to hurt. Her vision blurred. All she could see was the dog coming for her, the pain from all those years ago burning through her body.
“Please don’t hurt me.” She trembled. She could almost reach out and touch the dog.
She didn’t.
“Please,” she whispered again, “please, go away.”
Then the unexpected happened. It turned and fled into the bushes.
And Tamaska did something she never thought she would be brave enough to do: she followed it.
CHAPTER 31
Tamaska
What the fuck am I doing?
Tamaska ran hard, trying to keep up with the large dog, not sure what she had to gain by chasing it. But she’d seen the same dog twice, plus a third outside the nightclub, and there had to be a connection. Since Kodiak wasn’t coming to help her, she needed to take the matter into her own hands.
The dog hadn’t attacked. Even though it had frightened her, the creature had seemed to understand her when she asked it to go away.
What kind of dog would do that?
A part of her, a small part, knew it wouldn’t hurt her. It had protected her. It had fought the man, the vampire, that had tried to take her using…whatever strange mind powers he had.
She pushed a low-lying branch out of her way and continued, breathing hard as her lungs burned. She wouldn’t be able to run for much longer. She didn’t know why she needed to reach the dog, a creature that scared her, but she did. And this one…it no longer seemed to scare her. Not if she was running after it.
She stumbled on a branch, screamed, and fell hard on the ground. Her wrist took the impact, sending shooting pain up her arm, and her knee banged hard on a rock.
Sobbing, she rolled over. Something hard hit her head. She came to a stop on the damp soil covered in dry, crunchy leaves.
This is the most fucking stupid thing you’ve ever done. She shook her head. After going to the club.
She tried to get up, but pain shot through her body. Her vision blurred. Christ, why had she been stupid enough to chase a dog, to think it was fine, that the dog would understand her? Had she lost her mind?
She looked up and gasped at the dog standing nearby.
This is it. He’s got me now.
But even as she thought that, she knew she was wrong. There was nothing to be scared of with this dog. It looked at her like it knew her. She started to reach out to touch it before she took her hand away.
The dog lowered its head and turned to the side.
She didn’t think; she just did it this time. She reached out and let her fingers tangle in the dog’s fur. It was silky and warm and…familiar.
The dog turned back to face her and she locked eyes with it.
The dog’s form began to change. Tamaska lay still, barely breathing. Within seconds, the dog had transformed into a naked Kodiak.
Her eyes widened.
Everything in her swirled with conflicting emotions. Fear and shock, and also unbridled lust because that man was perfection.
Had he just been a damned dog?
Tamaska tried to make sense of it all. She didn’t even believe in vampires, but she’d seen them.
“Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you.” He stepped forward, unashamed of his nakedness.
She scrambled back a little, staring up at him.
“What the fuck are you? Some kind of strange vampire? Or—?” She stopped, unable to finish that thought. “I mean, there are fucking vampires. I know that now. You know it. But what are you?”
Tamaska struggled to sit up, her vision blurring then clearing, a wave of queasiness washing over her. Here she’d been worried about what trouble she was in and who was after her when she’d been hoodwinked all along by a hot man who was also a dog.
No, not a dog. A wolf? She’d thought that once before and it somehow fit. A hot man who was also a wolf.
Oh, hell.
This wasn’t real. None of this was real. She was in bed, dreaming. This was Sydney, not some vampire-werewolf filled city of Oz, and she certainly wasn’t Dorothy. Where was the yellow brick road?
She almost laughed, but she didn’t let herself. If she did, that hysteria building in her would never stop.
I haven’t been thinking straight. She touched her temple as her head throbbed. I hit my head and now I’m hallucinating.
“Careful,” he said softly, stroking her skin on her arm, “you’ve got a huge bump forming. You fell hard.”
“You’re telling me, Kodiak.” She sighed. “I’m not even sure you should touch me. I don’t know what you are. Are you even real?”
“Of course, I’m real,” he said. He picked up her hand and placed it on his chest so she could feel the steady beat of his heart. “See?”
“Okay, you’re real.” She wanted to snatch back her hand. “But I don’t know if it’s you and not some imposter.”
“It is me.”
“An imposter would say that.”
He half-laughed. “You’re a stubborn woman and a pain in my ass. And we fucked in the club and half the day at your place.”
Heat streaked through her. “Okay, it’s you. But…”
“If you’re asking, can you trust me, then yes, you can. I promise I won’t hurt you.”
She shook her head, everything crashing down over her. “Please, I don’t think you should touch me. I don’t know who or what you are.”
“You do. It’s me.”
She shook her head again. She pushed through the dirt, away from him, as he stepped closer. “Don’t come near me.”
“Earlier, you were scared and told me to go away,” he said, keeping that gentle voice, “so I did. And then you followed me. I think you know you can trust me.”
“I hate dogs.”
He closed his eyes a long time. Finally, he looked at her. “I know you were hurt by one. You told me. And I get it. It’s hard to get past something traumatic like that. But you don’t hate dogs.”
“I do—”
“No, I know you’re afraid of dogs, and that’s different than hate. It can just feel the same. But that’s not what I am. I’m not a dog.”
“Could’ve fucking fooled me,” she said. Her body shook with the overload of adrenaline from the fall. From all of this. The vampire. The fact that Kodiak clearly wasn’t human. “You’re trying to trick me. This is all a trick.”
“How? When? We’ve sort of been busy, and not just in the bedroom.”
Confusion swarmed her mind like a hundred bees unable to find a flower. “I don’t know. But I also don’t know what you are. This has to be a trick.”
“No trick, Tamaska.”
“Why didn’t you tell me you’re…whatever the fuck you are before?” She stared at him, still trying to wrap her mind around it all.
“You wouldn’t have believed me, anyway.”
“Really?”
He sighed. “Yeah, really. Look at you now. You saw it and you’re trying to come up with excuses. I only transformed in front of you now, because otherwise I would’ve lost you to that man. I don’t want to lose you.”
“You don’t want to lose me?” She stared at him. “You don’t play fair.”
“I’m not playing.”
Tamaska felt the connection between them. It was still there, strong and compelling, despite his transformation. But she wasn’t about to admit that, let alone give into it.
Not until he told her the truth.
“Tell me what you are,” she said, even though there was no answer that could make the situation better. The man she’d fallen for wasn’t human.
She closed her eyes. Fallen for? Oh hell, she had, hadn’t she? In such a short time.
It was why she’d fought him every step of the way. Now she’d found out he had a world of secrets, and he was only sharing because he had to.
“You’re not human.”
“I am and I’m not. I’m living, breathing. I feel. I’m more than human, I suppose. I should have told you all this earlier, but it’s not really something a person goes around announcing or printing on business cards.”
She opened her eyes and met his.
The man looking at her was Kodiak. He smelled like him, that earthy, male scent.
She understood now what he was, but she needed to hear it from him. Needed him to just be damned honest.
“Tell me what you are.”
“I’m a shifter.”
Even though she knew, she sucked in a sharp breath. “A werewolf? But it’s not a full moon.”
It wasn’t even what she wanted to say. She wanted to say they didn’t exist. Yet she now knew that was wrong. She’d seen him transform.
Why it didn’t scare her was beyond her. It only made her mad he didn’t tell her, because when it came down to it, she wanted to mean enough to him that he would tell her what he was. And not like this.
“Not quite. I’m a wolf shifter, which means I can shift into the form of a wolf. I don’t have to wait for the full moon.”
“Okay. Next, you’re going to tell me vampires are real.”
She knew they were real, but she wanted him to tell her that he knew. She wanted him not to leave comments open for her to come to those conclusions or pretend it was something else. She needed him to say it. To show she wasn’t crazy like she felt.
“There are vampires. Is that what you want me to say?”
“Not particularly,” she muttered, “but yes, I want you to actually come out and tell me the truth.”
“I am. Shifters are real. So are vampires. But Tamaska, those vampires? They’re coming after you.”
The seriousness in his eyes sent a chill through her. It was what that vampire who’d tried to put some kind of vampire spell on her had meant. They wanted her.
She didn’t know why.
“Fuck.” What world had she landed in? How had all this happened?
A few days ago, she’d thought the world a different place with its usual and mundane dangers and threats. Now, she knew creatures from horror movies were real and they wanted her.
And the man she’d fallen for was a wolf shifter.
It was like she’d ended up in another universe and she didn’t know how she’d gotten here.
Still, it made some weird, scary sense. Everything that had happened—except maybe the disappearance of the opal—clicked into place.
Kodiak went to help her up, his hand catching hers. “I can protect you. Let me take you to my pack.”
“There’s more of you?” She ripped her hand from his.
