Page 6 of Lightning Strikes

Dr. Randy West is about my height, plump, but not too large to get around and lift heavy animals. He has thin brown hair, thick glasses that cover his brown eyes, and a smile that is impossible to not return.

Dr. Miguel Czar is a few inches taller than me, lean, and has brought food for Melissa and me every time he’s popped in to help as he gets acclimated and moving boxes into his office. He has slicked back black hair, deep green eyes, and a slight Hispanic accent that is so smooth I want to listen to him speak to me all day. Even his tanned skin looks so smooth that I want to touch him… Hell, read me one of those human magazines and I’d be a happy wolf.

Still no tech, but Melissa does what she can. Miguel offered to take the night shift and Randy is taking over days so I can have a few days off and then just work the weekends.

Thank. The. Cows.

Officially they start tomorrow, Melissa offered to stay overnight with the pups so that I could have a night off… She’s a tech but I trust her with their lives, and she knows to call if anything is wrong.

So here I am… sitting alone in my cabin. With the whispers and memories of Adam. The photographs and even stronger memories of my parents. I swear I still sometimes smell her sweet, floral perfume dance around my nose. Her favorite blanket is still perched on her favorite chair in front of the TV in the living room.

I haven’t stepped a foot in their room since they went missing… I’m sure I would still be able to smell my dad’s scent on his pillow… Where I curled up and cried for days. They weren’t the most loving or caring parents… I know that they loved me, but they were too enthralled with themselves or each other to pay much attention to me… But they’re all I know. They never spoke of any grandparents or other family, so I have no idea if I have any blood relatives alive anywhere in the world.

No notes, letters, or obvious signs of a break in either. Their car is still in the garage. My mother’s purse is still in their bedroom, along with dad’s wallet and favorite knives still on his nightstand. Not an item missing from the safe or their closet.

Just… gone.

I stalk to my closet and pull out a little black dress and a pair of strappy gold heels while I ponder what I want to do tonight. It’s either I call Mac, sit around his cabin and drink a few beers, or I go out and find a man to warmhisbed for the night. Am I even ready for that?

I haven’t touched another man in months, it makes my stomach clench. I never saw myself as a one male woman… I have always been quite… promiscuous. When Mac and I were together, we would have threesomes, foursomes… He would watch or just leave our apartment we shared for me to have a good time. Then Adam made me feel like shit about how I lived my life. He treated me like a queen… until he didn’t.

I’m not working for a few days so I can drink, dance, and not worry about sleep. Fuck it.

I take a quick shower, pin back my long, blonde hair, and skip the makeup. I slip on the dress, sans undies just like old times, and sit down on my bed as I strap on my shoes. Now all I need is my purse and I’m good to go. The better option would be to call my best friend and get my rocks off in a safe environment… But it’ll bring up too many memories that I’m just not ready to relive.

I step out of my truck after I park on Main Street and walk along the sidewalk for the best bar that isn’t too crowded or loud… I end up at The Whiskey and shoulder my way through the door, finally finding an empty seat at the end of the bar. This isn’t a dive like Yodel’s, but it’s still lowkey and isn’t crowded with college-aged morons throwing punches or smacking women’s asses.

“What can I get for ya?” The older bartender asks and I hum as I glance over the selection of alcohol behind his back.

“Surprise me.” I shrug as he winks at me, moving along to make his rounds before he saunters back up to me with a massive glass filled with a light purple liquid. I smile at him and open up my purse to pay, when I hear him clear his throat.

“Already paid for.” He waves me off as he steps away. I glance around with a frown. The only men around me are busy talking to their neighbors, also they’re at least three decades older than me… I shrug and sip the fruity drink, chuckling as I taste the heady, strong tequila. Delicious.

After several drinks, all paid for by some anonymous male somewhere in the dark bar, I decide to toss down some bills down for a tip and make my way to the dance floor.

There aren’t many bars in Prescott that hire live DJ’s, so we just deal with the electronic juke boxes and dance to whatever someone picked and paid for us poor patrons listen to. Mostly country, sometimes a decent rock song will thunder through the old, crackling speakers. I wrap my purse around my shoulder as I spin to the beat and move my hips to the pop country song and close my eyes. Men and women dance around me as I force myself to breathe through my mouth. I don’t know how humans can deal with all of the different perfumes and chemicals they spray all over themselves.

This bar is a bit bigger than yodels. The bar is longer and wider, the dance floor and mirrors on the dark red walls make the room feel more spacious. The only thing The Whiskey lacks that Yodel’s has is a patio.

I feel someone step up behind me. I frown when I scent Cal. He has a distinctive scent, not something I can forget. He scents human, but without the cloying scent of weakness… I actually haven’t truly scented an emotion from him, not even when he dropped Maximus off at the clinic.

I shrug to myself, lean back against him when he wraps his warm hands around my waist, and rolls his hips against my ass. I close my eyes again, losing myself to the rhythm, dancing along with him, and I eventually work up the nerve to spin around to wrap my arms around his neck.

His green eyes are hooded and his auburn hair is messy, as if he’s been running his fingers through it but it looks so damn good on him. He bites his bottom lip before he leans down to whisper in my ear, “Want to get out of here?” I blow out a slow breath as I think about it.

I ignore him and lean my forehead against his chest and breathe in his clean, fresh scent. Nothing harsh like a cologne… But something… Something floral and musky but I put that out of my mind. What’s the worst that can happen? He should have been gone by now, out of Prescott and presumably back to California… Can I handle a one-night stand? I was brave enough to dress for the part andwantedto have a fun night out… And now that he’s presenting that option…

Fuck it. I’m a grown woman and I shouldn’t let what Adam did to me damage any more of myself that’s already been ripped apart into shreds over the years… Certainly not my sex drive. And this man ramps it up ten-fold… With his hard, lean body, gray dress shirt that is rolled up to his elbows, those thick, muscular forearms that make me drool… And definitely those thick thighs encased in his pressed black slacks.

I lick my lips and nod once. “Yeah… Yeah let’s get out of here. Your place.” He winks at me before spinning around. I follow him to the bar, raising a brow as he closes his tab and tosses down a stack of bills that has me wide-eyed, either he was the one that sent me all of those drinks, or he paid for the entire bar’s tab. He drags me out of the building to the parking lot before wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

“I’m sober, I’ll drive… I can bring you back to your truck after breakfast. Unless you’re working tomorrow…”

I chuckle and narrow my gaze at him. “I’m just fine to drive, I don’t want to be stranded or anything…” He shrugs and guides me to my lifted blue truck. I nod to him as I root around in my purse for my keys. They jingle between my fingers as I saunter to the door and swing my hips a little bit. “Want to send me the address?”

He pulls his phone out of his front pocket and I riddle off my phone number. I immediately receive a text message from an unknown number. And damn, he’s staying at Utopia Resort, no wonder he didn’t even blink when he paid his tab and tipped the bartender. Utopia is a new five-star resort and spa that just opened a year ago, it even has an indoor water park, rock climbing, hiking trails, and several restaurants. I’ve always wanted to check it out, but never had the time. Too bad I will only be staying for a few hours… in bed.

I set down my phone and watch him pull out behind me in a sleek, black sports car and I roll my eyes as I head to the hotel. Luckily it’s not anywhere remotely close to the pack lands and it’s late enough to not run into anyone I know. I turn down Kimball Street and slow as I turn into the vast lot, finding a parking spot close to the lobby. The sooner I’m out of these heels, the better.

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