Page 10 of Dark Wolf Soul
“And don’t make this harder than it has to be.”
“Make what harder? Letting you kill me?”
“You’re coming with me,” he says in a voice that sounds nothing like the teasing, sexy version of him I met earlier.
Now, there is only danger, and it’s not the kind that turns me on, either.
“Coming with you where?” I ask, trying to understand what he wants from me.
“Your time in hiding is up. Don’t make me take you by force.”
The stranger takes a step toward me, and the sight of him approaching sends me over the edge. The world tilts then spins, and my knees buckle. My eyes flutter, and I gasp for air, trying like hell to keep my wits about me. But the sight of him approaching, and the grim look he gives me, tells me this isn’t going to end well at all. As he reaches out for me, black spots creep into my vision. Then, all at once, darkness swallows me whole.
4
GREY
She shouldn’t have run. That’s what I tell myself as I carry her unconscious body to the car I’ve hidden down the road. If she hadn’t run, I wouldn’t have chased her. And she might not have passed out from the shock of watching my wolf nearly mow her down. Then again, any normal she-wolf would have known running was the most dangerous thing she could have done with a beast like me at her heels. More than that, any normal she-wolf dumb enough to run would have at least shifted to capitalize on the extra speed her wolf would offer. There’s no way she could ever outrun me on foot.
But Lexi didn’t shift, and even now, I can’t scent her wolf on her at all.
It’s like she’s nothing more than human.
If I hadn’t been nearly skin-to-skin with her earlier and felt the powerful animal inside her, I would be wondering if I’d gotten the wrong girl. But even through my own lust back at that club, I’d sensed her wolf buried deep. There was no mistaking her nature then. Even if I can’t sense it now.
It’s just another mystery to solve, not that it matters for what we have planned for her. Hell, if she never shifts, it’ll probably make things easier on her. Not that I have any right to care what’s easier for her considering I’m locking her in a trunk and driving off with her.
She doesn’t stir as I gently deposit her into the trunk of the car I chose for this mission. It’s the least flashy option compared to the others my father apparently kept stored for me all these years, but it also has the roomiest trunk. Her small frame fills the entire space, and I frown, knowing she’s going to be cramped when she wakes.
With the lid still open, I press my fingers to her throat, checking to make sure her pulse is still strong and her breathing is still regular. Her skin is soft beneath mine, and I can’t help thinking what it would be like to run my hands over it as she straddles me, grinding against me, all that hair draping us like a curtain. Satisfied her vitals are good, I go to work binding her wrists and feet. She’s unlikely to free herself from the trunk, but I’ve learned over the years to never assume Plan A will work.
When I’m finished, I catch myself studying her mouth like it’s some sort of eighth world wonder. Her bottom lip is slightly fuller than the top. I have no idea why that’s so enticing.
Fuck.
I do not need this kind of distraction.
Yanking my gaze away, I step back and close the trunk, rounding the front of the car.
There’s a change of clothes on the passenger seat, so I put them on quickly and then slide behind the wheel. The suit is no real loss. In fact, it’s one of the things I was more than happy to leave behind when I left this life. Now that I’m back in it, the wardrobe requirements are as stifling as they’ve always been. My father always did care more about perception than reality. For now, I wear the black pants and matching t-shirt that have become my uniform since I’ve been away.
Grabbing the keys from where I stashed them in the visor, I start the car. The night is silent around me, so the engine coming to life sounds louder than it should, but my wolf senses tell me there’s no one around to hear it.
I check my phone. Three messages, all from him.
Ignoring them, I put the car into gear and ease onto the road, keeping my headlights off as I pass the club on my way to the main highway up ahead. The two cars from earlier remain in the lot. One is hers. If it mattered, I could move her car somewhere they’d never find it. Give myself a bigger lead on getting her far away. But I don’t need it. They’ll never find her where I’m taking her, and there’s not really anyone to look anyway.
I watched her for two days, which was more than enough time to realize she’s pretty much alone in the world. Behind on her rent, one friend she keeps at a distance, and all her free time spent at a homeless shelter for runaway teens. If she weren’t my enemy, I’d feel sorry for her shitty circumstances. Regardless of her family name, she deserved a hell of a lot more than Franco Giovanni ever gave her. But that’s not my problem, nor is it my business.
My phone vibrates with an incoming call, and since I already know he won’t stop until I answer, I hit the button to accept.
“Yeah,” I say quietly as the call goes live on the car’s Bluetooth.
“How’d it go?”
“I got her,” I say.
He exhales in relief. It’s clear he doubted I’d come through. I don’t take it personally. My father doubts everyone except himself, a trait he apparently passed on to me.
