Liam
It’s gotten easier to keep to the shadows. I seem to do it now without even thinking. It’s not the light that bothers me. I thrive in it. We all do. On a day like this, with a full, bright sun softening the tar beneath my feet, it’s so much harder to stay invisible. The shadows are the safest place to keep curious eyes from landing on me. And, they always do. I’d love to walk among you. Normal people, drawn by the blue skies and fresh air. It’s the perfect day to walk downtown to shop, to eat, just to feel the sun on your face after such a bitter winter. Because, a cold Kentucky winter will come again soon enough, and there will be nothing but bleak shadows left.
I took a careful step into the sunlight. Downtown Shadow Springs consisted of four streetlights and ten city blocks. But, the population seemed to have doubled today. Two streets over, the local police began to block off three of those city blocks for the local street fair coming into town on the weekend. It’s the kind of thing that draws people out of their office buildings just to come and watch. That made things perfect for me. Anything that could draw attention away from curious eyes as I strolled through town helped. The more I’m seen, the riskier it becomes for me to disappear.
I wouldn’t have come out at all today except there really was no other choice. Jagger and the others warned me not to go, but there was no one else. Besides, what’s one lone wolf strolling through town? As long as I didn’t talk to anyone and I kept those curious eyes on me to a minimum, I could get away with one, maybe two hours topside before it got seriously dangerous.
Sure enough, most of the people downtown were headed east of me toward the town square. Booths and tents were being set up by the street vendors. It was the same fare every year, local artists, rib trucks, a mini-carnival. Still, it was unique enough to keep anyone from giving me a second look. I headed one more street over. The building I wanted was tucked between a barber shop and a payday loan center.
Shadow Springs Veterinary Clinic
The small C at the end of the sign was smashed out. The windows were dark. The office didn’t open for another hour. I picked a spot across the street where I could watch the back entrance off the alley. This is where the employees would come in. Making myself as small as I could, I wedged myself in a corner between a giant blue dumpster and the brick wall on the south side of the Shadow Springs Laundromat. From there, no one could enter the back door of the vet clinic without me seeing them.
The walkie in my back pocket beeped. I reached quickly back and clicked off the volume. It would just be Jagger or Mac bitching at me to get back to the caves. I’d been gone over an hour already. Every minute I drew air up here put me at risk. Though I didn’t sense any other shifters nearby, they could be getting better at masking, just like I was. It would only take one of them to sense me, and it would put all of us in grave danger. It was easier when the Chief Pack had orders just to kill us on sight. Now, we’d heard rumblings that their Alpha wanted us alive. That was one of the reasons this little recon mission was so important. Though none of us would give voice to it yet, we needed a doomsday option. I’d die before I let them take me. Any of us would.
I pressed my back further against the wall as a car drove up with a man behind the wheel. I sniffed the air, but he was human, not shifter. As soon as he parked, a woman got out of the passenger seat. She was tall, with straight hair dyed a shade of red that looked maroon in the sunlight. She wore it tied back and as she emerged, she twirled a lab coat and stabbed her arms through it.
As she shut the car door, her companion rolled down the passenger side window and leaned across the front seat.
“Don’t shut your phone off today, Bess,” he warned. I didn’t like his tone. It was low, threatening, aggressive. But, more than that, Bess’s back stiffened and she leaned in, gripping the window frame. She was scared. I could sense it rolling off of her, and a growl rumbled through me.
“Zeke, I’ve got two surgeries scheduled today. I can’t keep my phone on me the whole time. But, I promise I’ll call you before and after each one. Just relax, baby.”
Zeke didn’t relax. He got out of the car. Sweat started to trickle down the back of my neck, and my whole body started to vibrate. I curled my lips back and dug my fingers into the brick wall behind me.
Not now, wolf. Not now.
Zeke came around the car. Bess took two steps back. She had a nervous smile plastered on her face and when Zeke got close to her, she flinched. He hadn’t even raised a hand yet, but still...she flinched.
I narrowed my eyes and tried to focus on my breathing. The hairs on top of my hand started to burn. Burn and grow coarser, pricking my skin.
Zeke put his hand on Bess. He gripped her upper arm and jerked her toward him. “Don’t you tell me to relax. Who the fuck do you think you are?”
“Zeke, please. You’re hurting my arm. I promise. I’ll call you before and after both surgeries. The first one’s at ten. It should take maybe two hours. The second is at two. That one’s gonna last at least three hours. Baby, I’m not going anywhere else today.”
Zeke gritted his teeth. He looked around, but he didn’t see me. Of course he didn’t. I blended into the shadows. I should close my eyes, I knew it. One glance in my direction and Zeke would be able to see two golden orbs as my wolf eyes flashed. I pounded the back of my head against the brick, anything to try and drive the wolf back. If he tried to hurt her…
Zeke jerked Bess toward him. She cried out from the pain and shrank, trying to make herself so small. Her eyes carried a haunted look, scared, defeated. Even from this distance, my wolf eyes showed me the tracks of her tears. Beneath that, though she tried to cover it with cheap makeup, Bess sported an old bruise just below her right cheekbone He’d backhanded her. I could make out the outlines of a jagged scar. A ring. It looked like something he got for playing football in High School or maybe college. Zeke wore it on his right middle finger.
“Is he going to be here today? Is that why you’re trying to blow me off?”
“Zeke, please. I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
He pressed his lips against her ear and whispered. Though they stood more than fifty feet away from me, with my keen wolf ears, I could hear everything he said with perfect clarity.
“Yes you fucking do. You better figure out a way to answer your phone if I call you today. I don’t give a shit how. Have one of your useless technicians carry it in her pocket. You’re a smart woman, Doctor Kennedy.”
“Okay, okay. Fine. Yes. Zeke, yes. I’ll figure something out. But you don’t have anything to worry about. I swear. You know that. I’ve told you a thousand times. Now, I’ve got to go. I’ve got to prep for my first appointment.”
He pushed Dr. Bess Kennedy, hard. She staggered and lost her balance. She got her hands out just in time and braced her fall against the opposite wall. Her palm scraped against the hard brick, breaking the skin. The scent of blood reached me, and my inner wolf went nuts.
Zeke was just a man. Just a vile shitheel of a man. He towered over Bess with his fists curled. Mixed in with Bess’s blood, I could scent the adrenaline coursing through Zeke’s veins. He laughed at her, called her clumsy, ordered her to get up and kiss him goodbye. He raised his fist and laughed even harder when she flinched.
“Get the fuck up,” he said again. My inner wolf raged. God, if I shifted here in the street, I was done for. No way my scent wouldn’t reach the outskirts of town. There were probably a dozen or more members of the Chief Pack just waiting to pick up my trail.
Zeke took a step closer. Bess cowered on the ground, her eyes batting wildly as Zeke hovered over her. His need to do violence poured off of him. He was throwing off something else as well. Not shifter, but he was altered somehow. He was under the influence of at least alcohol, but I suspected heroin or something else. Bess was in trouble...real danger. My wolf raged.
The backdoor to the vet clinic flew open. Another woman charged out of it wielding a baseball bat two-handed. She had brown hair, pulled back in a ponytail with bangs, cut straight across but hanging so low they almost hid her eyes. She raised the bat and took a swing at Zeke.
Zeke jumped out of the way at the last second and her swing landed with a hard crack against the wall.
God, she was little. She couldn’t be more than five feet tall. The girl had fury in her brown eyes and she raised the bat a second time. Zeke was so stunned by her appearance and the first strike, he took two staggering steps backward.
“Molly!” Bess shouted from the ground. “Don’t. Don’t hurt him!”
“Are you kiddin’ me?” Molly yelled back. She took another step toward Zeke then turned her head to the side and spit on the ground, aiming for his feet.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Zeke said, but he’d backed away from both women, raising his hands as if she were holding a gun.
Molly choked up on the bat and faked a swing. Zeke flinched and she advanced on him.
“Get in your car, you asshole,” she said. “Now.”
Zeke’s bravado came back. He squared his shoulders, staying just outside the circle of danger from Molly’s bat. “Settle down,” he said. “Ain’t nothing happening out here that’s any of your business.”
“Really?” Molly said, eyes flashing. The toned muscles of her biceps flexed as she snapped the bat back. She wore a black stretchy tank top with the words “Hot Mess” emblazoned across it in silver, glittery cursive. Her cutoff jean shorts were rolled up high enough that I could see the hint of her ass cheeks when I tilted my head. Her nostrils flared as she took bold steps toward Zeke.
“See,” she said, her Kentucky drawl growing thicker as her anger rose. “I’d say what’s happening out here is exactly my business, Zeke. Dr. Kennedy runs this place. I work at this place. You start wailing on her again then she can’t see patients. Then everything goes to shit and I don’t get paid.”
She was incredible. Short, solid, filling out her tight jean shorts in all the ways I liked. A tiny line of sweat ran down between her ample breasts. The tank top she wore barely held them in. She had on cheap, canvas sneakers, ripped and frayed on the sides. Zeke towered over her by nearly a foot and probably had a hundred pounds on her, but little Molly didn’t flinch. She white-knuckled that bat and kept right on coming.
“Get in your car,” she said, spitting on the ground again. “Drive away, Zeke. Stay away.”
Zeke straightened his back. He looked at Bess on the ground. Her jaw hung slack as she tried to figure out which of these two posed a bigger threat. The answer was neither of them. The biggest threat was me, lurking unseen just a few yards away.
“Remember what I said, Bess,” Zeke said, moving toward her.
Molly swung that bat again, slamming it down hard on the hood of Zeke’s Chevy pickup. It left a deep dent and she cocked her arm back ready to go again.
“Jesus Christ,” Zeke yelled. “Crazy fucking bitch!”
He moved toward her, cocking one fist back even as Molly took a ready stance, raising the bat to her right shoulder one more time.
Zeke never got the chance to strike. My fingers closed around his wrist, wrenching it backward hard. He took an awkward step back, trying to relieve the pressure.
“The fuck?” he said.
The tiny hairs on the back of my hands bristled again. I stood with my back to Molly and Bess; only Zeke could see my eyes. His own widened in fear as he recognized the threat. Predatory. Dangerous. Deadly. He knew exactly what I was even if he’d never admit it to himself. This was Shadow Springs, after all. Most of the humans around here would never say it out loud, but they knew. Things weren’t always what they seemed with people in this town. Zeke was a heartbeat away from finding out why.
“Hey, man,” he said, still trying to twist his wrist out of my grip. “Back off.”
“I think you need to back off,” I said, shocked that I could still form words. My voice was low, barely more than a growl. Whether Zeke knew other shifters, I couldn’t guess. But, he understood on some preternatural level that he was just inches from certain death if he didn’t stand down.
“Let him go!” Bess shouted behind me. She’d found her feet again. I kept my eyes on Zeke. I knew what he saw in mine. To him, they’d glint gold, the pupils blacker and wider than any human’s should be. I felt his pulse quicken beneath my grip as his fight or flight response kicked in.
“Get the fuck out of here,” I said. “That’s your best play, man.”
Zeke nodded, his jaw dropping. I felt Molly’s hot breath on the back of my neck. She stood close behind me, raising her bat. I wanted to think she still only meant Zeke harm. That was probably true, but she was smart to be wary of me.
“Ladies,” I said, not sure I could keep the wolf in check for much longer. “Why don’t you head inside? Zeke and I have everything under control here.”
Molly had the presence of mind to recognize my tone. From the corner of my eye, I saw her help Bess to her feet. She rested the bat on her shoulder and put an arm around her friend.
“Yeah,” Zeke said, trying to salvage his pride. “Get the fuck out of here. You’re both fucking crazy.”
“Thanks,” Molly said. I didn’t dare look at her full on. I couldn’t let her see my eyes.
“Zeke, I’m sorry,” Bess said. She tried to get around Molly, but for as short as she was, that girl was solid. She steered Bess through the back door, leaving Zeke and me alone.
I let go of Zeke’s wrist. He drew it to his chest, rubbing it. “You’re just as crazy as they are,” he said.
“Maybe,” I answered. “But I didn’t like what I saw. You touch that woman...or any woman like that again, I’m going to know about it. We clear?”
I let the wolf out just enough so that Zeke understood. His eyes widened and his lips went white. Oh, yeah, he understood. In the back of my mind, I knew how dangerous a game I played. My vision started to go fuzzy at the edges. A pounding beat that began at the center of my forehead drew me back. I struggled to keep my mind blank. If I let myself go feral, the Chief Pack Alpha would know how to find me. One of his generals patrolled Shadow Springs proper. God, if only I knew who he was. For now, I could feel the Pack closing in. I’d stayed out way too long.
I couldn’t breathe. The pull started low in my belly. God, it would be so easy to just succumb. My stomach flipped and sweat started to pour down my face. Zeke saw it. He knew something was wrong. I should have turned. I should have run. But, the command growing inside of me kept me rooted to the ground.
Stay. Don’t move. Submit.
I couldn’t heed it. I had to go. Now!
“You don’t look so good, man,” Zeke said. His eyes narrowed, and I sensed a new threat from him. I was powerless to ward against it. I was too busy fighting off the command that would lead me to disaster.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Zeke said, growing bolder. He tore a hand through his hair and looked both ways across the alley. We were alone. No witnesses.
“Don’t,” I said. Zeke thought I was talking to him.
“Fucking junkie. Is that what you are? Big man. Sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong. Here, maybe this will help you remember to mind your own fucking business next time.”
Two things happened at once. A flash of silver drew my eyes. Heat blossomed in my belly where Zeke stuck the knife in. The back door to the vet clinic opened and Molly stepped outside.
Zeke got spooked. My back was still to Molly, so I didn’t think she could see. Zeke slipped his knife back into his jacket pocket and hot-footed it back to his pickup.
“Everything okay out here?” Molly asked. Blood poured from the wound in my belly. The wolf was coming out. There was no more time.
I stole one quick glance at her. I don’t know what she saw. I couldn’t risk sticking around a second longer.
“Hey!” Molly called after me. But to her, I was already a blur of motion, running back to the safety of the shadows.
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