Darkest Wolf (11 page)

Turning away from the counter, she stared down at the key in her hand. The man hadn’t told her what room they were in. Wishing she was the type of person who kicked or shouted, she turned back around before leaning over the table. “Excuse me,” she called out into the hallway in which the man had retreated. “Which room is this?”

“Twenty-two,” the voice called back before hacking for a moment. “Where the hell is my lighter?”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes, prepared to leave the lobby this time. He hadn’t taken her credit information or discussed payment at all, which gave her a great deal of relief since she had no idea how they’d do that. Perhaps he would prefer not to receive any money for her stay in the establishment. She grinned at the thought as the cell phone the man had left on the counter caught her attention.

She scratched her head. One way or another she had to reach the twins’ mother to make a deal about trading Rex’s information for her family’s release and the return of her natural looks. Not to mention her powers. She really needed them back.

Maybe she could “borrow” the phone in the way Rex “borrowed” things.

Goddess, I’ve been with Rex just one day and I’m already considering thievery as a
viable option
.

Looking left and right, she didn’t let her internal musings sway her. She needed the phone and, unlike Rex, she would return it when she was done with it.
Maybe
.

She grinned at her naughty thought before she picked up the phone and rushed from the room. In the distance, she could see the dark car exactly as she’d left it. Rex, still presumably out cold, tucked inside of it, oblivious to what she was about to do.

Moving from the lobby door, she walked to the side of the building. She could keep her eye on Rex in the car without being entirely out of the light from the motel. For some reason she didn’t wish to explore, she knew she couldn’t make this phone call standing any closer to Rex than she already was.

She dialed the number. Liz hadn’t called it years—she’d been forbidden to—but she still knew it by heart. Would always know it. The phone rang once before a tired voice answered.

“Hello?” Her mother sounded exactly the same way she’d sounded when Elizabeth had awoken her for one reason or another when she’d been a child. Disoriented but strong.

“Mom.” She said the name like a sigh, ignoring the tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

“Elizabeth.” Her mother’s voice shook. “How can you be doing this? Won’t they catch you calling me? They’ll hurt you.”

“I’m more concerned about them hurting you.” Elizabeth leaned against the building, wondering how the sound of her mother’s voice could make her feel like her knees might give out.

“I’ve told you not to. We’re handling things here. They’re tough but we’re surviving.

You’re out there with those twins. I can’t stand it.”

The wobble in her mother’s voice clenched the decision for Elizabeth. She couldn’t allow this to continue for them. Not one more minute. “Mom, I need you to get a message to Drea. I’m not with Charra and Penny anymore. I’m coming back, but I’m bringing some information with me Drea will want. Tell her I’ve recently come into possession of some of the secrets from the Westervelt Wolf pack.” She heard her mother gasp but kept talking before the woman who had always loved her could argue. “I’m travelling with a wolf. He thinks I’m his mate. He tells me anything I want to know. If Drea releases all of us from the curse and lets us leave, I’ll tell her anything she desires.”

“If the wolf thinks you are his mate, Elizabeth, then…” Movement caught her eye from across the parking lot. The door to the car opened, which could only mean Rex had awakened. “I’ve got to go, Mom. I suspect I’ll be back in Florida tomorrow. When I get into town, I’ll call.” She switched off the phone, moving to intercept Rex before he got any closer. “Are you okay?” she called out over the parking lot.

“I was until I woke up and saw you had left the car. Then I was … terrified for you.” She shrugged. “I appreciate the concern but I was just getting us a room.” Rex stretched, exposing his abs from underneath the makeshift blanket he must have found in the car. Her mouth went dry as she stared at the perfectly formed muscles poking out at her.

“Did they give you any trouble?”

“What?” Her mouth hung open. She knew she must look like a landed fish. All she wanted to do was to reach out and stroke him on the chest, to feel what his skin felt like there. Was it warm and hot or rough and calloused?

“Did they give you any trouble checking in?”

She shook her head, trying to smile. “No more than what is to be expected. Come on.

Let’s go inside.”

“What? Than what is to be expected?”

Rex planted his feet where he stood, and she knew there would be no moving him until they addressed this problem—even if she would rather stick her hand in a blender.

“He objected to my face.” Rex moved forward. By the set of his eyes, she could tell he intended to go into the lobby and let the man know what he thought. She stopped him by placing a hand on his chest. Beneath her fingers, she could feel the strong beat of his heart. She had to swallow through the dryness assaulting her whole body at the contact.

“Look, I took a page out of your book and I borrowed his phone without his knowing.

Why don’t we say that’s enough?”

Rex stared down at her, a small smile finally crossing his hard features. “I’m a bad influence on you.”

She nodded. “Clearly.” Holding up the phone, she stuck it in his hand. “Do you want to call Tristan?”

He’d used that name a few times. At some point, she’d come to realize it was one of his brothers, the alpha of his pack. Rex seemed to be preoccupied with him. Maybe phoning him would take his mind off her.

She gasped as his hand came down, cupping her chin. “No, I have no interest in speaking to Tristan right now. Not even a little bit.”

“No?” Words seemed to have left her or at least the ability to speak without staring at his mouth. “Did your rest do you good? You weren’t asleep very long.” He took her hand, grasping it in his own as he placed the phone back into it. His fingers were so much larger than hers. “Elizabeth, there is something I need to do.” She blinked. “What?”

“I must feed you before you fall over.”

“Feed me?” As if on cue, her stomach growled. She hadn’t been aware of how hungry she was, but now that he’d mentioned it she couldn’t think about anything else.

When was the last time she’d eaten? She hadn’t even gotten to have a meal at the diner.

“Yes, you need to eat. I can smell how your blood sugar is dropping. We will get some food.”

“Where?” She looked around. “It’s the middle of the night. I doubt anything is open.”

Rex pointed at the lobby. “The man who objected to your face, he will help us.” The wolf who had made her life very odd since she’d met him, dropped her hand and walked with a determined stride toward the lobby.

“Well, do you want to give him back his phone?”

He shook his head as he called over his shoulder. “We are not done borrowing it yet.”

Elizabeth stood in shock. She could have sworn Rex had been talking about something quite different when he’d first grabbed her hand. What had changed and why did it bother her?

The phone in her hand vibrated. She looked down. The area code was the same as the one she’d used when she called her mother. Someone was calling from Key Biscayne.

She took a deep breath to steel herself. There could be no doubt in her mind she knew who would be on the other end when she answered it.

“Hello?” she whispered, turning her back to the lobby. Rex was in there. She didn’t want to look at him.

“Liz. I hear you have abandoned my daughters. Tell me why I shouldn’t put your family to death—right now.”

A thousand retorts filled her mind. She’d love to be able to tell the woman she should leave her family be because it was the humane thing to do, because any witch worth two cents in the world would know they were to cause no harm. But Drea had shown herself to be amoral more times than Liz could count at this point.

“Because I am in possession of knowledge about the Westervelt Wolves. One of them thinks I am his mate. I can tell you things we have never known before.” She silently prayed it would be enough to get her family released. Despite Rex’s belief they could simply go in and remove Drea from power, Elizabeth knew it would never be so simple. He had no idea how her world worked.

“Which wolf?”

Elizabeth blinked at the question. Why did that make one bit of difference to Drea?

In this case, wasn’t one wolf going to be as good as another? Liz turned around to regard the lobby where she was sure a certain wolf-shifter currently harassed a man who had smoked too many cigarettes in his life and who didn’t know how to be polite to those less fortunate than himself. “Rex Kane.”

Silence met her words for a moment before Drea spoke again. “Well then, yes, I’ll take your trade. All of you for the …
information
… Randolph Kane, the youngest son of the royal family of the Westervelt Wolves, possesses. Yes, I think he’d do nicely. See you tomorrow.”

The sound of the dial tone made Elizabeth’s stomach lurch. This was what she’d needed, what she’d hoped would happen. However, the sound of dial tone made goosebumps appear on her skin. She bit down on her tongue to stop tears from coming out of her eyes. Rex would smell them, and there was no way she could let him know her plans—not until tomorrow.

Chapter Nine

For the tenth time, Rex looked around the small motel room and sighed. With every intention of giving Elizabeth the bed, he had some serious reservations about the cleanliness of the floor. Perhaps it would make more sense to sleep as a wolf.

Because my fur deserves the dirt more than your sensitive skin?

He laughed and looked up at the closed bathroom door. Elizabeth had retreated into the bathroom as soon as they’d entered the monstrosity calling itself a hotel room. She’d been in there a few minutes and he was starting to worry about her. Liz needed to eat. So did he but he could go a long while between feedings thanks to his wolf metabolism. She couldn’t. He clenched his fingers together, stopping himself from busting down her bathroom door to make sure she was fine. He was really starting to lose control of his instincts. Rex couldn’t remember the last time he’d been this close to the edge.

Mate. You’ll feel better.

I can’t just mate. She barely even likes me.

Not true
.

Rex rolled his eyes. He did not need relationship advice from a canine.

Why not? You’re doing such a bang up job of handling things yourself?

Just then, the bathroom door opened, and Elizabeth stepped out into the room. He wished he’d thought to get her some clothes to wear and some toiletries while he’d been convincing the man who ran this place to give him food. “Feel better?” She smiled. “Sure.”

There was something off about her smell. He couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was.

Truth was, he hadn’t slept long enough. Just a quick rejuvenating power nap to try to heal some of his wounds. His wolf had been anxious the whole time. Neither of them had particularly liked leaving Elizabeth unprotected. As soon as he’d been aware enough to realize the car had stopped, he’d forced himself back from the blackness of sleep to make sure she was fine.

Fortunately, nothing had happened while he’d been out of it. Now, however, his senses were still not up to par. That would take some more time, maybe a real night’s sleep, which, he suspected, he would not be getting any time soon. “Hungry?” He took a step toward her, wanting to feel the warmth from her body radiating toward him.

“Actually, I am.” She yawned. “And, clearly, tired. Did you manage to get anything to eat?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Did you doubt my ability to provide for you?”

“Rex.” Her voice contained laughter when she spoke. “This isn’t a caveman must provide for his woman kind of a thing. I was simply trying to find out if there had been any food to get.”

“Cheese.” He pointed to the small table in the corner. “Bread and butter. Not much, not what I’d like to be feeding you right now, but sustenance nonetheless.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” In two strides he’d crossed the room to the table to pull out the chair for her to sit in. She paused before sitting down in it, and he watched as a blush crossed her cheekbones. Was she unwell? “Are you fine?” He hadn’t forgotten the whack she’d taken to the head during the car accident. When this was over he still intended to have her properly looked at by a doctor.

“Yes. I’m just not used to being treated so nicely.”

Unable to stop himself, he dropped to his knees by the side of her chair. She gasped.

“Elizabeth, by the gods we believe in, I swear to you that you will get used to being treated like a lady. Anyone who dares to treat you otherwise will answer to me.”

“Rex.” Her eyes filled up with tears, and the scent of unhappiness wafted through the air. It was repugnant to his soul. He reached up to stroke away the tears from her eyes.

“Here, you need to eat. It will help you to feel better.” He hoped that was the case. Rex would do just about anything to relieve her of her sadness. Reaching up, he broke a piece of cheese off. “Eat this.” When she would have taken the food from his hand, he stopped her. “Please, let me.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “You want to feed me from your hand.”

“If it is okay. I don’t know if it’s something you’d hate. I have a hard time with modern manners. I have this need to take care of you.” Elizabeth stared into his eyes, and he wished he could read her thoughts. All he could smell was sadness, which continued to eat a hole into his heart.