The Alpha's Hunger (17 page)

Zolla’s jaw dropped, but he thankfully didn’t comment. “Where?”

He gave him the name of the motel and the room number. “You’ll go now?”

“Of course. Where are you going?”

“To take care of Jack.”

“You shouldn’t go alone. Call Mark or wait for me.”

He shook his head. “No, I can handle him. You just make sure Ashley—” he swallowed. “Just go to her. Now.”

Zolla pulled on a Rockies cap. “I’m leaving.”

Ben shifted back to wolf form and followed Zolla out, taking off for the place he’d hidden his car Friday night. Using the hidden button to pop his trunk, he rummaged in the duffel bag for a pair of pants, shirt, and shoes. With the spare key, he started the car up and drove toward the address of Jack’s foothill residence. His mind was blank—or rather, held only clear focus of intent: eliminate Jack. After he dealt with him, he would open the box in which he’d stuffed his anguish over Ashley.

He parked in front of an ostentatious house with a cobblestone driveway and a giant fountain in the front. Getting out, he stalked up the sidewalk. He tried the door first, and finding it locked, slammed his shoulder against the heavy wood. The wood bowed against his shifter strength. He threw his weight into it again, then a third time, cracking the door from the hinges.

It swung open and he found himself face to face with Jack, who pointed a revolver at him.

Ben spread his hands. “What’s your plan, Jack?” he asked, stepping in and swinging the broken door shut behind him.

Jack’s nostrils flared, his little eyes darting past Ben toward the door.

“You planted a bomb in my laptop, but haven’t triggered it yet. You kidnapped Ashley’s sister. You just toppled every one of our servers. Are you trying to lower our stock so you can buy it all out with me out of the picture? Do you think Shayla would let you do that?”

Jack’s face had gone pale, that muscle under his right eye twitched as it always did when he challenged Ben. The hand holding the revolver shook slightly, but his expression was all sneer.

Ben advanced slowly. “The FBI knows all about the kidnapping and the bomb,” he said, only partly bluffing. Mark knew, after all, so if or when things came out with the authorities, Mark would see that the right people were prosecuted and any references to wolves were left out. “They already traced the server crash to your IP address.”

Jack fired the gun, hitting him in the gut.

Ben did his best not to flinch, despite the burn, and gave a mirthless laugh, his upper lip curling. He walked casually forward as if the bullet didn’t bother him. “Who are you working with? The Sandoval cartel?”

Jack gaped, his eyes dropping to the bleeding wound, then back to Ben’s face. The sneer faded, confusion creeping in. “I don’t know who that is.” He fired again, this time hitting Ben right in the sternum.

He lost his breath, but he did not stagger backward. “Who then?”

Jack’s hand trembled violently as he finally comprehended that Ben couldn’t be eliminated as easily as he had thought. “What are you?”

He grinned. “I can’t be killed, Jack,” he lied. “What does that do to your plans?”

Jack’s eyes darted around the room and he began to back up.

“Your idea was clever, I’ll admit that,” he said, hoping to get him to talk. He needed to know who else was involved and what Jack’s exact motivation had been. “And rather elaborate. Wouldn’t it have been easier to just shoot me right from the beginning?”

Jack’s eyes fell to the bullet wounds again. “Yeah, but I wanted the server crash to be on your watch.”

“You wanted the board to fire me?”

His mouth twisted into a bitter grimace. “I wanted there to be nothing left of Stone Technologies,” he spat. “So my stock options from the employment package at Suma Games would make me rich.”

“You already are rich,” he muttered, then shook his head. Why was he arguing with an insane man?

A bead of sweat dripped down Jack’s face, but he gave a twisted grin. “It’s nothing more than I deserve. I invented the NE3, not Leon.”

A flash of irritation on Leon’s behalf made him surge forward.

Jack fired again. This time it caught Ben in the ribs, well below his heart. The impact seared and momentarily knocked him back, but he kept his face blank and snatched the gun out of Jack’s hands. Ben turned it around and smacked Jack on the head with the handle side.

Jack crumpled to the carpeted floor, groaning.

Ben kicked him in the ribs. “Hey, Jack—you’re fired.”

He flipped the gun back around, pointed it at the little weasel’s head, and discharged it.

* * *

Ashley’s head swam like she’d downed three margaritas on an empty stomach. The dizziness seemed different than weakness caused by blood loss—there was a pleasant, but disoriented sensation, too. She’d somehow managed to get dressed and held a towel to the puncture wounds, but blood had soaked through her shirt and the towel and the sight made her nauseous. Her emotions were a tangled mess, too. She couldn’t stop crying—not because of the pain, although it was still excruciating, but more from shame and betrayal. Why had he bitten her? She had trusted him, given herself to him, and he’d turned savage. Had she somehow angered him? Surely tearing a hunk out of her shoulder wasn’t what he meant when he said wolves were rough when they had sex. Or was that the ‘marking’ she’d heard them talk about? Was this why he’d been so afraid to have sex with her?

Maybe so, but why had he just abandoned her afterward? He’d walked out the door while she’d been huddled naked and bleeding and he hadn’t returned. Even as she swore she’d never forgive him for this, her lovesick heart kept waiting for him to return and explain himself. But he hadn’t.

A tap sounded on the door.

She froze. Ben wouldn’t knock. Who could it be?

“Ashley? It’s Zolla. Ben sent me over to help you. Can you let me in?”

He sent Zolla? She felt queasy. She didn’t even merit him coming himself? She stood up from where she’d been sitting on the edge of the bed and wobbled over to open the door.

Zolla took in the bloodied towel without surprise. He stepped through the door and closed it quickly behind him. Pulling out a chair, he pointed at it. “May I look at your wounds?”

“Where’s Ben?” she asked as she found her way to the indicated chair.

“He went after Jack.”

That made her even angrier. Clearly, she meant nothing to him—he’d pawned her off on his friend while he went for revenge. It seemed he had only been keeping her around to make the trade with his laptop. She’d been a fool to think he had any feelings for her.

Zolla tore her shirt open at the neckline to expose her shoulder.

“Hey,” she protested. “You could’ve just asked me to take it off. This is the only shirt I have at the moment, you know.”

“Yeah, I’m not going to answer to Ben for having your shirt off,” he muttered.

“Ben has no claim on me,” she said bitterly.

Zolla raised his eyebrows and pursed his lips as if to show he disagreed, but wasn’t going to argue. He inspected the punctures in her skin and then walked to the bathroom where he wet a washcloth in the sink. When he returned, he cleaned the wounds.

She drew a breath. “Why did he do this to me? Is… is this what wolves do when they have sex?”

“No. He marked you. Do you know what that means?”

She shook her head, then stopped, wincing as the pain shot across her trapezius muscle.

“I don’t think he meant to do it, but his instinct probably took over. It means he’s chosen you as his mate. When a shifter male marks his mate, a special secretion coats his teeth. You probably feel a little drugged right now?”

“Yeah,” she said.

“The secretion is embedded in your flesh and his scent remains permanently, telling other wolves you are taken by him.”

A flood of indignation soaked through her. How dare he permanently mark her? She would be scarred for life and he hadn’t even asked first. And then he’d just walked out on her and sent Zolla over like she was some mess someone else had to clean up.

“This is bullshit,” she said, twisting to glare at Zolla, as if it was his fault his pack mate was an asshole. “He just bites a chunk out of my shoulder and then disappears and sends you to clean it up? Can you get his scent out of me, because I am sure as hell not sticking around for this kind of treatment.”

Zolla had leaned in close to inspect the marks under her collarbone. “Ashley… do you always heal this fast?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” She stood up and walked to the bathroom to look in the mirror. The gashes that had been so horrible forty-five minutes before had mostly closed, the bleeding stopped.

“I don’t know,” she said. “Is this fast?”

Zolla waited for her to return. “Yes. Most humans would require multiple stitches and would still be bleeding freely, but your blood has already coagulated and the flesh is sticking together as if this wound were a day old, instead of an hour.”

She touched her shoulder, trying to understand what he was telling her.

“Do you have any shifter blood in the family?”

She gaped at him. “You mean…?” Her mind raced, instantly arriving on Grandma Jane, who had given birth to her dad out of wedlock. It had been a scandalous family secret, and her father had been raised believing Abe Bell, his stepfather, was his real father until he saw his own birth certificate when he went off to college. The line for father had been filled in as ‘unknown.’ He’d confronted his mother and she’d refused to tell him anything, other than that Abe Bell loved him as his own and that was all that mattered.

Had Grandma Jane had a fling with a shifter?

Ashley considered how her father had always bragged that neither he nor his daughters ever got sick. It was true, their mother had her share of colds and flus, but Ashley and Melissa rarely caught anything, and when they did, it was mild in comparison to other people’s.

“Maybe I do heal fast,” she said slowly, remembering times when she or Melissa thought they’d sprained something only to have the swelling and pain be gone by morning. “I think I just always thought I was lucky.”

“It would explain Ben’s fascination with you.”

She narrowed her eyes. “What do you mean?”

He waved his hands as if to ward off her temper. “I didn’t mean any offense by that. You’re gorgeous and smart, anyone can see that, it’s just that alphas don’t usually choose humans as their mates. Biology would demand they choose the strongest or most suitable female for breeding.”

She sniffed, her anger with Ben returning full force.

“Listen… it’s none of my business, but—” He broke off when she whirled to glare at him.

“What?” she demanded.

“Just—don’t be too hard on him. He looked about as miserable as I’ve ever seen him this morning. I don’t think he meant to hurt you and I know he felt terrible about it.”

Some of her anger lessened, which for some reason made her feel weepy. She drew in several breaths to get control. “Well, why in the hell did he leave?”

Zolla shrugged. “I don’t know. My sense is that he carries around a lot of guilt—something to do with Leon’s death. He feels responsible for some reason. And I think hurting someone else he loved just made him tuck tail and run.”

Hearing that Zolla believed Ben loved her made her nose burn. She rubbed it.

“Honestly, Ashley. I know he didn’t mean to hurt you.”

She looked away to hide the emotion in her face.

His phone rang and he answered it. “How’d it go?” He listened for a moment. “Do you need cleanup?”

She strained her ears to hear the other person talking, wondering if it was Ben.

Her question was answered with Zolla’s next reply. “She’s okay. No major arteries, the wounds are healing well… No, she won’t need to see a doctor, unless she wants to.” He raised his eyebrows in question at her and she shook her head. “Okay.” Zolla held out the phone to her. “He wants to talk to you.”

She folded her arms across her chest and shook her head.

Zolla spoke into the phone. “Hey, man, she’s not feeling up to it, yet.” He turned away as if having a private conversation with Ben. “Give her a little time. It was a little shocking for her, that’s all.”

“A
little?
” she muttered.

Zolla hung up and turned back to her. “He thinks it’s safe for you and Melissa to return home.”

“What happened with Jack?”

“Ben took care of him. He had taken a job at Suma Games and wanted to ruin Stone and steal the code before he left.”

“What did Ben do?”

“He finished it,” he said with a finality that made her shiver. “He thinks it’s safe for you and Melissa to go home now.”

Though it was irrational, disappointment at once again being dissed by Ben sent bile into her throat. “Great,” she said in a strangled voice. “Is Mel still at your place?”

“Yeah, I’ll head back and let her know. Do you want her to call you or anything?”

“Tell her to meet me at my place,” she said, picking up her purse and fishing out the keys.

“Will do,” Zolla said, opening the door and waiting for her to go through it first.

“Thanks,” she said, turning and giving Zolla a hug.

He froze, patting her awkwardly on the back. He cleared his throat. “Uh, no problem. You shouldn’t need to put anything on that bite—no hydrogen peroxide or antibiotic. The serum will protect you from infection. Are you okay to drive or do you still feel drugged?”

“I’m okay to drive,” she said. She felt odd, but the vertigo had worn off. “Is it okay to get it wet? I could use a long shower.”

“Should be fine. Just take it easy today. Put my number in your phone and call me if you have any questions or if you feel worse. Or if you need anything.”

She entered him into her contacts and gave him a weak smile. “Thanks again, Zolla.”

“Yeah. Be kind to your wolf, Ashley. He really is sorry.”

She shrugged. “He has yet to tell me that.”
Not that she’d given him the opportunity.

She was grateful that Zolla didn’t point out that would have been impossible since she’d refused to take Ben’s call. She knew she was being somewhat irrational, but Ben’s abandonment was the clincher in a whole string of emotional shut-outs from the very beginning of their relationship.