Wicked Days with a Lone Wolf (13 page)

He shrugged and sat beside her on the bumper of the paramedic unit. “I had kind of a fucked-up childhood. I mean who didn’t, right? My dad, though, he beat my mom into the floor every day. Me too, when I got older. One time, she tried to leave and she brought granola bars and chocolate milk in her purse for me to eat. It’s still my favorite snack. Milk doesn’t keep, but the granola bars do, so when I got this house for just in case I ever cut ties with the pack, I stocked up on those bad boys.”

“They make those little boxes of milk, you know. The ones you don’t have to refrigerate. She yawned as she surveyed the damage. God, the house looked destroyed. Broken windows, door hanging off its hinges, and bullet holes in the walls for starters. “I’m sorry about your house.”

Kyle shrugged. “I’m not sure it was ever gonna work. Anyway, I have a plan C.” He pointed over beyond the melee, to where a dark-haired man in a sleeveless shirt waited with his eyes trained on Kyle.

Sherri did a double-take when she looked up. She paused, wondering if the man recognized her. He’d gained weight and muscle, along with more facial hair and added tattoos, but she knew she knew him. Hopefully he didn’t remember her.

“So you’ve, uh, become this guy’s mate? How well do you know him?” Sherri tried to keep the incredulity out of her tone, but it was hard to hide.

Kyle shrugged again. His shoulders went back, chin raised to look confident, but the indecision flashed across his face like the flashing police lights surrounding them. “Well enough. It’s not a done deal, at least not yet. He wants an answer soon and I’m running out of reasons to say no.”

Sherri looked back at the man, or whatever he was, that Kyle was potentially committing to. She’d known him briefly at the bureau as Pedro Martin. Why he was here, she wasn’t sure. Going undercover with a wolf pack, she could guess a few reasons. But mating with one of the human members? What purpose would that serve? Getting information? Establishing ties or legitimacy? Hell of a way to get the job done.

“Listen, Kyle.” She settled a hand on his knee, turning to look in his eyes. “We don’t know each other that well, and I trust you have your reasons. But please, think long and hard before agreeing to something so life-changing with someone you might not know enough about.” She squeezed his knee, willing him to get the message.

Who knew what Pedro’s motives were? She’d believed in her job at the FBI, what she did and why she did it, but Kyle could easily wind up as collateral damage if Pedro didn’t handle him carefully. When she’d been a victim of wolf-pack treachery, Kyle had helped her. She wouldn’t sell out an undercover agent, but she could do this much.

After some waiting, Kyle finally gave a short nod. “Yeah,” he said. “I’ll give that some thought.”

“It’s just...” She took a breath in the cool night air. “I know you live in a dangerous world. Trying to get out is risky. You might trade the devil you know for the devil you don’t. Okay?” She flicked her gaze over to Kyle’s intended mate and back again.

Kyle nodded again. “I see. I think.”

“Kyle, are you trying to steal my woman?” Ash appeared over Kyle’s shoulder, and Sherri nearly threw herself into his arms.

“God, I thought you would
never
be done giving your statement. Are you okay?” Sherri gripped Ash’s hand, massaging carefully. He’d had some trouble with it after shifting back.

He shook his fingers. “I’ll survive. The feeling should come back before too long.” He used his other hand to smack Kyle on the shoulder. “You really came through for us. Thanks.”

Kyle shook his head. “Whatever you might think, I’ll always help you guys.” He smiled and waved across the swarm of people. Probably to his intended... or whatever Pedro was. “I better go. Glad it all worked out.”

He and Jett passed as Kyle walked away, and Sherri wondered if they might maul each other. In a good way or a bad way, she couldn’t tell. Under the flashing lights, the look that passed between them certainly meant something.

“Huh.” Ash huffed beside her.

“Hmm?”

Ash shrugged a shoulder. “Forever ago, we shut his old man’s business down. Dude was running guns for us, taking an unauthorized cut of the profits. We rolled in to teach his old man a lesson and took Kyle on credit, if you will. Mostly as a scare tactic, not that I’m proud I was involved in that shit. Woulda let him go after a few days, but Kyle stayed. Always thought it was weird. Never expected I might start to like the kid.”

Sherri smiled when Jett came over. “Everything okay?”

Jett nodded, glancing back toward Kyle once more. “Yeah. You guys are free to go.” He nodded to Sherri. “Your ex is being held at the hospital, they’ll transport him once he’s stable. Your friend Lisa had to go with him, but she said you have the okay to go and say goodbye if you want to.”

Sherri’s eyes drifted closed. “I want to see Lisa. She pulled out all the stops to help us. So many people did. I want to at least say goodbye. But Ryan? After everything he’s put me through, I don’t know.”

Ash’s arm slid around her. “He shot someone he loved to save me. That’s huge, Sherri. I think it deserves at least a ‘good luck in prison.’”

“Hmm.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “You’re right.”

Still standing in front of them, Jett shifted awkwardly. “I can give you guys a ride over, whenever you’re ready.”

As they headed for Jett’s cruiser, the unmistakable growl of a chopper starting up got everyone’s attention. Sherri watched as her old academy acquaintance climbed on, Kyle climbed on behind, and Jett broke the pen in his hand.

“Jett,” Sherri said as they got in the car. “I don’t know what there is between you and Kyle, but it would be good if you talked to him. I’m not convinced that guy has good intentions.”

Jett jumped in the driver’s seat and gave Sherri a stern look. “And you think I do?”

“I think you must have some history. You look at him like he’s a person. That guy looks at him like a meal ticket. I know Pedro, okay? I shouldn’t tell you that, and you can’t tell Kyle because it could put him in danger, but Pedro had a reputation for getting things done at any cost once upon a time.”

Ash slid in next to Sherri, and both she and Jett went silent. “There something you’re not telling me.”

“Yes. Sorry.”

“A wolf has to trust his mate,” Ash whispered in her ear.

Heart thumping, Sherri turned her head. “Is that what we are?”

“It’s what I’d like to think we’re moving towards. You tell me.”

Jett cleared his throat. “Uh, Sherri. Listen. Have you given any more thought to applying for a position on the force?”

She sighed against Ash. “I don’t know. I still want to make a difference—like I wanted when I was a kid, but I keep wondering if law enforcement is the right fit for me. How do you do it, reconcile working as a cop when it’s still so anti-
were?
”

Jett grunted and started the car. “Depending on what you decide, Zoe’s gonna need some help. There’s, uh, insufficient evidence to charge her with anything related to that body you found. Eyewitness accounts indicate that she helped some children the dead guy was smuggling over the border, but that’s all we have. Meantime, we need to keep her on lockdown from the pack. She’ll be staying with Parker, but he can’t watch her around the clock. Maybe you’d be up for some security work?”

Huh. It didn’t pass her notice that Jett hadn’t answered her question. “I’ll consider the idea. Thank you.”

Jett nodded. “I’ll consider what you said, also.”

K
yle spun in the center of his busted house, drawing his 9mm when the floorboard creaked. A black wolf with golden eyes stood in the doorway, framed by the bright moonlight. The creature’s fur stuck out in all directions, as if it had had an even shittier night than Kyle had. Its fangs bared in a threatening snarl.

“You look even rougher than I do, man,” Kyle laid his weapon on the kitchen counter. “You shouldn’t be here.”

The
were
howled before shuddering and stretching forward, dark hair and long legs turning into golden skin and the man Kyle knew as Jett—Detective Hughes. Fuck it... Jett.

“You shouldn’t be here either. This is still a crime scene.”

“Everyone’s gone. It’s still my house.” He waved a hand around the room. “Piece of shit that it is.”

Jett kicked at the shot up couch. “So where’s your guy?”

“He’s not—” Well, Pete kind of
was
his guy. Kyle needed to get used to that idea, didn’t he? “The whole pack went out for a late run to soak up the harvest moon.”

Which was why Kyle had come back here to the house. He pretty much figured if there was ever a time to disappear, tonight was the night. This place was no longer a secret from Pete. Question was, could he really go? If he went, he’d be on the run forever. If he stayed...

The word “trapped” kept ringing in his head. Pete seemed okay, but something about Sherri’s warning grabbed at his gut. She’d looked awfully sure for a human who was new to their world. He didn’t know her all that well. Why would she bother warning him if it wasn’t serious?

“So. He left you, his intended mate, all by yourself? That hardly seems right.” Jett came closer, and it didn’t escape Kyle’s notice that the man was one hundred percent naked after shifting. Nothing unusual about that. They’d seen each other that way before, but tonight, after all that had happened, tension crackled in the air.

Jett’s lips brushed Kyle’s ear. “You shot those Russians, didn’t you? Ash took the blame. Self-defense. No way could Ash have gotten those guys.”

Kyle’s body shook, trying not to think about the men he’d killed. If he could section off that part of his brain, he didn’t get so crazy. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Hey. No worries.” Jett’s arm went around his back. A surprising comfort given the wall that usually stayed between them. “The report’s been filed. I don’t know anything.”

Kyle nodded. “Right. Sure.”

“I didn’t come here to get you in trouble. I came here to make sure you are okay.”

“Me? You’re barely okay yourself.” Kyle scoffed. “I’ve seen you lately. Even when it’s not a full moon, you look like you’re one bender shy of being face down in the gutter.”

Jett scowled. “That doesn’t even make sense. I don’t do drugs and I rarely drink. You know with my job, I can’t afford to lose control.”

Kyle rolled his eyes and flopped onto the shitty sofa he’d hauled in from someone’s trash. Bullet holes had the stuffing coming out now. “Maybe you should start, man. You’re so wound up, you’re gonna snap.”

“And you’ve got everything worked out? Gonna settle down with some wolf you barely know and help him run guns to Mexico?” Jett advanced again, putting them knee to knee. Which put other parts of him disarmingly close to Kyle’s face.

Kyle turned away. He refused to acknowledge Jett’s stare, or his body, or what looking at Jett
did
to him. He brushed off a whispered apology when Jett’s hand accidentally brushed one of the burns on his arm. “What the fuck do you care, anyway?”

Jett’s knee landed between Kyle’s spread thighs. One hand came to Kyle’s cheek, forcing the two of them to make eye contact. “I care about you,” Jett murmured. “I’ve known you since you were a kid. I do care.”

You seem to think I’m still a kid.
“There’s not much choice for me.”

“There’s always a choice.”

“Yeah.” Kyle waved his hand toward the ceiling. “I can leave tonight while the moon is high, and if I never come back again, maybe I’ll get lucky and stay alive.”

Jett looked pissed, and Kyle couldn’t imagine why. Wasn’t like
he
was the one stuck between a rock and boy-does-this-shit-suck. “Isn’t disappearing better than committing your life to a stranger? At least you’d be free.”

Kyle shook his head. The need to move pounded through him. Too bad there was a massive shifter between his legs. “How do I even know? I’ve never been free. I was under my father’s thumb, then I was under Ramon’s because it sucked less and because you were there. If I run, I’m not free. I’m only stuck in a strange place, looking over my shoulder.”

Jett’s mouth dropped open, one hand tightening behind Kyle’s neck. “What did it matter if I was there?”

Of course, that would be the slip of the tongue that Jett picked up on Kyle groaned. “Come on, you didn’t know? It was never about being hot for guys with fur. You pulled me off the floor that day. You looked in my eyes and promised I was safe. It was about you, Jett. It’s always been about you.”

“Jesus. You were a teenager. A human kid. I couldn’t afford to think of you that way.” Jett braced one arm on the sofa behind Kyle’s head, scratching at something behind his ear. Whether Jett meant it or not, it caused them to lean closer together. “I still can’t. For fuck’s sake...”

“I’m not a child anymore,” Kyle said. He lifted his chin, meaning to enforce the confidence of his words, but it brought his lips awfully close to those of the man in front of him.

Jett’s lips brushed his. Not a kiss, but more of a tease. Or a taste. “I can see you’re not. Which is why you need to be damned sure about this decision you’re making. Taking a mate is serious business, especially for you as a human pack member. You’re better than calling yourself some guy’s property, Kyle.”

Kyle sighed. “The idea of spending my life with no home and a target on my back makes me sick.”

Another brush of Jett’s lips. “Giving yourself to a stranger doesn’t? Promise me you won’t do this thing with Pete. It isn’t right.”

Heat sparked in Kyle’s belly. He gripped Jett’s hips, frustrated and frantic for something to cling to. “I don’t understand this. You’ve strung me along for the better part of a decade. Why do you give a shit now?”

Jett’s low growl vibrated against Kyle’s throat. “I always gave a shit. I couldn’t— You know I needed to stay away from the pack. You’re a human. You’re young. I couldn’t promise you anything.”

Even as he spoke, his overgrown stubble scraped along Kyle’s jaw. His hips nudged a growing erection against Kyle’s hip. Chills raced over Kyle’s skin as need and anger and fear braided themselves through his nerves and bloodstream.