My Sister Is A Werewolf

CHAPTER 22

Jensen wasn’t sure of that, but when he looked in Elizabeth’s beautiful eyes, he wanted to believe it. For her as much as for Katie, he wanted to believe.

He nodded slightly, and she pressed her lips softly to his, a whispering, sweet kiss.

When they parted, they just stared at each other, both of them visibly shaken. But even as painful as it had been for him to tell her about Katie, he did feel somehow purged. Elizabeth now knew him. She understood.

And he wanted to know her. Whatever she was hiding, and he knew she was hiding something. She had been from the moment they met.

He offered her a weak smile. “You are squishing your food.” He gestured to the tray she still had on her lap. They’d gotten butter from the toast and a bit of egg on the sheets, but overall the meal still looked edible.

“You try and eat,” he told her. “I’m going to go down and get a cup of coffee.” He needed a moment to gather himself after that. And to figure out how to get her to talk in the same candid way.

He looked at Elizabeth, also realizing half the reason he was so shaken was because he loved her. He loved her madly. He needed a moment to deal with exactly how much.

“Do you want some?”

Elizabeth shook her head.

“I’ll be right back.”

She nodded, and again he noticed her eyes looked a little glassy from tears. He should stay, he realized, but he just needed a moment.

He glanced at her again, then left the room.

Elizabeth set aside the tray and scrambled as quietly as she could from the bed. She had to save Jensen. She had to stop Brody. And she only had two choices. She had to contact her old pack-they could control Brody. And she had to pray that Dr. Fowler had figured out her serum. That was the only way to free herself.

She crept over to Jensen’s door and locked it. Then she tiptoed to the window, and carefully and quietly pulled it open. Looking out, she gauged that she could easily climb out onto the porch roof and then jump. At least she could in her wolf form.

She pulled in a deep breath. Then she willed herself to shift. She made a slight growl as her cells snapped and reformed. As her joints popped and reshifted.

Once in her wolf form, she paused, listening for Jensen or Granddad. She could hear them in the kitchen, although she didn’t listen to what they said. No time to eavesdrop.

She leapt through the window out onto the roof, then jumped down to the ground, her thick wolf muscles and bones easily taking the jar of hitting the ground. Without looking back at the house, she ran for the woods. She knew Jensen would come looking for her, but hopefully, by the time he did, she’d have contacted those she needed to. And maybe, just maybe, the serum could cure her.

Brody growled, the sound rough and raw. But goddamn he hurt. Between the two bullets still lodged in him, one in his side and the other in his shoulder, and the stab wound that was nearly healed but just pissed him off, he was a hurting unit.

He lay in the far stall of Elizabeth’s barn, where he planned to wait until that stupid bitch returned. And she would have to eventually.

He needed to get these bullets out of him. The lead was making him weaker. But he couldn’t leave now-not that he had anywhere to go. He couldn’t go back to the pack. Not without her. He was taking her back.

And then, once the pack saw he deserved their respect, he was going to kill the bitch.

She’d long since lost her usefulness, anyway. In fact, given her current state, she was a damned detriment.

He licked his wounds as well as he could. Oh yeah, she was going to die. And he still planned to kill her real mate, too.

Jensen knocked on the door to his bedroom for the third time.

“Elizabeth?” He tried the door handle again. It was definitely locked. He jiggled the handle. “Elizabeth?”

Worry twisted in his chest. Had she tried to get dressed or something and passed out?

He paused, debating what to do, when suddenly he was hit with an absolute certainty that she was gone.

He tilted his head, wondering at the strange knowledge. But it was a certainty. No doubt about it.

Without another thought, he shouldered the door open, the wood cracking loudly under his blow.

Even though he already knew what he would find, his gaze went from the empty bed to the open window. The blue tie-back curtains fluttered in the breeze, the only traces of Elizabeth her faint scent on the sheets.

Elizabeth ran up the stairs to her bedroom. She threw open the door to her closet, rooting through the darkness until she found a large knapsack. It was times like this when having only a motorcycle to ride was a real hindrance.

She unzipped the canvas sack, debating if she would have enough room for everything she needed to bring. After a second, she realized she was just going to have to make it work.

Slinging the empty bag over her shoulder, she rushed back down the steps. She checked her messages, praying Dr. Fowler had called. No.

She grabbed her cell phone and dashed out the front door. The sun had gone down quickly, casting the yard in an eerie grayness, not quite light and not quite dark.

She picked up her speed, realizing that it wouldn’t take Jensen long to figure out she was gone and where she’d come. In fact, she was shocked he wasn’t here yet. Truck almost always beat four paws.

But he hadn’t been here, she could sense that. Tugging open the barn door, she didn’t bother with the overhead light and hurried right to her makeshift lab.

As she reached for the flap of plastic, she paused. Something wasn’t right. She glanced around, her eyes adjusting easily to the darkness. She lifted her nose, breathing in deeply. All the scents were normal. Old, moldy hay, weathered wood, musty…

Then she paused. There was no musky scent of the skunk. No smell of the owls.

She looked up to the rafters. The owls were gone. What did that mean?

“Well, hey, Lizzie.”

Elizabeth spun to see a dark figure lumbering toward her, the movements unnatural, awkward. But she recognized the voice. She tried to focus, realizing her best bet was to shift.

But before she could change, Brody was on top of her, his weight driving away both her focus and her breath. She tried to struggle, but his sheer size made it virtually impossible, even with her preternatural strength.

“There’s no point fighting,” he said, his breath hot on her face. “But if it’s a fight you want… ”

The last thing she remembered was a thundering blow to the side of her face.