Twilight Hunter

CHAPTER NINE

JACE AND DAVID stepped into K9’s, trailing behind Frankie. The deep red carpet squished underneath Jace’s massive leather boots, and the floor vibrated with the beat of the music. The medium-size circular room was filled with private booths surrounded by matching red drapery to obscure the view for more exclusive meetings. A slender woman with manufactured globes attached to her chest danced on a pole in the center. She slapped her thigh and slid her ass up the metal rod as she gyrated to the music. Her bleached-blond hair flipped like she was riding a wild bronco. Jace couldn’t have been more turned off.

He scanned the room, his eyes moving from face to face. Goose bumps crawled up his skin, and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He didn’t need to be a hunter to know that he was in a room full of animals.

He followed Frankie farther into the club, with David hobbling behind them with his crutch. Jace’s eyes widened as they moved deeper into the room, taking them closer to the stripper. From near the door, the ceiling looked normal, but standing in the middle of the building, he stared up at tier upon tier of seats, every floor thumping to the same stupid dance music. Didn’t anyone listen to AC/DC anymore?

His attention snapped back into the here and now as Frankie came to a sudden halt. A muscled male werewolf was rushing toward her, talking at a hundred miles an hour. A low growl rumbled in Jace’s throat. David grabbed him by the back of his shirt and pulled him back until they were out of hearing distance, courtesy of the loud music.

“Stay cool,” David mumbled. “Do you want to get us kicked out?”

Jace whipped around and half snarled into David’s ear, “That’s her boyfriend.”

David raised a single brow. “Her boyfriend?”

Jace ground his teeth together, fighting back a serious bout of jealously. Why the hell did he care? He shouldn’t be so hung up on her.

“Jace—”

David and Jace’s conversation skidded to an abrupt halt at the sound of one loud, pissed-off female.

“No!” Frankie yelled. She ripped her wrist away from the newcomer. “You’re not my keeper, Alejandro. I’m your packmaster. Alpha or not, you don’t have any authority.” She started to march away from him but stopped mid-step. “Tell the DJ to turn off the music.”

The bastard didn’t move.

“Now,” she growled.

Without another word, she climbed onto the stripper’s platform. The stripper sauntered over to her and leaned forward, ready to play up some girl-on-girl action.

Frankie glared at her and crossed her arms over her chest. “Move.”

The music stopped, filling the club with an awkward silence. A male voice with a thick Spanish accent boomed through the room.

“At this time, we’d like to request that all non-pack members leave the building. That means everyone but the pack members. Thank you.”

A collective rustle spread through the club as a few people gravitated toward the exits. Jace’s ragged breath slowed to an even pace before David released him. He was thankful his friend was there to keep him in check. They couldn’t blow this.

Frankie stood on the platform with her hands on her hips, silently waiting for everyone’s attention. Standing there, she looked like an average, even-tempered woman. But Jace had seen the fire blazing behind her eyes firsthand—a fire that would never burn out.

A crowd gathered around them as people filtered down from the upper levels. When everyone fell silent, she held her head high and dropped her arms to her sides. “I’m calling you all in, because I’m asking for pack—”

Just then her bastard boyfriend pushed to the front of the crowd. “Where were you?” he demanded.

Muttering erupted across the club. Frankie’s hand clenched into a fist, and she raised her voice over everyone else’s. She had a set of pipes.

“Alejandro, Alpha male or not, you will shut your mouth, before I have someone shut it for you.”

“But—”

“Yeah, Frankie. Where were you?” someone called as murmurs of dissatisfaction filled the room.

“Quiet.” She raised her voice again, and a hush fell over the crowd again. “I was trying to stop the killer.”

Her boyfriend let out a deep roar. “You were what?” He stomped up onto the platform and started yelling right in her face. “You didn’t have pack approval. You could have been killed.”

“I don’t need pack approval, Alejandro. I’m packmaster. I’m exempt by royal bloodline. Now. Sit. Down.” She stared him straight in the eye, challenging him for dominance as their animal instincts bubbled to the surface.

He accepted her rule for the moment and finally glanced away. He stepped down from the platform, defeated and, at least in Jace’s opinion, humiliated. She’d put the jerk in his place.

“As you all know, we’ve been searching for weeks with no results, so I decided to go looking for him on my own, and I’ve finally tracked his scent.”

“Did you kill him?” one of the pack members yelled.

“No.” A look of major impatience crossed Frankie’s face. Apparently she didn’t like interruptions. “And we have a couple of new problems. He’s escalating. He’s started killing in pairs.”

Alejandro stepped forward, chest all puffed out and looking grim-faced, as if he were ready to give someone a good beat-down. “Then we need to catch him, before he catches any more innocent women.”

Words of agreement passed through the pack.

“It’s not that easy, Alejandro,” Frankie said. “He’s strong. Stronger than normal, and there’s something...wrong with him.”

Alejandro let out an angry grumble. “Of course there is something wrong with him—he’s a cold-blooded killer.”

Frankie ignored him. “He’s not a werewolf. At least not a normal one. I’ve never seen or heard of any werewolf like him.”

The room fell so silent that Jace could hear the light breathing of the individuals around him.

“We need someone who knows what they’re doing, so I’ve brought help. Hunters.” She gestured to Jace and David. All the eyes in the room turned toward them, and a surge of adrenaline rushed through Jace’s veins. Damn, did that put the pressure on or what?

A male werewolf stepped forward, his muscles flexing. “You brought hunters into our home?” He growled so low that the hairs on the back of Jace’s neck and arms stood on end. “I said from the very beginning that a bitch should never rule our pack.” He lunged toward Frankie.

Jace pulled his gun and fired into the air. The wolf stopped in his tracks a good three feet from Frankie. Jace stepped up onto the platform, holding his Mateba like it was an extension of his arm. “Yes, I’m a hunter, and I’m fully armed.”

He strode over to the edge of the platform and pointed the barrel straight at the jerk who’d come at Frankie, then asked, his voice laced with rage, “Does anyone have a problem with that?”

No one spoke, and the would-be attacker melted back into the crowd.

“Now, I believe your packmaster was speaking to you. So pay attention.”

Jace thumped David on the back as he returned to his spot among the onlookers.

Frankie glanced at Jace almost disbelievingly, then shook her head as her determination and resolve showed in her body language again. She straightened and held her head high.

“As I was saying, this might not be a normal werewolf or even a werewolf at all. We need experts to help us. These hunters are only interested in catching this killer. They’re not here to hurt us.”

A member of the crowd stepped to the edge of the platform. “What do we need their help for? What damage can they do with their silver weapons that we can’t with our canines?”

She gestured toward Jace with her free hand. David stepped aside.

“Jace is a half-breed. He’s not allergic to silver, and he has all the strength of any normal werewolf. The killer can also withstand silver, and gunshot wounds barely faze him. Jace is the only one who stands any chance against him.”

The boyfriend shook his head. “Then why the hell did you bring him here? If he’s the perfect man for the job, why bother to notify your pack, since apparently, you don’t need our approval to do anything?”

Frankie let out a feminine, but firm, growl. “You’re right. I don’t need your permission.” She pointed a finger at Jace, while she glared at Alejandro. “But he does.” She dropped her arm back to her side. Her face screamed fury. All the bastard had to do was push her one more time, before the atomic bomb inside her went off—Jace could see it.

“Jace has never shifted. He needs to learn, and I need the pack’s approval in order to teach him.” She drew a deep breath, and he could sense her gauging their reaction. “It’s the only way. We can’t do this on our own.” The silence that followed after her words faded was deafening.

A small grunt came from the other side of the crowd. A small woman with a long mop of curly auburn hair emerged, shoving through the sea of people. “I vote yes. If Frankie thinks he’s our only chance, then I trust her.” She smiled, and it practically illuminated her heart-shaped face.

Oh, shit. Jace knew that face. He’d seen it before, though only in pictures. He shot David a sideways glance. David stood paralyzed, his eyes locked on the woman. It had been years since Jace’s best friend had seen the woman he loved. Yet there she stood, plain as day. Looking exactly the same as all the pictures David ever showed him.

What the hell? She was a werewolf? Why had David never told him? At least that explained why David had been so understanding about his own mixed blood.

Allsún turned her head, and her eyes widened as they fell on David. Abruptly, she turned and pushed her way back through the crowd. David followed her as fast as he could with his injured leg.

DAVID FOUGHT DOWN the massive lump that had lodged itself in his esophagus. His stomach flipped, and the taste of vomit itched at the back of his throat. Five years. Yet there she was, waltzing into his life again and filling up what he’d grown to think was a permanent hole in his heart.

Anger clenched at his insides as pain shot through his leg. But he didn’t care, he pushed through the pain. He had to see her. She was the only one in the world who truly mattered to him.

Someone bumped into his shoulder, slowing him down. Shit. She... Oh, damn. She was bolting for the outside door. He watched as she shoved her way through the crowd and ducked underneath the arms of anyone who got in her way. She slammed the back door open and ran full speed into the alley. Despite his leg, he trailed not far behind her.

The cold night air hit him hard as he stepped outside. Allsún was here. He could smell her sweet vanilla perfume. He limped down the alley and found her sitting, eyes closed, behind a Dumpster. A small calico cat sat curled in her lap.

“Allsún? What are you doing?”

She opened her eyes and peered up into his face. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m petting my newest cat and getting my ass soaking wet from the snow.” She glanced down at the animal again.

Not bothering to take as much care as he should, David sat down in the snow beside her and ignored the sharp pain in his leg. “You shouldn’t be here,” he said. He reached out and brushed back the curls from her face. His fingers trailed across her cheekbone and down her neck, and she relaxed at his touch. “But I’m glad to see you, gorgeous.”

“You never did know when to let sleeping cats lie.” She stroked the stray feline sitting in her lap. “You never let things go.”

“What are you talking about, Allie?”

She finally looked at him. Gold starbursts encircled her pupils—a stark contrast to the green of her irises. David could spend his whole life gazing at the stars in her eyes.

“Following me here. Tracking me down after all this time.” She hoisted the cat onto her chest and stood, turning her back to him. “It’s been five years, David.”

He rested his head against the concrete wall of the alley. “One thousand, six hundred and ten days.”

She paused, then faced him. “What?”

“That’s how many days I’ve had to live without you.” He stared down at his Harley-Davidson boots. “More than four years. Almost five, but not yet.”

She gaped. “Don’t. Just don’t. Okay?”

“Don’t what?”

She squeezed the cat tighter. It let out a low-pitched grumble of a meow. “Don’t pull any of your overdone romantic lines on me. I’m not sixteen anymore,” she said. She cradled the cat and walked several feet away from him.

“They’re not lines.”

“Damn it, David. Why are you here? Why now? Why search me out now?”

He frowned. “I wasn’t searching for you.” He used his crutch for leverage and pushed himself off the ground, then followed her down the alleyway. “I didn’t know you’d be here. I’m just as floored as you are.”

“You seriously expect me to believe that?”

“It’s the truth, Allsún. I gave up looking for you a long time ago. I thought if you wanted to come back, you would.”

“You’re right. If I’d wanted to, I would have.”

He cringed. Her words stung, and he could tell she knew it. She’d always known how to cut straight to his heart.

“Let me guess, you’re here chasing demons?” Her jaw tightened into a hard line, and a sour look crossed her face.

“I’m helping the pack catch the killer who’s been ripping women to shreds.”

She rolled her eyes. “How very admirable of you.”

“I wasn’t trying to sound admirable. I’m just telling the truth, Allsún.” He followed her farther down the alleyway. The cat’s glowing yellow eyes peered over her shoulder, gleaming in the light from the street.

“You can’t blame me for thinking that. You always wanted to be the hero.”

“You know it wasn’t about that.” He shook his head. She did know that. She was just hitting him where it hurt again.

“There are a lot of things I don’t know about you, David.”

His hands clenched into fists at his sides. She could push every emotional button he had within a matter of minutes. He stared at her back. Her long curly hair cascaded over her shoulders in waves. It had only reached her chin the last time he’d seen her.

“The first time I’ve seen you in nearly five years and you’re already bringing that up?” He exhaled the breath he’d been holding and held back all his frustration. “We can’t even greet each other without arguing?”

She stroked the cat. The animal purred and pushed its face into her neck. He would have loved to nuzzle his face into that crook, run his lips over her collarbone. Silence lingered in the air, leaving a stale taste in his mouth.

“You were in there as a pack member. What are you doing mixing with the werewolves, Allsún? You’re not one of them.”

“That’s none of your business.”

“Fine. You don’t want to talk to me, I’ll leave.” He strode back toward the club, then paused at the door and clutched the handle.

“I’m with them because I needed company,” she called.

He turned around. She was standing at the end of the passage and watching him.

“I’m sure you heard my mom died,” she said.

He nodded. “I visited her, after you spread her ashes.”

Allsún sighed. “After that, I was lonely. I couldn’t find any other faeries in the area. Not even other half-bloods. The werewolves were the closest thing I could find. Frankie lets me hang with the pack. She says all supernaturals are distant cousins.”

David’s lips lifted in a half smile. He’d known Frankie wasn’t all that bad. She would be good for Jace. “That was really nice of her.”

Allsún nodded. A moment of silence passed again.

David cleared his throat. “I miss your mom.”

“Yeah, me too.”

He could hear the strain in her voice.

“I hate that she had to see us separated before she died.” He glanced at Allsún. She set the cat down on the ground. It weaved in and out of her legs before it scurried away.

She stared at him with her arms crossed over her chest. “Why would you say that?” Her voice was calm and completely flat. Anger radiated off her in waves. Her perfectly rounded hip jutted out to the side, and she tightened her soft lips into a thin line.

His cock hardened and he shifted, hoping she didn’t notice his erection. Man, she was sexy when she was angry. He wanted every inch of her. He directed his eyes to the pavement and prayed the feeling would pass. “I said it because that’s how I feel.”

“Yeah, well, you shouldn’t have said it.” She shook her head. Her voice climbed as she paced the alley. “You have no right to say that. Not after what you did.”

“What I did? You were the one who left me, Allie. Not the other way around. I loved you. I wanted to marry you.”

She stomped toward him and stabbed her finger into his face. “Don’t you dare act like none of it was your fault. You can’t play the victim with me, David. I won’t fall for it.”

Anger boiled underneath his skin. “You were so scared of hurting anyone that you left us all behind and hurt everyone anyway.”

She stepped away from him.

He regretted the words as soon as they’d left his lips. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded. What I meant was—”

“Don’t!” Her hand quivered at her side, and he could see her thoughts on her face. He almost wished she would go ahead and smack him. Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes.

“Allsún...”

Without another word she turned, and ran down the alley and out of his life again.

WHOA.

Jace shook his head, trying to forget what just happened, and focused back on Frankie. He would deal with David’s emotional baggage later.

Just as Frankie was about to speak again, someone else parted the crowd. A beefed-up male werewolf who looked like he’d been injecting steroids before he’d been weaned off the bottle stepped onto the platform.

“You can’t call for a vote, Frankie.” He held his head high and puffed out his chest. Another pack member wanting to look like a badass.

She brushed him off as if he were nothing more than a fly buzzing near her food. “Step down, Marshall.”

Marshall shook his head. A cocky grin crossed his face. “That’s packmaster to you.”

Frankie raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. She scoffed. “Excuse me?”

Marshall stepped farther onto the platform, making certain to flex his massive biceps as he went. Jace had to fight not to laugh. The asshole might as well have put a sign on his forehead that said Overcompensating.

“I’m the new packmaster,” Marshall said. “When you failed to take a mate, pack law dictated that you were no longer able to be packmaster. The title passed to Alejandro, but he refused to take a mate other than you, so he didn’t qualify. I’m next in line after him.”

Frankie laughed. “You’ve got to be kidding me, Marshall. Get over your little power trip and step aside.”

Marshall let out a low growl. “Under pack law, I am the new packmaster, and I won’t let any ex-pack leader bitch talk to me that way. And I sure as hell won’t let any hunters near my pack.”

Frankie snarled and bared her canines. “That’s where you’re wrong, Marshall. You see, Jace happens to be half-werewolf and he was there during the call. I’m not mated to any of our pack members, but I am mated to Jace.” The crowd fell silent and Jace watched Alejandro’s face fill with anger.

Jace froze. He’d slept with her and now he was mated to a werewolf? His head spun with anger at himself for not listening to her warnings that night. What the hell had he been thinking? As much as he wanted to be nothing but pissed off, though, a small sense of relief flooded him. No wonder he was so hung up on her.

Frankie continued. “So by pack law, I am still in power and if I say we’ll have hunters help us in catching this sadistic son of a bitch, then my word goes.”

Marshall cracked his knuckles. “You’ll have to fight me for the position, then.”

Frankie laughed. “Don’t make me embarrass you in front of your fellow pack members.”

Without warning, Marshall charged Frankie full speed. But her reaction time was clearly faster than he’d expected. She hit him with a spinning back-kick that collided with his face. He dropped like a sack of chemically enhanced potatoes, clutching his bloodied nose.

Before he could jump to his feet, she grabbed him by the shoulders and kneed him straight under the chin. A loud crack of fracturing bone sounded as he toppled back onto the floor. After delivering one final blow to his solar plexus, Frankie jammed her tennis shoe into his windpipe and stared him down.

The growl that ripped from her throat sent a chill down Jace’s spine, and he suddenly knew why she was packmaster.

“Fuck with me again and I will cut off your balls and feed them to you like they’re scrambled eggs.” She pushed his head to the side with her foot and turned away from him.

Marshall peeled himself off the floor, bloodied and humiliated.

Paying no further attention to the asshole, Frankie cleared her throat and addressed her pack. “As I was saying—”

Marshall ran at her from behind and lunged.

“Frankie!” Jace yelled.

She spun around just in time for Marshall to collide with her midsection. He knocked her back and tried to climb on top of her. Twisting just out of his grasp, she shot to her feet, grabbed hold of his head and chin, then wrenched them to the right. With a deafening crack, she snapped Marshall’s neck as if were a chicken bone. He crumpled to the floor, lifeless.

For several moments Frankie stood there, panting as she regained her composure. Then she rolled her shoulders, let out a long breath and turned back to the crowd. Her voice was filled with fury. “If any one of you ever tries to assume my position again, the means by which I kill you won’t be so painless.” She cleared her throat. “I am now calling for a vote on whether Jace should be allowed to shift.”

Jace stared out at the room, memorizing the members of both sides as the tension grew with each passing second. Two groups—those loyal to their packmaster and the dickweeds who wanted to fight.

Alejandro got up in Frankie’s face, and it took everything Jace had in him not to rip the bastard to shreds right then and there. “There’s no way I’ll allow it,” Alejandro said.

Frankie shoved him out of her face. “It’s not up to you, Alejandro. The whole pack needs to take a vote.”

Jace could tell by the way her hands shook that her patience was about to break.

Without another word to Frankie, Alejandro turned to stare down at Jace and glared. “If you’re as strong as we are, prove it.”

“Jace—” Frankie began.

Ignoring her, he stepped forward and gestured for her to move aside. “Frankie, don’t try and tell me I can’t do this. If they want proof, I’ll give it to them.”

“I wasn’t going to say that.” She gave him a little smile. “Just don’t kill him.”

Jace couldn’t help but smirk as he stripped off his coat and handed it to her. Rolling up his sleeves, he stepped onto the platform. The little prick dropped into a fighting stance, like he was about to go all jujitsu on his ass. It took every ounce of control Jace had to keep a straight face. Within seconds, Alejandro charged. Jace dropped to the floor and swept the other man’s feet out from under him. Alejandro toppled to the ground in a pathetic heap.

Jace shot to his feet again. “You were seriously going to try and body-slam me?” He ground his boot into the bastard’s spine. “I’m twice your fucking size.”

He lifted his foot, ready to deliver another blow. Alejandro grabbed him by the ankle and twisted, pulling Jace down onto the platform, his hand throbbing from trying to break his fall. Jace kicked out hard, and the heel of his boot collided with the moron’s nose. Blood gushed from Alejandro’s nostrils like a waterfall. Jace glanced at his foot. Damn, he really needed to clean all the dried blood off his boots.

Alejandro pinched the bridge of his nose and tilted his head back in a futile attempt to slow the bleeding. He coughed as the blood seeped into his mouth.

“You know you don’t get a break just because I busted your nose, right?” Jace hoisted himself to his feet.

Gripping Alejandro by the front of his shirt, he threw a right hook. His fist collided with Alejandro’s cheek, and he felt the familiar crunch of broken bone and damaged cartilage beneath his knuckles. Jace yanked his arm back to deliver another blow.

Sharp animal claws ripped across Jace’s face. Dropping Alejandro, he stumbled several steps backward, then touched his cheek, his fingertips finding fresh blood. The bastard had managed to half-shift, his hands covered in fur with the claws of a wolf.

“You can’t fight me without your claws, huh?” Jace stepped toward him. “Shift full form for all I care.” He plowed forward like the world’s fastest bulldozer and aimed straight for Alejandro’s center of balance.

Alejandro threw himself forward to meet the attack, shifting in midair. Jace stopped in his tracks to throw his opponent off-stride. The large black wolf growled at him, its teeth bared. Jace readied himself just as the wolf pounced. Jace’s sheer size gave him the upper hand. The two of them rolled to the floor with Jace on top. He slammed his fist into Alejandro’s furred jaw.

The wolf let out a high-pitched yelp and squirmed beneath him, fighting to be free. His canines dug into Jace’s shoulder, ripping through flesh as if it were butter.

Jace let out a cry of pain and pulled back. To hell with letting this dickhead get away with this crap. Blood poured from his shoulder, but he fought through the pain, reached down to his ankle and pulled his blade. Throwing himself on top of the wolf, he pinned the animal to the floor and pushed his blade against Alejandro’s fur-covered neck.

“Your pelt will look nice spread out on my apartment floor.” He moved to draw the blade across Alejandro’s throat.

“Jace, don’t!”

Frankie rushed over to him and pulled on his uninjured shoulder. “You’ve won, Jace. Get off him.”

For a long moment he didn’t budge, but finally he gave in to her pleas and decided to move on his own. A low groan escaped the asshole’s lips as Jace stood and stepped away.

“Greg, take care of Alejandro!” Frankie yelled, as she started to lead Jace away.

“Coward.” Alejandro’s accusation stopped Jace in his tracks. “Only a coward steals another man’s woman.”

Jace paused, then turned to face Alejandro. His eyes narrowed to thin slits. “What are you talking about?”

“Alejandro, shut your mouth,” Frankie snapped.

“She’s mine,” Alejandro hissed as if he were a venomous snake, ready to strike.

“That was a direct order!” Frankie screamed at Alejandro. Her cheeks were red with anger.

“She was mine,” Alejandro said to Jace, ignoring her. “She was promised to me. She was going to be my mate. My wife. If she’s yours now, it’s only because you were there when anyone would have done. Don’t kid yourself that she actually gives a damn about you.”

Jace met Frankie’s eyes. He didn’t need to ask. He knew the truth from the fading light in her chocolate eyes. Shit.

She latched onto his arm. “Jace, it’s not like that any—”

He plucked her hand off his bicep and stepped away. “Stop.”

“No, Jace, you don’t understand. It’s a mist—”

“You’re right. It is a mistake.” He turned to Alejandro. “Keep her. I never wanted her to begin with.” He stormed out of the club with a heavy weight on his shoulders and an empty numbness in his chest.

DAVID PRESSED HIS palms against the brick wall to support his weight. His warm breath clouded in front of his face as he exhaled raggedly. She’d been right within his reach. Inches from his grasp, but he’d lost her again. The image of her face lingered in his mind. Her green-gold eyes. Her auburn curls and full lips.

The permanent ache in his chest throbbed. All the years that had separated them had disappeared as soon as he saw her face. He let out a low groan. She was always on his mind, and she visited him in his dreams every night. He pushed off from the wall and walked down the alley. Shit, he was pathetic. Hung up on a woman who didn’t want him, a woman who’d left him with no explanation and without looking back.

I can’t see myself with you forever. Her words echoed in his head.

He punched the metal Dumpster, sending a loud bang rattling through the alley. She wasn’t even there, and still his brain had melted to mush because of her.

His hand was throbbing from the blow, and he cradled it against his chest.

ROBERT LINGERED ACROSS the street from K9’s, waiting for the opportune moment. All he needed was for someone, anyone, to come out of the club. Someone he could use to lure Frankie to him. He’d stood there, waiting in the cold, for at least half an hour. They would all have to leave eventually, he told himself. Then, as if the gods had granted him a stroke of luck, a small, curly-haired bitch emerged from the alleyway behind the club and ran down the road without looking back.

For a brief moment Robert wondered what she was running from, but then a grin spread across his face. It didn’t matter. Now she was running from him.

He followed her without hesitation, easily keeping up with her. After several blocks she slowed to a walk and then stopped to catch her breath.

She bent over and braced her hands on her knees. After a long moment she straightened and sighed. The smoky outline of her breath swirled in the air before it quickly dissipated.

A sudden gust of the northern Canadian wind hit, and she gave a visible shiver. She rubbed at her bare arms and cursed. The streetlights cast dim shadows over the empty streets. She would look so sweet on his torture rack.

She quickly reached into the rear pocket of her jeans, probably in search of her phone. Now was the time. Slowly, he approached her from behind. In seconds her phone crashed to the pavement, a spiderweb of cracks fracturing the screen as he grabbed her from behind.

She screamed and elbowed him in the gut. He grunted but ignored the temporary discomfort. Then she jammed her heel down onto his instep, grabbed his hands and swept her leg behind his. She gave a quick twist, and suddenly he was toppling to the ground as she stumbled out of his grasp. Dirty whore. He was going to enjoy ripping her to shreds. He grabbed her ankle and wrenched her down to the ground beside him.

“Hold still, you little bitch.” The heel of her shoe collided with his neck, and she twisted to see him. He saw his golden wolf eyes reflected back in hers.

He smiled. “I enjoy a woman with some fight in her.” He allowed her to move beneath him, testing her strength and resilience.

She rolled onto her back, their noses nearly touching, before she spat in his face. He recoiled slightly. She used the opportunity to pull her knees to her chest, lodge a foot against him and push. He slammed his hands into her shoulders, knocking her head into the pavement.

His silver dagger glittered in the orange light of the streetlamps as he held the blade against her windpipe. “Don’t worry. I’ll wake you before the fun starts.” He laughed and swung at her face with his free hand. The light in her eyes faded as blood gushed down her forehead.