Laurie's Wolves (21 page)

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Mary’s nerves ate a hole in her stomach. She hadn’t eaten for two days. Bile rose into her throat at the thought of eating.

She shifted in her seat as the members of the Church on the Hill gathered in the sanctuary. Sweat formed on her brow.

You can do this
. She squirmed a bit. How the hell had her life gotten to this point? She still wasn’t sure what God would want from her. She had prayed, a lot, for hours.

She closed her eyes and pleaded with God again.
Please, Lord, help me see the way
…

She had to follow her gut, and her gut told her these people had crossed the line. It was one thing to be racist. It was another to plot injury or death. And she feared the members of her church were about to do just that. They’d gotten out of control.

The group meeting tonight included about two dozen people—those who had volunteered to be members of the committee whose sole purpose was to run the Masters out of town. Just knowing she was faking like she would ever be a part of something this covert made Mary cringe.

“Let’s take our seats, folks,” Pastor Edmund said. “We need to keep this meeting brief and get home before the weather gets any worse. The snow is really coming down out there.” He chuckled.

Mary swallowed her discomfort and tried to sit still. Her leg kept bobbing up and down.

“Word has it that the newcomer to our community, Laurie Hamilton, is a witch.”

Several people gasped.

Mary froze.
What?

“Do you mean like Wiccan? Crescent moons and all that?” Brock asked.

Edmund shook his head. “No. I mean a witch. Satan’s minion. Perhaps she was sent here to test us. She has powers. She is responsible for the weird weather we’re having. Strange phenomena occur in her presence.”

Mary gasped. She couldn’t stop herself. And she wasn’t the only one.

Several ladies from the church stared at the pastor with their eyes wide and their mouths hanging open.

Seriously? These people actually believed the woman was sent by Satan?

“Stranger things have happened. God has sent us a test. He is watching us to see how we respond. We cannot allow this woman to threaten our way of life. I’ve been in this town all of my seventy-two years. My parents were married here and are buried in the church cemetery.”

He slammed a hand down on the pulpit, and everyone flinched. “If Satan has sent us a test, we must accept the challenge with our eyes wide open. We must eradicate the horror of this woman from our lives.”

The man named Brock raised a tentative hand and then spoke. He looked to be about twenty-five, and Mary knew he worked at the ski resort. “Sir, I met Laurie last week at the lodge on the slopes. She didn’t seem supernatural to me.”

Pastor Edmund stared at Brock for a few moments and then chuckled sardonically. “Of course she didn’t. When God sends a wench to test our faith, he puts her in a very nice package. She’s meant to fool us.” His voice grew stronger and serious. “She’s not what she seems.”

Brock nodded, but he didn’t look convinced. In fact his brow was raised, widening his eyes as if perhaps he found Edmund’s words to be preposterous instead of reasonable.

At least someone in the room was less cracked than the others.

“What do you propose we do?” Ada asked her husband.

“We need to beat her at her own game. We need to send someone strong-willed to lure her into a different kind of web.”

Florence laughed, her cackle making the hairs on the back of Mary’s neck stand on end. “That floozy would probably fall for anything. We need to send a man and get her to fall for him. If she was sent by Satan, she undoubtedly thrives on fornication. Anyone will do.”

“That would explain why she keeps company with two men. She constantly needs to draw from their essence. Suck the life blood out of them.” Pastor Edmund thumped the Bible in front of him. “We must stop her.”

Brock jumped to his feet. “You think she’s a vampire?”

Edmund rolled his eyes. “No. That was just an expression. Of course she isn’t a vampire. She’s a whore, someone whose power increases each time she fornicates.”

Mary almost laughed. She found it comical Edmund would scoff at the idea Laurie was a vampire, and yet he believed her to be a witch sent by Satan to screw every man in town and turn them to evil.

Nothing about any face in the room was funny, however. These people all believed Pastor Edmund as if he spoke straight from the gospel. They were a strange group—seemingly brainwashed. And Mary had been under the same spell most of her life too, but she had shaken herself free of this intolerance the moment taking lives had entered the equation.

“I’ll do it,” Brock declared.

Do what?
Mary wondered.

“What do you propose, son?” Edmund asked.

“I’ll talk to her. See what I can find out.”

Edmund tapped his fingers on the edge of the pulpit for several seconds. “It’s not a bad idea. You would need to be strong, lure her. Try to get her to believe you would sleep with her.”

“You want me to have sex with her?” Brock rubbed his hands together. He tried to feign disgust by widening his eyes in mock horror, but his lips curved upward a bit too far. He would enjoy the challenge and would not hesitate for one moment to take the woman to his bed.

The same woman who had come to Mary’s preschool just over a week ago looking for a job. Mary had liked her. She was perfectly kind and overqualified for the job.

And Mary had dissed her the next day when the women of the church coerced her to believe Laurie Hamilton was Satan’s spawn—so to speak. Now these same women seemed to actually believe this to be the case.

“No.” Edmund shook his head. “Of course not. No one’s asking you to sleep with that woman. Just lure her. Make her believe you would fornicate with her in order to prove she was sent by the devil.”

“Right. Of course. Got it.” He rubbed his hands on his jeans. “Where do you want me to approach her?”

Mary opened her mouth, not sure if she would end up kicking herself in the ass later for interjecting or not. “Probably at the resort. Since she doesn’t have a job in town, I’m betting she’ll start working for the Masters.” What Mary was really hoping for was that the church would opt for a public place so the poor woman didn’t end up getting raped by this Brock jerk who seemed ready to offer up his cock for the betterment of society.

Brock nodded. “That’s easy. I work there. I can do that.”

I’ll bet you can, Brock.

Pastor Edmund continued, “How about this weekend. And Mary, why don’t you head to the ski lodge also? See what the Masters are up to. No one would ever suspect a sweet face like yours meddling in their business.”

Mary cringed inwardly.

Great. Open mouth, insert foot.

Someone stood and headed for a side window. “Jesus, the weather looks awful.”

“We should probably adjourn.” Ada held up her cell phone. “I show widespread falling temperatures.”

A woman spoke up from behind Mary. “My husband just texted me that there’s a geyser on the main road between here and Sojourn. The water’s freezing on the concrete and making it impassable.”

Brock chuckled sardonically. “Well, thank God none of us are heading toward the reservation tonight.”

The man who had looked out the window headed toward the door at the back of the sanctuary next. “I don’t think any of us are going anywhere. The door’s frozen shut.”

It was dark when Laurie opened her eyes. She blinked several times before she realized where she was.

Zach’s condo.

And she was way too warm. Trapped in a cocoon of blankets and hot male body. She moaned, wiggling to free herself.

Zach tucked her closer, making her wince in claustrophobic frustration. Even her head was covered. She couldn’t see light because of the blankets. She had no idea if it was night or day. It was a wonder she had enough oxygen.

“Zach.” She shoved at his chest. They were face to face. Naked.

Her body came alive when she moved her legs to find one of them was between both of his. His cock was stiff and thick and lying against her thigh. Was it ever not erect?

She smiled, but then groaned as her pussy grew wetter with each inhale of his masculinity. His pheromones consumed her in the tight space.

She pushed at his chest again. “Zach,” she said louder. “Let me go.”

He wrapped his top arm around her tighter and pulled her chest against his. “Never.”

Her nipples jumped to attention at the contact with the fine hairs on his pecs. Her body aligned with his as she stretched out and arched into him against her better judgment.

Suddenly Zach went from half asleep to totally awake, flipping her onto her back and planting his body completely over hers, his cock nestled at her entrance.

She sucked in a lungful of air when her face was freed from the blankets. His weight over her body was oppressive, but she didn’t care. All she could think about was the thick length at her pussy and the way her body called out to have him fill her.

Zach grabbed both her hands and tugged them over her head.

Her breasts ached. Her nipples strained to press into his chest. She wrapped her legs around his hips and lifted off the bed.

Zach slammed into her with such force, she stopped breathing.

Her heart beat wildly. Every nerve ending in her channel came alive. From zero to one hundred in a few short moments, she came around his cock, pulsing with such force her entire frame shook. A loud moan escaped her lips.

When she finally managed to focus on her mate’s face, she found him smiling down at her. The room was totally dark. Still night. That didn’t deter her excellent vision from witnessing her mate’s expression.

“Baby, that is by far the sexiest thing I’ve ever witnessed.” His hands stroked down her arms until he held her biceps. And then he pulled out and thrust back inside her.

She gasped. Her mouth fell open and her eyes rolled back. Another orgasm built on the end of the first one. She reveled in the feeling, enjoying the clench of her body around Zach’s shaft, the throbbing of her sensitive clit, the shaking of her thighs.

Zach thrust again. His eyes fluttered shut, and his face tightened. “God, baby…” He sped up, fucking her harder.

It felt like heaven. They fit together perfectly. Fate knew what She was doing when She selected mates. She didn’t make mistakes.

Laurie arched upward again, ensuring that her clit made contact with the base of his cock with every pass. She inhaled slowly as her orgasm built until she reached the crest a second before Zach, releasing her breath on a low moan as he came right behind her.

Zach hovered above her for long moments, his face lowered, his forehead against her chin. He breathed heavily. Finally, he pulled slowly out of her body and collapsed to her side.

Before she had been hot. Now, she was on fire. She tugged her leg free of his thigh and wiggled to the edge of the bed to avoid any contact with his skin. “You’re like a furnace.”

He chuckled. “What time is it?”

She glanced at the clock. “Two.”

“We never ate dinner.”

Her stomach growled at the mention of food.

Zach lifted onto one elbow as he turned to his side. “I need to feed you.”

She nodded. “Have you heard anything from Corbin?”

He shook his head and closed his eyes. She watched his face as she listened to his call for their other mate.
“Corbin? Things going okay?”

A few seconds passed before Corbin replied.
“Not really. It’s a mess out here. Record low temps and a sheet of ice that won’t thaw until this time next year.”

“Shit. How low is the temperature?”

“Twenty below.”

“When was the last time we saw that in this area?”

“Never.”

Laurie stared at Zach. She felt a chill race up her heated skin.

“Do you need me to come get you?”

“No. I need to stay here and direct traffic. We’re taking turns diverting people. We can only stay outside a few minutes at a time, and then we have to switch.”

“Be careful,”
Laurie added. She didn’t like this. Nothing about the situation made her feel warm and fuzzy.

Zach hugged her against his body again. “You okay?”

She sighed. “I suppose. I think I’ll take a quick shower.”

He kissed her forehead. “Okay. I’ll fix something to eat.”

She crawled out of bed, sauntered to the bathroom, and flipped on the water. What was happening? Why the strange geyser? Why the lowering temps?

She wanted answers. And it didn’t work that way. All she had were warnings.

When the water had warmed sufficiently, she stepped under the spray and let it sluice over her skin. She took deep breaths, trying to calm herself.

Nothing worked. As she washed her hair and then her body, her hands shook. When she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel, she felt a heavy sensation, as though she were sick with the flu.

She leaned over to dry her legs and then righted herself. When she opened her eyes to glance in the mirror, she almost jumped out of her skin.

She spun around to face the black figure hovering near the door. It floated closer as she watched. It was fully coalesced this time. Had she missed that? Or was the spirit getting quicker to react?

It closed in on her, pressing her backward into the counter. She dropped the towel on the floor and grabbed the edges of the vanity with her fingers. “What do you want?”

She felt a sense of exasperation coming from the aura. It was stressed. Angry. Frustrated.

So was she.

Finally, it floated toward the window, seeming to glance outside, and then sucked in on itself and disappeared.

“Laurie?” The door opened, startling her.

She yanked her gaze to the entrance to the bathroom and found Zach standing there. He wore nothing but a pair of low-slung jeans. His chest and feet were bare.

His face was scrunched up in concern. “Another apparition?”

She nodded, licking her lips. She didn’t tell him what her instinct was this time.