Out Of The Shadows (17 page)

“Please, let her go,” he said. “She’s scared.”

“How can I? I can’t let you turn her into a creature like you, but I know how to protect her. I just have to kill you and then she can come home with me. I read all about it—once you are dead, she’ll be released from your curse.”

Jai sighed. That was bullshit; why the hell couldn’t Nick have got his tranquiliser information from the same place he found that load of rubbish?

“Sasha was right, you are a fucking loon,” a voice announced from the doorway.

Both Nick and Pete turned, Nick aiming the rifle at him, but Dane stood his ground.

“I told you what would happen if you messed with me and mine, Nick.”

Nick glanced back at Sasha. “She’ll be fine; I’m saving her. You don’t know what he is.” He paused. “You shouldn’t have let her go off with him. He’s turned her into a monster like him.”

Dane tried to go to his sister and Jai but the other man stopped him.

“They are with me,” he told Nick. “I want you to give them back. I would also appreciate it if you’d tell your friend to stop looking at my sister like that because if he so much as lays a finger on her, I’m going to have to hurt him.”

Pete took a step away, seeing the nasty gleam in Dane’s eye as he spoke. He nodded at Nick in silent conversation.

“If I let you take her with you, you can keep her safe until this is over, until he’s dead.”

“I want Jai as well,” he said as Sasha got to her feet and scurried to her brother.

Nick frowned. “No. She’s family so I’ll let you take her but not him.”

“Well you’ll have to keep two hostages then,” he said.

Sasha nodded. She still looked scared but she wasn’t leaving her brother or Jai behind. “Three,” she said.

“I’m not leaving without him,” Dane said, “and you’re going to have a fight on your hands if you don’t hand him over. You have no idea what I could do to you.”

Nick’s partner in crime frowned, confused.

“If it was my sister who was fucking a thing like him, I wouldn’t try so hard to save him,” Pete said.

“He’s not my boyfriend, you moron!” she snapped. “I told you that before.”

Nick’s confusion would have been comical if not for the seriousness of the situation. He shook his head slowly.

“You moved into his house. I saw you with him, I
heard
you with him.”

“I moved in because he had a spare room and he let me stay there.” Sasha's expression turned to disgust. “Hang on—you were spying on us?”

* * * *

“Obviously not very well,” Dane added. “She isn’t with him, I am.” He sighed. “Let me spell it out for you, Nicky. Jai is my boyfriend.
I’m
the one sleeping with him, not Sasha. Jeez, you really are as dumb as you look.”

Nick’s brow furrowed and he shook his head. “No,” he said decisively. “You’re lying.” He turned and, in one swift move, swung the rifle from his shoulder and into his hands, levelled it at Jai, and fired.

Dane could smell the blood mixing with the gunpowder in the air, seeing the red stain growing on Jai’s shoulder. It wasn’t a kill shot, due to the fact that Jai had tried to dodge it, but it was clear that Jai was in agony by his ragged breathing and the lines across his forehead. Dane turned on Nick, knowing that his eyes had shifted and his canines elongated into fangs.

“You’re going to die for that,” Dane growled. He saw Pete make a move toward him and bared his teeth, lashing out. His fingernails lengthened into claws, slashing tracks across the man’s chest. Pete swore loudly as his skin tore and, one hand clutched to his chest, pulled a pocket knife out of his jacket. Flicking the blade open, he lunged at Dane.

“Dane, behind you!”

Dane turned, managing to dodge the blade, and saw Nick raising his rifle. Suddenly, Dex stepped out of the shadows behind him, wrenching Nick’s wrist hard enough that Dane heard the sickening crack of bones. Nick howled in pain and dropped to his knees, clutching his wrist, the gun forgotten.

“See to Jai,” Dane told his sister, turning his attention back on Pete. He flexed his claws as he reached out and clenched his hand around Pete’s throat. The man made a feeble attempt to fight him off but Dane was stronger, much stronger. With barely any effort, he threw Pete across the room, seeing him hit the far wall and land in an unconscious heap on the floor. Dex took out a mobile phone to call the police, but before he could even dial, Pete struggled to his feet, then grabbed Nick’s arm and began dragging him toward the door, ignoring the man’s yells of pain. Nick cradled his broken wrist to him as he fled. Dane and Dex began to go after them but Sasha called to them.

“Dane, there’s something wrong.”

Dane heard the panic in Sasha's voice and hurried over to kneel before Jai, abandoning the chase. Brushing Jai’s hair away from his face, he tilted Jai’s face up to look at him. He was too pale; his werewolf genetics should have healed whatever injuries he had sustained by now but, if anything, he looked worse than he had only minutes before.

“The wound isn’t healing,” she said.

Getting up to grab the rifle, she removed the remaining bullets, swearing creatively as she held one up. “Silver.” Looking around, she went to pick up Pete’s pocket knife. “We need to get that bullet out of him or it’s going to make him sick.”

She knelt down next to him again, gripping the knife tightly. Her hand trembled as she positioned it over the wound on Jai’s chest and she took a couple of deep breaths, trying again. The blade wobbled and she just couldn’t steady it.

“I can’t,” she said, shaking her head. She thrust the knife into her brother’s hand and stood up, going to stand by the wall. “I’m sorry, Dane.”

Dane knew how she felt. The mere thought of causing his mate any more pain than he was already suffering brought him out in a cold sweat, but he also knew that he had no choice. If they didn’t get the silver out of Jai, then he would die. Silver poisoning in a were was a slow and painful process and there was no way he could lose Jai that way.

“Jai, I have to get the bullet out,” he said, touching his palm to his mate’s cheek. “I know this is going to hurt.” He forced a smile. “I promise I’ll do this as quickly as I can.”

Jai blinked at him, the edge of his mouth curving upwards. “Just get it over with. Ow! Fucking hell that hurts!”

Dane had to tune out Jai’s pained cries as he cut deeper into the flesh, digging inexpertly until he found the bullet. Once it was tossed aside, he pressed a makeshift bandage to the wound and gathered Jai up into his arms.

“Are you sure you’re not in pain? Can I get you anything?”

Jai sighed. “For the fiftieth time, babe, I’m fine.”

It was bad for a while. The silver had gotten into his bloodstream, making the first few hours a nightmare, and Jai spent the rest of the day feeling sick to his stomach, tremors racking his body.

“I’m annoying you, aren’t I?” Dane signed. “I’m sorry. I just can’t stand the fact that you’ve been hurt because of me and my family. I should never have got you involved.”

“I like that you’re worried about me,” Jai told him, “but this isn’t your fault. Can you hand me my jacket?”

Frowning, Dane handed over the leather jacket from the chair next to him. “Why?”

“Because we’re going out.”

Since Dane wouldn’t let him go near the office, even if he promised not to work, and he didn’t want to go and sit at home again, Jai had to think of something else to do.

“I want to go for a run,” Jai said.

* * * *

Dane parked the car at the edge of the woods and they both got out, quickly stripping and leaving their clothes in the car. It felt good to be out here in the open air, hearing nothing but the birds twittering in the trees or the leaves rustling in the faint breeze. Jai took a moment to cast his gaze over his mate’s bare flesh, watching as Dane dropped to all fours and began to shift. Moments later, the wolf stood before him. It cocked its head to one side and Jai could have sworn it smiled, right before it moved closer. Jai felt the soft brush of fur as the wolf pressed against his leg, rubbing against him as a cat would. Jai laughed as a canine nose nuzzled him.

“Much as I love you,” he said, “that is not going to happen. Kinky little sod.”

Dane whimpered softly and looked ready to try again, when suddenly the wolf’s ears pricked and his attention was turned to something behind Jai. Before Jai could even turn, the huge wolf positioned itself in front of him, snarling, teeth bared.

“There’s no one here to rescue you this time,” a voice said as Nick stepped out from around the car and came toward them, taking out a kitchen knife from under his jacket. “I waited for you to leave and you came here. There’s no one to help you, no one here to stop me getting rid of you. They’ll thank me,” he said. “You’re monsters.”

Jai put his hand down to the wolf, to stop Dane snarling. The wolf quietened, but Jai could feel that he was still tense, ready. Nick must have been watching the house, waiting for them to leave so that he could follow them. He was just glad that Sasha had decided to stay with one of her friends from work for a while. At least he hadn’t known where she was.

“No, we’re not. We aren’t the ones who hit a defenceless woman, or who kidnapped two people. Or who shot someone,” he said.

Nick shook his head emphatically. “No; I did what was right to protect her.”

He raised the shotgun but Dane was faster. He pounced at Nick, knocking the gun from his hands and sinking his teeth into Nick’s arm. Nick fell sprawling into the grass, frantically hitting at Dane to get him away, trying to struggle to his feet again. He was never going to stop, Jai realised. He would keep coming after them, targeting them, no matter what happened to him. A jail cell or a psychiatric ward would only hold him for so long and eventually, he would be free to start all over again. His personal crusade put the entire pack in jeopardy, risking their exposure to the human population.

He was a risk that they could not allow to continue.

* * * *

An hour later, Jai pulled Dane under the shower spray and let the warm water cascade over both of them. They had called Michael, and the Alpha had arranged for Nick’s body to disappear somewhere they would never need to worry about him being discovered. The police would just think that he ran away and, after his trail went cold, they would close the case and he would be forgotten. At least he would by the police; some memories would take longer to fade.

Jai could feel Dane shaking as he held him, see the pain in his eyes.

“You did what you had to,” he told his mate. “You had no choice.”

Dane sighed. “It doesn’t feel like it.”

* * * *

He let Jai wash him down, rinsing away the traces and smells of blood on his skin. His mum had made the journey up here as soon as she heard about the incident, scolding Dane for not telling her sooner. She had booked into a nearby hotel so that she could visit with him. He was supposed to be meeting her in a few hours, along with Sasha, but he really didn’t want to spend his evening pretending that everything was perfect, playing happy families.

In the end, he called his mum and said that he wouldn’t be able to make it to dinner, but all that achieved was that they arrived at Jai’s house ten minutes after his call.

It was foolish, but he still had that tiny glimmer of hope when he saw her come into the room, let in by Sasha, that he would be here, too. He felt his hopes dashed when there was no sign of his dad.

“I’ll make some tea,” Dee announced, heading for the kitchen to begin the age old tradition. No matter what the problem, or what the crisis, you would always feel better after a cup of tea.

Dane was about to go and help when he heard someone clear their throat behind him.

“Dad?”

Gil edged further into the room, looking uneasy. “I wasn’t sure if I would be welcome.”

Dane smiled. “Of course you are; you always will be.” He led his dad off to sit down in living room, Jai following them. He knew that this was hard for his dad and, tempting as it was, it would be cruel to make him go through it in front of everyone.

“Look, I’m never going to be at ease with the fact that you have a, um, male mate,” his dad said, as though the word would bite him, “but you are still my son. I might have overreacted when you first told me—it would have been nice to be able to have time to adjust before I came here.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier,” Dane said. “To be honest, I was scared of how you’d react. I tried to tell you when you first arrived, before you walked in on us, but I couldn’t. I panicked. That’s why I ran.”

His dad shook his head sadly. “I can’t believe that I made you so scared of me.” He turned to Jai. “I wish to apologise to you also. I should not have taken out my frustrations on you, and I should not have called you many of the things I did.”

Jai nodded. “Apology accepted. I know you don’t approve of us, well me, but I’m not going walk away. As uncomfortable as this is for you to hear, I love Dane.”

“How long has this been going on?” his dad asked, still looking uneasy, but he was trying.

“About three months,” Dane told him, “if you mean, how long have I been with Jai. Or did you mean, how long have I known I was gay?”

His dad nodded.

“A lot longer. I just hadn’t really been able to admit it until Jai and I got together.”

“And I never knew.”

Dane shook his head, seeing his dad glance at Jai.

“I’m trying to understand, really I am,” Gil insisted. “What do your family think about this?”

Jai shrugged his shoulders. “I don’t really have much family, apart from the pack. The guard are fine with it; Ret, the guard Captain, is mated to a man named Andy.”

A noise from the kitchen made them all look up. Jai touched Dane on the arm.

“Why don’t you go back and give your mum a hand with the tea since you know where everything is?” he said.

Dane frowned for a second, then nodded, reluctant to leave his boyfriend and his dad alone but assuming that Jai knew what he was doing. He left.