Priceless (9 page)

I walked for over an hour, my growling stomach and the food in my bag forgotten as my mind tried to work through what I was facing. If I wasn
’
t on a salvage, I
’
d be doing everything I could to find out more about the Arcane division of the FBI. How much did they know about the supernatural world, and was any of it true? But more than that, did they even have an inkling of how ugly it would get if the big, bad, uglies of the supernatural world felt threatened? It would be one giant clusterfuck if word go
t
out about this new FBI division. It was a weight on me that only added to my concern over India. Distraction wasn
’
t a possibility, not when going after a kid. So
,
for now I would have to put it aside,
deal with it after I found her
.

With the d
ecision made on how I was going to handle at least that part of things, I headed back to the motel.

I poked my head back into the office before I went back to my room.
“
Hey
,
John. If anyone comes looking for me, dial me up first
,
would you?
”

John frowned and scratched his head under his hat before answering.
“
Ain
’
t nobody come looking for you before. You
‘
specting trouble?
”

I shrugged and bit off a piece of pepperoni.
“
Maybe. Hopefully not, I
’
ve got a long day ahead of me tomorrow and don
’
t really feel like spending the evening fight
ing off FBI agents, no matter how cute they are
.
”

His laughter followed me back out the door and I could still hear him when I got to number thirteen
—
w
here the door stood open, the lock busted, splinters of wood scattered on the floor. Dropping my meagre dinner and drawing my blade, I edged up to the door, keeping my back flat against the wall. For a good two minutes I was silent
; I
didn
’
t move, just listened. 

There was nothing, not a single heartbeat, breath, shuffle
,
or even any psychic
energy thrumming through the air
. I stepped into the room, still in a fighting stance, blade at the ready, despite what all my senses told me. I wished now I
’
d brought some of my other toys from
the Jeep. I hadn
’
t really been
thinking anyone would be gunning for me
. Not yet anyway.
No one in the supernatural community should have known that I was on the case. By tomorrow, yes, but not by tonight.
With only one large weapon between me and
hand-to-
hand fighting, I was not a happy girl, no matter how good my
hand-to-
hand was.

A quick circuit of the room showed nothing, confirming what I already knew
:
it was empty, the intruder gone. I let out a sigh. Nothing like a pile of problems to make life interesting.

Then something
fluttered to my left
.
I turned to get a closer look. The curtain had been shredded and was covered in long black hair. I recognized it
immediately
. It belonged to a
very
large and
very
determined werewolf.

Damn it all to hell and back.

I lowered my blade and felt the itch in my spine a split second too late as a hairy set of
claw-
tipped hands wrap
ped themselves around my
throat. I let out a strangled squawk,
my hands
first
going for the claws
, and then stopping to
lower
my blade.

I couldn
’
t use it, not on this one.

9

“
Gotcha!
”
A familiar rough voice growled in my ear as the hands tightened around my throat for a heartbeat before letting go. I took a deep breath and turned to see my ever faithful werewolf
,
half crouched at my feet, tongue lolling out
;
amber eyes wide and innocent,
and his
human wolf hybrid body covered in pitch black silver tipped hair.

I let out a sigh, a mixture of irritation and relief. It could have been worse
;
it could
have been
whatever had taken India on my tail, or even
O
’
Shea and Mini-Me.

“
Good job, you did it, you finally snuck up on me. But what are you doing all the way out here, so far away from home?
”
I lay my blade on the bed and folded my arms across my chest, doing my best imitation of a scolding mother and repeated my question.
“
Alex, what are you doing
s
o far from home?
”

He cringed,
his body
, stuck between
human and wolf
because he wasn
’
t strong enough,
and
never would be, to switch between forms. Only the Alphas could do that
;
only the Alphas could pass for human.
Most of the pack w
as
like Alex, unable to switch between forms. To the contrary of what the world will tell you, being bit by a werewolf doesn
’
t automatically make you a powerhouse. It only strengthens the traits you already have, takes them to the next level.

From what I could find out about his previous life, when
Alex had been bitten he was a kind, quiet, submissive, harmless man
.
So he
’
d become the golden retriever version of a werewolf
—l
oving
and
faithful
.

He showed up on my doorstep one night, mauled half to death by his own pack members
,
and has been with me ever since.
The pack didn
’
t approve
,
and we were still dealing with the ramifications of that.

H
e sat on his haunches, tail tucked between his legs, waiting for a beating.

“
I
’
m not angry
,
Alex. But you don
’
t like to leave home
—
so what made you go?
”
For something to make him leave was bad enough, but to make him run close to two hundred miles meant he would have left this morning and in a hurry. And yes, a werewolf could cover that distance in that amount of time, but it should have nearly killed him. I looked him over. He wasn
’
t sucked in and dehydrated
; he
was chirpy and fresh, ready to rumble.

He still wasn
’
t answering.
Talk
ing
to a werewolf
could be like talking to a large child
;
the simplicity of the wolf
’
s mind
regressed
the human
’
s mind to a toddler
’
s state if their will wasn
’
t strong enough, which his definitely wasn
’
t.

I changed tactics. Crouching down
,
I patted my leg.
“
Alex, come.
”
He still cringed. I remembered my dropped pepperoni. Retrieving it, I tried again.
“
Alex, come here, see what I have? Pepperoni, it
’
s one of your favourites.
”
That did the trick. He bowled me over trying to get the pepperoni.
“
Wait! You can have it if you answer me.
”
We were sprawled out on the floor together, Alex drooling all over my shirt, large canines dripping as he stared at the pepperoni I held just out of reach.

“
How did you get here? Did you run all the way?
”
My change in questions brought a light to his eyes.

“
No, no. Didn
’
t run all way. Ran and jumped in noisy truck. Zoom down big road, jump out at other house. Wait for Ryl
eeeeee
e!
”
He howled the end of my name and I shushed him. This wasn
’
t a motel that catered to pets and I was pretty sure even with John
’
s failing eyesight he wouldn
’
t miss a
two-hundred-
pound werewolf if it kept up howling.

I handed Alex the pepperoni. I knew that the
‘
other house
’
was the motel
.
I had told him that sometimes I stayed at my
‘
other house
’
when it was too late to drive all the way home.
‘
Big
road
’
was the highway and I suspected
‘
noisy truck
’
was a semi.

The second pepperoni stick appeared in my hand.
“
Can you answer another question for me?
”

He nodded eagerly and gave a little yip of excitement. I shushed him
,
got up off the ground and shut the door. Well, propped it closed anyway.

I pulled a chair around, sat down and patted my knee. Alex scrambled over to me, placing his elongated muzzle on my lap. I scratched him behind his left ear and he whined with pleasure.
“
Okay
,
buddy. This is a hard question, maybe even scary. But you need to tell me and then you can have the pepperoni.
”

Amber eyes stared up at me, totally devoted, completely loyal. He whined again and a loud thumping of his tail let me know he was ready for the question.

“
What scared you away from the house today? Was it the pack?
”
I continued to scratch his ears. Sure it was
a
dirty
tool
to distract him, but otherwise
,
we could be circling around the question for weeks before I found out what happened.

He tried to pull away
,
but I put the pepperoni on my lap right in front of his nose.
“
Just tell me what happened this morning and then you can have it.
”
Ah, the old stick and carrot routine, it never failed.

Alex bared his teeth and said,
“
Pack came, chasing, biting. Wanting to kill. Safer to run than fight.
”
He hung his head in shame with his last words.

“
That
’
s okay
,
buddy. I would
’
ve run too.
”
I mulled over his words
and
absently gave him the pepperoni. The pack had been getting more aggressive the last few months. Alex had been with me almost seven months now
,
and at first I
’
d
thought there would be nothing to worry about. Slowly, the pack had encroached more and more on my land, marking territory and making forays closer and closer to the house. A sigh escaped me and I scratched my head. Just add another problem onto the plate.

I knew from experience he wouldn
’
t go home now without me. Thanks to all that was holy I had a collar for Alex that hid his true form
from anyone who might be able to see it
—once more thanks to Milly—
so he could come with me for the next few days. Having him with me would make it a little more difficult to
maneuver
, but a lot less lonely.

Darkness fell
, the sky clear and the stars easily visible. No sign of a thunderstorm
,
or any other bad weather for that matter. Stuffing Alex into the Jeep
,
I said,
“
Stay here
,
buddy, I
’
ve got to get us a room change.
”