“The bitch is in better shape than I am. Did you see what she did to my arm?”
The first man laughed. He never saw what hit him. The wolf burst out of the shadows aiming directly for the man’s throat. He went down, hard, his head bouncing off the cobblestones.
The wolf spun around, his attack silent and deadly. The second man reached for his gun. The wolf took him down before he could pull the weapon from his shoulder holster.
Like the first, this fellow hit the ground hard with the full weight of the beast bearing him to the rocky street. He landed hard with his arm trapped beneath his body. Panting, the wolf stood over him, glancing from one still body to the other, waiting to see if either man moved.
Blood trickled from a head wound on the first man, but he appeared to be breathing. The second man’s arm had twisted at an awkward angle. He was unconscious as well, but still alive. Satisfied he wasn’t leaving two potential corpses behind, the wolf trotted back into the shadows.
Within moments, Jake emerged fully dressed. He dragged both bodies behind a large trash bin, then raced back to the car. The keys lay on the ground where the first man had fallen. Jake shoved them in his pocket and carefully opened the duffle bag.
Even in the darkness she was beautiful, though still unconscious. There was no doubt in his mind this was the woman he’d been sent to protect. Jake carefully pulled the tape off her eyes and mouth. It left darker marks against her pale skin.
She was lean and long limbed and completely naked. Her fair skin gleamed in the low light. Already, dark bruises marred her arms and legs and spread across one hip. Her long hair hung in damp tangles. The woman’s captors had practically folded her in two to fit her into the bag. Jake pulled a knife out of his boot and sliced through the duct tape holding her arms and legs together, then slowly dragged her out of the bag. Her hair hung down in wet ribbons as he carried the woman around to the back door of the car.
He opened the door and stretched her out as much as possible on the back seat. She was tall and he had to bend her knees to make her fit. Slowly Jake ran his hands over her sleek body in search of injuries. She was warm, living satin beneath his fingers. His Chanku senses brought him the sound of each breath she took, the rush of blood through her veins, the slow but steady beat of her heart.
He felt his awareness shift. She was no longer a victim to be protected. Jake touched warm, breathing woman, inhaled her freshly bathed scent and found her primal essence beneath the perfumed soap and body lotion. His body tightened as awareness blossomed into desire, as desire fed arousal.
Suddenly, Jake’s fingers brushed over a hard lump on her left buttock, what felt like an injection site. He blinked, returning immediately to here and now, aware once again of the danger.
They’d drugged her. Bastards.
Anger surged, hot and visceral, beyond any reaction he should have felt. His skin shivered. Jake’s mind filled with the image of the wolf, but instead of taking down the two men, he was ripping their throats, leaving their mangled bodies in the open for all to witness.
With effort, Jake brought himself under control. Logic. He had to act and think logically. Not thinking was a good way to get himself, even the young woman, killed.
She was alive. Obviously drugs, not injury, kept her unconscious.
He’d heard them say they wanted her safe and alive. Jake brushed her hair back from her forehead and gazed at her perfect features. Her beauty tore at him and he clenched his free hand into a fist. He’d have to assume whatever they’d given her wasn’t dangerous.
He had no idea when she might awaken and the night air was cold. After searching for a minute, Jake found a blanket on the floor, tucked under the front seat. He covered her, then tossed his suitcase in the back and quietly shut the trunk. After another quick check to see that the woman was breathing okay, he climbed into the driver’s seat.
Jake grabbed the steering wheel in both hands and took long, steadying breaths, forcing both his libido and suddenly jangled nerves under control.
After a moment, he stuck the key in the ignition and started the engine. The original plan, staying here to protect Ms. Murphy, was not an option. Whoever wanted her knew where she lived. Odds of keeping her safe in Boston weren’t in Jake’s favor, especially since he had no idea who he was dealing with. Slowly, he edged the big sedan down the narrow street, then pulled out onto a wider road.
Jake had no idea why anyone wanted to harm her. No idea, even, why Ulrich had been kidnapped, but according to AJ it was all connected.
It had to be tied to their genetics, the fact each of them carried the genes of the shapeshifting Chanku. The secret, the fact they existed at all, grew harder to contain each year, especially with the number of cases they’d worked since the terrorists hit New York.
If the public at large ever found out they lived side by side with an entire race of beings able to shift from human to wolf and back again—talk about the shit hitting the fan.
Instantaneously, at will. Unlike the werewolves of legend, dependent on the phases of the moon, Chanku never became mindless creatures ruled by bloodlust.
Jake shook his head, almost snarling at the irony within the thought. No, they only became mindless when they were Jacob Trent faced with a wet and ready Chanku bitch. Damn! Would he ever find forgiveness for that one act of stupidity? It never should have happened.
He was a sentient being, a thinking creature. He had powers beyond anything mere humans might imagine, but he couldn’t control his damned dick.
Jake should have known better than to try and mate his alpha’s woman. Luc had every right to go for his throat. Had every right to kill Jake. No one would have judged Luc badly.
The bite itched. Absentmindedly, Jake rubbed it.
The woman in the backseat stirred, then quieted once again. Jake glanced back over his shoulder, then turned his attention back to the road. It was almost midnight. There was hardly any traffic this late at night.
Still, the drug must be wearing off. She needed clothing, but he couldn’t leave her alone in the car until she awakened. If she came to while he was in a store, she’d be terrified, might even try to escape.
He really didn’t want Shannon Murphy to get away. Already Jake felt oddly protective, drawn to her on a gut level, intuitively, instinctually. He’d never reacted quite this way to a woman before.
Except Tia.
Like attracting like? Did he instinctively recognize another of the same species? This one might be Chanku. A woman like Tia. A female who would completely understand the needs and desires of another just like her.
Unawakened. Unaware of her potential, in danger because of her ignorance, entirely dependent, for now, on one Jacob Trent.
Jake glanced into the rearview mirror and grinned. If this was punishment, Jake owed Lucien Stone big time. He rubbed at the healing bite on his throat once again, then pulled around a slow van. Merging into the fast lane, he headed north on the interstate.
Almost an hour passed before Jake noticed any more movement in the back seat. Shannon stirred again. Jake heard her groan, then the sharp intake of breath that told him she must be awake.
“Ms. Murphy? Are you okay?” Jake looked in the rearview mirror, saw that she was wrapping the blanket tightly around her body and trying to sit up.
“I think so. Who are you?” She held up her right arm, stared for a moment at the duct tape still hanging from her wrists, then looked up. Her gaze met Jake’s in the rearview mirror. He couldn’t tell the color of her eyes. Wondered if they were the same green and amber as Tia’s. As his own.
“I’m Jacob Trent. Call me Jake. I’m the one Tia sent to protect you. I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner.”
“Ah.” Shannon closed