Bitten by Treachery (Hadley Werewolves) (3 page)

“Where did you come from?” Emma released Charly’s hand and continued her work to get lunch on the table.

“From the north. I left my family behind in Las Vegas after um...”

“Bad times, huh? It’s not an easy life if you were born a human and became a werewolf,” Meg said softly.

“You could say that.” Charly adjusted her backpack on her shoulder. She grew quiet when no one spoke to her.

Now was as good as any time to clock out at the station. If he hurried back he might snag a good meal. After a quick trip to the station to finalize business for the day, he returned to find the ladies sitting at the table. Charly was still alive and well. Until he caught Emma questioning her.

“How did you hear about us?” Emma asked.

Charly considered her reply as the alpha female looked at her expectantly. “A truck driver on highway 10 mentioned Hadley. He’s a rogue who goes from coast-to-coast delivering furniture for IKEA.”

Trenton chewed on her response. Charly’s nostrils flared as she spoke words laden with lies. Also, she looked Emma directly in the eye without hesitation. Emma didn’t reprimand Charly for such bold behavior, but a new werewolf should know better. An alpha female expected respect. Emma had to smell through Charly’s lies as easily as he had, yet she didn’t react. So what made her stay silent on the matter?

“We don’t turn anyone away who is looking for shelter,” Emma said. “Hadley’s been through hard times recently, but our numbers have taken a hit and we could always use able-bodied females. Naturally, if you’re just coming through town on your way to other parts, you’re welcome to leave after some rest.”

Charly stirred her food around her plate and offered a nod. “I appreciate that.”

“When we have company we let them stay in the room above the garage,” Emma said.

“It’s a nice room,” Trenton added. “I stayed there when I came to town.” He glanced at Emma to try to read her expression, but her face remained welcoming, if not a bit stoic.

“Go ahead and eat your fill. There’s plenty.” Emma passed Charly more food.

Tiredness pressed against Trenton’s eyelids. He’d been awake for far too long. The sooner he finished eating, the sooner he could return to his apartment and hibernate. If he didn’t get some shut-eye he’d turn into a sleepy wolf with narcolepsy. Not once but twice he’d fallen asleep while standing up.

The rumble of revved engines hit his ears. He leaned toward the sound. One car, and then another barreled up the stone driveway. He ventured outside to investigate.

A familiar Ford truck and dark red SUV pulled up to the house. As he strolled down the back porch, he had a feeling he wouldn’t get any sleep any time soon.

“Trenton,” one of the men called. Sylvester was the town plumber. Based on the gear still loaded in the back of his truck, Trenton suspected he’d come from a job straight to Kyle and Emma’s place. The SUV door opened and Ben, the local carpenter, made an appearance.

“Don’t you dare speak first!” Ben angled out of the SUV, his index first thrust sharply in Sylvester’s direction.

“I have every right to do this,” Sly replied.

Ben laughed. “Look at you running to the alpha’s house to settle matters like a pup.”

“Okay, boys.” Trenton shoved himself between the two men. A little distance should help cool their tempers. “What’s the problem?”

From the corner of his eye, he spotted Emma, Meg, and Charly on the porch. Emma perched on the first step with her hands on her hips. Her not-these-guys-again expression was in full effect.

Sylvester stepped forward first. “You tell this overzealous carpenter boy here there’s no such thing as squatting rights on abandoned Hadley lots.”

“Are you calling me a squatter?” A growl rumbled in Ben’s chest. The carpenter had a good foot on Sylvester, but in a fight, Sly’s build was the kind that won fights. Past experience taught Trenton a bigger wolf didn’t guarantee a winner. Just more bloodshed.

“You talking about the Freeman place?” Trenton asked. There were too many empty lots since the sickness spread through the wolves. Damn witch. Homeowners who’d been slaughtered and had no relatives left many Hadley houses in limbo. A few had been bought by the local bank, but not all of them.

“Yes,” Ben snapped. “Zachariah and I have been drinking buddies for over twenty years. He’d give me his place in a heartbeat.”

Sly chuffed. “Bullshit. The land is smackdab next to yours, and I’ve seen you slinking around the place. The Nancys bought it fair and square from the bank. You’ve got no rights to it.”

Ben offered a chilling smile, revealing an elongated incisor. Tufts of dark hair grew along his thick arms. “Keeping your son-in-law protected under your apron strings I see. How come he didn’t confront me today?”

Heat rose from the men. The situation wasn’t getting any better.

“You,” Trenton pointed to Sylvester. “Over there by your car.” Then he gestured to Ben. “And since you’re feeling talkative, you can park yourself over on the porch steps.”

Ben marched over to the steps. He glanced up at Emma, keeping his eyes averted from her discerning expression. But when his gaze flicked to Charly, he grunted. “Who the hell are you?”

“Eyes here, Buddy.” Trenton rested his hand on his hips and tried to hold in the sigh. Wasn’t he supposed to be getting some rest? A cop never really clocked out. “The law is the law, Ben. You can’t trespass on property you don’t own.”

“Human laws don’t mean shit to me right now. Not after that fucking witch came here.”

“Be that as it may,” Trenton’s voice rose to meet Ben’s, “you have no right to trespass on Nancy land. They bought the land, and it’s theirs to keep.”

Ben’s hands formed claws. They scrapped against the stone step, creating a noise that grated against Trenton’s ears. “Aren’t you the snappy one now that Kyle’s out for a spell?”

“Don’t do it, Ben.” Trenton’s muscles tensed, and his nostrils flared.

“Go home,” Emma added. “We’re safe now and don’t need pack members stirring up trouble. If you want space so badly, there are plenty of other places.”

Ben didn’t want any other house. To Trenton, it was written all over his face. The way his shoulders hunched forward. The way his dark eyes lightened to a bright yellow. The scent of anger turned bitter like the aftermath of a forest fire. Trenton rested his hand on his holster.
Not today, man. Not today.

“If this is settled, I’m going back to work,” Sylvester grumbled. “If I see you on my son’s land again, you and I will have more than words.”

“Why wait?” Ben sprung from his spot, launching himself through the air. He landed with a heavy thud on top of Sylvester. The men rolled across the dirt and rustled up dust in their wake.

“Shit!” Emma yelled from the porch.

Trenton raced toward them. “Enough!” he thundered.

Claws emerged from the pairs’ hands. They punch and clawed at each other, drawing blood. Ben managed to get on top of Sylvester with his hands around the man’s throat. The carpenter’s mouth opened wide, revealing sharp teeth ready ripe a hole in Sylvester.

“You will release him immediately!” Emma’s sharp command bounced around the clearing and shook birds from their hiding places in the bushes.

Trenton called to them again, but only Sylvester glanced in his direction, his eyes wide from a lack of air. Ben was too far gone into bloodlust to listen to authority.

Trenton released his gun from the holster and fired a shot in the air. The men kept fighting, their blows growing more vicious. When Trenton pressed the hot muzzle against the back of Ben’s head, he finally froze.

“You’re lucky these bullets aren’t silver, Ben.” He slowly holstered the gun. “I told you to go home. Unless you’d like a free ride to spend the night in jail?”

Ben’s hands rose in the air and he slowly backed away from Sylvester. All the while, he laughed, his clawed fingers flexing. “This isn’t over, Sly.”

“Yes, it is,” Emma said softly. “If I have to remove you from the pack, I will.”

Ben huffed, but remained silent. Kyle wasn’t here, yet Emma played her role and didn’t hesitate as she stepped up to Ben, looking him square in the face. “Get in your car and go home. I don’t want your family to go rogue over this, especially after losing your sons to Liam and the witch.”

Ben flinched as if hit. Trenton had witnessed what had happened to Ben’s family. He’d seen firsthand the chaos the witch had brought to town. How she had poisoned the alpha male’s mind and made him bite and infect people. Those who were bitten had rampaged and killed without recourse. Ben’s sons had been among those who’d been infected and died.

“Please don’t mention that man’s name to me, Em.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” She sounded genuine to Trenton’s ear. “But I had a point to make.”

Before he climbed into his truck, Ben spit on the ground, and after a few seconds, he drove off. Trenton and Emma checked on Sly. The plumber wobbled a bit to get on his feet, but eventually, he stood.

When Trenton turned around, Meg was all alone. Charly was gone.

CHAPTER THREE

Tucked in the dark bathroom next to the stairwell, Charly sucked in a deep breath. The bite on her back had healed, but a dull ache had settled there. A constant reminder of what the chained werewolf had done to her. What those men outside could do, the women, too, she had no doubt. Her eyes snapped shut. She straightened her back and stood tall again, but behind her closed eyelids her imagination fed horrific visions into her mind: Ben’s elongated fangs as he leaned in to bite, his hands clenched around Sylvester’s throat. She tried to blink a few times, but she couldn’t shake visions of Sly’s eyes bulging as he gasped for breath.

You can’t hide right now. A werewolf doesn’t act like this when faced with a pack fight.

She wiped the cold sweat from her brow and opened the bathroom door. She refused to let her bite from a werewolf mess with her head. She was on a mission, and she couldn’t be weak. Not now. Not even if she wanted to run away at the first sight of fangs. She couldn’t if she wanted her mother to survive.

Charly walked through the house, each step somehow gaining more confidence than the prior one. She opened the front door, only to bump into Trenton.

“You all right?”

“Yeah,” she blurted. “I haven’t gone to the bathroom—in a nice one anyway—for a while. Most places on the road have a bunch of nudie pics on the walls.”
 

Open mouth and insert foot.
Why did she say such stupid things at times?

Trenton took up the whole doorframe. He leaned against the door to keep it open. “Will you be okay if I leave you here?” His eyebrows lowered, and his brown eyes swept over her.

“I’m fine. The room is comfortable and the food is good. Maybe a few days here with Emma and Meg will be good for me.”

“As long as you’re comfortable. Don’t feel like you have to say yes. I know it’s hard if you were human and you suddenly find yourself as…one of us. If you have doubts about staying here, I can give you a ride to the motel in town.”

She shook her head and hoped she sounded unconcerned. “No need. I’m low on cash so I should take up their offer and work on getting a job or something. I need—I need to figure out where I’m going with my life now.”

“Sounds good.” He backed up. A faint breeze brought his scent to her nose again. Her breath hitched as her body responded to him versus the reality of the situation. He was a werewolf. He was one of
them
. So why did her eyes travel over his shirt and head down to his thighs? Would his abs be as hard as she imagined?

“By the way, Emma mentioned some guy named Kyle. Who is he?” Nope, she wasn’t looking for an excuse for him to stay longer. She needed to find the pack leader.

“He’s the pack alpha. He’s out of town on business. We need to recruit more experienced law-enforcement and firefighters. We can’t keep working with trainees for the foreseeable future.”

“I see.” So who was in charge then? Trenton? “If the alpha is gone, doesn’t the town need someone to cover him?”

“We have a few men who cover as second-in-command. Orland and some others. I won’t bore you with the details.”

She took a step forward, expecting him to retreat, but he didn’t. She swallowed at the decreased space between them and tried to hold his gaze. To look elsewhere would indicate her embarrassment or surprise.

“Are Emma and Meg still outside?” she asked.

He moved to the side. “They’re in the house. You didn’t hear them?”

Oh, shit. She needed to focus and remember her physical strength and hearing. They were far better than the witches’, and she was still getting used to the changes.

“No, I didn’t. I’ll just go for a walk and then find them later.” Charly walked to the back of the house. From there she spied a beautiful field. Kyle and Emma must’ve removed most of the brush. Only short dead grass remained with patches of dirt, but the land was hauntingly serene.
 

She sensed Trenton’s eyes on her but didn’t turn. At this particular moment, using blood magic would be convenient, but she’d been afraid of what her tainted werewolf blood might do. Would it fail or not even work at all? She closed her eyes and bit into her thumb until she tasted copper. Once she withdrew her thumb, she used the finger to draw a glyph on her palm. Only a single symbol was needed. Most spells required one glyph in blood. The whole affair was an exchange of sorts, a bit of life from her in return for power.

She’d been far too tired without a decent meal to do anything better. At first, nothing happened, so she traced the pictograph again. Finally, the darkness behind her eyelids turned to light. Using her inner sight, she peered behind her. Now that she’d proven witch blood still flowed through her veins, she could at least watch him getting into his car. The car door slammed, but she could still see him tilt his head through the window and glance her way. As he started the car, he half-smiled, and she couldn’t resist a smirk. Was he thinking about her? What made him smile? The elder blood witches in her coven, those who could draw great spells from the blood, had the faint inklings of mind reading, but at this moment, it seemed too frivolous for something as simple as gauging interest.