Dawn (The Dire Wolves Chronicles Book 3) (5 page)

“She’s going to freak out, isn’t she?” I knew the answer to the question but I decided to ask it anyway.

“Of course she is. She thinks we’re dead.”

“You say that so calmly.”

“Would you rather I get upset?”

“No.” I sighed. “I don’t want that.”

He put his arm behind my seat. “You’re afraid of me now.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” I quickly corrected him. “That’s crazy.”

“You’re afraid of me losing control. I can tell, so there’s no reason to deny it. It’s normal, and it’s good. I’m not human anymore.” He looked away.

“I’m not afraid of you. I’m afraid of what could happen to you. That’s totally different.”

“Are you sure?” He turned off the engine. “Are you really sure that’s the only thing you’re scared of?”

“No.” I shook my head. “It’s not.”

“Exactly.”

I took his hand in mine. “I’m afraid of how you make me feel. Of how out of control we get when we’re together, but that has nothing to do with you being a Dire. That crazy feeling was there before you changed.”

“You know exactly what to say.” He leaned over and brushed his lips against mine.

The light touch wasn’t nearly enough. I pulled him closer and pressed my lips against his. Without warning he pushed his way into my mouth. I was ready to climb over the center console to get closer. But I couldn’t.

I snapped back to reality. “We need to stay focused.”

He shook his head as though clearing away a fog. I knew exactly how he felt. “Yes, we do.”

“
W
hat do
you mean I have to go home and pack my bags? I just got here.” While talking to Malcom I kept replaying my exchange with the Alpha over and over in my head. He was rough around the edges, that was for sure, but he didn’t look like the blood hungry savage he was supposed to be. I knew that was probably all part of the game.

“The word is we’re moving them in the morning. You need to go home, pack enough for a week and get back here in time to help with the transfer,” Malcom explained between checking his watch and looking at something on his phone.

“My job description doesn’t involve field trips.” I was stalling. Why would we be moving them? Was there more going on than I thought?

“This isn’t a field trip.” Malcom wiped sweat off his forehead. He usually sweat a lot, but not that much.

“Why are we moving them?” The reason had to be important. Every decision The Society made was important, especially when the king was calling the shots, which he clearly was right now.

“Does the reason matter?”

“Yes. If we’re moving them I need to know why.” I straightened my shoulders. At 5’8” I wasn’t short, but I was still much shorter than most Pteron guys.

“All you need to know is the girl is your responsibility. Levi doesn’t want anyone else near her. You got that?”

“In other words, I’m getting no time off.” I wanted him to think I wasn’t invested. I was positive Joseph was going to spin some story to give Malcom about my personal interest or something.

“Think of it as a chance to prove yourself.”

I shouldn’t have needed to prove myself. My family should have been enough, but if that’s the game they all wanted to play, I’d do it. At least for now. “I can pack later.”

“The girl is in for the night. This is the time to go.”

“What if she needs something while I’m gone?”

“She’s a prisoner. Female or not. She can wait an hour for you to come back.” He looked at his watch.

“I’ll be back in twenty.” There came a time in every argument with Malcom when it was worth cutting my losses.

“I thought you’d come around.”

“I don’t have a choice.”

“Of course you do. You can quit.”

“Then who will watch the girl?” That was the one angle I had, and I wasn’t going to lose it.

“You can quit afterward.”

A slow smile spread across my lips. I’d won this time. “Exactly. Be nice to me.”

“There are others. Maybe Hailey.”

“Hailey?” I put a hand on my hip. “She’s the queen’s advisor. She’s not doing prison guard duty.” The thought of the red head working in something as lowly as the prison made me want to laugh. Her family held no weight in The Society, but her brother got her close to the queen, and they became besties for life.

“She’ll do what she has to for The Society.”

“As compared to me?” I was tired of everyone obsessing over Hailey. She was friends with the queen, and that was all she had to offer.

“We both know your interests come before those of The Society. There’s no reason to hide it.”

“If that’s the truth, then why did you hire me?” Maybe the match wasn’t over. “If I’m not dedicated enough, then why even bother?”

“It wasn’t my choice.” He looked away, but I caught a strange expression on his face before he did.

“Whose was it?” I knew it couldn’t be my parents, but who else would have cared whether I was hired?

“Not telling you that right now.”

I groaned. “Whatever. I’m going to pack.” I turned and stormed out of the prison. I hurried down the tunnels I knew by heart, eager to get above ground. Pterons didn’t belong in dark closed places, yet that’s where we had our top-security prison. No one would ever look for it there.

I
pocketed
my phone and slung my bag onto my back as I took one last look around my apartment. It was dark, so I didn’t hesitate to fly this time. If I had to deal with all the negatives of being a Pteron, I might as well get to enjoy the benefits.

The flight went entirely too fast, but I savored the fleeting moments of being in the sky. I never felt as free or alive than when I was airborne.

Reluctantly I descended and landed in the shadows behind the Crescent City Hotel. It was the most official way to reach the prison. I straightened out my tank top that had ridden up during the flight and turned my phone to silent. It had only been fifteen minutes. I was doing fine on time, but I’d gotten three calls from a guy I should have never given my number to. To give myself some credit, I hadn’t actually given it to him. He’d taken my phone and called his before I slipped out on him. It wasn’t that I was a cold-hearted bitch, although some probably would argue that I was, but dating was more than a little bit complicated for me. First there were the wings I couldn’t tell anyone about. And then there was my job I could never admit to. Oh and the family they could never meet. Pretty much I had nothing to offer beyond sex and half decent conversation.

Being one of the few female Pterons was rough. When guys behaved the way I did it was normal. When I did I had to put up with countless phone calls.

“Don’t fuck this up,” a snarky voice called from deeper in the shadows behind the hotel. My night vision was near perfect so I’d have known who it was even if I didn’t recognize the annoying voice.

“I could say the same thing to you.” Considering Joseph had been the one in a headlock earlier in the evening, he shouldn’t have talked. Too bad I couldn’t complain to Malcom about his own brother. I’d learned early on that it didn’t go over well.

“But you won’t, because you know you have way more to lose than me.”

“What do you want, Joseph?”

“I want you to quit.”

“You and everyone else.”

“There’s only room for one new recruit on the elite intelligence force this year. That spot should be mine.”

I chortled. “Like hell it is. I’ve worked harder than you.” I’d never missed a shift or been a minute late. I was in the best physical shape of my life, and I’d aced every challenge I’d been given.

“This has nothing to do with hard work. It has to do with who would make a better addition.” He ran a hand though his black hair.

“This is about me being a girl, isn’t it?” We’d known each other forever, and we’d gotten along fine until I started working at the prison.

“There’s a reason there’s no women on it.”

“Yeah there is.” There were way more males than female Pterons. There was nothing else to it. “The decisions are made by arrogant sexist pigs.”

“Now, now, that isn’t lady-like language.”

“Lady like?” I stepped toward him. “I’ll show you lady like.” I raised my fist, but at the last second I dropped my arm. It wouldn’t be worth the trouble.

“We need to go inside.”

“Oh yeah? Now you decided that?” I straightened my tank top and didn’t bother hiding my smile.

“You’re a piece of work, you know that?” He sneered.

“Of course I do. Maybe now you’ll remember not to mess with me.”

“We’re going to be stuck with each other for the next few weeks.”

“So stay out of my way.”

“You stay out of mine.” He pushed past me and headed toward the entrance. I followed, the last thing I needed was to be late and to let him mess things up more than necessary with Malcom.

“Are you following me?”

“Oh, shut up.” I pushed passed him. Joseph may have been the most annoying Pteron I’d ever met, and I’d met plenty of annoying ones.

M
ary Anne was adorable
. She was also incredible and addicting, but at the moment it was her adorable side that had my attention.

There was so much going on, but I needed to take a few minutes to appreciate what was right beside me. No matter what happened, I’d been given more time with Mary Anne. I’d never take a moment of that time for granted again. How I hadn’t made her mine earlier blew my mind.
Mine
. I couldn’t avoid the possessive feelings. They only got worse. I guess that was a side effect of becoming Dire. It was one thing that couldn’t be avoided.

I pulled up to the library parking lot. I couldn’t believe Genevieve had asked to meet there. She really was a lot like Mary Anne. I found a spot and waited. Hopefully she’d show up soon.

Mary Anne bounced her knees nervously.

“She’ll be here soon.” She’d seemed determined. She was going to show up. The question was whether she’d come alone or not. I wasn’t sure what we’d do if she had company. I knew I could protect Mary Anne physically, but we needed to be careful.

Our borrowed cell phone rang. It was Genevieve again. Mary Anne picked it up. “Hello.”

“Ok, now drive to this address. 444 Regal Ct.” One of the best parts of being Dire was my enhanced senses. I could hear everything she was saying without even leaning in. I’m sure sometimes the hearing was annoying, but at the moment it was helpful.

“Wait. We’re going somewhere different?” Mary Anne pulled her feet up under her on the seat.

“Yes. I wanted to make sure it was you first.”

“How do you know it’s me now?” Mary Anne scrunched up her nose.

“I’m watching you.”

“Uh, how?” Mary Anne peered out the window. “Where are you?”

My senses were supposed to be sharp. How had I missed her? All of the cars were empty.

“From the attic. I have a telescope.”

“You’re watching us through a telescope in the attic of the library?” Mary Anne asked incredulously. Considering we were asking her friend to believe we were alive after thinking we were dead, we shouldn’t have been that surprised.

“Is that a problem?” There was a definite note of annoyance in Genevieve’s voice, but it was mixed with amusement. She was enjoying this situation more than I would have expected.

“No, but why don’t you just jump in the car with us?” Mary Anne held her breath.

“The girl who’s supposed to be dead is going to ask me to ‘just jump into her car?’” Genevieve gave the answer I expected.

“Yes.” Mary Anne smiled. She knew how crazy she sounded.

“I’d be stupid to do that.”

“Or curious. Sometimes those two things go hand in hand.” She put her feet back down.

“It’s really you. You’re not dead?”

“I’m not.”

“And you’re not a vampire?”

I laughed even though she wasn’t completely off when it came to me.

“I’m human. Completely human.” Mary Anne avoided my gaze.

I held my breath. Would Genevieve ask about me next?

“I’m coming down, but if I die because of you I’ll never forgive you.”

“You’ll be dead, so why would that matter?”

Genevieve groaned. “Have you no faith in the afterlife?”

“I’m not sure what I have faith in.” Mary Anne looked out her window, away from me.

“Yes, it’s really you.” Genevieve seemed convinced.

I watched the door to the library like a hawk. Would Genevieve really walk out just like that?

She did. I knew it was her even with the black hooded sweatshirt that covered most of her face. Actually that made it even more obvious it was her. It was easily seventy degrees. No one else was dressed that way. I barely knew her, but she seemed to always be with Mary Anne when I ran into her at school.

We watched as she carefully walked across the parking lot. She was moving so slowly, I wondered if she was debating whether to turn around. Finally she reached the car, paused for a second, and threw open the back door. “Oh. My. God.” She closed the door behind her. “This is insane.”

“You already knew we were alive.” Mary Anne turned around.

“But seeing is different than hearing.”

“We’re alive.” I didn’t look directly at her. I wondered if I looked any different. Mary Anne didn’t seem to think so, but she’d been with me the whole time.

“What the hell happened? Whose bodies were those they found? Why are you only contacting me now?” She spit out question after question.

“We don’t know. I can assure you we had nothing to do with the bodies.” I still felt sick to my stomach thinking about it even though we’d been told the remains were from people who were already dead.

“Then why didn’t you come forward? Your parents are beside themselves. Haven’t you thought of them?”

“Trust me. I want to see my parents.” Mary Anne sighed. “It’s one of the worse parts.”

“What happened?” Genevieve’s voice was softer this time. Maybe it was because she heard the sadness in Mary Anne’s voice.

“It’s a long story.”

“Considering you came here to find me, I’m guessing you can spare the time to tell me.”

“How about we give you the cliff-notes version and then we fill in any details you need?”

“That I need?” She leaned forward between the seats. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Mary Anne let out a deep breath. “We need your help.”

“Fantastic. Why am I not surprised?” Genevieve leaded back against the middle backseat.

“Because we came here to you first. There had to be a reason,” Mary Anne explained.

Genevieve rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t asking that question literally.”

“I know, but I had a real answer.” Mary Anne stared at her hands in her lap.

“So what’s the story? The short version.”

I decided to tell the story myself. “We got caught in the storm.” I went with the shortest version of the story I could. “Want to buckle up? I probably shouldn’t stay parked here too long.”

“I do mind. I need to know details first.” She leaned forward again. “So pretty much I was right. I told you it was idiotic to go with him in the snow.”

“Yes. I knew you were right, but we discussed why I thought it was worth it.” Mary Anne snuck a glance at me.

“Because of him. Right.”

Once again I was reminded of how strong Mary Anne’s feelings had been for me, and how oblivious I’d been. I’d also been stupid and reckless, but there was no reason to rehash that again.

“And then what happened?” Genevieve waved us on with her hand.

“Something jumped in front of the car, and we swerved off the road and got stuck in a ditch.” Mary Anne used the word
we
. I wondered if that was intentional.

“And?”

Mary Anne looked down again. “We spent the night there.”

“What jumped in front of the car?”

“A large wolf.” A Dire wolf, but I wasn’t giving that detail yet.

“A large wolf?” Genevieve raised an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“Then why did you say ‘something’ before and not a wolf?” Genevieve asked far too many questions.

“Because we didn’t know at the time. We found out later.”

“When later?”

“When we met the wolves.”

“You met the wolves?” Genevieve put a hand on the door release.

“The Dire Wolves to be more specific.” I now understood there was a big difference. I didn’t want anyone calling me a regular wolf.

“Ok. No more. This joke is old already.”

“It’s not a joke.” Mary Anne picked at her nails. “I wish it was.”

“And next you are going to tell me that they were really werewolves, right? And they wanted to make Mary Anne their mate?” She rolled her eyes again.

Mary Anne and I looked at each other.

“Oh no. No. No. No.” Genevieve shook her head back and forth rapidly. “Don’t even go there.”

“That’s the crux of what happened, but then we ran away, and Gage got caught by psycho witches.”

“Of course.” Genevieve nodded. “Because there have to be psycho witches involved.” She reached for the door latch again. She groaned in frustration. “You guys have lost your minds.”

“We’re not crazy, but our experience has been. The witches almost killed Gage, so…”

“Almost killed Gage?”

“Yes, he would have died, so the Alpha saved him in the only way he could.” Mary Anne looked away.

“In the only way he could? Wait. Are you trying to tell me that the wolves turned him? Huh?” She laughed dryly. “Is that what happened?”

“Yes.” Hearing it from someone else made it seem even crazier. “You made telling that story easy.”

“You’re crazy.” She struggled with the door again, but the child lock was engaged. “Let me out.”

“Genevieve. Please,” Mary Anne pleaded. “Don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Leave. We need your help.” A few stray tears rolled down Mary Anne’s face. She was desperate.

I resisted the urge to reach over and wipe away the tears.

“No, you need a different kind of help.”

“We need your technical expertise.” Mary Ann wiped the tears herself. “We need you to break into a security system.”

“What?” Genevieve stopped playing with the door.

I held in a laugh. Was that really all it took? The mention of using her computer skills?

“We need to bust the Dires out of a paranormal prison, so we—”

“Stop. I’ll talk about the security system, but no more about Dires or paranormal anything. Got it?” She crossed her arms.

“Fine. We need to break into this system to help Gage.”

“Why would this help Gage?” Genevieve finally pushed off her hood.

“This goes back to what you didn’t want us talking about.”

“Fine. Just keep that stuff to the absolute minimum requirement of what you have to say.”

“Gage needs to be fully changed. If not he might die. Only one person can do that, and he’s in prison.”

“Is he in prison for a good reason? Like maybe Gage’s life is worth sacrificing to save mankind?”

“Nice. Real nice, Genevieve.” Mary Anne shook her head.

“I’m just saying.”

“He’s not there for a good reason. It’s this stupid hunt run by these bird shifter royalty people.”

“Bird shifter? Oh my, this keeps getting better.”

“It sounds crazy I know.” Mary Anne put a hand on her chest. “It’s hard to accept, and if I hadn’t seen everything with my own eyes I probably wouldn’t believe it myself.”

“You two really did have sex.” She looked between us. “You weren’t lying about that.”

“How can you tell?”

“It’s easy to tell if people have been intimate.”

“No it’s not.”

“It is. Or maybe it’s just me. I can always tell.”

“That’s ridiculous.” Mary Anne pulled her leg up under her.

“That’s ridiculous? You’re telling me a story about werewolves, and—”

“Dires. Not werewolves.”

“Whatever. Men who change into a beast and birds and witches. It’s insane. All of it is, yet you think it’s ridiculous that I know when people have been having sex?” She cocked her head to the side.

“We’ve had plenty of sex. She’s right. Okay? Moving on.” This was no time for fighting over something stupid. Genevieve could claim any sixth sense she wanted as long as she helped.

“You’re right.” Mary Anne’s face relaxed. “Are you up for breaking into a system for us?”

“Maybe.”

The phone rang again. This time it was a new number. I gestured for Mary Anne to hand me the phone and she did. I answered. “Hello.”

“It’s me. You need to get to Tampa ASAP. Any brilliant ideas yet?” Denny didn’t bother to tell me it was him, but he probably assumed we hadn’t given out the number to anyone else.

“Yes. We have one.”

“Great, meet me as soon as you can.”

I glanced at Genevieve in the rearview mirror. “We’ll bring the idea with us.”

“What kind of idea would you need to bring?” he asked suspiciously.

“It’s a person.”

“Oh.” The line was silent.

“She’s an expert.” At least Mary Anne said she was, and there was no reason to doubt her assessment.

“Whatever you say.” Denny hung up.

“Hell no.” Genevieve shook her head. “I’m not going anywhere to meet with anyone.”

“But you said you’d help.” Mary Anne kneeled on her seat and looked over at Genevieve.

“That meant here. On a laptop or something.”

“We don’t have the information here.”

“So you actually expect me to drop everything and go with you god knows where?”

“No.” Mary Anne shook her head. “I don’t expect you to do anything. I would appreciate if you would do it though.”

“You really love this guy?” She pointed her thumb at me.

“Yes. I do.” Mary Anne smiled, and I did the same. I’d never get tired of hearing her say things like that. I wiped my brow. I was increasingly exhausted. I shrugged it off. I didn’t have time to rest.

“You finally did something about it.” Genevieve grinned. “I wasn’t sure you ever would.”

“I guess I just needed the right opportunity.”

“The right opportunity meaning complete and utter chaos.”

“It’s amazing what happens when people are placed in impossible situations.” Mary Anne ran her hands over the head rest of the seat. She was kneeling.

“And it was good?” Genevieve smiled.

“Of course it was good,” I quickly jumped in. What was she implying? That I was going to suck? I found my ego was also worse now. More possessive and a bigger ego. Mary Anne probably wasn’t a fan of either of those, but she was a fan of me. That counted for something.

“Will you come with us?” Mary Anne bounced up and down on her knees. “I promise we’ll get you back soon.”

“Because your promise is so reassuring.”

“Hey, I’m trying.”

“I’ll come because I’m curious. Because my life is so insanely boring that I’ll risk my life.” Genevieve played with the cuff of her sweatshirt.

“I wish my life was boring.” Mary Anne returned to sitting.

“Even if it means no more great sex with Gage?”

“If it meant Gage’s life was safe, yes.” Mary Anne nodded.

Her intense feelings both scared and excited me. I refused to let her down no matter what I did.

“I’ll come.” Genevieve buckled her seatbelt. “But I’d prefer to live through this experience.”