Scarlet Disaster by Colette Rhodes
Chapter 12
Brooks’ ice blue wolf eyes met mine from a few feet away where his big furry head was resting on his front paws, his gaze full of judgment.
He didn’t understand why we were here, not really. I’d tried to explain it on the car-ride over here, but I’d been stuck between lingering horniness from Lou’s enthusiastic performance back at the bar and animalistic rage at Frank for showing up there.
Somehow, Brooks and Gabriel hadn’t been able to interpret my grunts and broken sentences, but they’d come with me to patrol Lou’s house anyway because they were good friends. Good friends who were a little too interested in her, but good friends regardless.
They probably thought I was being overcautious, guarding Lou’s house like this, but I knew I wasn’t. I’d seen that flare of excitement in Frank’s eyes when he’d left the bar. He’d looked at Lou like he was thinking let the games begin, then called her by the wrong name like he was dropping a bomb at the table.
It had taken everything in me not to dive across the fucking booth and go for his throat right there and then. Only having Gabriel and Brooks’ calming—or rather confused—presence had kept me grounded. Well, that and Lou’s dainty hands fisting my shirt, the taste of her still on my tongue. So much for protecting her from a distance.
“You do realize I hate you as well, right? You’re not the good guy in this scenario.”
Lou’s words kept playing in my mind on repeat, never letting me forget that this was all for show. I deserved her hatred, I’d wear the scar from that self-inflicted wound. I wouldn’t abandon her to Frank’s games though, even if she resented me every step of the way. I’d prove to him that as far as Lou was concerned, there was nothing here for him.
But I couldn’t let myself get lost in the lie, either. Even if it wasn’t for show, I had to keep my distance so the mating urge didn’t rise again.
“You’re not the good guy in this scenario.”
Fuck, that hurt. I’d always thought of myself as a good guy. I was a little unsettled, sure, but I always tried to do the right thing. I called my parents twice a week, no matter where I was in the world. I remembered all of my nieces’ and nephews’ birthdays—all 21 of them—and I always sent gifts. I helped old ladies cross the street, and I was very upfront and respectful with the young ladies I took to my bed.
Was I really not a good guy after all? It wasn’t a great time for an identity crisis, but now that it was in progress, I couldn’t seem to rein it in.
I glanced up to check on Gabriel, who was draped over a tree branch nearby in his jaguar form, his sleek black fur blending into the night. We’d agreed to take turns sleeping so we all got a couple of hours’ rest, but I didn’t think he was really asleep. He had the best vantage point and was likely keeping an eye on the surrounding woods for intruders. It wasn’t sustainable for all three of us to camp out here every night. Maybe I shouldn’t have interrupted Lou and Gabriel’s date. Maybe she’d have gone home with him if I hadn’t gotten in the way.
ThenI would have interrupted.
Why the hell did Lou live out here? It wasn’t that far from town, but her little house was surrounded by trees on three sides, with a quiet road running along the front of her place.
God, humans were so fragile. I didn’t think I’d ever reflected on that fact so much.
Gabriel lifted his head and I saw the glint of brutally sharp canines shining in the moonlight as he let out a low, guttural growl. A growl that clearly said fuck off, you are not welcome.
Brooks and I rose silently to our feet, hackles raised as foreign scents reached us. They weren’t even trying to sneak around us to get into Lou’s backyard. They had already deemed us weak, and thought they’d be able to take us out easily.
Three wolves emerged from the trees, growling in response, and Gabriel leaped down to join us. Frank was front and center, an enormous wolf with fur as black as Gabriel’s jaguar, who radiated alpha power, and the grayish wolves on either side of him weren’t weak. We had our work cut out for us.
I refused to let any hint of fear or doubt show though, refused to let them see a sliver of vulnerability. Brooks was a well trained fighting machine, I was motivated as hell to keep Lou safe, and Gabriel was a fucking jaguar. He was 250 pounds of solid muscle, with a bite that could pierce crocodile skin. If provoked, he’d happily sink those canines into the back of his opponent’s skull.
Frank gave a warning growl that was thick with Alpha authority, but he wasn’t my Alpha so he could go fuck himself. His growls grew louder and more insistent, easily carrying over the yard to Lou’s house, and I sent her a silent apology in my head as I screamed back, knowing that if the sound of a wolf growling hadn’t terrified her, the earsplitting shriek of an angry cougar definitely would.
Frank’s wolves growled steadily while Gabriel’s jaguar made his saw-like roar and Brooks responded with a wolf growl of his own, letting them know we weren’t backing down. Frank went abruptly quiet, before his bones started cracking and popping, his packmates watching his back as he shifted back into his human form, standing in the snow stark naked.
It was dismissive as hell for him to shift into his more vulnerable human form right in front of us. A not so subtle ‘fuck you’ to let us know he wasn’t worried about us. Asshole.
“Persistent little things aren’t you,” Frank chuckled. He tilted his head to the side as he examined Brooks. “I must admit, you’re a curious case. Where is your pack?”
Brooks’ answering growl was almost feral. If Frank wanted to rile him up, mentioning wolf packs was the fastest way to do it.
“This doesn’t need to be your problem, you know,” Frank continued conversationally. “Scarlet and I have unfinished business. Step aside, and we’ll finish it, it’s that simple. Stay, and you’ll make life worse for her. She won’t come to any harm under my… ownership.”
Fuck that. Lou wasn’t meant to be owned, she was meant to be free. She wanted to see the world and discover herself and explore. She didn’t need this shit.
I crouched low to the ground, baring my teeth and hissing in warning.
“Last chance,” Frank said with a relaxed smirk. “If you’re going to protect her, you better be very sure that you can.” He glanced down at the wolves on either side of him before lazily gesturing at us. “Proceed.”
The three of us were ready, lunging to meet the two wolves as they attacked. I attempted to get past them to Frank as he shifted, but they were obviously well practiced at protecting their Alpha, darting from side to side to block my movements.
One of the wolves swiped at Brooks’ muzzle as he got close. A pained noise escaped him, enough to snag mine and Gabriel’s attention, and let Frank through our barrier.
Fucking wolves. When it came to fighting in a pack, there was no animal more efficient. They were always aware of each other’s movements, seamlessly working in tandem to take down opponents twice their size. Brooks launched himself at the wolf who’d swiped at him, yipping at me in a clear instruction to stay on Frank.
He was running at full speed towards Lou’s house and the noises I made were unholy as I chased after him. He slammed hard against the screen door, rattling the entire back wall, and I heard a muffled scream from inside the house that had my heart thundering in my chest. Lou must be fucking terrified, and she was all alone.
Behind me, I heard the howl of one of Frank’s wolves followed by Gabriel’s strange barking growl. Hopefully he’d gutted them. A jaguar was a fearsome opponent, though their fighting style was very different from a wolf’s, and Gabriel would be out of his element.
Frank’s claws raked down the screen door, making all of us wince at the screeching sound and probably scaring the hell out of Lou. I’d bet money that scaring her was the point of this whole exercise. A way of driving her back to him, to safety.
Well fuck that noise. I launched myself at his back, raking him with my claws until I scented blood, but he was undoubtedly bigger and stronger than I was. He twisted sharply, throwing me into the wooden porch railing.
Pain bloomed slowly in my middle, my ribs cracking to the tune of the wooden railing snapping underneath me. Fucking ouch, he was strong. With a vicious growl, Brooks swiped at the wolf he was fighting near the house, knocking her to the ground before rushing towards me, growling furiously at Frank who was still ravaging Lou’s screen door before nudging me with his nose, whining.
I scrambled back off the porch, falling over the small drop onto the snow with a pained noise I couldn’t quite suppress. The scent of my blood filled the air and I realized the pain in my middle wasn’t just from broken ribs. The splintered wood had sliced into me, leaving a gash all the way down my side.
Brooks jumped down next to me, nudging me with his nose, telling me to retreat, before leaping back onto the porch with a snarl, forcing Frank away from the screen door or leave his back exposed.
I knew I had to go. I had to shift back to stop the wound from bleeding and speed up the healing process, but I didn’t want to leave them.
There was an agonized howl as Gabriel took a chunk out of one of the wolves, and another muffled scream from inside followed by a terrified whimper, which made up my mind. I scrambled upright and ran as best I could with my injured side, leaving a trail of blood after me as I went, but I had to get to the SUV we’d left partially obscured just off the road, hoping like fuck it wouldn’t be stuck in the snow.
The second I got back to the vehicle, I forced myself to shift, shoving my fist in my mouth to stop myself shouting as my wounded skin rapidly stitched back together, my cracked ribs screaming in protest. I allowed myself five seconds to lean against the vehicle, gasping for breath before forcing myself to open the door and drag my clothes out, dressing as fast as I could and throwing myself into the driver’s seat with a pained groan.
Fortunately, I managed to get out of the snow, flooring it until I pulled up noisily in front of Lou’s house with the headlights on high, making as much noise as possible. Frank would have seen me leave, but hopefully he was still cautious enough to scamper at the sound of a vehicle—I wouldn’t be shocked if Lou had called 911. That would be a headache.
Hopefully, some human presence would comfort Lou right now, even if it was mine. Or perhaps Frank would get his way, and she’d call him asking for help in her moment of terror.
The howls and roars of animals retreated from the house as I climbed the front steps, and I sent some silent gratitude to Gabriel and Brooks for pushing the other wolves back.
“Lou!” I called, knocking on her door. “It’s Nate.”
“Nate?”she muttered to herself, probably assuming I couldn’t hear her. “Fucking stalker.”
Okay. Not the best start. I probably should have thought about what I was going to say. Except it was incredibly hard to think when my ribs were throbbing and my healing skin itched ferociously under my shirt.
“I was just driving past and heard the commotion,” I lied, cringing. “I guess the car scared them off.”
Lou hesitated on the other side of the door before I heard the lock click and the door swung open, revealing the barrel of a shotgun she was pointing right at me.
I raised an eyebrow at her, grateful that she was at least armed, even if she looked incredibly uncomfortable holding a weapon.
“Scared who off?” Lou asked dubiously.
A sharp pain radiated from my ribs as I adjusted my stance—acutely aware of the gun pointed at me—and I did my best to concentrate because this conversation was important, even though I just wanted to pour myself a generous glass of bourbon and lie down until my fucking bones healed.
Focus,I commanded my brain, irritated that the pain was distracting me. This was an important question. I needed Lou to understand that she was in real danger, without giving away anything about shifters.
“Frank.”
Fuck, that didn’t come out right.
“What?” Lou sputtered, glancing down at the gun in her hand as if she was surprised to find it pointing at me and quickly lowering it towards the ground. Thank fuck for that. I had enough going on without a bullet wound to worry about.
“No, that wasn’t Frank,” Lou said, shaking her head. “That was wild animals or… something.”
Right. That would be a more logical explanation for all the animal sounds. Come on, Nate. Except if she thought it was a random wild animal encounter, there’s no way she would take the Frank threat seriously.
Everything in me rebelled at manipulating Lou, especially given our history, but… I had to. I had to keep lying to her and distracting her. If she found out about shifters, I would have to mate her, or I was leaving her at the mercy of the shifter world.
Humans who knew things they shouldn’t didn’t get to live.
“You have a lot of trouble like that with wild animals?” I asked. Lou opened her mouth. Closed it. Shook her head.
“I didn’t hear all of it,” I said slowly, feeling like a calculating piece of shit. “But it sounded like your house was under attack. I assumed it was Frank, unless you have any other stalkers.”
“Just you,” Lou shot back, giving me a scathing look, but then she was chewing nervously on her lip, thinking about what I’d said. “It sounded like animals, but it was like they were trying to break through my screen door…”
He might have been, but I thought it was more likely that he’d been trying to make Lou more amenable to his twisted form of protection. I’d be shocked if he didn’t try to contact her tomorrow, trying to tempt her back into his fold.
“I’ll go and check the yard for... animals,” I volunteered. “Stay inside. Pack a bag, just in case.”
“Not this again,” she muttered, though she didn’t look as against the idea of staying with me as she did earlier in the night. “I guess you should take the gun,” Lou added reluctantly, looking at it like she didn’t want to part with it, which made sense since she didn’t trust me either.
“Keep it,” I told her firmly. “I’ll be fine. Pack a bag.”
“Bossy asshole,” she muttered as she closed the door, and I couldn’t tell if she meant for me to hear it or not.
Gabriel and Brooks were hovering just beyond the treeline, completely naked as they shifted back into their skin to heal the worst of their wounds. Fortunately, it looked like they’d gotten away with just scratches. I had definitely been the weakest link tonight. Too emotional. Too worried about Lou to focus.
“You good?” Brooks asked somberly, squinting like he could see my injury through my shirt.
“Fine,” I replied, waving away his worry. “Cracked ribs, but they’ll heal.”
“Only if you rest,” Gabriel pointed out, rolling his neck. “We’ll patrol between here and our place, you look after Lou. If she’ll let you.”
Shit, we probably should have sent Gabriel in to talk to her, but then again, she already thought I was a stalker. May as well keep the damage isolated to me.
“She thinks it was wild animals,” I said, wincing as I moved and aggravated my injury. “I said I thought it was Frank, but there’s no way I can convince her of that without sounding like a lunatic.”
Brooks made a noise of agreement. “You probably shouldn’t have mentioned Frank at all,” he pointed out unhelpfully. “She’s going to think you’re fucking with her.”
“Weren’t you going to ask her carrier friend to talk to her?” Gabriel reminded me.
“You’re a genius,” I told him, clapping him on the shoulder and wincing when the movement pulled at my injury. “I’ll see if I can get Ria to talk to her.”
“Nate?” Lou called hesitantly, the back door creaking open slightly.
“Shit,” I muttered, walking back into the yard as fast as I could while the guys slunk back among the trees.
“Nate?” she called again. “Did you get eaten by a wolf?”
I snorted quietly. I’d definitely gotten too close for comfort.
“I’m here,” I replied, walking to the bottom of the steps. Her porch was wrecked—the screen door had been shredded like it was made of mozzarella, and the entire railing had collapsed. Lou had turned on the kitchen light, illuminating the damage, but I doubted her human eyes would be able to see the amount of blood staining the snow.
She was standing with the light at her back, entirely too vulnerable behind the remnants of the screen door in her pajamas, the gun held loosely at her side. She looked distraught, and I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms and tell her everything would be okay, except that would only make things worse.
“Lou,” I said softly, swallowing the urge to tell her off for opening the door.
“You know what, I think I’d like to leave now,” she murmured, fingers tracing the shredded screen. “But I’m not sure going to your house is the best idea either though.”
“Firstly, bring the gun,” I told her seriously. “Point it at me the whole time if you want. It isn’t safe here, you know you can’t stay.”
“And secondly?” she asked, sounding resigned.
“Secondly, call Ria. She knows me. Her, er, guys know me. I know you don’t trust me, but you trust her, right?”
“Right...” Lou agreed tentatively, pulling out her phone. “I have the number for Noah’s satellite phone, but I don’t know if he’ll answer in the middle of the night.”
“He’ll answer,” I replied drily. There was no way Mr. Control Freak wouldn’t notice a call coming in at any time of the day.
Lou dialled and held the phone up to her ear, squinting into the darkness as she waited for someone to pick up. It only took two rings before I heard Noah’s gruff voice on the other end of the phone.
“Lou? Everything okay?”
She opened her mouth before closing it again, looking a little lost for words. “Um, no. Not really. I’m sorry, I know it’s late.”
“That’s okay. Hold on, Ria is coming to the phone.”
I catalogued Lou’s every reaction, the nervousness that she was trying to hide, and the way she’d catch herself any time that mask of calm slipped. It was always subtle—straightening her shoulders, flexing her fingers to stop them drumming, regulating her breathing…
Perhaps that was what had made my cougar so enamored with her. Lou was prey from the top of her red hair to the bottom of her dainty toes, but she refused to show it.
“Lou?”Ria sounded frantic, which probably wasn’t helping Lou’s state of mind.
“It’s okay,” she soothed despite her own fear. “I’m okay. Something weird just happened at my house.”
“What kind of weird?”
Lou gave me a helpless look before shaking it off again. It was kind of fascinating to watch. “There were these noises, um, like wild animals? Like wolves and stuff? I didn’t see anything, I was getting my gun out, but whatever it was seemed to… attack my house,” she finished lamely. “I know it sounds weird, but my screen door is shredded and the porch railing is in pieces—”
“I’m coming to get you. Eli! Wake up! How is he sleeping right now?”she snapped at someone in the background. God, Eli was such a consummate bear.
“No, no, it’s fine,” Lou said hurriedly. “Um, Nate is here, actually. He suggested I go stay at his place.”
“Oh, thank god for that,”Ria sighed dramatically. She may have just become my favorite person. “Nate will keep you safe.”
Lou gave me an assessing look, like she was trying to decipher the truth in Ria’s words just with her eyes.
“Is he close? Can I talk to him?”Ria pressed.
“Uh, yeah. He’s here, hold on.” Lou reached through the door to pass me the phone. “Ria wants to talk to you.”
“Ria,” I greeted.
“It wasn’t wild animals,” she guessed flatly. I grunted in the affirmative. “Can you keep her safe?”
“Without a doubt,” I replied instantly. Even if I had to deal with a few more broken ribs. There was a scuffle on the other end before Noah’s voice came through the phone.
“You know Chase will give you backup, just ask. Us as well. Don’t take stupid risks, Nate.”
I grunted in agreement, because that was basically a declaration of undying friendship from Noah, and I was a little bit moved.
“Lou will send you updates,” I promised, hanging up before she got any more suspicious.
“What did Ria say to you?” Lou asked, eyes narrowed.
“She just wanted to make sure I’d take care of you,” I assured her, thankful that for once I wasn’t lying.
“Okay. Fine. I’ll stay. Just for the night,” she sighed. I felt my entire body relax and hadn’t even realized I’d been holding my breath, waiting for her answer. “But I will be bringing my gun, and I will shoot you in the dick if you’re fucking with me.”
“Good,” I told her solemnly, almost repressing my wince. “I’ll meet you out front.”
Lou retreated, closing and locking the back door behind her and I heard her moving around inside while I kicked snow over the bloody patches by the house as best I could before returning to the front porch to wait.
Lou emerged a few minutes later, fully dressed with a duffel bag over her arm, gun in one hand and phone in the other.
“Do you think I should call the cops?” she asked, frowning. “Or animal control? I don’t want to, but the insurance company…”
“Me and the guys will fix the damage,” I told her, selfishly hoping it would earn me some brownie points as I watched her lock the front door behind her. I turned my gaze back out to the road and scanned our surroundings. I could only scent Brooks and Gabriel nearby, but I wasn’t going to be able to relax until I got Lou out of here. Even then, I wasn’t sure my heart rate would return to normal.
“Expecting someone?” Lou asked nervously, watching my movements as we made our way to the vehicle. I could feel my nose twitching as I scented the air, struggling to keep it still. She didn’t need to think I was any weirder than she already thought I was.
I heard a wolf howl in the distance and scooped Lou up, lifting her into the passenger seat while she made an outraged noise, but fortunately didn’t shoot me in the face. That howl hadn’t been from Brooks.
I jumped in the driver’s seat and started the car up, already pulling out of the driveway before Lou even had her seatbelt on. It wasn’t that the rental I was staying in was much more secure, but it was at least properly scent-marked, and we’d have a better case for defending our own territory than that of an unclaimed human’s.
“If this is all a trick to get me to your house so you can murder me and have sex with my corpse, I’m going to be annoyed,” Lou grumbled, glancing nervously out the window.
“Just annoyed?” I asked absently, eyes moving between the mirrors, checking every side of the vehicle.
“Well, I’ll be dead,” she pointed out. “But I will haunt your ass forever if you murder me. I’ll follow you to your studio every day and distract you while you’re working so all your tattoos turn out shit. And every time you have a girl over, I’ll be in the room, knocking things over and opening windows and freaking you out until you can’t perform.”
Ha. The idea of fucking anyone else was laughable at this point. I was too twisted up over this woman I couldn’t keep.
“That is very good incentive not to murder you,” I agreed seriously. “For what it’s worth, you’re infinitely more fuckable living than dead, but I promise that’s not why I’m bringing you back to my house. You can take my bed, I’ll sleep on the couch.”
“What a compliment,” she sighed, fanning her face dramatically. “Won’t Brooks and Gabriel find it weird you’re dragging home a stray in the middle of the night?”
Right. Of course she would expect them to be there.
“They’re... out for the night,” I said in a strained voice, glancing out the window as I caught a glimpse of Brooks’ tawny fur.
“No witnesses,” she said sagely, nodding her head as I snorted. “Smart move, killer.”
Despite the sassy retort, she was frowning like she didn’t particularly like my answer. Of course she didn’t. She was on a date with Gabriel tonight.
God, I hoped I could keep this woman safe without destroying my friendships. Or myself.