Rejected Wolf by Rae Foxx

10

It wasn’tuntil the motorcycles stopped and the wind stopped chapping my face that I realized just how right they were. I smelled like fucking death. Like death warmed over and rotted mushrooms. I even looked down to see if some of them were growing from my limbs. Truth was, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.

“What are we doing here?” I asked as they all dismounted the motorcycles in perfect timing. I tried to do the same but nearly fell on my face. Thank God Mr. Beefy's arms were already ready for me. He lifted me with the least amount of grace possible and put me on my feet. My knees buckled. It was only because the long-haired one steadied me with his hands gripping my waist.

“Hands off! I got this.” I didn’t and almost went down face first as my would-be savior laughed.

“We are here to rest, goddess. Rest easy. We will make good on our deal.” He righted me again, his hair draped over my shoulder as he whispered the words into my ear, making me shudder.

“Thank you uhhh…” It was only then that I realized I knew none of their names. Great. I made a deal with strangers. Vampire strangers. I probably should have asked that considering I would be calling out their names as they killed me in the night because that was my luck in this life.

“So what are all your names?” I asked, feeling foolish.

“Oh, my manners must’ve fled along with all my other rational thoughts when I saw you. My name is Reginald. That brute making the arrangements for the room is Titus and over there, scribbling in his journal is Henry.”

“Nice to meet you...I think.” Three old ass named for three old ass vampires.

He chuckled but it sounded more like a windchime than an actual laugh. “I consider it a stroke of incredible luck finding you in the desert of all places. Now, let’s get cleaned up and you probably need to eat. Correct? I can smell the hunger coming off of you in waves.”

Eating was the last of my priorities, but at this point, I wouldn’t push away a burger or six.

I opened my mouth to say that I needed a shower first, but Titus, the brute, took me by the bicep and led me to a room. Reginald and Henry filed into their room accompanied by their bags. Reginald winked at me before the door shut on him and I nearly passed out. Man, I did need food.

Titus opened the room with a key card and stomped inside after practically shoving me in first.

Without a second thought, I bee-lined for the bathroom but was nearly clotheslined by Titus’ tree limb of an arm. I coughed and sputtered as my windpipe went back into place. “The fuck?” I yelled having negative thirty fucks to give about the repercussions.

He chuckled low and slow like a freight train running right through the center of me. “My room. I get the first shower. Unless you have another way to pay for the room? Or the shower?”

He looked at me like I was food, his fangs pressing against his top lip as they began to descend.

“Not a fucking chance. You must’ve mistaken me for your blow-up doll. Oh, wait, no, your fangs would deflate her. You probably have a mannequin or some sick shit.”

He reached out and with one finger ran it down the length of my face as his eyes flashed red, “You have no idea what a favor I’d be doing you to drag your fine ass into that shower and fuck you until you couldn’t see straight.” I swallowed so hard he could hear it. “Doesn’t matter. You wait out here while I get cleaned up and then if you’re a good girl I’ll let you have five minutes in there as well.”

“Wow. Thanks, Mr. Generous.” I turned to look out the window. Deal or not, I was planning my escape. Anything, even death, had to be better than a deal with the devil or devils as the case may be.

“Don’t even think about it. I’m already tempted enough to drain you right here but trying to escape would give me just the fucking excuse I need.”

Before I could retort, he called up the other two and told them to get to his room and watch the prey. It wasn’t a new thing to be called prey but coming from his mouth it didn’t sound so bad.

Holy fuck! One mention of fucking me and I had turned into a pool of goo.

In seconds, Reginald and Henry strolled in, already looking like they had a wardrobe change.

“Go on, we’ve got this,” Henry said to Titus who huffed before slamming the door to the bathroom. He patted one of the beds, but I chose the chair near the dinky circular dining table instead.

Henry wiped off some invisible dirt from his shiny shoes. “Tell us about yourself, Lizzie. How in the world did a beauty like you end up in this kerfuffle?”

Kerfuffle? What the fuck, were we in the Renaissance? Oh, wait. Vampires.

I decided right then and there it was time to get him into the twentieth century. “I got in this shithole by… well, I decided to get away from my pack.” Halfway through the sentence, my sense of self-preservation kicked in and I decided not to divulge all of my secrets in one night. I had to trust these bloodsuckers right now, but I had no way of knowing if they were trustworthy in the long run.

“I see,” Reginald said, pulling his hair into a bun at the nape of his neck. “Leaving a pack doesn’t usually have such dire consequences. At least, with what I know about wolf packs and such.”

Damn it. He couldn't just let it go.

“I could ask the same about you. What the hell had you riding your motorcycles through the desert? Don’t vampires prefer dark, musty caves or some shit?”

Henry chuckled but seemed more interested in the TV than me. He used the remote like an old man, jutting the damned thing toward the screen every time he pushed a button. “That’s bats, Poppy, not vampires. We don’t have echolocation or wings either, for the record.”

“Right,” I rolled my eyes. “You just drink blood and can’t stand in the sun--” I paused, narrowing my eyes at him. They had all stood in the sun earlier.

“Don’t believe everything you hear,” Henry drawled, ignoring my silent question. “Besides, we’ve already told you what we were doing. We were hunting down your pack.”

“Well, hunt away. They deserve it.”

Reginald cocked his head sideways. “Seems your punishment didn’t fit your crime, don’t you agree, Henry? Bringing you to the brink of death simply for wanting to leave the pack?”

Henry harrumphed and recrossed his legs. “A little suspicious to say the least.”

I shrugged it off. “I may or may not have offended the Alpha a little on my way out. His ego is larger than the continental United States, so it must’ve stung more than I’d planned.”

Henry and Reginald shared a look. They knew I was bullshitting but chose not to call me out on it anymore.

Maybe one day I would reveal my truth to the bloodsuckers but right now I just needed a fucking shower.