Shift of Fate: A Wolfguard Protectors Novel Page 3

  “She might walk straight into the line of fire,” I said, my wolf getting restless once more. “Still, is it the best idea to keep her in the dark? I don’t think she’s stupid Payne.”

  He sighed on the other end of the phone. “Just...can you get her to Virginia? Then she can be Jason Soren’s problem. I can’t say I one hundred percent agree with his thinking, but I’m certain the guy’s in love with her. Just...get her there.”

  “Got it,” I said, still not entirely satisfied. “Get her to the church on time. That’s the gig?”

  “Pretty much,” Payne answered. I felt ash in my mouth. I got an image of Willow Rousseau, her auburn hair flowing and those perfect, round breasts bursting out of a tight, silk wedding dress. I shook my head to clear it. This was no good. I’d been in the field way too damn long.

  “I know I can count on you, Val. Just keep your eyes open and your senses sharp. Jason Soren doesn’t strike me as an alarmist. If he thinks his fiancée could get in her own way on this, I believe him. She matters to him. So, she matters to us.”

  “Got it,” I said, though I was starting to hate it. I really wanted to get in a room with Jason Soren myself so I could read him.

  “Good man,” Payne said. “I’ll see you when you get back to the Louisville office in a few days. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”

  “We do,” I answered and clicked off. The apartment door opened and Willow stood there, her cheeks flushed, her breasts heaving. She projected calm, but I knew she was anything but. Hell, it was the same for me.

  “Well,” she said. “If you’re in such a hurry, what are you still doing standing there?”

  I had the urge to take her up on her earlier suggestion and bend her over for a spanking. Just the thought of it made my blood sing. My vision went foggy and I quickly shielded my eyes. If she had been looking straight at me, she would have seen my wolf eyes flash silver.

  Chapter Four

  Willow

  Valentin Kalenkov. Of course they would send a Russian musclehead to make sure I did what I was told. Val stood in the doorway, his hands folded in front of him. He was big. Formidable with deep, penetrating blue eyes. I made a joke daring him to throw me over his shoulder. The thing was, he could have. In a heartbeat.

  That should have terrified me. In a way, it did. I was fast on my feet, but if this guy wanted to get in my way, I was done for. I’d have to outsmart him.

  My phone was still on the kitchen counter. I prayed neither my father nor Jason would text. If I could get the hell out of here and leave it behind, then at least Daddy couldn’t track me that way. He thought I hadn’t figured out he installed the GPS app like I was some twelve-year-old. There had just been too many coincidences over the last few months.

  “Let’s just get out of here,” I said. “Traffic on I-70 will be a bitch as it is.”

  “That’s why we should have left almost two hours ago,” he said, his voice had a rich, deep timbre that sent tiny vibrations up my spine.

  “Sorry,” I said and half meant it. I knew what he thought of me. I knew what everyone thought of me. Daniel Rousseau’s spoiled little mafia princess. I came all the way to Denver for a chance at a fair shake at school. I didn’t want any special favors. I wanted to be judged on whatever true talent I had as a photographer. If I failed, then I failed.

  Except I didn’t.

  Last month, my work was featured in a student showcase. I sold every last piece. One of my professors had recommended me for an internship in New York with an artist I admired. When I mentioned it to my father, he threatened to cut me off.

  Five years ago, if he had said something like that, it would have terrified me. Now, it thrilled me. God. Maybe he was right. He said I could never commit to anything because I had the luxury of his money and influence propping me up.

  Val held the elevator door open for me. He ushered me inside, his face hard and stoic. Still, he had a glint in his blue eyes that sparked my heart. It had to be that edge of fear again. And simmering rage. He tried to tell me Jason had sent him, but I knew better.

  I held my breath as the elevator door shut and we began our descent. My cellphone never beeped. It was still on the kitchen counter as the elevator doors opened and we stepped out into the lobby.

  “This way,” Val said. He pointed to a sleek, black SUV across the street. He tapped his key fob and the thing roared to life. He looked both ways and put a light hand at the center of my back, guiding me across the street.

  A fleeting thought made my heart trip. What if I made a run for it right here? I could scream, make a scene. Would Val try to stop me?

  Panic squeezed my heart. If I got in that car with him, there might be no way of turning back. He would deliver me to Jason. I knew what would happen. Guilt would pull at me. Jason had expectations. It wasn’t his fault. I hadn’t been honest with him. For the last year I told myself that our planned wedding day was so far off. I’d figure out what to do about him later. Later was now, and here I was.

  Here Val Kalenkov was. Was he telling the truth? Was Jason really behind bringing him here?

  It got hard to breathe. All this time, I’d been trying to figure out how to deal with my father. Was Jason just a carbon copy of him?

  I walked to the rear passenger seat and reached for the door handle.

  “Up front,” Val said.

  “What?”

  “I’m not a chauffeur, Ms. Rousseau. I’d rather you sit up front.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Shit. I wasn’t doing very much to disabuse this guy of an impression he had of me as an entitled brat. I wasn’t sure why I cared, but I did. As Val held the door for me, I realized I cared a lot.

  I thanked him as I slid in and reached for the seat belt. Val gave me a curt smile, then shut the door.

  Strapped in. Trapped. I dropped my chin and tried to focus on my breathing. I was about to have a full blown panic attack right here in the car. Never mind spoiled brat, Val would think I was a nutcase.

  He slipped into the driver’s seat and pulled into traffic. I watched my apartment building grow smaller from the side mirror.

  We sat in more or less companionable silence for a few minutes. Val told me to put on whatever I wanted. I scrolled through the satellite radio options and chose an alt-rock station but turned the volume down.

  He hit the highway and picked up speed. My pulse quickened right along with his acceleration. There was no going back unless I found a way.

  About an hour later...that way presented itself.

  It happened almost three hours later a few miles from the Kansas line. Val stopped for gas.

  “Do you want anything from inside?” he asked. They were the first words he’d spoken to me since we hit the highway out of Denver.

  “No,” I said. “But, I’d like to use the restroom.”

  He canted his head to the side. A smile played at the corners of his mouth. He really was good-looking in a sort of brooding Alpha male way. Under different circumstances, I could appreciate having him looking out for me. For now though, I couldn’t see him as much more than a prison guard.

  “Ms. Rousseau,” he said. “You don’t have to ask me for permission to go to the bathroom. I don’t know what you think I’m here for.”

  “Thanks,” I said, feeling a little embarrassed. I slipped out of the car and we walked into the service station together.

  It was one of those deluxe ones with three fast food restaurants joined by a giant food court. Val went to the cashier to pay for the gas. The restrooms were straight ahead.

  He was quiet, unobtrusive except for his size, but I recognized his posture and followed his gaze. Val was scanning the area. He probably made a mental catalog of every person in the place. I half-wondered if he had some internal computer behind his eyes like a movie cyborg. He had a definite Terminator vibe to him. I knew I didn’t want to get on his bad side.

  Satisfied, he nodded toward the bathrooms. “I’ll meet you back at the car in a few minutes. Take you
r time,” he said.

  He made cheery conversation with the clerk behind the counter. She was just a pretty teenager with dyed black hair. Her jaw dropped and she stopped chewing her gum when Val approached. She looked up and up at him.

  He was still chatting with her when I came out of the bathroom. For some reason, it got my back up. He wasn’t doing anything inappropriate. He just asked her a few questions about the town. Behind me, two other women came out of the bathroom.

  “We can make the four-fifteen train to San Diego,” one of them said. “We need to hustle. The closest station’s in Garden City.”

  San Diego. Garden City. I don’t know what stirred in me. The two ladies held a road map out in front of them. The older one traced a line on it. They wore matching fanny packs. Old friends. Partner, maybe. They might have been on vacation, but something told me they weren’t. They were just carefree and on the road. My heart ached with jealousy.

  There was a commotion to my right. Some drunk asshole was hassling the cashier at the burger joint in that wing of the service station.

  He got louder, calling her a four-letter word that made my blood boil. He staggered sideways and brought down a rack of potato chips.

  Another patron in line screamed. The guy took a swing at the cashier.

  I didn’t see Val move. He became a blur, leaping over the counter, choosing the shortest distance between two points.

  The two fanny pack ladies turned toward the fracas. One put her hand over her mouth and started to pull her companion toward the exit.

  I acted almost without thinking, seeing the opportunity and hating myself just a little for it.

  “Will you help me?” I whispered to one of them.

  Startled, she dropped her hand from her mouth and stared at me with an intense gaze.

  “You okay, sweetie?”

  I was almost out of time. Val had a hold of the drunk. The guy had been stupid enough to lunge at him. Val dodged the blow neatly and had him pinned against the wall.

  I gestured with my chin toward the chaos. “He’s...I came with him. I...I need to get out of here.”

  It was the truth, but they believed the lie my word implied. The older of the women, with cotton candy white hair gave me a grim, knowing nod.

  “The Garden City train station,” I said. “I wouldn’t mind getting there too.”

  “Come on, honey,” she said. “Then you better make tracks.”

  Her companion started to say something, but quickly closed her mouth when she saw the look in her girlfriend’s eye.

  Val had his back to me. The drunk kept on fighting as two security guards finally brought themselves into the mix.

  “Hurry,” I whispered. “Please.”

  The women got in front of me. We walked with swift purpose out of the service station. They led me to a blue minivan. I climbed in the back.

  The ladies were quick and stealthy as ninjas. The white-haired one got behind the wheel and pulled out. I was thrown hard against the door as she whipped into a turn and hit the road going almost sixty.

  “Christ, Louise,” her friend said as she struggled to get her seatbelt on.

  “Don’t you worry, honey,” Louise yelled back. “We’ll get you on that train or anywhere else you’d like to go.”

  I ducked down in the seat, afraid to look back. In another minute, Val would figure out I was gone. By then, it would be too late. My father’s cellphone app would do him no damn good.

  As Louise zipped past slower moving traffic, I started to feel the taste of freedom. I had no idea what I’d do when I got there, but Garden City, Kansas sounded like heaven.

  Chapter Five

  Val

  “One more move and I’ll break your arm,” I said, trying hard to keep the growl out of my voice. I could barely see straight. I knew my wolf eyes were blazing to anyone close enough to see into them.

  This was a bad idea. The last thing I was here to do was draw attention to myself. But, ever since I’d picked Willow up, the urge to shift burned so strong it choked my heart at times. Then, one asshole started getting handsy with the poor girl behind the counter and it was go time.

  He had a knife. I felt the outline of it in his back pocket. He was on something. Drunk as hell at a minimum. When he took a swing at me, I damn near ripped his arm off.

  “Glen!” The girl behind the counter had the presence of mind to call for security. They were just a couple of rent-a-cops. One of them looked close to three hundred pounds. He came at me, red-faced, sweating with nothing more than a taser to subdue this asshole.

  I closed my eyes and let out a slow breath. I had to get my wolf under control and quick. I wasn’t here for this punk. I was here for Willow.

  “You got this?” I said through gritted teeth over my shoulder.

  “Uh, yeah,” the red-faced security guard answered. He had zip ties instead of cuffs. If this little prick had shifter in him that would be a joke. He was human though. I whipped him around and grabbed him by the wrists, holding him steady while the guard applied the cuffs and took him from me.

  “”Thanks,” the other guard said. “We’ll take it from here.”

  “She can give a statement for your report,” I said, nodding to the cashier.

  Her jaw still hung open. She couldn’t peel her eyes away from me. Dammit. I knew why. She’d seen. She knew what I was. Time to get the hell out of here.

  I gave her a quick nod and tried to force a smile. The girl was smart enough to keep my secret. She composed herself, smoothing her hair under her little visor cap and started talking a mile a minute to the guards. She drew their attention from me so I could leave.

  I walked back into the plaza lobby. Willow wasn’t there. I did a quick scan of the convenience store then the other two fast food joints. No Willow.

  My heart raced. It was dangerous to try so soon after I’d nearly shifted in front of thirty random people. But, I closed my eyes and focused on Willow’s scent.

  It acted on me like a drug. Sweet, feminine, delicious. A shudder went through me as my wolf clamored to get out. I was a hair’s breadth from going feral right then and there.

  Willow’s scent lingered, wisping like smoke. But it grew fainter by the second.

  My eyes snapped open. My vision darkened, going almost infrared. She was nowhere.

  “You looking for someone, honey?” An older lady stood near the display of road maps. She had Coke-bottle glasses that magnified her eyes, giving her a praying-mantis quality. But, she gave me a kind smile as she got near me.

  Something made her stop though. On some deep, instinctual level, she sensed something off about me.

  “Did you see a young woman come out of there?” I asked, pointing to the ladies room. “Early twenties. Long, auburn hair. Ripped jeans. Wearing a pink knit hat?”

  The woman scrunched her nose and shrugged. “Well, handsome, I was kind of watching you. That was pretty impressive over there. Got my old heart pumping. Very chivalrous of you to help that poor girl out.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “Um...would you mind helping me out and checking if my friend is still in there?”

  She smiled and coiled her finger around my bicep. She squeezed as I flexed involuntarily. Then, she made a big show of fanning herself.

  “Oh, my,” she said. “If I were just a few years younger. You just leave it to me.”

  “Thank you,” I said, clearing my throat. “Willow. My friend’s name is Willow.”

  She made a little salute and walked with surprising speed and efficiency to the ladies’ room.

  I focused on scenting Willow again. Something didn’t feel right. Unless she was sick, she should be out here waiting for me.

  A moment later, the old woman came out of the bathroom, shaking her head no.

  “Sorry, dearie,” she said. “The stalls are empty. I looked underneath. Your girl ditched you. She must be out of her mind. Did you check outside?”

  I was already out the door, heart pounding. I scann
ed the parking lot. There were two cars filling up at the gas pumps. Four semis sat parked in the long term slots.

  Willow’s scent wafted past me. She’d come this way, recently. I raced to the trucks, desperate to latch on to her. She hadn’t been here. That gave me a small ray of hope. If she’d hitched a ride with some trucker, there was no telling where she was or what kind of trouble she might find herself in.

  “Son of a bitch,” I muttered. I had been so stupid to let her out of my sight. What the hell had I been thinking?

  I walked back toward the gas pumps. It was there I scented Willow the strongest. But, her scent was fading fast.

  South. She’d headed south. I knew it in my gut and in my nose. There was no time to check whatever security cameras might have captured her leaving and with whom. No. The best weapon I had for finding her was me.

  I slid behind the wheel of my SUV and rolled the windows down. I sucked in a great breath of air, letting Willow’s scent fill me. A ripple of pleasure came with it. This time, I couldn’t hold back the growl that ripped out of me.

  Mine!

  My wolf raged inside of me. The word came unbidden. The truth behind it rocked my heart.

  No. There was no time to let my feral side take over. I had a job to do. The threat to Willow was real and I’d just been stupid enough to let her race toward it.

  I put the car in drive and headed for the highway. The further south I drove, the stronger Willow’s scent became. I knew I was on the right track. And I knew I had precious little time to catch up with her. She was moving fast. She was scared. Shit. She was scared of me.

  Willow had maybe a ten-minute head start. I followed her scent as it branched off toward Garden City. The exit signs made my heart lurch. With each minute that ticked by, I realized where she was going. There was an Amtrak station in Garden City.

  I gripped the steering wheel so hard the plastic began to bend. The wisest course would have been to pull over. I was at risk of shifting into my wolf right then and there.