Page 105 of Wolf's Mark

Her vehemence was a powerful message regarding her thoughts on the crisis we were facing.

“You witnessed the beginning of their shift with your own eyes.”

“I was exhausted. I was angry for being forced into working a case that shouldn’t have been mine. Nothing else.”

Her fear had finally stripped her of being able to look outside her scientific box.

I wasn’t going to get into a brutal verbal game I wouldn’t win. At least not at this point. “You should try and get some sleep. You’re exhausted and overwrought. I’ll show you where your room is. I assure you that I won’t bother you tonight.” When she continued to glare at me, I stood and started to walk away.

As much as I adored her, humans could be a pain in the ass. Work needed to begin in the lab almost immediately. However, the FBI also needed to be watched. I would assign Chase to that duty. He would enjoy aggravating members of the FBI.

“I know what I witnessed in that lab those two horrible days. The incidents are unexplainable, especially to a doctor of science, but I cannot and will not believe one hundred percent of the crap you’re so determined to try and convince me of. Yes, I’m curious. Yes, everything said tonight has piqued my interest, butI refuse to place Britney’s life in danger. I’m a mother first and foremost.”

“Then we’ll bring her here.”

“You can’t just remove me from my life, Jax. I know you feel the need to protect me, but I’m a strong woman.”

I touched her arm. “We’ll figure all the logistics out. I promise you.”

“Fine.”

Exhaustion had settled into my system as well. I rubbed my tired eyes, doing everything I could to maintain some constant level of composure. She knew how to push every button in her attempt to drive me away.

Which was exactly what she was doing.

“When I dropped you off at your car, I gathered a stronger scent of the wolf that you believed was watching us. Did you forget you were certain the eyes of a wolf were staring at you?”

“A daydream and nothing more.”

“Was it? Did you not gather his stench? Didn’t your instincts provide you with proof that you were being watched?”

“I said. Just a daydream. Nothing more.”

“Is that what you need to tell yourself to keep the nightmares away? Did the experience with the wolf in the woods all those years ago really not seem out of the ordinary to you? If not, you’re fucking fooling yourself.”

She threw the glass at me as she jumped to her feet. “Fuck you. This is insane. You’re insane and I’m not going to allow you tocontinue to try and make me believe there are werewolves ready to eat people. Unless you’re trying to confide in me that you’re a murderer as well.”

I wiped my face and took a deep breath. “Yes, Sedona. I have killed humans before because I had no choice. However, I was well aware of my actions and decided to save not only myself, but other innocent humans around me. The difference with the werewolves is that they have no conscience. They kill because that’s ingrained in their systems. They need to feed. Do you understand me?”

After a few seconds, she stormed away, pulling on my last nerve.

“I know you heard what I said about men mauled at the park. I followed the stench from the parking lot where three of them were watching you, not just one, all of them hungering for you, Sedona. I found them in the park where they usually hunted and I called Riker to come initiate our own hunt. Which we did. What we found were three savages in the process of transforming into the most dangerous creatures on this earth. And we made a choice. Kill them before they could kill us. Ask me again if I’m a killer.”

She wasn’t moving.

“They haven’t reached early transformation yet, but I agree with both you and Marla. It will happen within days, maybe hours. Help me with this, Sedona.”

Her shoulders were rising and falling, both her hands fisted. She spun around quickly, hissing from her twisted mouth. “If you’re a goddamn wolf then prove it.”

I stared at her. There was no fucking way I was going to show her my beast.

Her almost gleeful look was infuriating. “Prove. It.”

“I’m not going to do that. That isn’t what you need.”

She laughed in a maniacal way. “You’re such a phony. You aren’t a wolf at all, but a liar and one of the worst kinds. You need to take me home and never, ever contact me again.”

Control was vital in my world, both for my kind and in the position that I held within such a prominent corporation. I’d lost my cool a few times over the years, but it had never been beneficial to me or anyone else for that matter. The saying that ‘I didn’t get mad, I got even’ worked very well for my personality. I could tear down a man’s reputation in ten minutes.

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