Page 84 of Wolf's Mark

“What the hell does that mean?”

“That means that your life is in danger and I might be the only man capable of preventing you from being killed.”

The late afternoon sun streaming in from the condo’s windows was bright and beautiful, yet I was shivering inside. While what little common sense I had left warned me about getting in a vehicle with him, the woman inside who’d shared such passion with the marvelous man had allowed me to do so.

Maybe wolves could cast spells over humans.

God. This was crazy. I was crazy. He couldn’t be a wolf. That was against everything I’d learned in becoming a forensic scientist.

“I’m not who you think I am,” Jax said. He’d given me some space, but it was time for him to come clean.

“That much I figured out. What was in the report compiled by the FBI was all true?”

He laughed and a tiny thrill drifted down my spine. “Highly embellished.”

It was his first admittance that he wasn’t normal. Were any of us?

“So you’re one of them, a murderous creature feasting on human flesh.”

“Why do you think anyone in my family would dare feast on human flesh?”

I had to face the strange results I’d found after I’d run a few additional tests. I’d hidden away tissue samples, including from the first victim’s stomach. “Because one of the victims had ingested human tissue prior to his death. That much I did capture. That meant he’d shifted into a creature before. God, I hope that was the case. If he ate another human, I can’t think about it.” I finally turned around to face him.

His face remained expressionless, but the way he was gripping his drink was telling. He was disturbed by what I’d said, angry.

But not at me.

“Sit down, Sedona.”

“Why should I?”

“Because… we need to talk. I can’t stress enough you need to have our discussion with an open mind. I also could use your help.”

“Help. How?”

“First, let me tell you a story,” he insisted.

Wine was waiting for me at the coffee table and I stared at it for confirmation I was still very human as I finally forced myself to sit down. “So talk.”

Leaning forward, he shifted his drink from one hand to the other. “I come from a long line of people capable of shifting into our true ancestry.”

“A wolf. Your body morphs into a nightmarish beast?” I was still being sarcastic all over again. How was it possible not to be?

“Not like the movies depict, Sedona. We come from a more traditional wolf, an ancient one. We were here prior to the dinosaurs, at least according to my mother and the stories I’ve heard from our oldest pack members.”

Wolves. Packs. I already had a headache. “The dinosaurs. O-kay. What about the crazy figure I saw? I found fur after the wacko broke out of the building. That video shows he was morphing into something that… that is a complete nightmare. You should have heard his howl.”

“The creatures you were forced to experience are a different kind of being. It was yet to fully transform. But from what I know, they are man killers.”

“Man killers. There are two kinds?”

His chuckle seemed inappropriate on one hand, but all I wanted to do was burst into hysterical laughter myself. “Yes. I only learned recently that a story we were told as children was true. The creatures you interacted with are more like what you know as werewolves.”

“Stop it. This is crazy.”

“Is it? Tell me about the wolf who guided you to safety as a child. You felt close to him. Yes? You were close to reading his mind as he was yours.”

“Not possible.”

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