Page 38 of Fury

She snorted in response. “Keep telling yourself that. Maybe one day you’ll have a chance to prove it.”

The hard grip of his jaw loosened and a sort of sadness washed over him. The sudden feeling so palpable it overwhelmed her.

“Not likely,” he said quietly. “At least not on Devils Point.”

She wrinkled her forehead, unable to hide her confusion. “Why not?”

“Over the years our female numbers have dwindled. We’ve had to go out of our way to find suitable mates, and until recently there hadn’t been that many.”

Something gripped her stomach a moment before she realized what it was. Oh yeah, it was the whole mate thing he kept saying when he referred to her. That tiny hope she’d clung to of him meaning they were friends unraveled before her eyes.

Of course that didn’t mean she’d lost any of her constant curiosity. The more he said, the more he fed into it, apparently. “What do you mean by going out of your way to find mates? What exactly do you do?”

As soon as the question left her mouth the air between them thickened. She watched his jaw harden and his eyes slowly narrow. Either he’d said something he shouldn’t have or she’d hit a nerve. Or maybe both.

“Does this have anything to do with you and your friend continually referring to me as a mate?”

“No. You came to us, remember? Whatever fate brought us together, it wasn’t by design. We had nothing to do with that explosion at the club. That’s all on hunter shoulders.”

She swallowed, her throat feeling suddenly closed.

“Us together?” Why she kept asking him questions she didn’t understand. The answers he gave her were not what she wanted to hear. Yet, she continued to ask.

Before he could answer, a loud eerie howl sounded from somewhere in the distance snagging both of their attention.

“Shit.”

Her pulse jumped at Sawyer's outburst. “What is it?”

“We're too late.”

She frantically searched the near darkness in front of them as they plunged into the smoke-filled roads of the island. Fear prickled along her skin. “Too late for what?”

“They’ve already found them.”

“How do you know? Do you have some sort of ESP?” This gave her pause. If they could communicate telepathically or see the future or something that would be an even bigger game changer. What chance did human kind have against those kinds of advances?

He shook his head. “No. It's all in the howl. A lot can be said over a great distance if you simply listen for the different inflections. Wolves communicate. And we're no different when we become one with the beast.”

Penelope bent forward and rubbed her temples. This was all too much to take in. She didn't know if any of this shocking information would sink in as factual details or if she'd wake up in the morning to find out it was all a dream. Her head shot up. Maybe that's it. She really was dreaming and only needed to find a way to wake up.

“What's wrong?” her dream Sawyer said.

“I've just realized that none of this is real.”

His forehead wrinkled. “What's not real? What are you talking about?”

“This.” She waved her hand in front of her. “All of it. The whole changing into a wolf thing and us racing into some unknown disaster amidst an entire pack of howling wolf men. It's all a dream. It makes perfect sense.”

His gaze slid sideways for a second. “Seriously? You've just reduced the last couple of hours to a dream or are we talking about even longer? The bridge perhaps?”

She flounced back against the seat, her frustration growing. “What the hell else am I supposed to think? This. Can't. Be. Real. This kind of thing can't exist. It's fantasy. Strictly meant for movies and books.”

The vehicle came to a sudden halt, Sawyer shoving the gears into park.

“What are you—?”

He turned toward her and leaned in close. “Oh this is real, babe. Whether you want to face that or not is another matter. But after tonight this mess will all be over and you and I can sit down and actually talk this out. I like a nice fantasy as well as the next guy, but make no mistake, this is as real as it gets.” As if to emphasize his point, his fingers curled around her arm and dragged her closer.

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