Page 61 of Fighting Furry

It finally came free so fast I almost fell into the driver's side door. I glanced at the road, already pressing buttons on my phone, only the road wasn't clear. There were four wolves blocking my path.

“Axel?” I slammed on the brakes. Funny thing about dirt roads, though, they can be really damn slippery and the brakes weren't slowing me down fast enough to avoid hitting the wolves.

I swerved, the wolves just inches from my front bumper, unmoving. I was close enough to see that I didn't recognize any of them. I was close enough to realize none of them was Axel.

And then my vision was filled with a tree trunk, approaching way too fast. The crash of metal, an instant to wonder why the airbags hadn't inflated, and my world went black.

***

It was dark, my head was pounding, and my bladder was screaming. Beneath me, was something soft and, I felt around me, wide. I was alone in a bed that smelled stale and dirty.

Something was very wrong. The room didn't smell or sound like a hospital and, unless I'd been blinded in the crash, it was way too dark. With my new vision, I ought to have been able to see if there was any light at all. I shuffled off the sheet and kicked my legs over the side of the bed, but dizziness overwhelmed me as soon as I sat up.

My skin itched with the urge to shift, to let my more powerful wolf out. It was probably my body's way of trying to heal and wolf-Julie's way to protect us. I lay back down, nervous about the dizziness and my inability to see, and slipped my clothes off. I rolled onto all fours, my head swimming, and shifted to wolf.

My wolf, who had been so itchy to get out of my skin, curled up on the bed, content to rest and heal, but I was still present enough to make her get up and sniff around for a way out. My wolf was tired, but healthy, no headache or dizziness troubled her.

It seemed we were in a room with no windows and only one door, a door my wolf couldn't test. I shifted back to human and tried the door only to find it firmly locked.

Now that I'd shifted twice, I felt good, but I was starving. I put my clothes back on and pounded on the door, yelling until my voice was hoarse.

By the time I heard the click of the lock and the creak of the hinges, I was close to giving up on anyone coming to the door.

A small woman stood in the doorway, the light behind her so bright it burned my eyes. “Julie Jacobs,” she said. “Are you feeling better?”

I stared at her for a minute, confused by her gentle tone. “I was in a car accident and you locked me in a dark room with no medical treatment.”

She sighed. “That wasn't me. That was Alpha and his guys. They just treated you the way they would any of the pack who got hurt.”

I might have questioned that treatment of pack members, but I had a feeling it would be a waste of time. “I'm assuming I'm a captive of the Aspens Whiten pack.”

She grinned. “You stole back the spirit stick and we needed to send a bold message to Axel. We figured kidnapping his girlfriend would get his attention.”

“I'm not his girlfriend.”

She shrugged. “Doesn't really matter, as long as he comes running.”

My stomach grumbled with hunger, but I sensed this woman might be a good source of information. “And what will you do if he does come running?”

She smiled. “We'll make sure he understands why he should leave his territory. He's wasted it and it should belong to us.”

“Yeah,” I said. “I can see that. Why should a bunch of pacifist wolves have such a prime piece of real estate?”

“We don't care so much about that,” she said. “We just—”

“Ray-Anne,” a male voice said. “You aren't supposed to be talking to the prisoner.”

Ray-Anne stepped out of the doorway to see who was talking to her and I followed her onto the green lawn behind the brick pack house I'd visited with Lucinda earlier. Standing a short distance away was Alpha, shirt-less again. I considered my options. I could use my alpha voice and probably get away pretty easily. Or I could stay, pretend to be their friend, and find out what was really going on. “Hey there, Alpha,” I said. “It's good to see you again.”

He stalked forward, chest out, big belly bouncing. “Thought you'd be pissed at me for kidnapping you and wrecking your car.”

I shrugged, pretending nonchalance. He knew I was more dominant than him, there was no way he didn't have a plan B. “It's not my car. It's Lucinda's.”

He put a hand behind his back and grinned. “Nice.” He pulled out a gun and aimed it at my face. “I appreciate you being friendly, but you say one word in that alpha voice of yours and I'll put a bullet in your skull.”

My stomach roiled. I'd never had a gun pointed at my head before. Certainly, never had a cowardly, lazy, jackass point a gun at my head. My wolf was roaring to get out and lay him flat. I forced a smile. “I ought to thank you,” I said. “Axel had gotten the idea I belonged to him, and I was having a hard time getting away. I'm in the market for a new pack and I thought yours might do.”

He narrowed his eyes, confusion dominant. “I don't believe you.”

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