Page 65 of Stripped

“What do you need?” I asked again, wanting to change the subject.

He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I need a shower, food, and you.”

I forced a smile, my throat tight with unshed tears. “Go get a shower. I'll find something for you to eat.”

He moved slowly to the bathroom. From the looks of it, he was beyond exhausted. I should stay and take care of him, but I needed… A knock at the door stopped me. I opened it to Aron, standing on the porch, his expression grim.

“Need to talk to Zane,” he said.

“He's in the shower. What's going on?”

He looked behind him, as though looking for guidance, before facing me. “While the pack was out looking for your girl last night, someone broke into the grocery store and the diner and destroyed what was left of our food supply. Axel needs Zane at the barn for a meeting as soon as possible.”

“I'll let him know.”

I started to close the door, but Aron shoved his hand in the way. “Shit was fine here until humans started showing up. You and your dancers brought this on our pack.”

I rolled my eyes. So typical to blame the outsider, the one who's different, for all your problems. Typical and idiotic. “The vamps were after your pack long before I showed up, and I'm pretty sure Julie Jacobs saved your asses.”

“She's a wolf,” Aron said, but I could see the hard edge to his anger recede just a bit. Maybe not such an idiot, maybe desperate and worried and grasping at straws. “How do we know you didn't tell Leopold where to find our food stores?”

I bit my tongue hard. It wouldn't do any good to remind Aron that both the grocery store and the diner were labeled with three-foot letters. “I didn't tell him,” I said. “But I'm sure the council will set things right.”

“I doubt it.” But he took a few steps back and shook his head. “This is the only home I know.”

“Then you stand your ground and you fight,” I said. “Leopold is trying to demoralize you, but you're wolves. You run out of groceries, you can shift and hunt in the woods.”

He nodded, rubbing his lips together in thought. “Suppose we could for a bit. Longer than that and we'd over hunt the native prey animals.”

“You only need a little time,” I said, feeling my own time slipping away. “I need to check on Zane.”

Aron nodded and didn't argue when I closed the door. I dashed back inside, grabbed my purse from the master bedroom, Zane's keys from the kitchen counter, and ran outside, just as I heard the shower shut off.

I sprinted to his truck, threw myself inside, and raced down the narrow driveway to the street beyond. Aron and Payne had relaxed, now that Zane was back, and they were chatting on the front porch when I peeled onto the street from Zane's driveway. The tires slid on the six inches of snow over the dirt road, but I managed to keep the truck on the road and gunned it as fast as I dared. Aron and Payne shouted and raced after me, but I was in no mood to be caught. I needed to see a vampire about the woman he'd kidnapped.

***

I parked in front of Leopold's place, a sketchy idea of a plan bolstering me even as my stomach roiled at the very thought of seeing him again. All my hopes hinged on Leopold wanting to break me without compelling me, on him wanting me to go back to the wolves to continue to spy, if either of those things had changed, I was in huge trouble. My hands shook as I crossed the parking lot and approached his door. I was lucky that Leopold lived alone. Apparently, he didn't get along well with the other members of his coven. I knew vamps could go out in the daylight, but I'd received most of my visits from them after dark. If I was very lucky, they were weaker during daylight hours. All I knew for sure was that he wasn't going to hurt anyone else I cared about ever again. I had no idea how I was going to make sure of that, but I would never forgive myself if I didn't at least try.

I knocked on Leopold's door and made no effort to hide my fear and my sorrow. I had to knock several times before he opened the door, groggy and disheveled like he'd just woken up. He stayed in the shadows of the doorway and smiled a wicked grin. “To what do I owe this pleasure?” he asked.

I looked up and down the street, like I was terrified of someone seeing me. “Can I come in?” I asked. “Please. I know it's not Wednesday, but I don't have anywhere else to go.”

Leopold's grin widened and he stepped to the side to let me into his house. “The werewolf's not as hospitable as you'd hoped?”

“No. He's horrible. He—”

He spun and slammed me against the closed front door, his arm against my throat, choking off my air. Crapola, hadn't seen that coming. “That's better,” he said, his voice raspy, his eyes lit with pleasure. “You should always fear me. Never forget how easily I could end you.”

He stepped back, letting me fall to the floor, and I gasped for air, catching my breath and rubbing my neck. I took a moment to think while I forced air back into my lungs. When I rose to my feet slowly, he smiled like he hadn't just been thirty seconds away from ending my life. He gestured to one of the stiff, leather couches. “Sit, my dear. Can I get you anything? Tea or cookies?”

“No,” I said, finding it hard to speak. “I'm fine.”

He scanned me from the top of my head to my toes. “You certainly are fine. It will be a pity to have to kill you, unless you can give me a good reason to keep you around. After that stunt you pulled with the fake cops, I shouldn't have let you in my house still breathing.”

Yet he had. He admitted he was acting against his better judgment, which either meant he wanted something from me or he wanted to kill me slowly. I wasn't sure which was better. “I thought they were real cops when I left with them. I never would have gone if I'd known. I made you a promise and they broke it, not me.”

Leopold sat across from me, back stiff and straight, eyes narrowed. “I know. They told me everything, right before I drained them dry.”

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