Page 16 of Memphis Heat
Jarod pushed Belle with his shoulder, steering them into the brush along the stream as one of the pack they followed stopped, staring back the way they’d come, as if sensing their presence.Together they crouched low, their breath coming in hard, panting gasps.Lord, that had been fun.He’d never had a chance to really run like that before, to feel what this body was capable of.But now they’d better be on the alert or they’d get themselves caught.
The wary wolf turned back, trotting now, apparently well aware of his pack’s destination.Jarod and Belle skirted the stream’s bank, slinking soundlessly from shadow to shadow, so intent on their quarry they never noticed the trap he’d led them to.
The huge, scarred wolf who jumped them was the biggest Jarod had ever seen, his bulk like a flying battleship as he plowed into Jarod’s shoulder.Still, Jarod would have fought him.He tried to, until Belle’s yelp caught his ears.He scrambled back to his feet, whirling to face her, find her, knowing even as he turned what he’d see.A female wolf, larger than Belle’s own lean form, held Belle down, jaws closed around her fur-covered throat.
It wasn’t the time to find out how well that fur would protect her windpipe.Slinking backward, Jarod faced the Alpha who stood over him, waiting.And did what he thought he’d never do.He dropped to his belly and turned, baring the underside of his throat to his enemy.
The big Alpha growled, deep and menacing, then nosed him, hard, pushing Jarod’s head into the dirt.Jarod lay still, waiting.They could have his life.As long as they let Belle go.
The Alpha nosed him again, more gently this time, and somehow Jarod realized that meant something.He dared to look up, searching not for the Alpha, but for Belle.The bitch let go of her and stepped back.Turned his gaze to the Alpha standing over him, Jarod cautiously rolled back to his paws, though still pressed flat to the dirt.
The Alpha nudged him again, prompting him to get up.He thrust his nose out, indicating the road ahead.Jarod stood, and Belle moved to him, leaning heavily against his flank, whether to comfort him or because she was hurt, he wasn’t sure.The Alpha moved off, and they followed, the rest of the pack solid around them.There was no way they’d escape.Not without fighting off more wolves than even Jarod could take down.
Unlike the downtown location they’d staked out, or the abandoned facilities MPD’d taken over, this place looked clean and well maintained, though several of the units in the small industrial strip appeared to be empty.The Alpha bitch led the way to the back of the building, leaping easily to the loading dock.Two semis were parked behind the building, easily accessible to the loading dock.Jarod’s cop senses went on high alert.What were they shipping in, and why?
When the bitch shifted, the keycard around her neck buzzed her in, and the rest of the pack pushed through the loading bay doors as soon as she hit the switch.
The inside was nothing like Jarod would have expected.It really was what it appeared to be -- a small warehouse.Dozens of open shipping kennels lined the far wall, all empty.The center aisles were stacked with crates.They skirted a forklift, making their way to the front office area, all but the bitch still in wolf form.
Not good.So not good.No way out of this from here.Jarod hoped like hell his tracking pellet was picking up on the FBI monitors.Assuming anyone was actually scanning for the damn thing.The whole FBI plan of attack had been pretty vague.“Infiltrate the pack.”How the hell were they supposed to do that?Evidently by getting his neck broken by the biggest fucking canine Jarod had ever seen.Of all the fucking FBI screw ups…
The colonel had warned him when they took the FBI assignment.“Don’t trust ‘em, son.Any info you get, those FBI boys’ll be right there, hands out, but you get in trouble, you’re on your own out here.Play their game, but watch your back.”
The pack backed off now, forming a circle around the perimeter of the front conference room, leaving them alone with the Alpha in the center of the carpeted floor.The Alpha circled them slowly, sniffing, as if puzzled by their scent.He yipped once, then sat down on his haunches.
The shift came fast and smooth, so sudden it almost took Jarod by surprise.“You smell like Pack.But I don’t know you.”The voice fit the man -- low and gravelly, with only a hint of his native accent.
Jarod shifted to his human form, the move nowhere near as fast or as smooth as the Alpha’s had been.He still shuddered slightly at the sound of bones popping as his muzzle shrunk back into his head.He cracked his neck, adjusting the fit of his jaw before he answered.“You know every wolf, then?”Damn good thing they’d ditched the FBI sweats.He had to play this very carefully.Just enough truth to keep the man interested, but not enough to blow his cover.The best strategy was to sprinkle the small lies in with the truths.Once he had his prey hooked, he’d drop the whopper and reel him in.He hoped.
The big man stood, seemingly not bothered by his own nudity in the least.In human form, the white lightning scar that had bisected his face cleaved his right eyebrow in two.Whatever had happened, it was a miracle he hadn’t lost his eye.
The Alpha held out a hand, and one of the wolves from the circle surrounding them dragged over a worn pair of jeans.With a fluid grace that should have been impossible for a man his size, he stepped into them, zipping the jeans but not bothering with the button at the waist.Jarod noted the little tidbit for later.Could the Alpha not shift while clothed?Or had he simply been naked when the need to shift took him?
“I know my family.”He leaned closer to Jarod and inhaled deeply, his eyes never leaving Jarod’s.“You smell like cop.”
“Was.Not now.”
“What are you now?”
“Unemployed.Getting by as best we can.MPD’s disability package doesn’t cover getting your face ripped off by a werewolf.”
The Russian Alpha barked out a humorless laugh.“Not make you any prettier, either.You smell like Dolf.”His eyebrows knitted together.“Dolf’s dead.You are his whelp?”
OK.Time for a bit of truth.“I have no idea who made me, but the bastard is probably still in the city morgue.Or maybe six feet under by now.”
“Ah, so he turned you before he was killed.”
Jarod thought about sprinkling in a little bit of untruth, but something in the other man’s eyes made him think better of it.He scratched his forearm absently.“No.I got off a lucky shot and he bled out on me.”
The big Alpha yipped a short laugh, confirming Jarod’s suspicion.The Alpha had known Jarod had killed Dolf.“Dolf was always an idiot.”He instantly sobered.“I’m not.”
Jarod was beginning to understand why this man was the Alpha.He hated to admit it, but the Alpha intimidated the hell out of him.Looking back, Jarod understood why he hadn’t hesitated to show his belly.This was one badass wolf, and Jarod’s wolf self had recognized the ruthlessness in him.
“Tell me.What were you doing when Dolf attacked you?”
Now the truth sprinkled with a hint of a lie.“Following him.We’d heard there was a big drug deal going down and your Dolf person was a major player.”Jarod scratched at his forearm, a little harder this time.
The Alpha seemed to consider it, giving nothing away with his expression or his tone of voice.“So Dolf, he attacks you, and you shoot him.”
