Page 4 of Memphis Heat
She’d trusted him.Trusted him with her life.She still did.Just didn’t trust him to tell her everything.Werewolf or not, he was still a man.What the hell was in that warehouse that was worth risking their lives over?
Chapter Two
When the afterglow faded, Belle sighed and sat up, pulling on her jeans and fastening them with shaky fingers.She finally met his gaze.“So this is what you’ve been hiding?”
“Yeah.”He shrugged.“I just… I didn’t know how to tell you.”
“You still haven’t.Told me, that is.Though I think I know.The fur kinda gave it away, but what I’m thinking sounds insane, even to me.”She smiled at that.“If I hadn’t seen you shift… What exactly are you, and how did this happen?”
“That night.When I was shot.He came at me.His face turned all… long.And furry.With wicked teeth.Just his face.And he bit me.I thinkwhatI am is pretty obvious.”
He looked so normal, now.But she knew what she’d seen.“OK, someone has to say it.You were bitten by a werewolf.And I can see how that might not be the last thing you wanted to see on your way out.Teeth coming at you, I mean.You still had the presence of mind to blow his head off.That’s something at least.”
“Had to.He said…” Jarod swallowed hard.“He said, ‘The bitch is mine.’I knew I was dead.Nobody survives a wound like that.I couldn’t let him take you out, too.I also realized right then just how dangerous it was for anyone to know how much… to know I cared for you.Having any kind of relationship like that is just asking for trouble.If the brass finds out, they’ll transfer one of us.I’m beginning to think I agree with the policy now that I’ve experienced the result firsthand.I never should have chased him into that alley.I could have gotten you killed.”
“But you didn’t.No one’s ever blown a guy’s head off for me before.I appreciate that, but I can take care of myself.You of all people should know that.”She stopped fidgeting with her jeans.“Wait.Is that why you’re alive?Because you’re a werewolf?”
He shrugged.“Modern medicine to the rescue?”
She wasn’t letting go that easy.“You’d have died, wouldn’t you?If he hadn’t bit you.They tried to tell me in the ER that it was just a flesh wound.Looked a lot worse than it was.Bullshit.I saw you go down.We’ve both seen enough shootings to know what’s bad and what’s not.I didn’t believe that crap then, and I don’t believe it now.Maybe it was a kind of miracle.”
“I’d say more of a curse.I passed out after his head blew all apart, but I woke up in the ambulance.I heard the EMTs talking.They told the ER doc they didn’t understand how I was still alive.They’d done all they could, but I was bleeding out.They were holding the pieces of my chest together with as much pressure as they could, and then the bleeding just… stopped.”
“Well, you’re alive.I like that part.So.Other than that, you can shift into -- whatever that furry man thing’s called.Obviously you don’t need a full moon.And you heal really fast.What else?”
“I’ve never shifted like that before.Usually I’m a wolf.”He grinned.“A big, badass wolf.No moon necessary.I just need to be pissed.Or, apparently, horny.Now you know as much as I do.”
“That’s it?”She’d expected… more.She wasn’t sure what, but surely in three months he’d learned something.
“Well, hunting saves on the grocery bill.”His grin widened.“I prefer my meat raw.”
Hunting?“Huntingwhat?”
“Working my way up the food chain.Tried squirrels, but they’re really fast.Did better with rabbits.Managed a couple of deer.And I’ve been learning to fight.Kinda had to.Lot of wild dogs around.Most of ‘em don’t care to share their territory.”
Belle blinked at him, knowing her disbelief flooded her face.“You’ve been getting into pissing contests with packs of wild dogs?What are you, five?You’ve got some of the most amazing genetics in humankind’s history at your disposal, and the best you can do is mark your territory?”Of all the things this situation could have brought to Jarod, that was the last thing Belle expected.Men reallywereidiots.
“Hey, it’s not all that easy.You try peeing while you’re standing with one leg in the air.Downright embarrassing when you miss.Or worse, fall over.Learning how to box with my teeth’s a whole lot easier.”
Once she started laughing, she couldn’t seem to stop.Every time she thought she was done, she’d look at him, screw up her face, raise an arm, and crash back down in another fit of helpless giggles.“Men are such idiots,” she managed, voicing aloud her earlier musing because he needed to hear it.Lord!Pissing contests!“Even when they’ve got four feet.”
“Son of a cocksucker.”
His abrupt change of mood sobered her up.“What’s wrong?”
Jarod reached for his clothes.“The Russians are leaving again.We’ve got to find out what’s in that warehouse.This might be the best chance we get.”
Belle grabbed for her jacket.“We should call for backup.”
“Oh, sure.Ah, hey, guys, don’t mind me.I just forgot to shave tonight and am a bit on the furry side.”Jarod rolled his eyes.“I don’t think you get it, babe.I can’t control this thing.I could shift again.Try explaining that to the captain.Not to mention I’d end up getting dissected in some foul-smelling lab by creepy guys in white coats.”
“I’m just saying!”She punched his arm before shoving her gun into the holster at the small of her back.“We can’t go in there without backup.There’s like twenty of them and two of us.The odds arenotin our favor.”
“We’re not following them, ‘cause they left.We’re -- I’m -- going to go check out the warehouse.I want to see what they’re up to in there.”
“This isn’t on the books, is it.”It wasn’t a question.
“Hey, Itriedto make you go home.I didn’t want you involved, but you insisted.I have to find out what these guys are up to.I don’t want them running around the city making werewolves out of everyone who gets in their way.Or worse, the criminal element.That would be the beginning of a really bad week for law enforcement, don’t you think?”And really, how much worse could the week get?
