Page 2 of Tossed into the Mob
My beast alerted me he scented fear.
No surprise there.
“You're Treyton Durand, right?"
Damn. No matter what I did, I’d be forever linked to my family, and now maybe the past was catching up, not with them but with me. Grandpa’s brother and nephew had been assassinated by rival gangs, but that had been years and decades ago, and now I’d be the first of a new generation to be gunned down.
Let me take him.
Not yet.
He was human, so he didn’t know shifters existed, wasn’t aware my beast was aiming for his jugular and that threatening us might be his last mistake.
“Yes, I’m Treyton.” I held my arms out to the side so he knew I couldn’t reach for a weapon or a phone, not that I was in the habit of carrying a gun. “You’re hurt, and I can help you.”
“You can but not in the way you think. I’m staking my life on your family helpingme.”
He said family.
This was about La Luna Noir, but I had little knowledge of the pack’s business dealings other than what was said at our weekly family dinners and other gatherings.
"Okay.” My mind was rifling through past conversations, trying to ferret out details that might be relevant. But nothing came to mind. Flint and his brothers tended not to talk business over dinner.
But if we stood here any longer, the guy would collapse, because blood was pooling at his feet and he was swaying even more. I doubted he’d be able to pull the trigger.
"You're coming with me." If he didn’t faint from loss of blood, he’d go into shock. "Don't make this harder than it has to be."
If Ranger had been here, he would have let out a huge belly laugh, just prior to unleashing his beast.
This human is different.
I doubted my wolf would need to take his fur. A toddler could disarm this guy with one hand.But the fear in his voice and his constant blinking as though he was fighting to stay conscious was making my wolf uneasy.
It’s not that.
The smell of fear, sweat, and blood mingled with the gasoline and oil and stale odors from mold and mildew. But there was something else. Another scent that crept through his pores but withdrew when I tried to identify it.
"Where are you taking me?” That was a silly question because it wasn’t as though he was going to give me a map.
He jerked his head toward the exit and winced. "Move. And don't try anything stupid." He gulped. “I have a gun.”
He whipped it out in his left hand as if he wasn’t sure how to send a message to his trigger finger, suggesting he might be right-handed. He was shaking so badly, I doubted he’d hit me if he fired, though the bullet could ricochet and pierce either one of us.
“I didn’t want to do this.” His pained expression made me think he was telling the truth.
“Okay.” I had two days off, and the family wasn’t expecting to see me for forty-eight hours, but Grandpa would sound the alarm before that because he texted or called multiple times a day.
I took a step toward him, and he waved the gun at me as if to say, “Don’t try any funny stuff.”
"You're bleeding pretty badly, and I can help you. I’m a midwife.”
He snorted. “I’m not about to give birth.” He’d topple over if he lost any more blood, and I cursed my desire to park in the least-used floor of the parking lot.
The guy was gritting his teeth, and his chest heaved with the exertion of getting air in and out of his lungs. But now that I was closer, his scent was more powerful, and that sneaky hint of something was harder to hide.
He limped toward me, the distinctive thud of every second step echoing around the parking garage. He was in bad shape, and I could have taken him to the ER on the first floor but there’d be questions, not only for him but for me too. Police would get involved, and even though Flint played poker with the police chief, I preferred to avoid my cousin getting me out of a legal pickle.
If my family could see me being held hostage by a bleeding human, they’d wonder what was wrong with me. But this guy needed medical intervention, and when they discovered what had happened, they’d pepper me with questions, wanting to know which mafia group he belonged to, because for sure he was part of a crime organization.
