The Hunted (Sleeping With Monsters Book 2) Read online

Egged on by his companions, the Mountain swung. I jumped back just in time intentionally, felt the abrasion of his passing hand, imagined how many ribs it would have broken if it landed. I had to do this dance every time, otherwise no one would bet against me, and Javier and I wouldn’t get a good cut. I acted scared and confused while I was neither, taking a step back out of the fight like I was reconsidering my options. The Mountain shouted, his men cheered, and he tried to rush me.

  The only thing I was afraid of was getting trapped inside those arms. I danced aside, landed a blow on his flank – delicious kidneys, my wolf whispered, ignored – that was more of a love tap than a punch.

  He wheeled himself around to face me slowly, like a tank. The tendons of his heels and knees sang to me, so nice to chew and snap – he raised one fist up, and this would be the one that I would have to take – I braced my torso while making the rest of myself soft, to roll far away, and have time to regather and survive.

  It landed in my stomach. I buckled around it, taking it in, letting his energy send me sprawling across the ring – but not out of it. I wasn’t defaulting. I got to all fours, gasping, and the Mountain raced in to take his advantage, kicking out – but I caught his leg and snapped it crisply – marrow! – wrenching his ankle past where it should be, and he teetered on his good foot, still trying to stomp me with his injured one.

  And now it was too late.

  I rose, kicking out his other knee with a crunch, then elbowed the soft space between his armpit and ribs as he sank, one giant hand of his reaching for me to take me down like a drowning man. I shoved it in front of me, and hyperextended his elbow. He bellowed in anger – and fear. I knew the sound well. After that – I let my wolf come out a little.

  Shouts and screams rose from him and all around us – his buddies from jail, those who’d made bets, Javier leaning in, shouting directions at me. And among all the yelling, echoed by the cement of the parking garage all around us, just one quiet man. Watching me. Completely undisturbed.

  I glanced at the referee as the Mountain sank, three limbs down and bloody. He nodded.

  “It’s over!” he announced, using his loudest voice.

  “No man, he can keep on fighting!” his friends declared. But the referee knew better – plus the Mountain’s last good hand was desperately patting the floor.

  One of his friends rushed in. “Come on, man, get up!” He leapt into the ring to shake the Mountain’s shoulders. “Get up! Or tap me in!”

  “One man, one fight, once a week,” I said. Those were my rules. If I fought more often than that my secret might get out.

  “I can take you –“ he yelled at me.

  “You’re welcome to try – next week. Talk to Javier.”

  I turned my back on him because I knew it was insulting – and I knew he’d have to try. I felt the blow coming the second he released it and stepped aside, leaving him stumbling forward. I pushed his back, and watched him fall on the ground, cutting his chin on the asphalt.

  Blood! my wolf shouted. “Next week. If you have the balls for it.”

  The rest of his friends were swarming the Mountain. I had no idea how they were going to get him out of here until a van rolled up, and they started shoving him inside, a man to each injured limb. The disappointed crowd continued to disperse while the controlled man whispered something to Javier, who nodded, and returned to me with a frown.

  “Vincent wants to meet you. He works for the family. You want to meet him?”

  So the man had a name after all. “Why not?” Inside of me somewhere a wolf crouched down, swinging its tail.

  Reduced to running playground errands, Javier took my message back. The shouts and whoops of those leaving the fight echoed from the parking lot’s other floors, leaving us in quiet as Javier brought him to my side.

  Vincent stood straight in front of me, looking me up and down. “I want five minutes alone with him,” he told Javier.

  “You break him, you buy him,” my coach said, before leaning over to spit. “He breaks you, you’re on your fucking own.”

  “Understood.”

  Javier looked to me one last time to check in. He knew the stranger wanted something from me, though he didn’t know what that was. He was nervous on my behalf, because the family was bad news – and on his behalf because I was the last fighter he had running.

  “I’ll be waiting for you. I’ll take my car up the ramp.” I nodded at him encouragingly and he turned away.

  We were both silent while we heard his engine take, and watched his beat up Mazda cruise by, and then we were mostly alone, at last.

  I immediately wanted to say something and swallowed it. The wolf in me was fast and tough and loved marrow and fighting and was without deceit – but my human half had learned hard lessons about reality.

  Instead of speaking, the man’s fingers reached up to touch my eyebrow, healed now, where it’d been split open in last week’s bout. It was a strange gesture for a human – for a man – to make and I fought not to close my eyes in response. Him giving me attention stirred things in me best left alone.

  “You were magnificent tonight.”

  “Thank you,” I said, my voice flat.

  “I saw you take that kick last week,” he said, glancing at my brow. “It didn’t even knock you out. You move faster than anyone I’ve ever seen.” He shook his head at the improbability of me.

  He’d seen more of my fights than anyone else had, excepting Javier. I’d been playing it close for months -- did he know my secret? If he did, why did I feel I aroused instead of threatened?

  “You heal quickly. And you pull your punches every fight.”

  I shrugged, forcing calm. “I didn’t want to kill him.”

  “You’d get paid more if you did.”

  “I like to fight for fighting’s sake. But not like that.” If you killed everyone you went into a ring with, you’d get a reputation. People would start bringing in knifes or guns. I was a fighter, not a side-show freak. And if others ever figured out what I really was, they’d all come in with silver – right before my pack executed me for letting humans find us out.

  He took a step back and studied me. “Have you killed anyone before?”

  My eyebrows rose. “Are you wearing a wire?”

  He laughed, holding the sides of his suit open. His body was lean, the shirt tucked in to fit him. He had a gun in a side holster, but no other equipment. I wanted to ask to touch him to be sure -- and for other reasons. From the way he was looking at me, I didn’t think he’d mind, but watching fights turned a lot of guys on. Whether he’d admit it or not was the question. I couldn’t afford to guess his intentions wrong and have him fight me to save his ego. If someone like him wound up dead, people would care.

  “Do I pass?” he asked, as the corners of his lips quirked up in smug challenge. I wanted to taste those lips and feel them on my -- inside me, my wolf squirmed. Blood.

  “What do you need a killer for?” I said, more gruff than was required, trying to play it safe.

  “Not a killer -- a bodyguard.”

  “Why?”

  “I’m about to make some very bad enemies. I need someone I can trust to watch my back.”

  “Surely you know people –“ The family was rife with thugs.

  “I do. But I’d rather find someone on my own. Someone without a lot of history and obligations. A blank slate.”

  And someone who wouldn’t mind being in the middle of an internal struggle. It wasn’t wise – but I wanted to know more. “I’ve never been a bodyguard before. Why me?”

  “Your work here.” He jerked his chin at the makeshift ring. “You’re methodical. Even when you seem like you’re losing, it’s on purpose. I used to run fights. I know what you’re doing, luring them in. Playing with them.” While he said the words his eyes didn’t leave mine. “You must have amazing control to have never killed anyone. Not even on accident.”

  I shrugged roughly again, although I was flattered by the complim
ent. “And who says you can trust me?”

  “No one. But I’ll pay you enough to fake it, until you do.” He reached into his pocket then handed me a wad of cash.

  I took it and pretended to ponder his offer. The way I was now, I made just enough to get by, as long as I kept my head down. The money he’d given me was more than I made in a month splitting earnings with Javier.

  But I was a were – which meant that I couldn’t always be on guard. Not every night.

  “I’ll need three nights a month off.”

  “Why?”

  “Because.” Because the moon on those nights would be full enough to make knowing me dangerous.

  He tilted his head with a mysterious smile. “Fair enough.”

  “When does it start?”

  “Immediately. I’ll expect you to move into my condo.” He listed off an address on the better side of town.

  I blinked. Moving in with him – it made sense, but I hadn’t thought of that. How could I hide who I was right under his nose?

  I inhaled to say no, but the cash in my hand was like an anchor – and the tone of his voice like a leash. He knew what he wanted, and for some strange reason he wanted was me. I liked that. A tail I didn’t currently have batted, and my throat closed around an eager whine. Blood.

  “All right.” I nodded, and put the money in my pocket.

  “You don’t want to know what kind of enemies I’ll be making?”

  As long as they were human, it didn’t matter. “You’re paying me enough not to care.”

  “Good. Go get your things then – and get to my place before dawn.” He turned and stalked away, obedience expected. I watched the shape of his body that his suit hinted at, his shoulders, his ass, and inside of me the wolf stirred, hungry for a chase and a kill or a fuck. Blood? Heat sank inside me, making my balls feel full.

  I waited until Vincent was gone and walked over to where Javier’s car was waiting. He saw the look on my face and rolled his window down. “High class brawls for you now, eh? The big leagues?” I could see the disappointment in his eyes at my loss, but he had too much pride to try to guilt me into staying.

  “Yeah.” I handed him almost the whole wad of cash, keeping enough for gas and food. If I wasn’t paying rent anymore, I wouldn’t need it, and Javier’d always been fair. He did a doubletake, like the cash might be imaginary, and then tucked it in between the cushion of his car seat and its frame.

  “You remember what I taught you?” he asked, one rheumy eye blind-blue from his own time in the ring.

  “Everything.”

  “Good.” He nodded once, and then hit the side of his car. “If you ever need to fight again down here, let me know.”

  I nodded, and watched him pull away into the night.

  At long last, the Mountain’s eager friend who’d stayed behind – the cut on his chin making him smell like a shining penny in the dark – lumbered out from behind a cement pole.

  “You cost me a lot of money, asshole!”

  If he’d been smarter, he’d have jumped me while I’d still had Vincent’s wad. But he wanted a one on one fight -- plus the knife he was flashing. I grinned at him, feral.

  Blood! my wolf demanded.

  Oh, yes, the rest of me agreed.

  The human part of me folded back, exposing a wolf hungry for kidneys and marrow.

  Humans did sometimes see weres – it was just that no witnesses ever survived.

  #

  I knew it was her when I saw her attack the other car that’d tried to pick her up. Whoever was inside it was an idiot -- she didn’t look like the other girls that worked here. She was too clean, not broken down enough. Although maybe that’s what’d turned him on, made him bold enough to try.

  I started to wonder if this was one of Syd’s tricks, to try to lure me out of the hills so that he could punish me for coming into town without the pack’s permission. I squinted, watching her for any sign – and that’s when his scent hit me.

  Like when the driver in front of you is smoking at a stop light, and you drive through the smoke they’ve left behind – that’s how the scent of Vincent was on her. I fought not to be blinded by memories.

  “Hey, you,” I said, loud enough for her to hear.

  She glanced over.

  “You,” I repeated, slightly louder. It was her, right? It had to be. I breathed deep. Seven years without him. Too goddamn long.

  She stood up straight and did something with her hair. “What?”

  “Get in the truck,” I commanded.

  I could scent her panic before she felt it probably, saw her looking at my beat-up truck and think about the time of night.

  “Get in,” I said, becoming frustrated. Town was pack territory, it wasn’t safe – she hitched her backpack higher. The bitch was going to run.

  A car behind me honked – the light’d changed while I hadn’t been watching. I punched the gas, reeling forward.

  If Vincent wanted me to keep her safe, why hadn’t he bothered to tell her? I went up two blocks, took a right, and then another right, and timed the lights. She hadn’t walked far – I jumped my truck up the wide curb and leaped out of it at wolf-speed, racing to the far side before she could think to run. I picked her up as she started to scream, and threw her into the cab and slammed the door.

  “You called me, remember?” I said, my voice low. She smelled like him so much I thought it’d break me. All I wanted to do was pull the car over and push her against the door, hold her there, and breathe her in. The wolf inside me whined.

  “Were you followed?” I asked her, keeping one eye on the rear view mirror. She shook her head.

  “Who are you?” she asked.

  I grit my teeth. Who I was was currently a matter of debate. Packless mongrel? Lovestruck fool? Definitely an idiot, for being here.

  “What’s your name?” she pressed.

  “Max.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Someplace safe.”

  I could tell she didn’t believe me. It didn’t matter.

  I drove for my cabin. I knew of safer places deeper in the woods, but we’d have to backpack in, and she didn’t look like the type. Tomorrow I’d bother to talk to her, come up with a plan, swallow my pride and ask how Vincent was.

  I parked in the old washout below the cabin’s ridge. There was plenty of moonlight for me but not nearly enough for her. I took her bag and led her up the hillside, waiting to hear an ankle snap. To her credit she didn’t protest and when we got to the cabin I let us both in.

  I watched her looking around, then went to stoke the fire. “How long does he want you safe for?” I stopped from asking what I really wanted to know -- is he going to come and get you back himself? I wanted that so badly – even as I knew it was an impossibly bad idea, one that’d get us both killed.

  “I’m not sure,” she said. I listened closely. She wasn’t lying. Guess I’d have to keep the phone on for a little longer.

  “The water will be hot soon -- it’s safe to drink and wash with.” I pointed to the kettle I kept full. “I’m not set up well for company. You can have the bed. I’ll sleep on the couch. I’ll give you a bit – I need to check on some things outside –“

  Too late, outside, I remembered I should’ve taken a flashlight for appearance’s sake.

  I didn’t think she’d leave the cabin tonight – but that didn’t mean that we weren’t followed. I went to the edge of the ridge and breathed the night air in deep. The only scents out here were smoke from my fire, musk from my fur, and her – who largely smelled like him, to me.

  All those years ago – all those nights – blood raced around my body like it hadn’t in years, like I was a teenager again, all hormones and hope. My wolf wanted out, as restless as the rest of me. I shook my head and tightened my reins.

  I walked along the ridge, listening to the nightlife and for tires, all my senses taut. Coming full circle I sat down, my back to a tree, and watched her through a smudged window
. I didn’t want to be in there with her alone – and I doubted she wanted to be in there with me.

  Vincent, you’d better fucking have a plan.

  An hour passed. Long enough for her to feel safe, or so I hoped – and for me to catch anyone who’d tracked us in. The pack knew where I was, but no one else did, and they were too busy to bother with me. I walked to the cabin’s door and opened it. She was on top the bed, pretending to be asleep. Two could play that game. I blew out every light but one to save oil, and stretched out on the couch, eyes half-closed, listening to her breathing and the steady sawing sound of undisturbed crickets outside.

  I was still tense. What had happened? Why had Vincent sent her here? How bad were things? And every time I inhaled, it was like breathing him in again, smelling him, remembering how he – I heard her shift on the bed, up to standing. She was wearing a robe now, and I watched her walk over.

  “Hey,” she said.

  “Hey,” I answered her, unsure. This close – her scent was just as strong as his. Inside of me, my wolf paced and whined, and blood sunk low.

  “I don’t want to be alone,” she said, looking down at me, one hand on her robe’s sash.

  “Okay,” I agreed, and watched her robe fall open.

  I stood to breathe more of her in. It was all I could do not to touch her, bring her close to me and breathe her in deep, to paw my hands against her skin and feel the softness of her flesh. My wolf was riding just under the surface now and it wanted – I ground my teeth together, forcing it back without touching her. I breathed hard and low, feeling my cock strain against the inside of my pants, praying that she wouldn’t change her mind. And then she took a pose of submission in front of me, recognizable to any wolf – her chest and face down in the couch cushions, her naked ass up.

  I bit back a growl, undid my belt, unzipped my fly, and pulled out my cock.

  I could taste her wetness in the air, the sweet tang of her readiness, feel-see the heat radiating off of her pussy. I wanted to push my nose between her legs and taste the juices there, but that would be too personal – I still didn’t know her name and didn’t want to.

  All I wanted was a fuck. And judging from the way she held herself, legs spread wide, that was all she wanted too. I knelt and reached between us to tilt my cock down, sliding it down between the cheeks of her ass until it found home. I pushed into her as she opened for me with a gasp, and felt her pussy take my cock whole.