Chicago: November
Keisha Green tried to disappear into the passenger seat. She hadn't realized how much of her confidence had been tied to having Malcom beside her. She'd only known him a day and a half, and he'd changed her world, at least while he was stil next to her.
Without him, all of her newly regained confidence had disappeared. Its mocking
absence only pointed out what a coward she really was. As if she needed reminding.
She glanced over at the man who was driving Malcom 's rented SUV with casual
ease through the light after-morning-rush-hour traffic on the slush-covered
expressway as if he were a Chicago native, instead of a visitor from the wilds of Montana.
Malcom's father, Terrence Franks, looked for all the world like a college student, a computer geek or maybe an art major. Someone sensitive, gentle, and young, but she knew he was none of these things. He was the Marrok, the one all the Alphas answered to and no one dominated an Alpha werewolf by being sensitive and gentle.
He wasn't young, either. She knew Malcom was almost two hundred years old, and that would necessitate his father being older yet. She looked hard, out of the corners of her eyes, but except for something in the shape of his hands and eyes, she couldn't see Malcom in him at all. Malcom looked pure Native American, as his mother had been, but still she thought she should have been able to see a little
resemblance, something that would tell her that the Marrok was the kind of man his son was.
Her head was willing to believe Terrence Franks would not harm her, that he was different from the other wolves she knew. But her body had been taught to fear the males of her species. The more dominant the werewolves were, the more likely they were to hurt her. And there was no more dominant wolf anywhere than Malcom Franks, no matter how harmless he might seem.
"I won't let anything happen to you," he said without looking at her.
She could smell her own fear, so of course he could smell it too.
"I know," she managed to say, hating herself for allowing them to turn her into a coward.
She hoped that he thought it was fear at the idea of facing the other wolves from her pack after she'd precipitated their Alpha's death. She didn't want him to know she was scared of him too. Or even mostly.
He smiled a little, but didn't say anything more.
All the parking places behind her four-storey apartment building were filled with strange cars. There was a shiny gray truck towing a small, bright orange and white trailer with a giant manatee painted on the side just above letting anyone within a block know that Florida was "The Manatee State."
Terrence parked behind the trailer without worrying about blocking the alley.
She realized as they got out of the car, she wouldn't have to worry about what her landlord thought anymore. She was going to Montana. Was Montana "The Werewolf State"?
Four wolves in their human forms waited for them at the security door, including Shawn, the new Alpha. His shadowed eyes took in every bit of her. She dropped her gaze to the ground after that first glance and kept Terrence between her and them.
She was more afraid of them than the Marrok after all. How strange, because today there was none of the speculation, the avarice in their eyes that usually set off her fears. They looked controlled, and tired. Yesterday, their Alpha had been killed, and that hurt al of them. She'd felt it herself and ignored it because she thought Malcom was dying.
Their pain was her fault. They all knew that.
She reminded herself that Leo needed to be killed, he had killed so many himself and allowed the deaths of many others. She wouldn't look at any of them again.
She'd try not to talk to them, and hope they'd ignore her.
Except they'd come here to help her move. She'd tried to stop that, but she wasn't up to arguing with the Marrok for long. She dared another quick glance at Shawn, but she couldn't read his face any better this time.
She took her key and went to work on the lock with fear-clumsy fingers. None of the werewolves made any move that indicated they were impatient, but she tried to hurry, feeling their eyes on her back. What were they thinking? Were they remembering what some of them had done to her?
She wasn't. She wasn't.
Breathe, she chided herself.
One of the men swayed on his feet and made an eager sound.
"Scott," said Shawn, and the other wolf quieted.
It was her fear that was pushing the wolf. She knew, she had to get a handle on herself and the sticky lock wasn't helping. If Charles were here, she could deal with everything, but he was recovering from several bullet wounds. His father had told her that he had a stronger reaction than most to silver.
"I didn't expect you to come," said Terrence, she presumed he wasn't talking to her since he'd manipulated and talked her into leaving Malcom alone this morning.
It must have been Shawn he was talking to, because it was Shawn who answered him. "I had the day off."
Until last night Shawn had been third. But now he was the Alpha of the Western Suburb Chicago Pack. The pack she was leaving. "I thought it might hurry matters a bit," Shawn continued. "Michael here has agreed to drive the truck to Montana and back."
She pulled open the door, but Terrence didn't go in immediately, so she stopped in the entryway just inside the door, holding it open.
"How stand are your pack finances?" Terrence asked. "My son tells me that Leo claimed he needed money."
She heard Shwan's typical humorless smile in his voice. "He wasn't lying. His mate was expensive as hell to keep. We won't lose the manor, but that's the only good news our accountant has for me. We will get something from selling Bella's jewelry, but not as much as Leo paid for it."