Once Bitten Read online

  “Thank you, Alexa.” Taking a gamble, he laid a warm hand softly on my shoulder. I fought the urge to actively shrug it off. “I really appreciate your time. I mean it. It’s not like I can call my co-workers or anything.”

  No, I guess not. Now that he was touching me, I wished that I’d parked closer. “So where am I taking you? Is your car at home?” I tried for nonchalance but failed miserably when the awkwardness never ceased. Uncomfortable and annoyed, I eased away from his touch.

  “Yeah, home would be nice. I can take a cab to my car tomorrow. It’s in the city, at the office.”

  So, they’d arrested him at work. Ouch. That one had to hurt. I didn’t even have a scathing remark for that. Shame on me.

  As we approached the Charger, I pressed the remote unlock; the lights flooded us in a sudden spotlight.

  “When did you get the new car?” Raoul gave it an appraising once over but paused when he caught sight of my scowl. “It’s not a new car?”

  “You asked me that six months ago. I’ve had the damn thing for more than a year. Do you ever pay attention to anyone or anything outside of your personal bubble?” It came out fast, before I’d realized it. “Forget it.”

  Almost anxiously, Raoul reached for the passenger door handle. I knew he wanted to say something, most likely a bullshit apology, which I did not want to hear.

  I started the engine and rushed to turn the volume down; the Hair Nation station on satellite radio blasted at us.

  “Cinderella,” Raoul commented as he did a quick survey of the roomy interior.

  “Good band in their time.”

  With the car in gear, I risked a glance in his direction. Our sudden close confines didn’t sit well with me. A funny smile played along his perfectly shaped lips. I think it had something to do with the Cinderella song, a nostalgia of sorts.

  “I didn’t listen to them much myself.” Driving was a good, valid excuse not to have to look directly at him. “I was always more of a Motley Crue kind of girl.”

  “Nice.”

  Silence fell, and with it, the tension grew thick enough to dance on. Just great. The ten minute drive to Raoul’s house was going to feel like an eternity. I messed around with the air conditioner settings when we came to a red light. I’d take any excuse to focus my attention on something other than useless small talk.

  The light turned green, and I pulled onto the nearly empty street. One lone car sped past going in the opposite direction.

  “I didn’t murder Julie.” He spoke so fast that I almost didn’t catch the words. His stiff posture looked uncomfortable, and I knew it couldn’t possibly be because of my super comfy seats.

  “Um, ok.” Another glance at him revealed both fists clenched tightly on his lap.

  There was a desperation in his energy that picked at my senses.

  “I think someone’s trying to set me up. Probably that good for nothing husband of hers.”

  I didn’t need to look to know that he was staring at me, gauging my reaction. Ever the careful driver, I focused on nothing but the road ahead.

  “Well, no offense, Raoul, but perhaps you should make a habit of seeing single women.” I shrugged a shoulder to emphasize the casual tone that I forced.

  As we approached the train tracks, the red lights began to blink, and I hit the gas hard. I was not letting myself get trapped with him any longer than necessary. Railway tracks successfully bisect the town at three different points. If we got stuck on one side due to a slow moving train, there wasn’t much I could do but wait. By the time I reached the crossing outside of town, I would have spent an extra ten minutes getting there.

  The engine gave a mighty rev as we shot over the crossing well before the arms came down. Raoul’s right hand gripped the door handle hard enough to turn his knuckles white. I was keenly aware of the sudden acceleration of his pulse. He squirmed in his seat, clearly attempting to brush off the split second of fear. “Single women have too many hang ups. It’s never just sex with them.”

  The tiny hairs on the back of my neck bristled, and a small fantasy played out in my head. In the starring role, I screeched to a halt and ordered him out on the side of the road before burning away with tires squealing.

  “God, do you have to be so callous? What’s wrong with wanting more than only to be another nameless number on a list?”

  He cast me a look that clearly said I just didn’t get it. My temper began to rise, but I reined it in; in just a few more minutes, he would be gone.

  “Don’t be so dramatic.” His ebony locks moved as he chuckled. “You always were the emotional type, though.”

  That had been a direct hit. I was sure of it. “Which explains why you were getting acquainted with the booking process rather than me.”

  Maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea to do this just one night before the three days of the moon began. The day before, the day of and the day after the full moon is a highly powerful time. Animal urges and instincts are at their strongest and many are unable to deny the call of the wolf. Of course, most of us controlled it. The moon doesn’t really have every shifter taking multiple partners or turning into a raging wolf in the grocery store checkout line.

  Raoul watched me with eyes so dark that they were nearly black. He was trying to unnerve me. A piece of shoulder length black hair fell across one eye, and he gave his head a toss. “Oh, here we go. I was wondering how long it would take for the gloves to come off.”

  A frustrated growl rumbled in my throat, and I had to look away before his smug smile made me to do something that I’d regret.

  “You’re a real piece of work, Raoul; you know that? In just a matter of seconds, you’ve got me wishing that I’d screened your call.” With a quick shoulder check, I changed lanes and then signaled to take the next left past the golf course.

  Instead of anger or irritation like I’d anticipated, the conceited jerk threw his head back and laughed heartily. “If only, huh?”

  “You’re an asshole.” My fingers tightened on the wheel, and I forced myself to take a deep breath before I took out one of his eyes.

  “Well, I certainly didn’t get rich by always being the nice guy.”

  Ain’t that the truth? As I turned into The Fairways, the golf course neighborhood where Raoul lived, I turned the radio up a few notches. Maybe he would get the hint.

  One of the old KISS songs from the 80s boomed out cheesy sexual innuendos. Not wanting to encourage that mode of thought, I hit buttons until I recognized Raine Maida’s voice. Our Lady Peace was a nice non-sexual band.

  The houses got nicer as we went. As we continued from street to street, the structure size grew substantially. We were nearing the east end of town, the side facing Edmonton.

  My own house was directly opposite us on the town’s west facing edge. Just six more blocks to Raoul’s.

  “So, is everyone still doing the lunar run?” He asked suddenly, and I frowned in response. Was this another lame attempt at casual conversation?

  “If you showed up once in a while you’d know.”

  The lunar run was on the night of the full moon. The local Weres would meet outside town and run together in the forest behind my house.

  “It’s flattering to know that I’m missed. Maybe I’ll see you Saturday then. If anymore of my girlfriends end up dead, I’m going to need the alibi.”

  I laughed then. “Right. Just tell the cops you turned into a wolf with several others from the community and ran in the forest outside town. Then maybe they’ll just lock you in a psychiatric hospital instead of in with the guys who just wait for pretty, well-kept men to arrive.”

  “That’s not what I meant, Alexa. Somebody would back me, even if it isn’t you.” He practically snarled at me, and I glared my hardest.

  “You know what, Raoul?” I swung the weighty car onto his street. The tires squealed, and I delighted in his sudden dirty look when a face peered out the neighbor’s window. “You better watch it. Because if you go to jail, your secret
is going to come out, eventually, and God forbid you wind up in a lab.”

  His eyes narrowed, but he obviously didn’t consider the scenario a realistic outcome.

  “Spare me.”

  I let the car jerk to a rough halt in front of his giant three-level split. “That’s fine. Disregard caution and common sense. But if you’re such a big boy, then I trust you won’t be wasting anymore of my time or my free evening phone minutes.”

  Raoul’s door swung open silently. He fished a crumpled twenty from his pocket.

  “For gas.”

  I fumed so hard that, if steam didn’t come out of my ears soon, the top of my head was going to blow. “You’re offering me money? Why didn’t you just call a cab then?”

  His wide shoulders moved in a slight shrug, and he avoided meeting my eyes. He had only called me to see if I would come. My anger was nothing but a game to him.

  I wanted to yell at him to get out of my car, but he did so before I could. When I wouldn’t touch his money, he dropped it on the passenger seat.

  “So, I’ll see you Saturday, then.” He glanced at his feet and then at the neighboring houses before finally looking at me.

  I thought of every woman of all ages, colors and creeds who had trusted their heart to a man like Raoul only to have it handed back to them used.

  “Kiss my ass, Raoul.” My foot hit the gas and jerked the open door from his grasp.

  I cut a U-turn in the middle of the street and closed the door with the momentum. A thrill shot through me when the tires squealed even louder upon my exit. In the rear view mirror, I could see Raoul hurrying up the walk, eager to get inside before the entire street was gawking out the window.

  I switched to the local rock station and turned the volume way up. Finally, I pulled out of Raoul’s swanky neighborhood.

  The moment that I pulled into my driveway, I punched Shaz’ number into my cell phone. I left a message for him to come by the house after work. Kylarai and I shared a two-level bungalow, a cute little white house with brown trim. It’s not the fanciest of dwellings, but it’s roomy enough without being too big or too small. The front walk was framed by one of those archway gates layered in flowers, courtesy of Kylarai. As always, I took a deep breath as I passed beneath it. That fresh flower scent was heavenly.

  A glow beyond the living room curtains indicated that Kylarai was still up. Because of her career as a successful divorce attorney, she had little time for decorative ventures.

  However, when the urge struck her, the things that she came up with were simply amazing. Since she altered her schedule two months ago, she’d been doing her paperwork at home and just going to the office to meet with clients. I thought she did it so she’d have more time to dress up the house. I found something new almost every time I came home.

  I frowned down at the new mat in front of the door that virtually screamed, “Welcome”; I’d told her that there was no need to be welcoming anybody here. I’d prefer an unwelcome mat, myself. The time that I had found one at a novelty store, it had lasted a matter of hours before disappearing, never to be seen again.

  Shaz and I joked that Kylarai was the mother hen of our little group because of her gentle, protective nature. I’d come home once with a badly torn nail after a particularly interesting evening with Jez. Kylarai hadn’t let me go to bed until she had cleaned and bandaged it, all the while clucking on about infection and losing my whole finger. Our enhanced healing ability did nothing to appease her.

  Kylarai sounded so young and innocent when she spoke. I still found it hard to believe she was a thirty-three year old widow who’d torn out her husband’s throat, but, she was, and she had. He’d beaten her into submission for the last time. After working for more than five years to hide her wolf from him, she unleashed it in a matter of seconds. I wonder if old Johnny boy had known his wife watched from within that furry face as his blood sprayed.

  Endearing and soft spoken, but she’d eat your face off. That was Kylarai.

  “How did it go?” She called to me when I came into the foyer. “Did you get rid of Patrick Morgan?”

  “Yeah, he was no problem.” I kicked off my boots and breathed a sigh of relief after each one.

  As crazy as it sounds, the architect had laid out our house so the hallway runs in a full square to reach Kylarai’s room at the farthest end, passing other rooms off to each side as you go. I had loved it the first time I saw it.

  Joining her in the living room, I settled into the leather easy chair near the large picture window that looked on to the street. “But, I have totally unrelated, stupid news.”

  “What now?” She asked with a worried glint in her grey eyes.

  I told her about the bullshit call from Raoul. Her eyes widened as I spoke, but she didn’t say anything until I’d finished.

  “I wouldn’t expect that from Raoul. He loves the ladies-there’s no doubt about thatbut slaughtering them? No way. There has to be another explanation.”

  I sucked in my breath and let it out slowly. Raoul and I were many things, but friends wasn’t one of them. We rarely saw eye to eye, but due to status and power, we were the top two werewolves in town. Aside from that, we couldn’t be more different.

  “I don’t know what to do, Ky. That son of a bitch had no reason to call me down there. What the hell is that about?” I took in her comfortable appearance where she sat diagonal to me on the full length matching leather couch. Clad in silky soft pajama pants and her favorite fuzzy robe, she looked the epitome of what I wanted to feel right then.

  “I know there’s no love lost between the two of you,” she replied with a toss of her trendy brunette, Posh Spice-style bob. “But, did you ever think he does this stuff to reach out to you?”

  I stared at her as if she’d grown two heads, and she shrugged. I replied, “If this isn’t some kind of misunderstanding, if he’s killing people, then he’d have to be stopped.”

  Her expression grew wary. “What are you saying, Alexa?”

  “I don’t know. He’s driving me crazy. He is crazy. And, if he goes on a killing spree, then he’ll have to be stopped before he endangers the rest of us.”

  Though I never breathed a word of it to Kylarai, I suspected Raoul would rat us all out if he was discovered to be a Were and put in a lab. He’d try to take us down with him simply so he wasn’t suffering alone.

  For a minute, there was only the sound of the wall clock ticking and quiet laughter from the television in the far corner. Kylarai’s eyes took on a haunted look, and I could see that she’d thought the same when she nodded in agreement. I couldn’t very well let Raoul bring murder and mayhem to our quiet little town. He would ruin us all.

  “You know I agree with you,” she said at last. As quiet as she was, she certainly wasn’t known for being weak. She’d take out anyone in her way if push came to shove.

  “But, don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions. You have to be sure he’s doing this. There has to be more evidence than that to land him a death sentence.”

  “Well, the cops let him go, what does that tell you?” I forced my limbs to move and sauntered down the hall, around the first L-shaped corner, to my room.

  After changing into fuzzy sweatpants and a clean t-shirt, I gave my long hair a halfhearted shove away from my face. Kylarai’s muffled response sounded like, “He didn’t do it.” I made a face of disgust at my closet that nobody could see.

  I re-entered the living room just as Shaz rang the doorbell. He was earlier than I’d expected. After savoring one of his perfect hugs, I retold to him what I had said to Kylarai.

  “Why would someone want to kill Julie?” he asked. I found it odd, that was the first thought he had.

  “Did you know her?”

  “I met her once or twice when I dropped by Raoul’s. But, that had to be almost a year ago, now.” His eyes took on a haunted glow.

  Being three years younger than me, Shaz is still finding out how much danger and death plays a part in our world. Hi
s remaining innocence along with his realistic acceptance makes him a source of comfort.

  “You don’t think it was Raoul?” Was I the only one who thought that he probably did do it?

  “Let’s not go there,” Kylarai interjected. “Not until we’re at that point.”

  Shaz nodded; he pressed his lips together tight. “If Raoul was to brutally kill someone, he’d have a damn good reason. And much as I hate to say it, he doesn’t place that much value on past lovers.”

  “Which is exactly why he could do it so easily and feel no remorse.” The bitterness was thick in my tone, and I ignored the look they exchanged.

  “You look cold.” Shaz ran a warm hand down my arm. My wolf responded by leaping against my inner core as if trying to break free. Closing my eyes, I could feel the pull of the wild in my veins and smell the pine and spice of fur.

  “Actually, I think I need to go for a run.” I didn’t want to sit there trying to convince them what depths of scum Raoul really was.

  We all knew him differently. This conversation had happened many times before.

  They assumed my opinion of him was strictly personal. Maybe it was, but my reasons were good.

  I rose from my chair and stretched languorously. “Want to come with?”

  “Always.” Shaz was on his feet in a heartbeat.

  “Count me out,” Kylarai said and stifled a yawn as we moved to the sliding glass door off the attached kitchen. “I’ve been up for almost twenty-four hours. I’m going to bed.”

  The early morning air held a slight chill that caressed my naked flesh as I slipped out of my clothes. The sky was the color of absolute black, the darkest piece of night just before dawn breaks the barrier on the horizon. A thin cloud cover blocked out every star.

  I stood at the end of the yard and looked out, onto the stretch of field behind the house. The tree line, which was about half a mile away, taunted my wolf. I longed to run and stretch my muscles to capacity. I needed to feel the burn as I pushed myself to the max.