Scarlet Heat Read online

  “You think they’re trying to run you off?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “They made a few overtures but I put them off—I thought they got the message that I like going it alone.”

  “Is that a problem for weres? When you decide to be a, uh, lone wolf, the other wolves don’t like it?” she asked.

  I was surprised at the astuteness of her question.

  “That’s it exactly,” I said. “Especially if the lone wolf is an Alpha. The pack leader might not want another Alpha near his territory. So it could be him.” I shook my head. “I guess we won’t know for sure until we find out who put down the trap.”

  “I’ll get the information from Addison and set up an appointment with the witch—we can go tonight if you want to. Unless you’re going to, you know, change again,” Taylor said.

  I shook my head. “I only have to change on the one night of the month the moon is fullest. I can hold it off all right the rest of the time. So don’t worry—you won’t have to see too much more of my wolf.”

  “Oh really? That’s too bad.” To my surprise, she sounded disappointed.

  I raised an eyebrow at her. “Too bad? Why would you say that?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s just…I liked your wolf. He was so big and cuddly—kind of like a living teddy bear. He kept me warm while I was sleeping—I mean really warm and that’s hard for me. I’m always cold since I was turned.”

  “He is actually me,” I reminded her. “I was the one cuddling you and keeping you warm last night.”

  “Oh, I know.” She blushed a pale pink. “I just…it’s hard to think of you and the wolf as the same being. You’re just so different in that form. Less, I don’t know…less threatening. Not that you’re threatening now,” she went on hurriedly. “But you’re just less…less scary as a wolf.”

  I couldn’t help laughing. “You must be the only person I know who thinks a huge wolf is less scary than a man.”

  “Animals aren’t deliberately cruel,” she said softly. “I mean, they may do savage things sometimes but it’s because of instinct, not because they want to hurt someone on purpose. You know?”

  I nodded. “So animals are safer than men—is that what you’re saying?”

  “Pretty much.” She crossed her arms over her chest protectively. “Sorry, I’m not saying you’re cruel or anything. I guess I just like animals better than people sometimes, that’s all. They’re less…complicated.”

  I had to agree with her there—I felt the same way a lot of the time. In fact, most weres and shape shifters do. There’s a prevailing feeling among my kind that having an animal side makes you more straightforward, less likely to bullshit or double cross somebody in a deal. But it seemed strange to hear that sentiment coming from a vamp. Of course, I was beginning to get an idea of what she had been through at the hands of Celeste and Roderick so maybe it wasn’t so strange after all.

  “Well…” Taylor sighed. “Let me go call Addison and see what I can find out. Maybe we can figure it out tonight.”

  “Good idea,” I said. “Uh, your clothes should be done in a minute. I put them in the dryer right before I nearly stepped in that damn trap.”

  “Speaking of the trap—look at it.” Taylor’s eyes were wide.

  “What?” I looked at the tangle of gray fabric where I had shed my sweatpants, expecting to see the silver teeth grinning at me. But the trap wasn’t there—it was three feet away from the sweats and lying right in front of the refrigerator, which was where I had been going to go next. Not only that but it was open again, its silver teeth gleaming in the overhead fluorescents since the sun had finally sunk behind the trees outside.

  “Holy shit,” I muttered, staring at the thing. “Did you see it move?”

  Taylor shook her head. “No. I didn’t see anything the whole time we’ve been standing here talking.”

  “Me either,” I said. “That’s it—we have to find out about this damn thing tonight. I don’t want it in my house one second longer than it has to be.”

  “We should put it in a box or a bag—something strong,” Taylor said. “Something it can’t…can’t bite through.”

  “I’ll find something,” I told her, looking around the kitchen. “You get the broom—I don’t think we should touch it.”

  “Okay.” She came into the kitchen easily now—the sunlight was gone and there was no need for her to fear. I made a mental note to get some shades put up right away—we might even stop by Home Depot tonight and get some cut. I didn’t want a repeat of today’s near accident.

  We wound up pushing the trap into a big old Tupperware cake container my Mom had given me years ago, when I first moved out. Taylor shoved it with the business end of the broom (which it snapped shut on, making us both jump, by the way) and I cornered it with the Tupperware until it pretty much had no choice. Once we got it squared away with the thick plastic lid in place, I breathed a sigh of relief.

  “Nice cake carrier,” Taylor remarked, smiling at me. “You do a lot of baking?”

  I shook my head. “Sorry to disappoint you but I’m not one of those guys who’s secretly really good in the kitchen or anything. I just keep that big old thing because my mom gave it to me when I first moved out. Well, actually she baked me a cake and gave it to me in this container and then I just kind of never gave it back. It reminds me of her.”

  “Oh, is she…did she pass away?” Taylor asked sympathetically.

  I shook my head. “No, she’s alive. I just can’t see her. My dad either.”

  “Oh…” Taylor hesitated, clearly uncertain what to say about that. I could see by her face she wanted to ask why but didn’t want to step on my toes. I took pity on her.

  “I was shunned by my pack,” I explained stiffly. “After that…when that happens, you can’t talk to anyone in the pack anymore. Not even family.”

  Taylor frowned. “That’s horrible. I’m so sorry, Victor.” She put a hand on my arm and squeezed briefly before letting me go. “My parents don’t talk to me either. Ever since I was born to darkness they call me ‘the bride of Satan.’ As if I wanted to be this. As if I chose it.”

  “I didn’t choose what got me shunned either,” I said, relieved that she hadn’t asked me the reason behind my expulsion from the pack. “It’s just something I live with.”

  “Me too.” Taylor sighed and then motioned at the trap contained in the Tupperware. “You think that’ll hold it?”

  “I have no idea.” I frowned. “I’m going to keep an eye on it. You get us an appointment with that witch—we need to get to the bottom of this.”

  “Will do, as soon as I get my clothes.” She nodded and smiled at me. “You know, you may not be able to bake but any man who does laundry is all right in my book.”

  “Don’t forget the part where I turn into a big cuddly wolf,” I pointed out, grinning at her. “It’s not every guy who can do that.”

  “Very true.” Taylor smiled at me but I thought there was something troubled in her eyes. “I, uh, should go. Get my clothes, I mean.” She turned away abruptly.

  “Okay,” I said, still keeping half an eye on the trap. I wondered again who had put it on my land and why. I knew the local pack leader, a were named Marcus Wainright, from one very brief meet and greet when I had first moved into the area. He was an Alpha in his fifties who seemed to be stern but fair. Putting a spelled trap on my land didn’t seem like his style. His daughter, LeeAnn, however, was a real piece of work.

  For a moment I considered the possibility that she might have something to do with it but then I dismissed it. LeeAnn was a spoiled little princess—Alpha bitch of the pack on account of her father’s status—not because she’d earned it. But she didn’t strike me as malicious—just selfish and willful. She’d made a play for me when I first came to town, which I had declined—very politely—I didn’t want to give her any reason to claim offense. I had no interest in that kind of woman and even if I had, I wouldn’t have wanted anything to do w