Wen Read online

  He dipped his head, allowing it.

  She smiled. “You're still a puppy at times, aren't you?”

  He growled and looked at her.

  She met his stare and let him go, rising. “Stay off my bed. I remember how you can shed. I'm going to go make us breakfast. I just hope I have enough food. I bet you eat twice as much as you used to, and that was about six times more than I did back then.”

  He followed her into the kitchen and sprawled out on the vinyl tile near her dishwasher. The sight of her cell phone sitting on the counter reminded her that Wen must have gone inside her purse to find it. She picked it up and ran her thumb across the screen to turn it on. Six messages waited. She grimaced, identifying the same number displayed over and over. Each one had been from Robert, her boss.

  “I'm so fired.” She set it down and yanked open the fridge. “I haven't gone shopping so I hope you don't mind eggs and toast.”

  He growled low.

  “I don't have bacon or ham. Sorry. I was waiting to get paid before I restocked the fridge. There are some hot dogs if you want meat.”

  He turned his face away.

  She laughed. “You're such a snob. You should have brought groceries and a cook if you don't want to eat what’s here or what I'm willing to make.”

  She went to work quickly, scrambling eggs and making half a loaf of buttered toast. It wasn't the best breakfast to offer a guy who could take down a large animal for a meal, but it would have to do. She loaded up his plate and set it on the table. He lifted his head, peering at her with those seemingly soulless dark eyes.

  Her neighbors would scream in terror if they saw him. He wasn't cuddly or cute. The Vampire blood had mutated the Lycan in him, so shifted VampLycans looked more like hellish beasts with their more humanoid forms.

  He rose up and tilted his head a little, staring at her in a way that conveyed his curiosity. Some emotion must have shown in her face.

  “Do you want me to set the plate on the floor or can you shift back?”

  He closed his eyes and she watched him start to change. The soft noises as bones shifted and popped had her wincing but she'd grown up with seeing shifters do their thing. The hair receded to smooth, tan skin, and one handsome guy emerged when he stood.

  “Thank you. Why were you looking at me with a smirk on your face? I wasn't going to mess up your floor by getting food all over it.”

  “That wasn't it. I was just thinking about how fierce you look in shifted form. I'd forgotten.”

  He walked past her and entered her bedroom. She frowned. “The food is in here.”

  He returned in less than a minute with a towel wrapped around his waist. “I really should have brought a spare set of clothes with me when I visited you. I don't want to put on my pants and nothing of yours will fit me.” He took a seat at the table. “This smells great. I'd kill for a steak though.”

  “Me too. It's not in my budget often.”

  He grimly regarded her and then glanced around her apartment. “I can tell.”

  “Don't insult my place.”

  “It's a dive.” He held her gaze.

  “It's affordable and it comes with bars over the windows. They don't have those in nice neighborhoods. The building is old too, and built more solid. New construction isn’t as sturdy. These walls aren’t as easy to tear through from one apartment into the next. I checked, and they have beams set apart every few feet. Some newer places build with cheap framing and only insulation between the walls.”

  “How do you know this?”

  “Stud finders help me locate the beams behind the walls.” She shrugged. “I use technology to help protect myself since I’m only human.”

  “Graves never told me how bad things were for you when he sent me reports.”

  “Who’s Graves?”

  “The Lycan I had checking on you from time to time. He's a relative of mine. My mom keeps in touch with some of her mother's people.”

  “Great. I take it that you trust him somewhat, since he probably knows I'm someone he could use against you if the need arises. You showed an interest in a human.”

  He frowned. “I've worked a lot with him and his brother Micah in the past, when I had to leave Alaska. They are both good guys. I knew neither of them would hurt you or tell anyone I keep tabs on you. They’re family, and they honor the loyalty that goes with that.” He glanced around the apartment again. “I wish Graves had told me you were struggling. I would have sent you money.”

  “It's kind of tough to get a decent-paying job in the human world when you come from a clan. I was taken to Alaska when I was almost a year old and didn't leave until I was fifteen. There were no records of my life during that time, and let's just say I never did the high school thing. Mom couldn't get me registered. Getting a driver’s license was a bitch and a half. Mom told them I was homeschooled and we'd grown up in a hippie type community. She still had my birth certificate though, so we managed. Every employer asks for a high school diploma, which I don't have. It means shit jobs no one else wants. They just require a pulse and you showing up on time.”

  “You barely have any food.”

  “I was waiting for payday. I said that, didn't I? This is a short week. I just paid my rent. Look at me. I don't starve. I'm just not eating steak every night.”

  His eyes narrowed as he silently watched her.

  “What? I do the best I can. I have my own place. I used to have a roommate when I first left my mom. That sucked. Try living with a stranger just to be able to afford the rent. She brought strange men home sometimes. I was always afraid one of them wouldn’t be human. I’m doing way better now.”

  “Your furniture is old and doesn't match.”

  “So? You were just shedding hair on my floor.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Don't be a snob, Wen. That's what I'm saying. I don't look down on you for having a snout sometimes, so don't lift your nose over my home.”

  “I just hate that you struggle.”

  “Welcome to my world.” She shoved her fork into the eggs and took a bite. “When does our adventure into getting me killed start?”

  He scowled. “Today. I'm not going to let anything happen to you.”

  “Fantastic.” She managed to not roll her eyes. “Where?”

  “Washington state.”

  “That's a drive.”

  “We're flying. I brought a plane with me.”

  “You fly now? You got a pilot's license?”

  “No. Micah has one and he's with me. It's his plane.”

  She glanced at the curtained window. “He's outside? You left him out there all night?”

  “No. Of course not. We booked rooms at a hotel a few miles from here.”

  “What time do we leave?”

  “As soon as we finish eating and showering. You'll need to pack light. We're supposed to be on the run with enforcers searching for us. Do you have a backpack?”

  “Yes. So this Micah is our backup? That's good to know we're not going in alone.”

  “It's just going to be you and me. He's only flying us there. I want him clear of danger once we reach where it was reported the rogues hang out.”

  “Ah. He's family. Got it.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “You're taking me into this mess but keeping his ass safe.”

  “I'd never let anything happen to you.”

  “How many rogue Weres are there supposed to be protecting this ghoul maker jerk?”

  “About a dozen. Horton keeps a few of his nest with him too. He became the master since his died. I was told he’s leading less than four Vamps at most, at any given time.”

  “This ghoul maker is named Horton? No wonder he’s an ass. I would be too with that kind of name. Is your intel good?”

  “Yes.”

  “How can you be sure?”

  “Micah and Graves trust their sources.”

  “Only a dozen rogue Lycans