Chapter 11

Chapter Eleven

CALVIN

I knew it was her job, and she probably did things like this a thousand times over, but it still stressed me out, knowing Kiara was going to face Jasper. That wackadoodle was dangerous and not all there in the head. I paced for a while, trying to expel some energy, but it didn't do much. I thought about calling one of my roommates, since this would likely be over by the time she got back anyway, but her warnings still rang in my head, so I held off. It was just nervous energy. I didn't need to be calling people to get me through the next few hours.

Less than ten minutes later, right when I considered calling the number Kiara gave me for room service because I needed something to do, there was a knock on my door and a rough voice called out, "Room service."

My immediate thought was that Kiara called for me on her way out, since she wasn't going to be around for dinner. That was kind of her, and I waltzed to the door without a second thought. Look, I'm a nerd. I never said that made me smart. Liking video games and board games doesn't automatically make you smart.

I barely cracked the door when I recognized the face on the other side and realized how stupid I was. That was not room service. I slammed the door, throwing up the latch for good measure, but I got the feeling that wouldn't keep them out forever. The dude was huge and menacing, and he came with two friends this time.

The door rattled when he pounded on it. "Open up. We just want to talk."

"Yeah? And my name is Sally. I'm calling the cops. You should run while you have the chance," I called out, backpedaling a few feet away. I wasn't actually going to call the cops, they wouldn't be able to get here in time, but Kiara shouldn't have gotten far. Before I called her, though, I dove for the duffle bag. While bored out of my mind, I'd emptied and gone through it. There was pepper spray and a taser in the pocket on the side. Pepper spray in such close quarters would hurt everyone, including me, but a taser meant I had to get up close and personal with the dudes, and I seriously wanted to avoid that. I grabbed both, balancing them in one hand as I raced for the phone.

I didn't have a chance to even pick it up before the door crashed open so hard I yelped. What, was the fucking Hulk breaking into my room?

Baldie and his friends prowled in, blocking the exit. It left me cornered between the queen beds with no escape except the weapons in my hand. From here on out, I was going to reconsider my character class in D&D. I did not like being this close to the bad guys.

"So… any chance I can convince you that you've got the wrong guy?"

The middle one smirked. "Maybe you shouldn't have been dumb enough to log onto your streaming accounts. It made it stupid easy to track you."

My gaze flicked momentarily to the TV, which was still playing one of my favorite shows on low volume. I winced. I hadn't even thought of that.

"Okay, but hear me out. I–"

"No talking, little man. Jasper wants to see you."

Nope. That wasn't going to happen. Kiara told me he'd either use me to teach everyone else a lesson or kill me. Either way, it wasn't a situation I wanted to be in. So, despite knowing it'd hurt me too, I busted out the pepper spray and held my breath, emptying the entire can onto the three huge guys blocking my way. Then I darted over Kiara's bed towards the door. The one closest to me tried to grab me, still rubbing at his eyes and cursing, but I shocked him with the taser before he could get more than a partial grip of my arm and darted out the door.

Now, you'd think with three guys on my tail, I'd at least be smart enough to take the stairs. Nope. I never said I was any good with panic. I stood like an idiot at the end of the hall, scrubbing my hands over my burning eyes and pressing the elevator button over and over, trying to get it to show up faster while constantly looking over my shoulder toward my room. It didn't take long for them to stumble out, just as the elevator beeped to announce its arrival. I thought they wouldn't have enough time to catch up to me once I slipped into the elevator, but then something insane happened and I forgot to press the close door button.

One of the bad guys, the one I'd tased, sort of exploded in a flutter of fabric and in his place stood a wolf. A freaking wolf. I gaped at what I'd just seen, frozen stiff as he took off at a dead run straight for me. It was dumb luck that the door slid closed on its own. The wolf slammed against the doors with a loud thud right as the elevator descended and the sound snapped me out of my shock long enough to press the lobby button.

My mind was reeling, and I was a little worried the pepper spray that burned my eyes was making me hallucinate. But no. I saw what I saw. That guy turned into a wolf right in front of my eyes. Holy shi–

The doors opened on the lobby floor and I hurried out, looking behind me to see if the bad guys had taken the stairs and were right on top of me. I was so busy looking behind me, I wasn't looking in front of me until I ran straight into Kiara. We both went crashing to the floor from the force and she grunted in surprise.

"Cal? What the–"

"We need to get out of here! They broke into our room!"

It was quickly becoming my favorite thing about her. Kiara never second guessed my story. She took everything I said as truth and reacted accordingly. She grabbed my wrist, hauling us both off the floor, and ran straight out the lobby door. The SUV we'd borrowed from her boss was right out front in the drop-off zone, hazards on, and she forced me into the passenger seat before jogging around the front. She was just slipping into her seat when I saw the bad guys tear through the lobby straight toward us, the wolf leading the way.

"Go, go, go, go!"

She slammed her foot on the gas pedal, tires screeching for a second before we started moving. I watched in avid horror as the wolf chased after us, darting through traffic until we got onto the exit for the highway and could pick up speed without almost killing people.

"Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! That guy turned into a wolf! Like he exploded and turned into a wolf! What the hell was that?"

She opened her mouth, but I cut her off before she could argue with me.

"Don't tell me I'm wrong, Kiara! I saw it! He turned into a wolf right in front of me!"

I was in a panic, gripping the rollover handle above my head so hard my knuckles were turning white, and my breath coming out in pants even though I wasn't running anymore. I kept looking behind us, searching for any sign that we were being followed, but it was dark out now, and I couldn't see much aside from headlights.

"Cal. Cal! Calm down!"

"No, you didn't see it! He turned into a wolf! And then he tried to attack me! I swear, I thought he was going to dent the elevator door with the force, or maybe even tear through it! I–"

A deep snarl rattled through the car, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up. Slowly, I turned to face Kiara. She looked pissed, but also resigned when she said, "I know, Cal. If you'd shut up for just a second, I'd explain it to you."

Oh, shit.

"You're one of them, aren't you?"

She made a face. "No. Wolves are pathetic."

"Then wh–"

"I'm a lioness."

I think I might pass out.

It took way too long for me to be calm enough for her to explain it to me. Apparently, there are people called shifters, who were part human, part animal, and could switch randomly between the two. No, it had nothing to do with the full moon, and no, they didn't eat humans. My questions were probably a little rude, but I just had my entire worldview shift, so I was pretty sure she forgave me. While she talked me through the basics, we kept driving. I didn't ask where we were going. It wasn't my place, that was for sure. I wasn't drawing shifters to my home to attack my friends. Oh shit. My friends.

"Wait. If they know where I live, they could attack my friends to get me to come back. Are they safe? Should I call them?"

"Relax," she growled. She did that a lot now. Like her animal was in her voice. A freaking lioness. If I wasn't so insanely confused, I might ask to see it.

"Your friends are safe. For one thing, you aren't important enough to set up shit like that."

"Okay, ouch. That's rude."

She rolled her eyes, but kept them on the road instead of giving me any looks. "Shut up. Once you were moved into the hotel for protection, Walker called a friend of his and asked him to watch over your place. Jasper's guys have never gone back, and if they did, there would be a gorilla shifter waiting to meet them. They're fine."

"Yeah, okay," I nodded helplessly. "Thanks. Now what?"

Drawing in a deep breath, she let it out slowly. "I'm not sure."

When I looked at her incredulously, she snarled, frustrated. "Look, I'm not a cop! The only time we put people under our protection is when shifters are involved, and it's usually only a precaution! The criminals are usually more interested in getting away than chasing down witnesses! I don't even know what kind of shifter Jasper is!"

"Well, who would know? Because apparently, he's pretty insulted that I hit him with a figurine." It'd be funny if, you know, I wasn't on someone's hit list. "I also just pepper sprayed his friends and tased one that turned into a wolf a minute later. I need a better plan than I don't know."

She did a double take, frowning at me before looking back at the road. "You did?"

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not completely helpless. Can we focus, please? What about your boss?"

She shook her head. "No. He's a decent protector, but he hasn't been able to get any farther than I have in finding this asshole. I need more information, dammit. I need…" Her eyes narrowed, and she pulled her phone out of her pocket, handing it to me. "Plug that in for me. I know someone who might have more information. He's been alive for a long ass time. He might recognize the family name."

Well, it was better than nothing. Still, I couldn't help but ask, "How long is long? What kind of shifter is he?"