17. Chapter Seventeen

"I'm going to Change," Heath said before we got too far from the house. "I'll feel better if at least one of us is in our more powerful form, and I have the nose to find older trails."

I looked around, not seeing anything. If anything, the surrounding forest was beautifully serene. When nothing seemed unusual, I nodded.

"I'll carry your clothing," I told him, keeping my back to him. I listened as he undressed, the sound of his zipper seeming too loud for the quiet world we were standing in. A weird thing to notice, no doubt, but I couldn't help it. I felt something hit the back of my legs and looked around to see it, catching a glimpse of bare legs as I stared at the pile of clothing. I picked them up, trying to fold them as I went so they would be easier to carry. I didn't dare comment on the soft boxer briefs with…well, I figured they were dog bones. Were those supposed to be a joke?

I'm not sure what to even think about them. Are they a dick joke? Are they a werewolf joke? Did he buy them for himself, or were they a prank gift from someone? Who would buy this man patterned underwear?

Questions for another time. We had more pressing things to deal with, like getting out of the woods safely.

We have time. Keep calm, keep moving, and we'll be out of here well before nightfall.

I listened to bone crunching, grunts, and growls as Heath went through the fast but painful-looking shift from man to massive wolf.

"Can you hear me?"

"Yup. We're good," I answered. "Let's get moving."

He huffed and began to trot toward the trail back. I followed behind him as we entered the woods and fell into an easy formation. I walked the trail, keeping my eyes and ears out for anything. As a wolf, he sniffed around the trail sides, looking for any place where it seemed someone or something might have been following alongside the path or taken off in a different direction. We trekked for a long time, not speaking. It was odd for me to talk to a wolf, and he probably had nothing to say because he wasn't finding anything.

Either way, it was a silent walk.

We were nearly to the house when Heath whined.

"I smell something, and it's bad news, I bet."

"What?"

"Gasoline,"he answered before taking off faster. I ran after him, unable to keep up.

"Heath!" I called. "Wait up!" I really didn't want to get left behind in the woods—not now.

I watched him slow down, and together, we ran at a reasonable pace to the place where the two werecats once met and where we left our ride. I was about thirty yards away when I could smell what he had. The gasoline was strong in the air.

"Oh fuck," I snapped. "No. No. No. No." I continued to run for the ATV the humans had left behind for us and snarled at the fuel line—severed clean, all the fuel poured onto the ground.

"Does it seem purposeful?"

"Yes," I answered, my hand shaking as I continued to stare at it. "What do you bet our rental is in the same condition?"

He growled. "You think?"

"They wouldn't be stupid enough to screw us here without fucking with the car. I don't smell anyone new. Just those three. Unless it's our scentless killer." I leaned over, holding my face in my clean hand. "God damn it. Even if we make it back to the car before dark, if it's fucked up, we'd have to repair it at night."

"Or we can fortify here and make a break for it at dawn," he suggested. "I'll stay in wolf form as protection. We'll borrow their…home."

I looked over at the house. Hasan is going to kill me. He's going to send the entire damn family out here, and people are going to get hurt.

I felt like a fuck up. I was a fuck up.

So fucking stupid, Jacky. I should have known better! Why didn't I know better than to leave my ride out unsecured?

"We'll stay the night here," I said, sighing heavily. "This is probably easier to secure than that little shack they used to hold this shit." I dropped the cut fuel line and stood up, shaking my head. "I'm going to need help securing if you're okay with changing back to human form."

"I would rather you get into werecat form," he countered. "We're both safer in these forms."

"That works, but I want to lock us in the building." I started marching to the door, Heath on my tail. Once we were both inside, I shut the door and locked it. It probably wouldn't be too much help, so I shoved the couch in the way of the door as well. Then I went into the bedroom and lifted the bed to block the window. Slowly, I made my way around the house, closing all ways inside. If someone wanted to get in, they would have to move shit out of their way, which would give us a sign to get ready for a fight.

Once I was satisfied, I checked the time. There were another four hours until nightfall. It was going to be a long night. I stripped and folded my clothing, putting it on the kitchen counter. Once that was done, I began my own shift, letting the werecat form tear through me at a speed that still surprised me and hurt—still so painful. When I was done, I looked over to Heath and found him watching me.

"It irks my male pride that you're so much bigger than me."

"Is now really the time to worry about your ego?" I retorted without heat. "We're ancient big cats in the same way you're actually a dire wolf. We've always been bigger than you."

"I know. Have you ever wondered about the origin of our species? I have. No one has any answers."

"I haven't, actually. Next time I talk to Hasan—if I'm alive at the end of the conversation—I'll bring it up. If there's one werecat out there with answers, it would be him." I considered the fae too. They could also hold the key, but the cost of receiving the answers to those sorts of questions was probably high, too high.

"You don't have to. It's just a curiosity. I don't believe it changes anything for us in the end." He sounded somewhat defeated.

"Are you one of those who thinks we're all damned in the end and all that?" I didn't. I thought I was a monster, but I didn't really consider the afterlife. I had no choice in this life, and I did my best to do what I could with it. That had to count for something with whatever higher power was out there, right?

"Somewhat. I grew up in a heavily Christian society. Mind you, we weren't all Christians back then, or we didn't use that term. I was raised Protestant. My parents hated our Catholic neighbors." He rolled onto his side. "I lost that faith a long time ago. I've just always wondered if maybe our origins would hold the secret to removing the curse on us. And that's what it is, a curse."

"I know. I've been told other species of supernaturals call us the Moon Cursed Ones or just the Moon Cursed. It makes sense. We lose nearly all of our control on the full moon, and if we aren't careful, we can hurt someone." I gave an audible grumble. "But many of us didn't ask for this."

"I know. Neither of us did." He shifted and rolled to his other side as if he couldn't get comfortable. "I'm wondering if we should try to sleep now so we can stay awake for the night."

"You can nap, and I'll cover for now. You just have to watch my back tonight, so I can get some sleep in."

"Good idea."

Moments later, the wolf was snoring. I huffed and laid my head down on my front feet. I wasn't used to staying in this form for very long. Normally, I was very active while a werecat and shifted back into my human form once I was done hunting, eating, or checking my territory. The idea of staying in werecat form to sleep bothered me enough; any exhaustion I felt from the early morning was long gone. I was wide awake, alone with my thoughts, and had nowhere I could safely go. I couldn't even roam around to stretch my legs.

Already I was feeling cooped up.

This is what I get. Hasan told me not to go into the woods. I went without even fucking thinking about it. It was only supposed to be a short hike and back, and here I am. I know they fucked with the car. I just know it. Taking the risk to check on it and having to find better shelter than that shack was too much.

What could possibly be doing this? What's in these damn woods, killing people?

Who is helping them? I swear if those fucking humans cut the fuel line, I'm going to kill them.

My mind went to awful places while Heath slept. I bounced back and forth between killing and not killing the humans, solely based on their species status. The world could ignore several dead werewolves and werecats. Dead humans would bring the eyes of the local authorities. If answers weren't found, uncomfortable questions would be asked.

I groomed for a little while, trying to put the thought of killing humans off my mind. I tried not to think about the mysterious killer out in the woods.

Then I thought of something.

Heath was good at making sure his feelings didn't infiltrate his scent. I wasn't sure how he did it, though I figured a certain amount of self-control was part of it.

What if a wolf—or four—figured out how to hide their scents completely?

I narrowed my eyes on my wolf, sleeping soundly across the small living room. I was already planning my round of questioning as the sun dipped, and the rays coming through the windows began to disappear.

When I felt he'd slept long enough, I walked over to him and nosed his side, then jumped back as he woke up. A yawn revealed impressive canines and a clean, dangerous row of white teeth. I could have thought mine were nicer, but the reality was, wolves survived because their fangs made sense. Ancient sabertooth felines had a niche bite that might have contributed to their extinction. His impressive set was more useful and versatile than mine.

"Is it nightfall already?"he asked, his voice sleepy in my head. I'd never heard him tired before, and it had a husky quality that I immediately wanted to hear more of.

"Yeah. So, I was thinking—"

"I can't wait to hear this,"he teased, something akin to a smile showing up on his face. His voice still had that huskiness I liked.

"I noticed a lot of the time, I can't scent your emotions on you. What if the wolves learned how to remain unscented?"

"I have a large amount of self-control over my feelings, and even then, you can still smell me,"he explained. "There's no way to turn off the body's functions that produce scent. I'm alive, therefore, I smell. My emotions, however, can remain private if I can control myself."

I jerked my head up.

He's alive.

"No. Oh, shit, I'm so stupid,"I hissed into his head, making the same sound for his ears. "Alive! Everything alive had a scent, Heath."

"Yes?"

"But have you ever caught the scent of a vampire?"I asked, growling. "Probably not, because they're frozen. Their bodies don't function the ways ours do. They don't produce a scent! That was Hasan"s first lesson on vampires! Fuck me! We might have vampires in the fucking mountains!"

"I never noticed that," he said softly as if he was cursing himself the same as I was pissed off for not remembering that lesson sooner. "The only time I see them is in company. I always assumed they smelled like humans."

"No…" I groaned mentally. "Oh fuck, it makes sense in terms of the murders."

"Explain."

"Hasan told me that vampires rarely want to deal with a werecat because we're strong. Werewolves are slightly easier targets, but vampires generally stay in their nests and hunt their food source, humans, down without getting into anyone's way."

"It's easy to ignore them as long as they aren't killing people. I know it's an addictive rush for them when they do."

"Yeah, so we ignore them, and they want to be ignored. Do you know what creature on Earth has the best chance of pointing out a vampire in the crowd? Humans. They innately sense something is off with the thing wearing their face."

"Then how did they hide from Gaia and Titan?"

"They didn't. I've never personally felt it, but Hasan once told me vampires are hard to pinpoint once they're in your territory. They're slippery, elusive, there one minute and gone the next. He said he thought it was because of their closeness to humanity and the blood they drink."

"And their shadow magics could help if they're powerful enough to use them," Heath added. "I'm making a wild guess here, but they must have confused the werecats, and slipped in when their defenses were down."

"I think we're right. I don't remember shit about their magics if Hasan taught it to me. I never really gave them any thought because he made it sound like they would just…never be a problem. A vampire isn't strong enough to kill us in this form, me or you, not alone, but they can easily kill us in our human form. They normally aren't stupid enough to."

"They can…" Heath stood up, then sat back on his haunches. "So, what do we do? We're stuck in this house until daybreak if that's the case."

"Good thing we decided to hunker down. We would be easy prey if we were trying to fix our rental right now."

"Very good thing, but they can break in. Those old human legends about doors and crosses aren't true."

"I don't have all the answers," I snapped. "I'm trying."

"No, you this much remembering is great. It gives us something to work with, at least. If anything, we stay in these forms and hold out. If one attacks, we're able to fight." I watched him sigh, looking around the room we were in. "You know, if it is a vampire or a few of them, that means those humans, or at least one of them, is helping them."

"Yeah…because they're the only answer we have when it comes to who cut the fuel line on the ATV." I figured that much. There was no other option if there were vampires roaming the night on these mountains. "Which one do you think it is?"

"You know."

"Haley."

His big wolf head nodded.

I laid down, and he walked closer.

"Get some sleep,"he ordered in that Alpha way he tried on me sometimes.

"Bite me."

Gentle teeth nipped my shoulder, and I growled.

"You asked. Get some sleep, Jacky. I'll keep watch."

I yawned and tried to sleep, hoping we were wrong. Vampires were out of my depth, and these were smart enough to catch two, maybe three, older and stronger werecats off their guard. I almost didn't want to go to sleep. If Gaia and Titan couldn't protect themselves, if Jabari went missing, and four werewolves vanished into thin air, what chance did Heath and I have?

Too bad my own exhaustion caught up with me, and the rain starting up was like a lullaby. Sleep hit quickly.