Chapter 9

I screamed.

A gray streak blurred past us, slamming into the thing’s side and throwing it off course, so it crashed into the front of the truck instead. Metal pinged as the thing’s claws rent the steel. It screeched and I covered my ears, hoping they weren’t bleeding.

The new creature tumbled into shadows along with the nightmare attacking us.

“Fuck!” Davin exclaimed.

“Are you okay?” I looked around for the creature. “What is that thing?”

“A shade,” Davin answered tersely as he stared into the shadows, ready for another attack.

I wanted to ask him to explain, but the creature slipped back out of the shadows and stalked toward us.

Nimbus’s frantic scrabble of claws against the window and his high-pitched barking intensified. I stared at the six-legged, shadowy dog-looking creature and took a step back. The metal door of the pickup was cold against my back. I tried to reach behind me for the door latch but couldn’t get it without turning, and I did not want to take my eyes off the thing in front of us.

Davin kept himself between me and the being, but I could see the gleaming white teeth it licked with an impossibly long tongue.

This time a gray streak and a brown streak dove into the shade.

Davin grabbed me around the waist, tugged open the door and shoved me inside the truck with Nimbus. The little floof crawled into my lap and bared his teeth at the scene outside. I buried my fingers in his fur and winced when Davin slammed the truck door.

The new creatures turned out to be huge wolves, and two more, a golden-colored one and a brown wolf had joined the first. The shade shrieked again, tail lashing cat-like as it weaved back and forth. The movement reminded me of videos I’d seen of cobras.

The golden wolf lunged forward, and the creature turned and vanished into the shadow. The three wolves remained, swarming Davin, rubbing against him.

That was crazy. This whole thing was crazy. Hell, this town was freaking nuts. Clearly the rumors I’d read online barely brushed the surface.

I didn’t realize tears were running down my face until Nimbus licked my cheek.

“Hey, buddy. I’m okay.” He tucked his muzzle under my chin and rooed softly, lessening my fear a little.

As crazy as this was, I was probably still safer than I had been with the traffickers.

After a few minutes of quiet conversation with the wolves, Davin came over and opened the truck door.

“If you want to meet the local pack, they’re friendly.”

“How is that possible?”

Davin tightened his lips for a moment before shrugging. “How about this. Let’s get through the rest of the day, chat with Katsuro, and I’ll answer any questions you have tomorrow.”

“Not now?”

“Not now. I promise, they’re friendly, though.”

I glanced at Nimbus, and he licked my cheek again. So far, he’d seemed to have pretty good instincts, so I set him on the truck seat and let Davin help me exit the vehicle.

“Do I hold out my hand?”

“If you want. You can touch them if they come over to you.”

The golden wolf came right up to me and pressed its head under my hand. I gave him? Her? A few scratches before the gray one came over and I repeated the gesture. The brown one huffed and trotted off into the woods. I didn’t take offense, though.

While I was petting the wolves, Nimbus stared around me at them, eyes wide but not acting afraid or even aggressive. That, more than anything, helped me relax.

“Davin, are you okay?” I asked while I marveled at the wolves rubbing against me.

“I’m fine, Hannah, don’t worry about me.”

Another truck pulling up behind us interrupted any more questions I might have asked. Two women and a man piled out of the newer truck, all built like muscular tanks. They brushed past the wolves, obviously familiar with them, running hands along fur before doing similar with Davin, touching his arm as they came to the front of the truck.

“Wow, that’s shit, Davin,” one of the women said. “Let’s get this tire changed.”

“Thank you, Rachael. Everyone, this is Hannah. Hannah”—he pointed at each person—“Rachael, Jamie, and Maggie.”

“Hi.”

They all acknowledged me, friendly enough but a touch wary. I swear I recognized at least one of them from the grocery store. Nimbus jumped from the seat to the foot well and, before I could stop him, onto the ground. I was still somewhat surrounded by wolves and couldn’t grab him. He trotted calmly to my side, pausing to sniff noses with the two wolves.

My heart was in my throat, however neither wolf acted aggressive at all. Their heads were bigger than my puppy, but they treated him gently.

I had a lot of things to ask Davin tomorrow.

The newcomers had the tire changed in no time, hopped back into their own vehicle after again brushing their hands against Davin and the two wolves, and left. The wolves also left, and I wondered if I’d meet them again.

“Wow, that was efficient roadside service,” I said.

Davin chuckled. “Yes. Let’s get you something to eat.”

I bent over and scooped Nimbus up, then climbed into the truck.

Davin went around to his side, opened the door, and leaned his seatback forward, grabbing a small bag from behind his seat. “I should probably put on a clean shirt.”

“Are you sure you’re okay? That looked nasty.”

“I’m fine, Hannah. Just a scratch.” He turned his back as he took off his shirt, but holy hell the view… I couldn’t help staring at all that defined muscle he briefly exposed.

Fuck me, I thought and hoped I didn’t say it out loud. He seemed to have uncommonly good hearing.

As soon as he was dressed again, he climbed into the truck and fired it up.

I had myself under control by the time he pulled back onto the road.

“So, things like that happen often around here?”

“No.” Davin sounded troubled. “Beechworth is a pretty quiet town, believe it or not.”

“I’ve seen that creature before. Once over by my apartment.”

“Are you sure it’s the same one?” Davin glanced at me with a frown. “There’s a friendly one in the area.”

“Really?” I blurted. “Of course, there is.” I sighed.

“Hannah, if you want to stay in the area, you’ll have to get used to the strangeness. Oh, and you’ll have to agree not to tell anything to Bridger. He’s an outsider.”

“Bridger? Wait, are you telling me he actually knows what’s going on here?”

Davin laughed as he pulled into a parking lot. The scent of hamburgers made my stomach growl, and Nimbus perked up from where he lay on the truck bench next to me.

“No, Bridger has no idea what really goes on here, and it needs to stay that way.”

“Are you telling me I’m going to know? And why do I get to be an insider when I’ve only been here a few days and he’s been here much longer?”

Davin leveled a serious look at me. “Somehow, you’re already mixed up in whatever is going on.”

“And you’re going to let Katsuro explain it?”

“Yes. He’s much better at that sort of thing.”

“I do believe he’s been flirting with me. Just saying.”

Davin smiled, not looking terribly bothered. “If you tell him to back off, he will. Likewise, just so you know. You know I’m interested, but I’m also happy to simply have you as a friend.”

“Seriously?”

Davin nodded.

“You’d be the first man I met like that.”

He shrugged. “I’m glad I’m not like all the other guys, then.” He hopped out of the truck and came around to open my door before I could reply.

“Nimbus can come in.” He helped me out of the truck.

I must have still been a little shaky because I tripped and ended up in Davin’s arms.

“I swear that wasn’t on purpose,” I gasped out, mortified. My entire face had to be bright red. Though, being pressed up against his firm chest, with his strong arms wrapped around me was certainly not terrible by any stretch.

“Mmm, I don’t mind.” Davin took one arm from around me and tilted my chin so I could meet his gaze. “Not one bit.”

He leaned forward, his lips mere inches from mine, his expression soft.

My heart pounded in my chest and my hands shook for a different reason. I wanted to close those last few inches between us, but I held back. I needed to know what was going on before I made any more commitments.

As if sensing my decision, the heat left Davin’s expression and he pulled me into a soul-healing hug instead.

Tears sprang to my eyes. I hadn’t been hugged like this in… well, a long damn time.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah, just been a while. Thank you.”

“You may fall into my arms any time, Hannah. For whatever reason.”

Nimbus rooed, and I laughed and helped the little dog out of the truck, though he hadn’t needed it earlier. I was anxious for dinner.

***

Dinner was tasty, and I finally managed to focus fully on Davin and what he was telling me about the town. We’d been seated on the back porch and the puppy had gotten his way with a little hamburger of his own along with his kibble.

We talked until the sky darkened. I didn’t want the night to end, unfortunately Davin was keeping track. When he helped me back in the truck, I almost recreated the trip from earlier on purpose so I could have an excuse to kiss him, but I held off. There was a lot I needed to know first.

He was quiet on the drive to the coffee shop, though it didn’t seem to be a tense silence, at least from him. I was nervous, but my fingers curled in my puppy’s soft fur helped a great deal.

When Davin stopped, I made it out of the truck before he could come help me. That didn’t stop him from taking my hand—a little possessively, I thought—and walking me into the coffee shop. Nimbus trotted happily at my side.

Katsuro was there when we arrived, and Jaz stood behind the counter. Her lips tightened when she saw me, but I didn’t think it was from any sort of dislike toward me. Hell, maybe she was looking at Davin. I wasn’t sure. Katsuro looked ravishingly handsome in a deep-red dress shirt and black slacks. He had his black hair tied back and the friendly smile on his face almost reached his eyes. He looked troubled, not angry, though he did spend a long moment studying Davin before his gaze flicked back to me.

“Hannah, my dear, I hate to start our evening like this, but you are in very grave danger.”

Like an ice-cold bucket of water, his words both chilled me and set my heart racing. I didn’t stop myself from looking for the nearest exit, though Davin’s hand on mine kept me rooted in place.

Nimbus rooed softly and pressed against my calf, possibly the only thing keeping me from a full-blown panic attack.

“Oh hell,” I muttered softly. “What now?”