exchange it in case the Nero guys had my plate number, and head for Texas to dig up more on who my shifter parents might be.
A block from the hotel I caught a whiff of garlic and marinara. My mouth watered, and I wandered into the lobby restaurant.
Halfway through my lasagna, I caught the scent again. A chill ran up my spine. My senses were on full alert, but after glancing around the restaurant, I had no idea why. Nothing seemed out of place. I didn’t recognize anyone. No one was staring at me, or looked angry or upset, and thankfully no men in riot gear.
So why did I feel the undeniable urge to run away?
“How is everything?”
Jumpy isn’t usually one of my character traits. Late maybe, and stubborn often, but nervous and jittery wasn’t me. Still, I almost needed to peel myself off the ceiling. “Oh! Everything’s fine.” I looked up at the waiter as I caught my breath. “Could I get a to-go box and my check?”
“Certainly.” He gave me a curious stare and then vanished toward the kitchen.
Sipping my iced tea, I kept glancing around the restaurant, trying to take notice of every patron’s face. Something about the scent put me on full alert, but nothing I saw with my eyes appeared dangerous.
What good was using my superhuman senses if I couldn’t recognize what I was smelling? Where was Adam when I needed him?
I almost groaned. I couldn’t afford to “need” anyone.
After I paid the bill and boxed what was left of my lasagna, I walked toward my hotel, careful to keep peering back over my shoulder. I still didn’t see anything.
Instead, I walked right into it.
I knew the second we collided. I recognized the scent now. It was coming from a tall dark-haired man who was now smiling down at me.
The man from the library.
I stepped back, ready to run. “Sorry. I should’ve been watching where I was going, but I’m looking for my friend. She’s picking me up.”
He raised a brow with a smirk. His teeth looked sharply white against his tan skin. “I did not see your friend at the library or in the restaurant.”
I frowned. “Are you following me?”
“I could ask you that same question.” His self-confident smile never faltered.
My heart pounded in my chest, but I fought to keep it from showing. I lifted my chin slightly, my hand sliding into my pocket for the pepper spray. “Look, I don’t know who you are, but I’m not interested.” I gripped the canister. “Leave me alone.”
I walked away, fighting the urge to look back. I didn’t need to look, I reminded myself. If I paid attention, I could hear if he was following.
Suddenly he was right in front of me again, his broad shoulders blocking the flashing lights of the casinos, leaving me in shadow. I didn’t hear a thing. Shit.
“We need to talk, Little One.” He wasn’t smiling anymore and a lock of his black hair fell across his forehead.
My brow furrowed. Who the hell was this guy? “I don’t need to talk to you.”
I withdrew the pepper spray just as he grabbed me around the waist. A spray of the canister went off, hitting him in the face. He grunted, clamping his other hand over my mouth as he lifted me up and rushed into a darkened alleyway lined with parked cars. In the faint light, I still caught a glimpse of a lion tattoo on the inside of his wrist. The same tattoo as the leader of the team that came for me during the new moon. Thank God for night vision.
My self-defense training kicked in. I threw my head back, cracking against his hard enough that I saw stars, but he still didn’t loosen his grip. Adrenaline spiked my blood stream. I kicked my legs back hard, connecting with him a couple times, but the most he uttered was a grunt. He stopped behind a big silver Hummer and growled against my ear.
“I know what you are.” My struggling wasn’t loosening his grip, but it was apparently pissing him off. “I could snap your neck before you could scream. Understand?”
I nodded, and he slowly slid his hand down from my mouth. His fingers rested around my neck. I was sure he could feel my racing pulse.
“The Organization sent me to find you and bring you back. You have been difficult to track.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” The Organization? How could I go
“We are the same, Little One.”
“You’ve got the wrong girl.”
He squeezed my throat, trapping a sob as he growled. “Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not lying,” I gasped. “I’m a writer.”
He let go of me with a hard shove, and I hit the pavement like a rag doll, sucking in air while he paced around me.
Without making a sound.
Something in my brain clicked. The scent. The same scent that had lingered around Gabe when we found him. This guy was a jaguar. That’s why he could move silently and my senses were on full alert. The animal in me knew I was in danger—something wasn’t right about this guy. He knelt down beside me, lifting my chin to meet his eyes. His slick smile was back in place, like a cat that just ate a canary for lack of better description.
“You are a beauty, Little One. Why has no one claimed you?”
I shook my head, shifting onto my knees in hopes maybe I could spring up to outrun him. “I’m no one’s ‘Little One.’”
He laughed and took my hand, pulling me up onto my feet. “You are a treasure to our kind. You must come with me.”
“I’m not going anywhere with you.” I rammed my knee into his groin with all the force I could muster, and when he folded over, I followed it up with an uppercut to his jaw that knocked him on his ass.
I didn’t waste any time admiring my fighting skills. Instead I spun around and ran toward the well-lit, highly populated streets. Ducking into a Starbucks, I found a table in the back corner and collected myself. I needed to get back to my hotel and get the hell out of dodge, but I also didn’t want to chance the jaguar might follow me and find out where I was staying.
The door opened, and my heart sank. The tall man walked directly to my table and pulled up a chair. The corner of his mouth was starting to swell, his eyes were red from the pepper spray, and a little blood stained the side of his nose from my head butt, but it didn’t stop him from giving me that sick predator’s smile.
In the light I could see his eyes were bright green, or maybe they just looked brighter because his olive- colored skin was dark. Either way, it gave his stare an intensity that could have been magnetic if he hadn’t just tried to abduct me. Under other circumstances he might’ve been attractive, like a younger Jimmy Smits.
“Every rose has its thorn, Little One.” He rubbed his bruised jaw. “I am impressed. But you can’t hide from me. Your scent is too strong.”
“Goes both ways, buddy.”
He chuckled. “You didn’t catch my scent at the lake.”
My face paled and I swallowed the swell of emotion. “I thought I recognized your scent.
“So he is dead? Good. One less filthy wolf in the world.”
I slapped him. Hard.
All eyes in the coffee shop turned to look at us. The manager came around in front of the counter. “Is this man bothering you?”
The jaguar man never lifted his gaze from mine, ignoring the Starbucks manager as he snatched my hand and brought it to his lips. “Some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to endless night,” he whispered. “The night is ours, Little One. I will find you again. Stay away from the wolves.”
Without another word, he rose and walked out of the Starbucks.
I jumped when my cell phone rang.
