Ash stopped, his face showing every inch of worry inside him. “Look, sorry, but you know what I mean. Come on, let’s just get started.”
Shade would never have allowed him to speak to him in such a manner if there were anyone else around. Luckily there wasn’t so he held out a hand. “Throw me one of those discs. Let’s start by date, oldest first and we’ll work our way forward.”
“Certainly, master.” Ash bowed his head in mock subservience before flicking through the multiple discs. “Hell, there’s a lot here, Shade.”
“The Pack is old with centuries worth of history so it’s gonna take us a while to go through things.” Shade hoped he could sit still long enough to do what needed to be done.
“Right, here you go. You take this one and I’ll take the next.” Ash tossed Shade a disc. “So, what are we looking for exactly?”
Shade slid his disc in, waiting for it to load as he pondered his Beta’s question. “Hmm, I guess we can start by looking for anything that mentions a Wolf with an insatiable lust for food? A hunger that just won’t be satisfied, because that sure as hell is what’s going on with me.”
“Okay, fine, let’s start with that and see what we can find.”
Discs loaded, they settled down to start the search that might just be Shade’s last hope of fixing whatever the heck was wrong with him and his beast.
* * *
Marissa shrugged her backpack over her shoulder again, leaving the roadside café she’d stopped at for some much needed caffeine. Her resolve not weakened at her choice to run from her father and her Pack. No. Not when the sick so-and-so was trying to get her to “mate” with their ageing Alpha just to produce the son he so desperately wanted.
Wanted. Not needed. The old leech had a mate, and children, three girls and that just didn’t suit the misogynistic fuck who ruled the Pack like males were the be all and end all of all things great and powerful. Not one She-Wolf held a position of power within the Pack, and it had been like that from the beginning. Trust her to be born into the one Pack that was stuck in the “Caveman Era”.
Marissa knew she was her own worst enemy where the Pack was concerned. She wasn’t quiet at voicing her outrage at the way women were treated. Hell, she’d ended up with a broken jaw when she dared to tell her father to go wash his own damn dishes one day. Another time she’d ended up in “The Cell” where the Alpha put anyone who broke his rules, or, just plain annoyed him. The filthy hut, with no windows, heating, and no freaking toilet, was a hellhole straight out of . . . she wasn’t quite sure, but it was definitely hell and not fit for anything but pulling it down or setting fire to it.
That thought had crossed her mind several times, yeah, she’d loved to have done that, and almost had . . . just before she ran. Then she thought better of her wild idea, after all, it would alert them to her being gone from the camp and she would’ve missed those precious few hours start she managed to wangle. As it was, she was three weeks out, and still running.
When money ran out she’d stop and take a job for a day or two, earn just enough for essentials that any girl needs: shampoo, toothpaste, damn deodorant. Food she could do without. Human food anyway. If there were forests nearby she could hunt and save the little she had to spend on other things, even spending some nights in a motel when she could. Admittedly prey had been rare lately, or the area had the scent of other Shifters, so it wasn’t worth the risk of trespassing. So she’d gone hungry more often of late. No matter, she was used to that feeling, and she was sure when she escaped this time she’d manage to find food. Another few days would make no difference to her wellbeing. The only thing that mattered was leaving, now.
But here she was, moving on again, with her father and goodness knew who else, right on her tail. Marissa shivered, her body reacting to the mere thought of what would happen if they got their claws into her again. This time it would be do or die, literally.
She gave the trucker who’d offered her a lift a strained smile. “Thanks for the lift.”
He was medium sized, with a bit of paunch, and a ruddy complexion. His eyes roamed over her, from her long dark hair, over her curves, and down to her toes. Shoot, the perv even licked his lips on the way back up. The stench of his lust surrounded him, cloying her sensitive nose, and she barely repressed the growl that she desperately wanted to snarl in warning to stop his eye invasion. She hoped she didn’t have to put him in his place. He would be a walkover to a strong Wolf like her, but he didn’t know that . . . yet.
“It’s all right, darling. I’m always willing to help a gal in distress.” He waved toward a large rig sitting to the side of the café. “I’m over there. We better get on our way, I’ve a schedule to keep.”
Marissa nodded, forcing herself to ignore the way he’d undressed her with his eyes. She was tired and cranky, but she needed to get more distance between those hunting her. They were close. Too damn close. She’d felt the tickle in her mind earlier, which alerted her to just how nearby her father was. If she waited
