Amber lifted a cell from her purse and began to dial a number.
"Who are you calling?" Alec asked a little gruffly.
"My parents," she responded, lifting the phone to her ear. "We can't deal with this on our own. We need the adult's help."
He shrugged cockily, as if it were a minor insult to his capabilities. "I could handle it. It's just one family."
He turned to look at Porter as he said this, a challenging glint in his eyes. Porter slumped back in his seat in exasperation. Leigh snorted derisively and Amber ignored the comment altogether. Jamie didn't know what to make of the exchange and did particularly care. Now that she was sitting on the sofa, her hands were hidden from view, she could work on the belt binding her wrists.
"Hi, mom?" Amber began. "No, we haven't found her yet. Listen, I have something to tell you…"
As Amber talked on the phone the other three set out a game of scrabble on the floor. Judging by the size the words they were creating, their heart wasn't into it. Jamie watched over Alec's shoulder as her hands twisted behind her back. Alec was proving to be an excellent knotsman. Alec studied his letters carefully, and began to place the word down on the board.
"No!" Jamie couldn't help but interrupt. "You have the word wonderful with a triple letter score on the f."
"Who asked you?" Alec responded rudely and proceeded to place down the word wonderful.
"Nice," Porter commented. He patted the seat behind him. "Since Alec doesn't seem to want you, you can sit behind me."
"Stealing from me again?" Alec responded with mock surprise.
Porter's response was anything but joking. He said quietly, "I have never stolen anything from you. I haven't even tried."
Amber snapped the phone shut then and said, "My parents are on the way. Actually, all our parents are on the way."
They all nodded in relief, including Alec.
"And," Amber continued, her eyes sliding to Jamie. "They want us to bite her."
Jamie's eyes flared wide and she jumped to her feet. Her heart had never quickened quite so fast before. She hopped to the side, keeping the wall to her back. She silently cursed as she struggled to free her hands.
"Don't touch me!" She declared. "Don't you dare!"
Leigh chuckled. "It would be the perfect punishment, wouldn't it? She might think twice before hunting werewolves—if she were one."
Alec scoffed. "And then look what we'd have on our hands. She's bad enough as a human."
"Having a problem with one werewolf?" Porter asked. "I thought you could take on her whole family; no problem."
Porter's mouth snapped shut as Alec turned a glare on him. He looked as though he regretted the jibe.
"I don't have a problem with her," Alec grated, getting to his feet in one fluid motion. He stalked toward her with a feral light in his eyes. "Human or werewolf. I'll prove it to you."
Life sucks when you've got your hands tied behind your back and an angry werewolf following you pace for pace, Jamie thought. He was trying to crowd her into a corner through intimidation. He kept moving closer and if she didn't step away he'd catch her in his steel grip.
She didn't have much to work with. She couldn't use her arms for balance so she had to rely on perfect stance. She had two fighting tools: her teeth and her feet. She decided her feet would be much more effective.
This had all happened within a split second and she had about that much time to bring her plan into effect. If she didn't act now, then it was all over for her. She tried not to think about the other 'wolves in the room. She'd worry about them when the time came.
As he crowded closer, she made a move as if to back away. Halfway through the step, she twisted to the side. Her foot lunged forward with the weight of her whole body. Her foot drove into a place where no guy likes to be kicked. And hard too.
He doubled over slightly, wincing.
Before he got the chance to get his game back, she caught him in the back of the knee and pulled forward. He sprawled on his back. His breath exploded from his lungs. She moved for him again. He wasn't out of commission yet.
She didn't get the chance to put him out of commission because suddenly Leigh and Porter were holding her with a grip like iron.
"Wait! Wait!" Amber was waving her hands wildly, trying to get everyone's attention. "Not a full bite! An information bite!"
Alec got to his feet, his movement less fluid but still formidable. His normally laughing eyes burned like hot coals. He had eyes only for her when he said. "I already hated you," he stated lividly. "Don't push me. You do one more thing and I'll make you wish you weren't born."
"Simmer down, city boy," Porter tried in a soothing voice.
"And you!" Alec snapped, pointing a finger at Porter. "You stay out of this."
Amber moved over to Alec, draping her arm about his shoulders. Slowly, his tensed form softened to lean into hers. She threaded her long tapered nails into his curly dark hair. Her blond head drooped onto his shoulder.
"Did you want to give her the information bite?" She asked.
Alec shook his head distastefully. "No. She wouldn't taste good anyway. She's too tough; all muscle and bone."
"What about you?" Porter asked Leigh.
She shook her head vigorously. "Do I look like I want to know what goes on in that sick head of hers? You never know how many 'wolves she's murdered. I'd rather watch from a distance."
A total number of zero, Jamie thought to herself numbly. She could hardly believe they were deciding who was going to bite her. And what was an information bite, anyway?
"Amber? What about you?"
Amber shook her head. "She took my sister," she said with a sick gulp. "If I see what's in her head…I don't know if I'd be able to stop myself. I'd kill her."
"I guess that leaves me," Porter said with a grimace, one of his hands still tightly entwined around her arm.
He turned to face her directly. He clamped one hand on each of her shoulders, gently but firmly. His eyes were like dark pools of blue, speckled with silver moonlight. He pushed her backward until her shoulder blades connected with the wall.
He wasn't rash like Alec. He moved slowly and surely toward his goal. He watched her every muscle, contemplating her next move. There was nothing she could do to stop him. She could delay him a little, but eventually he would win.
Jamie said one word: "Don't."
"I'm sorry," he replied, "but you don't have a choice."