Chapter 11

Who did this guy think he was—trying to jump her? Did he think she looked like an easy target? Just too small and hopeless to protect herself? Well she'd show him. Guys like this were scum and she was going to treat him like one. He was already straining from exertion. She could feel his heart beating against hers. His eyes were like dark pools, the most defining feature in his gaunt face. They were like liquid brown and had a familiar shape. Leigh knew those eyes—almost like they were the eyes of a close friend or neighbor—but she couldn't think of where she'd see them.

She bucked again. Unfortunately, he'd held her arms behind her back or she'd have given him a nice surprise. A furry surprise with sharp teeth and glinting eyes. Even in her wolf form, her eyes were an amazingly clear blue laced with silver. The others usually ended up with yellow or brown eyes.

Leigh didn't particularly feel like having her arms ripped from their sockets. And nothing else she'd tried seemed to be working. The guy was strong. She gave him that. But he didn't know exactly what she was or just how far she was going to kick his creepy butt. She was mad and she wanted him to know just how mad. She wanted him to feel the extent of her fury.

That thought gave her an idea.

She would have preferred his soft neck over the tough skin of his hand, but his palm was ready and available for biting. She could feel her teeth forming to sharp needle points. A whole set of them. There serum sacks above her jaw were swelling with the formula. She could feel a small bit running down her teeth in anticipation.

Leigh struck.

The guy was so clueless that it took a whole second for his eyes to widen. There wasn't any pain in his expression, only mind consuming fury…and fear. Leigh was surprised to see the fear in his eyes. Maybe he did know what she was.

For a second, as the fury consumed him, she the thought he would lash out. She thought he would hit her. But he didn't. He only tried to pull away from her as fast as possible—as if she were something repulsive. Something evil.

Oh, no. He wasn't going anywhere. Two could play at this game. She locked onto him with a steal grip, pumping the serum into his veins. Once she had a better grip on him, she pulled her teeth away from his hand and struck his neck. The serum would flow faster that way. He would feel every emotion she was feeling right now. Every bit of it.

He was struggling with her. Hard. And he wasn't just some stupid human. It was all she could do to keep hold of him as he jumped to his feet. Her own feet lifted free of the ground as she clung to his neck.

Darn, she'd forgotten to put the tranquilizer in his bloodstream. She stopped pumping the serum into his blood for a moment and flicked her tongue across his neck. Now if she could only hold onto him for another minute, his strength would sap and his movements would become slow and clumsy. She hadn't given him enough tranquilizers to even partially paralyze him, but it would be enough for her purposes.

The tranquilizers didn't even get the chance to become effective before the serum started to do its work. She could feel his mind stretching and expanding with the new capacities. She bit him again, wanting to tear his throat out. She sent a bundle of fury and abhorrence at his mind just as his telepathic capabilities came into being.

She felt the message clash in his mind and roil about. She had no time to revel in what she had done because images of his life began to flash before her eyes. She clung to him, in horror and revulsion.

His face loomed up before her, angry and gaunt—even gaunter than it was now. His cheeks were sunken as he looked down at his prey he had just kicked to the ground. It was all over in a flash of silver; then he was wiping the blood from the blade. A silver blade.

There were more killings, more towns, and more stalking down dark alleys. More surveillance missions. There was an image of a woman with long dark hair and eyes just like his, except the light was leaving her eyes. He'd been the one to find her, her throat gouged badly. His thoughts were becoming Leigh's. How could he tell them? How could he tell his family that she was dying—that something had tried to kill her? And had succeeded.

"Take care of your sister," the woman managed in a shuddering breath. His mother. It was all she could say and then she was gone.

More pictures came to Leigh's mind. The guy was killing again. Hurting others. Hurting her people. He was filled with fury and anger—no true remorse in his mind as he stabbed another 'wolf. Only a pity that they had to look so much like humans.

Then he was stalking her. He was following her down a street with a hungry look in his eyes. He was hungry for her death. For all their deaths. It wasn't a recent event. She could see her back in the image, wearing her leather jacket and her hair lifted by the breeze. What caught her eye was a small charm bracelet about her wrist. She'd lost it months ago—probably some time before Christmas. Why hadn't he tried to kill her before? Who was he?

He didn't want to kill her. The thought burst into her head like a dawning revelation. He was trying to help…

She lost hold of the fading thought.

Help? What kind of help was this? He had tried to attack her! She felt her old anger returning and felt his mind rise to defend himself. He was trying to hide her…from someone. Someone who wanted to kill her.

Another picture rose up before her. A guy with gray eyes and a cocky smile, his blond pony tail blowing in the wind. He had a longish face and blunt features. She could feel the dark-haired guy's emotions. His frustration and anger with this other guy…Grady? Yeah, that was his name. Grady.

But who was this guy? And why should she believe him? He'd killed so many of her kind. Why would he try to protect her now? What was so different from before?

As much as she wanted to believe he was lying to her, she couldn't. The truth of his images was resonating through his mind, and in turn, hers. Besides, why would he fabricate this whole story when he could just kill her? It didn't make any sense.

Who are you? Leigh posed the question. It was only fair that he tell her. He seemed to know all about her.

She could feel him pulling away mentally. It made her self-conscious all of the sudden. She suddenly realized that he must have seen as much from her as she had seen from him. She hoped he hadn't seen anything embarrassing. She'd always been a private sort of person. She had so many secrets. Most of them really weren't all that important, but it bugged her all the same.

At the same time, she couldn't help basking in the warm glow that had enveloped both their minds. It was the werewolf charm. The problem was that it had as much effect on the hunter as the hunted. She could stay here forever, just letting snippets of his thoughts flow through her head.

He pried her away from his throat suddenly and planted her on her feet. She felt the loss immediately. Their minds snapped away from each other. She let out a plaintive cry; something that she couldn't believe had exited from her throat. She tried to jump back at his neck, but he held her back.

His grip was firm and gentle, but his dark brown eyes were pools of revulsion. She couldn't understand why he would be so repulsed to look in her mind. What had he seen that was so horrible? What had she done?

"How could you?" he said in a choked voice. "How could you change me into one of you?"

Now she was mad. "One of me? Is that such a bad thing? We're not the evil creatures you thought we were, are we?" she snapped. "You saw my thoughts. You know!"

Her words didn't seem to have the desired effect on him. He bit his lip and leaned into the wall, a wave of sickness crossing his face. He closed his eyes tightly as if this would change his situation. He looked so pitiful that Leigh almost wanted to slap him.

"I'm changing," he said weakly. "I can feel it. Even now."

"Oh, stop whining," Leigh muttered. For some reason she couldn't stand to see him suffer like that. God knew he probably deserved it after all the evil he'd done. His mother's death was no excuse for all the 'wolves he'd murdered. "You're not going to turn into a 'wolf. I didn't give you enough serum. In a few days you'll be right back to normal."

Something about his crying soul struck a cord in her. She almost wanted to comfort him—to make it better. Like she could show him some good—show him that the world wasn't all bad or evil.

She suppressed the thought. The more time she spent around this guy more likely she was to end up getting killed. He may not want to kill her now, but he could always change his mind.

He was looking at her with hopeful brown eyes. He looked as though he wanted to believe her. No, he looked as though he had to believe her or the world was over. Leigh found herself getting peeved. There was nothing wrong with being a 'wolf and she defied anyone who thought so.

The guy nodded then. A short, abrupt nod. With that, he hopped over the bushes rather clumsily. He fell to his knees and cursed. Leigh hopped deftly over the bushes and tried to help him to his feet. He ignored her outstretched arms and stood slowly.

Her saliva had definitely done the trick.

She followed him as he headed toward the sidewalk at a slow and clumsy pace.

"Wait a minute," she put a hand to his shoulder to stop him. "Who are you?"

"That's funny," a new voice cut in—a voice Leigh knew well. It fit with a hawkish face she detested more than anything. She wanted to slug the detective even more than she wanted to hit this guy. Tross moved into the light of a streetlight. It was then that Leigh had noticed how dark it had gotten.

"Funny?" Leigh repeated in a snappy tone.

"Yes funny," the detective replied with a scrutinizing gaze. "I would think you'd know this young man. After all, you went on a hunting trip together."