Chapter Two: A Man Walks Into a Bar

The panic should have been taking hold by now, but it wasn't. I had cleaned myself up and the baby, which I discovered to my joy to be a little girl, and with both of us in clean clothes, she was wrapped in an old shirt of mine, we were seated in my living room.

"What am I going to call you?" I asked her, playing with her toes as she giggled up at me without making a sound. "I can't call you Lucky Duck, but oh I want to." I smiled down at her and she smiled back. "You remind me of my mother. So quiet and understanding, never making a fuss. Should I name you after her?" She made a cooing shape with her mouth but no sound came out, but I still considered it acceptance to name her after my long deceased mother. Another rush of pain overcame me as I battled to shove my feelings back where they belonged.

"Welcome, Flick." I lowered my lips to her soft head and kissed her gently.

With my lips pressed to her head, my thoughts began to clear. There were a few things I was sure of. One, I was going to keep this beautiful girl safe if it was the last thing I did. Two, something with a hell of a lot of magic had entered that house as I fled – which meant there was a good chance I was all alone and about to face something dangerous. Which led me to number three. I was way over my head with this all. I had a baby, a failed assignment, and no pack.

Rolling my shoulders to attempt to release some of the built up tension, I smiled down at Flick. "We need to pack and…" I bit out a groan as I realized what I needed to do. I didn't like it, but there was nothing else to do. We needed to head north – north to the strongest wolf in America, if not the world, and beg for mercy. I had just killed an entire family, kidnapped their child, and was alone in a world that looked down on women acting alone. Sometimes, the conclusion came over me, I was too dominant for my own good. Without a pack, I didn't have anyone I was forced to listen to. I did what I pleased, and unfortunately I was the only one to pay the price. With the Marrok at my back, I could (in theory) survive this latest endeavor and also save Flick.

Moving quickly, packed what few belongings I had and needed. I really only had my clothes, shoes, two paperback novels (one I was halfway through and the other was the next in the series), and a fading scrapbook. I traveled light and traveled often in my line of work, and when time was of the essence, I could pack in twenty minutes.

With all of my belongings in a single suitcase, I gathered Flick close to my body and headed towards my car. I figured I would make a quick stop at the local Walmart to pick up supplies, gather up my money from the three locations I had quick cash stashed, and then be on our merry way. I would start north and pray for a miracle.

The shopping trip was easy, if not interesting. I would have guessed people would comment about a woman carrying a child (with no diaper and only an adult shirt) into a store, but I guessed wrong. The sleepy looking teenager who had the wonderful fortune of pulling the graveyard shift didn't even bat an eyelash as I plunked down the baby carrier, clothes, diapers, wipes, food, formula, a teddy bear, and a blanket. He rung up my purchases and wished me a sleepy good day as I left the store. From the experience alone, I came to realize why so many kidnapping cases took so long to be discovered. I was a complete mess and the teenager hadn't even questioned my being.

The gathering of the money was a bit harder. The first stash of money was in the floorboards of an old abandoned church. It was an easy in and out job, but did require more physical energy than I usually liked to expend. The second stash was in the back room of the little deli on Main Avenue, to which I conveniently had the key to. The final location was the bane of my existence, but also my largest stash.

If anyone thought Racks Cubed was a seedy place to drink, compared to the Full Moon, it was a palace. The Full Moon catered to a more rugged crowd, and had the upside of being open twenty-four seven. The building was in dire need of a paint job and the inside looked a bit like hell warmed over with a dash of 'kill me now' thrown in. Like I said, Racks Cubed was a freaking wonder in comparison.

I normally wouldn't bring a baby into a bar, but there were only three cars in the lot and I felt much more certain of Flick's safety with me rather than in the car. Also, I figured that it was illegal to leave a baby (even a kidnapped one) in a car unattended. So together Flick and I braved the Moon and entered the side door.

If despair could be tasted, which it could if you knew what you were looking for, the Full Moon was saturated in the scent. Two guys were seated at the bar, as far apart as they could be from one another, and another man was lazily throwing darts in the back corner. Each and every dart struck smoothly home in the bull's-eye, leading me to think that he wasn't playing for points.

TJ, the bartender, spotted me as I walked around one of the tables and gave me a tiny nod. We had a deal worked out: He kept my money safe, I didn't kill a certain few of his clientele. So far it had worked wonders.

Flick and I slipped through the partition of the bar and into the tiny office behind it. I shut and locked the door, set Flick on the desk, and began working the lock of the safe. Three to the left, seven to the right, twelve to the left, pause three seconds, nine to the left, and finish off with lucky number thirteen to the right. The lock snicked open and I gathered up the cash. There was a few thousand, if I remembered right, and I was determined to keep it safe. So I did what any insane person would do. I hid the money, all of it, under the lining of Flick's carrier. She wiggled, making no noise, and settled back down into a more comfortable position in the carrier, clutching her new teddy.

I was about to open up the door to go back into the bar, when I smelled him. The atmosphere in the bar had changed, and I knew I was screwed. While I had planned to go north to beg for mercy from the Marrok, I never figured the Marrok would be coming south to find me. By going there I could have possibly pleaded my case before the Marrok killed me, but I knew Flick would have been safe. With the Marrok's man here, we were both dead. My luck was not holding up tonight.

Now how did I know it was a man of the Marrok? Well I wasn't one hundred percent positive, but I could smell a dominant male when one came into contact with me. They all had a certain scent to them – power and pain of others. At least that was what the smelled like to me. Another thing I had going for me was the fact that I was quite possibly the most dominant female in the werewolf community, which meant that as a lone wolf, there were only about a dozen males who could control me. I could name and identify all of the Alphas and had the experience of meeting the Marrok and his two sons. The man who had walked into the bar was dominant to the nth degree and wasn't anyone I knew – at least not personally. I had heard rumors that the Marrok had acquired a new enforcer, someone from the old countries, and I had a feeling I was about to meet him.

As wonderful as the bar was, the office was a shitty place to be stuck. There was only one door. And on the other side of that door was a very big, bad wolf. I grabbed Flick's carrier and gently took her out before setting it beneath the desk. Screw the carrier and save the baby – those were my thoughts. They stayed with me as I heard TJ mumble something and the sound of silently heavy footsteps close in on the door. The handle rattled and then was torn completely off.

For the second time in one night, I let my wolf take over. I could count on one hand how many times I had let my wolf completely take over in the past dozen years, and I would have still had fingers to spare.

The door swung open, the man stepped in, and I kept my eyes trained to the ground as my body curled itself into a tiny ball on my knees around Flick. I shudder ran through me as I felt the man's power and gaze, taking in me and the child I held.

"You're a hard wolf to find," he finally said after a few tense moments on my part.

I didn't say anything and kept my head down.

"Who's child?"

The words were uttered as a command to answer, and for the first time since I had lost my mate, I felt the compulsion to answer. "She's the child of some people I met tonight."

Just because I had to answer didn't mean I was going to spill my guts. I knew the man would be able to smell lies and prayed that he wasn't as good with half-truths.

"Did you kill her parents?"

I couldn't get around this answer. "Yes," I murmured. "I took a job that entailed a bit more than I wanted to chew off. The child is an innocent, and I would ask that you not kill her."

"I'm not going to kill you, Huntsman."

This statement caused me to shoot my head up, but I was able to refrain from looking in his eyes. He was powerful and in comparison I was a weakling.

"Then what do you want from me?" I questioned.

I felt the shrug. "The Marrok wanted to meet you. I was just sent to pick you up and deliver you."

I nodded. "Just as well. I was planning on making the trip just now. I got into a bit of trouble, but after the Marrok hears about what happened tonight, I have a feeling I will be meeting my Maker."

"I assume you mean a higher power and not the wolf that bit you?" I glanced up again, stunned by the fact the man in front of me had just made a joke.

"Yes."

The man began walking towards me, and I rolled up and onto my feet, still keeping my head lowered. "Grab the carrier and put the child into it. If we head out now, we can be in Montana by tomorrow evening or so."

Again I nodded. "Thank you for not killing me now."

The man laughed, a sound that was both scornful and soothing. "I have a feeling I won't be the one killing you, and that you will be living a long life, Huntsman."

This time, when I looked his way, our eyes met. I was nearly knocked to my knees, my grip tightening on Flick, and I could tell by his increased heartbeat that he had been affected too. I hadn't felt this connection since my mate had died. My wolf preened under the power of the mating connection while my human side screamed silently in terror. This was the last person that I should be attracted to, but for the second time in my life (one more than I had figured), I was attracted to a powerful male and could do nothing about it.