Chapter 5

Encounters

Things had been tense ever since my wolf challenging O'reily on the Hunt. Only three days had passed and I still had to wear a sling for two cracked ribs and the healing gash on my shoulder. O'reily got away with much less, but never before had he looked at me with such resentment. Tonight, I had decided to head to the local pub to hopefully relax. But he was there. In the corner booth. I could practically feel the heat of his gaze on me, even from across the bar. Typically, the wolves of the area hung out in one bar on the outskirts of down, a beat up place tourists wouldn't pick as a safe spot to eat. But for the occasional adventurous biker, there were a couple of bouncers who—of course—could smell who was wolf and who was human. Or worse, Fae and vampire. The last two we didn't see a lot of in this area of Tennessee, though some Fae preferred the forests to the industrialized cities. There were a few in the Appalachians, but not many. Not that any of them would admit it if they were. I shook my head to clear my thoughts, and turned my back to the pseudo-Irish's gaze. The one beer I had must have really been getting to me.

There were others in the bar besides wolves, though. I could smell two of them, the only scents other than wolf and the usual scents of a bar. Coyotes. How they ended up here was anyone's guess. Mine was that they got lost trying to find Mexico and made a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Turning back to the bar, I downed what was left of my Roman coke—what I usually had after a beer—and paid the barkeep, a wolf named Chip. He ignored the fact that I had paid with a too small of bill as I stood to leave. It was late, and the recent hunt and subsequent challenge had left me exhausted and hungry. Apparently my wolf had left before even the Alpha began feeding. No wonder I was starving for something even vaguely resembling protein. But if I couldn't find any this night, it was no big deal. I could survive.

The night was unusually chill for Tennessee and I tugged my jacket tighter around my shoulders, huddled against the winter breeze. I hated the cold. The wind caught some of my hair and whipped it around my face, stinging the exposed flesh. I knew of alley up ahead that offered a shortcut across the edge of the small town to get to the road leading to my cabin. It should be right around this next corner. Yes, there it was. It was darker than I would have preferred, but my night sight is as good as any wolf's. Besides, it was the short way home, and the shorter the walk, the less energy burned, and the sooner I could get warm. I was already mid-way down the alley before I noticed something my nose had been telling me all along.

I was being followed.

I couldn't smell them very well--the wind in the alley was blowing into my face rather than at my back like in the street—so I couldn't tell if they were wolf or not, just that they were at least part human. I listened to their footsteps, getting no details from that besides they had a very heavy footfall. Shrugging it off, I merely quickened my pace out of shear nervousness. My wolf growled at me from within. It took a lot of will power to suppress the start that sound gave me. My wolf should have been sated by the moon. Normally, I wouldn't be feeling her presence again for another week if not longer! Just about the time I realized that was about the same time I felt a hand spin me around and slam me against the brick wall of the alley. I cried out, startled and frightened by the sudden pain of the hand forcing my shoulder into the brick. Getting over the shock quickly thanks to my wolf's awareness, I was able to look up, to see my attacker's face.

Shit.

O'reily.

Double shit.

"Thought ya would get away that easy, did ye, lass?" O'reily asked, smelling very much of alcohol, and his surprising Irish accent thick. He didn't look Irish at all… But that fact was just a bit pushed to the back of my mind at the present time, pinned to a wall as I was by the one person I would never trust with anyone's life. "Thought that just because Alex kept me from killin' you, you'd be safe." This time he sneered, punctuating his point by quickly jolting the shoulder he gripped. I managed to suppress that cry of pain, but not the pained expression on my face. I wish he couldn't feel my shaking. By his grin, I knew he could. And by his eyes…his wolf was close.

"No….no, O'reily. Stop…" I protested uselessly. I couldn't just stand there shaking, unable to break the lock he had on my eyes. My wolf was growling inside, wanting to be let out. With O'reily's control so poor, if he Changed, I would too. I could feel her near, her feral nature tingeing my eyes a slight gold. But in me, the wolf was not frightening while my body shook like a leaf, especially not to one such as O'reily. My fear only made him enjoy this more. I could smell his arousal. It nearly made me gag, and had my throat not been clenched in fear, I might have.

"Of course ye didn't," he said then, condescending. He bent his neck, his face very close to mine. Only then was I able to break my gaze, looking to the side, hiding my face. It exposed a very memorable scar on my neck and the still-fresh scar of a more recent encounter. I could hear him chuckle, could feel his breath hot against my neck. He moved his other hand and set it on the wall by my head, effectively blocking any escape I could possibly make. He touched my neck, his nose and cheek resting against the soft skin there, almost as if I were comforting him. But this was far from comfort. In some perverse action—or rare moment of weakness, I wasn't sure which—O'reily kissed the skin of my scar, his lips gentler than I thought they would be. I drew my shoulder away instinctively, trying to duck under his arm and run. But he caught hold of my arm, raising his head to stare at me with bright golden eyes.

"You are mine."

Those three words were the scariest things I had ever heard.

With a growl I swore was more his wolf than human, he pinned me back against the wall, my wrists trapped by his big hands. I cried out in surprise and fear, head snapping back against the brick. I stood dazed for a moment, unable to comprehend what was happening until it was too late. I felt cold, the breeze sharp on my exposed flesh and the shock of O'reily's hands holding my wrists and trying to rip off my shirt at the same time. I struggled, kicking my knees towards his stomach, hoping to hit something vital, but my movements only enraged him more. He threw me to the ground and I landed in a puddle of melted ice, rising to my knees in the few moments before he was on me again, his booted foot striking at my stomach. My sling only made me an easier target.

"You humiliated me!" I heard him scream at me. But it had not been me who challenged him. That was my wolf's fault. She growled, wanting to come out and rip him limb from limb. She couldn't stand this twice in a row. And really, she was the only reason I was still trying to fight. O'reily aimed another kick at my stomach, the after effects forcing me to instinctively roll away. I crawled to my hands and knees, panting for air and managing to cough up blood. I tried to scramble up, the opening of the alley my escape yet I knew I wouldn't make it. Instead of a kick, I feel him kneel behind me, and—again—before I realized what was happening, he was straddling me in the alley way, once again pinning my arm above my head with his one hand. I can smell his arousal and his wolf. "And Alex isn't here to save you again," he growled as his hand reached down to unfasten my jeans. My wolf roared to the surface.

With a speed that surprised even me, my wolf took control before I was fully changed, lashing out at O'reily's face with hands half-formed into claws and slowly shortening to paws, even as my jaw elongated, grew teeth and canines. It was painful, yes, but well worth the startled look on O'reily's face. A submissive wolf should not have been able to Change while a more dominant remained human. But I was stressed, and stress and exhaustion tended to make everyone's control weaker. And I'd had two drinks. But so had he. Even as I finished my change and the wolf took over, I watched as he neared the end of his Change.

We stood there then, facing one another down in the darkened alleyway, my wolf growling low at him as he picked himself up from the ground, fur already damp from the wet ground. Just as mine was. As he stood, my wolf took complete control, protecting me within the other half of myself. The russet wolf glared at her competition, daring him to make the first move. Her golden eyes were fierce with determination even though her body was weak with malnourishment. She had done this before and lost. She could not afford to a second time. Not in an alley such as this, along and stranded. She would surely die. She could not allow this wolf to beat her again.

O'reily growled fiercely, trying to scare her into submission, but she stayed firm in her stance, her tail held high and her head low, hackles raised dangerously. She took a step forward and barked, displaying her canines and gums in a threat. He returned her challenge with a gnash of teeth, his claws scrabbling against the cracked and patched pavement. How long they stood staring, sizing each other up for the second time in as many weeks, she didn't know. But when he attacked, she moved with an agility he could not possibly match.

His lunge went wide as she leapt to the right and out of harm's immediate way. He was quick to recover, quicker than she gave him credit for and she could not take advantage of his moment of weakness. He was on her soon enough, the alcohol in his system dictating his movements more than instinct. But then again, her instincts were a little blurred as well. Perhaps that was why she attacked him, lunged at his throat with her jaws spread wide. His instincts weren't blurred enough to simply stand and let her attack hit. No. He jumped quickly to the side and kicked her in the ribs, knocking her into a steel dumpster. She lay stunned for a few moments before shaking it off, only to find O'reily watching her, grinning as he waited. It rankled that he was playing with her. She lunged again, goaded by his laughing growls. Again, she paid the price of her poor judgment. Pushing herself from the ground, she found O'reily standing with his head held high above her, chest expanded and tail held high. He wanted her to submit.

She raised her head.

And was promptly knocked over.

The adrenaline of the fight was wearing off already, taken over by the exhaustion of the past week without proper food. She tried to stand again, her legs shaking with the effort, the scar on her shoulder reopened and bleeding in addition to many new wounds. She heard O'reily's laughter right before being kicked to the other side of the alley. She tried to stand, to show one last defiance, but her legs would not support her weight. She didn't' need O'reily to knock her down again. She didn't have the strength to stand, not after lack of food, another challenge, and the tax of the Change. Her eyes were closed as O'reily walked over to her. All she felt was a quick slice on her neck, and he was gone.

How long she lay there, she didn't know. Just that sometime during it, the wolf had relinquished control and I lay curled in the alley, too tired to even shiver despite my nakedness. Something warm was on my neck, wet, but my arms were too tired to reach up and see what it was. But the smell was distinctive. My own blood. There was a small blessing in it though. I was too numb to feel the throbbing pain the gash left me with. Normally, it wouldn't have been life-threatening. But left bare on the cold concrete in a dark alley in the middle of winter, I knew that if I gave in to the darkness, I would not wake up.

But the darkness was warm, comforting. I could feel it settle around me as my mind slipped from my control. The vision of the alley blurred before me. I heard something nearby, but was too deep to struggle. The darkness settled its warmth around me at last.