Page 9 of Midnight Bond (Wolves of Midnight #5)
JAGGER
She let out another low moan, her back arching off the seat.
I tried to stay focused on the road, but her mounting pain made it nearly impossible to drive.
Even with the AC blasted, her skin was damp with sweat.
I could feel the heat pulsing off her in waves, and I could only imagine the agony she was in.
As a hybrid, my ability to shift at will had spared me from the slow, torturous transformation that regular werewolves endured every month.
Natural-born werewolves learned to cope with the pain at an early age, but humans who were infected with toxin later on in life struggled the most.
Brielle’s body had initially rejected the toxin, and the fear I’d felt watching her slowly die an excruciating death came back to haunt me now as she writhed in the seat beside me.
Regular werewolves could only shift when the moon was full.
She shouldn’t be experiencing these symptoms right now.
She couldn’t experience them. If she started to shift early, her body might fail again, overwhelmed by the shock.
She tried to roll down her window for the third time, but it was still locked. “Please, Jagger,” she whimpered. “I need fresh air.”
Ignoring the way her plea tugged at me, I firmly replied, “Fresh air will only encourage the shift more. I already told you why transitioning early can’t happen.”
“Because I’ll probably die again, blah blah. But you don’t know that for sure. Just a few minutes. Please. I can barely breathe.”
When her voice wobbled, I nearly broke. Onyx wasn’t making it any easier, restlessly pacing inside me as he sensed how close her wolf was to the surface. I counted on him to protect her while she was in wolf form, but he didn’t fully grasp how dangerous it would be if she transitioned right now.
Needing a subject change before I caved, I asked her, “When’s the last time you ate?”
She moaned again, gripping the armrest as more heat pulsed through her. “This . . . this morning.”
Alarm shot through me. This morning? No wonder she was in so much pain.
The stress, combined with hunger and close proximity to the full moon, was a cocktail she wasn’t equipped to handle.
Her body was literally in survival mode right now, and with the added component of silver exposure, it was starting to shut down.
She needed sustenance. Now. But stores were closed this time of night, and home was still two hours away.
Pulling out my phone, I searched for the nearest butcher shop. It was closed, of course, but I didn’t care about that right now.
“Hold on,” I said and stepped on the gas. The Porsche eagerly shot forward, and I spent the next several miles keeping an eye out for cops as we clocked one hundred down the freeway. The entire time, Brielle gripped the door handle and kept her eyes tightly squeezed shut.
Fifteen minutes later, I swerved into the shop’s empty parking lot and slammed on the brakes.
“Stay here,” I told Brielle and swiftly exited, making sure to close the door firmly behind me. My phone chose that moment to ring, and I bit back a curse before quickly answering it, already knowing who it was. “Brielle’s in trouble.”
Kolton immediately focused on the problem at hand. “Do you need backup?”
“No, but her wolf is trying to force the change.”
Kolton was silent for a beat before saying, “That can’t happen. It’s too early.”
“I know. I’m getting her some meat now, so hopefully that will help calm her wolf. But you’ll need to contact Darin, because I’m about to break-and-enter.”
It was moments like this that made having a pack member in the NYPD very useful.
“No problem. Anything else?”
“You’ll need to call Buck too. There’s a body at the Lacroix household. Human male.”
Kolton went silent again, probably so he could take a calming breath. It’s what made him such a good alpha, especially during moments of crisis. I strived to emulate him at all times, but that often required a control I didn’t possess. After another beat, he asked, “What happened?”
“I don’t know the full story yet,” I replied, bypassing the shop’s front entrance and heading around toward the back, “but two men in white scrubs were trying to take Brielle away. I killed one, but the other escaped. Brielle’s family was hurt pretty bad too, and that’s the odd part. It wasn’t a forced entry.”
“You think her family allowed the two men inside their home?”
“Possibly. And she was bound in cuffs when I arrived. Silver ones meant to subdue a werewolf or vampire.”
Kolton’s tone changed. “That’s serious. They might be supernatural hunters. Get back here as quickly as you can.”
“I will, boss.”
“And, Jagger?”
“Yes?”
“We need to have a talk about your actions.”
A grimace pulled at my mouth. “I know.”
“Call if you need me. Keep Brielle safe.”
Always. The word was on the tip of my tongue, but I kept it to myself.
Ending the call, I quickly scanned the building’s exterior for any cameras before reaching the back door.
With one sharp twist, I broke the lock on the handle and slipped inside.
Minutes later, I emerged with a juicy slab of steak that I’d pilfered from the back refrigerator.
I hadn’t even bothered to wrap it, knowing that Brielle would want to devour the whole thing raw the second I handed it to her.
As I rounded the building and made for the parking lot, the urge to ease Brielle’s suffering made me pick up speed. But when the Porsche came into view, I slowed, my stomach filling with dread.
The passenger side door was wide open, and Brielle was no longer inside.