“I understand what you’re saying, Danny.” I clear my throat. “And I empathize with how you’re feeling, Danny, and I’d like to work with you on finding a peaceful resolution to this issue, uh, Danny.”
He scowls at me. “I know my own damn name. You don’t have to keep saying it.”
I let out an uneasy chuckle. I suppose thatwasstarting to sound a little awkward. It seems my viewing habits aren’t going to be ashelpful as I’d hoped. Though, if it were really as easy as it looks on TV then more people would probably get into hostage negotiation.
Or it could just be I’m just spectacularly bad at it.
“Fine,” I say in a flat voice as I slowly edge my way closer to him. The whole negotiation thing isn’t working, so it’s time for plan B. I’m ninety-nine percent sure he won’t shoot Raquel—not on purpose anyway—but it’s still a gamble. “How about you let her go before you regret it?”
He snorts. “How about no? You don’t have anything I want, so there’s not going to be any bargaining. Just get the fuck out.”
“How about no?” I repeat the words back to him, holding his gaze as I signal Wolfie with the hand at my side. The wolf silently rises to his feet and heads to the left, completely ignored by Danny who’s too busy bickering with me to pay attention to anything else.
Exactly as I’d hoped.
Letting my teeth lengthen into sharp points, I flash Danny a smile. “I’ve had a very bad night, so your whole macho posturing thing is getting really old, really quickly.”
His eyes dart to my mouth, then back up to meet mine and a flicker of alarm passes over his face. He saw a hint of my wolf earlier, but now I’ve let my eyes go completely lupine with no whiteshowing at all. Some of the color leaves his face, but he stands his ground. Barely.
“Last chance for this to end without bloodshed,” I say, stepping forward. Concentrating on the tips of my fingers, I let my claws grow before lifting my hand and wiggling my sharp-tipped fingers at Danny in a mocking wave to show off my new “accessories.”
Some part of Danny’s brain must finally reclassify me from prey to predator, because the gun barrel wobbles, and Danny takes a tiny, involuntary step backward, his hold on Raquel’s arm loosening. From the corner of my eye, I catch Wolfie stalking around to flank him from one side. Danny takes another step backward, his shoulder bumping into the corner of the wall where the hallway starts.
The impact jostles the hand holding the gun, and Raquel takes the opportunity to elbow Danny in the stomach. He grunts and doubles over, releasing his hold on her hair as she drops to the floor. I dart forward and grab the wrist of his gun hand, twisting and digging my claws into his skin until he releases the weapon. The pistol falls to the floor with a dull thud, and I slam Danny into the wall, my forearm pressed against his throat, as Raquel scrambles across the floor toward the front door.
Danny sputters and scrabbles at my arm, but I don’t let up even a millimeter. He’s not going to be breaking my hold. Even as an omega, I’m at least twice as strong as a simple human.
I lean closer, getting right up in his face and snapping my teeth next to his ear. “Raquel’s seen enough death tonight, and I’m not interested in adding another body to my tally—not even yours—so I’m going to release you and you’re going to let us walk out of here. Deal?”
He nods eagerly and lets his arms drop to his sides. I eyeball him for a few seconds, trying to decide how far I can trust his answer. Likely not very far, but I can’t exactly stand here all night holding him against the wall.
Slowly, I lessen the pressure on his throat, then lower my arm, my gaze still locked with his. He doesn’t move. There’s not much space to cross between here and the drops door, but I’m hesitant to turn my back on him, so I carefully back away. One step. Two. Three…
My shoulders start to relax, and I let my claws and fangs recede. Glancing over my shoulder, I gage the distance left to the front door.Almost there.
But that split second of distraction costs me.
As I turn back to Danny, he drops to his knees and grabs the gun, pointing it vaguely in my direction before pulling the trigger. Theloud bang shatters through the air in the trailer, and I instinctively drop to the ground. I’m pretty sure I’m not hit—the angle was way off—but that was too damn close for comfort.
A snarl escapes past my lips, my wolf anxious and annoyed. But my wolf isn’t the one Danny needs to be worried about.
Wolfie lunges at Danny from the side, crashing into the half-kneeling human and knocking him the rest of the way to the ground. The wolf leans down and locks his jaws around Danny’s throat, growling and shaking his head violently from side to side as blood splatters across the wall.
Danny lets out a few gurgling noises as his arms flap uselessly in a weak attempt to push Wolfie away, but the fight—if you can call it that—doesn’t last long. The human soon goes limp and his arms drop to the floor with a dull thud. Wolfie gives Danny one last shake, then releases his hold and takes a few steps back.
My gaze strays to Raquel who’s staring wide-eyed at Danny’s still form, her face white with shock. Admittedly, there’s been a lot of death tonight, but this is the first… body Raquel knew personally. No matter how poorly he treated her—and the fact that he was holding a gun to her head only a couple minutes ago—Danny was still someone she was close to, both emotionally and physically.
“Hey,” I say softly, scooting closer and resting a hand on her shoulder. “You going to be okay?”
She nods, her eyes never leaving the body. “I’m just…” She shudders. “It’s really over, isn’t it?”
Whether she means the showdown tonight or their toxic relationship in general, I’m not sure. Either way, she’s right, so I nod and gently squeeze her shoulder before turning my attention to Wolfie.
The wolf’s golden fur is once again covered in blood and his gaze is focused on the floor at his feet, shoulders hunched. There’s a visible tension in his muscles as his eyes dart up to me, then Raquel before returning to the floor.
Does he think we’re going to judge him for what he just did? That we’re going to be angry at him? Disappointed?
We didn’t need the complication of a dead human, but to hold it against Wolfie who was only trying to protect me… Raquel won’t either once she gets over the shock of it all. The world is much better place without that asshole.
