My virus liked it so much I put my battered car and his nerves through their paces, weaving through the city and toeing the speed limits.
“What the hell grade of pixie dust did you give me? This should not be fun.”
I laughed at the evidence the dust was doing its job. “I used the kind that gets you into my car and makes you happy about it while I keep you for a weekend and try to get the best leasing terms possible out of you. You’ll be surprised what the CDC will give a standoffish single female lycanthrope should she ask. I asked really nicely, and I promised I’d only use the dust on single male lycanthropes. You will only take orders from me until I decide it’s time for you to go home. You’re lucky I’m not too bossy, and that I’m only going to require you to stick around until I decide it’s time for you to go home. Oh, plus you can’t contact any of your friends without my permission.”
“I should be upset over this, but I’m intrigued you would stoop to something so ruthless.” Wayne laughed, shaking his head and relaxing into the seat despite my car not being the most comfortable of vehicles. “I needed a vacation anyway, but I will not promise my pack will not overreact.”
I could deal with the possibility of his pack overreacting. If push came to shove, I’d toss the wolf to the wolves and make my getaway while they assured themselves that Wayne had come to no harm.
As far as backup plans went, it beat not having one at all, but the next time I took a kidnapping bounty, I’d make a plan.
Considering my complete lack of a plan, my career as a kidnapper was going smashingly well.
I grinned at my good fortune. “You only have yourself to blame. You came into my house, fed me one of my favorite foods, and offered me a potential way out of my dead-end job.”
“You schedule is dangerous even for a lycanthrope. Truth be told, I was already making plans to deal with your schedule if you refused to cooperate with my updated leasing agreement, which would dramatically lessen your general financial burdens.”
Ugh. Overprotective male lycanthrope syndrome. I’d been warned by the CDC that lycanthrope and male meant overprotective. They’d told me that the instant I caught a male’s attention, I’d have to deal with his inability to handle my personal struggles.
I had thought it would take more than a few minutes for Wayne’s innate tendencies to kick in. “What sort of plans were you concocting, Mr. Barnes?”
“Job opportunities tossed your way until you accepted one of them was going to be my first plan. Your status as a single female lycanthrope changes everything. I was expecting to have to keep the pack from bothering you because you’re a single woman who isn’t afraid of lycanthropes. Once they learn you’re a single female lycanthrope? You’re going to be a rather sought-after bachelorette. Considering the circumstances of your infection, this isn’t a good thing. I’ll have to take steps.”
“You don’t have to do anything. I’ll go back to wearing my perfume as usual.”
“The instant you permit me to return home, my pack will smell you on me, and your scent screams lycanthrope female at the moment.”
“But does my scent scream lycanthrope female named Joyce?” I countered.
Wayne quieted, and while he thought about it, I headed for New Jersey, debating where I’d take my captive prize. In three days, I could get him across the country assuming I drove every waking moment. Such a plan would make it difficult to get him back home at the end of the bounty contract. Nothing in my contract said I had to return him at all. I just needed to keep him out of New York for three days.
Twenty thousand would give me plenty of time to come up with a long-term plan.
Damn. I needed to smack my virus across her furry nose before she got us both into serious trouble.
“No, whatever the hell you were wearing did a good job of making you not smell like you.”
“Wolfsbane perfume. The CDC makes it for lycanthropes who don’t want to be identified. It’s restricted. The side effects suck.”
“What are the side effects?”
“Virus spikes when you stop using them, and they can be pretty intense.”
“What does a virus spike mean for you? I’ve been a lycanthrope long enough to understand a spiking virus can mean a lot of different things, and the issues are very individualistic. I’m known to get affectionate, and I get snappy if I don’t have pack around to pay sufficient attention to me.”
I raised a brow at his admission. “Should you be confessing that to me, Wayne? Your reputation as a hard-assed lycanthrope might be damaged.”
“I’ll survive. It’s the truth, though. I become very social, I’m prone to want to roughhouse, and I need to be kept engaged, or I become snappy enough to worry my alphas.”
“Alphas? There’s more than one?”
“They’re a mated pair, and both are considered to be the pack’s alphas. Of course, Laurie defines what it means to be a bitch and rules the pack with an iron paw while her mate, James, is more of the peacekeeper type. James is going to love you, because you’re clever enough to have been under his nose for years without him being aware of you. Our pack needs clever women. Yes, we do call our women bitches, but it’s a respectful term. If you don’t like it, we’ll call you lady or whatever you want.”
“Okay. I’ll think about that.” Did I want a pack of lycanthropes calling me anything?
The resentment that had kept me secluded reared its ugly head, but I shoved it back. Yesterday, the resentment had served me well.
Today, all it would do was hold me back, and my lonely virus wanted more than our restrained existence. She wanted it all.
