My memories of becoming infected stoked my wolf’s rage, and she wound up and punted the furry assholes out through the window.
The sound of sirens approached, and the pair darted back into the hotel room long enough to snag the corgi and the house cat, leaving their trapped companion behind. I reached into the wall, found the wolf’s scruff, and hauled him out. To make sure he didn’t escape, I smacked him a few times before sitting on him. “You are trouble, Wayne Barnes.”
He chuckled, and rather than remove his tie and his clothes like I wanted, he restored his appearance to rights. “You are beautiful.”
“I’m covered in blood.”
“And some of it is yours.”
I pointed at the wolf I sat on. “What should I do with him?”
“Wait. Don’t worry about the blood. Your virus is developed enough she isn’t going to accept the first random male to bleed on her. It doesn’t even matter who has the parent virus at this point. She’s developed enough she won’t be swayed by anyone she doesn’t like.”
I wondered what Wayne’s virus thought about his commentary. I stepped on the wolf’s throat, careful to apply enough pressure to keep him pinned without killing him. I rose, sighing over the ruined state of my new clothes. “Not even a day old,” I complained.
Red and blue lights washed over the side of the hotel, and Rem, wearing street clothes, poked his head in through the broken window. “Everyone all right? I just thought you’d like to know this has become a mess. The FBI is on the way.”
Wayne relaxed, picked up his wine glass, and saluted the cop. “There’s infected blood all over the room, but we’re mostly fine. They landed a few bites on Joyce, but she educated them on the error of their ways. She kept one for you, but the others ran off. The brute is a corgi.”
I found it interesting Wayne didn’t seem to at all care the FBI were coming. I expected to be escorted straight to prison over my latest job despite the CDC’s approval. For some reason, the FBI got upset over kidnappings. How would I talk my way out? Would I be joining the four escaped lycanthropes and be making a run for it?
Damn it, I didn’t want to be a fugitive. I wanted to see my new home and take up residence in the nice tub.
My wolf whined in my head.
Rem stepped into the room through the broken window, careful to avoid the glass embedded in the carpeting. “I’m sorry, but what did you just say about the brute?”
“The brute is a corgi. I suspect that’s why he didn’t shift in the parking lot. He’s a corgi, and that makes him pretty distinctive.”
“A corgi lycanthrope? Did you just say he’s a corgi lycanthrope?” Rem blurted.
“Yeah. That surprised me, too.” Wayne sipped his wine and returned the glass to the coffee table. “I’m rather annoyed right now.”
Rem sighed. “You’re a single male lycanthrope, Barnes. When are you not annoyed? What’s bothering you?”
“I almost had her cuddling up with me to watch a movie when they barged in through the window.”
“Ah, yes. That’s just cause for annoyance. Nothing annoys me more than when my cuddle time with my mate is interrupted. Add in that you haven’t even finished convincing her to want you yet? Yeah, that’s rough. You’ll survive. Your virus may not agree with me, but you really will survive. You all right, Joyce?”
“I’m fine. It’s nothing a shift and a few days won’t fix.” I showed him my gouged leg along with my collection of other bites and scratches. “Why is the FBI coming?”
Rem stared at Wayne, who shrugged. He reached for his wallet, pulled out a card, and showed it to me. Careful to keep the wolf pinned, I leaned closer to read it.
In addition to being a successful business owner, the card identified Wayne Barnes as a Special Agent of the FBI.
I stared, and it sank in I’d kidnapped an FBI agent.
“You’re awhat?” I asked in a whisper, struggling to catch my breath. Why had the CDC approved a bounty for an FBI agent?
What the hell had I gotten myself into?
Wayne grinned at me. “I’m a willing participant in your scheme to drag me off for a few days. You have nothing to worry about. When did they dispatch, Rem?”
“They said they’d be sending some folks over after I called in earlier today.”
Shouts outside the hotel startled me so much I jumped, and the wolf I’d held pinned scrambled to make his escape. He made it all of three steps before Rem stepped into the wolf’s way and issued a single growl.
The wolf flattened himself to the bloodstained carpet with a low whine, and Rem took a turn stepping on the idiot’s throat to keep him from running off.
