She gasped in shock, her eyes going wide. Behind her, Vic shifted uncomfortably, but he didn’t speak. If he did, he’d be the one to die. But Alyssa’s brother kept his eyes down and his hands clenched. And best of all, Vic was completely and totally human looking now. No monster in sight.
So he focused on Alyssa.
“I told you to be quiet,” he said against her ear.
He was gloriously erect now. Around her, it took nothing for him to be hard as a rock. He thought about bending her over here. He could show everyone that he possessed her. But he would be vulnerable while inside her. It was too soon for such a thing, more’s the pity. Because he wanted her now with a hunger that burned in his belly.
Meanwhile, her expression softened. It was not the look he expected. He only understood submission or challenge. But her brows lifted and her mouth eased. And then she slowly lifted her hand to touch his cheek. Her skin was cool and her touch gentle.
He reared back in shock and though she stilled, she didn’t cringe at the violence he felt churning inside him. She simply stood poised with her hand suspended in the air. And then she spoke, her voice barely audible even to him who stood a few inches away.
“Come back, Simon. Come back to who you really are.”
He inhaled, his nostrils flaring. He scented fear from everyone around him including her. Good. But from her, he also scented arousal. He saw it, too, in the rapid pulse in her throat and the flush to her cheeks. But beyond those signs, she remained steady and focused.
“Do you remember why we’re here?” she asked.
“Doesn’t matter. I own them now.” His gaze cut around the room, searching again for his target. Maybe the wounded one who’d been nearly killed by the monsters when they’d first walked in. He stalked over to the man who looked like a pale blond surfer with bloodshot eyes and shaking hands. The fight and the shift had taken everything out of him, not to mention the thigh wound, which had sealed in the change back to human but still looked like a raw jagged line.
“Who are you?” he demanded, his voice raw.
“Yours.” His voice was higher than the black man’s, but no less quick. It was the weary anger that simmered in the man’s eyes that bothered Simon.
“Why were they trying to kill you?”
“Because I’m a cop, and I was asking questions.”
Interesting. Part of him wanted to know more, but the rest was more concerned with obedience. “Who did you ask?”
“Nanook.”
Simon’s hand shot out, hard and sharp. He slapped the cop across the face and sent him reeling. He didn’t need to kill him to show power. In this, all he required was his open palm, which was more insulting than a fist.
And again, he heard only one person react. Alyssa gasped and again, she whispered his name. But this time she added a plea.
“Simon, come back to me.”
He ignored her and focused on the cop. “That’s for questioning your alpha.” But then the curious part of his mind pushed to know more. “What did you ask?”
If the cop refused to answer, he would be the one to die. But he didn’t. He pushed himself upright from where he’d caught himself on support column, and his gaze flicked to Vic. “I asked what he knew about the Detroit Flu.”
Flu?It took him a moment to even comprehend the word. But then he remembered. It was a tiny unseen enemy that destroyed from the inside. “Why?”
“Because some people who catch it turn into that.” He didn’t gesture at Vic. He pointed at the nearest of the dead monsters.
“You’re a cop, not a doctor,” he said, feeling his higher brain functions shift into analysis mode. It wasn’t an automatic change. He had to decide to do it, but once he made the choice, the questions became easier.
“I’m a cop looking for answers. Nanook said the wolves did it.”
“Wolves!” Simon snapped. Another enemy? He would destroy them.
The cop nodded. “But he blamed the wolves for everything. I wanted to know why specifically they were responsible.”
“And what did Nanook say?”
“He said I asked too many questions.”
“Cops usually do,” he said, the tone almost casual. It was not a tone he was comfortable with, but it came out anyway. Which told him clearer than anything that he was losing control of himself. His minds were splitting apart again, the human finding humor in strange ways that the animal didn’t understand.
