N. Walters - Alexandra's Legacy

“What is it?” She’d stopped, her eyes darting up and down the street checking for danger.

“Nothing.” Now that he’d thought about it, it seemed rather stupid to say something like that to her. Better to just let it go. “The car is just up the road there,” he pointed. “The grocery store lot.” They could just see the tip of the parking lot from where they were.

“Wonderful.” She heaved a sigh and resumed walking. He looked closely at her and noticed the strain on her face and the perspiration on her forehead. She was tired and upset, but hadn’t complained once.

Reaching out, he placed his hand on her arm. “I’ve got to scout out the area first. Just to make sure it’s safe.” He glanced around and noticed a sheltered doorway of an abandoned building. If she stayed back in the shadows she should be fairly well hidden from view. “Here.” He guided her toward it. “Just pretend you’re waiting for someone. Keep your eyes open. If for any reason you get nervous, or think someone is watching you, just go into that diner over there.” He showed her the one he meant. “If you’re not here when I get back, I’ll come looking for you over there.”

“I want to go with you.” She put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips as she stared unflinchingly at him.

“It’s safer if I’m alone. Remember, they’ll be watching for a couple, not a lone man.” He didn’t want to tell her that she would also be a danger to him. There weren’t as many people and odors here to mask her scent and any male wolf that passed within fifteen feet would smell her. The scent of a female werewolf going into heat was not something any of them were likely to miss. Not to mention he didn’t want to have to kill anyone in front of her if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. He waited while she thought it over, knowing he’d have less trouble if she agreed than if he tried to force her to do as he wanted.

“All right,” she acceded. “It makes sense. But that doesn’t mean I have to like it,” she added.

In spite of himself, he felt the beginnings of a grin tug at the corners of his mouth. “Duly noted.”

He waited until she was safely tucked in the doorway before he loped down the side of the road. The sidewalk was cracked and uneven on either side of the pitted asphalt. Turning right, he followed the wall of the building and came out behind it. All his senses were on alert now, searching for any sight, sound or smell that might alert him to possible danger. His eyes were always moving, searching out places where someone might hide. His gaze went to the rooftops, scanning as he passed behind them.

He didn’t see anything, but his wolf was telling him different. The back of his neck itched as if someone were watching him. Joshua eased into the shadow of a large delivery truck and waited. Dusk was quickly falling over the city and he hoped to be well underway before dark.

Traveling at night was a dangerous proposition. There was less traffic on the road, making them an easier target as the werewolves all knew where they were headed. But the car had some built-in safety features and a stash of weapons. He wouldn’t risk it if the situation weren’t critical.

Joshua crouched low and scooted behind a dumpster. Again, he waited. Watched. Listened. The air was still and filled with the stench of the city—people, garbage, grease from the few restaurants along this strip of road—making it hard for him to catch the scent of any wolves.

One slow foot at a time, he shifted from cover to cover until he was almost directly across from the grocery store. He could see the dusty, dented car in the parking lot. It was nondescript, but what was under the hood was a prime piece of machinery. Looks could be deceiving, and not only in a vehicle. It was almost too quiet. Joshua didn’t trust it.

A slight movement caught his eye and he squinted to focus better. There. Across from the car was a man just sitting in his vehicle. Maybe he was just waiting for someone to come out of the wholesaler. Maybe not. Joshua kept searching.

A flash on the rooftop next to him caught his attention. If he hadn’t been looking at just that second he would have missed it. Might be nothing. Could be a rifle of some sort.

He might be paranoid, but he didn’t think so. His senses were screaming at him and he always paid attention. The wolf within him could sense more than he could in human form. It paid to listen.

Joshua glanced up at the building beside him. There was a fire escape ladder running down the side, stopping about eight feet from the ground. He hated exposing himself in that way, but he had no choice. He had to check the rooftop. Besides, going up on the roof would give him a better vantage point, allowing him to get a bird’s-eye view of the entire area.

Joshua’s boots made no noise as he crept across the gravel lot. Fatigue washed over him, but he shook it off. He’d been roaming around this city for the better part of forty-eight hours with only a couple hours sleep. He was hungry too. The sandwich he’d had for lunch had been hours ago and his metabolism was faster than a human’s. He needed a lot more calories to function properly.

Ignoring both the fatigue and the hunger, he bent his legs and jumped, grabbing the bottom rung of the ladder. The muscles in his arms flexed and strained as he hauled himself up until he could hook his foot over the metal bar. Not making a sound, he climbed to the top. He peered over the top of the ladder and froze. There on the far side of the roof, watching the road, was a man with a high-powered rifle.

The stranger put his hand to his ear, where a small earpiece rested. “What?”

Joshua closed his eyes and focused his acute sense of hearing in order to hear the voice on the other end of the wireless communication device. Thankfully, there weren’t too many extraneous sounds. If he hadn’t been this close, he never would have been able to do it.

“Any sign of them yet?”

“Nothing. You sure we’re in the right place?” The male swiped a hand across his forehead.

Joshua sniffed the breeze and froze. What was a human male doing keeping their vehicle under surveillance?

“Our informant said that one of those bastard werewolves had abducted a woman and would be bringing her here. It’s bad enough that those mutants are allowed to live. We can’t let them take our women,” the disembodied voice replied as he signed off.

Shit! Bounty hunters. And these were of the type who specialized in capturing and destroying paranormal species. Although most of the population didn’t even know that paranormal creatures existed, there were those who not only knew, but vehemently hated them. These people believed the only good paranormal creature was a dead one. As a result, bounty hunters had sprung up all over the world, each group specializing in the elimination of a particular paranormal creature. Obviously these were werewolf hunters.

The urge to launch himself over the top of the building, rush the man and break his neck burned in his gut. These hunters had been responsible for the deaths of one of his siblings and many of his friends over the years. They typically preyed on the younger of the species, many times slaughtering and skinning the newly transformed adults, wearing the fur hides as a sort of grim prize of war.

He’d killed his share of hunters over the years, especially after his younger sister had disappeared all those years ago. They’d never found her body, but he’d smelled the stench of a hunter in the area where she’d disappeared. He’d searched, like someone half-mad, for years, but never found the man who’d killed her.

That had been almost thirty-five years ago. By now the passage of time had probably taken care of the hunter, but the need for vengeance had never died within Joshua. It was part of the reason he’d taken over his father’s position in the pack when he’d been killed. The need to protect his people from harm drove him relentlessly. And it was the need to protect that made him back away from the hunter.