Dani Harper - First Bite

“You don’t get it.”

“I get it just fine. I get that you’re still thinking about it, too, and that’s why you were so gung ho about leaving the damn hospital.”

She said nothing, just glared at him, and he knew he was right on the money. He glared back and pointed a finger at her to underscore his words. “Don’t you try anything. I mean it. You give me the slightest reason to think you’re going to do something stupid and I’ll damn well tie you up.”

“Oh yeah? Until when, exactly? You can’t keep me leashed forever.”

“ Until you have a chance to experience what being a Changeling really means.”

She rolled her eyes at that. “Going through screaming hell while an animal takes over my body? Oh, goody. And then afterward, maybe I can go practice my new skills by tearing the throats out of some homeless people.”

“Jesus, it’s not like that. A first Change can be pretty rough on you physically, of course. But this crazy notion about being a natural-born killer is just plain wrong.” Guilt immediately punched him in the gut. He couldn’t lie to her. “What I mean is, you’ll have the power and the strength to kill humans, but you’ll learn control, so you won’t. You’ll still be you, and frankly, you don’t look like the homicidal type to me.” Unless looks could kill…

“You’re so full of shit. Or else you just don’t get it. Once Meredith gets hold of someone, they’re not themselves anymore. And her werewolves kill for her.”

“That can’t be—”

“ I saw them. I watched them murder people. And I couldn’t do a thing about it.”

She’d pass any lie-detector test, he decided. She believed she was telling the truth, but he couldn’t begin to fathom where she had gotten the strange ideas. Changelings had strict laws, and no wolf was permitted to run around killing people. Usually… He tried another approach. “Look, I don’t know anything about Meredith’s pack dynamics. What I do know is that once you learn to have control, you can have a great life.”

Her face changed suddenly. “I had a great life,” she said quietly, her anger displaced by enormous sadness. “At least, I had one planned.” A tear caught on her lashes, and she rubbed it roughly away with the heel of her good hand.

Travis’s heart clenched unexpectedly, and he lowered himself into a chair. “You still do,” he said gruffly. “Nothing’s different. You’re not going to wake up tomorrow and be a different person. You’ll just have a—I don’t know how the hell to say it. It’s like you’ll have an extra dimension to you. You’ll be more .”

“What I’ll be is useful . To Meredith.” She sniffed and wiped her nose fiercely on her sleeve. “I can’t Change, don’t you get that? You’ve got to let me go.”

“Christ.” He rubbed his palm over his face. “I’m getting tired of this argument. Last time: you are going to turn into a wolf, and you need to lie low till it’s over. Case closed. So no, you’re not going anywhere unless it’s with me.” He rose and pulled a large jackknife from his back pocket. “We need to take those casts off.”

“What the hell?” Neva lurched backward until her back was flat against the headboard, clutching the blankets to her with one hand. “You’re not touching these!”

“If we don’t take the casts off now, it’s just going to make it harder for you when you turn. Think about it—a wolf’s leg doesn’t bend the same way a human’s does. Besides, I doubt that you still need them.”

“Right, like I had them put on as a fashion statement.”

“You walked three city blocks under your own steam, less than three days after a fall that would have been fatal to anyone else. You know full well your recovery’s been faster than normal,” Travis said. “I’ll bet the doctors in the ER were amazed at how clean the breaks were and how aligned the bones were. That’s why you have light fiberglass casts instead of heavy plaster, and I’ll bet money there’s no pins or screws either. In fact, by now your bones are probably knitted. You can thank the wolf for that.”

“I’m not thanking it for a damn thing.”

“Regardless, the Change will complete the healing.”

“I’m not making the Change.”

He rolled his eyes at that. “Whether you want it to or not, it’s happening.”

“I could kill somebody.”

“Unlikely. But I’ll make you a deal. If I promise to keep you from doing anything homicidal, will you promise to stay alive long enough to learn control?”

“I’m not promising anything.”

He shrugged and took a step toward her.

“You touch my casts and I’ll start screaming.”

“No, you won’t, because you don’t want to attract attention.”

“Yes, I do, and I’ll attract a lot of attention if you come near me.”

“You’re a real pain in the ass, you know that? Have it your way, then, see how that works out for you.” It was actually the tightness in her face that had stopped him—it was obvious that she was in pain. He folded the knife away and headed for the door. “Get some rest. I’ll get us some chow and see what I can do about finding you some meds.” He didn’t bother mentioning that pharmaceuticals didn’t work on Changelings and that she was probably too far gone for them to be of any use to her.

The heavy door clunked shut behind him, and Neva blew out a breath. Her bruised and battered body was throbbing in a dozen places, and she wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week—but she didn’t have the luxury of time. There was no telling how long Travis would be gone, and she didn’t plan to be here when he got back.

She eased out of bed, her body shrieking silently in protest. Everything hurt, but she still wished she had some regular clothes she could at least try to get into. Travis hadn’t brought in any luggage. He didn’t appear to own much except whatever was in the saddlebags of his motorcycle, so she couldn’t steal anything of his—well, except for the too-big coat. She slid on the stupid fabric slippers, then tried to adjust the pajamas and bathrobe that had twisted around her. It was frustrating with only one hand to work with, and for a moment she wondered if Travis had been right about not needing the casts anymore…She put it out of her mind at once. He was a werewolf, and he couldn’t possibly be right about anything.

Neva struggled into the heavy leather duster and cautiously opened the door. Signs pointed to the elevators, the lobby, the bar, and the restaurant. The powerful smells of food made her stomach clench as if she hadn’t eaten in days. She wasn’t going to succumb, though. She had a mission. She shuffled as quickly as she could down the hallway in the direction of the back exit.

The stairs were pure hell. The curtains had been drawn in the motel room, and somehow Neva had missed the fact that they were three floors up. Leaning heavily on the railing, she finally came up with a strange lurch-step-slide-and-repeat that got her to the ground floor in one piece but with much of her energy spent. She stepped outside and sank to the concrete step as dizziness and pain overwhelmed her. It was fairly quiet here at the back of the motel. A dog barked in the distance, and the traffic sounds were muffled. She took several deep breaths of the cool air until the dizziness faded and her vision cleared. The sky was awash with deepening pinks and purples, and she gazed at the twilight colors with pleasure—until she realized that the moon would be making its appearance on the opposite horizon at any moment. And although a skyline of buildings blocked it from her sight, she knew that her body would be able to sense its rise. That realization sparked enough adrenaline to get her back on her feet, pain or no pain.