Jeaniene Frost - Under Her Skin

"I die, but the rest of you will follow," Gabriel hissed. "I'm only giving out the same mercy our kind has been shown. I refuse to be ashamed to hunt those who kill us."

His words had barely died away when a shot rang out. I jumped, sucking in a breath as a gory crimson hole bloomed on Gabriel's chest. His eyes went wide, then he let out two harsh, labored breaths before falling to the ground.

Somebody sobbed. Joshua's face was grim as he lowered the smoking rifle.

"We only hunt to eat what we need to survive. We will never be like them," he stated.

Seeing someone die from a gunshot wound was nothing like in the movies, either. No, it was horrible in ways I couldn't even begin to describe.

"Never be like whom?" I asked Daniel. My voice was dull from shock.

He didn't look away from Gabriel's twitching, bleeding form. "Humans."

I didn't stay to watch the five men run the gauntlet. I'd already seen things that would be burned on my memory, no matter how I'd try to forget them. Daniel took me back to his cabin. He made coffee in silence and handed me a cup. It tasted like it was laced with something alcoholic, which I was grateful for.

Occasionally, I'd hear shouts coming from the direction of the town. The gauntlet was a noisy business, it seemed.

"Gabriel's wife," I said after the minutes stretched. "Joshua said a member of the pack was upset because his wife had been killed. That was Gabriel, right? Did…did hunters kill his wife?"

Daniel sat across from me, resting his elbows on the table as he drank from his own cup. The lighting in the kitchen reflected off his hair, making the russet color look richer.

"Yes."

"But why hurt me?" I wondered. "I was camping, not hunting wolves!"

A sigh rumbled out of Daniel. "Gabriel wasn't being logical. Neither were the others with him. The pack has been going through a hard time since the laws were changed."

"What laws? No one even knows about werewolves; it's not like it's open season on them."

"Gray wolves were taken off the endangered species list a few months ago," Daniel said, his expression hooded. "The government did it knowing what would happen. Before the ink was dry, scores of wolves were killed. They're trying to eliminate all wolves again. What Gabriel did was wrong, but I know what drove him to it. You can't understand what it's like, having people try to wipe out your very existence."

His voice was bitter. I set my coffee cup down with a bang.

"I'm Jewish. Don't tell me I can't understand what that's like."

After a long moment, Daniel inclined his head. We sat in silence, but oddly, it wasn't tense silence. It was as if we'd come to an unspoken truce.

"So," I said at last, mythology and reality competing in my mind. "Gabriel's wife was shot while in wolf form. How would the hunters know to use silver bullets? Maybe you've been found out after all."

A bleak smile cracked his face.

"The bullets don't have to be silver. No, Marlee, we can be killed in a lot of normal ways. But if the wound isn't mortal, and if it's not exposed to silver, we can usually heal it."

There was noise from the town again. Something like a cheer. Daniel nodded in its direction. "They must be finished."

What a strange, harsh society this was. Gauntlets. Executions. Shapeshifting. And me, stuck right in the middle of it.

"You know that soon, my family will start a search for me," I said. "My parents will notice when I don't come back from vacation, not to mention that my employers will wonder what happened when I don't show up in the next few days."

He shook his head. "What were you thinking, hiking alone?"

His tone was so scolding that I stiffened. "I didn't start out alone. My friends came with me, but then Brandy twisted her ankle so she and Tom had to leave. I was going to leave, too, but…"

I stopped. Finishing that sentence would be too revealing. But I was sick of putting my dreams on hold, waiting for the perfect situation.

I'd put off so many things thinking I had to have my life set up just perfectly first. It's why I stayed at my job as a paralegal instead of continuing my education to be a lawyer (I wanted to decide on the perfect branch of law to practice before making that leap). It's why I'd waited so long to take this camping trip (I wanted to

pay my car off before splurging on a vacation). It's also why I hadn't moved to Manhattan with Paul when he'd asked me. No, I'd wanted to be further along in my career before taking my relationship with him to the next level.

Staring at Brandy's twisted ankle that day, thinking that again I was going to have to put my plans on hold, had been the last straw. I'd decided to hell with waiting. Even if I was doing it alone, I was hiking through Yellowstone like I'd planned.

And look where that decision got me.

"You wouldn't understand," was all I said.

His gaze was steady. "I thought we'd just established that we're both capable of understanding a lot more than the other realizes."

I let out an impatient sigh. "All right, then how's this? I don't want to tell you. I don't know why I'm even talking to you. You're my kidnapper."

"Not really." Softly, but the words still resonated. "You're part of the pack now. And as enforcer, I keep the pack safe. Even if it's from themselves."

This wasn't a conversation I wanted to explore. I yawned, hoping he'd take the hint.

He did. Daniel pushed his chair back and stretched. "Are you going to give me trouble if I take a shower?"

I eyed him warily. "I won't throw a radio in with you, if that's what you're talking about."

He grinned. "Good to know, but I meant, can I trust you not to run away while I'm in the shower? I don't want to have to tie you to a chair, but I also don't feel like chasing after you with soap in my eyes."

I looked away from his smile, which was charming, sexy, and dangerous all at the same time. It wasn't the dangerous part that unnerved me; it was the other things.

"I'll stay put." But only because you'd hear me if I didn't.

Daniel went in the bathroom and I sat on the bed, debating whether to climb under the covers, since the room was chilly. Finally I decided to wait. I'd shower once Daniel was done, then I'd borrow one of his shirts to sleep in again. At least they were long enough that modesty wasn't an issue.

I cast one longing look at the window and the freedom that lay beyond it, but then sighed. Daniel would chase after me, stark naked and soapy, then he'd probably tie me to a chair after all. The thought of sleeping sitting up while duct-taped didn't appeal to me. No, I'd wait for another chance to escape. One had to come up.

After about ten minutes, Daniel appeared in the door frame. His hair looked darker wet, and drops of water still beaded his skin. All he had on was a towel slung low on his hips, the white color emphasizing his tan. He ran a hand through his hair, flinging more droplets away. With that simple, muscle-rippling gesture, he made me forget everything for a moment and just stare.

No wonder he isn't human. No normal person could be this sculpted and gorgeous.

It occurred to me that I was still staring even though several seconds had ticked away. Look away, stupid! flashed through my mind. So I did, dragging my gaze up his chest to meet his face.

He wasn't smiling. He wasn't scowling. No, he was just staring at me with such an open hunger that a painful clench grabbed me below the waist. All at once, I wasn't chilled. I was warm, bordering on sweating.

This is wrong. All wrong. Don't you dare. You need to snap out of this right now .

"Stockholm syndrome," I whispered. It could only be that. Who in their right mind got turned on by their kidnapper, no matter what he looked like?