“Exactly.”
Oh good. I just think…well, I think we look ridiculous.
Leah silently laughed at her wolf’s comment. She couldn’t agree more.
“Exactly how many brands of this stuff are there?” Leah watched as Az stared at the back of one of the blonde hair dye boxes. She rolled her eyes and continued to try to decide between chestnut brown and ash brown. The color on the models never matched her own exactly. Also, she kept going back and forth about whether or not she should buy some Kool-Aid and put the red streaks back in or give up her little flair for the dramatic altogether.
Without a sound to warn her, Leah was thrown to the ground, Az’s hard body on top of hers. He placed his mouth against her ear and kissed her cheek as he spoke telepathically in her mind.
We are surrounded on all sides by invisible wolves.
She felt her eyes get wide. They can be invisible?
Here they can. On Westervelt they can’t anymore but we’re on the mainland now.
It’s one of the reasons we avoid leaving.
How do you know they’re here?
I can smell them. It’s one of those weird things I can do because my sense of smell is even stronger than most of the pack. It’s slightly acrid and makes my nose itch.
Leah gulped as she realized they were still lying on the floor. That meant that Az thought this situation was going to be very bad. A non-shifter human walked down the aisle staring at them sideways.
Az, there are people here who have nothing to do with this. They could be hurt.
He nodded and swore quietly aloud in her ear. This has the makings of a disaster. We need to get out of this store, draw them away from the people.
She knew what he wasn’t saying. Given the first chance, he would lead them away from her as well. First things first, however, she knew he was right.
A distraction is what is called for. She bit down on her lip. Follow my lead.
Rolling out from beneath him, keeping her hand tightly on the hair dye, as she had no intention of leaving this disaster without it, she jumped up pushing on the hair dye rack behind her.
With one hard shove it fell over into the aisle behind it. Az jumped off the floor.
“Leah, what the hell are you doing?”
She spoke softly. “Getting us thrown out.” She winked at him. “Gods damn it, I wanted red hair dye. None of this is red hair dye.” She made sure to keep her voice elevated to the point of almost screeching.
Az looked left and right as the store manager came rushing over. “What exactly is going on here? What have you done?”
She shoved gently on Az’s arm. “Head for the door, Az.”
The store manager was a tall balding man who had done his best to hide that fact by combing over what little hair he had left. “Did you make this mess?”
Stomping hard on his foot, he gasped as let go of her and stepped backwards. “I certainly did and I will do more until you get me what I want and get it right now.”
Turning to Az, Leah noted that the man’s face had turned a shade of red closest resembling a tomato. She hoped he wasn’t going to have a heart attack. “Aren’t you going to do something to control your girlfriend?”
He shook his head, a glint only she could identify as moderate amusement shone in his eyes. They were in serious trouble and Az was doing his best not to laugh at her.
Really, between the two of them they were sick in the head. “No, the lady wants her hair dye. I suggest you get whatever color it is that she wants.”
“This is unbelievable. I should have known my day was going to be like this. My horoscope said it was better if I stayed in bed.” He pointed at the door as he grasped Leah’s arm again. “You two are going to have to leave.”
“Get your hands off her.” Az growled in his throat and Leah realized he wasn’t kidding.
“Alright, we’ll leave. We’re going outside.” She tried to speak slowly and clearly remembering vaguely the general sense of confusion she always had when she’d been one of Kendrick’s wolves. It was crazy that she was setting herself up to be attacked but better she and Az than anyone who was ill-prepared to deal with it.
Following Az’s fast pace, she was hustled out the door by the store manager who muttered the entire time. She couldn’t help but notice the extra shove the man gave her through the threshold as he informed them never to grace his store with their presence again. Well, she smiled, maybe that was what she pretended he said. What he’d actually informed them had been so horrendously rude—not that she could blame him—she never wanted to think about it again.
The angry store manager had just stalked away when Az grabbed her, his embrace much gentler. “Listen to me, we need help. We’re hugely outnumbered. There’s no way we’re getting out of here. I can hold them off. You have to go for help.”
He had to be kidding. “There’s no way I’m leaving you.”
His eyes turned wolf, which almost took her breath away. Az always had such good control of himself. He was clearly on the edge and about to lose it. “Listen to me, I can’t protect you and fight them.” She started to argue but he kept going. “I know you think you can help but you can’t. You’ve had no training. It would all be pure instinct for you and that would only get you so far. We’re too far for telepathy. The pack is going to be leaving in one hour for Texas. Get them.” He kissed her hard as the hairs on the back of her neck stood up. He might be able to smell them but at that moment she knew they were there too.
“If you want to help me, to save me, get help.” With a gentle shove, he moved her forward. “Run, Leah, like you’ve never done before.”
As she moved she saw in horror that in the light of day, in public, in front of all who could see he shifted into his wolf form launching in the air at an invisible wolf Seconds later, the other wolf became visible. Like two snarling monsters they fought and tore at each other. Only one of those beasts was the man she loved more than she’d ever believed possible. With tears in her eyes, she did the only thing she could do.
She ran.
Chapter Twelve
Still on the street in front of the store, Azriel thanked the gods that magic kept the humans from seeing what happened in front of them. Whatever it was that made it possible for them to be unseen was working overtime right now. It was troubling to him.
They could get away with a few minutes of not being detected. But this, this was going on way too long.
How much time had passed? Azriel had no idea. How many wolves had he taken down and how many were still waiting to attack? Those two questions he cared even less about. All he knew was he had to survive. Leah’s life depended on it.
He tore at the exposed throat of the wolf in front of him. His body ached and even with all the magic in the world if he lived through this he was going to hurt later. His wolf growled and surged forward waiting for the next attack. Sniffing the air, he looked left and right but no immediate danger presented itself. This was particularly troubling to Az. They were there…he could feel them. So what were they waiting for and where were the human authorities that should have been called to investigate the fighting wolves?
Kendrick, he realized. Kendrick must have done something to give himself an edge. No more would they be able to get away because of the presence of humans arriving. His sire had found a way to keep the humans from coming near.
His mind couldn’t help asking these questions even as his wolf growled and snarled.
This was why he was never the perfect wolf shifter. It was next to impossible to completely turn off his human side even in times of need. Only the one time when he’d run with Leah had he managed to lose himself.