Chapter Six
Coral ended up living about ten blocks away from the club. The location was fortunate, in that Kalin didn’t have to be an escort for much longer. There was also an element of misfortune in the location. The Hockey Club was located in the most anarchic part of the slums. In fact, the only reason the club was able to stay in operation was because of its seedy location. A few blocks away from her house, Coral started to get uncomfortable. She clung closer to Kalin’s side. He noticed that she was less confident in her walk. She was scared.
Kalin grabbed her by the hand and brought her against a wall. His other hand braced her head from the impact on the bricks. Coral’s eyes were wide with surprise. Kalin leaned in like he was going to kiss her on the neck.
“They’re here, aren’t they?” he whispered.
She could feel an edge in his voice. Coral was frightened. The fact that Kalin took the threat seriously only increased her concern.
“I saw one of the guys, I think from last night,” she replied. “He turned a corner just as we walked by.”
“You’re not telling me everything, and I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Kalin said.
Coral broke.
“Look, my brother, he’s kind of an addict. He disappeared a while ago and I think these people lent him some cash. Really, that’s all I know,” she confessed.
“And you said that they know where you live?” he asked.
She got flustered.
“I don’t know why this is happening,” she said.
She was crying now. Kalin kissed her.
There was nothing tentative about the kiss. He dove straight in and connected with her. His presence helped to ease her anxiety. His hands wrapped around her waist. Their bodies were pulled together. For a moment, she forgot entirely about every problem that had plagued her mind.
Then the kiss was over.
“Follow me,” he whispered. “Stay close.”
Kalin knew that they needed to find a way to end this problem. He couldn’t afford to be this woman’s bodyguard day in and out. Besides, each time he got caught up inside of this conflict he knew he put his Clan at risk. The type of person who tracked down women like Coral obviously had no moral conscience. The fact that the leader of this group had at least six men willing to do his bidding was also problematic. Hired men cost money. So did bullets and cars.
Kalin’s mind raced through the problem set that was presented.
“It costs a lot of cash to front an operation like this. If he's connected with the drug trade he's likely to be one of the kingpins of the area,” Kalin reflected.
This meant that even if there was another fight, things wouldn’t stop. The man who had issued the order to capture Coral would need to be confronted directly. Otherwise, she could be stuck without any safety. They would wait until she was alone. Then they would take her. Who knows where she would go. What she would be made to do.
Kalin had heard of women being drugged and taken outside of town. There were reports of missing women throughout the slums. Kalin knew a thing or two about the drugs in that part of town and figured that there was probably a connection between the drugs and the sex trade.
“This is getting too big,” Kalin said out loud.
His senses were on high alert. He had not gotten much more than an hour's worth of sleep on the last day. Kalin’s body was running on pure adrenaline. His hand tightened around Coral’s hand. Fighting the urge to break out, he continued toward her house.
He brought her close once more and placed an open hand on her ass. Kalin wanted to give these people the impression that he was just a guy who got lucky. The kind of guy who was hoping to get some action when they got back to Coral’s house. If Coral was right and they were being followed, then there would likely be a group of people staking out the house.
“Follow my lead,” he whispered, kissing her neck once more.
He laughed and lifted her into the air. He spun around briefly so she would fall on his back. He pretended like she weighed a lot and that he was focused on carrying her forward. In reality, his strength was more than sufficient — he could have carried her all day. Coral was a natural. She laughed and smiled as though nothing had ever been wrong in her life.
“That’s the same type of car,” she whispered.
Her message was delivered with a kiss on the cheek. Kalin noticed the vehicle was on the other side of the road. The car's windows were tinted. Kalin knew that if he showed any interest out of the ordinary, they would probably shoot him on site. His only hope was that they valued the girl’s life enough not to risk shooting her as well. That was one of the motivations for putting her on his back.
The two strained to keep up the image of the happy couple while they approached another identical car on their side of the street. Kalin smiled and looked down at his feet. He held Coral in his arms.
“Hold on,” he whispered.
Kalin grabbed Coral’s legs with a firm grip. He hunched over slightly and began to sprint.
Coral screamed. She tried to make it sound like a laugh, but she was too startled. Terror widened her eyes. They were headed right for the car. She saw movement inside of the car, the doors began to open. When Kalin was 10 feet way, he leaped into the air head first toward the car’s windshield. In the middle of his flight, Kalin shifted.
His body swelled beneath Coral. She held onto his chest as tightly as she could. Coral was terrified and overwhelmed. His size tripled mid-flight. By the time the two landed, Coral was holding onto the back of a grizzly. Her fingers clutched his fur for dear life. Their landing had smashed the windshield through the car and damaged the hood. The car would likely never start again. A huge commotion broke out as the other nearby car witnessed the transformation.
All pretenses were gone. Shots were fired and then a call to hold off stalled the first shots.
“Not while the girl is on his back!” someone shouted.
The shots ceased. None of the bullets had hit home, though they had come dangerously close. Kalin pounced off of the car and onto the man who had escaped his initial onslaught. The man was stumbling backward over his feet, trying to escape. He failed to escape and was soon crushed under the weight of the bear.
“Take him down!” a voice commanded from the car behind them.
Coral turned around with wild eyes. She wanted to catch a glimpse of the man who had shouted those words. She wanted to know what threat was coming next. The command had come from a man in a suit. He wore dark glasses and a coat with a fur collar. Two men were advancing toward them on either side. They were stripping off their clothes and grinning with hunger. Kalin turned around to observe their approach. Then fear rose like lightning along Coral’s neck.
“Oh god…” she whispered.
The two men had removed their clothes and were now sprinting full on toward them.
“Run!” Coral cried.
Kalin had already come to the same conclusion. Soon the two of them were flying down the street, straight past her apartment. When Coral looked behind her again, her worst fears came true.
Two massive wolves were in hot pursuit.