KNIGHT
Chapter 12
“You kill Sasha,” Moustache growled low and deadly, gripping a long, silver dagger in one hand.
Alexia stumbled back. “No, I…How did you even find me?”
And where was Deena?
Oh God, what did they do to Deena?
Moustache smiled thinly as he slowly stalked forward with the thick knife, the gunman on his heels. Alexia staggered back as she frantically looked around. The alley ended one building down by a tall, chain linked fence. These men were herding her again, cornering her. This time she had no place to run, and no one to help her.
“Here. Now,” he ordered, his free hand out, fingers curling twice.
Caught. She was caught.
Still, maybe they wouldn’t hurt her if she willingly complied. At least now she knew what they wanted her for. What other choice did she have?
Alexia started forward, then halted.
No. This was wrong. She was thinking like frightened prey again. In this scenario she was supposed to…
What? What was she supposed to do?
She tried to remember what Neil taught her, but everything emptied from her brain.
Think, Alexia, think!
Neil was inside the store, but he might hear her with his supersonic wolf hearing. That was her only chance now.
Alexia opened her mouth to scream, but with lightning speed Moustache pounced and held her against him with one arm, his other hand pressing the blade against her trachea.
She struggled against him, but his arm was like an iron band. Now she remembered what Neil said about a Lycanthrope attack, that normal human self-defense methods would never work.
“No move,” Moustache whispered into her ear. “No speak. You be dead. Understand?”
Swallowing hard, Alexia nodded.
In other words, no more good cop routine. The Talanovs had illegally trespassed into rival Pack territory to make their acquisition and planned to do it fast, efficient, and most of all secret. So this time, they didn’t mind taking her body back with them unbreathing.
Moustache murmured something. The other thug nodded and aimed the tranq gun at Alexia’s thigh, then stepped closer.
Neil peered out the store window still considering what he should do about Deena Hudson’s situation with the human boy. Not that there hadn’t been cross-species trysts in the past.
Hell, they’d been going on for millennia, no matter what he’d told Alexia about their natural laws.
Besides, she was a low zeta as Alexia reminded, and it was doubtful now that she would ever move up in the Pack ranks and responsibilities. There probably wouldn’t be any offspring from their coupling anyhow. Even if there were miraculously, the children would only be human.
Deena would need to keep the secret from her future human family. She would need to cut off ties from her wolf relatives, too. Not an easy thing for most people.
He needed to look at the girl’s profile when he got back to his office at the Lodge, find out just how much wolf she has in her. Maybe this was all moot.
In any case, he had no choice but to mention it to Rob at their next debriefing. If anyone, he would understand the girl’s situation, be compassionate towards her. She might not be able to keep her job at the Lodge and be banned from entering the community again, but all things considered, that was a small price to pay if she was really in love and wanted to marry this kid.
Yes, love always seemed to complicate things in a major way.
Yet, now he was beginning to slowly understand why. And he could only count that off to…
Neil shifted a stare at the store clerk folding sweaters a few feet away from him. The woman gave him a twitchy smile, her fingers working quickly as she nervously stacked the clothing.
Strange, she hadn’t moved an inch from that spot for the last several minutes, and the pile looked straight enough to him.
His eyes shot across the store to the closed door of the changing room. Quickly he scented the air, his mouth parting.
“Oh, hell no.”
Forgetting to keep a slow, human pace, Neil charged across the room and pounded on the closed door with his fist. “Alexia?”
Not waiting for an answer, he barged in, growling at the sight of the empty room. He grabbed the tracking device sitting on the lone chair and nearly ran into the store clerk on his way out.
“Which way?”
“I don’t—”
“Don’t lie to me, lady! Alexia’s life could be in danger. Where did she leave this place?”
The woman gasped, blinked hard at his expression, tone. “She…out the back exit. Her boyfriend wanted her to meet—”
“Boyfriend?”
God, he had a really bad feeling.
He needed to find her.
Now.
Too close. The gunman stepped just a little too close.
Perfectly close.
Alexia’s right palm shot up, slamming into his nose, his head snapping back hard. His shocked expression would have been amusing, if not for his deadly expression and snarl.
Gunman approached again, and Alexia used Moustache’s arm to brace herself as she shot both feet up and out to slam into his groin. She would have hit her mark too, if not for his super were-reflexes that helped him jump back faster.
Moustache yelled something, and Gunman now aimed at Alexia’s chest.
Now she was royally furious. This was the second time these goons tried to kidnap her, this time hurting Deena in the process.
And she wasn’t going to let them get away with it!
Instinctively, she bit down hard on Moustache’s hand. He yowled and yanked it away, cursing as he shook it out. Freed from his grip, she rounded on them both.
Drops of syrupy blood lingered on her tongue, igniting something hot, primal deep inside her. She could literally taste his surprise, his anger and even fear. It tasted sweet, addicting, and lit her up like a bonfire.
A low, guttural sound rumbled from her chest as her shoulders hunched forward, bracing to attack. Her eyes were hot, prickly orbs, her vision changing to see things in a less colorful, but in an intensely sharper focus. Enough to see the tiniest beads of sweat on both of their faces.
Best of all was the intoxicating, musky aroma of terror rolling off them. It was delicious, exhilarating, the striking match to a gasoline tank.
Moustache said something to Gunman who gaped at Alexia like she was some circus freak, something to be feared. Good. Because right now she was the deadly predator, and they had unwittingly become her very weak and stupid prey.
And she was going to make sure they knew this.
Gunman’s hand shook, vibrating harder and harder until he cursed and dropped the tranq gun. Moustache said something else, but Gunman only shook his head, edging back.
Moustache growled, then advanced on Alexia himself. Her new bright vision snapped to him, her lips curled over her barred teeth, a growl rising deep from her chest. She swore if he took just one more step, she was going straight for the jugular. No more playing. She would love to gorge on the hot blood spurting from his throat as the life seeped from his veins.
He froze, tried to move, but remained in place.
Alexia was disappointed, hoping he wouldn’t make this too easy. It wouldn’t be much fun then.
Moustache tried to pull himself forward, but couldn’t. He tried again and again. It was like his feet were encased in cement as he twisted his legs and body to no avail.
Gunman said something, and Alexia’s fiery vision snapped to him, sent an order into his puny mind. Suddenly he grabbed up a loose two-by-four in the corner and took a powerful swing at Moustache, then another and another.
Blood and spittle squirted and flew from Moustache in every direction until he finally collapsed, completely unconscious.
Gunman murmured something, then dropped the board, turning to Alexia, his fingers making the sign of the cross over his chest. For a long beat they just stared at each other. Then his eyes shifted to the tranq gun in front of him, then back up to her.
Oh goody, he was going to play Russian roulette. Let’s see who would win.
Alexia narrowed her hot stare at him again, wishing they could burn a big gaping hole right through his lousy Russian head. Didn’t matter though. She swore he was not leaving this place without her finding a way to bash his brains in.
Suddenly Gunman screamed as he threw himself headfirst against the building wall. Then he banged his forehead against the brick siding again and again, until bruised and bleeding, he reeled and collapsed to the ground.
Well, darn. She was hoping for a little more fun out of these two.
Alexia stalked towards him, the scent of his blood seeping from his body making her lick her dry, parched lips.
One taste would do nicely. Maybe two. Just enough…
Her head shot up as she heard fast, heavy footfalls running in her direction. She spun and faced the building door just as the next attacker burst from it. She growled, her eyes in flames now, her body wire-tight, braced and eager to attack.
This time she was going to have some real fun.
“Alexia, no! It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”
Liar.
Her heightened senses detected a very powerful predator. She didn’t take her hot stare off the large male with hands raised stepping cautiously towards her. Her lips curled back further as she let another warning growl rumble from her chest.
“It’s okay, Alexia. It’s just me. You’re okay now.”
His garbled human words didn’t make any sense. The raw instinct to defend herself took over, as well as the greater desire to attack him and feel the glorious taste of his rich, hot blood gushing from his gaping throat.
He cursed as he grabbed up the tranq gun. But instead of aiming it at her, he turned it around towards his own chest.
So what game was he playing? Trying to distract her by pretending to fight against his own arm that held the gun?
Damn fool. Did he think she was that stupid?
Hope he shoots himself with it. Then they would all learn never to threaten her with that thing ever again.
“Stop it, Alexia! Whatever you’re doing, stop it now! It’s just me, Neil! Wolf jerk, remember?”
Wolf jerk?
The strangely odd, but familiar reference distracted her laser focus for just a few seconds. Enough for her to take a breath, scent the air.
The brilliant smell was like a beacon.
No—more like a shining, glorious star.
Alexia knew him anywhere. Not prey. Not predator.
Mate.
The fire burning her eyes instantly cooled. Her entire body and posture relaxed in a warm, slow flood.
Seconds later, Alexia blinked hard, seeing Neil’s face coming into clearer mental focus.
Weird. Why did he just throw down a tranquilizer gun? What was he even doing with it?
Neil ran up and cupped her face in both hands. “Alexia, look at me. Calm down. You’re okay.”
She first detected the silver flecks in his eyes before the dark gray shaded all around his pupils. Then color quickly bled back into the rest of his face and the softening view of the world around her.
She blinked again, frowning. “Neil?”
“Yes, it’s me. Just breathe. Yes, that’s right.”
“What happened?”
Alexia rubbed her stinging eyes, then gaped at the Talanov thugs unmoving on the ground, laying in a pool of their own blood.
Just like Ryan.
“Did I..? Oh, God. Oh, God!”
“It’s okay,” he said, holding her against him tightly, one hand reaching for his cellphone. “Troy, it’s Duran. Get your brother and his van and meet me behind Marigold’s. Yes, I’m here in town. Bring Theo and Charlie too, if they’re around. Got a couple of trespassers that I’m going to interrogate personally back at the Ridge. They almost kidnapped one of our own.”
Deena had been working at the diner the entire time, completely unaware of everything that had happened.
Marigold’s store owner, a minor Pack member, confirmed that a young man with a heavy accent who claimed to be Alexia’s boyfriend handed her the note, then accurately described the Talanov gunman.
Alexia felt so stupid for falling for such a lame trick. But it was the full understanding of what she truly was that horrified her most.
She was a monster. The real kind that killed without conscience or mercy.
The kind that killed even those she loved most.
Alexia ran outside the store when they were questioning the clerk and vomited on the sidewalk. Neil came up from behind and held her hair back until the vicious wave subsided, going back inside and returning with bottled water to rinse her mouth.
She stood there leaning against the wall, waiting until Neil finished questioning the clerk and instructing his men. He came back outside and called to her, touched her shoulder and said something else, but Alexia didn’t hear, didn’t respond. Her mind was too busy trying to make sense of everything, to shut the worst parts down.
Gently Neil guided her to sit down in the backseat of his car now parked along the curb, then sat beside her, holding her against his ribs tightly while another man drove them.
Alexia was distantly aware of the engine starting, of the car pulling forward and driving along the rural highway. Mostly her mind replayed the images of her dreamlike state when hurting those men, vividly remembering the repulsive desire to see them dead.
Oh God, she actually wanted to drink their blood!
More memories, more incidences began to haunt her, accuse her as she put the puzzle pieces together. Every one that flashed through her brain made her suck in a breath. Each time Neil tightened his hold around her shoulders, whispering in her ear that it would be okay.
But he was lying. It wasn’t okay. It would never be okay ever again.
At some point in their trip back to the Lodge, he gently snapped the tracker back onto her wrist. Alexia didn’t care, just numbly allowed him, still replaying all of the nightmare incidences she had been responsible for through the years. In fact, they were wise to tag and track her like some wild animal that needed controlling, for everyone’s safety.
Because it had been years, she now realized. There had been signs, unexplained incidences, even as a teenager.
At least she thought so.
She wasn’t sure what to think, what to believe anymore. The entire world as she knew it less than a week ago had flipped on its axis and would never be the same.
She wasn’t the same.
Or only now learned what she really was.
Across the lobby of the Great Lodge, her numb legs somehow gave out. Neil scooped her up into his arms and carried her the rest of the way to her room, using his own master passkey to open the door. He laid her on the bed, pulled off her Reeboks, then tucked her under the blanket, running a gentle hand through her hair.
“Get some rest,” he said. “I have something I need to take care of right now, but I’ll be back later.”
“You’d be smart not to,” Alexia murmured, the first time she spoke since it all happened. “You’d be smart to stay away from me forever.”
His fingers gently combed through her scalp as he said, “Takes a lot more than that to scare me off.”
Alexia rolled onto her side to face him. “I have to know. Did I…kill them?”
“No, they’re fine. They’re locked up in the guardhouse right now.”
“I never wanted to hurt anyone. Never. I’ve only ever wanted to help people. That’s why I became a doctor. That’s why…that’s…”
“After what they tried to do, they deserved a lot more than just being banged up a little.”
“But I almost hurt you too,” she said, hot tears brimming. “And all you’ve ever been to me is nice and…”
He smiled, brushing the tangle of her hair back from her face. “You didn’t. No harm, no foul.”
“I’m a monster, Neil. I’m the one who should be locked up in the guardhouse.”
“No, Alexia. You’re a survivor, that’s all. Instinct took over, and you did what you were born to do. There’s no shame in that.”
Kind words, but ignorant. Neil hadn’t known the extent of what she could really do, even to those she loved.
He didn’t know what she had already done.
Twenty minutes later Rachel and Scott came by her room to check her vitals and general physical and mental condition. They were eager to have her drop by the lab in the morning to do an entire battery of tests now.
Not long after they left, Rob Bryant paid her a visit, reassuring her that she would always be safe as long as she stayed within their gated community. He offered a personal bodyguard, if that would make feel more secure, which she declined. Since learning of her bizarre self-defense methods, Alexia knew he was considering her a possible replacement for one of his lost gifted Pack members and planned to do everything within his power to convince her to stay.
Maybe that would be the best option. She certainly couldn’t go home to her normal human life and friends any longer.
Afterwards, there was a light knock on the door, and Alexia answered it to Erik’s distraught expression. Her arms slid automatically around his neck, and she let him hold her as she sobbed into his chest.
He had food brought up, and they ate together in relative silence. Alexia was glad for the company. It was nice to continue their new evening ritual, something normal in her twisted, nightmarish day.
Neil was the last person to come to her room. It was very late. There was a light knock, but Alexia didn’t answer as she lay on the bed. When the door clicked and opened, she knew it was him, sensing his presence even in the shadows.
She was still wearing his oversized tee-shirt as a nightshirt. Neil called to her quietly, but again she didn’t answer. He came closer, then pulled off his boots, shirt and jeans, and slipped under the blanket next to her. His body was strong and warm as he pulled her back against his chest, banding his arm and one of his legs around her. Only then could she let the tears fall hard and her body quake with wracking sobs.
“You have to leave, Neil,” Alexia said when she was finally calm enough to speak.
He kissed the back of her ear, her neck, her shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere.”
She rolled over to face him. “You have to. I don’t know how to control myself. I’ll hurt you, and I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I did.”
He traced his fingers down her jaw, staring down at her in a way that quickened her lower belly and made her heart race. “I’ll take my chances.”
She shook her head. “This isn’t a game. I’ve hurt others before. I know that now.”
He shrugged, brushed his calloused thumb across her quivering bottom lip. “I’m not afraid.”
“You should be. I hurt the people I care most about.”
“Does that include me?”
“Yes, and that alone terrifies me.” Alexia shifted her head on the pillow, staring into his dark gray eyes. “Don’t you get it? Neil, I’m a monster. Somehow I’ve always known this. You have to get away from me.”
He bent down and kissed her jaw, whispering, “You’re no monster, Alexia. You’re the most beautiful creature that’s ever lived. And I’m not leaving you.”
She opened her mouth to speak, but he covered her next protest with a kiss that made her forget everything but how wonderful it was that he was here, now. And all hers.
Her mate. The wolf inside her knew this, and now she did too. Neil told her that a wolf always finds and protects her mate, and no matter what she was, she swore to protect him.
Even if was against herself.
Alexia woke at the tickling feel of fingers tracing across her cheek. She opened her eyes to see Neil smiling down at her in the darkness.
“Hi,” she whispered, smiling.
“Hi,” he returned, then kissed the bridge of her nose. “I have to go.”
Alexia snuggled deeper into his bare chest, rubbing her nose against his delicious, musky smelling skin. “Stay.”
“I want to, but that would start rumors I’m sure you’re not ready to handle right now.”
“Rumors, schoomers.”
Besides, once word got out about her deadly little gift, gossip about Neil spending the night would be very unexciting.
He chuckled. “We’ll skip our workout this morning, but I’ll meet you for breakfast in the cafeteria in an hour.”
She groaned when he stood up and pulled on his jeans. The sight of his gorgeous body made her stomach flip. Thank goodness he was a gentleman and hadn’t taken advantage of her vulnerable state last night. Or this morning. She would have let him do whatever his hunky self wanted. Happily.
Still, she shouldn’t make more of it than what it probably was—a nice guy doing a chivalrous thing for a pathetic girl like her. There were still a few of them out there in the world, although Neil Duran was in a class all his own. Definitely up there with Prince Charming and a knight of Camelot’s Round Table.
“Thanks for staying with me last night.”
He arched a brow, smiling slightly. “Thanks for letting me. Watch out, or I could make a habit of this.”
“Watch out, or I might let you.”
He kissed her forehead, then her lips, lingering there a long moment before pulling away. “You were traumatized last night. You’ll probably feel differently later. I’d better get out of here before you do.”
“Not the way you kiss. You must be very well practiced, huh?”
He cracked a wider grin, then gave Alexia one last mind-blowing kiss. “See you at breakfast.”
“Hey, that wasn’t a no.”
“A true man never admits anything.”
“Valliant as ever, Sir Knight.”
He chuckled again, then rubbed his dark chin stubble, adding, “On a more serious note, I promised Scott Piper that I’d let him test your limits today, but only for a couple of hours. We’ll do it in the gym where I can keep an eye on things. Then I want you to take the rest of the day off to recover.”
“Peachy. Just what I don’t need, more time to think about what happened yesterday.”
Or all the others. Dozens and dozens of others, she now recalled.
“How about I get your mind off it by taking you boating on the lake by my cabin? I’ll make you dinner afterwards.”
“Yeah, sounds great.” Alexia frowned, still trying to shake the muddy thoughts from her brain. “Wait, test what limits?”
Neil started to say something else, then shook his head. “One step at a time. Get some more rest if you can. You were pretty restless last night.”
She had a lot of night terrors that he woke her up from, he meant.
Alexia did try to go back to sleep after he left, but her mind was too wired now. It was only the security of having Neil next to her that allowed her body and mind to relax enough for her to sleep in fits and starts at all. Without him there, it was useless.
She hoped Neil meant what he said about sleeping with her again tonight. And maybe the next. It would be nice.
Really, really nice.
Okay, one step at a time. She didn’t need to be the clingy pathetic damsel right off the bat.
Dawn finally broke across the hills and brightened the room. Alexia headed to the bathroom to shower and change into her new clothes. They were brought up after dinner with Erik, and she was grateful to wear something that belonged to her.
As she looked in the steamy bathroom mirror, Alexia saw more thin platinum streaks threaded through her hair, putting a few more puzzle pieces together. Some of it made sense now. Some of it was still a mystery she really didn’t want to investigate.
After all, the scalpel was still sticking from Ryan’s throat that day. It didn’t matter that it had impossibly been by his own hand like Alexia tried to convince the judge. She now knew that she was the one ultimately responsible.
Oh God, she had forced Ryan to kill himself!
No matter what Neil said, she was a monster, and he and everyone else would do well to stay away from her.
The cellphone buzzed, and she checked the caller’s number and answered it with a dull ache in her chest. “Hi Uncle Paul.”
“Alexia? Haven’t heard from you the past few days. Just wondering what’s going on,” he said.
She pinched the bridge of her nose and wanted to laugh hysterically. “Nothing much. Still hanging out with Mom’s old friends. Went shopping yesterday. I’m going boating at the lake this afternoon.”
There was a pause. “Well, that’s great, honey. Glad you’re having a good time. Look, I’m thinking that if you get back here tomorrow—”
“Uncle Paul, there’s something I need to tell you.”
Dang it, she didn’t want to have this conversation right now.
“You need some more time, I take it.”
That man could always see right through her. That’s what made him the best uncle in the entire world, of course. And the most difficult to deal with.
“A few more. I…still have some things to figure out. I’m really sorry for putting you a bind at the office.”
“Tamara can handle the office by herself, that’s not what concerns me,” he said. “I still have no idea what friends of your mother’s you’ve been staying with, or where you are. Are you sure you’re not in some kind of…predicament?”
If he only knew.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Uncle Paul. Just hanging out with some old college friends of mom’s.”
Another pause.
“You’re in Washington then,” he remarked. When Alexia didn’t answer right away, he asked, “Are you with Leonid’s family?”
She gasped. “You knew about mom and Erik Leonid?”
“Of course,” he said. “Your dad told me everything before he and your mother were married. I assume you finally know the truth now.”
“About him being my birthfather?” And a werewolf. “Yeah. Would’ve been nice for mom and dad to have told me themselves.”
“You’re right,” he said. “I always told them they should. I think it was more your mother’s insistence than your dad’s. So how did you come across them? Never mind, it’s none of my business.”
“Of course anything about me is your business, Uncle Paul. And I promise to explain everything when I get back. I just…need a little more time, that’s all. There are still a lot of questions that I need answered first.”
He let go of a long breath. “You’re over age, so I can’t say no. Remember your agreement with the judge though. And your probation officer is still expecting to see you again a week from now. The judge said that if you miss one appointment, he’ll make sure you land in prison. They’re watching you like a hawk, just waiting for you to mess up.”
“I know. Believe me, I know.”
But the drugs were never my fault in the first place. I wasn’t using, wasn’t stealing or selling. It was all Ryan.
Who she unwittingly killed with her special little talent.
So in reality, she did deserve the full blame. For everything.
“Thanks for understanding, Uncle Paul. I’ll call you in a couple of days.”
Alexia hung up, her appetite for breakfast now soured. Instead, she headed down to the lobby to sit on the couch next to the crackling fireplace to sort through everything. An hour later, Neil walked up and sat beside her.
“You missed breakfast,” he said, handing her an energy bar.
Numbly she took it. “Thanks.”
“They’re waiting for you in the gym, but I could tell them you’re not up to it right now.”
Exhaling heavily, she stood. “Waiting doesn’t change anything. Might as well get this over with.”
Inside the enforcer’s gym, Alexia instantly spotted Rachel and Scott, but was surprised to see Erik, Rob and Jake near the floor mats as well. Everyone quit talking and turned to them when they walked in. Erik was the first to walk up and hug her.
“Do not exert yourself, Alexia,” he said, eyeing her seriously. “I have instructed them that if you do not feel comfortable with any of this, they are to stop immediately. You have my promise.”
“And mine,” Rachel assured her. “I just think it’s important to find out exactly what you can do, and why and how you can do this. Scott already has a theory.”
Alexia turned to him. “Really?”
Scott shifted his stance, having difficulty containing his excitement. A warning stare from Rachel made him speak calmly, however. “It makes perfect sense actually. Erik can read and project his thoughts. As his biological child, your gift is a slight variation of that. You can actually manipulate someone’s thoughts into actions. In other words, you can make someone act a certain way by projecting that thought into the temporal lobe of their brain that sends a signal to their nervous system. It then becomes an involuntary reflex on their part. Like your leg kicking when I hit your knee with a hammer.”
“That sort of makes sense from a medical standpoint.” And not so bad. Except for the part where she could force someone to commit suicide. “How do I get rid of it?”
Everyone looked at each other, but it was Rachel who said, “You don’t, Alexia. It’s just something you can do. It’s who you are.”
She swallowed hard, shook her head. “No. No, I don’t want any of this.” She looked to Erik, pleading, “Isn’t there some way to stop it? I never wanted this, to be this.”
He gently laid a hand on her shoulder. “I do understand, Alexia. I felt much the same when I first discovered my unique ability. I could not seem to shut out the entire world. My mental ears were filled with the noise of a crowded room all of the time. But I learned how to adjust, to control it, to shut out those thoughts I did not wish to hear. You will learn to control your ability as well. It will be much better then.”
“Don’t you understand? I don’t know how! I hurt people. I could easily kill someone with just a random thought.”
And she had.
Someone she loved very much. Once.
Her cheeks heated at the horrible memory. Her eyes prickled, her body started to shake, her head felt like it was about to explode.
It was happening again!
God, she couldn’t let this happen again so soon!
Neil rushed up and held her tightly, keeping her together and in one piece. “Calm down, Alexia. It’s okay. I’m here.”
After a full minute, her body finally relaxed into his, and she breathed deeply until her eyes and body cooled. She then pulled away, nodding her thanks to him, then saw the uncomfortable looks on every other face there.
“Sorry. I’m better now. Neil seems to know how to keep me under control.”
Erik didn’t look pleased to hear that at all. Both Rob and Jake’s expressions held varying degrees of interest. Rachel scribbled notes.
“Gee, Neil, I wished you would’ve let her keep going,” Scott said, taking a pen light to her eyes, checking her pupils. “We might’ve seen how she can project her ability.”
Rachel grabbed Alexia’s wrist. “Your pulse is still racing. Your eyes glowed a very dark silver too. Tell me, have you been able to shift at all?”
“No, of course not. You said my eyes glowed?” She looked to Neil who sent a cheerless smile in confirmation. “Okay, that explains why my eyes burn. But I can confirm that I’ve never shifted and never will.”
“Interesting,” Rachel said, scribbling additional notes. “Have there been any other situations in the past when this occurred?”
“Sure, a few. Actually several.” She wasn’t about to go into how many or how long or even what happened at the hospital with Ryan. No need to bring up yet another sordid chapter in her personal history book. “There was the old coot in Starbucks last week. I might’ve made him trip. I figured it was an accident, but he was being such a jerk that I wished he’d fall on his tail. Then that’s exactly what happened.”
Rachel questioned her, and Alexia admitted to a few other recent instances she might have been responsible for.
Rachel reviewed her notes and turned to Rob and Erik. “From every experience, the one constant is that she was greatly antagonized. If she were a full lycanthrope, she would have just shifted and attacked. But since she can’t change physically, her mind takes up the instinctive defensive reflex that seems to trigger her new ability.”
“In other words, don’t piss her the hell off, or she’ll have you knock yourself on your own ass,” Jake concluded, winking at Alexia.
Leave it to him to diffuse such a horrific situation. Alexia smiled her thanks at him for that.
“Exactly,” Rachel said with a crooked grin and shrug.
“I still don’t want to hurt anyone,” Alexia said. “What if I can never control it?”
“All you need is practice,” Scott said. “Most of our gifted wolves have all said the same thing, that their unique ability is uncontrollable at first. Eventually they all learned how to work it properly. It just takes time and practice.”
“So how am I to practice this?”
“That’s why I’m here,” Jake said, ignoring Neil’s scowl. “I’m going to be your mental sparring partner, kiddo. Hell, if I can’t piss you off enough to help you practice your mind control talent, then I’m certain Big Dog here sure can. Right, guy? Arf, arf!”
Alexia chuckled in spite of herself. “Okay, I guess we can try it a few times.”
He jumped around the mat, dodging and thumbing his nose like a boxer, teasing her. “Okay, Raine-woman, take your best shot.”
“Stop it,” she said chuckling. “This isn’t going to work if you keep making me laugh. I have to be mad at you, remember?”
“Oh, yeah.” He looked wickedly from Neil to her, then whispered in her ear, “Heard you and Neil spent the night in bed. I’ll bet you’re really a hot, juicy little ride, aren’t you, blondie? Can I have a turn?”
Her eyes instantly prickled and heated at the crack.
The next thing she knew, Jake was flat on his back after his fist connected with his own jaw. “Ow, I have a mean left hook. Thanks a lot, Alexia. Glad no one else heard.”
He started to rise, and Neil laid him out again with hard right cross. “I did.”