Chapter Ten
Ross glanced around, his ears straining hard for any sound. Walking around to the other side of their 4x4, he climbed in next to Connor, who gave him a tight smile.
“All clear?” Connor asked with one eyebrow lifted.
Ross shook his head. “Not sure,” he murmured, still feeling uneasy. “There aren’t any unusual scents in the air, and I didn’t hear anything but still.”
Connor fired up the engine and drove away. “Something still feels off?” he asked as they moved through the town streets.
Not able to explain it, Ross sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Yeah. Not sure what it is.” It was the same feeling he’d had when Davidson had first appeared in his office, and he wasn’t one to ignore his instincts.
“Are you OK there, Jenny?” he asked, hearing her muffled reply. Grinning to himself, he leaned back in his seat. “Listen, feel free to take that blanket off your face but keep lying down for now, OK?”
A pair of eyes met his, as the blanket was tugged down. His heart squeezed as he took in her fearful expression.
“Don’t worry,” he assured her, trying to smile more softly. “Nothing’s the matter. Connor’s a pretty good driver, so why not see if you can get some sleep? It’s been a tough few hours!”
“OK,” came the quiet reply. “Thank you, Ross.”
Her eyes fluttered closed, but he continued watching her for a few more seconds before sitting back in his own chair, now facing the road.
“Everything OK?” Connor asked, glancing at him. “If you’re tired, you should get some rest too, Ross.”
It was on the tip of Ross's tongue to say he didn't need to rest any more, but then he changed his mind. He was tired, and on top of that, Jenny was bringing out things in him he'd never expected. Yes, he wanted to protect her, but there was something more than that. When she'd been waiting with him for the truck to arrive, he'd almost kissed her. Thankfully, he'd caught himself in time before he'd acted on his impulse, which was completely ridiculous given just how little he knew her. He'd probably have scared her half to death as well, making a move like that. What on earth was the matter with him?
“Something on your mind?”
Ross rolled his eyes at Connor, wishing he wasn’t quite so perceptive. “No, not really.”
“Is that so?” Connor grinned, clearly not believing a word of it. “So that’s why you keep glancing back at our passenger?”
"I am not," Ross retorted, only just realizing that he had been doing exactly that. "I'm just worried about her, that's all. She's part of the pack now. It's my job to look out for her."
“Yeah, right,” Connor muttered, rolling his eyes. “There’s nothing wrong with wanting someone, Ross.”
“Will you keep it down, please?” Ross exclaimed, aware that Jenny could probably hear them.
Settling back in his seat, Ross tried to rest, even though his mind was full of Jenny and all the confusing feelings he was currently experiencing. Connor was right. There was something more than just protectiveness there, but then again, he’d never really had a new shifter in his pack for a long time, not since Sarah. Sarah had been a friend of the family for a long time, and there had always been something between her and Thomas, so it hadn’t exactly come as much of a surprise when they’d decided to get married. Closing his eyes, Ross tried to forget about Jenny, how she’d looked up at him in the hallway, so trusting and yet still afraid. His wolf growled low, settling down too. At least my wolf is happy with Jenny being here, Ross thought to himself. Maybe it knows something I don’t.
“Ross!”
Jerking awake, Ross stared around him before finally realizing where he was. "Oh, sorry. I must have fallen asleep."
“That’s fine,” Connor grinned. “I’m getting pretty tired, and it looks like we’re at our first stop.”
Yawning, Ross saw a sign for a café, his stomach growling right on cue. “Are we being followed?” he asked, turning around to look out of the back windscreen.
Connor shook his head, his face serious. “No, I don’t think so. Not yet, at least, although I don’t think it’ll be long.”
“Jenny?”
A slight chuckle escaped Connor’s chest. “Yeah, she’s still sleeping. Worn out, seems like.”
A rush of sympathy rose in Ross's chest as he glanced down at Jenny's blanket-covered form. Only her face peeped out from one end, and he could see just how pale she was still. "Exhausted, more like," he said quietly. "I doubt she'd have been able to sleep much when Davidson had her."
A grim look crossed Connor's face. "You're right about that. Hopefully, we'll have got away without him noticing. I'll call Ash once we've got something to eat."
The truck shuddered to a stop, and Jenny’s sleepy voice came from the back.
“Can I come out now?”
Ross turned around to face her, unbuckling his seat belt. “Sure. We’ve been driving for about three hours. Connor’s getting tired so we’re going to take a break.” Connor got out of the car and immediately pulled his cell phone from his pocket, ready to call Thomas for an update.
“Oh.” She sat up stiffly, pushing her hair back from her forehead. “I must have slept the whole way.”
Trying not to laugh at the way her hair was sticking up all over the place, Ross turned back to open his door. “You were tired.”
“You’re right about that,” he heard her mutter, opening her own door. Shutting it, she caught sight of her reflection. “Oh no!” Throwing open the door again, she hunted around for a small bag. “Can you give me a minute or two?” she asked, pulling out a small hairbrush. “I can’t walk in there looking like this!”
Ross laughed, unable to keep it in anymore. “Sorry,” he spluttered. “You’re probably right. Don’t be too long though. I’ll be waiting for you just over there.” He indicated the front door of the café, which had a few seats outside. There didn’t look to be anyone else around, which was probably why Ross was in a bit of a lighter mood. For the moment, they didn’t have anything to worry about.
Seeing her crimson face, which was followed by a sting of guilt, Ross followed Connor toward the café, leaving Jenny to sort herself out. He went inside to order and left Connor outside, not wanting to leave Jenny completely alone.
Jenny muttered under her breath as she attempted to comb her mob of unruly brown hair. It always seemed to have a mind of its own, and she’d not exactly been sleeping in the best position. In fact, her entire body was stiff from being all curled up on the back seat, and the itch on her back was making her crazy.
Then again, she wasn't going to complain about getting a few hours rest. It was more than she'd ever had at Davidson's place since she'd always been afraid he was going to come down to get her and she'd wake up to a gun in her face.
Finally managing to tie her hair back, Jenny dug out some deodorant. She hadn’t even showered since she'd been pulled from Davidson's house, and she was pretty sure she needed one. Hopefully, they'd stay somewhere overnight, and she'd be able to shower and sleep in a proper bed. Smiling at the prospect, Jenny tossed her head, set her shoulders and walked toward Connor, who went ahead of her into the café, still on his cell phone.
To her delight, Ross had already ordered for her, although he was trying to apologize for not knowing what it was she'd like. Jenny just smiled before digging into the enormous plate of waffles on the table as the waitress came to pour them some coffee.
“This is so good,” she mumbled, through another mouthful. “Thank you, Ross.”
He smiled at her, but there was no laughter in his face. “That’s OK,” he replied quietly. “Connor’s just coming over with a full breakfast for us all, but I figured you’d be hungry.”
Touched by his thoughtfulness, Jenny reached out and touched his hand on impulse. He jerked a little, but his eyes lifted to hers and something unspoken passed between them.
“I mean it,” she murmured as sparks shot up her arm from where her fingers touched his. “I wouldn’t have been able to get away from Davidson without you all.”
“And we’re not even there yet.” He grinned as she picked up her fork again. “We’ve got a long way to go yet, Jenny, but we’ll get there.”
“I know we will,” she replied, trusting him completely. “I just hope we can stop Davidson completely.”
His face turned dark at the mention of his name. “Oh, don’t worry about that, Jenny,” he said, so quietly that she could barely hear him. “We will. I guarantee that we will.”
“Did someone mention Davidson?” Connor asked, walking toward the table with three plates filled with all kinds of breakfast foods. “Sarah had an interesting update for me.”
“Oh?”
Setting the plates down, Connor sat next to Ross. “It seems he did have a wife after all.”
Ross raised his eyebrows. “Did?”
“She died,” Connor said by way of explanation.
Jenny’s hand came to her mouth. “When?”
"Around six years ago," Connor replied, gripping his fork so hard Jenny thought it might break. "We'd only just started setting up our agency at that point, which was probably why we didn't hear anything about her death."
“How did that happen?” Jenny’s voice dropped to a whisper. “Was he responsible?”
Connor shook his head, his jaw tightening. "She and Davidson lived out in the country somewhere, although it was only a few miles away from our town. Apparently, she was out walking in the woods one evening with their dog. The dog came back with deep scratches in its back. When they found her body, they told him she'd been mauled to death."
Silence crept around the table, their hearts growing heavy with the news.
“And somehow he’s made the connection to shifters,” Ross muttered eventually.
"Exactly," Connor replied. "That does leave the question about how he even knows about our kind and how he managed to make the connection between her death and shifters being in the woods, but still, Sarah thinks that might have something to do with why he wants to wipe us out."
Ross slammed his fist onto the table. “However he found out about us, he’s spent six years trying to work out who we are. He wants revenge for the death of his wife.”
“But you didn’t kill her,” Jenny exclaimed, her face sheet white. “I’m sure no shifter is responsible for her death! If she was out alone in the woods, it would have been your regular pack of wolves, not a shifter.”
Connor sighed heavily, rubbing a hand over his eyes. “Sarah’s looking into it, Ross. Until we know more, we’ve just got to stay on track and keep going the way we are.”
"Agreed," Ross growled, trying to keep his anger under control. "Now let's eat and get out of here."