Chapter 10
Ten
Neil
I’m not sure how long I stand there with my face pressed against the fur of the alpha’s chest, the sound of his heartbeat loud in my ears.
His breathing has slowed to match mine, and that edge of anxious aggression seems to have dissipated—mostly.
I can’t see his eyes from this position, but I imagine they’re no longer blank, the cornered animal part of him receding enough to allow some of his human logic and reasoning to come forward.
Which is good, great even. There’s no way I could get him out of here if he didn’t have some control over his wolf.
And I don’t think I could leave him behind.
I whimper at the thought and press closer, closing my eyes and letting the scent of mate and mine nearly hidden under the coppery smell of blood surround me for a moment.
As much as my wolf wants nothing more than to bask in the presence of my mate for a while, the human part of me knows there’s no time to waste.
It’s only a matter of time before reinforcements arrive. We need to get the hell out of here.
I don’t know if I have another fight in me.
I don’t think my mate does either.
There’s no way of knowing how close to the edge he is, and every time he fights, every time he lets the wolf take control, slipping into that space where he’s driven only by his most primitive instincts, the odds of him being able to come back from it become slimmer.
As it is, I have to hope he can keep it together long enough for us to get out of here.
And after that? I’ll just have to hope there’s enough of his human side left for us to find a way to make this work.
I could walk away—fated doesn’t mean forced—but I already feel enough of a connection to him that I’d probably hate myself for it.
I nuzzle my face against his fur, a silent gesture of comfort and support, before pushing to my feet and heading toward Raquel.
As I move away, a tremor moves through the alpha’s body and he curls in on himself, head hanging low as he stares at the floor in a way that practically radiates shame and guilt.
Pity slices through me like a knife as I take in the defeated posture, and my wolf whines.
I don’t know what his circumstances were before this, and I have no idea how long he’s been here, a prisoner to the worst parts of his animal side, but nobody deserves this kind of hell.
I want to tell him it’s okay, that I’m here now and I’ll take care of him, that we can take care of each other…
But, until we get out of here, I’m not so sure that’s a promise I can keep.
I quickly shift back, locating my clothes and pulling them on, my gaze locked on the unnaturally still alpha the entire time.
There’s nothing but pain in the set of his shoulders and exhaustion in every line of his body.
If his ears didn’t twitch every now and then, I’d think he was completely checked out of the world around him.
“Is he okay?” asks Raquel in a voice so low it’s almost a whisper.
“Honestly? I don’t know,” I say as I finish buttoning my rather ragged-looking shirt.
“But there’s not much we can do about that right now.
” I glance down at the remote in her hand.
“Our biggest problem is going to be that collar. I don’t think he can shift with it on and a giant wolf isn’t exactly inconspicuous. ”
“No kidding.” She turns the remote over in her hands and frowns. “But I don’t think this thing is going to be the answer. There’s only the one button and we already know that controls the shock function.”
I take the remote from her, examining the small plastic rectangle. She’s right. This thing is almost useless. “I guess we’ll have to work with what we have,” I say, glancing around. “Which… isn’t much.”
Raquel lets out a strained laugh. “I’m sure if anyone can figure something out, it’s you.”
“Yeah, no pressure, right?” I sigh, staring at the motionless alpha for a second before sliding my gaze back to my friend. “I have no idea how to get that collar off, but there might be a way to make sure he won’t try to attack you again.”
She shoots me a skeptical look. “Okay? And how do you plan to do that?”
“Do you trust me?” I hold out my hand and she raises her brows, hesitating for half a second before rolling her eyes and placing her hand in mine.
“Of course I do, you nitwit,” she says as I tug her along behind me toward the alpha, careful to keep my body between her and the wolf.
“Hey,” I say in a soft voice as we slowly draw closer.
His ears swivel in my direction, but he doesn’t look up. I guess “hey” isn’t the most specific greeting. The alpha needs a name, even if only a temporary one we can use until he’s able to shift back and tell us his actual name.
“Hey, um… Buddy?” No response. “Or, maybe Wolfie?”
The alpha lifts his head and his hazel eyes find mine, the tiniest hint of amusement hiding in their depths.
Wolfie it is then.
“You can understand me, right?” Most shifters have full human awareness in their wolf form, but, as what happened earlier proved, that’s not always true. Sometimes the wolf takes over, so it doesn’t hurt to double-check.
He stares at me for a beat, then dips his chin in what I’m going to consider a nod before tilting his head to the side in question.
“Okay, good.” I shift slightly to the right so he can see Raquel behind me, then hold up the remote in my opposite hand.
“I know you probably have plenty of bad memories related to this thing, but Raquel is my friend and she would never use it to hurt you. The only reason she picked it up was to prevent the others from hurting you.”
Wolfie tilts his head in the other direction, his gaze darting from me to the remote, then over my shoulder to Raquel. He stares at my friend for a while before meeting my gaze and doing that little chin dip again.
Great. That’s definite progress. Some of my tension drains away, the muscles in my shoulders loosening now that I’m fairly certain he’s not going to try to rip out Raquel’s throat if she moves too quickly.
“This remote controls the collar, right?” I ask, holding it up again.
The alpha makes a huffing noise and moves his head from side to side in a motion that I’m going to take as a “sort of.”
“But it won’t allow us to take off the collar?”
The wolf clearly shakes his head back and forth. That sucks, but it was worth checking just in case.
“Do you know what happens if we just destroy it?” I ask. “I don’t like the idea of it falling into someone else’s hands, but I don’t want to make anything worse.”
Wolfie slowly rises to all four legs and pads toward me, closing the distance between us.
He noses at my hand that holds the remote.
When I don’t do anything, he huffs and paws at my hand until I release the remote, letting it fall to the ground and clatter against the concrete.
Apparently satisfied, he turns toward Raquel and then glances pointedly down at her feet.
No. Her shoes.
“How sharp are those heels?” I ask, a slight smile twitching at my lips.
She stares at me for a beat, brows drawn together, then realization washes over her face. “Sharp enough, I’m sure.”
She grins, picks up her foot, and digs the narrow stiletto into the center of the remote, twisting from side to side until the plastic gives way under the pressure with a loud crack.
I instinctively tense as if anticipating a sudden explosion or something, but crushing the remote seems to have no adverse effects, and Wolfie seems downright pleased with Raquel. I guess that means my half-baked “friend not foe” plan was successful.
Which is a good thing since we’re going to need some place to lay low once we get out of here. The cramped apartment I share with four other people is not a good option, so Raquel’s place is going to be our best bet.
Hopefully, Danny the Douche won’t be home. Although… I wouldn’t be too sad if Wolfie decided to take a bite out of Raquel’s boyfriend. I might even encourage it.
“One problem down, a few million to go,” I mutter as I make my way across the floor to the crumpled body of Pole Guy.
Since he seemed to be leading the charge, I’m going to assume he was the boss of this little group and therefore the most likely to have one of those access cards for the elevator—our only escape route unless we want to go back into the ring.
I crouch down and carefully pat down the dead guy, smiling with triumph when I hold up the rectangular card that was attached to his belt.
Under most circumstances, I’d probably lift his wallet too, but at this point that seems a bit…
uncouth. Plus, anything in his pockets is probably covered in blood and who knows what else.
I’m not thrilled we’re walking out of here empty-handed—money-wise anyway—but at least we’re alive to con another day.
For the moment, anyway.
I weigh the option of trying to cobble together a less tattered outfit from the clothes of the casino employees, but just as quickly discard it.
What’s left of my suit and Raquel’s dress are the most blood-free pieces of clothing down here, so we’ll just have to make it work.
If we walk with our chins high enough, people might think the dusty, wrinkled look is on purpose like some sort of grunge chic.
Our biggest problem is going to be Wolfie here, though. This is Vegas, so people often expect weird, but a huge wolf is still going to stick out. The alpha could never be mistaken for a simple dog, especially not in his current state with blood still decorating his fur.
Raquel follows the direction of my gaze, then wrinkles her nose. “We’re going to have to get some of that blood off him. His fur isn’t dark enough to hide it.” She walks over to Taser Guy’s body and rips off part of his shirt, holding the makeshift rag out to me. “It’s better than nothing.”
I sigh and take the piece of fabric, then rub at the worst of the blood on Wolfie’s coat.
There’s no way I can get him completely clean, but this should make the blood a little less conspicuous.
When I’ve done the best I can, I drop the rag and run my hand over Wolfie’s head.
He leans into my touch, his earlier aggression completely gone as he stares up at me with some very definite puppy dog eyes, tongue lolling from his mouth.
My lips curl into a small smile. From almost the moment I walked into the casino tonight, things have gone spectacularly bad, but I can’t find it in myself to entirely regret the circumstances that led me here.
Nothing is solved and things are more likely to get worse before they get better, but we’re that much closer to a future I never dared to consider possible.
“Come on, Wolfie. Let’s get out of here,” I say, dropping my hand and tilting my head toward the elevator doors at the end of the hall.
He nuzzles my thigh with his nose, then silently pads across the floor, following me all the way into the elevator and positioning himself at my side with his body pressed against my leg. I hand Raquel the stolen access card since she’s closer to the elevator buttons.
She scans the options and glances back at me. “G for Ground Floor? Or P for Parking?”
My first instinct is to say we should go to the parking level, but getting above ground sounds much more desirable, even if it means having to go through a crowd of casino patrons to get outside. “Ground Floor.”
Raquel nods and presses the button. The elevator jolts into motion, Wolfie stumbling a bit before regaining his balance, and less than a minute later, the doors slide open to reveal a deserted hallway.
The lights and sounds of the casino floor aren’t far, but at least we haven’t arrived right in the middle of things.
Now, all we need to do is make it to the nearest exit.
I take a deep breath. Here goes nothing.
There’s no use trying to be discreet. Fake it till you make it, right? Lifting my chin, I straighten my shoulders and link my arm through Raquel’s, then step off the elevator, Wolfie at my side as we stride toward the hustle and bustle of the casino floor.