Chapter 13
Thirteen
Neil
“Now, how about you get the hell out of my house,” says Danny. He runs the barrel of the pistol down the side of Raquel’s face until it’s under her chin. She whimpers and he lets out a low chuckle.
“Raquel and I have some things to discuss,” he continues, his gaze sliding down to the flurry of bills spread across the floor as he increases the pressure on the gun and leans closer to speak directly into Raquel’s ear. “Like the consequences for hiding shit from me.”
I meet Raquel’s terrified eyes and a single tear tracks down her cheek. She mouths for me to go, but she has to know that’s not going happen. As she reminded me back at the casino, she and I don’t pull that kind of self-sacrificing crap.
Wolfie moves to stand at my side, pressing his flank against my leg, and a growl rumbles up from his chest as he focuses on Danny.
I rest my hand on his head, silently urging him to stay back.
Shifter speed might beat human reflexes, but not even a shifter is faster than a speeding bullet, and shifter healing isn’t much of a match for a gunshot either, especially if Danny were to hit something vital.
I need to find a way to get the gun out of the equation. The question is how.
Danny sneers and wraps his fist in Raquel’s hair, yanking her head backward, then moves the gun to point at Wolfie. “And get that mangy mutt under control before I shoot it.”
The confidence in his words is belied by the slight waver in his hand, the gun barrel wobbling a bit. Either the combination of fear and adrenaline is making him shaky or he’s still a little drunk.
My guess is it’s a little of both.
I glance down at Wolfie, then run my hand over the top of his head. “Down, boy. It’s okay.”
I’m not thrilled about treating him like a dog—and by the expression on his lupine face, he isn’t either—but it’s a necessary evil at the moment.
I can apologize later. Like when he’s human again and we can actually talk.
For now, it’s best if Danny continues to believe my mate is nothing more than a really large dog, which is a definite stretch, but one Danny’s brain seems happy to make.
Wolfie grumbles, but lies down, resting his chin on his paws.
Danny snickers then lets the hand with the gun drop to his side.
I’d rather he drop the damn thing altogether, but lowering it is better than having the thing aimed at anyone.
Plus, the slightly less aggressive stance gives me hope there’s a way to defuse the situation.
I guess it’s time to try out my hostage negotiation skills. I’ve watched enough crime procedural shows that I might be able to pull it off. It’s worth a try, right?
“Look, Danny, this doesn’t have to go down like this. We can talk this through,” I say, voice calm and even. “You want us gone and we want to be gone. I think we can agree on that much. So, why don’t you let Raquel go and we’ll be out of your hair.”
There’s no reaction from the asshole except a disdainful huff.
“Okay…” I gesture toward the bills spread out over the cheap linoleum. “Are you worried about the money? You want it? Fine. I have no problem with that, but I can’t leave Raquel here with you, not if you’re going to be threatening her.”
“Fuck off.”
I take a long, slow breath, struggling to hold back words I’m pretty sure would do nothing to help this situation. Like “no, fuck you.” Once I’ve wrangled my wayward impulses into submission, I give Danny what I hope can be interpreted as a conciliatory smile.
“How can we come to an agreement? What’s your end goal here, Danny?” I’m pretty sure saying his name is a common tactic for establishing a rapport or whatever. It’s supposed to make it sound like I’m on his side or something like that, right?
He stares at me blankly for half a second, then lifts the gun to press against the underside of Raquel’s chin. “I think I made my ‘end goal’ pretty clear,” he says. “You, gone. Her, here.”
Well, that’s not going to work.
I take another deep breath and let it out slowly as I try to figure out my next words. Isn’t there an empathy component to this hostage negotiation thing?
“I understand what you’re saying, Danny.” I clear my throat. “And I empathize with how you’re feeling, Danny, and I’d like to work with you on finding a peaceful resolution to this issue, uh, Danny.”
He scowls at me. “I know my own damn name. You don’t have to keep saying it.”
I let out an uneasy chuckle. I suppose that was starting to sound a little awkward. It seems my viewing habits aren’t going to be as helpful as I’d hoped. Though, if it were really as easy as it looks on TV then more people would probably get into hostage negotiation.
Or it could just be I’m just spectacularly bad at it.
“Fine,” I say in a flat voice as I slowly edge my way closer to him. The whole negotiation thing isn’t working, so it’s time for plan B. I’m ninety-nine percent sure he won’t shoot Raquel—not on purpose anyway—but it’s still a gamble. “How about you let her go before you regret it?”
He snorts. “How about no? You don’t have anything I want, so there’s not going to be any bargaining. Just get the fuck out.”
“How about no?” I repeat the words back to him, holding his gaze as I signal Wolfie with the hand at my side. The wolf silently rises to his feet and heads to the left, completely ignored by Danny who’s too busy bickering with me to pay attention to anything else.
Exactly as I’d hoped.
Letting my teeth lengthen into sharp points, I flash Danny a smile. “I’ve had a very bad night, so your whole macho posturing thing is getting really old, really quickly.”
His eyes dart to my mouth, then back up to meet mine and a flicker of alarm passes over his face. He saw a hint of my wolf earlier, but now I’ve let my eyes go completely lupine with no white showing at all. Some of the color leaves his face, but he stands his ground. Barely.
“Last chance for this to end without bloodshed,” I say, stepping forward. Concentrating on the tips of my fingers, I let my claws grow before lifting my hand and wiggling my sharp-tipped fingers at Danny in a mocking wave to show off my new “accessories.”
Some part of Danny’s brain must finally reclassify me from prey to predator, because the gun barrel wobbles, and Danny takes a tiny, involuntary step backward, his hold on Raquel’s arm loosening.
From the corner of my eye, I catch Wolfie stalking around to flank him from one side.
Danny takes another step backward, his shoulder bumping into the corner of the wall where the hallway starts.
The impact jostles the hand holding the gun, and Raquel takes the opportunity to elbow Danny in the stomach.
He grunts and doubles over, releasing his hold on her hair as she drops to the floor.
I dart forward and grab the wrist of his gun hand, twisting and digging my claws into his skin until he releases the weapon.
The pistol falls to the floor with a dull thud, and I slam Danny into the wall, my forearm pressed against his throat, as Raquel scrambles across the floor toward the front door.
Danny sputters and scrabbles at my arm, but I don’t let up even a millimeter. He’s not going to be breaking my hold. Even as an omega, I’m at least twice as strong as a simple human.
I lean closer, getting right up in his face and snapping my teeth next to his ear. “Raquel’s seen enough death tonight, and I’m not interested in adding another body to my tally—not even yours—so I’m going to release you and you’re going to let us walk out of here. Deal?”
He nods eagerly and lets his arms drop to his sides. I eyeball him for a few seconds, trying to decide how far I can trust his answer. Likely not very far, but I can’t exactly stand here all night holding him against the wall.
Slowly, I lessen the pressure on his throat, then lower my arm, my gaze still locked with his. He doesn’t move. There’s not much space to cross between here and the drops door, but I’m hesitant to turn my back on him, so I carefully back away. One step. Two. Three…
My shoulders start to relax, and I let my claws and fangs recede. Glancing over my shoulder, I gage the distance left to the front door. Almost there.
But that split second of distraction costs me.
As I turn back to Danny, he drops to his knees and grabs the gun, pointing it vaguely in my direction before pulling the trigger.
The loud bang shatters through the air in the trailer, and I instinctively drop to the ground.
I’m pretty sure I’m not hit—the angle was way off—but that was too damn close for comfort.
A snarl escapes past my lips, my wolf anxious and annoyed. But my wolf isn’t the one Danny needs to be worried about.
Wolfie lunges at Danny from the side, crashing into the half-kneeling human and knocking him the rest of the way to the ground. The wolf leans down and locks his jaws around Danny’s throat, growling and shaking his head violently from side to side as blood splatters across the wall.
Danny lets out a few gurgling noises as his arms flap uselessly in a weak attempt to push Wolfie away, but the fight—if you can call it that—doesn’t last long.
The human soon goes limp and his arms drop to the floor with a dull thud.
Wolfie gives Danny one last shake, then releases his hold and takes a few steps back.
My gaze strays to Raquel who’s staring wide-eyed at Danny’s still form, her face white with shock.
Admittedly, there’s been a lot of death tonight, but this is the first…
body Raquel knew personally. No matter how poorly he treated her—and the fact that he was holding a gun to her head only a couple minutes ago—Danny was still someone she was close to, both emotionally and physically.
“Hey,” I say softly, scooting closer and resting a hand on her shoulder. “You going to be okay?”
She nods, her eyes never leaving the body. “I’m just…” She shudders. “It’s really over, isn’t it?”
Whether she means the showdown tonight or their toxic relationship in general, I’m not sure. Either way, she’s right, so I nod and gently squeeze her shoulder before turning my attention to Wolfie.
The wolf’s golden fur is once again covered in blood and his gaze is focused on the floor at his feet, shoulders hunched. There’s a visible tension in his muscles as his eyes dart up to me, then Raquel before returning to the floor.
Does he think we’re going to judge him for what he just did? That we’re going to be angry at him? Disappointed?
We didn’t need the complication of a dead human, but to hold it against Wolfie who was only trying to protect me… Raquel won’t either once she gets over the shock of it all. The world is much better place without that asshole.
“Wolfie?” My voice is low as I slowly rise to my feet and make my way toward him.
His eyes come up to watch me, following my every movement.
I drop to my knees in front of him and wrap my arms around his neck, burying my face against his fur.
He’s covered in dirt and blood and who knows what else at this point, but I’m not going to let my mate think killing Danny is something to be ashamed of.
It’s not like I’m any kind of angel.
He whines softly, low in his throat, and rests his head on top of mine, rubbing the underside of his chin over my hair.
“You did good,” I whisper.
“He’s right,” says Raquel, the soft words coming from much closer than expected. I glance up to find her standing less than a foot away, biting at her lower lip and staring at my mate. “Thank you, Wolfie.”