him. Jenner watched her steadily, calmly, with twin pools of honey gold. Forest eyes, she thought, focusing on the sanity, the steadiness in them.
Wolf eyes.
Mia felt something inside, a lot inside, actually, that did indeed want to just let loose and completely freak out. Instead, she took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and put her chin up. She was far stronger than they thought. This Jenner wanted to help her. She needed to concentrate on that. He knew what Jeffrey was, where Mia was sure that normal cops would chalk up her description of his transformation to hysteria, or worse. And if they didn’t believe her, Mia realized, Jeff would never be caught. He would find her. He had promised…
“He’s going to come back for me,” Mia said, wrapping her arms around herself in an effort to ward off the chill that seemed to be seeping into her very bones. “He said he would. To…to finish.”
“He picked the wrong place to bring you, then,” Jenner said. “We’re not going to let that happen.”
She looked around at solemn, serious faces and eyes that glinted with more than just the reflection of the moonlight. And knew she had no choice but to accept their help…and all that might come with it.
“So…I guess this means you’re all werewolves, too,” she said slowly, keeping her tone carefully neutral. Too much calm would raise suspicion. Hysteria would probably get her nowhere but a psych ward.
“We are.” Jenner nodded, and she didn’t think she was imagining the relief that flickered across his face. Mia took a twisted sort of pride in that. She slid a defiant look at the stocky blonde who’d been so sure she was going to lose it. He smirked back as Jenner introduced them.
“I’m Nick Jenner. Everyone calls me Jenner, though, so you might as well. That’s Dex Clark, Jake Pascal, and Ian James.” She watched as each of the men nodded their heads in turn, flashing reassuring smiles at her.
“Tommy and Kev Payne were the ones who took off a few minutes ago.”
Mia frowned, feeling a sick twist of fear at the reminder of the two men vanishing into the woods. “Do you think they’re okay? If it was Jeff—”
“It wasn’t,” Jenner said quickly. “I would know. They’re just taking care of a…pest…we have out here from time to time. Nothing to worry about. You can trust me on that,” he said, and there was something in the way he said it that left Mia no doubt she could believe him, at least on this. And as for the pest he’d mentioned, she was pretty sure she’d rather stay in the dark on that. The werewolves and, of course, Jeff had been enough of a revelation for one night.
“We’re all Blackpaw pack,” Jenner continued, “and you’re right in the middle of our territory. Not a problem for a human. Big problem for a drifter, especially a feral like this…Gaines, did you say?”
Mia nodded. “Jeff Gaines.”
He tilted his head just a little, putting her in mind of a predator listening for its prey.
“Hmm. Boyfriend?”
Mia felt her shoulders begin to hunch defensively. Yes, she wanted to say. I’m one of those women who ends up dating a psychopath. Apparently, I’m blind. Instead, she kept it simple.
“Not anymore.”
That prompted a small, sexy smile that left Mia feeling a little breathless. Werewolves in movies were almost never this gorgeous. Of course, werewolves in movies weren’t real, either. All she could think of was the way she’d felt when Jenner had touched her. Not a great idea…but better, she supposed, than focusing on what Jeff Gaines had almost managed to do to her. And what it seemed he had done to her.
“Fair enough,” Jenner said, and turned to the others. “Ian, why don’t you go back to the Hollow, have Buddy run the name just in case. It’s probably not his real one, but you never know. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”
“You got it,” said one of the men, sandy-haired and with bright green eyes that lit on Mia with keen interest and a surprising amount of compassion. “Don’t worry, miss. You’ll get used to us. Well, except maybe Jenner.” He grinned at the name Jenner called him under his breath, then added more somberly, “We’ll make sure this guy gets his.”
He dashed into the trees at a speed that was far beyond anything Mia had ever seen, then vanished. She assumed he hadn’t just gone ahead and turned into a wolf out of deference to her, though at this point, Mia thought, he might as well have just gone for it. She turned her attention back to Jenner.
“Buddy’s the sheriff in Ferry’s Hollow. He’s one of us,” Jenner said.
“Convenient,” Mia said.
“It comes in handy sometimes.” Jenner looked at her closely. “Look, you seem to be healing well, but you’re paler than I’d like. That bite’s going to take you down hard at some point. That’s just the way of it. No getting around it, but you’ll feel a thousand times better once you’ve slept. I’ll take you back to town so you can rest. The others will start hunting for Gaines, and call out the others who can help. Not much else we can do without you, and I don’t want to risk it until tomorrow, at the earliest. The details can wait until then.”
He offered his hand, and Mia looked at it, how large and strong it was, feeling more than ever like she was having an out-of-body experience. She was suddenly very, very tired, and her memories of the evening had begun to press insistently against the cocoon of her shock, threatening to take her places she didn’t want to go. Rest might be the best thing, Mia decided. But before doing so, she had one question left to ask.
“This bite,” she began, lifting her gaze from Jenner’s still-extended hand to meet his eyes. She saw the subtle change in his expression, and knew the answer before she even asked it. The truth stunned her. Didn’t she have enough to grapple with? Still, she needed to hear the words.
“You said if I didn’t help you I’d wind up just like him. A…a feral, whatever that is. Does that mean I’m…I’m going to be a…”
“It’s not so bad,” Jenner said softly. “Saved my life, anyway. But that’s enough for tonight. There’s plenty that will wait for morning. You’re going to be fine, miss. That I can promise you.”
She felt no real horror. Not when she’d been living with her own secrets for this long. What was one more? But she also knew that this foggy indifference would evaporate by morning, when the cold light of day would probably see things looking awfully different to her. For now, it was enough to know. She’d deal with it…but later.
Mia looked back down at his hand. Given the choices she had, there was really only one option. Tentatively, she placed her hand into Jenner’s, struck by how small her own was in comparison. And then struck again by the hot snap of connection where their skin touched. It still seemed wrong, to feel such a thing on a night like this, but Mia had no strength left to fight it. His fingers closed gently around her own, and again she felt those threads between the two of them, tightening and pulling them closer.
“I’m Mia,” she said. “Mia D’Alessandro.”
“Mia,” Jenner said, and no one had ever said her name that way before, as though it was being tasted, savored.
“Welcome to the Hollow.”
Chapter 2
Dex hadn’t been kidding, Jenner thought ruefully. She was a pretty little thing.
And if he kept noticing, it wasn’t going to do either one of them any good. He had a feral to catch, and Mia had a lot to adjust to in a short amount of time. He was going to make sure the latter was someone else’s problem, though. He had enough on his plate. Still, the way her hand had felt against his chest was going to haunt him. He hadn’t touched a woman in a long time. Too long, since it hadn’t taken much for him to start imagining that Mia’s fingertips had some kind of magic in them. It wasn’t just the attraction,