He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her straight in the eyes, unblinking. “You’re right. I agree with you. I would go with you right now, follow you, to liberate those humans. But my duty to my pack must take priority right now. Please understand that.”
She shrugged him off and looked away, sighing. “Fine. Be that way.” She stormed out, leaving him alone in his stupid terminal room. What was that all even for if he wasn’t willing to fight when she brought him such good information?
She crossed the dining room and went into the bunkroom to collapse on her bed, growling. This was all so stupid! Why on Earth would they stay in this desert cesspit, starving for meat, when they could be on the road, really doing something for the world? Sure, there were dangers out there, but if they were too cowardly to face them now, then the problems would only grow in the future.
She turned over on her side and curled up into a fetal position. She felt eyes on the back of her neck and turned to look at the feeling’s source. It was dumb blonde Nadine, back from the hunt with the other jackrabbit killers.
“What?”
“You seem upset?”
“That’s because I am. How perceptive of you.”
“I just wanted to let you know, the showers are free.”
“Whatever.”
Nadine slipped away, and Cassie rolled on her side. A shower did sound nice. If she was going to be trapped in this hellhole like an idiot or coward, she might as well be clean.
Chapter 38
Rafe watched Meredith and Steven butcher a half dozen jackrabbits in the kitchen while the rest of the pack watched, salivating. He’d been lucky to catch the three he’d brought in. Two came from Selina, and one was from Nadine.
At least the pack would have meat today. It would keep them calm for now. The threat of no meat had caused a kind of frenzied panic in the pack. They still had dried foods like rice and pasta. They had plenty of wild harvested foods, thanks to Cassie. There were enough calories to keep their human bodies nourished. But the wolves’ need for meat seemed to trump their human judgment.
He knew he was affected, even though the choicest meat was always saved for him. He felt his mind obsessing over meat like an addict. This was when the pack could get dangerous. They were cornered and underground. He had to find a solution.
Part of him very much wanted to follow Cassie’s information and take the pack out of there to liberate the dome on the coast. But he knew they would never agree in their current state of mind. They cared little for humans as it was. Sure, Cassie had been an interesting curiosity when she first arrived, and everyone still felt nostalgia for when they too had been human, but asking them to risk their lives for a bunch of alien captive humans would not go over well. He knew that much about his pack.
For now, the first order of business had to be securing the shelter from the cougars and stocking up on food. He brushed his hand over his hair and turned down the hallway to his room. Inside, he quickly went to the shower to wash dust and blood from his skin. When he emerged, he rubbed a towel over his hair and wrapped it around his waist. He pushed open the door into his bedroom and glared at what he saw there.
Nadine sat naked on his bed, clean from a shower and smelling of floral soap and musky perfume.
“What are you doing in here?” he asked in a low voice.
She stood from the bed, hips swaying as she sauntered across the room. When she reached him, her hand slid down his chest to his waistline, just above his towel. She breathed deeply, expanding her chest so that her nipples brushed his chest. He looked down at her mystified by her actions –– anger and arousal battling for dominance.
“I thought you could use some attention,” she said, her finger hooking in the towel at his waist. He growled, knowing he should stop this. Cassie’s anger made him weak and resentful. Nadine slid to her knees, taking the towel with her. His body responded to the situation, his shaft stiffening as he looked down at the beautiful woman on her knees below him. “I just want to serve you.” Her fingers slid up his shaft as her moist lips parted.
“I’m mated, Nadine. I don’t need your service.”
“Your human mate sleeps with the pack. As far as I can see, she’s abandoned you and her duty as your mate. Let me show you what a real alpha female can do.” She gripped his cock, pulling gently upward until she plucked at his tip. The sensation of pleasure and guilt burned through him.
The door of his room creaked open and Cassie stood wide-eyed in the doorway. Nadine smiled. Cassie’s mouth fell open, and a stifled yelp escaped her lips. “How could you!” she finally screamed. She turned from the door and ran. Rafe pulled away from Nadine, leaving her kneeling on the floor. He’d never intended to let it go so far. He knew the pack agreed with her, and he’d been biding his time until he could get a better understanding of her motivations.
He ran after Cassie as she barreled down the hallway. She was already down the corridor to the elevator shaft before he caught sight of her. He tried to catch her before she got on the elevator, but he was too late. The gate slammed shut just as he reached her, her face shadowed by the iron bars.
She pulled the lever and the sound of chains cranking, echoed down the corridor. A look of disgust and betrayal covered her face as she lifted up the shaft.
“Cassie, wait!”
She didn’t reply. The elevator cranked upward, and there was no way to stop it.
Chapter 39
Part of her always knew it would come to this. She’d known it would happen with Nadine the minute she saw the shapely, tanned, blond woman. A tear streaked down her face as the elevator churned upward. She wiped it away with the back of her hand.
Her mind raced a million miles a minute. She could no longer stay with the pack. It was time to strike out on her own. Time to go.
When she reached the top of the elevator shaft, she got out and hurried to the line of SUVs parked not far from the entrance of the shelter. Slipping inside, she pulled the key from under the sun visor and pushed it into the ignition.
She had no supplies, no food, no water, and no gas, but at least she had her guns, loaded with ammo. The rest she could get along the way.
Pressing her foot aggressively on the gas, she sped away as the elevator slowly descended down the shaft. Tears welled in her eyes, obscuring the bumpy gravel road. Her throat hurt from holding back her sobs, but she knew she wouldn’t be able to continue if she let herself break down.
She had to get away as fast as she could. If Rafe followed, he wouldn’t let her take the go. Technically, she had stolen the car from the pack. It didn’t belong to her, like everything else that belonged to the pack, like Rafe.
The SUV slammed through a deep rut in the road, jerking her back from her dark thoughts. She gripped the wheel and took a deep breath. Her heart still hammered in her chest, but she had to calm down enough to think clearly.
She let a breath out slowly and took another. Finally, she felt a little more in control of herself. Her mind began to clear ever so slightly. Without Rafe, what did she have? She had her own mind. She had the information about the Los Angeles dome.
First, she would liberate that one and then the rest. They probably operated in a similar way. After LA, she’d head to Denver and get her friends out as fast as possible. Many of the girls might already be pregnant.
The thought of it twisted in her stomach, and she gritted her teeth. Half-alien babies born to twenty-year-old girls all over the world. What did those bastards want? Why breed with the living humans to create a hybrid? None of it made sense.
No matter how badly her heart hurt, she had to accept that her bigger responsibility was to the human race, not to Rafe or his pack. She loved him—she thought she did anyway—but there were more important things than romance right now. The world was at stake, and she had the knowledge and ability to save it.
If Rafe was more interested in getting it on with female werewolves and hiding out in a shelter in the desert, then she had to
go on without him. The memory of his obsessive love of ‘90s white rappers flitted through the corner of her mind. She giggled absently only to have it bring her tears back again.
She did love Rafe. No matter how much she wanted to fight it. She would miss him. Maybe forever.
When she reached the main road, she turned onto the pavement and continued north toward Tucson. From there she would head west to LA. She would need to find supplies, food, gasoline, water. She glanced in the rearview mirror, checking if there was anything in the back of the car that might help her.
She could see a single bottle of water rolling around on the backseat. Twisting, she picked it up and removed the cap. She took a long swig and sighed. Even with the air conditioner going, the late morning temperature had already risen into the hundreds.
She glanced down at the tank gage and saw that it was almost empty. Damn. She should have chosen one of the gassed-up vehicles. There just hadn’t been time to make rational choices. She hadn’t wanted to allow Rafe to try to convince her to stay, and she hadn’t exactly been in her right mind.
He’d been standing naked with Nadine on her knees in front of his erect cock. That scene didn’t need much further explanation. It sickened her that he couldn’t go just a few days without female companionship. She growled and gripped the steering wheel, a renewed sense of purpose running through her veins.
Chapter 40
Cassie sputtered into the outskirts of Tucson on fumes. Most of the trip had been flat, barren desert, and dark, industrial wastelands.
The car stalled as soon as she pulled off the highway into a desolate low-income neighborhood. She’d been stupid. She should have stopped to scavenge for gas sooner, but her pride kept telling her to continue onward. Now, she stood without water or gasoline in one hundred twenty-degree heat in a post-apocalyptic, bombed-out city.
She drank the last of her water and grabbed the gas can from the back of the SUV. She found a T-shirt on the floor in the backseat and tied it around her head before locking the car and setting out to find gas.
Hiking past abandoned houses and trailer parks, she checked each car she passed. Not a single one had a drop of fuel. Mutants had already scavenged this part of town, and there was nothing left for her.
She hadn’t seen a gas station since ten miles from the fallout shelter. She should have stopped and checked then. She cursed herself. The heat beat down on her back, baking the skin on her neck. What did it matter? The tanks had most likely been emptied.
She trudged on, wiping the sweat from her brow as her lips and tongue swelled from dehydration. She had to find water soon or it would be worse than just a fuel problem. She felt her intuition stir.
Ducking into a trailer park, she pulled out one of her guns and carried her water and gas containers in the other hand. She moved slowly along the line of trailers, trying to sense which trailer might have what she needed.
Under a blue tarp near a doublewide, with fallen pink flamingos stuck in the fake grass of the side yard, she found a vintage El Camino. She took a deep breath, hoping her intuition was right about the car. She retrieved the tube from the gas can, slid it into the tank, and sucked to get the flow going. Nothing. She sucked again and tasted only fumes.
Angry, she hit the top of the car with the side of her fist then turned around and rested her back against the useless vehicle. She always thought El Caminos were ugly.
Why had her inner sense told her to come this way? Squeezing her eyes shut, she tried to get a sense of what was here for her. When she opened them again, she spun around and saw a bottle of water sitting in the back of the car, almost completely covered with tools.
She hurriedly pulled the bottle out of the back and twisted off the cap. Taking a deep swig, she gagged on the warm, plastic taste and forced herself to swallow. Cringing at the horrid taste in her mouth, she poured some on her head and wiped her face with her damp hand.
At least she would avoid rapid dehydration. Now she had to keep moving. There was no gasoline here. She weighed whether it was better to get out of the heat or to continue searching. She told herself she would walk another few blocks and then seek shelter.
As she progressed, she checked every car she passed. Each time the hose came up empty, she felt her hope bleed out of her just a bit more.
Finally, she reached a small gas station that stood out like a lighthouse in the sea of bleak desert ghetto. She shuffled into shade under the overhang.
She stared at the pumps, realizing she had no idea how to get the gas out. Panic struck her chest, and the acrid taste of gas fumes stung her mouth. On a whim, she pulled the wand from the hook and put the nozzle into her gas can. Nothing happened.
“Damn it!” she screamed, hitting the pump with both palms and dropping her gas can and water bottle. She moaned and sank to the ground. Looking around she saw an open manhole, got up, and marched over to it.
She peered down into the darkness below the blacktop. Squinting, she thought she could make out the bottom of an empty black storage tank. The mutants had gotten this gas too. This whole part of town was picked clean. What were the chances of her finding even a few gallons of gas at this rate?
After picking up her things, she sought shelter in the gas station. The heat inside the building was about ten degrees higher than out. Her frustration grew, and she went back outside to the rear of the building where there was deep shade.
She leaned against the splintery, cracking whitewashed wall and looked out at the baking heat coming off the pavement of an industrial park. Closing her eyes, she reached out with her mind, looking for some help. Nothing. Despair fought to take hold, and she slid on her side to sleep.
Chapter 41
When she woke, it was early evening. The sun was long past its zenith and had hurried west to set over the cool ocean in California. Long shadows grew out from the gas station where she’d rested.
Sitting up, she took a deep drink of water, cringing as if it were alcohol with each sip. What she wouldn’t give for a cool, fresh drink of water. Staggering to her feet, she looked around. The cooling air helped her thought process. The desert cooled quickly when the sun set. That fact just might save her.
Grabbing her things, she headed north along the road that would lead into Tucson. Maybe she’d get lucky and find an abandoned vehicle with the keys still inside. She could drive it or take it back to her SUV and use its gas.
The sun made its descent behind the low buildings of southern Tucson, and the air soon turned cool. Cassie hugged herself as she walked, hating how cruel the weather was in this barren land. Why had Rafe brought them here? This had to be the worst place to survive in the entire country. They should have stayed in the mountains.
She grew angry with herself for thinking about Rafe or the pack. She’d made the decision to leave, and she had to leave those thoughts behind her as well. From now on, it was just her, and she needed to take care of herself.
Placing one foot in front of the other, the buildings of downtown Tucson came into view. She had to believe she would find something there that could help her. The night was eerily quiet. No animal sounds, no crickets chirping.
She’d checked almost every car along the road but still hadn’t found more than half a gallon of gas. Why did this city have to be picked so clean? She couldn’t believe that Neil had found a cache of gas considering these conditions. She had no idea where or how he’d found that gasoline, but she imagined it must have been someone else’s stockpile. There was no way it was just lying around.
The wolves had the added benefit of their strong olfactory sense. They could smell almost anything, even miles away sometimes. She had her special sense, but she was learning that it malfunctioned big time when she was under too much stress. She had to learn to control it, or it would defeat her when she needed it most.
She made it to a well-appointed suburb and veered off into the neighborhood to find a place to rest and maybe scavenge for food. If she was lucky, one of the McMansio
ns would have a gassed-up car in the garage. She walked past the dead lawns and an abandoned tricycle until her intuition finally kicked in again and told her what door to choose.
She walked up the paved walkway to a cherry wood door with tinted, beveled glass inside the frame. She tried the knob. It was locked. She pulled out her gun and bashed the glass in with the hilt. The crashing sound echoed down the street.
She cringed as the glass fell. Reaching around, she unlocked the deadbolt and turned the knob to let herself inside. Standing in a dark entryway, she looked up to see a twenty-foot-high ceiling with a crystal chandelier tinkling over her.
Sighing, she crept through the house, letting her mind run off ahead of her. She needed food and water and ideally fuel. Her first stop was the kitchen. She’d barely eaten that morning, and her stomach rumbled with hunger.
Flipping open the cabinets, she found a few cans of beans and a couple of packets of ramen noodles. She couldn’t believe her luck. She set them on the counter and flipped open the doors beneath the sink. There, she found the family’s emergency water supply in high-quality plastic jugs.
She made a sound of joyful triumph and pulled the jugs from under the sink. She took a glass from the cabinet and poured herself a proper drink. This water was dull and warm, but it didn’t have the toxic taste of decomposing plastic.
She found a can opener and took the food and water to sit on the couch in the living room. A big adobe fireplace dominated the far wall. Above the mantel was a sculpture made of bleached wood. The room had a subtle southwestern vibe to it with the Navajo print rug and leather sofas.
She kicked her feet up on the big square coffee table and opened her can of beans. For the first time since she left that morning, she felt okay.