“It was amazing.” Finally, something I could be honest about. I grinned as I grabbed a chocolate peanut butter candy bar.
“Iknewit! He looks the type.”
Snorting, I picked up a bag of cheese curls. “How do you know by looking at someone if they’re gonna be good at, uh,that?”
One of the men walked out without buying anything. A scent caught my attention, one I couldn’t place, but it made the wolf in my head growl in unease.
Before Lesley could answer, I said, “Hey, I gotta go. I’ll call you later. Okay?”
“Ugh. Fine. But when you do, I want all the details. Got it?”
“Yeah, yeah,” I said absently. “Bye.”
I glanced around the store, trying to figure out exactly what had me on edge, but I was still too new a shifter to properly analyze these sensations.
A man stood outside the window, staring in through the window, his face dark and emotionless. I immediately looked away. My gut told me he was looking for me. Thethud-thud-thudof my heart boomed in my ears.
I was tapping out a text to Nate before I even realized what I was doing.
Me:A guy at the store is freaking me out. Can you come down here please?
I tucked the phone into my pocket and did my best to appear calm and unconcerned as I walked down the aisles. The other man at the back of the store turned from the fridge and moved slowly, deliberately, down the same aisle. Alarm bells clanged in my head.
Trying to keep my cool, I moved to another aisle, wondering the whole time if I was overreacting. I cast a furtive glance at the window again. The guy outside was still watching me. A sound from behind had me jerking my head around. The other man was walking up the aisle towards me. Hands shaking, I pulled my phone out of my pocket. Nate still hadn’t responded to my text.
Something was wrong.Verywrong.
The man at the register, an older guy with bushy white hair, had his head buried in a newspaper. If he’d noticed what was happening, he hadn’t let on. He also looked like he was at least seventy years old, so I doubted he’d be much help.
The bell above the door tinkled, and I spun around, hoping to see Nate striding in with that cocky grin on his face. Instead, naked dread seeped into my bones as the man who’d been watching me shut the door behind him. Though they spoke no words to each other, the two of them moved to either end of the aisle, effectively boxing me in.
Shit, shit, shit. I had to do something.Anything.
Before I could talk myself out of it, I hurried toward the guy at my right.
“Can you hold this while I go to the bathroom?” I asked with a bright, fake smile.
The man froze, his brows pulling together in surprise. Taking advantage of that, I tossed my snacks in his face. He flinched, raising his hands out of instinct to block the candy and chips. Recalling all the MMA training I’d done, I twisted my hips and kicked out, getting him right in the crotch. A sound between a gasp and a gag erupted from his lips as he dropped to his knees.
I leapt over him and sprinted to the back door. The second man rushed forward in an explosion of movement that sounded like he’d actually burst through the shelving.
“What the fuck are you doing?!” the old man at the register screamed.
I glanced over my shoulder to see my second pursuer haul the other guy up. “Get the fuck up! She’s getting away.”
I hadn’t been paranoid. Theywerehere for me. Rushing forward, I slammed my hands into the crash bar of the door. It went flying open into a storage room. The sounds of pursuit spurred me to move. After toppling a stack of cardboard boxes to block their path, I ran to the exit door.
My inner wolf howled to be set free, but I wasn’t confident in my ability to shift in such a perilous situation. I’d failed when Nate and Lenny had fought, and I couldn’t risk failing now.
Shoving the exterior door open, I spared a quick look back. Both men were clambering over the fallen boxes. The one in the lead held a pistol in his right hand. The sight of the weapon sent cold terror through me. Silver bullet or not, the thought of being shot was enough to get me moving even faster.
If I sprinted down the alley, I’d be an easy target. I needed to hide or duck around a corner somewhere to keep out of his sight. Where thehellwas Nate? God, what if one of these men had hurt him or killed him?
No, that couldn’t be true. I refused to dwell on that possibility. Nate was alive. He’d come for me. I was sure of it.
As the doors clanked shut, I spied a small alcove in the brick between the store and the next building. Moving as fast as I could, I slipped inside. It was just deep enough to keep me out of sight.
The door burst open, and the two men rushed out into the alley. I held my breath, not wanting them to hear even the faintest sound from me.
