THE LAST WEREWOLF

CHAPTER 13 (Dorian)

As he drove through town, Dorian ignored the phone call and text from Avery. He couldn't explain his whereabouts to her since he left the diner if he tried, not without revealing things he didn't want her to know... at least yet. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel to keep the uneasiness at bay; couldn't push away the feeling that his entire world would fall apart if he didn't stop Julian Lock. It had to be him behind the killings and everything else that had gone awry in Pineridge in recent months. Avery had shared her encounter with Lock up on the mountainside yesterday, and he had witnessed it too, watching from afar. He also wanted to talk her out of the dangerous plot she had her mind set on, but he felt he had little chance of accomplishing that.

Dorian didn't know how Avery planned on luring the wolf—and her hero out of hiding—which meant he didn't know where this tempting of fate would take place. But he had an idea where it might go down.

A text message made his phone vibrate. It was from Avery.

I think you should know that I had another run in with that Julian Lock guy. After you left the diner, he showed up at your Jeep on the side of road. The way he talked scared me. Since you're not answering your phone or responding to texts, I thought I should let it all out and ask the obvious question. Where were you when the bus went over the guardrail? Thankfully, the hero saved the day again. Seems to always show up when needed. I'm betting he will tonight, too.

Wagging his head, Dorian tossed the phone in the passenger seat and took a left off the main drag through town. Based on her encounters, Julian Lock seemed to follow Avery everywhere she went. There were two incidents in the last two days and another that came across most obvious to Dorian... the wolf that showed up on Avery's back doorstep. If Lock was the wolf, a.k.a. the wolf that was terrorizing Pineridge, then it made sense to stick close to Avery and wait for the predator to reveal himself.

He drove toward the foothills of the surrounding mountains toward Avery's duplex apartment, which sat nestled against the backdrop of the dark, dense forest. Of course, he knew where she lived. His job was that of an investigator and hunter of the supernatural kind, which meant he had certain skills. When he passed by her place, he kept going, noticing she wasn't home yet. Of course, she wouldn't be. It was still early afternoon.

A good way down the road, he found a dirt path that led back into a clearing, one he knew loggers had used in the past. He parked, armed himself with a weapon from his stainless-steel case, and hiked back toward the area of woods behind Avery's apartment, keeping the handgun tucked in the back of his jeans. With the sun beaming down, a few lucky rays bounced and prodded their way through the overhead canopy of branches and provided some light on the floor of pine straw. He noticed the disrupted needles and cones, broken twigs and small limbs. This was where the battle with the wolf had taken place the other night. This is where he believed Avery would try her luck, right in her own backyard.

Dorian was scoping out a spot to take up surveillance once the sun went down, when a rush of wind from behind him scattered the pine needles even more. He whirled around to find Julian Lock staring at him.

"What's your game, Julian?"

Lock sauntered closer. "To make your life miserable, of course."

"Whatever sick and twisted plot you're up to, you need to leave Avery Lane out of it. If you have any quarrel, take it up with me."

Lock huffed, an amused look creeping across his face. "I wonder what she'll think of you when she finds out who you really are. Or should I say, what you are?"

"Obviously, something has changed you." Dorian stepped forward, not backing down, peering into Lock's unseemly dark eyes. "Did it happen on our last hunt or sometime afterward?"