Supernatural healing or not, salt itched when it got past her fur into her skin and the scratches she'd received when the dark red wolves brought her down now stung like a son of a ...
"Well, well. What do we have here?"
Vanessa shifted her head and looked up at a short, but compact, man. The leader of this pack, she realized, as he was the only one wearing clothes. Typical alfa, she thought with a sneer. Didn't want to get himself dirty so he left the fighting to his minions.
"How good of you to go for a midnight run," he said, bending to get closer to her face. "I told you last time that if I caught any of you people feeding drugs to our kids again, I'd come after you and then I'd bite off your heads and stick them on poles."
Vanessa thought she was supposed to be intimidated, but she was more angry than anything. The evening had gotten off to such a great start.
They had stopped on the way for dinner and reached the salt lakes a few hours after dark. The moon was still fairly large and the starlit sky above them looked endless. She'd stared out over the salt lakes and been oddly reminded of home. Only, the plains before them were salt rather than sand and the night was nearly silent.
"Quite a sight, isn't it?" Green had said, putting an arm around her to pull her close.
"It's beautiful."
"You'll love being out there, running."
"Won't anyone notice us? There's no cover."
The salt had reflected the moonlight, making the ground look fluorescent in the night.
"Nah, the lake's large and there's no one here."
"But hunters could..."
"There are no hunters here. No wild animals enjoy living in salt. Honestly, if I didn't heal the way I do I wouldn't be here either."
"But if there's..."
"Smell the air, there's nothing here. No humans, no deer, no packs with territories close to this place."
Vanessa had done as he asked. She'd inhaled deeply, but the scent traces of living things on the breeze came from far away.
"See? Come on, let's get naked."
Vanessa had shoved him away, but couldn't stop a grin as she turned her back to him and stepped out of her shoes, jeans, t-shirt and underwear. A moment later a wolf had stood in her place. She'd looked over at Green and found him staring at her. When she'd tilted her head in question and he smiled at her.
"You're beautiful."
Vanessa had preened at the compliment. There was no stopping it. In her wolf form, her wolf side was significantly more influential than it was when she was in her human form. Lying, even to herself, became nearly impossible and her body reacted before her mind had time to consider the consequences.
She'd shaken her head to clear it. Her brain was different in her wolf form. A human brain can't fit into a wolf skull. Magic or not, certain physical constraints were inescapable.
Green had taken his clothes off and Vanessa hadn't bothered to pretend she wasn't watching him. Pretending always seemed pointless when she was a wolf. That was the best part of being in this shape. As a wolf she had a fundamental sense of who she was and no wish to be any different.
When the dark brown wolf that was Green had rubbed up against her, enveloping her with the scent of rain and chocolate, she'd given him a lick on the snout and together they'd set off across the lakes.
"Hello? Are you listening to me?"
Vanessa blinked and noticed that the pack leader of the red wolves that had ambushed them in the middle of the lakes was standing over her. She looked to the left where Green was laying in a crumpled heap. They'd used something to sedate him after he'd taken down three of them, trying to protect her.
"Before I kill you, I need information and you're going to provide me with it. Shift."
Vanessa growled at him. She could hear the alfa command in his voice and it irked her that she was going to have to do what he said. Not because he'd commanded it, but because human speech and thought processes would be imperative to sorting this out.
She took a deep breath and let the magic do its thing. For her it felt like a soft tingling all over her body as it shook and reshaped.
When she was fully human again she heard a gasp and the wolf standing on her neck took a quick step back.
"A female, huh? Haven't seen that before. I didn't think you lot let your women leave the encampment."
Vanessa sat up and met the gaze of the guy who seemed to be in charge.
"I'm sorry, but I don't know what you're talking about," she said and lowered her gaze respectfully.
She'd rather tear into him for treating her and Green like a couple of criminals without bothering to try to talk to them before attacking. So much for this being a neutral area.
"Don't you. No, don't do that, vermin, I can't tell if you're lying if I can't look into your eyes."
Vanessa felt warm fingers carefully pulling her chin back up. She didn't like his hands on her, but despite the venom in his words, there was nothing aggressive in his touch so she let it pass. For now.
"That's better. Now, what were you saying?"
"I don't know anything about any drugs. My... boyfriend and I are traveling to his family to assist at his sister's delivery. We stopped here for a break to run across the plains."
"This part of the lakes are close to the encampment. There's no reason for anyone else to be out here."
"You are out here," Vanessa pointed out.
"We're on the hunt for the people poisoning our kids."
"I'm sorry," Vanessa said and meant it. "I don't know anything about any encampments. We couldn't detect any scent markers and didn't know there would be anything here. We meant no harm."
"Hrrm," the man said, his brown eyes pensive rather than angry now. "That sounds like a likely story. What are your names then? What pack do you belong to?"
Vanessa took a deep breath and swallowed her resentment of being part of a pack. This was not the right time to stand up for her independence and tell him exactly what she thought of pack life. Occasionally having a larger brain than a canine came to good use. Tactful, she urged herself. She could be tactful. That didn't mean she necessarily needed to be honest.
"I'm Vanessa Benson," she said, using the fake last name written on her ID. "That's Gr... Aiden Colt."
"Graiden?"
"No. His name is Aiden. I call him Green." When the man's eyebrows rose she added. "Because his eyes are green. Which you would know if you hadn't tranqued him."
"He took down three of my guys, it was tranquilizer or silver bullets."
"You'll be glad you didn't use any bullets when you talk to his family," Vanessa said and wondered if Green's family would be willing to pay ransom for her as well if this turned into a hostage situation. "His brother in law is Theodore Thrall."
She felt the man inhale and his fingers left her face.
"You're lying," he said and Vanessa felt immediately better.
"I wish. You can use Aiden's phone to call him, if you'd like. The number is saved under 'Ted'."
"And where is his phone?"
"We left our stuff in our car, five miles that way," Vanessa said and pointed in the direction they'd come. "If you send someone for it, could you bring our clothes as well? We put the key under a rock shaped like a jellyfish."
He signaled to a couple of his crew, still in their wolf shapes to do as she asked. Then he took off his shirt and handed it to her. Vanessa hesitated for a moment. Not because she was looking at his well-built torso, although it was well worth a look, no, she was suspicious of this sudden courtesy.
Thrall was an important person in werewolf circles, but the man's countenance was still skeptical and she didn't think he was ready to believe her yet.
"I haven't poisoned it," he said and grinned slightly.
"I didn't think you had," Vanessa said and accepted the shirt.
She could be suspicious of his motives with clothes on. No need to sit in the cool night air naked if she didn't have to. The shirt was large enough to pass for a dress on her and it smelled of cloves and cinnamon. Not an unpleasant scent, but nowhere near as nice as the chocolate rain Green always smelled like.
"How come Theodore Thrall's brother-in-law is all the way out in Utah?"
"That's a long story," Vanessa said, stalling. She didn't know how much she should tell this man. He seemed friendly enough, but with werewolves that could change in an instant and two of his guys were still watching an unconscious Green over to the side.
"We have time," he said and sat down next to her. "And not much else to do while we wait for Derek and John to bring the phone and we all find out whether you're telling the truth or are an exceptional liar."