An Everlasting Bite (12 page)

He was doing it because he didn’t want to see her struggle anymore.

He leaned over the side of the bed, grabbing his jeans, and reached into the back pocket. “Take it, love.” He held out the same credit card to her that he’d tried to give her before.

Her gaze locked on his, her tears returned. For the first time, she wasn’t alone. She didn’t need to push and push to get through life, scrounge for money or eat hot dogs and macaroni and cheese just to survive. She didn’t need to wear herself out working long hours.

Knowing it was right, she wiped away the tears and took the card from him because she could see what it meant to him. He was taking care of her because he knew she deserved it. It was his gift to her.

He let out a relieved breath, kissed her softly. “There now, love, I feel as though I am giving you as much as you have given me.”

“Briggs, this is way too expensive,” Rynn snapped, reading the price tag on a shirt.

Briggs had suggested a shopping trip instead of sitting around at home with Nera.

Rynn didn’t object, it was nice to get out. Of course, once she knew where they were going she was less than thrilled. She looked up, glanced around at the upscale woman’s clothing store. A store she walked by hundreds of times, but never dared to go in. She couldn’t have afforded a sock.

“Would you stop looking at the tags!” Briggs grabbed the shirt from her hands, gave his head a shake, and pushed her into the dressing room. “Try it on.”

She sighed, annoyed, but did as he asked and closed the curtain.

“You would think,” Briggs remarked. “Shopping would be fun.”

“Not at this store it’s not.” She pulled the shirt over her head. “The cost of this shirt could feed a starving village.”

Briggs threw a pair of skinny jeans over the top of the curtain rail. “Get used to it, love.” His footsteps moved away. She poked her head around the curtain to see him looking at a pair of boots. He scooped them up and started back to her. She quickly shut the curtain and proceeded to step into the jeans. Just as she zipped them up, Briggs tossed her the boots under the curtain. “Try these too.”

Her gaze stayed far away from the price tag on these spectacular leather-heeled boots. Instead, she unzipped them and put them on. She couldn’t argue it wasn’t nice to have expensive clothes. Her apparel came from secondhand stores. Nice enough—just used.

After a final glanced in the mirror, she pushed the curtain back. Briggs sat in a chair a few feet away. She stepped out and did a little spin. “So…”

Briggs gave a firm nod of approval. “Better.” Then, he stood, came toward her and gave her a little shove back into the middle of the store. “Now, go get more.”

She sighed deeply.

By the end of it, she had her dream wardrobe. The cash register would be stuffed fill, and the sales lady looked all too happy with the commission she was about to make.

Rynn didn’t feel as excited. She took the credit card from her pocket and held it out to him. “Will you go pay?”

He laughed. “What’s the problem, love?”

She leaned in closer to him and whispered, “I don’t want to hear the total.”

He seemed to enjoy this. Her, not so much. He ignored the card she held out to him and went to the counter. The sales lady began to ring in the clothes. The little beeps continued for way too long.

Rynn ventured over to the bay window in an attempt to ignore the sound of money diminishing. She’d think spending this much money would feel good, considering she’d never experienced this before, but she just wasn’t used to it. It felt like stealing.

“Ready?” Briggs’ voice snapped her out of her thoughts. Rynn spun around from the window to see him standing with an obscene amount of bags.

“Yeah, I’m ready.” Then, she whispered. “Was it bad?”

“No.” Briggs laughed. She reached forward to take a couple of the bags from his hands. He gave her a chastised look and stepped back out of reach. “Rynn, I have money.

Spending a few thousand on you doesn’t break the bank account.”

”What?” she gasped, eyes wide. “A few thousand?”

He grinned, leaned in and kissed her lips. “Mere pennies.”

She snorted, accepting his kiss nonetheless. “Pennies, right.” Briggs stepped past her and opened the front door. She followed and remembered her manners. “Thanks for the new stuff.”

Briggs closed the door behind her and the bell chimed. “No need to thank me, love.”

He gave her a sweet smile. “You deserve to look beautiful and have nice things.”

He was so generous with the compliments. Instead of blushing, she returned the smile then changed the subject. “Do you think Valor has found out anything about who might have hired those guys?”

“He would have called if he did. Not to worry, he’ll let us know if anything comes up.” He sniffed the air. “You smell hungry?”

She laughed and sniffed the air as well. Being a wolf came with a sensitive scent, obviously, it was even deeper in wolf form. While human, it was still stronger than she’d once known. For her, it was growing, probably because she was becoming more accustomed to this life. After a deep inhale, all she could smell was Briggs’ spicy scent.

“What does hungry smell like?”

“Like hungry,” he said, simply.

She shook her head at him. What a blasé answer. “That explains it well.”

“I wouldn’t know how to explain it. You’ll learn all the scents soon.” He gave a wink. “You just have to discover them.”

She inhaled deeply, this time smelling dirty city. Sweat, dirt, grime—nothing good.

The longer they walked and the more she inhaled, a familiar scent came through. She couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but it was definitely a smell she knew. Only one sure way to find out. She grabbed Briggs’ arm and pulled. “Come this way.”

He gave her a curious look, but didn’t say a word. He followed her as she turned down an alley. The scent grew stronger, but she still couldn’t place it. Everything around her just smelled putrid, but there was that one scent through it all that grabbed her.

Something familiar.

Then, she saw why. Resting beside a garbage dumpster surrounded by blankets and filth sat her parents. Every emotion possible hurried through her—horror, embarrassment, shame, disgust. It was all present in her soul.

“What’s the problem, love?” Briggs examined her.

“I…” she hesitated, took a deep gulp in an attempt to pull herself back together.

Then, her mother looked up at her with wildly high eyes and she couldn’t find any words.

She wondered if her mother even recognized her. It’d been many years since she had seen either of her parents.

“What do you want?” her mother snapped.

Rynn glanced at Briggs who still watched her, flickers of intrigue filtered through their bond. He looked back at the woman, if only for a moment. When his gaze met Rynn’s again it filled with understanding.

He leaned in closer. “Are those your parents?”

Her mouth parted to confirm his words, but all that came out was a squeak. Giving up, she nodded. Her parents, Warwick and Tarina Murphy.

Briggs’ eyes narrowed. “Right then.” He dropped the bags in his hands and strode toward them.

“Wait, Briggs…no,” Rynn gasped.

In seconds, he had Warwick and Tarina by their shirts and pushed up against the wall. “Look at you,” he spat. “Disgusting.”

“Get your fucking hands off me,” Warwick roared, swinging his arms and legs around. Briggs held him firmly in place.

Rynn hardly recognized her father. He looked so old. His dark hair was long with gray streaking it—his features almost unrecognizable behind all the dirt.

Briggs nodded toward Rynn. “Do you know who that is?”

Warwick gave Rynn a quick glance, then glared toward Briggs. “No. Who the fuck are you? What do you want? We have nothing.”

“You had everything and yet, you chose this life.” Briggs pinned him with a hard look.

Within the men’s sharp exchanges, a soft voice came through. “Rynn?” Her silver eyes were just like Rynn’s and her brown hair was probably the same soft shade, if it wasn’t covered in dirt. “Rynn, is that you?”

Rynn somehow found her voice. “Yes…it’s me.”

Both their faces paled and shock widened their eyes. Briggs released them and stood before them with no misunderstanding that these two people were not on his happy list.

Everyone stood, shocked. No one seemed to have anything to say. Briggs cleared the silence, his voice a low deep growl. “Do you know what you put her through?”

“Briggs, you don’t…” Rynn began. His gaze snapped to hers and pinned her with a fierce expression she’d never seen come from him. Instantly, she shut her mouth.

He turned that powerful expression back onto her parents. “Answer me.”

“I’m sorry,” Tarina said and began to cry.

Briggs growled again, deeper this time. “Those tears will get you nowhere, woman.”

Rynn could not only sense Briggs’ tension, but she could see it ripple off him in waves. But she couldn’t move, unable to say anything.

Briggs finally swore, reached into his pocket and grabbed out his cell phone. He pointed to her parents. “Move and you will regret it.”

They didn’t and neither did Rynn. This wasn’t at all what she was expecting to find here. When she followed the familiar scent, she never in a million years thought her parents would be at the end of her search. Had she known, she wasn’t sure if she would have come here to see this.

Briggs sauntered off, pacing, while his angered and narrowed eyes stayed glued on her parents. He had a short conversation, then ended the call, and placed the phone back into his pocket. When he approached again, his tension hadn’t subsided. Still, no one said anything. Her parents watched her and Rynn stared back.

What could be said? She missed them, hated them—either of those felt right.

Suddenly, tires screeched and she glanced behind her to see Dante stepping out of the SUV. Horror swept through her. She turned back to Briggs. “You can’t hurt them.”

Briggs looked at her in the most ridiculous way. “Do you think I would hurt them with you here to witness it, love?”

She shrugged. It was an obvious assumption. What else could she expect from these creatures of the moon? She’d seen them kill without any remorse. But this was Briggs, he wouldn’t do anything to harm her or her parents. Even if his eyes suggested he wished he could do just that.

Dante joined them, gave her parents an once-over and grimaced. “These are your parents?” he asked Rynn.

She nodded, horrified. These people produced her and they belonged in the sewer.

Shame and embarrassment heated her blood.

“Wouldn’t have thought that.” Dante patted her shoulder, gave a kind smile. “You’ve done well, girl.” He looked back to her parents. “To come from this and be who you are,”

He rubbed her back. “You’ve done very well.”

She smiled at his attempt to make her feel better. It didn’t really work. She could melt away from existence and never come back. It was one thing to know what her parents were, but quite another to have friends witness just how bad it really was.

Briggs approached Warwick and gave a commanding nod. “Arms out, wanker.”

When Warwick didn’t comply, Briggs continued, “Either you put them out or I will make you.” He arched a brow. “Your choice.”

“Are you arresting us?” Tarina cried.

Her tears had no effect on Rynn. How many tears had she cried over these two?

Thousands. Nope, she wasn’t about to give them sympathy.

Dante left Rynn’s side and stepped toward Tarina. “You deserve worse than that. Get your arms up.”

Immediately, Tarina complied and Warwick followed.

After a search, Briggs and Dante discovered heroin in her father’s pocket, wrapped in tinfoil. Rynn almost vomited. That was all they had on them. Their only possession was drugs. They were worse than ever. At least the last she knew, which was sometime around her sixth birthday, they still had an apartment. Pops wouldn’t allow her to see them after that. She now knew first-hand, exactly what her grandfather wanted to protect her from.

Briggs opened the little foil package and began to sprinkle it on the ground.

“No,” Tarina and Warwick screamed in unison and dropped to the ground to run their hands along the dirty pavement.

Rynn turned away, afraid they’d start licking the ground—they were that pathetic.

Briggs and Dante pulled them to their feet and dragged them to the SUV.

“Where are you taking us?” Warwick shouted.

“You don’t get to ask questions.” Briggs opened the car door. “Get in, sit the hell down, and do not speak another word.” Briggs climbed in beside them, and Rynn took a seat in the front next to Dante.

The ride was a quiet one. No one said a word, and she still hadn’t figured out where they were headed. It took everything in her not to turn around hearing her mother’s sobs.

She wouldn’t feel bad for her. Rynn stared at her hands the entire drive.

When the car finally stopped, she raised her head to see a sign,
On Belay House
. The simple brown brick building with flowers decorating the front was a building Rynn had seen before. A drug rehab.

Briggs opened the door, jumped out and held it open for them. “Get out.” Her parents did as he asked, but both cried. Rynn joined them outside to see Briggs had them pushed up against the car, held both the shirts fisted in his hands. “You’re going to go in there and clean yourselves up.”

Warwick glanced at Rynn. The pain and agony in his eyes was far worse than she remembered. As strong as she was trying to be, it just wouldn’t hold. Before she knew it, she was weakening.

At the same moment, Briggs slammed her father hard against the SUV. “I should beat the pain on your face right off. Do you know the pain you have caused her? Is there anything about you that is unselfish? Can you see the pain in her eyes?”