Charity Received (4 page)

As Zeke flipped his phone shut, he glanced over at her. “You just got your wish, kid.

Faith will take over your tables so I can steal your very useful services.” Zeke returned to her side and tweaked her nose. “Put that nose to good work.”

Charity rubbed her hands together eagerly. “Good. Let’s figure out what’s going on.”

As they exited the office, Arak was waiting for them.

“Casanova’s coming?”

“Watch it, Sasquatch,” Arak retorted with a grin.

“I’ll show you a sasquatch,” she mumbled, allowing her right hand to form into a wicked set of claws. But before she could swipe them at the other male, Zeke grabbed hold of her wrist.

“No blood in my baby.”

Charity rolled her eyes, quite aware Zeke was referring to his ’67 Charger. If he could have had sex with that car, he wouldn’t need a female. Actually, Charity wouldn’t be surprised if Zeke had tried. He adored that damn vehicle. More than he did most people.

She noticed Arak was staring at her claws, and Charity made them recede before they reentered the club.

“What?” she asked with a huff, her gaze challenging Arak.

“She’s a female version of you,” he muttered to Zeke before stuffing his hands in his jeans pockets.

Zeke smiled at her. “Cool, isn’t it?”

His comment made her laugh. If only Zeke had been her mate, she might have actually been happy. Unfortunately fate had other plans. And that bitch had it out for her. Seriously.

A surprise awaited them at the scene of the attack—one that for some reason made Zeke livid. Hope. She was standing about eight feet from the body, a sickly green cast to her face.

Charity felt Hope’s relief once she noticed her. “I heard the scream,” she whispered as Charity placed an arm around her shoulders to comfort her. “I expected a demon but…all the blood.” Hope shook her head. “I’ve never…demons just…he was human.”

“Shhh. It’s all right, Hope.” Charity hoped her soothing tone helped to calm her roommate. She understood Hope’s sentiment. Demons just turned to ash when killed. There was little blood, and certainly no body remained. But the carnage didn’t affect her as it did Hope. Animals didn’t view death the same way humans did. It was just another part of life.

“What the fuck are you doing here? You should be tucked safe at home with the rest of the mortals.”

Hope instantly stiffened, her spine straightening at Zeke’s harsh words. Hell, he even had Charity flinching. “What are
you
doing here?” She slid her gaze from him to Charity, then back again. “Together?”

His hard stare roamed over Hope. Snorting, he gave the impression he found her vastly lacking. “Charity can handle herself.”

Charity’s wolf preened at the respect she heard in Zeke’s voice even as annoyance filled her. Now was not the time to be refereeing her roommate and best friend. Not while standing over a dead body. Fixing her attention on Arak, she found him standing back, hands thrust in his pockets, warily watching the pair. Obviously their sniping was nothing new to him.

“She is certainly more mortal than I am,” Hope bit out, sliding out from under Charity’s arm and wrapping her own around her torso.

“Like hell,” Charity mumbled, not the least amused that Hope was drawing her into the middle of their pissing contest. Her wolf was clearly not amused either, wanting to shift and take them both down a peg or two with the sharp edge of her claws.

“You will die. I will not.”

Charity’s wolf rumbled a soft growl before she forced her feet to move away from Hope. If she wasn’t careful, she just might attack her roommate, because her taunt hit a vulnerability Charity refused to acknowledge. Not when she was still a messy, bleeding wreck.

Zeke narrowed his eyes dangerously. “Hurting Charity is beneath you. Go home, Hope.”

Pain radiated from Hope, though her eyes revealed nothing but pure rage. “I hate you,” she spat through clenched teeth.

“Back at you, princess.”

Charity knew of Zeke’s ability to read emotions in people’s auras and wondered why he seemed unable to recognize the lie as easily as she could. “Can we get down to the task at hand, or should I just step back and let you two do more damage to each other?”

Zeke, now amused, fixed his gaze on Charity. “Sasquatch, you can be a real bitch.”

“The bitch was my mother. I’m still in training.”

Arak chuckled, and Zeke cocked a brow at him. “Don’t you have something better to do? Take Hope and keep lookout. We don’t need the human authorities raining down on us until Charity is through.”

Arak held a hand out to Hope, which she took, but not before casting a wounded look at Charity, and Charity got the feeling she had just stepped into the middle of some shit no one had bothered to explain to her. Neither she nor her wolf understood the emotions flying around the alley. Hope had a mate—Kash. She should want no other. Her reaction to Zeke made no sense.

And Zeke. It was more than obvious he felt something for Hope. It wasn’t hate, and it certainly wasn’t friendship. Tearing her gaze from Hope’s retreating figure, she then turned her attention back to the body. She squatted down to examine the wounds, tensing when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

“Charity?”

Charity brushed Zeke’s hand away, more than a little annoyed by the confusion inundating her. “Care to explain to me what that was all about?”

Zeke was silent a moment, and Charity’s wolf bristled, believing he wouldn’t bother to answer at all. “No,” he finally stated roughly.

“Then bite me.”

Paying her words no heed, he closed his fist around her arm and forced her to rise to her feet. The low growl she emitted through her clenched teeth did nothing to dissuade Zeke.

“I don’t want to be used as a tool for whatever dispute you have with Hope and Kash.”

Zeke seemed surprised by her words. “Is that what you think I’m doing?”

“Isn’t it?” Charity felt her hands go to claws and her fangs drop in her mouth. She was losing control again, but Zeke didn’t seem fazed by the near werewolf he held trapped in his hands.

“Whatever is between Hope and me—and I concede there is some unpleasant shit—

it has nothing to do with you. And I have not tried to place you in the middle. As for Kash, I don’t understand what you mean. He is my brother. There is no issue between the two of us.”

Zeke lifted one of her furred hands, his fingertips dancing over the light red hair.

His lack of fear at her near shift calmed the adrenaline coursing through her, and her wolf receded, her hands returning to smooth skin. “I’ll be honest with you. I don’t even understand what it is about Hope that sets me off.” He gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “But I won’t let you get caught in the crossfire. You have offered me your friendship, and I do not repay my friends that way.”

Charity nodded, giving concession to his words, though she still didn’t understand them. And she didn’t like feeling as if she were standing on unsettled ground. “I just expect the courtesy of knowing when I’m stepping on someone’s toes. I don’t poach.”

“I’m not a fish.” At Charity’s soft laughter, he smiled. “Are we okay?”

She drew his hand to her face and rubbed her cheek against his palm. The affectionate act was pure instinct, her wolf needing the reassurance of the pack, and for her wolf, that was Zeke. “Of course. We’ll always be okay.” Charity turned away from him, back to the body lying on the ground. “Christ, I hate all this girlie shit. I feel like I’m back in high school.”

Behind her, Zeke chuckled.

After resuming her position, Charity eyed the wounds that had killed the man. He was large and muscular. The bodybuilder type. Several claw and bite marks could be seen under tattered clothing. But the fatal blow—a swipe across the abdomen—had torn the flesh wide open in four places, leaving the victim’s intestines in plain view.

“It was a frenzied attack. Quick. He had little control. If it had been a vampire, I’d almost say bloodlust. But this was no vampire. Wolf. Male.”

“You are sure?”

Charity nodded. “Unfortunately. If his smell weren’t hard to miss, the markings would have given him away. He’s a big wolf, probably over six-two as a human. Had to be to take down this large a man.”

“What do you mean? You could have taken this human.”

“Not as a wolf, I couldn’t. I’m not big enough.”

“Are you saying not all shifters can do the big hairy Bigfoot thing?”

Charity rolled her eyes. “No. Lucky me, I got the double whammy.” Zeke frowned at her, and she sighed. “Usually only alpha males manage to attain that form. Some betas can too. As far as I’m aware, I’m the only female to have ever acquired the ability. Like I’m not a big enough freak. Made my mother proud.” Zeke opened his mouth to speak, but Charity shook her head. “Later, Zeke. Right now we have a nasty rogue wolf to worry about.”

“Can you track him, Sasquatch?”

“Yeah. The leash and collar are in my truck.”

“I sent Arak back to the club to get it. He’ll take Hope home while you and I are hunting the wolf, then he’ll come back to help us.”

Nodding, Charity began to undress, handing Zeke her clothing as she did so. She didn’t enjoy getting naked in front of males, even ones she cared for as much as she did Zeke. But she had no choice. If she shifted in her clothing, she’d be left with rags.

Free from the black velvet corset and skirt, she breathed a sigh of relief. Her wolf really disliked the restrictive clothing she was forced to wear to work. Charity preferred long, loose skirts that flowed around her ankles and baby-doll tops that allowed her the freedom from a bra. Not that she needed one for her small breasts.

But then, Charity was more self-conscious than most shifters. It came from years of being told she was worthless, a burden upon her mother and her mother’s pack. And before that, from a life she tried desperately never to think about—a life far worse than what she’d endured from age fourteen until her twentieth birthday, when she’d fled the pack, never to return.

* * *

Charity and Zeke had been following the wolf’s trail for better than an hour when a scream pierced the darkness. Hastening her steps, Charity dragged Zeke through a parking lot, her four legs scrambling over the pavement as she prayed they would get there in time to save the victim.

The large brown wolf came into view, and Charity lunged without thought. The leather leash snapped, freeing her to counteract the male’s movements. Back hunched and ready to spring forward, he had a woman trapped between the apartment building and a parked car.

With lips stretched back to reveal razor-sharp canines, Charity reached the wolf just as he moved, his flank butting into her head. He staggered to the side, howling in startled surprise. But it lasted for only a brief moment before he turned to face her.

He lowered his head, teeth gleaming in the moonlight and ears resting flat against his head as he growled menacingly. Returning the aggressive stance, she placed herself between the wolf and the woman and held her ground.

“Damn it, Charity. Get back.” Zeke approached from the side, his ax drawn and ready. Then he glared at the woman and bellowed, “Get the hell out of here. Run.”

She hesitated, then limped off toward the front of the apartment building. And with Charity and Zeke blocking the wolf’s avenues of pursuit, the male turned his attention to Charity with a triumphant look in his eyes. He advanced, preparing to attack, when he stopped short.

“Help me.”
His whispered plea filtered through Charity’s mind.
“I can’t stop him.

Please help me.”

Charity cocked her head to the side in confusion, her wolf trying to understand the other’s distress.
“Stop who?”

“I don’t know.”
He stepped forward, his movements awkward, as if he was fighting for control of his limbs.
“No time. End this, please. Before I kill anyone else.”
Then with a howl that raised Charity’s hackles, he charged. Too confused to ward off the attack, Charity felt his teeth pierce her shoulder, just missing her throat.

Zeke’s curse barely reached her ears, the roar of adrenaline racing through her head as pain lanced through her side. His teeth ripped through her flesh, and she staggered backward. Another howl rent the air, hers or the male’s, Charity wasn’t even certain. Her shoulder burned, and her body automatically shifted to heal the wound.

“God damn you, Charity, I should blister your ass. If you ever do something that stupid again…” Zeke bent to her, draping his coat over her to cover her nakedness.

“Are you okay?”

Charity met Zeke’s stern look. Behind him, the brown wolf lay lifeless upon the ground, Zeke’s ax still embedded in his neck. She nodded slowly, assuring him she was fine.

Zeke grabbed her roughly by the back of the head, his fingers winding in her hair.

“Do not ever hesitate like that again. Do you have a death wish?”

They each stilled as his words sank in. Charity was prepared to die, and they both knew it. Just not yet. “He spoke to me,” she whispered, her gaze falling on the dead wolf, and the confusion of his words filled her again.

“What?”

Charity looked up into Zeke’s startled emerald eyes. “He said he couldn’t stop him.

He begged for death.”

“Who couldn’t he stop?” Zeke barked, desperation lacing his tone.

“He didn’t know. But he did realize he’d killed that man. He was afraid he would hurt someone else.”

“Could he have been lying? Trying to confuse you in the hope of getting away?”

Charity shrugged. “I don’t know.” Wrapping Zeke’s coat tightly around her, she rose to her feet with his assistance. “We’ll need to contact the O’Malley pack. If he is one of theirs, they’ll want his body back. What’s going on, Zeke? Who could gain control of a wolf like that? A warlock?”

“I don’t know, kid.” Zeke handed Charity his phone. “Arak is on his way, and we’ll put the body in the back of your truck. Call the pack. Tell them we’ll bring the body to them.”

Charity nodded as she reluctantly took the cell from Zeke. She hoped the O’Malley pack leader didn’t decide to hold them responsible for this death. She wasn’t exactly trusted among the shifter community and could possibly be more of a hindrance to Zeke than anything else.