Razor (7 page)
“B
eth, I’m getting
ready to close shop.”
Annabeth didn’t look up from the book in front of her, jotting down a quick note on the pad at her side. “Understood, Jess. Let me finish the final two pages in this chapter and I’ll put it back – unless you can bend the rules and
let
me borrow it?”
“Love you Beth, but no.” Jess looked up from the cart that held the final books she was putting away. “Joanne would throttle me if she discovered a book missing on my watch.”
Beth giggled at the mental picture, because it was easy to picture the bespectacled eighty-year-old jumping over the library desk and grabbing the other woman by the throat if an old and valuable book went missing. Beth’s hand went up to straighten her own glasses. “I believe that.”
“You should since I’m not exaggerating.” Jess put the last book away and came out from the library stacks. “That woman is scary if you mess with a first edition.”
“Got it.” One last note, and that book as well as the others scattered on the table in front of Beth were put away in short order. In ten minutes all was well enough for the women to lock up and head out the door.
“Mike picking you up tonight?” Beth asked as they began to walk down the empty sidewalk. This late at night all the shops were closed, and both women pulled their coats closer at the sudden whip of wind that passed through the streets.
“No, they changed his hours. He’ll be working til midnight for awhile.”
“Anything moving on that front?”
Jess’s lips tightened and turned down. “No, and to be honest, I’m thinking I don’t want it to. I’ve been with the guy since I was fourteen, and these last couple months, I don’t know. He never wants to do anything. He only wants to play video games or go out with his friends when he isn’t working. He only shows me affection if he wants sex and that’s just sometimes, and he gets an attitude if I don’t go along with him.”
They reached the corner and a covered bus stop. It was lit enough, but between the darkness surrounding them, the lack of anyone else, and the fact they were now at the intersection where the buildings stopped and the road ahead for the next couple miles was bracketed by woods on both sides, well, the atmosphere was a little creepy.
“Have you tried talking to him?”
Jess nodded, looking down the street where the bus would head their way. “Yeah, and he nods at the appropriate places, but nothing ever changes.” Jess shrugged, then paused and turned her attention to Beth. Her eyes were sad, her brows furrowed, and unhappiness clung to her like an oversized cloak. “When I met Mike, I thought he was the one. I dreamed I’d be telling my grandchildren one day how I never loved anyone but their granddad, and how I was lucky to find my soul mate from the jump.”
A car rumbled up the street, and both women turned to the sound, verifying this wasn’t their ride before Beth prompted, “What do you think now?”
“Now? Now I think I’m scared of letting go of that dream. I’m scared of starting over. I’m comfortable and have a routine and I don’t want to lose it.”
Beth nudged Jess’s arm with her elbow. “You’re twenty-five. You’re not supposed to have a routine.”
Jess gave a small laugh. “Maybe not.”
The long, low growl had every muscle in Beth’s body freezing in elemental dread.
Noooo…..
Jess looked around, alert and edgy but not near as scared as she should be. “Did you hear that?”
Her sister protected her and she never had to go out on a hunt, but the sound of a werewolf on the prowl was familiar in a way that had her heart speeding in her chest, muscles spiking adrenaline to prepare to run.
Beth grabbed Jess’s arm. “We have to go. That’s a wild animal. We need to get back inside the library and lock the doors.”
Dammit!
She knew better than to let her cell battery die, but she’d been careless.
Jess looked at her wearily. “It’s probably just a dog roaming. I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
Beth had no time to try to persuade her as three large wolves jumped from the woods and sped towards them, growls loud and long and teeth snapping at the two women.
Jess screamed, and Beth grabbed her arm and held tight as she turned and ran back towards the buildings. She needed to get behind them, to the network of streets that made the alleyways. Back there might be something she could use for a trap. She had a Taser, but that wouldn’t hold against three wolves, and she had to get Jess away from the fight. Jess might be able to hide somewhere in the alleyways. If they ran straight down the sidewalk, the wolves would overtake them too easily.
They ducked behind the first building, the stench of garbage activating Beth’s gag reflex, but good. With the wolves it would be magnified, and they’d have an easier time getting away.
Here. There was a pile of crates, several garbage dumps, and most importantly, discarded building materials where the nails and wood with sharp pointed edges were visible even in the pale light.
Beth turned and took Jess by the shoulders. Jess was wide-eyed, a fine tremor running through her body, but she was keeping her head and not making a sound. “Jess, get back to the library. Lock yourself in and don’t come out unless I come and get you or until tomorrow morning.”
The words shook Jess out of her haze. “I can’t leave you.”
“They’re after me, no,” and Beth looked back when the sound of nails on wood hit came across the alleyway. “Just go.” And Beth pushed her.
Jess turned and ran.
Quickly, Beth tossed the wood with the embedded nails in the path right in front of her, covering it with leaves and any other debris she could find. Then, Taser in hand and a length of pipe laying at her side, she waited.
Jess had never
run faster in her life, not even when she was running a track meet. There was a gun in the library office, and since her daddy was a deer hunter and had begun teaching her to shoot when she was nine, she had no fear of guns. She needed to grab it and get back to Beth.
This was…she didn’t know what this was. All she knew was whatever was going down, Beth had reacted like she had been prepared for something to come after her, like she’d been expecting something bad.
She hadn’t wanted to leave Beth, but there hadn’t been time to talk, and without knowing what was going on and nothing else to use as a weapon, the gun was her best bet to protect Beth.
So Jess ran…
And a hand came from the side of a building and grabbed her.
The End
Peoples! Thanks for reading
Razor
, the fifth story of the
Blue Collar Wolves
pack and my contribution to
The Mating Season
collection. I hope you enjoyed!
Let me share a not-so-secret secret with you – Reviews are the BEST WAY for readers to discover authors. As a new, small-time author, I am very dependent on reviews, but I’m also aware the time spent writing a review could be spent in more enjoyable ways.
So, to show my gratitude, if you leave a review for me anywhere and email me at
[email protected]
with the link to it, I will gift you the next story in the Blue Collar Wolves –
Tank
.
Current Order for BLUE COLLAR WOLVES
If you want to know as soon as a book is released, please sign up for my
Newsletter
! :)
And if you want to keep up on all the Mating Season fun, please Join our
MATING SEASON FACEBOOK GROUP
!
Ronin Winter’s Newsletter List Sign-Up!!!
The Mating Season
The mating moon is rising…
Books Currently Released (In Order):
1.
Temptation (Grey Wolves Rising #1)
2.
Brindle (Winter Valley Wolves #1)
3.
Hero (Wolves of Angels Rest #1)
4.
Jace (Wolves of the Rising Sun #1)
5.
Iron (Blue Collar Wolves #1)
6.
Wild (Devils Point Wolves #1)
7.
Obsession (Grey Wolves Rising #2)
8.
Bosun (Winter Valley Wolves #2)
9.
Joker (Wolves of Angels Rest #2)
10.
Aiden (Wolves of the Rising Sun #2)
11.
Brick House (Blue Collar Wolves #2)
12.
Wicked (Devils Point Wolves #2)
13.
Salvation (Grey Wolves Rising #3)
14.
Berch (Winter Valley Wolves #3)
15.
Rogue (Wolves of Angels Rest #3)
16.
Luc (Wolves of the Rising Sun #3)
17.
Steel (Blue Collar Wolves #3)
18.
Wanted (Devils Point Wolves #3)
19.
Chosen (Winter Valley Wolves #4)
20.
Forbidden (Grey Wolves Rising #4)
21.
Warrior (Wolves of Angels Rest #4)
22.
Bella’s Tease (Blue Collar Wolves #4)
23.
Lost Wolf (Wolves of Angels Rest #5)
24.
Ergan (Winter Valley Wolves #5)
25.
Craved (Wolves of the Rising Sun #4)
26.
Feral (Devils Point Wolves #4)
27.
Ghost Wolf (Wolves of Angels Rest #6)
28.
Ekton (Winter Valley Wolves #6)
29.
Razor (Blue Collar Wolves #5)
Want to join fellow Shifter Romance Fans?
FACEBOOK FAN GROUP FOR THE MATING SEASON!
Ronin Winters is the pseudonym/alternate name for writer
Danielle Monsch
(That wild and crazy gal!!!…. well no, not really, but it’s nice to pretend as her kids wipe their noses on her shirt yet again).
Ronin writes different stories than Danielle does, however both Ronin and Danielle write on the fantasy/paranormal side of things. If you enjoy Ronin, there is a pretty good chance you’ll enjoy Danielle, and vice-versa of course – so please check out Danielle at her
Website
.
Ronin has her own
Mailing List
(meaning if you sign-up for Ronin’s
Newsletter
, you’ll only receive news of Ronin’s releases.). However, since Ronin/Danielle can’t be arsed to create two different social media identities, and if you don’t care what the chick who wrote this story is called, you just want to follow on social media, please catch me (
er…her
) as Danielle Monsch on
Facebook
,
Twitter
,
Instagram
,
Tumblr
, and
Pinterest
. Also, both names have the same email –
[email protected]
.