Under Her Skin Read online

  All the residents of the town were in the streets. I did a mental head count and came up with forty, maybe fifty people. The 'pack', Daniel called them. My new family.

  I thought I might throw up.

  There was a slight commotion as a dozen people came from the far end of town. I recognized one of them and flinched, but Daniel laid a light hand on my arm.

  Even though he was a virtual stranger, the gesture calmed me. It shouldn't, of course. Daniel was dangerous, but somehow I sensed he'd defend me against the man being led to the middle of the street.

  I'd only glimpsed it right before passing out, but still, I'd know that face. When someone tries to murder you, it makes an impression. Not to mention that Gabriel was the only person here with one eye. His dark brown hair hung in strands around his face, and he was naked. What was it with these people and their lack of clothes?

  Joshua stepped out from the crowd. At least he was still dressed. "Gabriel Thompson, you have been found guilty of infecting a human against their will."

  "It's not the full moon," Gabriel snarled, trying to pull free of the two men who held him. "How do you know she will turn?"

  Joshua looked my way. Daniel grasped my hand and led me forward. I didn't want to get closer to Gabriel, but thankfully, Daniel stopped after a few feet. The blond doctor stepped out of the crowd.

  Gabriel shot me a look of pure hate. Instead of scaring me, it strengthened the momentary wobble I'd had in my knees. I'd never done anything to him, but he'd ruined my life. If anyone had a right to hatred, it was me.

  I put my shoulders back and matched his glare. Daniel gave me an approving nod.

  "Diana," Joshua addressed the blond doctor. It was the first I'd heard her name. "You

  examined Marlee yesterday. What did you find?"

  "Her right ankle was fractured," Diana recounted in a clinical voice. "She had multiple abrasions, contusions, lacerations, and puncture wounds on both her legs, plus a deeper wound on her right arm."

  Joshua swept out a hand to me. "Look at her now."

  I could almost feel the eyes raking over me, taking in my skin revealed by the short sleeved shirt and rolledup pants I was wearing. Both were too big, since they were Daniel's. My own clothes had been bloodied and ripped up in the attack, so they were no good. I didn't ask about what happened to my backpack. Seeing it again would remind me too much of everything I'd lost.

  "She is completely healed. There is the proof," Joshua stated flatly. "Gabriel, your sentence is death."

  Gabriel was released. He looked around in defiance, and I saw some people bow their heads, wiping at their eyes. Was his family here? I wondered. Daniel's was; I could see his mother on the opposite side of the street. How awful for Gabriel's family, even though I still didn't pity him.

  "I die, but the rest of you will follow," Gabriel hissed. "I'm only giving out the same mercy our kind has been shown. I refuse to be ashamed to hunt those who kill us."

  His words had barely died away when a shot rang out. I jumped, sucking in a breath as a gory crimson hole bloomed on Gabriel's chest. His eyes went wide, then he let out two harsh, labored breaths before falling to the ground.

  Somebody sobbed. Joshua's face was grim as he lowered the smoking rifle.

  "We only hunt to eat what we need to survive. We will never be like them," he stated.

  Seeing someone die from a gunshot wound was nothing like in the movies, either. No, it was horrible in ways I couldn't even begin to describe.

  "Never be like whom?" I asked Daniel. My voice was dull from shock.

  He didn't look away from Gabriel's twitching, bleeding form. "Humans."

  * * *

  I didn't stay to watch the five men run the gauntlet. I'd already seen things that would be burned on my memory, no matter how I'd try to forget them. Daniel took me back to his cabin. He made coffee in silence and handed me a cup. It tasted like it was laced with something alcoholic, which I was grateful for.

  Occasionally, I'd hear shouts coming from the direction of the town. The gauntlet was a noisy business, it seemed.

  "Gabriel's wife," I said after the minutes stretched. "Joshua said a member of the pack was upset because his wife had been killed. That was Gabriel, right? Did…did hunters kill his wife?"

  Daniel sat across from me, resting his elbows on the table as he drank from his own cup. The lighting in the kitchen reflected off his hair, making the russet color look richer.

  "Yes."

  "But why hurt me?" I wondered. "I was camping, not hunting wolves!"

  A sigh rumbled out of Daniel. "Gabriel wasn't being logical. Neither were the others with him. The pack has been going through a hard time since the laws were changed."

  "What laws? No one even knows about werewolves; it's not like it's open season on them."

  "Gray wolves were taken off the endangered species list a few months ago," Daniel said, his expression hooded. "The government did it knowing what would happen. Before the ink was dry, scores of wolves were killed. They're trying to eliminate all wolves again. What Gabriel did was wrong, but I know what drove him to it. You can't understand what it's like, having people try to wipe out your very existence."

  His voice was bitter. I set my coffee cup down with a bang.

  "I'm Jewish. Don't tell me I can't understand what that's like."

  After a long moment, Daniel inclined his head. We sat in silence, but oddly, it wasn't tense silence. It was as if we'd come to an unspoken truce.

  "So," I said at last, mythology and reality competing in my mind. "Gabriel's wife was shot while in wolf form. How would the hunters know to use silver bullets? Maybe you've been found out after all."

  A bleak smile cracked his face.

  "The bullets don't have to be silver. No, Marlee, we can be killed in a lot of normal ways. But if the wound isn't mortal, and if it's not exposed to silver, we can usually heal it."

  There was noise from the town again. Something like a cheer. Daniel nodded in its direction. "They must be finished."

  What a strange, harsh society this was. Gauntlets. Executions. Shapeshifting. And me, stuck right in the middle of it.

  "You know that soon, my family will start a search for me," I said. "My parents will notice when I don't come back from vacation, not to mention that my employers will wonder what happened when I don't show up in the next few days."

  He shook his head. "What were you thinking, hiking alone?"

  His tone was so scolding that I stiffened. "I didn't start out alone. My friends came with me, but then Brandy twisted her ankle so she and Tom had to leave. I was going to leave, too, but…"

  I stopped. Finishing that sentence would be too revealing. But I was sick of putting my dreams on hold, waiting for the perfect situation.

  I'd put off so many things thinking I had to have my life set up just perfectly first. It's why I stayed at my job as a paralegal instead of continuing my education to be a lawyer (I wanted to decide on the perfect branch of law to practice before making that leap). It's why I'd waited so long to take this camping trip (I wanted to

  pay my car off before splurging on a vacation). It's also why I hadn't moved to Manhattan with Paul when he'd asked me. No, I'd wanted to be further along in my career before taking my relationship with him to the next level.

  Staring at Brandy's twisted ankle that day, thinking that again I was going to have to put my plans on hold, had been the last straw. I'd decided to hell with waiting. Even if I was doing it alone, I was hiking through Yellowstone like I'd planned.

  And look where that decision got me.

  "You wouldn't understand," was all I said.

  His gaze was steady. "I thought we'd just established that we're both capable of understanding a lot more than the other realizes."

  I let out an impatient sigh. "All right, then how's this? I don't want to tell you. I don't know why I'm even talking to you. You're my kidnapper."

  "Not really." Softly, but the words still resonated. "You'r
e part of the pack now. And as enforcer, I keep the pack safe. Even if it's from themselves."

  This wasn't a conversation I wanted to explore. I yawned, hoping he'd take the hint.

  He did. Daniel pushed his chair back and stretched. "Are you going to give me trouble if I take a shower?"

  I eyed him warily. "I won't throw a radio in with you, if that's what you're talking about."

  He grinned. "Good to know, but I meant, can I trust you not to run away while I'm in the shower? I don't want to have to tie you to a chair, but I also don't feel like chasing after you with soap in my eyes."

  I looked away from his smile, which was charming, sexy, and dangerous all at the same time. It wasn't the dangerous part that unnerved me; it was the other things.

  "I'll stay put." But only because you'd hear me if I didn't.

  Daniel went in the bathroom and I sat on the bed, debating whether to climb under the covers, since the room was chilly. Finally I decided to wait. I'd shower once Daniel was done, then I'd borrow one of his shirts to sleep in again. At least they were long enough that modesty wasn't an issue.

  I cast one longing look at the window and the freedom that lay beyond it, but then sighed. Daniel would chase after me, stark naked and soapy, then he'd probably tie me to a chair after all. The thought of sleeping sitting up while duct-taped didn't appeal to me. No, I'd wait for another chance to escape. One had to come up.

  After about ten minutes, Daniel appeared in the door frame. His hair looked darker wet, and drops of water still beaded his skin. All he had on was a towel slung low on his hips, the white color emphasizing his tan. He ran a hand through his hair, flinging more droplets away. With that simple, muscle-rippling gesture, he made me forget everything for a moment and just stare.

  No wonder he isn't human. No normal person could be this sculpted and gorgeous.

  It occurred to me that I was still staring even though several seconds had ticked away. Look away, stupid! flashed through my mind. So I did, dragging my gaze up his chest to meet his face.

  He wasn't smiling. He wasn't scowling. No, he was just staring at me with such an open hunger that a painful clench grabbed me below the waist. All at once, I wasn't chilled. I was warm, bordering on sweating.

  This is wrong. All wrong. Don't you dare. You need to snap out of this right now.

  "Stockholm syndrome," I whispered. It could only be that. Who in their right mind got turned on by their kidnapper, no matter what he looked like?

  "Or something else." Daniel's voice was equally soft, but it contained an undertone that sent a shiver through me. "Wolves can tell their intended mate by scent, sometimes before they've even sighted them. Once the two meet…things are inevitable from there."

  That wildness was lurking in his eyes again. It made me twist the bed sheets with my fingers.

  "I'm not a wolf."

  Daniel just smiled, dark and sensual and promising.

  "You will be soon."

  Chapter Six

  A tentative knock sounded at the door. "Can I come in?"

  The voice was feminine. I would have said no, but as there was no lock, so what was the point?

  "Fine."

  A girl with auburn hair came in. It took a moment, but then I recognized her from the other night. Daniel's cousin. Damned if I remembered her name.

  "I brought you some clothes," she said. "Hope they fit, but if they don't, you can take them back. The store's right down the street."

  The girl set a couple bags on the bed. I'd barely left this room for two days since the night of the gauntlet. Confusion and uncertainty overwhelmed me. What had started out as a twisted hostage scenario had changed into something more: I could now sense the rain before it started, hear noises from further away than humanly possible, and had recurring dreams about turning into a wolf that had turned from terrifying to

  strangely exhilarating instead.

  No, what had me hiding in my room at the moment was that I was increasingly drawn to Daniel. I craved his scent more than food, followed him with my gaze whenever he entered the room, and had to literally fight with myself not to touch him when he was near. It was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. The worst part was, I was pretty sure Daniel knew what I was going through.

  He'd tried to talk to me for the past two days, but I refused to speak with him. I didn't trust myself. I should be focusing on the fact that I was changing into a monster, and not be secretly fascinated by my new senses, or lusting after the person who held me prisoner. The night of the full moon loomed in front of me like an executioner's axe. Whatever control I had over myself now, I knew it would be gone as soon as that ghostly orb rose in the sky. Some primal, burgeoning part of me was looking forward to that.

  "…thought we could have a soak," the girl was saying. "That always helps me when I'm upset."

  "What?" I hadn't been paying attention to a word she was saying.

  "The hot springs," she repeated. "We have indoor and outdoor ones. I bought you a swimsuit. Anything's got to be better than being cooped up in this room day and night."

  Outside. With just her. I gave her a quick, cagey look. Maybe this was my chance. She was petite, looked about nineteen or twenty, and seemed nice. Let's hope she was gullible, too.

  "Sure. Thanks," I added, smiling. "What's your name again? I'm sorry, I don't remember."

  "Laurel," she said with an answering smile. "Here, I'll leave so you can change."

  "Can we go to whichever spring has the least amount of people? I'm, ah, shy about being in a bathing suit around strangers."

  Growing up spending my summers at Lake Michigan, that was a lie, but she didn't know that. She nodded.

  "Sure."

  I lowered my voice. "He doesn't need to come, does he?" I asked, with a nod toward the rest of the cabin, where Daniel was. "I'm so tired of him shadowing my every move."

  She lowered her voice as well. "I'll talk to him."

  My smile widened. Nice and gullible. My luck was changing.

  * * *

  If circumstances were different, I would have been awed at how beautiful this place was. The cabins were set near the end of the mini-town and spaced well apart for privacy. The mountains loomed majestically around all of it. Forests bridged the bottom of the mountains, adding a more secluded feel, and the steam rising up

  from the rock-bed hot springs looked both soothing and inviting.

  But, sinking into the warm mineral water, I was reminded of my tub at home in my apartment. A stab of longing went through me when I thought about my parents, who I'd meant to call before leaving on my camping trip. My older sister, Leigh. My nephew, who'd just turned one last month. My coworkers, who made the long hours from nine to five pass much more quickly. My best friend Brandy. Her boyfriend Tom, who told me in confidence right before they left that he was going to pop the question. Would I see any of them again?

  I will, I promised myself. I'll get away. I'll…I'll find a doctor to cure me. I just have to get away. No matter what.

  "Feeling better?" Laurel asked. She leaned back, settling her arms around the edge of the rock lip.

  "Yes." And I did. I'd committed myself to a course of action and I'd follow it through. No matter what.

  "I don't know why you'd be embarrassed to be seen in a swimsuit, Marlee," she went on. "You're very pretty. Finn's already interested."

  "Finn?" I asked blankly.

  "My cousin. The guy with the long black hair. You met him the same night you met me."

  Oh yeah. "He looked young," I said neutrally.

  She laughed. "He's forty-two."

  My jaw dropped as I remembered the smooth-skinned, flirty Finn. "Can't be."

  Laurel gave me a slanted look. "There are advantages, you know," she said in a casual tone. "You know how one year equals seven in a dog's life? Well, we have the reverse of that. And you already know we heal a lot faster than normal people. Plus, when we change, we experience the world in ways no one else can. I don't know how any
one would rather be just a human."

  I gaped at her. Just when I thought things couldn't get any stranger.

  "How old are you?" I managed.

  She settled back more comfortably. "Oh, I'm only twenty, but the good news is, I'll look like this for a long time. The age slowing doesn't happen until puberty's over, thank God. Imagine being a teenager for forty years?"

  I couldn't. "And Daniel?"

  "I'll let him tell you how old he is," Laurel replied. She had a little smirk that made me wary.

  "What?"

  "Nothing."

  Like hell. She was obviously itching to say more. I scooted closer, lowering my voice.

  "What?"

  Laurel's smirk widened. "Normally, when someone's exposed to us like you were – which is very rare, by the way – Daniel is the one to bring them in, but he doesn't watch that person the whole time. He's big on privacy. He's never had someone stay at his cabin for four days straight, even a girlfriend. Add his refusal to let Finn visit you and, well…he's acting possessive. Like a wolf with his future mate."

  I was alternating between shocked and triumphant. Daniel, seeing me as a future mate? So it wasn't just me who'd been so affected the past few days!

  But that presented a whole new set of problems. It was one thing when I thought Daniel was just doing his job as the pack's enforcer. Knowing he might be feeling the same thing toward me would decimate the slim hold I had on my control, and I still needed to get away. Not complicate things to a fantastic degree.

  Or, Laurel could be wrong. Daniel could be keeping me close because he knew I hadn't really accepted this as my new life. Either way, I had to take advantage of my chance, which brought me to why I'd agreed to this outing.

  I hunched a little, letting an expression of pain spasm on my face.

  "What's wrong?" Laurel asked.

  "Cramps," I said with another grimace. "I'm getting my period. Could you do me a huge favor? I don't want to embarrass myself by springing a leak while walking back to town. Can you get me some tampons? I'll wait here."