Chapter Four

Emily gripped with her knees and buried one hand deep into the thick pelt to keep herself from falling off. Her other hand was clamped around Amber's ever-changing waist in a desperate effort to keep her upright so Emily could use her body as a brace. It was sort of like the world's most dangerous juggling act, with the threat of certain death if any of her body parts gave out too soon. 

Her thighs began to shake with the effort of holding on, but the sound of howls closing in as the wolves gave chase seemed to lend her exhausted muscles the strength she needed.  

When the massive wolf came to a sudden halt, she nearly flipped over his head. She was only saved by the appearance of strong hands on her waist. She jerked away in surprise and turned to find the blond man standing beside her, a man again.

With reluctance and a wary look, she allowed him to pull Amber down. It was only when she saw him move toward it that she realized they were standing right beside a gray car. It was nothing impressive, just a plain sedan, but right then it looked like a haven to her.  

"Come on," the man ordered, stuffing Amber into the backseat and following her in.

Emily had no idea how close the wolves chasing them were, and she had no intention of waiting around to find out. She swung her leg over the wolf's head and slid to the ground.

The force of her landing brought her to her hands and knees in the mud, but she was scrambling toward the car even before she had fully settled onto her feet.

She jerked the passenger door open at almost the exact same time the dark-haired man opened the driver's door. With a start, she looked back to where the wolf had just been standing a moment ago. 

Of course, it was gone.

She knew it would be, since the man on the other side of the car was the wolf, but she couldn't imagine how he'd gotten back into human form, fully dressed, and around to the driver's side in the time it took her to stand up.

"Get in," he commanded with his rich baritone voice, following his own advice.

She didn't need to be told again. Even though she had a weird feeling she was sealing her own fate, she leapt in and slammed the door firmly as the engine fired to life.

"Hold on," the dark-haired man advised, just as the car began speeding in reverse, mud and rocks flying as it spun back onto a dark road.

Through her window, she watched the pack break through the corn right behind them. She swallowed hard. One of the wolves were close enough she could have reached out and touched it if she wanted.

She did not.

She was slammed back against her seat as the car shifted into drive, and the distance between them and their pursuers began to grow rapidly. In the matter of a few seconds, the wolves were no longer visible. They were left far enough behind to be nothing more than an unpleasant memory.

Still, Emily stared through the window at the darkness in silence, afraid to believe it was actually over.

"I'm William," the dark-haired man said, breaking into her musing and reminding her she hadn't escaped all the monsters yet.

She turned toward him slowly, and noticed his arm that was nearest to her had scars that ran from his wrist all the way up his arm until they disappeared under his sleeve. They were too numerous to count and created a strange criss-cross pattern across the muscles and skin.

"That's Paoli," William said, inclining his head toward the backseat.

"I'm Emily," she heard herself say in a voice that was shocky and hollow. She cleared her throat nervously before continuing. "That's my twin sister, Amber." It was her turn to motion her head toward the backseat.

"Well, that could not have gone more differently than I expected," Paoli suddenly piped up. "Can you please explain what the hell happened back there?" He scooted forward and perched both arms on the seats in front of him, his head right between the front passengers.

Emily shrank back against her door to keep as much space between herself and Paoli as possible. She had a strong suspicion she knew what he was, and wanted him nowhere near her neck.

With a quick glance at her, William answered the question. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Paoli repeated, his voice incredulous. "I've never seen you so out of control in an execution. You barreled into that house without paying any attention to what you were getting into-getting us into."

"I am well aware," William said in a tone that clearly meant 'drop it.'

Paoli watched William for a moment. Then his irritation disappeared, and a much more concerning look sparkled in his eyes.

Mischief.

Abruptly, Paoli's attention turned to Emily and he gave her a boyish smile. “You said you were twins?" he asked in a voice that was too innocent to be believable.

"Yes," Emily said. "Fraternal, not identical. Obviously."

“Delightful. Now that we're all acquainted, could you look at my eyes for a second and tell me what you see?" Paoli asked, leaning toward her.

"No!" William cried, but it was too late.

The instant Emily looked into the depths of Paoli's gaze, she was lost. Her eyes glazed over and her posture went relaxed.

Paoli waved his hand in front of her face and got no reaction. "I just love that," he said with a chuckle, turning to face William. "It's the simple things that make life worth living, don't you think?"

"I think you better release her before I help you shuffle off your immortal coil," William said, surprising himself with the fierceness of his own reaction. Paoli hadn't harmed her, he knew. But for some reason, her being under the power of someone else triggered the rage in his wolf.

Paoli gave a surprised smile to his would-be attacker. "Oh, relax," he said, rolling his eyes. "It's not like I'm going to make her cluck like a chicken or anything. You know I don't like to treat humans like meat puppets."

"Then release her," William demanded.

"After we talk," Paoli agreed, ignoring William's dark tone. "What's the deal with this woman?"

William looked at Paoli, then away. Silence stretched out while he considered the question. The truth was, he couldn't explain it. It wasn't something he knew how to put into words. It was more about feelings and instincts than logic.

He glanced toward Emily and looked at her, long and hard. There was no denying she was beautiful. But he'd known many beautiful women in his long life.

This was different.

More.

It wasn't about sex. He hesitated, his gaze drifting over the curve of her throat to the outline of her full breasts, straining against the material of her shirt. Her creamy skin looked satin-soft. He turned his attention back to the road and cleared his suddenly dry throat.

Well, he couldn't deny he wanted her in that way, too. But it was more than that.

"I just need-" he shook his head, unable to find the words. "I don't know."

Paoli looked at him with a frown. "You've never had a human in your company for anything good. Tell me you didn't bring her for a midnight snack."

"I don't know why I brought her," William said defensively. Except that he couldn't have left her if he'd wanted to.

"If you just risked both our lives because you're feeling peckish, I'm going to knock you in the head. I won't sit back and watch you kill an innocent woman. Humans have value, remember?" Paoli demanded, and what promised to be a full-blown rage began to gather steam.

The very idea of her death left William with a cold knot in his stomach. "I'm not going to hurt her," he said with certainty.

"Are you serious?" Paoli's tone was clearly skeptical. "You aren't exactly known for your control when it comes to humans. I hate to point out your history, but your record isn’t exactly good."

William couldn't argue with that. "This one's different."

"Why?" Paoli asked doggedly, watching him as if trying to ferret out something he wasn't saying.

"I don't know," William said in exasperation. Leave it to Paoli to never stop asking questions.

"You better figure it out, and fast. We've now stolen a woman from a pack of werewolves and kidnapped a woman we were supposed to execute. This is getting messy in a hurry. When the Coven finds out-" he shook his head. "I don't even want to think about it. Maybe we should just finish the job we were ordered to do. Then you can figure out what the deal is with the other one."

He pointed to the woman in the backseat. "I mean, look at her."

Instead, William looked past Paoli to Emily. He considered Paoli's suggestion, and quickly discarded it. If she woke from the trance to learn they'd killed her sister, she'd be crushed. She'd never forgive him.

"No," he said firmly.

Paoli gave a deep, frustrated groan and threw himself back against his seat. "All right, but if it comes down to her or me, I'll kill her myself," he warned. "It'd be doing her a favor, if you ask me."

"It won't come to that," William promised.

"It must be nice to be so sure," Paoli said, his voice dripping in sarcasm. "This is the Coven we're talking about, remember? The immortal government. The ones who own us. They aren’t going to be forgiving about their orders being ignored."

Having his own concerns voiced aloud made William's temper flare. "You think I don't know that?" he demanded impatiently. "You just have to find something to stop the shift. Then we might be able to get the sentence rescinded."

Paoli slid forward so that his head was level with William's again and stared at him, mouth open. "That’s a big maybe," he said. "And what do you mean I have to find something?"

It was William's turn for a frustrated groan. "You have a ton of herbs in your damn fortune telling shop-"

"New-aged bookstore, thank you," Paoli corrected matter-of-factly.

"Fine," William conceded irritably. "New-aged bookstore." He looked at Paoli pointedly. "There must be something in there that can help."

Paoli was quiet for a minute. "I hadn't thought about that," he admitted. "And I'm not saying it's a bad idea." His voice was thoughtful, his brow furrowed in a look of consideration. "I have books on every herb and healing plant. It's possible there might be something in there. But even if we stop the shift," he paused and looked at William. "And that's a big if, mind you," he said, before he gestured to the woman in question. "She's still marked for death, and we still failed to follow an order."

Paoli was right. As much as he hated to admit it, the Coven didn't tend to take individual situations into consideration. Even if they managed the impossible and found a way to reverse the change, there was no guarantee the Coven would care. An order had been given. The Coven tended to see in black and white.

"Then we can take her to the Coven and ask them to reconsider," William said. It was the only chance they had.

"Are you serious?" Paoli gasped. "You want to walk right into the belly of the beast? You know how they feel about you."

William did know how the Coven felt about him. But there was no other way. "It's been centuries," he said, remembering the last time he went before the Coven. It had been after a human kill he wasn't exactly discreet about. "But we have to try." He glanced at Emily again, unable to stop himself.

Paoli followed his gaze and gave a loud huff. "You've been near this woman for half an hour and you're ready to risk the wrath of the Coven for her? What if she's bait for some trap?"

"I don't think so," William said confidently. His wolf would have smelled a trap.

"Well, let's wake her up and ask her," Paoli returned haughtily. 

"Let me do the talking," William ordered.

Paoli made a rude noise, flipped him the bird, then snapped his fingers and waved his hand in front of Emily's eyes, breaking the hypnosis.

Most people came around drowsy and disoriented. She surprised them both.