Chapter 1

The gruff lyrics of Marilyn Manson’s rendition of Tainted Love thrummed through Dannie as she swung around the pole. She twisted her body, letting it slide along the length of the metal bar in time with the music. It was only in these moments did she ever feel truly alive and at peace with herself. It made up for all the other crap she had to deal with.

Climbing up to the top of the pole, Dannie slowly spun her way down as the song came to an end. She gathered the bills on the stage, giving a few of the men near the stage a wink or blew them a kiss before going backstage. Tiredness pulled at her as she went to the locker room for a quick shower before heading home. It had been a long night, and the emotional pull of the customers had drained her more than she would’ve liked. Sometimes being an empath sucked.

Dannie washed off the sweat of the evening then finger-combed her damp, dark hair back into a ponytail. She tried hard to ignore the woman giving her an expectant look. “I thought I already said no thank you,” Dannie told her, unable to ignore her any longer.

The curvy woman crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at Dannie. Kandrea looked so much like an angry puppy it took all Dannie had to not make an “aww” sound. She had that cute look down pat.

“Alright, look,” Kandrea said finally. “We all get it. You’re a badass, but you don’t have to be a bitch about it. Come, get a drink with me, and spend a few minutes gossiping about our boyfriends or something. You’re always alone and that’s not good.”

Dannie picked up her small, black duffle and slung the strap over her shoulder. Her? Badass? Clearly, she had never met Dannie’s twin, Cass. Now Cass was a badass. “I don’t want to have a drink with you, “Dannie told her. “I don’t have a boyfriend, and I like being alone. If that makes me a bitch then well I’m a bitch. End of the conversation.” Dannie brushed past her and out of the dressing room. Thankfully, Kandrea didn’t follow her out of Mama Bea’s Gentleman’s club. Run by Beatrice Coleman, it was Dannie’s favorite place to dance. The clientele was respectful, usually, and generous with their money.

Pushing open the gray, metal door, she stepped out into the back parking lot. The night air was thick with humidity. The damp of the afternoon’s thunderstorms refused to go even though the storm had long passed. It made the temperature a bit chillier than it should’ve been. She rubbed her bare arms as she walked to her car, but stopped halfway, realizing three guys were rummaging through it. “Hey,” she shouted, quickening her pace to them. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

All of them were good ole boy rednecks by the look of them. They jumped in surprise until they saw her. They elbowed each other, snickering and mumbling softly. They didn’t see Dannie as a threat obviously. “Put whatever the hell you took out of my car back. If you broke something you better be leaving a credit card so I can replace it, and get out of here. Do that, and I’ll forget I ever saw you,” she told them.

“Oh, how about you come over here on your knees and I’ll forget about your stupid car,” one of them said, he looked maybe nineteen at best. The others snickered.

“Yeah, I bet you’re a much better ride,” said another, this one looked a good hundred pounds overweight.

Their emotions, mostly lust and anger, grated on Dannie’s skin and filled her mouth with bitter bile. “If you don’t crush me first, Meatball?” she snapped back. The meatball in question called her a slut a few times while his ‘friends’ jeered and howled. “Look, this is my last warning,” she said with a shrug.

“What are you going to do?” the third asked with a scoff. This one was older, thinner, and looked like he was supporting at least one drug habit.

“This.” Dannie took in their emotions, recognizing their specific energy waves. She changed the lust and anger to fear before sending them back to creeps. Their jeering expressions fell as they paled. By the smell, she was sure one of them may have wet himself.

“Wh-wha-what are you doing?” Meatball demanded, pressing himself against the car, moving along the side to get away from her. The others were following him, stumbling over each other in their attempts to put distance between themselves and her.

“The same you wanted to do to me,” Dannie said, taking a step, and continued to push fear into them. It was time these pigs got a dose of their own shit. Maybe next time they would think twice before messing with some woman just trying to get on with her day.

All three took off running, falling over themselves and each other. Dannie shook her head with an eye roll. “Assholes,” she muttered and started to walk to her car when the sound of someone clapping echoed through the parking lot. Turning quickly, Dannie saw a tall man walk out of the shadows like a bad dream. He was lean and his face was all sharp angles and sunken cheeks. His hair and beard, black-streaked with gray, was scruffy. He would’ve looked homeless if it wasn’t for the suit he wore. Dannie took a step back, something about him made her blood turn to ice.

“I guess the saying is true. Want something done right, you have to do it yourself,” he said and started to reach into her car.

“Stop,” Dannie demanded, trying to push fear into him like she had the others, but nothing happened. Maybe she was too worn out. She grabbed his arm to stop him, but he pulled free and shoved her back. The man was a lot stronger than he looked. Dannie’s arms flailed as she lost her balance and fell on her backside.

“You of all people should know the golden rule - no touching,” he said and straightening his suit and reached into her car. Dannie’s breath caught when he pulled out the small black leather zip case. The man smiled as he looked down at her. He started to say something when a shot echoed through the parking lot.

Dannie turned to look over to the club. The all too sweet Kandrea lowered what she could only guess was a semi-automatic pistol. She stood, legs shoulder-width apart, the gun held with both her hands. Kandrea lifted it to aim at the man. “That was a warning shot,” she told him. “The next one won’t be and in case you’re wondering I have over a hundred hours in the shooting range and won second place for my accuracy.”

The man narrowed his eyes and Kandra lifted a single eyebrow at him. “Well, I guess we’ll have to continue this, later,” he said and Dannie cried out as he tossed the bag to the pavement and ground his heel into it before running off back into the shadows.

“No,” Dannie yelled, picking up the bag. A sharp pain stabbed her right in the gut causing her to gasp. She groaned, hugging herself with one arm. Her skin tightened around her bones, and beads of sweat formed on her forehead. Shit, she swore, recognizing the pain. It was her shift. All this crap triggered her shift. Groaning, Dannie tried to unzip the bag.

Kandrea appeared by her side, a hand on her shoulder. “Oh my God, are you okay,” she asked, brushing back her curly, black hair out of her face.

More pain sliced through Dannie. She wouldn’t have long. “The bag. I need…” she said, her breaths coming out in pants. To her surprise, Kandrea didn’t even hesitate. She unzipped it and opened it. Dannie hissed as she saw the contents. Five of the six plastic syringes were in shards with the white, milky substance sloshing around inside.

Kandrea wrinkled her nose. “What is that stuff?”

Dannie didn’t answer. Her skin felt ready to split and her muscles were contracting so badly she wasn’t sure she could move. Time was running out. Soon she’d sprout fur or something. How far did she have to change for it to be too far? Hopefully, Dannie wouldn’t find out today. Taking the last syringe which was more or less intact. She ripped the cap off with her teeth and jabbed the needle into her stomach.

Dannie pushed the plunger and in a matter of seconds, she could feel the familiar warmth spread through her. Her muscles relaxed and the tightness and pain were gone. “I have a condition,” she told Kandrea. Being a werewolf could be called a condition, right? “It’s difficult to explain, but if I get too upset or too stressed out it triggers a chain reaction in my body and I could die if I don’t take those injections.” It was basically the truth. If she shifted she would die.

Dannie had been born different, weak even. She never heard the voice of her wolf spirit in her head like all other werewolves did. When she had started her first shift she had nearly died.

Kandrea gave her a suspicious look for a moment then sighed. “Okay, I believe you. I won’t tell Mama Bea.”

A knot of dread in her stomach relaxed at the other woman’s words. Mama Bea was quite strict on drug use or any other illicit behaviors from the girls that danced there. All it took was one offense to be banned for life. “Thanks,” Dannie said and tried to summon the willpower to get up and get in her car. The suppressant relaxed her body to the point it was hard to keep herself upright at this point.

“Uhm, so what now? Can you drive? Want me to call the cops?”

“No, if we call the cops we’ll be here all night,” Dannie said with a sigh.

“And driving? You look half smashed.”

“That’s another no,” Dannie said, hating to admit it. She tried to stand, unsuccessfully. Her legs seem to forget how to support her weight. Wrapping an arm under Dannie’s and around her back, Kandrea helped her stand and into the passenger seat of the car. “My keys are in my left pocket,” Dannie told her, a little surprised at the genuine concern coming off Kandrea. Most people avoided her at the best of times. “No funny business,” Dannie said when Kandrea put her hand in Dannie’s jeans pocket, looking for the keys.

Kandrea gave her a bright grin. “Wow. You do have a sense of humor. Learn something new every day.” She found Dannie’s keys and got into the driver’s seat. “So where am I going?”

“11th Avenue, The apartment complex on the north side.”