The Better to Bite(57)

Why was it that guys just couldn’t be normal anymore?

“He told you,” Brent snapped as rage rippled across his handsome face. “And I knew that you’d be afraid of me.”

“If you can turn into a wolf…” Not really such a question of if, “then, yeah, that’d make a girl scared.” My fingers curled around the hilt of a knife that I’d left out after making supper earlier. What kind of damage could it do against him? The guy had been slammed in a car wreck and been fine the next day.

But at least the knife was some kind of weapon.

“I came through the woods tonight because I wanted to talk to you.” He took a deep breath and some of the rage eased from his voice. “I wanted to tell you my side, to try and make you understand—”

“Understand what?” My fingers were curled tight around the hilt of the knife.

He shook his head. “I’m not evil, Anna. I don’t—I haven’t been the one hurting people in these woods. I’m cursed, hell, yeah.” A rusty laugh broke from him, one that held no humor. “But I’ve never gone after a human as prey.”

I didn’t ease my grip on the knife. If he came at me, I’d use it in an instant. “Then who’s doing the killing?”

His gaze held mine. “I don’t know.”

“Rafe said he’s trying to find out—that he’s tracking—”

“It could be Rafe.”

And it could be you.

“Rafe’s great-grandfather had to be put down because he started attacking humans back in the 1940s.”

This was news I didn’t particularly want to hear.

“Sometimes the wolf is too strong. The beast is more powerful than the man, and it breaks past all control.” He paused and exhaled. “When the wolf takes over, there’s no pulling him back once he gets a taste of human blood.”

Nice. “Just how often does the wolf take over?”

“Rafe’s great-grandfather is the last I know of, but there are stories of others, in his family. Their wolves are just too strong to hold back.” He ran an agitated hand through his hair. “A wolf is killing in Haven, no doubt, and my money is on that wolf being Rafe.”

My heartbeat shook my chest. “He hasn’t hurt me. He’s had the chance, but he hasn’t—”

A fist thudded into the door. “Anna!” Deputy Jon’s voice. “Anna, are you all right in there?”

I stared at Brent. I couldn’t see his fangs anymore. He just looked like a normal guy. Good-looking. Strong. Young.

The All-American werewolf.

I cleared my throat. “Yes, yes, I’m fine!”

But Jon’s fist hit the door again. “Anna, I want you to open the door right now, or I will be breaking it down.”

I realized that Deputy Jon was more astute than I’d believed. “Get out,” I whispered to Brent, “run now.” I slowly made my way to the door as Brent slipped away. His words about Rafe replayed in my head and right then, I didn’t know what to do.

The back window squeaked just as I opened the front door.

Deputy Jon hurried inside. “I thought I heard…” He rushed past me, heading right for the kitchen.

I raced on his heels and as he spun around, I saw his nostrils flare, as if he were trying to catch a scent in the air.

Flaring, just like an animal’s.

He darted for the back window. The curtains billowed in the night breeze. He shoved his head out, and I heard him swear.

He whirled toward me. “Anna…”

I looked behind him and out that window. I couldn’t see any sign of Brent now, and I wondered if he’d changed into a wolf so that he could run faster.

“You need to be real careful,” Jon warned me as he pointed a finger at my chest. “Next time, I might not be able to get to you fast enough.” His gaze darted to the knife I held. “So you need to make sure you’re ready to do anything necessary to protect yourself.”

To protect myself from Brent? From Rafe? Or from another wolf who’d soon be at my door?

Before I could respond, I heard the crunch of tires on gravel. My dad was back. I dropped the knife on the counter and rushed to the front door. My bare feet pounded over the wooden porch as I hurried toward him. “Dad!” We’d talk now, clear the air and—

My dad wasn’t alone. He’d walked around his car and now he opened the door for someone. Someone with hunched shoulders and long, dark hair. Someone sobbing quietly.

“Dad?” My whisper as I realized that had happened.

He came toward me, with his arms around Cassidy’s shoulders. He shook his head once, and that was all the confirmation I needed.