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Rollo could feel his wolf struggling to get out.
Why, though? Why would Frederick be taunting me so, when he’s unarmed?He felt his wolf still.There is no way Frederick is unarmed.And if they shifted and squared off as wolves, most would have put their money on Rollo.But rather than take any chances, Rollo turned on a dime, scooped Winona up and deftly leapt the railing as he jumped off the first floor, landing on a patch of grass in front of the apartment building. He held Winona to his chest and looked up at Frederick, who was now slowly coming down the stairs.
“Rollo, Rollo. I can now see you are not in the mood to play. Pity. I’m so very disappointed in you. I guess I’ll have to wait just a little bit longer to hear you crying out in despair, sadly. But we will meet again, don’t you worry.” His eyes turned to Winona then. “And I am so pleased to make your acquaintance…?” He paused as if waiting for one of them to provide her name. “Ah, so rude of you not to introduce me. No matter. I am sure we will meet again soon, Miss.” He gave a little nod of his head. “Rollo,” he said nodding again.
Just as he completed his second farewell nod, the air in front of him shimmered, and he seemed to step into nothingness, his body slowly disappearing as he went.
Winona uttered a gasp. “What the fuck? Where…Where did he go?”
“A fucking portal,” Rollo whispered. His heart was racing a mile a minute and he realized he was still clutching Winona, and probably a little too firmly, as she began to struggle against his chest.
He relaxed his grip and released her. She took a moment to compose herself.
“Holy shit. Shifters can’t do things like that? Can they? And who the hell was that? What was that? And his face!”
Staring at the space where the portal had been, Rollo held Winona loosely with one arm. “That’s him. The man who killed my brother. The one we’ve been hunting for years. He is the reason I…” He looked at her, shredded on the inside that once again he hadn’t been able to stop this monster. “Some accident when he was a kid,” he said, addressing her unspoken question. Unable to say anymore, he pulled out his phone and dialed Dax. The pack needed to know. “No wonder he’s been so slippery,” he said out loud under his breath. Frederick could use portals.But why did he show his hand?He must be cataclysmically confident, Rollo thought.
After a quick summary of what had happened, Dax told him to just hang tight. He needed him to point out exactly where Frederick had vanished from. “Fine. We’ll wait here, but hurry up, I don’t want to linger.”
“Yeah, I get it, but we’re going to need to point out the exact spot so the witches can …well, do whatever witches do,” Dax explained.
“Understood.” He ended the call and pocketed his phone.
“Look, we just have to stay put for a few minutes, then I want to hightail it home.
“Okay, Rollo. And no wonder you wanted to catch that guy. Are you okay? This couldn’t have been easy. I’m so sorry.” Before he knew what was happening, she pressed herself up against him again for a moment.
Then she seemed to catch herself and straightened up. “I mean, putting a face to it,thatface, it just made what you must be feeling a lot more real for me. But I’m still not happy with you, just so you know.”
But the buzz he had felt, hestillfelt, from that hug told him a different story. And his wolf was over the moon, it seemed. At this point, she didn’t look particularly displeased to have his protection either.
They crossed the road without a word. He definitely wanted to put some distance between themselves and the last spot they had seen Frederick.Not that it matters if he can just pop up anywhere.As they stood near the jeep waiting, Rollo went to unconsciously put an arm around Winona.What are you doing?He felt a surge of desire, and clamped down on it. Again. There was just way too much going on here, to give into his desire to mate. His wolf whined in disagreement. She was leaning into him when the first cars rolled
in from the pack.She’s been traumatized.More traumatized, he reminded himself. It means nothing. The Frederick sighting had garnered an all-pack alarm, and the first shifters were arriving. The witches would not be far behind.
The witches. Should I see about that memory wipe? And which witch to ask? He chuckled to himself.
Which witch.
But just as quickly, he refocused. Maybe now was the time. Maybe Etta? Or Lora. Definitely not Nan. She was more than half blind and was the spitting image of what you thought of when someone said “Double, double toil and trouble.”
He wondered if one of them was the boss witch or how it worked. But then he looked at Winona. In spite of himself, and all the scars he carried from his crazy ex, he realized he had begun to trust her.
Dude, you just met her. You kidnapped her for God’s sake,his mind rebelled.
His feelings made no sense.
As if feelings ever do.
But the way she was with the kids. He hadn’t seen them so relaxed with anyone, well, ever.They need that. They deserve it, They…
“Jesus, the kids,” he said out loud, just realizing the potential danger they could be in. All thoughts of the witches and memory wiping disappeared.
“What is it?” she exclaimed.
“He can go anywhere, what if he knows where they are?”
But just as he was about to call Clint, he spotted his Bronco approaching. They all converged in the parking lot.
