Drake chose that moment to ease himself from the car. He half slouched, half crept his way through the parked cars. I had no choice but to follow, but I tried to reason with my wolf as I went. You have to let me have this one. I edged along the tree line, staying low, keeping him in my sights. I can’t let you have control again. We already did that, and I’m not looking for a repeat of the farmer fiasco. This is too important, you have to let me lead.
The wind shifted and I caught a whiff of something faintly sulfuric. A beat later an overwhelming sense of Otherness hit me, climbing along my skin like a warning. The hair on my arms rose to attention and my body gave an involuntary shudder. My sensing had kicked in and I’d picked up Drake’s magic, clearly marking him as a supe. That was handy. My wolf sat up straighter, scenting real danger for the first time. Crap.
I knew the moment Drake picked his target, because the scent of his lust wafted over me. His pheromones were repellent, like stale moldy bread. I wrinkled my nose and tried to breathe through my mouth as I crept closer. His lust scent, mixed with the rotten egg smell—the demonic part of his Otherness—was now officially burned into my memory banks like a bad acid trip. My brain efficiently categorizing it away for later. Wolves could recognize scents, even years later. Not exactly a smell I wanted in my arsenal, but it was good to know that if he got away, I could track him down.
Drake’s victim, or victims in this case, were two girls of no more than fifteen or sixteen. The girls giggled as they walked, totally consumed by their discussion of the boys they planned to meet inside. They were perfect targets. Too totally preoccupied with their upcoming adventure to notice the odd man lurking a few car lengths away from them.
I slid in closer, shielding myself behind the last tree at the edge of the lot. It wasn’t much of a cover, but Drake was fully absorbed. The noxious amount of lust he was emitting told me he was using all of his primary brainpower on seizing his victims instead of keeping alert for possible danger—which made him a dumbshit, as well as a pedophile. I was only four car lengths away from the group now.
Drake eased forward, and I dropped to the ground. The girls were chatting more animatedly as they approached a large gap separating this lot from the main parking area. Drake would lose them if they cleared the last row of parked cars.
“Can you believe how Danielle acted last night? She just threw herself at him. I was so embarrassed for her.”
“I know, it was ridiculous. As if he would …” The skinny blonde in the light blue sundress stopped talking in midsentence. She faltered for a moment, shaking her head. “Becky, I … I think I left something in the car. I … I need to go back.” Her voice was stressed.
“What do you mean? What’d you leave?” Becky was a foot taller, with long brown curls.
“I dunno … but I have to get it. I’ll be really quick … I promise.”
So our friend Drake did have persuasion skills. I hoped like hell that was all he had.
“We’re already late, Jen,” Becky said impatiently. “Just forget it. Honestly, it can’t be that important if you can’t even remember what it is.”
“Um.” Jen struggled. She was hearing one thing from her pal, and another in her head. “No … you go on ahead … I’ll catch up. I’ll be really quick. I promise. I just have to get … this thing.”
Becky clearly wasn’t willing to leave her friend alone. Go, Becky. She started trailing after the now departing Jen. “I don’t know why you’re doing this. We’re already late.” Two paces in Becky stopped abruptly. She shook her head. After a short pause, she mumbled, “Um, okay, Jen. You go get it and … I’ll wait for you … in the theater.” Even though Becky was clearly getting a missive from Drake to leave, it took her more than a few seconds to actually tear herself away and head in the opposite direction. She was warring with herself. People with strong will were always harder to persuade than those without.
Controlling two individuals was going to be a double struggle for Drake. It sapped a lot of energy to do a dual persuasion, as Nick could attest to, and I hoped he was motherfucking tired.
Becky trotted off toward the movie theater, while Jen wandered back toward her vehicle. Drake followed behind her like a shadow, keeping a single car in between them as he went. Another shot of sweat-laced, moldy pheromones wafted up my nose. He was getting more and more aroused. It made me want to tear his arms from his body.
I was still on the grass, waiting for an opportunity, when my wolf lunged to the surface with no warning whatsoever. She barreled into my psyche like a hammer exploding down on a nail, demanding control in a rush of power. My arms shot forward and I sprang onto the balls of my feet.