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Gabe rattled the bars on his cell. “Hey, Butch. Come on, man. Let me out.” Inside, his wolf was pacing, but outside he’d plastered a calm expression on his face, trying to fake out the old enforcer.
Butch came around the corner from the intake desk, stuffing the last half of a jelly donut into his mouth. Most shifters were lean, but not Butch. He spent too much time behind the desk because of his bum knee, but his shifter metabolism hadn’t gotten the message and kept demanding food. It was a station joke, and not one that Butch appreciated. He licked powdered sugar off his fingers and gave Gabe a bland look. “Chief’s orders, Wulfric. Both of you stay here until she gives the word.”
“I get one phone call.” He should be resting, letting his injuries heal up, but the Fever pulsed inside him and lying down right now was an impossibility.
Butch’s eyebrows went up. “That’s rich.” He snorted. “Who you gonna call? Your mama?” Gabe growled at him and Butch shook his head. “That’s exactly the crap that got you put in here. Don’t pull that shit on me if you want me to put in a good word.” He strolled back in the direction of his station. “You’re in rut. I can smell you from here. You’re stuck until the chief says so and with all the things going on today, I doubt she’ll be spending any time on you two assholes.”
“What the hell is happening? What’s got the chief so busy?” Now that he knew Butch wasn’t going to cave, Gabe gave in to his need to move, pacing the ten feet of the cell from wall to wall. Even that small amount of movement helped ease the ache inside his bones.
At least a little.
“Another civie got attacked. The news is calling it a wolf attack now, not dogs. And get this, someone in the media has hit on werewolves as the cause.” He snorted. “Werewolves. Even if it was a shifter, we look nothing like a horror movie.”
Ice chilled the heat racing through Gabe’s veins. He stopped his pacing, all his attention on Butch. “Is it one of ours?”
“Nah, it can’t be.” Butch shook his head. “We make sure to keep all our shifters in line. Even wild wolves like you.” He gave his parting shot with a mocking grin and disappeared around the corner.
Watching Butch, his last chance to get out of here, walk around the corner was too much for Gabe’s wolf. A long, mournful howl ripped out of his mouth.
Butch’s laughter echoed down the hall. “Yeah, Wulfric, you’re in control.”
“Damn it!” Gabe whirled around and resumed his pacing.
“Can’t you just shut up?” Sam’s voice was a near growl, so low Gabe almost didn’t recognize it.
“Are you finally awake?”
“Like anyone could sleep with you in the next cell.”
“How are you feeling.”
Sam let out a bitter laugh. “They have me so doped up I’m having trouble staying awake. I’ll be asleep here in a minute or two, and then I might forget that what I really want to do is break out of here and kill you for daring to touch my woman.”
The utter belief in Sam’s statement caught Gabe like a steel trap. “Mine. Not yours. Mine.”
“Now, that’s where you’re wrong. She met me first, remember.”
“I’m trying to forget that.”
“Hell, she’s not even here. She hasn’t visited either one of us, so she can’t be in as bad of shape as we are.”
“Well, she wouldn’t. Her wolf is on the astral plane. I know she feels it, but it’s not the same.”
“You just keep telling yourself that. And when her wolf is going for me, I’ll be howling with success.” Sam’s words were soft but laced with steel.
The Fever flared at Sam’s challenge. Gabe’s wolf clawed inside, wanting to get out, needing to take his rival down. He choked back the adrenaline surge and fought to clear the red haze clouding his vision.
Sam’s mocking laughter came to him from the next cell. “Ah, bro. You see now, don’t you? We’re both just animals here. Once Serena shows up, it’s all going to be over. No matter what any of us wants, our wolves will see to that. Now shut up so I can sleep.”
Despite Sam’s words, Gabe’s wolf refused to back down. Their rival was inches away. Smell him. Taste him. Kill him. And claim our mate.
Despite the heat rushing off his skin, he shook with cold. This was his brother. His twin.
Gabe backed away, pressing his body into the far wall of the cell and letting the hard support of the cement remind him of reality.
Could he really be thinking of taking out Sam? No matter how much he needed Serena, killing Sam wasn’t an option—was it?