Page 46 of Dominion

“Thanks for saving my sister,” she said.

His eyes skipped around the room, and she thought he looked guilty.

Melissa reappeared.

“Are you guys hungry? There’s not much here, but I can make you something.”

“Yeah, I’m famished.”

She headed to the kitchen with Melissa and Jeremy trailing her. “So talk,” she said, reaching into the cupboard and pulling out a couple of cans of chicken meat, a jar of mayonnaise, and a Cajun spice mix. “I think there’s a jar of pickles in the fridge,” she said, looking at Jeremy.

He opened the refrigerator door and pulled it out.

“So I met these two guys Thursday night at work,” Melissa said, glancing at Jeremy, who Ashley thought looked guilty once again. Melissa worked as the manager of a trendy bar/nightclub in Colorado Springs. “They invited me to an after-party when we closed up, so I went.”

Ashley listened as she opened the two cans of meat and scooped them into a bowl, mixing in the mayonnaise.

“So we partied for a while and then?—”

“Wait,” Ashley interrupted. “Was he one of them?” she asked, looking at Jeremy.

“Yeah. So the house party ends and Jeff, the other guy, invites me back to his place—with both of them,” she said, blushing.

Ashley blushed too, knowing the two-men thing was her sister’s top fantasy. She ducked her head to hide it and pulled some pickles out of the jar Jeremy had handed her. She picked up a knife and started chopping them.

“But he drove us to this nasty warehouse instead, and a bunch of guys with guns were there.”

“Wait a minute,” Ashley, said, whirling and pointing the tip of the knife at Jeremy. “Youkidnapped my sister?” She took a menacing step forward, glaring at him.

He held his palms out. “I didn’t know what was going on. Jeff is a friend—not even that good of a friend. I don’t know why he brought me along.”

“Probably because you’re better with the ladies,” Melissa muttered wryly.

A sound came from the living room and Ben appeared in wolf form. His lips curled up in a ferocious snarl when he saw Jeremy.

Melissa screamed and Jeremy froze, the whites of his eyes showing.

Ben growled, advancing toward Jeremy slowly.

Jeremy backed up until he hit the counter, cornered by the huge wolf.

“Is that a dog?” Melissa whispered.

She hesitated. She wanted to tell Melissa everything, but not in front of Jeremy. “Um, yeah, he’s my friend Zolla’s dog. I don’t think he likes Jeremy. Easy, boy,” she said to Ben, who showed no sign of backing off. “He helped Melissa escape, although I think he also kidnapped her, so maybe you should bite him,” she said.

“What? Jesus!” Jeremy said, his face pale. “Get him away from me.”

“Come, Wolfie,” she said, walking toward the kitchen door and patting her thigh. She doubted Ben would comply, but she didn’t know what else to do. “Come, boy. Is your master here?” she asked meaningfully.

Ben backed toward her, keeping his eye on Jeremy, his teeth still bared.

She tugged on the loose skin at his nape to turn him away.

“Be careful,” Melissa gasped.

“It’s okay,” she said, pulling with all her weight. “He won’t hurt me.” Even though she believed it, when the huge animal turned abruptly, she jumped back out of his way. He gave one baleful look over his shoulder before heading toward Zolla’s bedroom.

At the same time, she heard a car pull into the driveway.