Wild Hunt - Kali Argent Page 0,2

of the vehicle, the mechanic crouched below the window, reappearing just a few seconds later. “I hate to tell you this, but your wheel’s bent as well.” He rounded the back of the car as he spoke, his hands shoved into his pockets. “I can fix it, but it’ll probably take a couple of hours.”

What Mackenna knew about cars probably wouldn’t fill her vehicle’s eighteen-gallon tank. She did, however, know how to identify a bent rim, and she’d been sure of the alloy’s structural integrity. Possibly, Jacob didn’t expect her to know that and just wanted to price gouge her. Maybe, but she didn’t think so.

Now that she could actually see him, she realized that the mechanic couldn’t be much older than her. His features were hard but unlined, and the stubble along his jaw added to his rugged appearance, as did the threadbare baseball cap and ripped, oily jeans. His muscles strained at the black, long-sleeved T-shirt stretched across his torso, and he couldn’t seem to stop moving as he watched her with an unsettling intensity.

Dragging her fingers through her hair, she kicked at the loose gravel and huffed. Something didn’t feel right. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but every cell in her body screamed for her to get the hell out of there.

“You’re sure it’s bent?”

He nodded but didn’t say anything. He just continued to stare at her with that unwavering intensity that made the hair stand up on the back of her neck.

His scent identified him as human, and as far as she could tell, he wasn’t infected, but there was something about him that put her on edge. According to Hollywood, as a werewolf, she should be able to easily overpower him, rip out his throat, and change her flat tire with one hand behind her back. All without even smudging her makeup.

In the real world, that couldn’t have been farther from the truth. Yes, she was probably stronger than the human. Maybe faster. Her senses were definitely more acute. On the other hand, she’d never been in a fight before, and it wasn’t as if she could outrun a car.

Or a bullet.

“Okay, just let me grab my purse and keys,” she said with a false cheeriness, playing for time while she tried to think through her next move. “I’ll be right back.”

It took every ounce of willpower she had to turn her back on him and walk calmly to the driver’s door. Almost immediately, footsteps crunched in the gravel behind her, slowly, hesitantly.

Step. Pause. Step. Pause.

Keeping her hands hidden from view, she concentrated on controlling her shift, allowing only her fingernails and fangs to lengthen into deadly weapons. Her eyes burned and watered as they attempted to shift to their lupine counterpart, but she held the transition in check, knowing she couldn’t risk a full transformation. It would leave her too vulnerable for too long.

The footsteps shuffled closer, the noise barely audible over the erratic pounding of the human’s pulse. The wind kicked up again, bringing with it the acrid scent of sweat and fear. Jacob was close now, too close, his presence at her back heavy and oppressive.

Curling her upper lip over her canines, Mackenna abandoned all pretense and spun toward the male, lifting her arm to swipe, claw, and scratch. The growl was still building in her chest when she heard the click of metal and felt cold, hard steel press against the underside of her chin.

She barely had time to register the gun at her throat, or the fact that she was completely fucked, before Jacob jerked his other hand up and brandished a small spray bottle in her face. A fine mist bathed her skin and filled her mouth, the odor musty and foul, reminiscent of the field mice that used to scurry through the barn on her family’s ranch.

Her vision blurred. Her head spun.

She swayed on her feet as reality slipped away, replaced by a peaceful haze that beckoned her into the encroaching darkness.

Her legs buckled. The world tilted.

She was unconscious before she ever hit the ground.

Chapter One

Now…

The basement was freezing.

Mackenna couldn’t have said what month it was, but winter had definitely come. There was always a chill in the underground lab, even in the hottest, most humid part of summer, but wintertime was brutal.

Then again, everything about her existence was brutal.

Naked and shivering, she pulled the thin blanket tighter around her shoulders as she huddled on the floor in the corner of her cell. After a day