Zero fox given, p.2
Zero Fox Given, page 2
The operator on the phone asked him, Victor, a few more questions, which he answered. Then, still on the phone, he looked right at her again with those piercing blue eyes.
“You okay? Are you hurt anywhere?” He sounded almost frantic about that.
Zelda shook her head. She felt dirty all over, and cold. The sweat she’d built up from dancing in the heat of the club didn’t mesh well with the night air of late August.
“You’re bleeding.”
Zelda shook her head, ready to tell him that she wasn’t bleeding and that she was fine. Except her hands stung. She looked down at her palms. There was blood there. Blood from the scratches she’d sustained when she’d fallen to her knees. Dirt and little rocks were embedded in her palms as well, some under the skin, and one of her nails had been broken right off.
Her knees weren’t faring much better, and her tail was wet and filthy. Now that she was taking note of herself, Zelda could really start to feel the sting all over her body. The chloroform lingering on her face made her feel dirtier.
“I’m…I’m fine.” She looked down at the man she’d been ready to walk off with, and all she felt for him now was disgust and contempt. He wasn’t facing her. He had his gaze turned away. She couldn’t tell if that was because he was a coward and couldn’t look her in the face, or because Victor had turned his head away for him.
She looked back at Victor. “Thanks for saving me.”
Zelda wasn’t sure how to feel about the fact that Victor also seemed to have trouble holding her haze, even as he gave his gruff reply. “Don’t mention it. It’s my job.”
That’s right, he’d said something about her being a client.
Zelda pushed herself to her feet. She brushed herself off, ignoring the pain in her palms and knees when she did. “I don’t know who you think I am, but I’m grateful for the mistake.”
“It’s no mistake. Your brother hired me to keep an eye on you after what you started saying about your husband.”
“Ex husband,” she corrected quickly. That was the first thing that needed to be made right in all of this. “And what do you mean? My brother called you? Why would he do that?” She’d told him not to.
Of course, something like that might be an odd question to a human, or even a subhuman. They didn’t always understand the way pack life worked, and Victor sure did give her an odd stare.
“You want to know why your brother would call us to protect you when you accused your ex of murder?”
Zelda pressed her lips together. She suddenly felt a little more like her old self. Small and insignificant. She pushed it away. That wasn’t her anymore. “Pack life is different than most humans know. We don’t pull in any outside help.”
He nodded. “Even at the expense of your own life. Got it.”
That really made her cheeks heat.
A siren sounded in the distance. Zelda’s ears twitched. She looked up, so did Victor.
He turned his attention back to her quickly. “For now, you’re stuck with me. I’m your bodyguard.”
That should have annoyed her; it should have set her on edge and brought up her defensive hackles. Instead, the sound of his voice as he told her she was stuck with him melted her insides like warm butter.
She had no idea what was happening right now, but already it felt kind of good.
The first thing Zelda did after the police came and questioned them was call her brother.
She had to do that at the police station for obvious reasons, and while her new bodyguard was giving her some small amount of space that she assumed was meant for privacy, the fact that he was still within sight of her made it fairly awkward to give her brother hell for doing this.
“I didn’t know what else to do.” Even through the phone, Link’s voice came out sounding like a groan. “No one else was listening.”
“You’re supposed to leave it alone.” Zelda glanced over at Victor. He stood there, just twenty feet away, almost looking casual had it not been for the hand on his hip, and the way he seemed to be looking down both hallways, his blue hawk eyes seeking out any potential danger.
If he he handled all threats the same way he'd dealt with the man who'd tried to abduct her, then Zelda got the feeling she was going to be in fairly good hands.
“I can’t leave it alone. You’re my sister.”
Zelda pressed her forehead against the wall. “Do you want the pack to throw you out?”
“Who fucking cares about the pack? I don’t want you dead!”
His shout shocked her. Zelda yanked the phone from her ear. There was a long minute of silence between them.
“This isn’t a game,” Link said. “Not like when we were kids. Besides, Harry fucked off anyway. No one knows where he is.”
That got her attention. “Really?”
Her ex was gone?
“Really.”
“As in, he’s on the run? What happened? Who’s running the pack?”
“I guess the pack elders are. They came over and started asking questions. About you, about Harry and his friends. Gerard and Ben are gone too.”
“They were the ones there,” Zelda muttered.
“Yeah, and apparently Ben called the cops. He was the one who got the humans involved in this in the first place.”
Her brother could have reached his hand through the phone and gut punched her and it wouldn’t have felt as bad as this.
“Ben called the police? On Harry?”
They were best friends. At least, that had been the impression Zelda had been left with when she’d married Harry.
Gerard had been Harry’s best man at the wedding, but Ben had been up there at the altar with him.
Wolves on one side of the aisle and foxes on the other.
Zelda could still feel the knotting in her stomach she’d gotten that day, even as she was being given away, not by her bother, her uncle, or her alpha, but by Maxwell, the alpha of the new wolf pack she was joining.
All that had gone through her head at the time was how much she didn’t want to do it. How much she didn’t want to get married to Harry or have his babies.
But he had looked handsome in that suit, and when he’d taken her hands, he’d told her she looked pretty in a soft, almost shy voice, and it hit her hard that he probably didn’t want to do this either.
So she’d smiled and told herself she was going to make the best of it.
It hadn’t occurred to her then, and it was still hitting her now, that the shy smiling man who had touched her and kissed her, danced with her, and then made love to her, could be a killer.
One year. She’d spent one year in that house with him, alone during the nights and waiting for him to come back from his wolf hunts during the days. She’d never once suspected he could be the sort of person who could poison a man.
Hell, she’d eaten his cooking.
Zelda shivered.
“Zel? Hey, you there?”
Zelda snapped out of it. “Yeah, I’m here. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?”
He sounded as though he wanted to make sure there was no one standing next to her holding a gun to her head.
She didn’t like that. She felt guilty for making him think something like that. “I’m sorry. Trust me. Everything’s okay, but how to did you get the money to pay for this? A bodyguard? Really?”
“Harry is missing,” Link said, as though he needed to drive that point home. “There’s no telling where that asshole is or what’s going on. You were just attacked in a fucking dirty alley. You need to come home.”
She couldn’t come home. If she went home to her fox pack, to her brother and her uncle, they would take her in without a doubt.
There was no telling how the alpha would react. He was always just and fair, but being just and fair meant putting the majority of the pack above the minority. Risking everyone to suffer the wrath of a wolf pack because Link and Uncle Mike couldn’t turn her away was something she couldn’t live with.
She could still see the way Maxwell choked. The foam that had come from his mouth as he clutched at his throat over the table. Then Harry, pretending to show concern, had frantically given him the Heimlich.
Of course, he hadn’t been choking, and Maxwell had died vomiting blood.
If she had to watch Link do that, or Uncle Mike, she would die. Zelda wouldn’t be able to survive.
“I can’t come home, but you don’t have to have this guy here. He took care of me and everything’s good now.”
“Yeah, until the next time.”
“There won’t be a next time. I’ve got pepper spray with me.”
“Were you able to use it when you were being attacked in a dark alley behind a club?”
Why did her brother have to be the sort of asshole who had to pick apart every single one of her arguments?
He didn’t even give her the chance to answer.
“It doesn’t matter anyway; Mike and I pooled together the money. He’s sticking around you even if you come home.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Are you fucking crazy? What are you even doing in places like that? You never used to go clubbing before.”
Zelda glanced back at Victor. Her new bodyguard. He was looking away from her, though Zelda got the impression he had been listening.
He didn’t have the ears or tail, but if he was a subhuman then he’d be able to hear the conversation no matter what.
She got the feeling that, despite the look he was giving off, he could definitely hear what she was saying.
“I don’t need a bodyguard.”
Even one as handsome as that guy.
Very few men had been able to make Zelda stop and really look, to make her jaw drop while she thought to herself, Damn. That’s one gorgeous hunk of man meat right there.
Well, okay, even in her head, she never said it quite like that, but the point was the same. Victor was probably the third guy Zelda had ever seen in her entire life that made her stomach clench with actual butterflies. A guy that made her bite her lower lip, made her want to bite his lower lip.
Add that to the fact that he was her bodyguard and the sex meter in her chest just blew up right to her head, sending smoke signals out her ears.
It couldn’t be more of a sexy trope if she were writing this into a romance novel. A sexy bodyguard and a woman in danger. If this actually was a romance novel, they’d be hitting the sack by the second act.
But it was just a flutter in her stomach. She probably had to throw up soon after nearly getting kidnapped and killed. That was all. She was only projecting this sense of lust onto him because he was unbelievably gorgeous, had saved her life, and was an actual bodyguard.
Hell, the next thing she knew, Zelda would find out he was a former Navy Seal and that he had a billion dollars in his account. Then he’d really be sex on wheels.
Link was still talking to her. Shit. She had to pay attention. Zelda only came back into the conversation when she heard him talking about bringing Uncle Mike onto the phone.
No. She couldn’t handle that. Not right now. This wasn’t something she could deal with when there was literally a hot guy she didn’t know listening to every word she said.
“Hey, Link, I have to go, thanks for the call.”
“Zel—”
She hung up on him, not entirely sure why her heart pounded so hard and fast.
Victor took note of it. He tilted his head to the side just a little. Then he stepped forward.
Zelda wanted to run. She wasn’t sure why. The smell of him made her want to get even closer to him. She wanted to fall into his chest and feel for herself what it was like. Hard with muscle? Had to be with the way he looked. Did he feel as good as he looked? Would he hold her? Comfort her?
Zelda had to remember to take a breath when he was finally in front of her. As cool and collected as though he was not feeling these things she was.
“We need to talk.”
Chapter 3
Your brother and uncle paid me good money to watch after you. From the description they gave, you’re not the type of woman to go into clubs like that. I was shocked when I finally tracked you down.”
Zelda kept her fingers curled around her paper coffee cup. It warmed her. She wanted to look away from him. Her old self was still pushing forward the shame she felt, but she pushed it back with equal force, determined to meet his gaze.
“I’ll pay them back for the money. I don’t need a bodyguard.”
He lifted a dark brow at her. Why did he have to have such perfect eyebrows? “You sure about that?”
Zelda took a sip of her coffee. It warmed her belly, and she smiled, batting her lashes a little. “Yup.”
He didn’t seem to react. It was a pity and caused her a bit of grief.
She’d spent good money to look this way. She’d thought she looked good enough, but there wasn’t as much as a reaction out of this guy.
Maybe he was used to more beautiful women.
Victor sighed. “I can’t tell you what to do. I can only make suggestions for your safety. Until your husband is found—”
“Ex husband,” she corrected quickly.
Victor nodded. “Of course. My apologies. Until your ex is found, or at the very least, until we find out why that guy came after you, you might not want to put yourself in danger like that.”
“I was in a public place having fun. I was only in danger when I stupidly left with someone I didn’t know. It won’t happen again.”
Why did he have to smell so good? Seeing him up close like this, the both of them sitting around a small table at an all night coffee shop down the street from the station, he was the most perfect looking specimen she’d ever seen in her life.
Harry had been relatively good-looking. Good-looking enough for Zelda to breathe a sigh of relief the first time she’d seen him, but Victor was on a whole other level.
Even with the haven’t-shaved-in-three-days look, she wanted to melt all over him.
Take me away. I’m yours.
She cleared her throat. “How much are you charging my family anyway?”
He grinned at her. He actually grinned.
“Sorry, can’t disclose that.”
Of course.
“So then, what does this mean? I’m still going to go out.”
“It would be for the best if you didn’t.”
She grinned at him.
“But…” he continued. “If you’re determined to self destruct, then there’s not much I can do about it.”
“Self destruct? What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know, you’re a grown woman capable of making your own choices.” Victor stood, and all of a sudden, Zelda didn’t think he looked, or smelled, so sexy anymore. “I’ll take you home. Unless you think one in the morning is too early.”
This guy was going to be a problem. She could tell that already, but Zelda was discovering a few things about herself lately. One of them happened to be how much she enjoyed a challenge.
Challenging herself to throw caution to the wind. Challenging herself to buy this dress and these heels, to go out and do things she never would have done. They made her feel more alive than anything else in the entire world.
Maybe this would be a good challenge as well.
But just because he was a challenge didn’t mean he was a problem that needed to be solved.
Zelda would butter him up a little first.
She stood, pulling her purse over her shoulder. “I’m ready to turn in. I think it was enough excitement for one night, don’t you?”
He looked relieved. That was good. She didn’t want to entirely push him away just yet.
“I’ll drive you to your apartment.”
“I’ve got a car.”
“We can pick it up in the morning.” Victor hadn’t taken his coat off when he’d sat down for coffee with her, so he was already ready to go.
Zelda got the feeling a lot of that had to do with the fact that, despite the permit he most likely had for his gun, taking his jacket off and flashing his holster might not have been the best idea in the world for the mental well-being of the night staff.
Even being hyper aware of the fact that this man had a weapon, she couldn’t help but note the strength in his voice.
The surety with which he thought he would be driving her home.
She tried to keep her smile pleasant. “I would really like to drive home on my own.”
Victor looked at her. He studied her, as though thinking of his next move.
So calculating.
“How about this. If I let you do the driving, will that make you feel more comfortable?”
The question stunned her. “You would let me drive your car?”
“Why not?” He said it as though it was no big deal.
Zelda’s tail twitched. Something was off about this. She could feel it in her bones. He was manipulating her somehow, and while that alone should have been enough to make her go running for the hills, there was something else about it that made her want to stick around. Which was crazy. Knowing she was being manipulated was not supposed to make her feel warm and good inside.
She got the feeling that, despite his lax attitude, there was really no choice in this.
“All right, but only if you’re serious and I can drive.”
He tossed her the keys. “Let’s go.”
Zelda caught them, shocked to feel the weight of them in her hands.
Victor went to the door and opened it. He looked at her, waiting for her. “After you.”
Zelda steeled herself, straightened her back, and walked ahead. She felt the undeniable urge to walk with perfect posture, to keep her breasts high.
Not for him, though. She was sure she wasn’t doing that for him.
No. She had to stop thinking like that. Zelda was a strong and capable woman. Just because walking with a little confidence so happened to thrust her breasts out and accented her curves had nothing to do with anything. Not with how the smell of him affected her, nothing.
His car was parked right out front. If Victor hadn’t opened the door for her, she would have seen it through the glass.
