Page 52 of Jacob Michaels is Trouble

Lucas gripped my hand tightly, his body freezing up as we slid to a stop several yards away from my car and the pack that surrounded it. He gave me a concerned look as I laughed loudly at the sight of the large men—all of them cookie-cutter versions of what werewolves in human form should look like according to movies made for horny teenagers. It wasn’t so much that the pack was waiting by my car that I found amusing—though it was funny that I hadn’t seen it coming—the fact that Jason was with them was the most entertaining part. And he still had his head.

Jason stood there, evilly smiling ear to ear as Lucas and I kept back, our hands clasped together for support and courage.

“So…” Jason began, “you cut off my head and just leave. Didn’t even shut the door.”

Lucas looked over at me.

“Rude.” Jason shook his head.

I half expected it to partially detach like a character from Harry Potter, lolling around like a balloon on a stick for a moment before he shoved it back into place. Surely it wasn’t completely healed and reattached so quickly after having been lopped off. It looked pretty secure as he grinned and chastised me, however, so I decided that the next time I took his head off, I wouldn’t leave it behind. Get a bowling bag, I thought to myself. Then you can carry it around like Melanie Griffith in Crazy in Alabama.

The thought made me chuckle, which caused Lucas to look at me with concern once more.

“Head in a bowling bag,” I mumbled to myself with a chuckle.

“Rob.” Lucas squeezed my hand.

“Sorry.” I glanced at him before turning my attention to the pack and its leader that had my car surrounded. “Get away from my car, assface.”

“Don’t think we can do that, Rob,” Jason said, reaching up to scratch his head.

Or reposition it, I wasn’t sure.

“We’re not allowed to let you leave.” Jason shrugged. “We have to keep you here until he comes.”

“Well, we have other things going on,” I replied, clasping Lucas’ hand tighter as I took a step forward. “So, please, give him our regards, but we don’t have time to wait around.”

Under our feet, the ground vibrated for a split second. Lucas gasped and moved closer to me. Jason just grinned over at us like the dipshit that he was. His entire pack started growling and yipping, their heads turning towards the sky. My heart started beating faster in my chest, but I did my best to appear outwardly calm as I stared down my rival.

Who should be deader than a doornail.

“Your head’s good.” I shrugged.

“That’s what they say,” Jason smirked.

“Fuck you,” Lucas responded for me.

Jason gave a barking laugh, which his pack echoed.

“I cut his head off earlier this evening,” I mumbled to Lucas out of the corner of my mouth as we stared at the pack.

“Really?” Lucas’ eyes were like saucers.

“Didn’t take, I guess.” I shrugged.

“Apparently not,” Lucas mumbled.

We waited for the bark-like laughs to grow silent and for Jason to turn his attention back to us before either of us said anything. There was no point in trying to talk over a pack of puppies that were all riled up. The ground shook faintly once more.

“Okay,” I announced once the barking had stopped. “Get the fuck away from my car. Maybe cutting your head off didn’t do the trick, but I know fire will do the job.”

I held my hand out, a flame blooming immediately from my palm. The red and yellow flame illuminated Lucas’ and my face with dancing lights, hopefully making me look way more intimidating than I probably did to such a large group of werewolves. Jason smiled at me a moment longer, then sniffed the air, his head tilting skyward. Frowning to myself and casting a glance at Lucas, I didn’t know what to make of the behavior. The ground rumbled roughly underfoot, and my heart began beating faster. Jason stopped sniffing the air and turned his attentions back to Lucas and me.

“He’s coming.” He said.

“I know,” I replied. “Move your asses or get used to ‘em being crispy.”

For the space of a few breaths, Jason and I stared at each other across those few yards that separated us. Then, he suddenly stepped aside. His pack didn’t even look confused by his actions but instead started to move away from my car. Lucas’ hand gripped mine tighter as we watched Jason and his pack give us a clear path to the car. When they moved, I fully expected the windows to be smashed in, the tires to be flat, wires and parts lying everywhere on the ground. However, my car looked fine, and they all continued to move until they were far enough away from the car for me to feel safe enough to start walking towards it.