Page 56 of Bad Blood Wolf

Chapter 20

An hour later, Brody paused on the steps of the dingy trailer, trying to get himself under control.

His wolf was howling to go back to Jasmin, and he felt like what was left of his heart had been abandoned to die on that snowy dirt road in the woods.

He wanted to stay angry with her, but part of him understood. Total invulnerability was the only thing that made her feel safe. He wanted so badly for her to feel safe with him instead, but that was clearly never going to happen.

She was a cat—a jaguar. Everyone knew they didn’t bond. It had just been wishful thinking, and loneliness, and desperation.

Mate, his wolf said. And another little piece of his soul ripped away.

He had to get ahold of himself. He couldn’t go inside all riled up like this. It would just get everybody all upset.

He clutched the brown paper bag with his other gifts, both of these done in green and gold paper, with the same fat gold ribbon Jasmin’s had been tied in. He’d paid a ridiculous amount to have them all wrapped so fancy, but he’d wanted the gifts to be special.

He took several deep breaths and blew them out, trying to get rid of the tension. He couldn’t think about Jasmin now. His wolf would never settle, and that would set Adele off.

He knocked on the door, and after a moment the porch light snapped on, and he heard footsteps on the sagging floor inside. The door opened, and a curvy young woman with dark curly hair opened it. Her face broke into a beaming smile when she saw him. “You came!”

“I told you I would,” he said, his heart lifting slightly at the smile. “Merry Christmas. This is for you.” He plucked a gift out of the bag and gave it to her.

“Oh my goodness, you shouldn’t have,” she said. “Come on in now, out of the cold. No call to be standin’ out on the porch!”

Putting Jasmin resolutely out of his mind, Brody stepped into the trailer.

Jasmin and Xander drove through the darkened streets, Jasmin following the tracker beacon on his phone and giving him directions. They were over twenty minutes behind Brody, and at first he went exactly where Jasmin thought he would—to his drug supplier.

Why was he doing this? Why wouldn’t he let Tristan help him?

They were still ten minutes out when the tracker left that location and headed east.

“Is he going home?” Xander asked.

“No,” Jasmin said. “He’s heading somewhere completely different.” Maybe to the place where his secrets would finally be revealed.

This was her last chance with him. She just hoped she didn’t blow it.

Xander dropped Jasmin on the street just outside the trailer park. Brody’s car had stopped here five minutes ago, and hadn’t moved since.

As she opened the door, Xander asked, “Do you want me to wait? You might need backup.”

Jasmin hesitated, then shook her head. She needed to do this alone. Whatever Brody’s secrets were, she didn’t have the right to bring Xander into them.

Xander muttered something under his breath that sounded like “Douchebag wolf.”

Jasmin smiled a little at that. “I’ll be okay.”

She hesitated, then reached over and wrapped her hand around the back of Xander’s neck. Before he could pull away, she rubbed the side of her face gently up against his, in a cat-gesture of affection.

“Thanks,” she muttered, and then jumped out of the truck.

“I’m still willing to kill him for you!” Xander called after her. She waved.

The trailer park had definitely seen better days. The snow gave everything a surface prettiness, but the trailers were shabby, most of them in bad repair. Here and there she saw a straggle of Christmas lights, but mostly it looked like nobody in this place had the energy to try anymore.

She walked down the rows, looking for Brody’s car. Before she saw it, though, she heard his voice through the clear night air. Running swiftly, she ducked behind the corner of the last trailer on the row and peeked out.

Brody was standing on the porch of a trailer that looked like it was in a bit better shape than the others. There were patches of new siding, and it looked like the porch railing had recently been repaired. There were icicle lights around the roofline.