Grave Legacy

by Lori Drake

  “No time, babe. I’ve been trying to follow the trail, but it’s all over the place. It’s more concentrated on one side of the warehouse, though. I think they’re holed up in one of the rooms at the back.” He looked off in that direction.

  Joey leaned around the corner of the stack of boxes she was crouched behind and peered in the indicated direction. “Let’s see if we can find them, and confirm if there’s a captive. But then we have to wait for the others. We can’t take them on by ourselves.” She grabbed his shoulder when he didn’t look at her. “Do you hear me, Chris? We cannot go off half-cocked on this. Tell me you understand.”

  He turned back to meet her eyes. “I get it.” He leaned in and pecked her cheek, then shifted back into wolf form and padded off, head low but nose not quite on the ground.

  Joey followed him, darting quietly from the cover of one stack of boxes to another. As they got closer to the rooms at the far end of the warehouse, Joey caught the first hum of conversation. It was too distant to make out at first, but as they closed in on the room, the voices drifting out of the open doorway became more distinct. They weren’t making any effort to speak in hushed tones. Joey recognized Jack’s voice immediately, and assumed the feminine one was Maria. Joey’d only heard her speak the once, and it was only a couple of words.

  “Hold still,” Maria said.

  “I’m trying.” Jack’s voice was laced with pain and annoyance. “Ow!”

  “It’s just a little cut. You’re such a big baby.”

  “Have you seen the rest of my face? That savage tried to rearrange it. When I get my hands on her…”

  “Let it go, little brother. As soon as I patch you up, we’re leaving.”

  “Ow! Fuck, stop that. Let me do it. And we’re not leaving. Are you kidding? There’s a whole herd of them, preying on the people of Seattle.”

  “And that’s exactly why we’re leaving. There are too many of them, and they know we’re here. Hell, they almost killed you. God was surely watching over you tonight, but we can’t rely on divine intervention every time. We have to use the brains He gave us, too.”

  “I can’t believe you, of all people, want to quit.”

  “Quit?” She snorted. “I’m not suggesting we quit. I just think we need to be smart, before our luck runs out. There will be other hunts. We can even come back in a few months, when they’ve let their guard down again. Surprise has always been our best weapon. Maybe your armorer friend will have figured out how to make silver bullets that will survive firing by then. It’d be so much safer to kill them at a distance.”

  “That’s funny, coming from you. You like an up-close-and-personal kill more than I do.”

  “I like you alive more. We have to be smart, brother.”

  “Fuck you. I’m not some fragile flower.”

  Joey darted across the final expanse of open floor to join Chris right outside the doorway to the room Jack and Maria were holed up in. Light spilled in a narrow line of white across the floor out the ajar door. The siblings continued to argue, voices rising as the matter became more heated. Chris was between Joey and the door, and he stuck his nose dangerously close to the edge of the doorframe as he scented the air. Joey put a hand on his back in warning, her heart hammering away. They were so close to their quarry. Her wolf paced restlessly in her cage, wanting out, wanting in on the hunt. It was getting harder and harder to deny her, and it’d only been a week and change since her last shift. Joey wasn’t sure how she was going to make it five more weeks. For now, she focused on getting through the next five minutes.

  She was still trying to figure out whether they could risk a glance through the gap in the partially open door when Chris stiffened beneath her hand. Joey tensed in response, and a second later, Chris’s whole body shook as he emitted a noisy wolf sneeze. Joey’s heart skipped a beat, fingers curling in Chris’s fur, gripping his pelt as they both froze where they were.

  “Did you hear that?” Maria said, cutting her brother off mid-argument.

  “Hear what?”

  The light in the room went out, and the sound of footsteps approaching the door sent Joey scrambling for cover. She darted across the open floor for the nearest stack of crates, sliding the last few feet like a base runner racing a ball. Joey pressed her back against the crates, hoping Chris had made it safely to cover. The noisy pounding of her heart in her ears was so loud that she was certain it would give her away.

  “I didn’t hear anything,” Jack said, his voice more distinct now that the door was open.

  The sound of a gun being cocked echoed through the cavernous space. “Shh,” Maria said quietly. “We’re not alone.”

  Joey’s heart kicked into overdrive, and her fingers tightened on the gun in her hand as she considered her options. She could hide, hoping they didn’t find her, or step out and confront them, hoping they had only one gun between them, or try and get a message to the others via her phone. She opted for a combination of numbers one and three, fishing her phone out of her pocket and fumbling to unlock it with one hand. When the screen lit up, it was bright. Too bright. She pressed it against her chest reflexively and tracked the siblings’ progress through the room by their quiet footsteps on the cement floor.

  As the footsteps came closer and off to one side, Joey scooted around the stack of crates to remain behind cover. A low growl broke the silence, and the footsteps stopped. Joey risked a glance around the corner of the crates and saw Chris dart behind a stack of pallets some twenty feet away.

  “Shit! They followed you, you idiot!” Maria growled.

  There was something about that growl. Joey’s wolf perked up, and she dropped her phone with a clatter as she ducked back around the crate. The damn phone landed face up, naturally, a beacon of light in the darkness. Her position blown, Joey sprinted for the room where the hunters had been holed up, hoping the siblings remained distracted long enough for her to get there safely. It wasn’t the most tactically sound of moves, given that it was unlikely there was another exit in that room. But she had a sneaking suspicion, and she needed to confirm it.

  The room turned out to be a break room for warehouse employees, but the table and chairs had been pushed into a corner to make room for a makeshift campsite. Two sleeping bags and pillows lay parallel to one another on the floor, and a couple bags of gear were stowed on the counter. Atop the table was a camping lantern and an open first-aid kit, with paper wrappers from various supplies torn open and scattered around. The sharp scent of rubbing alcohol combined with the coppery smell of Jack’s blood. Otherwise, the room was empty, with no sign of a captive.

  Joey crept over to the sleeping bags and leaned over to sniff them in turn. The one closest to the wall was Jack’s, and Maria’s… Joey grabbed the pillow and pressed it to her nose, inhaling deeply. A flash of memory hit her like a freight train. The hunter had been so fast when they’d scuffled in the woods. With everything that’d happened in the aftermath, Joey’d forgotten all about it. But there was no mistaking it now. Maria was the source of the wolf scent.

  The report of a gunshot echoed through the warehouse. Joey dropped the pillow and scrambled for the door, but found Jack standing in the doorway. He glowered at her, with her phone in one hand and a revolver in the other—pointed at her, of course.

  “Missing something?” He held up the phone, then dropped it deliberately. It clattered to the linoleum floor, and he stomped heavily on it, shattering the glass face beneath his heavy boot heel. “Oops.”

  22

  The gun’s report echoed through the cavernous space. Chris was showered in splinters as the bullet took the edge off an adjacent crate. He darted behind the crate and shook himself, scattering the debris. That had been close. Too close. Footsteps thudded on cement, and he darted between the stacks of boxes and crates, trying to lead the hunters farther away from Joey. The noisy gunshot would draw reinforcements. It was only a matter of time. But when he stopped to peek through a narrow gap between two stacks, he saw only the fem
ale hunter.

  Chris wound his way through the rows of crates and boxes, evading the female while he sought the male. As the seconds passed without a trace of Jack—or Joey—anxiety twisted his tail in a knot. It didn’t help that his wolf was having difficulty navigating the maze of stacked goods and machinery. The poor lupine lacked a frame of reference in these artificial surroundings, and quickly got turned around until he was no longer sure which direction the exit was, much less where he’d last seen his quarry. Jack’s scent crisscrossed throughout the warehouse, making him impossible to track. Joey’s would be distinct… he just hadn’t come across it yet.

  “You can’t run forever, little wolf…” At least Maria’s mocking words made her easy to pinpoint.

  Chris waited for her to get closer, then ducked around a corner and skidded to a stop, his pulse jumping. A wall of crates blocked further passage. He spun to retreat, but a gun-toting figured blocked the exit. Maria. He backed up instinctively, hackles risen and teeth bared. It was the first good look he’d really gotten of her, but he didn’t see much past the gun pointed at him.

  Maria smirked, planting her feet shoulder-width apart and holding her pistol in a two-handed grip. “Nowhere left to run, eh?”

  Chris growled and scanned the stacks around him, but there was no way he could jump that high, not even with a running start.

  “Time to die, mongrel.”

  Chris’s sharp eyes saw her finger move on the trigger. He bolted toward her with a burst of supernatural speed. The gun barked loudly, and Chris could swear he felt the fur on his rump part as it passed. She tried to track his movements with the barrel of the gun and quickly fired again, but Chris was faster. He darted between her legs and would’ve laughed at her indignant squeal if he hadn’t been so busy running to get out of the line of fire again. Not to mention puzzled, because it was clear to him by then that the wolf scent he’d picked up at the warehouse was all over her.

  His ears perked at a snarky “oops” followed by a clatter and the crunch of breaking glass. Pushing thoughts of Maria and the wolf aside, he homed in on the sounds and finally spotted Jack standing in a doorway, pointing a gun into a corner room. Certain his mate was on the other end of that gun, Chris bolted across the intervening space and leaped on Jack’s back, knocking him to the ground. The gun went off as Chris rode the hunter to the floor, but the bullet went wide, embedding itself in the wall.

  “Maria! Run!” Jack shouted while Chris stood on his back and growled menacingly, breathing on the back of his neck.

  Joey hurried over and stomped on Jack’s hand, then kicked the gun away. Her eyes narrowed as she looked past Chris. She quickly pointed her own gun at Jack’s head and said, “Drop it or your brother dies.”

  Chris looked over his shoulder. The female hunter had a gun in each hand now, one pointed at him and the other at Joey. Her eyes glittered with hatred in the darkness, lips twisted in a sneer. “My brother would gladly give his life if it meant your end.”

  The sight of her brought her strange scent back to his mind. Why did she smell like wolf? Could she be a wolf? But that didn’t make sense. Wolves didn’t hunt wolves any more than they did humans—which was to say, not at all. And if the female hunter smelled like wolf, why didn’t the male? She had called him brother.

  “Are you sure you’re even related?” Joey asked, as if reading his mind.

  Maria growled, a rumble too deep in her chest for a human. “Of course I’m sure. We were born minutes apart. I’ll give you one last warning, hellspawn.”

  “Jesus, what is up with you two, anyway?” Joey said. “You sure have some crazy notions about wolves, especially considering you happen to be one.”

  “Shut your mouth, demon!” Maria screamed, but fear, not anger, rolled off of her in waves.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jack said. “My sister isn’t an abomination like you.”

  “Let’s find out.” Joey lifted her weapon and fired.

  Chris ducked instinctively, but the bullet passed well over his head. He twisted to look behind him. Maria staggered backward, one of her weapons clattering to the floor as blood blossomed on her shoulder. If Joey’d been much higher, she would’ve missed her mark entirely. A little to the left and she would’ve gotten Maria in the throat. Wolf or no, that would’ve sucked.

  “You bitch!” Maria lifted her remaining gun higher, pointing it at Joey instead of Chris. Her whole arm shook, with pain or rage. Maybe both.

  “Takes one to know one,” Joey said with a smirk.

  Maria squeezed the trigger, and the gun went off with a noisy bang. Joey dove aside, breaking the hunter’s line of sight with the doorway. In a rage, Maria strode forward in pursuit, and Chris abandoned his effort to hold Jack down so he could intercept her, his wolf’s primal need to protect his mate surging to the fore again. He charged Maria with a snarl, but she trained her gun on him. He dodged, but her bullet clipped his tail, and the answering spike of pain only stoked his wolf’s aggression.

  Chris leaped at her gun arm. His teeth clamped down on her wrist. Her hand opened automatically, and the gun hit the floor, but she balled up her other fist and punched him. Her fist struck his head hard enough that he saw stars for the second time that day. He released her arm and darted behind her, going for her hamstring instead. His teeth hit their mark, and she screamed as she dropped to her knees. A pulse of power flared around her, and Chris backed off warily.

  The air around Maria shimmered, and her body blurred. She screamed again and fell forward, catching herself on her hands.

  “Maria!” Jack was on his knees in the doorway, a hand on the doorframe and his non-swollen eye wide.

  Maria drew a deep, shuddering breath, and the air around her stopped shimmering. She lifted her head and looked at her brother. Joey stepped into view behind him, her gun pointed at the back of his head, execution style. Jaw set, she studied the bleeding, angry woman on the floor a few paces away.

  “Let him see, Maria,” Joey said, but there was a gentleness to her voice rather than menace. “Show him who you really are.”

  Maria threw back her head and howled. It was a human noise rather than a wolf one, full of anguish and rage. The air shimmered around her again, but still she fought it. Her back arched and her hands clawed at the floor, but the animal side of her finally fought its way to the fore. A burst of power flowed through the room, and as it dissipated, a large red wolf crouched where Maria had been, amidst discarded weaponry and the tattered shreds of the clothing she’d been wearing.

  “No, no, no…” Jack whispered over and over.

  Wolf-Maria whined and covered her face with her paws. Chris approached her and gave her good shoulder a nudge with his muzzle. She bared her teeth and snapped at him, but he held his ground. Their eyes locked in silent challenge, and Chris didn’t have to put much metaphysical weight behind it to get her to back down. Her wolf was no match for his.

  Mere seconds later, the cavalry arrived. Weapons drawn and tails stiff, they surrounded Chris and Maria in a semicircle outside the break room.

  “What’s going on? Who’s that?” Raven demanded, eyeing wolf-Maria with a frown while she kept her weapon pointed at Jack.

  “The second hunter,” Joey said, still standing behind the kneeling Jack. The revelation sparked a few startled gasps, and the wolves among the strike team shifted uneasily on their feet. “I need the zip ties.”

  “I’ve got ‘em.” Adam stuffed his Taser in his pocket and fumbled with his messenger bag.

  A big gray wolf—Abby—broke ranks and approached Maria. Maria started to back away, head lowered, but halted and held her ground, teeth bared. Chris moved between them, stopping the confrontation before it could really get started. The air around Abby shimmered as she shifted back to human form, ending up crouched in front of Chris. It took a few seconds more for the wolf behind her eyes to fully retreat.

  “How in the hell is one of them a wolf?” Abby growled, breaking eye con
tact with Chris and standing.

  “That’s the question of the hour.” Joey kept her gun on Jack while Adam secured his hands. Jack made no protest, still too stunned to move. Joey motioned at him with her gun. “He doesn’t know. We’re going to have to get her back to human form if we want answers.”

  Curious wolves began creeping forward to sniff the air closer to Maria. Chris warned them off with low growls and pointed looks. His wolf felt strangely protective of her. It reminded Chris of the way his wolf reacted whenever a young pup was around, even though Maria was obviously fully grown.

  Sam padded toward Abby, shifting mid-stride. He put a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”

  “You know what?” Abby shrugged off his hand and stepped aside. “I don’t care. Wolf or not, she helped him kill my girls. Let’s kill them both and be done with it.”

  As one, Abby’s pack started forward, a smaller human and wolf circle closing in around Maria. Chris growled again and snapped his teeth, meeting the eyes of the wolves in challenge. Every muscle in his body sang with tension.

  Joey pushed past Jack and stomped forward. “No! Stand down, all of you!” The Gray River wolves ignored her, descending upon the traitorous wolf with vengeance in their eyes. “Abby, call them off. We can’t do it here. It’s too dangerous.”

  “You know she’s right, Abigail,” Sam said quietly. “You’ll get your vengeance, but this is not the place.”

  Abby emitted a low growl, then a gusty sigh. “Fine. We’ll take them out into the woods or whatever.”

  Chris relaxed his guard when Abby’s pack backed off, though adrenaline still buzzed in his veins. He hadn’t wanted to fight them, but he would have if it’d been necessary.

  “Everyone clear out,” Joey said. “Let’s give her some air and see if she’ll shift back.”

  Chris made a point of parking his furry butt on the concrete floor.

  Joey smirked. “Of course not you. Oh, and Ben… we’re going to need you.”