Cold Spell

by E. A. Copen

  Bo’s tracks led to the shed door, which was conspicuously open. Wasn’t Tara supposed to be in there? The latch hung limply, the lock wide open. Whoever had opened it hadn’t broken the lock, so they must’ve had a key.

  Jackie trailed around the open door and the drift of snow opening it had created to find Bo standing barefoot just inside the shed. An orange trouble light hung from the ceiling, illuminating the shed. There was no sign of Tara, but she’d left a definite scent trail that drifted around the open door and then around the side of the house. It was faint, so it must’ve been some time since someone let her out. Nic wouldn’t be happy to hear someone had disobeyed his order to keep her locked up.

  Bo turned his head and looked down at her through half-lidded eyes.

  He wants to talk, she realized. Talking meant shifting back. Well, at least talking effectively. She wanted to talk to him, too, otherwise she wouldn’t have bothered. Still, she didn’t like Changing in front of Bo, especially without clothes handy in sub-zero temperatures. She whined in protest, then padded back inside where it was warm to Change.

  By the time she’d Changed and put on several layers of clothes, the pack had congregated downstairs. The pack had seated Nic on the sofa while the woman from upstairs who’d dressed Bo’s wounds shined a light into his eyes.

  This must be Donna from the hospital, Jackie realized.

  Nic pushed the light away. “Get that thing out of my face. I told you I’m fine.”

  “You just had a run-in with Lou’s hatchet man,” Donna mumbled, standing and clicking off the light. “Lucky all he did was punch you. You’ll have a nice bruise there, but I don’t think it’s broken.”

  Nic glanced over to where Jackie stood and then quickly away, casting his eyes to the floor as if he were ashamed.

  Bo was too hard on him, she thought. Even if he had been there, what would he have done that Bo couldn’t? It wasn’t Nic’s fault his pack was falling apart, though Bo clearly didn’t agree with her assessment.

  Her eyes traveled past Nic to where Vince and Aspen stood, whispering to each other behind his back. Vince clenched his hands into fists. Though she couldn’t pick up all of their conversation at that distance, her ears picked out a few key phrases, mostly curses directed at Bo. Their impulse to protect their alpha and their pack was still strong, but they’d redirected their anger away from the true threat to Bo. If Bo kept it up, and they believed he meant their alpha harm, this would get messy. They might do something they regretted to protect him. Wouldn’t be the first time a pack had tried something like that. She’d have to do something fast to reassure the pack—and Nic—that their alpha was in no danger of being harmed.

  She pushed off the railing and took the stairs two at a time to go back to the shed with Bo. He was right where she left him, though he’d come in to put on a sweater, socks, shoes, a coat and two pairs of gloves since she’d seen him last.

  He blew on his fingers through the wool gloves before motioning her to come into the shed. Once she was inside, he pulled the doors closed behind them. They wouldn’t stay shut without being locked, but at least it blocked out some of the cold.

  “Someone let Tara out of the shed,” he said after a heavy beat of silence.

  “Good.”

  Bo gave Jackie a squinty side eye.

  She shrugged. “You were planning on killing her after she shot me.”

  He crossed his arms and turned back to eyeing the cot with five layers of blankets and a space heater. “She shot you. I have to punish her. It’s expected of a father.”

  “Oh please,” Jackie said, rolling her eyes. “You’ve never been a father.”

  “Work associate, then. What kind of partner would I be if I let a drunk human injure my assistant on the job?” He snorted. “Anyway, it’s a moot point. She’s gone. Someone let her out.”

  “Someone without a scent.” When Bo turned to give her another curious glance, she continued, “I didn’t smell a second person out there. Did you? So whoever let her out knows how to cover his scent. Otherwise, she somehow figured out how to undo the lock herself from the inside.”

  Bo gave a little grunt that might have been agreement. Jackie could never really tell with him. Maybe he just had indigestion.

  “So what happened with the monster?” she asked.

  “I must have drifted off to sleep. The omega was reading to me and it was just so calming. I never sleep like that. I’m normally much more alert, even if I am asleep.”

  He blamed himself. She could hear it in his voice. Explained why he was being so rough on Nic. It was easier for Bo to externalize it than internalize it.

  Jackie crossed the small space and sat down on the little cot, leaning back on her palms. “We can’t all be alert all the time.”

  He shook his head. “By the time I woke up, it was already in the room. The door wasn’t latched. I should have told her to latch it. Of course, I’d shifted. My control has been shit. I’m getting too old for this.” Bo sighed and came to sit beside her, his wrinkled hands resting on his knees. He stared at his knuckles for a long time before he continued. “I don’t think it used the door. Didn’t use a Way, either. Nothing seemed magickal about it. The thing just appeared. It stunk of ice and death. There was this mist of icy air all around it. Whenever I crossed inside that barrier, it was so cold I could barely draw breath. It kept saying this word. Kaaktuḳ.”

  “Might ask Nic what it means. It sounds like it might be one of the native words.”

  Bo shook his head again. “I don’t want to talk to him.”

  “Well, you’re going to have to,” Jackie said. “Half the pack was in there practically calling for your head after you struck him. One more move like that and you’ll have them fighting you instead of helping you.”

  He sighed. “They should be questioning their alpha. Maybe if he’d called us sooner—”

  Jackie sat forward. “Are you telling me you would have called for help sooner?”

  “I’m not an alpha.” He turned his head away from her and lifted his nose to the air. “And you shouldn’t have been running around with him.”

  “I was working this case!” She rubbed the bridge of her nose. “Anyway, I followed the blood trail. Someone picked it up in a vehicle.”

  “Picked it up?” Bo raised an eyebrow. “Not many people out and about this time of night. Not anyone up to any good, anyway.”

  That was a direct jab at her and Nic again. She sighed. “We can argue all day about who should have and would have done what. It won’t bring us closer to any answers. We should compare notes.”

  She waited for him to offer something. Usually, when they worked together, Bo was all about finishing the task at hand quickly and returning. This case especially demanded that they work quickly before more werewolves died. Eventually, this monster was going to make the local news. If the coverage was interesting enough, news stations further out might pick it up and air it everywhere. It would be bad press for werewolves everywhere. This had to be shut down now. Bo knew that. Yet his tongue was tied.

  I’d better start, then, Jackie thought and cleared her throat.

  “Okay, so this thing had really long fingers, right? Well, I heard a story tonight about another creature who kind of matches that description. They call it the Mahaha.”

  “The Mahaha,” Bo repeated, indignant. “Something with such a stupid name shouldn’t be so terrifying.”

  “It’s better than Slenderman. He’s not even scary.”

  “The real Slenderman is quite terrifying, I promise you.” Bo sighed, stood, and began to pace. “Well, then? What does this Mahaha want?”

  “The story didn’t say. Didn’t mention anything about werewolves, either, and this one seems to specifically be targeting werewolves.”

  Bo stopped pacing in front of her. “And not limiting its attacks to Nic’s pack. That means every werewolf here is in danger, including that Justice fellow. Unless he’s involved.”

  Jackie
tapped a finger on her chin. That was odd. A lone wolf would be easier prey. Justice lived all the way out at the edge of town. His home was also a place of business, which meant the natural barriers that might have kept some of the worst supernatural creatures from entering didn’t apply. This Mahaha could have gotten Justice easily, and yet hadn’t bothered him.

  “Maybe it doesn’t know Justice even exists,” Jackie offered. “He does live separately. Could be something is specifically drawing it here.”

  “Any clues in this story you heard?”

  Jackie shook her head. “No, but Justice was saying his gran told the story better. She’d older. Maybe she has more information about this monster.”

  Bo crossed his arms again and gave her a scolding look. “You went to talk to that rogue wolf alone?”

  “Nic was with me.” She paused before adding, “And it wasn’t on purpose. I went for a run under the Aurora Borealis. Wandered too far, and he stopped to pick us up. Took us back to his apartment to warm up before dropping us off here.”

  Bo grunted. “What about him? Do you like him for this? Think he’s involved?”

  Jackie shrugged. “Probably not. I mean, he’s not the monster, at least. I was with him when it would have attacked you and he didn’t do anything funny. Didn’t leave for long periods of time. If he’s controlling it somehow, I didn’t see any evidence of it. I’m not sure he’d work with the monster, either. He just doesn’t seem like he wants to destroy the pack.”

  “You don’t think he wants revenge for getting kicked out?”

  “No.” Jackie pressed her lips together and shook her head. “He didn’t strike me as the revenge type. If anything, he was just a little too eager to try and get back into Nic’s good graces. It was almost like he wanted back into the pack.”

  “I thought he had problems with that Bryce fellow?”

  “He was also sleeping with Tara.”

  Bo raised both eyebrows. “The human mate that was so distraught at losing David?”

  “The same,” Jackie said, nodding. “He tried hard to make it sound like a one-time thing, and I think Nic bought it because he didn’t want to think ill of the dead, but I caught Tara’s scent all over the bed and some of it was pretty dated. They’d been at it a few months at least. I bet David was none the wiser.”

  “Does Nic know?”

  “No.”

  Bo pondered the revelation. He was probably thinking exactly what she’d thought. The news felt important, but Jackie wasn’t sure how to connect it to the deaths in the pack.

  “We need to find Tara so we can get some answers,” Jackie said.

  Bo looked like he wanted to say something, but stopped himself. He closed his eyes, tilted his head to the side and sighed. “We’re not going to find her right now. We need to play damage control with the pack first. Keep them from doing anything stupid.”

  Jackie stood and rubbed her palms on her jeans. “You need to lie low, Bo. I hate to say it, but maybe it would be best if we got rooms at the little motel here in town. It might help things ease up with the pack.”

  “Yeah, but it’ll make it harder to keep an eye out for that thing. Can’t get something for nothing.” He walked over and pushed open the shed door, holding it for her. “And no more running off with him, not without telling me first. It’s too dangerous for you to go anywhere without letting me know.”

  “Since when did you start feeling protective of me, old man?” Jackie said and gave him a punch in the shoulder.

  She didn’t see Bo smile, but she heard it in his voice behind her. “Since when did you run a whole city block to check on me in the middle of the night?”

  Chapter Fifteen

  N ic could hear Aspen and Vince whispering behind him. They’d taken Bo’s words to heart. Why shouldn’t they? He was right, after all. Even as he was chasing after Jackie in the snow, he knew he should have stayed on guard outside the house instead of leaving Vince there. He should have been there when that thing came. No one was hurt this time aside from Bo, and that should’ve been the end of it.

  Until Bo punched him.

  Now his wolf was calling for blood. The bruise to the beast’s ego was far worse than the one Nic would wear on his face for a few days. And the pack felt it. That impatient need for vengeance had filtered down through the pack bonds and into Vince and Aspen’s conversation.

  “Just because he’s Lou’s boogeyman, he thinks he can throw his weight around,” Vince said, shaking his head. “He knows full well you can’t hit him back.”

  “Oh, he could,” Aspen replied, his voice sour with disdain. “But that’d give the hatchet man all he needed to take him out. Then what? We follow Bryce? Justice would never let that happen. You thought he was bad before, you ain’t seen nothing yet.”

  Nic rubbed his aching jaw. “I’m not dead yet, so I’d appreciate it if you’d save the hypotheticals until after Bo decides to kill me.”

  “You really think he’ll try?” Vince moved a step closer, fists clenched.

  Across from Nic, Bryce uncrossed his arms, a warning gesture for Vince to stay back. As Nic’s second, it was Bryce’s job to protect Nic when he was injured. That was the last thing he needed, someone protecting him. As if he didn’t already look weak.

  Nic stood, facing Vince and Aspen. “No, because no one here is going to give him a reason to. I deserved being struck.” He held up a hand, interrupting Vince’s protests. “I put my hand on his shoulder uninvited while he was injured. For all his talk, that punch was probably reactionary. Could’ve been a lot worse.”

  “He’s not going to hurt you.” Everyone looked at Mandy who stood in the corner, fidgeting with her thumbs. She glanced at Nic and colored slightly. “Sorry if I spoke out of turn.”

  Nic gestured to give her the floor. “Say what’s on your mind.”

  Mandy stepped forward. “Well, he promised he wouldn’t. I think he likes you in his own way. I don’t think he wants to be the monster you all see him as.”

  That was sweet, and so very like Mandy. She never saw the danger in other people, only the good. Nic was about to point that out when she continued.

  “Besides, he saved me from that thing. That’s how he got hurt.” Mandy lowered her gaze. “I opened the door when I heard the howl and it came for me. When I saw it, I just stood there, frozen. I thought I’d die of fear. But Bo, he got his teeth in it just in time. He kept its attention away from me until Jackie showed up. It might’ve gotten me if not for him.”

  “Tore that slice in his arm open further during the Change when he got knocked out,” Donna added. “Idiot. I’ve never seen anyone Change like that, though. Near instant.”

  Nic frowned. He was able to draw on the pack bonds to speed up the Change, but it still took a good ten minutes. Without a pack to draw on, Bo’s Change should’ve taken even longer. No werewolf could change instantly like that. Sure, there were stories about an ancient line of werewolves that traced their blood back to the mythical Greek king Lycaon. Supposedly they could do it. Everyone’s cousin’s brother’s grandma claimed to know someone related to him, but it was all a myth, a story the werewolves liked to trade that made them feel ancient and powerful. There had been no Lycaon, and there were no werewolves who could shift as Donna described. It was more likely she’d simply lost track of time due to a big dump of adrenaline or something. It had taken several minutes for Nic to get from Justice’s ATV into the house.

  The back door closed, and Jackie walked into the living room shortly after. She folded her arms and waited in the doorway, probably wanting to speak to him alone. There wasn’t anywhere in the house he could go where the wolves wouldn’t hear, not except his bedroom where he’d had the soundproof walls installed last year. He’d needed a quiet place then, almost as much as he needed it now.

  “Everyone is to treat our guests with the same respect you’d show me,” Nic said, addressing Vince. “Nothing changes. Behave yourself, Vince. I mean it.”

  “Can’t
promise nothing.” Vince crossed his arms. “If he takes another swing at you, might be I jump in the way without thinking, and you can be damn sure I don’t let something like that go unanswered.”

  Nic narrowed his eyes and took a step closer to Vince. “Who says I am? I don’t need to run it by you. Last I checked, I was still in charge of this pack, Vince. I don’t have to answer everyone blow for blow to satisfy you.”

  Vince didn’t back down. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on the end of Nic’s nose. “You don’t have to let the boogeyman walk all over you, either. You called him for help. Fine. So far, they ain’t been too much help.”

  “You think you can do better?” Jackie asked, still from the doorway. “You’d better think carefully before you speak again. If Bo were to hear you instead of me, he might consider it a challenge, and Bo only knows one way to settle a challenge.”

  For all his threats and posturing, Vince balked at the idea of challenging Bo directly. He shifted his shoulders and lowered his gaze, stepping back. “I just don’t like it, is all. We’re the ones dyin’. Losing friends. Feels like there’s no hope.”

  Nic placed a hand on Vince’s shoulder and squeezed. “There’s always hope, Vince. As long as you behave yourself, you’ve got nothing to fear from Bo Wheeler.” He glanced over at Jackie. “Now, I’m going to go discuss some things with Ms. Wheeler and see where we stand with the investigation. There’s still a few hours left before the town starts waking up. Why don’t you get some sleep? Bryce, you take the next watch. Aspen, get Mandy to her room and keep an eye on her.”

  His pack bustled around the room, shuffling their feet and dragging themselves, exhausted, to obey his order. No one had been sleeping well, least of all him. The weight of his exhaustion was suddenly heavy on his shoulders. He shrugged it off. Sleep could wait until his pack was safe.

  “Come, this way.” He gestured to Jackie and then to the stairs. She followed him up the stairs past Anabelle’s room, and the two guest rooms to the master suite upstairs. He pushed open the door and held it for her.