Half Blood (A Helheim Wolf Pack Tale)

by Lauren Dawes

  ‘O-okay,’ she whispered. Indi took Beth’s hand in hers, quietening her rapid pulse. The first officer Indi recognised immediately. Detective Vaile Wolfe’s blue and grey eyes widened when he saw her before quickly settling back into cop mode. His partner was young, female, and smelled like roses. They seemed like a strange partnership with her radiating goodness and him radiating menace. She had blonde hair tied into a chignon at the nape of her neck. Her uniform seemed to hang from her thin frame, making Indi think that the reason she stood with her hand on her hips was to stop her belt and holster from falling off her slim waist.

  Indi stood up and stepped away from the bed so the blonde could get in nice and close to Beth. But Beth wasn’t interested in what she was doing. She had shrunk back into the pillows, eyeing Vaile cautiously. Indi saw it in her eyes, from the expression on her face—she was afraid of him.

  Blondie obviously saw it too because she stepped forward and rested a hand on Beth’s hand, drawing her attention away from Vaile. While she spoke quietly to her, Indi sat down in a plastic chair in the corner of the room. From her vantage point she could see Beth’s profile and Vaile’s face. She’d decided early on that Blondie wasn’t a threat.

  ‘Beth? I’m Constable Grey with the Buxton police, and that’s Detective Wolfe over there.’ Her words were softly spoken and kind, soothing Beth more than Indi could do. Beth’s eyes darted to Vaile; Indi noticing her throat working. Her heart rate kicked up a notch, pounding restlessly against her delicate ribs.

  ‘Are you okay to answer a few questions about what happened to you last night?’ the constable added softly, palming the small notepad and pencil anticipatorily.

  Beth’s head swivelled to Indi, looking for encouragement or a way out. She gave her a smile and a nod, silently urging her that it was okay. When Beth turned to look at Grey again, Indi met Vaile’s eyes over the head of his partner.

  ‘Now Beth, I want you to try really hard to remember what the man looked like. Do you remember anything about him? Did he have any distinctive features?’

  ‘I don’t …’ her brow puckered.

  ‘What colour was his hair?’ Grey prompted.

  ‘Black, I think … or maybe it was brown,’ she stammered.

  ‘Beth?’ Grey urged gently, resting a hand on her shoulder. Beth flinched away from the touch and Indi’s back straightened.

  ‘I don’t know, okay? I don’t remember what he looked like. It was dark.’

  ‘Are you able to tell me how old he is?’

  ‘I. Don’t. Know,’ she bit out, wincing around her broken ribs when she breathed in too deeply. Her hands fisted the sheets around her, riding the pain from the injuries her body took in the attack.

  The tingle began as Indi pushed herself further off the chair, her fingers curling around the edges until they were white and achy. She was trying to force her anger away, but her usual techniques weren’t working. Something had changed when she transitioned. Her control wasn’t as good as it had been. The tingling was building, hitting a crescendo within her body that she had never felt before. The cat that represented her anger skirted around her body, pushing its head against her skin, its ruff standing on end. A low growl escaped its throat.

  ‘Beth,’ Blondie asked again. Indi’s finger twitched for her blade. She wanted her to stop, she needed her to stop otherwise she was going to do something that her instincts were screaming at her to do. Protect what’s yours. Protect them with your life.

  Vaile’s nostrils flared suddenly, his eyes shifting colour like Rhett’s had done. Could he be …? An icy-blue gaze watched her. It was only for a split second that their eyes met, but he understood.

  ‘Grey. Enough,’ Vaile said firmly; a threatening growl accompanied his words. Grey’s head jerked up in surprise, looking up at Vaile like she’d forgotten he was in the room. The tingle in Indi’s body receded slowly; the beast still unhappy, but at least she didn’t feel like she wanted to shed fresh blood anytime in the near future.

  ‘Sorry Beth. It’s okay. When you remember something, here is my card. You can call me anytime.’ Grey handed the card to Beth, but she refused to take it. Instead, Grey left it on the portable tray next to her bed and walked to the door. Vaile gave Indi a look as he left which roughly translated as get-your-ass-out-here-now.

  Indi got up from the plastic chair, stopping when Beth asked, ‘Where are you going?’ Her voice was shaky.

  ‘I have to talk to the police too remember. I found you. I won’t be long.’ Indi slipped out the door and met Vaile out in the hallway.

  ‘What the fuck just happened in there?’ His huge arms came across his chest, straining the seams on his shirt.

  She crossed her arms across her chest, mirroring his aggressive stance. ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’

  ‘Hey, is everything alright?’ Rhett asked, coming to stand at Indi’s side.

  ‘We’re fine Rhett,’ Vaile snapped.

  Indi’s head swivelled to Rhett. ‘You know each other?’

  ‘Vaile is the beta of my pack. He’s second in command,’ Rhett replied, filling in the blanks on this fun game. Indi glanced back at the detective.

  ‘You’re a werewolf?’ she asked in a whispered breath. His response came with the shifting of his eyes. They were greyish-blue one minute and ice-blue the next before he blinked them back to grey-flecked blue again.

  ‘Rhett, who was the stiff we picked up early this morning?’

  ‘It was the guy who raped Beth—the guy who’s been raping all the girls in Buxton,’ Indi answered. The detective’s mouth thinned out like he wanted to say something to her, but he held his tongue.

  He turned back to Indi. ‘He admitted that to you?’ His cop persona was back and bad ass.

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Who was he?’

  ‘I knew him as James Vincent, but he told me his name was Buddy.’

  Vaile frowned again, retrieving his notebook from his pocket. Leafing through, he stopped at an entry Indi couldn’t see. ‘James Vincent’s shrink came by yesterday evening with suspicions that her patient was the Buxton rapist. He has DID, Dissociative Identity Disorder. She said that his ‘alters’ name’s was Buddy. She was concerned about him. She said he was violent towards women. He came to a session with defensive wounds on his forearms.’

  ‘James?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah. You said he was your neighbour?’

  ‘He lives—lived—opposite me.’

  ‘I’ll send someone over to check. But for now, you should get back in there with your friend. She’s going to need you more than ever now.’

  ‘Why do you say that?’

  ‘She’s pregnant,’ he replied. Indi looked at Rhett and he nodded.

  ‘We can smell the hormone changes. She’s pregnant,’ Rhett said.

  Indi glanced back at her best friend’s room door and shook her head. ‘Fuck.’

  Epilogue

  Rhett went straight home after he left Indi at the hospital. She was still reeling from the truth bomb Vaile had dropped, detonating it when that was the last thing she needed. Her guilt for not being able to help Beth in the first place only made it worse. While he’d been outside waiting for Indi, his stomach had begun twisting in on itself. He thought it was hunger from the Change and the injuries he’d had to heal, but when he began driving back towards the house, the pain intensified until he was seeing black spots in front of his eyes when he blinked. He didn’t understand where the pain was coming from until he pulled up in front of the house.

  All the lights were on and the alarm bells started ringing in his head. Hauling ass, he slammed the car door shut and burst through the front door. The screams of agony were all he could hear when he stepped in, causing him to throw his hands over his ears. But the sound wasn’t just outside his body—it was in his head too. Antain. Running through the house, he checked the other rooms, finding furniture broken and strewn all over the floor. He ran to his uncle’s office, finding the hinges of
his huge mahogany door hanging precariously from the frame and stepped inside.

  The leather office chair was laying on its side, the desk nothing but splinters of stained wood. The over-stuffed sofa had been ripped open, the stuffing hanging out like entrails. Rhett stuck his finger in one of the tears and realised what made them. Claws. When he heard footsteps, he turned—finding Brax standing in the doorway. His face was enough of a giveaway.

  ‘Where is he?’

  ‘Basement.’

  ‘Fuck,’ Rhett cursed, pushing past B to get to the kitchen. Throwing open the door, the snarling that had vibrated through his skull was suddenly in stereo. Descending the stairs two at a time, he landed at the bottom and swung his eyes to the corner of the room. In the cage, was his uncle. His huge russet frame shook with anger, his lethal claws raking at the reinforced concrete ground of the cage. Around him were the rest of the enforcers. Rhett pushed through them all until nothing but steel bars separated his uncle and him. Antain’s violent eyes swung to him, pinning him there, telling him everything he needed to know. He turned to Sabel.

  ‘Where’s Eaton?’

  ‘They’ve taken her.’

  ‘Who’s taken her?’ he asked gripping his forearm. Antain snarled loudly right by his ear. Sabel swallowed thickly before answering, his wolf’s chartreuse eyes peering out of sceptical eyes.

  ‘Marcus,’ he replied. ‘They’ve taken Eaton in exchange for the félvair.’ Rhett turned back to his imprisoned uncle and approached the bars. Sabel’s hand on his chest stopped him. ‘He’ll rip you apart. We only just got him down here before he shifted.’

  Rhett looked at his uncle’s ripped clothing by his feet. ‘He won’t hurt me.’

  Sabel shrugged, his smile smug. ‘It’s your funeral.’

  Rhett wrapped his fingers around the bars and dropped his eyes level with his uncle. His alpha’s golden eyes were furious and destructive and hurt. His mate had been taken away from him, stolen from under his nose and there had been nothing he could do about it. Rhett’s knuckles turned white as he held onto the bars. His mind was churning with ideas. If Marcus wanted Indi in exchange for Eaton, there is no question that he would have to give her up. But if he did that, it would mean everything that he had done for her so far would have been for nothing.

  The pack bonds that flowed through his veins tugged him towards the decision he had to make, but his loyalty to Indi—to protect her—were equally as strong. What he needed was to find a way to get Eaton back while keeping Indi safe. It was pack loyalty over loyalty to his félvair and he wouldn’t let either of them win.

  He held his alpha’s fierce, golden eyes. ‘I’ll get her back Uncle. I swear it.’