by Gwen Knight
I bit my tongue to keep from saying something I’d regret. I understood Reagan’s logic, but it was flawed. Leif had spent his life hunting vampires, whereas we’d never so much as crossed paths with a single one. I knew Reagan, though, and I knew pushing the matter would only force her to dig in her heels.
“You know, I haven’t done anything to warrant this mistrust,” Leif responded.
“Really?” Reagan straightened to her full height and stared him in the eye. Hell, even I flinched at the anger burning in her gaze. “You came here to hunt down my fiancé. And on the heels of your arrival, one of our pack mates is murdered by vampires. You might not be responsible but seems to me they’re here because you are. That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence, Mr. Erikson.”
“Reagan…”
“I’m sorry, Lucy, I am. I know he’s the father of your child, but that means nothing to me right now. If he wants me to trust him, he needs to prove that I can.”
And on that note, she turned and strode toward the car.
I blew out an exasperated breath and dragged my hands through my hair. “This was not how I anticipated tonight going down.”
Leif hummed under his breath, then shot me a glance. “No one died. So, at least there’s that.”
Chapter 9
No one could have missed the body—although, I wished I had.
The sight, the smell, the knowledge that this was once someone I’d known…my gut twisted so hard I thought I might throw up. Reagan was the one who usually dealt with these sorts of situations, not me, and even she looked a tad green. Jerrik, on the other hand, was as calm as a summer breeze. Joys of being a former professional assassin.
Worse, I couldn’t look away. Like a car wreck, my eyes kept straying back, and each time, they picked out something different. The position of her body, the look of utter terror contorting what remained of her face, even her mutilated throat. Something with claws had struck her deep, leaving behind a gory tapestry of gouges that ran from her forehead down to her collarbone. If Reagan hadn’t told me this was Marie, I never would have guessed it.
“Jesus,” Reagan whispered.
I struggled to swallow, then nodded. “Vampires did this? I thought…”
“The movies romanticize them,” Leif offered. “Vampires are hardly the doe-eyed lovers you’ve seen in all the flicks. In real life, they’re monsters.” Without another word, he ducked beneath the police tape and entered the perimeter.
Reagan sucked a sharp breath in through her clenched teeth, but before she could say anything, I grabbed her wrist and shook my head. Regardless of her personal feelings, we weren’t the professionals here. And if we wanted to find the bastards who did this, we needed all the help we could get. Especially the help of an infamous vampire hunter. Leif knew what he was doing. We needed to let him do his job.
She pursed her lips but held her tongue and watched as he crouched next to the body.
Damn. The body. Not Marie. Not anymore, anyway. Whatever had once made her Marie was gone now. All that remained was an empty shell.
The muscles around my heart squeezed. Marie might be gone, but we still had a duty to do. We needed to avenge her death, for us, for her, for those left in her life who would want answers. I couldn’t even imagine how her parents would react when they learned the truth. The few times I’d met them, I’d thought them the sweetest couple I’d ever met. And we were about to ruin their lives.
“The police have already been through here and recorded everything,” Reagan finally commented. “They gave us the go-ahead to look around.”
Leif glanced back over his shoulder. “You all right with me looking, then?”
Her jaw tightened, but eventually, she nodded. “So long as you tell us everything you find.”
“Agreed.” He shot Jerrik a terse glare, then turned back to Marie and pointed at the claw marks. “See these?”
“Kind of hard to miss.”
He nodded. “Vampires sprout claws like us. And they’re equally lethal. But these monsters have an advantage we don’t. Their claws secrete a paralyzing agent. One nick is all it takes.”
A shiver screamed down my spine. The thought of being at such a disadvantage left a bad taste in my mouth. I couldn’t imagine the horror…laying there paralyzed while something tore you to pieces. “Is that… Is that why Marie didn’t shift?”
The slight waver in my voice drew Leif’s attention. Eyes soft, he gave another nod. “That, and the vamps wouldn’t have given her the chance to change. Shifting takes time. And vampires prefer their meals without fur.”
“You’ve never known a single vampire to feed off animals?” I asked.
Leif’s mouth crooked. “This isn’t some romance novel we’re in. Vampires are monsters. They feed off human blood. End of story.”
“But Marie wasn’t human,” Reagan countered.
“I’ve crossed paths with a few throughout the years who preferred werewolf blood. Has a certain kick, or so I’ve heard. The magic that runs through our veins or some shit. We’re close enough to humans that we don’t disrupt their diet. But feeding off werewolves is dangerous. We’re stronger than humans. We can fight back. Which is why those who prefer our blood tend to go after the weak.”
Tears pricked at my eyes. “Marie was a submissive. But she knew how to fight. We all do. Reagan taught us.”
Leif’s head snapped toward us. “Really?”
“Is that so surprising?” Reagan drawled.
“A little. I didn’t expect a pack with a leader as old as yours to be so…progressive.”
Reagan clucked under her breath. “Gabriel might be the alpha, but I’m the one in charge of training the pack. My father taught me to fight, and I decided to pass that knowledge down to each and every pack member.” She winced and glanced at Marie. “Not that it helped in this case.”
“Marie never stood a chance,” Leif offered, his voice soft. “Maybe you’ve trained your pack to fight humans or other werewolves, but not vampires. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
Easy for him to say. He hadn’t known Marie. To him, she was nothing more than another victim. To us…she was our sister-wolf.
“Can you teach the pack to defend themselves against vampires?” Jerrik asked, his rough baritone startling me.
“Depends,” was all Leif said.
Frowning, he brushed his knuckles against Marie’s chin. Her head lolled lifelessly to the side, exposing glimmering sinew and bone.
I pressed the back of my hand against my mouth and turned away. Saliva pooled at the back of my throat, and the contents of my stomach sluiced upward.
Reagan wound an arm around my waist and gave a comforting squeeze.
“There.” Leif gestured toward her throat. “Bite marks, hidden beneath the claw marks. Clever beasts.”
“Clever? How?” Reagan demanded.
“They were trying to hide their fang marks. Whoever originally investigated the body must have had a keen eye to have found those. I can barely make them out myself. They scored her neck in an attempt to conceal them.”
“Could mean they have a larger purpose here,” Reagan muttered.
The three of us glanced her way with matching inquisitive expressions.
She gestured toward the body. “Why hide the marks? Why make an effort? If they’d only wanted to feed, they would have just left her body where it lay. But they didn’t. They tried to hide that they fed on her. Meaning, they don’t want anyone to know they’re here. And when someone goes to such extremes, I have to wonder why.”
Leif turned back to Marie’s body with a quirked brow. “Perhaps they didn’t want me to know they’re here.”
“Or Gabriel,” I offered. “He cut through their ranks a few hundred years ago. Maybe they remember. Maybe they fear him?”
“Either way, we have an advantage,” Reagan said. “We know they’re here. So, we can alert the pack and the media—”
“No.” Leif pushed to his feet and dusted the di
rt off his knees. “If you go to the media with this, not only will you start a widespread panic, but you’ll force the vampires back into hiding. Careless vamps are easier to hunt. It’ll give away our advantage.”
“What?” I shook my head. “We can’t just leave everyone in the dark. That’s dangerous.”
“We don’t need to leave them in the dark. We can keep the vampires a secret and still warn people. Release a statement. Tell the public it was a pack of ghouls or a psycho with a knife. Anything that will have them wary of leaving their houses at night. We can warn them and keep our advantage.”
A small smile pulled at my lips. “Then we can hunt the vampires while they think we’re looking somewhere else.”
Leif met my gaze with an approving grin. “We’ll also circulate the story that Gabriel isn’t happy with my presence here and has me locked up or something. Give them a false sense of security.”
Reagan nodded. “I gotta say, I like the way you think.”
He flashed her another devastatingly handsome smile. “Knew you’d warm up to me.”
I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
“Can you track them down, though?” she asked.
“I always have in the past. And there’s a scent on the body. It’s faded, but I’ll recognize it if I catch it again. In the meantime, we need to try and find where they’re staying. Vampires don’t travel lightly, and always with a small menagerie.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Strength in numbers, I assume. I’ve never stopped to ask. One could also ask why we live in packs. If Reagan were to go overseas, would she go alone?”
She shook her head. “I’d bring along a small guard, including Jerrik.”
Jerrik and Leif shared another brief glance, as though actively avoiding contact with one another. Eventually, Leif nodded.
“All right, well this is happening…” Reagan murmured before ducking under the tape.
“What are you doing?” I asked.
“If there’s a scent, I want it. Who’s to say Gabriel will even allow Leif to track these bastards down.” She drew in a deep breath and rolled out her shoulders. Then she crouched next to Marie, her face pale. Even I cringed. It was one thing to watch from afar, and another to get up close and personal. “It’s faint, but I’ve got it. Sharp. Almost…”
“Reptilian,” Leif finished.
“Is that normal?” I asked.
“We smell like wolves, our wild brethren,” he said with a shrug. “Vampires smell like reptiles.”
Ugh. That didn’t sound appealing at all. I’d never been a fan of snakes and was less so now.
Reagan leaned back on her haunches and gazed down at Marie. “We’ll find who did this, and we’ll put them down before they can hurt anyone else.”
A murmur of assent rose from my lips, but before I could say a word, a soft chirp came from Reagan’s pocket. She rose to her feet and fished out her phone. The slight furrowing of her brow told me everything I needed to know.
“Gabriel?” I asked.
She nodded. “He wants an update.”
“Which means…”
Reagan shot Leif a stern glance. “Time to meet our alpha. You ready?”
“Do I have a choice?”
“Nope.”
“What about Marie?” I asked.
“The coroner is waiting nearby for us to finish. They’ll take care of her. Let’s go.”
Reagan and Jerrik started for the car without another word, but I lingered behind, my focus straying back to Marie. We’d never been close, but I’d considered her a friend. The realization that we’d never see her at another pack meeting, or hear her voice join ours when howling, brought tears to my eyes.
“Lucy?”
I sniffled and lifted my head, forcing a faint smile. “I’m all right.”
With a soft sigh, Leif wrapped his arms around me and drew me into his chest. “I’m sorry this happened. It’s my fault.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Place the blame where it belongs. With the vampires.”
“Guys?” Reagan called out.
“We’re coming.” I untangled myself from Leif’s arms, wiped my eyes, then trailed after her and Jerrik. I was dreading this meeting with Gabriel, but Reagan was right. We couldn’t hide Leif from him. The consequences would be far worse if we did.
Leif would be fine. I had to believe that.
Chapter 10
The moon had risen high by the time we pulled up outside Gabriel’s house and parked. I stared at the familiar brick walls and felt a wave of dread sweep over me. Gabriel had always been a father figure to me—more so than mine—but that wasn’t reassuring. I knew Gabriel’s priorities, and they’d always been Reagan first, then the pack, then everything else. I honestly wasn’t sure where I fit in. Throughout my life, he’d teasingly called me the daughter he’d never wanted, but it’d be foolish to hope he’d ever treat me like Reagan.
Still, I remembered our younger days, when Reagan and I used to chase each other through the massive grounds with Gabriel shouting in the distance. He’d always had a clear image of how to raise Reagan, and frolicking through the grass had never fit in with his plans. Reagan’s mother on the other hand…I’d adored that woman—more so than my own mother. When Amalie passed, I’d felt the blow as keenly as Reagan. My mother was nothing more than a hot mess, constantly jumping from one relationship to the next. A needy soul, completely incapable of being alone. More often than not, I’d always felt smothered by her. Amalie had fulfilled the role of the steady mother for me.
Reagan reached across the front seat and took my hand. “Everything will be all right.”
I squeezed her fingers as I eyed the centuries-old ivy climbing the pristine walls. The house might have been built in the eighteen-hundreds, but Gabriel had always employed people to handle the upkeep. Gardeners, cleaning staff, maintenance workers, whatever money could buy. As the alpha, he had to keep up appearances.
“It’s Tuesday,” Reagan continued. “Which means he’s all alone in there. No meetings until tomorrow.”
With Reagan at my side, we had a little more control of the situation. Gabriel was one of the sternest men I knew. He’d raised Reagan with the notion that tough love would make her into the best version of herself. But deep down, he adored her. Everyone knew that. Which was why Jerrik was now a part of our pack. With luck, maybe Reagan could work a little of that magic for Leif.
“Okay. Let’s do this.” Reagan exited the vehicle and started up the sidewalk.
With a deep breath, I followed suit, noting how Leif and Jerrik followed behind me. The three of us seemed to linger in the paved driveway. Seemed I wasn’t the only one dreading this. Jerrik and Gabriel were far from friendly. Cordial at best, for Reagan’s sake, but nothing more.
Reagan strode inside without ceremony, leaving the door wide open for us. I could hear her inside, calling out Gabriel’s name. And when I caught the sound of his rough reply, my heart slammed into my ribs.
“Lucy…” Leif brushed his fingers against mine. “What are you so scared of?”
I scoffed. “Who says I’m scared?”
The corners of his mouth tugged upward. “Really? Did you forget we can smell emotions?”
“You just couldn’t play dumb, could you?” I rolled my eyes. “You’ve never met Gabriel. If you had, you’d be scared, too.”
Laughter burst past his lips. “Please. I’ve faced things far more frightening than an alpha werewolf.”
“Gabriel’s more than that,” I argued. “He’s run this pack for more than five hundred years. You know any other alphas who’ve managed that?”
“So what?” he asked with a shrug.
“How do you think he’s held onto his leadership for so long? The man is powerful. And terrifying.”
“To you, maybe,” Jerrik interjected.
I frowned. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
For the first time since they’d laid eyes on each other, the two sha
red a laugh. No one seemed more surprised than Leif. After a few moments, he gestured to Jerrik and himself. “Gabriel might be the big bad wolf in this part of the world, but we’re far older than him.”
“Old or not, Gabriel’s still the alpha. If he decides to execute you, he’s within his rights.”
“I wouldn’t stand around and just let that happen.”
I exhaled and ran a hand down my face. “So, what? You’d just kill my best friend’s father? The man who practically raised me? Our alpha?”
Leif’s silence was answer enough.
I shook my head and pinched the bridge of my nose. “And you wonder why I’m scared. No matter what happens here today, someone is going to get hurt.”
I turned and stalked toward the house, all the while knowing that someone was going to me.
I followed the sound of Reagan’s voice into the main living room where she and Gabriel sat across from each other. He lifted his head as I entered, but his gaze skipped past me and landed on the two men hovering at my back.
Fury rippled over his face, and with a vicious, hair-raising snarl, Gabriel lunged to his feet, eyes blazing like molten gold. I was no stranger to Gabriel’s fits, but this was something else entirely. Something I’d never seen before. The air prickled with power as the scent of fur swelled within the room, and heat licked against my skin—all emanating from our alpha. A voice screamed in my head, telling me to run, to protect myself and the little nugget growing within me.
“Gabriel!” Reagan shouted. She leapt to her feet and dove in front of him—in front of me—shielding us with her body.
“Move,” Gabriel snarled, sounding for all the world like the wild animal within. “Now.”
“Not until you hear me out.”
“Now!” he roared.
The barest ripple of skin caught my attention, something small, but wholly terrifying. If Gabriel shifted here, there’d be no controlling the situation. As an alpha, he should have had more control than this. But the past few months hadn’t been easy on any of us—least of all him. The attack on Reagan had opened Gabriel’s eyes. The past few centuries, he’d believed the pack impenetrable. He’d worked his ass off to make us strong, and in a matter of months, the European pack had nearly decimated us. If they’d succeeded, we would have lost both our alpha and heir. Our people would have been left in the care of that rat-bastard, Benjamin. That Gabriel had trusted him made matters utterly worse, a betrayal that had left a mark on our alpha. Jerrik had earned his place in the pack. It was only because of him that Reagan still lived, and Gabriel knew that. But Leif? Gabriel had no reason to trust him.
