by E A Price
Kim stared at the ceiling. “Poor Helena. She tried to warn me, you know? Right before I…ummm…”
Ed shifted uncomfortably. His wolf had been howling for their mate all night, and even though she was already healing, the beast would not let up.
What happened to Helena had not been pleasant. It also illuminated the fact that Helena wasn’t their wannabe killer. Unless the house held two potential murderers… no, that didn’t bear thinking about.
“Did you see anything?”
Kim thought about it for a few seconds. “Not really. I heard Helena fall, so I ran into the kitchen and turned the light on. That’s when I saw her. I guess whoever it was hid in the pantry until my back was turned. I didn’t scent anything either. But then, I was covering my scent, so it wouldn’t be that big of a surprise if they did, too.”
She hadn’t managed to catch a glimpse of her attacker’s face. The only thing she noticed was that they were wearing black before that pan came down on her head. She’d had dreams though. Or rather, the same dream over and over. Each time, she was attacked in turn by Ed’s family members. She pictured each of their faces on her attacker. That was going to give her a few nightmares.
Gingerly she reached out and felt the lump on her head. Yeesh, it felt to be about the size of an egg. Her wolf whined at her and Ed tried to calm her. They were okay; they were going to be okay.
“Has Helena said anything yet?”
“Not really, she was pretty out of it. Marie gave her some prescription painkillers – which she’d been hoarding since her car accident. Then Judy stitched her up as best she could, and she seems to be healing. It was damn close to her heart. She was trying to ask if you were okay, though.”
Kim gave a sad half-smile. “Do we know why she was in the kitchen?”
“No, not yet. We’re hoping she’ll be a bit more lucid later today. We can’t get to her at the moment. As soon as Kurt saw her he broke down and started telling her he loved her, and that he was going to protect her. My eponymous Alpha punched him in the face for breaking our little sister’s heart.”
“Well, as lovely a gesture as that was, I’m sure her heart is intact.”
Ed raised his eyebrows but didn’t respond to that. “Right now, Kurt’s holed up in Helena’s room, whispering sweet nothings to her while she recovers. None of us are allowed in. Judy was adamant that she needed to check on Helena, but he won’t relent.”
“Now what, Fred?”
“Well, Daphne… I haven’t a fucking clue.”
*
Ed, Kim, and Jamie were playing pairs with Jamie’s set of Emily Wolf of Wolften Hollow playing cards she had brought with her. Jamie and Ed were both cheating outrageously, and Kim was pretending not to notice.
Christine and her pups were playing Twister in the games, but Kim just didn’t have the energy for it. The rest of the family were in the kitchen with the caretakers, Ethel and George. They were trying to make lunch together while scrubbing out Helena’s blood stain.
The blood didn’t bother them very much. They were shifters, who regularly turned into wolves and hunted down small creatures. They could handle the blood. It was just the act that led to the blood spill that was preying on people’s nerves.
Most of the family had taken to moving like a herd of gazelles. None of them wanted to go anywhere alone. Plus, given that one of them might be a poisoner, they were watching each other like hawks while preparing food.
The weather was starting to improve. The water still looked choppy but at the least the rain and wind seemed to be letting up.
The shrill ringing of the phone almost made Ed jump out of his skin. The thing had been dead for a few days, and it was a startling way to find out it was once again working.
Kim covered her mouth to stop herself from hooting with laughter. Jamie was not so kind; she was shrieking from a fit of giggles.
Ed grabbed the phone and mumbled a grumpy hello.
“Hello! Oh, finally! I’ve been trying to reach you for days.”
Ed frowned. “Hilda?”
“Yes, of course,” she replied impatiently. If it weren’t for the fact that she was a lady, she would have added ‘duh’ at the end of that sentence.
“What do you want?” he blurted without thinking.
Hilda clucked her tongue. “Don’t be rude, Edward.”
Ed almost expected her to tell him to sit up straight. He would have, too.
“I’m sorry,” he said quickly trying to unruffle her feathers, “I’m just surprised you’re calling.”
Hilda huffed into the phone. “Why wouldn’t I? I wanted to wish Marie a happy birthday.”
“Ummm, I’m sure she’ll like that.”
Hilda let out a bark of laughter. “You and I both know that’s not true. But really, I just wanted to check on how she was getting along with Judy. She hasn’t driven the poor woman away yet, has she?”
“Ummm, no.” What was happening here?
“I know Marie said not to call, and I that I was to enjoy my vacation, but I can’t help but worry about her. Lord, help me, I even miss her cranky put-downs,” laughed Hilda.
Ed’s frown deepened. “Ummm, you’re on vacation?”
“Why do you keep ummming, Edward?” Irritation laced her voice. “What is the matter?”
“I… just… I thought my grandmother had fired you!” he spluttered.
Hilda paused for a second before letting out an enormous peal of laughter. “Is that what she told you?” she asked in between hiccups.
“Well, someone did…” he muttered, he couldn’t quite recall who.
Ed could almost picture Hilda’s chubby cheeks shaking. “Oh, she is full of mischief. No, my daughter just had a baby; I’m spending a few months up here in Ontario getting to know my grandson. I’ll be back in April. Forgive me, Edward, I forgot to tell your grandmother that you were bringing…ah… a date to the island. I was a little frazzled with making arrangements for being away. I hope I didn’t cause any distress.”
Ed looked at Kim, currently engaging in a very one-sided arm wrestle with Jamie. Jamie was winning. “No, it’s fine
“How is Judy working out?” Ed could hear the tension in Hilda’s voice. Against all odds, Hilda actually did like his grandmother, and Hilda was very protective of the elderly she-wolf. He imagined it wasn’t an easy decision to take a long vacation away from her.
“Well…” he didn’t know whether to broach the subject that one of his family members accidentally poisoned her.
“I was a little unsure, but Marie seemed content. It was actually a stroke of luck meeting her. She actually from a red wolf pack in Portland. We literally ran into each other at a coffee shop about a month before my daughter gave birth; we were both fighting over the last cruller. I won, obviously. But then we started talking, and it turned out we had a lot in common. Judy used to be nurse too, like myself. Of course, I only ever worked in a care home, but, apparently, Judy worked at a big hospital in New York dealing with the victims of wolfsbane poisoning. She said that after a while you built up a kind of tolerance to it, but I can’t see that you would want one. Nasty business. Can you imagine? Someone trying to poison one of us with wolfsbane - makes me shudder. Edward? Edward? Are you still there?”
Ed dropped the phone and sprinted toward the kitchen. He was vaguely aware of Kim and Jamie calling out to him, but he couldn’t wait; he had to stop Judy before she hurt anyone else.
“Stop!” roared Ed, as he burst into the kitchen.
His mother dropped a cup full of tea and scolded him for surprising her.
Ed ignored both her and the looks the rest of his family were giving him. He must have looked like a maniac with his blazing amber eyes and fully drawn claws. But, he didn’t care.
“Judy, stop whatever you’re doing, right now,” he ordered hoarsely.
His beast was frantically trying to get out, and Ed was struggling to contain him; the animal wanted to hurt the she-wolf who had threatened his
mate, his daughter and his family.
Judy turned round from chopping vegetables. Ed sucked in a breath as he saw the knife she was holding.
Kim and Jamie burst into the room; Ed howled at them to stay back.
“Something wrong, Ed?” asked Judy placidly.
“Ed,” said his father warningly. “What’s going on?”
Ed breathed in and out deeply, not taking his eyes off Judy. He could feel his fur pushing forward. “Judy lied. She used to treat shifters who had been poisoned with wolfsbane. She has a tolerance to it.”
His mother, Marguerite gasped. “You poisoned yourself?”
Jonathan got up and growled. “Which meant hers was the only room we didn’t check, and she was the only one above suspicion. Brilliant, really.”
“I disagree,” snapped Harold Jr., “she brought a toxic poison into our family’s house. She could have hurt one of the pups.”
Judy shrugged and idly pointed the knife at each of them. “I wouldn’t hurt the pups, but I was doing this for love.”
“Love?” scoffed Marie.
Judy nodded her head vigorously. Her eyes were wide and flushed with amber. She looked at Jonathan. “I did it for you?”
Jonathan looked like someone had just told him he was the Queen of Sheba. He couldn’t have been more shocked. “Me?”
“For you and Ingrid. My niece…”
Jonathan looked like he was about to explode. “Ingrid is your niece?”
“Yes, and the sweetest creature you’d ever meet. She loved you, and she wanted to marry you.” Judy smiled sadly, before fury stole over her features. “But, oh no, she wasn’t good enough for the high and mighty Buchanan family, was she? Once your precious family got their claws into her, she was kicked out on her ass.”
“She chose to leave me,” said Jonathan quietly.
Judy waved the knife around. “No, she did what she thought she had to. Dear old Grandmother here offered her money to go away but she refused. So, she informed Ingrid that if you married her you would be kicked out of your family, your pack, you’d be cut off without a cent and she’d make sure you couldn’t get a job anywhere. She said she’d ruin her grandson’s life before she allowed a whore like my niece to marry into her family.”
Jonathan flicked his eyes to Marie, who didn’t flinch. The elderly she-wolf sniffed. “I stand by that; she was entirely the wrong sort of girl for you.”
Judy smiled bitterly. “Oh, but she didn’t stop there. When Ingrid refused to leave you, she lost her job. The bank suddenly foreclosed on her parent’s mortgage; her father lost his job. Ingrid’s parents could barely afford to feed their younger children. So Ingrid gave in. Old Granny here made things right and agreed to stop harassing her family if she promised to stay away from you. The evil bitch offered her some money again, but Ingrid refused. She hasn’t been the same since.”
Jonathan scrubbed a hand over his face. “You can’t just kill my grandmother…” Although, admittedly, he didn’t say it with too much conviction.
Judy looked at him pleadingly. “But don’t you see? If I get rid of her, you can be together, you, Ingrid and the baby.”
Jonathan tensed. “Baby?”
“Another condition of your grandmother’s deal,” spat Judy, “ she didn’t want you to know.”
“How could you do this to me?” roared Jonathan.
Marie jutted her chin at her grandson. “I stand by what I did.”
“You see? You see what she is?” demanded Judy. “She’s a monster! If we get rid of her, the three of you can be a family.”
Jonathan took a small step toward the trembling she-wolf. “Does Ingrid know you’re here?”
Judy shook her head like a naughty child and giggled. “I wanted it to be a surprise for the baby’s first birthday. I wanted to give Ingrid the family she deserves.”
“We can still be a family,” Jonathan told her gently, “you don’t have to hurt my grandmother.”
Jonathan held out his hand, slowly moving to take the knife. Ed glanced back to see Kim had pulled Jamie behind her.
Judy flicked her eyes around the room uncertainly while Jonathan made soothing noises. She suddenly snapped, and reaching out she grabbed Olivia, pulling her back against her and pushing the knife perilously close to her neck.
Will roared. “Get off my mate!”
He clawed at his clothes as he shifted to his red wolf. He snarled and lunged Judy. She held out the knife, and it tore through his shoulder as his fangs pressed into the furious she-wolf.
“Will!” screamed Olivia.
Ed grabbed Olivia, dragging her out of the way as Will struggled. The pain of his injury pulled at his shoulder as Judy stumbled and scratched at him with her claws. Judy was able to throw him off; she roared as she shimmered into her own wolf.
Their brother, Harold swiftly shifted and pounced on her. She tried to scramble away, but Harold was too strong. He clamped his jaws on her neck and held her firmly down, until, at last, her struggles petered out, and she started whimpering.
Olivia wriggled out of Ed’s grasp. She flung herself at Will, kissing him fervently and telling him she loved him.
Ed looked between the various looks of shock, anger, and relief that adorned his numerous family members. He turned his back on them and strode over to his mate.
She was still staring at his family in stunned shock. He scooped up Jamie and took hold of Kim's hand.
They were his family now, and he was damned if he was going to let anyone take them away from him.
Chapter Sixteen
16th March
The she-wolf bounded through the woods, happily weaving in and out of the trees. She spotted a red streak to her left and yapped, pushing herself to go even faster.
It was a mild night, and she reveled in the slight breeze ruffling her fur. She heard a slight growl and leaped in the air as the red wolf careened into a tree.
She was slightly worried until he stood up and started shaking out his limbs. She pranced around in a circle, wagging her tail at him, and he started barking, which slowly morphed into laughter as he shifted.
Ed knelt on the ground, chuckling at his mate. “Show-off”
She stopped and shimmered until the six-foot redhead sat before him.
“I just like seeing you run into a tree, it never gets old.”
Slowly, seductively, she crawled over to him. He held still as she licked his neck and inhaled deeply.
It was the night of the full moon. Jamie, along with numerous other pups, was happily being spoiled by the Alpha female, Rosalee and the Beta’s mate, Liv. She’d come home tomorrow and tell Kim that Liv’s cookies were better than hers and that Rosalee was a lot more fun to watch Emily Wolf with – sigh.
After the… incident, they got off the island as quickly as possible. Thankfully, the storm had died down somewhat, and the police were able to make it out there to take Judy into custody, and help get everyone away.
When the local cops searched Judy’s room, they found numerous vials of wolfsbane. They dreaded to think of what she had planned for all of it.
On the plus side, they had found Kim’s engagement ring. Or rather, the thief had returned it. Kurt had taken it. He was besotted with Helena, but she wanted nothing to do with him because he didn’t have any money – which is why she set him up with Olivia. Kurt, though, was determined to win her, and went through all the family members’ rooms looking for small things to steal and sell. He didn’t bother going through Judy or Kim’s rooms – he knew they didn’t have any money. Kurt said he did it for love.
Again, another fool going to extreme lengths and blaming it on love. It was enough to make Kim sick.
Kim wasn’t happy about it, but Ed barely said two words to his family members before they left. She was worried she was coming between him and his family, even though he reassured her that she wasn’t. But, when they got home, Ed made swift work of packing up his things and moving to Rose.
Kim’s mom, Ang
ela, was more than happy to welcome Ed into her house while he and Kim looked for their own home. He still had to wrap up his outstanding cases at his law firm, but a few more weeks of commuting and he’d be as free as a… well, a wolf. Soon enough, he could take up the job offered to him by the Alpha, Adam.
Kim smiled as she heard her pack mates howling in the distance. Or rather, their pack mates. It was official; Ed was part of her pack. He had been welcomed with open arms by her Alpha. Seriously, total bromance.
There was one thing preying on her mind, however. Well, actually two.
First of all, she hadn’t even begun to think about how she was going to track down her deadbeat ex, never mind how she was going to wring a divorce out of him. She shuddered at the thought that he might actually want to see Jamie and become a part of her life. He hadn’t made any move to reach out to her in the last few years, but the fear remained. Wade never wanted to be married or have a kid. But, after Kim got pregnant, the two of them were pressured into a very unhappy marriage by the old Alpha, who saw females as more of a commodity than anything else. Thank god things had changed.
Maybe Kim was being high-handed, Wade was Jamie’s father after all, but she didn’t care. She didn’t want Jamie to ever see him again. The last time she’d left Jamie alone with him, she’d come home to find Wade passed out drunk and Jamie lying at the top of the stairs, screaming her little head off. Kim dreaded to think what might have happened if she hadn’t come home at that moment. She wanted Wade to stay out of her pup’s life forever.
The other thing preying on her mind was the issue of bonding with Ed. Or more like, when the heck it was going to happen. She’d assumed that he’d have been begging her to bond with him since the moment they moved in together. But, alas, no, he hadn’t said one peep about it, and it was really starting to piss off her wolf.
She looked at him, and he grinned, baring his teeth in a boyish smile. He looked so sweet, and yet she knew he wasn’t. Not if the things they got up to were anything to go by.
“Ed?” she cooed.
“Mmmm hmmm?”
