by J. C. Diem
My knowledge of werewolf etiquette was sorely lacking and I fumbled for a response. “Uh, Mark? Some help?” I said when I came up blank.
“We didn’t realize we’d entered your territory,” he said. “You have our apologies.” I hadn’t picked up their scent in town, which meant they hadn’t been there recently.
Mark and Kala moved to flank me, but stayed one step behind me. Zeus planted himself in front of me and growled up at the pack leader. I sensed Kala was coiled for violence and sent her a calming vibe through our link. She relaxed slightly, but her hand remained on the gun that was strapped to her right thigh.
The alpha’s golden brown eyes didn’t shift from mine. “You allow a human to speak for you?” Shifters usually felt a certain amount of contempt for humans. Especially pure bloods, which this guy had to be. Usually, only true born werewolves could be alphas. I was the only bitten wolf who could claim that title.
“Of course,” I said with a shrug. “He’s my boss.” Plus, Mark was more than double my age. He was far more knowledgeable than I was about pretty much everything.
The four pack members exchanged confused glances then the alpha motioned for us to climb the rest of the way to the top. “There had better be a good reason for you coming here,” he said ominously.
Four more men and three women were seated around a campfire. From the empty bottles of alcohol that were strewn around the site, we’d interrupted a lengthy party. Their glares were surly, especially the ones coming from the three females. Their eyes went to me and I heard one of them growl low in her throat. I had the impression they thought I wanted to join their pack. I’d be happy to put their minds at ease on that score. I had no plans to become a member of a raggedy pack like this.
“We have three interlopers,” the alpha said to his pack, ignoring Zeus as being beneath his notice. “What do you think we should do with them?”
He might look like an uneducated thug, but he didn’t sound like one. I couldn’t say the same about the rest of his group. Some of them looked like they’d spent time in jail. All of them were armed with either handguns or shotguns. Some were carrying both.
“Let’s skin the cat and listen to her yowl,” one of the women suggested, eyeing Kala maliciously.
“I call dibs on the wolf,” a man said in a deep voice. Tall, with dark skin and a shaved head, he was strikingly handsome. His dark eyes travelled from my head to my toes and back up again. His smirk was an indication of what he had planned for me. His scent was familiar. I realized he’d been on the motorbike that we’d passed a couple of nights ago.
“Forget it, Rick. She’s an alpha,” the leader said. “Not even you would be able to dominate her.”
“An alpha?” the woman who’d growled said incredulously. “That’s a load of crap!” Bounding to her feet, she stalked over and stuck her face into mine. Several inches shorter than me, she was as thin and leathery as her alpha. Her hair was bleached blond, making her black eyebrows stand out in contrast.
We had a short staring contest then I exerted my will over her. It was surprisingly easy to do and I felt her quail. “Sit down and shut up,” I said in a tone that she was unable to resist.
The pack murmured in disturbed amazement when she flinched away from me and scurried back to her seat as ordered.
“She’s not pure blood, Aiden,” one of his men muttered. “How can she be an alpha?”
“I don’t know,” he said in some puzzlement. “There’s something very strange about you.” He drew a gun from the small of his back. “I don’t like strange things wandering into my territory.”
I pulled my Beretta and had it pointed at his face before he even had time to blink. Kala and Mark also drew their weapons. We were outnumbered, but we wouldn’t go down without a fight.
Hearing footsteps approaching from the far side of the hill, I didn’t take my eyes off the alpha’s. I saw our deaths in his hard gaze. If I showed any weakness at all, we’d all die on this hill.
“Lexi?” the newcomer said in amazement. “Is that really you?”
I hadn’t heard his voice in several months, but I recognized him immediately. “Patrick?”
He moved to stand beside the man who was apparently his alpha. I wasn’t the only one who had undergone a dramatic change since I’d left Texas. Patrick had altered just as radically as I had.
“Aiden,” he said carefully, “this is the girl I told you about.” Aiden’s eyes flickered minutely, but he didn’t look away from me as Patrick continued. “Lexi could shoot the head off a pin at a hundred yards even before she became one of us,” he cautioned. “She could probably kill us all in about three seconds flat if she wanted to.” He was well aware of my skills. He’d been a soldier at the army base where I’d often used the shooting ranges.
“Let her try,” Rick challenged. He stepped up beside his alpha, which meant he was the second in charge.
“Do you remember who her father is?” Patrick asked. He was aiming for a reasonable tone, but his tension seeped through. “Major Levine will tear the earth itself apart if we kill her.”
“Is that true?” Aiden asked. “Is your father a soldier?”
“Yes and Patrick’s right. He’ll hunt you down and you won’t even know he’s there until his bullet smacks you in the back of the head,” I confirmed.
“He’s just a human,” he responded with his upper lip curled in derision.
Patrick laughed then quickly sobered beneath his alpha’s sidelong glare. “Philip Levine is the most highly trained and talented sniper in the entire US Army. No one can match his skill. Not even creatures like us.”
“We don’t want the soldiers to come hunting for us,” one of the lower members of the pack whined. “Maybe we should just let them go.”
“What are you doing here?” the alpha demanded.
“We’re investigating several strange deaths that have occurred in Northam,” Mark replied. “We were searching a nearby property when one of my agents went missing.”
“Is he a wolf or a cougar?”
“Neither. He’s a wereconstrictor.”
“A snake?” Aiden said and lowered his gun in surprise. “Now that is interesting.”
At Mark’s nod, I lowered my weapon, but I didn’t holster it. Rick and the rest of the pack were still aiming their guns at us.
“I heard there was something weird going on around here,” Aiden said in a musing tone. “Maybe it’s time to see the oracle. If something is happening in my territory, I want to put a stop to it. Maybe she can tell us where to start.”
The tension seeped away. With the danger momentarily over, we holstered our weapons. I didn’t doubt that any of the pack members would shoot us in the back if they thought they could get away with it. Nina Carter’s pack was civilized compared to this bunch of unwashed bikers.
“Does this oracle truly have the ability to see into the future?” Mark asked with genuine interest.
“Nah,” Aiden replied with a shrug. “We just call her that because she sees everything that happens in this area.”
“How?” I asked.
“You’ll see,” he said mysteriously. Sly looks and chuckles came from the rest of his pack. Whatever the joke was, we weren’t in on it.
“Rick, Patrick, you’re with me,” the alpha ordered. “The rest of you, stay here and behave yourselves.” He turned to me and pointed. “You’re riding with us.”
Zeus growled and I patted him soothingly and glanced at Mark. He knew we didn’t have a choice and he nodded unhappily. Kala didn’t like it either and glared in silent warning at Aiden. Flynn had disappeared without a trace and now I was going to be trapped in a vehicle with two unknown men and a guy I hadn’t seen in months.
“Our truck is parked on the other side of the hill,” Rick said to Mark. His voice was almost painfully deep. “Follow our dust trail. If you lose us, that’s your problem.”
Stay with Mark and Kala, I told Zeus. He sent me an unhappy look, but followed them
back down the hill.
₪₪₪
Chapter Fourteen
Patrick waited for me to catch up to him then escorted me after his alpha and Rick. “When did you become a werewolf?” he asked as we followed the other two men down the slope. This side of the hill wasn’t as steep and it was easier to traverse. Half a dozen motorbikes and a couple of pickup trucks were parked haphazardly at the bottom of the hill.
Tall, black haired and blue eyed, Patrick was more than cute and had a well-toned body. Unlike the rest of the pack, he wore a t-shirt with sleeves. Fine stubble covered his jaw. He’d changed from the clean-cut, wide eyed guy I’d known. Being turned into a monster could do that to a person. He was harder now and had had a slightly bitter cast to his face.
“Not long after I left town,” I replied. “I joined Mark’s team and was accidentally bitten by one of his agents during my first mission with them.”
He quirked an eyebrow in doubt. “Shifters don’t usually bite people by accident.”
My cheeks colored, but I didn’t offer him a further explanation. I wasn’t about to explain that Reece had been bamboozled into having sex with me by a psychic. It had been the night of a full moon and he’d been dangerously close to changing. Our bites were apparently far more infectious then and the inevitable had happened. “How about you?” I asked. “How did you end up as a shifter?”
He glanced at the other two as they reached a battered black pickup truck. They were conversing quietly and weren’t listening to us. I was glad to see the truck had seats in the back so we wouldn’t have to squish into the front together.
“I went out drinking after work with some friends,” Patrick explained. “I got into a fight with a stranger in the parking lot and he bit me. Just like what happened to you, it was a full moon that night. A month later I disappeared for three nights, according to my commanding officer. I couldn’t explain where I’d gone and he was naturally pissed.” He gave a frustrated shrug. “How could I possibly tell him I’d woken up naked near the mangled corpse of a dead cow?”
My life hadn’t turned out as I’d planned either and I knew exactly how he felt.
“I changed after that,” he went on. “I used to be fairly peaceful, but I started picking fights all the time. Then I disappeared for three nights again a month later. That was the last straw for my CO and I was kicked out of the Army,” he said bitterly. “I had no idea what the hell had happened to me until Aiden tracked me down a few days later and explained it to me. He knew there was another werewolf in his territory and it was easy for him to find me. I think he was going to kill me at first, but then he decided to let me join his pack instead.”
I nodded in sympathy as we climbed into the truck. “A similar thing happened to me. I had no idea what was happening either until Mark figured out that I’d been bitten.”
“Where is the wolf that bit you?” he asked.
“He left the team to stay with a pack.” I didn’t explain further. It was still far too painful to relay the whole tale.
Something about his story bothered me. He was only a few months older than I was. Even if he’d turned nineteen by now, he was legally too young to drink, but that wasn’t what concerned me. It was strange that Patrick had gotten into a fight at all. He’d been polite and well-mannered the last time I’d seen him. What could have changed him so drastically?
Unwilling to continue our conversation in the presence of the alpha and his second, we subsided into silence. Rick kept sending me assessing looks in the rearview mirror as we headed deeper into the desert. I did my best to ignore him, but I didn’t like the expression in his dark eyes. I might be far less experienced with men than Kala was, but I knew when one was attracted to me.
We drove for a couple of hours until we reached the base of the mountains. Our compound was far to the west from here. As we’d neared the mountains, I noticed vultures, hawks, falcons and various other types of birds sitting on cacti or flying overhead. They almost seemed to be watching us.
Pulling to a stop, Aiden got out and waited for Mark to park beside us. He pointed at Kala when she opened her door. “She stays here. The oracle hates cats and she won’t speak to us if the cougar comes along.”
Mark nodded his agreement and Kala kicked a tire in frustration. Zeus trotted over to me and bared his teeth at the strangers in silent warning that he didn’t trust them. Aiden shook his head in bemusement at being challenged by a mere dog and motioned for us to follow him.
We rounded a small copse and approached a weathered cave. An eagle swooped past us, making Patrick duck in alarm before it disappeared inside. Mark stared after the bird speculatively, but kept his thoughts to himself. I couldn’t be certain, but I had a feeling it was the same eagle that had toyed with our drone.
Stepping into the opening, I glanced around the small, cozy area and realized it was someone’s home. A fire had been laid in the middle of the cave. A cauldron had been erected over it and rabbit stew was simmering inside. There was no actual furniture, but natural shelves lined the walls on both sides. Clothing and various kitchen utensils were lined up neatly on the lowest shelf. Several nests had been built on the highest ones. A pile of animal furs had been left at the back of the cave. They were deep enough for it to make a comfortable bed.
It would have been livable, but for one major flaw. Bird droppings were everywhere and the smell was enough to make my eyes water. It took me a moment to see the woman crouched down at the back of the cave near the bed. Dressed in a hodgepodge of rags that looked like they were made of animal skins, long gray hair covered her face. The eagle was perched on her frail shoulder.
“I smell a cougar,” she said in an aged, cracked voice.
“I didn’t let her come in,” Aiden soothed. “She’s waiting outside.”
“I see a dog, a human and a werewolf,” she said and peered at us through her straggly hair. Or she would have been if her eye sockets hadn’t been empty.
Claws had been raked across her face, destroying her eyes and ruining her vision forever. The injury would have killed a human, but we could heal most wounds. Whatever had attacked her had to have been a shape shifter of some kind or her scars would have healed.
“You are wondering where your young friend has gone to,” she said slyly. Judging by the birds that had shadowed us and the eagle perched on her shoulder, she had to be a werebird of some kind.
“Can you tell us where my agent went?” Mark asked.
“I could, but why should I? The affairs of one human and his pet shifters is not my concern.”
“They’re here to find whoever is using snakes to kill people,” Aiden explained. His tone was almost deferent when he spoke to her. She might be a crazy old bird lady, but he clearly wanted to stay on her good side. From the number of birds we’d passed during our journey, that was probably wise. I’d called on a dog pack for help once. Maybe I wasn’t the only shifter who could call on their distant kin for aid.
The eagle cocked its head and I realized what she was doing. “You’re using the bird’s eyes to see us.” It was a relief to know that I might not be quite as unique as I’d thought.
She inclined her head in agreement. “How did you guess?”
“I can do the same thing with dogs.”
She went still in astonishment and the eagle watched me even more closely. “It took me twenty years to master that skill,” she said dubiously. “It is curious that one as young as yourself has already managed to hone that talent.”
“I’m not like normal shifters,” I said with an uneasy shrug. She couldn’t know just how massive that understatement was.
The eagle watched me for a few seconds longer before it shifted its attention to the others. “I will tell you what you need to know,” she said at last, “but I wish to speak to the girl alone afterwards.”
Mark raised his brows in silent query and I nodded. It was doubtful that the old woman would harm me. She wasn’t all there, but she didn’t seem to be dangero
us.
“My birds saw the young man leave the barn and head eastwards towards another mountain range,” she said. “My reach only extends so far and I lost sight of him after an hour or so.”
“What’s to the east?” Mark asked Aiden.
“I have no idea,” the alpha replied uncaringly. “That’s not my territory.”
Mark turned his attention back to the oracle. “Did you see who took my agent?”
The old woman smiled craftily. “No one took him. He was alone.”
“Did you see any snakes?” I asked and she frowned petulantly.
“I see snakes every day. I am surrounded by a desert, you know.”
Mark and I exchanged a look. She hadn’t told us everything that she knew, but we were lucky to have any information at all. At least we now had a direction to search in.
“Thank you for your help,” Mark said politely. “We should be on our way.”
“I’ll have that word with you now, girl,” she said, reminding me of our agreement. “The rest of you can leave.” She waved for them to leave with bony fingers.
She waited for them to head outside and to be out of earshot before she shuffled over to me. “You reek of death magic,” she said when she was standing only inches away. The eagle opened its beak and made a noise that might have been disgust. “How is it that you have both werewolf and vampire in you?”
“I was bitten by a vampire when I was a baby, but she didn’t drink enough of my blood to kill me.” Mark and my father had rushed me to a doctor, who had given me a blood transfusion. Our theory was that the transfusion had helped to flush most of the vampirism out of my system.
“That is not the only time you have been bitten,” she said slyly and yanked my jacket and t-shirt away from my neck to reveal the scar my mother had given me. “Losing my eyesight has given me access to greater senses. I can feel how far the taint has spread through you. Soon, you will turn into the very creature that should be your mortal enemy.”
