They got into his truck. As they headed out, a call came over his CB radio for a possible four-nineteen. Dead body. He hoped it would not turn out to be one of his pack members.
There had been a few grumblings of late, especially since the killings began, that Nolan was too civilized to be the ulfric. He did not know how to make the naysayers see working among the humans, getting along, was the only way to survive. Otherwise, they would be hunted to extinction.
The secrets of the were community had leaked out over the centuries. The lore had passed into legends and myth. However, if anyone ever discovered his kind was real, all the lore would be scoured for how to get rid of the werewolves. Too much of it was accurate.
He felt Alex take his hand, and he softened immediately. She was amazing, intelligent, brave. His mate.
“They have to see you’re their best hope. My pack is what happens when we have leaders outside the common law. I’ll help you. We must set a trap. Draw her out. Then we can deal with us being mated.”
He squeezed her hand before letting go. They arrived at the scene.
***
She felt his emotions roll over him; the need to shift crackled along his skin so strong, her own wolf started to answer the call to shift. “Nolan,” she snapped in desperation. “Stop it. I don’t know what has you upset, but in another minute, I’ll change. I can’t control it against your compunction to change. I’ve never had to fight it like this before. Please, Nolan.”
She was nearly crying. His mind was a red haze of anger. She did not know how he kept the change from happening. He was the ulfric. Only a true ulfric could cause one not of his pack to change as he was doing to her.
She shuddered. Even at a full moon, she did not have to fight this hard. Tears streamed down her face, and pain rippled through her mind. She cried out and covered it with her hand. At her cry, she felt his gaze on her. Immediately, the pressure eased.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t know I could force the change on anyone.”
“I bet you’ve never tried. Forcing a change is a form of dominance and punishment. You don’t lead that way.” Her voice cracked, and her hands were shaking, but at least she hadn’t shifted. “What’s wrong? What’s caused such powerful emotions to erupt?”
“This is the home of one of Wahpawhat’s pregnant women.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Alex got out of the truck, hurrying to keep up with him. He pushed his way into the house, and she followed. No one questioned her since she arrived with Nolan. She had heard the questions in their minds and was grateful for their discretion. In his current state, he was not likely to be kind to any interference.
The first thing she saw was a body on the floor. It was not a woman. She breathed a short sigh of relief. One dead, not two. She looked over to the pregnant woman sitting on the couch. Nolan had moved to and then stopped in front of the woman where he knelt. There was a man sitting next to her, his arm draped. She could hear their thoughts, but everything was a jumble.
Fragments, pieces of thoughts, and quick pictures of violence tumbled through their minds like socks in a dryer. There were matches in there, but it was a matter of sorting through to find the right one. She concentrated hard on the female. The pregnant woman appeared shaken up, but her thoughts were clearly on her baby.
Alex found the pictures she sought as the woman relived the experience for Nolan.
“Two of them, one man, one woman. It was Roxy. I saw her. I know her. We’re distant cousins. Before the pack split, our long-ago ancestors were brother and sister. They disagreed and disowned each other.”
“What happened, Jenny?” Nolan asked gently, still in the symbolically submissive position. Alex felt a sudden longing for him. He showed deep respect for Jenny’s grief. She never dared to hope she would have a mate, much less one of his caliber.
“The man came barging in through the door. He yelled my name.” Alex watched the woman shudder. She did not blame her. Boris was the man in Jenny’s mind. “Sean was here with me. He forced me to hide in the bedroom and went to meet them in the living room,” she said, crying, her sorrow filled the room.
“I called Darren and the police. I looked around the corner. Another man had arrived when I was hidden. I took a knife with me, but I couldn’t help my brother. The two men were tag teaming Sean, slicing at him, cutting him while Roxy watched. I couldn’t help him,” she reiterated, crying in earnest now. The husband took over.
“I came in about that time. I heard Jenny crying but couldn’t see her. The fighters blocked my view. I called out that the police were on their way, and they started laughing.” He stopped, the muscles of his jaw tightening.
Alex could see why. They had laughed at him, at his pain, his use of the police. She looked at his clenched fist and angry eyes. The husband, Darren, blamed Nolan for it. He had hesitated, not sure what the right thing to do was and now his brother-in-law was dead.
She wanted to correct him. He had hesitated, not shifting despite his instincts, and he, his wife and their unborn child survived. Roxy would have killed him if he had. Instead, he had told them humans were on the way. By the time he had arrived, her brother had not been moving. Alex could see it in his thoughts. If the police had not been called or if he had shifted, they would have shifted, and he would have died along with his wife.
Alex caught Nolan looking at her.
Judging by the thoughts and feelings she was getting from him, he had read Darren the same as her. She felt his appreciation that she not only understood the whole picture, but that she was not berating a man who had just lost a family member. She gave a little smile of encouragement and turned her attention back to Jenny.
To her surprise, Jenny was scrutinizing her carefully. She had obviously caught the byplay between Alex and Nolan. Her husband started talking, and Jenny turned back to him. But not before giving Alex a speculative look.
“They made some disparaging remarks about hiding behind humans. We heard sirens, and they left.” Darren gritted his teeth and tightened his jaw in an effort not to explode in front of the law enforcement who were not members of the pack.
Alex spoke up. “I’m a doctor. If you don’t mind, I’d like to examine you and your wife. You’re bleeding, and the stress of this incident isn’t good for her or the baby.” Jenny and her husband looked to Nolan before nodding a reluctant agreement.
Alex turned to the EMTs who were still standing by. “I’ll take care of these two. As I said, I’m a medical doctor. As soon as the coroner is finished, please leave. I believe the extra people and the resultant chaos isn’t good for the mother.” She knew the smell of blood was not good for any of them right now. The thoughts of the other wolves in the room were pounding against her mind. They were itching to get out and seek revenge.
“Nolan, please find some bleach or other disinfectant to help get the smell out of the room. It’s disturbing Jenny even more than the sight. She can’t get away from the scents permeating the room.”
“And the rest of us,” she thought. “The sooner the smell of blood is covered over by something harsh, the better. I don’t know how much longer Jenny can hold out. And maybe that was the true purpose in killing the brother. Makes it harder to tie this one in with the other murders. Yet, you still lose a young member of the pack. Not to mention the anger fostered in a situation like this.”
“I can do it,” her husband Darren stated. “It’s just a scratch.”
Nolan laid a hand on the man’s shoulder. “Your wife needs you now. Don’t fight me on this. Pay attention to her.” Alex watched as he tried to get Darren to be aware of the deeper significance with only facial cues. A sudden dawning of renewed fear and worry crossed the husband’s face as he understood his ulfric’s unspoken concern.
Darren immediately sat back down and cuddled his wife, making soothing strokes on her abdomen and face. Alex saw the moment Jenny realized how close she was to shifting. Her anguish was greater than her husband’s worry.
“May I approach?” Alex asked formally of the couple. Although they had given permission to the alpha, she accorded them an added level of respect by asking them personally.
Jenny nodded. Alex felt the woman’s gratitude wash over her as if a bucket of warm water had been poured on her. She knelt down in front of Jenny and rubbed her hands over Jenny’s abdomen, probing gently. She wanted to encourage the baby to move and assess if there were any contractions. She continued to rub, massaging the abdomen to help Jenny relax. Darren stroked her hand and arm. She felt the relaxing of tension under her hands and saw the muscles on the face loosen. Good. They were all that much safer now. If only Nolan would hurry with the strong-smelling cleaner. The blood was bothering Alex, and it did not usually do so.
It looked as if Boris and Roxy had cut Sean where he would bleed the most, confirming her suspicion. Right then, she hated her pack. Hated what they had become. She gave the mother-to-be an encouraging smile and continued to rub.
Nolan came back from the kitchen with a large stainless steel bowl full of sudsy disinfectant and water and set it down next to the couch. They could not do much until the coroner released the body. Only Jenny’s high-risk pregnancy had bought Nolan the space on the couch to do his questioning. Jenny had to be sitting down and kept as calm as possible. Otherwise, they would be outside answering the litany of things he wanted to know. Even so, they would have to leave soon to seal up the crime scene. And Jenny shouldn’t stay in the house anyway, in Alex’s opinion.
As the smell of the cleaning solution permeated the air, the tension of the pack members dropped exponentially. The blood was still there, underlining everything, but it no longer overwhelmed her. Alex breathed a sigh of relief. She had been in more danger of being exposed in the last twenty-four hours than the past years since she had learned to shift.
She smirked as she realized her life with Nolan would never be boring. Then felt herself pale. Her life with Nolan. At what point within the last day had she decided to not fight the call of her mate? She did not know when she realized her heart felt all soft and fuzzy toward Nolan. His pack would certainly need her in the times ahead. She thought he did too. She laughed inwardly at herself and focused back on the task at hand.
Finally, the authorities, except for Nolan, left the house, taking the body with them. Nolan and Darren got plastic from the closet and covered up the blood in the area cordoned off near the front door. They quickly scrubbed the floor where Sean’s body laid to help cover the smell.
“Maybe it would be better if you stayed at a hotel. They must have built three new ones this year,” Alex said careful to keep her voice neutral. But she didn’t want Jenny and Darren to be here if Roxy came back, even if the police would let them.
“Yes, that’s a great idea. I insist,” Nolan said firmly, backing her up when Darren looked ready to balk. “Plus, you can’t stay here. We need to lock the house up as a crime scene.”
She received a narrow-eyed glare from Darren and another look from Jenny. It was Jenny’s look that caused Alex to quietly answer the unspoken questions. “It’s for your safety. You and the baby must not be here if they come back. They’ll kill you.” She stood up. “You’re fine for now. Darren, I can see you’re healing already. If you want, I can look at it to make sure they did not add anything nasty to their claws. Otherwise, I’m going to step outside.” She waited a beat before walking out. They needed to talk to their ulfric in private.
After a few minutes, Nolan joined her. She leaned against the truck. She watched him walk and let herself feel the lust this time. He was a good-looking man, no matter how she wanted to measure. He was muscular, especially through the shoulders and chest. She sucked in a breath as she realized he had no intention of going to his side and getting in.
He rested one arm on the truck by her head and leaned in close. “If I wasn’t already sure you were my mate, I’d ask you now. What you did in there, I can’t describe what it did for me and my pack. When I told them you’d figured out that my precautions were the secret for our pack having so many babies, they were elated.” He paused. He put his forehead to hers and closed his eyes.
“Thank you,” he whispered. “Thank you for bringing the good news to my pack and giving Jenny and Darren something to hope for.” He brought his other arm around the small of her back and pressed her to him. His lips touched hers, and she felt her limbs go limp as heat collected in her abdomen and moisture pooled between her thighs. He pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Come home with me.”
She knew he meant more. She had already agreed to stay with him until Roxy was caught. With each second she spent with Nolan, the more she didn’t want to return to her pack. She wanted him fiercely. If they were mated, why deny herself? She would not have to keep her true nature hidden and knew she would be safe with him. He had trusted her with a vulnerable member of his pack. That trust alone let her know how he felt about her.
“Yes,” she said making her decision.
Although not a virgin, she was unfamiliar with the level of sexual tension she felt in his truck on the ride to his house. It caused the hair on her arms to prickle. Her stomach rumbled from nerves. All of her wanted to be with this man. Her ulfric. He was tender and tough, exactly the kind of man she needed. And he could talk to her telepathically. She never had to be alone again.
Her throat clogged up as she recalled all the lonely moments she had spent alone. Her mother came to visit out of genuine caring. Everyone else only came when they needed the new official pack healer. Her mother had stepped down and quietly lived alone in a cabin on the restricted area of the reservation, so she did not see her mother that often.
Now she would always be able to communicate with Nolan. She smiled. She had not thought much about her loneliness, but now, with finding her mate, she could not deny how good it felt to be with someone. And she did not want to deny it when it felt so amazing to be wanted and needed like this. His pack needed her as well, with all the children she sensed were on the horizon due to his leadership. Her mind shied away from thinking too closely of kids and instead went back to thinking of the very near future.
She looked over at him with a sideways grin, very much anticipating their lovemaking. He returned her smile before turning his attention back to the road. Well, mostly on the road. She felt his mind searching for and touching hers frequently.
She hummed to herself, ecstatic he wanted her. Not just her body, but he wanted to be close intellectually and emotionally as well. The ringing of his cell phone was astonishingly loud in the sensually charged silence and caused her to let out a little shriek of surprised. He gave her an amused look before answering.
“Littlebull,” he said in an abrupt tone. She felt tension escalate. Not sexual tension anymore, but definite frustration. Whatever the call concerned, it seemed likely it was about to ruin the rest of her afternoon.
“Now?” He did not sound at all happy, and neither was she. The call of the mate was strong on them. Alex figured it had something to do with him almost forcing the change, the carnage which warned them of dangerous enemies, as well as the strong emotions they had felt earlier in the were’s home. She wanted to comfort and be comforted, as well as feel the security of being mated.
“I’ll be there.” The grimness in his voice did not bode well for their afternoon in bed. She could read his mind and find out for herself, but she tried hard to be polite.
“It’s all right.” Apparently not hard enough. “I can feel your mind probing and backing off. It’s more distracting than feeling you there constantly.”
Feeling rueful and embarrassed, she decided to change the subject away from their shared telepathy. “Pack business?”
“Yes,” he said. “A few pack members want to meet right now about the latest attacks. It’s going to take a lot to keep them from going vigilante. They want to go back to the old ways. It’s hard to blame them when it’s the women and their unborn being targeted. I have to go smooth
their fur.”
Sensing he wasn’t finished, she waited until they pulled up in front of his house. “What is it?” she asked, keeping her voice gentle. She reached over and grabbed his hand.
“It’s the job. It’s one of the reasons I don’t date more. It’s a lot to ask. Hell, look at us. We haven’t even gotten past first base yet, and pack business is already interfering. I’m sorry,” he said fiercely.
And, if she did not miss her guess, defensively as well. “It’s okay. I understand. I’m a doctor as well as the healer for my pack. My hours aren’t exactly nine to five either. Both of us have full-time jobs in the human world and important roles for the pack. What kind of mate would I be if I couldn’t understand your loyalty and duty to the pack and your job?”
His eyes darkened as she looked upon his face, and it was all the warning she received. Using the hand he held, he pulled her into him and kissed her. It was demanding, rough, possessive, and so hot. Opening her eyes as the kiss ended, she felt a low growl of anticipation rumble through her. She wanted him—now. But she was content to wait until he finished with pack business.
She sat back and found the door handle to open the truck door and get out. Her heart still beat erratically from the kiss. She followed him up the stairs to the front door and tried not to inhale his scent too deeply as it called to her beast.
About to go in, she was pleasantly shocked when he pulled her close for another kiss. This one was gentle and tender. When the kiss ended, she held his face in her hands. “I’ll be waiting,” she said with a smile.
“I’ll hurry,” he replied, his sexy voice promising her sweet, hot things she could only imagine.
She laughed and pushed him back to his truck. “Get going. The sooner you get there, the sooner you’ll be back.”
She did not want him to leave and certainly, he did not want to go. His mind touched hers and she felt his reluctance. Even the truck seemed to resist taking him from her. It creaked and groaned like she had not heard it do before. She frowned. Since her mother had taught her to never ignore what some would call silly nonsense, she tried to think of why he should not leave her.
The Ulfric's Mate Page 4
