WOLF (Wolf River Book 1)

by Alaska Angelini

  “Do you know how to pack?”

  A smile stretched across Alex’s face. “I do.”

  “Can you drive a moving truck? They’re pretty big.”

  He laughed, bouncing me a little through his excitement. “I can.”

  “Last question, and this one is important.” I took a deep breath. “You know my field of work. Can you handle allowing me to continue with this investigation, because I’m far from finished? And there could be cases in the future, or I may get back on at a department and—”

  Lips crushed into mine and I met Alex’s tongue with every ounce of need and relief I felt.

  “We’re going to make this work,” he said, breaking away. “You won’t regret this.”

  As we kept our eyes transfixed on each other, I sure hoped not. The full moon wasn’t too far away. That could mean anything. It could spell disaster for our new relationship.

  Would he change over that period and show me a new side of him that I didn’t like, or would it be me who caused ripples in our newly found relationship?

  Wolf

  Colors were melting before my distorted vision—blood shades. Crimson red. The dark rusty brown of old blood. They wavered, rippling the branches above until they appeared to drip through the atmosphere like scorching candle wax.

  I stared, mesmerized through the slow motion descent. The globs of fluid grew closer, pooling and changing shape as gravity thinned them out. Just before the one above splashed against my face, a twinge had me seizing though the agony on my side. I curled, pulled from my delusion as water dripped against my cheek from one of the wolves’.

  The fire against my skin had me looking at my bare skin. The gunshot wound was infected. It wasn’t healing like it should. Somehow I knew I’d been pierced with silver the night I’d gone after the investigator, but I thought I’d be okay. Days had gone by. A week? Two? It went straight through my side…or so I had figured at the time. I wasn’t sure anymore. Was there a pellet still in me? Was that why I felt as though I were liquefying on the inside?

  I couldn’t think through the high fever that had taken me over. And I was taken over. My already scattered thoughts were worse. I couldn’t focus. I was going to die if I didn’t get back home. How long had I been wondering around? Where was I?

  Recollections wouldn’t come. I wasn’t even sure how I got out here. Hadn’t I been in my bed only moments ago?

  Vomit shot out of my mouth unexpectedly and I managed to get on all-fours as my limbs locked through the tremors.

  “God. Fuck.” I pushed to my feet, holding to my side, as I staggered forward. My eyelids were drooping and becoming harder to hold open. A house in the distance seemed oddly familiar, but I couldn’t place it.

  Adrenaline rushed and I managed to straighten a little as my survival instincts kicked in. This person would help me. They’d…

  The closer I got, flashes began to appear. But only of one person—her.

  I fell halfway through the yard, scrambling back to my feet as I hurried my pace to the door. Before I could get there, the barrier flew open and a blond haired man stepped out, narrowing his eyes at me. I knew him…if only I could remember.

  “Well, well. What do we have here?”

  I tried to process words in my mind and get them to come out of my mouth clear. “I’m looking…f-for…the invest-igator woman.”

  He took a step forward, beginning to circle around me. My wolf flared, but I tried to hold control.

  “You’re looking for Investigator Billings? Interesting. Tell me…how’d you get that nasty wound on your side? Do you know what day it is?

  “Investigator…woman. G-give her t-to me.”

  At the shake of his head, I growled loudly, swiping my stiff fingers toward him. The strength I used threw me off balance and I crumbled to the ground. The colors were coming back. The sky was melting, again, just like I was.

  Chapter 26

  Alex

  “Victim one appears to have been first attacked from behind. The rip at the bottom of his jeans indicate that he may have tried to run when the wolves bit into his legs.” Erin paused. “There are two bite wounds with lacerations. One on the lower calf and another just above the underside of his right knee. There’s also tears to the flesh along his side. It’s unclear whether this wound happened before victim one’s stomach contents were removed. My guess is before.

  At the convulsive swallowing, I fought not to go in and disturb her. She was going to be sick if she continued to associate the crimes scene photos of those boys to what we were. Or what I was, anyway. I still wasn’t sure if Erin was a werewolf or not. It was hard to say. There were moments where I was sure, and others that made me question everything.

  Victim two and three had various lacerations, the only major one being to victim two’s face. None were the cause of death. Those came from a broken neck. I believe silence was the reason for their quick deaths. Whether they were meant to be meals or not is unknown.

  It takes me back to what I saw that night.

  There was a long pause and I heard the tape recorder click off, only to click back on.

  I’ve come to see the werewolves come in different colors, just like the wolves, themselves. Their eyes are also distinct. The one I witnessed was dark. Black coat, black eyes. I estimate he was around seven and a half feet tall when standing. His eating habits … another swallow … he crouched like a man and ate with his hands as we would … deep breaths were followed by the click of the button. I stood, listening as footsteps rushed across the floor and the bathroom door slammed shut. I rubbed my hands over my eyes and began pacing. Hearing her becoming sick had me turning for the sink to get her a glass of water. By the time I got to the bathroom, she was finishing up brushing her teeth.

  “You okay?”

  The door opened and she quickly wiped the tears from her eyes. “Yeah. It’s just hard, you know? They brought me here for their daughter, and their son died on my watch. And I found him like that—getting eaten. Jesus, of all things. It’s almost like… It’s like…

  Erin rushed forward as she seemed to be on to something. I clenched my teeth at the crime scene photos strewn across the bed. It wasn’t the blood or my wolf forcing through, it was me seeing James’s massacred body. James. I had been over at Toby’s house when Mr. Morrison and Kitty brought the infant home from the hospital. I was sickened that something like that could happen to such a small boy. That I could have done that if not better controlled.

  “Why don’t you come take a break? We’ll go for a walk or a drive.”

  “Just a moment,” Erin said under her breath.

  I tried to look away as I placed the water down on the dresser. For the life of me, my eyes kept going back.

  “There’s just something that keeps bugging me. What are the odds that 3 children from the same family gets killed by a werewolf? And that the one attacked out of those three boys was James Morrison? His neck wasn’t broken. He was eaten alive.”

  The question wasn’t directed at me, but I found myself walking closer, focused on the pictures.

  “That is strange,” I said, moving in beside her.

  “Is there anyone who has a grudge against the Morrisons? Maybe someone Gregory Morrison upset at some point, or had a dispute with?”

  My head shook. “Not that I’m aware of. He’s always kept to himself, and he’s genuinely a good guy. Very understanding about things. I don’t know who would want to hurt him or Kitty in terms of killing off their kids.”

  Erin’s fist came to her mouth, tapping along her lip as she stared ahead. “Something’s not right. It’s too coincidental. If Caleb is responsible for Toby’s death, perhaps the death of the other two children were triggered from an event that happened after the accident. Or maybe…” Her features drew in from her deep thoughts. I scanned over the pictures, not seeing anything but the brutality of what I knew all too well.

  “I can’t rule out Gregory or anyone in their family. I hate that we d
on’t know who’s a werewolf around here. Or even more about the creatures. I need a tree.”

  “A what?”

  “A timeline,” she corrected. “I call them trees. Don’t ask. I don’t know why.”

  I followed her as she pulled a paper and pen from her bag and leaned over to the bedside table. Her eyes were scanning over the paper in quick movements and I knew her mind was going just as fast.

  “I’ll begin with your incident,” she said, writing in names. “Caleb admitted he was at fault, and we both know what he is. If I remember correctly, the next incident was almost a month later. A tourist, by the name of … Gates. Timothy Gates.” She paused looking over at me. “Alex, I need you to be truthful with me. That was the one killed when you left your parents.”

  Everything in me wanted to lie. I’d done it for so long that my survival instinct was hell to push away. “He was camping out in the woods, awaiting his rafting trip. My first.”

  Pain flashed on her face as she stared at me. “I’m sorry.”

  “Don’t be. It happened and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Feel sorry for Timothy. He never knew what hit him.”

  Erin’s eyes closed for the briefest moment before she squeezed my hand and let go. “Alright,” she whispered, drawing a line down from me and my friends, to Timothy’s name, where she tagged me the attacker. No … the murder. Fuck, this wasn’t going to go well. I could feel it in my gut.

  Erin brought the line down a little more, turning and grabbing a file. “Around two months later there was an attack on some livestock on the outskirts of town. Mr. Quait’s cattle.” Again, she turned to me. Jesus, I didn’t want to do this.

  “Mine.”

  The scribbling of my name grated my ears. She flipped through the folder, reaching for another one when she didn’t find what she was looking for in there.

  “Less than a year later we have two missing tourists. They were assumed to have fallen overboard on their raft. Their bodies were never recovered. You know anything about that?”

  I cringed, lowering my head. “That … may have possibly been me.”

  “May have been?”

  Fogginess in my mind made it impossible for me to decipher one face from another.

  “You don’t understand. When you’re a young werewolf, you’re susceptible to the change days before the full moon. Remembering being in that form at any time is hard enough to do now. All those years ago, Erin, it was damn near impossible. Everything’s a haze once your body transitions. You get flashes of time, of … things … but you never know the complete story of what happens. You don’t physically see things like we do right now.”

  “So, maybe?”

  “Yeah.”

  She leaned down again, drawing a question mark next to my name. The line down from that came afterward. She went back to the folder and I braced myself.

  “Eight months later, another tourist gets killed while taking a hike through the trails.”

  “Time? Day or night?”

  Her eyes scanned the paper. “ETA … around eleven AM.”

  I shook my head. “Not me. My wolf prefers evening or night.”

  “Alright, I’ll leave this one blank.” She turned to face me and for the first time, it was hard to meet her eyes. Shame. It was engulfing me and there was nothing I could do about it.

  “You say prefer. Are you telling me you’re programmed to be pulled toward a certain time of day for when you need to eat?”

  I shrugged. “I am. I’m not sure about others, but I can see it being a possibility.”

  “Interesting,” she mumbled, exchanging folders.

  “If you say so. Erin, do we have to do this now? I really just…” At the look she threw me, I raised my hands. “Fine. Let’s just get this over with.”

  “Thank you,” she said, softly, turning to write down another name. “More livestock. This time some sheep, a chicken coup was destroyed, as was the door to a barn. It says it was ripped from its hinges. Horses were attacked. Two were killed.”

  “Not me. I didn’t hurt any horses or sheep for crying out loud. That’s just … wrong.” I was going to say fucked up, but she’d never understand where I was coming from. My voice died off and I twisted my mouth, looking away.

  “Please explain, Mr. Villani.”

  “Don’t Mr. Villani, me. We’re talking horses and sheep. Have you ever ate a horse or sheep? It’s not like it’s steak, Erin.”

  She gasped. “You eat their insides, not their steak.” Her fingers came up in quotations as she said the word. “And I’ve eaten lamb, before. But you don’t see me eating humans.”

  “Yet,” I growled. “Yet.”

  A flicker of emotions played across her face, the last being horror. I felt my anger dissipate. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”

  “I’m the one that’s sorry. It was my fault.”

  She went to walk around me when I stepped in her path. “Erin, please. I’m sorry. Don’t walk off, mad. If you do that, it’ll be hours before you talk to me again. I know this routine. Let’s talk it out now.”

  “Please move. I just need some air. I’ve been going over this for hours. I need a break. I’m getting very snappy.”

  Yeah she was, but that had been going on for two days now. Two days of pure hormonal hell and she’d still not started her period. That told me one of two things. Neither of which I wanted to consider at the moment. She was on birth control like I assumed, but that wasn’t a hundred percent. The other reason…

  I stepped out of the way, keeping my distance as I followed. When Erin made it to the front door, she left it open, walking out a few feet to face the forest. The wolves still remained close, but only one stayed within sight. And it was only a few feet from her.

  “Ask them who he is. Ask them to take us to where he lives.” Erin spun to face me, her expression serious.

  “What? I’m not the Wolf Whisperer, Erin. I can’t just ask them.”

  “Why not? He can obviously talk to them. If he can, surely you can, too.”

  I let out a groan. “It’s not that simple. Besides, my wolf is sleeping and I prefer to keep him that way.”

  Erin wouldn’t look at me as she walked past and grabbed her heavy jacket from the closet.

  “What are you doing?”

  She slid it on, heading back outside. “What does it look like I’m doing? I’m going to see if I can get him to lead me to the wolf.”

  I laughed. “He’s not going to know what the hell you’re going on about. With the way you are right now, he might feel threatened and try to bite you. Then I’m going to be the one who steps in and I don’t want to fight with a wolf pack right now.”

  “He won’t bite me. I’m going to ask nicely.”

  “Did you forget that these are the same wolves who have been trying to kill you? The ones that ate from James?”

  The energy flared around her like a raging bull and I moved in closer. This was going to be bad. I could feel it. Whether with the wolves or me and her, I wasn’t sure.

  “You do not have to remind me of that. I know who these wolves are. I also know they’re not entirely at fault for following the orders they were given. Yes, they kill. And yes, they’re shady and manipulated as hell, but I happen to think they’re looking for someone to follow, just like you said. If that’s the case, why would they hurt me? They wouldn’t want to piss you off. They’re waiting for you.”

  Erin returned to her location and began taking slow steps toward the grey wolf who stood exposed. His eyes stayed trained on her and he moved left, then right, nervous at her intentions.

  “You’re afraid of me? Now that’s new,” she said, lowly, moving a few inches closer.

  The wolf looked at me, but turned his attention back to Erin. I could see his lip twitching as he tried to decide whether she was a threat. My head shook as more of a reflex than anything, but it drew the wolf’s attention enough for her to get within a two foot range.

  “Don�
��t get afraid now,” I snapped. “He can smell your emotions, remember?”

  “You try having your face feet away from a wolf,” she whispered, loudly. “Now let me try.”

  Damn stubborn woman. She was going to get bitten. That’s what was going to happen.

  “Shh,” she said, raising her palm up next to her face. “I’m not going to hurt you. I need your help.” Her voice was low. Calmer than I expected. She stayed quiet for seconds. Then, minutes. I stared in fascination as she and the wolf kept their gazes locked. The energy was low. Almost nonexistent.

  Slowly, Erin’s hand began to move. The wolf blinked, cutting its eyes over, but keeping still.

  “Will you help me?”

  Her hand paused halfway and the wolf leaned forward, sniffing along her fingers and palm. My eyes widened in shock. What in the hell had happened during the silence? Had it needed to just get used to her? I wasn’t sure, but the curiosity stirred my wolf, bringing him into full protective mode at the scene. The explosion within had the gray wolf’s head jerking up and him taking a few steps back.

  “No, no,” Erin whispered. “Please come back.” She turned to me, frowning. Like a blur the wolf darted forward, nudging her cheek and throwing her off balance. A roar poured from my mouth as I lunged and caught her, hugging her into my body.

  “Watch it,” I yelled at him. “You are not allowed to get close to her like that.”

  Erin rubbed her cheek, staring between us.

  “What was that about?”

  “I don’t know, but you’re lucky he was trying to get your attention and not shredding your face open. Son of a bitch.” I put my hand over my racing heart, pissed that I wasn’t more on guard. And it was only increasing by the second. My wolf was seething. Not only at the gray wolf, but at me. As if I wasn’t good enough to watch over Erin compared to him.