by Sarah Beth
Wesley got closer to the desk as Ephram opened the file. Pictures were the first thing Wesley saw and he knew it would be years before he got those images out of his head. God, they had to find Jessie. Alice’s body looked like it had been filleted. If Wesley didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought the pictures had been taken post autopsy. A y-shaped incision went from her collar bone to her belly button. Other smaller slices were cut into her arms and legs. Her face was the only thing bare of any lacerations, but there was bruising under the skin.
“Yeah, I know.”
Wesley looked up from the photos and saw Ephram watching him with a pained expression, sympathy in his eyes. Wesley took a deep breath, “I don’t know how you do this job, man.”
Hazel eyes were hidden behind lids for a moment, a deep breath drawn between lips. When Ephram opened his eyes again, his face was all business. “With a lot of practice, my friend. But this one...this one wasn’t easy.”
Wesley glanced at the photos one more time before flipping them over and moving on to the report. “How long was she alive?”
Ephram pointed to a section on the report, his slanted handwriting filling the blank space. “All of the injuries, except a single laceration on her thigh, happened when her heart was still beating.”
He was going to be sick. Or throw something. Wesley sat back in his chair and closed his eyes. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been aware that the girl had likely been alive for the duration of her torture — that was the only way a dark witch could gain the power they were after. But seeing the pictures, imagining what Alice had been through before her heart had finally given out? All he wanted to do in that moment was go grab Abby and take her as far away from the city as possible. Wesley was grateful for the silence, it gave him a moment to collect his thoughts and get his instincts back under control. He opened his eyes to find Ephram flipping through the file, his face stoic. With another deep breath, Wesley leaned back towards the desk. “Anything else you think I might want to know?”
Ephram hummed, his eyes scanning the report. Wesley doubted the man needed to reread the file, it was probably burned into his memory like those pictures. “Isaac mentioned that he has the Portland pack working on finding more information on the Portland murder, but they’ve been hitting roadblocks.”
Wesley raised an eyebrow.
“Yeah, apparently the police force hasn’t been forthcoming with information.”
That didn’t sound good. The local officials were usually pretty easy to get information from, going through one channel or another. The humans might not have known werewolves existed, but that didn’t mean werewolves hadn’t learned how to work around the secrecy. Thinking on it, Wesley was fairly certain there was even a wolf on the force in Portland. “They’ve been trying to keep the case under wraps?”
Shrugging, Ephram flipped through a few more pages of the file. “That’s what I’ve been hearing.”
If the police were hiding information about the first murder, was it possible that they had something to do with it? Or that whoever is behind it, has their dirty little claws in the police force? This new information was not good news.
Breaking his train of thought, Ephram pointed to a section of the file. “I’m not sure if Claire mentioned it, but I found a black hair on the girl’s body. The girl’s hair was blonde, so it didn’t belong to her. But it also smelled like dark magic. More than the girl’s body did and that’s saying something.”
Wesley nodded, recalling the hair tied to Claire’s scrying crystal, “Yeah, Claire said she’s been trying to scry for the witch but hasn’t come up with anything.”
A small smile came to Ephram’s otherwise stony expression, “Maybe you should get your little witch to give it a try?”
Wesley couldn’t stop the growl that escaped his lips. Ephram’s smile only grew wider at the noise, a chuckle bubbling up his chest. “You and Claire talk too much.” Wesley growled out. He didn’t like it that someone else, outside of the pack, knew about Abby already. The girl didn’t even know how to use her magic yet. Wesley wanted to keep her a secret for as long as possible.
Ephram just laughed more, closing the file and laying it to one side of the desk. “Oh, don’t be so put out. You know Claire was just excited.”
“Right, I’m sure that’s why I could smell you in her house. She just wanted to talk about Abby.”
Raising an eyebrow, Ephram still didn’t wipe the smile off his face. “Are you being protective of Claire, now? I figured your hands were full enough as it is.”
This time it was Wesley that chuckled, “Claire doesn’t need anyone protecting her, let alone me. She’d skin me alive if I ever tried to defend her.”
Hazel eyes softened, the business face melting away to something more tender, “You’re family to her, you know that. She may get in your face, but she would never actually get angry with you.”
Wesley stood, a broad smile lighting up his face. “Oh, then she hasn’t told you the story of how I ruined her first garden when we were kids. She was ten but I think I was more afraid of her then than I was Alex.”
Ephram came around the desk, laughter filling the small space, and clapped a hand on Wesley’s shoulder. “She is definitely not someone you want to cross.”
Chapter Thirteen
❖
Abby
Abby and Claire moved into the sun room, the afternoon sun just beginning to heat the room. The warmth seeped right into her bones and Abby was sure she never wanted to move. The soft giant cushion she sat on was only adding to that desire. Claire walked into the sitting room, a small tray of sliced up fruit in her hands, and sat down across from Abby.
The sun room was one thing, but add in the sliced fruit and the cold iced tea that sat by Abby’s elbow — she was fairly certain she was in heaven. And if this wasn’t what heaven was like then she didn’t want to know. The girls munched on fruit and enjoyed the sun on their faces, the silence comforting.
After a particularly sweet piece of kiwi, Abby asked, “So you’ve known Wesley for a long time, right?”
Claire smiled, resting her glass on her knee. “For as long as I can remember. My grandmother and Alex were good friends.” Her smile dimmed, the edges around her eyes softening, “After Wesley’s father died, he was kind of an angry kid. Alex was doing his best, but he didn’t know how to handle a six-year-old werewolf pup who just wanted to run and destroy things.”
Abby couldn’t imagine what Claire was telling her, it was such a drastic difference from the man that she knew. And yet she could also understand it on a deep level. There had been many times when she was young where all she had wanted to do was run away.
Claire shrugged, “So Alex brought him here a lot. I think he hoped the calming presence of my Gran would help Wesley. It took a while, but I think when Wesley realized that Alex wasn’t going to leave him too, he started to calm down.”
Looking down at the glass between her hands, Abby felt very small. Like she was six years old again, being taken to a new foster home because the first one didn’t work out. None of them ever worked out. She couldn’t remember her parents but the impact of being left by them still stung. She couldn’t fathom how a little boy would’ve felt, after both of his parents had died.
Claire’s sweet voice brought her back to the sunlit room. “After that there was no stopping him. We would play in the backyard for hours, I think it drove my Gran crazy when she couldn’t get us to stop long enough to eat.”
Abby’s chest loosened, the laughter in Claire’s voice hard to ignore. “You guys are close.”
Claire turned her head to look out at the backyard and smiled, “He’s a brother to me, the whole pack is family. When my Gran passed a few years ago, they were here. Wesley stayed with me for a few days and there still isn’t a day that goes by where Alex doesn’t call to check in.”
It wasn’t hard to picture the pack taking care of Claire, not after how kind they had been to Abby over the last couple of d
ays. She was already starting to care about these people she had just met. They made her feel more welcome and at home than she’d felt in years.
“I’m sure he would want to be even closer with you, if you’d let him.”
Abby’s cheeks started to burn, she could feel her skin heating up and knew it wasn’t from the sun. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Laughter filled the room again, making Abby’s cheeks grow even hotter. “Oh, I think you know exactly what I’m talking about.” Claire’s chocolate eyes were full of love as they looked at Abby. “You’ve had a doozy of a couple of days, huh?”
“You can only imagine.” Abby sighed, tension from the last twenty-four hours suddenly draining from her body. “This whole True Mate thing would be easier if I could talk to someone who has been in my place before.”
Claire nodded, picking at a piece of orange in front of her. “I guess that’s how falling in love works though, right? It’s different for everyone.”
Abby watched her pick at the fruit for a moment before shrugging, “Is that what this is? Falling in love?”
Claire looked out the back windows again, the sunlight gleaming in her eyes. Dark brown eyes seemed to change as the light hit them, veins of copper and caramel weaving in and around. “Maybe falling in love isn’t the right phrase, but I think it’s close. Your soul mate is supposed to feel like your other half, right? Like you’ve known each other all of your lives.” She looked back at Abby and smiled, “True Mates are the same thing. I don’t know if either of you have noticed, but you sure are comfortable around each other.”
Leaning back into the window behind her, Abby thought about it. There were times when Wesley was able to unnerve her, but she realized that Claire did have a point. Abby had only met Wesley two days ago, less than 48 hours, really. And yet she was perfectly comfortable getting in a truck and taking a two-hour trip into the city with him. Her instincts trusted him before she ever consciously made the choice. “You have a point there. I hadn’t even realized it.” She picked up her glass of tea, running a finger around the rim.
Claire’s metal bangles chimed as she took a sip of her tea. Setting the glass back down, she smiled, “Don’t stress about it right now. You both have plenty of other things on your minds.”
Abby rolled her eyes, chuckling as she said, “That’s an understatement.” She leaned forward on her legs, setting her glass down without taking a drink. “Do you know this Faye that Wesley was talking about earlier?”
“I’ve never met him, but I know he’s helped Alex out a couple times over the years. He’s a powerful Faye and someone who likes his solitude.” Another shrug, “there’s no guarantee that he’ll be willing to help you.”
Although she hadn’t figured any Faye would be very thrilled with the prospect of meeting with her, it still made her wary hearing it from Claire.
A hand appeared on her knee, Claire’s chocolate eyes full of understanding. “He’s the only option we have, and he knows it. He would be stupid to deny you. It would then fall on him if anything were to happen to you, if word ever got out that he had the opportunity to teach you.”
“What’s his name?”
Leaning back in her own cushion, Claire said, “Lord Elazar, he was once a High Council member from what I know. But a few hundred years ago he stepped down, wanting to further himself from the politics of the Faye. But he’s still an Elder, an advisor of sorts, to the Council.”
Abby nodded, “So not a Faye to mess with.”
Claire chuckled, “No, although no Faye is anyone to mess with.”
They fell silent for a while, Abby lost in her thoughts. She had the feeling that she needed to send an email to her professors. There was no way she was going to be in class the next day. Or probably that whole week. She’d been so focused on the new world around her, that she had completely forgotten about school and work.
She should probably text her roommate too. They didn’t check in with each other often, but her roommate would sure notice if she wasn’t home for class on Monday morning. And hopefully her boss wouldn’t be too upset if she asked for more time off. She glanced out the window, the sun was hanging just above the tree line. She suspected Wesley would be coming back soon, since he wanted to get back to the mountain before dark.
A thought brought her attention back to the witch sitting across from her. “Claire, you called Wesley ‘protector’. What did that mean?”
A smile lit up her face, “Oh, it was a joke. Well, kind of a joke, I suppose.” Shaking her head, she grabbed a piece of apple off the plate in front of her. “It’s a legend, amongst the Faye and our kind. Long ago, when Faye and humans lived side-by-side, werewolves were often recruited as Protectors. Their job, their sole purpose to the Faye, was to Protect the Faye-born. Protectors acted as consorts to their witch.”
Abby ran her nail along the glass between her hands, “So they were like bodyguards?”
Claire chuckled, leaning forward to start cleaning up their snack. “In a way, yes. But that was thousands of years ago now. The last Protector and witch pair were killed not long after the treaty was signed.”
Her brows pulled together, “Why were they killed? And what treaty?”
Shrugging her shoulders, Claire took the last piece of apple and tossed it into her mouth. Once she swallowed, she said, “No one knows how they died, no one speaks about it. I think it’s a sort of taboo amongst the Faye…my grandmother didn’t know anything about it either. Or if she did, she lied when I asked about it.” Another shrug of her shoulders, “The treaty ended the partnership of the Faye and werewolves, it also forbid a Faye to ever sire a child with a human. The Keepers and Protectors were no more.”
Abby looked back outside, focusing on the feeling of the sun on her skin. Now she remembered Alex saying something about a treaty, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about these Keepers and Protectors. If the Faye didn’t tell the story of the last Protector and Keeper, it must not have been a very happy ending. Not to mention, why would they forbid the Faye to have children with humans if the story was a good one?
Turning her attention back to Claire, who could have been meditating she sat so still, Abby whispered, “Wesley said I’m immortal.”
For a few moments, Abby wasn’t sure if Claire heard her. She didn’t move or open her eyes, but then she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “And how does that make you feel?”
Abby couldn’t stop the snort from escaping, “Terrified? Maybe a little exhilarated? I don’t even know...haven’t had much time to contemplate it.” When Claire opened her eyes, Abby wasn’t prepared for the sadness in them. “I understand that only half-Faye are immortal like their Faye parent, but why doesn’t that extend down the bloodline?”
Claire sighed, moving to pick up the plates and empty dishes. “No one really knows. It’s not exactly something that can be studied and the Faye are pretty tight lipped about it all.”
Glancing at her hands, a realization came to Abby that made her feel even more uneasy about it all. “So, if a half-Faye has a child, they’ll watch that child grow old and die all the while they don’t age a day?”
The sadness was more prominent in Claire’s eyes then, but she had a small smile on her lips. “Yes, but not a half-Faye and a werewolf. It’s true that werewolf children are rare, but not unheard of.”
Abby chuckled as she stood, brushing her hands on her jeans. She bent down to help grab some of the dishes, “I’m going to ignore you just said that and instead ask where your restroom is.” Claire’s laughter followed her into the kitchen and all the way down the hall.
Chapter Fourteen
❖
Wesley
It was almost sunset when they got into the mountain pass. Wesley had wanted to get away earlier. He didn’t like driving the mountains in the dark, even if he could see well. But Abby and Claire had had a lot to talk about. So he hadn’t pushed for them to leave when he got back to the house and found the girls
sitting on cushions in the sun room, laughing.
The plan had also been to swing by the University of Seattle, and Abby’s apartment, on their way back out of the city. He wanted to check out the area, see if there were any signs of anyone watching her. But they were late as it was, so they had decided to head back to the pack house. He glanced over at Abby in the cab, pleased to see that she had nodded off. Her head was resting on the seat, turned in his direction.
They hadn’t said a word to each other since they got back into the truck and he was still trying to figure out why. She had seemed fine when he left her with Claire. It appeared that after speaking with Claire for hours, she was too exhausted to care about talking to him. He couldn’t exactly blame her; Claire was exhausting sometimes.
He had made a fool of himself that afternoon. He knew it and Alex knew it the moment he had called him in the middle of their trip. “So you stormed out of the room, making Abby feel like it was her fault that you got angry and ran away?” He could hear the annoyance in Alex’s voice, could just imagine him sitting at his big oak desk, his head in his hand.
Wesley hadn’t been too smart in that moment not to growl, which only earned him a growl back. Alex liked Abby, that was clear. And if there was anything that Wesley had learned over the years living under Alex’s roof, was that when he cared enough about a person to want to protect them — no one got in his way. Not even his adopted son. But he had been an idiot. Which he was beginning to realize was happening often around the new little witch.
He had no reason to get angry with Claire or Abby. It was inevitable that Abby would learn what was likely happening to the missing Canry girl. To discover what kind of danger this put her in. But Wesley was helpless to his reactions when he sensed Abby’s fear. Whether she knew it herself or not, he could sense the moment she became uneasy and it angered him and his wolf. He knew, realistically, that he would never be able to keep her from being afraid of anything ever again — but that didn’t stop his instincts from rearing their head. One mention of her being in danger had his wolf ready to pounce, even if it meant hurting a dear friend.
