by Terry Spear
She growled at him and stabbed her fork into her pie. “We have more important concerns. We don’t know for sure that Alfred killed anyone.”
“This is important to me, Bella. At least while we’re here, I have to prove to the reds that you’re mine. That no one can make a claim to you.”
She attempted to curb the annoyance she felt. She hated this part of being a lupus garou. The part that could mean her losing Devlyn. She was certain he could win against the red, but the problem was that two more reds wanted her. They wouldn’t allow him time to recuperate. And she couldn’t help feeling that the reds should be handling this matter with Ross and Nicol. Neither one of them was the leader and both of them had murdered girls. So why didn’t the pack take them down?
Because Alfred approved it.
Fine. Despite the objections Devlyn would raise, she’d take her gun, to even out the odds a bit if he needed her help. Even if the bullets weren’t silver, they’d do enough temporary damage to save Devlyn’s hide until he could heal. No red would have her who hadn’t earned her justly. Hell, no one but Devlyn would have her.
Then the image came to mind of Volan, standing before her one second, lying on the ground dead the next, and alive after that. She squelched a shudder that threatened to undo her resolve. Still, the bullets had knocked him out for a time. Thinking it might work better, she’d aim for the head this time.
“When and where are we to meet?” she asked, not at all happy about the circumstances.
“Wolf Rock, as soon as the moon makes its appearance. I still say you should have stayed with my cousin.”
“Well, I think you already decided I was a better asset here with you than off with some distant cousin of yours.” She raised a brow, hoping that was his reasoning.
He grunted. “The notion had occurred to me that he might make a play for you himself.”
She laughed. “So that’s the real reason you agreed to let me stay by your side, mate of mine.”
She pointed to a map of the Cascades. “Wolf Rock is close to my cabin.” She twisted her hair between her fingers, trying to ease the concern that chilled her skin. “But what about the escort service we have out front?”
“One of the reds’ older couples is coming to see us. They’ll drive our Suburban out of the garage and, hopefully, the police will tail them. They’ll be heading east, toward Colorado. If that doesn’t work, Alfred said he’d work up another plan.”
Then all would be decided. At least with the reds. With Volan, that was another matter.
Two days later, still several hours before the waxing crescent of the moon appeared and the first clear day since storms had pelted the area, a knocking at the front door made Bella’s heart nearly leap out of her chest while she worked on a pressed flower picture of a variety of Colorado wildflowers, a parting gift for Chrissie.
Devlyn pulled Bella from the kitchen stool where she’d been working at the counter and held her close, kissing her cheek. “Let’s get this over with and return to Colorado.”
“But the killer—”
“I think we’ll find out at Wolf Rock which one is the mystery murderer.”
Yeah, despite her considering otherwise, she assumed the murderer would be the right age to want to run the pack if Alfred and the others fell.
Together, she and Devlyn went to the front door to let the reds in.
The man and woman appeared to be in their seventies, both gray-haired. They must have assumed the police wouldn’t guess their ploy. And being that the couple was older, the police wouldn’t see them as a threat to Bella or Devlyn either as they approached the house.
To her surprise, the woman hugged Bella, and the man slapped Devlyn on the back in greeting. Then he reached over to hug Bella, and Devlyn growled low.
She frowned at him to cool it, but the red male tensed and backed off.
After showing the police that these people were friends, not foes, Devlyn closed the door.
The woman quickly donned a long, red wig, while the man covered his gray hair with a dark brown one. The woman eyed her for a moment and then gave an evasive smile. “I see now what’s got our boys stirred up. Haven’t seen a marriageable one like you in a while.”
“Who’s the rogue who’s killing the human females?” Bella asked, figuring if the woman knew she wouldn’t tell her but that her response itself might give a clue.
The woman snorted. “He’s a lone wolf. Got to be. Not one of the pack.”
“If he’s looking for a mate and a loner, why doesn’t he come for me, then? Only the three from your pack have approached me.”
The woman glanced at the man. Her reaction clued Bella into the truth. Nicol and Ross were definitely in on the killings. Alfred’s role was still not confirmed, but she highly suspected he was in on them, too. All three were sure to fight Devlyn. And maybe even the mystery fourth.
Devlyn handed the man the Suburban’s keys. “Be sure to turn it in at the rental company when you’re through with it.”
The old man grunted.
Ditching the SUV somewhere in the wilderness and then running like a wolf were more what the old man had in mind. At least that’s what Bella would do if the roles were reversed.
The man motioned to the woman. “Let’s go.”
The two disappeared into the garage, and Bella and Devlyn posted themselves at the front door. A bead of perspiration trickled between her breasts as they watched out the window to see if the police would take the bait.
Chapter Eighteen
THE RENTAL SUBURBAN PULLED OUT OF BELLA’S driveway and headed through the development, an older couple from the red lupus garou pack driving it. After a moment’s hesitation, the unmarked police car followed.
“Now what, Devlyn?” Bella asked. Her voice was tight and worried. Her cheeks flushed faintly.
He hated to see her so concerned, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. “Now we wait for—”
A different Suburban, this one black, pulled in front of the house.
“Is it a red escort? The police wouldn’t send someone else, would they?”
“I don’t think so.” Devlyn started to walk outside.
Bella tugged at his arm. “Wait for me. I’ve got to do something.”
He couldn’t help looking at her in disbelief.
“My mother always said to use the bathroom before I went anywhere,” she hastily explained. “Just don’t leave without me.”
He tilted his chin down. “I won’t be leaving without you, honey, that’s for certain.”
Her eyes held a wealth of worry; then she nodded and whipped around, disappearing down the hall.
Folding his arms, he watched out the window while a man climbed out of the vehicle. Again, this one appeared older, only his hair was nearly white. They must have thought Devlyn and Bella wouldn’t feel threatened by pack members who were way past the age of scrapping well.
Bella soon joined Devlyn and placed her hand in his. “Sorry, I had to really go to the bathroom.”
Her hand was ice-cold, and he hated that she seemed so scared. Gripping her hand tightly, he tried to warm it up on the way to the SUV.
Once inside the vehicle, the man glanced at them through the rearview mirror, his gaze shifting from Bella to Devlyn. He snorted and then drove the vehicle past Chrissie’s house. Plain as day, Chrissie was watching out the window with a phone pressed against her ear, her brow wrinkled with concern, her hand waving in distress as she spoke. Devlyn looked back and observed her as she bolted outside and recorded the license plate of the vehicle on a slip of paper.
“Great neighborhood watch, eh? A force of one,” Bella whispered to Devlyn.
“Yeah, hope Henry doesn’t have the police chief put an all-points out on us before we make it to our destination and take care of business.”
She sighed deeply. “They’ll think we’re in on some kind of bad-guy caper, what with leading the police astray.”
“They might think we’ve been coerced into leaving
with them. Hopefully, we’ll be long gone before they question us further. The killings of the women will stop—”
She shook her head. “But Rosa will never be found.”
“She’ll be with me in Colorado, if anyone knows where to look.”
She nestled her head against his chest. “Do you think Henry will suspect you’re going to fight Volan?”
“Yeah, I do.”
“He’ll try to stop you.”
With a light caress, he rubbed her arm. “Yeah. Only wouldn’t he be surprised to find Volan’s not there, and instead three other men are waiting to have a piece of me?”
She ran her hand over his thigh, instantly stirring his libido. He cast her an interested smile and glanced at the driver, whose eyes remained glued to the road as they drove out of Portland.
“Bad Bella,” Devlyn whispered in her ear and then slipped his hand down her shirt and worked his fingers under her lace bra. “Why don’t we move to the seat that’s way in back?”
She gave him a soulful smile. “All right, stud.”
They had a long drive out to Wolf Rock. No sense in wasting precious minutes.
“Need some tension relieved?” she whispered to him as she climbed over the back of the middle seat, her bottom suspended at the top of the seatback for a moment. Immediately, he ran his hands over her butt and squeezed.
“Yeah, you always bring it out in me.”
Two hours later, they arrived at their destination at the base of Wolf Rock, an ancient volcanic plug, a barren rock face in summer, now sporting a topping of fresh snow like a whipped cream-topped sundae. Devlyn stared up at the daunting monolithic rock: rising over forty-five hundred feet, the nine-hundred foot pinnacle towered above them, surrounded by the Willamette National Forest.
The fragrance of ponderosa pine and Douglas fur scented the cool, crisp air. Birds chirped in the cover of the forest. A hawk screeched high above, soaring, searching for his next meal, all of it belying the deadly confrontation that would soon take place. Other than the black SUV, there was no sign of anyone else yet.
“No climbers,” Devlyn stated, wondering if they were on the other side of the rock face.
“Not allowed,” Bella explained. “From January first through July thirty-first, raptors nest up there and no on wants to piss off a mother eagle. And, really, hikers only climb between August and October unless the roads are blocked with snow.”
“Good time for a rumble, then.”
Bella ran her hand over Devlyn’s arm. “Yeah.”
But she didn’t sound like she thought the time was good for the coming fight.
The driver turned to look at them. “Seems I drove a little faster than usual. If you want to get out and stretch before the others arrive, you can.”
“Who killed the human women?” Bella asked, combing her fingers through her hair.
Devlyn couldn’t believe she’d ask another red that question. Then again, he could. She wasn’t really the shy type. Still, he didn’t believe any one of the red pack would tell them if he or she knew who had done it.
“Sad state of affairs when lupus garous can’t find a mate. Unnatural. In the beginning, there was only one. Of course, you probably know the story. Some say he was from some other world, or a genetic abomination; others say a virus mutated him. Anyway, he had to change a human woman to satisfy the wolf’s urge to have a mate. Then more were changed, until all we had to do was mate with our own kind, no longer needing to change humans in the ancient way. Somewhere along the line, the males outnumbered the females and that led to the imbalance that has caused all of the trouble.”
Bella frowned. “The first lupus garou was a berserker gifted with the change by Odin’s will.”
The old man nodded. “That’s another version.”
She growled. “It’s the true one. And the first was a red.”
The old man’s lips rose in a sly smile.
“Well, he was,” Bella insisted.
“Never gave it much thought what kind of wolf the original lupus garou was. I suspect it could’ve been a red.”
“But,” Devlyn interjected with authority, “it was a gray.”
The old man’s eyes caught Devlyn’s gaze, but he wouldn’t respond to the bait. Then he took a deep breath and stared out the windshield, glancing up to look at them through the rearview mirror.
Devlyn nodded for him to continue. He squeezed Bella’s hand when her breathing grew shallow.
The old man sighed. “It’s not right for a lupus garou to do what’s been done.” He shook his head, sorrow filling his voice. “Not right at all. If the woman couldn’t accept him…well, in the old days it was different. She had no choice, and, once she was changed, she acknowledged it, learning to love her new life. Today, it’s not the same. We can’t just kill a human because she won’t accept us.”
Bella said softly, “All of us are at risk with their actions. They’ll expose all lupus garous to manhunts and extermination if they learn the truth about us.”
“That’s what I’ve said all along. They’ll be the death of us.”
“How can we help put a stop to this?”
“By that mate of yours fighting tonight.”
Bella’s eyes widened. “It’s all three of them then—Alfred, Nicol, and Ross—and a fourth?”
The man studied her in the rearview mirror. “You would have made an exceptional alpha female for our pack, but it won’t ever happen. Not the way you’re attached to the gray.” He gazed out the window again. “When it’s all said and done, we’ll be leaderless, but one of the older males can guide the pack in the interim. Maybe we need someone with more sense than strength for a while. Although…” He shook his head.
“So there’s another who might be fit to take over?” Bella glanced at Devlyn. “Does he drive a Humvee?”
“He’s a loner, for the most part. Been gone for most of the year, some say searching for a mate somewhere else in the States. But he’s not been successful as far as I hear. By the way, he only just learned about you, missy.”
“Would he take over?”
“If your mate gets rid of some of the bad seeds, I suspect he might come down from the mountains.”
“But what about the other murdering red? The one that’s sneakier than the rest?”
The old man remained silent.
Bella tightened her grip on Devlyn’s hand. “They all took part in the killings—one for each girl, four of them.”
This time, the old man glanced up at the mirror, and the look in his eyes revealed the truth. Four younger males had taken part in the killings. All seeking a mate. All failing. They were bound together in the killing spree, and, with so many involved, the rest of the pack feared speaking out against them.
Devlyn knew then it was his destiny to fight them when their own could not. To right a wrong that could hurt all lupus garous in the end.
“Who’s the other red?” Bella asked again.
“Simon.”
“Simon? We haven’t met this Simon.”
“He’s the least aggressive of the pack in their age range. I’m sure he was there when the others went to meet you at the dance club.”
Bella swallowed hard.
Devlyn wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. He tried to think of another red he might have missed, who’d watched them, quietly surveying the female he wished to make his own at the dance club. But Devlyn had been so intent on Ross, Nicol, and Alfred that he never thought there’d be anyone else. Kissing her cheek, Devlyn whispered, “I’ll be all right, Bella.”
“There’ll be four of them, Devlyn.”
“They won’t attack all at once, not in front of their pack.”
“If anyone can do it, it’ll be your mate,” the old man said. “In truth—and I’d be burned at the stake for saying so—your gray is the only one who has a chance at saving this red pack from extermination. And it’s rattling Alfred a bit to think the gray devil wolf from his great-grandfath
er’s day did away with that bad hombre, too.”
“But if you have no others to lead the pack and this other one won’t leave his mountain home…” Devlyn said, concerned about the pack dying out without younger leadership.
The man’s wizened face lifted, and his eyes turned brighter for an instant. “Leidolf returns to the city on occasion—checking out the pack, we figure. Mainly after he learned your mate was here, too. We believe he plans to take over once the gray culls out some of the bad wood. Leidolf’s name means wolf descendant. Some say his line ties in directly to the original lupus garou, one of the rarest of our kind, with only a human or two thrown into the mix.”
“A red royal,” Bella said under her breath.
Devlyn grunted. A royal, my ass. That kind of lineage didn’t make him a better wolf.
“Yeah, he’d be a royal all right. Give our clan a good name. We could certainly use the likes of him to give new life to the pack. Alfred hates him because he fears the elusive lupus garou. An animal magnetism surrounds him, and whenever he appears, we’re drawn to him. If Alfred and his gang are banished, we hope the rogue will agree to be our leader.”
“But what if he’s not strong enough?” Bella asked.
The man chuckled. “Alfred tried to take him several months ago, but the red took care of him instead—sent Alfred to the healers. Even though Alfred denied that the loner had torn him up good. He insisted he’d tangled with a cougar. But we all know better.”
“So why hasn’t he taken on Alfred and his gang?”
The old man shook his head. “Too many of them, missy. No red could hope to fight four fit males and survive.”
Bella leaned her head against Devlyn’s chest. “We should have gone home to Colorado when you said.”
“No, Bella. You were right all along. We needed to be here, to set things right. Just have faith in me.”
He wished she trusted his abilities more. Already the adrenaline flooded his system, preparing him for battle. Both mentally and physically, he readied himself.
Still, the sound of tires rolling on gravel startled him, and they both turned to look behind them.
