Once Upon a Shifter (39 page)

I opened my mouth to speak, but no words would come to me. I didn't know whether that had been a compliment or an insult.

The guys led me into a massive round room. Torches lined the stone perimeter, lighting the entire space with a golden glow. The sound of rushing water pulled my attention to a twenty-foot wide creek on the far left where it disappeared through a water-worn black hole in the stone. I assumed it went deeper into the cave and then fed into the Alabama River somewhere.

A crow cawed overhead, and I glanced up to see a hole in the stone ceiling with twinkling stars beyond it. I could see how this place would have been comfortable to Marc. It was so peaceful here.
Why hadn't he shared that part of his life with me?
I thought sadly.

It should have been the first thing I noticed but, as I looked back to the room, I realized that every person was on bended knee with their heads bowed low. The sight of all of them, showing me respect as their leader, took my breath away.

"What do I say to get them to stand up?" I whispered to Daryn, who was kneeled by my side.

I heard him chuckle before he replied with, "You may stand."

I nodded, and looked back to my pack. "You may stand."

In unison, everyone stood and placed their fists over the center of their chests.

This was going to take some getting used to.

V''''V

Phoenix

Jaxon was waiting in the parking lot across the street from
Hellhound
, with a lot of other nosey humans, when Phoenix pulled up.

"They won't let me in," Jaxon said.

"You don't own the club. Why would they?" Phoenix said, and ducked under the yellow strip of caution tape surrounding the building. Jaxon followed.

They were immediately stopped by two uniforms.

"Excuse me, sir. You're not allowed on the crime scene."

Phoenix sighed. He hated dealing with humans. "I own this club."

The shorter of the two officers piped in with, "Well, the club is closed until we are finished." He shrugged. "That could take days."

Phoenix's jaw clenched, and by the look on the cop's face, he knew he had gotten under his skin. Phoenix forced a smile and glanced down at the brass name badge above the pocket on the guy's button-up: J. Harden. He made a note to give Officer Harden a visit at a later time. After all, it had been almost a week since he had fed last.

"What happened?" Jaxon said.

The taller of the two shot Jaxon a hard look. "We aren't allowed to disclose that information to you." They both took a step forward, and Phoenix held up his palms and took a step back.

The radio on the officers' shoulders came to life. "Anybody know how to get a hold of the owner of this place?"

Phoenix raised an eyebrow, but kept his hands up. The cops both appeared irritated, but the shorter one reached up and pressed the button on his radio so he could respond. "He may be out here with us, Rhodes," he said, and then glanced back to Phoenix. "Do you have identification?"

Slowly relaxing his arms back down at his sides, Phoenix reached to his back pocket for his wallet, took out his driver's license and the license he had as club owner of Hellhound, then handed them to the shorter officer.

He looked back and forth between the I.D. and Phoenix several times before reaching up and pushing the button on his radio once more. "He's out here, Rhodes. Want me to send him in?"

"That'd be nice, Harden. Sometime tonight would be great," came the irritated voice back over the radio.

Phoenix fought hard to keep from smiling as the officer released the button and then called the guy a prick. Cowards' blood always tasted sweeter. He found he already liked this detective guy.

"I guess you know the way in?" Harden said shortly as he handed Phoenix back his identification.

Phoenix nodded as he stepped around the officers.

"Wait," Harden snapped. "Who's this guy? He can't go in."

Without turning around, Phoenix replied with, "He's my lawyer, and he's coming with me. I will need one if any of you jerk-offs touched anything of mine without a warrant."

There was a short pause, and then the taller of the two said, "Are you hiding something we should know about?"

Phoenix grinned as he opened the door of Hellhound. "Oh, I have my secrets." He turned and gave the officers a wink, before disappearing into the club.

Chapter 5

Mena

Daryn placed me in the center of the huge room, and then he disappeared somewhere. I was too distracted to look around for him, because there were several people gathered around me, brushing my hair and pinning it up, clipping and filing my nails, powdering my nose and oohing and awwing as they worked. It was difficult to keep up with it all, and I was confused by why they thought I needed pampering in the first place; I thought I had done a pretty good job getting ready.

A large chair was placed behind me and the women around me encouraged me to sit. I did.

The crowd of smiling onlookers parted, and a tall and tanned, and ruggedly handsome male approached me, bright white fabric draped over his large outstretched forearms. He knelt on one knee and bowed his head as he held what appeared to be a dress out for me to take.

I stared at the top of his sand-colored hair in confusion for a moment, until one of the elder females at my side leaned closer and whispered by my ear. "He is bringing you an offering, a gift. It's his way of asking your permission to be in the running to be your Beta. If you accept the gift, you are accepting him as a possible second in command."

I blinked, and turned to look at her. "My… Beta?"

She snickered. "Yes. A female being pack leader has never happened before, but you are the Alpha, dear. You have to pick a second by the next full moon."

"But, how will I choose?" I pleaded in a whisper.

She smiled and patted my arm as she looked back to the male at my feet. "Don't worry, dear. You'll know."

I let my gaze fall back on the handsome man, but swallowed and asked her the question Phoenix had asked me. "How many are there?"

Her brow drew down in thought for a moment, and then she smiled. "I think there were twenty-seven at the last count—"

"Twenty-seven!" I shouted as I shot to my feet.

Silence filled the room and, as I turned, I realized that there was a look of shock on every face in the room. Good. I was glad I wasn't the only one stunned.

Twenty-seven? Did that many always compete for the position of Beta?
I almost laughed as a thought came to mind. Phoenix had nearly lost his mind when he had thought there were eight. Now… twenty-seven! Wow. I seriously couldn't wait to tell him. I would have sent him a message, but I really wanted to see the look on his face.

And what would they all have to do, just give me a gift to let me know they are interested and then wait for me to choose one of them? Hmmm…

My fingers slid along the soft wood of the chair arm, and I sat back down. "I'm terribly sorry."

Sandy-haired guy was looking at me with wide eyes, as if he was thinking of changing his mind and keeping the gift, but he quickly bowed his head and held the dress up higher.

I sighed as I took the dress, noticing instantly that it was a formal gown, and that the material it had been made of was beautiful.

"What is your name?" I said, my voice surprisingly steady.

"My name is Roel, Pack Leader."

I smiled. "You can call me Mena, Roel, and I accept your gift."

V''''V

Phoenix

The smell of stale beer, cigarettes and cheap whiskey did little to cover up the smell of death in the air.

Phoenix had been around long enough to learn how to avoid killing his prey, so the scent drifting in through his nostrils was a bit offensive to his senses.

Rounding the bar, he saw a wild mess of red curls in one of the booths, and nodded to Jaxon to go make sure Lexi was okay, and to find out what she knew.

Jaxon left without saying a word.

There was a quick flash of light and, as Phoenix turned his head, he caught sight of a brown-headed guy of average height and muscular build looking down at what could be the only reason he had been summoned here tonight. This had to be the famous Detective Rhodes he'd heard so much about lately.

As if the guy could feel someone staring at him, he turned his head, and hazel eyes focused on Phoenix. The guy didn't smile. He looked exhausted, but Phoenix knew the guy probably still had a long night ahead of him.

"Detective Rhodes," Phoenix said as he held out his hand. "Phoenix Mahoney."

Alex gave Phoenix's hand two solid pumps as he shook his head. "Alex or Rhodes is fine by me. I try to avoid the cop tag when I can. I just like solving mysteries." He looked down at the open, but unseeing eyes of the girl sprawled out on Hellhound's dance floor. "Like this one."

There were two more quick flashes of light from the camera man, and Phoenix's attention was drawn to the girl. His fingers curled into tight fists, and his vampire blood began to rush through his veins when he saw the cause of death. The four inch hilt of a dagger was protruding from the center of the girl's chest, and it wasn't just any dagger; it was his dagger, the exact one Mena said her wolves had destroyed. How the hell was it here, and in the heart of a human?

He grabbed for his cell phone, but stopped after his fingers pulled her number up. Texting her was a bad idea. She was with her pack, and if he told her that someone in her pack was trying to frame her or him for murder, that could cause her big problems if she told the wrong person. Besides, Alex was looking at him again.

Phoenix cleared the screen then slid the device back into his pocket.

"Lexi's a mess," Jaxon said as he stepped up beside Phoenix and nodded to the detective. "I can take her home if you're finished with her."

Alex shrugged. "She can go. I have her number, but I doubt she'll be able to tell me anything else. She was at the bar getting drinks when it happened. Nobody is saying anything. The club was crowded and loud, and then there was a dead girl on the dance floor all of a sudden. Over half the possible witnesses hit the door running before anyone even called 911."

The bright light flashed one last time as Jaxon walked away, and the guy behind the camera looked up. "I'm done here, Rhodes. I'll get them to you first thing in the morning."

"Thanks," Alex said, and then nodded to the coroner, letting him know it was his turn to party. "I want to send that dagger to lab as soon as possible. Maybe we'll get lucky and there'll be a print on it."

The coroner moved in with a body bag, but all Phoenix could think about was killing everyone in the room so he could grab that dagger and get the hell out of there. Mena's, as well as his prints would be on it. Too many people had seen him come in Hellhound, so that was out of the question. Maybe he could cause the coroner to have a wreck and take it from the body then.

He took out his cell again and texted Jaxon:
Get the dagger!

Chapter 6

Mena

The night had been thrilling and utterly exhausting. After accepting the offerings from all twenty-seven men and women interested in becoming my Beta, they had agreed that they had put me through enough torture for the night, and allowed Daryn to take me home.

I thought they were all qualified for the job, but I didn't personally know any of the twenty-seven, besides Daryn, who had given me a very pretty necklace with a clear green peridot jewel as the charm. He had said that the stone was said to host magical powers and healing properties to protect against nightmares and to bring the wearer power and influence. I thought that was sort of perfect, given my situation. He also said the jewel matched my eyes. I have to admit, I blushed. He was really a sweetheart, but I feared he wasn't second in command material. I prayed I was wrong, because he seemed to be the type to sacrifice his own life for someone he cared about, and that was important, too.

I didn't feel my wolf was interested, though, not in him nor any of the other twenty-six in the running. I tried to tell her with my thoughts that she would have to pick one or I would do it for her, but I felt no emotion from her, at least not on that topic. Maybe she just needed time to get to know them a little better.

Beverly, the elder who told me that I was the Alpha and would have to choose a Beta by the full moon, had advised me to spend some time with each one of them. I already knew what Phoenix was going to say about that, but he didn't own me and I was not his girlfriend. Besides, it wasn't like I was going on a date with them; I was simply interviewing them for a very important job. Even three girls had offered me gifts; surely he would understand.

I had taken Daryn's advice about using bodyguards. It really wasn't like I had a choice in the matter; as soon as everyone caught wind that Jessica was missing and could possibly be a threat to me, the twenty-seven started scheduling shifts in threes. I supposed it was more time I would have to get to know them better, and made a mental note to go grocery shopping after the press conference was over. I couldn't let them stay in my home without at least feeding them.

The blue Corvette was parked in the same place it had been when I left my house, and I wondered if Phoenix had waited for me here the whole time I had been gone.

Daryn's knuckles went white as he gripped the steering wheel. I had no energy to deal with this tonight.