Wolf Moon (29 page)

“No.
Thank
you
.” Marcus smiled. “I knew
your instincts were sharp, but I truly believe we can utilize them further.”

“How
so?” I inquired, intrigued by his suggestion. This could have been just what I
needed to keep myself busy and feel like an active contributor to the Pack.

“Well,
not only are your investigative strengths something I’ve always coveted,”
Marcus explained, “but your uncanny sense of smell and your ability to act
rationally while following your instincts are what I need in this Pack.”

Marcus
looked down at the open texts before him. “You said you’d been doing some reading.”

“Yeah,”
I confessed. “I was here alone and decided to come and check out some of the
history. Learn a little more about what it is we do. I meant to clean it up before—”

Marcus
held up a hand to cut me off. “You have no need to apologize. You have every
right to be in here. This is your home now, and I admire your willingness to
help us find the nest.”

“Of
course. I’d do anything to help,” I said, and I meant it.

This
pleased Marcus, and I caught the look of adulation he shot my way before
turning to Nick. “I know we said we’d figure all this out, but you two should
get some rest. You’ve been up almost twenty-four hours, and I need the two of
you at a hundred percent before tonight.”

“I
boarded up the window in your room last night until we can get someone out here
to fix it,” Jackson said as we passed him. “Maybe start a fire if you still
find it to be a bit drafty.”

“We’ll
get started on the preparations,” Vince interjected before glancing my way.
“Maybe you could take a look when you get back, tell us what you think or offer
any professional advice you may have.”

I
smiled. “Sounds great.”

Before
Nick and I retired to our room, I stopped by the kitchen to make a plate for
Roxanne and we took it to her. Her door was closed, but she responded to my
gentle knock immediately.

“Hey,”
I said softly. “I brought you something to eat before I went to lay down for a
bit.”

Roxanne
took the plate and smiled, her eyes moving past me and briefly landing on Nick.
“How did it go?”

“We’re
going to map out a strategy,” Nick replied. “We’ll probably head out tonight.”

“You
think you might be up to it?” I asked. “You might be able to track him better
than any of us.”

Roxanne
nodded in a very non-committal way. “Maybe. I’ll let you know.”

Happy
to hear this, I smiled. It was still a little forced, the threads of our
alliance still new and fragile. “Okay, well you rest, and we’ll come check on
you a little later.”

In
our room, I sat on the edge of the bed, my exhaustion returning ten-fold and
weighing down on me like a wet blanket. Sunlight filled the room through the windows
that were still intact, so Nick pulled the heavy curtains closed before sitting
behind me on the bed. The mattress dipped as he crawled closer, and soon his
hands were on my shoulders, massaging some of the tension from them.

“I’m
proud of you,” he whispered before kissing the side of my neck. His breath
tickled, and a shiver rolled down my spine.

“For
what?” I sighed.

“Well,
for starters, last night,” he replied, his hands moving down my back until he
gripped my hips. “How you acted, putting Roxanne’s welfare before your
own—despite how the two of you felt about one another. How you overcame
your fear and shifted so we could track.
This morning, when
you and Roxanne put aside your differences for the Pack.
And let’s not
forget how you’ve completely won over Marcus.”

“I
wouldn’t say I’ve
completely
won him over,” I said,
groaning when his thumbs crept under the hem of my shirt and pressed into the
groove of my lower back. I hadn’t realized how much tension was still in my
body until he put his hands on me.

“Believe me, you’ve
impressed him. Keep that up, and he may name you his successor.”

I laughed a loud and
almost unladylike sound. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’m serious,” Nick said,
his hands moving up my back and working each knot from my muscles.

“But…Corbin?”

“It’s not necessarily
genetics that guarantee who becomes Alpha. It’s whoever proves
themselves
strongest,” Nick explained, removing his hands
from my body and sitting back on the bed. I turned toward him. “The Pack’s
survival depends on their Alpha, and that means whoever leads them has to excel
in every way.”

 
“Well, I think you might be putting the
cart before the horse,” I replied. “I’ve got a long way to go before I’ve got
my alter-ego under control.”

“Minor setback,” Nick
said with a headshake. “I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if Marcus takes you on
as his protégé.”

I pulled my bottom lip
between my teeth, suddenly concerned with how the rest of the Pack might react
should this happen. Would there be dissention in the ranks? Would this paint a
target on my back and undo all the camaraderie? Nick had taken Jackson’s place
at Marcus’ side, and the strain between them was palpable. I’d already been the
subject of office gossip when
I was promoted to detective by
my father
, and I didn’t want that to happen again.

Shaking my head roughly,
I tried to eliminate the idea entirely. There was no way I was ready for anything
like that, so why was I even worrying about it?

Nick smiled, reaching out
and cupping my face in his hand. “Sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to freak
you out.”

“Freak me out?” I
repeated, trying to brush our conversation off as no big deal. “No, it didn’t
freak me out.”

He laughed, clearly not
believing me. “Okay, well that’s good, because I’d hate for you to be worrying
yourself over something that could be years in the making…especially when you
need to be resting up before we head out tonight.”

Nick got up and started a
fire while I crawled beneath our comforter. Even though I was trying not to
focus on it, the knowledge that any one of us could be named Alpha when Marcus
resigned would stay with me. But Nick was right; I needed to file it away for
now and try to get some sleep. Hunting these vampires hadn’t been easy thus far,
and I knew that tonight would be no different.

T
he wind whistled
through the trees, but even my finely tuned hearing could pick up on the rustling
of woodland creatures or the soft breathing of the Pack all around me. I
couldn’t see any of them, but I sensed they were close.

After
waking from our nap, Nick and I checked back in with Marcus. While we’d been
asleep, Marcus, Jackson, and Vince started formulating a stakeout. The plan
sounded pretty solid; we would shift and cross the lake before hiding beneath
the cover of the forest and wait for sunset when they were most likely to make
a move. Hopefully they’d slip up and we’d find a way in.

There
was just one problem with this plan: my ability to shift with ease.

Everyone
else was halfway across the frozen lake while I was still crouching in the
snow. What bothered me most was that shifting the night before hadn’t even
taken this long. Stressing about it didn’t make it any easier, and I could tell
Nick was getting anxious to join the others. I tried to tell him to go on
without me, that I’d go back to the house and stay with
Layla
,
Miranda, and Colby, but Nick reminded me that Marcus was really looking forward
to having me along tonight.

It
took a little while, but I was finally able to calm down and find my center.
The shift came easy after that, and soon Nick was by my side and we were loping
across the ice. I was able to track the Pack easily, and we soon came up on
Marcus’ flank as he lay crouched in the deep snow, concealed in the shadows as
the sun continued to set.

We
were supposed to wait for nightfall, but my body itched to begin the search as
soon as possible. The only thing that kept me from acting on these urges was
the look in Marcus’ big yellow eyes when he glanced back at me.

So,
we waited.

With
the sun down, the temperature dropped significantly. When I started to shiver,
Nick sidled up to me and we used each other for heat while remaining acutely
aware of our surroundings. It started to snow, but the wind stayed calm, so it
didn’t feel any colder. If we’d been out for any other reason, I might have had
a moment to revel in the beauty of a fresh snowfall.

A
twig snapped behind us, and I jumped to my feet, whirling around and snarling.
My ears flattened against my head, my hackles raised, and I parted my front
legs and dropped my head in a threatening way. I started to growl, but it was
cut short when I recognized the dark brown wolf in front of me.

Roxanne.

She
tilted her head and dipped it in what I could only assume was an apology as she
moved to the right and came up beside me. Nick acknowledged her with a low
woof
that disrupted the snow, and then
we took our previous positions. Marcus looked behind him as Roxanne settled
into her spot. He was watching out for her; making sure she was okay to do
this.

The
plan was for one team to be somewhere on the mountain, close to where we’d lost
the scent, a second heat would be lower down, and the rest of us were here. The
four of us stayed in our hiding spot while the others were somewhere up ahead.
Every time there was a breeze, I picked up faint traces of their scents, but I
could no longer hear their breaths or their footsteps. I continued to listen
for a series of howls that would indicate whether the vampires had been spotted.

I
grew more and more impatient as the minutes ticked by. I wanted to be patient,
but it wasn’t in my nature; as a cop I was used to acting, not sitting around
and waiting for the
perp
to find me. If we did that,
we’d have solved a lot less cases.

I
had just settled down onto my belly, relaxing my muscles, when the first yip
was heard in the distance, followed by a long howl and several snarls. Marcus
and Nick leapt to their feet; Roxanne and I weren’t far behind. My ears
twitched, and I inhaled deeply. At first, I picked up nothing, but then the rotten
smell of death hit me, followed by that of Vince and Jackson.

There
was rustling in the forest to my left, twigs snapping and snow crunching as
someone ran through it. Marcus was quick to head in that direction. Roxanne followed
him while Nick nudged me and then took off in another. It took me a second to
figure out what it was he was doing, but then I realized he was likely trying
to get ahead of the action while Marcus and Roxanne were hoping to intersect
it.

They
wanted to surround the vampire.

I
ran with Nick, letting the foul smell of our prey guide us, and soon we were in
a clearing. The others weren’t there, and there were no tracks that indicated
that they’d been through either. To the East, we heard a commotion, and we took
off running. When we got there, I was horrified to see blood staining the snow
and Vince standing over a fallen wolf—Marcus.

My
heart thundered in my chest and my lungs burned from the run. Nick moved to
Jackson’s side, and just when I started to worry about our Alpha, I was struck
from the right. It felt like
I’d been hit by a semi-truck
.
It wasn’t just the physical force of whatever it was, but the smell that
slammed into me as well.

Every
muscle in my body tensed as I tried to regain control. Hands wrapped around my
neck, and I whipped my head around, burying my teeth into my attacker’s hand.
Cold, congealing blood filled my mouth, and I gagged on it as we slid to a
stop. Once my head stopped spinning, I got a good look at the vampire who tried
to take me out. I didn’t recognize him, but I registered the feral look in his
onyx eyes.

Behind
him, I watched as Nick, Jackson, and a recovering Marcus bolted toward us. The
rest of the Pack was behind them, but they’d never make it to me before the
creature had a chance to strike again. It lunged at the same moment I did, and
we fell to the ground in a tangled, snarling heap. His fingernails were
unnaturally sharp as they cut through my thick fur, sinking into my flesh like
it was butter, and I let out a shrill howl of pain. A fresh surge of adrenaline
surged through my veins, and I flipped us over, pinning the vampire to the
ground. Instinct told me to go for his neck.

Without
another thought, I clamped my jaws around his neck and bit down hard. The
monster screamed before my powerful bite severed his vocal chords and then his
spine. Afraid it might be too soon, I continued to bite, and I only pulled back
when his neck turned to dust in my mouth, coating my tongue.

I
snorted and pushed my snout into the snow, lapping it up in hopes of clearing
the taste from my mouth. Nick was beside me, sniffing me and licking my neck
where I’d been cut. I snapped at him the first time because it stung, and he
looked surprised. Dropping my head, I allowed him to continue, sensing his
concern.

One
by one, each of the Pack members changed. None of them seemed to care that
their clothes were still miles away on the other side of the lake. It was
strange, but I figured modesty wasn’t really a concern within the Pack. I
looked to Nick, who nodded his head toward a small copse of trees. I followed
him, glancing back as Marcus watched after us.

It
wasn’t until Nick stood between me and the rest of the Pack, his back facing
me, that I realized what he was doing: he was offering me privacy to go through
my change without prying eyes. He knew I still struggled with it, and he was
trying to be supportive.

My
heart was racing as my nervousness mounted. I’d never really shifted with
others so close by. I could hear them talking, and that only made my
concentration falter. Marcus asked Jackson if his team noticed where it came
from, and my curiosity piqued.

“No.
It completely blind-sided us. It was like they expected us to be there,” Jackson
replied. “Is Brooke okay? That thing really had her.”

I
heard Marcus chuckle. “She seems okay. She’s strong and reacts quickly.
It’s…impressive.”

Nick
turned his head and glanced back at me before growling a low warning to hurry
up. I focused on blocking the Pack out and tried to visualize the change. It
didn’t feel like it took very long before the winter wind hit my bare skin, and
I stood on unsteady legs. I stayed hidden in the trees a moment longer,
suddenly feeling self-conscious and vulnerable—something I was still
struggling with a little—while Nick shifted in front of me.

Human,
he stood up and reached for me. I took his hand and let him lead me from the
trees. A wave of warmth passed over my skin despite the wind chill, but when
everyone respectfully kept
their
eyes above my
shoulders, I relaxed a little.

But only a little.

“How’s
your neck?” Marcus asked, walking toward me. I balked when he reached out for
me—residual fear left over from what Karl did, I guessed. I used my arms
to cover my exposed chest as Marcus tilted my head to the left. He was gentle
and I could only sense his concern as he inspected my neck.

“It
hurts a little,” I replied as his fingers swept over the gouges in the side of
my neck. “But I’ll live.”

“More
than I can say for him,” Jackson muttered, kicking a pile of snow over the
ashes. “Glad you’re okay, kid.”

Roxanne
looked uneasy next to Vince and Jackson, and I couldn’t figure out if it was because
of the vampire or another reason entirely. I decided to just ask. “Did you get
a look at him before he turned to ash?”

Roxanne’s
eyes flew to mine. “It wasn’t him. He smelled different.”

“Stunk
all the same to me,” I said, trying to remember if I picked up on any subtle differences
in his scent that she might have. “Different, how?”

She
seemed to contemplate this for a minute as if trying to put her finger on it.
“Newer, I guess.”

I
turned to Nick, curious about what that meant. “They tend to smell a bit worse
when they’re new,” he explained. “They’re so focused on feeding that they’re
less likely to worry about hygiene. They don’t realize how bad they smell.
Those who’ve been around longer tend to at least
try
to mask their natural odor from their enemies—us.”

I
shuddered at the thought; smelling a variety of vampires—new to
old—was not an experiment I wanted to ever be a part of.

“So
what do we do now?” I asked as the wind picked up.

Marcus
looked back toward the mountain. “We head back to the manor for the night.
We’ll try again tomorrow night.”

Heading
back to the manor meant shifting in order to cross the river and not freeze to
death. The others had absolutely no problem, and they decided to wait for me so
we could head back as a unit. Knowing they were out there, probably growing
impatient
again,
only made me more nervous and I had
trouble focusing once again. I knew I had to stop worrying so much about what
the others must be thinking, but I couldn’t help it. My energy levels had
depleted, and I grew colder. Soon, it was all I could think about, and I
started shivering uncontrollably.

“I’ll
tell them to go,” Nick said. “I shouldn’t have made you shift back until we got
home. It’s too much too soon.”

“N-no,”
I said, teeth chattering. “It’s f-fine.”

“I’ll
see if one of them can bring a set of clothes for you just in case.”

I
shook my head vehemently. “No. It’ll take too l-long. Besides, I need to learn
how to do this.”

“You
could freeze.”

I
knelt in the snow again, digging my knuckles into the frozen ground and
clenching my eyes shut. “I’ll freeze before they get back. I can do this.” I
wasn’t sure if I was trying to convince Nick or myself.

I
could feel Nick’s frustration as he paced through the snow in front of me.
“This was such a bad idea. You weren’t ready for this,” he muttered to himself.

“You’re
not making this any easier,” I snarled, trying to tune out the crunch of snow
under his feet. Soon, the cold slipped away as the fever spread over my skin.
The entire world faded into darkness—the whistling wind, the sound of
Nick pacing,
the
Pack breathing—all of it gone.
Pain blistered across my body, my bones snapped and shifted, and I screamed,
the sound seamlessly turning into a howl.

I
collapsed onto my stomach, panting and exhausted. When I opened my eyes, I was
pleased to see fur covered legs stretched out before me, so I let them fall shut
again as I caught my breath and regained a little energy.

Eventually,
my heart slowed to a regular pace. Something warm sidled up to my left side,
and I opened my right eye a little to see Nick’s sand-colored body. He brushed
his nose against mine, and I exhaled a heavy breath and continued to rest.

Another
set of footsteps startled me, and my head shot up, alert, ears twitching.
Jackson and Roxanne stepped forward, heads bowed, ears to the side and
twitching harmlessly. Nick lifted his head and pressed his nose beneath my
snout before lowering it and resting his head on one of my front legs. He was
in no hurry to go anywhere, and when I noticed Jackson and Roxanne settle in
around us, I realized Marcus likely ordered them to stay with us.
Safety in numbers.