All brick with a stone driveway, the house was well maintained, although the grass needed to be trimmed. There weren’t any flowers there. During high school, Adrian had gone to a total of one of Peter’s parties, and there had been a ton of rose bushes beneath the windows in the front of the house. The house seemed a lot more masculine without the flowers.
Peter’s car was a sleek, black Audi. Adrian would rather get himself a bike one of these days. He hadn’t bothered to because he knew it would give his mother a heart attack.
Before Adrian could knock on the front door, it swung open. Peter stood there. In the morning light, Adrian could see Peter completely. He needed to shave, and beneath his eyes were huge bags. Clearly, he wasn’t getting a lot of sleep lately. Trying hard to recruit as many werewolves as possible? Some had to say no. What happened to them? Adrian gulped. He didn’t want to think about that because he was afraid of the answer.
Which actually might mean that some of the werewolves who had said yes were only there because they felt compelled to say yes for fear of their lives. Coercion. Adrian would have to keep an eye out for that. He hated to think about some of the guys going down with Peter who actually didn’t believe in the bastard’s master plan.
In a wife beater and faded jeans, Peter looked every bit a thug. In comparison, Adrian wore khakis and a green and white polo shirt.
“Well?” Peter asked gruffly. “You a chicken or a wolf?”
Adrian smirked. “You know the answer to that, or else you never would’ve approached me in the first place.”
Peter threw back his head and howled a laugh. “You bet I do. You always want the bank on your said. That’s what my mother always said.”
“Oh, yeah?” That seemed like a strange saying to have, but Adrian wasn’t about to question it.
“Yeah, yeah. Come in. Can I get you something to drink? We have scotch, whiskey, vodka, rum, just about everything and anything you can want.”
“It’s a little early for drinking, don’t you think?” Adrian asked dryly.
“Never. Not when you’re planning on changing life for everyone you know. It’s a huge undertaking, and we’re gonna do this right. Mark my words.”
Peter motioned for Adrian to follow him through the living room to the kitchen and over to the dining room. A cabinet behind the table had all kinds of bottles in it, most half empty.
“If you want something to eat, let Velma know. She’ll whip it up for you. She should be nearby. Just give a shout for her, and she’ll come running.”
Adrian forced himself to smile instead of grimace. “I’m fine. I’m not here for drinks or food. I spent all night thinking this over. You’re right. Why should we live in the shadows? Why shouldn’t we take Hazel Park? I mean, werewolves fighting werewolves? That shit has got to end.”
“Damn straight. The fools killing each other are gonna blow our cover if they aren’t careful. We need to expose ourselves the right way. Otherwise, we do risk a little bit of a power struggle.”
Adrian nodded slowly. At least Peter wasn’t insane enough to think this would be an easy matter.
“Who all is in?” Adrian asked. “What plans do you have?” He rubbed his hands. “I want to get started.”
“When you jump, it’s with both feet, huh?” Peter walked over to the cabinet, glanced over the bottles, and then removed a box. He lifted the lid, removed a cigar, smelled it, frowned, placed it back, and removed another. Evidentially, he liked this one as he lit it and began to smoke.
“Either you’re in, or you’re out,” Adrian said flatly. “No point in doing things by halves.”
“Exactly. A numbers guy. I knew you would be. I’m glad we see eye to eye,” Peter said. “I would’ve hated to…”
“To kill me?” Adrian laughed and laughed.
Peter hesitated, a cold glint in his eye, but then he laughed as well.
“Yes, actually,” Peter admitted. “I wouldn’t have had a choice. I hope you realize that it wouldn’t have been personal.”
“Of course not. This is far too important for any of that.” Adrian shook his head. “Have you had to kill many werewolves? I would think most would be on board.”
“Most are. I know who to trust. Unfortunately, some are a little less open-minded. They’re too weak. They wouldn’t last in the new vision of werewolf utopia that I will create.”
“You wish to protect all werewolves,” Adrian muttered.
“Precisely.” Peter grinned. “You’re speaking my language.”
“You kill those who say no yourself?” Adrian asked casually.
Peter shrugged. “I have one of the guys do it. A simple matter really. They had to take out one last night in fact.”
Adrian did his best not to shiver. Peter sounded so damn cold.
“One of the guys,” Adrian repeated. “When can I meet them?”
“There’s a meeting tonight at midnight. I’ll send you the address this afternoon. We never meet in the same place twice. Can’t risk anyone catching on too early, know what I mean?”
Adrian nodded. “I do.”
“Good.” Peter puffed from his cigar and then called, “Velma! Go cook us something amazing.”
“Yes, yes, sir, right away, sir,” came the faint reply from another room.
“You’ll stay and eat? Velma is a wonderful cook.”
“Of course,” Adrian said.
He grimaced when Peter turned aside. Adrian would be late for work, but he’d explain everything to his father. He wasn’t as overprotective as his wife. No matter what, Adrian’s mother couldn’t learn about Peter’s plan or Adrian’s attempt to thwart it.
Actually, Peter, the werewolves and the humans are the ones who need protection from you.
Chapter 7
The investigation into the murder was actually closed fairly quickly. In the light of day, Kiera had retraced the mad dash across the roofs, and she had found a tuft of werewolf fur. It took about three hours for the DNA results to come back, but it named Ned Richardo as the perpetrator.
At that point, Kiera had been working overtime by a few hours and was exhausted, but she was in on the takedown. Ned didn’t resist arrest. In fact, he confessed to the murder as soon as he opened the door for them. As it turned out, the teacher had been screwing around on Ned’s wife, and she had threatened to leave him. Ned had gotten drunk, and he hadn’t meant to. In fact, they had a perfect time. He had been about to try to off himself. He had just finished writing his suicide note.
“Sometimes, I really hate this job,” Kiera murmured to Pamela.
Her best friend nodded as they watched other cops lead Ned away. “He had so much going for him. Didn’t he just open a second restaurant?”
“But you heard him. He lost the love of his life to another man, to a teacher who could never have supported her. I wonder if she knows about her lover.”
“Not it,” Pamela said, quickly throwing up her hand and shaking her head.
“Not me either,” Kiera said. “I need to hit the hay.”
The others could file the paperwork too, or else it could wait a few hours. Exhausted, Kiera drove herself home, and when she collapsed on her bed, she was out cold for hours and woke in that same position.
Night came around, and Kiera was once again out on patrol. When she drove past the block where she had picked up Adrian, she sighed. Wonder how he’s doing. Wonder if this is a mistake. Wonder when he’ll check in.
Using a civilian was not the best of ideas, she would admit that, but she couldn’t think of a better option. Peter knew all of the cops by names and faces. He had been released from jail a few months back for a minor offense, and he managed to piss off the entire staff the entire time he was in lockup.
Up and down the streets she went, when she spied Adrian’s car. He was home. She wouldn’t knock though or just randomly drop by. Well, it wouldn’t be random. She wanted intel, but just in case anyone had eyes on Adrian, it would be best for her to step back and let Adrian
make the first move. A phone call would most likely be best, although she preferred for conversations to take place in person. Over the years of being a cop, Kiera had learned to spot tells and other signs of deceit.
Did she not trust Adrian? It was hard to say. He had confessed to murdering their alpha. He clearly did feel the weight of guilt from all of the deaths that act had started.
Kiera had heard whispers that Melvin had been abusing women, but she had never learned any proof. No one had been willing to stand up against him, and Kiera hadn’t been able to herself. As a cop who was a werewolf, she was under more scrutiny than most. Humans hated werewolves already, and humans didn’t even know werewolves were alive and real. There was no way that exposing would result in anything but war and a global hunt for werewolves.
If Alexis had come to Kiera, would she have made a move against Melvin? She liked to think she would have. Kiera tried to do the right thing, but it wasn’t always easy. The world was full of so much gray that at times, she wasn’t sure what was right and what was wrong.
In a way, Adrian had killed Melvin in self-defense, not toward himself but toward all of the women Melvin had abused. He had raped at least one. Kiera gritted her teeth and inhaled deeply. Melvin had deserved to die. It was a terrible thing to think, but Kiera believed it.
Wait, what was that smell? Keira sniffed and made a right turn. The stench led her toward the edge of town, to a more rural spot. She had to park to follow her nose, and in the middle of a field, she found a body, one she recognized immediately. Roberto Perry. He was a quiet man, a powerful werewolf. From the pawprints her flashlight revealed, she assumed he had come out here to stretch his werewolf legs.
And had been shot in the back of the head.
While the teacher murder had been an anomaly, all of the other deaths had been the cause of fights. That was not the case here. Roberto had been murdered and in cold blood.
Who would have done this? Why? And would the murderer strike again?
Chapter 8
The hours passed on by in a blur. Kiera had debated whether or not to call this one into the station. For the most part, they tried to keep the humans on the force ignorant concerning the number of werewolf deaths the town was experiencing. That wasn’t always possible, but it helped that although she wasn’t a detective yet, Kiera worked in homicide. Terribly depressing work.
In the end, she opted to go through the proper channels for Roberto. This one was different than the others, and they had to locate the killer and fast. Having all hands on deck was hopefully the right call.
Crime scene investigators had shown up. Pamela Howe often took crime scene photos since their last photographer had moved away a few years ago because of the huge spike in crime. The department hadn’t hired a new full-time photographer yet, and Kiera knew why. They were all stretched thin as it was, and the budget only ever grew smaller. They all had to do their part.
Although they searched and searched, they could not find a metal shell. The killer had covered their tracks so well that they found no forensic evidence at all about a second party aside from the gunshot. The amount of blood at the scene and the lack of sings of dragging through the mud suggested Roberta had been murdered here, not dumped.
“Is it possible a sniper did this?” she asked one of the human officers.
“It’s possible, but where would one have been stationed out here?” He grimaced and glowered at the body as if this was all Roberto’s fault. “I don’t get why so many people are being killed or disappearing lately.”
Kiera winced. The “disappearances” were dead werewolves. They tried to say a lot of them had moved away, but too many had died for that excuse to be implemented each time.
“I’m getting ready to move,” another officer said. Jennifer patted her nearly flat stomach.
“Congratulations,” Kiera said.
Jennifer’s eyes widened, and she jerked her hand away. She slid over to Kiera and snapped in a low whisper, “We haven’t announced yet.”
“Don’t worry. I won’t tell anyone,” Kiera whispered back.
Kiera tried to smile, but she was so tired of the anger humans always felt toward werewolves. She assumed it was a biological trait, something to keep humans safe maybe from the time of cavemen. Humans, though, had nothing to fear from werewolves, at least not here in Hazel Park where the werewolves were bent on killing other werewolves.
“Just don’t want to raise a child here,” Jennifer more mouthed than said.
“I don’t blame you.”
Jennifer met Kiera’s gaze and nodded. “My husband and I are thinking Detroit.”
Kiera smiled. Was she opening up to her a little? “I’ve visited a few times. It seems nice enough.”
“It does, doesn’t it? Crime there, too, but every major city does.”
“A city like that will be a huge change of pace from this small town,” Kiera said.
The first human, Nathan, shook his head. “The amount of crime is on par to here. You’ll feel like you’ve never left.”
Jennifer scowled. “Always a buzzkill, aren’t you, Nathan?”
“Hey, I’m just a realist,” he protested.
Pamela put her camera down, letting it hang around her neck.
Kiera slid over to her. “Spotted anything worthwhile through the lens?”
“Nothing. A few aerial shots might be nice, but it’s not like we have a chance of getting those. Seems to me that Roberta just came out here to wander a bit.”
“A lot of werewolves do,” Kiera muttered. She had too, years ago, before Melvin died and her workload increased five times over.
Kiera hadn’t unleashed her werewolf in a long time. Too long. She needed to. Denying that part of herself would only make her angrier. Right now, being angry could provoke the wrong person. Kiera did not want to be the next werewolf killed.
* * *
Once the body was removed, most everyone left the scene. Kiera and Pamela were the last ones there.
Pamela stared at the indentation in the grass where Roberto’s body had been. “This makes you want to cling to your loved ones all the more.”
Kiera nodded. “Yes, it does,” she said quietly.
“I’m glad he doesn’t live here,” Pamela muttered.
“He who?” Kiera asked, confused.
“My boyfriend.”
“Wait, you have a boyfriend? Since when? Who?”
“Why are you so surprised?” Pamela fluffed her short blond hair. “I’m a catch of a werewolf.” She giggled and then sighed.
“I’m just shocked this is the first I’m here about it. Who’s the mystery guy?” Kiera welcomed the distraction, but it would only be temporary. Kiera was already trying to recall Roberto’s friends to know who to question for possible suspect ideas.
“You know how I’ve had no luck with any of the guys in town, so I decided to try a dating site.”
“You’re dating a human?” Kiera dropped her jaw, aghast and horrified. Considering all of the violence they saw between the murders and domestic abuse, she never thought Pamela would go for a human. There were hardly any werewolf-human relationships. Most ended with a terrible breakup, a divorce, or a murder.
“What? No! There’s a new dating site. It’s only for werewolves. Anyhow, his name is Mark Harrington.”
Kiera frowned. A werewolf dating site? “Don’t you dare think about me setting up a profile,” she said firmly, but Pamela wasn’t paying attention.
“He’s tall and handsome, and he listens to me. He doesn’t just talk about himself or his interests. He’s looking to settle down.”
“With you? Already? How long have you two been dating? I don’t know a Mark.”
“He’s not from around here,” Pamela said. “It’s a long-distance relationship. He’s in Toledo. We’ve only been able to get together a few times in person, but we talk or Skype every night. Miles don’t matter. That’s not going to stop me. We’ve been together about three months now.”
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“Three months. Why are you only telling me this now?”
“Because I knew you would discourage me,” Pamela said. “Admit it. You think I’m crazy.”
“No,” Kiera said, but she was lying.
Pamela rolled her eyes and laughed. “Yeah, okay.”
Kiera shrugged. “I’m innocent,” she said.
“Tell that to the judge. Come on. Let’s get some coffee. It’s gonna be a long day.”
Kiera tagged along. She had to admit Pamela was right. The idea of finding love in all of this chaos had Kiera shaking her head.
A few steps away, Kiera glanced over her shoulder. Don’t worry, Roberto. We’ll help you find peace as quickly as we can.
Chapter 9
Around dinnertime, Adrian was torn. Should he call Kiera? He’d rather talk to her in person. For some reason, he felt worried that his phone might be bugged. Paranoia, yes, but Adrian knew he was playing a dangerous game. It would be better to be overly cautious than to take unnecessary risks.
Instead of using his phone, he hopped into his car and hightailed it over to her place. The meeting last night had been, in a word, intense.
He felt a little fearful about showing up at a cop’s house, and he nearly continued to drive. In the end, he parked a block up the street and then approached her house from the back instead of the front.
For some reason, he had been daydreaming about Kiera ever since he saw her in just a t-shirt. He hadn’t been lying when he told her that he hadn’t been staring. He legit had been deep in thought, debating whether or not to tell her about his killing Melvin.
But after she had made that comment, he did sneak a few glances. She seemed so very comfortable in her skin, not at all fazed by the short hem of the shirt or how it fit over her hard nipples. Just thinking about it had him growing horny.
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