Sedona Scandal (Sedona Pack Book 3)

by Lisa Kessler

  “I want to go home.”

  I groaned, staring at the dark streets below. “Those guys who were tailing us could be waiting for you there. It’s not safe.”

  “Being near a werewolf isn’t safe either.” She lifted her chin.

  I shook my head and opened my car door. “You’ve been with a jaguar shifter all night. Did you ever feel threatened?”

  She stared at me and finally shook her head. “No.”

  “Then trust me just a little while longer.” I leaned on the car, waiting, hoping she’d agree. When she hesitated, I asked, “Do you really have a gun in your purse?”

  She nodded.

  “You’re an armed werewolf.” I smirked. “You don’t need anyone to protect you, but even so, I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.”

  She sized me up and finally sucked in a determined breath, tightening her grip on her purse. “You’ll tell me everything you know about Evolution Defense?”

  I nodded. “No secrets.”

  “Fine.” She opened the passenger door, shaking her head. “I can’t believe I’m going to back to Sedona.”

  I sent a quick text to my Alpha and started the car. This was going to be a long night.

  CHAPTER 7

  Wendy

  The drive to Sedona was a blur as Chandler filled me in about the Transparency Collective and Evolution Defense. According to him, the collective was backing Senate candidates who could gain access to the Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces with the goal of declassifying super soldier experiments—experiments on werewolves.

  I couldn’t reconcile that realization with my memories of my parents. My dad had owned copper mines and controlling interest in a multistate oil refinery. My mom had come from old money and was a distant relative of the Rockefellers. Why would they be interested in declassifying military defense contracts? It didn’t make any sense.

  “I can’t believe my parents believed shifters were real.”

  Chandler glanced my way. “Maybe they didn’t know. The Collective needed money. They could’ve pitched their mission as transparency in government with a focus on the military. Your parents may not have known what the experiments entailed.”

  That made more sense.

  “We’re still missing a piece, though. If your parents were involved financially with the Collective, how did they know Deidra Harlow? Evolution Defense is doing super soldier research. If the Collective exposed the research on werewolves to the world, Deidra would lose her guinea pigs. Why would she risk being involved with them?”

  “Maybe she wants to cure them.” I stared out the window at the starry night, not ready to see Deidra as the villain. I’d pinned all my hopes on her.

  “There’s no cure.” Chandler reached to turn up the radio, and we settled into silence, and I stared out my window, suddenly exhausted mentally and physically.

  We passed the Sedona city limits sign on the highway and my pulse kicked up a notch. Outside, the sky was a vast tapestry of stars. Sedona was designated a stargazing city with light ordinances in place. I’d only been out to the Red Rocks twice. We had come out for a camping trip as a family when I was about ten, and then Brock and I had visited for a gallery opening at the Tlaquepaque Arts center. The Cain Foundation had awarded them a grant, so we had been invited to the gala. It had ended in a werewolf attack. I swore I’d never come back, but here I was, returning to visit a pack of werewolves.

  Chandler pulled off the highway, driving farther into the valley down a single lane road. I glanced over at him with a smirk. “If you’re taking me out here to bury my body in the desert, I should warn you, I’m much stronger than I look.”

  He chuckled, shaking his head. “The ranch is remote, but it gives us a safe place to shift. The wolves run during the full moon, and the jaguars during the new moon.”

  “How many jaguar shifters are there?”

  “In the world?” He shrugged. “I don’t know. But there are two of us in the Sedona Pack.” He reached over to pat my knee, awakening the wolf in my soul. Something about this guy had her full attention. “I sent our Alpha, Asher, a text when I stopped for gas. He’s staying up for us, but you’ll have to wait until morning to meet everyone else.”

  I tensed, turning in my seat. “Whoa. I agreed to hide out. I’m not joining a werewolf pack.”

  “I know.” He put both hands back on the wheel and made a tight right turn, then glanced my way. “You don’t have to join anything, okay? I just want you to see other shifters before you keep chasing after a cure.” The headlights lit up a big black iron gate in the distance. Chandler hit a button on his visor. “You reached out to me to look for answers. They just might be different from what you thought.”

  I eyed him for a second before facing forward again. “I contacted you because I thought you’d be hungry for the biggest story of the century and all the publicity would get me a meeting with the Feds.”

  He drove through the gate and parked. “Instead, you found a jaguar shifter who might be able to show you that being a werewolf isn’t all bad.”

  I rolled my eyes, laughing in spite of myself. “You’re tenacious, I’ll give you that.”

  He got out of the car, came to my door, and without any warning, opened it and scooped me up into his arms. “Whoa!” I gasped, instinctively wrapping my arm around his neck. “What are you doing?”

  “You left your shoes, remember?” He smiled down at me like the cat that caught the canary. “I just want to be sure you don’t step on anything sharp.”

  “I’ll be fine.” But I didn’t put up a fight. Being this close to him felt…right. Yes, I hadn’t been on a date in years, but this went deeper than hormones. This was primal and instinctual, and for the first time since I lost my family, I didn’t feel alone.

  The door to the house opened as we approached. A tall man with long, dark hair filled the doorway. His smile brightened his face. “Chandler. Good to see you.” His gaze fell on me, and concern lined his eyes. “Are you injured?”

  I shook my head and wiggled my toes. “Just shoeless.”

  “We left in a hurry when I learned her family was involved with the Transparency Collective.” Chandler set me down inside. The hardwood floor was cool under my bare feet.

  The other man—the Alpha, as Chandler had called him—nodded. “I’m Asher. It’s good to meet you.”

  He offered his hand, and I shook it slowly. “I’m Wendy Cain. Werewolf.”

  A crooked smile curved his lips. “I know. I caught your scent when you got out of the car.”

  His dark eyes locked on mine, and deep in my soul, my wolf recognized his authority somehow. I struggled to find my equilibrium. This man was a stranger to me. How could I recognize him as a leader? But whether it made sense or not, I broke eye contact, choosing to inspect my toes instead.

  Chandler clasped Asher’s forearm. It wasn’t like any handshake I’d ever seen, but I’d never met another werewolf aside from the one who bit me and the one who had abandoned me, so…

  Chandler’s hand brushed the small of my back as he guided me toward the oversized sectional in a sprawling living room. I took a seat, glancing around the room and taking in all the new scents. I tried to pay attention and mentally catalog them. Chandler had said he knew I was a shifter the second he entered the theater tonight. I pulled in a breath. There were definitely other people in the house. Somewhere. I took another slow breath.

  Werewolves.

  As if he could read my mind, Asher said, “My wife and the kids are sleeping.”

  “Oh.” I glanced at Chandler. “Sorry it’s so late.”

  Chandler’s expression settled the wolf inside me, calming the churning in my belly. “Trust me, we’re used to late-night meetings.”

  “I’m glad you came by. Chandler tells me you were attacked a few years ago?” Asher’s deep voice rumbled, rougher than Chandler’s well-trained tone. “And your brother was taken?”

  I nodded slowly. “I still hear his screams
in my nightmares as the wolf dragged him away.” I crossed my arms, doing my best to contain my emotions. “I tried to follow, but the wolf who took him was too fast. Another man stopped me, warned me I’d turn into a wolf during the full moon, and told me to stay away from Sedona and hospitals. Then he disappeared.”

  Chandler took my hand, and I startled. How did he know I needed that support?

  “She’s been hiding in Phoenix,” Chandler added.

  Asher raised a brow. “You didn’t run very far.”

  I lifted my chin. “Phoenix is my home. I’m not leaving.”

  Asher crossed his ankles and settled in. He told me about a man named Allen Caldwell who used to lead the wolf pack in Sedona. That must have been the Alpha that Chandler had mentioned had sent out wolves to bite targets during the full moon.

  “But why target Brock?” I looked from Asher to Chandler. These were big, fit, powerful men. It didn’t make sense. “My brother was a thinker, not an athlete or soldier.”

  “Wait.” Asher frowned, tipping his head. “Your brother was Brock?” He paused, pressing his lips together. “I thought you looked familiar.”

  I scooted forward on the couch, unable to contain the hope bursting through my chest. “Oh my god, he’s alive? You know him?”

  Regret lined his eyes, and my heart sank. Until now, I thought I’d accepted that my brother was probably dead, but now I realized I had still coveted a tiny shred of hope.

  It was gone now.

  “I did… Brock died fighting to free this pack from Allen Caldwell.” His dark eyes flicked to Chandler, then back to me. “I’m sorry. He was a good man. I was honored to call him a friend.”

  I wiped a tear from my cheek. “He was the best.” I held Chandler’s hand tighter, as if he was somehow holding me back from sinking into the abyss. “At least now I know what happened to him.” Then it dawned on me. I looked over at Chandler and pulled away from his touch. “You didn’t have to bring me all the way out here to tell me Brock was gone. You could’ve told me back at my house and saved us both a trip.”

  “I didn’t know about your brother.” Chandler shook his head. “The pack had already freed themselves from Caldwell by the time I moved to Phoenix. I didn’t know the guys who died in the fight, I swear. When I heard you and your brother were attacked, I suspected it might’ve been from Caldwell’s pack. That’s why I brought you out here.”

  I scrutinized every inch of his handsome face for any trace of deception, but all I found was empathy. Numbness crept through my limbs. I wanted a reason to be angry, but grief spooned my entire body like a lover. “I need to go home.”

  Chandler rolled his shoulders back, stretching his muscles. “It’s late. We can crash here, and I’ll take you back in the morning.”

  “I can’t.” I shook my head, the numbness was giving way to pain, and I was not going to cry. I didn’t have any tears left. “Please take me home.”

  Chandler shot Asher a warning look, and suddenly, dread swelled in my chest. My brother had been taken hostage by a wolf pack. What was I thinking coming here? Adrenaline filled my veins. I wasn’t going to suffer the same fate, not if I could help it.

  I sprang up and ran toward the door.

  “Wendy, stop.” Chandler was right behind me.

  I bolted out the door, the rational part of my brain recognizing it wasn’t locked. Not much of a prison. But right now, my fight-or-flight instincts were in overdrive. My tiny Ruger was already loaded in my clutch on the passenger seat. I just needed to make it to the car.

  Chandler caught up with me in a few strides. “Wendy!”

  His big hand clamped on my shoulder, spinning me around to face him. “Talk to me.”

  “Are you serious?” I searched his eyes. “My brother died here.” I squeaked. “A wolf pack killed him. I can’t stay here, and I don’t want anything to do with this pack.” I jerked his hand off, ignoring the way my wolf growled deep in my soul. She might be blinded by his blue eyes, but I could see through his handsome face. “I’m not spending the rest of my life as a monster. I’m finding a cure.”

  Asher approached us, calm and unshaken. Something about him tamed the wild animal inside me, cooling the fire to run away. “Before you go, there’s someone you should meet. Two someones actually.”

  I lifted my gaze to his face. “Maybe some other time. I’m going home now.”

  “You didn’t let me finish telling you about Caldwell and his pack.” Asher looked over his shoulder toward the lights of the house. “Let’s go back inside.”

  “No.” I shook my head, wrapping my arms around my middle. “Tell me here. Then I’m leaving.”

  “Daddy?” a sleepy voice called from the door. “Why are you outside? Who is she?” The little boy took a few steps out onto the porch. “She’s a werewolf.”

  Even in dim glow of the porchlight behind him, I could see him. He stared at me with a puzzled expression that rocked me to my core. I’d seen that face before, the way the corner of his mouth quirked up and a crease formed between his eyebrows. Brock. My brother used to get that look when he was digesting new information and figuring out a solution to a problem. The boy had dark hair and dark eyes, but the shape of his face, his high cheek bones and his pert nose were…like Brock’s.

  I rubbed my face. Impossible. I had to be imagining it.

  I looked up at Asher. “Is that your son?”

  “Yes.” He turned around. “Bart, this is Wendy. Go back inside. We’ll be right there.”

  Bart hesitated. “Do I have to?”

  Asher chuckled. “Yes.”

  “Okay.” Bart sighed. “But I hope you hurry.”

  He disappeared back into the house, and Asher focused on me again. “Bart and Ben are twins, born werewolves.” He paused waiting for me to meet his gaze. “Caldwell assigned mates for the bitten wolves. Their mom, my wife, was mated to Brock.”

  I studied him as the words sank in. “Wait, so they’re…”

  “I adopted them as my own, but Brock was their biological father.” His features softened.

  “So they are…?” I couldn’t get the words out.

  “Your nephews,” Chandler answered, seeming almost as surprised as I was.

  I ran for the house, barely noticing the rocks beneath my bare feet. I jogged up the porch, my heart in my throat, and through the door.

  Bart looked up at me from the sofa. “Hi, Wendy.”

  Seeing him in the light, I sobbed and laughed all at once. The poor kid looked terrified. God, he looked so much like Brock.

  “Hi.” I came over and knelt in front of the couch, impressed he didn’t run away from a crying stranger. “I knew your—” I stopped myself. Did they know they were adopted?

  He scooted off the sofa and stood, his gaze wandering over my face. “I’ve never seen you before.”

  Asher’s deep voice came from the doorway. “Bart, this is your aunt Wendy. She was your other dad’s sister.”

  He didn’t take his eyes off mine. “My mama says my other dad was a hero.”

  My heart broke staring at this tiny gift. My brother wasn’t gone. A piece of him was standing right in front of me in footsie pajamas. It was all I could do not to hug him.

  “I grew up with him.” My voice cracked with emotion, and I cleared my throat as best I could. “I can tell you all kinds of stories about him if you’d like.”

  Bart’s eyes lit up, and he took my hand, pulling me over to the sofa. “Mama said she didn’t know him very long.”

  Asher came over and scooped the pajama-clad toddler up from the sofa. Bart’s giggles made me smile through my tears. “You need to go back to bed. You’ll have plenty of time for stories with Wendy in the morning.”

  Bart sighed and watched me from over Asher’s shoulder as he carried him down the hall. “You promise?”

  I nodded, wiping my cheek. “Cross my heart.”

  He smiled and snuggled into Asher’s neck. Chandler sat down beside me, his voice tender. “Is t
here anything I can do?”

  I stared into his gorgeous blue eyes, my heart in tatters, my wolf wide-awake for some reason, and all I could do was laugh. I rested my forehead against his chest, laughing and crying. He wrapped his arms around me and gently set his chin on top of my head without saying a word.

  Every person who had ever meant anything to me had been ripped out of my life. But tonight, this man gave me the impossible. Family.

  I sniffled and pulled back to look into his eyes. “I must look hideous.”

  He chuckled, his thumb brushing away a tear. “You’re beautiful.”

  I rolled my eyes, even though he looked sincere. “I’m exhausted. But I haven’t been this happy in years.”

  He nodded with a half-hearted smile. “Me neither.”

  For the first time, I noticed a sadness in his gaze. We’d spent the evening exposing what had happened to me, but now I caught myself wondering about the handsome news anchor who seemed to have everything he ever wanted.

  But he’d been bitten, too.

  Chandler leaned in and kissed my forehead. My brain short-circuited for a second, all my attention shifting to the soft warmth of his lips. I tipped my head back, staring into his eyes, his breath teasing my skin. He started to lean in when someone cleared their throat.

  “Sorry. I brought out some blankets, a couple towels, and a robe.” Asher placed the stack on the end of the sectional. “You can sleep here, or the guest room is down that hallway.” He pointed to the other side of the room, the opposite direction from where he’d just carried Bart.

  Chandler quickly straightened up, putting a little distance between us. “Thanks, Asher.”

  His Alpha nodded with a knowing smile and headed for his own room. Chandler got up and brought me a blanket. “I’ll take the couch. You can have the guest room.”

  I should’ve grabbed a blanket and run, but I didn’t. Hadn’t I been alone long enough? “I think I’d rather sleep with you.” I realized how it sounded after it had come out of my mouth. “Out here. I mean on the couch, not…”