by Jane Godman
But perhaps she should put her pride aside and ask? She was in the right place, after all. Who knows? Maybe finding out how to do this will tell me even more about who I am. On that decisive note, she finished getting ready and made her way downstairs.
* * *
“I have to call this in.” Madden spoke quietly to Valetta.
Shock registered on her face. “As a Cage Killer case?”
Even though he couldn’t protect her from the possibility that Hendrik had fallen into the clutches of the serial killer, Madden kept his voice gentle. “I’m going to contact my team and give them the details. We’ll take it from there.”
Valetta raised a shaking hand to her lips. “This can’t be happening.”
She turned to where Cindy was seated on a sofa close to the fire, gazing into space. It was clear that she was not coping well with Hendrik’s disappearance. Madden knew very little about Cindy’s background, only that Hendrik had employed her as his housekeeper after Samson had rescued her from a biker gang some years ago. Since then, Hendrik and Cindy had grown closer despite the difference in their ages, backgrounds, and personalities.
“Why don’t the two of you come back to Lowell’s house?” Madden asked. “At least you’ll be with friends there.”
Cindy shook her head, her eyes filling with tears. “I need to be here when Hendrik gets back.” Her lower lip wobbled. “He will come back.”
Valetta sat next to her, taking Cindy’s hands in hers. “We can leave him a message telling him where we are.”
After a moment or two, Cindy’s body slumped against Valetta and she nodded in defeat. While Valetta helped her get a bag ready, Madden went into Hendrik’s study to make his call. As soon as the team got notice of a possible Cage Killer abduction, they would swing into action. He could expect them to start arriving in Fairbanks in the next few hours. That was the police team, the human task force. There was another team he wanted here. Now there was no possibility of ignoring the werewolf connection he wanted the Brotherhood of the Midnight Sun on this as fast as possible.
While he was in Hendrik’s study, he took a few minutes to look around. The room was scrupulously tidy, the desktop clear. Once here, the Alaskan Frontier Force would sweep through this house and check every inch of it for clues. For now, he couldn’t see anything that appeared suspicious. It looked like what it was, the study of a respectable, organized, wealthy politician. Nothing out of place, nothing to hide.
And that was what they were up against. No one in the human world knew about Hendrik’s double life. Hendrik was a well-known figure in Alaskan politics. He had been a state senator for fifteen years. In his private life, he was a model citizen, without so much as a parking ticket to his name. He had never drawn attention to himself, for one very simple reason. Behind his deceptive exterior, he was a werewolf. As political secrets went, this one was huge. Any hint of his true identity would have caused a political scandal to end all others. The world of politics, the world of celebrity—damn it, just the world!—would never have been the same again. All werewolves in the human world maintained their anonymity, but Hendrik had worked harder than anyone to keep his werewolf personality secret.
Madden had known Hendrik for centuries. As a young newly initiated member of the Brotherhood of the Midnight Sun, Madden had looked up to and liked the older werewolf. When Hendrik had taken the decision to step down, stating that he no longer believed himself to be one of the seven strongest and bravest Arctic werewolves, Madden’s respect for the other man had increased even further. The thought of his friend, the man who had been a driving force for good in Alaskan politics since he left the brotherhood, in the hands of a sadistic killer, made his blood run cold.
Hendrik is a formidable fighter. He may be able to overpower his captor.
Madden tried to console himself with those thoughts. It didn’t work. If the Cage Killer really was targeting Arctic werewolves, he would be well prepared. If he was working with Chastel, the murderer had an ally who would know how to overpower a werewolf with Hendrik’s skill and strength and how to keep him helpless. But Madden didn’t know for sure that the Cage Killer did have Hendrik. All he knew was the more time that passed, the more likely it was that he would get one of his early morning calls. No. He shook his head. Not about Hendrik. Madden needed the brotherhood. Normal policing wasn’t going to be enough. Face it. It hadn’t been enough for the last eighteen months, and now one of his best friends was in danger.
As he drove Valetta and Cindy to Lowell’s house, Madden thought how fortunate it was that several members of the brotherhood were already there and knew about the case. Lowell and Samson knew all the details and Sebastian had a good idea about what was going on. He would just need to call Vigo, Wilder, and Jenny and quickly bring them up to speed. It would be a relief to have Wilder with them. He was the team’s organizer, the person who got things done. Moving seven alpha werewolves around the country, sometimes around the world, was no easy task. Wilder was the one who made it happen quickly and efficiently.
When they got to the house, the occupants were all congregated in the kitchen. Madden’s eyes went straight to Maria. It was as if he had an internal radar that pulled him to her no matter what else was going on. She looked up and smiled and he felt something inside his chest give way. At the same time, some of the cares of the last few hours eased. They didn’t go away, the burden just somehow felt lighter. The world felt better because of her smile.
He didn’t have long to appreciate the sensation. Just a few moments to wonder at the strangeness of destiny. Of a fate that had brought them together in such a brutal way. Of the unfairness that offered them so much magic, but didn’t give them time to linger over it.
No one said life was fair. Madden had learned that lesson at a very early age. Cast out and left to die, he had learned to grab what chances came his way. Was Maria a chance? He wasn’t sure. Right now, she felt like possibly the best thing to have come into his life for a very long time. Maybe ever. The fact that she had done so at the same time as so many of the worst things to come into it? He was going to have to learn how to find a way to balance that. Because he needed her right now, even though he knew there couldn’t be a future for them.
Chapter Nine
“Thousands of years ago, a curse was placed upon a shape-shifter wolf by a sorceress. She took away his ability to shift by making him half human, but she also took away all that was human about him while he was in wolf form. The descendants of that shifter were the original werewolves. They were human beings who turned into werewolves during the full moon. They had no control over the transformation. Those werewolves, when in the grip of their wolf selves, were governed by uncontrollable rage and hunger for blood. The curse caused those werewolves to lose all control of their rational minds, and when they returned to their human form, they remembered nothing, or very little, of what they had done. They transferred their condition through a bite, assuming that the bitten human survived the attack.”
Maria listened, fascinated, to what Lowell was saying. “So there is actually some truth behind those stories in the horror films and books?”
Lowell nodded. “A great deal of truth.” He grinned. “Although many of the images that have emerged in popular culture are foolish. These onscreen images of young men contorting into grotesque and painful shapes before they emerge in their wolf form are so far from the truth it’s a joke. Shifting is not a long, drawn-out process. To a werewolf, it is as quick, painless, and natural as breathing.”
“I’m relieved to hear that.” Maria looked around Lowell’s beautiful home. “But your life could not be further from the curse you’ve just described. What changed?”
“Over a lengthy period of time, werewolves have mutated. It was a remarkable feat. Now, we are able to maintain control over the lust for human blood with which the sorceress cursed us, although our other wolf instincts remain as strong as ever. The majority of us are able to live alongside humans undetected
. Our wolf traits make us successful in our human lives. We are tenacious, loyal, and hardworking.”
“You said the majority can live alongside human undetected. What about the others?”
“Sadly, there a few feral werewolves who are still under the control of the original curse.” Lowell’s expression was regretful.
“What happens to them?” Although she asked the question, Maria wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“Because they can’t control their desire for human blood they usually end their days in prisons or mental institutions.”
“When you shift for the first time, how do you know you won’t get it wrong and end up being feral?”
Madden gripped her wrist. “You are overthinking this. The only way you will know what it’s like to shift is to go ahead and do it.”
She nodded. Although the golden sunlight still streamed in through the window, it was late evening. They were seated in the study, facing Lowell, who sat on the other side of his antique desk. The walls of the room were lined with shelves that were crammed with the books on werewolf folklore that Odessa had joked about when Maria first arrived.
“I don’t understand how I’ll do that,” she confessed. “You all grew up knowing how to do it. This is all new to me.”
“Madden is right. Don’t worry too much about it,” Lowell said. “I’ll lend you some books to read. You’ll know when the time is right.”
What if that’s never? Maria didn’t ask the question out loud.
“Arctic werewolves are unique. The reason goes right back to the times of Norse legend when the great god Odin put the sun and moon into chariots to fly back and forth across the sky. But the sun and moon didn’t always do their job properly and the length of the days and nights were not uniform. To solve the problem, Odin bespelled two giant wolves, the sons of the most fearsome werewolf ever known, the great werewolf god Fenrir.”
“The one you told me about? The one who escaped?” Maria asked Madden.
He smiled. “The same one.”
“Their names of the wolves Odin chose are Skoll and Hati,” Lowell continued. “Odin gave Skoll the task of chasing the sun across the sky, while Hati was to chase the moon. Arctic werewolves are descended from Hati and all other werewolves are descended from Skoll. One day we Arctics hope our own mighty god, Hati, will catch the moon and bring about perpetual day and other werewolves hope Skoll will catch the sun and cause permanent night.”
The stories were fascinating, but Maria was worried about Madden. He had looked tired and distracted and she had hardly seen him over the past day or two. The members of the Alaskan Frontier Force had arrived in Fairbanks and had set up a base in the police headquarters. Although nothing definite was known, they were treating Hendrik’s disappearance as a Cage Killer case. She knew Madden was busy searching for something—anything—that would lead them to the murderer before Hendrik was killed.
At the same time, the other members of the Brotherhood of the Midnight Sun had arrived at Lowell’s house. Sebastian, who Maria had already met, Vigo, Wilder, and Jenny had answered Madden’s summons and turned up earlier that day. Like the human police, they had little to go on. They were waiting for something to break in the case, some clue to show up, so they could go to their friend’s rescue.
The atmosphere crackled with tension. Maria felt as though the answers they sought were just out of reach beyond an invisible barrier. If they could just thrust that barrier aside . . . she couldn’t shake the thought that she held the means to do it. That, somehow, she was the person who could get past that veil and find the truth they were seeking. Was it because of an inflated sense of her own importance in this investigation? She didn’t think so. Whatever it was, no matter how hard she tried, nothing was coming to her. She was no closer to knowing how she could help than she had been on the day she was rescued. Being clueless just about summed her up lately.
At least one thing had changed for the better. Her hands weren’t a pretty sight, but the nurse who had attended to her had replaced the bulky bandages with sterile dressings. She was even managing to use her right hand again at last.
Madden needed her support right now. He didn’t have to hear that she was feeling wobbly about her whole newfound werewolf identity. He didn’t need to share every step of that journey with her. She had to get through this herself. Either ease herself into it gradually, or crash head-on into the werewolf world. However she chose to do this, she didn’t have to share every detail of her thoughts on the subject with a man who was already overloaded with so many worries it was a wonder he was managing to function at all.
When Lowell left them alone, Madden held out his hand to her. His smile made something in Maria’s insides unwind. They should be able to market that smile and use it for medical purposes. Or maybe it’s just me. Perhaps he’s my therapy and no one else’s. She liked that thought. It was like they had their own private world in which she didn’t have to share him with other people.
“It’s been crazy. I’ve missed you.”
“Me, too.” She went to him, sinking to her knees beside his chair and resting her cheek against the hard muscle of his thigh. Something about the position felt natural, although she didn’t know why.
Madden rubbed his hand across the fuzz of hair on her head and, although Maria missed her long curls, the action felt good. A flare of something hot and wanting shimmered in the air. Lifting her face to his, Maria saw her own need reflected in Madden’s eyes. Shifting position so that she knelt between his thighs, she rubbed the heel of her hand against the bulge in his jeans. The outline of his already hard erection strained against the zipper.
She smiled. “I may need a little help with this first part. After that, I wasn’t planning on using my hands.”
* * *
Madden unsnapped his jeans and pulled down the zipper. Lifting his hips, he tugged his jeans and briefs down around his thighs. His cock responded enthusiastically by jerking free of the restraints and pointing straight up.
Rising up from her kneeling position, Maria kissed her way from his lips down his neck, reaching his hip bones and nibbling her way lightly across them. Teasing him with her mouth and tongue, she let him know exactly where her mouth was heading, but took her time about getting there.
Ducking her head down, she took one of his balls in her mouth, shocking him with the unexpected, deliciously erotic action. Madden nearly jerked out of his seat as she sucked gently on the delicate globe, massaging it with her tongue. His head fell back and he gazed up at the ceiling with a groan. She enveloped each of his balls in her mouth in turn, wrapping them in wet heat until Madden felt like a freight train of pleasure was roaring through his sac.
Releasing him, she began to use the tip of her tongue to lick from the base of his cock up and down the entire shaft, rolling her tongue around the sides. Each time she reached the tip, she paused to gently kiss and lick it, taking a little bit more into her mouth each time.
Although her fingers were out of action, she used the heel of her right hand to rub against his shaft as she took him into her mouth. Relaxing her jaw, she took him in slowly, inch by throbbing inch until he was all the way inside. Humming lightly to herself—the action vibrating against his sensitive flesh—she began to move her head up and down, taking him deep so that he hit the back of her throat each time.
Madden’s hips bucked in time with her movements. His whole body was shaking, awash with a pleasure so fierce it robbed him of any remnant of control. He wanted to take this slow, savor every second. He groaned in defeat. Who was he kidding? Slow wasn’t going to happen. Every stroke of those velvet lips, every brush of that wicked tongue was sending him careening wildly toward the release his body was demanding.
He slid a hand down Maria’s cheek. “Your mouth feels like heaven.”
She lifted her eyes to his and the warmth and passion he saw in their golden depths made him whimper as the blistering waves of heat stoked even higher. He lifted his hips in time
with her mouth, matching her rhythm. When his orgasm hit, it was agonizing in its intensity, and he cried out. As he exploded, Maria tightened her mouth on him, swallowing his release. Madden’s whole body shuddered wildly, and he helplessly rode out the waves before gradually falling back to earth.
Despite his dazed state, he moved fast. Rising, he tugged his clothing into place.
“Upstairs. Now.” His voice rasped with a need that was only partially sated.
“I thought you had work to do.” There was a teasing smile on the lips that were swollen and damp from their recent activity.
He caught hold of her upper arm, pulling her to him. “You just started something that I intend to finish.” He saw the sparkle of anticipation in her eyes and felt her hardened nipples pressing into his chest. “Now are you going to walk up the stairs or do I have to carry you?”
“You are very demanding.” The words, like her breathing, came out hard and fast as she moved to the door.
“And I’m about to get a whole lot more so.”
When they reached her bedroom, he slammed the door closed and shucked off his clothes before getting rid of Maria’s.
“On the bed.” He could barely speak for the coiled tension gripping his muscles.
Obediently, Maria lay in the middle of the bed, her knees falling apart to reveal the sweet spot he could hardly wait to drive his cock into. Restraining his impatience with an effort, he started at the base of her neck, running the tips of his fingers between her breasts, over her flat belly, and down between her thighs. He parted her further and she lifted her hips to meet his hand.