by Iris Abbott
Book 8
Iris Abbott
WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal.
A WOLF’S LOVING VALENTINE
Copyright © 2013 by Iris Abbott
First E-book publication: February 2013
Cover design by Iris Abbott
Photos obtained from bigstockphoto.com
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission. All characters in this book are fictitious and exist only in the imagination of the author. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
ONE
Fire blazed high into the sky. Rose could feel the heat generated from the explosion where she was lying face down on the cold asphalt. Knees and palms stung from the hard fall and the grit of the parking lot biting into her tender skin. She could hardly breathe thanks to the hard and dense mass of muscle that lunged toward her then landed on top of her at the start of the explosion.
Still, Rose was lucky to be alive. It was her car that blew up and was now a burning inferno. If she hadn’t dropped her brand new cashmere scarf and ran back to retrieve it from the man who called out to her, she would have been a lot closer to the twisted and burning hunk of metal when it exploded. She could have been inside, and more than likely, she would be dead.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Help was on the way, but she didn’t feel any better. There was no settling the turmoil that churned inside Rose. Somebody wanted her dead. There was no other explanation for what just happened. Cars might malfunction, but not like that!
She fought to push aside the material covering her face. She shoved at the man holding her down. Rose thought she heard a growl, but her ears rang and several car alarms in their immediate vicinity shrilly shrieked. Undoubtedly, she was mistaken. The job must have gotten to her. After all, wolves were the reason she was in Enigma.
The man straightened his overcoat and used his arms to lift away from her body. She instantly missed his warmth. Rose used the moment to study him. He acted with a speed that stunned her. She still wasn’t exactly sure how he got to her before the debris from the explosion.
Everything was a little fuzzy inside her head. She did remember one thing clearly. His black overcoat fanned out behind him like wings when he rushed to her. Thus the nickname dark angel was instantly born. She saw it was the overcoat that previously covered her face. He must have flipped it over them to protect their faces.
The man finally moved away, and Rose stood up on wobbly legs. She took one step and then another toward the smoldering remains of her car. She gasped in disbelief. The destruction was total. Her work laptop and several files were inside the vehicle. All of her hard work, gone.
She went to take another step, but her would-be rescuer was having none of that. He wrapped one strong arm around her waist and moved her further from the car. At the same time, he managed to turn her gaze away from the burning mess.
“Trust me,” a deep and gravelly voice whispered into her ear. “You don’t want to get any closer to the chaos. Besides, help is on the way.”
Rose broke away from the stranger’s iron grip. She listened to reason, however. Logically she knew there was nothing she could do about her car or the things inside.
She slowly lowered herself to the ground. She didn’t think her knees would hold her up much longer, and she didn’t want to add to the assortment of scrapes and bruises that already decorated her body. She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them to her body. Shivers caused her to shake uncontrollably as the full horror of the situation began to take its toll on her.
****
Justin positioned himself behind the woman and pulled her into his body. He gently rubbed his hands up and down her arms, trying to infuse her with warmth and stop the shivering. It was the end of January in Maine. Even the obscene amount of heat generated from the burning car was not enough to warm the night.
He had a feeling that any other time and under any other circumstances the woman he held could heat the night all on her own. The wolf inside him paced just below the surface and wanted to howl his agreement. Pushing the wolf deep into his subconscious, Justin focused on the woman in front of him.
Justin whispered words of encouragement to help calm the stranger. Enigma’s rescue squad, fire department, and police arrived on the scene at the same time. Justin had to fight back a smile. It definitely wasn’t appropriate under the circumstances, because someone could have died. His enhanced wolf senses and quick thinking might have been the only things that saved the woman in his arms.
What had him wanting to smile was the anticipation of the battle to come. Heads were going to roll over this. Whoever set off that car bomb surely signed his or her own death warrant. Someone threatened the citizens of Enigma and shattered the peace of the town.
Law enforcement and the council were going to be all over the incident. Justin almost felt sorry for the unfortunate fool who tried to kill someone in Enigma, Maine. Almost, but not quite. His wolf reveled in the spill of blood that was sure to come.
****
In her mind, Rose knew she shouldn’t seek comfort from a total stranger, especially when her life was in danger. A clumsy quirk of fate saved her from the attempt on her life, but how long would it be before the person who planted a bomb in the car realized she was still very much alive? In all likelihood, Rose was the target of a killer and just because he didn’t succeed once didn’t mean she was safe. Fear, cold and hard closed in around her and caused her body to violently shudder.
Paramedics rushed toward her, and she raised a hand to get their attention. That’s when she realized she was alone. The man who forced her to the ground and shielded her body from all the flying debris was nowhere to be seen. She hadn’t even felt him move, but now that he was gone, she felt his disappearance like a gaping hole in her body. It made absolutely no sense, and she blamed her abnormal and overly emotional feelings on the trauma of the situation.
“How badly are you hurt?” One of the paramedics knelt down in front of her and started asking questions.
“Just a few bumps and bruises, I think. A man shoved me down and away from most of the danger. He took the brunt of the explosion. He might be hurt, but I don’t know where he went.” She let out a little whimper. “I don’t even know his name. I have to thank him properly.”
She chewed on her bottom lip and fretted over this latest albeit minor dilemma. “How am I going to find my dark angel, if I don’t even know his name?” Of course, no one answered her. She really hadn’t expected them to. Car alarms still shrieked, and now there was the added noise of rushing water from the fire hoses, large vehicles, and several emergency personnel who rushed about doing their jobs.
The paramedic helped her up and guided her to the back of an ambulance. She went willingly but turned to take one more look at her car. The firemen battled the flames that spread from her vehicle to several surrounding structures. A sob tore from her throat when she thought of all the senseless damage to nearby buildings and cars and all the innocent people who could have become collateral damage. What a shame.
Her gaze darted around the area. Several rescue workers milled around, finishing up various jobs. A large group of onlookers started to build. They were kept in check by police officers. She looked everywhere, but couldn’t find the one man she searched for.
****
The acrid smell of smoke clung to Justin’s clothes. Since he flipped the long tail of the coat over his head to protect their faces, the back of his shirt was ripped and burned in several spots. It was also decorated with specks of dried blood, but that was all that was left of the superficial injuries he obtained from flying debris and sparks.
His shifter genes fostered quick healing. He’d shifted after slipping away from the woman he protected. His skin was
already as good as new. He hated to think of the delicate and dusky skin of the woman he shielded with shredded and burned skin that wouldn’t heal for days if not weeks.
He stalked through the house he shared with his brother Mitch. Mitch was older by two years. That made Mitch alpha of the Enigma pack. Justin was the pack’s enforcer and second in command. He marched right into his brother’s office without bothering to knock. Justin and Scarlet were the only two people who would ever be allowed to get away with doing such a thing.
“We’ve got problems,” he announced with a grim face when his brother’s head snapped up.
Mitch stared at his brother through narrow eyes. “Yes, we do,” the alpha agreed. “And entering my office without a courtesy knock doesn’t help either,” Mitch admonished with a slight snarl.
Justin didn’t even bat an eye. He and his brother were as close as any two siblings could be. In the early years, they’d depended on each other for survival. One always had the other’s back.
“A car bomb went off right in the center of Enigma tonight. No fatalities as far as I know,” Justin quickly added when he saw the shocked look on his brother’s face.
Mitch wrinkled his nose. “That would explain the horrible odor you brought in with you. It’s a good thing Scarlet doesn’t have our keen sense of smell. I’d hate to offend her delicate sensibilities, especially at a time like this.”
Justin snorted at his sister-in-law being called delicate. She might be fragile compared to her husband, but she was one feisty lady. And she had been working on self-defense and martial arts training with her friend Brittany for a year. Even pregnancy wouldn’t slow down Scarlet Valentine Gannon. She was no shrinking violet or delicate wallflower. She could handle just about anything, after all, she was married to Mitch.
“How is Scarlet doing?” Yes, his sister-in-law was tough, but so was being pregnant with a wolf shifter. Shifter babies tended to be robust. They sucked lots of energy and nutrients from their mother, sometimes with disastrous results if the pregnant woman didn’t take proper care of herself. Mitch watched Scarlet like a hawk. Nothing was going to happen to his wife and first child.
“Scarlet’s fine. She’s taking a nap.”
“I’m sure you insisted,” Justin laughed. He never thought he’d see his hard as nails brother this gaga over a woman, but Scarlet roared into his brother’s life and changed it forever. Now she was just as much a part of the family and pack as anyone else.
He rubbed a hand through his hair. All joking aside, Justin gravely reminded himself that something suspicious and bad just happened in Enigma. As prominent members of the paranormal society and owners of the most successful security company on the east coast, the Gannon brothers were involved whether they wanted to be or not.
Mitch let the remark about his overprotectiveness slide by without comment. It was true, so why argue. “We have more to worry about than a car bomb. I just got bad news from a contact in the federal government. It seems there has been a spike in the number of reported wolf sightings in and near Acadia National Park. A wildlife biologist is being sent right now as we speak to Acadia National Park headquarters.”
Justin slid down into the large leather chair in front of Mitch’s desk. That was indeed bad news for the wolf pack. Any wolf this far south in Maine was probably a wolf shifter. Wolf shifters managed to keep their existence a secret from mankind for centuries. That couldn’t change. Their continued survival depended on it.
“Damn, you’re right that’s not good.” And it trumped Justin’s car bomb news. Lucian Petrakos, Phillip Saint John, and the rest of the council would have to take care of that mess. The pack needed to focus all of their resources on damage control and staying out of sight. “What do you need me to do?”
Mitch flicked an open file folder across the desk. It landed with a soft thud and slid a couple of inches before coming to a stop in front of Justin. “This is what little information I’ve been able to gather on the wildlife biologist. Meet Ms. Rose Banks. I need your computer expertise to dig up any and everything you can on our new resident wolf expert.”
Justin’s gaze landed on the photograph of the woman in question. He grabbed the photo and moved it to within inches of his face. Why he didn’t know. His vision was as excellent as his memory. There was no mistaking that face. And the image printed on that photo paper wasn’t going to change no matter how hard he looked at it. “Well, it looks like our two problems just crossed.”
“How?” Mitch snapped out automatically on the offensive and rushing to get ahead of the looming crisis. He shook his head. “The whole thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Pack members know better than to expose themselves to anyone unaware of their existence. It’s why the pack owns thousands of acres of private forest and woodlands in the surrounding area.
“This,” Justin tightened his grip on the photo he held. “This is the woman I shielded during the explosion. She dropped her scarf, and I called out to her. She ran to retrieve it just as her car exploded around us.”
He couldn’t stop the shudder that shook his body. “Otherwise she would have been inside, and she wouldn’t have survived. It looks like we aren’t the only ones unhappy that a wildlife biologist is visiting Enigma.”
“Car bombs are rarely random,” Mitch agreed. “But I’ve only known about this development in the last hour. I don’t think anyone else in the paranormal community knows about it.”
“And the council doesn’t operate that way,” Justin was quick to point out. “A car bomb can’t be hidden and never goes unnoticed. It leaves behind too much damage and too many questions, not to mention interference and investigations from law enforcement. There are much quieter, quicker, and efficient ways for paranormal beings to silence someone. It has to be about something else.”
He tapped his fingers against the photo that was still clutched in his hand. “But what, and who would want to kill this woman?” He was sure the world would be a much duller place without Rose Banks in it.
Justin’s heart gave a couple of quick thuds before it settled back into a normal rhythm. He and Rose Banks hadn’t even been properly introduced yet, but they’d met. Her body had been pressed close to his. And his wolf and body weren’t going to let Justin forget that anytime soon. It would probably be best for all concerned if Rose stayed well out of his way while she was in town. His inner wolf howled at the thought. And Justin knew that trouble had come to Enigma and in more than one form.
TWO
Everyone was friendly, but Rose remained unsettled and jittery. She sat huddled on the hard wooden chair in front of the detective’s desk and answered every question the best she could. “No. She didn’t know why anyone would want to kill her. Yes. It was her car that exploded.” She explained how by a quirk of fate and absentmindedness she was spared serious injury or even death.
She was exhausted, and her entire body ached. For just a split second she longed to be back in the comforting embrace of the man she considered her dark angel. He was nowhere to be found afterward, and nobody else saw him. While the police really wanted to interview him too, Rose couldn’t help them. She had no idea who he was. She didn’t even have a name for her dark angel.
Rose might never see him again, and the thought caused panic to well up inside her. It was ridiculous really. She didn’t know the man, and she’d only been with him fifteen minutes tops, probably even less. It had to be the trauma. She was logical and methodical, always had been, and always would be.
Her parents were pharmacists who excelled in research and development. Attention to detail and rational thought were in her DNA. Her body’s reaction to the dark and handsome stranger was anything but logical. To make matters worse, she couldn’t get him off her mind.
She gave herself a mental shake. Her life might be in danger. She didn’t have time to dwell on a sexy stranger she might never see again. He sheltered her from the blast and the worst of the flying debris. His heroic act and the trauma of the situation must
be the cause of her uncharacteristic thoughts and feelings. She tried to satisfy herself with the explanation. It was the only one she could come up with at the moment.
Detective Craig Aquila focused on her with piercing eyes that reminded her of a predator. “Look,” he blew out a loud hiss of air. “I have no doubt you’re telling the truth and don’t know anything about the car bomb. Most likely, though, you were the intended victim since it was your car.”
“Unfortunately, I agree with you about the intended victim part.”
“You’ve been through an ordeal and must be tired, but I still need all the information you can give me. Facts solve cases, and right now the facts are woefully absent.”
Rose continued to stare at him or tried to anyway. Tired was the understatement of the century. Her eyes were gritty, and they burned. It was all she could do to keep them open.
“Look, I know this is hard on you. And I’m sorry for any inconvenience that may arise because of my investigation, but I’m going to be very thorough.” He gave her a serious look. “I’m going to need you to stay in town awhile. Solving this crime is top of the priority list for the Enigma Police Department. That puts it right at the top of my list too.”
Rose tried not to shake even though terror iced her blood. She was still trying to process that she was the most likely target and could still be in danger. “I work for the National Park Service and will be spending the next several weeks in and around Acadia,” she told the detective.
She groaned and covered her face with her hands. She took a deep breath and looked across the desk at Detective Aquila. “I need to notify my boss so that he’s aware of the situation.” She covered her face again. “Oh God, I can’t believe this happened.” A soft sob broke free, and she struggled to maintain control.
The man clumsily patted her shoulder. “Um, I suggest you take all possible security precautions. Someone that goes to the trouble of setting a car bomb means business. Traipsing through Acadia National Park especially this time of year may not be wise or safe,” he cautioned.