Song of Midnight Embers

by Dana Marie Bell

  “We?”

  Damn. Noah would pick up on that, but she couldn’t give Carter away. Not yet. He’d had his own suspicions to follow up on, and together they’d narrowed their list down to three. He hadn’t wanted to believe Bernadette was one of the people who’d betrayed Maggie’s Grove. His ties to the pack were far too strong for him to doubt the alpha’s cousin. It was why he hadn’t been with Mollie tonight, instead going on his own investigation. If his panned out as well, they might have found the root of the conspiracy to bring down the Maggie’s Grove leadership from the inside.

  She just hoped he hadn’t met trouble the way she had.

  “I followed her into the woods tonight, thinking she was going to meet with someone, but I figured out I was wrong when her movements became erratic. She must have noticed I was following her.” Mollie swallowed hard as Greer’s song finished. “She confronted me, and we fought.”

  “What did she confront you about?” Noah’s voice was closer, so she opened her eyes.

  The alpha was right above her. Greer had moved, and now Noah Wulfenbach’s face filled her field of vision.

  “She knew I was on to her. She told me she killed your beta’s mate, that she wanted to be beta in his place.”

  The sudden horror on Noah’s face quickly disappeared. “I’ve gotten no word on that from any of my people.”

  “Maybe she lied.” But Mollie wasn’t willing to bet on that. “Call him, see what he says.”

  Noah nodded and stepped away from them.

  Mollie glanced at Greer, who stood a little apart from the rest of them. “You believe me, don’t you?”

  Greer stared at her for a moment before looking away with a shrug. “I don’t know what to believe.”

  Ouch. That hurt, but she couldn’t truly blame him. She sat up, expecting pain, but Greer was far too good a healer to leave any of her wounds untended. She actually felt well enough to stand.

  Now that the bites and breaks were dealt with, she was free to feel the itchiness of the dried blood and dirt on her skin. She did her best to ignore it, but she really needed a shower. “She told me that she wanted to be beta, that she felt she’d been robbed of the position. She betrayed us for power, giving our names, species and DNA to the Van Helsings.”

  Noah snarled, but he was making the call, and that was all that mattered to her.

  “Do you have any proof?” Dragos was staring at her with concern. “Something we can take before the wolves?”

  Mollie nodded. “I have some, but—”

  A howl cut her off, the sound filled with anguish. Noah had his head back, the alpha’s cry resounding through the Throne as he called to his pack to come to him.

  Mollie’s shoulders slumped. Damn it. If she’d kept a closer eye on Bernadette, this wouldn’t have happened. If she’d just told Noah of her suspicions, given him a head’s up as to what was going on, maybe, just maybe, Bernadette would have been caught before she killed Lily Wulfenbach. This was Mollie’s fault, something she would carry for the rest of her days. “She’s dead, isn’t she?”

  The alpha was enraged as he glared at her. “Yes. Burned to death.”

  Burned...?

  Oh, shit. That was what Bernadette had meant when she wondered if they’d blame Mollie for the death of Lily Wulfenbach. Was there any way for Mollie to prove she’d had nothing to do with it?

  “When?”

  Noah scowled, stalking toward her as if he meant to rip her limb from limb.

  Mollie backed up but refused to call her fire. If Noah wanted her dead, she’d be dead. She would not use her fire to defend herself from an innocent man. “When did she die?”

  He snarled. “Two hours ago.”

  Two hours ago she’d been driving to the forest, following Bernadette. “I was on the road from The Greenhouse to here.” And there was no way in hell to prove it.

  There was only one thing she could do to make sure she wasn’t blamed for the death. She had to figure out who the hell might have done it. A witch, using fire magic? An elemental, one of her own people? Or something beyond her knowledge, something outside of Maggie’s Grove? Hell, for all she knew, it was some kind of demon, like the one that had attacked Selena. She’d need to investigate it herself if she was going to figure it out.

  “Think about it, Noah. Why would Mollie kill your beta’s mate?” Ash stepped between Noah and Mollie, his hands out. “She has nothing to gain by doing so.”

  “She’s not part of the pack,” Mina added, standing at Ash’s right hand. “Killing Allan Wulfenbach’s mate makes no sense.”

  “And she’s fought against the Van Helsings.” Greer took his place at Ash’s left, but unlike the others, he wasn’t facing Noah dead on. He’d turned his body so he could look between Noah and Mollie. “We’ve trusted her before.”

  “I’m calling Sheriff McCaffery.” Dragos pulled out his phone and dialed. “If anyone can figure out this cluster-fuck, it’ll be him.”

  Mollie sagged in relief. Lorenzo “Lore” McCaffery was the leader of the psychics and the town’s sheriff. He was also the son of one of Noah’s wolves, a child born of a mating between a wolf and a psychic. If there was anyone Noah would believe, it’d be Lore. Lore would be impartial, looking only at the evidence left at the scene of the crime.

  Being a psychic, he’d also be able to get a sense of what had happened. Mollie wasn’t certain which powers the man had, but she did know they’d helped him solve crimes. It was possible he was a post-cog, seeing events after the fact, or a psychometrist like Dragos’s Renfield, Eddy Warren, a psychic who could get emotions off people or things through touch.

  Whatever his talent turned out to be, it seemed enough to ease Noah. He backed down, but the threatening looks he kept sending Mollie’s way did not bode well for her continued health around the pack. She’d have to make sure she was never alone with the shifters until it was proven she was innocent. Dying wasn’t part of her current life plan.

  She needed to warn Carter as well. A ton of shit was about to land on his head, all because Bernadette had been smarter than they’d believed. The pack would give him a ration of grief unless he disavowed Mollie and turned on her, something she was going to urge him to do. There was no need for both of them to suffer through this.

  It was her fuck-up. She’d deal with it as best she could and let the chips fall where they may.

  * * *

  Greer watched as Mina took Mollie to the Throne. He almost followed them, but something about the way Mollie was reacting didn’t sit well with him.

  What had he missed because he’d retreated into his tree, communing with it until some of his strength returned? True, he’d been tired after the battle with the Van Helsings, and Selena’s issues had taken up a great deal of his time. So much so he’d practically ignored Mollie and her relationship with Carter.

  So...why wasn’t she asking for her so-called boyfriend? Why wasn’t she begging Noah to call Carter to confirm what Greer had suspected, that the two were mates, making Mollie a member of the pack?

  It didn’t make sense, and Greer hated when that happened. So he needed to figure out how to make it make sense, even if that meant interfering with the pack.

  So he followed Noah back to Iva’s tree, watching the huge alpha deal with his grief and loss. The last time Greer had heard Noah howl like that, in such pain none could bear it, had been when they’d found Iva in the Van Helsing lab. She’d been hooked up to machines, some draining her blood, some pumping her full of what they now knew was demonic blood. They’d done the same to everyone they’d kidnapped, from the psychics to the witches to the elementals, but none had reacted more violently than Selena. The witch doctor had become the target of the shadow of a demon, and nearly lost her life.

  Iva, who’d been held for months, was clearing the demon blood fr
om her system. What effect it had on her was still to be seen, but from what Greer could tell, her connection to her tree, and thus the earth, was cleansing the taint from her blood. It was the same connection to the earth that had made the witches heal so quickly. Selena, however, was rooted to the spiritual world, and had wound up feeding the demon rather than rejecting it. The whole town had become involved, saving Selena and slaying the shadow man.

  Once the blood work on Selena had come through, Greer had quietly begun visiting Iva’s tree and singing the demonic black blood away, speeding up the healing process. With the magic of the Throne behind him, the black blood, as the doctors in town were calling it, could not remain within the Throne. It was destroyed as Greer sang, rather than sinking into roots and leaves. The protections stood strong, and the Throne remained uncontaminated even as Iva healed.

  Maggie’s Grove would need Iva when Greer began to truly fade, pining away for lack of his mate. Already his tree was drooping, its leaves turning to the bright orange gold of his hair. Autumn was coming far too early for him, and soon he’d be forced to commune with his tree, slowly dying until a new Birch arose to take his place as one of the ruling dryads.

  But he wouldn’t allow himself to fade, not until he saved the woman he’d loved most of his life from becoming the lunchtime snack of a group of enraged wolves.

  So instead of taking Mollie and disappearing to where Noah would never find them, he chose to follow Noah and try to talk some sense into him. “Call Carter.”

  Noah turned and sat at the base of Iva’s tree. “Why?”

  Greer grimaced. He really hated saying this. “Mollie and Carter are dating. Maybe he knows something we don’t.”

  Noah stared at him for a moment, but the big alpha didn’t intimidate Greer in the least. Only Ash came close to truly understanding the extent of Greer’s powers. The alpha would be no different. He would underestimate Greer, assuming Ash was the one to be worried about.

  If Greer wanted Noah dead, nothing would be able to stop him. No force in heaven or on earth would prevent Greer from ending the alpha if Noah decided that Mollie had to die.

  If it was to be Greer’s last act, he’d make it a hell of a doozy.

  “You believe her?”

  Noah’s question caught Greer off guard. He’d been so busy planning the alpha’s death that he hadn’t quite accepted the option of Noah being reasonable. “I do.”

  Noah grunted. “Very well then.”

  Greer turned his attention back to Mina’s throne as Noah dialed his phone. He couldn’t see the women, or Dragos. Had they taken Mollie down into the ground, where the secret homes of the ruling dryads were? If so, then Mollie was safe, at least for now. It would be damn near impossible for anyone to dig her out of there, not with the ancient magic that protected the Throne and their homes. Not even Noah, with his alpha abilities, could force his way in when they didn’t want him there.

  “Carter’s on his way.”

  “So is Lore.” Dragos flopped down next to them. He must have stepped outside the Throne to make his call. “He says he’ll have to investigate Bernadette’s corpse and the surrounding area, as well as that of Lily Wulfenbach.” Dragos shot Greer an apologetic look. “He’s also going to have to take Mollie in for questioning.”

  Greer nodded. “So long as she comes out of that questioning alive, I’m okay with it.” He grinned, tilting his head so his hair flopped into his eyes. He didn’t want Dragos to get a good look at his real expression, or Dragos might take Mollie straight to the police without him. “She will, right?”

  “Of course.” Dragos patted him on the back, but Greer wasn’t fooled. From the expression on his face, Greer could tell that Dragos was humoring him. Usually a quick smile and a quip kept the others from figuring him out, but somehow Dragos was aware Greer was up to something. That was all right. Dragos was family.

  Hell. Noah was, too. He was bound to Iva, even if they hadn’t been able to cement their relationship yet. Still, if push came to shove, Noah would more than likely choose his pack’s need for revenge over Mollie or Greer. It was part of being an alpha.

  Greer would pick Mollie, and the pack would pick a new alpha. It was that simple.

  “So. What did Carter say?” Greer turned his attention once more to Noah.

  “Not much. He just said he’d speak to us when he arrived in the Throne.” Noah rubbed his hands through his hair as the first of his wolves, responding to his harsh cry, arrived. “I need to deal with my pack and their grief.”

  “Don’t tell them about Bernadette.” Greer had the feeling his buddy Bree had been into more than just wishing to be beta. Damn it, he’d been so caught up in everything else he’d missed when Bree had gone off the deep end. She’d been his friend for years, but somehow she’d fooled him. Hell, she’d fooled everyone. They’d all thought she was loyal to Noah and the town, but they’d been wrong. The betrayal cut deep, another wound inflicted by someone he cared about that might never heal. “I want to see what happens when we bring Mollie up to speak with Lore.”

  Noah shot him a grim look before nodding. “Excellent idea.”

  Huh. Maybe Noah wasn’t as shut off to the thought that Mollie was innocent as Greer had originally thought. If so, he might be willing to help Greer prove Mollie’s innocence rather than sic his wolves on her.

  “Lore wants one or two of the wolves with him when he investigates both scenes.” Dragos pocketed his phone and picked up a twig, twirling it between his fingers. “He wants the wolf to check for scents other than Mollie and Bernadette’s, and to see if Mollie’s is near Lily Wulfenbach’s.”

  The wolves who’d arrived in the Throne exchanged angry looks. Apparently they’d already decided that a fire elemental had to be behind Lily Wulfenbach’s death, and thus their beta’s death as well. They’d want revenge for their fallen leader, and knowing how reactionary the wolves tended to be, Greer was going to have a hell of a time keeping Mollie safe from them.

  More and more wolves filled the Throne as they answered the call of their alpha, grief written deep in all of their expressions. Some openly wept at the loss of their beta, while others huddled together for comfort. Noah moved among them, touching them, speaking quietly to them, showing a softer side of himself than Greer was used to. He comforted his pack, let them know that he was there for them and would do his best to keep them safe.

  Some, though, grumbled angrily, the knowledge that Allan Wulfenbach’s mate had not only been targeted but burned to death causing them to mutter threats against the fire elementals in the town. Noah didn’t correct them or speak harshly to them. He simply walked up to each and every one of them and hugged them, speaking quietly in their ears. What was said between the alpha and his people, Greer didn’t know. He didn’t have shifter hearing.

  But he did have eyes, and he watched as those members who’d been angry slowly relaxed, their shoulders back, determined expressions on their faces. Noah was going to use that anger to find who’d killed their beta and his mate. It was more than likely he’d choose one of them to check out the murder scenes with Lore. If they came back and told their leader that Mollie’s scent was nowhere to be found at Lily Wulfenbach’s death scene, then odds were good Mollie would be off the suspect list.

  Of course, they didn’t know it yet, but Greer would be there as well, watching their actions and reactions. He’d assess the site himself, see what he could find through his connection with the earth and the plants surrounding them. While any evidence he found might be suspect, if he managed to place it right under their noses, it should get Mollie off the hook.

  “Two of my wolves have volunteered to go with Lore to where the body is.” Noah leaned against Iva’s tree with a weary sigh. “No one has moved Lily since her death.”

  “And Allan? Where is he?” Greer did feel sympathy for Noah. He’d lost not only his beta
but his brother, and two children had lost both of their parents.

  “I have some of my wolves at his home now. He died in his family room when Lily passed.” Noah scrubbed his face with his hands. “Shit. I have to figure out how to deal with the kids.”

  “How old are they?”

  “Five and seven.” Noah glanced around, looking lost. “I’m their guardian now.”

  Interesting. Iva was going to wake to a ready-made family. “Iva will help when she wakes up.” Greer put his hand on Noah’s shoulder. “This is going to be hard. Probably the hardest thing you’ve ever been forced to do. But I know Iva. She’s our heart. She’ll love those kids no matter what.”

  Noah nodded. “I’m not going to be able to mourn. Not for a while yet.” He stared at the wolves gathered in the middle of the Throne, his shoulders straightening as he saw some of them were looking back. “I have to show them that their leader is strong, at least until the truth is discovered.”

  “We’ll work on that, I swear.” Greer thought back over what Mollie had said, that Bernadette had set up Lily’s death. “Has anyone gone over Lily’s death scene?”

  Noah shook his head. “No. And I’ve ordered my people away. I don’t want them contaminating it until Lore can get there.”

  Greer was relieved. The fewer people around, the less chance of valuable evidence being lost. “Tell me where the crime scene is, and I’ll go guard her body for you.”

  Noah nodded and gave him the address. “She was found in the alley behind the coffee shop.”

  Greer blinked. “Really? Huh. All right then, I’m on my way.” Greer pointed to Dragos. “Guard my mate.”

  Dragos smiled. “Of course.”

  He took off, wondering what he’d find behind Mucho Latte. Why the naiad had been there so late at night he didn’t know, but hopefully he’d find something that would exonerate his mate before the wolves went ballistic and attacked every fire elemental in town.

  Chapter Three