by C. Gockel
Her life force shrank.
Darkness.
Margaret simply stopped. Fighting. Breathing. Living. Being.
"Breathe, kid!" Rand's shout assailed Victoria's eardrums. He shook her like a rag doll in the grip of a great dog. His anger crashed through the pack bond like a rampaging bull, decimating everything in his path.
His open hand struck her cheek. Shocked, she opened her eyes. Rand's face loomed over her, contorted with panic, and his voice boomed over her. Still, the terrifying press of suffocation threatened to crush her. She gasped, fighting to draw a breath. Her heart thundered, and her lungs ached. Rand drew back his arm, and then his open palm smacked her cheek again. Her head whipped to the side, and Victoria gulped air into her starved lungs.
Expression thunderstruck, Rand lowered his hand. "What the hell happened?"
Victoria struggled to formulate words. The Beta wolf's steady presence helped fortify her composure. She grabbed hold of his arms to steady herself. At her core, horrified revulsion crystalized into fierce resolve. As a she-wolf, the brutal assault against a youngster was the worst possible sin imaginable. Goddess, I'm going to find this son of a bitch and disembowel him with my teeth.
Good. Freya's approval burned through Victoria. The goddess shared her primal loathing of a beast that preyed on helpless children.
"You okay, kid?" Rand prompted her.
She licked her lips and said, "I'm fine."
Rand rocked on his heels. "Sure don't look fine to me."
Victoria patted his forearms, offering reassurance. "Seriously, I'm fine. " Belatedly, she realized the others were huddled around her. Glancing at each, she studied the worried faces of her pack mates. Not just Paul and Rand, but Morena and Sophia crowded close to her also. They weren't a large pack, but their members were tough. Their strength bolstered hers.
She was so incredibly grateful for each and every one of them.
"Did the goddess reveal the location of the missing boy?" Sylvie asked with thinly veiled impatience.
"I have it," Victoria said. "I know what area to search for the stolen children."
"Good." Paul stood beside Sylvie, staunchly supporting his mate. "Where do we look?"
"Not we. Me," Victoria said. "We're going to have to divide up to cover as much ground as possible. I need Rand to go after Jasper. Sylvie, Paul, I want you to move the vehicles to a safer place."
Dissent rippled through the pack bond. Mouths opened in protest. Eyes gleamed with rebellion. Through their communion, she sensed that the others disliked her plan down to the last wolf. Only Morena was too full of shame to object.
Victoria braced, fully expecting a challenge to her leadership. Her self-doubt didn't help her confidence any. Aside from being the daughter of the deceased Alphas, she possessed no qualifications as a leader. She had less life experience than Rand, Sylvie, or Paul. So who was she to tell them what to do?
Exhaling, Rand released her and took a step back. "I'll take the truck 'n go after the brat. If I find him, you can rest easy that I'll haul his sorry ass home."
Before he finished speaking, Sylvie and Paul stifled their disagreement and lent their support. Solidarity crystalized within the pack; unity of purpose to the attainment of shared goals.
Victoria breathed a sigh of relief. She didn't have the strength to fight her own people and deal with the myriad external threats. "Thank you, Rand."
He grunted and tipped his head in acknowledgement. The ghost of a smirk hovered on his lips, gone before fully manifested.
"How far should we move the vehicles? And to where?" Paul asked. "Are you sure you don't want us to wait?"
"It's not safe." Victoria shook her head, recalling how close of a call she'd had earlier in downtown Albuquerque. Jake wasn't in shoot-first-ask-later mode, but he wasn't the only hunter. There were others, including Daniel's younger brothers. The maddened expression of rage on Sawyer's face haunted her memory.
Following a terse debate, Sylvie and Paul agreed to take the SUV and get on the highway, heading toward Santa Fe. Once beyond city limits, they'd find a safe place to stop and hole up with Morena and Sophia until the pack managed to reunite. Rand would follow in the pickup as soon as he located Jasper.
"How're you supposed to join us?" Morena asked, finally breaking her silence. The teenager stared at Victoria with wide, worried eyes.
"Don't worry. I'll catch up." Victoria mustered a smile for the girl. "If I have to, I'll summon Bifröst." Technically, she wasn't supposed to use the rainbow bridge for matters unrelated to her duties as a Valkyrie. Given the circumstances, she hoped Freya would make an exception.
You know I will. Why don't you just ask?
Victoria smothered a smile. It's easier to apologize than to ask permission.
The goddess sighed. Someday your propensity for questioning authority will get you into trouble, Victoria.
"Have you thought about what you're going to do when you find this creature?" Rand asked, eyeing her with plain trepidation. "No offense, kid, but you're not exactly built for monster slaying."
"Gee, thanks." She scrunched her nose. "Both of you. Stop giving me a hard time."
Rand's brow arched in fleeting confusion before realization dawned on his face. Then he grumbled. "You should listen to your goddess."
Laughter was Freya's only reply.
"Let's get moving," Rand grumbled. "Time's a wastin'."
Rand pulled the pickup truck alongside the shoulder of the road and stopped in front of the tire recycling facility. He twisted around to face Victoria and glared from beneath bushy red eyebrows knit into a fearsome scowl. "Be careful. If you need help, call me."
"Will do, Auntie Rand." Snickering, Victoria opened the passenger side door and slid from the truck. The light drizzle continued to fall, but her clothing was already soaked through. More rain hardly mattered. She closed the truck's door and watched while he drove away.
Once the taillights faded from view, she followed the chain link fence, walking the perimeter of the enclosed yard. Her hopes of picking up a scent trail proved futile. Aside from the rain, the stench of burned rubber pervaded the area.
She completed her circuit, having found no breaks in the fence or easy ways around the barrier. A thick chain and heavy padlock secured the front gate. Looking up, she considered the ten-foot climb which included a roll of barbed wire at the top.
With her wolf's strength, Victoria could jump it without much difficulty. However, she questioned whether a massive creature like the child thief would be capable of leaping so high. She suspected the entire structure would topple beneath his massive weight. And how would he make the climb while hauling along a sack containing a ten-year-old child?
There were other places she could look–commercial shopping complexes, industrial areas, and tenements. Even the gully wash she and Jasper had cut through would offer isolated places for the beast to make its lair. A search on foot would take forever. She had to find some way to narrow the area down.
As if in answer to her dilemma, a coyote's cry cut through the night. The speaker was a young female who had complaints about a padlock on a grocery store dumpster.
Victoria turned toward the sound which came from the direction of the creek. She judged the coyote to be less than a half mile distant. Perfect. Just the help she was looking for. She hoped they were friendly and not fiercely territorial. A band of coyote shifters stood a reasonable chance of taking down a lone she-wolf.
She had to gamble.
Tilting back her head, Victoria raised her voice in a nimble, polite howl of greeting. She supplied her name, rank, and pack, and then allowed the pure vocalization to fade. She cocked her head and waited.
Following a brief hesitation, a male coyote replied, cautiously welcoming. I'm Alpha of the Albuquerque City Slickers. His introduction ended on a high note of inquiry. What do you want, wolf?
The tip of her tongue darted across her dry lips as she swiftly weighed her words. Before she'd introduced herself, she had
n't stopped to consider that the band could be in cahoots with the child thief. A stupid mistake and one she couldn't retract. Following a brief internal debate, she decided to follow her initial instincts.
Summoning her power, Victoria infused her song with her own personal magic. She shared the heart-breaking visions of the kidnapped children and the few details she had of the monster. Her howl embodied loathing and loss, imperative and immediacy.
The coyote Alpha's howl cut her off mid-refrain. Are you going to kill the bastard?
Based on the proximity, he was moving closer to her.
Annoyed at the interruption, she swallowed her pride over the insult to her honor. Practicality demanded it. Besides, no one expected coyotes to respect social niceties. With equal brusqueness, Victoria viciously roared, Yes.
He waited until the curl on her snarl faded before he released a short series of yips. Talk to the mutt in the alley behind the grocery store.
Victoria scowled. "Asshole," she muttered. "I've got no more idea where the grocery store is than I do–"
Across the street, a man stepped into the open, emerging from some overgrown bushes. His tattered clothing included a long coat that hung to mid-calf. The garment concealed his build. He was bigger than her, though that was true of almost everyone.
"I'm Silver," he said. "Only my friends are allowed to call me asshole."
Chapter Seven
"Hate your name," Victoria said in lieu of a greeting.
Long silvery hair hung in a tangled mess about the coyote shifter's face and shoulders, obscuring his features. His smoky baritone smirked. "Yeah, well, you're the trespasser in my territory."
Even at a hundred feet, Victoria's nose confirmed he wasn't as unwashed as one would've assumed at a glance. Grunge seemed to be his personal style rather than the artifact of poverty. She bared her teeth and beckoned him with a crooked finger. "You want to challenge me or tell me where to find the damn monster?"
"Go about a mile that way." With a graceful sweep of his long arm, he pointed with one finger. "There's a stray dog that lives in the alley behind the grocery store. He can take you to the beast."
"Why don't you show me?" Appraising him, Victoria stepped into the street. To his credit, Silver held his ground. "Better yet, how about helping me kill it?"
"Not my problem, especially not with hunters in the area," he said with a curl of aggression in his voice. "Besides, a wolf doesn't need mere coyotes, does she? You have your pack..."
"It's murdering children."
He stiffened, and his scent soured with anger. "Not my problem."
"Coward." Victoria hissed, exhaling between clenched teeth. Her hair and clothing were drenched, she hadn't eaten in two days, and the lives of children were endangered. She didn't have time for this bullshit.
"I like living."
Disgusted, she turned away from him. In a deliberately scornful tone, she tossed over her shoulder, "Thanks for the help."
"Hey! We aren't through." Silver's volume spiked. His steps splashed through puddles on the pavement as he followed her.
"We're through." She kept walking, hiking in the direction he'd indicated. With any luck, he hadn't lied. The bright spot in the whole awful situation was the moment when the rain finally ceased. Although, it wasn't as if her soaked clothing could get any wetter.
Swift footsteps trailed her. "I can't risk the lives of my people for a bunch of human kids."
"Whatever." She picked up her pace, dropping into a swift run.
Up ahead, she spied a strip mall that had a small food retailer as the anchor store. The market wasn't far from where she'd met June Fraiser's spirit. Ghosts tended to either haunt the scenes of their deaths or an area with powerful emotional significance.
"Rumor has it, Jake Barrett's in town," Silver called out from behind her.
"I know." She dropped to a walk. "We think he's here after the child thief."
"Funny." He scoffed, ratcheting the noise to a full throated laugh. "We figured he was hunting wolves."
Pointedly ignoring him, Victoria looked around. A couple lonely vehicles occupied the otherwise deserted parking lot. Tall lamps cast long streaks of light that stretched across the glistening wet pavement. All the businesses were already closed, and their employees had gone home.
She spun toward Silver. "Is this the right place?"
He rocked back. "Yeah, this is it. You'll find the mutt in the alley around back. He lives behind the dumpsters."
"Thanks for the info." She arched her brow and stared. The unruly tresses concealing his face prevented her from capturing his gaze. When Silver skulked away, a hollow pang of disappointment filled her belly. At the same time, her reaction puzzled her. She wasn't naive. Coyotes had reputations as resilient survivors, not foolhardy heroes.
Following the paved sidewalk, she rounded the corner and entered the alley behind the stores. Posted signs designated the area for deliveries. An eight-foot brick wall lined with steel dumpsters ran the length of the business complex. Despite the recent rainfall, the area smelled like motor oil and rotting garbage.
When she entered the backstreet, a rumbling growl emerged from between two trash bins. Victoria swung toward the sound. Her posture flowed to a predatory stance, prepared and close to the ground. By scent, she identified the source of the sound as another canine.
A big dog emerged from the shadows, menacing her with a constant rumble and bared teeth. His ruff bristled, and he walked stiff-legged. He had the black and tan markings of a Rottweiler, but the shape of his head and body suggested he was a Shepherd mix.
"Hey, boy," Victoria said, adopting a soothing tone. She dropped to a crouch to appear less threatening. The animal was big but posed no real threat to her.
With his ears flattened against his skull, the dog postured and barked furiously at her. He advanced even closer, growling deep in his throat.
"It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you." She extended her hand and stared into his eyes, exerting her influence as Alpha to calm his fear.
Gradually, the dog's anxiety decreased and then ceased altogether. His ears rose to high points, and his stubby tail quivered. He sniffed suspiciously at her proffered fingers and blew moist, hot breath across her skin. When he identified her scent as that of a far more dangerous predator, a tremor traveled the length of his body.
He adopted a submissive posture, so his head sank lower than hers. His tail stump wagged furiously. Whimpering, he crept closer to lick her fingers. Rudimentary empathy flickered between them. Wolves weren't so different from dogs that she couldn't feel his loneliness and hunger.
"There's a good boy. Are you all alone?" Victoria checked his neck and found no collar. She ran her palms over the dog's sides, tracing the indentation of his ribs beneath his mangy coat.
The Rottweiler whined, asking for food.
Victoria's stomach rumbled in sympathy. "You're hungry, aren't you? Poor baby. I'm so sorry I don't have anything for you. It's been a while since I've eaten too. If I survive this, I promise I'll find you something to eat that's not trash."
Cradling the dog's head between her hands, Victoria captured his gaze. She bolstered the delicate empathic connection between them. The magic required caution and precision. She couldn't afford to risk accidentally making a stray mutt a member of her werewolf pack. It could happen if she wasn't careful. The teenagers wouldn't mind, but Sylvie would have fits.
"I'm looking for someone, a monster that hurts children." She whispered, projecting a strong visualization of the child thief across the psychic link. What she lacked in detail, she made up for with other sensory specifics, including the clomping of the beast's footsteps.
Shaking, the dog moaned and pressed closer to her. He returned impressions rather than words. Fear and refusal. His thoughts contained images of a bad place that stank of the sorrow and the terror of children. Stay away.
"No, I'm going to kill it. Once I'm through with this thing, it won't be able to hurt anyone ever again
." She projected cool confidence. Mastery. "Take me to it."
The dog's resistance collapsed. Head held low, he skulked along the alleyway, pausing to glance over his shoulder. The message was clear: follow.
She stood and trailed the dog. He led her along a circuitous journey through back alleys and side streets to a strip mall a few blocks south of the grocery store. When he halted in front of a business, Victoria also stopped.
"Is this it, boy?" she asked.
The dog answered with a short bark, warning her against danger. She received the strong impression of affirmation, but also fear and concern.
"Thank you." She patted his head, projecting approval. She sensed how badly the dog wanted to leave. She said, "It's okay. You can go now."
The big dog stood rooted in place, tremors wracking his body. Victoria sensed his internal conflict–fear warring with loyalty. His instincts for self-preservation were at odds with his desire to follow and protect her.
A cynical smirk twisted her lips. "I'll take one of you over five coyotes any day." Reaching out, she asserted her will on the dog and commanded him. "Go."
Whimpering, he turned and retreated toward the street.
Examining the store front, Victoria made a mental note of the address. She tilted her head back to read the name of the restaurant: Karp Sum Chinese. The decal of crossed chopsticks over a fortune cookie was etched into the front window. An Out of Business sign hung in the front door.
She tested the front door and found it locked. For a second, she contemplated ripping it off its hinges. A child's life was at stake, so the element of surprise gave her an advantage. She chose stealth over brute force.
Circling around to the rear took her into another alleyway lined with trash bins. She located the back door and was surprised to find it standing ajar. A thin sliver of light shone through the crack.
Before she entered the building, Victoria took out her cell phone, set the device to silent, and returned it to her pocket. Turning sideways, she slid through the narrow opening. Within, she picked up the same musky, ungulate odor she'd smelled at Michael's apartment.