Broken Wheel Wolves: Boxed Set (The Complete Collection, Books 1-6) (Werewolf Romance - Paranormal Romance)

by Melissa F. Hart

  “Yeah, it’s not open and shut. There’s something about this that doesn’t quite add up.”

  After making their respective calls, Duke Jr. held it together for long enough to walk them through his story again. He seemed consistent, and as the father and son were known for being close, they had no reason to suspect that Duke Jr. had done anything nefarious. Plus, Jade thought, no one could fake either the numbness or strong emotion that Duke Jr. alternately displayed.

  Dougie turned to Jade. “Why don’t you run Duke back to the house and when the coroner gets there you can lead him back up here?”

  “It’s okay, Dougie, I’ll stay up here. I’ve got my long johns on, and I want to have a look around before it gets darker. The coroner will probably be waiting down at the house; it won’t be that long.”

  “Suit yourself.” Dougie settled his hat back on his head, and with his round face, short beard, and good-natured attitude, Jade couldn’t help but feel like she was working the investigation with Smoky the Bear.

  Duke Jr. took one last look toward his father as anger began to seep back through the numbness. “It’s that damn Irishman. We never had a wolf problem around here until he showed up. For all we know, he’s trapping wolves and bringing them into the area.”

  “Com’on, let’s get you back to your people.” Dougie steered Duke Jr. toward the SUV, and they slowly drove off.

  Jade flinched at the reference to Conall; she couldn’t believe that Duke’s death was somehow his fault. But Duke Jr. had made an astute observation about timing: the hubbub with the wolves started about the same time people first started seeing Conall around. Shaking off the queasy feeling rolling through her, Jade paced between the two bodies, trying to make sense of what might have happened. Then it hit her. They needed to autopsy the wolf too. If it attacked Duke, Duke’s DNA would be in its mouth, and maybe its gut.

  “Jade.”

  Whirling to face the direction from which the soft Irish lilt had come, Jade didn’t know whether to be ecstatic over Conall’s appearance or furious that it had taken him more than a month to show up.

  “Where the hell did you come from?” Jade tried to mask her hurt as she waved a mittened hand in the direction of the wolf carcass. “This one of yours?”

  “Aye, one of mine.” Conall’s voice sliced through her like a knife. Then Jade realized the pain in his voice as it softened and he repeated himself in a crooning murmur. “Aye. She’s mine.”

  Jade let her demeanor relax, while trying not to run and wrap herself around him. “She?” Jade said awkwardly.

  Conall said nothing else, and he headed toward the limp body with his graceful, flowing strides. Why did he have to look so damn sexy? She was convinced no one on earth could possibly look as amazing wearing a wax jacket and Dubarry boots. Suddenly she realized that he was going to move the wolf’s body.

  “You can’t touch her!” Jade blurted.

  Conall did not look happy as he stopped and turned to face her. “What do you mean? She’s mine.”

  Trying to sound professional and sensitive at the same time, she said carefully, “We have to autopsy her, Conall. This might be a crime scene.”

  “Cut her up? No, I won’t stand for it.” He started back toward the wolf.

  “Please, Conall, it’s my job. I can’t allow you to take her.” She gestured toward Duke’s corpse. “His son has to allow us to do the same to him.”

  “She didn’t attack him.”

  “I know. But this is how we prove her innocence. I’ll make sure she’s treated with respect.”

  The anguish in his face was plain to see; Conall’s reactions were not so different than Duke Jr.’s. “She’s—she’s my daughter.”

  Jade blinked, trying to process what Conall had just said. She had somehow managed to accept his remarkable transformation the night they rescued Nicolette from the old mine, but a daughter who was plainly an animal, well, it was a bit much to take in.

  “Look, the coroner is going to be up here in just a few minutes, and I don’t think anybody needs to see you sniffing around. Duke Jr. already thinks you’re somehow to blame for his father’s death. Just…come to my house tonight and explain everything to me.”

  Conall scuffed a boot toe in the snow. “You’ll make sure they treat her respectfully?”

  “Yes, of course. I’ll stay with her while they do it.”

  “Alright then.”

  “Please, get out of here. I don’t want anyone trying to turn you into a suspect.”

  Conall studied Jade’s face for a moment. “How do ye know that I’m not responsible for the man’s death?”

  “I know.” Jade corrected herself, “I know…you.”

  Suddenly Conall surged toward Jade, taking her head in his strong hands. His sensuous mouth enveloped hers in an emotion-filled kiss. Everything she had felt the night they made love spilled back over her. Even through their heavy winter clothing, Jade could sense Conall growing hard as he pulled her body tight to his. A delicious ripple of pleasure fluttered between her legs. More than that, though, there was an electric charge, a connection between them that went far beyond sex, but an instant later, he had melted into the trees and was gone.

  ***

  “So what—what should I put in the obituary for the Gazette?” Nicolette quietly asked Jade when she got back to the Minton’s house.

  “Between you and me, and Dougie, there’s something about what happened up there that doesn’t make sense. We don’t think the wolf killed him, and I’d rather you didn’t get everyone in town all worked up over the wolf problem again by even mentioning it. I know Duke Jr. thinks otherwise, and after one trip to the Brown Buffalo Café, everyone in town will be gossiping about it anyway, but it’s your job to report facts, right?”

  “Yeah, it is.”

  Jade sighed. “So until we have the coroner’s report, we can’t say one way or another. Can’t you just say that he died while working on his property and the coroner has yet to determine cause of death?”

  Nicolette nodded. “There’s plenty to write about his life in the community, so we’ll skim over the actual death for now.”

  Jade squeezed Nicolette’s hand. “Thanks. It’ll give us a little more time to sort things out. I’d rather a mob of townspeople with pitchforks and torches didn’t show up at Conall’s cabin.”

  Nicolette pursed her mouth as she studied her friend’s face for a moment. “Something’s changed.” Her eyes widened as the realization hit her, and she leaned into Jade’s ear and whispered, “You’ve seen him!” It was a statement, not a question.

  “Not here, Nicky,” Jade pleaded. “Later, okay?”

  At that moment, Harlan came over and put an arm around Nicolette. “You want to help me make some sandwiches? Word’s getting out, and people will start showing up to express their condolences. Of course, a ton of food is going to show up with them, but we should still offer visitors a sandwich and a cup of coffee.”

  “Food equals love.” Nicolette smiled sadly. “The small town response to every situation.”

  Carson joined the cluster in the kitchen. “Seems I’m going to be teaching third grade until Evelyn is ready to go back.” He seemed pleased to be making a contribution in light of circumstances.

  Jade tried to lighten the mood of the group. “I can’t wait until the kids wash that potty mouth of yours out with soap.”

  “Now, Jade, I don’t always cuss,” Carson countered.

  “Not always, Dad, just most of the time,” Harlan teased.

  “We better get back to the office, Jade,” Dougie called from the doorway. “Wilson is going to want all the details.”

  “I’ll see you all later.” Jade gave Carson a peck on the cheek. “If you teach third grade the way you survive explosions, those kids are going to have a hell of a good time.”

  ***

  By the time Jade got home, it was already 8:30. She was starving, but when she opened the refrigerator, nothing inside had any appeal.
She closed the door, pulled the hairband out of her ponytail, and flopped on the couch. Maybe a few minutes of mindless channel surfing would clear her head, she decided, as she reached for the remote control.

  Before Jade could click the television on, she heard a light rap on the backdoor. She froze for a second. Conall! How could she have forgotten he was coming to see her!

  She looked down at her rumpled deputy’s uniform and knew she probably didn’t have a trace of make-up left on her face. Her hair was a tangled mess and the big toe on her left foot jutted out of a hole in her woolen sock. Oh, and there was the matter of the threadbare and faded long underwear she had on underneath. Jade stood up with resignation; if he was expecting a hottie to greet him at the door, he was going to be sorely disappointed.

  To Jade’s surprise, though, it wasn’t Conall at the door. A slender woman with a mass of flowing red hair and piercing gray eyes stood on her stoop. She was beautiful in an otherworldly sort of way, with a creamy complexion and delicate features.

  “Are ye Jade?” the woman asked, her Irish accent even stronger than Conall’s.

  “Do you mind telling me who you are?” Jade responded in her politest voice as she eyed the woman.

  “Me name is Aoife.”

  It sounded almost as if she had said ‘Eva,’ but Jade unconsciously repeated it as the woman pronounced it, “Ee-fa.”

  “Aye, Aoife, I’m the sister of Conall’s dead mate, Riona.” Her voice had little emotion as she reported this fact.

  “What can I do for you, Aoife?”

  “Ye can stay away from Conall, that’s what ye can do. He sent me to tell you that he won’t be coming tonight or ever.”

  “Conall doesn’t impress me as the kind of man who would send someone else with such a personal message.” Irritation bubbled up within Jade. She didn’t appreciate the arrogant manner in which Aoife delivered her message.

  “He may not be that kind of man, but he is that kind of wolf. Ye think you know him, but ye know nothing. According to the laws of our clan, he will become my mate when his mourning is over.”

  “His mourning for his daughter?”

  “Aye, his daughter, Claire, and for his mate Riona. So ye should stay with your own kind and leave him alone as, in a little more than a month, he’ll be mine for life.”

  Jade rubbed her forehead. Was she really having this conversation? She closed her eyes and the kiss she shared with Conall earlier that day came back to her, the passion and longing that it contained. Had it been a good-bye kiss?

  “Conall trusts ye to keep our secret, and we ask you to please bring Claire’s body back to our territory so that we can send her to the next world properly. Can ye do him that one last kindness?”

  “Yes…of course.” Jade felt off balance, unsure if what Aoife was conveying was the entire truth or not. It seemed pointless to get into a fight with a stranger standing at her door, but the one thing she knew for certain was that she would only believe that things were finished with Conall when he told her to her face.

  Aoife’s face softened a little. She seemed relieved that Jade had not put up an argument. “Good night and good luck to ye then.” She started to leave, then paused and turned back, as if something had just occurred to her. “That Boomer fella, he’s a good man for ye.” Then she slipped into the night and was gone.

  Shutting the door, Jade didn’t know what to feel. Earlier that day, she’d been looking forward to her date on Friday night with Boomer, but now she was sad and angry and confused—all at the same time. And how had Aoife known about Boomer? Maybe all these wolf people could read minds. But at least now she knew what to have for supper and retrieved a pint of ice cream from the freezer. It was times like this that she truly wished she had a pet, but watching an old movie while eating mint chocolate chip under the quilt her mother made her would have to do. She couldn’t even call Nicolette to tell her about it. Feeling too dejected to even cry, Jade finally admitted there really was a wolf problem, but it was far closer to home than she ever dreamed.

  ***

  “How long before we get the coroner’s report?” Jade spun her desk chair to face Dougie.

  “Not until sometime early next week, but Doc Edmo called and said he’d be able to take a look at the wolf today.”

  Doc Edmo was a young veterinarian, a Shoshone who had grown up in the tough atmosphere of the Wind River Reservation. Jade had recommended him for the job, knowing he wouldn’t find her wish to deal with the wolf’s body respectfully overly strange. Plus, he was an excellent vet.

  Jade pretended to yawn as she stood up and reached for her jacket. “I’m getting sleepy and stupid sitting here. I’ll check in over at Doc Edmo’s and bring back lunch if you guys want.”

  “I’d take an Italian sub,” Tim said cheerfully.

  “Five bucks please.” Jade collected money and sandwich orders and headed over to the vet’s office.

  Doc Edmo’s receptionist took in Jade’s uniform with a glance and quickly ascertained why she was there. “Go all the way back, deputy. Doc is in the surgery.”

  Pushing through the door, Jade scanned the sterile-looking room. Doc was adjusting a large light over the operating table.

  “Hey, Jade. I was just getting started.”

  The dead wolf, which Jade couldn’t quite bring herself to think of as Claire, lay on the cold stainless table with a light cotton drape covering her. Doc had on turquoise-colored scrubs, and his long, black hair was braided down the center of his back. He wore a rather jaunty-looking surgical cap printed with a design of various paw and hoof prints.

  “Thanks for doing this for us.”

  “Glad to help. I don’t really like the wolves getting a bad rap—especially if they happen to be innocent.” The vet snapped on some latex gloves.

  Jade sat down on his rolling examination stool, leaning forward with her hands clasped, her elbows on her knees. “I don’t know anything for a fact, Doc. But my gut reaction to the scene was that this wolf didn’t touch Duke Minton.”

  The vet went about his business for some time, taking measurements and thoroughly examining the wolf’s body. After some minutes, he straightened up.

  “Well, the first thing I can say with certainty is that this wolf was killed from a distance with a high-powered rifle. There aren’t any other wounds on the body, no bruising or scratches or anything to indicate a struggle or attack.”

  “So, could you testify in court that this wolf was killed from a distance greater than twenty yards?”

  “Absolutely. And I don’t see any evidence of flesh or blood in its teeth. I’ll swab for DNA, but we’ll know more after looking at the stomach contents. You aren’t going to get squeamish on me, are you?”

  Jade shook her head, but she wasn’t entirely sure.

  “The good news is that I can just make one incision; I don’t see any need to dice her up more than that.”

  “Thanks.” Jade tried to smile at Doc, but Conall’s voice saying the word ‘daughter’ kept echoing through her head. Why hadn’t Conall come to explain things to her? How could an entire community of shapeshifters have kept their secret for so long? Jade deliberately refused to entertain the word, ‘werewolf.’ Werewolves were inventions of fantasy tales, creatures that turned into bloodthirsty killers every full moon. Werewolves did not help you rescue your friend, or make love to you, or…have laws and clans and mates for life; werewolves didn’t have daughters.

  “This is weird.” Doc held a kidney-shaped stainless pan, peering at the contents as he moved things around with a long pair of tweezers.

  “What is it?”

  “Must have been looking for easy pickings behind a restaurant or something. This girl’s last meal was spaghetti and meatballs.”

  Jade wrinkled her face up. “But it definitely wasn’t Duke Minton?”

  “Not a chance.”

  “Thanks, Doc, that’s good news.”

  “How’s that?”

  Jade backpedaled, trying to
explain away her odd remark. “I guess I’m a fan of the wolves. And I’m tired of people blaming any bit of bad luck on them.”

  Doc shrugged. “No offense, but it’s kind of the white man’s way—always trying to blame, rather than taking any personal responsibility. Of course, we’ve got our share on the rez who have learned that way too.”

  Jade acknowledged his point, nodding silently before she stood up.

  “I’ll send over an official report, but this wolf did not attack Duke Minton, or anyone else for that matter. You can take her now—I can help you put her in your vehicle.” Doc carefully wrapped up Claire’s body in a sheet. “You know, the Shoshone believe that in the time before time, wolves could walk and talk as men do.”

  “What else do the Shoshone say about wolves?” Jade asked.

  “My grandfather used to say that wolves were very smart and observant, that they were very brave, but very secretive. He said that wolves were helpers, and if a wolf appears to you in a dream, you should definitely follow whatever they show you. And he believed they have the power of telepathy. Wolves know our hearts and because of that, we should honor them.”

  “What do you believe?”

  Smiling kindly at Jade, Doc paused thoughtfully before he responded. “I believe the Elders knew a great deal that we dismiss as legend.” Doc picked up the bundled form. “What are you going to do with her?”

  “I’m taking her back to her clan.” Jade said it plainly and directly, and Doc simply nodded in reply.

  ***

  “What did Doc Edmo say?” Wilson asked, in between bites of his meatball sub.

  Jade looked at the greasy sandwich. “You know, Peggie will skin you alive if she catches you eating that trash. I should have gotten you a turkey with lettuce and tomato, no mayo.”

  “She’ll have to catch me first, and since she’s still on crutches, I can definitely run faster.” Wilson took another bite. “Doc Edmo,” he prodded.