by Terry Spear
He could look mad all he wanted, but she wasn't going to go with him while Cameron and the others were chasing down the killers. Still, she wanted to see if David was all right. Then Kintail stormed up the walk, his expression still furious, and she figured he'd huff and puff and threaten to blow the house down.
"Open… up… Faith," Kintail growled, and he sounded as if he could knock the house down with his fierceness.
Chapter 22
HER HEART RACING, FAITH HOLLERED TO KINTAIL THROUGH Chris's locked door, "Cameron's hunting down the other killers. You've got Lila back. You can take care of how to deal with the cleanup/cover-up, whatever you want to call it. But Cameron and his partners are all returning to the Northwest, and I'm going with them. So like it or not, that's what's going to happen." She wasn't sure about the woman he called Elizabeth, so she left her out of the equation on purpose.
She halfway expected Kintail to act civilized. To let them alone. But when the cedar chair that was sitting on the front porch crashed through the picture window, she realized he didn't mean to play by her rules at all. She considered the cane. If she swung it just right, she might be able to knock him out. But then again, what if he was expecting her to do something like that? Not like when she hit the wolf with the snow shovel the last time. He hadn't expected it. Kintail most likely would.
She glanced at Chris's gun. As soon as she lunged for it, Kintail jumped through the window frame as a wolf. She screamed, but grabbed the gun and didn't hesitate to shoot him, at the same time as she heard footsteps at the back of the house. Kintail knocked her down, the dart not putting him out like she'd hoped. But she didn't dare shoot him again and risk killing him with too much tranquilizer.
Kintail's front paws pinned her chest down, his weight suffocating, but she couldn't see who was running down the hall. What if it was a Dark Angel?
Kintail looked back.
Cameron swore under his breath. "My bullets might not be silver, but they're like Gavin's. They can give you some heartburn. So move away from Faith, and I'll pretend this didn't happen."
She swore Kintail almost smiled. Maybe because Cameron didn't take any crap off him? She wasn't sure. But he did step away.
Afraid he still might leap at Cameron, she held her breath. Would Cameron shoot him? She suspected he would.
"You've got to take care of Lila and your pack. Take care of this mess so your wolves aren't blamed for it," Cameron said.
Kintail looked back at Chris. And then he turned and jumped out the window, stumbled outside and landed on his belly, the drug finally taking effect. Hilson and Whitson hurried out of the pickup and with Trevor, the three of them managed to carry their wolf pack leader out to the truck.
"You all right, Faith?" Cameron asked, his long stride eating up the floor to get to her.
"I'm fine. Where's David and the other woman?"
Cameron pulled Faith off the floor and into his arms. "He runs faster than we do. He chased Matt down and dropped him. The woman stayed with him. Think he's found someone to call his own. The blond guy? He took off in the ATV."
"What will we do with Matt?"
"Turn him over to the police."
"Adams and Whitson? But they're Kintail's people."
"Officer Adams is out back. He's willing to turn Matt in to take the blame for the killings, saying that they were fanatics who murdered some of Kintail's men. None of them can prove werewolves exist, and the police department needs to resolve the crimes."
"What about Chris?"
"Kintail can say his wolves were protecting him. Lila okay?"
"Sleeping like Owen… and Kintail."
Gavin hurried into the house with David and Elizabeth, Faith guessed, still in wolf form, and Leidolf and Sarge. "Owen all right?"
"Sleeping," Cameron said. "Let's get him into the SUV. Leidolf?"
"I'm staying a while longer to ensure there are no more of them." He patted Sarge on the shoulder. "He's going to help me."
Sarge looked as though he was going to be terminated at any minute. She wondered, given Leidolf's expression, if he recognized the man hadn't been turned. If so, he'd be up on murder charges also.
"Gavin?" Cameron asked.
"I'm ready to get back to Seattle and the job. Think we could rent a bigger SUV and travel that way instead of by plane?"
Faith wrapped her arm around Cameron. "As far as I'm concerned, that's the only way we should travel, considering."
"A woman after my own heart," Gavin said.
"Only she's got mine," Cameron said, giving her a comforting squeeze. "Help me lift Owen, and let's head back to the lodge. You can make the reservation for a full-sized SUV for our return trip. Leidolf, we'll see you around?"
"Find a pack to join, Cameron. You can't do this on your own as newly turned lupus garous."
"I guess this means you owe me a diamond ring and marriage license, Cameron, if we're going to make this official," Faith said.
"No jewelry, no weddings," Leidolf said, his voice slightly amused. "We can't wear jewelry. It's too difficult to shift quickly if we're wearing rings and the like. And we don't marry, we mate. That's why you need to be with an established pack, so you can learn our rules."
Faith glanced at Sarge. "What about Mary?"
"Mary McNichol? Chris's aunt? She's harmless, a big believer in Bigfoot and that's why she was running around with our gang. But she never was one of the Dark Angels, didn't believe in werewolves, no matter how many times we tried to convince her they were real. That's why we never let her in on the killings. She would have turned us in. She just wanted to be with us in case we spotted Bigfoot. And Chris, especially, hoped she'd change her mind."
Faith sighed, glad to hear the older woman hadn't taken part in the murders. "Why did you do it, Sarge? Why kill them?"
"We thought we were doing the world a good deed. That's what we thought. Then we figured if we could get money, it would be even more of a good thing. We didn't think we'd get caught."
"What about the trees cut down on the trails?" Faith asked.
Sarge shrugged. "We were trying to create a mess for Kintail's people. Harassing maneuvers."
"And Charles?"
"Hell," Sarge said, scowling, "he's either one of Kintail's people, or he helps them conceal who they are. So he is one of them, no matter what. We just wanted to give him a wake-up message. Watch out who your friends are. Could be dangerous for your health."
Faith hoped the bastard didn't turn, and he was tried for murder. Someone as evil as that didn't deserve to be in Leidolf's pack, or anyone else's.
Leidolf's expression was revealing though. The more he listened to Sarge bury himself with the deeds they'd done, the darker Leidolf's face became. Then he turned to Cameron and said, "I told Gavin he could have my room for the night, share it with David and Owen. I'll be sticking with Sarge until I'm assured we've finished with business here. And, Faith? You're one of us, even though you'll be with an Arctic pack. But anytime you visit your father, you're part of my extended pack."
Faith pulled Cameron close. "And Cameron and his partners?"
Leidolf gave them an elusive smile. "Sure, as long as no one plans to stay long. Only one alpha leader per pack. Anything else would cause real problems."
Faith wondered how that would work with Cameron and his partners. Owen and Gavin both seemed to have real leadership tendencies. She wasn't sure about David, but he might be more the emergent kind of leader when the others weren't around to take charge, he'd step right in. None of them seemed very beta to her.
"I'll see you again soon then," Faith said with promise, because she had every intention of seeing the woman her father had hooked up with and making sure he really was all right. Although as soon as they returned to the lodge, she was calling him.
"Let's go then," Cameron said, and he carried Owen out to the SUV as David and Elizabeth trotted next to him, and Gavin got the door.
Faith slipped into the driver's seat and Cameron looked
at her, his eyes a little rounded.
"My rental SUV, and last time you drove, you were speeding. I thought you were an Eagle Scout and always obeyed the laws." She started the engine.
He smiled and buckled his seat belt. "Always. So no diamonds, and no marriage license, I guess. Uncomplicates things and makes for a cheaper union."
She hmpfed. "We're getting married. I can see Leidolf's point about the jewelry. I suppose in a few years if we've got the shapeshifting business under control, you can get me a ring then. But there's no reason we can't get married." She drove back to the lodge, at the correct speed.
Cameron chuckled. "I told my partners I'd never get married. Ever. Not after all the girlfriend problems I've had. I really thought I'd be keeping my promise."
"There won't be an engagement if that will help."
He leaned against his seat and smiled.
Gavin said, "I was wrong, Cameron. First time ever. If I had a woman like that, I wouldn't hesitate to make her mine."
The horrible notion slipped into Faith's brain that they had an outsider in the vehicle who had to be changed. "What are we going to do about Gavin?"
"I'm not biting him," Cameron said. "He'll just have to live with us and pretend everything's the way it was."
Gavin shook his head. "Faith can bite me, as long as she's gentle."
Cameron pressed his hand on Faith's thigh. "She wouldn't do any such thing."
Gavin folded his arms across his chest. "I guess I'll just have to keep the secret then."
He sounded a shade disappointed. Faith figured either Leidolf or one of his people would turn him, but it was probably better if they were all the same kind of wolf, in case they tried to do what Kintail had done in Maine, pretend the wolves were his pets, one big happy family.
"Leidolf won't like it," Faith warned. "When he learns none of us ever turned Gavin, he'll probably do it."
"Then Gavin will stay home when we visit your father."
That seemed to be the end of the matter, but Faith suspected it wouldn't be. "What if there's already a pack in Seattle?"
"I thought of that. We'll just have to open a business in Tacoma, or somewhere else. Maybe move to the coast of Oregon. I always liked the beaches down there when I visited. Leidolf said it was a nice place and might be just our kind of area to relocate. We'll just have to see what happens."
"And hope that we don't run into major problems," a deep male voice that she didn't recognize said from the backseat.
Faith glanced in her rearview mirror. David had shifted. The blond, bearded man with vivid blue eyes reminded her of a Norseman as Gavin quickly pulled off his parka and gave it to him.
Yep, their little band of werewolves was going to have fun with this shapeshifting business. She could see it now—all five of them vying to get into the washrooms on a plane home when they all had an uncontrollable urge to shift. Good thing they were driving home.
Kintail woke to find himself naked in bed with a nude Lila curled up against him, sound asleep. He brushed his hand through her golden hair, breathed in her special fragrance, assumed that whatever trauma she had experienced in the past, she was ready to deal with. But he'd take it slow and easy with her in any event.
"Kintail," she whispered to him, her eyes still tired.
"Sleep the drug off, Lila. We'll talk later when you're more awake."
"I'm sorry," she murmured, her hand on his chest, and he could have sworn her touch was possessive, but the tranquilizer kept her from having the force she might have used. Her eyes drifted closed. "You're mine." Even though her voice had a sleepy, drugged quality, her announcement pleased him.
He leaned her back and kissed her forehead. She lifted her lips as if asking for a kiss there. Chuckling darkly, he pressed his lips against hers, but she wasn't awake enough to respond. "Later," he promised, then slipped off the mattress, pulled on a pair of black denims, and headed downstairs to the great room where he heard Trevor talking to Whitson and Adams.
"Evening," Kintail said as he reached the bottom step.
His men nodded in greeting, but no one said anything. Probably trying to figure out if they had an alpha female pack leader now.
Both Whitson and Adams's bruises had faded to mere shadows of what they'd been. Hilson was chowing down at the kitchen table, having a midnight snack, so he seemed to be feeling better also.
"What's happening with the investigation?" Kintail asked, stalking into the sitting area, while a fire roared in the fireplace, and the wind stirred the snow in little eddies outside.
Adams spoke first. "Matt's in custody and will be charged with first-degree murder in the cases of Sutter and Larson. The blond dude we chased in the ATV, survived the accident and he's up on charges also. Apparently," Adams smiled a little as he spoke, "the group was heavily into drugs. Anyway, there's tons of evidence to prove they were and now it's their word against ours that they were tripping out when they spied the werewolves. A woman, Mary McNichol, never believed in werewolves, according to Sarge. I questioned her, but she seems sincere, so for now she's off the hook. But we'll keep a close eye on her. Sarge is staying with Leidolf until he turns into a red wolf. So far Leidolf hasn't seen any evidence of a change. Probably too soon. Leidolf said he'll take him into his pack. Although if he gets out of hand, Leidolf said he'll either take care of the matter personally, or hand him over to you for disposition."
Kintail gave a small smile. "He didn't mean it."
"No. He was trying to emphasize the importance of the guy obeying him while he spoke to me in front of him. He might kill him, that much was evident. But he wouldn't turn the responsibility of the job over to you."
"Leidolf's too much of an alpha for that," Kintail said. "What about Gavin?"
"Leidolf said he'd be turned."
"All right. And Kenneth O'Malley?"
"Already changed, so no more problems with him giving lectures on werewolves, unless he uses old mythologies in his talks."
"Good. Chris's body will have to disappear."
"Done. By the time the spring thaw comes, he'll be nothing but worm food. Matt didn't see what had happened to him. We cleaned up all the evidence that anyone had been killed in the house. We'll be sure to concoct a good story about how Chris went out on one of his crazy werewolf hunts, without his partners, got lost, froze to death, and the animals in the wild found his body a delicious smorgasbord of sorts. Sarge will go along with it, since he was one of his best friends. Believe me, about now the guy is willing to say or do anything to keep on breathing."
"Any other loose ends?"
"Leidolf's making sure there aren't any, and we've got a couple of men with him to help watch his back. But other than that…"
A silky feminine voice called from upstairs. "Kintail."
Everyone turned their attention to the stairs.
Maybe Lila didn't need any more time to get over her past. "Good job, men," Kintail said. "Keep me informed." But the way he said it, he was certain his people got his meaning. Don't disturb him unless the building was on fire.
Then he headed for the stairs, ready to take a mate. For the first time in years, he felt lighthearted and ready to conquer the world.
Thankfully, Cameron, Faith, and Gavin were able to sneak David into Leidolf's room at the lodge without anyone seeing him half naked, only wearing Gavin's parka, his legs and feet bare, while Elizabeth ran beside David in her wolf form. And Cameron carried a still knocked-out Owen, in wolf form, inside.
"Have any trouble, you know our room number," Cameron said to David and Gavin.
"I can see now why Lila was pissed that Kintail was interested in Faith." David smiled at Faith in a congenial way, sitting down on the bed, still looking a bit wiped out. Although even so, he managed to take down Matt just fine.
Elizabeth was sitting next to him still in her wolf form while he stroked her back.
"I'll get Elizabeth a change of clothes in a minute. I don't think Kintail was too happy with me once I
shot him with a tranquilizer dart." Faith smiled and wrapped her arm around Cameron. "There's only one wolfish guy for me."
"You should see what she did to Cameron's snow mobile. The rental people weren't too happy about it," Gavin said, "but Cameron, being the big sport he is, said it was his fault when he was trying to stop the guys who stole the machines."
Faith chuckled. "Yeah, Cameron was just afraid what the clerk would think if they knew he had such a violent girlfriend."
Cameron headed for the door with his arm around her waist. "Which is just the way I like you. I get into a fix again, you can rescue me."
David and Gavin laughed. "And us," Gavin added. "Wouldn't hurt my feelings none to have you save my butt."
"I'd say she's been approved as one of the partners." Cameron opened the door. "When Owen wakes, let him know."
"He'll be agreeable," David said. "We're just glad to be kicking for another adventure." He glanced at Gavin. "What are we supposed to do about you?"
"He won't talk," Cameron said.
Gavin shrugged. "I told Faith she could bite me, but she didn't want the job."
David laughed. "The lady's got selective taste." He rose from the bed. "I'll go with the two of you so you don't have to make another trip down here with clothes for Elizabeth."
"Night all," Cameron said to the others, then closed the door. The situation with Gavin could be resolved another day, or left the way it was. All he cared about was being alone with Faith and getting on with the really important business that awaited them.
As soon as Cameron, David, and Faith headed down the stairs, Cameron said, "You know the rules about mating for life, right, David?"
"You're talking about Elizabeth and me?" David shook his head. "We've hardly gotten to know each other. We'll take our time." He raised his brows at Faith as if intimating that Cameron might want to do the same with her.
"It's a done deal where we're concerned," he said, although officially it wouldn't be until Cameron got rid of David. Not wanting to delay the inevitable a moment longer, Cameron hurried Faith to their room.