by T. F. Walsh
His nostrils flared, releasing a long, noisy breath. “There you go again, thinking you’re in charge.”
I fought the deadness wriggling up my body.
“I know you intend to leave the pack and remain amongst humans.”
I shuffled a few steps back, and I almost tripped over a decaying log. That was the last thing I expected to hear from Sandulf, yet by the hardness of his tone, he was dead serious. Did he know about Connell, too?
“Change is coming. You can feel it under your skin, can’t you?” Pride sparked in his dark eyes. “You can’t stop your transformation.” A fiery color spotted his cheeks. “After tonight, you’ll have no choice but to remain with your pack, unless of course, the police mistake you for a wild wolf.”
Heaviness settled in my gut, and I struggled to speak.
“You lost the privilege to tell me what to do when you created the dracwulf and started killing humans. You’re no longer the Sandulf I grew up with. I don’t even know you anymore.”
He gave me a look so fierce it could have ripped the skin off my back. “For your sake, let’s hope after your change, you start to obey me.”
Become my slave or else was left unsaid, but it was loud and clear in my head. I would rather die than submit to him. “Tell me — ”
Sandulf cut me off with a sneer. “Don’t waste my time. I’ll see you soon enough.” He started walking away.
My hands shook. I wanted to scream at him, beat some sense into his head, and make him feel guilty for the people he’d killed. The words jammed in my throat, as if voicing them would make my separation from the pack official. It was stupid, I knew. But I couldn’t bring myself to say them because I also knew it didn’t matter to him.
He peered over his shoulder. “Make the ceremony tonight a joyous occasion. Don’t bring everyone down with your stories.” He leaped into a sprint and vanished into the woods.
With the dracwulf still loose, Enre lost, and the pack under a mad wulfkin’s control, I refused to let him intimidate me.
The frigid mountain air reminded me how alone I really felt. I continued my search, numbing my thoughts with the hunt until high noon hit, and decided to retrieve my forest pass from work just in case.
Before long, I arrived at Connell’s house and hoped he had left for work already.
Stepping up to the doorway, I gave a light tap and held my breath. After my second knock, the door flung open, and I gasped. Connell’s messy hair revealed his flustered state. He wore creased, gray tracksuit pants and a T-shirt with the police emblem printed in cobalt. One hand pressed into his hip, the other gripped the door. “I didn’t expect to see you back here.”
Great. I scratched my head and mumbled. “I’ve come for my bag and Jeep. I’ll get out of your way quickly.”
His hand combed through his hair.
I slid passed him and into the house, tracking my bag to the living room.
Connell demanded, “How much do your family secrets need to cost you?”
My throat was parched. If only he knew the real answer. “That’s not fair.” I threw the backpack over my shoulder and toyed with the idea of telling him how fucked up my life really was, though I doubted I’d get much sympathy from him at this time.
“I guess not, but from my position, it seems fair I know the reason you keep lying.”
The atmosphere in the room boiled, and my body trembled. I faced his rock-hard gaze. “You already know I can’t tell you. Why make this so difficult?”
“What about us?” The anguish in his voice raked my skin. “I’ve already gone through one divorce because of lies, and now you.”
My wolf’s hackles rose. “I’m not like your ex-wife.” I swallowed the dryness from my throat. I retrieved Connell’s house key from the bag and threw my hand out. “Take it back.” It killed me to do it, but anger won out. My patience was gone.
He stared at my open palm, considering it for a moment. “Keep it.” The tightness in his expression grew painful to watch. “I should take you down to the station and have you confess everything you know.”
Shoving my hands deep into my pockets, a quiver started to challenge my posture. “Connell, I love you more than you know. I just need another day or so to sort out my shit.”
My pulse thudded and my chest stung. “Give me that, and then I promise no more secrets. I’ll tell you everything.” I had the urge to fling myself into his arms, cry in his chest, and have him tell me everything would be okay. But I couldn’t bring myself to let my guard down. Not yet. Not until I dealt with the pack and my ceremony, for I feared if I weakened now, I’d never gain the strength to make it to the end of the day.
I tore my gaze from his glassy eyes, and my gut clenched in anticipation of Connell stopping me, except when I strolled past him he remained still, making no attempt to do so. I wanted to return to his side and forget everything. Pretend the biggest night of my life was not looming over me like a tornado about to touch down. The troubling ache in my stomach screamed. Enre was lost, and I couldn’t leave Radu or Botolf in a dysfunctional pack under Sandulf’s rule. I was in a tight place with no way out.
I jumped into the Jeep and started the slow, monotonous drive to work. Sitting at a red light, I lowered the rear-view mirror and spotted leaves imbedded in my nest-like hair and started patting it down. What shocked me the most was the lightness of my gray eyes. By the time I reached work, my hair resembled that of a semi-sane person.
I said a quick hello to Alexandria, the receptionist. “There’s an envelope in your office. It’s from the police. A forest pass.” I thanked her and headed down the corridor.
On my return, I contemplated paying the local hospital a visit with a desperate attempt to steal blood, then make my way to Radu’s bunker to prepare the tonic. But the smell of wulfkin slapped me out of my thoughts.
I rounded the corner. In the main entrance area, my eyes set on two wulfkin. Matias’s large frame bounced up from the visitor’s couch when he spotted me. A blonde stood in front of the door. Her hair was pulled tight into a ponytail, drawing attention to her oval-shaped face and rose-painted lips.
My feet froze. “Lutia?”
She pushed open the door, all the while staring at me. A gale blew into the foyer, and rustled her white summer dress. “You coming?” Her smile widened more than usual.
Alexandria asked, “Is everything all right?”
Matias stepped closer. “Yeah, Daciana. Is everything all right?” His arms dangled by his side resembling a silverback gorilla. Black pants and shirt made him look the part of Lutia’s personal guard.
My eyes trailed from Matias, to Lutia, to the receptionist. Work was not the place to create a scene. I dropped my backpack near the front desk and strode to the door.
“Yeah, I’m okay, Alex.” I flashed a smile and stormed past Lutia on my way out. The door slammed shut behind us.
I snarled at Lutia. “What do you want?”
Her cackle sliced through the air. The desire to shut her mouth swelled with each hoot. “I don’t want anything, my sweet Daciana. Sandulf has asked me to collect you.”
I clenched my fists. “Forget it. I’m not going anywhere with you. What does he want now? I just saw him in the woods.”
She flashed her teeth.
Matias gripped my wrist and squeezed.
“Enre would never want you to behave like this.” I pulled the friend card, knowing the two shared a brotherly bond.
“Enre is gone because of you.”
On the inside, I cringed at the truth in his words.
Lutia brought her face so close her sharp berry scent swarmed around me like summer flies. “Do you really want to make a scene where the receptionist is watching us through the window?” Her eyes casually glanced to the building.
“I’m not going an
ywhere. You can let go. I’ll gladly go to Sandulf, no need for force.”
“We’re not stupid.” Lutia met my eyes. Beneath her veneer coyness, laid a treacherous wulfkin who would resort to any act if it meant getting her way. The malice in her eyes held no trace of guilt.
“You killed an innocent woman in my apartment.” My limbs stiffened. “Don’t think I’ll forget that.”
Her head flung back, laughing. “What if I said I had nothing to do with it, would you believe me?”
I inched closer to her, but Matias tugged me back by his side. “I know you were involved,” I said. “I can smell your lie.”
Lutia’s fingernail twirled across my cheek, and I smacked her hand away. “Sandulf has a small proposition for you.”
My muscles tightened further.
Lutia bustled toward Sandulf’s black Land Cruiser in the parking lot at the side of the building. Matias scuttled alongside me, shoving me after her.
I jolted my arm loose from his grip, spun and landed behind the ape-like wulfkin, then kicked the back of his knee. He stumbled forward. Before the smack of his body against the concrete resonated, I’d already sprinted into the woods. There was no doubt Lutia would give chase, but a road didn’t restrict me, and I cut through the forest in a direct line to where the pack house lay.
The landscape flashed by, and I cursed my carelessness. How long had Lutia been following me? What was Sandulf up to? I suspected the worse, except I just couldn’t work out what that was. He had already managed take everything from me.
By the time I reached the pack home, my lungs burned. Voices mumbled in the backyard, and I dashed around the house, only to stop dead in my tracks.
Sandulf, Radu, and Botolf gaped at me.
But what caused the hairs on my neck to stand was the sight of Connell strapped in a chair with his mouth gagged.
Chapter Eighteen
My stomach coiled in on itself at the sight of Connell — the only man I truly loved — tied to the chair. And I had placed him in death’s path.
Unable to meet his pleading eyes, I scanned the area. Sandulf stood in the yard across from Connell, his arms crossed, his body tense. Botolf and Radu lingered against the forest backdrop, both wearing heavy frowns.
The atmosphere around the pack had changed to something dark and bleak. The sight of Botolf wearing a plain white shirt confirmed it. It seemed inconsequential in light of the situation, but the only other time he wore non-Hawaiian shirts was when two bears slaughtered his sister years ago. His clothing choice brought back the poignant memories. I prayed the two wulfkin didn’t stand in my way.
Behind me a car skidded, doors slammed, and footsteps neared. Lutia’s movement caught my attention. She strutted toward Sandulf with her chin up and tossing her hair back.
“What took you so long?” Sandulf asked.
Her hand stroked his arm, and her lips slipped into a fake smile. “A slight mix-up.”
I wasn’t sure who pissed me off more, Lutia or Sandulf. One thing for certain, Lutia just scored herself top spot on my hit list.
While I was busy deciding whether she deserved to be strung up by her Achilles’ heel or hunted down like rabbit, Matias snatched my arm with such force it might have snapped if I were human. My foot caught on a branch on the lawn and I tumbled forward, landing on my knees not far from the pack leader’s feet. I bit back the pain.
No one said a word. A current twirled in my hair, and the long grasses bent and rustled.
Sandulf simply stared at me, or perhaps tried to anticipate my next move. The creases on his brow revealed a wulfkin who struggled with his own thoughts.
I glanced at Connell. His recently polished leather shoes caught the light, and although I expected his feet to be tied, I didn’t see a rope. My gaze inched up his body, past the charcoal tailored pants and half-buttoned business shirt. He’d never made it past his front door. His hands were wrapped around the back of the wooden chair, and a white piece of fabric covered the lower half of his face. It was his eyes, drowning in a mixture of terror and uncertainty that killed me. He murmured something behind his gag, stirring my own rage.
Lutia’s voice broke the silence. “Isn’t he the handsome one?”
My wolf leapt awake, yearning to emerge and play. Transforming had crossed my mind, but Connell’s presence suppressed my urge. I wondered if I was the only wulfkin left who fought to conceal our existence from humans. From the moment Sandulf announced his creation of a dracwulf, not one other member facilitated a hunt for the creature except Enre, and that cost him his life.
My attention returned to Sandulf. “Why is he here?”
His lips cracked into a slit. “A little insurance so you don’t run away. When the dracwulf’s nudges didn’t work, I had to intervene.” He shot a hard stare over at Connell and back to me. “She’d do anything for bit of nurturing and plenty of snacks. I guess she’s not too different from most females.”
“You set the dracwulf to kill those people? How could you? You’ve got me now; I’m not going anywhere. Let Connell go.”
“If you behave and do as I say, then he’ll be fine. I know about the relationship between you two. I’ve watched it bloom, and for what? An unhappy ending. I thought you knew better.” He shook his head.
My suspicions were right, and the whole time Sandulf had been playing me, seeing how I’d react. “I’ve heard your promises before. He’s a goddamn inspector, you’d know that if you watched me. Do you think kidnapping him will be overlooked?”
“You shouldn’t have brought him into our life, then.”
I regretted many things. I wished I never met Connell or fell in love with him or promised to move into his home if it meant he wouldn’t get hurt. My chest rumbled. Regret was such a hopeless emotion. “Why did you do all this?”
“I told you before. Our pack is under threat by another, and I needed every member on board, including you. The dracwulf was a little surprise on the encroaching enemy. They’ll never see it coming. She’s still young and growing, but powerful. Their demise will be wonderful.”
“You let humans die just so you could use the dracwulf as your weapon. You’ve completely lost it.”
Lutia loomed closer to Connell with an extra swing in her hip and patted the top of his head. “Poor little Daciana. She might be losing it. It’s too late for her now. You’ll never see her again.”
I snapped to face Lutia. “And is killing an innocent human in my apartment a part of your plan?”
For a moment, her face twitched. She squinted and grabbed a handful of Connell’s blond hair, wrenching his head back. Her nails playfully dragged across his throat as she cackled.
My heart jackhammered against my ribs. A faint gash materialized on Connell’s throat, and several red droplets rolled down his neck.
I jumped to my feet, yet Sandulf’s iron fingers seized my arm. “Lutia, who have you killed?”
She scuttled closer to him. “But you … ”
He backhanded her, wiping her mouth clean of words. “Never go against my orders again.”
Lutia’s lips parted and stayed open. She fiddled with her hair, avoiding everyone’s stare.
Dispute among my adversaries. Perfect.
My body trembled. “What do you want? I already said I’ll do anything you want. Leave him alone.”
Connell stood no chance of surviving. Sandulf would finish him off, leaving me with one option — getting to him first. In that moment, I gave no thought to my future. If Connell wasn’t safe, nothing mattered.
Lutia’s snorted. “About time you smartened up.”
Sandulf’s shoulders slouched. “Remain with the pack during your ceremony. That’s all you need to do.”
“Fine. Done. Let him go.” I gave little thought to the elixir, though I wondered if Sandulf knew. Reg
ardless, Connell’s well-being came first.
Lutia’s cackle kicked off again like the annoying sound of a lawn mower. My pulse drummed in my ears, and I barely held back my wolf that stirred.
Sandulf inched closer to Connell. “This is why we have laws.” His voice fell to a whisper.
I said, “And Enre? Don’t you care he’s lost?”
“Don’t worry about him. You focus on yourself.”
I bit my lip. “Why do you speak in riddles? Tell me where Enre is.”
“Sandulf. Is Enre alive?” Unexpectedly, Radu asked from a distance.
Everyone’s heads turned toward Radu, and Lutia marched toward him, with Sandulf trailing her. I didn’t listen to their words. I took the chance and lunged at Connell, impatient to free him. His head bobbed in anticipation of his release.
I crouched and pulled at the twine.
Matias yelled, “She’s freeing him.”
I continue to pull at the knotted bind. Nausea rose as rapidly as my wolf attempted to claw out of my skin. My hands burned. I didn’t stop.
Matias thundered my way. I swerved from his first blow and threw myself into a forward roll. My flesh prickled and stretched. He charged again, and I leapt to the side, avoiding his swinging arm.
My transformation had kicked off, and I couldn’t stop it while fighting Matias. My talons pierced through my hands. Bones screeched.
Matias caught himself, spun about and grasped for my arm, but I spun and slashed his wrist. He recoiled, clutching his bloody wound.
Connell watched from the chair. I could see the look of horror in his eyes.
I was changing right in front of him, unsure if I could stop. Determined to save him, a half-howl, half-scream burst past my lips as I attempted to reverse the change. Dropping to my knees, the pain tore my muscles. Convulsions replaced the sting. Similar to squeezing clothes into an already full suitcase, I just managed to contain my inner wolf, which nipped at my insides, tearing flesh. It wouldn’t last.
Sandulf clapped. “Don’t fight your true nature.”