by Naomi Clark
“She’ll pay me for my time, but it won’t be very much because she doesn’t have much. Back to insurance fraud for me, I think.”
“I’m sorry.” I shifted onto my side so I could look at her. She was staring at the ceiling now, probably counting the cracks too. Her lovely lips were drawn tight and thin, her eyes dark. “We should have called you straight away.”
She closed her eyes. “It doesn’t matter. The important thing is that Molly’s safe.”
“Yeah, but she’s not, is she? She’s lying in hospital, starved and battered.”
“It’s a police matter now,” she said, sounding a little less sure than she had at the hospital.
I nestled closer to her, nuzzling her cheek. “My money’s on Alpha Humans. I don’t see who else it could be.”
“It could have been anyone.” Shannon turned her head to look at me, tracing her fingertips down my cheek and over my lips. “I think Palmer’s right about that—you can’t rule anything out.”
Her touch sent a bolt of desire through me, but it was overridden by the indignation her words caused. “No werewolf would hurt a child like that. Ever. It just wouldn’t happen.”
“Why not?” she asked reasonably, still stroking my face tenderly. “Look how the Pack treated Tina - hell, look how they treated you for being a lesbian.”
“It’s different.” I said, sitting up. “There’s a whole world of difference between making someone outcast and kicking the shit out of a fourteen-year-old girl.”
“I know that, Ayla.” Shannon sat up too, putting on her best patient, soothing tone. It always worked wonders on her clients, but right now it just aggravated me. “But it’s all part of the same mentality, isn’t it? “Do as we say, not do as we do.” That’s Pack all over.”
“That’s bollocks!” I cried. “We look after our own.”
“Obviously not, when a woman and a young child are ostracized the way Tina and Molly were,” she said, the patience slipping a little. She tossed her hair from her face, frowning at me. “I’m not criticizing you, Ayla. I’m not badmouthing your family. I’m just saying Pack life isn’t all sunshine and roses, is it? Are you really saying it’s absolutely impossible that another wolf didn’t beat up Molly? That there are no circumstances in which it could happen?”
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” I snapped, although a worm of doubt crept through me. I remembered Oscar screaming at Vince, threatening Mel. I could easily see him, in that state, physically following through on his threats.
I growled and leapt up, unable to sit still anymore. I paced our tiny bedroom, the wolf stirred by my stormy mood. I wanted to rip and bite, exorcise my prickly anger. “It has to be Alpha Humans,” I said finally. “They’ve got a motive, this is what they do! They hate us—look at what they did to Adam.”
“Baby, this isn’t about Adam.” Shannon rose to embrace me, stroking my hair. “It’s nothing to do with him and, really, it’s nothing to do with us anymore. The police will take care of it from here.”
I couldn’t respond to her touch and eased out of her arms, wincing at the hurt on her face. I hated going to bed angry with her. When we’d first been together I’d always been the childish one, running off whenever we had a fight, then crawling back later with my tail between my legs to apologize. Almost six years on, I was better at not running off. I just wasn’t any better at controlling my temper. “You didn’t find her, Shannon. You didn’t see her—didn’t see how scared she was when she first saw me. She shrieked when she saw Joel. Scared of her own kind.” I shook my head. “Someone must really have done a number on her to mess her up like that.”
“Scared of her own kind,” Shannon echoed. “Well, that’s pretty strong evidence that another wolf was involved, isn’t it?”
I whipped round to glower at her. “Will you stop—”
She raised her hand. “Why would she be scared of another wolf if no wolves had ever hurt her?”
Her calm, school-teacher manner was infuriating. “It’s not your case anymore, remember?”
“And it was never yours to begin with,” she countered, folding her arms and staring me down.
I dug my nails into my palms until I drew blood. The sharp pain and warm flow called my wolf and I snarled, baring my teeth at Shannon. “She’s Pack. It matters.”
“She’s not Pack because the Pack kicked her and her mum out.”
“No, they just kicked her mum out,” I corrected. “Molly is still one of us.”
Shannon sighed and shook her head. “I hate it when you’re like this. Let’s just go to bed and talk in the morning, okay?”
“Like what?” I challenged, barely hearing her. “When I’m like what?”
“Stubborn. Werewolfy.” She began stripping off, keeping her back to me as she peeled off her top. “Bitchy.” She glanced at me over her shoulder, a deliberately coy look, all pouting lips and creamy skin. “Drop it and come to bed.” She was trying to distract my wolf with sex.
And it was working. My anger cooled a little at the sight of her naked back and slender hips, the dusky rose satin of her bra. I wet my lips, not sure if I was ready to stop being angry. “I’m not bitchy.”
“You are.” She unzipped her jeans and did a little shimmy for me as she slid them off. “You’re being bitchy because I insulted your precious Pack. The Pack you took off from because they were so close-minded and intolerant, remember?”
Her tone was light, teasing. Soothing the savage beast, I thought with a flicker of annoyance. But it worked every time, damn her. My wolf responded to her even when I wanted to stay mad and argue some more.
Grudgingly, I shucked off my own clothes and rolled under the duvet, determined not to let her have it all her own way. She was going to have to work for it.
Shannon slid in beside me, pressing her naked body to mine with a little wriggle. “Look at me,” she coaxed, slipping her arms around me. “We’re not going to fall out over this, are we?”
I turned, keeping my sulky mask in place while internally my wolf wagged her tail. “Depends…”
She tugged gently at my lip ring. “Bad dog. No brooding in bed, remember?”
That slight tug sent a shiver through me, as if she’d touched me far more intimately and a little more of my anger dripped away. “You’re not playing fair. Why can’t I just be angry?” I complained.
“Ayla, you don’t even know what you’re angry about.” She traced the shape of my lips with her fingertips. “You just get yourself all worked up and forget why you started.” She kissed me chastely, sending butterflies fluttering through me. “Your eyes have gone all wolfy,” she murmured.
My vision shifted, changing the world to sepia hues. Shannon’s blonde hair turned to dark honey, her blue eyes fading to a whitish-yellow. My wolf prowled through me, eager to claim her mate and I gave in. Shannon was right; I didn’t really know what I was mad about. Molly was home and safe—surely that was the most important thing?
That and Shannon’s hands trailing lazy paths down my body, pooling wet heat between my thighs. I growled again, aroused this time, and took her mouth with a deep kiss. She snuggled closer to me, fingers slipping down between my legs. I closed my wolfy eyes, feeling those butterflies grow bigger as she teased and toyed with me. I wanted to roll her over and take her, no games, no waiting. My anger burned away in the heat of my sudden desire. I writhed and moaned as Shannon whipped me into a frenzy with her clever fingers and sweet lips.
A breathless, rushing sensation built in me as she raked her nails over the soft skin of my inner thighs. My eyes snapped open and the world flashed in and out of color as wolf and woman battled for domination. It was like seeing stars. When she flicked her tongue over my clit and slid her fingers inside me, I let the wolf win, letting out a howl of pleasure. I knotted my fingers in her hair and pulled her up roughly to capture her lips again. The usual restraint I treated her with slipped away a little as I used my superior strength to flip her onto her back, exposing he
r perfect breasts. I bit down on one of her nipples hard enough to draw a cry from her and that pulled me back a little. The world flashed back to color as the woman pushed away the wolf.
“Did I hurt you?” I whispered, nuzzling her cheek.
She responded with a hot, fast kiss. “Never.”
It was all the encouragement I needed. We didn’t go to bed angry.
***
Back in the early nineties, a few human writers really latched onto the idea of werewolves and novels began flooding the bookshops. You know the type: wolves as angst-ridden, romantic heroes pining for their one true love; wolves fighting demons and vampires to save the world. I’d always liked those. I’d been secretly disappointed when I realized demons and vampires probably didn’t really exist. The writers always had a skewed notion of the Pack structure in their books, depicting it as an almost feudal system with one alpha dominating at the top while everyone else scrambled for position underneath.
The reality was different, of course. Maybe back in the days of witch-hunts and Inquisitions we’d lived like that. But in the days of democracy and equal rights, alpha was an honorary title. Our alphas were older, respected wolves; pillars of society rather than benevolent dictators. They were the kind of men and women you see in the same corner of the same pub every night of the week, telling the same stories about how things were different in their day.
You didn’t expect to find them on your doorstep at eight o’ clock on a Saturday morning, which is where I found Eddie Hughes the next day.
Shannon and I had risen early, spending some time making sure I really wasn’t mad anymore. Then, hungry from all the exertion, I’d come downstairs to make a fry-up. It was my day off and I intended to indulge myself. I was halfway through poaching myself an egg when the doorbell rang.
I smelled Eddie before I opened the door. He was a smoker and the acrid scent of tobacco wafted through the thin wood. I wrinkled my nose as I peered round the door. I was dressed in an oversized Muse t-shirt that barely covered my thighs. Despite the notoriously casual werewolf approach to modesty, I just didn’t feel comfortable half-naked in front of an alpha.
“Eddie,” I greeted him. “This is…nice.” I hadn’t seen him since Lupercali, hadn’t expected to see him again until the next one.
“Morning, Ayla. Sorry to disturb you so early. Can I come in?” he asked. “I smell bacon.” He smiled, his weathered face crinkling. You couldn’t say no to a face like that. Five minutes later Eddie was tucking into my fry-up while I stood at the stove pretending I didn’t mind starting my breakfast all over again.
“Heard about Molly Brady,” Eddie said around a mouthful of bacon. “Bad business, that.”
“Yeah.” I hid my surprise at how quickly the news had spread. One of the doctors had probably called the alphas as soon as Molly came in. Tina would love that. “Poor kid, she was really in a mess.”
“You found her, I understand?”
I nodded, glancing at him over my shoulder. His salt and pepper hair gleamed in the light of the sun peeking through the kitchen blinds. His eyes were fixed on me as he poked at his food, dark and intent. I suddenly felt nervous. Had I done something wrong, helping an outcast’s child? “Yes,” I said aloud. “Out in Larkspur Park.”
He shook his head, said nothing, which only intensified my irrational feeling of guilt. Finally Eddie sighed and set down his knife and fork. “I spoke to the doctor in charge of Molly first thing this morning and he told me there were large quantities of drugs in her system. Specifically traces of aconite.”
I regarded him blankly. My experiences with drugs were limited to headache pills and evening primrose capsules. If I was supposed to know what aconite was, I’d failed. “Oh?” I said politely.
“It’s turning into a real problem, this Silver Kiss junk,” he continued, oblivious to my ignorance. “I’ve been saying it for months, this rubbish is going to lead to trouble, and now this happens.” He tucked into his food again. “I know everyone thinks we alphas are old-fashioned and out of touch, but I keep an eye on what’s happening in this city. Molly won’t be the only wolf who ends up this way. Addiction! It’s a killer.”
I flipped my egg and watched the white spit and sizzle at me. Of course I agreed that what happened to Molly was awful, but I didn’t see why Eddie felt the need to come and talk to me about it.
“I understand your partner was working with Tina Brady to find Molly?” Eddie asked.
I tensed. Was Shannon in trouble? “Tina hired Shannon—she’s a private investigator—because she thought the police weren’t doing enough,” I confirmed. “That’s not a problem, is it?” I added, an arch note creeping into my voice.
“No,” Eddie assured me. “No, no, of course not. But I’d like to talk to Shannon and see what she found out. We’re all concerned about the growing popularity of this drug and if Shannon has any information on dealers or whatever, it’d be very useful to us.”
“Oh.” I must have looked visibly relieved because Eddie chuckled and shook his head at me.
“Don’t look so worried, Ayla! We’re not going to hold Tina’s mistakes against her child. Molly’s still a member of the Pack.”
Shannon joined us then, poking her head round the kitchen door to crinkle her nose at me. “I smell breakfast.” She smiled at me expectantly. I rolled my eyes and started dishing up. Then Shannon noticed Eddie. “Oh, sorry. Is this a Pack thing?”
“Not at all.” Eddie stood to shake her hand. “Eddie Hughes. You must be Shannon. I was hoping to meet you.”
She sat at the table, pursing her lips. “Can I help you with something, Mr Hughes?”
I set a plate down in front of her and set about pouring myself a bowl of cereal. “Eddie wants to ask about Molly,” I told her.
“Oh, well. Obviously all my cases are strictly confidential,” Shannon said. “I can’t reveal anything without discussing it with a client first.”
“Of course, I understand that,” Eddie said. “I’m sure in this case Ms Brady would be happy for you to talk with me.” He explained briefly about the drugs in Molly’s system and the growing trend amongst younger wolves for Silver Kiss. Shannon ate while he spoke, but her mind clearly wasn’t on the food, which only annoyed me more as I tucked halfheartedly into my cereal.
“Marc Wright did say Molly was a habitual cannabis user,” Shannon mused. “From what he said, she’d moved onto something else before she went missing.”
“Silver Kiss,” Eddie said. “Has to be.”
“It’s just herbal stuff though, isn’t it?” I interrupted. “One of my workmates smokes it all the time and he says it just chills him out.”
“It’s the aconite,” Eddie replied, like it should be obvious. “The regular stuff is fine, but some idiot’s cutting it with aconite before selling it to wolves.” When I looked blankly at him, he sighed. “Monkshood, Ayla. Look it up.”
I scowled at him over a spoonful of corn flakes. Alright, so I wasn’t up on my herbs and spices. Screw him.
“Well, obviously it’s tragic that Molly’s drug habit lead her to this,” Shannon said, best professional voice on, “but I don’t see what I can do. I can’t tell you anything except that her boyfriend thought she was smoking something other than weed.” She shrugged. “It’s not exactly helpful.”
“The Pack is looking into the matter, of course,” Eddie said. “Aconite is both addictive and dangerous for wolves. We want this stuff controlled—banned, ideally. The problem is, because it’s a street legal herbal substance, there are no laws against selling or carrying Silver Kiss at the moment. And that means people can buy it, cut it with aconite and sell it on.”
“So you need to build a case for banning its sale to wolves,” Shannon surmised. Eddie nodded.
“Any information you can give us that might help would be invaluable, Shannon. Someone is dealing to kids like Molly and we want them protected.”
“Molly would have been protected if her mother wasn’t outcast,�
� Shannon said. I bit the inside of my cheek, marveling at how cool she sounded. “She might never have run away in the first place if she lived in the kind of loving, secure environment the Pack is supposed to provide.”
Eddie bristled. In wolf form, his hackles would have been up. I tensed, ready to leap to Shannon’s defense either verbally or physically if need be. Then Eddie forced a smile. “Perhaps, but she’d still have been smoking Silver Kiss.”
“Have you spoken to Greg Maxwell?” I asked, more to take his attention off Shannon than anything else. “His son, Oscar, is hooked on the stuff. Maybe you can find out who his dealer is.”
Eddie nodded. “That’s something we’d ask you to look into,” he told Shannon. “If you agreed to work for us.”
She stared at him, forkful of mushrooms halfway to her mouth. “You want to hire me?”
“We’d pay generously,” he said hurriedly. “We can discuss a rate—”
She waved her fork at him, cutting him off. “I’m sure we can, but let me get this straight first. You want me to start chasing down drug dealers? Is that right? Drug dealers whose main clients are young werewolves.”
“That’s the gist of it.”
“No,” I said immediately. They both glared at me. “No way. Shannon, you can’t. Drug dealers! You absolutely can’t.”
She frowned at me. “I’ll decide that, thank you.”
“Shannon! Drug dealers! Werewolf drug dealers!” I slammed my fist on the table, making her jump. “You can’t!”
“We wouldn’t send you out alone,” Eddie said. “Shannon would be working with one of the Pack.”
I bit back the snarl that rose in me at the thought of another wolf messing with my mate. “Who?” I demanded.
“Moira Clayton,” he said. The name meant nothing to me, which didn’t make me feel any better.
“Private investigator?” Shannon asked.
“Retired police officer,” Eddie corrected. “She worked in Narcotics at Scotland Yard. Moved down here after she retired. She’s pretty much an alpha now. Very well respected.”Shannon’s face brightened and they fell into an animated chat about the mysterious Moira Clayton, who I already hated. I fidgeted; certain Shannon would take the case and hating that too. Looking for a missing cub was one thing, but tracking down werewolf drug dealers was ridiculous. You couldn’t ask a human to do that! And why did the Pack even need Shannon if they had Moira bloody Clayton at hand?