Ice Claimed

by Marisa Chenery

  Taylor grinned. “The only reason why you haven’t been dating is because you let your digs and artifacts take over your life. I’m sure there are plenty of men who would want to ask you out if only you’d notice them.”

  “Well, I noticed Durlach, and he really seemed to notice me. I hope this will be more than one date.”

  “I won’t wreck your date on you. Only promise me you won’t hurry into anything. Take your time to get to know Durlach well before you agree to anything permanent.”

  “I promise. And if things do work out between Durlach and I, promise me you’ll make an effort to be friendly. I don’t want to have to kick your butt because you chased him off with your grumpiness.”

  Taylor laughed. “I’d like to see you try to do that. So now I’m grumpy as well as lacking people skills. You’re painting a great picture of me.”

  “But I still love you anyway. Now, not to be rude, get out. I have work to do.”

  “I love you too, like a sister, of course. And I’m leaving. Remember to pay attention to the time or you’ll miss Durlach.”

  “I will. Now get lost.”

  Meadow watched Taylor walk outside and close the door behind him. She shook her head. She’d dated a couple of guys since Taylor had come to work for her, but this was the first time he’d actually acted all protective of her when it came to her dating. Why he’d suddenly taken on the big-brother role when it came to her seeing Durlach, she didn’t know.

  * * * * *

  Durlach arrived at the house before Capac and went inside. He headed up to his bedroom, which he shared with Ryder. Their new shaman actually made a great roommate. Ryder had fit into their pack with ease, even though he wasn’t a werewolf. A mortal, he was twenty-four years old, though when you looked into his eyes it seemed as if a much older soul peered back. And out of all the descendants of their first shaman, only Ryder had inherited his ancestor’s powers.

  Ryder sat on his twin bed, writing in a notebook when Durlach arrived in the room. The shaman looked up and smiled. “How did it go? Did Carson’s plan work?”

  Durlach nodded and crossed the room to sit on his queen-sized bed. “It went well. I have a date with Meadow. I’m going to make her dinner at her place this evening. I was going to ask Jaren and Kajakti to take me to the store so I can buy some ingredients I need, but as I came up here I noticed their bedroom door was shut. I doubt I’ll be able to get them out of there anytime soon.”

  Ryder chuckled. “Probably not. I can take you if you want.”

  “That would be great. I’m sure Kajakti would try to bite my head off if I knocked on their door to ask.”

  “Yeah, I doubt that would go over well. If you already know what you need, we can go now.”

  “I do, and thanks, that would be all right.”

  “Okay. I’ll grab my car keys then we can leave.”

  Ryder walked over to his dresser and picked up his key ring. Durlach followed the other man out of the room, down the stairs and out to Ryder’s black four-wheel-drive all-terrain vehicle. Once Ryder unlocked the doors Durlach got into the passenger side.

  “So when are you going to learn how to drive?” Ryder asked after they were on the road.

  “I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it.”

  “Soon Ketah won’t be the only one out of you ice age wolf brothers to have a license once Edensaw takes his driver’s test next week. I would think if your alpha can do it you would want to as well.”

  “It’s not that big of a deal to me. I feel more comfortable traveling on four paws. You know my wolf is closer to the surface than with the others.”

  “Yes, but you’re living in the modern world now. All of you have adapted to it well. But you need to take that next step and learn how to drive.” Ryder shot Durlach a quick look with a crooked grin. “All real men can.”

  “That’s a low blow, taking a jab at my masculinity.”

  “All right, how about this? You found your mate. She may like it if you’re able to drive. She might not want to play the chauffer all the time.”

  “I’ll have to ask her. Besides, Meadow lives on the property next to ours. I can walk to her place all the time.”

  Ryder pulled into the grocery store’s parking lot and steered into an empty space. “You lucked out with that.”

  “Yeah, but I want to kick myself for never venturing over there until yesterday. I would have found Meadow a lot sooner.”

  “It wasn’t your time to meet until then.”

  “Maybe.”

  Durlach got out of the car and walked inside the store with Ryder. Durlach grabbed a shopping cart before he headed to the meat department. He planned to make some beef tenderloin steaks with creamy mashed potatoes and sautéed balsamic green beans. It was fancy enough to show off his cooking skills but not too out there that Meadow wouldn’t enjoy the meal.

  It didn’t take Durlach long to get all the ingredients he needed. He also selected a bottle of red wine to go along with the food. Ryder had given his input on which one would go with the beef since Durlach was still learning which wines paired well with what food.

  Once they were through the checkout and out in the parking lot, Durlach loaded his bags of groceries into the backseat of the car. He closed the door and looked over at Ryder to find the shaman scowling and gazing around as if he searched for something.

  “What’s the matter?” Durlach asked.

  “I’m sensing the taint of dark magic somewhere close by.”

  “You think it could be Andre?”

  Andre was the leader of the dark wolves, and also the one who could use dark magic. Durlach and his wolf brothers had been created as sentinels to fight against them.

  “Yes, but it isn’t fresh. I still need to find its source, though.”

  “I’ll go with you. There could be a dark wolf hanging around.”

  Ryder was mortal and had refused Edensaw’s offer to be turned, which hadn’t sat too well with the alpha. The shaman was now a part of their pack and played an important role in it. Having Ryder unturned, not immortal, made them all uneasy. He was too vulnerable. If the dark wolves ever got a hold of him, they’d be able to end his life without trying very hard.

  Durlach followed Ryder as he left the car and headed around to the back of the grocery store’s building. There was a Dumpster against the brick wall as well as a pile of debris made up of old cardboard boxes, trash bags and broken wooden pallets. The shaman stood in front of the Dumpster for a few seconds before he turned and stepped over to the mound of trash next to it.

  Ryder pulled a stack of flattened cardboard boxes off the heap, then muttered, “Shit.”

  The smell of rotting flesh hit Durlach’s sensitive nose before he came to stand beside Ryder. He looked at the face of the dead man whose body had been hidden amongst the debris.

  “He’s a mortal, but I can just pick up the scent of a dark wolf,” Durlach said as he tried not to breathe too deeply through his nose.

  “There’s the taint of dark magic all over him. I might be able to see what happened here.”

  Ryder placed his hand on the dead man’s forehead and closed his eyes as he muttered a spell in Tlingit. Once his eyelids fluttered open, the shaman stood back with a grim expression.

  “What did you see?” Durlach asked.

  “Andre must have run out of lone wolves who would consent to join his pack. He’s resorted to trying to turn mortals. This man was his latest attempt, which failed. The mortal wasn’t strong enough to make it through the turn.”

  “Wouldn’t he have turned to dust like the other dark wolves that died at Andre’s hand?”

  “No, Andre’s dark magic hadn’t taken hold enough. I can only detect a miniscule amount of it in the body. He was still mortal when he died, not yet dark wolf.”

  “So what should we do about him? We can’t just leave him here.”

  Ryder turned and walked back the way they had come as he fished his cell phone out of jeans po
cket. “I’ll call 9-1-1 and tell them where to find the body. I’ll do it anonymously.”

  The shaman’s call only lasted long enough for him to tell the operator there was a body behind the grocery store and the address, then he disconnected the call. Ryder suggested they leave before the authorities arrived, which Durlach had no trouble with.

  “This complicates things,” Durlach said once they were on the road headed back to their place. “If Andre is now selecting mortals to be turned, it’s going to make our job that much harder. There are three times as many mortals as there are werewolves in Juneau.”

  “And that’s if he decides to stick with this city.”

  “How are we going to be able to protect them without alerting mortals as to what we are? Eventually someone is going to catch us, then word will spread. It’s not as if my wolf brothers and I have the ability to erase memories, though it would be something that could come in handy.”

  Ryder chuckled. “Don’t look at me if you’re asking me to give it to you. I might have most of my ancestor’s gifts as a shaman but that doesn’t mean I can create a new race of man like he did. Nor can I give you an upgrade. You’ll have to be happy with what you have.”

  “It was worth asking.”

  Ryder pulled into the driveway of their home. Durlach saw Carson’s car was parked in front of the garage. His newest wolf brother had been turned by Wachei almost a year ago. Carson had tangled with a couple of dark wolves and had come close to death. Only Wachei’s bite had saved him. At the time, they had assumed they could only turn their mates since their first shaman had told them they would be able to. But Carson had proven they could with any mortal. It was something modern-day werewolves couldn’t do.

  Durlach walked into the house, carrying his grocery bags and stopped at the living room. Ryder continued on, more than likely going to look for Edensaw to tell their alpha what they’d found.

  “There you are,” Carson said. “So how did it go with your mate?”

  He put the bags down and crossed over to where Carson sat in one of the armchairs. Wachei and his mate Eryn, who happened to be Carson’s true sister, sat on the couch.

  “Yeah, Durlach,” Eryn said. “Did Carson’s plan work?”

  “It worked just fine,” he replied. “Though throwing Capac in dire wolf form into the mix caught me a little off guard, especially since it turns out Meadow is very observant and questioned the little differences she saw in Capac’s wolf compared to mine.”

  “She noticed?” Carson asked. “You guys all look so similar I figured she wouldn’t be able to.”

  “As an archeologist, I guess she has to be able to see things like that. But I managed to distract her from it. I also arranged to cook dinner at her place for her this evening. Ryder took me to the grocery store.”

  “So that’s where you went. Meadow is going to be in for a treat,” Eryn said.

  Durlach had to chuckle inside. Before Jaren had started teaching him how to cook, Eryn had avoided his food like the plague. Almost all of his pack had, except for Carson, who had no problem eating it. Now everyone showed up for dinner whenever he made the meal.

  “I hope she enjoys it.” He continued in a more serious tone. “While we were at the store, Ryder and I found something.” Durlach filled the others in about finding the remains of the mortal.

  “That’s all we need,” Carson said.

  “It isn’t a good thing, that’s for sure,” Wachei added. “Bringing mortals into this was the last thing we wanted.”

  Durlach nodded. “I know. Ryder must be telling Edensaw about it. If it weren’t for the shaman, I wouldn’t have found the body myself. He was able to pick up the taint of dark magic, which he then followed to where we made our grisly discovery.”

  Carson sat up straighter. “Then Ryder is a bigger advantage than we first thought. He not only can counter Andre’s spells, he should be able to detect the dark wolf leader before we can sniff him out.”

  “Maybe,” Durlach agreed. “Though to what extent I don’t know. And I doubt Edensaw will want Ryder anywhere close to Andre as a mortal. If Ryder had accepted to be turned it would be a different story.”

  “I still don’t understand why Ryder refused.”

  “He must have his reasons, Carson,” Wachei said. “Maybe down the road we can convince him to change his mind, but for now, we have to respect that. And we have to do everything in our power to keep Ryder out of Andre’s hands.”

  Durlach had to agree with everything Wachei had said. If Andre found out about Ryder, and what he was capable of, the dark wolf leader would try to end their new shaman’s life. Ryder had already thwarted one of Andre’s attempts to bring one of the sentinels over to his side when he’d used a potion on Kajakti. Only Ryder had been able to drain the dark magic out of him. Their shaman was an advantage they needed to keep if they were to have a better chance of one day wiping out all the dark wolves.

  Chapter Four

  The pottery bowl Andre had been using shattered against the wall after being thrown in anger. Tanner watched the mortal blood that had been inside it slowly run down the white surface. He didn’t say a word as his maker threw back his head and let loose with a howl. While Andre was like this, Tanner knew it was best not to draw too much attention to himself. Writhing with pain while his maker took his frustration out on him wasn’t something he’d volunteer for.

  And it wasn’t hard to guess what had Andre in such a foul mood. The last three mortals his maker had tried to turn had died before it could be completed. That did not bode well for increasing their numbers. Not that Tanner thought that was a bad thing. His way of thinking, mortals didn’t deserve the gift Andre wished to give to them.

  Andre swung around and looked at Tanner. “For some reason, I’m no longer able to ‘see’ anything of the sentinels. No matter what spell I try it remains out of reach.”

  Tanner groaned inside. Their recent failure combined with his maker’s inability to glean information about the wolf brothers would only make Andre’s temper worse. He had to tread carefully.

  “Something must be blocking you,” Tanner said.

  “I know that, you idiot. I don’t understand why it’s happening.”

  It was on the tip of Tanner’s tongue to say it might have something to do with why Kajakti hadn’t been turned to the dark side after being injected with Andre’s potion. Around that time Andre had also lost his ability to see flitting images of the wolf brothers. To Tanner, it seemed as if those two things were related to each other.

  “I wish I could suggest something that would help, but I’m not the master of dark magic here,” he said.

  “No, you’re becoming more of a disappointment to me.” Andre’s upper lip curled in a snarl. “I have big plans for you, Tanner, but now I’m not so sure you’re suitable.”

  Tanner bit his tongue. For the last few months his loyalty to his maker had begun to weaken. Whereas before, when he’d first been turned into a dark wolf, he’d have done anything for Andre, that was now not the case. Tanner kept that to himself, though. He didn’t know what he wanted to do about it, but the day was coming closer where he wasn’t going to put up with his maker’s highhandedness. He needed to wait for an opportunity to fall into his lap.

  “What can I do to change that?” Tanner asked, playing his role of sycophant perfectly.

  “Find me stronger mortals to turn. Obviously, your other choices have been mediocre at best.”

  Tanner was sick and tired of being the errand boy. And the last three mortals Andre had tried to turn had been his maker’s picks. Andre, of course, wouldn’t own up to that. It would make it look as if he’d fucked up, which would never do. His maker was all-powerful, after all.

  “I’ll do my best to rectify that, and will get right on it,” Tanner said.

  He left Andre to his bad mood and walked out of the room. Their pack no longer lived in the abandoned cabin. His maker had decided they needed something bigger since they would be i
ncreasing their numbers quicker by turning mortals. Now they’d “upgraded” to an empty warehouse-type building close to the docks. Tanner didn’t like their location change. Being right in the city would increase the chance of the sentinels finding them.

  But he wasn’t the leader of their pack, so didn’t have any say in the matter. Tanner left the building, more than happy to get away from Andre. He’d find a mortal for his maker, but not until closer to the time he’d return. It could wait. For now, he had to start getting a plan together. There was no telling when Andre would decide Tanner was no longer useful and try to pull the gift of his dark magic from him. He had his immortality and he had no intention of allowing anyone to take it from him.

  * * * * *

  Durlach decided to walk to Meadow’s place, even though Cassidy had offered to drive him the short distance since he had to carry the grocery bags filled with the ingredients needed to cook the meal. It wasn’t as though they were too heavy or the distance too great.

  He walked through the trees to the trail that would take him right to Meadow’s house. Durlach had thought about his newfound mate a lot during the hours he’d had to wait to see her again. He also looked forward to getting Meadow into his arms, to taste her lips, have her body pressed close to his. His cock, already semi-hard, gave a little jerk in response to his musing.

  He reached the yard and headed toward the house. At the stable, Durlach saw Taylor stood outside the building, staring in his direction. The other man walked over and stopped in front of him to bring him to a halt.

  “Meadow told me she had a date with you this evening,” Taylor said. “I thought I’d have a little chat with you before you go to her.”

  Durlach had to resist the urge to bare his teeth and snap them at Taylor. With his mating urge riding him, Durlach didn’t like the idea of another man trying to warn him off. And he was pretty sure that was exactly what Taylor was going to do.

  Even though he had met Taylor while in his dire wolf form, Durlach had to act as if he didn’t know who the other man was. “I’m Durlach, and who would you be?”