Releasing the Wolf (The Rossi Pack Book 1)

by Aimie Jennison

  “How much is a lot? We don’t usually die of blood loss, but silver slows the healing process or stops it altogether, that’s why silver weapons can be deadly to us.” Jesse’s voice says through the phone. The growl behind his words tells me he’s not as calm as he’s trying to sound.

  “I don’t know, the room is full of blood.” I glance around trying to work it out. “I can’t tell how much is Nate’s and how much is Dan’s or Gareth’s.”

  “Shit… What the fuck happened? If you took the knife out straight away, it would have had a better chance of healing, the longer silver stays in the worse he’ll be. Why didn’t you remove it straight away?” he snaps at me through the phone.

  “I was fucking busy, eating Dan.” I snap back halfheartedly, know he’s right. I know the dangers of silver, I shouldn’t have let it get to this.

  Nate reaches up and grabs the knife in his weak hands. He lifts his hands but doesn’t have the strength to move it at all.

  “Take it out,” Jesse says as I drop the phone to the floor, my hands already replacing Nate’s on the hilt of the knife.

  “I’m sorry,” I say to Nate, pulling the knife free as quickly as I can. I grab the rags off the floor beside me, that look like they belonged to the dress I’d been wearing not long ago, and use them to compress the wound. Looking up at Nate’s face, I find his eye’s trained on mine. I will him to live. “Don’t die on me, Nate. Please…” The tears streaming down my face. “You came to protect me. You idiot. Why did you have to do that?” I know yelling at him, and calling him names while he’s dying isn’t fair, but it I can’t seem to stop myself. It stops me panicking.

  He smiles with a wince. “I love you… didn’t… want you…hurt.”

  Bending over him, I press my mouth against his in a passionate kiss. I feel him kiss me back for a fleeting moment before he goes limp beneath me. Knowing that he’s died beneath my mouth, I pull him into my lap and hug him into my chest. I strokes his hair with my hand as I sob at the loss I feel. The loss of yet another pack member. And it was my fault, yet again.

  Chapter Thirty One

  Jesse

  Feeling Nate cling on to life through the pack bonds, I know there’s been trouble. Pulling out my phone I dial Nate’s mobile. It rings out, going to voicemail after the allocated number of rings. “Dammit,” I say to the phone as I instantly dial again. “Come on, pick up,” I growl.

  “Something’s wrong with Nate.” Kelly says right behind me.

  I fumble with the phone dropping it to the floor, having not heard or felt him approach. I curse as it shatters. “Fuck!”

  “Sorry.” Kelly places his phone in my hand without question and I dial once again.

  Finally it’s answered. “Nate has a knife stuck in his heart. He’s losing a lot of blood and not healing.” I’m momentarily shocked to hear Frankie’s voice coming through the phone. The shake in her voice keeps my attention on her words. “Do I take it out or will he bleed more? It might be silver,” she says, her terror coming clear down the line.

  “How much is a lot? We don’t usually die of blood loss, but silver slows the healing process or stops it altogether, that’s why silver weapons can be deadly to us.” I try to keep my voice calm, as not to panic her more. But try as I might, I can’t keep the growl out of my voice.

  “I don’t know, the room is full of blood. I can’t tell how much is Nate’s and how much is Dan’s or Gareth’s.” She speaks fast and it takes me a second to process the information she’s given me. All eyes in the bar are on me, the pack having all felt Nate’s pain through the bonds. I point to Big Mac and Carter, gesturing for them to join both myself and Kelly.

  “Shit… What the fuck happened? If you took the knife out straight away, it would have had a better chance of healing, the longer silver stays in the worse he’ll be. Why didn’t you remove it straight away?” I snaps hating myself for it the second it comes out of my mouth. She doesn’t deserve my anger. I leave the bar and head for Frankie’s apartment, knowing without a word, the three men will follow.

  “I was fucking busy, eating Dan.” There’s a growl behind her words but no conviction behind it. She thinks she deserves my anger.

  I hear a clang and can only assume she’s dropped the phone to the floor. “Take it out,” I say, before disconnecting the call. I shove the phone in my pocket and taking the moment to hope we get there in time. In time for what? I didn’t know, things feel bad through the bond. Nate is barely hanging on to life.

  We run through the streets at full speed, praying that no one is looking out their windows at this late hour. I push the door to Frankie’s apartment building open and my body stiffens as Nate’s torn from the pack bonds in his death. A howl escapes from my throat without thought, I hear the rustle of clothes and the thud of flesh hitting concrete, as the three men behind me drop to their knees and release their own howls of loss.

  Leading the way up the stairs, I take them three at a time and burst through the door leading into the hall. I keep the momentum going, aiming to break down Frankie’s apartment door. Seeing the open door hanging on by one hinge, I manage to stop myself before flying through the open doorway. My bulk effectively blocking the door like a brick wall, causing the guys behind to collide into me. We’ll all be hurting over the collision, once the adrenalin leaves us.

  My eyes immediately search for Frankie, falling on her within seconds. She’s rocking with Nate in her lap, sobbing with grief as she strokes his hair. My heart breaks into pieces at the sight. Frankie’s pain coming through the bond, tells me she chose Nate. Regardless of what had happened between the two of us at Big Mac’s earlier, she had chosen Nate as her mate. Nate may be dead, but Frankie won’t find another mate. I know her well enough to know she’ll never allow anyone to take his place in her heart, even if her wolf would allow it. An Alpha needs a mate and she’ll never accept him now. Our chance together has died tonight.

  Knowing there is nothing I can do to help Nate, I step towards Frankie in hopes to comfort her. Her deep threatening growl causes me to stop in my tracks.

  Ever so slowly she lifts her head, glaring a warning at me through her wolf’s ice blue eyes. The slow movement tells me how close her wolf is to the surface, even without seeing her eyes.

  Holding up my hands in the air I try to show her I’m no threat. “Frankie it’s me, your Alpha.” I say in a hushed tone. “We’re here to help. I’m going to send Big Mac in to help your friend Gareth, his heart is still beating.. Just.”

  “Shit!” Carter growls, on entering the room. His hunger obvious with the lick of his lips and his eyes trained on the blood that’s calling to his wolf.

  Placing Nate’s body on the floor, Frankie crouches before it in a protective stance. Clearly having picked up on Carter’s hunger and therefore making him a threat.

  “Carter, if you can’t get a handle on your wolf, get out of here,” I say without taking my eyes off Frankie. She looks ready to kill us all, or at least try to. “Go find Kate, she’s going to need pack,” I add, hoping to keep both Frankie, and Carter satisfied. Carter backs out of the room leaving the path clear for the other guys two enter.

  Big Mac slowly walks over to Gareth giving Frankie a wide berth, her body turning to follow his every movement. He reaches down to staunch the wound and she turns her attention back the door, obviously satisfied with his actions.

  I feel Kelly come to a stop behind me, his energy pulsating against my skin. “Oh, Nate,” he cries, dropping to his knees on the floor. Frankie’s eyes leave mine and fall upon Kelly, suddenly changing back to her own beautiful chocolate brown eyes. Making a feeling for Kelly, she brushes my forearm with her hand comfortingly as she passes. I turn and watch her crouch beside Kelly, taking her into his arms in a warm embrace. The last thing he needed was to lose his best friend - brother, so soon after losing his mate, Gabby. There have been to may deaths in our pack lately - Gabby, Joey and now Nate. Three deaths too many.

  Leaving Kelly and
Frankie safe in each others arms, I make my way over to Nate and crouch down beside him. “Rest in peace, my friend,” I whisper, reaching out and close the mismatched eyes of my Beta.

  I straighten up after a moments prayer, deciding the best thing for me to do is to check on Big Mac and Gareth. Spotting a folded up piece of paper poking out from under a rag, that could have been the dress Frankie was wearing earlier, I pick it up and recognise Joey’s familiar hand, from when he did some paperwork for my business. Seeing it addressed to Frankie, I use a piece of rag to wipe off the blood, before putting it in my shirts breast pocket.

  “How’s he doing, Mac?” I ask looking down on Big Mac and Gareth.

  “Not good, Boss. He’s still got a heartbeat - be it faint, but he’s lost a lot of blood. I’ve surprised he’s hung on this long. He’s human and needs an ambulance before he bleeds out.” Big Mac takes a second to tear his eyes away from his patient to give me a questioning look. Do we call any one?

  Werewolves aren’t out in the open. We like to clean up their own messes, if only to keep a lid on our secrets. If we call an ambulance, the police will need to be informed since there’s a dead body. Frankie could end up in trouble, considering she’s eaten any evidence of the actual murderer, not to mention the fact that she’s walking away uninjured and covered in both the victims blood. It really doesn’t look good for her. If we don’t call Gareth will die, and Frankie, like Kelly has lost too many people in recent times. She can’t lose Gareth too.

  “Call an ambulance. Keep the wound staunched while we wait. I'll get rid of any Danny leftovers. Perhaps we can figure a story out - where we arrived just in time to see him flee?” I inform Big Mac as I rake through Frankie’s cupboards looking for garbage bags.

  There’s hardly enough of Danny left for the chunks of flesh and bone to even fill a half the bag. Unfortunately I can’t collect Danny’s blood, since it’s mingled in with Gareth’s. My wolf’s nose can smell the subtle difference between their scents but the police won’t know the difference. Blood looks like blood As long as they don't do any lab tests, everything should be fine.

  Tying the bag off, I glance around the room having one last check for any left over evidence of Danny. I catch sight of Frankie and Kelly, now sat comforting each other on the opened out sofa bed. Apart from the grief that’s pouring off the both of them, they seem to be okay, at least enough to be left to comfort each other a little longer. I need to get this bag out of the apartment before the police arrive. With one last glance around the room I run, full werewolf speed, out of the apartment and down the stairs not coming to a stop until I’m behind a neighbouring apartment building. I lift the lid off a large dumpster and throw the bag inside. I take note of the building number so I can send another pack member to collect it when the police leave the area, not that they’ll need the building number, their noses with lead them to it.

  I step through the doorway of Frankie’s apartment as the sound of sirens come to a stop outside the building. I push the broken door to, closing it as much at the one hinge will allow, before rushing over to the sofa. I kneel before Frankie. “Frankie, the police will be here any minute, we need to figure out what to tell them.” I watch as she keeps mumbling incoherent words to Kelly, not even acknowledging that I’m kneeling before her. Taking in her shock I deduce that the police have no chance of getting anything out of her tonight. Standing up I gently pat her on the shoulder, the bare flesh under my fingers making me realise that she needs covering up before anyone enters the room. Removing my jacket, I place it over her shoulders. “Put this on sweetheart.”

  Her head snaps up to look at me, finally appearing out of that foggy shock. “Jesse. I ate him,” she says, her voice full of disbelief. She moves away from Kelly to stand, and blindly places her arms into the sleeves of my jacket. As she fumbles with the buttons I take over, my calm hands fastening each button one by one.

  Upon hearing the door to the stairs opening I know time is running out. I reach out and stroke her cheek with my knuckles. “Don’t say that to the police. Just leave the talking to me. Okay?” I plead, hoping she’s taking in my words. I catch sight of Frankie’s head nodding as the first police officer pushes through the broken door.

  Frankie sits down and pulls Kelly back into his arms. During mine and Frankie’s interaction, he’d been sat with his head in his hands repeating the same three words. “No. Not Nate.”

  The medics enter, taking in the scene they immediately see where they are needed and head straight for Gareth without giving Nate a second glance. Catching the officer in charge’s attention I pull him aside and explain what happened, or at least, what I want them to think happened. Seemingly satisfied with my detailed description of the suspect, he walks over to Big Mac with his notepad to get his details on the situation.

  Chapter Thirty Two

  Frankie

  I ate Danny. Dan. My friend. Just the thought is making me feel nauseous.

  On the night of the full moon, I ate my first rabbit, which was hard to get over once I’d turned to my human form and remember the moment it such clear detail. Somehow, I don’t think I’ll ever get over this. I ate my friend, bones and all. I keep telling myself, I’d watched him stab a friend in the heart and slit another’s throat, but it isn’t really helping…I still ate him. My wolf’s content with how it turned out, happy for the meal she received and the punishment she had given.

  I listen to Jesse tell his side of the story and watch as the paramedics take Gareth from the room on a stretcher. Once he’s finished with Jesse the police officer moves over to Big Mac, Jesse hovers, watching over him and answering any extra questions the officer throws his way.

  I look down at the sheet corner turned up on the sofa bed and try to straighten it under myself. Gareth had been snoring here only a short while ago. Kelly’s repetitive whisper pulls my attention from the rumpled sheet and back to him, I continue patting his back, comfortingly. “No. Not Nate.” He’s been repeating the same three words since seeing Nate on the floor, he's obviously in shock. Losing three pack members, that he had a close relationship with, in such a short time is not going to be good for him. He was only just coming to terms with the loss of his mate, Gabby, and now his best friend has gone too.

  My eyes flick to the door as I hear a kerfuffle outside. “It’s okay, she’s his twin sister.” Jesse says to the officer by the door as he points to Nate’s lifeless body on the floor, having recognised Kate before I did. Her overwhelming sorrow is pushing down on my making it hard to breathe.

  “I’m sorry, Sir, but it’s a crime scene we can't let anyone else in,” the police officer apologises sounding genuine.

  “I need to see him,” she pleads with the officer, who was being pushed further and further in the room by her wolfs strength.

  “Miss it’s a crime scene, you can’t go in,” he says in his Irish agent getting stronger, as he tries to get her back firmly back into the hall.

  “Sergeant, she’s mighty strong.”

  "Are you finished with me for now, Sergeant?” Jesse asks not taking his eyes off Kate and the struggling police officer.

  The sergeant looks over his shoulder at the door, and goes a short sharp nod of assent to Jesse, obviously realising his officer wasn’t winning with Kate.

  “Jesse, I need to see him. I can feel it… but I need to see him to believe it,” Kate shouts over the officer's shoulder without slowing down her fight.

  Jesse reaches the door and shoving the officer aside he pulls Kate into his arms. “It’s true, Darling.” My heart breaks as she sinks into his embrace without a fight, knowing Jesse wouldn’t lie about something like that.

  “I need to see,” she whispers. I doubt the humans in the apartment would have heard her words, but I had no trouble with my wolf hearing and by the look of Big Mac’s slumped shoulders and sad eyes, I wasn’t the only one.

  I turn my eyes back to Jesse, he’s stroking his hand in large circles on Kate’s back. “Maybe they’ll
let you see him before they take him away. Okay?” Jesse offer turning to look at the police officer he’d shoved out the way.

  He nod’s. “Yes, that shouldn’t be a problem.”

  Kelly lifts his head out of his hands, pulling away from me and looks towards the door. “Kate?” he questions liking his eyes back to me for an answer.

  I nod. “Kate’s outside. She can’t come in, it’s a crime scene.” We both glance across at Nate’s body which now has a blanket covering it. It doesn’t matter, I can still see the sight without the blanket in my mind. Looking at Kelly’s frown, he probably can too. He stands, his knees cracking in protest and walks to the door.

  The officer blocks his exit. “I’m sorry, Sir, but we need to get a statement from you before you leave.”

  Even though I can only see the back of Kelly, I can tell by the stiffness in his shoulders and the terrified look on the police officers face, that he’s giving him a death stare. If the guy doesn’t submit soon Kelly will lose his control. His emotions are already pushed to the limits, his wolf will be happy to take advantage.

  “It’s fine, Constable Jackson. Let him go. He came in with these two and won’t be able to tell us anything more. We can take a formal statement in the next couple of days,” the sergeant states, no doubt having picked up on the tension. Kelly’s low growl was a telling sign.

  “Y..yes, Sergeant.” The constable’s voice cracked as he spoke. He steps aside allowing Kelly to pass. His shoulders dropped in what looks like relief, probably being happy not to be the to toe with Kelly anymore.

  Jesse allows Kelly to take Kate into his embrace, before he walks back into the room with no complaints from Constable Jackson. He crouches in front of me and places a handoff my knee, giving it a gentle squeeze. “How are you feeling?”