He pushed the thought away. Riley’s safety was more important than his sanity. He opened himself to his wolf and shifted. Fur sprouted, bones shortened and muscles compacted. On a rush, his wolf’s soul merged with his. Its anger whipped through him, stronger than what he felt in his human form. It wanted to kill Ben. In its mind, Ben was an outsider who’d threatened its pack mate, and the Kagan wolves always protected its weaker members.
Scents assaulted him, providing information he’d never pick up on in his human form. Ben’s unique signature wasn’t among the ones he smelled, proving he hadn’t come and chickened out. Nic growled. He lowered his head and ran toward Riley’s house.
He stopped several times to study the markings left by the members of his pack. All the dominants had added their claim to the area surrounding her property. The evidence of his pack’s loyalty to her was clear. She’d be missed, not only as pack doctor, but as an integral member of their extended community.
The knowledge only added to his guilt. He let it settle over him and turned his focus to protecting the honorary member his pack loved. He should’ve done so in the first place, not worried about his wants or his damn dick.
Sides heaving with his rough breaths, he dragged in air, automatically gathering information. The first whiff of shifter blood added a tang to the early morning air. He stopped, his paws skidding on the damp forest floor of old leaves and moss. Another deep inhale and he pivoted. The scent of death carried on the breeze, weak but distinctive.
Curses zinged through his head. He’d injured the young wolf before he’d been able to get his jealousy under control, but the wounds he’d caused weren’t fatal. He pushed his wolf harder. For the second time in two days, he ran full-out, not out of frustration as he had last time, but out of trepidation.
He had a bad feeling about the growing scent of death on the air and prayed he was wrong. The closer he got to the edge of their pack lands, the more his unease grew. He shouldn’t have allowed Ben to walk away.
Regret landed hard in his gut, but with each foot closer he got to the body, rage choked him. The young male he’d trusted had betrayed him, going to his old pack. It was clear from the direction he traveled that he’d returned to the Tanner’s territory.
No. He pushed the fury back. Too young to shift, Ben would’ve had to drive to Nic’s house. From Riley’s place, the main road between their pack lands would’ve been the quickest route. Nic had rarely used it when he’d lived here, preferring to walk the half a mile between their homes or use the unpaved back roads that weaved through the countryside.
He found him at the edge of their territory. Ben lay on his back in the drainage ditch on the Kagan side of the road. Blood trickled from a single gunshot wound between his open eyes. Dirt and leaves covered his body, no doubt from where he’d rolled down the embankment. An equal section of disturbed earth marked the path he’d taken.
Nic snarled. Inhaling deeply, he scanned the woods but didn’t see anything unusual. He approached in a crawling slink, sniffing the ground and finally, Ben’s clothes. One whiff and Nic knew he’d reached a dead end. The stench of ammonia filled his lungs, making it impossible to pick out any individual scents. Common in shifter related crimes, ammonia or another strong chemical was spritzed over the body to camouflage any identifying traces.
He eased back, shaking his head to clear it of the offending smell, and focused on looking for clues, but found none. Whoever had dumped him had been careful. It didn’t take a genius to guess who’d shot him, however.
The Tanner wolves. He’d bet money on it.
One question remained—did Ben betray Riley, or had it merely been a coincidence that he’d died?
Without knowing the extent of the Tanner pack’s issues or his, Nic couldn’t be sure.
Snapping twigs behind him warned of the approaching wolf. Nic shifted but didn’t turn to meet him. Sean’s scent was one he knew well. Nic knelt next to Ben’s body and closed the young shifter’s eyelids. Sean joined him a moment later.
“Dear God.” Sean dropped to his knees, hands balled into fists. He lifted his gaze from Ben’s body to stare into the woods across the road. “I’ll kill them.”
Nic sighed. “For the moment, we can’t act on it. We go accusing them of Ben’s murder, and we’ll have a pack war on our hands.”
“After the shit they’ve caused lately, they deserve to be knocked on their asses.”
Nic tensed. “What have they done to us?”
Sean glanced away. “Nothing directly, but rumor has it Michael Tanner is cleaning house. Betas and older females from his pack have been mysteriously vanishing along with any of his dominants who haven’t showed him loyalty. He believes the weaker members bring down his pack’s communal strength and should be purged.”
“And Ben was a beta from the Tanner pack.”
“Yeah, and next month he would’ve joined ours.” Sean faced him. “Jenna’s been worried about it for months, wondering when they’d make a play for him.”
“So they wouldn’t lose his wolf to our pack.” Nic finished his friend’s thought.
Sean nodded. “They’re vicious bastards.”
“Which is why we can’t start a pack war while our alpha is in the hospital.” And can’t shift to take out their alpha.
Sean cracked his knuckles. “As soon as he—”
“I will deal with the Tanner pack once I take over.” Nic leveled a hard look on his friend, daring Sean to question him.
Sean dropped his gaze. “We have to do something to avenge his death.”
“Do we? Or do we need to worry that he betrayed the secret he learned tonight?”
Sean closed his eyes on a long sigh, mirroring his thoughts. They had no way of knowing what Ben had divulged before his death.
“I want to defend him, but we can’t take the chance.” Sean motioned toward Ben’s body. “He was a good kid, but he feared the dominants of his old pack. They tormented him growing up. I don’t know if the friendships he’d developed over the past two years would override the fear he held.”
Nic curled his fingers into a fist and pushed back the anger. He couldn’t control how other alphas ran their packs. All he could do was fight for his. “We’ll bury him on the outside of our pack’s plot. It’s the best I can do for him.”
Sean nodded and lowered his voice to a mere breath of sound. “What are you going to do about what Ben saw tonight?”
Nic met his gaze. “What I should’ve done in the first place. Nothing.”
“You only have a few more days to worry about it. Jenna told me what the plans are and about her new position.”
As interim pack doctor.
Nic hoisted Ben’s body over his shoulder and started walking toward their burial grounds. There’d be no human investigation. Ben’s death might reveal information about shifters if the cops got involved. Nic couldn’t take the chance no matter how much he wanted to learn the truth.
What they needed was a shifter in the police department. If he could convince his fellow band member to rejoin the force and return to pack life, they might finally be able to take advantage of the human’s technology. Nic filed the thought away for the moment. It wouldn’t help with Ben’s death.
Or help protect Riley’s life.
Nic shoved the worry for her deep. He couldn’t allow the anxiety he felt to grip him, not in Sean’s presence. He remained silent until far enough in their woods to ensure they wouldn’t be overheard.
“She’s already getting one of the pack’s protectors assigned to her when she leaves. I’ll choose another so she has twenty-four-hour protection and send them to watch over her now, just in case. Other than stay away from her, it’s the best I can do.”
Dammit, all he’d wanted were some good memories to hold on to. Instead, her tears and Ben’s empty eyes would haunt him for the rest of his life.
Chapter Nine
Riley walked through the empty waiting area of the veterinarian hospital later that afternoon. Grateful for the full day of appointments with the neighboring communities’ pets, she didn’t have to dwell on the bleakness of her situation with Nic or Ben’s death. Jenna’s tears when she’d learned of her younger cousin’s murder had broken Riley’s heart.
For several months, Jenna had worried about him. Most packs wouldn’t have cared if they lost a shifter to another pack, but she’d explained that, according to the Tanner wolves, the weaker members should die to strengthen the dominants and improve the bloodlines.
Riley had hated them before. After hearing of the Tanner wolves’ justification for their cruelty, Riley wanted their alpha’s blood as much as many of the Kagan pack members did. Unfortunately, it wouldn’t happen until after Nic took over. Then… God, she didn’t want to think about Nic going after them. He would, though. She knew him too well. He’d fight to put an end to the practice. Life was precious in his eyes; nobody’s should be sacrificed.
She shoved away the worry over what awaited Nic as alpha and focused on the problem that had hung over her all day. Nic’s dad had ordered her to speak with him in private. With the last animal cared for, she could no longer delay going to him. Nobody ignored the alpha wolf’s command, but the very idea of having to deal with him slowed Riley’s steps. She could only come up with one possible reason behind his interest in her—Nic.
The excuse she’d prepared for her delay was the grueling day she’d had without Jenna helping her. They were understaffed, not anyone’s fault in particular. The hospital had been closed for years. Nona and a few of the older shifters had filled the role of pack doctor, caring for the emergency cases that wouldn’t survive the three-hour car ride to the nearest hospital. The elders of the pack couldn’t fill any role in the public eye, however. Too many of the local humans remembered them from their childhoods. The fact that they hadn’t aged wouldn’t go unnoticed.
Hiding until the next generation was born had protected the shifter community for longer than anyone could remember. Many worried it wouldn’t work much longer, especially with modern technology and the encroachment of human housing and business. Riley shared the shifter’s worry and feared what her fellow humans would do once they found out. Sure, the government backed the shifter community. She was proof. Without the help of higher-ups, she never would’ve been able to go to college. They’d created an identity and history for her, allowing her to fill a role in the pack that had been greatly needed—pack doctor.
Since graduating earlier in the year, Riley had worked her butt off to renovate the clinic and train a minimal staff. Not only was she responsible for the Kagan pack, she was obligated to help any shifter in need. Some days it irked her knowing that included the Tanners, but she never let the feeling stop her, especially since the wounded who often showed up on her doorstep were their so-called worthless pack members.
She fought to save each one. So did the four full-time nurses who rotated to staff the center twenty-four-seven. They were the only hospital in the country who could claim round the clock care. In life or death situations, seconds counted.
She swept her gaze over the open room. Pride filled her with the accomplishments she’d made. Her decision to stay and fight for Nic allowed her to enjoy it for…the next few days at least. The full moon was approaching quickly. She wasn’t ready.
And I’m not going to come up with any ideas standing here twiddling my thumbs.
She had phone numbers at home for the three shifter-human couples who lived in the States. Hopefully, talking to them would give her some insight on where to focus her efforts—getting Nic’s wolf to love her or figuring out how to get Nic the heir he needed. Considering two out of the three couples consisted of female shifters and human males, she didn’t know how much help they’d be, but she had to start somewhere.
I should’ve stopped wallowing in self-pity and fought for him four years ago.
Yeah, shoulda, coulda, woulda. She hadn’t. Regret wouldn’t help her, and after seeing the love in Nic’s eyes last night, she refused to just give up. It was possible for a wolf to love a human enough to give up the chance at reproducing. Those three happy couples were proof.
Nic’s wolf cares for me. Deep concern is a form of love. It’s a start. She snorted. Who was she kidding? She was in for the fight of her life.
The dinging of the clock dragged her out of her thoughts. Four o’clock. She sighed and forced her feet to move. She couldn’t ignore Nic’s dad any longer.
The door to the basement closed behind her with a soft click. The lighted keypad next to it flashed from green to red, signaling the automatic lock had been activated. Except during daytime hours, there was usually only one nurse staffing the clinic. Depending on their patients, a pack protector either watched over the hospital or a dominant stood on guard outside a non-Kagan shifter’s room.
She’d be the first to admit it wasn’t the greatest setup, but it was the best they could do with their limited staffing. Luckily, they rarely had patients, and when they did, they usually didn’t stay long. A day, two at the most, and they left. Nic’s dad had been here the longest, but his vitals had stabilized over the past few days. She felt confident that he’d recovered, at least from the infection.
His inability to shift on the other hand?
If Nicholas Kagan had been a different man, she’d recommend he be put on suicide watch. Shifters needed to embrace their animal sides. Only stubbornness would keep the older male tied to the living. It would catch up to him eventually, though. Without his wolf, he was only a man.
She entered the additional code to access his room and slipped inside.
“Everything good upstairs?” Nicholas’s deep voice cut through the silence.
She faced him, gaze lowered, and nodded. “Yes, quiet but busy. Today was supposed to be Jenna’s day to help me out.” There was no reason to say why. Everybody in the pack knew about Ben’s death. Most had probably stopped by Jenna’s house with words of comfort, casseroles and offers to clean her home and do her laundry while she grieved.
He sat up in bed, hands loose in his lap and his gaze boring into her. Silence stretched while he stared at her. She peeked at him from under her lashes, a move that allowed her to see his eyes without appearing challenging. It annoyed her to have to do so. It never used to, but having Nic admit his wolf thought her worthless spiked her resentment of shifter culture. For the first time, she understood why Alex wanted out.
She cleared her throat. “Was there something else you wanted to talk to me about?”
“Nic said you’re leaving in the next couple of days.”
“I’d considered it but decided to stay a little longer. If Derek decides to challenge you this month, I want to make sure I’m here in case you need me after the fight.” Because I’m not supposed to know you can’t shift.
He narrowed his eyes. Did he suspect she lied? “My son is accepting the wolf spirit on the next full moon. If there are any challenges, he’ll deal with them.”
“Then I’ll stay to make sure he doesn’t need me either.”
“And the next month? Will you remain to hold his hand again?”
She tensed. The sharp bite to his words surprised her. She tilted her head and studied his tense posture. There was no way he’d found out about her and Nic. Or was there? She didn’t have an answer. Caution was best, though.
“Nic doesn’t need me to hold his hand.”
“You’re right. He’ll have his mate to comfort him and lick his wounds.” He leaned forward, his gaze demanding the truth. “What’s the real reason you’re staying, Riley?”
She linked her hands behind her back to hide any sign of her unease. “Do I need one?” She met his gaze, then dropped it, the most she dared. Nicholas would never harm her, but his lectures hurt almost as muc
h as a slap across the face. “Or am I no longer welcome?”
“How far did you and Nic take your attraction four years ago?”
“We aren’t involved. We never—”
“Don’t lie. I remember the looks you’d shared when you thought nobody was watching, and I know for a fact he often stayed over at your house. The woods have eyes, don’t forget.”
She sucked in a breath before she could stop it.
He chuckled. “Be glad it was one of the older betas who’d made the discovery and not any of the females who’d thought to earn my son’s favor. You would’ve found yourself in a world of danger.”
She ground her teeth. “So I’ve been told.”
Another low laugh shook his chest. “Yes, it’s best you leave.”
Unable to stop herself, she jerked her gaze to his. “You’re ordering me to leave?”
He nodded. “I have spoken to my nephew in Ohio. He will welcome you into his pack and do as I have done, encourage his males to mate you.”
She balled her fists and stepped forward. “No. I am not leaving. If you send me away, I’ll come back as soon as Nic is alpha. He’ll welcome me into the pack again.”
“So you want to make my son’s life miserable, is that it?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you?” He raised a brow. “Are you going to stand there and tell me Nic doesn’t love you?”
She froze. The lie got stuck in her throat. She couldn’t bring herself to utter it. Some part of her worried if she said it, it’d come true. Crazy, she knew. Still, the words wouldn’t form.
Gaze on her shoulder, he curled his fingers. “Come here.”
Her heartbeat kicked into high gear. She could not refuse him, but the way he looked at her worried her. Hell, it scared the shit out of her. He knew. Or at least suspected the truth.
She lifted her chin. “Fine. If you want me to leave, I will.” She pivoted and reached for the doorknob.
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