by T. F. Walsh
Rising from my hiding place, I dusted off the dead leaves sticking to me in embarrassing places and sprinted to the back door. Once inside, I slipped into a dark corridor. Voices floated on the air, and my nerves stood on end as I rushed to hide inside my office.
Edging the door shut behind me, I crossed the dark room, kicking a wastepaper bin in the process. A dull thud echoed. Crap.
From the bottom drawer of my desk, I seized the spare clothes and shoes. Hurry up. I tugged on my underwear and tight pencil skirt.
A creak outside the room.
I dropped to my knees and rushed to put my bra and blouse on, fastening the front buttons at ultra-speed, my hands shaking. Hopefully, the buttons were in the correct holes.
I slipped into heels, immediately cursing that decision, and raked my fingers through my shoulder-length hair, hoping it resembled a smidgen of normalcy. No noises outside. I snuck out the back door, locking it behind me. The cool breeze of the woods washed away the perspiration but left me chilled.
Okay, I can do this.
I’d only been living in Braşov for a couple of months as part of the tradition of rohang, my one year amongst humans and away from the pack. If I could get through this yearly ritual—and that meant not drawing police attention—I’d be considered a full- fledged pack member ready to be taken seriously and allowed to participate in pack hunts.
Entering into the woods, I took each step slowly to avoid tripping, and soon enough, I reached the dirt road leading up to the front of the institute. Lofty pines stood, crowded in every direction. Their fresh morning scent and the swaying wind calmed me.
Spotting a bulging gap at the front of my blouse from a button I’d missed, I tugged it down.
“Hey,” a uniformed officer from up the road called out.
I spun away from him and fiddled with the buttons. Wonderful, the police will think I can’t even dress myself or I was making out in the woods. Maybe he was the one who chased me from the city.
“Turn back around, slowly,” the male’s husky voice called out.
With the top of my blouse wide open, I rushed to fix it as footsteps closed in. Now buttoned up correctly, I spun around to face the officer and planted a smile on my face. He halted several paces away.
“Hi there.” Damn my shaky voice.
“Where did you come from?” The young officer had a faint wisp of a mustache and appeared about fourteen years old. He scanned the grounds behind me.
“I work there.” I pointed at the institute.
He stared at my fingers momentarily. “Where’s your car?”
“I walked.”
“In the freezing cold in heels and without a coat? And why are your fingers purple?” I shrugged. “It—”
“A huge wolf was spotted in the woods this morning. You should be more careful.”
He cocked his head. “What’s your name?”
My mouth opened, but someone else’s voice responded from behind the policeman. “Daciana. Fantastic, you’ve arrived early.” Vasile, my boss, jogged toward us.
Dressed in an olive-colored suit with pointed lapels and flared pants, he would be considered trendy—if we were in the seventies. Thankfully, it didn’t matter, since he had the biggest heart of any person I’d ever met. A breeze fluttered through his thinning brown hair. At fifty-six, he easily looked a decade younger.
The policeman turned to face him. “Why is she in the woods without a car?”
“It’s fine. She works for me.” Vasile snorted and wiped a hand down his face. Vasile didn’t know the truth about me, but he trusted me unconditionally and always
had my back. I was eternally grateful.
A silent, awkward moment of the men staring at each other ended with the policeman
sighing and marching up the road. Were they here because they followed me from the city?
“Daciana.” Vasile’s voice shook. He clapped a hand on my shoulder. “Since when do you walk to work? What’s going on?”
I swallowed past my dry throat, attempting to find my voice and a plausible lie to stop Vasile from staring at me as if I’d somehow stabbed him in the back. “I ... I dropped off the car at the mechanic last night since the brakes were playing up, so I went on foot today.”
“Well, we have a major problem this morning. Come, I’ll tell you inside.”
We hiked up the road in silence. The last time I’d seen Vasile this distraught was when someone stole one of his company vehicles.
Two months ago, Vasile took me on as an intern. After helping him with several injured animals, he’d appointed me the institute’s behavioral specialist. Of course, it came with a load of training, and I owed him for taking a chance on me, so I’d do anything he asked.
Within reason.
We reached the front window of the institute, which was stamped with the logo—an oak tree. Ahead, the main door opened and another policeman, wearing jeans and a pale, blue shirt, emerged. A badge hung from around his neck on a chain. His gaze landed on me, and I wondered how he had gained the purple bruise beneath his left eye. A gust of cold air whipped past, ruffling his black, cropped hair, and I caught a sniff of his woody cologne.
“Inspector Anton Funar.” He offered me a hand. I shook it, firm and frozen to the touch, but his green eyes never left me.
An itchy sensation crawled along my skin. Anton might’ve been tall and handsome with his chiseled jaw and all that, but his hard stare left me uncomfortable. The word abrasive came to mind.
“So, why would anyone take them?” Vasile’s attention focused on the inspector.
Anton cleared his throat. “We’re looking into it, but there doesn’t seem to be any signs of a break-in, so either it’s an inside job or someone got access to a key. You really should look at getting an alarm system and cameras. It seems someone simply waltzed in, took the bear cubs from their cage, and walked straight out. But I need to speak to you in private, if you don’t mind.”
My belly flip-flopped. “The cubs were stolen?”
I pushed past Anton, through the front door, and bolted inside, directly to the back room where we temporarily held injured or endangered animals. We either relocated them back into the wild or called a vet if they were injured. But with orphaned animals like cubs, we kept them for a day, or two at most, until we found a bear sanctuary that could care for the young.
Veering right into the open room, I hoped I’d misunderstood the conversation. The far right corner where we’d left the two cubs to sleep overnight in a large cage was empty.
Oh, goddess, no. Why would anyone steal helpless bear cubs?
Had someone seen me place the key under the bin outside last night? Guilt rippled through me. Those poor cubs. Stepping farther into the room, I inspected the corner and instantly inhaled a faint scent—something sweaty, almost barnyard. Actually, it reminded me of fresh leather, but with a stronger chemical influence. Strange, since it hadn’t been there yesterday, and I’d spent all day in the room. It was definitely a new odor from overnight. Being close to the full moon, my senses were sharpened.
“This is terrible.” Vasile’s voice held a brisk snap that broke through my thoughts.
I spun around as he stormed into the room, his arms folded across his chest, hands tucked into his armpits.
“Why would anyone do this?” The lump in my throat refused to dissolve.
“Mind explaining why the police found this near the bin outside?” Vasile stuck out his hand and uncurled his fingers.
Ice froze my insides. In his palm sat a yellow key identifier ring—mine. When I opened my mouth to explain, no words came out. I pulled the key to the building out of my pocket, minus the yellow ring. Double shit. Vasile had issued everyone a different colored ring for easy identification.
I squeezed the key in my hand until it hurt. Perhaps the ring fell off when I ran into the woods? Didn’t matter. Vasile was going to fire me. Maybe I’d get arrested, and my rohang would come to a short, speedy end. I had the best
alibi in the world about my whereabouts last night and why I left the key there, but I couldn’t tell a soul.
“I planned to run to work this morning but preferred not to have anything on me in case it dropped and I lost it. So I left the key out back.” Pacing in a small circle, hands by my sides, shoulders curled forward, I said, “I’m such an idiot. I’m sorry, Vasile.”
“You ran to work in heels?”
“Well ... ” My words dried up, and I faced him. I was doing a spectacular job of digging myself deeper. “I took my shoes off. Running in heels would be insane.”
He frowned, staring right through me, and I held my breath, waiting for him to pick apart my weak-assed excuse. “So then you didn’t take the cubs?”
“Never.” My voice rose. “I would never want them harmed.”
He shook his head and rubbed his clean-shaven chin.
“I’ve heard of bear cubs being sold on the black market. A bear’s gall bladder can sell
for over ten grand.” Or so I’d read in the local paper. “Maybe someone found out we had them and saw me hide the key under the bin.” My mind whirled with horrific possibilities. “When I left yesterday to go home, only you and I were in the building.”
Vasile paced to the door and back, his arms tightly crossing his chest. “That’s my fear, too. Yesterday, I foolishly told a friend about the cubs, knowing the man couldn’t keep a secret if his life depended on it.” He halted a few paces in front of me. “I plan to speak to him before I tell the police anything more. I’d hate to get him in trouble if he simply opened his big mouth. And the police say they’ve had other wild animals vanish lately from the zoo and various veterinarians, so it might all be connected.”
The longer I worked at the institute, the more I adored the idea of keeping this job for as long as possible. Sure, I missed my pack family in the woods, but after two months in Braşov, I struggled with the idea of going home and being mated. My independence would vanish, along with any individuality and prospects of seeing the world. And after my small taste of freedom in Braşov, I wasn’t ready to give it up so easily. But those were problems for another day. For now, I had to keep my job to pay for my apartment. My alpha knew someone through a friend of a friend who’d gotten me this job, so if I was fired, he’d find out and expect me home. He’d made it clear I had to support myself completely. Otherwise, I didn’t belong in the city.
“Please don’t fire me.”
Vasile huffed. “We all make mistakes, but this is a big one, Daciana. If we don’t find those cubs or who’s responsible ... I’m sorry, but I’ll have to let you go. When my boss finds out, he’ll demand your resignation.”
The notion made me queasy. Sandulf would order me to return to the pack and claim a mate. I didn’t want to return and simply pump out babies. This job offered me the opportunity for a new life.
“I told the police I’d speak with my staff about the ring, so I’ll tell them it was you. You’ll be questioned.”
I nodded and struggled to breathe. “Yes. No problem. I’ll do anything to help track down the cubs. I’m so sorry, Vasile.”
“We’ll go down to the station now. I don’t want them thinking we are hiding anything.”
“Aren’t the police still here?”
He shook his head. “They just left.”
“Okay. And I can ask them about the strange smell in the room, too. I think it’s connected to whoever took the bears.”
Vasile sniffed the air, his head tilted back, nostrils flaring with each inhale. “The animal smell?”
“No.” I pushed strands of hair off my face. “The tanned leather. It’s faint.”
“Nope. Don’t smell leather, but remnants of that blasted cold are still blocking one of my nostrils. Not sure I could smell flowers if they were right under my nose.”
“It’s a strange smell, that’s all. I’ll mention it to them anyway.”
He reached into his pocket and retrieved a set of keys. “Let’s go then.”
“Of course.” This was my fault, and with the bear cubs potentially in danger, I felt
responsible.
I’d find them myself and set my mistakes right.
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