by Carmen Fox
“So glad this is over.” I flicked a finger against the air vents that weren’t blowing cool air my way. “The other car’s driver made it sound like the whole thing was my fault.”
Drake hmm-ed.
“It wasn’t.” My voice left no room for doubt. “Guess she needed someone to blame.”
“I’m not surprised. That’s what humans do.”
“It’s what everyone does.”
“You live among them, don’t you?” He bit on his mint with a crunch and swallowed. “Humans, I mean. You didn’t find a pack to live with when you came over, but chose a human environment, right?”
“Yes. So?”
“Then you might have become blind to their idiosyncrasies.” He shot me a sideways glance. “Not your fault, of course.”
If it hadn’t been lava-level hot in here, I’d have crossed my arms. “Idiosyncrasies like what?”
“Werewolves would have made sure you’re okay first, whoever was at fault. Blame would be the last thing we’d focus on. Our kind sticks together.”
“I thought you lived in Marlontown, not Pleasantville circa 1950s.”
Drake ripped the steering wheel to the side to overtake a car, and the jolt aggravated my sore back.
I leaned forward into his peripheral vision and gave him a prolonged look. “Not all werewolves are alike, and neither are all humans. Look at Mark, the kid from the accident. He wouldn’t leave my side for more than a few minutes. He took photos of the cars for the insurance and stuck up for me when the other driver made the collision sound like Waterloo.”
“I’m not saying humans are bad, but on balance, they are quicker to overreact and get violent.”
I made a show of my disapproval by shifting in my seat and mumbling words like “twenty-first century” and “tolerance.” Living among humans was my choice. Werewolves could learn from their social interactions.
“Oh no, don’t hold back on me, Princess Kensington.” Drake’s fingers had tightened around the steering wheel, and the needle of his speedometer was creeping up. “If you’ve got something to say, say it.”
“At one time, the free packs and the royal packs were at war. A violent war.”
“That was a long time ago, and it was hardly a war.”
“Maybe not on a global scale, but werewolves died at the hands of other werewolves. Same way as humans have over the centuries.” I turned my head away from him. “And not for nothing, but it was barely forty years ago that your own pack was warring among itself.”
One way or another, my father had found himself right in the middle of their skirmishes, even helped Jonah become the Wild Pack’s alpha. Some argued the bond the two forged back then had become the foundation on which peace between all packs was built.
“That was different.” Drake pushed a button on his dashboard, and a rocky tune filled the interior. “Maybe you shouldn’t talk about stuff you know nothing about.”
I’d clearly hit an old wound.
Still, werewolves could be as mean and petty as humans. Growing up hadn’t been a picnic. The taunts, the shoving, and the swirlies only lost their hold over me once I was old enough to understand who I was: the alpha’s daughter. The heir apparent to the crown. And I’d emerged stronger for all their efforts to keep me down.
One day, I was going to rule my father’s pack, and the boys who’d tormented me—men now—had better watch out.
Drake was stewing in his perceived righteousness, and I was too hot to care. To my left, green fields stretched far and wide, veritable oceans of tall plants with large leaves.
“Sunflower fields?” I tapped the window with my knuckle.
“Yeah.” Drake took a deep breath, then dropped his shoulders and lowered the volume of the radio a fraction. “You’re about a month too early to see them in their full glory.”
“I’ve read about these fields, but never seen them in bloom.”
“Right.”
And that was it. Once again, we’d run out of conversation. Jeez, I was facing a difficult few days if Drake was representative of Jonah’s pack.
We bypassed any further signs of civilization and, after another ten minutes’ silence, drove up a steep path, past alfalfa fields with tractors and neat windrows. I was used to tall city blocks and the exhaust-clogged roads in Chicago, and of course to the densely wooded mountains of my home town. These large areas of green didn’t do it for me.
If anything, the wide-open setting only intensified my unease. I’d been summoned to find a missing girl in a town of strangers. What was I going to find once I started digging into this ostensible paradise?
Two
“You must be Princess Kensington.” The blond guy who’d opened the door for us shook my hand emphatically. “I’m Leo.”
I pushed my sunglasses up onto my head. “Hi, Leo.”
A flicker of dominance brushed my skin and vanished in an instant. If this wasn’t the alpha, and Drake was Jonah’s protector, what the hell was Leo’s role in this pack?
“Come on in. Jonah can’t wait to meet you.” Leo reached for my laptop bag.
I didn’t mind my suitcase boiling in the truck’s bed, but my computer contained important files I couldn’t afford to lose to heat-related damage.
“I’m good.” I pulled in my stomach and slipped past his outstretched arm, keeping my laptop carrier firmly pressed under my arm. In an instant, a mellow stream from the AC cooled my body.
“Oops,” I mumbled as the corner of my bag dug into Leo’s side. “Sorry.”
He winced and withdrew his helping hand.
There I was being rude again, but until I’d assessed how this pack treated their female members, I’d stick to my game plan and refuse any male help.
“You can leave your stuff over there, if you like.” Leo pointed to the area next to the door.
“Okay.” I did as he asked.
Leo was tall, a healthy specimen with fair skin vibrant with red undertones. A kink in his nose turned what could have been a pretty face into a handsome one. Who knew they produced eye candy of his and Drake’s caliber in a far-away place like Marlontown?
“Right.” I tugged my jacket straight. “I’m ready.”
Leo flashed a five-hundred Watt beam. “Follow me.”
Drake was coming up behind us, then climbed a wood staircase to the upper level, without even a nod to acknowledge me.
Good riddance. Leo was going to be better company, for sure.
The inside of the building was more spectacular than the outside had suggested. Recessed lights created subtle patterns on the travertine floor. It was my luck that the framed mirrors on the walls showed every wrinkle and every unflattering pose. The drive and crash had taken their toll on my appearance, and the shadows under my eyes knocked my confidence.
“I hope you weren’t seriously injured.” Leo rolled up his shirtsleeves, revealing strong forearms. His gray slacks were a little tight, although I didn’t mind, since they clung to a pair of nice legs.
“No, I’m resilient. Buck stayed behind to deal with the car and the insurance.” I straightened my jacket and smoothed my dark hair back into its bun in one of the mirrors. The best I could do for now.
“Buck’s a good guy, although entirely without aspirations.”
A diplomatic way of saying that Buck wasn’t strong enough to climb the ranks to a position of note, especially not in a free pack. Free packs valued physical strength more than any natural birthright to lead.
The end of the corridor opened into a space of undefined purpose. Heaps of sunlight pooled around an oval dark-wood table in the middle of the room, which was ringed by six chairs.
A slim guy, older than me but younger than my dad, shot to his feet and walked toward me, hand outstretched. “Kensington. It’s so good to meet you.”
The prickle chasing across my skin intensified to remove all doubt: he was the alpha, and a formidable one to boot. He’d be expecting my own dominance to greet him right now, but all I ha
d for him was a smile.
“Hello.” I measured my breath for a steady voice. “You’re Jonah, the alpha?”
As if the pheromones that signaled his power hadn’t already answered that question.
“Yes. Yes, I am.” He gripped my hand with both of his. “Please excuse my rudeness. Is Kensington okay, or do you prefer Princess Kensington?”
The tingle sharpened into the full-on assault of a thousand bee stings.
“Please call me Kensi.” My voice didn’t tremble yet, but his authority battered my insides and physically weakened my legs.
Sheer doggedness drove me to stretch my spine, make myself taller, my demeanor fiercer. Dominance was about more than pheromones. It was also a game that relied on appearance, posture, and a well-timed look to throw my opponents out of their comfort zone.
His mouth moved. His eyelids lifted by a fraction.
Leo, who had installed himself a few feet away, tensed his shoulders. Had I been wrong about Drake being Jonah’s protector?
“Kensi it is.” Jonah patted my back and in doing so, sneakily herded me toward the table and to a seat on the long side of the oval.
Not one word about my lack of dominance.
No way he’d know the truth. To my knowledge, only my father’s closest advisers had been told of my “troubles.” Their word choice. Being of a more realistic mindset, I had no use for euphemisms. I was a dud—as in dudn’t shift, dudn’t run, dudn’t intimidate. Even though my dominance, that ability to induce fear and awe in my fellow werewolves, had so far eluded me, hiding my shortcomings from others only became an issue when my status was being challenged, usually around alphas and protectors.
It wasn’t like I hadn’t tried to squeeze the wolf out of me. For months, I’d meditated for an hour at the crack of dawn, and had even experimented with mind-expanding drugs in the hope that I could dream myself into my alternate shape, but nothing had worked.
“The wolf is in you, Schatz,” Dad would say. “Somewhere. Hidden deep. Waiting to explode.”
“So, you’re finally here.” Jonah tugged his pant legs up and sat in his chair at the end of the table.
“Yes, it’s been an adventure.”
He added another dollop of power to his dominance, which was beginning to piss me off. My misgivings must have shown on my face, because Leo stepped closer, yet without interfering. He, too, had to wonder why I wasn’t repaying his alpha’s assault in kind.
“Anything wrong?” Jonah asked.
“Not at all.” I forced the sweetest of smiles onto my lips. “I’d assumed Drake was your protector, but—”
“I have two.”
“Two?”
What kind of alpha needed two protectors?
“Politics.” Jonah’s face twisted for a fraction into a pained grimace. “Still, it has many advantages as you can imagine.”
That made total sense. In fact, my future reign might benefit from a similar situation. Two protectors would strengthen my position, assuming I could find two powerful werewolves I could trust enough not to depose me down the line.
“You’re considering it for yourself, aren’t you?” Jonah chuckled, and finally relaxed his aura. “I can see it in your face.”
“Maybe.” I let my gaze drift across the two desks by the back windows, and massaged my hands. My fingers ached because I hadn’t rolled them into fists, even though failing to do so had gone against the alpha’s unspoken command.
Jonah smoothed his russet hair, which was cut neat but not styled, before picking up a white pot with an elegant spout. “Coffee?”
“Yes, please.”
Jonah poured steaming coffee into a large cup and handed it to me. He wasn’t pretty or even handsome in a Hollywood sense, but with his charisma and physicality—tall, packed with sinewy strength, and sporting a determined jaw—he was every woman’s dream hunk.
I also knew he was single.
It was tradition and indeed encouraged for royal alphas-to-be like me to take a mate before ascending to the throne. No doubt this thought had crossed my father’s mind when he’d dispatched me to this place. Jonah would make quite the trophy. Besides, a strong alpha by my side would quieten all those doubting whispers about my ability to lead.
Still, I had no intention of ensnaring Jonah or any of his males with my womanly wiles. Sorry, Dad. To me, being single was a mission statement.
“Have you spoken to your father yet about the accident?” Jonah asked.
“No. I’ll call him tonight. He’s got more important things to worry about.”
“How is he?”
“He’s well.”
“Good. I knew the rumors weren’t true. Strong as an ox, your dad. Always has been.” Jonah tipped back his head for a laugh I was warming to. “I can’t believe I finally get to meet you. Aldwych, I keep saying to him, you must come visit me and bring your daughter. I bet she’s a firecracker.”
Jonah seemed like a good man, and his affable manner was effective. The tension in my neck lessened as I assumed a less rigid posture.
“My father asked me to convey his apologies for not accompanying me.” I wrapped my hands around my mug and allowed myself a sentimental smile. “His priority is for me to do my job, and he feared an official visit by an alpha king would get in the way.”
“He’s a wise man.” Jonah leaned forward and studied me, his pale fingers moving against the tabletop in alternation. “And yet he agreed to let you pursue a career before you accept the royal title. Not as a manager of a company or in some other leadership role, but as a private investigator.”
I snapped my gaze up to his face. There it was. That doubt.
Damn. I’d really wanted to like him, too.
“Of course,” I said in a way others would say “duh.” “What better way to prepare me for what lies ahead than letting me forge my own path? Every day I hone my mind and find new solutions. Brawn isn’t the only qualification a good alpha should have.”
My dig at the violent ways of the free packs couldn’t have been lost on Jonah, but his features barely stirred.
“Not the only one, but one of them, surely.” He squinted. “If you cannot show strength, how do you expect the men under your command to respect you?”
Now he was openly questioning my ability to lead?
“The same way the women under me will respect me. Believe me, I’m fully aware that some people like to push their physical advantage, and I’ll make sure they get what’s coming to them. Everyone will.” I sipped my coffee slowly, very slowly, even though my blood was raging underneath. ”Take my word for it.”
“Meaning?”
I licked the coffee taste off my upper lip. “Let me put it this way. I initially turned down your job with a clear, unequivocal ‘no.’ Next thing I know, you ask my dad to intervene. Now I’m here.”
“I hope going over your head won’t be a problem.” Spoken like a true grade-A chauvinist superior son of a bitch.
I leaned my head to the side and raised my eyebrows.
His pupils dilated, his mouth froze in a half-smirk.
“One day, I will succeed my father to the throne, and let me assure you, I have a long memory.” My voice rolled in my throat. For a few precious seconds, I was all wolf. “You might not understand that when a woman says no, when I say no, I mean no, but if you ever hope to deal with me again, you’d do well to learn fast.”
Leo, who’d repositioned himself a few paces away, stepped toward us. My words had been close enough to a threat to give him cause to smack me all the way to Sunday, but what choice had his boss given me? Attacking my alpha credentials could not go unpunished, as Jonah knew.
Jonah raised a hand to stop his protector. Weirdly, the onslaught of dominance I’d invited didn’t come.
Instead, Jonah’s lips curved into a smile, while his head moved slowly up and down.
“You’re right. I understand I didn’t make the best first impression, and I’ll work hard to convince you I’m worthy of
your trust.” He snapped his fingers, and Leo scurried to hand him a file. “And I’m not half as sexist as you think I am, I promise.”
Was this a win? It was tough to tell sometimes. After dealing with Drake, I’d kind of hoped for a smooth ride, but werewolves weren’t that accommodating. One-upmanship always got in the way of a nice conversation.
My personality didn’t necessarily help, either. While I didn’t seek out confrontation, once cajoled into one, I made sure I came out on top. This time, though, I would have to live with the uncertainty, because I had the distinct feeling this whole thing had been a test. A battle of wills Jonah had devised to see how I stacked up as a future alpha and ally.
God. Werewolf politics sucked.
“Right then.” I added a hint of sass to my voice and straightened. “Now, I was told you’ve misplaced a werewolf.”
“Her name is Raven.” Jonah slid the file across the table. “She disappeared four months ago. One of my young ones, only twenty-three years old. The police refuse to investigate, since there’s no evidence of a crime and she was an adult...at least in human years. They believe she ran away, but werewolves don’t run away.”
“No, they don’t.”
“This matter must be dealt with by the next full moon.”
I frowned. “That’s less than three weeks from now.”
“I followed the Society Strangler case. What the police couldn’t get done in a year, you handled in a week.” The charming smile that accompanied his words didn’t make up for him siccing my father on me or putting me through the wringer. “I have the greatest confidence in you.”
“Why the full moon?”
“Many fear a crime has been committed, and since pack members obey pack law, Raven’s disappearance is being blamed on the humans. My people want retribution. To diffuse the tension, I promised an answer to this mystery by the next Moon Festival, but our efforts so far have failed.” His concentrated look reflected the gravity of his words. “You understand now why I had to involve your father to get you here so quickly. I’m running out of time.”
“Right.”
Drake’s dislike of humans finally gained some context. Cut off from urban melting pots, tolerance had become a rare commodity in this place, and humans—somehow—had become the focus of the pack’s prejudices. They weren’t entirely alone in their views. My father’s pack lacked the will to be fully inclusive, but at least they tried to get along with their human neighbors.