by Bonnie Vanak
Liar. Jenny watched the throbbing of his carotid artery, knowing the others did as well. For her it wasn’t merely the physical signs of lying, the man smelled of it. His aura too…
Black and gray.
Good thing no one other than Troy knew of her unique talent to read auras of Skins. It came in handy now. Troy shot her a questioning look.
She knew what he wanted. Jenny nodded and studied the professor.
Suddenly his aura faded, and beneath the pleasant smile and the earnest expression she saw death.
A grinning putrid green skull, flickering in and out beneath his face.
Instinct warned this Skin was evil at his core. His scent turned as dark and disgusting as raw sewage.
Gorge rose in her stomach. She wanted to run screaming out of the room, shifting as she ran, deep into the forest. The instinct battled with another one – to find a blade and sink it into his evil heart.
He doesn’t want to study wolves.
He wants to kill them.
Not just wolves. Us too. He knows something.
Deep inside, she felt something flare to life, as if a long-buried instinct had surged. Jenny struggled against it. Not again. She thought she had this under control.
Now was not the time for a little demonstration of magick. Not magick known to Lupines or these odd powers that flickered on and off like a sputtering light.
Sam told her she could control her powers. Jenny focused on Troy and breathed deep, seeing only him as she wrestled to leash her magick.
Glancing sideways, she saw Perry staring at her. As if he sensed what she had uncovered…
But he turned his full attention once more on Aiden.
“Camp out on our land? We’ve already extended the courtesy to one professor from the college, Mr. Perry.” Aiden gave the man a hard stare, ignoring his professor title in an obvious insult. “If you wish to study wolves, you’ll have to consult with Professor Carson. I’ve granted exclusive rights to him. If he tells me you’re okay, then you have my permission.”
“Mr. Mitchell, I’m more than qualified. Much more than Professor Carson. He’s inexperienced and brings few skills to the table.” Perry leaned forward, hands on his splayed knees. “I’m prepared to offer handsome compensation for camping on your land and I promise my team and I will not interfere with your ranching business.”
Darius snorted. “No one interferes with our ranching business, period. Those who try find themselves missing a few teeth.”
Aiden held up a hand, quieting his beta. “I told you, consult with Professor Carson.”
“You are denying my request?”
“I am. No one is allowed on my ranch and my land unless I gauge them to have good reason.”
“I have good reason, Mr. Mitchell. I only wish to protect your livestock and your livelihood while protecting the environment. Is that not enough? Surely a balance can be found.”
Jenny’s gaze snapped back and forth between the two. Aiden fairly bristled with hostility, though the professor still smiled, as if they indulged in social pleasantries. As if he were a calm and reasonable man making a reasonable request that any reasonable businessperson would grant.
But she had seen the evil beneath the man’s smile and knew it was a farce.
He didn’t come onto the ranch to ask permission to camp. He wanted to assess the alpha and his powers.
Judging from the sly skull grin beneath the man’s skin, Perry found Aiden’s weakness. He wasn’t immune to reason.
And that could be the alpha’s downfall, because she suddenly knew Perry would find any way possible to nudge his way into the heart of the Lupine pack. Once he gained access, he would mow them all down as efficiently as she’d seen Troy cut the grass with the big bush hog machine in the utilities barn.
Aiden frowned, and she could see him wrestling with a decision. She had to convince him, without being obvious, to get rid of this Skin.
Now, before Perry had the chance to look around and see exactly where he could infiltrate. Every bone in her body cried out for this threat to be gone.
Feeling the heat of the professor’s gaze, she forced herself to look up. Jenny’s fingers tingled with the itch to release the powers humming beneath her skin.
“Balance is good. When there’s trust established. Does Professor Carson trust you? And if he does, why didn’t he accompany you to this meeting? Why not ask him to introduce you?”
Her words made Aiden’s gaze sharpen and Dale smile.
Perry’s smile vanished. If the man had fangs, he’d bare them.
“I don’t know what business it is of yours, little lady.”
She’d been insulted before by experts. Perry wasn’t even close. But Troy stiffened. She put a calming hand on his arm as he went to stand. Probably he wanted to punch Perry straight in his condescending nose.
“Oh, it’s my business. I like it here and I respect Mr. Mitchell. This is his ranch.” Jenny decided to go for the throat. She was a wolf, after all. “I heard a rumor you wish access to this ranch because you believe there are werewolves on this land.”
None of the males with her blinked an eyelash, but she felt the ripple of energy shift to pure disbelief, saw it in their auras.
If auras could speak, they’d all scream What The Hell?!!
Perry didn’t blink, either. He laughed. “Werewolves, Miss… ah.”
“Jenny.”
“You think I want to conduct a scientific investigation on the existence of werewolves?” Perry bent over, laughing. When he straightened, he wiped his eyes. “Pardon me, that has to be the funniest joke I’ve heard in months. I’m a scientist, Miss Jenny. Not a believer in fantasy.”
“Professor Carson attended your lecture and said you were a believer in the supernatural. He said you wished to kill them,” Dale told him.
Perry’s thin mouth flattened. He leaned forward. “My colleague attended a lecture I hosted in part jest. It was to revive student interest in a lost topic – conservation. Had he remained for the second half of the lecture, he would have heard me tell the audience there are no such things as werewolves, but we must do all we can to save the real wolves from becoming extinct.”
Jenny felt the tension flee the air, but internally, she stiffened. Perry’s aura turned pure black. Even had she not seen his aura, she’d have known the man was lying by the way he averted her gaze.
He waved a hand. “Come to one of my lectures and find out for yourself. A little lady like you could learn a lot from me. An education is a good thing, even for a girl.”
It took everything she had not to stand up and punch that condescending smile off the man’s face. Jenny knew his type. He aimed to unsettle her, make her put up defenses by targeting her gender.
Mansplaining was not going to work. She’d been around experts. Perry was just another dirt bag.
“Really?” she asked him.
Pasting a bright smile on her face, she fluttered her lashes. Sometimes her best defense was to play the part of a dumb girl.
Because she didn’t want Perry thinking he had anything on her.
Troy, on the other hand, wasn’t about to put up with the man’s nonsense. He stood and went to Perry, gesturing at the front door.
“We’re done here, Mr. Perry. I’ll see you out.”
Not waiting for either Aiden or Dale to speak, Troy had a firm grip on the professor’s arm and was hustling him out the door like a burly nightclub bouncer tossing out an unruly drunk.
Jenny suppressed a slight laugh. Troy never did tolerate condescending remarks directed her way.
My knight in shining wolf fur.
When Troy returned, he took a deep breath. “If my actions were out of line, I apologize,” he told Aiden. “But you instructed me to deal with threats and Perry is a clear one. The longer he stayed, the more he’d have the opportunity to spy on the ranch.”
Aiden nodded. “You did your job, Troy. I only invited him here to find out what his game’s all about.�
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“Now we know.” Dale stretched out his long legs. “But Beth thinks he’s harmless, although eccentric.”
“Do you believe his line about werewolves?” Darius asked Aiden.
“Huge risk for a Skin professor with a reputation to protect to start spouting he believes in the supernatural. We have only Carson’s side of things, and maybe Carson was trying to smear Perry’s rep. Still, let’s take precautions.”
Troy leaned against the wall and folded his arms. “Where would he get the idea of the existence of werewolves?”
“Seems he saw what looked like a human turn into a wolf when he flew his father’s helicopter overhead,” Aiden drawled. “That’s what Professor Carson told Beth.”
Jenny stiffened, hoping they could not hear her rapid heartbeat.
“I don’t know what Lupine is foolish enough to shift in the open and endanger all of us,” Dale added.
Ah, that would be me.
Aiden waved a hand. “That’s not important now. What is important is that Perry wants on this land and on the off chance he wants to see for himself if werewolves do exist, we have to be more careful. He may be legitimate and want to save wolves.”
Jenny wasn’t so sure. There was something else Perry wanted, something that had nothing to do with his disguise as a Skin.
If she shared with the others what she’d seen, they’d think her a freak. Maybe even fear her.
Kick her out.
What about Troy? She’d lose him as well. He fit into this pack like a pair of comfortable boots. Unlike her.
“I don’t think you’re seeing the real danger he presents.”
All the males turned to her. Jenny braced herself.
“What do you see, Jenny?” Troy asked.
She refused to meet his gaze. Instead she stared into the fire. “There’s something beneath the surface there, more than an ordinary Skin. Something… magick.”
Aiden frowned. “I’m a good reader of Skins, and Lupines. I didn’t sense anything.”
“Me either,” Darius echoed.
“There are rumors about Perry around campus, but they don’t amount to much,” Dale added.
Terrific. They didn’t believe her. I’m doomed to be like Cassandra, able to predict a grim future, but no one trusts my words.
Troy studied her intently. “What kind of magick, Jenny?”
Trust him to know she spoke the truth. He’d seen some of her odd powers. The others had not.
“He’s evil,” she blurted out. He possesses dark magick.”
Aiden said nothing, but she sensed his disbelief.
Still, she persisted. “You need to do everything you can to keep him off this land. I would even engage the help of that other professor, Carson, if that Skin wishes to protect the wolf pack in your territory.”
“They may be warring for academic recognition. But evil?” Darius shook his head. “I’ve lived among Skins and I sense nothing truly evil about Perry.”
“My Beth says he’s respected, although quirky.” Dale shook his head. “I don’t agree with you, Jenny.”
Aiden gave her a long look. “You say Perry is dangerous. Tell me how you know.”
If she revealed the truth, they’d know she was different. She glanced at Troy, who wanted to be part of this pack. Wanted it more than anything. Troy needed to belong.
He wanted her with him.
She wanted to be with him.
Troy had done so much for her in the past. Now was not the time to reveal her quirky powers. Jenny shrugged. “Call it instinct. I know.”
“Not good enough. The pack needs to be informed. I’ll tell them tomorrow at our noon monthly meeting in the auditorium” Aiden stood, and the look he gave Troy seemed filled with warning. “I expect both of you will be there.”
Troy glanced at Jenny. “We will.”
Once she might have protested. She wasn’t part of this pack, or any pack. But today Jenny felt a nagging urge to be part of this. Because she understood the real threat Perry presented.
Even if no one else did.
Chapter 11
Due to the odd nature of Perry’s visit, Troy wanted to pitch in at the ranch helping Dale patrol the territory. Jenny assured Troy she’d be fine at the cabin, and told him she needed a nap.
Grinning at her, he drove away on the ATV as she waved from the porch.
She went inside.
Could not sleep, thinking about the death’s head skull on Perry. Thinking about the wolf pack and the odd and evil smells around the area.
Finally she gave up, dressed in jeans, a long-sleeved blue T-shirt and her hiking boots and slipped out the back door.
Aiden might have the resources of dedicated Lupines, but she had something better – her powers. Jenny could flush out a drop of blood in a lake in minutes. Skins like sneaky Professor Perry could prove less of a challenge.
The man stunk. Literally. Not enough for Aiden and other normal Lupines to detect. No, his smell of darkness was subtle, an undercurrent. Like perfume covering body odor, Perry’s normal scent disguised the stench.
Every bone in her body cried out to flush out this man and bring him to justice.
Kill him, if necessary.
Turning 21 had done more than crank up her sexual needs. It had turned on these frightening and odd magick powers she struggled to control. Yet this time, she didn’t fight it.
Instead, she knew with all her heart her instinct to find Perry guided her in the right direction. Felt like she’d been wandering for years and suddenly found the yellow brick road. Only this road didn’t lead to Oz, it led to her destiny.
She once scoffed at such ideas. Destiny was for weaklings who let others decide their lives, their fates in life. Not her.
Yet she knew destiny called to her with its strong, sometimes sinister, siren voice. She could no more ignore it than she could choose to never be Lupine.
More than being wolf now, she longed for a large dagger or even a sword. Then she could cut that bastard’s dick off if she caught him even trying to harm a hair on the wolf pack.
Jenny made her way toward the forest in a normal stride, as if going for a leisurely stroll.
When she reached a clump of trees hiding her presence, she took a deep breath. Jenny culled all her magick, centered all of it and concentrated.
The only other time she’d attempted this she’d been terrified and in tremendous need. That was before meeting Troy, when a gang of angry, doped up Skins drew near the hiding place where she slept.
It worked – barely, and left her drained and panting, but got her out of danger. The payment was a full day of being so weak she could barely walk. The startling bonus was her thoughts had propelled her to a place she’d least expected.
In an amusement park, hidden behind some barrels, she had materialized amid a happy flurry of Skin families eating spun sugar candy or popcorn. With no idea how to get back, she’d coped as best as she could. Jenny had camped out inside the park, eating scraps until a kind park manager had spotted her and offered a job sweeping.
Gradually she’d made her way back west, and met Troy.
Now she was older and much stronger. Maybe she could pull it off without the consequences, or at least without them being as severe.
Jenny inhaled a breath and the next, focused on being exactly 100 yards from the wolf pack den.
Magick swirled around her, darkening the air, sucking her into a vortex she could no fight. Jenny went with it, closing her eyes. She felt all her cells, her entire being, pulled across time and space.
When she opened her eyes, she was inside the forest near where she’d spotted the timber wolf pack. She took a deep breath, drained, and dizzy. Jenny leaned against a tree and struggled to regain her equilibrium. Odd. This time she heard weird noises, like chanting.
Tree shielded her presence. She peered out from behind one.
In a clearing about 100 yards away, she saw Perry and a group of about 10 Skins. They were chanting, an
d the sound sent chills down her spine. It reminded her of an old horror flick she’d seen once, where witches held rituals and sacrificed people.
These Skins were dressed the same way, in long black robes with hoods covering their heads. Perry wore jeans and a green long-sleeved shirt, the only ordinary looking Skin in the group.
Even the rifle in his hands was normal… but carrying it here, near the wolf pack?
How did they get past Aiden’s warding of the land? Unless someone had dismantled it. Someone from the pack who had access.
A chill seized her as one of the Skins turned, sniffed the air. This was no human being.
Only what was left of one.
His eyes glowed like fiery coals, and his complexion was pale as moonlight. He lifted a hand, and displayed talons instead of fingers.
Dear goddess, what was that?
Struggling to overcome her instinctual need to flee away from this macabre being, she calmed her wolf. She watched them approach the den holding the Timberline alpha’s pups. The hell with fear. Perry wanted to shoot the pups?
Jenny growled deep in her throat.
Not on my watch.
She culled her magick, not all of it, just enough to send a stream of pure energy sailing through the air at the rifle Perry held. It turned red hot and he yelped, dropping the weapon.
“Magick,” he yelled. “Show yourself, werewolf!”
Jenny ducked behind a tree, but not before Perry saw her.
“Get out of here, trespassers,” she shouted.
They ran off, and she heard the roar of pickup truck engines, and then tires spitting gravel on the road.
Gone.
This wasn’t good.
She had to tell Aiden before Perry and his followers returned. But would he believe her?
The following day at noon, Troy and Jenny went to the pack’s meeting hall near the lodge. Hundreds of Lupines had already gathered inside.
Jenny worried him. She’d been unusually quiet yesterday when he returned from patrolling the grounds. Finally she told him she’d seen some Skin activity near the wolf pack.