Taint of Shadow

by Cassandra Moore

  “One of those teenagers was a packmate’s son,” Kayla reminded her. “None of us should have given up.”

  “What we should do and what we end up doing don’t usually match up.” The ground sloped as Regina continued forward, headed up at a gradual incline.

  “That’s true.”

  “Even once you’d found where he was getting the blood, you didn’t stop. You convinced the most notoriously neutral witches in the city to help you decipher Kiplinger’s plan. Blood enchanted with magics to imbue the drinker with more power than all but the oldest of vampires. He would have been a huge threat to the city if you hadn’t stopped him.”

  “It wasn’t just me. Half the pack was in that fight at the storage facility.”

  “Yet you guided them there. You led them.” Now, Regina did look over at Kayla. “You don’t listen much to pack gossip, do you?”

  The abrupt conversational left turn caught Kayla off guard. “As little as possible. I keep up with people’s lives, but I don’t care for rumors.”

  “You’re missing out.” Regina chuckled low in her throat. “For the past few years, the gossip mill has gone back and forth on who would be the next pack alpha. Everyone’s favorite answer was Noah, if his balls ever dropped far enough for him to take the spot.”

  Kayla bristled. “Noah doesn’t want to lead. He trusts Peter.”

  “Peter can’t keep it forever. He’s what he calls a ‘wartime alpha’. The one who tore peace out of Tacoma’s bloody streets with tooth and claw. Someday, he’ll want a younger, more modern alpha to take the pack and protect his precious peace.” Regina snorted.

  “You think he wants Noah.”

  “I think the pack has talked about it behind both Peter and Noah’s backs. I may not have as many supporters as I want, but I do have ears. And they’ve heard the recent shift in the pack’s loose talk.”

  Kayla walked in silence and waited for Regina to get to her point. The ground sloped upward at a sharper angle now, and curved around severe juts of stone forced up from the bedrock by long-ago turbulence in the Earth’s crust. Maybe she has a favorite view of the forest. We can have a touching “everything the moonlight touches belongs to the pack” moment before I escape this weird talk.

  “After you routed Paul Kiplinger, and you accepted Noah’s marriage proposal, the pack has given up on Noah as their favorite for alpha. They’re talking about you instead. Kayla Schinn, alpha wolf of the Tacoma pack, with her loyal mate Noah at her side.”

  Kayla stumbled on a rock. “What?”

  “I didn’t stutter. You two are the pack’s new power couple. They talk about how it would be nice to have a proper set of mates in the lead.” Acid bitterness sharpened Regina’s tone. “You can imagine how much I enjoy hearing that. But the truth doesn’t care about our egos. Just about our actions.”

  They want me to be alpha? When Regina had mentioned Kayla’s ideas for her future, she hadn’t given any thought toward the alpha spot. Even when the wolf had overtaken her during that first, awkward full moon, she’d considered her inner beast a tangent in an otherwise normal life. Live a human existence, get furry once a month, go on with her daily routine like anyone else in the city. She’d never waded into supernatural politics or sought more than a casual membership in the pack.

  Not until the Kiplinger Atrocities. Those had changed everything.

  Jumbled thoughts stole any reply she might have made, and Regina didn’t push for one. She led them past the upthrust blades of stone and toward a small copse of trees nestled in crook of the mountain. A beautiful but unremarkable feature that looked, to Kayla’s eye, much like at least a dozen other forested hollows on Rainier’s slopes. Why does she want me to see this tonight? We’ve got to be running late by now.

  The older woman lifted her face toward the eastern sky as she walked, as if waiting for the moonlight to kiss her brow when it crested the rise. “Tacoma’s bloody supernatural wars were the talk of half the country’s werewolves. Seattle’s fighting tended to have long-reaching ramifications, but Tacoma? This was the staging grounds where you could get your hands dirty. What happened in Tacoma shaped Seattle’s power games. And I wanted a piece of that. I wanted the only piece of it that mattered.”

  A hint of unease churned in Kayla’s stomach. “Regina, we should turn around. They’re waiting for us.”

  “Let them wait. They can get used to it, just like I have.” Regina’s smile had edges. “I thought all the stories about Peter’s skill were exaggerated. No one could be that good. Except he was, and I didn’t stand a chance. So I changed tactics. If I couldn’t challenge him for the pack, I’d rule it beside him. I did everything I knew how to do. Wore my most flattering clothes. Put on my prettiest smile. Turned on the charm until he had no choice but to love me.”

  Kayla’s steps faltered as the women reached the treeline. What the fuck? “I don’t think this is any of my business. I’d like to go back now.”

  “One more minute, Kayla. Humor me for that long. I promise, there’s a point to this.” Regina stepped close. Before Kayla could pull away, she found her hands scooped up in the older woman’s grasp in a gesture that would be touching between friends.

  Friends wouldn’t hold with such a hard grip. “You’re starting to worry me.”

  “I’m just clearing the air between us. You’ve wanted to know what was up with me for years, haven’t you?” Regina stepped back into the embrace of the wooded copse and drew Kayla with her. “This is the confirmation you’ve wanted, isn’t it? That I’m just in it because Peter is the alpha. That I sweet talked him, and pretended to love him, and fucked him so he would give me power. He ruined this city with his ideas of peace, and then? He wouldn’t even marry me so I could push him out of the lead.”

  Kayla had always wondered. Now that she knew the truth, she couldn’t dredge up the vindication that should have come with the knowledge. “You said it yourself. He can’t be alpha forever. You could take it after him.”

  “Could I? And you think the pack would let me waltz right in as their leader? Don’t be naive. If I’d had any chance of it before, you’ve ruined that now. You’re their hero du jour, and that’s not going to fade fast.” Regina’s lip curled in a sneer. “Do you know how humiliating it is? After everything I’ve done, every defeat, every sweaty night in Peter’s bed, he’s giving advice to the next alpha’s mate just before a wedding.”

  Scared now, Kayla tried to pull away. “Except now, you’re always fighting. You’ve torn him down, and even your friends want you to end the relationship. You’ve overplayed your hand.”

  Regina’s grip tightened. “Yes. Another failure. But I’m not beaten yet. Peter’s not the only game in town.”

  Wind whistled through the trees, then changed direction on a fickle whim. A foul odor jolted Kayla out of her shock. She lifted her head for another whiff. The scent of death without rot. Sour blood. A reek of twisted magic. Her hair stood on end.

  Vampire.

  Every undead in the city knew to stay clear of the mountain on the night of the full moon. The truce kept them safe in the urban confines, but no deal could keep them alive on a night like tonight. Their presence here meant trouble. Trouble the pack needed to know about. Peter would have a litter of cubs. Any alpha would.

  But Peter was nowhere near them now. Neither was the rest of the pack. Regina had seen to that.

  Kayla stared with dawning horror at Regina. “Someone warned Kiplinger about the raid on the storage facility. He was supposed to be there, but we never found him. It was you.”

  Regina smirked. “You didn’t give me much warning with your little stunt, but you gave me enough. Paul got out with about five minutes to spare. It cost him a plan he’s had in the works for a long time. And it cost me. The first thing he would have done was killed Peter in open defiance of that damn truce. That delay isn’t something I can forgive.”

  The implications staggered Kayla. She’s lost her fucking mind. Shit. Time to go.
/>   But she couldn’t shift. The wolf wouldn’t come.

  Frantic, she reached deep inside herself for the power. She could feel it there, in the place where her animal side lived. It waited, as it always did. When she pulled, it stayed where it was, stubborn, intractable. No matter what she did, it wouldn’t budge.

  “Don’t leave,” Regina cooed. “You’re one of the guests of honor at this party. Miles, Mason, take her down.”

  Kayla didn’t see the vampires move in. As Regina pulled forward, a heavy weight hit Kayla from behind so she sprawled in the dirt. Cold, dead, strong fingers laced into her hair. “What we got ‘ere, eh?” asked a loud male voice colored with a thick Cockney accent. “Miles, I think we’ve caught ourselves a mutt.”

  “I do believe you’re right, Mason.”

  He hauled her to her feet, her scalp stretched painfully as he yanked her hair. A face forced itself in front of hers. Long blond hair fell into the man’s red eyes. The smell of death clung to him like leeches.

  “Maybe we’ve missed our calling. We should’ve been dog catchers.”

  Raucous laughter. “Hey, Paul, look what the lady brought you!” He shoved Kayla forward, his hand still wrapped around a hank of her locks.

  Kayla knew the man who stepped out of the shadow of the trees. Tall, well put-together even though he wore jeans and a button-down shirt, possessed of a sharp appearance that bespoke another age. A man of mystery and class - and evil.

  Paul Kiplinger. That’s Paul Kiplinger.

  “Is this the one who caused us so much trouble?” He moved with an unholy agility, each motion smooth, refined. When he drew close, she struggled, but the other two vampires held her fast.

  Regina made no move to help her. “Mm-hmm. Kayla Schinn. One of the last people I would have expected a problem from in times past, but it goes to show how we can underestimate those we think we know. Tonight, she is our dear number seven.”

  “A convenient fate for an inconvenient woman. I was meant to give her place in our evening’s entertainments to another, but I prefer this solution.” Kiplinger ran a cold finger down Kayla’s jaw. “Yes. She’ll do. And the pack?”

  “They’ll look for her. I’ll have to make excuses. Here...”

  Paul turned as Regina touched his arm. “What is it, my love?”

  The woman’s eyes had turned a lupine gold, but no warmth lit them. “Hurt me.” Her words turned Kayla’s stomach. “A few scratches will do. I can say Kayla and I were jumped by vampires in the woods. I’ll lead them the other direction and come back with my little puppy when the rest are lost on the wrong trail.”

  On either side of her, the vampires laughed. “Can we help?” one of them asked.

  A red-eyed glare shut them up. They had pushed Paul too far. “You won’t touch her. Get that one in place.”

  Kayla thrashed in their grip, but the one called Miles, Mason’s twin in appearance and perversion, pulled a pair of handcuffs from his belt. The touch of the metal made her skin crawl and itch.

  “Don’t change form, cutie,” he breathed into her ear, “or you’ll cut off your own hands. Those cuffs are magicked against your stupid dog tricks.”

  She screamed with every ounce of strength she had. It echoed through the night, and in answer, she heard howls. Those long, lonely calls made her ache to reply. They sounded so very far away.

  Mason punched her in the jaw. “Shut it. Come on, Miles.”

  As they hauled her away, she could hear Regina’s grunts and gasps as Paul left his marks. They sounded closer to orgasm than to pain.

  Two

  “Suppose we could have a nibble without Paul noticing?”

  Mason’s cockney lilt rose over the dull throb in her ears. It had gotten hard to think with the ache in her face fueling the animal rage that built inside her. The moon had continued its inexorable climb, and soon, she didn’t know if she’d have the strength to hold onto her control.

  But she had to. Her wrists felt itchy, chafed by whatever magic the cuffs had absorbed. She believed what the vampire had said. If she changed form, the metal would snap closed and sever her hands.

  “You daft? Paul wants her for the ritual. He doesn’t like it if you play with his toys.” Miles snorted.

  “Bet he wouldn’t notice if we took a bite.” His twin held up one hand, fingers held apart to show a small amount. “Not even a big one, yeah?”

  Miles made a face. “Yecch. Why’d you want one? Prolly tastes like a dirty chav what ate the dog’s dinner. Besides, you’d just get fur in your teeth.”

  They laughed as she stumbled along doubled at the waist, with a hand in her hair. Regina has betrayed the pack. I have to tell Peter. I have to get back to Noah. Noah...

  A familiar howl rose in the air. She stood straight, ignoring the pain of her scalp as her hair pulled and the vampire cussed. Noah was calling for her. Prickles of power, rage, fear shot through her, and her muscles rippled, but the bite of metal into her wrists snapped her out of it. Noah.

  “Should we use the amulet, you think? Keep her from changing?”

  “Nah, let her lose her hands if she can’t keep her head.”

  So that was how they’d stopped the change before. Someone had supplied these vampires well. Where they’d gotten such magical artifacts, she’d find out later.

  The world upended into a red haze. The urge, the demand, to shift her shape almost overwhelmed her. Blood trickled down her hands, but she barely noticed.

  Peter had given his pack the order to change shape. The alpha shift was a leader’s power and prerogative, the ability to control the shape of his followers. Once a lunar cycle, when the wolves gathered, he called them to the hunt, and they had no choice but to obey. In her mind, she could hear the baying, the sound of wolves as they chased their prey.

  Tonight, she was that prey. They searched for her.

  With the last of her strength, she wrestled the beast who threatened to take over. It hurt, physically, spiritually. No, not now. Not now! You can’t get free without hands! Desperate, she shouted her wolf down. One didn’t reason with the monster. It didn’t listen to logic. It could only hear dominance; she bested it, although it left her covered in sweat.

  Only then did she notice that she’d stumbled. The vampires had just continued on and dragged her by the hair. “You got it back under control then, lovey?” Miles asked. “Fucking mutt. Get your ass up.”

  She scrambled to her feet. Better to walk, no matter how much she wanted to run.

  The slope had grown steep by the time they arrived at the clearing. A huge stone protruded from the ground here to create a small, rocky cliff outside the trees. On their knees along the far edge, nearest to the unpleasant drop, she saw six other people, hands bound behind their backs by the same type of cuffs she wore.

  Werewolves, all of them. She could smell it, see it in their eyes. Most of them hadn’t come from the local pack, which meant Kiplinger had ranged further than Tacoma for his victims. The vampires had collected werewolves, and Regina had helped. Please, let someone have recognized her. Maybe she wasn’t careful, and the pack will find out what she’s done.

  Miles or Mason, Kayla had lost track of which one had her, pitched her forward hard onto the rock. Sharp edges bit into her unprotected knees and drew blood as she rolled over the ground. The one wolf she did know edged forward, twisting so she could reach his hands to lever herself up.

  “Derek? Is that you?” she asked in surprise.

  “Shh.” He kept a wary eye on the vampiric twins who, in return, made monkey faces. “Kayla. They got you too, huh?”

  Derek Anderson had vanished a month before, after a disagreement with Regina. The pack had thought he’d gone to lick his wounds after a tragic tour in the Middle East. He’d come back from his tour hurt, and bent nearly to breaking by the death of half his platoon. His disappearance had surprised no one.

  “Just a bit ago. I was going to the meeting, and Regina... Fuck, Derek, Regina...”

  “
Yeah. The cunt.” He curled his lip. “At least they’re looking for you.”

  Shocked, she met his gaze. “They’ve been looking for you, too. Peter’s been in contact with your commanding officer, and Sonja--”

  He looked away, torment in his eyes. “I hope to all hell she stays out of this.”

  “She can’t stay out of anything. You know how she is.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.” Although grim, his tight smile still showed an affection he couldn’t keep down. “That woman drives me around the fucking bend. She’s my CO’s kid, you know.”

  Sonja Carter and her big German shepherd, Charlie, had grown next to infamous among the city’s werewolf population. As far as they knew, she was the only lone wolf in the area, which drove the hardline pack supporters to distraction. She’d become the paranormal community’s private investigator, peacemaker, and negotiator, a neutral party available for hire.

  So Kayla did know, but she went along with him. “Yeah?”

  “They had a complicated relationship, but they loved each other. Sort of like us.” He looked into the sky, and she could see the gleam of unshed tears in his eyes. “No one could get under my skin like her. We broke up years ago.”

  “Why?”

  He looked from the stars to the ground. “A lot of reasons. They seem stupid right now.”

  “Come on. Buck up.” A deep breath didn’t help settle her nerves. “They’ll find us. They have to.”

  Neither of them believed it.

  Silence weighed on them. “Who are the rest?” she asked him, as much to break the tense quiet as to keep him company. It wasn’t the question she wanted to ask, but the answer to that one still scared her. It didn’t matter that the answer would come too soon. She wasn’t ready to know.

  “I don’t know them. We haven’t had much of a chance to get to know each other. They’ve kept us isolated and- And weak.” He changed his answer at the last moment.

  What he’d almost said was something else she didn’t want to know. “Have they had you all this time?”