"Speculating, Peelle?"
"Yeah, when the situation requires it. It's not like me, I know, but things aren't adding up. No ransom demand? That was our first clue. Matter of fact, that should have been the answer right there. Who would risk bringing down Scarlet's wrath on them just to play a game of 'will-I-or-won't-I' with us? If they captured Osborn for money, they're going to tell us right off the bat so they can finish it as soon as possible and get him back off their hands."
"But they didn't." Evan leaned back in the sofa and glowered at the map. "No communication for twenty four hours."
"Exactly. Maybe they'll play that kind of game of suspense with smaller packs to toy with them, but they won't do that with us. Every hour they delay, that's more of a chance we'll find them before they can ever demand a ransom at all. Then they risk death for no reward, period. No. That's not what's happening here."
"How'd you find this map? This is Osborn's, isn't it?
When my phone rang fifteen minutes later, I dove for it, thinking it was Evan. It wasn't. Even so, I was pleased to recognize the voice on the other end of the line."Whoa. That was the most enthusiastic hello I've gotten in ages. I don't even get that kind of greeting from my girlfriends."I sighed and lay back in my bed. "Girlfriends plural? You're such a player, Peelle.""Yeah, well, some of us need some extra love. Speaking of which... I guess I missed out on a lot since I've been stationed in Dark Moon, huh? I already knew you and Evan were getting it on, but I thought...""Getting it on! That sounds so lame.""Am I wrong? Come on, I saw the way he looked at you. And he's touching you and holding your hand and babying you...""Shh! It's... none of your business anyway." I grabbed my pillow and flopped a pillow over my face, mortified. I was smiling, though, and Peelle clucked his tongue at me, all too aware of the mushy mess I
Evan's call came barely two seconds after I fled the kitchen. I had been about to call him myself as soon as the Delta had broken the news, so before the ringer even went off, I had already picked up."Evan! Are you okay? Is anyone hurt? Oh, my God, I heard about Osborn. Please be careful--""Claudia." His voice was gravel-rough, strained. "Go to your room and make sure your windows and door are locked. Don't let anyone in unless it's Peelle. He's coming to pick you up.""What? Right now? Is he bringing me to you--""Claudia. Listen to me. Go upstairs now. Don't stop to talk to anyone. Don't open the door for anyone. Keep me on the phone."Fear curled in my chest, ice shards digging into my lungs as I hurried up the stairs to the second floor. I wasn't stupid. I knew that tone, and I understood what he wasn't saying. He suspected someone close by might be a threat. And with Osborn dead, there was only one explanation why Evan might believe that.
"The decontamination team reported the sight is... not what you might expect, Alpha.""Talk clearly.""They purposely placed him in the center of some heavy gears... he moved along the conveyor belt and his body stopped the machinery, which was how the workers found him.""Whoever killed him tried to dispose of his body like that?"The Deltas shook his head as they proceeded down the concrete walkway. "No. I only heard the description since I haven't seen it myself yet either, but I suspect the intention was to be found. There are ways of disposing of a body that would have been more efficient and less likely to be discovered. There are bladed machinery pieces here, after all. But the attacker placed him deliberately where any interruption of the usual manufacturing process would set off the alarm and draw as much attention as possible."Evan glowered. "A taunt. They're taunting me.""... I believe so. But there was something else the decont
I didn't trust Evan to leave my sight for even a minute. I stayed with him in the Dark Moon pack house for three days, never leaving the room where we stayed together except to get food. The only moments he escaped my direct observation was when he went to wash up, but even then I checked on him every few minutes, too anxious to relax while he was gone.He was angry. He was so angry it prickled to be near him, like pressing myself to a wall of thorns. He didn't mean to intimidate me, but when I caught him staring at the wall from the armchair or when I woke up in the middle of the night to find him sitting up and glaring at the window, the thick miasma of his rage threatened to drown me.It had always been hard to read his thoughts clearly when he was like this. That wall of pure hostility, hatred, revenge, and rage formed a shell around his mind, keeping me out. Or maybe it was more that they flooded his mind so much from bottom to top that it all spilled out, pushing
The funeral was two days later. Between the high tensions running rampant and the increasing security going up all over Medea City, the sooner we had Osborn's funeral, the better.Peelle had expected Evan to be freshly reminded of his rage and go wild again, but I chose my opportunity with care. Still pleasantly sleepy from the effects of the banshee weed tea but refreshed from a good night's rest, the next morning was the best time for me to deliver the news to Evan that we were going ahead with the final arrangements.Osborn deserved better than to be sitting on a medical examiner's table to be checked again and again at Evan's behest. There was no more to find in him, no more clues, no more trails to track down and follow. He had done all the work he could in life as well as in death, and now it was time to put him to rest.His mate was a beautiful young woman. Dark blond hair put up in a coif, brown eyes with heavy eyelids that made her look adorably sleepy,
"Alpha. We have a report from Medea City.""Medea?" The man framed in the moonlight considered the word, then chuckled. The rays beaming in through the crystalline glass wall were so beautiful. What an excellent idea to remodel his office. It put him in a good enough mood to talk business even in the middle of the night.He turned and gestured at the man to join him in the seat opposite his, on the other side of the desk. The Delta hesitated, but the older man motioned again with an impatient wave and nod."Hurry up, hurry up. I'll even pour you a celebratory glass. I just opened a bottle of Scotch.""Uh... Thank you, Alpha."The gentle clink of glass filled the quiet of the office for a moment, then the wooden rubbing of chair legs against the hardwood floor. The Alpha settled into his leather office chair and sighed, wonderfully comfortable."Now, now. I see you're worried about something, Leonard. Don't tell me our plans have gone awry?"
Evan's mood swings were unpredictable. I didn't know whether he would wake up angry or blissful, whether he would slide out of bed to take an angry phone call or stay wrapped around me after a perfect cup of banshee weed tea.But there was one good change after Osborn's funeral a week and a half ago. Evan had slowly become accustomed to leaving me at the Scarlet manor alone for a couple of hours at a time. He never dared leave the city itself so he could come racing back to me in case anything happened, but the dark rage and fear that he would lose me had softened its edge.I was grateful for it. I hated having him leave me even for those one or two hours at a time, but having a moment to breathe in the day and talk to Rafael on the phone was a relief. I had no one else I could vent to. Peelle was so busy that he was gray-faced more often than not when he visited, and Leon, being a reserve Scarlet pack soldier, had been stationed in a city next to Medea.Just an
"Claudia?""Raf! I meant to call you, but the staff converted an entire room to an indoor garden for me last night so I went to check and fell asleep after--""Claudia!"I stilled. I had just hopped out of the shower after oversleeping and running around in a hurry. I was feeling good, if I said so myself. But Raf's voice... I pulled the towel off my head and sat at my desk, frowning. "What's going on, Raf? Is something wrong?""Um... Actually, I was just wanting to know... Are you okay?"What? Was she worried about Evan and me again? I had told her she didn't have to be. Ever since he had begun coming home in a stellar mood, things had changed a hundred and eighty degrees. In fact, this was the best week I'd ever had, to be honest. Every since that night and for seven straight days, Evan had lavished outrageous attention on me, never letting me rest but for a few hours before wanting to make love again...My face flushed like someone had li