Nic’s family home, a large, historic, five-bedroom farmhouse, had served as the Kagan pack’s meeting place since the mid-1800s. With its woodwork and high ceilings, it was beautiful and inviting. The gardens and walking paths surrounding it added to the welcoming atmosphere. He’d enjoyed growing up on the estate and always felt at peace on the property.
Tonight, though, he paced.
Ben hadn’t shown up.
Anxiety tightened Nic’s muscles and set him on edge. Hannah had picked up on his unease as soon as he’d arrived. He’d told her what had happened and his plans to deal with the young shifter, but remaining inside under her judging eye had been impossible. He’d retreated to the woods. That was ten minutes ago.
And still no Ben.
A growl crawled up Nic’s throat. He stood there vibrating with anger and worry. His instincts had told him the young wolf could be trusted. It was the only reason he’d let him go.
At the time, it’d seemed more important to calm Riley. Her emotions had beat at him, demanding he see to her needs. The urge had been too powerful to ignore. He should’ve. Nothing he had said helped. He’d only made it worse. Then again, he shouldn’t have expected anything different. He was an expert at hurting the woman he loved. And himself.
Hands balled, he swept his gaze over the area once more. Nothing. With a head start, there was no reason for the delay, and Nic couldn’t stand around waiting for him. He yanked out his phone, sent Hannah a text telling her his plans, and then dialed Sean.
“Yeah?” Sean’s groggy voice was barely more than a whisper, probably so he didn’t wake his mate.
Nic ground his jaw. Resentment he knew he shouldn’t feel added to the tension already gripping him. “I need you to help me find Ben.”
“What for?”
“He saw Riley’s scar.”
“Hold on.”
Silence filled the line while Nic kicked off his shoes and made his way across the property.
“Okay, I’m back. How did he see it? And when? Riley’s been careful all these years.”
“I was at her house. Ben walked in on us.”
“Ahhh…”
Another long pause. Nic yanked off his sweats while he waited for Sean to finish speaking.
“I’ll go to his house first then sweep outward and meet you at the circle.”
Nic glanced in the direction of the ceremonial ring. He couldn’t see it from where he stood. It was at the top of the hill behind his house. In a little over a week, he’d step into it, and the future of the pack would become his to ensure. The weight on his shoulders grew a little heavier. “Thanks, and I’m sorry to pull you away from your mate.”
“Jenna understands. She’s good friends with Riley.”
Nic closed his eyes. “Maybe she can go over to her. Riley probably needs a friend right about now.”
Sean’s sigh carried over the line. “Yeah, I’ll send her.”
Nic ended the call and dropped his cell on top of his sweats. His wolf pushed at him, demanding to be released. The beast he’d been born with might not love Riley, but it wanted to protect her.
If only that was enough for the primal animal, Nic wouldn’t be so messed up.
He pushed the thought away. Riley’s safety was more important than his sanity. He opened himself to his wolf and shifted. Fur sprouted, bones shortened and muscles compacted. On a rush, his wolf’s soul merged with his. Its anger whipped through him, stronger than what he felt in his human form. It wanted to kill Ben. In its mind, Ben was an outsider who’d threatened its pack mate, and the Kagan wolves always protected their own.
Scents assaulted him, providing information he’d never pick up on in his human form. Ben’s unique scent wasn’t among the ones he smelled, proving he hadn’t come and chickened out. Nic growled. He lowered his head and ran toward Riley’s house.
He stopped several times to study the markings left by the members of his pack. All the dominants had added their claim to the area surrounding her property. The evidence of his pack’s loyalty to Riley was clear. She’d be missed, not only as pack doctor, but as an integral member of their extended community.
The knowledge only added to his guilt. Nic let it settle over him and turned his focus to protecting the honorary member his pack loved. He should’ve done so in the first place, not worried about his wants.
Sides heaving with his rough breaths, he dragged in air, automatically gathering information. The first whiff of shifter blood added a tang to the early morning air. Nic stopped, his paws skidding on the damp forest floor of old leaves and moss. On another deep inhale, he pivoted. The scent of death carried on the breeze, weak but distinctive.
Curses zinged through his head. He’d injured the young wolf before he’d been able to get his jealousy under control, but the wounds he’d caused weren’t fatal.
Nic pushed his wolf harder. For the second time in two days, he ran full-out, not out of frustration as he had last time, but out of trepidation.
He had a bad feeling about the growing scent of death on the air and prayed he was wrong. The closer he got to the edge of their pack lands, the more his unease grew. He shouldn’t have allowed Ben to walk away.
Regret landed hard in his gut, but with each foot closer he got to the body, rage choked him. The young male he’d trusted had betrayed him, going to his old pack. It was clear from the direction Ben traveled that he’d returned to the Tanner’s territory.
No. Nic pushed the fury back. Too young to shift, Ben would’ve had to drive to Nic’s house. From Riley’s place, the main road between their pack lands would’ve been the quickest route. Nic had rarely used it when he’d lived here, preferring to walk the half a mile between their homes or use the unpaved back roads that weaved through the countryside.
He found Ben at the edge of their territory. The young shifter lay on his back in the drainage ditch on the Kagan side of the road. Blood trickled from a single gunshot wound between his open eyes. Dirt and leaves covered his body, no doubt from where he’d rolled down the embankment. An equal section of disturbed earth marked the path he’d taken.
Nic snarled. Inhaling deeply, he scanned the woods but didn’t see anything unusual. He approached in a crawling slink, sniffing the ground and finally, Ben’s clothes. One whiff and Nic knew he’d reached a dead end. The stench of ammonia filled his lungs, making it impossible to pick out any individual scents. Common in shifter related crimes, ammonia or another strong chemical was spritzed over the body to camouflage any identifying traces.
He eased back, shaking his head to clear it of the offending smell, and focused on looking for clues, but found none. Whoever had dumped Ben had been careful. It didn’t take a genius to guess who’d shot him, however.
The Tanner wolves. Nic would bet money on it.
One question remained—did Ben betray Riley, or had it merely been a coincidence that he’d died?
Without knowing the extent of the Tanner pack’s issues, Nic couldn’t be sure.
Snapping twigs behind him warned of the approaching wolf. Nic returned to his human form but didn’t turn to meet the other shifter. Sean’s scent was one he knew well. Nic knelt next to Ben’s body and closed the young shifter’s eyelids. Sean joined him a moment later.
“Dear G—” Sean dropped to his knees, hands balled into fists. He lifted his gaze from Ben’s body to stare into the woods across the road. “I’ll kill them.”
Nic sighed. “For the moment, we can’t act on it. We go accusing the Tanner pack of Ben’s murder, and we’ll have a pack war on our hands.”
“After what they’ve caused lately, they deserve to be knocked down.”
Nic tensed. “What have they done to us?”
Sean glanced away. “Nothing directly, but rumor has it Michael Tanner is cleaning house. Betas and older females from his pack have been mysteriously vanishing along with any of his dominants who haven’t showed him loyalty. He believes the weaker members bring down his pack’s communal strength and should be purged.”
“And Ben was a beta from the Tanner pack.”
“Yeah, and next month he would’ve joined ours.” Sean faced him. “Jenna’s been worried about it for months, wondering when they’d make a play for him.”
“So they wouldn’t lose his wolf to our pack.” Nic finished his friend’s thought.
Sean nodded. “They’re vicious cowards.”
“Which is why we can’t start a pack war while our alpha is in the hospital.” And couldn’t shift to take out their alpha.
Sean cracked his knuckles. “As soon as he—”
“I will deal with the Tanner pack once I take over.” Nic leveled a hard look on his friend, daring Sean to question him.
Sean dropped his gaze, conceding the point. “We have to do something to avenge Ben’s death.”
“Do we? Or do we need to worry that he betrayed the secret Ben learned tonight?”
Sean closed his eyes on a long sigh, mirroring Nic’s thoughts. They had no way of knowing what Ben had divulged before his death.
“I want to defend him, but we can’t take the chance.” Sean motioned toward Ben’s body. “He was a good kid, but he feared the dominants of his old pack. They tormented him growing up. I don’t know if the friendships in our pack he’d developed over the past two years would override the fear he held for his old pack.”
Nic curled his fingers into a fist and pushed back the anger. He couldn’t control how other alphas ran their packs. All he could do was fight for his. “We’ll bury him on the outside of our pack’s burial plot. It’s the best I can do for him.”
Sean nodded and lowered his voice to a mere breath of sound. “What are you going to do about what Ben saw tonight?”
Nic met his gaze. He wanted to tell Sean about the situation with Nic’s father and Nic’s plan to convince his wolf to fight for Riley. He couldn’t. Although he considered Sean a friend, Nic didn’t really know him anymore. Most shifters would consider mating a human to be a sign of weakness, not love. With the fate of his pack mates’ souls and their connections to the pack on the line, Nic couldn’t risk upsetting the balance his father was desperately trying to keep.
“I’m going to do what I should’ve done in the first place. Nothing.” The lie rolled off Nic’s tongue with ease.
“You only have a few more days to worry about it. Jenna told me what the plans are and about her new position.”
As interim pack doctor.
Nic hoisted Ben’s body over his shoulder and started walking toward their burial grounds. There’d be no human investigation. Ben’s death might reveal information about shifters. Nic couldn’t take the chance, no matter how much he wanted to learn the truth.
What they needed was a shifter in the police department. If he could convince his fellow band member Rick to rejoin the force and return to pack life, they might finally be able to take advantage of the human’s technology. Nic filed the thought away for the moment. It wouldn’t help with Ben’s death.
Or help protect Riley’s life.
Nic shoved the worry for her deep. He couldn’t allow the anxiety to grip him, not in Sean’s presence. Appearances were everything.
Nic remained silent until far enough in their woods to ensure they wouldn’t be overheard. “She’s already getting one of the pack’s protectors assigned to her when she leaves. I’ll choose another so she has twenty-four-hour protection and send them to watch over her now, just in case. It’s the best I can do, along with staying away from her.” Which wasn’t happening.
His wolf would learn that. It wasn’t the only stubborn one.