She ran after her father and sailed cleanly over the fence, her exhilaration growing as she ran through the night, quickly outdistancing the rest of the pack, including her father. She basked in the feel of the damp earth beneath the sensitive pads of her feet, the myriad scents carried to her by the wind, the beauty of the night as seen through the wolf’s eyes.
She glanced over her shoulder, her tongue lolling in a wolfish grin. She was in the lead, followed by her father and Victor, who were running side by side. She didn’t see any of the other wolves.
What had happened to the rest of the pack?
She slowed when her father and Victor veered to the left and disappeared from sight over a low hill. Her ears pricked forward when a warning bark she recognized as her father’s pierced the night. She skidded to a stop when she heard the sharp report of a gunshot followed by a high-pitched whine.
The ensuing silence filled her with apprehension. She lifted her head, her anxiety growing when she scented blood on the wind.
Throwing back her head, she howled for the pack, then raced toward the place where she had last seen her father and Victor.
When she topped the rise, she came to an abrupt halt, unable to believe what she was seeing. Her father, slowly shifting from wolf to human, lay on the ground. Victor knelt beside him, one hand pressed against her father’s chest. A few feet away, a middle-aged man lay sprawled on the ground, his throat ripped out. A rifle lay beside him.
Kay ran down the hill, shifting to human form as she went. “What happened?”
Victor looked up at her, his cheeks damp with tears. “I don’t know,” he said. “It all happened so fast. That man came out of the brush and shot your father. I … I killed him before he could fire again.”
“My father … is he—?”
Victor nodded. “I’m afraid he’s gone.”
Kay shook her head. “No. No, he can’t be.” She pushed Victor’s hand away, her own searching for some sign of life, and finding none.
She sank back on her heels. She had just buried her mother, and now this. Had she known, on some primal level, that something like this was going to happen? Was that why she’d been drawn home? Because she needed to be here?
Massaging her temples, she closed her eyes. Why did she feel so numb inside, so empty? Her father had just been killed. Shouldn’t she be devastated? Railing against fate? What kind of a daughter was she, that she didn’t feel anything?
One by one, the pack arrived. Victor searched the dead man’s pockets, looking for identification. There was none.
Rising to his feet, he looked at the pack. “You know what to do.”
Rising, Kay turned away, unable to watch, as the wolves disposed of the dead man’s remains.
It was then that she saw the black wolf standing on the rise, watching her.
Kiya, are you all right? Gideon asked.
Someone just killed my father. I need to be here, with the pack.
I’m sorry, Kiya. Is there anything I can do?
Just stay close.
Count on it. He needed to talk to her, but now wasn’t the time.
I have to go.
I’ll be here if you need me.
She nodded again. When she turned to face her pack mates, there was no trace of the stranger save for his clothing and a faint smear of blood in the dirt. Three members of the pack shifted to their human forms to help Victor carry their fallen Alpha home. A fourth gathered the dead man’s clothes to be burned.
Feeling uncomfortable being naked in front of Victor, Kay shifted back to her wolf form and followed the others back to the compound.
She trailed behind as they carried her father into the house and up to his room where they laid him on the bed.
Kay hurried to her room. After shifting to her human form, she pulled on a pair of jeans and a sweater, then returned to her father’s bedroom. Victor, Greta, and Brett were gathered around the bed, their expressions somber. It was obvious they had dressed in haste. Victor wore a pair of sweatpants, Greta had pulled on a bathrobe, Brett wore only a pair of jeans. They all looked up when Kay entered the room.
She moved slowly toward the bed. A sheet covered her father. How could he be dead? He had always seemed so strong, so invincible. And now he was gone.
Greta came around the bed to give Kay a hug. “We have some hard decisions to make,” she said quietly.
“And we need to make them right away,” Brett said.
“What kind of decisions?” Kay asked, although she was certain she already knew the answer.
“Your father didn’t leave a male heir,” Brett said.
Greta took Brett’s hand in hers. “Which means leadership of the pack falls to me.”
“You’ve always been next in line,” Kay said. “So, what’s the problem?”
“You know how it is. Word of your father’s death is probably already spreading through the werewolf community. We’re a small pack.”
Kay nodded as she began to see the dilemma. Even though Greta had been born an Alpha, it was rare for females to be pack leaders, mainly because male werewolves tended to be bigger and stronger. When challenged, the females were almost always defeated.
“As long as your father was our leader, we weren’t in any danger,” Brett remarked. “But now …”
“It’s come to our attention that the pack in Montana is looking to expand its territory,” Greta said.
“Why haven’t I heard anything about that?” Kay asked.
“There was no need to worry about it while your father was alive,” Greta answered. “He was one of the strongest Alphas our kind has ever had. No one was willing to go up against him.”
Brett slipped his arm around his wife’s shoulders. “Your aunt doesn’t have a reputation like that. I don’t want her risking her life.”
Greta touched her husband’s cheek. “We’ve already talked about this. I’ll do whatever I have to do. And I’ll win. I’m not afraid. My biggest concern is that the pack won’t accept me. If that happens, we’ll have a whole new set of problems.”
Kay nodded. A pack without an Alpha didn’t survive very long. “So, if you refuse to take over, or the pack doesn’t accept you—and I don’t see that happening—what then?”
“An Alpha from another pack will issue a challenge. If no one opposes him, our pack will be absorbed into a new one.”
“What if we don’t want to be absorbed into another pack?” Kay asked.
“Those who refuse will be disposed of.”
“Disposed of?” Kay shook her head. How could she have grown up here and never heard about any of this?
“It’s a pack thing,” Brett said, as if that explained everything.
Which it didn’t, at least as far as Kay was concerned.
“We’ll have to discuss this with the pack tomorrow night,” Greta said. “Right now, we need to get cleaned up and lay our Alpha to rest.”
With a worried glance at Kay, Brett followed Greta out of the room.
When Kay started to follow them, Victor took hold of her arm, then closed the door.
Kay stared pointedly at his hand. “Let go of me.”
“We need to talk.”
“I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“No? Well, I’ve got a few things to say to you, wife.” His hand tightened on her arm when she tried to pull away. “Tomorrow night, when the pack meets to discuss who should take over as Alpha, you will suggest that I take your father’s place.”
“Like hell I will. You’re not even a member of our pack.” She flinched as his fingers bit into her arm. “You’re hurting me!”
“I’ll do worse than that if you don’t do as I say. I want this, Kiya. If you’re smart, you won’t oppose me.”
“Are you threatening me?” She stared at him, appalled by a sudden niggling fear that Victor was somehow responsible for her father’s death.
“Of course not,” he said, his eyes narrowing to mere slits. “But it would be a shame if anything happened to your aunt Greta, her being next to the last of your blood kin and all.”
There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Victor would carry through on his threat. Even worse, the suspicion that Victor had killed her father no longer seemed as far-fetched as it had only moments ago. Victor had always been power-hungry. Alpha werewolves lived a long time. She had a horrible feeling that Victor had grown tired of waiting and had decided to hurry things along.
“If you suggest that I take your father’s place, the transition will be smooth. No one will get hurt. With your blessing, the pack will agree. After all, I’m your husband and everyone knows how much your father loved me. Who better to take his place?”
“Anyone but you!”
“Think about this, then. If you don’t back me, I will challenge Greta for leadership of the pack. Who do you think will win?”
Feeling sick to her stomach, Kay could only stare at him, mute.
“So, do we understand each other?” he asked, his voice a low growl.
She nodded curtly.
“You need to get ready for the funeral. I’ll help you dress.”
“I don’t need any help.”
“It’s my husbandly duty,” he said smugly. Still grasping her arm, he opened the door and escorted her to her bedroom.
When it became obvious he wasn’t going to leave, Kay turned her back to him. She longed to take a shower, but it wasn’t going to happen with Victor in the room. She quickly pulled on the black dress she had worn such a short time ago, brushed her hair, stepped into her heels.
When she was ready, Victor grabbed her hand and hauled her to the guest room at the other end of the corridor. She moved to the window, staring out into the night while he dressed. She tried to think, but she was numb inside. Empty. Her parents were gone and she hadn’t had a chance to tell either of them good-bye. But even worse, she couldn’t shake the feeling that Victor was responsible for her father’s death. She told herself it was impossible. Her father’s death had been an accident. A hunter in the wrong place at the wrong time.