He and Rourke headed outside and into the woods, wary of signs of danger in the form of three lupus garous. Although if Leidolf was right, there were six of them he’d eventually have to contend with.
Praying they wouldn’t encounter any trouble, Tessa watched Hunter and Rourke until they disappeared into the woods. Cara coaxed Ashton inside. Tessa couldn’t understand why he was behaving like a spoiled child.
Meara cleared her throat. “They’ll be all right, Tessa. Let’s go back in the house.”
In one respect, Meara acted as though she wanted to keep Tessa safe. But on the other hand, she didn’t seem to care for Tessa and Hunter’s relationship. Although why it would matter to Meara was a puzzle.
Leidolf was another mystery, the way he tore into the house, roaring about like he was in charge, when if he’d known Lord Hunter at all he would have realized Hunter was always the one in charge.
Tessa turned to Meara. “What did Leidolf mean about Hunter’s people being in Portland and that they had to leave? Was he talking about more of your relatives? Why does he act like he owns the place? Sounds like he’s head of an organized crime ring in the city.”
Her expression indifferent, Meara shrugged. “A couple of Hunter’s friends must be causing trouble in Leidolf’s business.”
“What does he do?”
Meara paused too long before answering, which made Tessa suspicious.
“He has a… bar in town. You know, the guys probably have been drinking a little too much and stirring up trouble.”
“So… why does Hunter have to take care of them?”
“They’re friends from way back. You know.”
Meara and Cara exchanged looks, and again Tessa felt like an outsider, while the women who’d never met each other before shared some dark secret. Fine. She’d ask Hunter when he returned.
Tessa unloaded the dishwasher while Meara and Cara put away leftovers from a hastily grabbed breakfast. Tessa thought she heard Ashton stacking more wood by the fireplace. But Cara suddenly dropped the napkins she’d gathered on the table and dashed through the house and out the front door.
“Damn, Ashton!” she yelled. “You come back here this instant!”
“We could go after him,” Tessa offered, although why he was acting the way he was, she didn’t have a clue. Unless he felt hurt that the “boys” were leaving him out. Probably didn’t want to be tied down to babysitting the women.
With tears in her eyes, Cara closed the door and shook her head. “No, we can’t leave. It wouldn’t be safe for us.”
Meara actually looked sympathetic.
“I can use the rifle, so don’t worry.” But of course Tessa did worry about Ashton. What if the wolf attacked him again? No. She had shot it and it was probably half-dead somewhere in a pile of snow.
Remembering she’d neglected to write the suspect list and glad for the diversion, she grabbed a piece of paper. Except for Michael, Ashton, Rourke, and half a dozen of her brother’s artist friends, she couldn’t think of anyone else that visited regularly. A man cleaned their chimney once. An electrician checked their heater when it kept flipping the circuit breaker. A plumber had to repair a frozen pipe. That was it.
“Hot cocoa, anyone?” Meara asked, while Cara watched out the front window.
“That would be great.” Tessa considered her list. “The chimney sweep didn’t look like the guy Ashton described—dark haired, same approximate build as Hunter. Michael had dealt with the electrician and plumber so I didn’t get a chance to see either. I think I was selling photographs to shops in Portland at the time.”
“Hell,” Meara said in the kitchen.
Tessa dropped the list on the coffee table and hurried to join her. Ashton was pacing on the back patio. “What’s wrong with him?” She had never seen him so agitated, except for maybe the time he was drunk and had attacked her.
“Uhm, Cara!” Meara said. “Ashton’s back here. Why don’t you take care of him?”
Cara raced from the front window to the back door. She bolted outside, slammed the door shut, and grabbed Ashton’s arm, but he shook loose. Tessa couldn’t hear their words, but his face was red, his brows furrowed, and he snarled back at Cara when she tried to calm him.
Then he started tugging off his clothes as if he had gone totally mad. Tessa’s mouth gaped.
Meara seized Tessa’s arm. “Come on, we don’t want to watch this. Cocoa’s ready.”
But Tessa did want to watch. What if Ashton had rabies? What if Cara was in danger? “Wait, Meara. Cara could be at risk. We need to get her away from him.”
“No, she’ll be fine.” Meara tried to yank Tessa toward the living room, but she was rooted to the floor. “Finish your list. I’ll bring—”
Ashton stretched his arms upward toward the gray clouds, his face began to distort, elongate, and his naked lean body began to change, his back arching. Pale gray hair, no it was more like… fur, began to cover his body, the whole thing happening so quickly it was like watching a movie playing at triple speed or more in a blur. He dropped to his… his paws, no longer a man, but a gray wolf. A beautiful creature, wild and dangerous.
She barely breathed. If she hadn’t seen the sudden transformation with her own eyes, she would never believe it. Even now, she had a hard time accepting it. Every inch of him looked like a real wolf.
Her heart pounding and her head swimming, Tessa’s knees buckled. Meara was still holding her arm and when Tessa collapsed on her knees, Meara fell with her. “Ohmigod… did… did you see… what happened to Ashton?”
Meara watched Tessa with wide eyes.
“Cara! We’ve got to get her away from him.” Tessa scrambled to her feet and peered out the window, clinging to the kitchen sink for support.
Shaking her finger at him, Cara scolded the wolf— Ashton. For a couple of seconds, he listened to her, but then bolted for the woods.
Turning, Cara saw Tessa watching. Her face turned pasty despite the fact her cheeks had been cherry colored from the cold. Tessa stepped away from the window, her heart thundering.
Cara was one, too. She had to be. Had she turned Ashton last night when she seduced him? Turned him? What was she saying? They were shapeshifters?
Tessa bolted for the door and locked it.
“Let me in, Tessa. I don’t have my coat on and it’s freezing out here.” Cara half-coaxed, half-demanded, rubbing her arms with her bare hands.
Tessa couldn’t find her voice. What if the wolf that had bitten Ashton was the culprit and not Cara? But then, why wasn’t Cara surprised when Ashton shapeshifted?
Tessa didn’t realize how much she was shaking until Meara touched her arm. “It’s too cold out. We’ve got to let her in.”
Tessa stared at Meara. She saw Ashton turn into a wolf. She observed the whole thing and wasn’t surprised.
What if she was one? And what did Ashton say about Hunter? He saw him naked in the freezing weather before he dressed and charged up the hill after Ashton for shooting him. Why? Because Hunter had been shapeshifting beforehand? Ashton hadn’t been drunk. She groaned.
“Tessa, we have to let Cara back in.”
“You’re one of them.” Tessa’s eyes misted. “You’re one and Hunter is one and he bit Rourke. Leidolf is, too, isn’t he? Everyone but me is.” Her heart beating too rapidly, she backed up.
“Tessa, you’re just imagining things.” Meara took a step forward, cautious, concerned.
Where had Ashton left the rifle? In the living room?
Tessa dashed for it just as the back door squeaked open. Meara was letting Cara in.
The door shut and the lock clicked, but no one said a word. They didn’t need to. They’d share one of those conspiratorial looks that said it all.
She grabbed the rifle and headed back into the kitchen where Meara was pouring Cara another mug of hot cocoa. “I want you both to leave, now. Get in your vehicles and drive away. I won’t say anything to anyone. Hell, what could I say? Anyone would think I was nuts. But I want you out of here, now.”
“We can’t leave,” Meara said, softly. “Hunter would kill us if we left you unprotected.”
“He would kill his own sister?”
“In a manner of speaking. He’d be angry, and I don’t want to go there. You know how upset he was with me for taking off with three other guys. Believe me, this would be worse.”
“Do you want to know why, Tessa? Because that intruder who’s after you is also one of our kind,” Cara piped in. “We can’t leave you to face him on your own. If he manages to get you alone now, he’ll change you.”
Tessa sat down hard on the dining chair. “The one who bit Ashton, was he the same man/wolf?”
Meara sighed. “I imagine he’s the same one.”
Everything that had happened in the last few days ran through Tessa’s mind—Hunter being naked on the beach, the way he knew the man had been in her bed, and that it was him and not some other man. He knew things he shouldn’t.
“Tell me what you are, exactly.”
Meara shook her head. “You know too much already. In most cases, the pack leader would have two options. Kill you, or turn you. Hunter won’t want to change you.”
“Why not?” Not that Tessa wanted that option, no way, but death wasn’t the greatest choice either. Not that she would go willingly either.
“He doesn’t believe in it,” Meara said. “We haven’t known anyone personally changed by a bite. It’s just something we prefer not to do.”
Tessa gave a haughty laugh. “Yeah, right. He changed Rourke, didn’t he?”
“By accident.”
“So then he’ll have to kill me. That’s why he said the relationship would never work.” Tessa swallowed a lump in her throat. “Will he at least get my brother free first?”
“I don’t believe he’ll want to eliminate you. But enough said. Like you mentioned, people will think you’re certifiable if you breathe a word of this. So here’s the deal. You don’t ask questions or learn anything more about us, and when we free your brother, we all will…” Meara snapped her fingers. “… disappear. You’ll never hear from us again.”