Alpha, page 5
part #1 of Stope Packs #2 Series
Even relaxed, unease trickled through her. She cared about him more than she thought she could love anybody, but she couldn’t be who he wanted. Couldn’t be what he wanted. Not when a killer was out there. “Seth.”
He lifted his head and turned toward the window.
“What?” she whispered, forgetting about her thoughts for now.
“Stay here.” He rolled from the bed.
She sat up. “Not a chance.”
Seth caught wind of his brother, and his muscles slowly relaxed. “It’s just Erik.”
Mia paused in getting from the bed. “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” Seth yanked his jeans up and ran a hand through his hair. “Why don’t you go to sleep? I’ll see what he wants.”
She looked toward the window. “It’s after dawn. The sun is coming up. I usually work better at this time, and I want to make breakfast for Mom and Aunt Dotty.”
“All right. Take your time, though.” He leaned over and kissed her forehead before silently padding out of the room and down the stairs. He noted that both older women were still sleeping soundly in their beds before moving into the cool morning air to find Erik on the deck. “What are you doing here?” he asked his brother.
Erik set down a backpack. “I brought putty and wood chips to cover the bullet holes before Gena and Dotty wake up.”
Warmth filtered through Seth. “Smart.” He actually hadn’t thought about the bullet holes.
“Damn straight,” Erik said. “That’s what Enforcers are for, right?”
Seth didn’t remember giving him the Enforcer position, but so far, the guy was earning it. “I think you’re supposed to take a bullet for me.” He smiled and reached for a can of putty.
“I plan to do that again, as well,” Erik agreed, not smiling.
Unease filtered through Seth. The last thing he wanted was his brother getting wounded defending him. “I don’t mind you protecting Mia, but I can cover my own back, brother.”
“Not now that you’re Alpha,” Erik returned, pulling out wood chips to begin plugging the holes nearest the window. “You need an Enforcer because every Alpha does. Who better to protect you than your brother?”
He wasn’t wrong. Seth nodded. “I’m also thinking about having you sign on as a deputy in town while the FBI is here, just to cover Mia’s back and keep me informed.”
Erik frowned and reached for a can of putty. “I don’t mind protecting Mia. In fact, I insist on it, but somebody has to be at your side, Seth. You’re not the Enforcer any longer. You have to realize that.”
“I do,” Seth said. Even so, he didn’t need anybody taking a bullet for him.
“Stop being an ass,” Erik muttered, jumping up to hit the holes above the windowpane. His movements were graceful and accurate. The guy would probably make an excellent Enforcer.
The wind picked up and scattered pine needles across the deck. “I’m not being an ass,” Seth retorted, though he was. “If you take the job, what about Emily? I don’t want to cause her any problems. You two became engaged just for me.” He gingerly pressed the wood chips into the holes.
“We didn’t get engaged for you,” Erik disagreed. “We got engaged because it was the right thing to do.”
“You don’t love her.”
“She doesn’t love me either,” Erik said. “We’re friends. We’ll make a good partnership, and someday, I’ll be the Alpha of their pack since Emily doesn’t want the job. At all. It’s the best solution for everybody involved, especially you and our current pack.”
Seth didn’t like it. “At least we have time to figure out if it’s the right path.”
“We have a lot of time,” Erik agreed. “Em’s dad could have hundreds of years left in him yet, so we’ll just see what happens.”
Seth genuinely liked Emily, and he loved his brother. He wanted them both to be happy. He’d have to figure something out. He turned and looked as the sun came up over the mountain, glittering pink and gold across the peaceful lake. It was hard to imagine that somebody had dared to come and shoot at him and his brother in his territory. “We have to figure out who that was last night,” he said.
“I’m on it.” Erik ran a hand through his hair. “I have scouts out, and we’re reaching out to any of our sources in the other packs. It may not be anybody in our sweet little coalition of Stope Packs, you know. It could be outsiders.”
“I’m aware,” Seth agreed. “Many packs outside ours have been waiting to make a move now that Dad’s gone.” It was a little insulting that they wanted to make a move against him. “I’m surprised they shot at me so blatantly, though.”
“They could have been shooting at Mia.”
Anger spiraled through Seth until his ears heated. He’d demolish any threats to his mate. “We need to figure out who and why.”
“I will,” Erik said. “I promise.”
A car engine sounded down the way, and Seth paused in fixing a bullet hole near the door. “We’re getting company.” He padded to the other side of the deck and watched as a green SUV rambled over the potholes. “Wonderful,” he muttered. Without looking back, he walked down the stairs and around to the front of the house just as Kurt Colbey pulled to a stop. The FBI agent stepped out of the car and reached in for a container holding two lattes.
“It’s a little early for a visit, don’t you think?” Seth stuck his thumbs in the pockets of his jeans.
Colbey flicked his gaze to Seth’s bare chest. “If I recall, Mia does some of her best work early in the morning. I brought the case files for her.”
“That’s all right,” Seth said as Erik came up on his side. “I’ll make sure Mia is to work on time today. I mean before she heads to Seattle for her new job.”
The front door opened behind him, and he caught his mate’s vanilla and lilac scent before she walked up. “Kurt, what are you doing here so early?” she asked.
The agent smiled, his teeth a perfect row of white pearls. Were those caps or what? Seth could take care of them with one good punch. Instead, he remained still with Erik doing the same.
Colbey stood straighter. “I brought your favorite latte, and I thought we could go over the files to get you caught up before Lionel Strobe arrives.”
“I’m looking forward to seeing Lionel again.” She tilted her head. “How did you find out where I live?”
“It’s a small town, Mia,” he muttered.
That was true, and Seth had plans to make it even smaller. He turned toward her. “I will take you in about an hour. We have a little more work to do on the back deck.”
“Why don’t you go do that?” Colbey said.
Mia looked from one to the other. “All right, boys, enough. I want to shower, and then I’ll come into the office and meet with you there, Kurt.”
The agent looked down at the lattes and then shrugged. “All right, fair enough. But I should let you know that I’ve already talked to the Seattle PD and let them know that you’ve retained your job with the FBI, which has transferred you to my unit here in Lost Lake, at least for the pendency of these two cases. The FBI has happily brought you back into the fold.”
Mia blinked. “Excuse me?”
“That’s right, Mia,” he said, his tone way too intimate. “You don’t have to be a shrink in Seattle. You’re now a full agent again, and I already gave you your badge back yesterday. Now it’s official, and all the paperwork has been submitted, dotted, and signed. It’s what you wanted.”
Mia’s eyes brightened even more. “You now believe that Delaney had a partner?”
“No,” Colbey asserted. “But I do think somebody is copying his kills, and that person has tracked you here. The woman in the dumpster was a message to you, I think. It’s creepy, but we have to consider the possibility.”
Seth slightly jerked his head toward Erik. Being a deputy wouldn’t cut it, but he had another plan. “Meet the new sheriff of the county. You’ll keep him informed of any developments in the case.” He didn’t phrase it as a question.
Colbey lifted one eyebrow. “We’ll see about that—after I interview both of you about Pete’s death. The FBI has taken that on as an active case, and from the witnesses we’ve already managed to speak with, we have a pretty good suspect.”
“Who?” Mia asked.
Colbey stared right at Seth. “Your boyfriend. Ever seen the inside of a jail cell, Seth?”
Chapter 8
Mia set up the murder board in the sheriff’s office, trying not to notice how odd the place felt without Pete in it. Oh, Pete hadn’t deserved the sheriff’s job, but the idea of working here without him, especially since she’d been so wrong about him, chilled her until she shivered.
“You okay?” Kurt asked.
“I’m fine.” She looked down at the badge once again clipped to her waist. She’d wanted this for so long, but it didn’t feel right.
She used two old corkboards, one for the newest cases and the other for Delaney’s. It was nice having all the file folders back in her possession. “I’m telling you, it could be the same guy.”
Kurt sat at the conference table with case files in front of him, reading autopsy reports and looking at crime scene photos. “It can’t be the same guy. You killed Delaney.” He jerked. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
She tried to swallow over her suddenly dry throat. He was correct—she had killed Delaney.
“I’m sorry,” Kurt apologized, his blond hair swept back and away from his face. “I know the first time you shoot somebody, the first time you have to kill, is difficult. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you afterward.”
She didn’t tell him that it wasn’t the first time she’d killed somebody. That was a secret she’d take to the grave. Not that Seth and his brother didn’t know. They’d found out during the last case, but there was no reason for her to confide in Kurt Colbey ever again.
Kurt cleared his throat. “So, we need to talk about Seth Volk.”
Mia looked at the case board she’d just created, featuring the new victims. She didn’t have one for suspects. Well, that wasn’t true. She had a board for suspects, but only two big question marks were on it. It was either Delaney’s partner or somebody new.
“I think I should approach this case as if Delaney had a partner and go back through his life with a fine-tooth comb,” she murmured. “Why don’t you approach it as if this is a copycat? We’ll see if we meet in the middle somewhere.”
“I’d love to meet in the middle,” Kurt said, his voice lowering.
She rolled her eyes. “Knock it off, Kurt.”
He sighed. “Listen, I said I was sorry, and I meant it. You can’t be serious about this backwoods country smartass who says he owns the whole place. He’s not your type.”
Mia took a deep breath and turned. If Kurt only had a clue. “I am serious about Seth, and you and I are never going to happen again.” She faced him directly, ensuring he’d get her message this time. “I am more than happy to work with you on this case, and we can even be friends, but that’s it. You need to knock it off.”
His jaw firmed. She had thought him very good-looking when they dated, but that was before she met Seth Volk. While Kurt had very nice facial features, he didn’t come close to the animal magnetism living within Seth’s skin. She grinned at her internal joke. Seth was all animal.
“What’s so funny?” Kurt’s lips curved into a smile.
She shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand. Please tell me we can move on and catch this guy.”
Kurt sighed. “Fine, if that’s what you want, but please at least tell me you forgive me. I should have stood by you when everything went down...and I didn’t.”
“You’re forgiven,” she said easily. Truth be told, Kurt Colbey didn’t matter to her anymore.
Her legs trembled, so she nonchalantly drew out a chair to sit. Maybe she was coming down with something else besides that annoying cold. She worried her bottom lip at the thought that Seth’s bite had unleashed something unhealthy in her. She was supposed to be getting stronger, not weaker. Yet, she just didn’t feel right.
“You okay?” Kurt asked.
She nodded. “Yes.” Clearing her throat, she reached for the thickest file on Delaney. She’d memorized it, but looking back over old notes never hurt. Robert Joseph Delaney had been a lawyer moonlighting as a taxi driver in DC. He had stalked, kidnapped, and strangled his victims...before leaving them in a dumpster. All of them were sex workers, and they’d all suffered at his hands.
“Mia?” Kurt asked.
She looked up. “What?”
“I meant it when I said we need to talk about Seth. In a professional capacity.”
“Oh.” She leaned back. “What about him?”
Kurt shifted uncomfortably on his chair. His lips turned down, and he looked away before refocusing on her. “Listen, we talked to a couple of people who hinted that Seth might have been responsible for Pete’s death.”
Mia forced herself to smile. “Seriously? What people?”
Kurt shook his head. “I can’t tell you that.”
She reared back. “What do you mean you can’t tell me?”
He sighed. “You just told me you’re dating Seth, and it’s serious. Obviously, you can’t be involved in that case.”
She held up her hand. “Wait a minute. Just because you deem Seth a suspect doesn’t mean he is one. Pete was my mentor, too, and I worked here with him. I am involved in this case whether you like it or not.”
How would she do this? She wasn’t that good of a liar, and the truth was that Seth had killed Pete, but he was a serial killer. If she told Kurt the truth, she’d have to admit there were wolf shifters among them. Frankly, the guy would have her admitted to the Lost Asylum and then arrest Seth. “Kurt, I wish you would believe me.”
He shook his head. “I don’t understand you—much less believe you. You were the best investigator I’d ever met. How could you just blindly accept that Pete was killed in a hunting accident? His body is nowhere to be found.”
She chewed on her lip. She should have had a funeral or cremated him or something. Not the real Pete because wolves had eaten his body. But she hadn’t thought Kurt would come to town trying to solve Pete’s disappearance. Not in a million years.
“We had two witnesses,” she reminded him. “They saw Pete. They watched him on Howler’s Ridge. They were watching birds, remember?”
Kurt shook his head. “I think that’s bullshit. How do they know it was a hunting accident?”
“I have their reports,” she said. “They saw Pete trip and go over the cliff to the river below. By the time they got there, after being miles away, his body was gone. We guessed a bear, wolves, or scavengers took it, but it could have gone downriver. I believe them.”
Kurt shook his head. “Well, I don’t. I want the witness statements, and I want to speak with them both. Then I want to dredge that river.”
“You can’t dredge the whole river.”
“Watch me,” Kurt argued.
The door opened, and Seth loped inside, followed by his lawyer. “I’m here to answer your questions.” His gaze landed on Mia, and his nostrils flared. “You’re not feeling well. What’s wrong?”
Seth took in the scene in the conference room at a glance. A murder board had already been set up with the three recent victims and details below them, next to an older corkboard of what appeared to be the now deceased Delaney’s first kills.
Colbey vibrated with an energy that felt both ambitious and determined while Mia sat at the table looking too pale. Seth had to figure out what was wrong with her. The next full moon was in a week, and she should gain some strength then.
The old myths about werewolves and moons contained a little bit of truth. Much like the moon affected the tides with its gravitational pull, it also affected the circadian rhythms of wolf shifters. It didn’t control them in any manner, and they could shift whenever they wanted, but they did gain extra strength during the full moon.
He hoped that would help Mia in a week. For now, he had to do something. “Come on, Mia. Let’s grab breakfast.”
“We’re in the middle of something,” Colbey grumbled, pivoting as if to square off with Seth.
Seth flashed his teeth. He understood the guy because it must hurt like hell to lose Mia, but Seth wasn’t stupid enough to let that happen, unlike the agent. “She’s fighting something, Colbey, and she needs protein.”
“She needs to stay here and work the case,” Colbey returned.
Mia stood. “You know what? She can decide what she wants to do, you morons.”
Seth chuckled as Colbey frowned. Man, he loved her spunk.
Once she gained the strength she should have gotten after mating him, she’d be hell on wheels. He couldn’t wait to see it. For now, he needed to protect her.
Movement sounded, and Seth recognized his brother’s scent before he walked in behind him. “Hey, I guess I’m the new sheriff.”
Mia shook her head, but Colbey smiled.
Seth didn’t like that smile. “You have something helpful to say?” Seth asked.
“On the way here today,” Colbey said. “I dropped by the city hall, and a very, very nice woman named Mildred let me go through the town records. Guess what?”
“What?” Mia asked.
Colbey’s chest puffed out. “The town charter states that should anything happen to an existing sheriff, a special election has to be held. It also says there must be two weeks’ notice before the election.” His shrug nearly got him punched. “So, I guess you don’t get to appoint the sheriff, even though you own the town.”
Seth looked over his shoulder at Erik. “We need to get notice out. Have somebody take care of that today, would you?”
“Sure,” Erik agreed.
Colbey looked at the brothers. “Also, when I arrived here, there were no deputies. I was told they’d both turned in their resignations and left town. I find that highly suspicious.”
“They won the lottery,” Seth said easily. “We have a town lottery, and they won it.” Yeah, he’d bribed them. They were human, and they had to go.
