Code Wolf

He nodded again. “Please come to the precinct tomorrow for a more formal statement. And take care.”

“I’ll do both of those things,” Riley said.

She searched the street in all directions when the patrol car drove away, knowing she had to get going, but unable to shake the feeling of being watched. More imagination?

Instead of wondering who had made those howling sounds that had kicked the night into high gear, she now wanted to punch that person for his or her part in nearly getting her killed.

Derek couldn’t help taking a closer look at the woman whose rapid steps gave away little of what she had been through tonight. His packmate’s expression was filled with sympathy, but there was only so far a Were could go in a disagreement with his alpha. And Derek had never been mistaken for stupid.

Both he and Dale were in human form again. Derek’s nerves were charged from changing back and forth so many times in a single night. Shape-shifting came with a cost, and he was experiencing that cost now. Prolonged time spent as a wolfed-up version of himself not only heightened his senses for a long time afterward, but actually also left him feeling kind of beastly.

His animal instincts were working overtime at the moment and directing him to go after the woman who had looked into his eyes not more than an hour ago. He had questions about her that needed answers. For instance...how had she seemed to have gotten past the incident so quickly? She was carrying on as if nothing had happened.

She was tough, at least on the outside.

He liked that.

Who are you? I wonder.

Dale leaned against an ivy-covered wall, content for the time being to have dealt the vampires a warning blow. But in terms of the antics brought about by a full moon, the night was still young. Hell, the hunting hadn’t even really begun.

“Happy now?” Dale asked, stripping most of the wryness from his tone.

“I wonder where she’s going,” Derek said.

“Maybe she has a hot date.”

Though Derek gave Dale a long glance, Dale persisted. “A hot human date.”

Jealousy was an ugly emotion that Derek understood all too well, having had a tough time watching his ex and her new lover together. Still, he experienced a brief pang of jealousy now for whatever lucky bastard had this woman’s attention.

“We’d better check in with the pack,” he said, ready to put his muscles to more good use. He couldn’t just follow the woman to wherever she was going because of a wayward bit of electricity that had flared between them earlier, or because of the fact that he still felt that electrical buzz when they weren’t anywhere close.

He had lost sight of her, and shrugged off the desire to follow. There were more important things to take care of in the city’s shadows. Other Weres would be out and about now, and as the alpha of a Seattle pack, he was needed for his directions.

Coming from his human throat, the growl he issued sounded downright rude. Even as his boots thudded on the asphalt and he moved in the direction of the last skirmish with the vampires, he felt the tug to turn around. It had been a long time since his allegiance had wavered between duty and a woman, and he had solemnly vowed never to let that happen again.

From several steps behind him, Derek heard Dale say, “Good choice.”

Chapter 6 (#u5341ff3d-16b3-5b5e-99ed-7674e752762c)

After Riley reached her office, the thought of going outside again wasn’t appealing. She had made it this far without collapsing, but wasn’t sure she could keep up the farce for much longer. Although her dad had long ago taught her about the art of the good cop face, no one was around now for her to have to pretend with.

She wasn’t all right. The shaking had started up again, so hard that Riley had to sit down. All the moments leading up to this one merged into a single thread of riotous emotion.

She had not made up any of this. Just because tonight’s events were over didn’t necessarily mean she could move forward without recriminations. She had paid dearly for her stupidity, sure, but why did she have to feel so stupid now? Why did she want to march back out there as soon as her legs were capable of carrying her and find the men who had rescued her from harm?

Hero envy was an emotion she was familiar with. In her job, she had dealt with a few cases of people who had come close to death. And though it was true that she could empathize, and invest in years of clinical-training work in order to try to help others, being affected by such a thing herself was a different ball game.

Cops had always been her heroes. Had those two guys been undercover? Maybe she’d see them tomorrow at the precinct and get a better look at them.

She rubbed her temples with cool fingers and sat back, aware of a growing ache in the spot on the back of her head where it had struck the brick. Her fingers drifted to the cheek her rescuer had touched. She remembered it all as if it had been etched on her brain.

What she couldn’t do was break through the fog that blurred out several minutes of the ordeal. The moments when she had actually started to believe that the man whose lips had rested on her cheek might actually have possessed some sort of superhuman powers.

All that warm, rippling muscle...

The long hair...

His incredibly handsome face...

Riley clapped a hand over her mouth. What had she said to him in place of a proper thank-you? Had she actually mentioned werewolves? Maybe it was insanity he’d searched for in her eyes.

Well, it was over, and here she was, snug in her office, where street noise was blocked by dual-paned windows and howling wolves had no place among the credentials and diplomas framed on her wall.

She would not go back out there, that was for sure. Possibly she’d spend the night here on the couch and go home in the morning for a shower and clean clothes.

Relieved to have made up her mind, Riley stood up and walked to the window that offered her a good view of the street for half a block or more in two directions. Traffic was light at the moment. Signals on the corners flashed red, yellow and green. All of this was normal. The problem here was that she wasn’t.

After shaking her head to clear her mind of the notion that if she looked hard enough and long enough she’d find her rather wolfish rescuer or others like him out there, Riley continued to search. When she closed her eyes, she could see him. She could again find the light-colored eyes that had seemed to see deep into her soul. She felt him beside her, leaning in.

With her eyes open, the only thing she experienced was the sense of her own mortality and a reminder of how closely she had managed to escape.

The glass was cool when she rested her forehead against the window. “Thank you,” she said aloud to the nameless man whose face she would always remember. “And if it turns out that there are such things as werewolves, you’d be a perfect specimen. Just so you know.”

She headed for the bookcase and the decanter of amber liquid she had hoped to reserve for special occasions in the future, but was necessary now.

She poured some in a glass and swirled the contents. Never having been a fan of alcohol, she held her breath as the glass touched her lips, and then felt the burn of the whiskey as it trickled down her throat.

Carrying the glass with her, she moved back to the window feeling slightly better, thinking she’d be able to handle the rest of the night like a pro. After all, she was a pro. Those framed credentials said so. And besides, everyone she had treated so far in her short time in this office had seemed comfortable on her couch. She’d make do with it tonight in lieu of going back out to the street.

Just in case things weren’t as safe out there as they seemed.

His pack was a formidable bunch. Most of them were around his own ripe old age of thirty-two in human years. A few were slightly younger. The older Weres tended to hang out in areas beyond the city proper, and patrolled no less vigorously than their younger counterparts.

Having seen plenty of action already, they all helped to foster the kind of enthusiasm every Were needed for handling the things that hid in the shadows. Every good-guy Were had a place and a job. The pack was a second family to most of them. For some, it was their only home. For Derek, who had lost his family to a vampire attack in Europe fifteen years ago, the pack was a real comfort.

They met for the meeting two streets over from the precinct, in a private room in the back of a restaurant whose owners liked having cops around. Four Weres were in uniform, the rest weren’t. The rule was to behave in public, get their orders and dish out their own version of justice to fanged troublemakers.

Because there had been vamp activity tonight already, the plan was to comb the streets and alleys within a quarter-mile perimeter of the incidents. Energy levels were particularly high tonight as the Weres dispersed. Even Weres under a full moon had to remain alert to the danger those vamps presented.

Dale led the charge so that Derek could stop by the precinct for a look at the interesting woman’s attacker. In honor of that visit, he had put on a T-shirt and leather jacket, and thought he looked almost completely human.

Alone again, he stood on the sidewalk, beneath the overhang, silently contemplating where his senses were urging him to go...though he could have predicted where that was. In his estimation, another little detour was warranted. A quick in-and-out, and then he’d get on with the plan.

That’s what Derek told himself, anyway, as he tilted his head back and called up the fragrance that seemed to have coated his lungs. Her fragrance. That woman’s.

He sent his senses outward to locate the trail of that one unforgettable scent among so many others, and walked west, then east, keeping well away from the moonlight until he found what he sought. Then, grinning like he had won the lottery, Derek whispered, “Got you,” and smiled.