Code Wolf

“You know who my rescuers might have been?” she asked.

The officer shrugged.

“Will you thank them again for me?”

He nodded as two more cops walked up, and then Officer Marshall backed away without looking at her again. Whether or not he knew anything, she’d have liked a way to speak with that young cop again and get a line on finding out about the men who had quite possibly saved her life.

She owed them so much more than a beer.

Tucked into the cruiser, Riley answered each question she was asked to the best of her ability and with as much detail as she thought prudent under the circumstances.

Adrenaline still pumped through her body from the fight she had put up. In spite of regaining some strength, her shivering had doubled, leaving her longing for the kind of warmth she had been temporarily offered by the nameless, shirtless man who’d come to her rescue on a cold night.

A guardian angel was the way she’d think of her rescuer from now on...except maybe for the few seconds when his lips had traveled over her face. She wasn’t sure what to make of that.

Had he wanted a special kind of thank-you for helping her? Should that have left her feeling further abused and icky?

Used to looking inside events in search of deeper meaning, Riley wondered what the guy might have been searching for in such an intimate touch. It seemed to her at the time that he had been seeking a way under her skin to get a look at the real Riley Price, not the professional cover-up artist she had become. She didn’t need another shrink to try to analyze that idea because the absurdity wasn’t lost on her.

If she were to perform self-analysis, her interest in this rescuer had been caused by a latent sense of loneliness, of being alone in a big city, and so far from home. That, along with a healthy suspicion that she might actually have met a real live superhero tonight.

Unfortunately, as a mental health professional, she realized there was more to it than either of those things.

That man’s touch had left her feeling exposed and excited, and sorry there hadn’t been more excitement, all at the same time. She had wished for adventure and it had smacked her on the head a bit too hard.

One little kiss that wasn’t actually a real kiss at all, from an anonymous man, and the memory of how that had felt, was keeping her pulse on warp speed.

Nope. There was no way she could mention much about her rescuer to these cops and come out unscathed. Something in her voice would give away her interest if she mentioned him out loud. The creep who had attacked her was now in custody, she was okay, and that was that.

Statement, check.

Witness form, check.

Perhaps an interview at the police station would follow in the next day or two, and life would go on.

Crowds had gathered on the sidewalk and in the street, lured by the presence of cops like insects to a bright light. Riley tried to find the officer who’d seemed to know her rescuer as the cruiser pulled away from the curb, but had lost him in the throng of spectators. She told herself it didn’t really matter, anyway. Things were what they were, and all that mattered was that she was going back to her small, rented house in one piece.

Nevertheless, she peered out the back window of the cruiser and hoped for a glimpse of the broad shoulders that would now be the highlight of her dreams. And as the car wove expertly into traffic, Riley clutched the edge of the seat and gasped, thinking she just might have caught that glimpse.

Chapter 5

“They’re back, and we need to go,” Dale messaged, vying for Derek’s attention, which was riveted to the cruiser getting ready to pull away from the curb.

He and Dale were on the rooftop of the pub, peering at the scene below after taking this slight detour from their agenda, though it could be a costly detour if they didn’t get moving toward any new vamp problem that turned up.

He just had to be sure she was safe.

Derek turned around, nodded to Dale and walked to the opposite edge of the roof, where the shadows were deeper and there was no hint of human presence. It was a shame, he decided, that the owners of these buildings didn’t upgrade their lighting systems. Bloodsuckers hated lights almost as much as they hated noise, and would have been much easier to spot without all that pooling darkness.

“Marshall will take care of her. You know that,” Dale added, following along in Derek’s wake.

“Yes.”

“She’s not your type anyway, Derek.”

“Most assuredly not,” Derek half-heartedly agreed.

But the woman had some kind of hold on him that he could not shake. Or didn’t want to.

She had smelled so damn good. Her skin was like velvet. Yes, she wasn’t a Were. They had nothing in common. Yada yada.

His head came up. There was a scuffling sound to his right and an unnatural wave in the shadows below where he stood. The sudden distraction broke into Derek’s inner discourse on the pitfalls of human-Were relations. It seemed that Dale had been right. Bloodsuckers were gathering here.

Hell...

Derek knew there’d be no way to slow down these numbers unless they could find and deal with their queen. Without a Prime or Master, most vampires couldn’t survive on their own for long. The undead didn’t possess the brains and the skills to keep up their attacks. A Master was just that—the mastermind behind the nest. The core that kept a nest growing.

There might have been one sure way to find this one, but he wouldn’t go that route, since it would entail bringing back the immortal Blood Knight, who had faced this queen down years before. The same f-ing immortal that had driven a Harley away from Seattle with McKenna Randall on the seat behind him.

Immortality aside, some women seemed to prefer bad boys in black leather.

“Five,” he sent to Dale as he peered into the dark. “Five more parasites down there.”

“Is that all?” Dale messaged back.

Derek looked at his partner. “Piece of cake?”

Dale nodded and leaped onto the brick ledge next to Derek. “Right behind you.”

“I wonder,” Derek sent back, “why it is that I always have to go first.”

“Shinier badge,” Dale said as they jumped.

They landed in the alley side by side and on their feet. Derek’s announcement of their presence was a deep, guttural growl that served to halt the moving trail of shadows now hugging the building beside them. He really was tired of fighting vampires without ever seeming to stem the tide, but if he and his pack were to give up, who would take over?

Beyond the alley, several police and fire sirens wailed in earsplitting decibels that might have caused these vampires to think twice about emerging from behind the pub, if in fact they maintained thoughts about self-preservation. As it was, the swirl of moving darkness pressed on.

Derek caught one of them with his claws and dragged the bloodsucker backward. The sucker didn’t have much time to protest or put up a good fight, and was reduced to a cloud of flying dust seconds later.

The vamp in front of that one paused, whirled and hissed like an angry cat through chipped fangs that no longer could have punctured human flesh. Derek tossed that one back to Dale and held his breath as the filthy, foul-smelling ash rained down.

That little deletion left three remaining vampires. If he and Dale took care of them quickly, he could get a last look at that woman before the officers took her away. One final glimpse was all he needed to settle his nerves and maybe even the question of why he wanted that last look so damn badly.

He barreled through the vamp lineup like a football lineman and turned to head them off before they reached the street. With Dale bringing up the rear, the three vamps were squeezed between them. It wasn’t much of a party, and the fighting, which didn’t last long, wasn’t pretty. Black blood dripped from Derek’s claws. Ash swirled everywhere like dark, discolored snow.

Wasting no time, Derek stepped onto the street, careful to keep to the shadows that no longer stank of vampire presence. He leaned forward to view the cruiser that was making its way into traffic. His heart was beating faster than normal and his boots were already starting to move him in that direction...until a claw snagged his belt.

Dale’s message came through loud and clear. “I wouldn’t recommend taking that next step, boss. And I think you know why.”

Well...maybe he did know why.

And maybe he didn’t have to like it.

Riley stared out the window of the police cruiser until her chills had subsided, but hadn’t gotten anywhere in terms of finding her rescuers. When she thought she saw something, it turned out to be nothing more than a passing flash of tanned flesh seen against a dark backdrop, and could have been anyone.

She didn’t speak to the two cops in the front seat. It angered her to think that she had nearly been a victim of a violent crime, and that she might have placed herself in danger by following a whim.

“Turn right, here,” she finally said as the cruiser approached the parking spot where she had left her car. “This is it.”

No longer feeling quite so weak or frightened, Riley opened the door and got out on steady legs. Her hands didn’t shake when she brushed her hair back from her face.

“You’ll be okay?” one of the officers asked.

“Yes. Thanks for your help.” She fished in the pocket of her skirt for her car key. “I’ll be fine.”

“We’ll follow you home, all the same,” the cop said.

She hated to turn down an offer like that. The only problem was that she had to. The car key wasn’t in her pocket. The damn thing was missing. Short of heading back to the site of the incident to look for it, the only way she was going to get home would be to either take a bus, or have these nice officers drive her. Then she’d have to break into her house because she had left her purse, which contained the rest of her keys, locked inside the car.

Riley blinked slowly to absorb all of that.

The alternative was to go to her office, where she kept spare keys. The building’s night watchman would let her in to get them. Although she didn’t particularly like the idea of going into that building alone after what had happened tonight, it would be all right. Plenty of people worked late, and the building was well lit and secure.

“Thanks for the offer. I need to go back to work first to pick up a few things. My office is just down the street,” Riley said.

The cop that had helped her out of the patrol car nodded as he peered into her car. “No key?”

“I seem to have lost it,” she admitted.

“I can help with that lock.”

He had it open in less than thirty seconds with a slim-jim device, and it was difficult for Riley to hide her relief. But it still didn’t help in the long run, since she couldn’t start the car without that blasted key.

After retrieving her purse, Riley glanced at the cop and shrugged. “I’ll be fine now.” She waved a hand at the street. “There are lots of people around.”

“You sure?” the cop asked.

“Positive.”

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

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.

The building he’d found was a nice one just steps off the main drag. Four stories’ worth of large windows overlooked the street. There was a revolving front door. Inside, his boots echoed loudly on the black-and-white marble tiles. The only hang-up was the security guard manning a reception desk not quite twenty feet in.

Derek showed him his badge. “I’m looking for a woman.”

The security guard smiled, his expression saying, Isn’t every guy in Seattle?

Derek continued. “I believe she would have come in not more than an hour ago. Tall, slender, blonde, in a black skirt.”

“May I ask what you might want with a woman of that description?” the guard asked.

“We’re missing a few things on the statement she gave us tonight about an incident. I’d like to clear that up.”

“And you didn’t get her name?”

Derek strengthened his tone. “I’d appreciate it if you could help me with that, silence being a possible obstruction of justice, and everything.”

Derek’s inner wolf was bristling over being repressed when there was a full moon. He could easily have yanked the guard over the desk and spoken to him nose-to-nose, but he refrained. The Seattle PD was trying to upgrade their image with the masses, and this guard was only doing his job.

“Name’s Price,” the guard finally said. “Third floor, three-ten.”

Derek nodded. “Miss Price is here now?”

“The after-hours policy is that she would have had to sign in and out. She hasn’t signed out.”

Derek nodded again. Though his insides were throbbing and his pack was out there doing the dirty work, he told himself that he just needed one little peek at the woman in 310 in order to put his overactive imagination to rest.

“Okay to use the elevator?” he asked.

“The middle one is in operation,” the guard replied, pushing a notebook and a pen toward Derek.

Derek signed in and headed for the elevator. As a rule, he didn’t like small spaces and the feeling of being confined. He especially didn’t like those things tonight.

So, he asked himself as the doors closed, what did he really want from this unauthorized visit? He had already memorized every detail about the woman. A second look at her wasn’t going to change any of those things.

It was that remark... But he wouldn’t tell her that. Bringing up the word werewolf would only cause her to focus on it more.

Another reason for showing up on her doorstep unannounced was to find out if she would recognize him. There was danger in such a move, and a lot at stake if she put two and two together and came up with a connection between him and the shirtless werewolf vigilante that had helped her out of a jam.