[Kassandra Lyall Preternatural Investigator 03] - Bloody Claws (8 page)

CHAPTER
ten

sensed the wolves around me, their energy like mud on my skin. I focused on keeping the wolf within behind psychic bars.

Sheila sat on her carved throne, watching me as I made my way into the middle of the clearing. Her hands tensed where they rested on the arms.

She wore a white sweater with a pair of tight black pants tucked into dark leather ankle boots. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a neat French braid and she looked about as happy to see me as I was to see her.

Who'd have thought we'd have something in common.

"Kassandra," she said, inclining slightly. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Trevor, a friend of Rosalin's, fidget uncomfortably.

"Where is she, Sheila?" She leaned back, smiling with malice. "If you have truly claimed her, Kassandra, find her yourself."

"I didn't come here to play games with you." I forced myself to breathe past the agitation of my beast.

"But it seems you
are
playing games with me, Kassandra." The look she gave me was anything but friendly.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "And what gave you that idea, Sheila?"

"Stop saying my name like a curse," she said, eyes narrowing in hostility. "If you are not playing a game then set your cards on the table. Come and greet me as your alpha."

I didn't mean to laugh, but I did, and I wasn't sure if I was feeling the wolf's emotions at the idea or my own. Maybe it was a combination of both.

"You're not my alpha, Sheila. I'm sure as hell not going to greet you as such."

She stood and came toward me. The last time Sheila had touched me, I'd nearly lost my temper. I so didn't want her to touch me again. In the heels, she was taller, not as tall as Zaphara or Lenorre, but taller than me. As she moved toward me, she used all her height to try to make me feel smaller. Unfortunately, when you're petite like I am, you get used to people trying to do that.

A warning growl built and trickled out from between my half-parted lips.

She hesitated. "You would threaten me?"

"She's not threatening you, alpha." Carver, gamma of the Blackthorne pack moved from the large group and out into the open. His white blond hair fell over his blue and gold eyes. The white shirt he wore was only a shade lighter than his hair.

"I wouldn't be so quick to side with her, my third."

"I'm not siding with anyone," he said, showing no sign of fear while Sheila glared at him. "But you are threatening her with your body language."

One of the female wolves gasped. I wondered where Claire was, but didn't try to find her. I was too busy watching the alpha female in front of me.

Sheila shook with rage, her fingers curling into fists. Heat emitted off her. The anger of her beast brushed my skin, calling to mine in an unspoken challenge.

I took another deep breath, this time through my mouth.

"Then you come to me."

"Why?"

"I am the alpha of the Blackthrone pack. If you will not greet me as your alpha, you will greet me as one wolf greets another, Kassandra. If you don't…" She shook her head. She didn't need to finish her sentence to make the implied threat clear.

"You'll what?" I asked, tilting my head. "Sic your wolves on me?"

"You are a stray," she said nastily. "I am within my rights to punish a stray that has wandered into my territory."

A violent wind whipped through the clearing, extinguishing the torches. I shivered, suddenly cold. If it hadn't been for the fey blood in my veins, I would've chalked the gust up to the late December night. As it was, a tendril of power tainted that one breeze and I knew it was more, tasted it like candy on my tongue.

Zaphara's magic filled the clearing, making my breath fog on the air. She was one of the Daoine Maithe, a woman of the Sidhe and faerie people, and aside from shape-shifting, I didn't know what kind of powers she possessed, but I knew she was capable of some elemental control and manipulation, and I knew without a doubt that somewhere out of sight, she'd called her power.

A thin sheen of frost crackled across the ground.

The light of the crescent moon rendered some color to my night vision, though the colors were dull.

"On the contrary." It wasn't Zaphara's voice that whispered from the darkness. It was Lenorre's. "Kassandra is here at your request. You are the one who sent her the invitation."

Lenorre stepped into the clearing as if she had just materialized, but I knew she hadn't. It was either a trick of her power or Zaphara's that made it appear that way.

"Lenorre." Sheila made her name a growl. "This is wolf business."

"Ah." Lenorre smiled with distaste. "I am here only as a reminder."

"A reminder of what?"

"Of your allegiance to the vampires. Do not make this our business."

Sheila trembled with rage. Her hands clenched back into fists.

If we were playing a game of seeing how many times we could piss Sheila off, I was pretty sure we were doing remarkably well.

"I'm not making this vampire business."

"Are you so sure? The wolf you hold in your custody is one employed by me." Lenorre's eyes burned liquid silver with power as she made her way toward Sheila. Eris and Maddox stepped out of the shelter of trees and entered the clearing. Eris's cloak swayed around her body. Her eyes burned with power like the crashing waves of angry green sea. Maddox's eyes were as deep and fathomless as empty space. That vampiric energy rode the breeze like the scent of cold stone and moist air.

Sheila glanced cautiously at the two vampires. Lenorre continued, her voice taking on a haunting and purring edge that caressed my senses like a flitting breeze. "Where is Rosalin, Sheila?"

"That's none of your business, vampire," she said the word
vampire
like it was supposed to be an insult.

Lenorre gave a cutting smile. "She no longer belongs to you, Sheila."

"Then have your
wolf
prove who she belongs to!" Her face contorted with rage.

"Kassandra," Lenorre said, "find Rosalin, seek out your wolf."

I stood there, wondering if I should go for my gun. The wolf reflected my emotions, pacing with agitation and uncertainty. A part of her just wanted to knock Sheila on her ass, but I ignored that part because logically, with Sheila's entire pack present, we were outnumbered.

Lenorre was flaunting her power. I didn't have a warrant to execute Sheila. I didn't have any evidence to back up drawing my gun and pumping her chest full of silver bullets.

I was about to confess that I didn't know how to find Rosalin, when a thought came to me. Surely, the wolf would know what to do? I lowered my shields slightly, like parting a curtain open. The night was suddenly more vibrant in my vision. I met Sheila's furious gaze and felt a responding anger.

Rosalin
, I thought, inhaling through my nose, exhaling through my mouth. The smell of wolf called to the beast and I had to focus on exerting my will over hers. Where was Rosalin? Why couldn't I sense her?

Sheila said, "Calling your beast to your eyes doesn't prove anything, Kassandra."

Carver made a noise low in his throat and fell into a crouch. He crawled on his hands and knees toward me, his beast riding just beneath his skin. I knelt placing both palms on the ground, and when he was close enough to slide his cheek across mine and whisper in my ear, I didn't protest.

"Claim me as your wolf and I will tell you where she is." His voice was thick and rumbling with that edge of wolf. "It's a trap. You won't find her on your own."

The crisp scent of his aftershave and cologne burned my nostrils. Mingling with that scent was the smell of rich earth and fur. "How?"

Sheila yelled, "No!"

Her footfalls on the earthen floor seemed louder than they should've been. I blocked her path, standing in front of Carver. She growled at me and though nothing physical about her changed, the heat of her beast brushed mine like a flame.

"He is
my wolf
, not yours!" She screamed the words into my face. "You will not stand between me and my wolves!"

"If you threaten to harm them, I will."

She stepped into my personal space, her energy biting my skin. "Will you protect them unto death, Kassandra? Each and every one of them? Do they mean that much to you?"

"They should mean that much to you."

Sheila put her hands on my shoulders and shoved. Carver caught me with an arm around my back and kept me from hitting the ground. "You are siding with her." She stared at him when he caught me, surprise written across her features. "Rosalin told you Kassandra didn't mean to claim her. She doesn't deserve to be punished and all you're doing is looking for a fight. You're antagonizing her, not the other way around."

"Do you feel antagonized, Kassandra?"

"Is that a yes or no question or are we talking on a scale of one to ten?"

"Fine," she said, "we'll do it your way." She went back to her throne, unnervingly calm. "Those of you who wish to be claimed by Kassandra"-she swept her hand out to gesture at me-"step forward."

I got to my feet. "Not only do I not trust your little offer, Sheila, but I didn't come here for your wolves. I came here for Rosalin, remember? If you don't want to lose Carver, to lose your gamma, tell me where the fuck she is."

"If she was truly your wolf you would be able to find her, to sense her. You bear the mark of an alpha, Kassandra, but you do not even know how to harness the power of it."

"You're a fucking bitch."

Sheila smiled, pleased with herself. I didn't think about what I was doing. One moment I was standing by Carver and the next I had my hand wrapped around Sheila's throat. I shoved her back against her throne and growled in her face.

"Where is Rosalin?"

Sheila continued to smile while I choked her, making no move to protect herself.

"I heard she fucked you before you hooked up with the Countess vampire. Is that true, Kassandra?"

I pushed harder. "That's none of your business."

Sheila laughed and her laugh thrummed against my fingertips. She moved in a blur, shoving my arm behind my back and pulling me in against her.

I hadn't truly known how Sheila had managed to dominate the rest of the pack, how she'd managed to put them in fear and to rule as their alpha. I had my answer. She was strong, a lot stronger than I'd expected. If the whole mark of the alpha thing was true, held against Sheila, I didn't feel it. The wolf paced somewhere inside me, considering.

"You'd be a lot of fun to play with." She jerked my arm up higher behind my back. I groaned. She whispered against my hair. "The energy raised between two powerful Lykos in the throes of passion is amazing, Kassandra."

Before I could move, someone grabbed Sheila and slammed her body unceremoniously back in her throne.

Eris stood above her, holding her down with a grip on her shoulder. She smiled at me and I had a feeling that the whole thing just amused the hell out of her.

"If anyone gets to play with Kassandra, it will be me, not you."

"Never you," Lenorre said, suddenly standing behind Sheila's throne. She touched Sheila's shoulder and Sheila flinched.

"I didn't make this your business."

"Actually, you did."

Eris leaned over to whisper in Sheila's ear. "You most certainly did."

Sheila glared at Lenorre like a sullen child. "How?"

Lenorre moved and held out a hand to me. I took it as she slipped her body behind mine, wrapping an arm loosely around my waist. She spoke over my shoulder. "As the humans say, you touched my girl."

A flicker of startled excitement went through me and I leaned back against her, reveling in the feel of her, in the cool energy kissing my skin.

"You can't mate her," Sheila said sourly. "You are a vampire. She is a wolf. It is not possible. If you plan on claiming her as your mate and setting yourself in a position to overtake my pack, it will not work. She does indeed bear the mark of an alpha, but she's yet to prove the power that comes with it. She can't even find her own wolf."

"She will," Lenorre said confidently. "Kassandra, call your wolf."

"I don't know that she's within hearing distance."

"Claim Carver," she said. "One way or another, we will find Rosalin."

"She has to find Rosalin," Sheila said. "You know the rules."

"Ah yes, and you broke them by punishing a wolf that does not belong to you."

At that, Sheila's lips pressed into a tight line.

"Carver," I said and he came to me. It took me by surprise when he dropped to his knees. "Yes, alpha?"

"Don't call me that," I said, glancing at Sheila to see the sour look on her face. "Do you want me to try and claim you, not just to find Rosalin?"

He glared at Sheila. "I made the offer," he said. "If I don't follow through with it she will punish me."

"Is that true?" I asked Sheila. "Would you punish him for protecting his beta?"

"I'd punish him for following you."

"Why?" I didn't understand it.

"She punished us when we rescued you from her brother," Carver said quietly.

A tidal wave of rage slammed into me so fast and hard that I shuddered where Lenorre held me.