The Bear's Forbidden Wolf: A Hot Paranormal Fantasy Saga with Witches, Werewolves and Werebears (Weres and Witches of Silver Lake Book 4) (8 page)

Most likely it was because no Changeling would want that fact known.

She spun around to face Elana who was running her hand over the leather chairs. “These are awesome. I love the color,” Elana said.

“Me too. I wanted something a bit edgy.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t get purple chairs then,” Elana said.

Ainsley fingered her hair. “Good point.”

Elana smiled. “I’ll let you enjoy your new place. If you need anything, let me know.”

Ainsley escorted her to the door. “I appreciate it. Can you tell me where this James person lives? I’m really interested in this cleansing process.”

“I’ve only been there once, and it was dark, but ask Kalan. He knows.”

He’d probably think she wanted to spy on the goddess’s husband or something. “I will. Thanks.”

Or perhaps she could ask Blair to ask her brother if she didn’t know. Ainsley still wasn’t convinced Kalan trusted her. Heaven forbid, she dare ask Jackson.

‡

A
insley’s alarm went
off way too early the next morning. She’d been up half the night wondering if what Elana had said was true. The part that troubled her the most was that even though she might want to be cleansed, would the gods deem her worthy? Elana said there weren’t any conditions attached to being cleansed, but that other couple, Olivia and Nathan, seemed to have earned the right by providing insider information into the Changeling’s inner workings.

Ainsley knew all of one Changeling, and after tomorrow, she’d know two, but without living among them, she wasn’t sure what she could do to help. Even if cleansing weren’t possible for her, she still wanted to help take them down.

Her best hope of learning the truth was to speak with James in person—assuming he’d see her and assuming she could learn where he lived. Before that, however, she had to treat Mr. Ernst’s father in order to judge if she might be able to worm her way into their culture. If the dad was pleased with her healing abilities, she might be recommended to others. While working on Changelings wasn’t ideal, she didn’t fear them. If the ones here were anything like those in Scotland, there was a loose ethic among thieves. As long as she didn’t mess up, they’d leave her alone.

Last night, she’d brought home her needles so she didn’t have to stop by work before heading out. Mr. Ernst had drawn her a map saying that GPS was spotty in the hills.

Once she’d eaten, she gathered her gear and left. It didn’t take long to reach Grand View Drive on the north side of town. As she wended her way up the foothills, she imagined what the views would look like in the summer. She bet the foothills would be full of lush trees, interlaced with flowering pink and white mountain laurel. It would be breathtakingly gorgeous.

Unfamiliar with these roads, she drove slowly, careful to watch for unexpected drop-offs where no guardrails existed. She was partway up the mountain when a light colored object, seemingly out of place off to the side of the road, caught her attention. She slowed. Having excellent eyesight, she detected something sticking up from the leaves that looked like a foot, though she figured it had to be a log stripped of its bark. Because no one was behind her, and because she’d left plenty of time to get lost, she pulled over to check it out.

The moment Ainsley slipped from her car, her heart pounded, though she didn’t know why. As she stepped onto the leafy area by the side of the road, she saw what had attracted her attention. It
was
a bare foot. Holy shit. Flies buzzed around a bloodied nude body that was angled downward and out of sight from the road. A tight band immediately squeezed the air from her lungs. She blinked, not believing what she was witnessing.

As if in slow motion, she had to fight with herself to take those last few steps to reach him, and a scream lodged deep in her throat. The horror closed up her windpipe, and for a few seconds, she couldn’t breathe. Ainsley dropped to her knees next to the body.

“Shamus?” Not that she expected him to answer, but she could hope he was still alive.

Oh my goddess. His red beard was matted in blood, and his throat had been ripped out. Wolves must have attacked him, but why? Why harm her dear sweet Shamus? Never in her dreams did she think something could best him. Given the number of bite marks covering his arms, legs, and torso, he must have been attacked by four or more wolves.

Her chest hurt as a giant sob bubbled up. Ainsley reached out and touched his knee to make certain this wasn’t a mirage. When she met with resistance, sobs wracked her body over the loss of her dear friend. Out of breath, Ainsley dropped her butt onto her heels and cried.

As much as she wanted to cover his body with leaves, disturbing the crime scene would lessen the chance of finding the identities of the killers. There had to be something she could do though. Leaving him here was out of the question, as was calling the cops. A human witch hunt would ensue for each and every wolf.

Kalan! He was a shifter and a deputy, only she didn’t have his number. Blair did though. Hopefully, her best friend wasn’t with a client. If so, she wouldn’t be able to take the call. Ainsley swallowed a few times to stop from sobbing, but she failed to control the tears. If Eve, the clinic’s receptionist answered, from the sound of Ainsley’s shaky voice, she’d know something was terribly wrong. Ainsley wasn’t sure she could explain to a human why she wasn’t calling 911.

Wait a minute
. Elana could get ahold of Kalan. Still in shock and having a hard time functioning, Ainsley fumbled in her pocket for her phone then wiped her nose and cheeks with her sleeve. As she located the Blooms of Hope phone number in her cell, her finger shook. With a press of a button, it rang.

“Blooms of Hope, Elana speaking.”

“Elana, it’s Ain…Ainsley.” She swallowed the next sob. As objectively as she could, she explained what happened, but her voice warbled, and then a fresh set of tears erupted.

“Calm down. Did you say Shamus was dead? Are you sure?”

“Y…yes. Can you contact Kalan?” She gave her directions to the location.

“I’ll call him right away.”

Because Ainsley didn’t have blood on her, hopefully Kalan wouldn’t think she had anything to do with the murder. Knowing she couldn’t leave her friend, she called Mr. Ernst and asked if she could reschedule. Thankfully, he didn’t ask too many questions. Even better, she’d managed to pull herself together for those few seconds while she spoke with him. Given Shamus’s location in the hills, it was possible the Changelings had done this to her dear friend.

She leaned over his body. “Shamus, why were you even here?”

Time seemed to stand still as she stared at the remains of what once was such a wonderfully vibrant man. What seemed like seconds later, someone placed a hand on her shoulder. “Ainsley? I need you to move away from the body.”

Without looking, she knew the voice belonged to Kalan. Four other shifter signatures were behind her. Drying her eyes with her sleeve again, she leaned back on her heels and pushed up, but her legs gave way. Kalan caught her before she landed on her knees.

“Help her to my car, please.”

Ainsley’s senses shot up, and the urge to shift nearly felled her. Jackson was there.

“Come on, Ainsley,” he said. This time his voice was raw with emotion and not accusatory.

While Shamus had only met Blair, Kalan, and Jackson one time when he’d visited as a child, Jackson seemed quite distraught over the family’s loss.

He helped her into the back seat of a cruiser then slipped in next to her on the other side. “Can you tell me what happened?” Jackson asked.

She would have waited for Kalan, but he seemed busy with the coroner. “Poor Shamus. Why would someone do this?” A sob erupted and Jackson rubbed her back.

“Take your time and start from the beginning.”

Of all the times for him to be nice, she wasn’t sure she wanted him to be approachable when she was in such a state of despair. It was easier when he was shooting daggers at her. “I had an appointment with Mr. John Ernst’s father to do some acupuncture.”

“John Ernst?” The sharpness of his tone took her by surprise.

She finally looked up at him. “Yes, he’s a Changeling, but then again so am I. It was a job, okay?”

“Sorry. I’m devastated too. How did you find the…Shamus?”

She sniffled. “I happened to see something that looked like a foot sticking out off to the side of the road, so I stopped. Once I was near, I saw it was Shamus.” The terrible image brought a fresh wave of grief.

“Did you notice anyone nearby?”

She shook her head. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Shamus being loaded onto a gurney and had to turn her head away from the gruesome scene. “Why kill him? They couldn’t have known that he fought the Changelings in Scotland,” she said as fresh tears streaked down her face.

“The forensic team might be able to tell us more. Kalan said Shamus told Mom that he was going for a morning run.”

“In the hills?” She’d lived in Silver Lake only two weeks, yet even she knew who lived in them. Then again, she was a Changeling and could sense them.

“My mother said she assumed he’d stay around the lake and didn’t think to warn him.”

Nothing was making any sense. “Listen. I’m really tired. I’ve told you everything. Is it all right if I go?” Ainsley had calmed down a bit and didn’t think they suspected her of foul play.

“Kalan will want to speak with you first.”

She bet he would, but she wouldn’t be able to provide him with any more information. “I didn’t see anything. I called Elana the moment I found Shamus.” Her lips trembled.

Jackson reached out and clasped her wrist. “Kalan isn’t accusing you.”

Her mate’s heat nearly singed her skin, and Ainsley pulled away. Now that the shock of Shamus’s death had sunk in, her anger festered. “I want to find out who did this.”

“So do I, but this is a job for Kalan and the other Clan members. I doubt he’s going to report it to his department since shifters were involved.”

She jerked toward Jackson. “He’d cover up a murder?”

Jackson scrubbed a hand down his jaw. “No. He will find out who murdered our cousin and punish the offenders.”

The acid in her stomach receded a bit. “How can he? The man won’t be tried without a body—a body that was clearly murdered by wolves.” Jackson stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. “What are you looking at?”

“Are you going to tell me that the Changelings in Scotland don’t cover up crimes they’ve committed?”

No, I’m not. My brother did it all the time. It was one more reason to leave there, but Kalan isn’t a Changeling.”

“True, but don’t worry. The Clan will mete out their own brand of justice.”

His logic finally sunk in. “You mean the killer or killers will be in a fight to the death?”

The corner of one side of his mouth lifted for a second. “I’m glad you understand.”

She was about to say the wolves wouldn’t stand a chance against bears, but then she remembered Shamus. For once, she was speechless. “I want to help.”

Jackson shook his head. “No way.”

That pissed her off. “I’ve known Shamus a lot longer than you have, and secondly, I can fight. After all, I am a Changeling. John Ernst knows I’m Owen’s sister. I might be able to find out things—things a regular wolf couldn’t.”

“Back up. How did you know John Ernst was a Changeling?”

“I can tell.”

Jackson leaned back. Her senses had stopped reeling, which gave her a chance to actually see the man who the crazy gods had paired her with. His eyes were slightly bloodshot, though she doubted he’d been crying. More than likely stress or fatigue had caused it. His blue chambray shirt and camouflage jacket brought out his tan skin and beautiful green eyes.

“How? No one else can.”

For the first time since she’d met him, Ainsley had the upper hand. She debated how much to tell him, but if he could introduce her to James, she’d sell her soul. Sweetening the pot would go along way to getting what she wanted.

“From what my brother told me, only those from families who come from a long line of Changelings can detect others. I can tell one from a regular wolf because of my unique Wendayan mix.” She had other talents too, but she decided not to mention them since they weren’t pertinent to the case.

“So not all Changelings can tell if someone is or isn’t a Changeling?”

“Right.”

“Impressive.”

For the first time, he seemed to take what she had to say seriously.

The door opened, and Kalan poked his head in. “You okay, Ainsley?”

Okay was a relative word. She had to admit being with Jackson had distracted her from her consuming grief. “As well as I can be for losing my dear friend. Thank you for asking. How are you holding up?”

“Working hard to keep it together. Mom will be devastated. When her sister passed away, she was a mess for weeks.”

“I’m sorry.”

Kalan slipped in the front seat, started the engine, and then dialed up the heat before twisting around in his seat. “I’d like to ask you a few things.”

For the next ten minutes, he pummeled her with questions, but she couldn’t tell him what she didn’t know. “I want the killer or killers dead as much, if not more, than you do.”