Blake
"Tell me why we failed. What went wrong?"
Blake stared at Malachi's face, harsh in the moonlight streaming in through the window. Half of it obscured in shadow, the sharp features of his cheekbones and jaw prominent. The majority of the room where the moon's reach didn't touch was bathed in darkness.
It hadn't been a surprise when she'd received his text near-midnight, eight days after her return to Beare Lake. Frankly, she'd been more surprised that he'd waited over a week before summoning her back to his bed.
She's almost turned him down, refused to answer his summons. But it had been curiosity, not lust, that had brought her back to this room.
Here, in his bed, Malachi was always more willing to share the truths he tightly guarded during daylight hours. Today, Blake wanted to know what had happened in that werewolf pack because until now no one had been forthcoming about why the hunt had failed so spectacularly. It had been eating away at her, a near-present thought, as she readjusted to life at Beare Lake.
And as she grappled with the proposal he'd given her.
"This is what you want to talk about now? Not about how much you missed me?"
Malachi tried to grin but it faltered when he beheld her face. Stoic and hard. He sighed. "It should have been easy. Daryl's team went in first and they took out those two werewolves that were guarding the hole. The hole should have been bigger. We should have been able to send more people in at the start and then afterwards, it became a bottleneck as we tried to get everyone out.
"We had the jump on them," Malachi continued. "Those monsters didn't know we were there. I had the damn Beta in my crosshairs. I was ready to take the shot and blow his fucking head off and then Brullo got trigger happy and went a second too early."
There was a trace of pain in his voice. Brullo hadn't made it out alive.
But Blake's ear had caught something interesting. "You said the Beta was a guy?"
Malachi raised a brow at her question but nodded. "That's what our intel said. Tall guy, dark hair, green eyes. As a wolf, he had a russet-coloured coat."
Red.
She had been dreaming of him – of those shifting forest green eyes. The eyes that stayed the same whether he was a man or wolf. In her dreams, he was always in both forms. Walking next to her on either side through a moonlit forest on her way to the exit of the pack.
"Well, your intel is wrong," Blake told him, even as something twisted in her stomach.
It felt like a betrayal in some ways. Red had set her free. It felt wrong to speak of him to Malachi but at the same time, her duty was to her people. Malachi would want to know the truth about the pack hierarchy.
"Wrong?" Malachi asked. He lifted his head off the pillow slightly.
"I met the Beta. Blonde-haired female who knows a surprising amount of celebrity gossip for someone who lives as a recluse in the woods. The wolf you had in your crosshairs was their Lead Warrior. He's the one that let me go."
"You're shitting me."
Blake shook her head and ignored the sinking feeling in her gut. "No, I'm serious."
Malachi's shock was palpable and it wasn't hard to guess why. Most hunters knew enough about werewolf packs to know that they were often patriarchal. Having a female as their Beta must have meant that she was surely something special.
"What's a Lead Warrior?" Malachi asked then. "I haven't heard that title before."
"No clue. I'm assuming he's the guy in charge of all the other fighters but it could be something else, I guess. Anyway, keep going. Tell me what else happened."
Malachi looked like he wanted to keep discussing the issue with his intel but went back into his story. "Everything went downhill from there. The wolves started changing and you know how fast those creatures are when they're in their animal skins. It became chaos. We had werewolves on us immediately after Brullo fired his first shot. They started tracking us. Our people were fighting back while trying to get back to that hole so we could get out.
"People were dying. I got off a few good shots – even killed one of them and injured a bunch more – but then Sarah got hurt and I had to get her out. Took out another wolf and ran like hell to get her to the medics back at the rendezvous point. She almost bled out."
Sarah was Malachi's youngest sister. His other sister, Katrina, had stayed behind in Beare Lake to help run the community while her siblings were hunting. It didn't surprise Blake that Malachi had rushed to get Sarah to safety. Even less surprised that he had killed two werewolves to do it.
"It wasn't until everyone gathered at the campsite and were throwing themselves into cars that I realized you were missing," Malachi murmured, turning his brown eyes on Blake. "I let you take charge of a team because I knew you could take care of yourself. Never occurred to me that you wouldn't make it out."
Blake blew out a breath and stared at the ceiling. "Well, I didn't. Besides, you know the rules better than anyone else since you made them. No going back. Would have been a waste of time to try and rescue me. All that would have happened is that you would have ended up dead too."
Malachi nodded. "You're probably right. You saved Amir and Pam's lives, though. It was a good call, telling them to get to safety."
"It was the only call," she murmured back. "I could tell things were going south. Don disappeared into the bush like a dumbass and Fletcher offered to come with me. At least they both died quickly. Amir and Pam – if they had come, they would have been dead like those two. The only reason I was kept alive is because the Alpha wanted someone to interrogate."
"Do you think they'll lock you up again when you go back?" Malachi asked.
"I haven't decided if I'm going back."
He gave her a long hard look that said he knew that she was lying.
Blake added, "They might kill me on sight. Or they might throw me in prison again and properly interrogate me – not just let me sit in a cell by myself for weeks like I did before. I could go in there and never come back out and I don't know if I can do that to my brother, Malachi."
"You do this," he said firmly, "and we can eradicate werewolves entirely. The only reason we haven't been able to do it is because of the magic surrounding the pack territories. It makes it near-impossible to get in. But if we can figure out how to take down those walls for good, then it won't matter where they are. We won't have to wait for them to leave their lands when they've broken the laws."
A tempting thought.
Malachi placed a hand on her chin, forcing her to look at him. "I know that you didn't get to finish your hunt and kill the wolf that murdered your parents."
It was a thought that had been haunting her for the past two months. From the moment she'd landed herself in that prison. She hadn't seen Victor since that first day but her nightmares had been filled with images of his face. Gleeful thoughts about killing him had followed her through each day.
He patted her hand. "Sleep on it, okay? Take a couple more nights if you need. But when you decide, let me know."
Malachi rolled over again and was asleep within minutes. The second his breathing slowed, Blake slipped from the bed and pulled her clothes on before climbing out of the window and dropping to the ground. He'd probably be pissed in the morning that she hadn't stayed the night but she didn't care.
There was something in her that couldn't stomach the thought of sleeping next to him – of being next to anyone. After weeks of being alone, unable to trust the close contact of another being, Blake couldn't find it in her to stay.
It was just after one when she made her way home. Her brother, unsurprisingly, was waiting in the kitchen. Josh had told her that he'd be here, waiting for her to return. Especially once she'd made it clear that she'd be returning to her own bed for the night.
Josh wasn't convinced that the werewolves hadn't tracked her home. He thought that Red letting her go might have been a plot for the wolves to figure out where the hunters were located.
A good theory and one that Blake had considered as well. It was why she'd been extra vigilant on her way home. As she'd walked out of that forest, she'd found streams and rivers. She'd bathed quickly and then crossed them, hoping that the running water would mask and carry away her scent.
Though Blake's hitchhiking along the I-70 was where her scent would have been well and truly lost. For once she'd hopped in a vehicle, there would have been no way for those wolves to know which direction she'd gone in.
For all they knew, she could have gone west, not east. She could be anywhere from Utah to Maryland and they'd have no clue.
But it hadn't stopped Josh from worrying. He'd hardly let her out of his sight since she'd woken up in the hospital.
"What did Malachi have to say?" he asked as she kicked off her shoes and went to sit next to him. "Did you get the information you wanted?"
"Yeah. He told me why the hunt went to shit. Brullo got trigger happy. He shot too early, threw everyone else off and gave the werewolves a split second to realize what was going on. That was all they needed."
Josh murmured, "A lot of good people died that day."
"I know. That's why Malachi wants me to go back in."
"He brought it up again?"
"Yup." Blake popped the 'p'. "He's certain that the wolf that killed mom and dad is there. And if he is right, then I know which wolf it is. He didn't die in the hunt. I know because I was the one who was supposed to kill him."
A frown settled itself on her brother's face, furrowing his brows. "Is it worth it? Risking your life again for the sake of one werewolf?"
Blake tapped her fingers against the table. "Malachi says that if I can go back in and figure out how to bring down those wards around the werewolf packs, it would change the game for hunters. When they break the laws, we could follow them to their homes, just like they followed us to ours. Right now, they tuck their tails and run home scared when they know they're going to lose a fight because they know that we can't follow them in. If I go back in, it wouldn't be for one wolf. It would be for all of the werewolves."
Josh was quiet for a moment, grey eyes hardening like metal. "Do you think you could do it? Or would you just be going back in there to get yourself killed? I know that you miss mom and dad. I do too. I just don't want to lose my only remaining family member because you're being too proud to say that you're on the losing end of a fight."
Blake rapped her fingers against the table, considering. Again, Red's face flashed to mind. The way he had stared at her as if he cared, like he wanted to trust her.
All she would have to do is exploit that connection he claimed they had. Perhaps he'd be a lovesick fool and confess all of his secrets to her with just the batting of an eyelash.
Or maybe he'd try and kill her.
To get in, she would need to gain the trust of the Alpha. Of that, there was no doubt. Maybe that was where she needed to start, not with Red and the in to the pack that would be easy, but instead with the one right at the top who would be hesitant to trust anything she had to say.
Blake explained as much to Josh who looked thoughtful.
"How would you get the Alpha to listen to you? They've got to have that hole under guard. There's no way you'd be able to sneak back in."
"That's okay," Blake said, a plan already forming in her mind. "Sneaking in would make them trust me less. I've got to walk right in the front door as an invited guest if this is going to work."
Josh frowned at her, at the tone of her voice. "There's no talking you out of this, is there? Need I remind you that I just got you back after thinking that you were dead for seven weeks?"
Blake reached for him, placed her hand on his arm. "I know. It'll be different this time. I'll sneak in a phone or something. Find a way to keep you updated. Regular check-ins and if you don't hear from me, then you'll know that something has happened."
"You have to promise me that nothing bad is going to happen to you in there," he said vehemently. "And if you feel like it's going south, then you get the fuck out before they have a chance to rip your throat out."
"I'll do you one better. When I get back, that'll be it. No more hunts. You and I will get the hell out of here. We'll pick a new town or city and start over. No more monsters."
Josh's eyes burned as he stared at her. "You promise? You'll leave here for good. Leave Malachi for good."
"I swear. Scout's honour."
"Okay," Josh said. "I know that there's no talking you out of this. So let's flesh this out. What's the plan?"
*~*
For six days in a row, Blake went to a diner in Denver at nine a.m. She picked a four-top table, not a booth in the middle of the restaurant, and selected the chair facing the door. Then, she placed an order, sipped from a coffee, and waited.
The first five days, nothing happened though she knew that her message had to have been received by now. It was the first thing she'd done upon arriving in Colorado.
She'd made her way to the campsite the hunters had gathered at and then she'd picked her way through the forest until she came across that rock she'd sat on while they'd been strategizing. From there, it was a quick hike to where they'd entered the pack.
It was a good thing that her memory was strong because that pull of energy, the one that helped her find the hole before, was gone. They'd fixed the hole, she'd realized. Added wards or had a warlock or fae weave spells to protect them. The magic left her head fuzzy, made her want to turn and go in the opposite direction.
Blake had forced herself to stand firm and look through to where she knew that wall was – despite the fact that all she could see was endless deep forest. She'd been confident that there were werewolves waiting on the other side, watching her.
Probably plotting her death.
"My name is Blake," she'd said to them. The invisible wolves in the woods. "You had me in your prison for a month-and-a-half so I'm sure you've heard of me. I'm also supposedly the soulmate to someone in your pack named Red. I don't want to hurt anyone. I just want to talk to your Alpha. Clear the air, so to speak. I'll be in Denver for the next week. He can find me at Rise and Shine – it's a diner in Five Points. I'll be there every morning."
Just in case they weren't there, Blake left a note. Tucked it inside of the backpack that Red had given her the night he'd set her free and placed it right near where she thought the edge of the wall was.
And then she'd left and gone to Denver and waited. Five days of waiting and she was thinking that the alpha wouldn't show up on that sixth day either. Was betting on it, even as she seated herself at a table to wait. Again.
Blake was halfway through a western-style omelette and a lukewarm cup of coffee when the door to the diner opened and two werewolves walked in.
Werewolves were easy to recognize if you knew the signs. They weren't like the vampires whose fangs gave them away just as easily as a demon's mark did to the warlocks. Fae could be identified by looking for the part of them that seemed as if it belonged in the natural world – flowers for hair or webbing between the fingers and toes or slightly pointed ears.
The signs of the werewolves were different, more subtle. In their human skins, they could pass easily for regular people if not for the aura that they gave off. A hint of otherworldliness. It made normal humans shy away from them slightly, doing their best to keep away from something that was immediately recognizable as a higher predator. The same way a person might look at a lion and know instinctively that it could eat them if it wanted to.
So Blake knew that the two men who entered the diner were werewolves. It helped that one of them was immediately recognizable. Black hair, hazel eyes, crooked nose. He'd come into her cell and she'd raked her nails across his near-perfect face. The Alpha.
The other wore a scowl on his face which slanted his brows down over his stern dark eyes. His skin was a warm tan kind of brown and Blake was positive that she'd never seen him before.
Both of them surveyed the diner, likely taking in everything from the bright orange walls to the wooden floors and the long sweeping counter behind which was a window to the kitchen. Their eyes glanced over the patrons in the diner, not lingering on many people – a good thing considering Hix and Mick were sitting in the corner. Her backup, ready to jump into action if the werewolves got aggressive and tried to kill her on-sight.
It had been a debate over who to bring with her because that had been one of her brother's conditions. Once she got to the pack, she'd be vulnerable but they were betting on Red's misguided soulmate theory that he'd protect her, just as he'd done in the past.
The uncertain part was this middle section – the part that the whole plan hinged on. Blake needed access to the pack, to Red, which meant that she had to live through this encounter. So backup had become necessary, just in case the wolf murdering humans decided to pay her a visit before she had the chance to plead her case.
In the two weeks they'd spent planning for her to return and making the trek back to Colorado, Malachi and Josh had each made it clear that they wanted to come to see her off but had shot them both down. She didn't want the wolves to scent Malachi and connect him back to the failed hunt in case any of the animals could remember a scent from eleven weeks earlier. The same went for Josh except that it was the familial connection she was trying to hide.
Instead, Blake had picked Hix because he was handy in a fight and she knew she could trust him. Mick, too, was a solid hunter with a level head. Someone she wanted to watch her back in case things got rough.
The two now sat in a booth in the diner, watching her back. Just in case. They were likely on high alert now with the werewolves standing in the doorway. She prayed that her comrades had the sense to continue acting normally and keep the attention away from themselves.
After a moment of surveying, the Alpha spotted her. His nostrils flared and his hazel eyes narrowed. Blake waved and offered him a crooked smile. Not a truly genuine one, because she knew that would set him on edge, but one that was a little bit hard.
The smile of a woman who'd tried to kill him and then been locked up for six weeks and now wanted to talk about a truce.
He nudged the other wolf who's head whipped towards Blake. Slowly, they approached. When they reached her table and made no move to pull out chairs, she raised a brow.
"You can sit down, you know." Blake sipped from her coffee and peered up at them through her lashes.
They shared a brief look and then they were sitting. Gods they were huge. Tall and bulky, their chests and shoulders broad. In the cell, she hadn't fully appreciated it. Often, she'd kept as much space between her and Red as possible and when he'd released her, she'd just assumed that he was a big guy.
Now she realized just how much muscle they each packed. Their arms were thick with it and she didn't need them to take off their shirts to know that their abs would be chiselled like the male models on a magazine cover.
Perhaps it was a werewolf thing. Some kind of genetic factor that made them all tall and built. Whatever it was made Blake recognize how different their two species truly were.
She was determined not to let it show. It didn't matter, Blake told herself. They can be bigger and stronger than you but you know how to kill them. You've done it before.
That little crooked smile was still on her face as Blake waved the waitress over and said with as much casualness as she could manage, "They're on my bill. Order whatever you want, boys."
Another communicative glance and then, as if operating on autopilot and deciding not to bring attention to themselves in the middle of a packed diner without food in front of them, they quickly glanced down at the menu and picked items at random.
When the waitress had walked away, the second werewolf said, "You don't expect us to believe that you invited us here just to have breakfast, do you?"
Blake scoffed. "Of course not. But they say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. I was hoping it was the same for you monsters."
"What is it you want to talk about, Blake?" the Alpha asked. He said her name so casually, effortlessly, that she knew immediately that he'd spent time thinking about her. Perhaps he'd even spoken about her with Red or other wolves.
She tapped her fingers against the side of her mug, nails pinging off the cup. When she spoke, her voice was pitched low, quiet enough that the other patrons wouldn't be able to hear her in the busy restaurant. Blake wasn't worried about the werewolves hearing her. She knew that they would.
"Before I left, Red told me that he was going to be investigating the deaths of the humans in Denver. That you'd ordered him to. Is that true?"
"Yes." The answer from the Alpha was instantaneous. No hint of hesitation.
"That's why I'm here. I want to help."
They were interrupted by the waitress who came to deposit water and coffee on the table. The wolves reached for the drinks and continued to watch her warily.
The Alpha braced his elbows on the table and sipped from his coffee – to which he added only one creamer. "Why would you want to help us?"
Blake leaned back in her chair, the image of nonchalance. "I'm not helping you. I'm helping them." She gestured abstractly around the diner to all of the innocent humans who could very well be the next target. "Look – when me and the other hunters intruded on your land, it was because we thought that you were orchestrating the attacks. We needed to put an end to it. Your whole pack was considered to be a threat to humanity and we had to put you down."
"My pack is innocent," the Alpha snarled, teeth bared. There was something not quite human in his eyes.
It was probably meant to intimidate her for the wolf next to him growled. Blake didn't flinch. Hardly even blinked.
"Clearly, not all of you are. Most of your pack is innocent. But I want to help you find the one that isn't and put them down."
"Why should we believe a word you say?" the brown-skinned wolf asked. There was deep mistrust, even hatred, in his eyes as he regarded her. "How can we trust that you actually want to help us."
Blake smiled. "Because this is my job. I know how to find a monster. You are the monsters and considering you didn't even notice these murders were happening. According to the papers, the authorities have now started speculating that there is a serial killer loose in Denver. Trust me, you want my help before they start looking too closely and realize that there is something inhuman about these deaths."
The Alpha's temper seemed to have simmered down a bit but he still didn't seem to warming up to her. "What about Red?"
"What about him?"
A pause in their conversation as their waitress returned, depositing plates of food in front of the wolves. She scurried away quickly, as if sensing the tension in the air.
The Alpha raised a brow at Blake and reached for his fork. Slowly, he popped a piece of an egg into his mouth, chewing as he regarded her with calm understanding.
Blake knew what that meant. "He told you."
"No," he said with a shake of his head. "He didn't have to. I knew that you were his Mate from the moment that he jumped between you and I on the field that day."
Mate. Blake thought the word with a hint of disgust and incredulity but was more surprised in how the Alpha said the word. Not mate but Mate. A title. Something revered and special.
Though from the tone of his voice, it was clear that he didn't think she was revered or special. Hell, it sounded like he still wasn't quite over that little display of disrespect she'd shown him by spitting at his feet. Good.
"Tell me this, Blake. You want to work with us – werewolves – to catch a murderer. But what about your werewolf Mate? I want to know what you're plan is with him."
"Why does it matter to you?"
"Red's practically my brother. Even if I thought you could help us, I wouldn't bring you back if you were just going to hurt him."
"Did you even tell him that you and I were meeting today?"
"No."
She chuckled, low and without humour. "Didn't think so. Look, I don't know that I buy into all of this soulmate bullshit. It might sound normal to you but from my end, it sounds like a load of crazy. But I can't deny that I've felt a...pull back here to Colorado from the moment that I left. I made it halfway home before I turned back. Maybe that's because of him or maybe it's because I want to kill a murderous werewolf. I'm still trying to figure that part out."
The Alpha's nostrils flared and she knew that he was scenting her, listening to her heartbeat, trying to tell truth from lies. The other wolf was doing the same but was dividing his attention between her and his plate.
Food, Blake thought. The best distraction.
"I've seen your scars, you know," the Alpha said conversationally as he folded his arms across his chest. "The ones on your back."
He was silent, waiting for her reaction. Reading her face as if he expected that she would fly off the handle. Blake wasn't surprised that he'd seen them. She'd expected that he and all of the other wolves at least knew about them. After her stint in their hospital, she'd woken up in fresh clothes. Someone had changed her and while she doubted that the Alpha was responsible for that kind of thing, whoever had done it would have made note of the scars. The brutality of them.
And their origins.
"Your point?" Blake asked with the quirk of an eyebrow. "I've seen them too. Every day in the mirror."
His lip curled at her tone. "They were caused by a werewolf."
"I'm aware of that. I was there when I got them."
"You're a mouthy little thing, aren't you? I think I liked it better when you refused to speak for six goddamned weeks," the second wolf muttered with a cock of his head. He was staring at her as if she were a meal, something he couldn't wait to sink his teeth into.
Blake sent the same look back at him, full of condescension and murderous assessment. As if she were the predator and he the prey. There was no masking the dominance in that stare.
The Alpha pulled her attention back, even as his companion blinked in surprise at her display. The lack of fear in her eyes. "Tell me this...How can I trust that your only gripe is with the wolf killing the humans in this city? How do I know that you don't have a vendetta against every werewolf in the world when you carry scars like that? When you came into my pack and tried to butcher us with your hunter friends?"
She paused, thinking about the best way to respond.
"I believe in bad people," Blake murmured finally. "Just because you were born monsters doesn't mean that all of you are murderers. Admittedly, my experience with werewolves has left something to be desired. But I spent a month and a half in your care and none of you laid so much as a finger on me despite what I tried to do to you. I'm sure some of that was out of respect for Red but there were plenty of times to make my death look like an accident. None of you did that. I'm left with the knowledge that maybe some of you aren't as bad as I've been led to believe."
Truth and lies, lies and truth. Could they tell the difference? What she'd said about bad people and monsters...She didn't believe it. They were creatures of the night, death and destruction were all that they could bring.
The rest of it though...That was where things got muddied. Because Red had protected her and even when he hadn't actively been with her, no one had tried to harm her.
"And what about when we've identified the murderer and your job is done? What will you do then?" the Alpha questioned.
Blake had the sense that she was on the verge here. The conversation was coming to a close. She knew that Hix and Mick would be monitoring very closely from their booth in the back.
"Then I'll leave and you never have to see me again."
"And Red?" the other wolf asked.
"I'll cross that bridge when I come to it." Blake flagged the waitress down and paid for the meal as the wolves watched. When the woman had departed, Blake reached for her bag and stood. "You have until tomorrow to think about what we've discussed. I'll be here again. If you show up or if you don't, then I have my answer."
Blake didn't give them the opportunity to reply before she was striding for the door. In the reflection of the glass, she saw Hix call over his waitress. They would be ready to follow behind her in just a few moments with enough time passing that it didn't look as if they were with her.
The street was fairly empty but there were a few people milling about. Enough for Blake to know that the werewolves wouldn't do anything stupid like try to attack her in broad daylight where anyone could see.
She counted her breaths as she walked, striding down the avenue. Seven breaths. That was how many she had taken when a rough hand grasped her arm and spun her around. Instinct took over and in one smooth motion, a blade slid down from where she'd hidden it in her jacket sleeve and landed in her hand which she used to angle it towards the Alpha's manhood.
His eyes went wide, nostrils flaring as he bared his teeth. But unless she was mistaken, there was a faint edge of amusement in the depths of those hazel irises. It occurred to her then that he wasn't much older than she was. Mid-to-late twenties perhaps, like Red.
"Seriously?"
"You can never be too careful," she retorted as he released her arm. Blake sheathed the knife and concealed it back inside of her jacket pocket.
"I have one more question for you."
"Shoot."
Ten feet back, the Alpha's companion lingered. Watching the proceedings carefully. Behind him, Hix and Mick appeared in the mouth of the diner. They had paused there, leaning against the window. Hix was showing Mick something on his phone and she heard them discussing how they might get somewhere – pretending to be looking up directions.
The Alpha said, "The wolf who gave you those scars...Did you kill it?"
"If I had, I wouldn't still be living this life. I wouldn't be a hunter if that wolf was dead."
Blake didn't know if it was truth or lie. If it mattered or not. He read her face and then slowly, slowly, nodded.
"Do you need to go back to your hotel or are you good to go back with us right now?"
Blake grinned and gestured forward. "Lead the way, Alpha."