Authors: Dixie Lynn Dwyer
“Give me a break.” Dani brushed past Margo and headed toward her apartment. The three followed, but Margo remained behind the men.
That shit was not going to happen to her. Dani Lynch did not bow down to anyone and not any male, wolf, Alpha, or whatever.
Dani walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water.
The two men stared at her with arms crossed in front of massive chests. Margo looked like a mouse ready to be eaten.
“Alphas, may I ask what your business is with Dani?” she whispered with her head still bowed. Dani felt her belly tighten. She knew what their business was with her. They liked her scent and they were wolves that chose women at random to screw around with. Not her. She didn’t even date much, she had a booty-call partner to avoid commitments and complications, and Jack was just fine with that, too.
Bently sniffed Margo and then glanced toward Dani. What? Did he want her to act jealous because he was sniffing her best friend?
She gave him an annoyed expression.
“You are from the Fennigan Pack, correct?” Bently asked Margo, and she nodded her head.
He got that from sniffing her? What a crazy wild sense of smell wolves have.
“She is of the magic healing kind. One of the gifted.” Miele smiled at her. “Do not be afraid of us. We don’t intend any harm to your friend. In fact, we are here to protect her from harm.”
“Even more so since it seems she is meant for us,” Bently added then winked, and Margo smiled wide.
“She is of importance.” Margo began to say.
“Margo! That’s enough.” Dani interrupted then walked toward her friend. She grabbed her arm.
“Will you two excuse us, please? You can leave or you can make yourselves at home, since you did that earlier without an invite.” Margo gasped and the two wolves chuckled as they stood watching her drag Margo into the other room.
“Can they hear me if I whisper?” she asked Margo.
“Not all the way in here. What is your problem? You just hit the jackpot in hot men for life. Those two are part of the Fagan Pack. They’re big shots and there are five of them. Holy shit, Dani, you are going to be their healer and perhaps protector or something just as grand as soon as we figure it out. We have to explain what’s going on.”
“No!” Dani interrupted. “You are not going to tell them anything. I am not destined for anything with them. I am destined to be independent, single, and working on catching killers, one in particular at the moment.”
“Dani, you can’t deny your destiny.”
“I am in charge of my destiny. I will make the decisions in my life and not be forced to bow my head and walk behind a bunch of men who can change into wolves. That is not for me.”
Margo looked insulted, Dani realized, and she tried to back step.
She placed her hand on her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Margo. I know this all means so much to you, but I’m human and I have worked hard for my independence and for the life I lead. I am not a submissive person.”
Margo smiled. “You do not understand but soon you will. I will respect your wishes, Dani, because we are great friends and I love you. But know that those men are meant to be yours and not to control you or make demands upon you but to protect and love you.”
“Whatever. I don’t have time for this mumbo jumbo stuff. I’m wasting time. I’m going down the fire escape. Keep them busy for me.”
Dani opened the window and looked down. It was only four floors high. The fire escape was sturdy enough, so she made her descent down the metal steps.
Margo would ensure she got the time needed to get to her car.
* * * *
Margo reentered the living room to find both Alphas pacing.
“Where is she?” Miele Fagan asked abruptly. She winced at his tone. His brother Bently walked closer.
“Margo, you know why we are here. She is important to us. She is our mate.”
Margo covered her mouth and her eyes widened. This wasn’t good. Dani was going to flip out. Shit! They were going to flip out when they realize she ran.
“Um, that is amazing,” she began to say when Miele jumped up and grabbed her arm.
“Where is she?” he demanded to know. She knew Alphas and the Fagan Pack had seriously intense reputations. They had killed many wolves before to protect the circle of elders.
She bowed her head.
“I am sorry, Alpha, but she is gone.”
“What?” Bently ran toward the bedroom and returned a moment later.
“She went down the fire escape.”
“The fire escape? She could have broken her freaking neck,” Miele reprimanded, and Bently shook his head.
“If she returns before we find her, you call us and you do not warn her first, Margo, or there will be consequences. One phone call, or your Alpha will step in.”
Margo gasped at Miele’s threat.
“Yes, Alphas.” She bowed her head and they hurried out the door.
* * * *
Dani jumped into her Mustang, started it up, and took off down the main street. She caught the red light at the intersection and kept looking in the rearview mirror to see if they were pursuing her. No sign of them yet. She released an uneasy breath and swallowed the lump of guilt she felt.
Why should I feel guilty? I didn’t do anything wrong. They kissed me. They wanted to have sex with me because they’re wolves! Fuck if any of this makes sense.
She jumped as she heard her cell phone ringing.
Answering it, she heard Jack’s voice and another string of guilt hit her belly. But why. It wasn’t like they were dating or boyfriend and girlfriend. They hadn’t even had sex in nearly a year. The thought that he wasn’t her booty call anymore made her feel crappy. They’d drifted apart, too. She just wasn’t good at relationships.
“What’s up, stranger?” she asked, trying to pretend normalcy and ignore the negative feeling she had. She stepped on the gas and caught the next light a block up from her place.
“Nothing, sweetheart. Just, I heard about you getting taken off the case.”
“I’m not off the case. The brass made me take a few days off to clear my head. I was covered in human blood. It was shitty.”
“I know. I fucking heard. I did call you. You should answer those voice mails.”
“I know. I did but didn’t get a chance to respond. I appreciate the call, though.”
“Well, I just heard that some guys from a Special Investigations Unit are being assigned to the case.”
“What? Were their names Miele and Bently?”
“No, some other guys. Big fucking dudes, too, Dani. I mean, like, over six feet, big muscles, tattoos, and total military types.”
“Shoot. I guess our paths will cross eventually.”
“Yeah, I’m sure they will. You won’t miss them. All the chicks around the department were practically drooling. Something about the guys’ good looks and shit.”
She swallowed hard.
“Got a last name?”
“Yeah it was Fagan or Fagarn and they’re brothers or cousins. Some crazy shit. Anyway, watch your ass. I hear this killer is really bad. He must be for the brass to be calling in reinforcements like military personnel.”
“I appreciate the heads-up. I’ll be by in a few hours. I’m checking out my own leads,” she told him.
“I can come over tonight if you don’t have plans?”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Hey, I didn’t mean to not call you. I kind of met someone and then things didn’t work out. I wouldn’t do that to you. You know, call you for one reason while I’m interested in someone else, even though we had an agreement.”
“No sweat, Jack. It’s cool and you don’t owe me any explanations. It’s been, like, a year.”
“I know it’s crazy. I’m sorry to assume that you would be interested. A hot babe like you has to be seeing someone.”
She chuckled.
“I’ll call you if I’m free.” She disconnected the call and felt a little better about clearing the air between her and Jack, but she also felt shitty. She just wasn’t good with opening up her heart and connecting with a man on an intimate level. It was complicated and involved too much energy and giving too much of herself. She liked being alone. Well, at least most of the time, and she didn’t want to just have sex to have sex anymore. But damn did the two wolves back there know how to kiss a woman. She felt it to her fucking toes. That was wild because right now she should be freaking out knowing that there were wolves living among humans. She swallowed hard. In her mind, she knew that she believed it back then. Back when Margo had told her they existed. Dani kept a watchful eye out at the precinct. She could tell that private meetings were taking place, and also she believed there were even private meeting rooms. This was like some off-the-wall spy movie meets sci-fi craziness.
She shook her head and continued down the road. As she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, she noticed a blush to her cheeks. The reality was, wolf or not, she was definitely attracted to Miele and Bently. She’d have to be dead not to be and her pussy sure the hell wasn’t dead. In fact, her panties were wet from thinking about them. She tried to adjust her ass in the seat and her holster rubbed along the side of the seat belt.
The sound of her cell phone chiming took her mind off of the hotties and back to reality.
She pressed the button on the hands-free device so she could answer the call.
“Hello, I’m looking for Detective Lynch.”
“This is Detective Lynch. Who is this please?”
“My name is Baily May. I’ve been watching the television about the murders taking place around the city. My cousin April was one of the women killed last month.”
“I’m so sorry to hear that. How can I help you, Baily?” It wasn’t uncommon for members of a victim’s family to call the detectives in charge of their cases. It sometimes helped the victims bring closure of some degree to their family member’s death.
“Well, I don’t know if it’s anything to be concerned about, but the detectives at your precinct said you wouldn’t mind if I called you.”
“Go on, Baily, it’s okay. Tell me what’s bothering you.”
“I was sitting at the coffee shop. I hadn’t gone since before April was killed, but we used to go there together often. She mentioned a club on Chester Street that she had gone to a few times. Anyway, while I was sitting there, I saw some weird-looking guy talking to two young women. One of the women got up and walked outside with him. They talked a bit and anyway, he handed her a card. I think I saw him at the coffee shop before. In fact, a few days before my sister disappeared, the man was talking with her by the table but then I arrived. Well, today when I saw him, I didn’t know what to do or whether or not to approach him, and then he happened to turn and look right at me. It was so strange. I swear you’re probably going to think I’m crazy, Detective Lynch, but I think I saw his eyes glowing.”
Dani nearly crashed her car. She pulled over to the side of the road and asked Baily to repeat the last part. She then took down a description of the man and the time of day Baily saw him when she was with her sister and then she wrote down today’s time. It was a good hour difference.
“Do you think it could be the killer?” Baily asked.
“I’m not sure, Baily, but believe me, I’ll do my best to figure this out. I may need you to sit down and do a composite sketch. I’ll need something to go by when I stake out that coffee shop.”