As soon as all this was over, she intended to fumigate the apartment, rent it out, and move into another. Then she would throw herself into her studies and forget about men—and wolves.
Speaking of which,
Roy
would be here any second. Wine chilling—check, ketamine in the drawer—check, cell phone charged—check. Nothing more to do besides wait.
At exactly nine forty-five, a light knock brought her up short, and her blood ran cold.
Roy
was always punctual. She checked the peephole first, then opened the door.
Roy
smiled and handed her a beautiful bouquet of yellow roses and baby’s breath. At least the bastard hadn’t brought red roses. She might have thrown them at him.
“Thank you,
Roy
. They’re lovely.” Janis took the flowers and buried her nose in them while she composed herself. “Come in.”
Roy
stood in the center of the room. Did his nostrils flare or did she imagine it?
“You look lovely, Janis.”
“Thanks.” She’d worn a tight blue dress that matched her eyes and a pair of fuck-me heels. Let the creep think she wanted to seduce him. “Have a seat.”
“So how have you been?”
Like he really cared. “Busy. Classes start up soon, and I’ve been thinking about hiring more help to deal with the rentals.”
“Good idea. I guess this business with your friend comes at a bad time.”
He certainly didn’t waste any time. “Yes, it’s been rough.” Janis sighed heavily. “How about some wine?” She would have missed his impatient frown if she hadn’t been watching him so closely.
“Wine would be nice.”
“Red?”
“You remembered.”
Roy
smiled at her.
Janis wanted to spit at him. “Of course. It hasn’t been that long.” She couldn’t wait to get in the kitchen and let out a deep breath. How had she ever let him touch her?
“Need some help in there?”
Roy
called out.
Shit! She better get a move on. “No, I’ll be right in.” Janis poured the Ketamine in a wine glass and filled it with merlot. Thank God, Jonas’s degree came in handy for something. Being a doctor, he had no trouble obtaining the veterinary drug.
She poured herself a glass of white zinfandel and prayed she wouldn’t spill the wine before she got back in the living room.
Roy
accepted the glass and held it up to the light to admire the color. Her heart just about stopped. Did he suspect something?
“To old friends.” He held the glass out, and she tapped it with hers before taking a healthy drink. The wine burned a warm path to her stomach and calmed her a bit.
“So tell me more about your friend.”
“Well, as I said, I really don’t know her all that well. I was shocked when she called me. We only met once, but I got the distinct impression that she had no family or friends to speak of.”
“It does sound like abuse,”
Roy
said. “A controlling man will separate a woman from her family.”
Like you, you arrogant bastard.
Christ, she wished this was over. It was so damn hard to sit here and make nice when she wanted to kill him. She looked in his eyes, hoping to see a sign of fatigue.
“So what does this woman look like?”
Roy
took a big drink of his wine.
Janis raised her brows. “Why? Is that important?”
“Oh, I was just wondering if she had any bruises.”
Yeah, right.
“Not that I noticed.” Good thing Jonas had told her that the Lycans healed quickly or she might have slipped and made up something about black and blue marks. “It did strike me as funny that she resembles my sister-in-law so much. Sable told me they’re not related, but they look enough alike to be sisters.”
Roy
’s eyes definitely lit up. He was in this up to his fangs.
“Perhaps there a familial connection way back in their past. At any rate, I hope I can be of some help.”
The familiar tone of her cell startled Janis.
Showtime.
This was it. Had the drug affected
Roy
at all? She couldn’t tell, but she didn’t want to wait.
Roy
wasn’t dumb, and if he thought she was stalling, he’d leave, or worse.
“Shouldn’t you get that?”
Roy
yawned and covered his mouth. “Sorry. It’s been a long day.”
Thank God!
Janis got up to retrieve her cell.
“Hello.” Janis listened to Malcolm caution her to be careful. She looked at
Roy
. He placed his empty wine glass on the coffee table and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. Inwardly, Janis smiled. Outwardly, she frowned. “I have someone here who can help you.”
She closed her cell phone and rejoined
Roy
. “She’s desperate. She wants to talk to you—in person.”
Roy
’s face lit up. “How soon can she get here?”
The door flew open and slammed against the wall.
Janis couldn’t help screaming at him, “She’s here now, mother fucker!”
Roy
jumped up with a lethal grace that didn’t reveal an ounce of fatigue. His eyes darkened, and his lips curled back. He snarled viciously at Malcolm. “Who the fuck are you?”
Malcolm’s laugh was truly frightening. “Someone you can’t subdue so easily. Where’s the woman and the children?”
Roy
tore at his shirt. “Whoever you are, you won’t live long enough to find out.”
Malcolm, dressed in sweat pants only, had stripped bare before
Roy
had his clothes off. He crouched and leaped, shifting in midair and knocking
Roy
off his feet.
Roy
shifted. His buttons popped, and when his muzzle lengthened, he tore at his slacks with long yellow fangs.
Malcolm wrapped his limbs around
Roy
and snapped at him.
Roy
sang his fangs into Malcolm’s leg and held on for dear life.
Janis’s heart beat a staccato rhythm. She backed away in shock and fear. She knew Malcolm had no intention of killing
Roy
, only subduing him. But
Roy
was out for blood. Where the hell were her brothers?
Almost as if he’d read her mind, Jude ran through the door, Jonas behind him.
“Shit.” Jude took aim with the tranquilizer gun. If he hit Malcolm, they were finished.
Malcolm wrenched the black wolf around until Jude had a clear shot at its back. He howled in pain as
Roy
’s fangs tore at his limb.
Jude took a shot, and at last, the black wolf loosened its hold and lay still on the floor. Malcolm lay next to
Roy
, panting and licking at his wounded leg. In a few minutes, he sat back on his heels, a naked man looking at a wounded arm that had already stopped bleeding.
* * * *
Janis and Jude sat in her living room. The black wolf, tightly secured with chains, slept off the drugs in Janis bedroom.
Malcolm was fairly certain that the wolf would stay a wolf rather than talk.
Roy
knew they wouldn’t kill him. He was their only link to Sable and the twins. It had been a calculated risk. They had no choice but to take it. That was the bad news.
On the other hand, they now had
Roy
’s car and his keys in their possession. Malcolm and Jonas had already left to search
Roy
’s office. With
Roy
’s BMW parked in the garage, any activity noticed by security would hopefully be attributed to
Roy
.
Janis stretched out on the couch and watched Jude pace. She knew he didn’t like being left behind.
“Malcolm only took Jonas because he’s a doctor and might catch something important.”
“I know. I just want to be doing something.”
“You already have. If it wasn’t for your shot,
Roy
might have gotten away, and they wouldn’t have his keys.”
“I’m going to take a look at our prisoner. Maybe we’ll get lucky and he’ll change back.”
Janis sighed. She wanted to be doing something too. She wouldn’t say it to Jude, but she felt every minute that passed since his family went missing put them further away from finding them. She stretched out on the couch and tried to think of any details she might have forgotten. Her eyes got heavy, and she closed them for just a few minutes.
Janis woke to growls and scratching noises coming from the bedroom. The first light of dawn showed through the blinds, and she smelled fresh coffee. Jude came out of the kitchen and handed her a mug.
“Here, take mine. I’ll pour another cup.”
“I can’t believe I fell asleep.” Janis took the coffee gratefully. “Any word?”
Jude shook his head. “No, but our houseguest is awake.”
“I heard him.” She took a sip. “I know they’ll—”
The door opened, and she looked up, heart pounding. The men looked grim. That didn’t bode well.
Jonas shut the door and locked it. Malcolm tilted his head toward the bedroom.
“Yeah, it’s awake,” Jude muttered. “Did you find anything?”
“Enough,” Malcolm stated. “Thanks to Jonas.” He nodded at her brother. “We have good reason to believe they’re in
New Mexico
.”
Janis’s breath hitched.
New Mexico
!
“At first we came up empty. Then Jonas got on the computer. It took him hours to hack into
Roy
’s emails, and we still didn’t find anything useful.”
Jonas picked up the story. “I looked through his sent folder. He had replied to an email, confirming a drop off location for a package. The
Gila
Forest
in
New Mexico
. Good thing we got longitude and latitude. It’s over three million acres of terrain that ranges from deep canyons to rugged mountain.”
“How soon do we take off?” Jude asked breathlessly.
“Later this afternoon,” Jonas said. “I already booked a flight on the way back here.”
“What about our pet?” Jude asked.
“He’ll have to ride in the cargo section with the other dogs.” Malcolm grinned.
Chapter Thirteen
It had been a long time since Alex had a man in his bed, seven months to be exact,
Roy
’s last visit home. He stroked his flaccid dick, hoping the sight of Sable lying naked and spread-eagled on the bed would entice him. It didn’t.
Not even the thought of having his own child again aroused him. He wasn’t even sure he wanted another child. When he’d lost his son, he swore he’d never father another. It hurt too much to lose them.
For a long time, he’d been content to be the unofficial elder and have Noah by his side. They didn’t need children, because they had each other.
He’d loved Noah, still did if he let himself admit it. But he could never bring himself to tell him. Falling in love only led to heartache. Besides it seemed disloyal to his mate’s memory. When Noah looked elsewhere for the affection he couldn’t give him, Alex’s jealousy, unreasonable though it was, overwhelmed him.
Noah wanted him to include Wade in their relationship, but the green-eyed monster inside Alex wouldn’t allow it. When
Roy
made overtures to him, he took the man to his bed. He didn’t have the same feelings for
Roy
, but a malicious part of him wanted to make Noah jealous. He hoped Noah would give up Wade and come back to him. Instead Noah drew further away, and the rift between them grew too wide to cross.
Roy
had been studying in
Boston
when they found him and his head was filled with plans to help their people increase their dwindling numbers. Careful investing over the years had made their clan rich, but what good was it if their people were dying off? It was Alex’s idea to send
Roy
to
Philadelphia
for his fellowship and the clan’s money had funded the addition to the hospital.
Roy
wanted Alex to come with him, but that was impossible. Their people needed him here.
Roy
hadn’t been happy to leave him, but he had no choice. After all, it was his prodding in the first place that started all this.
Alex didn’t want his race to die out. Now he wondered if it was all worth it. He wasn’t happy. His people weren’t happy. They’d been reduced to breeding with strangers instead of mates.