Ice Claimed (3 page)

“I’ll remember to do that, but I doubt I’ll be playing ‘Dog’
again anytime soon. At least your mate doesn’t know that’s what
kèitel
means.”

“She does. Meadow knows how to speak Tlingit.”

Capac chuckled. “That would mean we won’t be able to get
away with saying something in Tlingit, thinking she won’t understand.” He
clapped Durlach on the shoulder. “We should head home. I’m sure you’ll want
Jaren and Kajakti to take you to the grocery store so you can cook something
really nice for Meadow.”

Durlach nodded, then walked with Capac into the trees. Once
they were deeper in the bush, they both shifted to their dire wolf forms.
Durlach bolted past Capac, needing to burn off some of the extra energy
coursing through his system. Being with Meadow again had revved up his mating
urge. Now that she’d met him as a man, he couldn’t wait to work on bringing
them closer as mates.

Chapter Three

Once Meadow arrived back at her house after leaving Durlach
on the trail she headed to her office to get a few more hours of work in before
her date. Much to her surprise she found Taylor waiting for her there. He
leaned against the wall next to the door but stood straight when he saw her
approaching.

“Hey, Taylor. What’s up?” she asked as she opened the door
and walked into her office.

He followed her inside. “Who was that I saw you with?”

Meadow turned to face him. “That was Durlach. He was looking
for his pet, the wolf hybrid. He also happens to be one of our newer
neighbors.”

Taylor appeared to stiffen. “He lives on the next property?
There must be a pack over there then.”

“I don’t know if I would call it pack of them, though there
are more than a few. Durlach said there were four couples, himself and two
other friends living together.”

“That’s a pack.”

Meadow chuckled. “You make them sound like wolves. There is
only the one wolf hybrid.”

“Since you came home alone, I take it Durlach returned to
his house.”

“Yeah, we found his pet out on the trail. But he’s coming
back later. He asked if he could cook me dinner here tonight and I said yes.”

“You found Durlach’s wolf hybrid when he was with you?”

She scowled at Taylor. “Yeah. Why?”

Taylor ducked his head and muttered something that Meadow
swore sounded like, “Great, there’s more than one.”

“What did you say?” she asked.

He looked up. “Nothing. I guess I’ll be sticking around the
property tonight. I’ll also be letting Durlach know you won’t be alone here,
that I’ll be outside if you should need me.”

Meadow shook her head. “I don’t think that’s necessary.
Durlach seems like a nice guy.”

“You don’t know him.”

“And you do?”

“No. That’s why I feel I should be here for you just in case
he doesn’t turn out to be what you expect.”

“I know you aren’t much of a people person, same as me, but
I didn’t realize you had so much mistrust in them as well. I think you’re
worrying unnecessarily. Durlach has been living as our neighbor for close to
two years and not once have we’ve heard about any trouble coming from that
property.”

“Sometimes it’s better not to trust someone right from the
start. I’m still going to hang around.”

Meadow could tell from the expression Taylor wore she
wouldn’t be able to change his mind. “Fine, do whatever you want. Just don’t do
anything to ruin my date. I like Durlach, and it’s been a while since I’ve had
a guy show any interest in me.”

Taylor grinned. “The only reason why you haven’t been dating
is because you let your digs and artifacts take over your life. I’m sure there
are plenty of men who would want to ask you out if only you’d notice them.”

“Well, I noticed Durlach, and he really seemed to notice me.
I hope this will be more than one date.”

“I won’t wreck your date on you. Only promise me you won’t
hurry into anything. Take your time to get to know Durlach well before you
agree to anything permanent.”

“I promise. And if things do work out between Durlach and I,
promise me you’ll make an effort to be friendly. I don’t want to have to kick
your butt because you chased him off with your grumpiness.”

Taylor laughed. “I’d like to see you try to do that. So now
I’m grumpy as well as lacking people skills. You’re painting a great picture of
me.”

“But I still love you anyway. Now, not to be rude, get out.
I have work to do.”

“I love you too, like a sister, of course. And I’m leaving.
Remember to pay attention to the time or you’ll miss Durlach.”

“I will. Now get lost.”

Meadow watched Taylor walk outside and close the door behind
him. She shook her head. She’d dated a couple of guys since Taylor had come to
work for her, but this was the first time he’d actually acted all protective of
her when it came to her dating. Why he’d suddenly taken on the big-brother role
when it came to her seeing Durlach, she didn’t know.

* * * * *

Durlach arrived at the house before Capac and went inside.
He headed up to his bedroom, which he shared with Ryder. Their new shaman
actually made a great roommate. Ryder had fit into their pack with ease, even
though he wasn’t a werewolf. A mortal, he was twenty-four years old, though
when you looked into his eyes it seemed as if a much older soul peered back.
And out of all the descendants of their first shaman, only Ryder had inherited
his ancestor’s powers.

Ryder sat on his twin bed, writing in a notebook when
Durlach arrived in the room. The shaman looked up and smiled. “How did it go?
Did Carson’s plan work?”

Durlach nodded and crossed the room to sit on his
queen-sized bed. “It went well. I have a date with Meadow. I’m going to make
her dinner at her place this evening. I was going to ask Jaren and Kajakti to
take me to the store so I can buy some ingredients I need, but as I came up
here I noticed their bedroom door was shut. I doubt I’ll be able to get them
out of there anytime soon.”

Ryder chuckled. “Probably not. I can take you if you want.”

“That would be great. I’m sure Kajakti would try to bite my
head off if I knocked on their door to ask.”

“Yeah, I doubt that would go over well. If you already know
what you need, we can go now.”

“I do, and thanks, that would be all right.”

“Okay. I’ll grab my car keys then we can leave.”

Ryder walked over to his dresser and picked up his key ring.
Durlach followed the other man out of the room, down the stairs and out to
Ryder’s black four-wheel-drive all-terrain vehicle. Once Ryder unlocked the
doors Durlach got into the passenger side.

“So when are you going to learn how to drive?” Ryder asked
after they were on the road.

“I don’t know. I’ve never really thought about it.”

“Soon Ketah won’t be the only one out of you ice age wolf
brothers to have a license once Edensaw takes his driver’s test next week. I
would think if your alpha can do it you would want to as well.”

“It’s not that big of a deal to me. I feel more comfortable
traveling on four paws. You know my wolf is closer to the surface than with the
others.”

“Yes, but you’re living in the modern world now. All of you
have adapted to it well. But you need to take that next step and learn how to
drive.” Ryder shot Durlach a quick look with a crooked grin. “All real men
can.”

“That’s a low blow, taking a jab at my masculinity.”

“All right, how about this? You found your mate. She may
like it if you’re able to drive. She might not want to play the chauffer all
the time.”

“I’ll have to ask her. Besides, Meadow lives on the property
next to ours. I can walk to her place all the time.”

Ryder pulled into the grocery store’s parking lot and
steered into an empty space. “You lucked out with that.”

“Yeah, but I want to kick myself for never venturing over
there until yesterday. I would have found Meadow a lot sooner.”

“It wasn’t your time to meet until then.”

“Maybe.”

Durlach got out of the car and walked inside the store with
Ryder. Durlach grabbed a shopping cart before he headed to the meat department.
He planned to make some beef tenderloin steaks with creamy mashed potatoes and
sautéed balsamic green beans. It was fancy enough to show off his cooking
skills but not too out there that Meadow wouldn’t enjoy the meal.

It didn’t take Durlach long to get all the ingredients he
needed. He also selected a bottle of red wine to go along with the food. Ryder
had given his input on which one would go with the beef since Durlach was still
learning which wines paired well with what food.

Once they were through the checkout and out in the parking
lot, Durlach loaded his bags of groceries into the backseat of the car. He
closed the door and looked over at Ryder to find the shaman scowling and gazing
around as if he searched for something.

“What’s the matter?” Durlach asked.

“I’m sensing the taint of dark magic somewhere close by.”

“You think it could be Andre?”

Andre was the leader of the dark wolves, and also the one
who could use dark magic. Durlach and his wolf brothers had been created as
sentinels to fight against them.

“Yes, but it isn’t fresh. I still need to find its source,
though.”

“I’ll go with you. There could be a dark wolf hanging
around.”

Ryder was mortal and had refused Edensaw’s offer to be turned,
which hadn’t sat too well with the alpha. The shaman was now a part of their
pack and played an important role in it. Having Ryder unturned, not immortal,
made them all uneasy. He was too vulnerable. If the dark wolves ever got a hold
of him, they’d be able to end his life without trying very hard.

Durlach followed Ryder as he left the car and headed around
to the back of the grocery store’s building. There was a Dumpster against the
brick wall as well as a pile of debris made up of old cardboard boxes, trash
bags and broken wooden pallets. The shaman stood in front of the Dumpster for a
few seconds before he turned and stepped over to the mound of trash next to it.

Ryder pulled a stack of flattened cardboard boxes off the
heap, then muttered, “Shit.”

The smell of rotting flesh hit Durlach’s sensitive nose
before he came to stand beside Ryder. He looked at the face of the dead man
whose body had been hidden amongst the debris.

“He’s a mortal, but I can just pick up the scent of a dark
wolf,” Durlach said as he tried not to breathe too deeply through his nose.

“There’s the taint of dark magic all over him. I might be
able to see what happened here.”

Ryder placed his hand on the dead man’s forehead and closed
his eyes as he muttered a spell in Tlingit. Once his eyelids fluttered open,
the shaman stood back with a grim expression.

“What did you see?” Durlach asked.

“Andre must have run out of lone wolves who would consent to
join his pack. He’s resorted to trying to turn mortals. This man was his latest
attempt, which failed. The mortal wasn’t strong enough to make it through the
turn.”

“Wouldn’t he have turned to dust like the other dark wolves
that died at Andre’s hand?”

“No, Andre’s dark magic hadn’t taken hold enough. I can only
detect a miniscule amount of it in the body. He was still mortal when he died,
not yet dark wolf.”

“So what should we do about him? We can’t just leave him
here.”

Ryder turned and walked back the way they had come as he
fished his cell phone out of jeans pocket. “I’ll call 9-1-1 and tell them where
to find the body. I’ll do it anonymously.”

The shaman’s call only lasted long enough for him to tell
the operator there was a body behind the grocery store and the address, then he
disconnected the call. Ryder suggested they leave before the authorities
arrived, which Durlach had no trouble with.

“This complicates things,” Durlach said once they were on
the road headed back to their place. “If Andre is now selecting mortals to be
turned, it’s going to make our job that much harder. There are three times as
many mortals as there are werewolves in Juneau.”

“And that’s if he decides to stick with this city.”

“How are we going to be able to protect them without
alerting mortals as to what we are? Eventually someone is going to catch us,
then word will spread. It’s not as if my wolf brothers and I have the ability
to erase memories, though it would be something that could come in handy.”

Ryder chuckled. “Don’t look at me if you’re asking me to
give it to you. I might have most of my ancestor’s gifts as a shaman but that
doesn’t mean I can create a new race of man like he did. Nor can I give you an
upgrade. You’ll have to be happy with what you have.”

“It was worth asking.”

Ryder pulled into the driveway of their home. Durlach saw
Carson’s car was parked in front of the garage. His newest wolf brother had
been turned by Wachei almost a year ago. Carson had tangled with a couple of
dark wolves and had come close to death. Only Wachei’s bite had saved him. At
the time, they had assumed they could only turn their mates since their first
shaman had told them they would be able to. But Carson had proven they could
with any mortal. It was something modern-day werewolves couldn’t do.

Durlach walked into the house, carrying his grocery bags and
stopped at the living room. Ryder continued on, more than likely going to look
for Edensaw to tell their alpha what they’d found.

“There you are,” Carson said. “So how did it go with your
mate?”

He put the bags down and crossed over to where Carson sat in
one of the armchairs. Wachei and his mate Eryn, who happened to be Carson’s
true sister, sat on the couch.

“Yeah, Durlach,” Eryn said. “Did Carson’s plan work?”

“It worked just fine,” he replied. “Though throwing Capac in
dire wolf form into the mix caught me a little off guard, especially since it
turns out Meadow is very observant and questioned the little differences she
saw in Capac’s wolf compared to mine.”

“She noticed?” Carson asked. “You guys all look so similar I
figured she wouldn’t be able to.”

“As an archeologist, I guess she has to be able to see
things like that. But I managed to distract her from it. I also arranged to
cook dinner at her place for her this evening. Ryder took me to the grocery
store.”

“So that’s where you went. Meadow is going to be in for a
treat,” Eryn said.

Durlach had to chuckle inside. Before Jaren had started
teaching him how to cook, Eryn had avoided his food like the plague. Almost all
of his pack had, except for Carson, who had no problem eating it. Now everyone
showed up for dinner whenever he made the meal.

“I hope she enjoys it.” He continued in a more serious tone.
“While we were at the store, Ryder and I found something.” Durlach filled the
others in about finding the remains of the mortal.