“I could help,” Jonah teased, even though his own breathing was still choppy.
“I’d never get any showering done,” she pointed out, “and your friend will be back here before too long.”
“You’re right.” He kissed the tip of her nose, then slid carefully from her body. “Let me get cleaned up first. I’ll be quick and I’ll warm up the shower for you.”
He did more than warm up the shower. When Dakota stepped out he was waiting for her with the butt plug, the lube, and a wolfish grin on his face. He stroked her ass as he bent her over the little vanity counter and lapped at her cheeks as he smoothed the lube inside her rectum. This time when he slid the plug into her it went in much more easily.
“A couple more times and we’ll be ready for the big show,” he told her, his voice husky with desire.
She felt it inside her as she moved about putting dinner together, then sitting on the hard wooden chair at the table while they ate. She was acutely aware of Mark’s eyes skimming a look at her now and then while he and Jonah talked about their plans for the evening and what they might find. She knew Mark was still wary of her, but willing to defer to Jonah unless she somehow did something to screw things up for them.
“I drove by the Perkins place after I checked in at the motel,” he said when Dakota had cleared their plates and brought mugs of coffee.
“”Were the deputies still there?” Jonah wanted to know.”
Mark shook his head. “I get the feeling from the talk in town that no one wanted to hang around that place unless they were ordered to.”
Jonah lifted an eyebrow. “Who’d you talk to?”
Mark flicked a hand. “No one special. Chatted up the clerk at the motel when I registered. Had a cup of coffee at the diner. It’s been in all the newspapers so I figured anyone coming through here would ask about it anyway.” He grunted. “You’d think I was asking about the plague.”
“Yeah, I got that idea when I first got here, too. And that was before the Perkins slaughter.”
“No one around here wants to believe in the legend,” Dakota put in as she sat back down in her chair.
“What do
you
think?” Mark’s question was casual but not his tone of voice. Friend or foe, he was asking.
She ran her fingertip around the rim of her cup as she considered her answer. “I might have been skeptical before, but after listening to Jonah and then seeing what was left of that poor woman yesterday, I have to believe such a devil beast exists. No animal as we know it, no matter how feral, would do what was done to Donna Perkins.”
“Did Jonah tell you that the hunt for this creature is what bonds Night Seekers together?”
She nodded, then looked at Jonah and said in a soft voice, “And he told me about Jenna, too.”
Mark was watching her carefully, still taking her measure. “I mentioned your name in town. You don’t seem to be at the top of the popularity poll.”
Okay. Here it was.
“You’ll hear a lot of things about me if you spend any time around here,” she told him. “I’m not a very social person and I have mixed heritage. Half-breed, they call me. I ignore them and they ignore me unless they want to buy something for me. I think they almost resent the fact I have something they desire.”
“Seems to me you’d have wanted to make friends with these people.” His voice was carefully bland.
“Maybe that’s your cup of tea, but it’s not mine.” She stared back at him. “I’m not going to do anything to hurt Jonah or screw up what you’ve got going here. That’s all you need to know.”
“Tell me something, Dakota.” He recrossed his legs. “What was your reaction to seeing Jonah as a wolf? To seeing him shift back to human form?”
Again she chose her words carefully. “Shocked, startled.” She looked directly at him. “But not frightened. Even in wolf form he would never hurt me, and I knew it.”
“And it doesn’t create any…intimacy issues for you?”
He means well, I have to remember that. His first concern is for Jonah.
“I think that’s between Jonah and me,” she told him. “But the fact that he’s still here with me should answer that for you.”
Jonah slapped his hand on the table. “And I think that’s enough of the third degree for tonight. We need to get ready and get going. It’s dark enough now.”
He rose from the chair, carried his mug to the sink and rinsed it out. Then, with complete unselfconsciousness, he removed his clothes, folded them and placed them on top of the dresser near the bed.
Dakota cleared the other two mugs. “Mark, I’m sure undressing in front of me would be uncomfortable for you. I’ll wait outside.”
Before either of the men could say anything she picked up her rifle, opened the door and slipped out to the porch. Lowering herself into one of the big chairs, she leaned back, closed her eyes and inhaled the night fragrance. She wondered what scents Jonah picked up when he did this. Or Mark. And how they separated them from those that ordinary humans could detect.
She had left the front door cracked just enough to be nudged open. Now it swung wider, letting out a shaft of golden light, and two magnificent wolves padded out onto the porch. Jonah, silvery gray, stopped beside her chair and licked her hand. Behind him stood a slightly larger wolf with a jet-black coat. Not even silver tips anywhere to break up the obsidian darkness of the pelt. His eyes were amber, as opposed to Jonah’s silvery ones. And not quite as friendly, but Dakota was getting used to that.
She rose from her chair and bent to put her face next to Jonah’s, tangling her fingers in his rich pelt. His tongue swiped against her face, twice.
“Good luck,” she told him. “And be very careful. Now go, both of you.”
She stood on the porch watching them as they leaped off the stairs and trotted into the trees, tails waving, shadows in the moonlight. She was still there, long after they’d disappeared, wondering at the dramatic change her life had taken and praying that the wolves did not meet up with the Chupacabra. Not until they were in a situation to deal with it.
* * * * *
They raced silently through the night, Jonah in the lead, skirting the town of Eagle Pass and heading out to the Perkins’ farm. They were careful in the open spaces, running low to the ground, sometimes stopping if they heard or sensed movement.
How much farther?
Mark wanted to know.
Almost there
, Jonah answered.
Out of shape, are you?
If I knew where I was going, I’d show you out of shape.
Only a couple more miles. Just be on the alert. Lots of coyotes around here.
On the other side of Eagle Pass they followed the two-lane highway but kept to trees and native plants for cover. Often, when headlights swept down the highway, they hunkered low to the ground, making themselves as invisible as possible, until the vehicle had passed.
Finally, when no cars had driven past for a while, they crossed the road and padded up the driveway to the farm.
Mark paused beside the farmhouse, muzzle lifted.
Do you smell that?
Yes. It’s much more evident now than it was this morning
, Jonah told him.
Too much human scent this morning. Now it’s sharp. Sort of a mixture of turpentine and gasoline.
Have you smelled it before? Like when Jenna was killed?
No. what about you?
No. this is something new. We need to call the ranch and have them see what they can do to check it out.
Okay. But we have to finish here first.
They mounted the steps to the porch and sniffed every inch of the flooring.
Almost no blood scent
, Mark commented.
The bastard drains and drinks it all. You know.
Yes. It was the same when I found Carter. And also I’m sure when you discovered Jenna.
All the Night Seekers knew, just as they knew each team member’s story, that Carter Bowdoin, Mark’s close friend, had been killed by the Chupacabra while visiting in Montana. Mark had come home from his shift as a deputy sheriff to find what was left of the body in his front yard.
This is where he left the remains.
Mark rubbed his snout against the floor.
Strange. I can’t pick up any scent at all. Not even hers. It’s as if his presence overpowers everything and then it all evaporates.
Let’s check the barn.
Jonah loped down the steps.
Did you see the pictures I sent? I found evidence someone was living in there. I think the beast was in there, too.
They trotted out to the barn, sniffing every inch of ground as they moved, stopping now and then to inhale in a wider circle. By the time they entered the barn itself all their wolven senses were on high alert.
Over here.
Jonah led the way to the place where the deputies had found traces of someone. Or something.
The scent is very strong here
, Mark commented.
Yes. The beast was here. Smell that? Not gasoline. More like a weird mixture of turpentine and something else. But there is no human scent at all. And traces someone had crashed here recently.
They circled the scattered straw, both sniffing at every inch of the area and pushing the straw aside with their noses. A sick feeling lodge in Jonah’s stomach. He’d found the same scent the night Jenna was killed, but no one else had been aware of it.
Definitely animal
, he told Mark.
And no human scent. So what happened to whoever was bunked down here?
Is it possible the devil beast killed this one and ate the entire body?
Or dragged it away somewhere. Let’s check around the barn.
But they lost the trail as soon as they hit the side of the building.
Nothing but human scent
, Jonah signaled.
Probably from the woman who lived here and all the cops trampling around here today. But that’s all.
Son of a bitch
, Mark swore.
It’s like the bastard evaporates into thin air.
Well, that’s probably not possible so we need to figure out other options.
You know it’s not finished
, Mark reminded him.
Yes. If the beast stays true to form we can expect one more before it takes off. We need to kick ass to try to pinpoint where the next attack will be.
Talk to the sheriff about it?
Hell, no
, Jonah snorted.
For one thing he wouldn’t believe us. He’s already having a hard enough time believing the beast even exists.
At that moment they heard a shrill yell not far away and Mark nudged Jonah’s shoulder with his muzzle.
Coyotes.
Yup. I smell them now. And here they come.
The two wolves stood stiff-legged as a small pack of coyotes raced across the yard and circled them, yipping and howling. Mark and Jonah recognized the feral look in the eyes of the other animals. Each wolf faced in the opposite direction from the other so they had a full view of the coyotes. The pack stared back at them, muscles bunched as they geared for the attack.
Now
, Jonah signaled silently.
A low growl rolled from the throat of each wolf. Then, as if on a silent signal, each wolf leaped and grabbed a coyote by the throat, so quickly the rest of the tiny pack didn’t have time to respond. In seconds two of the animals lay dead on the ground, throats ripped open, blood pouring out.
One of the other coyotes made a move toward Mark and Jonah, but when Mark growled again and bared his bloody fangs, the animal backed away. A few more yips and they turned and ran off toward the trees and small rocky hill at the back of the property.
Well, that was fun
, Mark said.
We’d better finish up here and leave before some other creature decides to come calling. And we have to get rid of this blood before we get back to the cabin.
All right. But I think we might be done already. The smell of those coyotes and their blood will block out any other scent lingering here.
Jonah knew his team member was right. The copper stench of blood filled the air, masking anything else that might give them a clue as to the type of beast they were hunting. They padded slowly through the barn again, checking every inch of space, then walked a perimeter that extended as far as fifty feet out but whatever might have been there was lost now.
Jonah stood by the garage and shifted, grabbing a hose connected to an outside faucet and rinsing away the coyote blood on his mouth and Mark’s. Then he shifted back and signaled Mark it was time to leave.
They dodged and darted until they were away from Eagle Pass, then trotted at a steady pace until the cabin was in sight.
I’ll shift now
, Jonah said,
and bring your clothes out to you
.