Once Upon a Shifter (41 page)

Laying the officer on the concrete patio outside his door, Phoenix found a broom propped against the doorjamb and laid it beside the guy's boots, so that it appeared he tripped and struck his head, causing the blackout to occur.

Well satiated, Phoenix ran for his car. All the blood in the world would not stop that big yellow ball of light from torching his body to ashes if he didn't get home before it made its appearance. This was one of the times he was glad he drove a fast car.

V''''V

"What do you mean, you didn't get the dagger?" Phoenix's voice bellowed, and the four vampires standing in his bedroom chamber cowered under the intensity of his glare. "Someone had better answer me before I throw you all outside to burn!"

Jaxon took a step forward, but struggled to hold eye contact with the high vampire. "There were six wolves and only five of us, Phoenix. April was bitten. Ray got her out of there, and I rushed to get the blade, but someone else had already gotten to the dagger and fled. It was gone from the body."

"Did you at least kill some of them?" Phoenix asked in a quiet voice.

Jaxon's eyes widened. "They were already gone by the time I realized the weapon had been taken, but even if they had been there… you said the war was over, that we shouldn't kill any of Mena's pack—"

"These wolves are clearly not part of Mena's pack!" Phoenix grabbed Jaxon's throat and lifted his feet off the floor. "Is it not clear to you that they do not accept Mena as their leader? They are trying to frame her for murder!" Jaxon nodded and Phoenix dropped him. "That war has just begun. Find them at nightfall, get the dagger and kill them all."

Phoenix turned away from Jaxon and walked to the fireplace. The sound of shuffling feet leaving his bed chambers was expected. He didn't have to voice the dismissal for them to get the point. He was done. Exhaustion had set in and he was about to be down for the count, mentally as well as physically.

He knew one had stayed. That had also been expected.

"How is April?" Phoenix said, barely above a whisper.

The crackling of burning wood was all that was heard for a moment, and then Jaxon finally spoke. "She's in a bad way. You should go see her before… before it is too late."

Phoenix's eyes slammed shut as a sigh escaped through his parted lips, but instead of replying, he only nodded.

Chapter 8

Mena

It was surprisingly warm for late January, but that was nothing uncommon in the state of Alabama. It could be eighty degrees one day and hovering around the zero mark the next. I was happy the weather had at least decided to cooperate with me, because every reporter in the tri-state area had decided to show for the press conference.

I gave a small sigh as the city's chief of police wrapped up his speech and introduced me to the crowd of microphones and voice recorders. I wasn't nervous as I took everyone's attention; my wolf was definitely on top of her game today.

"Thank you all for coming. I know most of you knew Marc, if not personally, then from a business standpoint. Many of you got the chance to interview him, and a special few of you got the chance to sit with him over cigars and scotch and long conversations that had absolutely nothing to do with crime or law or who should be appointed as the next senator. If you knew Marc at all, then you are the lucky ones. Very few people actually find out what they are meant to do with their lives, but Marc knew what he was born to do from a very young age: argue with people."

The crowd laughed, and I even saw a few people wipe at their misty eyes. He was loved and respected by these people. I knew that, and I had no intention of slandering his name and letting them know what had actually happened before his death. That would only cause me bigger problems than I already had.

"That was something he was definitely good at. He was one of those men who, when he spoke, people listened. They listened because they wanted to hear what he had to say. I won't stand up here and say that he was always right, because I've had a few arguments with him myself. The man has been wrong before."

More laughter issued from the crowd and I smiled.

"I sort of feel sorry for Saint Peter, because I know Marc is still standing at the pearly gates and arguing with the angel that it is not his time to go through them yet. Whether that is true or not, the fact remains that he is not here, and he is not standing before you giving one of his famous speeches that everyone loved to hear. I'm sure he's jealous that I'm up here getting all the attention." More chuckles erupted from the people staring up at me, and I was happy they would remember this day and think kindly of Marc. "He would want you to remember him as a strong and determined man, one who never gave up the fight until he was victorious. Detective Alex Rhodes and the officers of Montgomery's Police Department are doing everything they can to find Marc's killer and bring him to justice. I believe only then will Marc truly be at rest." I smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

I didn't give them time to start asking questions. I was praying they would respect the fact that I'd buried my husband only the day before and let me off the hook.

Katie, one of the female members of my pack, was at the bottom of the steps to whisk me through the crowd easily. A reporter ran up and stuck a microphone in my face, and Katie's elbow quickly introduced itself to the man's nose. She didn't even bother with apologies when he cried out and covered the blood-gushing snout with his hands, and none of the other media tried to get close to me after that. The act moved her far up the list of the twenty-seven. I was impressed.

She opened the passenger door of my Audi and I got in quickly, anxious to get away from anyone who knew Marc. I knew this small speech about my dead husband wouldn't be my last, but I needed to get away from people in general for a little while.

Katie sat behind the steering wheel and turned to look at me with a smile. "You hungry?"

I laughed. "Starving."

V''''V

She took us to a little corner restaurant a few blocks away and, with the temperature being in the high fifties with almost no breeze, we decided to dine at one of the tables set up outside.

After placing our orders, there was really nothing left to do but wait and get to know one of my shifters.

"Where are the other two? I didn't see them after we got to the courthouse this morning," I said to Katie.

"They are watching. Being discrete and staying hidden is something we do well."

I casually looked around, but never spotted the two men on bodyguard detail with Katie. I assumed they thought I would be more comfortable having a girl with me or that it would look bad for one of them to be seen with me in public, since I had just buried Marc the day before.

At any rate, this was a good time to get to know Katie.

"How long have you been a member of Montgomery's pack?" I said, after making sure there wasn't anyone close enough to hear our conversation.

She seemed to be thinking the question through, and then finally said, "I think… about twenty-three years."

My eyes popped wide in shock as I gasped. "Twenty-three years? How old were you when you were bitten, five?" There was no way she had been a shifter for twenty-three years. It was impossible. Of course, I thought werewolves were nonexistent a few days ago, so there is that.

Her eyebrows rose up over her designer shades. "I was thirty-one."

"But you're—"

She smiled. "Beautiful and so young-looking? I know."

I laughed, but I pulled my own sunglasses from my face, so she could see the seriousness in my eyes. "How?" I said in a low voice.

She snickered. "Hasn't anyone told you?"

"Told me what? I haven't really had a chance to sit down and get the specifics of being a werewolf," I whispered the last word. "I've been trying to cover my ass for two murders, ya know."

"Right. Well, you're immortal, Mena."

The waiter showed up at that moment to set our drinks down, so I had a few more seconds to keep the
Oh my God!
from bursting through the mouth that was currently hanging wide open. Now I knew why Phoenix had been doubled over with laughter when I'd been concerned that I would only live as long as a dog. Ugh!

After the waiter left, I took another minute to compose myself. "Really? Immortal? What does that even mean, Katie?"

"Unless someone kills you, you will live forever."

"I've only read about things like this in books."

She grinned. "What would you say if I told you all the fairytales are real?"

"That I sorta believe you."

Eyeing me, she picked up her water and took a slow sip, then set it back down on the table before she spoke. "Well, believe it, Mena. Most of them are true."

I fell back against the backrest of the chair. "Good God."

"He is, indeed, but He wasn't the one who created shifters. We were cursed the same time as the vampires. Over two thousand years ago, two men fell in love with a female witch. Her father, also one with the hand of magic, found out about the tryst and cursed the two men, one with the lust for blood, binding him to the night, and one with the lust for flesh, binding him to the moon. He filled their hearts with hate toward one another, and both men were so ashamed by what they had become, they never spoke to the mage's daughter again. They are the other third of the Underworld."

"Who is?"

"The witches. They think they are better than us, but I believe you are going to change everything. No leader has ever even wanted to try anything different. For once, I feel like I can relax. I don't want to hurt them, but I'm not gonna let them kill me, either. Know what I mean?"

"The witches… who is their leader?"

Katie laughed. "Who the hell knows? They all meet and have séances, and they dance around fires and stuff. There are several covens, but none of us know who their real leader is. It's like they are all stronger when they are together. We avoid them. They avoid us. It's just how it's always been."

"Hmmm—" I stopped talking abruptly when the waiter brought out our food. He made sure everything was as we ordered it, and then scurried off to wait on a table of four who had just sat down. "Let me get everything right between the clan and the pack before I go messing with witches." I shook my head. "I have a really uneasy feeling about talking to them right now, and my gut instinct is usually correct. I'm having a tough enough time with my wolf. She doesn't like Phoenix."

"I've never actually met him, but I've never had a problem with him, either. Why do you think that part of you doesn't like him?"

"She wants me to be with someone else, or rather,
she
wants to be with someone else. I don't guess she gives a damn who I'm with as long as she gets what she wants."

"Huh? Who does she want?" Katie asked.

"Mena…" a male voice said.

I looked up to a guy standing beside our table, and instantly felt like fainting. He had put a white Under Armor toboggan on top of that always perfectly tousled brunette hair of his, and the longer hair around his ears and forehead curled up around the edges of the cap. He wore a green hoodie, zipped only halfway up, giving anyone who cared to see a tease at a beautiful broad chest. White jogging pants and running shoes completed his ensemble and somehow the style fit him perfectly, and made him even more attractive than the blue jeans and t-shirts I usually saw him in did. I opened my mouth to speak, but even my wolf was stunned speechless as those hazel eyes looked down on me.

"Are you all right, Mena?" he asked, concern for my well-being clear in his voice, but I still couldn't speak.

"Mena, put your sunglasses on," Katie whisper-shouted at me, and that snapped me out of my daze long enough to realize that shit was about to get really real on the corner of Park and 3rd.

I shoved my shades back over my eyes and quickly stood. "Alex."

He took a step toward me, his arms flailing out at his sides awkwardly, and then he paused. Did he want to hug me? Quick thinking, my right hand shot out in between our bodies to grab his for a handshake, but, of course, my wolf had other plans, and threw me up against his hard chest. Alex closed his arms around me—I was almost certain, to help me catch my balance. It didn't look romantic, like I'm sure
she
was hoping it would.
She
was making me look like an idiot!

I pulled away from him, and he kept his hands on my arms for a moment more before letting me try this standing thing on my own again. Smoothing my hair back away from my face, I gave him a sheepish smile. "I'm sorry. I must have tripped. I haven't slept much the last few days."

He nodded, and put his hand on the back of the chair I had been sitting in. "Here, sit down, Mena."

"You know what?" Katie interrupted. "I've got a couple of errands to run in town before everything closes for the day. Have the waiter put my food in a to-go box and I'll get it when I get back. It shouldn't take me more than fifteen minutes, thirty tops."

My head shot around to glare at her and my mouth opened, but my wolf quickly shut it for me. What the hell was she doing? She couldn't leave me here alone with the homicide detective that was working Marc's case.

Katie reached down to grab the purse by her feet and winked at me over the top of her sunglasses.

No! What is she doing?

"If you have things you need to take care of, there's no need to rush back. I can take Mena home," Alex said, and I nearly choked on the words my wolf wouldn't let come out of my mouth.

I felt that weird energy again, and goosebumps covered my entire body. "Thank you, Alex." The words left my mouth, but it hadn't been me who had said them. I was no longer in control of my body or my words. It was as if I was just along for the ride, like I was a spirit in someone else's body. I could only imagine what a catastrophe this was going to turn out to be with her in charge. "Alex can drive me home, Katie. I'll bring your food with me when we leave."