Accidentally Wolf (34 page)

“
We
’
ve kissed but that was it.
”
My head hurt
,
and I wasn
’
t sure I was understanding all of this.

“
Close enough
.
”
S
he rolled on the balls of her feet to stand.
“
The
s
iren in us are bitches to be sure but more than that we are possessive. You saw Riley as yours
,
and
,
when you saw in his mind that he wanted to be dominated but loved being with men and women, you gave him one part while punishing
him
for being with someone else and taking away his bisexuality.
”

“
Fuck,
”
I whispered. She was right. That was exactly what I
’
d been feeling.
“
How did you know?
”

“
Because I can see what every man or woman around me wants and fears most if I
’
m paying attention.
”

I swallowed loudly and nodded.
“
How do I control it? How do I keep this from happening again? With Tristan I didn
’
t even know what was going on until it was too late. I just didn
’
t want him to tear out my throat. With Riley, yeah, she knew what she was doing
,
and
,
while some part of me was screaming it was wrong, I didn
’
t want to stop myself.
”

“
Why would you want to hurt me?
”
Riley asked quietly, looking sad and forlorn.
“
I
’
ve helped you, Sera.
”

“
It
’
s not her fault,
”
Alena answered firmly.
“
There are times your wolf acts a certain way that the human part of you wouldn
’
t and you can
’
t control it.
”

“
True,
”
he hedged, still looking upset but now also confused.

“
The same is true for Seraphine. It
’
s like she has two animals inside of her. She has her wolf
and
she has her
s
iren. The wolf is neutral
,
but the
s
iren is dark most times.
”

“
So she
’
s evil,
”
Tristan
assumed
,
looking at me in horror. Ouch!

“
Thanks for the support, Tristan,
”
I growled, pushing to my feet.

“
You basically just mind
-
raped Riley and made him swear not to ever touch another person without your permission, Sera
,
”
h
e snapped right back.
“
If that isn
’
t evil
,
then I don
’
t know what is.
”

I agreed, but I wasn
’
t going to admit that
,
and I didn
’
t like the way Tristan said it.
“
How do I release him?
”

“
You can
’
t. He
’
s yours now as Tristan is.
”

“
But I didn
’
t make Tristan promise something so outlandish to me,
”
I
whined
desperately, pleading that she understood.

“
Oh that you can take care of easily enough,
”
she replied with a wave of her hand as if it was no big deal.
“
You can tell him he can have sex with others and negate his promise
,
but you can
’
t undo the fact that you tied him to you.
”

I sighed with relief as I sat down on the arm of the couch. Well that was much better than what I thought I
’
d done. Not by much, but I didn
’
t mean to siren him, and I certainly didn
’
t want to prevent him from having sex with anyone else for the rest of his life.

“
I am sorry, Riley. I never meant for this to happen,
”
I whispered, tears burning in my eyes.
“
I would never minionize you or take away your choices.
”

“
You wouldn
’
t but your
s
iren would,
”
Alena said
softly
as she hugged me.
“
I will teach you how to handle her better, but she will never go away.
”

“
Okay, thanks.
”
At least I had answers and some help now. That was better than crazy ass power and inner evil bitch ruling me.

“
Sera, I
’
m—
”
Tristan started
,
but I held up a hand, not even looking at him.

“
Fuck off, Tristan.
”
I wanted nothing more than to walk away from him for good or hurt him like he did me now… But I couldn
’
t. Because I was his
s
iren and sovereign. Yeah, my head was throbbing now.
“
You think what you want of me
,
but the woman who didn
’
t treat you like a normal master vampire would after you tried to
kill me
was nice. But we find this out and immediately I
’
m evil. So go take a walk in
to Lake Michigan.
”

I had more to say but my phone was ringing in my purse. I leaned over and picked it up off the floor and pulled out my cell. I didn
’
t know if I was relieved when I saw it was Harris and knew I
’
d be getting out of here or disappointed because it meant I
’
d have to go to work.

“
Thomas.
”

“
Hey, boss,
”
Harris said, sounding way too chipper for the bad news he was probably about to deliver.
“
There
’
s been another murder. The locals called it in when they saw the body was clawed up but are bitching that they can handle it and don
’
t need the Feebies.
”

“
We
ll
too fucking bad for them
,
”
I chuckled.
“
Call the team, Jennings too this time. I want him to start getting to know the crime lab guys since we don
’
t have our own lab. It might help them cut through the bullshit if they put a face with his name. Text me the address
,
and
,
if the locals give you shit, don
’
t push until I get there. I
’
ll handle them. Hell, the mood I
’
m in it might be fun to arrest them if they are being bitches.
”

He was quiet a moment.
“
You okay, Sera?
”

“
Sure. Life
’
s dandy,
”
I answered sarcastically. This wasn
’
t Harris
’
s fault though. I shook my head and took a deep breath.
“
Rough night. I
’
ll see you there.
”

“
Okay, Chief.
”
We hung up and I looked up at the five stunned faces.
Tristan
’
s expression quickly changing from stunned to irritated.

“
You
’
re going in
to work
now
?
”
Tristan bitched, obviously not happy. Wow. I know it was horrible to think, but looking at them and the drama going on, I
’
d never been so happy someone had been murdered. It
’
s not that I wanted people dead or a killer loose… I just really wanted out of this room and away from this situation.

“
Yeah, murder doesn
’
t normally wait while I deal with my issues,
”
I answered with disdain. He wasn
’
t even on my favorite persons list
,
so there was no way I could even fake being nice with the way I felt right then. I looked at Alena
, who had a kind
,
but concerned
,
expression on her face
.
“
I really do want your help to control this
,
but I
’
ve got a murderer who just killed again.
”

“
I understand and I
’
m impressed
.
”
She gave me an approving
smile.

“
Why?
”
I missed something here.

“
The way you are able to push aside your own personal issues and handle the most pressing matters, in this case, your job, shows you are a true leader.
”
I had some very sarcastic comments about her taking on the role of parent or principal but then I realized since I basically wanted her to be my teacher… The description wasn
’
t that far off.

It also made me realize something else.
“
When did you guys get in
to town?
”
Sure I
’
d been with them when the second body had been
found
,
but who knew when the time of death was.

“
Wednesday,
”
Alena answered and then shook her head.
“
No, Tuesday. Tuesday morning we flew in.
”

“
Shit,
”
I groaned, pinching the bridge of my nose.

“
That answer just made us suspects, didn
’
t it?
”
I had to give her props
.
S
he was very clever.

“
Yeah
.
”
But th
en
I
had an idea. I stood and moved closer, holding up my hand.
“
Mirror mine.
”

“
You
’
re checking for claw size,
”
she mumbled and nodded, doing as I wanted. Her hands were too small. I turned to Zeno and winced. Even at my height he was a man and would probably have bigger hands than I did.

“
What do you need from me to rule me out?
”
h
e asked with a soft smile.

“
Just like that you
’
re cooperating?
”
I couldn
’
t hide my shock.
“
After all the shit I had to go through with Engle and I
still
didn
’
t get the answers I needed, I thought it was the wolf way to be pains in the asses.
”

“
I really hate that man,
”
Alena growled, rubbing her temples.
“
No. Wolves have a lot of integrity
,
and
,
while we don
’
t have most of the same morals as humans, we police our own. If help or questioning is given by someone we trust or one of our own
,
then we immediately comply. I can
’
t say that
’
s always the case with human authorities since most are just looking for a reason to lock us up in cages.
”