Beneath a Blood Moon (65 page)

Joseph’s eyes widened, his pupils dilating to hide the gold of his iris. “Sara.”

“You have some explaining to do, Mister,” I informed him, and with a deliberate flick of my nail, I hit his nose again. “I would also like to point out one important fact: I own you.”

Swallowing, Joseph glanced at Yellowknife’s Alpha.

Richard propped his feet up on the coffee table and leaned back, his body relaxed. “She does, it’s true. She also owns each and every one of the other idiots who thought they could sell her to a rogue pack. The Shadow Pope was voting for execution, but Mrs. Sanders decided she wanted to handle things on her own. So, here I am, playing guardian to make sure you don’t get any ideas. I’ll destroy you if you so much as raise your voice to her.”

“Yes, sir,” Joseph replied, his tone subdued.

“I only have one question for you, Joseph. Did you know my father doesn’t just want me, but he wants my mate dead?”

Turning so pale I thought he was going to faint, Joseph shook his head in a short, violent motion. “All he said was that he wanted his daughter back, I swear. At the time, I thought it would solve a lot of problems.”

“Because you thought Sanders and I weren’t a serious pairing.”

He sighed, lowered his eyes, and nodded. “I was wrong.”

“If it weren’t for Sara, Wendy would have lost her puppy, Joseph. Your cohorts didn’t just sell Sara out; they sold Desmond, Wendy, and Sanders out, too. When they were attacked at the greenhouse, the attack was designed specifically to drive both of Desmond and Sanders wild so the Inquisition would be forced to kill them. Someone in your pack wants to be Alpha. Who is it?” Richard demanded.

“Mrs. Desmond’s really pregnant?” Joseph blurted.

Arching a brow, Richard met Joseph’s gaze until my mate’s Second lowered his eyes. “Let me rephrase this for you, Joseph. I know you’re tired; you’ve probably been enjoying a silver cell for the past couple of days and likely aren’t thinking clearly. Take a deep breath.”

With a furrowed brow, Joseph obeyed. His eyes widened further, and moving far faster than I thought possible in his weary state, he grabbed hold of my hand, pulling my wrist to his nose. I squeaked. Only my wolf’s intervention stopped me from ripping free of his grasp.

“She could have lost the puppy, Joseph. Think about that really carefully. You know Sanders even better than I do. He knew she was pregnant when she was taken with Wendy. What would that have done to him if she hadn’t been exceptionally fortunate? She had to change to protect Wendy and her puppy. Look at how thin she is. Really see her.”

Joseph’s gaze dropped to my stomach, and without a word, he pressed the palm of his other hand against me without letting go of my wrist. “How long?”

“She was pregnant in New York.”

“I thought I was supposed to talk to him,” I grumbled, glaring at Richard.

“The puppy?” Joseph demanded.

“Pulled through fine despite how far along she is. A matter of luck and the help of a disgustingly clever water witch. Sara’s a bit worse for wear, but she’ll recover. Now, here’s how this will work, Joseph. Sara doesn’t want Sanders hurt any more. She doesn’t want the pack divided, split, and members killed. The Shadow Pope wanted to spare you since you were not involved with the greenhouse attack as far as we can tell.”

“I wasn’t. I had no idea there was going to be an attack. If I had known, I would have stopped it myself.”

“So, here’s my question—and Sara, please let me finish before you try to rip my face off.”

“I’ll consider it,” I growled. “You stole my show.”

“You’re such a wonderful breath of fresh air,” Richard murmured, smiling at me. “I’m just concerned if I let you go off full tilt on poor Joseph he wouldn’t live to tell his story. At least your temper is far better than Wendy’s. Nothing is quite so terrifying as a hormonal submissive demonstrating dominant traits because she’s grouchy and pregnant. So, let’s get down to business, Joseph. Who lives? Who dies? Sara’ll try to save everyone, and it’ll bring ruin to Seattle’s pack. Who came up with this scheme in the first place, and how did Mr. Watson contact you?”

“It was Arnold,” Joseph said, and with a sigh, he held the back of my hand against his cheek. “He called me a week after we found out Sara had picked Sanders to be her mate.”

“I’m afraid you have it backwards, if my father-in-law is to be believed. Sanders picked her before she became a Fenerec. He was stalking her from the first time he saw her. She just happened to be likewise interested,” Richard replied. “How did Arnold know to contact Mr. Watson?”

“That’s what I’m not sure about. Arnold just said he thought he might know where she belonged and suggested we made sure she got there. All I was supposed to do was tell him where she’d be as soon as I found out.”

“That was before that sorcerer took her?” Richard demanded, his eyes narrowing.

“Actually, yes. I told Arnold what I knew two or three days prior.”

I sucked in a breath. “But wouldn’t that mean this Arnold may have been involved with Mary’s murder?”

Both of the Fenerec stared at me. Richard’s cheek twitched.

“I never even though of that,” my mate’s Second replied, anger and grief souring his scent. “It’s possible. Sanders always made sure someone was keeping an eye on Mary. She was getting older, and he wanted someone there if she needed help. Arnold knew Mary’s schedule. He stood in if one of the other pack members couldn’t be around to watch her. There’s no way to prove it, though.”

“Does Arnold want to be Alpha?” Richard asked.

Joseph shrugged. “It’s possible.”

“Anyone other than Arnold stick out to you?”

“Not particularly. He was always the one who came poking at me to find out if I knew anything, and he would call Mr. Watson if I did. When I told them I had had enough, he stopped bothering me, so I didn’t put much thought into it.”

“And how many times did you speak to Mr. Watson?” Richard stretched his arms over his head. “Were you aware he’s likely the Alpha of a rogue and rival pack?”

“I figured he was a Fenerec, but for the rest? No. It didn’t matter too much to me. You know how we get around daughters, Mr. Murphy. There aren’t a lot of Fenerec bitches to begin with, and precious few of our mates consider the ritual.”

I frowned. “Educate me, Joseph. I’ve seen the ritual once, but I don’t really know much about it.”

Sighing, Joseph leaned in my direction, and at my wolf’s encouragement, I permitted him to rest his head against me. “Under normal circumstances, we interview those wanting to become a Fenerec. If we’re satisfied they mean it, there’s a ritual. When it’s done, either the person lives and becomes a wolf, or they die. There’s no middle ground. It’s not exactly a violent process, but it’s one the puppy has to wholeheartedly accept. If they don’t, the wolf they’re attempting to join with kills them. They try to shift, get halfway there, and the wolf abandons them. They die. It’s unpleasant. We’re careful. Even then, maybe a quarter of the rituals we attempt end in failure.”

“That’s about the same odds as we have in Yellowknife. Our success rate has gotten a lot better since we’ve started using Amber to verify someone’s sincerity,” Richard said.

“Do you males always want your mates to become Fenerec?”

“Desperately,” Richard admitted, lowering his arms to clasp his hands on his lap. “It’s a constant battle when your mate isn’t a Fenerec, too. If Sanders wasn’t a Fenerec, your wolf would be pressuring you to perform the ritual every day.”

“Did you talk to my mother, Joseph?” I demanded.

Sucking in a breath, Richard stared at me. “Your mother?”

“No, I didn’t. She wasn’t mentioned, actually.” Joseph tensed, sitting up straight. “That’s not right.”

“No, it’s not,” Richard said, yanking his phone out of his pocket. He dialed a number. “It’s Richard Murphy. Put me through to Topside.” Richard dropped his feet from the coffee table and straightened. “Sorry for waking you. Do you know where Mrs. Watson is? No? Maybe you should find out.”

Richard hung up and slipped his phone into his shirt pocket. “Sometimes, the easiest way to deal with the Shadow Pope is to tell him what you want and hang up.”

“Nicolina said that about your father-in-law.”

“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,” Yellowknife’s Alpha countered.

“You’re both worried. Why?”

Joseph clacked his teeth together before sighing. “For the same reason we worried about Sanders when Mary died, Sara. Males, especially Alphas, are hit hard when their mates die. When men become Fenerec, their wolves almost always view their wives as their mates. When someone’s mate dies, it’s pretty traumatic. Some Fenerec go wild and have to be put down. Others fall into depression. Some are driven to violence. Sanders had to lean on the pack rather heavily after Mary’s death.”

“Desmond had to come and take over to give Sanders a chance to recover. He didn’t run wild, but they were together a long time, Sara. It hurt him a lot,” Richard explained, rising to his feet to pace around the hotel room. “If your father is a relatively new wolf, he would have been driven to convince your mother to become one of us.”

I felt the blood drain out of my face. “You think my mother’s dead.”

“Not only do I think she’s dead, I believe he’s the one who killed her, and he’s mad,” Richard replied, his hands flexing. “It explains a lot. If his mate died and he learned his daughter was alive and a Fenerec, he’d be driven to get you back, no matter what the cost. I hope I’m wrong.”

Richard’s phone rang, and I trembled as he answered it and held it to his ear. “Once again, sorry for waking you, sir. Can you get someone to look into Arnold’s records and find out when he first made contact with Mr. Watson?”

I didn’t need my nose to detect Richard’s anger in his posture, his one hand flexing and relaxing while he clutched his phone in a white-knuckled grip. I whined.

Joseph nudged me with his elbow. “Don’t set him off,” he hissed at me.

“Okay, sir. Thank you.” Richard hung up, sighed, and shook his head. “According to His Eminence, Mrs. Watson is listed as missing.”

“When?” I whispered.

“How far down does this rabbit hole go?” Richard complained, sinking onto the couch. “She, supposedly, was on a business trip to Seattle with Mr. Watson. That was a month before Mary’s death. He doesn’t know anything else but will see what he can dig up.”

A ping on Richard’s phone caught his attention. Moments later, he sighed, swiped his finger across the screen, and showed us the image.

It was my mother and father together. I didn’t recognize the photograph. Joseph whistled. “If Arnold met with them in Seattle, there’s no way he didn’t know who Sara was. You’re a dead ringer for your mother.”

“Sara’s prettier,” Richard grumbled.

“Arnold probably saw one of the pictures of Sara going around the pack, knew who she was, and contacted Mr. Watson. But why would Mrs. Watson have gone missing in Seattle?”

“Does Arnold know how to perform the ritual, Joe?”

Joseph growled. “He does.”

“How long has Arnold been a part of Seattle’s pack?” Richard asked.

“Two or three years,” Joseph replied.

“Was he made into the pack or did he petition to join?”

Sucking in a breath through his teeth, Joseph gawked at Richard. “He was looking for a new pack.”

“So, where is he from originally?”

Joseph surged to his feet and spat curses. “I’m so fucking stupid. I should have fucking known. He’s from New York. He has that fucking accent that drives us all nuts when he feels like being an ass.”

“And while he might be from New York, I have a feeling he wasn’t in Kevin’s pack,” Richard said, dialing a new number on his phone. “Let’s find out.”

I hopped up from my seat to stand next to Richard, straining to hear the call. Activating the speakerphone, he held the phone out so I could listen. On the fifth ring, a tired voice mumbled, “What?”

“Hey, Kevin. It’s Richard Murphy. Got a dumb question for you.”

“Do you know what time it is?”

“Get up and answer my dumb question o’clock?” Richard replied.

“Cute, Richard. What’s your dumb question?”

“Has Sanders ever subjugated any of your wolves?”

“Sanders? Hell, don’t give him any ideas, Richard. No, he hasn’t.”

“So you didn’t have a wolf named Arnold in your pack some two or three years ago?”

“No, don’t have any Arnolds in my pack—never have. What’s this about?”

“You have a rogue pack in your turf,” Richard replied with a small smile that sent shivers racing through me.

“Is this related to the sniffing around Liam was asked to do?”

“Sure is.”

“If you come hunting in my turf, Murphy, I want an invite.”

“Deal. Why don’t you set your pack loose and start sniffing around? If you spot them, I’ll ride shotgun for the hunt.”

“You sure do talk pretty, Murphy. I’m going back to bed. We’ll start sniffing around in the morning.” Kevin hung up.

“Do you have any more unpleasant surprises for me, Joseph?”

Wincing, my mate’s Second shook his head. “I hope not, Mr. Murphy.”

Chapter Thirty-One

Desmond was waiting in the hallway, his arms crossed over his chest. Richard closed the door to Joseph’s room and, with a resigned sigh, positioned himself between me and my Alpha. “Don’t you ever sleep?” Yellowknife’s Alpha complained.