Lust Unleashed (Night Seekers, Book One) (11 page)

Very cautiously she unlocked and opened the back door. If it was Fred she’d fill his backside full of lead. Asshole. She yanked the door wide but no way was she prepared for the sight that waited for her on the porch. Her breath froze in her body and she could have sworn her blood actually stopped moved.

Whatever it was stood upright rather than on all fours, but it certainly wasn’t human. The head resembled a wolf, but with a wide angular jaw and fangs protruding from the upper teeth. The paws were more like a reptile’s, scaly and with long nails. The body was covered with patchy hair that barely concealed the protruding ribs and the concave belly. It opened its mouth and howled again, and Donna thought her heart would stop beating.

The creature opened its mouth wider and emitted the unearthly sound again. Her own scream froze in her throat. She forced herself to raise the shotgun with trembling hands, but before she could pull the trigger the beast was on her. Any cry she made was cut off in mid-sound as the fangs sank deep into her neck. Dizziness came over her and she dropped the rifle. She felt herself falling through space, and that was the last thing she felt except for the unbearable pain as claws raked her open from neck to navel.

* * * * *

Dakota awoke with the feeling that something was missing. She turned over and reached out a hand, expecting to touch Jonah’s body but her hand met only empty space. She opened her eyes and blinked.

“Jonah?”

There was no answer. Frowning, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and turned on the little bedside lamp. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked carefully in every corner. Maybe he was in the bathroom. But when she rapped on the door there was no answer and it opened easily to her touch.

Did he just decide to leave in the middle of the night?

No. His clothes were on the chair where he’d tossed them in his frenzy to strip them off. His duffel was still on the floor beside the chair and his satellite phone on the table next to it. Would he have gone outside in the middle of the night stark naked?

She picked up his shirt and pulled it on before stalking to the door and yanking it open. The moon was shining full on the open patch in front of the house. If not for the light it gave off she might have thought she was seeing things. At the bottom of the steps stood a truly magnificent giant wolf, smoky gray with silvery eyes that reflected the moonlight.

Dakota froze in place and so did the wolf.

“Lobo.”

Lone wolf.

The word was barely a sound on her lips.

She knew gray wolves were pretty extinct in West Texas owing to the bounties ranchers had placed on them for so many years. Rumors circulated now and then that some had meandered into the area from Mexico, but Dakota had never seen one. Until now.

Don’t move.

She could hear her father’s voice in her head. So she stood there, waiting for the animal to move. They stared at each other, as if each was waiting for the other to do something. She could never have predicted what happened next. The air around the animal seemed to shimmer, his body morphed and in the place where the wolf had been stood Jonah in all his naked glory.

Dakota thought her breathing had stopped. She knew her heart was racing in overdrive. What the hell had just happened here?

Then Jonah was up on the porch beside her, taking her hand and leading her back into the house. He closed and locked the door and led her to the chair, turning on the lamp next to it. Then he grabbed his jeans and pulled them on.

“Stay right here,” he told her.

As if she could move!

He went to the fridge to get the unfinished bottle of wine from the evening before, poured some into a glass and handed it to her, wrapping her fingers around it.

“I wish you had some brandy but this will have to do. Drink it. Go ahead.”

He crouched down before her, nudging the glass up toward her lips.

She couldn’t taste the wine but the burning of the alcohol woke up her brain and eased the chill that had slithered into her. As she drank he rubbed his hands against her thighs and her calves, and reached beneath the t-shirt to warm the rest of her body. With every stroke she unfroze and came back to life.

When the glass was empty Jonah took it from her and put it on the floor. Then he lifted her from the chair and took her place, cradling her on his lap. His warm hands still rubbed her skin and he pressed kisses to the top of her head. For a moment she was tempted to leap from his arms and skitter across the room, watching him from a distance. She wanted to leap up and shriek at him to get out of her cabin.

But her grandfather had always taught her there were things that rational belief could not explain, and to trust those she did not fear. She didn’t feel any fear where this man was concerned, despite what had happened. After the fact, she wasn’t even sure what she’d really seen but she intended to find out.
Then
she’d decide if he should leave.

“Can you talk to me yet, darlin’?” His deep voice was like a warm blanket covering her, chasing away the tiny seed of fear.

Could she? She’d have to. She desperately wanted an explanation for what she’d just seen.

“Yes.” She nodded, then repeated, “Yes. Jonah, I need some kind of explanation. Please.”

Jonah sighed, his solid chest moving against her as his breath flowed in and out. “It’s a very long story, Dakota.”

Her brain was beginning to function again. “I’ve got lots of time.”

“Just promise me you’ll listen to everything and not say a word until I’m finished.”

“A-All right. Go ahead.”

He let out another slow breath, his chest moving against her body.

“Centuries ago a King of All Creation created four wolf brothers, each with a special task. Three went to live beneath the earth where they perished. They still appear in dreams to the descendants of Gray Wolf, the only one to survive.”

“Just one wolf?” she asked. “How did—”

Jonah touched a fingertip to her lips. “No questions yet, okay?”

When she nodded her head he resumed his story.

“The only one to survive was Gray Wolf, who was made the protector and guardian of humanity. He was then given smaller brothers, wolves who banded together with him to form the first pack. They were all endowed with the ability to change into the shape of a human so that they might walk among them and defend them. And then, as a special gift, the King of All Creation allowed Gray Wolf and his pack to mate with humans if they wished, after first showing themselves and finding the one who would mate with them in heart as well as body.”

Jonah shifted slightly and moved her in his lap so her head was leaning against his should and his chin rested on her crown.

“The pack continued to grow, with the changelings living in both the wolf and human worlds. They harvested the special herbs the King of All Creation had planted for them to maintain their strength and allow them to remain in human form for more than a few hours. But all of this only so long as they followed the initial charge—to protect and defend humanity.”

“I know you said not to interrupt,” Dakota said, shifting slightly in his lap, “but I can’t help it. Did they all live in one place? How did they defend? I always heard that wolves were dangerous animals.”

Jonah nodded, his chin pressing against her head. “Purebreds, yes. But not the shifters, the descendants of Gray Wolf. They are always on the alert for humans in trouble, and protect them in whatever shape the situation demands. When the King of All Creation decreed there would be a Great Migration, the pack separated into smaller packs, with new alphas and spread around the world. We are all descendants of Gray Wolf and that first pack.”

“Is that what’s in that book that was next to your bed in the motel?”

“Yes. And I’d like you to read it. It will explain even more things to you.”

That was good because she had a million more questions. Like, would he change in the middle of them having sex? Or walking down a street in public? What kind of herbs did he need to maintain the balance in his body? Where were the other members of his pack?

She finally managed to make herself move, sitting up so she could look directly into Jonah’s eyes. Her mind was still whirling, trying to deny what she’d seen or heard yet at the same time believing it somewhere deep inside herself.

“Where’s the rest of your ‘pack’,” she asked. “Are they here in Texas?”

A look of intense pain crossed his face. “Most of them were killed during a wolf scare and hunting frenzy in Northern Michigan, where we lived at the time. One other survivor and I made our way south. She’s now with a pack in Alabama.”

“So does that mean you’re out here all alone?” Surely not, she thought.

His chest rose and fell with another long exhalation. “That’s a story for another time. We do train for work, like full humans. And my work led me to Craig Stafford.”

“The billionaire?” Even she had heard of the shadowy, ultra-rich executive.

“Yes. He’s the man behind Night Seekers and a shifter himself. So in effect, he’s my new alpha.”

Dakota rubbed her forehead. “Enough. I don’t think I can take any more tonight.” She unfolded herself from his lap and stood up, taking a moment to make sure her trembling legs would hold her. She was very conscious of Jonah’s intense stare, his silvery eyes like twin lasers focused on her.

“If you want me to leave I’ll certainly understand.” His voice was flat and emotionless.

She returned his look, searching for some sign of danger. Some indication that there was something to fear. But there was none. Only an invisible string that tugged her toward him and was slowly binding her to him.

Grandfather, I hope I’m doing the right thing.

She held out her hand to him. “Come to bed, Jonah. My bed. That’s where you belong.”

The look of relief on his face would have been comical if it didn’t pull at her heart so strongly. He gripped her hand and brought it to his mouth, kissing her knuckle. She watched the play of naked emotion on his face as he struggled to find the right words to say to her.

“It’s all right,” she told him in a soft voice. “No more talking right now. Just come to bed with me.”

He allowed her to tug him from the chair and lead him to the bed. He shed his jeans quickly, as if he was afraid she’d change her mind. Dakota stripped off his shirt and lay down, patting the bed next to her. When Jonah was lying beside her she pulled the covers over them and curled up next to him.

“Whatever your genes, I love the furry chest it gives you.” She wound her fingers in the soft hair.”

Jonah laughed, relief evident in the sound. “Thank god for that.”

“Tomorrow will you tell me why you—did whatever you did tonight and left the cabin?”

“Tomorrow.” His arms tightened around her. “Right now we need to go back to sleep. Then, in the morning, we’ll have breakfast and I’ll answer any other questions you have.”

But when Jonah’s sat phone shrilled, waking them to the glare of bright sunlight, they realized breakfast would have to wait.

Chapter Eight

Jonah punched the address John Denby had given him into his GPS and pulled away from Dakota’s cabin. She had insisted oncoming with him, no matter how much he’d argued against it.

“This isn’t something you want to see,” he told her, dressing quickly.

But she was ready and waiting by the door when he picked up his keys.

“I have to see what this demon is that’s driving you,” she insisted. “What all this talk is about. Maybe if I see it with my own eyes I’ll believe it.”

“Dakota.” He put his hands on her shoulders. “Trust me. This is the stuff of nightmares.”

“Then we’ll share them together.” She brushed off his hands and stomped to his truck.

They drove to Donna Perkins’ farm in tense silence, Jonah clenching the steering wheel, Dakota staring out the window and gripping her hands in her lap. The farmhouse yard already had quite a few vehicles parked on its gravelly surface. He recognized the sheriff’s SUV. Next to it was a long black van with “Maverick County” painted on the side and beside that another county SUV and a cruiser with the sheriff’s logo on it. To the side was a big delivery truck with the name of a local farm supplies store painted on the door. The driver was sitting on the running board, holding a handkerchief to his face.

Two deputies in uniform, both looking pretty pale, were stringing crime scene tape around the backyard as Jonah and Dakota approach. One of them looked up and put up a hand.

“Sorry,” he said. “This is a restricted area.”

“Let him through.” John Denby’s hard voice sounded from the porch steps. “Come on, Jonah.” He looked at Dakota, curiosity plain in his eyes. “I don’t think this is something you want to see.”

Jonah felt her fingers tighten around his. “I’m fine, Sheriff. There are reasons I need to see this.”

He frowned. “And what would those reasons be?”

“She’s with me.” Jonah’s tone of voice made it plain he wasn’t budging. “We can both leave if you want.”

“If you want to show her a nightmare, be my guest. Denby shook his head. “Whatever. Just be careful where you step.”

He moved back enough for them to see what at first looked like a pile of cloth on the floor of the porch behind him. But when Jonah got a good look he understood why the deputies looked the way they did. A woman’s body, covered only in the tatters of a nightgown, lay crumpled in a heap. The puncture wounds in her neck were obvious, but they were overshadowed by the image of the gash that ripped her body open from her neck to her pubic area. As with the other bodies Jonah had seen pictures of, the entrails—or what was left of them—lay scattered on her skin.

Behind him Jonah heard Dakota gasp. He turned to her, seeing how pale she was and watching her swallow hard. Maybe this had been a mistake after all, but she’d insisted.

“Listen. Why don’t you wait in the truck?”

“No.” She shook her head emphatically. “I’ll be okay.”

He studied her with a critical eye. She looked anything but okay, but he didn’t want to argue with her in front of Denby or strong-arm her and embarrass her, so he just nodded.

“Who found her?” he asked.

Denby inclined his head toward the mass of vehicles. “Howard Brent was bringing a load of fertilizer for her garden. She planted twice a year, rotating her crops. He went to the back door to knock and tell her he was here and just about stumbled over her.”

“Jesus.” Jonah whistled through his teeth. “The poor guy’s probably going to need therapy after this.”

“No doubt.”

Jonah walked around the body, noting the face twisted in pain and the absence of all but a small amount of blood. Just like the others. He looked around at the barn, the scrabbly yard, the huge garden off to the right.

“She work that garden all by herself?” he asked the sheriff.

“Yup. Donna Perkins was kind of a legend. Left town when she was young, came back a so-called widow and when her folks passed she stayed on here and kept up the produce garden.”

Jonah quirked an eyebrow. “So-called.”

Denby let out a heavy sigh. “Well, she called herself a widow but everyone around here figured it was just a story to save face. She was pretty much a loner growing up and no one knows what happened to her while she was gone. She hung that Widow-Keep-Away sign on herself and went about her business.”

“That’s a pretty big garden for her to work by herself,” Jonah commented.

“She hired day workers when she needed them. Otherwise she had it pretty much under control.” He raised his eyes to the barn. “Looks like someone’s been working on the roof, and I know it wasn’t Donna. Too hard for her, for one thing. For another, she was afraid of heights.”

“If she hired someone, where is he?”

At that moment a deputy came walking out of the barn. “Sheriff?” he called.

“Find anything?”

“Yes sir. Looks like someone—or something—has been sleeping in one of the stalls.”

“Something? What’s that supposed to mean?”

The deputy fidgeted. “The stall’s filled with straw but it looks more like an animal was digging around in it than a person. And there’s dishes from a meal on one of the old benches.”

Denby frowned. “Then where the hell is whoever was eating and working here? And what kind of animal would Donna let in her barn? She’d have blasted him with that shotgun of hers.”

Jonah had his own suspicions about what happened. “Sheriff, we still have no idea how the Chupacabra gets near its prey without being harmed itself. Maybe it’s able to disguise itself in some way.”

The sheriff snorted. “I’m willing to buy the story that this is some kind of devil beast but not that it has paranormal qualities. That’s a little too far out there.”

Jonah pulled out the small camera he’d shoved into the pocket of his jeans and began snapping pictures. When he thought he’d had enough, he set the camera on Video and shot a two minute video strip, circling the body to get it from all angles.

“What do you think?” Denby asked, watching him with a strange expression on his face.

“I think this was done by the same animal I’ve been chasing for quite a while. I’m going to send these back to my office and have them do a comparison with the other photos we’ve got.”

Denby studied his face. “You have plenty of photos with you. Why can’t you use those for comparison?”

“They have equipment that can enhance them and look for things the eye might miss.”

“I don’t know what kind of things you think you’ll find. I’ve got my crime scene techs taking photos and samples of everything around here but they tell me there’s nothing to find.” He lifted his hat, ran his fingers through his hair, then placed his hat back on his head. “I was hoping, since you’ve done so much research, you might spot something we missed.”

“That’s why I’m shipping these to the office,” Jonah pointed out. “But I have to tell you. Every crime scene has been the same. Absolutely no trace of whoever or whatever did this. It’s almost as if it materializes out of thin air and disappears the same way.”

“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t show those pictures around here anyplace.” Denby’s look was wary. “The less publicity we have the better off we’ll be.”

“Don’t you think people should be made aware of what’s in their backyard?”

The sheriff shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’ll tell them as much as they need to know. Sensationalizing it won’t bring back Donna Perkins or the hunters and it will only get folks riled up.” He glanced over at Dakota. ”That goes for both of you.”

Jonah let his eyes shift to Dakota, who had moved away from the porch to sit down on the steps. She was staring off across the yard, arms wrapped tightly around herself. He knew she was putting on a stoic front because the sheriff and his men were there and he worried about how she’d be when he got her back to the cabin. He turned back to Denby.

“I’m going to take some shots of the area around the house and yard,” he told him. “Then I’ll get all of this up to someone who can analyze them a lot better than I can. I’ll let you know the minute I hear anything.” He looked toward the barn, then back at the sheriff. “I’d like to take a look in the barn, too, if you don’t mind, take some pictures.”

See if I can sniff out something they didn’t.

The sheriff didn’t say anything for a moment, just stood there with that same assessing look on his face. “You’re a little more than a crime magazine writer, aren’t you.”

It was a statement, not a question.

“I’m exactly who you see.” He couldn’t reveal anything about Night Seekers without Craig Stafford’s permission, which he knew he was about to ask for.

“Yeah, well, maybe I see more than you think I do. All right. Go ahead. Just don’t touch anything.”

“No problem.”

He left Dakota by the truck and jogged slowly to the barn. It didn’t take more than a few seconds to spot the place where someone had definitely been sleeping. Making sure not to disturb anything, he closed his eyes and sniffed the air. Something pricked at his sense of smell. Very faint. Turpentine. What the hell? With his wolf’s eyes he scanned every inch of the area but nothing stood out. He snapped pictures of every inch of it, then made his way back to the truck.

“You check in with me later today, okay?” the sheriff said.

Jonah nodded. “I’ll be sure to.”

“You still at the motel?” His eyes shifted from Jonah to Dakota and back again.

Keeping his face and voice expressionless, Jonah said, “No. I’m staying at a different place now.”

He could have sworn a smile tried to creep across Denby’s face. Maybe not everyone in Eagle Pass thought Dakota was about as welcome as the plague.

“Fine. I’ll call that fancy phone of yours if we need to talk.”

“You do that. I always have it on.” He urged Dakota up from the steps and led her to the truck. Backing carefully around, he drove back up the driveway and onto the highway.

“I didn’t think it was possible for a human being to be destroyed like that,” she said after a long silence.

“This is exactly what the hunters and the deer looked like.”

“Is-Is this the way your…fiancée looked when you found her?”

“Yes.” He bit the word off. Looking at Donna Perkins’ body had brought back the image of Jenna sharp and clear.

“This must be very hard for you.”

Hard? She didn’t know the half of it. Only his desire for vengeance drove him forward.

“I’m sorry,” she said when he didn’t answer. “The last thing you need is me asking questions.”

“It’s not as if we can ignore it.” He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Look. This is all a lot more than you bargained for. Maybe—”

“Maybe nothing.” There was a fine edge of anger in her voice. “Don’t even think it. You said yourself this might be quick but it’s more than just good sex. I don’t scare off that easily.”

He smiled to himself, the first release he’d felt since the phone call. “No, I don’t suppose you do. I should be thankful for that.”

“So what happens now?”

“Now we go back to the cabin and scrounge some breakfast, put on a big pot of coffee and I call my team to let them know what’s happened.”

“I’ll fix breakfast while you transmit all the photos and video you shot.”

He reached over and squeezed her thigh, the feel of her warm body easing some of the tension that gripped him like a coat of steel. He had the sickening feeling that the devil beast wasn’t yet finished with Maverick County. What he needed was help, and a way to set it up without pissing off the sheriff and his crew.

* * * * *

“Mark, I think you need to be in on this one.”

Ric Garza sat at his desk in what they had all taken to calling the war room. A long table stretched down the middle of the space Filled with working desks, computers, communications equipment and every other piece of technology they could possibly use. The Night Seekers were gathered around it now, the photos Jonah had just transmitted visible on the four large screens that took up most of the wall space.

The issue on the table was Jonah’s request for additional team members who could unobtrusively scope out the area with him and expand his search capabilities. Victim Number Two had been discovered that morning. That meant all Jonah’s senses would be on high alert and he’d need some help.

Mark Guitron, who had left his position as a sheriff’s deputy in a Texas border county to join Night Seekers, nodded thoughtfully. Of average height, his body was solid muscle. But his face was what drew people. Dark complected, it featured deep-set brown eyes the color of old coffee, a hawklike nose that had been broken more than once, and cheekbones like slash marks across his face. He was a master at concealing whatever he felt, a habit developed over his years in a dangerous area of law enforcement.

“You’re probably right,” he agreed. “I know the area. And the people.”

Ric had tried to urge Mark to take the assignment to begin with. The original plan was for someone to go into the area with a plausible cover that would allow them to ask questions, and Mark had thought he might be too recognizable. But no one expected two killings so close together. Now Jonah was asking the team for help and wondering if they should just tell the local law enforcement about Night Seekers.