Wolf Sirens Night Fall: What Rises Must Fall (Wolf Sirens #3) (9 page)

Wanting to be
distracted, he noted the numbers on the tag, ran his fingers over
them and felt the familiar bumps and remained frozen as he read the
numbers. His heart twanged, the numbers were not his, he re-read
the name and the infantry and then the soldier’s number - which was
wrong, this wasn’t his tag. This was a copy; only Lila had the
original tag and Lila had been in the house.

“Where did
Narine find this?” he asked as though he were casually changing the
subject, as a nervous trickle ran down his spine.

“In your room,
why?” She arched her back.

“Where?”

She pouted her
lips. “Under the pillow I guess.”

He thought
deeply - what could these numbers mean? He tried to remember the
last conversation with Lila, but there was nothing, they couldn’t
have known, and it was so long ago. Coordinates? Time? He was
acutely aware his new shadow Angele had left her soft tanned hand
on his forearm, and he had begun to notice it lingering there. He
glanced at it with only his eyes, and racked his brain for
something off track to say to Angele before she decided to take an
interest in the tag also.

“I thought I
loved her, you know,” he found himself muttering. His blue green
eyes were wide with honesty and disbelief.

If she was
shocked by his sudden words, she didn’t show it. She stroked his
back gently with her arm.

“I know, please
talk about it, it’s the best way to just let it out.”

She was
sounding more and more like Narine by the day.

“I wanted her
no matter how much it hurt; I made a list once - of all the pros
and cons, you know? And I tore it up and threw it away - forgot
it.” He let his voice trail, full of just enough torment. He didn’t
want to mention the cage.

“You can never
be with her,” Angele offered in a soothing tone and he blinked as
her breath wafted his cheek. He ignored her.

“I don’t know
that I want to live in a world where I can’t,” he admitted, and he
said it because he hopped it stung her to hear it, that even if he
let Angele touch him that way, he would still prefer something she
was not.

He placed his
forehead on his hands inadvertently shaking off her lingering hand
and let his forehead rest over the railing. He clasped the chain
and tags tightly.

He shrugged off
her advance and looked at her.

“Well it’s been
a long night, I’m going to go to bed.” He hoped the implication was
understood.

“I can help
you.” Her mouth crackled softly with moisture.

He looked
questioningly at her, trying to think if she meant with the
upturned room or whether she was offering more than that. He was
about to say ‘no that’s okay’ when she smiled and said, “With the
mattress.” She batted her lids and he almost enjoyed rebuffing her
blatant flirting as though he was oblivious to it.

“Thanks, that’s
okay, I’m pretty bushed; Blair will help me if I need it.”

“Sky, Narine’s
sending me out soon.” She called behind him, “On a mission…” she
trailed. Men had always been so easy for her, so his rejection
stung.

He walked away
pretending not to hear her, rubbing his neck. As soon as he got in
the room he closed the door and eyed the numbers again, away from
prying eyes. He pulled a calendar off the wall and checked the
date. Three weeks from the day's date matched the tag, date, month,
year - the other numbers had to be time, the others coordinates?
12.11.12 2.00AM 36.45S-147.57E. None of the others had noticed - he
had barely noticed! And now it was glaringly obvious, only he had
been in the army in the nineteen-seventies, none of the others
would have a clue what the numbers on a dog tag should look
like.

Lila had been
very clever and not very stupid. As he had first thought. She had
evaded Cresida and Reid. Not to mention the whole town, the police
and the pack, which was growing - now that the new girls Dahlia and
Aylish were here. They were all searching for her and somehow she
had evaded all of them, for days. But she hadn’t left the area.
Even though he had left her, did this mean she still loved him and
understood, maybe even had someone helping her?

Somehow, Sky
would have to avoid suspicion and being followed to the rendezvous
point, which he figured was 2.00 am, less than 10 days from now. He
examined the tags again; there was no clue as to where. Every
letter was the same size as the original; somehow she had gotten
someone to copy the original tag exactly and change the numbers.
Something only he would notice.

He smiled; he
knew then that Lila was fighting, despite everything, and he was so
happy he nearly laughed. He pulled the mattress back onto the bed
base and he lay in the sheets she had touched, inhaling her, before
he would have to wash them. As a sign he was no longer partial to
her, he had to do what any of them would have done to prove he was
loyal now to the pack. He knew Narine was keeping watch on him for
signs. He had to maintain their trust if he was to get away to see
her without getting caught or, worse, leading them to her. So he
kept up appearances, and painstaking as it was, he went down to the
laundry, under the house through Sam’s end room and down the side
balcony stairs.

He pretended it
didn’t hurt him to numbly pour detergent over the sheets and watch
the only trace of her existence be washed away in a cloud of suds.
Had he been above suspicion; he would have taken the feather also,
though it reminded him of Samantha and a time long ago. What was
Lila doing? He took an unsteady breath. They all had her scent, now
imbedded in their nostrils; they would know her as easily as him,
if the wind blew towards them. The entire pack now waited for her
return and Sky wished she had just run, run off and never come
back.

As he thought
deeply about what to do and everything that was transpiring, his
ears pricked up as he heard a noise at the front door and saw
through the door of the laundry the figure of a girl – Aylish,
running as fast as her legs would move into the daylight, away from
the house. He caught sight of her fling herself into phase, so
violently he knew it must have hurt like hell for a split second,
as her bones conformed too hastily. He wondered if Angele would
follow after on her upcoming ‘mission’ soon. The washer turned to
spin cycle and began to vibrate and he knew if he could manage it
he would meet her.

Blair had that
walk, one Dahlia knew from observing cops like him. Something
jangled on his belt as he approached her across the balcony.

She noted his
pragmatic presence from the corner of her eye. He had short,
slightly spiky sandy brown hair with an encroaching five o’clock
shadow growing in over his creamy white skin, and though he was
dressed in an old T-shirt and jeans, he may as well be wearing the
uniform. He exuded the choleric attitude of a cop.

“So what’s your
story Dahlia?” he asked casually, but she felt this was an
investigation of sorts.

“Hasn’t Paws
filled you all in?” And she did secretly wonder how much of her
history this guy knew. She gave a polite smile with her brightly
painted lips.

“No, actually,”
he looked about and his forehead wrinkled, “on your account he has
been quiet.”

“That’s
unusual.” Her manicured brow arched.

Perhaps he
should have laughed. “So what’s the deal, why did you leave?” he
asked. He tried to avoid staring at her in that dress that looked
at least one size too small.

“Aylish was a
fugitive,” she admitted plainly.

“You’ve been
outrunning us cops all this time?” He snickered under his breath,
which smelt of beer, as he leant on the rail.

“Only to end up
here with you.” Their eyes met and she blinked shyly. He noticed
her lashes were so long they brushed her pink cheeks – the effect
of too much blush.

“So you went
with her, right? But what’s the connection between you two?” he
asked, seeming to stand taller as he spoke.

“Our connection
only evolved after we went. I was fresh.” She smiled without humor.
“Paws asked me to leave with her.” She shrugged. Dahlia knew that
life could change a lot in ten minutes. She recalled how much more
charismatic Paws was back then as leader, but maybe it was just her
that time had changed.

“What did she
do that was so bad she had to run?”

Dahlia was
shocked he had to ask, but saw no threat in his eyes as he waited
for the answer. “She murdered her children.” She waited a moment
for his reaction. “I suppose I don’t have to tell you time means
little to us. How old are you?” Her eyes smiled. The first ten
years had been a blur, hadn’t mattered to her, after that she had
thought they would return. But Aylish was adamant.

He looked up
and thought. “Three years this April.” His voice was a husky
timbre.

“Yesterday,”
she uttered knowingly, in a sweet distant tone.

“I suppose it’s
been longer for you,” he chuckled uneasily.

“Thirty three
years and another lifetime ago.” She balanced her bright heeled
foot on the wooden balcony and swayed, suggestively.

“How old were
you when you were turned?” he asked reflectively.

“Is this an
interrogation, officer?” She smiled and laughed a little, in a
quiet, breathy way. It had been a long, long time since she had
encountered another heterosexual male wolf. Working at the magazine
she had barely encountered straight human men. She knew she was
hardly containing her desperate eyes and heaving chest.

“Sorry,” he
laughed with a slight nervous embarrassment, “old habits.” He
sighed.

She hoped he
had asked how old she was for different reasons though.

“Die hard.” She
swished her long glossy black hair back from her shoulders.

“And you?”

“Um...oh I was
twelve,” she said contemplatively. But she didn’t mention she knew
she was an apology to Aylish by Paws.

“That young,
huh?” he mused. Insightful.

“Uh-huh.” The
only life Dahlia had known was with her friend, but she always knew
she would love the pack, like a long lost child pining for the
family she never knew. “Can I ask you to do something for me?” Her
voice was childlike. She batted her fake eyelashes shyly.

“We only just
met, but tell me.” He sipped his empty beer and when she waited for
his reply he added, “I’ll see what I can do,” with an honest
expression about his handsome face.

“I think Aylish
needs Lonnie here or she’ll run again - I know Paws doesn’t want
that, for whatever reason - we left him in Queenbeyan. He should
still be there. Could you make sure he follows us?” She asked more
sternly as her stunning blue eyes met his.

He could see
she was serious about this. “You want me to find him?”

“No I want you
to get him here, so Aylish feels calmer.” She spoke with her hands
now outstretched on the balcony, tapping her palm on the top of the
railing. He assessed it was a show that she was being honest, not
demanding.

He thought how
she must be a good friend to ask it. “Sure I’ll talk to Narine. Why
did you and Aylish leave him anyway?” He moved to lean on the
railing closer beside her.

She
shrugged.

Blair nodded
silently. “If Sam doesn’t go back for this guy, I‘ll help you bring
him here,” he assured her, though he wasn’t sure if he would.

“Maybe he just
wanted her,” she said referring to Aylish, when she realized what
he had said. “Thanks. Hey, you’re alright, for a cop,” she admitted
with an overly shy smirk as her cheeks warmed.

“I’m one of
you,” he smirked in return.

“I know.” She
smiled back with white teeth again and blinked her jet black
lashes.

Dahlia felt new
to the pack, but Blair was a baby compared to her which gave her
more confidence. He seemed to treat her with the esteem of an old
member, and that pleased her. She had never felt like she belonged
to the pack, but now that she was finally here it was as though
they had considered her a member, always. He gave her a regard that
she was flattered by.

For tonight
though, she was tired. It was a no moon night - dark and quiet.
Stressed she rubbed her face smoothing back her manicured
brows.

“Where do we
sleep?”

He half smiled.
“I guess with the girls, Bealy has room in hers. I’ll give you the
tour,” She smiled pleasantly in return.

“Shell’s out at
the moment. Genna’s at the hospital, she’s a nurse.” She would want
her bed. “You and Aylish can crash here.” Shell was down below in
the basement, but he tucked the thought away.

“That’s Sky’s
room.” He pointed to the left, into a room with a double bed
“That’s Tyler’s around the corner.” He pointed down the hall past
Sam’s door.

“Where’s
yours?” she said huskily with a delicate smile and lazy
eyelids.

“Across the
hall,” he pointed, “and Narine and Paws have the main downstairs
room. Bianca and Sam have the other room there.” He gestured to the
end of the hall. “Theirs goes out onto the balcony, through a side
door,” he added with a handsome, bashful smile.

“It’s a big
place?” Dahlia looked into his sparkling eyes for confirmation.

“Yeah, Paws
stays here for that reason, the older wolves built it. Did you
bring any stuff?” He met her gaze.

“No, not
really. Some stuff. It’s mostly at the flat.” She seemed un-phased,
but perplexed by this. She wasn’t one to leave her belongings and
pretty dresses behind. What would she do without all her make-up?
Her hair straightener…

“Oh, well I’ll
bring you some extra blankets. One of you can take Shell's bed, she
won’t be back for a bit.” Blair tucked a hand in his pocket. “The
other bed is Genna’s.”

Dahlia looked
at Shell’s room. It consisted of two single beds. She wondered
where Aylish would sleep. “I’ll take the floor,” she said, not
wanting to put Aylish to more discomfort. She tried to smile.