Book 1 - Page 49 (1/2)

“Well, he was,” Bella insisted.

“Never gave it much thought what kind of wolf the original lupus garou was. I suspect it could’ve been a red.”

“But,” Devlyn interjected with authority, “it was a gray.”

The old man’s eyes caught Devlyn’s gaze, but he wouldn’t respond to the bait. Then he took a deep breath and stared out the winds.h.i.+eld, glancing up to look at them through the rearview mirror.

Devlyn nodded for him to continue. He squeezed Bella’s hand when her breathing grew shallow.

The old man sighed. “It’s not right for a lupus garou to do what’s been done.” He shook his head, sorrow filling his voice. “Not right at all. If the woman couldn’t accept him... well, in the old days it was different. She had no choice, and, once she was changed, she acknowledged it, learning to love her new life. Today, it’s not the same. We can’t just kill a human because she won’t accept us.”

Bella said softly, “All of us are at risk with their actions. They’ll expose all lupus garous to manhunts and extermination if they learn the truth about us.”

“That’s what I’ve said all along. They’ll be the death of us.”

“How can we help put a stop to this?”

“By that mate of yours fighting tonight.”

Bella’s eyes widened. “It’s all three of them then — Alfred, Nicol, and Ross — and a fourth?”

The man studied her in the rearview mirror. “You would have made an exceptional alpha female for our pack, but it won’t ever happen. Not the way you’re attached to the gray.” He gazed out the window again. “When it’s all said and done, we’ll be leaderless, but one of the older males can guide the pack in the interim. Maybe we need someone with more sense than strength for a while. Although... “ He shook his head.

“So there’s another who might be fit to take over?” Bella glanced at Devlyn. “Does he drive a Humvee?”

“He’s a loner, for the most part. Been gone for most of the year, some say searching for a mate somewhere else in the States. But he’s not been successful as far as I hear. By the way, he only just learned about you, missy.”

“Would he take over?”

“If your mate gets rid of some of the bad seeds, I suspect he might come down from the mountains.”

“But what about the other murdering red? The one that’s sneakier than the rest?”

The old man remained silent.

Bella tightened her grip on Devlyn’s hand. “They all took part in the killings — one for each girl, four of them.”

This time, the old man glanced up at the mirror, and the look in his eyes revealed the truth. Four younger males had taken part in the killings. All seeking a mate. All failing. They were bound together in the killing spree, and, with so many involved, the rest of the pack feared speaking out against them.

Devlyn knew then it was his destiny to fight them when their own could not. To right a wrong that could hurt all lupus garous in the end.

“Who’s the other red?” Bella asked again.

“Simon.”

“Simon? We haven’t met this Simon.”

“He’s the least aggressive of the pack in their age range. I’m sure he was there when the others went to meet you at the dance club.”

Bella swallowed hard.

Devlyn wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close. He tried to think of another red he might have missed, who’d watched them, quietly surveying the female he wished to make his own at the dance club. But Devlyn had been so intent on Ross, Nicol, and Alfred that he never thought there’d be anyone else. Kissing her cheek, Devlyn whispered, “I’ll be all right, Bella.”

“There’ll be four of them, Devlyn.”

“They won’t attack all at once, not in front of their pack.”

“If anyone can do it, it’ll be your mate,” the old man said. “In truth — and I’d be burned at the stake for saying so — your gray is the only one who has a chance at saving this red pack from extermination. And it’s rattling Alfred a bit to think the gray devil wolf from his great-grandfather’s day did away with that bad hombre, too.”

“But if you have no others to lead the pack and this other one won’t leave his mountain home... “ Devlyn said, concerned about the pack dying out without younger leaders.h.i.+p.

The man’s wizened face lifted, and his eyes turned brighter for an instant. “Leidolf returns to the city on occasion — checking out the pack, we figure. Mainly after he learned your mate was here, too. We believe he plans to take over once the gray culls out some of the bad wood. Leidolf’s name means wolf descendant. Some say his line ties in directly to the original lupus garou, one of the rarest of our kind, with only a human or two thrown into the mix.”

“A red royal,” Bella said under her breath.