“Yeah, I just had to bail him out of jail last week. Can you believe that? Dumbass got caught by humans. He attacked a woman while he was drunk, right out in the open. He roughed her up pretty good when she turned him down. He’s facing charges on it, and his ma expects me to deal with human courts to save him. You don’t want to know how much those lawyers costall to make sure he’s not locked up and doesn’t expose our kind to humans.”
Jazz warned, “You better find Benny before that hunter does. It seems someone doesn’t take too well to our kind messing around with human women. That’s what Merl was guilty of. Human law enforcement was hunting for him up in Reddly. It probably sent up the same red flag.”
“I ain’t gonna look that hard. If it wasn’t for Benny’s ma, trust me, that wolf would’ve gone missing a long time ago. I promised her I wouldn’t kill him since she’s a sweetheart. I never promised I’d stop someone else from taking him out.” Terry didn’t sound too bothered one way or the other. “So, are you coming up for the running? Stay the week, bring a few of your wolves out of their territory for a while. It’s good for them to try new things.”
“If the invitation’s open,” Jazz tried not to wince as he said it, “we might take you up on it.”
“Okay, then, I’ll tell my pack.” He sounded way too pleased. “You know the bitches will be excited. You need to get out more. It’s not good for an alpha to stay lonely like you do.”
“Yeah, I’ll talk to you later, Baker.” Jazz hung up, knowing Jason’s wolf senses let him hear the entire conversation. “I guess I’m going to the Bakers for the running. I want to talk to this were-hunter. If she’s carrying Benny’s picture, he might be her next target.”
“Might be.” Jason gave him a look. “But you know I can’t go with you to the Bakers for the running. Nothing against them, but they’re just a little too free for my tastes. There’s no fucking way I’m taking Brandi out there.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’m going to go hunt up Benny myself.” Jazz did need to handle this on his own. He owed the Markums a hell of a lot, and if this hunter was Ralph’s girlfriend, Jazz would try to protect her. “I’ll take Miles with me. It’ll give him something to do for the full moon.”
Jason didn’t look convinced. “If that’s what you want to do.”
“It is. Someone lock that door before a human wanders in. Put up the closed sign, Nester,” Jazz ordered the bar owner, and then walked toward the back. “I’m using your office.”
Nester nodded, waving him off as he locked up the bar and directed the men to the cleaning supplies. Jazz walked into Nester’s small office and eased his large frame into the chair behind the cluttered desk. He stared at his phone, hesitating, and then dialed Desmon on his day off.
Desmon answered, laughing. “What’s up?”
Jazz couldn’t help but smile. “What’s up with you? Why are you so happy?”
“Drew took his first steps today. I’ll send you the video. Amber was filming it, got too excited, and tripped. It’s funny as hell. I was about to rub the soreness out of her ass to make up for laughing at her. Can I call you back? Drew’s down for his nap.” Desmon let out a low, playful growl and warned, “Our window is narrow, Jazz.”
“Merl’s dead.”
The laughter died in Desmon’s voice. “How?”
“Oh my God.” Amber’s voice echoed over Desmon’s grunt on the other end, since she was a werewolf now and had hearing as good as the rest of them. “This is going to drag up all of Katie’s old issues. Not that I’ll miss Merl, but yeah, how?”
Jazz understood. Merl used to date Katie, Amber’s human sister, and it didn’t end well for them.
Jazz took a deep breath. “A human were-hunter came into the bar. She shot a few of ours to keep them from defending Merl. They’ll be fine. He sure won’t be. The gun she used had silver-cased bullets.”
The silence on the other end of the phone was lengthy, before Desmon grunted in shock. “A were-hunter? I haven’t heard of one of those in…forever. And did you say it was a woman? A human woman? Are you sure she wasn’t a vampire?”
“Jason saw it. The hunter is human,” Jazz assured him. “I think he knows what they smell like. He is mated to one.”
“Fine, smartass, then what the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know, but it gets worse.”
“How?” Desmon growled the words. “If she thinks she’s coming after all of us, she’ll be very disappointed.”
“No, that’s not it. She just wanted Merl. She claimed he raped a college girl in Reddly, which I tend to believe. The hunter said Merl killed Ralph Markum for stepping in to help the human.” He paused, knowing Desmon would comprehend way too much when he admitted, “The hunter was Ralph’s girlfriend, Des. This was revenge for his death.”
“Fuck.” Desmon grunted. “That is worse.”
“That family has been through too much already,” Jazz whispered miserably.
“How are you?” Desmon’s voice was low with concern. There was a rustle of him crawling out of bed before he asked, “I know this is probably hitting you hard.”
Jazz shut his eyes. “Well, it’s not hitting soft, that’s for sure. Now Ralph’s dead, and according to this woman, one of our wolves did it. What are the fucking chances? It’s like we’re all cursed.”
“We’ll send someone out there to find Ralph’s parents and offer them Merl’s body.” Desmon didn’t hesitate to make that proposal. “Or invite them to the burning so they can see that he’s really dead. We owe them that. They probably won’t want to come back, but we should extend the offer anyway.”
Jazz bit his lip, feeling the wolf stir in the back of his mind, stealing his grip on reality. “Do you think I should ask them about her? If they’ve heard from her? I know it’s not the best time, but—”
Desmon softly growled. “Don’t do this to yourself, Jazz. You know she died that day, even if you didn’t get the closure of seeing her body. I’m so damn sorry.”
“Yeah, I know. I don’t want to hurt the Markums any more because of this pack. I get it.” Jazz forced his eyes open. His tongue felt thick as he spoke. “But I’m going after Ralph’s girlfriend. This woman is still wolf hunting. I have to stop her before some alpha kills her. Ralph’s death must have made her crazy. Maybe they were mates but hadn’t sealed the deal yet. I think I know her next target. I’ll try to talk her down from the ledge before she gets killed.”
Desmon sighed. “Are you doing this for Ralph or are you doing this because we couldn’t save Marcy?”
Jazz flinched. “I thought we weren’t going to say her name.”
“I’m sorry.” Desmon sounded it, but he was silent for a moment as though debating with himself. “You loved her. She was your intended mate, and there’s no changing that. I understand wanting to do something for her family, but a were-hunter—” He growled in defeat. “Fuck. Go ahead. Just don’t let the woman kill you while you’re trying to talk some sense into her, all right?”