But he was covered in Spencer’s blood, and I needed to know why.
“My name is Jason,” the man growled, his voice deep, surprising me with the strength and tenacity.
“Why were you with Spencer? Why did you kill him?” I asked, because I knew the truth. Spencer was dead. Rio stood over Spencer’s body, checking for a pulse, seeing if there was anything that we could do with a healer. Dane was behind me, protecting my flank, and I was grateful.
I didn’t see a weapon on Jason, and if he wasn’t a witch, that meant unless he had thrown the weapon away, Jason hadn’t killed Spencer.
Somebody had, and I needed to know who.
And perhaps this Jason wasn’t alone, and Dane would keep a watch out because first I needed to deal with the human below me.
“I found him like that. I’ve been searching for him.”
I stilled, my wolf at attention. “Why?
“I’ll explain everything. Can you please get your claws out of my skin?”
I tilted my head, a very wolf gesture. “You’re not bleeding. You’re just fine. You’re going to tell me what you did to my wolf. Or you’re not going to like what happens next.”
Then the damned human did the strangest thing out of all. He smiled, even with the slight fear in his gaze, and my wolf pounced, knowing who she was seeing.
I cursed, loosened my grip ever so slightly, and growled.
“Talk to me, human.”
“Whatever you say, wolf.”
And I knew right then and there. Whatever he was going to say, I wasn’t going to like it.
My wolf just might.
Chapter 6
Jason
I had been in a few precarious positions in my life as a geneticist who worked out in the field, but lying underneath a female wolf shifter while she pinned me to the ground and her claws wrapped around my throat was a new one.
I was friends with the Starlight Pack and worked with them on multiple projects. They trusted me with some of their most tangled secrets so that I could help them. I also knew Riaz decently well. We were drinking buddies. He liked me.
At least, that’s what I assumed. I had never met this particular wolf before, and the way that she growled at me, her eyes glowing gold while her claws pricked at my skin, I had a feeling that she probably never wanted to see me again.
This was going well.
The first time I saw a pretty woman in how long, and she wants to kill me.
And then I remembered the blood on my hands, on my chest, and froze. Because that wasn’t my blood, and now I could remember exactly why I was here.
I cleared my throat. “I was on the trail of someone else.” Something else. “I found this man here when I did. I thought I could save him, but somebody had already torn out his chest.” I swallowed hard, and the woman above me, with dark hair and bright eyes, looked at me and tilted her head. It was such a wolf-like gesture it surprised me.
“Jason?” Rio asked from beside the woman above me, and I relaxed marginally, only marginally. After all, the woman above me still hadn’t let go of my neck.
“You know him then?” she asked, her voice cold.
“I do. It took me a minute to scent him because of the blood.” He let out a curse. “Jason, tell me you didn’t fucking do this.”
I stiffened, afraid even the idea of doing it would send this wolf on top of me over the edge. Guilt crept in at that since it wasn’t only my life on the line. No, that man had died, and I hadn’t been able to save him. “Of course I didn’t. Do you see a weapon on me?”
“Then why the hell are you out here without a weapon? You say you’re hunting rogues, and you don’t bring anything? That doesn’t sound like a brilliant thing to do.” The woman shook her head, looked up at Rio, and then gave a tight nod. She stood up, letting go of my neck, and I barely resisted the urge to reach up and rub where she had touched, not because it had hurt, no, because I wanted to feel her warmth.
Well, that was a new weird quirk of mine. One I wasn’t in the mood to deal with.
“What the fuck happened?” Rio asked as he held out his hand. I looked down at my bloody hands and winced.
“I don’t know. I’ve been looking for evidence on the path of what we’re trying to figure out, as part of what Riaz wanted me to look into, and I found him like this. I don’t know who this is, though. I’ve never met him before. I don’t think he was a rogue, was he? I don’t know. I have too many questions. Not enough answers.”
The woman looked at me then, her gaze penetrating.
“You work for the Alpha. Are you Pack?”
I shook my head as I met Rio’s gaze, then Dane’s. I quickly lowered my eyes, as I didn’t want to assert dominance. I was a human, and I honestly didn’t know exactly how that worked. Would they try to push me down and prove that they were stronger than me? Because there was no need to do that. I knew where I would rank on the hierarchy, and it wasn’t high. But I was smart, and I protected those that I loved. That had to count for something.
And now I was rambling. That’s what happened when I was in situations that I didn’t understand or quantify with math or science. I didn’t know what had happened here, didn’t know how I was supposed to fix things. And I didn’t know what I was supposed to say around this woman. She made my brain short circuit, another thing that had never before happened in my life. I didn’t think with my dick. I didn’t even think with my heart. I thought with my mind. That was how I was supposed to be.
And yet, I couldn’t focus.
It was all about her, those strong muscles, those curves that didn’t quit.
Who the hell was this woman? And why couldn’t I focus?
“This is Jason. He’s a geneticist at the lab outside of the Pack. He’s not part of our Pack, but he is a friend.” Dane looked at me then, tilted his head in that wolf-like gesture again. “Though I don’t know why he’s out here alone without talking to us. You’re on our territory, boy. There better be a damn good reason.”
I swallowed hard. “I’m a geneticist. People are dying around here from a black blood cancer that we can’t figure out. It’s either forcing people to go rogue, or affecting their magic, or doing something. At least, that’s what my colleagues think. What happens is it looks like a wolf bite, but with black marks. So I’ve been searching, trying to figure out exactly what’s happening. I didn’t think I’d find a rogue or this man.” I swallowed hard. “I’m sorry. Was he your friend?”
The woman didn’t say anything. She just stared at me. “I think I’m going to need to have a little more information.” She turned to Dane, giving me her back. As if I wasn’t a threat. And I wasn’t, but it didn’t make me feel any better about myself. “You’re going to explain to me exactly what’s going on down here.”
“I don’t answer to you, wolf.”
“No. But our Alphas are trying to form an alliance. Do you think that keeping secrets is going to help that? I know the strength of your Pack, Dane. You don’t want to make an enemy out of us.”
The other wolf bristled. “Excuse me? You’re all alone here, little girl. Watch it.”