Dylan (Bowen Boys, #3)(35)

It was over in seconds. The wolf was no match for Dylan’s pissed off cat. As soon as he killed the wolf, Khan shot out the front after his brother and after the other wolf. Khan caught the darker wolf just as he was shifting and killed him instantly. Both men stood still in the moonlight and raised their noses to the sky. There were no other animals in the area.

They both padded to the truck, and Dylan jumped inside the bed and tossed down their bags. Lifting it in his mouth, he went to the slower smoother part of the river that ran by the house, and both of them leapt in. Neither wanted to go back home smelling like a dog.

“She had this right, you know.” Khan looked at Dylan as he dressed. “Jack. She knew where the jump point was to the second. She’s spent a great deal of time here.”

Khan nodded, still remembering just how perfectly she’d timed it for them. “She would have been able to do this on her own, too. We helped, don’t get me wrong, but she would have pulled it off.”

Dylan nodded and pulled on his boots. “I’m in love with her. I know that you understand that, but I really am in love with her.”

Khan nodded. “Yeah, don’t kill me, but me, too. I love Caitlynne very much. But Jack…well, there is something so mean and loveable about her.”

Both men were laughing as they walked back to the house. Jack was just coming out of the house with another woman when she saw them. She dropped everything and ran toward them. Dylan caught her in mid-jump as she wrapped herself around him.

“You hurt?” she asked. Dylan shook his head. “Good.” She slapped him.

“What the f*ck was that for?” Dylan sat her down as he rubbed his jaw. He didn’t sound the least bit pissed and realized he’d expected the hit from her.

“You were supposed to wait for us if there were other wolves in the area. Not run off like some macho shit and take care of it all on your own. Do you have any idea how terrified I was that—?”

Dylan yanked her to him and kissed her. Khan looked over at the woman who’d come up beside him and smiled down at her. He could smell the wolf on her.

“Did the wolf hurt you?” She shook her head. “All the same I’d like for my brother to look you over when we get back to the house. He’s a good doctor.”

“And you think I’m not?” He looked at Jack when she laughed. “This ass just said I’m stupid.”

“I most certainly did not. I said I wanted to have my brother look you over. I said he was a good doctor and you got all nasty like I insulted you or something.”

“Down boy, she’s just nervous. It’s not every day that the big bad wolf comes knocking and then shifts into a man.” Jack smiled at the two of them. “Casey Snow, I’d like for you to meet my leader, Khan Bowen. And this is my soon-to-be-husband, Dylan Bowen.”

“Pleased to meet you.” She shook both their hands. “What do we do about the mess in the living room? I’m not cleaning it up.”

It took them nearly an hour to drag the body out and bury it. By the time he and Dylan had finished that, the girls had gotten the house cleaned up and locked down. Jack was setting the traps when he came up behind her.

“The wolf might have hurt your friend.” She nodded. “How did he hurt her? If he raped her, I’ll—”

“He didn’t rape her, but she might need a few stitches in her leg. When he tried, she pulled a knife on him, and he rammed it in her leg when she dropped it getting away. It’s not bad, but it is a little nasty.”

He started to turn away when she stopped him. “Khan, I wanted to thank you again for coming with me. I might have gone in half-cocked, and having to make sure you two didn’t put me on my best behavior. Thanks for that.”

He nodded and headed to the other truck. He wasn’t sure if she was telling him that she’d had to babysit them, and that’s what kept her alive, or he’d just misheard her. He decided for the sake of feeling like an idiot and asking her to explain he’d just think he’d misheard her. Nodding to himself, he climbed in the truck with Dylan. Twenty minutes later, they were on the highway headed home.

~~~

The wolf was dead. He couldn’t locate the human, and he still didn’t have the woman and her information. He kicked the chair nearest him across the room and watched its broken pieces join the other splintered pieces on the floor. He was going to have to do something. The f*cking trial was in two days. He had to find her and keep her from going to court, and he had to do it over the next two days.

Moving through the house, he didn’t encounter anyone, human or vampire. He had a staff, small, but they should have been somewhere within the walls. When he stopped to listen, he realized that other than his own heartbeat there was no one within the walls, and only a few wolves inside the gates of his home. Closing his eyes, he reached for them and suddenly knew a touch of fear. They weren’t there.

It took him several tries before he was able to summon one of the few who should have answered, and this man was not responding well. He sounded drugged and out of sorts. Lucius materialized at his side to find the man dying and his body wasting away.

“What has happened to you?” When the man reached for him, Lucius backed away quickly. “Don’t touch me.”

“Poisoned, sir. We’ve all been poisoned.” The human servant coughed, and great clods of blood poured from his mouth. “The butcher, sir. He sold us all tainted beef.”