Wolfsbane, A Paranormal/Urban Fantasy (The Maurin Kincaide Series) Read online

  My fingers closed around air instead of the hilt of my sword. Shit. In my haste to talk to Arawn I had left more than just Conry at home. If Arawn had noticed he'd failed to bring the Retaliator through the between with Conry. I could have done without the lesson he was apparently trying to teach me. I honestly hadn't given my sword much thought before seeing as how I was supposed to be among friends. A mistake I wouldn't make again.

  "Cash, a little help would be nice!" I yelled. A grunt was his only response. I decided it was worth the risk to take my eyes off Olwyn long enough to see what was happening with Cash. While I had been busy fighting off Olwyn, Cash had gotten caught up in a fight of his own. It seemed some of the pack refused to acknowledge him as their Alpha and remained loyal to Roul.

  Unlike the perfectly choreographed fight scenes in movies, they didn't jump him one at a time. He went down swinging under the weight of all four wolves. A Timber wolf erupted from beneath the mass of fur and deadly teeth that had been attacking him. He had already evened the odds to two against one when I brought my attention back to Olwyn.

  Conry still had her trapped in his jaws. She rolled onto her side and clamped down the side of his head. Olwyn's wolf was stronger without the woman to keep her in check. She managed to bite down hard enough to cause Conry to loosen his grip for a second. A second was all she needed. She rocketed up from beneath him. Her paws found purchase and she barreled into my shins. My back made contact with the hard concrete floor a half second before my head did. She was on top of me again. I couldn't breathe, from having the wind knocked out of me and Olwyn standing on my chest. Conry had a hold of her again and proceeded to drag her off me. Her claws dug in, shredding my clothes and stomach. My flesh felt like it was on fire where her sharp nails had torn threw it and I screamed. The searing pain spread across my stomach and up my chest. My heart rate picked up until I thought it was going to explode. I couldn't keep the screams in as the pain racked my body.

  Conry managed to get on top of her. She fought beneath him as he tore through her dense coat, ripping meat from bone. I forced myself to get up. My body was barely cooperating but somehow I had to finish this. Conry finally released her. Olwyn lay whimpering in a bloody heap at my feet.

  "Put the bitch out of her misery." Cash placed a gun in my hand.

  "You're the alpha, why don't..." The look Cash gave me stopped me from finishing the question. He was alpha now and I was not going to give him shit in front of the pack.

  My arms trembled from the effort it took to stay standing and hold the brushed steel .50 cal ae Desert Eagle out in front of me. I didn't know if I could handle the recoil in my current state. I took a deep breath to find my center and steady my hands.

  "She could be like this for days before she died. Her mate is dead, she let her wolf consume her. She'll never be the same again." Cash had mistaken the shakes caused by the fever burning me up from the inside out as hesitation to kill Olwyn. I couldn't afford to waste any energy in correcting him.

  My palms, like every other part of my body had broken out in a cold sweat. I alternated rubbing my hands down the front of my jeans then returned to a stance perfected over three years of required range time while working for SPTF. I wasn't holding the Retaliator but the result would be the same. This gun could take down a bear shifter with no problem. Just like my sword, there was no healing from the mess the .50 cal would make. I looked down the sight. It shouldn't have been so hard to focus on the unusually large target. I could make this shot with my eyes closed from across the room but I couldn't seem to keep it lined up. I wasn't going to be able to stay upright much longer. Fuck it. With a bullet this big there was a little room for error, right? I didn't have to hit her forehead dead center. I took another deep breath, exhaled and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit Olwyn and then I hit the floor.

  I didn't have control of my body any more. I succumbed to the seizures that had threatened to take hold before I pulled the trigger. Cash was shouting orders to his new pack as he dropped to his knees beside me. Waiting until the seizing subsided, he rolled me onto my back and tore off what was left of my shirt exposing the inflamed gouges that ran the length of my stomach from rib cage to the waistline of my low rise jeans. Cash gave a hard tug, forcing the button and zipper to give way. I was teetering on the edge of unconsciousness but I still managed to grab his wrist.

  "If you don't let me heal you you'll turn." Cash growled.

  "Don't. Know. That. For. Sure." I ground out.

  "You want to take that chance? You couldn't stop the Afrit's poison from spreading. Now move your fucking hand or I'll have Tybalt restrain you. Will somebody get her dog out of here for fucks sake! I can't do anything with him hovering over her." Cash took a small jar from one of his wolves, while two more attempted to drag Conry away - only managing to move him back enough for Cash to work and only because he let them.

  I tried to focus on how interesting it was that Tybalt wasn't one of the wolves fighting Cash after he won the challenge and the pack instead of the pain. Tybalt had been Roulss second. If anyone was going to avenge the fallen alpha my money would have been on Tybalt. I lost my train of thought and damn near my mind as Cash spread some sort of salve over my wounds.

  "Careful, too much of that shit and she'll die from the Wolfsbane." Tybalt warned.

  "I'm not trying to kill her, just the possibility of her becoming a wolf." Cash snarled.

  "Alpha, I'm not challenging, " Cash roared but Tybalt persisted. "She's not a were. You can't just kill her wolf with an over dose of Aconite like some rogue. You don't know for sure if she'll even change. Wolfsbane is deadly to humans. We could call in the Coven."

  "Don't you think I know that? And we are not calling the Coven. Half of them tried to kill her last month. They'd probably give her Belladonna instead of Alicorn. I've used Wolfsbane before. It was my job to deal with the rogues and their victims in Boston. I've used it to separate wolf from man more times than I care to remember. I've done this before on a human. A small dose, applied immediately to the wound will kill the infection before it has a chance to take hold, like an antidote." Cash said, trying to calm his wolf and focus on me.

  There were a million questions swirling around in my head. What did they mean separate a rogue from its wolf? They could do that? Kill someone's wolf? He'd done this to a human? But I'm not human. Before I had a chance to ask any of them I was overcome with pain. If I thought I was on fire before I was mistaken. That was just smoldering embers compared to this. My blood was suddenly molten lava. I pulled my knees up to my chest, rolled onto my side in the fetal position and instantly regretted it. Pain shot through my mid section, like someone was scrambling my intestines with red hot pokers. I kicked my legs back out and rolled over. My back arched as the pain racked through my stomach and my blood felt like it was boiling again. I was being cooked from the inside out. Something was wrong. The Wolfsbane wasn't working. I needed to tell Cash before the fever or whatever the hell this was fried my brain. The only thing that came out of my mouth when I tried to talk was a scream so I clamped my jaws shut.

  "Hold her legs Tybalt. It'll pass Maurin. The burning will stop. You're doing great, you're going to be fine." Cash was holding my shoulders down, whispering encouragements in my ear like we were in a Lamaze class instead of laying on the concrete floor with hell fire burning my insides. Despite his best efforts to conceal it, I caught the faintest hint of uncertainty in his voice.

  "Damn, she heals fast. You think enough of the Wolfsbane got into her blood stream before she knit back together?" Tybalt was just shaking his head, still in disbelief over how fast I had healed. He moved a hand off one of my legs to trace the freshly closed skin.

  I knew it was scab free and the light pink fleshy color of new scar tissue. I may be able to heal fast but I still hadn't mastered it yet. Injuries this bad obviously weren't outside my abilities but what I had just done was the equivalent of a field dressing compared to what I should have been capable of. I was c
ollecting scars like some people collected coins.

  Thankfully Cash was right and the pain was sub siding. It no longer felt like my body was the same temperature as magma. It was easier to think now that I seemed to only suffer from severe flu like symptoms. I managed to talk through the nausea. "Don't touch me." My need to not have anyone touch my all too sensitive skin came out sounding more like repulsion at having Tybalt's hand on my stomach. I saw the flash of anger and hurt in his eyes. He had tried to help me, even after the only pack leaders he had ever known were killed. He immediately recognized Cash as alpha and followed his orders knowing full well as second in command to Roul the other wolves would look to him to follow or fight. I wanted to smooth things over but didn't have the energy for more than "Sorry, still hurts like a son of a bitch."

  I forced myself up onto my elbows, grimacing as I felt the new scar tissue stretch. I looked down the length of my body sizing up the Freddie Krueger like slash marks on my otherwise flawless stomach. "Damn, there goes bikini season." I tried to make light of the situation.

  "There's the Maurin Kincaide I know." Cash chuckled.

  Tybalt yanked his tee shirt over his head and tossed it to me. I thanked him and pulled it on. He was easily a foot and a half taller than me and twice as wide so I was swimming in dark blue cotton but it sure beat sitting there in jeans and a bra.

  Cash extended his hand and I took it, allowing him to pull me to my feet. Sensing the worst of my healing process was over Conry shook off the two wolves holding onto him and settled himself at my feet. I bent down, trying not to wince as the scars stretched again, and wrapped my arms around Conry's neck. I even let him lick my face a couple of times. Cash cleared his throat, breaking up our little reunion.

  I gave him a sideways glance as I untangled myself from my dog. He gave a short, tight nod to his left. Evidence of the challenge that took place for the right to lead the Salem pack still littered the ground. Remnants of clothes shredded from shifting, tufts of fur and blood where everywhere. Just beyond Cash lay the bodies of Roul and Olwyn. If I hadn't been here for the whole brutal and bloody battle I doubt I wouldn't have recognized them as the former alpha and his mate. Roul's body was covered with bruises and claw marks. His eyes frozen in shock, reflecting the exact moment he realized he was about to die. His bottom jaw barely attached by a strap of skin on his neck rested on his chest. I swallowed hard, trying not to throw up. Olwyn was stretched out next to him. A hole the size of a Kennedy half dollar in her face where the apple of her right cheek would have been was the only evidence that I had shot her. Never having fired a Desert Eagle before I half expected to see her head blown clear off. Something told me the exit wound would be larger but I wasn't rolling her over to find out. Looking at their lifeless bodies I was surprised, or maybe it was disappointment, at how little I felt.

  While I stood beside Cash struggling with my indifference, grief gripped the pack. Men and women -all of them wolves and now Cash's pack- filled the old military hanger to max capacity. All eyes were downcast in a show of submission and respect as they waited for their alpha to address them. Their pain and fear of the unknown was easy to read despite their averted eyes.

  Cash's voice filled the vacuum. His first command as alpha caught me completely off guard. "Maurin is under pack protection, my protection. There will be no retribution for the death of the omega from an obvious act of self defense. Any wolf in violation of this will suffer my wrath, for a very long and painful time before succumbing to Wolfsbane. By my order she is free to leave and report back to the Council what she has witnessed tonight."

  I took that as my cue to exit. I had seen more than enough of the inner workings of the pack for one night anyway. I wasn't sure it was wise to make his first order as alpha a threat but if he felt it was necessary I wasn't going to argue. Cash had accomplished two things in making that statement. One, now I knew there was a very real possibility one or more of the pack could come after me. And two the pack knew he would not only cause bodily harm but rip the wolf from their body. A fate I assumed was worse than death since that hadn't even been an option.

  Conry was right on my heels as I broke the veil that separated reality from the between and went home. I could still hear the gasps and whispers of how the hell did I just do that as the rip in reality closed and I collapsed on my couch.

  4

  My phone was ringing incessantly. I had been trying to ignore it for the last hour. Ten rings ago I had decided it wasn't a solicitor and most likely another emergency but I couldn't bring myself to get up off the couch and answer it. Five rings ago it dawned on me it was most likely the woman I called my mother -since my cell phone hadn't rung once, simply because I never gave her the number- and I had even less motivation to pick up. Certain she was just calling to give me grief for letting Frankie down by choosing work over my sister I was determined to let the phone ring all night - well technically morning. One ring ago I realized what time it really was and that in lieu of leaving hateful messages on my machine she chose to hang up and dial again, I concluded something was actually wrong.

  "Hello?" I never bothered to put the receiver next to my ear, the skeptical part of me ready to hang up at the first insult.

  "I know you are behind this. You're always making a mess of everything. You're miserable and alone, no surprise there but I will not allow you to drag your sister down with you. Put Francesca on the phone now!" She was yelling, a show of passion and anger I had never seen before.

  I was about to hit the off button on my phone when I read between the insults. My sister wasn't home. "Frankie's not here." I croaked, exhaustion still audible in my voice.

  "Don't bother lying. I know she's there. Where else would she be?" She regained her composure and was back to the ice queen I was familiar with.

  "I said she's not here. So she went out for awhile, that's not a crime. She's a grown woman. Give her some space." Why did I answer the phone?

  "She was supposed to be here hours ago. You expect me to believe your sister just went out for a walk the morning of her wedding and lost track of time? The hair stylist and make-up artist are already here, the photographer is on his way and your sister just went for a stroll, is that it?" She barked.

  "Don't bite my head off, I'm not the one who lost the bride. That was on your watch." I snapped back. "The way this conversation should have gone was Maurin your sister took off. She's not here or at her apartment. I don't know where else to look. I need your help."

  I was met with silence on the other end. "I am hanging up now. Call me if she changes her mind about the whole runaway bride thing."

  "You care more about breaking me than your sister? Fine Maurin, I need your help." The last part was laced with anger.

  I knew how much it cost her to say those words. A smile crept across my face. I would have looked for Frankie anyway. "I'll bring her home."

  She didn't say thank you or anything else for that matter before she hung up. I dragged myself off the couch, managing to get myself cleaned up in record time despite lingering aches and pains from last night's activities. I had planned on going to see the Council before the ceremony. If I didn't find Frankie fast there wouldn't be enough time and standing up the Council was not an option. Of course if I didn't find her there wouldn't be a ceremony to worry about so it wouldn't matter. That line of thinking wasn't getting me any closer to finding my sister. I gave a little whistle for Conry. I already knew where my first stop was going to be.

  My soon to be brother-in-law was a mess sitting on their expensive leather couch in the clothes he had obviously slept in. Hang over, suffering from the same cold feet as my sister, concern for her safety or guilt for having done something to make her run? I intended to find out.

  Moving through the between was definitely a stealthy mode of transportation. He never heard me come in. I had been watching him for a couple minutes and he had no clue I was there. Conry gave a little huff, announcing our presence.

  I wasn't su
re how much Michael actually knew about me but the look of absolute terror on his face told me not nearly enough. It was becoming painfully obvious that even Frankie wasn't comfortable telling people what I really was. Although in her defense, it wasn't like I told her exactly what that was.

  "How the hell... Your sister said you were... but she never said you could... What are you?" Michael sputtered.

  "All that Ivy League education and you can't even manage to string a proper sentence together. You disappoint me Michael." His face was stricken with fear. His chest heaved as he sucked in breath after breath trying to calm down and failing miserably. He was going to hyperventilate. "In her defense, she doesn't have a clue about what I really am. What did you do to my sister Michael?" I let the menace in my voice hang in the air before pressing him further.

  "I asked you a question. What did you do to make my sister run Michael?" My voice was cold, void of all emotion. It had the desired effect.

  "We, we had a fight. I..." He stammered.