20. Chapter 20 #2
"Well, since our business is done here," Courtney interrupts, extending the hand holding the tiara toward Vera. "I’ll get my payment and be gone."
"Oh, you poor, stupid girl." Vera laughs, the sound cruel. "And why would I do that? I have everything I need right now to get this contract back and destroy Julia once and for all."
Courtney glares at Vera, betrayal washing over her face.
"This isn’t the agreement. You won’t get away with this!"
Vera's laugh is cold and dismissive.
"Darling, who will they believe? A lifelong criminal hired by a disgraced wedding planner or the woman who tracked them both down and brought the tiara back to them?"
Shit. Now I understand. Vera planned this very well, indeed. She’s going to get rid of Courtney and make Julia take the blame, framing her as an accomplice. Again.
Vera shakes her head, that cruel smile still on her face.
“You’re not getting out of this forest. And sadly, neither is Sheriff Wolfsbane. No hard feelings, Sheriff, but you know too much.”
Courtney’s face loses all color and her eyes flame with fury, but as her eyes lock on the barrel of Vera’s gun, terror replaces the anger in her gaze as she understands the depth of her mistake.
Vera isn’t about to leave witnesses behind. She never was.
“Vera! You can’t do this.” Courtney takes a step backward, ready to bolt into the forest .
I watch the interaction carefully. I know the look in Vera’s eyes. She won’t hesitate to kill us both.
I call my wolf to the surface and snarl.
The underbrush all around the service road stirs and one wolf emerges. I recognize my mother instantly by the brilliant brown streaked with silver and her blazing blue eyes, reflecting the moonlight.
Another wolf emerges, then another and another, until two dozen wolves stand around us, hackles raised, fangs out, snarling at the two women.
"What is this?" Vera shrieks, swinging the barrel of her gun between the wolves. "What the hell is this?"
Then the biggest wolf of them all walks out from behind the parked car, his massive frame rendered even more impressive by his raised hackles and fangs, dripping with saliva. My father stares at the woman who dared threaten his son with the wrath of our entire pack.
“Go to Hell!” Vera screams. I see her intent to shoot as clearly as I smell the terror on her body.
I lunge forward with inhuman speed and my hand closes around Vera's wrist. She fires wildly, the bullet harmlessly lost in the forest night.
“Drop it,” I snarl in my half-shifted form, fangs inches from her face. “Now.”
With a pitiful moan of terror, Vera loosens her grip and the gun falls to the ground. I spin her around, forcing her arms behind her back as she struggles and curses.
From the corner of my eye, I see Courtney turn to flee. She manages exactly three steps before my mother tackles her to the ground with a growl. Courtney struggles for a few seconds but quickly gives up.
From the corner of my eye, I see my father shift, walk over to the fallen jewel, then pick it up, his face devoid of any interest. Wolves are not attached to treasures the way dragons are.
"I believe this belongs to you, Sheriff," he says as he hands me the tiara.
I nod my appreciation. "Thank you, Father."
“Pack protects pack, Adrian.” Jeremy Wolfsbane’s head tilts slightly. “Never forget that.”
I turn my attention back to Vera, forgoing dignity for efficiency as I keep her pinned while my deputies, Bobby Chemko and Maya Lorne, emerge from the forest. They approach with hard gazes for the suspects, and Maya hands me a zip tie.
"Vera Castell," I say, cinching the plastic tight around her wrists, "you are under arrest for theft, arson, conspiracy, and attempted murder.
" The familiar words of the Miranda rights flow from memory as I secure her hands.
"You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law… "
By the time I finish reciting her rights, Vera has stopped struggling, her body rigid with furious disbelief. Bobby Chemko does the same with Courtney, the young woman now weeping openly as the reality of her situation sinks in.
Wordlessly, Maya Lorne hands me a pair of boxer shorts she retrieved from her back pocket. All my deputies carry extra pairs of underwear for this exact situation. Werewolves are accustomed to nudity and make no qualms of it, but we know it makes the general public uncomfortable.
Distant engine sounds reach my heightened senses, more law enforcement coming to the rescue.
I stand barefoot on the gravel road. Victory tastes sweet on my tongue. The thieves sit defeated at my feet, and the tiara is safe in my hands.
Julia. My mate. Waiting for me back at the dock.
Jeremy remains beside me, keeping watch over our prisoners. I look up at him, seeing him clearly for perhaps the first time. My mother was right. Pack is always there when they are needed.
"I’m ready," I tell him. “I’m ready to take over as alpha, whenever you want me to.”
"I know you are," he rumbles. "I just needed you to see it."
Headlights appear around the bend in the road. I know I should stay, should formally process the arrests, should follow procedure.
But all I can think about is Julia.
"Can you handle this?" I ask my deputies, gesturing to the prisoners.
“Go to your mate.” Bobby Chemko nods. “We'll take care of everything.”
I don't need to be told twice. With one last nod of thanks to my father, I drop the boxer briefs and surrender once more to the shift. Pain sears through me briefly, then ebbs as fur replaces skin and four paws touch the ground where two feet stood a moment before.
Then I'm running again, back through the forest, back to the dock, back to Julia .
The thief is caught. The tiara is safe. And tomorrow, a dragon wedding will proceed exactly as planned, with my mate's reputation not just intact, but shining even brighter.
My wolf howls with satisfaction as I race through the moonlight, eager to return to where I belong.
At Julia's side.