Chapter Seventeen #2
*
Dominic locked the truck doors, probably because he knew Erica would have leapt out of the moving vehicle the moment Crescent Lane came into sight. When her house came into view, she saw yellow and black police tape stretched across the porch railing to bar access to the home.
All the way from Larson Caves Park, Dominic’s alpha face was firmly fixed in place as he glared out the windshield at the darkened asphalt.
Erica stayed quiet, despite her burning questions.
He probably knew just as much as she did, but she could see the mind at work behind his eyes that brightened under the glow of the dash lights.
She could even see them flicker gold every now and again, proof of the rage she felt as well.
Cole’s squad car was parked along the curb in front of Dominic’s house, its owner leaning against the passenger side with his arms folded over his barrel chest. As soon as the truck rolled to a stop, Erica grabbed for the car door handle, ready to fly out and start demanding explanations.
Dominic was too quick for her. As soon as he hopped out, he used his key remote to lock it back again and trapped her inside while the alphas talked.
She strained her ears but could only make out deep rumblings and the occasional harsh word. Fingers were pointed in accusation, arms waved in anger, but neither man seemed to budge in their convictions. If only she knew whose side Cole was on.
After what seemed like forever, Dominic marched back to the truck and unlocked the door. She jumped out, but he was by her side instantly to detain her. By her mate’s expression, he wasn’t at all happy about what he’d learned.
“Someone made an anonymous tip that you had illegal drugs. Cole was called on to do a search, and the place reeked of cocaine.”
Erica’s eyes went wide. “That’s insane!” she shrieked, eyes darting between him and her father. “You know I—”
“Yes, I know you’re innocent because I’ve been in your house earlier today. But when Cole and Ronan went in, they smelled it before they ever reached the porch. Someone planted it.”
“But who?”
Cole approached, but the last person Erica wanted to talk to was the man who would have to arrest her on some bogus charge.
“Probably the person who called in the tip,” Dominic replied. “The second thing Cole and Ronan looked for was any trace scent of who could have snuck in. But since I called a few of the pack members to come and clean up the mess after we left, there were plenty of hands in the house.”
“We questioned everyone who helped clean up,” Cole said. “None of them did it.”
“They could have lied,” Erica insisted as the fear began to settle in. She could face serious jail time, and her innocence could never be proven. Who was going to believe the noses of a few shifters when they weren’t supposed to even exist?
Dominic shook his head. “It’s damn near impossible to lie to one of us. There are too many biological tells that give them away.”
Cole’s voice dropped an octave. “We’re still looking for who could have done this to you. We have a good idea that this leads back to Wyatt somehow.”
“Wyatt?” A sudden coolness hit her core as she remembered everything he had said the previous day before she ever knew anything about shifters.
Dominic let out a sigh. “He’s been causing trouble since he and his pack came to town.”
Cole added, “A shifter from his pack disappeared from our custody. He’s the one who attacked Kimberly last night. We still don’t know how he got out.”
Erica shook her head. “But why would Wyatt be behind putting drugs in my house?”
“Nathan’s got illegal drug trafficking on his record,” Cole replied. “He might have wanted a place to stash whatever load he had on hand so he wouldn’t get caught once we found a warrant to search his place.”
“And Wyatt might want to get to me through you, which is completely possible,” Dominic continued.
“Then it would make sense that your house would be a target to get rid of the evidence and get at Dominic.”
Erica felt like she was five steps behind and closed her eyes to the insanity. “What are you talking about? Getting to Dominic through me?”
“That’s what we need to look into.” Cole cast a look at his Prime Alpha, as if to ask if he were ready to do just that.
He seemed more than ready. In fact, nearly bursting at the seams to get a chance to track down the guy who was trying to get his mate arrested.
“Cole’s going to take you to his place until this blows over, but I promise you won’t be there long.
We’re going to prove your innocence, even if I have to rip a confession out of Wyatt myself. ”
The idea of going anywhere with Cole, whether to his place or the jailhouse, made Erica hesitate. It was too soon, and her heart hadn’t made up its mind what it would feel toward her father after all she had found out. It hadn’t even been twenty-four hours.
“Why would Wyatt want to get at you? I don’t understand.”
“It’s a long story, and I’ll tell it on the way.”
Erica jumped away to avoid Dominic’s grasp. “I’m not going anywhere with him!” Erica wished now, of all times, that she did have some shifter blood in her. Maybe then she could make her eyes go gold or use some of that dominance Dominic talked about, and they would take her more seriously.
The fire in her eyes must have convinced both men that she was not likely to go quietly. If Cole was hurt by her outburst, he didn’t show it. Dominic approached her as if she were a skittish colt, liable to dart off into the night at any sudden move.
He spoke slowly and firmly. “I can’t take you with me to look for Wyatt. It’s too dangerous and you can’t stay here alone. Cole’s house is the safest place for you right now.”
Her father added, “And I won’t be there. Ronan will be looking after you while I join the search.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Who’s Ronan again?”
“He’s Cole’s beta and deputy. He can be trusted. I wouldn’t leave you with him if I didn’t think he could keep you safe.”
He was right, as much as she hated it. There wasn’t much she could do to help the search, and she’d probably just get in the way, but she couldn’t simply sit around and wait for everything to work itself out.
Not only that, but she didn’t want to be in a house alone with a strange man she had never met before.
Their confidence in Ronan did little to put her at ease.
Erica turned to Dominic, whose eyes held a mix of apology and fury. “I’m going to get Hank,” he said. “We’re going to track down Wyatt and Nathan and get to the bottom of this. Everything will be right by morning.”
Either he didn’t care that Cole stood by them or he simply got carried away, but Dominic took her about the waist and kissed her on the lips in front of her father.
She knew why he did it. As soon as they touched, all the fight drained out of her.
She was still furious, still confused, and a little afraid, but Dominic was on her side. Thankfully, so was Cole.
The more she thought about it, the more things seemed to click into place.
Wyatt must have sensed the thing she and Dominic shared.
His photo shoot was after the mating bond had formed.
So, her suspicions were right, that Wyatt had told her about werewolves just to mess with her.
Did he not think she already knew what Dominic was? Or was that a test?
If it was, then Wyatt intended to plant seeds of doubt, as well as to throw her off balance.
After all, he’d asked her out when the mating bond was already there.
Maybe Wyatt wanted to trap her in something or rile up Dominic to do something stupid.
Asking her out clearly hadn’t worked, and there was no way she was going to stir the pot by mentioning it now.
This must have been his plan B. But why?
How did this morning’s fight fit into his scheme?
She still had so much to understand about wolf-shifter dynamics, but she could puzzle out enough.
Wyatt wanted to get at Dominic because he … what? Was jealous? Resentful? Threatened by Dominic? Was this about her or was it something deeper and bigger than she could understand?
Whatever the shifter lawyer had against her and Dominic, or whatever shifter pack conflict this stemmed from, it wasn’t going to last long.
The Prime Alpha was going to make sure of that.
So when he handed her off to Cole, she went peacefully, but constantly glanced back over her shoulder as Dominic pulled out his phone to start making calls.
Just when things were getting good between them again, something had to go and spoil it.
Erica had said those three words that she never thought she would utter to a man in her life, and they’d been about to make love by campfire light.
What could have been more romantic or more sensual and exhilarating than celebrating that momentous breakthrough?
She should have thrown that radio across the clearing.
Maybe then they could have had one more night before everything went to hell again.
*
“You need to simmer down before we go in there,” Hank told Dominic from the driver’s seat.
Dominic hadn’t even realized that he had let off a slow, steady leakage of dominance for the last several blocks.
His eyes, too, burned a bright gold that couldn’t be willed away.
He had put on a show for Erica and tried to act like everything would be fine, like this sort of thing happened every day.
It didn’t. This kind of criminal act was far out of the norm for Tolstone or for any pack that took refuge there.