Chapter 24
”Ihave no idea what he could want with a human woman or her shifter child,” the wolf shifter in front of Ben said.
Ben sat back in the diner booth. Marlana had arranged this meeting with the Saltwood pack’s alpha, but so far it wasn”t telling Ben anything. Kyle, the alpha, spoke so slowly and carefully, it made Ben want to grab him by the collar and yell at him to speed the fuck up.
Kyle took another sip of his coffee. He had a strong, square face and dark gray hair. His green eyes seemed to see too much, and he carried an overpowering scent of cedar. In a slow, off-handed way, he said, ”You seem personally invested in this. Do the mother and child belong to you?”
Ben shook his head. ”No.”
He wished they did. He wanted them to.
”I don”t know what to tell you. Wish I could be of more help,” Kyle said.
Ben refused to leave this meeting without anything of value. He didn”t want to see Gracie and Fraze’s disgust when he came back empty-handed. Even worse, he hated the thought of another day going by with McKenzie and Delilah as possible targets.
”What”s he like, anyway?” Ben asked.
“Damien?”
“Yes,” Ben said through clenched teeth.
Kyle sighed and seemed to think over his words. ”To tell the truth, I don”t really know. Damien was a loner before he was a rogue. He seemed to enjoy the pack’s protection, though. Desperate to stay in the territory, even after I kicked him out.”
“Why’d you kick him out?” Ben asked.
“He wasn’t a team player, not pack material. He wouldn’t attend the meetings or come with us on the pack runs. Every time I called him in to talk about it, he’d say he’d be there, and then he wouldn’t show. Also, he showed weakness. I have no use for weakness.”
“You never figured out his deal?” Ben asked.
Kyle shook his head. “Odd man.”
On the table next to his plate, Ben”s phone buzzed with the text. He glanced at the screen, then scrambled to pick it up and read it more closely.
Delilah: Someone broke into my car just now. I had to call the police.
”I gotta run,” Ben said to Kyle. He pulled a twenty from his wallet and dropped it on the table. ”Your man Damien is at it again.”
”He”s not my man anymore,” Kyle said.
Ben gave Kyle a hard look. ”I get the feeling there”s something you”re not telling me.”
”Funny,” Kyle said without a trace of humor, ”I get the same feeling from you. Why don’t you tell me more about this human woman and what she has?”
”You stay away from her,” Ben growled.
Kyle sat back in his seat, a smirk playing on his face. ”And this is more personal than you”d like to admit.”
Ben hurried out of the diner and got in his truck. While he sped back toward Belnedge, he called Marlana on the car phone. After telling her about Delilah’s car being broken into, he added, ”The Saltwood alpha is hiding something.”
Marlana”s voice came from his speakers. ”Any idea what?”
”No.” Dammit. He needed answers. The jackass rogue had followed Delilah to her work? No fucking way, he wouldn”t allow it.
”Check on the mother. See if anything is missing from her car,” Marlana said.
It was a good thing his alpha”s orders coincided with what he was already doing, because Ben didn”t think he would be able to obey her otherwise. Right now, all he wanted to do was see Delilah to make sure she and McKenzie were okay. He needed to see them, feel them. Nothing could stop the impulse that had him racing toward her.
When he reached Tykes Palace, the uniforms were already leaving. Delilah was standing in the open door, McKenzie strapped to her chest as she waved the officers away. Ben hopped out of his truck and was at Delilah”s side in five long strides. He didn”t have words at first, just pulled her against him, careful not to squish McKenzie. He lowered his nose to McKenzie”s sweet little head and inhaled, taking in her scent. She was safe, and so was Delilah, who smelled just as sweet.
”Ah,” a feminine voice said from behind them. ”You must be Ben.”
All Ben wanted to do was crowd McKenzie and Delilah into his truck and drive away with them, keep them safe at his house. But he forced himself to turn and smile at the pleasant lady standing behind them. ”Yes, and you must be Janine. Pleased to meet you.”
Janine beamed at him. ”You obviously want to make sure your family is okay,” she said. ”So take as long as you need to talk, and Delilah, come back in when you”re ready.”
“Thanks,” Delilah said, smiling at Janine.
The door closed as Delilah stepped outside with Ben. Her face was pale, her brown eyes wary, but she was unhurt. Ben resisted the urge to run his hands up and down her arms and legs, frisking her for injury. Even though she was strong, she was still human and fragile.
”Come here,” she said. “I want to show you something.”
Ben followed her over to her Nissan. It was only then that he realized he hadn”t corrected Janine when she had called Delilah and McKenzie his family. And then his heart gave an extra large leap when he realized that Delilah hadn”t corrected her, either.
”He had time to get into the trunk before the cops came,” Delilah said. ”I know what he took. I know what he was after.”
Ben watched as she popped the trunk and revealed the box in the back. It lay on its side, the contents spilled in a heap surrounding it.
”I was trying to sell him some things, that first time we saw each other. Remember that? You helped me with this box.”
Ben nodded, staring at the items in the trunk. Old jewelry, a baseball cap, CDs, a paperweight, and more.
”But there was one thing in this box that I didn”t want to sell him,” Delilah said. ”I had forgotten about it for years. It was one of the few things my grandfather gave me. I was tempted to sell it anyway, and if I”d been a little more desperate, I might have done it. He tried to offer me extra cash, and when that didn”t work, I’m pretty sure he tried to hide it among the things he bought.”
”So he tried to steal it even then?” Ben asked.
She nodded. ”I forgot all about it, honestly, after getting a new job, and then meeting you and finding out about...about Chase. Then my house was broken into, and this box and that pawn shop were the furthest things from my mind. I”m sorry.”
He reached out and ran his finger over the edge of the box, thinking. ”Don’t be sorry—how could you have known? Now, tell me about this knife.”
”It”s about six inches long.” She held her hands out. ”Maybe more like eight. The handle looks like ivory, although Granddad was always telling me it was dragon tooth.” She laughed, her cheeks turning pink. ”I believed him until I got old enough to know better.”
Ben wasn”t sure if now was the right time to tell her that dragons used to exist. Seemed like she’d been surprised enough over the past week.
He took a closer look at Delilah”s car. They were desperate for clues. He, Gracie, and Fraze had been tailing this guy for over a week, and they hadn”t been able to find out where he was sleeping. Sure, he had a shitty little cabin in the woods, but he wasn”t staying there. Ben inhaled. He could pick up the shifter’s scent, and something else. What was it? He sniffed again, squatting so he could get closer to the trunk. There was a smudge of white dust near the rear license plate.
”Can you stand behind me, Delilah?” he asked. “Janine”s gonna think it”s weird if she sees me smelling your car.”
Delilah rearranged herself slightly so she stood between Ben and the window. ”Well, I think it”s weird you”re smelling my car.”
Ben pressed his nose as close as possible to the white dust. He recognized it—it smelled like rain, with less of an earthy scent to it, more stone. That was it—he’d found it.
”He”s been staying at the quarry.” Ben smiled at Delilah and stood up quickly. “I”m going after him.”
”Ben, don”t.” Delilah”s eyes were wide and pleading. ”It”s not worth it, just, just let him have it.”
He shook his head and started toward his truck. ”I can”t let this go.”
Even if he wanted to, Marlana sure as hell wasn”t going to let some rogue come to her territory and steal things from people close to the pride.
He looked over his shoulder. Delilah was scowling after him.
”I”ll be back to pick up you and McKenzie,” he said. ”You can”t drive this car with a broken window and glass all over your seat.”
She opened her mouth like she might protest, then she closed it and nodded.
He stopped mid-stride and turned around to face her. He wanted to gather her and the baby in his arms, breathe them in, reassure Delilah that everything would be fine. But as much as he wanted them, they didn’t belong to him. Not yet. He’d ask her later, talk about what last night had meant.
To him, it had meant the world.
Giving her a small wave that felt so insubstantial he wanted to kick his own ass for being a dick, he turned back around and got into his truck.
As he sped toward the quarry, he called Marlana.
”He was after a knife?” Marlana”s voice was filled with incredulity.
”Yeah. Six to eight inches long, a bone handle, or possibly ivory. Her grandfather told her the handle was made from dragon tooth.”
Marlana gasped. ”I have to make a call. You need to get that knife back.”
”I”m already on it,” Ben said.
”I’ll also send reinforcements, but—”
”Don”t bother. They won”t reach the quarry in time,” Ben said. ”Besides, I can take this rogue on my own.”
In fact, he looked forward to it. He needed to teach this guy that messing with Delilah would only earn him a world of hurt.
”If you”re sure,” Marlana said.
”I”m sure.”
”Then I trust your judgment, Ben.” Marlana hung up.
She couldn”t know what it meant that she trusted him, but to a good-for-nothing Guardian, the alpha’s trust meant a lot.
He took a winding road up the side of Corona Mountain. After coming around one hairpin turn, he braked suddenly. If he hadn”t been looking for it, he would’ve missed the blue pickup truck parked twenty yards or so off the shoulder, nearly hidden by the trees. He pulled in behind it, blocking its exit.
Ben got out of his truck and scented the air. The rogue wasn”t close—he had maybe a forty-minute lead on Ben. Otherwise, the forest was empty. Ben hid his truck key under the floor mat, then yanked off his clothes and shifted.
His bones stretched, condensed, reformed along with his muscles. Fur sprouted all over his skin, a tawny brown. Now a mountain lion, he looked around the forest with more interest and more attention to detail. He took off on swift, silent feet in the direction of the quarry.
It didn”t take him long to get there. When he reached it, the scent of the rogue shifter was everywhere. Ben had definitely come to the right place.
And now, he wasn”t alone.
A low growling reached his ears and he directed his attention toward one side of the quarry. The place had been cut out of the mountainside decades ago, humans tearing apart the landscape in their quest for some special rock or other. Ben wondered if they missed the trees like he did.
The wolf was skulking closer to him, his gray eyes dark with malice. He must”ve stashed Delilah”s knife somewhere because he couldn”t hold it as a wolf. Ben would need to keep him alive long enough to find out where it was. Hopefully it wouldn”t come to a fight to the death, but then again, this man had messed with Delilah. It would be hard for Ben to hold back the rage of his lion.
Without warning, the wolf jumped at him. Ben dodged and the wolf twisted in mid-air, redirecting its fall to land closer to Ben. Ben lunged to the side, teeth bared, tail twitching. So the rogue didn”t want to make friends. Too damn bad. Quick as lightning, Ben reached out and slashed at the wolf’s hind leg. Crimson drops spilled to the dusty ground.
The wolf let out a yelp of surprise mingled with fury, then pressed forward. Ben feinted to one side. The wolf fell for the ruse and lunged with all its weight. Ben was able to come around. He locked his jaws around the wolf”s neck.
The wolf thrashed, but every movement only caused Ben”s fangs to sink tighter and tighter into his neck. If the wolf didn”t stop soon, he”d puncture an artery and bleed out. Ben didn”t really want that to happen, but he held fast. Between the two of them, he was in charge. This rogue had no power here, no territory.
After a few more moments of thrashing, the wolf stilled. His heartbeat remained strong, so Ben wasn”t worried about him.
A shimmering white light enveloped the wolf. He was shifting back to his human form—a sign of concession.
Ben stepped back and waited.
Seconds later, the rogue sat before him as a human, head bowed. ”You want the knife. You can have it.”
Ben heard only truth in the man”s words, but he wasn”t a fool. He sat there and waited.
The man stood up and walked, naked, to a man-made cave at the side of the quarry. Ben followed at a distance, his four paws kicking up dust as he went. He watched as the man picked up a pile of clothes and drew something from it.
Delilah”s knife.
He set it on the ground and walked to the edge of the quarry.
Ben looked at him, and then shifted into his human form. He picked up the knife and stood. ”Damien, right?”
The man yanked on his pants, wincing as they came over the wound in his leg. “Yeah.”
“Why do you want this knife, anyway?”
Damen didn’t answer.
Ben thought of making him answer, but he’d beaten the poor asshole enough already. It was enough to get rid of him for good. “Stay out of the Corona territory, and leave Maxon.”
Gray eyes lowered in defeat, the man nodded. ”Done.”
”I mean it. Be gone in twenty-four hours. If you come back, our alpha will send every single fucking Guardian in the pride after you.”
”I said, it”s done.”
While the man limped away, Ben looked down at the knife in his hands. It didn”t seem remarkable to him. He sniffed the handle. It was some kind of bone, but he couldn”t tell what. He wouldn’t know what a dragon smelled like unless one sprouted out of extinction and stood in front of him.
He followed the rogue away from the quarry at a distance. It took longer to walk back to the trucks as humans than it had taken Ben to reach the quarry as a lion. His muscles ached from the fight, but he’d be fine in a couple of hours.
They reached their trucks and Ben kept an eye on Damien while he pulled on his clothes.
He backed his truck out of the way so the rogue could drive out to the road, and then Ben followed him to the edge of Belnedge. The man kept going toward Maxon.
He called Marlana on the car phone. “It’s done, he’s out of our territory, and he’ll leave Maxon within twenty-four hours.”
“Good work. I spoke with Delilah. That knife could be extremely valuable to certain collectors. Take care of it.”
“Will do.”
The knife lay in the passenger seat as he drove back to Tykes Palace in Belnedge. It didn’t look like anything special, but what did he know?
He pulled into the parking lot of the daycare. The front door swung open. Delilah stood there, McKenzie in her car seat carrier, the diaper bag slung over Delilah”s shoulder. Ben climbed out of his truck and got to work moving McKenzie”s car seat base into the back of his truck. He really should think about trading his truck in for something safer for babies. He wondered what he would get. Maybe an SUV, something that would still allow him to drive over the mountain roads.
”So, you”re okay then,” Delilah said.
”I barely got a scratch,” he said. The whole thing had been easier than he’d expected.
”Marlana called me and asked me more about the knife,” Delilah said. ”She said if it’s what my grandfather said it was, it’s really special in the shifter world. And she”s already got somebody coming to pick up my car to fix the window.”
”Excellent,” Ben said.
They fit McKenzie into the back seat and Delilah came around to get in the passenger side. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the knife resting there.
Once they were buckled in and driving toward Ben”s place, Delilah said, ”She said it’s probably dragon tooth.”
”What else did she say?” Ben asked.
McKenzie fussed in the back, and Delilah reached behind the seat to pat her.
”You”re not surprised about the dragon thing?” Delilah asked over McKenzie’s fussing.
Ben shrugged. ”If the knife is old enough, or made with old enough things, just about anything is possible.”
McKenzie went quiet. Ben was grateful.
Delilah nodded and looked out the window. ”Marlana also said it”s safe for me to move back to my place now.”
Ben wanted to tell her not to. He wanted to tell her that the danger was still very real and very present and that the only safe place for her would be his house. But he couldn”t lie to her. ”I guess if she says it”s safe, it”s safe.”
”Yeah. Well, I still need to wait for my car,” she said.
There was that, at least. Ben hoped it would take forever before the car was ready.
Back at his house, Ben made dinner. McKenzie sat up in her highchair and watched while Ben and Delilah ate together. Conversation was strained and tension filled the room. Ben couldn”t smell what the emotion was, but he didn”t like it. It had a heavy, gray feeling to it. He wondered what he had done to upset Delilah.
“I have a meeting with Marlana tomorrow morning,” Ben said. “Have to debrief.”
Delilah nodded absently as she moved her food around on the plate with her fork.
“Do you have plans tomorrow?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I’ll fold some laundry, do some cleaning.”
“I’ll watch McKenzie for a while if you want to go out and enjoy your Saturday.”
“Yeah, that’d be nice.”
He wanted to walk over, tilt her chin up so she’d look at him, and demand to know whether something was bothering her. But he was trying to curb his bossy tendencies, so he gripped his fork tighter and finished dinner without speaking.
When Delilah didn”t come out of her room after putting McKenzie to bed, he knew something was wrong. He would have to talk to her about it in the morning because he knew, with a sick, aching sense in his gut, that she would not be visiting his bedroom tonight.