Secret of the Wolf(41)

Her brother had attacked her lover. Why would he do that? He'd seemed to come to terms with her relationship, so why attack Dante? And why now?

She took Dante's hands in hers and lifted them, turning them over and seeing a raw scrape on the back of his left hand. "You'll need to get checked out," she murmured, looking at small bits of dirt and asphalt in the wound. "Dante … " She stared into his eyes, unsure of how to tell him her brother was his attacker.

He squeezed her fingers. "I'm all right, honey." Leaning down, he placed a soft kiss on her lips, a caress that only made her want more. "I'm sorry about this. I know you needed to talk."

He'd nearly been mauled by her brother and he was apologizing? She couldn't stand it. "Dante, I have to tell you … "

A council crime scene van pulled into the parking lot along with two police cars and an unmarked unit. The plainclothes detective got out of the vehicle and leaned his arm on the upper edge of the door. "Hey, MacMillan, how'd you get here so fast?"

"He's the victim, man." A guy standing at the end of the row of cars spoke up.

The detective's brows rose. "Is that a fact?" He looked at Dante. "You gonna start goin' furry on us?"

"No." Dante scowled.

Tori didn't blame him. His co-worker looked like he was about to crack up laughing. It wouldn't be so funny if it had been his ass under the snapping jaws of a werewolf. And it was entirely possible he could turn. Though she'd be surprised if Rand had wanted to turn Dante into a werewolf. No, she was pretty sure he meant to kill him.

The uniformed officers joined the detective, standing with hands on their guns like they expected Dante to shift into a werewolf at any minute.

"I'm not gonna go furry," Dante said.

"Good … that's good." The detective looked at the uniformed officers. "Call for an ambulance and collect witness statements, starting with those two." He motioned to the two men at the end of the row.

The officers moved off. The detective waved toward the crime scene technicians. "It's all yours, boys."

Dante sighed and gingerly rotated his shoulder, stopping with a wince. "It looks like the rogue has moved his act to our quadrant. This is his second attack."

She was all too aware of that, and the fact that her brother had gone from turning people to killing them … eating them. What the hell had gone wrong? She'd have to tell the council that he'd attacked Dante. That would point them toward him as the rogue as well, but it couldn't be helped. She'd given him the benefit of the doubt, and that was going to come back and bite her in the ass. "It could have been another werewolf," she offered somewhat lamely.

He shot her a look full of disbelief. "Now that'd be a coincidence, wouldn't it? We have two rogue werewolves?"

He sounded like Ash. She drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "No, halcoiyou're right, of course. Dante-"

"Excuse me." One of the criminalists stopped beside Dante. "Detective MacMillan, how many times did you discharge your weapon?"

"Three times."

The tech nodded. "That's how many shell casings I've got." He looked around the scene. "The werewolf came at you from where?"

Dante pointed to his left. "I'm not sure which set of cars it came between. I just know that when I turned it was already airborne."

"All right. We'll figure it out." His face creased in a smile. "The good news about this is that the bastard didn't have a chance to do his usual cleanup." He looked at Tori. "We've got 'im."

Oh, God. Oh, God!

"All right, I think Detective Andrews wants your statement." The criminalist moved back toward the area where the shell casings were and began taking pictures.

"Tori, if you don't want to stick around, you don't have to." Dante cupped her cheek. "This might take a while."

"No, I want to." She walked with him to the detective.

As soon as they reached him, Dante's phone rang. He pulled it out and looked at the display. "It's Lily," he said and answered it. "Lily? What's up?"

Whatever she said caused him to stiffen, his face going hard and determined. "Lock yourself in the bedroom. I'll be there in ten minutes." He looked at Detective Andrews. "Call for backup and send them to my house. Someone's trying to break in, and my sister's home alone."
                       
       
           



       Chapter Eighteen



Dante headed toward his truck, Tori right beside him. The drive to his house was accomplished in tense silence, mostly because of his erratic driving. He cut corners, jumped over the curbs, and ran red lights. He had his lights flashing and the siren wailing, which helped move traffic out of the way. He was trying to be so strong yet she knew he was in pain when she saw him wince, particularly anytime he lifted his right shoulder. She bit her tongue, trying to curb her desire to tell him he needed to be seen by a doctor, because she knew what his answer would be. What her answer would be. Not until they knew Lily was safe.

With his mind on his sister, Tori didn't think now was the time to tell him that her brother was the one who'd attacked him. She'd wait until they checked on Lily and Dante had his wound seen to, then she'd confess.

And probably lose him. That thought drove her heart to her throat, but he deserved to hear the truth from her before finding out from someone else. As soon as they safeguarded Lily, Tori would go to council headquarters and make her report. If she was lucky she'd only lose her job. She hadn't committed a fatal mistake, but she could very well be spending some time locked in silver. Now she was glad Barry hadn't taken her up on her offer, since she might be right where he was soon.

Dante roared the truck up his driveway and brought it to an abrupt stop in front of the house. He slammed it into park before it had completely stopped, making the heavy vehicle shudder back and forth. Leaving the keys in the ignition, he was out of the thing while it still rocked.

Tori followed him. She could hear sirens in the distance and knew that backup was close, but … Damn. The front door was ajar. They couldn't wait.

She went inside with Dante, who'd drawn his weapon. She drew in a breath and filtered through the various aromas. The strongest one was that of her brother. His scent was prevalent because his blood was on the scene-she could detect that bittersweet coppery tinge in the air.

Oh. Dear. God. What the hell had he done?

As they made their way toward the bedrooms, Tori kept an ear out for any unusual sounds, but the only thing she heard from inside were halting moans coming from the bedroom on the right. The door was slightly ajar. "Dante," she whispered. When he looked at her, she tipped her chin toward the room.

His jaw firmed, he eased the door open with his foot and entered. After a few seconds, he holstered his Glock and knelt beside his sister. "Hey, there," he whispered, stroking her hair away from the bruises covering her face. Her left eye was swollen shut and her bottom lip was split.

Tori remained in the doorway. Rand's scent was overwhelming, telling her that this was where the attack took place. "Give me your phone," she said quietly. "I left mine in my car." When he handed her his cell, she dialed 911 and requested an ambulance. After finishing the call, she stayed put so she wouldn't disturb the scene. She was going to catch hell as it was when it became known that her brother was the one responsible for the attacks. She didn't want to also be accused of contaminating a crime scene, either deliberately or through thoughtless action.

And what about Dante? She wanted to comfort him while he in turn cared for his sister. But with guilt weighing her down, she just … couldn't.

She looked at Lily, lying still on the floor, struggling to stay conscious. Dante continued to talk to her, trying to keep her focused on him. Blood streaked her bare legs, and Tori could see at least two bite marks high on the outside of Lily's upper-right thigh. Another bite had left a ragged, bloody wound on her left shoulder. Her white tank top was splotched with red, and the amount of blood at her midsection made Tori think Rand had also bitten her stomach. Had he been trying to kill her, torturing her before he made the fatal bite at her throat? Or had she and Dante interrupted him before he could start … eating?

Dante put his fingers on Lily's wrist. "Her pulse is steady, thank God."

"That's good." Tori took a couple of steps toward the bed and grabbed the comforter. "Here, put this over her. She's going into shock."

He spread the cover over his sister. "She's not gonna be happy there's blood all over her bedspread. It'll be ruined."

"Small price to pay." Tori clenched her fists as her anger at her brother grew. How dare he come to Lily's home, bringing all this viciousness with him? Not only had he ruined complete strangers' lives and probably cost Tori her job, but he'd attacked an innocent like Dante's sister. Lily's life would never be the same.

When Tori told him it was her brother behind the attacks, Dante would be furious, and rightly so. Most likely he'd wish he'd never met her. Never went to bed with her.

"Tori." Dante pointed to his sister's vanity. "Look at her perfume and makeup."