Secret of the Wolf(6)

He blew out a breath and tracked bloody footprints across the pavement, stopping next to a torn denim jacket lying a few feet away from the entrance to the now-closed grocery store. "This belong to the vic?" he asked her.

"I guess so." She glanced around. "The crime scene specialists are running late on this one."

Her sultry voice wrapped around him, tightening his gut and other parts that had no business getting tight on the job. He cleared his throat. "The CSS unit doesn't have the same sense of urgency for nonfatal incidents." He hunkered down and looked over the torn and stained jacket, careful not to disturb it. Criminalists would need to photograph it before anyone could move it. "From what I can see, there are holes in the shoulder area." He tilted his head to look closer. Parts of the jacket were shredded, he guessed from the werewolf's claws, but several holes had been punctured in the jacket as well. "More than two, which would support the supposition that it was the werewolf who bit the guy, not the vamp."

"Yes, well, until we get test results from the hospital, that part's still up for grabs as far as I'm concerned." Disgust dried Tocke6ri's tones. "I still wouldn't put it past that bloodsucker to have been the one to bite the vic. You know, just a slight slip of the fang for a quick snack."

Dante studied the ground around the jacket, noting the splashes of blood, then rose to his feet. "You got somethin' against vamps?" He shot a glance at her from the corner of his eye.

"Not at all." She raised her shoulders in a shrug. "Hey, some of my best friends are vampires. I just didn't like the looks of the guy Knox was talking to." She blew out a sigh hard enough to ruffle her bangs. "Though it probably was Barry who bit our vic. Poor guy."

"You talkin' about the vic or Barry?" Dante grinned, just a little, at the disgruntled look that crossed her face.

"Both, I suppose." She shoved her fingers into the back pockets of her jeans, an action that thrust out her breasts. She seemed completely unaware of her posture.

Dante was more conscious of it than he should have been.

"At some point I should head over to the council office to put in a good word or two … or three or four or five, for Barry." Defensiveness lit her gaze. "He's not a bad guy, you know."

Where'd that come from? He held up one hand in appeasement. "I didn't say he was."

Her sensual lips curved down. "Yeah, well, he attacked a human. I'd think in your book that'd make him a bad guy." Her arch look challenged him.

"In my book?"

She nodded. "In that how-to-be-a-by-the-book-detective handbook of yours."

"Me? A by-the-book guy?" His brows shot up. "I believe you have me confused with someone else. Maybe Tobias Caine?"

"When it comes to the rules, sure, you don't always follow 'em. But when it comes to bad guys, you're pretty much black and white on who's bad and who's not." Keeping her hands in her back pockets, she wiggled her elbows back and forth and sent him a look that was as dry as autumn leaves. "And, believe me, no one could confuse you for Tobias."

He wasn't sure whether he should be insulted or not. "And why would that be?"

She grinned. Her expression softened with sensuality. "While you're both tall, dark, and handsome," she nearly purred as she stroked one slender finger down the middle of his chest, "Tobias has a bigger bite behind his bark."

"Can't argue with that." Dante eased back a step, putting himself out of her reach. Even that light, teasing touch fired his blood. He came into contact with his fair share of shapeshifters on the job, and one thing he'd noticed was that they all seemed to possess this earthy carnality that was impossible to ignore. Tori called to him on such a primal level it was all he could do to keep his distance. But she deserved respect from him even if all he wanted to do was take her with the raw fury of an animal.

He, at least, didn't go furry once a month. He was human. He had to remain true to himself, or what would he be left with?

He heard a couple of car doors slam and turned to see one of the crime scene vans parked nearby. "CSSU's here."

"'Bout time," Tori muttered, sounding a little cranky. Even so, her voice still held those dulcet tones that made everything male within him sit up and take notice.

Dante started toward the van, glancing around the gathered crowd out of habit. One man in particular caught his eye and Dante stopped, trying to get a better look.

Tori plowed into him, giving a little grunt of surprise, and he turned to grab her. He wrapped his fingers around her upper arms to steady her, and the feel of the firm muscles beneath his fingers-her strength wrapped in softness-scattered his thoughts.

"You need to give a gal some warning." She looked up at him, her gaze grass green in the sunlight. Her lips parted and those incredible eyes fixed on his mouth.

Before he could stop himself, Dante found his hand curled around her jaw, his thumb stroking over that provocative bottom lip. "Sorry," he rasped through a throat tight with desire. His chest constricted, his blood fired as need pulsed through him with every beat of his heart. "I thought I saw … " He dropped his hand and looked toward the crowd again. The man he'd thought he'd seen-Natchook, Tobias Caine's nemesis and the son of a bitch who was the reason his friend Nix was now a vampire-was gone.

"Thought you saw … " Tori prompted, her voice as husky as his had been.

"The bastard who attacked Nix and did his best to kill me and Tobias while he was at it."

She glanced around the scene. "Do you think he'd still be hanging around Scottsdale after what happened to Nix?"

Dante clenched his jaw. "Who knows? He's a crazy son of a bitch."

Again those luscious lips tightened before she murmured, "You're probably right, but still, I'd hardly think he'd take the chance of getting caught by staying in town."

Dante hooked his thumbs over his belt and rocked back on his heels. "Well, I know I'll feel a lot safer once he's behind bars."

"But he won't be behind bars, will he?" As she stared up at him, her eyes darkened. "Preternatural law is clear and concise on this matter. He drained Nix, knowing Tobias would turn her in order to save her. In doing so, the attacker has forfeited his life."

"Even though Tobias was the one who actually made Nix a vampire?" Dante almost added something along the lines of "and he killed other prets" but remembered at the last second that Tori didn't know everything that transpired before that fateful day. She wasn't aware that Tobias had taken the rift device from the vampire who'd attacked Nix.

"Tobias carries no blame in this. He did what he had to in order to save her life." Her lips tightened a moment. "The responsibility lies with the vampire who attacked her."

For a second Dante mused about how much like the Old West the laws of the other dimension seemed, at least those he'd heard about. An eye for an eye. Deal fairly with other men and you'd have no worries. But cross someone and you'd have more trouble than you could safely navigate.

He looked at Tori. One of the things he liked so much about her was her strength of character. Her confidence. She was full steam ahead, no holds barred. He knew she'd be the same way in bed.

His cock jerked. Damn it. He had to get his mind off of sex and on the job. "I think I'm going to head back to the station and file my report."

"Okay." Tori took her hands out of her pockets. "I should probably head on over to the council and make my own report." A smile tipped up her lips. "I'll see you later."

He watched her leave, her hips swinging with long strides that really shouldn't look as feminine as they did, but there it was. Tori was a compilation of contradictions, soft yet strong, feminine yet brutally wild.

Dante walked over to his heavy-duty pickup and climbed behind the wheel. As he started up the diesel engine, he noticed the fuel gauge hovered near the empty indicator. Damn. While he needed this truck to haul his horse trailer, he really should drive something else for work. And it wasn't as if the department offered unmarked vehicles for their Special Case detectives. The city felt it was the council's place to provide cars and the council had decided it wasn't, since the Special Case squad was made up of human detectives.

Mea"1eth="1emntime, said human detectives were left to their own devices. He could feed the citizenry of a small country with what he paid in gas every week. Mileage reimbursement from the department helped, but that still allowed him to recoup only half of his fuel expenditures.

Maybe it was time to buy that sweet little ride he'd had his eye on. He really couldn't afford it, but he couldn't afford to keep driving his truck, either. The car he was looking at needed some TLC, but once he fixed what needed fixing, put a modified engine in it so he'd get decent gas mileage, and got a new coat of paint on it, that '69 Charger would be ready to go.

He eyed Tori's small vehicle as she pulled away from the scene. He sure as hell wasn't going to drive a little matchbox car like she did. He wanted something with room, preferably a backseat.

Of course, thinking of Tori and a backseat led to thoughts of Tori in his backseat and sent his libido into overdrive. His randy cock flexed, aching for relief. "Down, boy," he muttered, and pulled out of the lot. By the time he reached the Downtown District's station, an inner recitation of the department's ten-codes had alleviated his problem.