Big Bad Wolf: Cougarville Book 4 Page 3

  “Reese said that?” Jase felt his cheeks heat. He had mentioned wishing that Lady Moon—the Shifter Goddess—

  would send the right female into his life, as she had sent one to Mathis and Keller and Reese, but he’d thought that conversation was private. Just guy talk down at the Cougar’s

  Den. He cleared his throat and straightened up. “Well right now, I don’t have time for a mate, Fiona. I have to solve this case first and catch this son-of-a-bitch before he kills again.”

  “Oh Jase, when Lady Moon is involved, we don’t get to choose the time we fall in love.” There was a twinkle in Fiona’s dark eyes that had made him somehow uneasy.

  “Uh, thanks,” he muttered. “But I meant what I said. I honestly wouldn’t have time to get romantically involved with anyone even if she ran right into my arms at this point.”

  “We’ll see,” was Fiona’s enigmatic response.

  Jase had thanked her and left but he was honestly much

  more interested in catching the elusive Skin-Walker, Mr. X,

  at this point than he was in trying to find a female to settle down with.

  It had been over a month since the last attack and the rest

  of the police department had started to relax, thinking that

  the rogue bear or mountain lion or whatever it was that had

  done the killings had simply wandered o . But Jase knew better. Mr. X was a serial killer and he had a taste for killing now—as well as a reason to kill, apparently. He didn’t believe for a minute that the bastard would stop until he got what he wanted.

  Where was he now? And when would he strike again?

  Jase pondered these questions as he patrolled the empty, deserted streets in the early pre-dawn hours of the morning.

  It was freezing—barely ten degrees outside—but at least there was no wind to make things worse. As a Shifter, he ran

  hot, so the biting chill didn’t bother him nearly as much as it would have a regular human. It was so cold and quiet the world seemed to hang in a state of suspended animation as

  he walked up and down, looking for something—anything—

  he might have missed.

  Suddenly sounds shattered the silence of the night.

  Frightened panting and the slap-slap of bare feet on the pavement behind him made Jase turn. Running down the

  road towards him was a woman wearing only a short, thin white nightgown. There was blood on her neck and a look of

  pure terror in her eyes.

  “Whoa…whoa!” Jase held out his arms to stop her and she

  ran right into them.

  “Please!” She looked up at him, her eyes wild with terror.

  “Please help me! He…he…” She began to sob.

  Jase was struck dumb—he didn’t usually have to deal

  with sobbing females. Instinctively, he put his arms around

  her and held her. She was shivering in the cold and no wonder—the nightgown she had on was so thin he could practically see through it.

  “All right, now. Everything is going to be all right,” he soothed. “Whoever hurt you, he won’t get near you again, I

  promise.”

  “You do?” She looked up at him, tears filling her big gray-green eyes and streaking down her cheeks. She looked

  somehow familiar but he couldn’t quite place her. Had he seen her around town? Maybe down at the station?

  “Of course I promi…” Jase began, then trailed o ,

  frowning. Could it be? Even in the dim light of the streetlamp the woman looked like someone he knew…or had known a

  long time ago. He looked at her uncertainly, peering down to get a better look at her pretty face.

  “Um…” He cleared his throat. “Mrs. Robinson? Is that

  you?”

  5

  N ikki looked uncertainly at the tall man—the very

  tall man—holding her comfortingly in his strong

  arms. He was so big— well over six foot six, she was certain—

  with a broad muscular chest and pale amber eyes that looked

  down into her own.

  Suddenly she knew him. It was the eyes that did it—she

  had only known one other man with eyes like that. Only back

  when she’d known him, he hadn’t been a man—not quite.

  “Jase?” she said hesitantly. “Jase Saunders? From my AP

  English class?”

  “That’s right.” He nodded. “You remember me?”

  “I do but you’re…di erent now. So tall…So big…”

  He shrugged self-deprecatingly.

  “I had a growth spurt in college.”

  “You certainly did,” Nikki whispered. He’d been

  seventeen and so hurt…so troubled but so promising, she remembered now. God, talk about a blast from the past! “It…

  it’s been a long time,” she managed to say.

  “Fifteen years.” He smiled charmingly, then his face grew

  serious. “What happened to you tonight? Are you all right?”

  He touched her neck gently and looked down at his fingers which came away red and bloody. “From the look of this, I’d

  say you’re not.”

  “I…I…” Nikki felt like she was stuck in some kind of surreal dream. The attack in the middle of the night…the strange, awful man who had turned into some kind of

  animal…and now running into a troubled student from her past in the middle of the road. Surely she was going to wake

  up any minute with a pounding headache and vow never to

  drink a whole bottle of wine again, right?

  But the biting cold of the night around her and the fact that Jase Saunders stayed right where he was and didn’t dissolve into morning sunlight pouring through her window,

  convinced her she was awake.

  “It’s okay, Mrs. Robinson,” Jase said, clearly mistaking her confusion for distrust. “I’m a detective now with the local PD. If you’re wondering what I’m doing here in the middle of the night, I was out here looking for something I

  missed on a case. Do you want to see my badge?”

  “Badge?” God, she sounded like an idiot! And who could

  have guessed that Jase—who had been barely an inch taller

  than her back when she taught him AP English—would turn

  into such a giant? “No,” she said. “No badge. I…I trust you,

  Jase. It’s just…tonight has been so awful I…I can hardly believe it.”

  “You can tell me,” he said gently…his voice deep and intense. He took her by the arms and leaned down, getting on her level. “What happened?”

  “I…” Suddenly the attack came rushing back to her and she had to fight to keep in a sob. “Someone…some thing got into my house and….and attacked me tonight. I…my dog, he…

  he helped me get away. I…” Oh God, Max! What if the huge,

  hairy beast-man thing had hurt him? “Please!” She grabbed

  at Jase’s jacket. “Please, you have to come back to my house!

  My dog Max might be hurt and he’s all I’ve got. That thing

  was huge.”

  His face grew grim. “Point me in the right direction.”

  “This way.” She tugged at his arm, leading him quickly down the freezing asphalt. There was sharp gravel on the road and she had an idea she was probably cutting the hell out of her feet but they were so cold and numb she barely noticed.

  They got to the front of her house, the door still swinging

  wide open. Nikki explained where her bedroom was and

  started to lead the way but Jase took her arm and pulled her

  back.

  “No way,” he said grimly. “You’re not going back in there

  —not until I clear it. He could still be there, Mrs. Robinson.”

  “But Max—”

  “I’ll take good care of your dog.” A grim little smile tugged the corner of his mouth, as though he was thinking of

  a private joke. “I’m, uh, good with animals. In the

  meantime, I want you to wait in my truck with the heat running. It’s freezing out here—you’re shivering.”

  “I…but I…” Nikki tried to argue but he wouldn’t hear it.

  “Come on.” He towed her down about half a block to

  where a nondescript black truck was parked. It looked normal on the outside but inside Nikki saw a gun rack with a

  police issue shotgun, a CB, and other police paraphernalia.

  So her old student really was a detective. How strange. She never would have guessed he’d end up on the right side of the law. For a while, back during his senior year, she’d been very much afraid he would end up on the wrong side of it.

  Jase started the engine of the big truck and put on the heater with one hand while he grabbed the CB with the other.

  “Dispatch, I need backup,” he said as he motioned for Nikki to get in and sit in the passenger side seat. She obeyed unwillingly, still worried about Max, as Jase spoke in police lingo, making sure that help was on the way. Then he opened

  his jacket and unholstered a large, black pistol that made Nikki—a confirmed pacifist—shudder. “Stay here,” he said,

  giving her a stern look. “I’ll be back after I check out your house.”

  “Jase…” She put a hand on his arm as he was about to shut the door.

  “Yes?” In the light of the streetlamp his amber eyes seemed almost to glow like two gold stones.

  “Be careful.” Nikki squeezed his muscular forearm for

  emphasis. “That thing is huge. And I don’t…don’t even know what it was.”

  “I’m going to find out. Stay put.”

  He shut the door and walke
d swiftly down the street, pistol drawn and ready. Nikki bit her lip as she watched him

  go. God, this got more and more surreal by the minute. What

  would he find in her house? Was the man-beast that had attacked her gone…or lying in wait for another victim?

  Jase had no idea what to expect, but he knew he had to focus

  on the matter at hand instead of thinking about the weird coincidence fate had dumped in his lap. Mrs. Robinson had been his senior year English teacher…not to mention the star

  of all his late-night fantasies for years afterwards. He couldn’t forget the way she’d walked among the desks, her long, waving hair swishing against the small of her back, her full hips rolling, her large, lush breasts…

  Stop it! he told himself savagely. This could be the break in the case you’ve been waiting for. Get your mind fucking right and stop thinking of old fantasies! You need to be present in the here and now if you’re going to do this!

  Feeling more focused, Jase approached the dark, empty

  doorway of her house. He ought to wait for backup, he knew,

  but she’d been so worried about her dog…

  Being a Shifter and having a second part—an animal part

  —himself, made Jase feel a special a nity for dogs. The Dire

  Wolf inside him was a close cousin to domestic canines and

  they always seemed to sense that and respond to him.

  Quietly, he entered the doorway, scanning in all

  directions. As a Shifter he had excellent night vision, so he could tell there was no one around—at least not in the front

  hallway or living room. Nikki had told him her bedroom was

  in the back of the house, on the ground floor, so he moved in that direction, making sure to test every floorboard first, so a creak of the old wood wouldn’t give him away.

  Already he knew that the Skin-Walker had been here. The

  sour stench that assaulted his nostrils was the same he’d smelled at every other crime scene. And there was another odor mixed with it—the ominous, coppery smell of blood.

  How much of it was Mrs. Robinson’s? And how much

  belonged to someone or something else?

  The bedroom door was wide open but he waited for a

  moment, crouched low in the doorway, before going in. His

  supernaturally keen eyesight and hearing told him the beast

  was gone but he still moved cautiously.

  With an elbow, Jase flipped on the light switch, flooding

  the darkened room with a harsh yellow glow from the

  bedside lamp, which was knocked on its side and had lost its

  shade. He was greeted to a grim sight.

  Blood spattered the pale blue bedspread, which was pulled

  half o the bed. The blood stains made purple splotches on

  the silky fabric. The pillows and mattress had been ripped and shredded, as though by long, cruel claws. Tufts of spotted hair were everywhere and all the items on the bureau

  across from the bed were knocked over and rolling on their

  sides, as though something big had bumped into it. There was even a spray of blood on the mirror over the bureau—a

  gaudy pattern of droplets that had leaked down in long trails, like something from a horror movie set.

  The window was wide open, the curtains blowing in the freezing night air, and there was blood on the sill.

  Apparently whatever—or whoever—had come in, had also

  left this way.

  A weak, whining sound caught his attention and he

  looked down at once. Lying on the floor, half buried under the stained and ripped bedspread, Jase spotted a long, bushy

  tail.Carefully, gun at the ready, he reached down and pulled

  the stained bedspread aside. But the sound hadn’t been made

  by the Skin-Walker. The elusive Mr. X was long gone, Jase’s

  instincts told him.

  Lying in the middle of the floor was a dog—a big one by

  canine standards—though it was nothing compared to his Wolf. It had thick fur like a Husky or maybe a Malamute and

  was plainly injured badly. Pale blue eyes rolled up to Jase and the dog managed a threatening growl—the sound of an

  animal in pain but still trying to defend its territory.

  Sinking to his knees beside it, Jase held out a hand.

  “Hey,” he said softly. “You must be Max. Your mistress is

  really worried about you.”

  The dog growled louder and tried to snap at him but when

  he moved, Jase saw that the grayish-white fur at his ru was

  bloody. Had the Skin-Walker gotten him by the throat? He was betting it had. One thing was clear, Max needed medical

  attention soon or he wouldn’t make it. But in order to get the dog to trust him, he had to make contact with him.

  Laying his hand gently—very gently—on the furry,

  heaving flank, he let his other side—his Wolf—come

  forward.

  You are hurt, Brother, the Wolf said, communicating in a way only it could with the injured dog. Your mistress fears for

  your life. We must get you help.

  Animals were mostly feelings, not thoughts, but Jase

  thought he could catch something coming from the big dog.

  Hurts… hurts so much…tried to save…Special female.

  Your mistress, the Wolf sent back. You served her well. Now let yourself be helped. It is her wish that you allow this.

  Hurts… the dog sent again, his pale blue eyes closing.

  Hurts…

  “Max! Oh, Max!”

  Jase jerked at the voice behind him. He had been deep in

  his other self—it wasn’t easy to let the Wolf come so far forward when he was still in human form.

  Turning his head, he saw Mrs. Robinson standing there, her eyes filled with tears.

  “Maxie!” she whispered and sank to her knees beside the

  big dog.

  Max whined sadly and tried to lick her hand. Crying, she

  gathered him into her lap as well as she could and held him,

  heedless of the blood and fur staining her thin white nightgown.

  “You saved me,” she whispered, tears flowing down her cheeks. “You saved me, boy. You were so brave…so brave…”

  “Mrs. Robinson…” Jase looked at her helplessly, not sure

  what to say. He ought to scold her for following him into a

  potentially dangerous situation…ought to make her leave—

  her bedroom was a crime scene, for God’s sake and she was

  contaminating it just by being here.

  But the heartbreak in her voice and the look on her lovely

  face undid him and he couldn’t find it in himself to order her out.“Let me get him,” he said to her at last. “Let me take him out of here. There’s an emergency vet not far from here.

  Maybe we can still save him if we hurry.”

  “You think?” She looked up at him, her eyelashes spiky with tears. “Oh yes please—let’s take him right away! But…”

  She bit her lip. “I don’t know if he’ll let you lift him. Max is kind of a one-person dog and I’m his person.”

  Within him, Jase felt his Dire Wolf stir. She could be our

  person, too, he whispered in Jase’s mind. We’ve always wanted her. Now she could be ours.

  Later for that, he told it sternly. Aloud, he said, “I have a way with animals—especially dogs. Let me just try.”

  Slowly, carefully, and with many silent reassurances from

  his Wolf, he managed to gather the huge, shaggy dog into his

  arms. Max whined weakly in pain but made no e ort to snap

  or bite. Clearly the big canine was willing to trust him now that his mistress was here.

  Just as Jase had the dog firmly settled in his arms there was a blare of sirens outside and the backup he’d called for

  arrived. Jase called out to them, letting them know

  everything was clear and told Mrs. Robinson to get behind him.

  “Stay back—they’re going to be twitchy coming into a

  dark house that’s a crime scene in the middle of the night,”

  he warned.

  “Detective Saunders?”

  Jase was relieved to see that the voice belonged to Derek

  Shoals, one of the few o cers on the PD who was also a Shifter. Though he wasn’t a wolf—Derek’s other half was a

  Short-faced bear—it was still easier to talk to another Shifter about what was going on than a norm.