Broods Of Fenrir - By Coral Moore Page 0,3

no animal I know of would do that kind of damage.”

Dread slithered up Brand"s back, raising the hairs on his neck. “Canine?”

Grant flipped a few pages in his notebook. “Maybe some coyotes came in after the guy was done with her and had a snack, who knows?” He shrugged. “All I know is, there"s no dog-like thing on Earth that would slice her up that way.” Brand knew firsthand that wasn"t true. Bloody images bubbled up from the deep place he"d buried them. His stomach turned while he battled the painful memories. “Why"d you ask me to come here?”

“I need to know about anything unusual going on in the vicinity.”

He met Grant"s cool stare. “Kids come to get their 9

kicks exploring the empty building. It"s been happening since they closed the factory down years ago.” Grant scribbled some more notes. He pushed a few buttons on his phone and held it up for Brand to see. “You know her?”

Bruises and cuts covered the woman"s swollen face.

Brand swallowed to alleviate the sudden tightening of his throat. At the bottom of the frame, bloody gashes in her clothing made the pain she had endured before her death obvious. Teeth marks were visible along one side of her neck.

Not canine, not at all, though Brand understood why someone who didn"t know about the existence of his kind might assume that. He closed his eyes briefly and searched for calm. His temper flared, but he regained control. “No, I"ve never seen her before.” Grant harrumphed. “That"s all I"ve got for you right now. I"ll call your office when we clear out of here.”

“Thanks.” Brand offered his hand, and Grant shook it with a short nod.

While walking back to his motorcycle, Brand mulled over what do to next. Leaving the investigation up to the police was out of the question. Even if they could figure out who"d done it, they were ill-equipped to deal with one of the brood.

The responsibility of seeking justice for the woman"s death fell to him. The leader of the brood in the Denver area was a long-time friend and one of his biggest clients. In all likelihood, a member of Erik"s brood had murdered that woman. That placed Brand in a dangerous position since he wanted to put the wild animal down.

* * *

Brand pushed through the office door amid the protests of Erik"s assistant.

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Erik pinned Brand with a stern stare, then waved his assistant back. “It"s all right. Call me when Harris gets here.” She nodded, giving Brand a disapproving glare as she exited and closed the door behind her.

Erik stood, his hands braced against the dark wood of his desk. “You"d better have a damned good reason for barging in here like this.”

Coming to Erik"s office unannounced was a rather serious breach of etiquette, and relationships between brood males were strained at the best of times. Brand had distanced himself from his own kind for several reasons, but the most prominent was the constant power struggles. Existing outside the social structure of any brood, he was always considered a threat. The complex rules of propriety even kept him from being able to apologize for bursting in without increasing the tension between them. Instead, he ground his teeth and crossed the office with slow steps. He lowered himself into a chair in front of the desk without breaking eye contact. Erik sat a few seconds later.

Brand cleared his throat. “I just came from a jobsite of mine where police found a woman"s body.” He kept his voice level, though he wanted to shout. “She was murdered by one of us.”

Erik leaned back in his chair and laced his hands over his stomach, but didn"t speak for several beats. “You"re sure?”

“I wouldn"t be here otherwise. The bites I saw were from a brood male, no question. I need to know who you think could have done this.”

Erik showed off his complement of elongated canine teeth in a silent snarl. “Why? You"ve no dominion over my brood.” “She was shredded,” Brand said, his voice harsh with disgust. “I won"t abide it, Erik, not even from one of yours.” As anger overtook him, Erik"s eyes lightened from blue to arctic white. “You are not in charge here. You gave up that 11

right, so back the fuck off.” He growled, a low, menacing sound. Fury radiated from Erik in waves.

Brand could almost see the infectious cloud of rage.

Through an often-practiced strength of will, Brand reinforced the barriers that isolated him from the emotions