Dark Wolf (Spirit Wild) - By Kate Douglas Page 0,9
stale scent of fear, of sweat and blood, of semen. Overlaying it all was the powerful scent of wolf.
Not a wolf she recognized, and not just one. She crossed back and forth, breathing in the smells. At least four different wolves. Maybe more, but there was an underlying stench of something wrong, a darkness that didn’t fit with the familiar scent of Chanku.
It made no sense. Man and beast had been here, but had they been Chanku? Or had it been humans and natural wolves—wolves trained to kill?
She was certain she knew all of the Chanku capable of shifting. Over the past twenty-six years, ever since their existence had become public knowledge, they’d searched among normal-appearing humans in hope of finding more of their kind, those who carried the genes for shapeshifting.
Very few had been discovered, but each of them had been brought into the pack, taught to live as a wolf, and encouraged to stay on as part of the ever-growing family of Chanku.
A few had chosen life elsewhere—generally those who preferred solitude to life within the pack. Still, they all kept in contact with her father, and all acknowledged Anton Cheval as the über-alpha, their pack leader.
Just as every one of them looked to Keisha Rialto as the true power over all Chanku. Lily was so proud of her mom, and like everyone else, recognized the quiet strength in the woman who had easily brought über-alpha and powerful wizard Anton Cheval to his knees. Her father might act like the ruler of his own kingdom, but even he acknowledged his mate’s alpha nature.
Of all the known Chanku, none of them, as far as Lily knew, were evil. As wolves they had the power to kill, but they also lived by a code of honor. Evil was a trait that would have shown up very quickly. One thing she’d learned to count on with the pack was the way they watched out for one another. They truly were a family, and if someone had problems, they were the pack’s problems to be dealt with and solved before they were put aside.
But someone was raping and killing young women, and if it wasn’t Chanku, it was someone intending to make it look like Chanku. Lily circled the garden once again.
Her nose wrinkled at the stench of old blood and death, and the overlying sense of something terribly wrong. She couldn’t place it, knew that, if asked, she’d not be able to describe it, but she also knew she would never forget it.
Finally, satisfied there was nothing more she could learn, she turned away and trotted slowly back to the spot where she’d left her clothes.
Her joy in the night felt tarnished, just like her mother’s garden. She was absolutely certain it would be a long time before she ran this way again.
Sebastian adjusted the bow tie on the black silk shirt he’d selected to wear with his tux and once again checked the time. The week had flown by, but he’d spent the hours immersed in his father’s collection of books on magical theory and practice, and he felt as if he’d strengthened his own magic through knowledge. Now it was time to study another kind of magic.
Tonight’s reception was his first truly public event with his father—though why the man had chosen a reception in San Francisco honoring the Montana neighbor he claimed to despise really didn’t make much sense.
No matter. Aldo Xenakis had an amazing, inbred charisma. When he walked into a room, people naturally gravitated toward him and gathered about him. When he spoke, they listened. When he gave an order, no one asked why.
They merely did his bidding.
That was the thing that had stood out the first time Sebastian met his father, the trait that had impressed him the most. He’d since studied the man carefully, watching the way he moved, the words he used, the intonation of his voice.
Tonight Sebastian would do as he always had—he’d keep his mouth shut and stand beside the man he knew he’d never fully understand, and continue to do his best to figure him out.
How else was he going to learn how to move within the same rarified social circles? His mother certainly hadn’t had the opportunity. No, she’d spent her life living alone and afraid, focusing entirely on her only son. Loving him.
He sighed. She’d loved him all right, but she’d lied to him, too. He wondered what his life would be like if he’d never found her