He held up a hand. "Sorry. I didn't mean to imply you would. I just can't come up with anything that would make a noise like that."
"Whatever it is, the creature isn't any type that belongs in this area, I can assure you."
After a moment, he nodded. "And then?"
"I hurried out of there, but as the morning went on I managed to convince myself it was nothing. Until I found the body." The memory threatened to make her ill. "I can't remember what got my attention first, the sight of clothing on the ground, or the smell. I went over to investigate, see if the person was alive, and the body was mutilated. I've never seen anything so gruesome. Ever."
"Me, neither," he agreed grimly. "We discovered the corpse just before we found you, and we're pretty sure it was a woman, from parts of her clothing."
She shuddered. "I didn't look that closely. I got sick and then fetched my radio, started to call the rangers. That's when the wolf showed up."
At that, Ryon tensed. "What did it look like?"
"That's one of the strange things-it was snow white. Very rare in the wild for an albino of any species to survive."
"White? Was it a male?" he asked, his expression serious.
"Female, sort of small. But she appeared large enough when she bared her teeth at me and started chasing me away from the scene of the body. I ran, and came to the edge of the ravine. When I turned to face her, she lunged and pushed me over the edge."
He looked stunned. "Jesus. Maybe the woman was her kill and she didn't want you near it?"
"Could be, but I have my doubts. Have you ever seen a wolf do that to a human?"
"Not a real one," he muttered.
"What?"
"Nothing. Anyway, we'll know more soon, when the medical examiner finishes with the body." He fell silent for a moment, studying her. "I saw you a couple of nights ago, when I was attacked by some . . . subjects my team and I were chasing."
"I'd wondered if you knew I was there, or remembered," she said quietly. "I'm not sure what drew me to you, to be honest. I fell asleep that night and had a vision of you in the alley with your friends, fighting some humanlike creatures that looked like vampires. Crazy, I know."
A faint smile curved his lips, but he said nothing. The smile wasn't mocking, and his eyes were devoid of humor.
"I have real-time visions sometimes when I sleep. I'm projected into the scene whether I want to be there or not."
"Wouldn't that be Dreamwalking, in that case?"
"No. Dreamwalking requires the person, or both parties if there's more than one, to be dreaming, and the scene isn't necessarily real, or happening at all. It's often a fantasy that disappears when the person wakes. It didn't actually happen, but the memory can be shared if there's more than one Dreamwalker involved. A meeting of the minds, if you will, rather than reality."
"I see. So you really were there, in the alley with me."
"Yes. Even in my sleep, I projected a form of myself to the actual scene that was taking place."
"Okay." So simple, his acceptance.
"Just okay? Where is your attitude, the sarcasm? What did you mean when you said nobody around here would be surprised by my gift?"
"Because nobody will." He sighed and braced his elbows on his knees. "You asked me where you are. Right now you're a guest of the Institute of Parapsychology, housed in a secret location in the Shoshone National Forest."
"The Institute of Parapsychology," she repeated, turning over the term in her mind. Gradually, it dawned on her. "The study of the paranormal."
"Yes. As well as the effects of that world on all of us who live here at the compound."
She digested this. "And just who are you?"
"My team is called Alpha Pack. We each have different Psy abilities and we get called all over the world to handle paranormal predators like the rogue vampires you witnessed us battling."
"They really were vampires?" she whispered.
His voice was gentle, almost apologetic. "Those fangs weren't fake, honey. Neither was the silver knife that one bastard buried in my side."
"Why silver? Wait- How are you even out of your hospital bed two days after being stabbed and having your throat ripped out?" She sat upright, heart beating wildly in her chest. "I saw it! And now there's nothing but some pink scars on your neck!"
"You're right, you did see me torn and stabbed. But I heal fast. All of my kind does."
"What kind is that?" She was almost afraid to know.
"The type that doesn't react well to silver, so that much of the legends is true." He gave her a sad smile. "You might as well know . . . we're wolf shifters, Daria."
. . .
Ben Cantrell fell to his knees in the undergrowth, sick and exhausted.
What had happened? Where had he been this time?
His confused mind finally registered the blood. His hands were coated in the vile stuff. His arms, chest, some splattered on his legs. Reaching up, he felt his face, and recoiled in horror. Blood, on his mouth.
"Oh, no. No."
Not again. Please, not again.
But to his lawyer's mind, the evidence was irrefutable. He laughed at that, a mad, hysterical sound. Because he'd never work as an attorney again. Would never be human. His life had been stolen from him and he would never get it back.
Unless he found the ones who could help. He'd set out searching for them, but now struggled to recall who he was supposed to find. But he'd remember. He would. And they would help him.
They had to. Or soon, Benjamin Cantrell would be lost forever.
Chapter Four
Ryon's guts clenched as he studied Daria's reaction.
The woman paled under her tan, her lips parting in shock. Then she dropped her gaze to the sheets. "I can't buy that."
"I know it's a lot to take in, but it's true. I wouldn't lie to you."
She looked up. "I believe you think you're telling the truth, but-"
"You can perform astral projection," he pointed out. "You know about Psy gifts, and you saw the vampires with your own eyes."
"There have been documented case studies of people who have psychic abilities and can do or see all sorts of things they shouldn't be able to," she said. "Some can predict the future, read an object to see the past, move items with their minds, find missing people. You name it. But you're asking me to believe you can change forms? I'm sorry, Ryon. You're delusional."
"I expected you to react like that," he said, trying to hide his disappointment. "I can't blame you. But I can prove it."
"You can change into a wolf, here and now." Her tone was flat.
"Yes."
She flicked her good hand at him. "Okay, so do it."
"I don't think so. Not yet."
Some of the hardness left her expression, and her tone became kind. "Have you sought help for this fantasy? There are some really good doctors who can treat that sort of thing."
He stood. "I don't need a doctor. Not for being delusional, anyway. I'm going to let you rest because you have a lot to take in, and this is enough for the time being."
"Will you be back?"
She sounded hopeful, and that eased some of his anxiety-and his wolf's. But not all. The beast paced inside him, not happy at being doubted. It was much too close to rejection.
"Yeah." Leaning over, he kissed her cheek, then straightened. "I'll be back soon, no worries. Sleep."
"All right, I'll try." She didn't look convinced, though.
Giving her a reassuring smile, he turned and walked out while he still had the strength to leave. He'd pushed far enough, and her scientist's mind needed precious time to absorb the truth of his words. She wasn't ready to see him change into his wolf, but she would be. As a biologist, and his mate, though she didn't know that part yet, she wouldn't be able to help her curiosity. She would continue to be drawn to him.
He hoped.
Leaving the infirmary, he headed for Nick's office. The door was cracked when he got there, and he heard his commander inside, talking. Guessing the door wouldn't be open if the boss didn't want to be disturbed, he knocked lightly and waited.
"Come in."
Pushing inside, he saw Nick sitting behind his desk, Sheriff Deveraux reclining in a chair across from him. Deveraux was about Nick's age, and Ryon supposed women would find him good-looking in a rugged, outdoorsy way. Ryon stuck his hand out to the visitor.
"Sheriff," he said politely. "I've seen you a couple of times, but we've never been introduced. I'm Ryon Hunter."
The other man grasped it briefly, his gaze sharp but not unkind. "You're part of the Alpha Pack that Nick has been telling me about?"
Ryon looked at his boss, who gave a slight nod. The sheriff had been unwittingly pulled into the Sluaghs' attack on a local family several weeks ago, and rudely made aware that the paranormal really existed. Since then, the commander had obviously been easing the lawman into their world, and so it was okay to talk freely in front of him.
"Yes, I am. I don't mean to interrupt, but I just came from visiting Daria, and I thought Nick would like to hear what she said about yesterday's events. You too, Sheriff, since you're here."
They listened intently as he described the great screeching noise Daria heard, and how it frightened her into breaking camp. If they'd expected Ryon to tell them that the culprit who chased her from the scene of the body and pushed her over the ledge was a Sluagh, or some previously unheard-of creature, they were wrong.
"It was a white wolf?" Nick repeated, going still. "She's certain?"
Ryon rolled his eyes. "Of course she's sure. She's got a broken arm, not brain damage. On top of that, she says the wolf is female."
The commander's face paled, and he stared at the top of his desk. "I haven't had any visions at all about any of this, just a sense of wrongness. Danger. I'm not sure what any of it means, and I'm hesitant to guess."
"But you do have one," Deveraux pressed.
Nick sighed. "I don't think the wolf is responsible for the killing, but we won't know for sure until Kira and Melina finish testing that DNA sample of the victim they liberated from the crime scene."
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that." The sheriff scowled.
"No offense, Jesse, but I have a hunch your medical examiner is going to come up with some very strange findings on that body and isn't going to know what to make of them. Which is for the best. But my lab people will know what the results indicate, or at least have a good head start."
"You might be right, but I don't like it," the man muttered. "You'll keep me in the loop."
"You bet."
Mollified somewhat, the sheriff stood to leave. "Nothing to do for now but wait and see. Search and Rescue is still looking for the couple that vanished-or the husband at least. I'm betting the mutilated woman is the wife."
"You're probably right."
Deveraux shook hands with both of them again, and then saw himself out. Ryon waited until the lawman was gone before he spoke.
"You sure we can trust him?"
"Absolutely," Nick said. His mouth curved into a wry smile. "He's so old-school, all this paranormal stuff is about to burst a blood vessel in his brain, but he's a good man. He's on our side, for all the bitching he does."
"Good to know."
"How's Daria?"
"Unsettled," he admitted. "Just because she has a Psy gift that she acknowledges doesn't mean she's ready to accept that we're shifters or that other creatures exist. She wanted me to change and prove I'm a wolf, but I could tell she wasn't really ready for that. I don't want her to push me away."