Isabel was a beta and didn’t handle stress as well, but Ana had never seen her like this, not even when her parents and brothers had died. A frisson of cold fear curled through Ana. She hooked her arm around Isabel’s waist to steady her and held her packmate tight. By the way Isabel shook, she feared her cousin would collapse. “Come on, Isabel. Talk to me.” She kept her voice low and soothing.
“Behind … house …” She pointed an unsteady finger toward their brick home.
Ana looked around and realized a few more members of the pack had exited their homes. She also noticed Noel exiting the barn with one of the males, but she brushed the detail aside. Gently, she unhooked her arm from Isabel, then looked at the little cub. “You stay here with Isabel and watch out for her. Okay? Don’t go anywhere.”
Vivian nodded solemnly. “I promise.”
With everything going on she didn’t like letting the cub out of her sight, but they were on a ranch surrounded by shifters, and besides, she wasn’t sure what was actually behind the house. Even though she knew Vivian should be safe for a few minutes, her sister should have been safe in her own home and now she was … Hell, Ana didn’t know what was going on with Carmen either, and she hated that Connor had taken over. She should be the one taking care of her sister. The knowledge rolled around in her stomach like a lead ball. But if she’d stayed and argued, it would have wasted time. As she rounded the corner of the house she jerked to a halt.
Alicia, the quietest, sweetest beta wolf, lay flat on her back, unmoving. By the gray pallor of her skin, Ana knew Alicia was dead before she reached her. The she-wolf’s head rolled to the side and her eyes were open unnaturally wide. An expression of shock covered her face.
Crouching down, she took the young girl’s wrist. The warmth of life was already receding and she had no pulse.
Hot tears pricked Ana’s eyes. How could this have happened? Reaching up, she brushed the young girl’s hair back from her face. Also losing warmth.
“Shit.” Connor’s deep voice cut through the air.
Without getting up, she looked over her shoulder to find Connor standing behind her. For a brief moment, fear sparked through her that he’d left Carmen, but she knew he wouldn’t have done so if her sister wasn’t in good hands.
Ana hadn’t even scented his presence. All she’d been able to focus on was her dead packmate. Her mouth went dry as she stared at him. She didn’t know what to say. Shit about summed up everything going on right now.
She started to lift Alicia’s body when Connor stopped her.
“Wait.” Crouching next to her, he brushed the girl’s hair away from her lifeless face. “Look at this.”
Ana frowned as she focused on what he pointed to. There was a faint puncture wound, and the area around her neck was swollen and irritated. Not overtly, but when she looked close, the girl’s skin was puffy and raised. “Someone injected her?”
“Looks that way.” His voice was grim.
“Who could have gotten past our security? Aren’t your men patrolling the grounds?” Their ranch and surrounding area were big, but she didn’t understand how someone could have snuck past their security, then gotten away without being seen. Of course, someone had managed to poison the water in their storage shed too. Whoever it was, he was a skilled tracker or hunter.
“What do you know about your friend Matt?”
“Wait. You think he did this?” She shook her head vehemently. There was no possible way.
“I’m trying to look at this objectively, Ana. If it wasn’t for you, I’d have already hunted him down and made him talk.” His voice was harsh.
An unwanted shiver snaked through her. She knew Connor was a predator. Hell, she was too. But this was a different side to him, and the wrath coming from him was potent and scary. Connor didn’t make idle threats. She racked her brain, thinking of everything she knew about the Dunlauxes. “Kaya moved here with him when he was little. I don’t think he was even five at the time. Uh, they own a store in town and sell jewelry, art, pottery, rugs—stuff like that. They’re two of the few humans who welcomed us immediately. Connor, I’ve literally watched Matt grow up. His mom used to bring him out here to go horseback riding all the time when he was younger. I can’t imagine him being involved in this.”
“What about his father?” Connor’s green eyes were growing dangerously dark.
She knew he was fighting his inner rage, forcing his animal back down, so she rushed to continue. “I don’t know. Kaya mentioned him only once. She said he was Sioux, which is where I think Matt got his name from. She’s a descendant of the Tuscarora, though—I do know that. I wasn’t kidding when I said I’d never heard him mention his father until today.”
Connor’s expression was resolute as he lifted Alicia’s small body. “Stay away from him.”
“He did not do this.” Though her heart ached at the sight of her lifeless cousin, Ana was positive that Matt wasn’t involved in any of this. She wouldn’t blindly blame him as an outlet for her anger.
“Ana.” There was a warning note in Connor’s voice.
Now wasn’t the time to argue with him. Isabel and Alicia’s other sisters would need the comfort of the pack. “I’ll stay away … We should lay her in the barn until the burial ceremony.” God, another death. A tight cord cinched around her heart, making it difficult to breathe, but she tried to push past it. She couldn’t afford to let anyone see her weak. Still, a few tears escaped as she looked at Alicia.
When they walked around the back of the house, Ana spotted Isabel and her three remaining sisters huddled together. Noel stood next to them with her arm wrapped around Isabel in support. Most of the male pack members stood by too, their expressions dark and dangerous. Vivian had latched on to one of Ryan’s legs, and little Lucas had latched on to the other. For that Ana was thankful. At least she knew both cubs were safe.
Ana could feel the air change. These men wanted blood. They might not have been pack members long, but when someone killed one of your own, it didn’t matter. Especially not to male warriors. The wolf inside her wanted justice but not blind revenge. Innocents got hurt that way. And then the town would turn against them. She’d seen it happen before and she didn’t want it happening to her pack. They’d be hunted down and it would only be a matter of time before they had to relocate. Again.
As she looked around at the men, she didn’t see Liam. “Where’s your brother?”
Connor growled something indistinct low in his throat. Almost as if on cue, Liam’s truck rounded the bend and steered up the dirt drive.
As they entered the barn, Connor held out Alicia’s small body and handed it to her. “Can you take care of her?”
Pushing past the lump in her throat, she nodded. “Of course.”
Connor reached out and cupped Ana’s cheek for a moment. His eyes were dark and she could see the conflicting emotions running through them. “Ana, we’re going to find out who’s doing this. I promise.”
Still not trusting her voice, all she could do was nod. She took Alicia to one of the empty stalls and laid her on a soft strip of hay. Soon they’d need to cleanse her body, then wrap her in the traditional ceremonial burial veil, but for now this would have to do.
“I can’t believe it.” She turned at the sound of Noel’s voice.
Her younger sister’s face was unusually pale. Noel had taken it the hardest when their parents had died. Ana reached out for her, and her sister immediately wrapped her arms around Ana’s neck. Noel might be alpha in nature but she needed comforting right now.
“How’s Isabel?” Ana knew it was a stupid question. It just popped out.
Sniffling, Noel shrugged as she pulled back. “Not great. All her sisters are supporting one another, but I think this hit them harder than when …”
Ana didn’t need her to finish the thought. It was harder than when most of the pack had died. Those deaths had been sudden and swift. They’d all been able to lean on each other because of the unexpectedness. Even though they still had pack support it shouldn’t be happening again. Despite her desire to believe in Matt’s innocence, Connor’s warning about Matt played in her head. “Are you planning to go into town soon?”
Noel shook her head, and a few tears rolled down her cheeks.
Ana’s heart ached watching her sister’s pain. “Good. Don’t. And stay away from Matt Dunlauxe.”
Noel frowned. “Why?”
“Don’t worry about that. Just do what I say. Okay? And will you please stay here until I’m back? I don’t want Isabel or any of her sisters tormenting themselves by looking at Alicia.”
“Of course. Where’s Carmen, by the way? Why didn’t she come outside?”
Shit. Ana cleared her throat. “She’s with Teresa. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” As she hurried from the barn, she brushed off the guilt. She hadn’t exactly lied, but an omission of the truth was just as bad. She didn’t want Noel worrying yet. Not until she knew how sick Carmen was. If she could keep her sister unaware for a while it was worth a little guilt. Now she just needed to find Connor.
When Ana walked back into the main yard, almost everyone had dispersed. A few of the men still stood around and the rage and anger she’d scented before was actually stronger. They might be part of the same pack now, but she didn’t know them well, yet she could tell these men definitely wanted blood.
Connor was the Alpha so if he made it clear he wouldn’t stand for blind revenge, they would listen. Or she hoped they would. And she really hoped Connor wouldn’t stand for revenge. What she knew of him she admired, but he was like an onion. Every second they spent together, more layers peeled back. He was darker, more dominant than she remembered. A true Alpha.
She nodded at the men and when she spied Ryan on the front porch by the main house, she hurried over to him. “Where are Connor and Liam?”