Page 47 of Fated to the Wolf Prince

I grabbed my wrinkled and now semidamp shirt, tugging it quickly over her head. Her cover-up was basically nothing, and I didn’t want her to catch a cold before we got back. I did pull on my sweats, and helped her step back into her bikini bottoms. She clutched the top in her fist as I scooped her up, ignoring her protests that she was fine.

“Let’s go.”

Gael moved instantly, but silently, giving me time to process as we ran through the now-dark forest. The sun had set while we made love, and I hadn’t even noticed. But my wolf was on high alert, taking in everything around us now, from the deepening twilight bruising the sky above us, to the scent of the pine needles and the earth churning under our running feet, the lack of movement from the small animals around us, most likely scared off by my grief-stricken howl.

But at the center of it all was agony, like a serrated dagger rending me in half with what had been taken from me far too soon.

Nestled against my chest and warring against that raw ache, though, was Brielle. She could have used her own two feet, but selfishly, I wanted her close. And after her days of illness, I wasn’t taking any chances that the only light left in my life would be snuffed out like my parents. I slowed as we thundered up the steps of the pack lodge, the usually comforting sconces glowed steadily, but I took no warmth from the familiarity.

Brielle rested her chilly fingers against my neck, just above my heart, and I sucked in another deep breath, steeling myself for what I was about to see, to experience.

“Do you want to put me down, Kane? I’m okay.”

I squeezed tighter, unable to answer past the lump in my throat, and strode toward the door. Gael opened it with a bowed head, his powerful shoulders strained against his black tee.

The scent of death hit me before a sense of wrongness hanging in the air. It was indescribable to human senses, but my wolf’s hackles were raised, his low snarl ripped from my own throat.

“Easy, Alpha. This way.” Gael’s words were gentle, but firm. He was my second for a reason; a less dominant wolf, and I’d have torn his head off for speaking when I was this close to the edge.

I knew without Gael’s direction where my father—no, hisbody—was. Some sixth sense led me there, my feet traveling without my permission. But I didn’t hesitate at this threshold, the sounds of low voices and furious growls reaching me as we turned the corner and arrived at his suite in the lodge. I tuned out the small crowd of my closest pack mates and my father’s security, homing in on the scene, my wolf’s keen senses looking for any clue of who did this.

The oversized sleigh bed, which I’d carved myself, stood steadfast against the wall, royal-blue covers undisturbed. Most of the room looked exactly as you’d expect. Fastidiously clean, nothing missing or torn to indicate this was theft driven. My stomach turned to curdled milk when I saw him, and I snarled again, overcome by the urge tokill.

To hunt and tear and rip to shreds whoever had dared strike down my father. Because nothing could ever prepare me for the sight of his body, on the floor in front of the wingback chairs under the reading lamp in the corner. His right hand was curled into his tunic, half-shifted, the wolf’s claws keeping it there even in death, his face tinged with blue and his eyes glassy as they stared at nothing overhead. There was an open decanter of bourbon and a half-empty cut crystal glass on the small table between the chairs, and no blood or other obvious disturbance to the room.

Brielle made a soft sobbing sound, and it snapped me from my horrified staring. I turned and gently set her on her feet near the door, blocking the grisly view with my body. Gael was there in an instant, looming protectively.

“Take her to her friends, please. She’s not to be left alone, not for a single minute.”

“Kane, no. I’m not leaving you alone with this,” she argued, but I ignored her.

This was no place for her, not now. My wolf was on the very edges of my control, and the drive to protect her had risen above anything else. I couldn’t think clearly, not with her arousal-saturated scent permeating the air and our bond incomplete. It killed me to send her away, but I was likely to tear out someone else’s throat if I didn’t.

“Kane, I’m serious. I’m a doctor. Maybe I can help figure out—”

“No.” She flinched back from my hard tone, but I didn’t have room in my head or my heart to speak softly, not standing in the same room as my father’s corpse.

“I understand, Alpha. I’ll send my best men—”

“No,” I snarled, my fangs lengthening in my mouth and making speech impossible. It took three ragged breaths to calm myself enough to pull them back. “You. Stay put on the door and check on her every fifteen minutes until I say otherwise.”

“Yes, Alpha.” He bowed his head deferentially, but I didn’t miss the sorrowful look he cast toward the scene. I was sure he was itching to continue his investigation, but Brielle’s safety was the most important. I wouldn’t accept anyone less than my best man, not when there was a killer in our midst.

As the soft sounds of her footsteps trailed away, I turned back to the scene.

“Who found him?” The words were a whip cutting through the room, and everyone froze.

“Me, sire.” Dimitri’s voice was a low rumble, angst etching the simple words and making his accent thicken.

“Walk me through it. Tell me what happened.”

“I was on post outside the door, as he’d said he needed to call your mother, update her on the day’s progress.” He swallowed hard but soldiered on. “He was only inside about fifteen minutes before I felt something sharp in the bond, and then I heard him fall. He didn’t answer when I called for him, so I shouldered my way through the door.”

He pointed, and I followed the direction of his fingertips to the door, which was indeed splintered as if hit by a freight train. It hung crookedly off one hinge, the other two dangling uselessly in the air.

“He was still breathing, and I called for Sergei to get the healer, but he faded in front of me, Alpha. It was seconds. Mihaela’s name was on his lips when he passed.”

My wolf was clawing angrily at my insides, raging to come out and shred this room with claws and fangs, but I locked him down with iron will.

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