Page 70 of Fated to the Wolf Billionaire

The medics with the stretcher didn’t slow as they reached the door, and it whipped open automatically for us to all sprint through.

They were yelling in dwarven, more medics swarming the stretcher as it was slid onto a metal frame, and within a minute, a dwarf in a headlamp and a white tunic replaced Fiona where she kept pressure on Elodie’s gaping wound.

Elodie was still breathing as the medical team urged the four of us back and into a nearby waiting room.

“We’ll let you know as soon as we have news,” the nurse who’d led us down the hall said politely before shutting us in.

Some might have described it as cozy, but my wolf was raging in my chest, demanding his freedom to go tear the heads off the troll bodies we’d abandoned in the alley, and I wasn’t capable of appreciating the little potted plants or the fluffy blankets thrown over the cushy seating.

And then Fiona slipped her hand into mine, looking up at me with big, blue and gold eyes full of sorrow, and the rage was extinguished in a single whoosh of connection as I hauled her against my chest and buried my face in her hair.

“That was so awful,” she whispered, and I stroked her back, lost for words to tell her otherwise.

It was awful, and I hadn’t been able to protect her from the experience.

Yet another way I’d failed my pack today. Self-loathing clogged my throat, and I held her tighter.

I looked up when Gael cleared his throat, an apologetic look on his face. “One of us needs to go back, see if there’s anything on the bodies to give a clue why we were attacked here. Those trolls weren’t Petró’s MO. That was a new threat.”

He was right, of course. I mentally shook myself, temporarily set aside the internal flogging, and focused on next steps.

“I agree. I’ll go and examine the site. You stay here and protect our mates. Let me know the second you hear any news about Elodie.”

“Our phones are still in the alley somewhere, after the shift.”

I nodded, kissed Fiona with a promise to return quickly, then let the shift flow through me, releasing my wolf.

* * *

I followedmy nose back to the scene of the attack, the earthy, deep musk of six male trolls easy to pick up from a distance. There were dwarven peacekeepers at the scene, but they waved me on when they spotted me, clearly knowing who I was and why I had returned, even without my ability to speak to them in this form.

Thankfully, they’d left the scene pretty much as it was, and I quickly spotted Gael’s and my shredded clothing, and our slightly dented but still functional cell phones in the piles of fabric scraps. I nosed those aside, then circled back to examine the scene. The trolls had obviously left the dinner shortly behind us, coming straight here to attack us. Their entrance to the alley was the same as ours, save the one troll who hadn’t stayed with the group and had headed us off in the side alley.

He was the leader with the carved tusks—a fact still evident with his destroyed skull—so if any of the bodies had a clue as to who’d sent them, it would likely be him. After a perfunctory sniff and nosing the many pockets on the four other fallen troll bodies found nothing of interest, I focused on the leader.

There were many interesting things in his pockets, and after I’d scented everything—including the second alley the leader had taken to cut us off—I shifted back to human form to dig out the various items more carefully. It was a grisly business, but I needed to know everything I could to report back to my Alpha. It was a known fact we had enemies, but if they were going to keep cropping up, we needed to know where the next threat was coming from so we could protect ourselves better.

Most of the items were typical troll possessions, which I examined and then set to the side of the body for the peacekeepers. A hunting knife, leather armor, trinkets from a female back home. But one item stood out, had my blood boiling. I palmed it quietly, keeping it private from the peacekeepers going over the scene with a fine-toothed comb.

Done with my investigation, I gathered up our possessions from the alley and gratefully accepted a pair of pants from one of the dwarves at the perimeter of the crime scene. Gray sweats seemed to be ubiquitous, something other species kept on hand to clothe wayward shifters, but I was grateful nonetheless.

One last thing occurred to me just before I left the scene. I turned around and strode across to the fallen troll, dwarven hammer still clutched in his death grip. I pried it out of his hand.

I still drew stares as I wandered the streets bare-chested and two feet taller than the dwarven citizens with one of their gleaming hammers in my fist, but not nearly as much as I would have completely in the nude. Next, I returned to the dignitary’s lodgings, where the concierge directed me to the trolls’ rooms with a nervous tinge to her scent that was easy to pick up even in human form.

Other than a roaring mess, the rooms were clean of clues, as if they’d known they’d be making a hasty exit, and taken all their belongings with them when they went to dinner. I quickly stopped for a shirt and grabbed a spare black tee for Gael and then made my way back to the medical center, the damning evidence nearly burning a hole in my pocket all the while.

I could hear low voices through the waiting room door and pushed my way in, hoping it was a doctor providing an update on Elodie’s condition.

Instead, it was King Cysernaphus, addressing Gael, who stood between Fiona and Leigh. All three of them were listening intently to his pretty speech.

“We deeply regret that the trolls chose to break the rules of diplomatic visitors on our turf, but please assure High Alpha Kane that the dwarves are staunch supporters of his rule, and we are aggrieved that this terrible wrong was done on our soil.”

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to do that.” It was sheer force of habit that kept my tone steady and even, because my rage was thick enough to choke a horse. Even a hearty dwarven steed.

“Alpha Monstru, I was wondering where you’d gotten off to,” the king said coolly.

“Just investigating the trolls who attacked us and grievously wounded our warrior maiden escort.”

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