Love Bites (Crescent City Werewolves: The Short Stories)

A Vow in Blood

Fog seeped into the valley below, hiding the sprawling city there until Hazel saw nothing more than scattered lights glittering like stars. Little good came from Crescent City, but she still found it an easier sight over watching Willa stitch up her arm.

The healer noticed her aversion. "Look well on that cesspit, because you made it your problem. It's like a tumor, always trying to grow in more places. Ada used to chase off three or four scouts a month who were searching for a good place on the mountain to hide drug farms."

"I know about that." The side of Hazel's face had begun to throb, and she licked over her teeth to make sure none of them had been knocked loose. Damn, but Ada had fought like a devil.

"What about everything else it takes to lead this pack? The treaties with the Silver Slews and the Pikes. Making sure everyone gets enough meat in the starving months. Deciding whether the year's been good enough to have pups. Were you thinking about any of that?"

"I was thinking about saving my sister." For the first time, Hazel looked over at the healer, staring until the other she-wolf dropped her gaze.

Unsatisfied with the silence, as silence was the very response that had made things worse, Hazel added, "Everyone saw what she was doing. Two pregnant wolves dead and another near to it. I knew Thistle was next and I wasn't about to let Ada get at her, alpha or no."

"You never did mind defying your betters," murmured the healer. "Wonder how well you'll take being defied."

"I'll find out."

There was another lull while Willa knotted the final stitch. Hazel now studied the nearby farmhouse where she'd left Ada's body for the rest to find. Though it had all happened only an hour before, the news had spread like wildfire, and half the Diamond Ridge Pack now prowled throughout the house, as shocked as she had been at seeing just how stone cold crazy Ada had become.

For there were other bodies in there, too—one of them Jeremy Lovett, Ada's mate and the male alpha. Ada had gone after him with a knife while he'd slept and then had painted glyphs all over the walls in his blood. Murdering one's mate... And for dark magic, at that.

But worse still were the shriveled remains of their pup, still wrapped in a birthing shawl and tucked in the cradle despite having died some five months back. Hazel hadn't caught any scent except Ada's, suggesting she'd let no one but herself into that room.

"I don't understand how she could do it," said Willa, her scissors flashing while she snipped the thread. "I know how hard she took losing the pup, but..."

"It was out of love." Hazel had seen the dying look in Ada's eyes and held no doubts about it. "She lost sight of everything else. Jeremy should've known better, though."

"When one mate goes, the other often follows."

"Hm."

"That's another thing. They're already wondering who you'll mate with. No one will rest easy until you do."

Hazel felt herself smile, but it was a grim one. The only wolf she wanted was off traveling, and she didn't know if he wanted more than her bed, anyway. Still, a sharp pang ran through her at the thought of him returning and finding her mated, her scent mingled with another's. "I did get myself into some trouble, didn't I?"

"Mm-hmm."

Members of the pack were leaving the house, now. Some appeared sick and others were just frightened. A few even whined softly. Their leaders were dead and they didn't know what to do.

It was the look on their faces that hit Hazel in a way that Willa's scolding couldn't. By killing Ada, she'd taken her place as the female alpha. She would have to do good by the pack, her pack, whether she knew how to or not. And that meant looking after them instead of herself.