Heart of the Wolf

Chapter Twelve

BOTH DEVLYN AND BELLA SCRAMBLED FOR THEIR clothes, but he had no intention of allowing his mate to face whatever danger waited at the front door. Wearing only his jeans, he stalked across the living room.

Bella whispered wildly, “Wait, damn it, Devlyn. Together!”

The sound of knocking at the back door surprised him further. With a quick look out the peephole of the front door, he saw another of their nightmares ... not Volan, as he’d first assumed. But zoo man Thompson. Bella was still buttoning her dress when she headed for the front door, barefooted.

Devlyn said in a hushed growl, “Thompson.” Her face lost all of its color.

A gentler knocking at the back door sounded again. Devlyn motioned for her to stay put. In several long strides, he reached the back door. Peering out the side window, he frowned. “Your neighbor, Chrissie,” he whispered.

He opened the door partway. “Yes?”

“Hurry, let me in.”

“Do it,” Bella said, her voice hushed, motioning for her to come in.

Chrissie hurried into the house and headed for the front door.

“What the—” Devlyn said.

“Go,” Chrissie waved at them to go down the hall. She considered his bare chest and smiled. “Continue what you were doing. I’ll take care of the menace standing on your front doorstep.”

Bella stared at her and then looked at Devlyn. He joined her and pulled her down the hall and into her bedroom.

With the door slightly ajar and their sensitive hearing attuned, they waited while Chrissie opened the front door. “Well, hello there,” she said in such a sexy voice, Devlyn chuckled under his breath.

Frowning, Bella poked him in the rib. The color hadn’t returned to her face and her eyes were still darker than normal.

“Are you Miss Bella Wilder?” Thompson asked. “Yep. What’s this all about? You a cop or something?

Got a badge?” Chrissie sounded as sugary sweet as could be.

“I’m investigating the disappearance of a red wolf from the zoo.”

“You think I’d keep a red wolf in my house? Ha! Aren’t they dangerous?”

“Were you at Papagalli’s Dance Club tonight, Miss Wilder?”

Devlyn rubbed Bella’s arm and whispered into her ear, “Breathe, Bella.”

“I don’t go to dance clubs,” Chrissie told Thompson, her voice firm but still saccharine sweet. “What makes you think I was there?”

“Can I come in?”

Bella stepped back. Devlyn leaned down and kissed her cheek. “It’s okay, Bella.”

Chrissie said to Thompson, “You haven’t established your identity as a cop yet. I don’t let just any man into my house, despite the fact that you’re a pretty hot number.”

Silence. Then Thompson said, “Messages were sent from an email address that belongs to a Bella Wilder, at this residence. If you didn’t send those messages, who did?”

“Just exactly who are you?”

“Thompson. I have connections with the Oregon Zoo, and, as I said, I’m investigating the disappearance of a red wolf.”

“Got a first name?”

“Look, the wolf may be in danger. I think you and your friends have some notion that Rosa’s safer in the wild than in the zoo, but, as I explained to your friend, releasing a red wolf into the wild can have dire consequences for the animal.”

Chrissie’s voice elevated. “Listen, I don’t like zoos. Let the animals live in their natural habitats. That’s what I say.” Bella shook her head and then took a step forward, in rescue mode. Devlyn gathered her in his arms, keeping her still.

Thompson cleared his throat when Chrissie didn’t incriminate herself anymore. “That’s just what I figured. So where are your cohorts?”

“What were they supposed to look like? Do you have their names?”

“All right, I’ll humor you. The girl’s a petite redhead with amber-colored eyes. No name though. We found her in the zoo, freezing to death—”

“Naked?” Chrissie asked, the tone of her voice raised in disbelief.

That would take some explaining.

Thompson’s voice showed marked enthusiasm. “Yeah, that’s the one. She’s only considered a witness at this point, though.”

“And ... and she disappeared from the hospital, right? I mean, even though cops were watching her, some guy stole her away right out from under their noses.” Chrissie sounded intrigued.

“Yep. Now you remember.”

“The news was all over the papers. Sure, I remember. With a story like that, who wouldn’t have?”

“The guy’s tall, about six-foot—”

“Ah,” Chrissie said, as if she were putting two and two together and coming up with Bella’s old acquaintance.

“Six-foot-one,” Devlyn said under his breath. Bella pinched his arm. “Shhhh.”

“Dark brown hair and eyes. Muscular. He tried to free the wolf from the zoo on pretenses he was transferring her to another zoo. Then he arrives at the hospital, frees his partner, and vanishes.”

“Wow.” There was another lengthy pause. “But why would she have been naked at the zoo, of all things?”

“Little lady wasn’t talking. She ran off before we could extract the truth from her.”

“But what has this to do with the dance club?”

“You signed off as Rosa, but the email said you were a red wolf seeking a fun-loving red wolf male. Rosa was the name I gave to the wolf that was stolen from the zoo.”

“Ah, well, I had about sixty people here at a party earlier. Someone must have played some kind of a prank.”

“Is that so?” Thompson asked.

“Yep.”

“I want a guest list.”

Bella’s whole body tensed. Devlyn massaged her shoulders.

“You’re not a cop,” Chrissie reminded the zoo man. “You’re right, I’m not. But I can ask my friend, the chief of police, to issue a search warrant and—”

Bella stiffened her back again.

“Well, maybe, Thompson, we could work up that list over dinner. You’re not married, are you?”

Again a pregnant pause followed.

Thompson cleared his throat. “No, well, divorced, but—”

“Well, me, too. See we have a lot in common. You like animals and I do also. Maybe you can tell me more about this red wolf of yours. I’ll grab my coat, and we can go to that new Chinese restaurant on Main Street. Got paper and a pen? I’ll make that list for you.”

Another prolonged silence. Then Thompson gave a nervous little cough. “All right.”

He sounded like he’d gotten bamboozled into the dinner date, but maybe he’d find out what he wanted from Chrissie when he wined and dined her. At least that’s what Devlyn would have tried.

Footsteps headed in their direction. Bella backed away from the door, but Devlyn prepared to tackle Thompson if he tried to enter the room. But it was Chrissie. She pushed the door open wider and grinned.

“Got a coat?” she whispered.

“What about your children?” Bella asked, her voice hushed and concerned.

“At their dad’s the rest of the week.”

“What about this list—”

“Don’t worry. Your name will be at the top. Bella Wilder.” Chrissie grinned again. “After I have a lovely dinner with Thompson, and maybe take in a movie, I’ll try to make him forget he was after the two of you.”

“How did you know about Thompson coming here to see me and—”

“My neighbor called and said Thompson had come to her house to see if Bella Wilder had a wolf in the yard or a strange man visiting or living with her. She knew you and I are best of friends and thought I could warn you. He came to my door next, but I sneaked around the back way to your place. I figured you might need my help.” She winked at Devlyn. “You know it’s awfully important to renew old acquaintances without a lot of interruptions.” Her gaze shifted down Devlyn’s bare torso.

Interrupting Chrissie’s gawking, Bella handed her a dressy raincoat. “Thanks, Chrissie, for being such a good friend.”

“Like sisters,” Chrissie said, her chin tilted down. “I owe you for lots of times. What a wonderful night this is going to be.” She exited the room with a definite spring to her step and strode down the hall.

Bella whispered to Devlyn, “Thompson is never going to know what hit him.”

“Husband candidate number two, don’t you think?” Bella nodded. “Poor man. Wait until he finds out she’s got a couple of elementary school-age kids.”

When Chrissie reached the front door, she said to Thompson, “Maybe you can explain to me why the animals are so much better off in a zoo. Never know. You might even convince me to change my mind.”

“Yeah, well, Miss Wilder—”

“Call me Chrissie. That’s what everyone calls me. Here, can you help me with my coat?”

“Sure.”

“Hmm, such a big man with large capable hands, but with a tender touch. I bet you keep all those wild animals in line, don’t you, but with finesse?”

The front door slammed shut.

If Bella hadn’t been trembling so hard, Devlyn would have laughed out loud at Chrissie’s actions. Instead, he held Bella close and hugged the breath from her chest. Kissing her head, he said, “What do you want to do now?”

“My heart tells me to run ... to hide. I don’t want to go to jail or back to a zoo cage. I don’t want to expose our people for what they are.”

“What about the red lupus garou killer?”

“We have to stop him no matter what.” She ran her hands over Devlyn’s arms. “I hope Chrissie won’t be hurt.”

“What do you imagine she thinks about us?” Bella looked up at Devlyn. “That you’re some kind of wild guy. She’s always thought of me as very tame natured. Quiet lifestyle—no dating, carousing, partying. Just nature retreats from time to time. But since you arrived—”

Devlyn chuckled.

“I’m sure she thinks you’re a bad influence.”

“What do you think?”

“I’d have to agree ... happily.”

Kissing her cheek, he slipped his hands inside her dress. She shook her head.

“Ah, Bella.”

“We have work to do. Play later. You know as well as I do—”

“We have to find the killer.”

“And we won’t find him—” Devlyn smiled. “In your bed.”

“You always could finish my sentences when we were young.” She changed out of her dress and into black denims and a turtleneck.

“I always knew what you were thinking, lovely Bella.”

“Not always.” She pulled her hiking boots out of the closet.

“Oh? Tell me a for instance.” He pulled his shirt on. “The time I caught you kissing Vernetta.”

“You wished it was you and not her.” He buttoned the last of his buttons.

Bella growled. “I did not! I wanted to ... to—”

“You wanted me to kiss you. Admit it, Bella.” The scene played back in his mind like it was only yesterday. She’d just turned sixteen, he nineteen. Vernetta was twenty, but meaner than a bull on steroids. If it hadn’t been for Volan keeping an eye on Bella, the rufus lupus would have been the one Devlyn would have shared his kisses with.

Bella growled again and yanked one of her shoes on, tied the leather laces, and then the other.

He smiled to see her cheeks on fire, now as red as her hair. “I only kissed her on a dare.”

“Right,” she snapped.

“Really. Three of my older cousins had tried to kiss her. She’d bitten each in return. They bet me that she would bite me, too.”

Bella rose and folded her arms. “But she didn’t. She kissed you back.”

He buckled his belt. “Yeah, I won that bet, but I hadn’t expected it. She wasn’t the one I wanted to kiss.”

“Volan,” Bella said with disgust.

Devlyn laughed. “No, I didn’t want to kiss him, either.”

“No, Devlyn, I meant, ohhhhh ...” She stormed down the hall in the direction of the kitchen.

He stalked after her. “You’re right. I wanted to kiss you, but Volan was always in my way.”

She grabbed her fleece-lined jacket and headed for the kitchen door to the garage. “But that day after the lake—”

“I had to have you, Bella.” He pulled her into his arms. “I had to taste you, savor you, force myself to realize you weren’t the one for me, only some lustful desire that drove me insane. Some dream I had that you were all I had imagined you to be and more, but just a dream. I had to wake myself from the dream, prove once and for all that you were nothing more than forbidden fruit. Tantalizing, tasty, but really just like all of the others. But once I felt you against my body, soft and curvy, wet and ... hell, Bella, you were real and my dreams of you were real. Once I’d kissed you, held you close, I knew no one could ever replace you in my heart.”

“And Vernetta?”

“Becoming an old wolf maid.”

“Good.” Bella separated from Devlyn, yanked the door open, and crossed the floor to the vehicle.

“Where are we going?”

She sighed deeply. “I was thinking of taking a drive to my cabin.”

“I thought we were trying to catch a red lupus garou killer.” He could tell by the gentle upward curve of her mouth she was thinking of something sinful.

She ran her tongue over her lips. “All work and no play ... but truthfully, near there is where I smelled the reds before. Maybe we could find some evidence that we missed before.”

“Gotcha.” He jumped into the driver’s seat. “I only wish we could be in our wolf forms for a while.”

Knowing she wanted him to make love to her in both states—in civilization, in their silky human skin, and in the wild, covered in sleek pelts of fur—he totally agreed. “Four more days.”

“The longest I’ve ever had to wait for the moon to appear.”

The two-hour long drive to Bella’s cabin seemed like it grew longer with every mile they drove. Maybe because her thoughts were in such turmoil. What if they discovered the killer in the woods? Or Alfred and his gang?

She shook her head at herself, annoyed she could work herself up likely over nothing. Alfred and his pack members wouldn’t be running around in the woods unless they could change into wolves. And surely the killer wouldn’t hang around there either.

Devlyn reached over and rubbed her shoulder. “A deep trench is dug into your forehead. Want to tell me what’s worrying you?”

“Chrissie and the zoo man. For starters. What if Chrissie let something slip by accident? I know she’s smart, and after having raised her two kids as a single parent for the last three years, she has a lone wolf’s wariness. But Thompson is clever, too. What if he hit on Chrissie’s vulnerability? She desperately wants a man in her life again. Someone who cares for her children, and believe me—they mean the world to her. But she wants someone who loves her and she loves in return, too. It could happen if she thinks he might be the one.”

“I think she’s got a lot more moxie than you give her credit for. I’ll bet she doesn’t give an inch. I can just see her talking Thompson around in circles over the wolves and what might have happened to Rosa. And all he’ll get out of it is another commitment for a dinner out or some other kind of date.”

Bella gave Devlyn a sly smile. “Yeah. I’m sure you’re right. You certainly are observant. Most males aren’t half as perceptive.”

He cast her a smug look. “It’s in the genes. So what else is bothering you?”

“Well, I worried that maybe Alfred and his pack would be running around the woods, but I dismissed that because I’m sure they wouldn’t unless they were wearing their wolf suits.”

“Agreed.”

“But then I wondered if maybe the killer might be there, hiding somewhere.”

Devlyn squared his shoulders and sat taller. “Maybe. If so, I’ll take care of him and that will be the end of that matter.”

She took a deep breath and released it.

“Do you have a problem with that?” he asked, giving her a quizzical look.

“No. He couldn’t kill any longer. Mission accomplished. Then we could return home.”

“What about Alfred and the rest?”

Bella touched Devlyn’s hair. “They’ll have to get along without me.” She pointed to a gravel road off to the right ahead. “Turn there.”

He headed off the main road and drove down the gravel road for five miles until they finally arrived at her cabin. Her Escape was still parked out front. Everything appeared the same as before, when she’d gone on her wolf run and Thompson had found her.

“You don’t mind going home anymore?” Devlyn asked. Hating that she was living such a horrible lie, she swallowed hard. “If ... when Volan returns home, I have every faith you’ll handle him.”

Devlyn leaned back against the driver’s seat. “If?”

“I meant when. It’ll probably take him a while before he realizes we’ve returned to Colorado, don’t you think?”

He cast a wary look her way and then opened his door. “Right.” But he sounded like he didn’t believe her. Damn it, she had to get her feelings under control. Not only that, but she worried he might smell her nervousness. Oh, hell, of course he had. Except he said he saw the furrow in her brow instead.

He lifted his chin up and observed the thunderheads building overhead; she pulled her jacket on and zipped it up. She smelled the rain in the air and knew it wouldn’t hold off for long. “Storm on its way.”

“Maybe we can find something before the rain starts.” He buttoned up his jacket and joined her. Slipping his hands under her jacket, he rested them on her waist. Brushing her lips, he pressed further and gave her a searing kiss. She kissed him back but trembled, and he pulled her tight against his body. “Tell me, Bella, what’s really bothering you?”

She fought the tears welling up.

“Bella honey?” His dark eyes willed her to speak the truth.

She took a hesitant breath. “I’ve always felt safe here until the day Thompson shot me. I didn’t think it would bother me, but, well, it ... does. A ... a little.”

Devlyn nuzzled her cheek, warming the cold skin. “I thought so. No hunting season right now. Most likely no one will be tromping around in the cold and wet. And it’s a weekday, so most everyone is in school or at work. Thompson’s busy with Chrissie, so no worry about him looking to find additions for the zoo. But if you’d like, you can wait for me at your cabin and—”

She straightened her back. “No. I’ll show you where I smelled the reds’ scents. I didn’t know what the murderer’s scent smelled like before, but now that we both do, maybe we can pick it up here.”

He kissed her nose and smiled. “Your nose is icy. Let’s get this over with quickly then.”

She agreed. Her veins already felt like they were filled with ice and her fingers and toes were beginning to numb. She reached into her pockets and pulled out a pair of gloves. “Let’s go.”

For an hour, Devlyn and Bella searched for clues, listening to every sound they could hear—the shivering of pine needles and leaves; the whoosh of the wet, chilly breeze; the rustling of a deer moving through the underbrush; Bella’s rapid breathing.

He moved closer to her and rubbed her arms, her cheeks, and her nose red. Part of him wished she’d stayed back at her cabin, but another part was glad she was with him where he could keep an eye on her. Twice, he’d smelled the scent of Alfred and Ross on the breeze; he thought it was an old scent, yet he didn’t trust her being alone.

“You’re not too cold, are you?” he asked, his voice hushed.

Her eyes had darkened and grew wide. He’d sensed it, too—someone watching, and a hint of something else. He moved closer to the smell and caught sight of drops of dried blood spread over a cluster of brown leaves. Bella crouched beside him, barely breathing, yet he could hear her heart beating pell-mell. He lifted to his nose a leaf covered in drops of blood and took a deep breath.

“Is it hers?” Bella whispered.

He shook his head, relieved but dismayed, too. They needed to find evidence of the red’s complicity. “Rabbit’s,” he clarified.

Letting out her breath, she surveyed the area. He shifted his attention and made a wide sweep but saw nothing out of the ordinary. The breeze picked up and a clap of thunder shook the ground.

He glanced at Bella and saw her tremble again. “Do you want to go back to the vehicle?”

“No. We’ll keep looking. Let’s search where I was shot.”

Admiring her determination, he grasped her arm and helped her up. “You let me know when you want to go back.”

They moved at a slow pace, searching the ground for canine prints or blood and the branches for broken twigs or any other sign of a struggle.

Lightning streaked across the sky and another clash of thunder sounded like it broke the sound barrier. Devlyn stuck close to Bella and they moved away from the spot of the rabbit kill, climbing over moss-covered logs and through dense ferns, lifting their noses to smell any scents that could give them a clue about the murderer or the murdered girl.

When he smelled the water, heard it rushing over the stony creek bed, Bella seized Devlyn’s hand and pulled him to a stop. “Omigosh, look, a family of mink,” she whispered, her voice excited as she pointed through the trees to the creek’s bank.

Devlyn’s attention was rooted to the ground. “Fresh bear tracks,” he warned. Looking around, he spied movement in the trees about twenty yards away. “Over there.” He pointed to the striking cinnamon-colored black bear lumbering in the woods.

“We’re upwind of him. I can’t smell him.”

“You’re right. He’s gotten wind of us,” Devlyn said, his voice raised. He knew from experience to always keep upwind of a bear and to make noise so that he wouldn’t startle one. Although a wolf could take on a bear, bears were known to have killed wolves, too. Certainly as humans, they didn’t stand a chance if the bear decided to attack and kill.

“He was foraging in the blackberry bushes,” Bella added, her voice just as loud. “We need to give him a wide berth.”

The bear rose to stand on his hind legs.

“He’s checking us out,” Devlyn said, moving Bella away from the beast.

The bear lifted his nose and smelled the air and then exhaled a series of several sharp, rasping huffs.

The wind shifted and now they could smell him. “He’s agitated.” Bella took hold of Devlyn’s hand. The bear’s long snout curled up and he snarled. “He’s really not happy.” Bella took a few steps backward. “I think he’s going to charge.”

As unpredictable as bears could be, humans usually couldn’t tell what they intended to do. But as lupus garous, they could smell the bear’s fear and agitation.

“Keep moving backward,” Devlyn said in a firm, controlled voice. “Keep talking and moving away from him.”

Bella stumbled over a broken tree limb behind her, and the bear dropped to his feet and charged.

Devlyn yanked Bella to her feet and shoved her behind him, but the bear stopped a few yards short and roared.

“We’re going!” Devlyn yelled back at the bear. “I sure as hell wish I had my wolf teeth about now.”

The bear stood facing them, either getting ready to charge again or waiting for them to withdraw.

Another fork of wicked lightning smacked the ground a mile away and deafening thunder boomed a second later, unleashing the rains.

Unruffled, the bear stood his ground despite the rain pelting all of them.

Devlyn maneuvered Bella back toward the edge of the forest next to the creek. “Ready to ford it?”

“I don’t think we have much of a choice, although I hadn’t really planned on wading today.”

“Come on, let’s go.” Devlyn hurried her across the stony bank and pulled her into the icy water.

They started to cross the creek, taking it easy over the moss-covered stones while the bear lumbered toward them. As soon as Devlyn felt his feet slipping out from under him, he released Bella so he wouldn’t pull her down with him, but she lost her balance anyway and they both fell into the creek.

“Damn, sorry, Bella honey.” Both soaking wet, Devlyn scrambled to his feet, helped Bella up, and then moved her as fast as he could to the other side.

Her lips were turning blue and her pace was sluggish. “He’s not following us across the creek,” Bella said, casting a glance over her shoulder, her teeth chattering.

“No, but we’ll have to make a wide sweep north of him, where the land’s not as steep, and head back toward the ...” Devlyn pulled Bella to a stop on the opposite bank, and his gaze searched the woods for signs of anyone. He thought he’d smelled the murdering red. He thought he’d caught a glimpse of a dark green jacket, nearly blending with the Douglas fir, withdrawing deeper into the forest. But the rainfall was so heavy and the water ran down his face so hard that he could barely see.

“It’s him,” Bella whispered, her voice on edge. “Did you see him, too?”

She cast Devlyn a fearful glance. “Did you see him?”

“Not sure. Come on. We need to head north.”

“You smelled him, didn’t you, Devlyn?”

“Might have been an old scent.”

He thought he heard her snort, but the sound was muffled in the rain.

For a good half hour, Devlyn and Bella moved through the forest. Although the woods impeded their progress, he didn’t want them exposed along the rocky bank of the creek. And the trees helped deflect some of the pounding rain. But he couldn’t help feeling that the red was following them.

He thought he heard a branch snap behind them once, but the rain poured down in such a torrent that it was hard to hear anything else.

“I think we should cross here,” Bella said, her teeth clattering. “The terrain isn’t as steep on the other side of the creek.”

Holding her hand with a titan grip, he helped her across the creek and up on the opposite bank. When they reached the shelter of the Douglas firs, he pulled her to a stop and watched for any signs of movement in the woods they’d left behind.

Silently, they observed the sheets of rain pounding the branches and the creek bank while he tucked Bella under his arm and held her shivering body close.

Finally, she shook her head. “He knows we’re watching for him. He won’t move out of the safety of the woods.”

“Maybe. Or he might have hightailed it out of here already.”

She looked up at Devlyn and her expression told him she knew differently—that the killer wanted her. That he would stop at nothing to have a real red lupus garou.

Devlyn squeezed her hand and then hurried her through the woods as fast as they both could manage, hoping the rush in their pace would warm her up some. They were a good mile north of where they’d been, and everything was gray, from the sky to the ground, as the rain continued to pour; the visibility was dismal. Devlyn was so intent on returning Bella to the SUV and watching for signs of a trap the murdering red might have rigged that he wasn’t thinking of anything else. But, suddenly, Bella yanked him to a stop. “The odor’s faint, Devlyn, but do you smell it?”

No matter how frozen she had to be, she was still searching for clues of the killer’s movements.

Feeling waterlogged as the rain penetrated every inch of the clothing he wore, soaking him clear to the skin, Devlyn took a deep breath. The girl’s blood. He went into search mode. His gaze glanced at the pine needles and leaves matted on the ground beneath woodland ferns. He breathed in the wet, clean air but also smelled signs of the girl. She’d worn a flowery perfume, and he smelled blood—her blood.

Bella had separated from him, inching along, searching for clues, her eyes glued to the ground, barely breathing, then taking a deep breath, trying to find the source of the smell. “Here, Devlyn!” she shouted.

But something buried under a fern a few feet away caught his attention. Using a stick, he snagged a blood soaked bra out from underneath the plant. He lifted the lacy garment to his nose and took a deep breath. Her blood, her fragrance—beyond a doubt.

Bella came up behind him and stared at the bra. “You knew he killed her out here, didn’t you?”

“He probably took her ‘camping,’ wanting to sequester her away from civilization. But his plan to change her and make her his mate didn’t go as expected. He cared enough for her that he took her back to her apartment, cleaned her up, and dressed her in a nightgown before he laid her to rest in the bed.”

“Then stayed with her until we scared him off.” Bella’s voice sounded choked with tears and she couldn’t look Devlyn in the eye.

“I thought he was there because he needed a place to hide. But now I think he didn’t want to leave her until he was forced to.”

“But you knew she died out here.”

“He’d washed her body, but her hair smelled of the forest and wood smoke. They must have had a campfire and she was in the path of the smoke.” Devlyn glanced at the gold necklace in Bella’s gloved hands, finally taking notice of it. “Hers,” Bella confirmed, shoving it into her jeans pocket. “Same perfume, traces of wood smoke, too.” She pointed at the bra. “You aren’t going to take it with us, are you?”

“No.” He buried it underneath the leaves beneath another fern. “The necklace will be proof enough as far as the red pack is concerned. I wouldn’t want anyone catching us with her bloody garments.”

He wrapped his arms around Bella and pulled her tightly into his embrace. She was shivering; not wanting to prolong their staying here, he whispered against her ear, “Let’s go home, Bella. We’ve found what we came here for. It’s time to go home.”

Bella knew she was close to being hypothermic again and, even though Devlyn wanted to return to her cabin first, she wanted to go home instead. “I don’t have any dry clothes for you, and I used the last of the wood for the fire. The rest of the firewood is too wet to use. And firewood is the only kind of heat I have at the cabin.” She couldn’t say a word without her teeth rattling together and she clenched them tight, but the shivers continued to shake her to the core. But when she saw the SUV, her spirits lifted and her pace quickened. Devlyn opened her door in a flash, and cold, wet, and tired, she somehow managed to climb into the vehicle with his help. How he could not be shivering, she couldn’t imagine.

He slammed her door shut and hurried to the driver’s side. Then he turned the engine on and switched the heater on high, the first cold air chilling her further until they were halfway down the gravel road and the car began to warm up.

She peeled off her gloves, her hands shaking and numb, and held her icy fingers up to the vent. “If we show the necklace to Alfred and his buddies, one might react to the sight of it,” she said, her whole body still trembling. She struggled with her jacket zipper, annoyed that her fingers still weren’t working right. “I know none of them are the killers, but they might know who is.”

Glancing over at her, Devlyn gave her a worried look. “Are you going to be all right, Bella?”

“Yeah, I just need to remove these wet things.” His lips curved up a smidgeon. “I can warm you up a bit.”

“I hoped you’d say that. What about you? Aren’t you freezing?” She jerked her drenched jacket off and tossed it into the backseat. Even her turtleneck was wet, and her jeans were soaked.

“I could use some warming up, too.”

“Hot chocolate should do the trick.” He chuckled, dark and seductively.

She smiled and fumbled with the leather ties on her boots. Having a devil of a time untying the wet laces, she finally managed and sent the boots flying into the backseat. After peeling off her socks, she unfastened her seatbelt, and Devlyn gave her a raised eyebrow look.

“I’ll help you take off your coat,” she said, unable to control the shivers still, even though the interior of the Suburban was warm now and, because of all of the wet clothing inside, the windows began to fog.

Devlyn switched the heater to defrost while Bella unbuttoned his jacket. “That hot chocolate’s sounding better by the second.”

She helped him shrug out of his jacket and threw it over the seat to join hers. Then she started to work on the buttons on his shirt; his face was etched in a permanent wolfish grin.

“Something tells me you aren’t going to wait for me to make some cocoa when we get home.”

“Something tells me you’re right.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek, his lips cold.

She’d definitely have to warm them up.

By the time they arrived home, Bella had managed to remove his shirt and, in a comical maneuvering, his boots and socks. As soon as he pulled into the garage and shut the door, they both shed the rest of their wet clothes. Then together, they gathered them up and dumped them in her dryer where she put the load on high heat for an hour.

Shaking hard, she hurried with him toward the door leading to the kitchen, the ice-cold garage doing a number on her already chilled blood.

Devlyn yanked the door open, intent on getting Bella in a hot shower and taking the warming up process to new sexual levels, but the sight of zoo man Thompson sitting at the dining room table, sipping hot cocoa with Chrissie, nearly compelled Devlyn to have a stroke.