Jeremiah shook his head, finally looking at Kurt. “You have to be a better agent than you’re acting. Pete was investigating the Volk mines and Seth in particular, and then he just magically fell off a cliff? And now his girlfriend is steering you in another direction? Wake up, Agent Colbey. Somebody has to find justice for that man.”
Mia crossed her legs as nausea attacked her. She’d thought she had escaped the morning sickness for the day, but apparently not. “You know, Dr. Bankston,” she said quietly, “that was a nice deflection, but we were talking about you and your connection to the nurse taken from this property and murdered, and the other young nurse dumped at your commune.”
“Co-op,” he corrected.
“Whatever. That’s quite a connection. Now, I’m going to run you through a list of women’s names, and you’re going to tell me if you know them. Believe me, if you’re lying, I will find out.” She sat back because this interview was going to take quite a while.
Chapter31
The moment the bullet impacted Seth, he growled, pivoted, and shielded Jenny. Several more pierced his shoulders and legs as he scooped her up and barreled through the front door, kicking it shut behind him. He set her down.
“Run,” he growled. Then, without waiting to see if she did, he shifted into a wolf. The pain was excruciating throughout his entire body as he changed, and silver bullets popped out in every direction. His shift in such a small area sent out a shockwave that shattered the mirror near the door as well as the wooden end table. The contents spun through the air and landed on various surfaces. Agony ripped through him, but he bounded back out the door on all fours, even as the men continued firing.
He dodged bullets and reached Clyde Barnby first. Snarling, Seth barreled into him in wolf form and sank his teeth into the man’s neck. Barnby tried to shift, but Seth dug deep into his throat and snapped his jaw shut.
Clyde let out a piercing scream.
In pure animal form, Seth dug in harder and ripped until the man’s head flew off his body.
The other two men discarded their guns and started to shift, rapidly dropping to all fours in wolf form. Both snarled and ducked their heads, preparing to charge.
Movement around the garage caught Seth’s attention, and he saw Greg Treverton walk out, a paper bag in his hand. He stopped cold, taking in the scene. “What the hell?”
His cousin Lewis, shiny beige coat shaking, yipped wildly.
Greg’s face turned tomato red. “Absolutely not,” he roared. In one smooth movement, he leaped into the air and shifted into a wolf, shredding his clothing.
Seth tried to set his stance, unsure if all three would ram him at once.
Rolie Barnby moved first and tackled Seth in a flurry of snapping canines and slashing claws. Falling back on his training, Seth flipped them both over, caught the animal by the hind legs, and threw him over his head before bouncing back up onto all fours to prepare for the next attacker.
Greg leaped over him, and the sound of Greg and Lewis colliding boomed through the morning.
So, Greg was on his side. Good. Seth slid on the wet grass as Rolie attacked again.
Seth was bleeding heavily, and his body was weakened, but when Rolie sank his teeth into Seth’s shoulder, he turned his head and jabbed his canine into Rolie’s left eye. The wolf shifter yelped and tried to back up, his body convulsing. Seth followed him and scraped his teeth all the way down the wolf’s muzzle to sink into his maw, tasting fur and the coppery tang of blood. He dug deep and found purchase, then turned his head suddenly, ripping out the wolf’s jugular.
Blood sprayed in every direction, and Seth spit out the other animal’s flesh. Fire flashed down his back as the silver started weakening his limbs. Only pure stubbornness kept him on his paws and not facedown in the bloody grass.
Rolie flopped three times and then died, the breath whistling out of his lungs for the last time. He died in wolf form and would remain so forever.
Gasping, Seth turned to see both Greg and Lewis pausing and then shifting back into their human forms. Seth did the same and took inventory of his injuries. Blood flowed freely from both his legs and back. Claw marks dug deep into his chest and down his right flank, those cuts bleeding, as well.
The world was going blurry, and he knew he was about to pass out.
Lewis looked at his dead friends and then took a step back. “This isn’t over.” The flesh over the right side of his jaw had been torn away, leaving his teeth visible. When he spoke, blood spurted from beneath his eye.
Greg towered over him and put his hands on his hips. He lacked injuries and didn’t even seem bruised. “What were you doing?” he asked, blood sliding from his mouth. Probably Lewis’s.
Lewis had several wounds on his body, and he looked at his cousin, panic lighting his eyes. He appeared stocky and muscled but much smaller than his overlarge cousin. “We were trying to do the right thing. Mia has to die.”
Greg stiffened and snarled as Jenny walked onto the porch, pale and shaking, looking at the scene.
“How could you?” she yelled at Lewis.
He shook his head. “You don’t understand. Mia was pregnant before they mated. You know my advanced sense of smell. I could tell the truth in one whiff.”
Jenny gasped and put both hands to her mouth.
