"You might not want to breathe. I'm sure there are still fumes from the toxic combination of cleaning supplies I used." As I slid open the sliding glass door, Wren pushed me out of the way and stood in the doorway, a growl leaving her throat. It was single-handedly the sexiest and most terrifying thing I'd ever heard.
A man stepped into view at the end of the hallway leading to the front of the house. He was dressed in all black tactical gear with his arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his scarred face. It looked like someone had gotten him good with a knife.
"What are you doing here?" Wren stayed in the doorway, not moving an inch to let us through.
We should have been the ones in front of her. My wolf did not approve of her sticking her neck out on the line like she was. But I knew if I yanked her back outside, she would not like that. Wren was different from other women. She was independent, a trained agent, and had skills I couldn't even begin to comprehend.
"You didn't check-in yesterday like we agreed on and then we found a burned-to-the-ground barnand went from there. We already cleaned up the mess at Marcos Delgado's property." The man, who I was assuming was a coalition agent, walked down the hall toward us. "Where's the body?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." Wren hadn't moved an inch. "We just got here."
"If the human authorities stepped foot in this house, it would be blatantly obvious someone was killed here." The man stopped where the hallway opened into the living room and looked around. "There's evidence of foul play everywhere I look."
He gestured to the throw pillows and a shattered mess on the floor before walking over by the couch and looking at something with his hands on his hips. "Gun residue and blood."
Wren let out a frustrated sigh and her back stiffened. "I killed two men. Their bodies are buried in the woods."
"Wren-" Zayn tried to push his way past me, and I grabbed his wrist and shook my head. "But-"
"You're admitting to murder?" The guy moved closer, his eyebrow lifted. "Your status isn't going to give you any favoritism."
"I'm not asking for favoritism. It was either kill or be killed." She shrugged. "These men are bad news, Trevor. They had a female wolf locked in thebasement that had been bought. There's a vet involved, but we don't know in what way yet."
They stared at each other for a long minute before I finally couldn't stand it any longer. "She didn't kill them, I did."
Her head swiveled around, and she pinned me with a glare and a look that said to shut the hell up.
"I did too." Sullivan shoved his way through the door and looked Trevor up and down. "Since your agency isn't doing its job, someone had to."
Zayn pulled his wrist away from me and shoved in to stand next to Sullivan. "I killed them. Ripped their throats out for hurting my sister and taking my Wrenny."
Trevor ran his hand down his face and let out a heavy sigh. "Jesus Christ, Wren."
"Did you bring a team? We didn't do a good job of burying the two bodies or of cleaning." Wren finally moved into the house.
I didn't like that she was trying to take the fall for something Zayn did, but it also made my heart feel full that she was willing to do that for him.
"The team is dealing with the man in the basement." He looked amongst us. "I'm going to need to take all of you back to headquarters for questioning."
"Absolutely not. There is way too much at staketo follow procedure on this." Wren walked right past him toward the hallway. "We're going to go clean up, regroup, and go to every damn vet in the entire valley if we need to."
"You quit. You have no jurisdiction to act on behalf of the coalition." Trevor followed her as she marched down the hall.
I looked at the others and rubbed the back of my neck. "We can't let her take the fall for this."
"It's my fault. I should be the one dealing with the consequences. You always warned me that you wouldn't be able to protect me from the coalition." Zayn sighed and walked into the kitchen. "I need some ice cream."
"Don't touch anything!" Sullivan lunged in between him and the freezer. "Now is not the time to be looking for snacks."
Zayn looked over at me. "Can you believe this guy?"
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "He has a point."
"Wow. Way to stand up for me, BFF. I'll remember this!" Zayn marched out of the kitchen and headed down the hall.
"He's not serious, is he?" Sullivan joined me as we followed him to the entryway, where Wren was standing in a huddle with about six men. "I don'tlike that she's naked with all those men around her."
Wren was facing us in the circle and gave us a soft smile before turning her attention back to the conversation she was having. None of them were looking at her body, but I didn't like her standing there naked either.
