“I just do. You’ve got tomorrow evening off, don’t you?”
“Of course. It’s the full moon.”
“It’s a good thing there are so many werewolves on the Boston police force, especially the ones who arrange your schedule.”
“If you do the job tonight, you’ll be nearly at full strength.”
“True.”
“Pretend your sexy librarian is watching. Muscles get the ladies hot.”
“Yeah. That’ll work.” Konrad rested his chin on his fist and drifted off into a fantasy of Roz Wells without baggy sweats.
Chapter 2
“Argh, this sucker weighs a ton.” Konrad’s muscles ached as he struggled under the weight of the freezer. “Shouldn’t have had that chocolate cake.”
He had propped open the back door of the restaurant using the tall, cylindrical dessert case. All that remained of the third shelf were crumbs, and his stomach hurt.
As he managed the few steps that led to the alley, he muttered, “Damn Nicholas. Why can’t he take a turn once in a while? Just because he’s a cop—”
“Hey, you! What are you doing?”
He froze. “Fuck.” Konrad tipped the freezer back enough to see who had called out. He lost his precarious balance, and the huge chest slid out of his grasp. Falling backward, he hit the curb with his hip.Ow, damn it!A second later, the freezer hit the street with such force, it may have cracked the pavement.
Konrad rolled to the side as quickly as he could, but the heavy ice chest pinned his leg to the ground. It held him just long enough for the witness, who looked like a homeless guy, to yell for the cops.
“Shit. I should have checked the boxes and crates in this damn alley first.”
If only the guy would move out of view, Konrad could shift and reappear as a big dog limping away, but the shift would take a couple of minutes, and who knew how fast the cops would get there? An unreliable witness might be dismissed or might not. To expose his shapeshifter capabilities might be worse than getting caught. His muscles vibrated as he tried to lift the dead weight off his leg.
Unfortunately he had to remain in human form or risk exposure, the very worst thing that could happen to a werewolf. To expose the existence of one would lead to witch hunts for others. Maybe even government experiments.Ugh. Being dissected would really suck.
By the time he pushed the freezer aside enough to free himself, a uniformed cop on horseback came charging down the alley.
Konrad shook his head and mumbled, “Too late. Caught by the damn Mounties.”
***
While Konrad waited in his cell, he reflected on his life with a good dose of self-pity. In 1922, he and his brother had been running away from home, and while making their way through the woods at night, they happened upon a werewolf council meeting. They were turned and taken into the pack to prevent exposure—even back then it was a werewolf’s greatest fear. As long as humans didn’t believe werewolves existed, they were safe.
He had worked his way up to the alpha leader of the Newton pack. Yes, Newton, Massachusetts. He was proud of how completely he and his brother had been able to blend in, even in a pricey neighborhood. He helped found a private school for troubled boys and subsequently became the dean of students.
Life was good, until he took in a lone wolf named Petroski, who had used Konrad’s tendency toward kindness to oust him. The newcomer managed to poison the pack’s opinion of him. Petroski challenged him for alpha status, and by cheating, won.
Now Konrad sat in a jail cell for the first time in his life, without the support of his pack and without the help of his brother. With a breakfast that no matter how hungry he was, he couldn’t wolf down. He wanted to howl at the sun.
“Wolfensen, you’ve got a visitor.”
The guard startled him out of his pity party. Konrad stood and groaned, still sore from the night’s activities. He stretched as he waited for his cell door to open. He could easily overpower the guard and escape, but curiosity got the better of him. No one knew where he was, so who’d come to see him? Did Nick hear about it?
He followed the guard past the long row of occupied jail cells. It had obviously been a busy night for the Boston PD. He and the guard stopped at the end of the corridor in front of a door with a small window. The guard opened the door and told him to go ahead inside and sit on the far side of the wooden table. A woman wearing a gray suit with her brown hair twisted into a bun sat in the seat closer to the door.
“Ah, you must be the lawyer they promised me.”
She turned her head enough to see his face. And he recognizedher.
“Roz?”Holy crap! Way to make a good impression…
