Page 71 of Hell’s Half Acre

The grand cure-all. People chose their path. Against odds and against reason.

But right now, she had a shiver down her spine when it came to leaving Otakar alone with Ryan.

They neared the captain’s door that was slightly ajar.

“Captain?” Sorcha knocked lightly. “You have a minute?”

“Sure. Come in.”

Elana was a tiny woman and yet she had a massive presence that made her seem a lot taller than her petite height. Even though she wasn’t that much older than Sorcha, the captain held an aura about her that said she was a lot wiser than the average person.

From the moment Sorcha had first interviewed with her, she’d adored the woman.

Her small office held a medium wood desk that was littered with papers and a framed picture of her with her wife and kid. Reyes was in the process of looking over a murder scene. Grisly photos were on her monitor and the file opened on her desk was a cold case.

“Are we disturbing you?” Sorcha asked.

“I’m grateful for the distraction. What can I do for you?”

Sorcha hesitated as she tried to think of a tactful way to ask Reyes if she knew her brother was a werewolf.

Things of this nature needed to be carefully addressed.

At least that was her thought until Luke spoke up from behind her. “Do you know your brother is a werewolf?”

Reyes froze in place. Then, she blinked slowly. “You are aware that I’m armed, right?”

Luke smiled. “And we both know a bullet won’t kill me.”

Sighing, Reyes leaned back in her chair. For several heartbeats she sat in silence as if debating what to say. “Yes. I’m aware Carlos is a werewolf. But he’s not a fully evolved one. Least not yet.”

Sorcha scowled at her words. “What does that mean?”

“He hasn’t taken human blood,” Reyes and Luke said in unison.

Luke scratched at the stubble on his cheek. “Like vampires, a bitten werewolf doesn’t come into full power until they prey on a human.”

Lovely thought.

“Is that a polite way of saying kills one of us?”

Luke screwed his face up. “That would do it, but they can just simply drink some blood. The more blood, the more powerful.”

Sorcha grimaced at the thought. “So we’re paranormal Red Bull.”

“Exactly.” Luke winked at her.

She had no idea how to feel about that.

“So what happened to him? How was he converted?” Luke asked.

“The usual. Went out drinking with guys I told him to avoid. They were attacked and unlike the other idiots, he didn’t run. He decided to fight off his attacker who was after another target. Carlos ended up being scratched and the next full moon was an eye-opening experience for all of us.”

Luke scowled at her words. “No Alpha contacted him?”

“Not at first. The wolf who turned him had no idea he’d scratched him. Again, he wasn’t after Carlos. The scratch was an accident.”

Sorcha winced at the thought and made a mental note for the future. Because that would be her luck. Minding her own business and wham!