Page 20 of Christmas Embrace

“Y’all know whatever killed those wolves, it wasn’t wolves or vamps,” Logan said, still sitting at his desk. “I saw pics. They were torn open worse than any wolf would do.”

“I have my suspicion about what could do this kind of damage. Saw the bodies myself. If whatever did it is still in New Orleans, we could have a problem on our hands,” Kade said.

“Why did it spare the pup?” Tristan asked.

“That’s a question that needs to be answered. It could have easily killed him, so my guess is it wanted the pup to live. It doesn’t make sense, but every other living thing was dead.” Kade shrugged. “We recently had spell work done to shore up the wards. After what happened with Quintus, I’ve got no time for the nonsense again. So whatever it was, it’s not coming in the house.”

Tristan and Logan stood, sharing a quick fist bump. “Catch you later, dude. I’m in town for a few days so we’ll get together for a run after the wedding, yeah?”

“Absolutely,” Logan agreed.

“Alpha.” Kade nodded.

“I’ll keep in mind what you’ve said. I should know something soon,” Logan told him.

“You do that, Alpha, you do that.” Kade gave a tight smile as he left, knowing it didn’t matter what the Alpha decided. His family came first even if that meant leaving New Orleans forever.

Chapter Five

Sydney stared at the body, no longer distracted by the putrid rotting flesh. She searched within herself for sympathy she knew she should have for the dead wolf lying before her but couldn’t summon any.

“Who were you?” Sydney asked out loud. Cold dark eyes stared back at her, silence filling the room. “What were you doing with those wolves? How did you meet them? Were you with the gangster who killed your mate? Whatever you were doing Trinity, you could have killed Zachery. How could you?”

Sydney sensed Tony lingering outside long before he opened the door to the morgue. She continued to stare at the lifeless body.

“I wouldn’t expect many answers,” Tony commented.

“I loathe her, you know.” The deep-seated hate for Trinity had been born the first day when she found the baby, alone without his family. “She may have been wolf, but evil lay within her heart.”

“Was she a user? Meth? H?” he asked.

“She’s clean. But she was carrying. Tox report is on the counter,” she commented, studying the bloodied clothing.

Tony raised a white sheet of paper into the air. “She had twenty pellets of fentanyl inside her stomach?”

“Yeah, she did.”

“Just where did she think she was going with all those drugs?”

“She rolled with some very bad people.” Sydney sighed. “All I know is that they were held up in a swanky penthouse. Airbnb in the quarter. They found tickets booked for London in the car.”

“Just one car? What was it? A party bus?”

“Escalade. Maybe the others took a taxi? P-CAP doesn’t know yet.”

“You workin’ the case?”

“Floriana Rizzoni’s got the lead on it. No way they’d let me work it. These days I’m just consult anyway. To be honest, with my, uh, transition and finding Zachery, I’ve had what you’d call an epiphany. Sometimes work isn’t everything. You know I was never crazy about working supe cases…even though I am one now. And with these special fangs of mine, I’m not exactly welcome at NOPD.”

“I can’t believe that, Syd.”

“It’s all good. Consulting works well for me. Keeps me in the game. But now that Zach’s back home? It feels like everything has changed. All I want to do is take care of my son. It’s the only reason I’m here. I had to see her one last time.” She shook her head, still studying the corpse. “Drug trafficking? Jesus, Trinity. It’s a good thing Zach will never see you like this.”

Sydney reached for a nitrile glove. As she snapped it on, a doctor dressed in scrubs pushed open the door.

“Couldn’t stay away, could ya, Syd?” he asked in a jovial manner, glancing at Tony as he entered.

“What can I say? You know this one is personal.”