No one could have missed the body—although, I wished I had.

The sight, the smell, the knowledge that this was once someone I’d known…my gut twisted so hard I thought I might throw up. Reagan was the one who usually dealt with these sorts of situations, not me, and even she looked a tad green. Jerrik, on the other hand, was as calm as a summer breeze. Joys of being a former professional assassin.

Worse, I couldn’t look away. Like a car wreck, my eyes kept straying back, and each time, they picked out something different. The position of her body, the look of utter terror contorting what remained of her face, even her mutilated throat. Something with claws had struck her deep, leaving behind a gory tapestry of gouges that ran from her forehead down to her collarbone. If Reagan hadn’t told me this was Marie, I never would have guessed it.

“Jesus,” Reagan whispered.

I struggled to swallow, then nodded. “Vampires did this? I thought…”

“The movies romanticize them,” Leif offered. “Vampires are hardly the doe-eyed lovers you’ve seen in all the flicks. In real life, they’re monsters.” Without another word, he ducked beneath the police tape and entered the perimeter.

Reagan sucked a sharp breath in through her clenched teeth, but before she could say anything, I grabbed her wrist and shook my head. Regardless of her personal feelings, we weren’t the professionals here. And if we wanted to find the bastards who did this, we needed all the help we could get. Especially the help of an infamous vampire hunter. Leif knew what he was doing. We needed to let him do his job.

She pursed her lips but held her tongue and watched as he crouched next to the body.

Damn. The body. Not Marie. Not anymore, anyway. Whatever had once made her Marie was gone now. All that remained was an empty shell.

The muscles around my heart squeezed. Marie might be gone, but we still had a duty to do. We needed to avenge her death, for us, for her, for those left in her life who would want answers. I couldn’t even imagine how her parents would react when they learned the truth. The few times I’d met them, I’d thought them the sweetest couple I’d ever met. And we were about to ruin their lives.

“The police have already been through here and recorded everything,” Reagan finally commented. “They gave us the go-ahead to look around.”

Leif glanced back over his shoulder. “You all right with me looking, then?”

Her jaw tightened, but eventually, she nodded. “So long as you tell us everything you find.”

“Agreed.” He shot Jerrik a terse glare, then turned back to Marie and pointed at the claw marks. “See these?”

“Kind of hard to miss.”

He nodded. “Vampires sprout claws like us. And they’re equally lethal. But these monsters have an advantage we don’t. Their claws secrete a paralyzing agent. One nick is all it takes.”

A shiver screamed down my spine. The thought of being at such a disadvantage left a bad taste in my mouth. I couldn’t imagine the horror…laying there paralyzed while something tore you to pieces. “Is that… Is that why Marie didn’t shift?”

The slight waver in my voice drew Leif’s attention. Eyes soft, he gave another nod. “That, and the vamps wouldn’t have given her the chance to change. Shifting takes time. And vampires prefer their meals without fur.”

“You’ve never known a single vampire to feed off animals?” I asked.

Leif’s mouth crooked. “This isn’t some romance novel we’re in. Vampires are monsters. They feed off human blood. End of story.”

“But Marie wasn’t human,” Reagan countered.

“I’ve crossed paths with a few throughout the years who preferred werewolf blood. Has a certain kick, or so I’ve heard. The magic that runs through our veins or some shit. We’re close enough to humans that we don’t disrupt their diet. But feeding off werewolves is dangerous. We’re stronger than humans. We can fight back. Which is why those who prefer our blood tend to go after the weak.”

Tears pricked at my eyes. “Marie was a submissive. But she knew how to fight. We all do. Reagan taught us.”

Leif’s head snapped toward us. “Really?”

“Is that so surprising?” Reagan drawled.

“A little. I didn’t expect a pack with a leader as old as yours to be so…progressive.”

Reagan clucked under her breath. “Gabriel might be the alpha, but I’m the one in charge of training the pack. My father taught me to fight, and I decided to pass that knowledge down to each and every pack member.” She winced and glanced at Marie. “Not that it helped in this case.”

“Marie never stood a chance,” Leif offered, his voice soft. “Maybe you’ve trained your pack to fight humans or other werewolves, but not vampires. Don’t beat yourself up over it.”

Easy for him to say. He hadn’t known Marie. To him, she was nothing more than another victim. To us…she was our sister-wolf.

“Can you teach the pack to defend themselves against vampires?” Jerrik asked, his rough baritone startling me.

“Depends,” was all Leif said.

Frowning, he brushed his knuckles against Marie’s chin. Her head lolled lifelessly to the side, exposing glimmering sinew and bone.

I pressed the back of my hand against my mouth and turned away. Saliva pooled at the back of my throat, and the contents of my stomach sluiced upward.

Reagan wound an arm around my waist and gave a comforting squeeze.

“There.” Leif gestured toward her throat. “Bite marks, hidden beneath the claw marks. Clever beasts.”

“Clever? How?” Reagan demanded.

“They were trying to hide their fang marks. Whoever originally investigated the body must have had a keen eye to have found those. I can barely make them out myself. They scored her neck in an attempt to conceal them.”

“Could mean they have a larger purpose here,” Reagan muttered.

The three of us glanced her way with matching inquisitive expressions.

She gestured toward the body. “Why hide the marks? Why make an effort? If they’d only wanted to feed, they would have just left her body where it lay. But they didn’t. They tried to hide that they fed on her. Meaning, they don’t want anyone to know they’re here. And when someone goes to such extremes, I have to wonder why.”

Leif turned back to Marie’s body with a quirked brow. “Perhaps they didn’t want me to know they’re here.”

“Or Gabriel,” I offered. “He cut through their ranks a few hundred years ago. Maybe they remember. Maybe they fear him?”

“Either way, we have an advantage,” Reagan said. “We know they’re here. So, we can alert the pack and the media—”

“No.” Leif pushed to his feet and dusted the dirt off his knees. “If you go to the media with this, not only will you start a widespread panic, but you’ll force the vampires back into hiding. Careless vamps are easier to hunt. It’ll give away our advantage.”

“What?” I shook my head. “We can’t just leave everyone in the dark. That’s dangerous.”

“We don’t need to leave them in the dark. We can keep the vampires a secret and still warn people. Release a statement. Tell the public it was a pack of ghouls or a psycho with a knife. Anything that will have them wary of leaving their houses at night. We can warn them and keep our advantage.”

A small smile pulled at my lips. “Then we can hunt the vampires while they think we’re looking somewhere else.”

Leif met my gaze with an approving grin. “We’ll also circulate the story that Gabriel isn’t happy with my presence here and has me locked up or something. Give them a false sense of security.”

Reagan nodded. “I gotta say, I like the way you think.”

He flashed her another devastatingly handsome smile. “Knew you’d warm up to me.”

I bit my lip to keep from laughing.

“Can you track them down, though?” she asked.

“I always have in the past. And there’s a scent on the body. It’s faded, but I’ll recognize it if I catch it again. In the meantime, we need to try and find where they’re staying. Vampires don’t travel lightly, and always with a small menagerie.”

“Why?” I asked.

“Strength in numbers, I assume. I’ve never stopped to ask. One could also ask why we live in packs. If Reagan were to go overseas, would she go alone?”

She shook her head. “I’d bring along a small guard, including Jerrik.”

Jerrik and Leif shared another brief glance, as though actively avoiding contact with one another. Eventually, Leif nodded.

“All right, well this is happening…” Reagan murmured before ducking under the tape.

“What are you doing?” I asked.

“If there’s a scent, I want it. Who’s to say Gabriel will even allow Leif to track these bastards down.” She drew in a deep breath and rolled out her shoulders. Then she crouched next to Marie, her face pale. Even I cringed. It was one thing to watch from afar, and another to get up close and personal. “It’s faint, but I’ve got it. Sharp. Almost…”

“Reptilian,” Leif finished.

“Is that normal?” I asked.

“We smell like wolves, our wild brethren,” he said with a shrug. “Vampires smell like reptiles.”

Ugh. That didn’t sound appealing at all. I’d never been a fan of snakes and was less so now.

Reagan leaned back on her haunches and gazed down at Marie. “We’ll find who did this, and we’ll put them down before they can hurt anyone else.”

A murmur of assent rose from my lips, but before I could say a word, a soft chirp came from Reagan’s pocket. She rose to her feet and fished out her phone. The slight furrowing of her brow told me everything I needed to know.

“Gabriel?” I asked.

She nodded. “He wants an update.”

“Which means…”

Reagan shot Leif a stern glance. “Time to meet our alpha. You ready?”

“Do I have a choice?”

“Nope.”

“What about Marie?” I asked.

“The coroner is waiting nearby for us to finish. They’ll take care of her. Let’s go.”

Reagan and Jerrik started for the car without another word, but I lingered behind, my focus straying back to Marie. We’d never been close, but I’d considered her a friend. The realization that we’d never see her at another pack meeting, or hear her voice join ours when howling, brought tears to my eyes.

“Lucy?”

I sniffled and lifted my head, forcing a faint smile. “I’m all right.”

With a soft sigh, Leif wrapped his arms around me and drew me into his chest. “I’m sorry this happened. It’s my fault.”

“No.” I shook my head. “Place the blame where it belongs. With the vampires.”

“Guys?” Reagan called out.

“We’re coming.” I untangled myself from Leif’s arms, wiped my eyes, then trailed after her and Jerrik. I was dreading this meeting with Gabriel, but Reagan was right. We couldn’t hide Leif from him. The consequences would be far worse if we did.

Leif would be fine. I had to believe that.