****
Seth studied the photo of Aiza for a long, silent moment. Sera studied his face while he did so, looking for any flicker of recognition, any mild change of expression that would betray him. But there wasn’t as much as a twitch of an eye. His face was as still as stone as he passed the picture back to her.
“I’ve never seen her before. Sorry; I never spent much time in Portland.”
Sera shrugged. “It was worth a shot. It’s just...what was she doing with those assholes? You know? What business did she have with them?”
“Was she a wolf?”
“No. I mean...I don’t know. I hadn’t seen her or heard from her in years. She could have been turned into one. But I thought that was generally frowned upon?”
Seth nodded in confirmation. “It is. And it’s downright banned by the Brotherhood. They’ll allow turned wolves in the pack, but if anybody is caught turning a werewolf, they’re executed.”
“Wow. Wait...they’re executed?”
“Both the wolf and the one they’re turning.”
“Do you think that’s what happened to Aiza?”
“I don’t know.”
“How can we find out?” Sera asked. “Is there a way to tell if Aiza was a wolf when she died? Would it have been in the coroner’s report?”
“Unlikely.”
“What about her medical records?”
“Only if she volunteered the information.”
“There has to be a way. You’ve never needed to test to see if a body is also a werewolf?”
“It comes up less than you think.” Seth folded his arms and ducked his chin, giving the impression of studying the ground; she could almost see the wheels turning behind his eyes. “There’s a way. But we’d have to...do something you probably don’t want to do.”
“What? Tell me.”
“Exhume her body.”
“We’d have to dig her up?” Sera couldn’t believe she was considering this, but knowing the answer could be the key to solving the mystery. “What then?”
“We expose her skin to wolfsbane.”
“Wolfsbane?”
Seth smiled. “It’s a flower. That’ll be easy enough to get—it grows wild all over the place.”
“Then I guess we’ll just need some shovels.”
Seth’s smile transformed into a frown. “Are you sure about this? It’ll be mighty hard to explain why we’re digging up a body when the cops come.”
“Then we better not get caught. We’ll go to the store in the morning and get shovels and head torches and we’ll dig a big hole.”
He looked skeptical at that. “In the middle of the day?”
“No, tomorrow night. That’ll be soon enough. In the meantime, maybe you should help me go through her room.”
“You want me to help you go through your dead sister’s personal belongings?”
“If you wouldn’t mind.” Sera took a deep breath, understanding her request was a little strange. “I think a second pair of eyes will help. Besides, there might be some Brotherhood or wolf-related information that I don’t recognize, but you might.”
“I’ll be happy to help in any way I can, but I can’t guarantee anything.”
“It’s better than no help at all.”
Sera had been through every drawer and nook and cranny, but she’d left everything where she found it. Now she was glad she didn’t quite have the heart to tuck her sister’s life away completely. If there were any clues to be found, Sera didn’t want to be guilty of disrupting the evidence.
They began to rummage, and minutes later, Seth straightened from his perusal of Aiza’s bottom drawers. “Well, this might be something.”
“What have you got?”
“A collar.”
“A collar? Like, a dog collar?”
“Yes. An electric dog collar. With your sister’s name on it.”
“What? Let me see that. Why on earth...what would she have this for?” Sera physically recoiled at the thought of her sister wearing that thing, using it, being punished with it. “It’s probably not just a sex thing, is it?”
“We won’t know until after we do the wolfsbane test. But if I were a betting man, I’d say it probably wasn’t a sex thing.” At her inquiring look, he added, “A human that’s turned into a werewolf lacks the instinct to shift from their wolf form to their human form, but a good shock to the system, like from this collar, will do the trick.” He paused, tilting his head. His nostrils flared. “Stephanie is here.”
“What? How do—” The chime of the doorbell halted her question. “Who’s Stephanie?”
“She’s the female alpha of my pack. I hope you don’t mind, I called and gave her the address when we got here.”
Sera shook off the pang of disappointment. Of course he’d call for a ride at the first opportunity. “As long as she wasn’t followed, I don’t mind. Hey, did you tell her how we met?”
“I told her you helped me get away from the Brotherhood. That’s all she needs to know.”
The doorbell chimed again and Seth hurried to the front of the house. Sera’s attention shifted back to the collar, her active imagination easily conjuring a thousand scenarios linking Aiza’s death to the darker implications of the electrified leather. She frowned, studying the leather closer. It was clearly hand stitched, made to order and personalized. Somebody poured effort and love into its creation.
“Sera? Do you mind coming out here for a minute?”
Sera stashed the collar in the drawer. “Coming.” Maybe he wanted to say goodbye. Or maybe this Stephanie wanted to get a good look at her. Sera knew nothing about the hierarchy of wolf packs, and she wasn’t sure if being the alpha female meant she was also involved in some way with Seth.
The first thing that struck Sera was the other woman’s height—she was easily six feet tall, and she was not wearing heels. Her tall frame was well-muscled and nicely curved, and her almond-shaped eyes and pointed nose gave her a distinctively pretty face.
Her light brown hair was pulled back into a sloppy bun and she wore ratty gray sweatpants and an oversized sweater. A duffel bag sat on the floor at Seth’s feet, and she was looking him over with thin-lipped concern and more than a hint of exasperation.
“Stephanie Tanner, this is Sera Simpson.”
Stephanie’s grip was firm but her smile was friendly as they shook hands, and it was clear her exasperation was reserved for Seth. “It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said. “And thanks for helping this idiot avoid a broken neck.”
“Um, well, it was the least I could do,” Sera said, finding herself warming to the other woman.
“Yeah. Seth told me you’ve got your own unfinished business with the Brotherhood. Don’t worry, he didn’t go into any details, but you should avoid those guys if you can. I’m going to tell you the same thing I told him: go home. Where it’s safe.”
“Well, thanks for the warning, but I can’t go anywhere. Not until I find out what they did to my sister.”
Stephanie studied her for a moment and then offered an understanding nod. “I get it.” She looked back to Seth. “I brought everything you asked for. Is there anything else I can do?”
Seth took one of the pictures of Dwight from his shirt pocket. “See what you can find out about this man. His name is Dwight and he may have been the last one to see Aiza alive.”
“Brotherhood scum?”
“The sort you find at the bottom of a swamp, I’d imagine.”
“On it. Any word on Tony or Chen?”
Seth shook his head with a grim frown. “Not yet, but the trail isn’t cold.”
“I’ll call you when I know anything.” She turned to Sera, surprising her with a quick, tight hug. “We’ll get to the bottom of this.”
“Thank you.”
“I’ll walk you out,” Seth said. He was outside with Stephanie for a long time—long enough that Sera had enough time to start cooking breakfast and drive herself crazy with all the images of what they might have been doing outside—but she played that off as he entered the kitchen. “I hope you like eggs.”
“Even if I didn’t, I’m starving. Can I do anything to help?”
“You can grate that cheese. I thought she was coming to pick you up.”
“Did you want me to leave? I can call her.”
“No,” Sera answered quickly. “No, I...I’d like you to stay. But I thought maybe you’d want to go.”
“I want to help you.”
“And Stephanie? She wants to help me, too?”
“Let’s just say you’re not the only one who’s lost someone to the Brotherhood. Now, let’s figure out what we’re going to need tonight—besides no rain and a lot of luck.”