These same thoughts were processing through my head as I made my way home through the darkened streets. All that really seemed to have happened was that I had increased my total number of suspects from three to six. They all had strong motives, they all had the opportunity, and yet there were arguments to be made against all of them as being responsible. It was starting to dawn on me that the main problem with solving the attempted murder of Kenai King was that the man himself collected enemies for fun. Everybody wanted to kill him. Or, at least, had reason to.

I had half a mind to go back to King and suggest that, rather than me continuing with the investigation, he should just try being nice to people for a change and the issue might take care of itself.

To make matters worse, I was even starting to doubt myself where the brothers were concerned. All the Pack Leaders I had spoken to had been sure Tanner, Gray and Hudson, separately or together, had hired the assassin - that suspicion didn't come from nowhere. And while the Pack Leaders all had strong motives - personal, pack or both - they would likely still have to go through war to get what they wanted, while the brothers just inherited their reward.

Still, I found it a lot easier to believe bad shit about Jack, Venus and Sean than I did about Tanner, Gray and Hudson. But was that just because I was developing strong feelings for the latter three?

The worries and ideas went around and around in my head like one of those vicious bicycles you hear about, as I crossed out of MacKenzie territory and made my way through the No Man's Land that lay between it and Arctic streets. I stuck to No Man's Land, following Manvers Street up in the direction of Kenai land and my home. I was tired from a long and frustrating day, I could almost feel my bed pulling me like a magnet.

But my day wasn't over yet, and it wasn't about to get any easier.

Out of the darkness jumped three men. I knew they were werewolves instantly, just from the way they moved, and I knew they weren't here to wish me a safe journey home because they were all wearing masks.

For a heartbeat I froze, but no longer than that. One thing you learn quickly in my job is that turning and running is always the right thing to do - it may make you look like a coward or, if you have misinterpreted the situation, like a fucking idiot, but better to be an idiotic coward than a bold corpse. This is something you either learn quickly or not at all - it's not something that can be picked up through trial and error.

I took to my heels faster than you could blink, and as I did, I heard the communal growl behind me and knew that they had shifted form. I was now being pursued on foot by three werewolves, who could outrun me like Usain Bolt racing a guinea pig. But as it turned out, they didn't have to catch me. Up ahead, another two masked men stepped out to cut off my retreat. These ones stayed in human form, so I could see the smug, cruel smiles on their faces. They were smiles that said this would not be a quick death - some wolves like to play with their food.

Automatically, my hand went for my shoulder holster - not as impressive a weapon as the one I keep in my car, but a silver bullet is a silver bullet - but my hand found nothing. One thing you absolutely don't do when you are visiting the city's werewolf elite, is carry a weapon - that's how you get shredded. On the other hand, it seemed I was going to get shredded anyway. I cursed myself for deciding to walk rather than drive, but driving around the city in the day is pointless, you just get snarled up in traffic.

What a stupid reason to die.

With the wolves behind me, and the unchanged werewolves in front, it didn't take me long to make my decision. I barreled into the two humans, head down, hard as I could, taking one of them by surprise as my skull went into his belly with the force of a battering ram, knocking the breath out of him. The second man grabbed me by the collar and I twisted round to bite his hand as hard as I could, drawing blood. He was even more shocked than the first man - werewolves don't expect to be bitten by humans; it's supposed to be the other way around. My gran would have been proud of me.

Distracted by the pain, the man let go of my collar and I wrenched free, grabbing him by the arm and hurling him into the path of the coming wolves. Two of them tripped and I didn't wait around to see what happened next. I was off again, as fast as my legs could stand. But I could hear the approaching feet behind me, and the panting breath of my lupine pursuer.

I screamed in pain as outstretched claws scored down my back - not deep enough to kill, but easily enough to hurt. I tumbled to the ground, going ass overhead, banging my elbow to add to the general symphony of pain currently being played in my body.

The werewolf roared down at me, terrorizing the poor vulnerable human.

"Go fuck yourself," I suggested.

The werewolf pulled back with a look of animal surprise on its face, then chuckled throatily before growling to its friends, who were already hurrying over to where I lay.

Desperately, I tried to struggle back to my feet, but a lazy sweep of a clawed hand took my legs out from under me, causing more howled laughter. They had all changed to wolves now, the masks suddenly incongruous on their elongated faces, and I was at their mercy. Any one of them could have killed me where I lay, but that was apparently not part of the game.

I clenched my teeth against crying out as a claw was flicked against my bare cheek, instantly drawing blood. My jacket was ripped from me, baring my arms, and another pair of claws darted in to nick my skin. Still, I forced myself not to scream - I was going to die here, but I wasn't going to give them that satisfaction, as well.

"These are the big, bad wolves, are they?" I muttered. "Five against one? Guess you're pretty proud of yourselves."

I don't know if it was because I spoke or just because they weren't having any luck in making me scream, but now one of them raised his paw to deliver the final blow. I closed my eyes.

The growls that suddenly enveloped me were loud enough to split my eardrums, and my eyes started open to see three new werewolves attacking the five who had gone after me. I wasn't well-acquainted with the Kenai heirs in wolf form, and yet I recognized them straight away and my heart leaped at the sight. Wolf or human, they were magnificent.

I had seen Hudson before as a wolf, when he was defending his brother, but it was still impressive to see him here now, in full battle mode. His golden hair flew about him - it was rare to see a completely blonde wolf - as he leaped onto one of my attackers, his teeth flashing, his bright eyes fixed on his opponent, his claws tearing fur and flesh. Tanner, too, I had seen before, and in close up, when we had fought on our first meeting.

Even beneath the thick, black hair and the clothes he still wore - torn now by his change - I could see the phenomenal muscularity of his body, which he soon put to work. He delivered a ferocious backhand blow to one of my attackers, knocking the werewolf off its feet and sending it scurrying to the wall, whimpering and nursing its jaw.

In the same movement, Tanner spun to face another of my attackers, who flew at his jugular. Tanner caught the other wolf by the wrists, and for a moment they stood in stand-off, roaring at one another, matching each other muscle for muscle. But soon enough, Tanner's strength told and he forced his adversary back, a look of fear starting to filter into the werewolf's eyes.

Gray, I had never seen as a wolf. He was as handsome an animal as his brothers, his dark brown hair shorter than that of Tanner or Hudson, his body thinner, his muscles more wiry but his strength no less. A wolf lashed out at him and he dodged, moving with speed and agility. His attacker tried again and this time Gray went underneath the blow, taking the other wolf to the ground, where the pair rolled about, horrid snarls echoing as they fought for the upper hand. My mind inevitably turned to Gray's recent injuries - he should have been in bed, not out here defending me. And yet, he had felt this worth risking his life for. Despite myself, I couldn't help feeling special.

Hudson hurled his second opponent against the wall and the wolf scrambled back to its feet, returning to its human form as it did so - a sign of submission in werewolves, like waving a white flag. He ran.

There was a high pitched whine, cut off by an unpleasant tearing, bubbling sound, and Gray stood up, his teeth and claws red with freshly spilled blood. I was pleased to note that none of it seemed to be his. Finally, Tanner, his muscles bulging, lifted the last attacker into the air by his neck. The werewolf convulsed for a moment, and then hung still.

Suddenly, the three wolves all looked up, as if they had heard something. In the mouth of an alleyway stood the wolf Hudson had been fighting, the one who had gotten away by changing into a human. He ran off as soon as he realized that he had been heard, but in that instant, I had seen his face, and he had been careless enough to take his mask off.

Maybe that one clue would be enough to make this whole affair worthwhile, and perhaps that was what I had been waiting for. Either way, my body was done with being strong and brave. I passed out.

When I came around, I found myself in a strange bed in a strange room. I leaned up to look around and shooting pains seared throughout my body, especially in my back, forcing me back to the mattress.

From what I had seen of the room, I was pretty sure that I was in Heir’s House. So, they had saved me and brought me home. Again, I had to think that that suggested they were not the ones who had tried to kill King. But, again, they might just be trying to fool me; getting on my good side by helping me out. Raising that suspicion still further was the question of what the hell the guys were doing in that street in the first place. It could hardly have been a coincidence that they were there just when I needed them.

Before I had a chance to contemplate this question further, the door opened and Hudson walked in, carrying a tray. He stopped when he saw me and beamed widely before calling back out the door.

"Tanner! Gray! She's awake. She's woke up. She's..." He turned back to me. "Are you alright?"

"As well as can be expected."

"She's alright!" he called back out the door, then hurried to my side, careful not to spill the glass of orange juice on the tray. "I thought you'd like some breakfast. I have orange juice, Danish, fruit. I didn't make anything hot because I didn't know you'd woken up and I didn't want the food to get cold while I was waiting for you to wake."

"It's great," I reassured him. "Could you maybe help me up? My back feels like a werewolf scratched the shit out of it."

"Funny you should say that," smiled Hudson. I winced as he reached behind me, to help me up. He was rearranging the pillows so I could sit back as his brothers entered. The anxiety in their faces made me smile - werewolves aren't good actors; they were genuinely worried about me. They cared.

I took a long draught of orange juice, suddenly aware of just how dry my mouth was, and then looked up at the guys. "Okay, first things first; were you following me?"

The three brothers exchanged guilty looks between them, seeming to pass the buck of who had to answer with their eyes, until Tanner manned up.

"Short answer; yes."

"Does the long answer explain why?" I asked.

The guilty looks once again bounced between the heirs' eyes, and this time, it was Hudson who had the courage to step up. "I guess we were all maybe a little bit curious about your investigation - it is into us, after all - and we thought; why not?"

I raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "You thought it was worth violating the territorial boundaries of all three of the other packs and risking the start of an international incident - by which, I mean, all-out war - with the Kenai at the center of a three-way shit storm, because you were curious?"

More exchanged looks.

"Yes?" suggested Hudson, not very convincingly.

"No." I shook my head. "Don't get me wrong, guys; I am very grateful that you were there - more grateful than I will ever be able to express. But that is not why you were following me. Or, at least, not the whole story. There is some stuff that you are not sharing and I would appreciate it if you shared."

"We didn't trust you." It was not what I had wanted to hear, of course, but Gray's words were the most honest the brothers had spoken to me so far that morning.

"Okay."

"We like you." Hudson, as ever, was there to take the edge off his brother's statements. "We like you a lot, and... Well, we thought that we might be letting that get in the way of our good sense. I mean, you were investigating us for attempted murder and yet we were trusting you based on... well, not very much."

It was a problem with which I could identify, having been thinking the same things myself about my believing in them.

"And then, rather than being cautious around you," Tanner continued, "I gave you the ability to go talk to the other Pack Leaders. No part-wolf has that privilege. And I guess we started thinking; maybe you set the whole thing up somehow. Maybe you took advantage of our father or of us. Maybe you wanted access to our enemies so you could sell them information or sell yourself as someone who could infiltrate the Kenai but had no loyalty to them. Maybe you'd been in collusion with one of the other packs from the start. We had a whole lot of maybes. Stuff you might have been up to."

"It just seemed like we'd taken a lot on faith," Hudson went on. "Because we wanted to believe you."

"So, we followed you," Gray concluded.

"Can't have been easy," I said.

Werewolves don't cross territories. The truth is that most could get away with it, if they were just popping across to the shops or something, and yet they don't. That instinct is etched into their DNA; you stick to your own ground. For the brothers, it was more than an instinctual boundary; they were very recognizable, and if caught they would have been in serious shit.

Tanner shrugged. "If you have money then all things are possible." He sighed. "Probably wasn't even worth it. It's not like we could get into the Pack Lodges - that would have been suicide. But it doesn't matter." He sat on the bed beside me and looked me in the eye. "We trust you. Not because you got attacked, but because we trust you. Sure, we met because you were investigating us and it would be so easy for you to be using this to screw us over, but sometimes you have to put your faith in your instincts, and all our instincts say one thing: we trust you."

"The feeling's mutual," I replied. And like them, it wasn't because they had saved my life, or because of anything I had learned about them or about the other potential suspects, it was simply that I trusted them. "But if you were following me, then how come you took so long to help out when I got attacked."

Heads were hung and feet shuffled until Hudson finally spoke. "You know when you stopped for a drink?"

"Yeah."

"So did we."