Page 7 of New Blood

As several of the pack members turned away and headed for the front entrance of the house, Jude tipped his chin in Wendell’s direction.

The massive werewolf stepped closer. “What do you need?”

“You have the list of pack members who reside on the estate?”

Wendell nodded and pulled his cell phone from his pocket.

“Make sure everybody is accounted for. And then take Ransom and Parker and search the entire house, in case somebody is hiding. I don’t want any surprises.”

“You and me both,” Wendell replied and turned toward the house.

Jude remained standing where he was until everybody was inside the house. Then he let his gaze wander while taking in every scent and every sound. The scent of the vampires was slowly fading, and from his judgment of Patrick Woodford, he was confident that they would never be a problem again. The Gallagher pack, however, was a different thing altogether.

He expected opposition and pushback. It would be up to him to do what was necessary to unite the pack under his leadership. He’d trained for this all his life. All male members of the Werewolf Alliance who weren’t mated yet were trained to one day take over as alpha of a pack that needed new leadership. He’d waited all his life to show his loyalty to the Werewolf Alliance and to make the sacrifice expected of him. But now that the day was here, he couldn’t quite muster the excitement he should feel. Because there was nothing exciting about killing a fellow werewolf—even a murderous one—and deposing an alpha.

4

Ransom Howe was standing in the impressive foyer of the Gallagher mansion, when his colleague and friend, Wendell, looked up from his cell phone.

“Ransom, we’re missing one of the females.”

He glanced at Wendell’s phone. “Which one?”

“Eve Gallagher.”

“Crap,” he let out.

Eve was William Gallagher’s daughter. If she was missing, it was likely that she was trying to do something to avenge her brother. It was imperative that she be found quickly.

“You and Parker search the two upper floors. She’s not on this floor, so I’ll take the basement and the garage,” Ransom suggested.

Wendell nodded while pulling his cell phone from his pocket. By the time he was at the stairs, the call had already connected.

“Parker, I’m coming up. Eve Gallagher is unaccounted for. Watch out up there. She might be planning an ambush.”

Ransom headed for a door in the foyer that was closed. He’d already made himself familiar with the first floor and guessed that this door led to the basement. He was right. Stale air hit him when he opened the door and entered the stairwell. With the smell of stale air, other scents assailed his nostrils: vampires had been down here not too long ago, though their smell was faint and waning.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, he picked up the scent of another werewolf, which wasn’t unusual since any one of the Gallagher pack could have come down here at any time, maybe fetching a bottle of wine or some firewood. Passing the wine cellar, he headed deeper into the bowels of the mansion, pulling his silver knife from its sheath now, prepared to use it should he encounter a hostile pack member, specifically Eve Gallagher.

At an open door, he paused for a moment and remained entirely still. He heard the distinct sound of somebody breathing. He pulled in a deep breath of air and noticed that the scent of a werewolf was now more intense. A female, he realized. Was Eve standing behind the door, ready to ambush him the moment he set foot in the room? He’d be prepared for it, and if she tried to attack him, she’d find out very quickly that he was trained in several hand-to-hand combat disciplines and excelled at every one of them.

Readying himself mentally, he decided not to stall any longer. With a few quick steps, he stormed into the room, spinning to his left to attack whoever was lying in wait behind the door. To his surprise, there was nobody. Pivoting in a split second, he let his gaze sweep over the entire room, taking in his surroundings. A massive iron cage welded to the ground was the room’s most prominent feature. He knew it was built to hold a werewolf, its rods so thick that even the superior strength of a werewolf couldn’t bend or tear them apart. Many packs had similar cages in order to lock up rogue werewolves who’d become a danger to their pack or themselves.

The cage wasn’t empty. A naked female was curled up in a corner, her aura and scent identifying her as a werewolf.

“Eve? Eve Gallagher?” Ransom asked as he approached.

She stirred, suddenly awakening from what appeared to be a deep slumber, when she seemed to finally see him. She shot up and lunged forward, but the bars on the cage stopped her. She gripped them, rattling them, ostensibly only now aware of where she was.

“Motherfuckers!” she cursed in a tone that would have made any longshoreman proud.

“You’re Eve Gallagher,” Ransom said again, while he swept his gaze over her naked body.

She was muscular but had enough soft curves that could make any man feel welcome. Her breasts were full and tipped with dark pink nipples that were hard as a result of the cold air in the basement. Her legs were shapely and toned, her skin bronzed and smooth. Damn, this woman was beautiful. And absolutely unattainable. After all, he wasn’t the new alpha. He was an ordinary member of the Werewolf Alliance, and as such, he had sworn to obey Jude Beaumont.

“Seen enough, you perv?” Eve ground out, her eyes now glowing like fire, not the kind that warmed, but the kind that destroyed.

Ransom cleared his throat and averted his eyes when he noticed clothes lying on the ground a few feet away from the cage.