Sometimes, Aidan scared her, too.
She hated it when he used his power to control humans. No one should be able to influence someone else’s thoughts. “Let’s talk to them first, okay? If they didn’t see anything, you don’t have to mess with their minds. You don’t have to do it.” Because it’s wrong and I hate it.
“I’ll talk to them,” Aidan promised her. “But I don’t think anyone saw. I’m more careful than you realize.” His blue eyes gleamed in the darkness. “You go handle the dead.”
Right. That was how they did things, wasn’t it? Part of their new, twisted partnership?
Aidan was the paranormal law in New Orleans. He made sure the monsters toed the line and if they didn’t…if they crossed the line and hurt humans…
Then I’m supposed to help him take the beasts down.
Aidan’s hand rose. His fingers slid over her cheek. Such a gentle touch. He was always very careful with her. But, when the mood hit him, Aidan could change. In the blink of an eye, he could transform from a man into the form of a wolf.
A wolf with very, very big claws.
Claws big enough to slash a man to death in seconds.
“Jane?” His hand fell away from her cheek. “Is something wrong?”
Only my life. Only this nightmare that is starting all over again.
A new dead body, a new night…
What would happen next?
She shivered as she hurried back toward her victim. Right then, the dead man could be her only focus. It was her job to give justice to the dead.
And she’d give him that justice, no matter the cost.
***
Aidan Locke watched from the shadows as the cemetery became a full-on crime scene. Blue lights were flashing and the young couple that had been trembling in such fear before the sight of Jane and her drawn gun—they were now in the back of a cop car. Crying.
They didn’t know anything. When Jane had gone back to the dead victim, Aidan had questioned the two humans. Demanded the truth. They wouldn’t have been able to resist his control. After all, they weren’t like Jane.
No one else was quite like Jane.
Almost helplessly, his gaze slid back to her. She was pacing in front of the cemetery’s entrance. Her movements were tight, angry, but, every few moments, she glanced into the cemetery’s yawning gate, her stare almost…nervous. As if she were looking for something.
Or someone.
His head cocked as he studied her. His Jane was certainly an enigma. He’d never expected her. Never expected to find a woman he wanted so completely.
And a woman who could wreck him so thoroughly.
He and Jane weren’t supposed to be together, but he’d fought his pack for her. Just as he would fight anyone or anything who ever came between him and the woman he needed more than he needed air to breathe.
Jane was—
The wind shifted and the scent hit him. Strong. Powerful. Overwhelming.
Blood and death.
A primitive instinct stirred within him at that scent because he knew a vampire was close by. And when a werewolf caught a vampire’s scent, there was only one possible response—attack.
Vampires and werewolves were natural enemies for a reason. They really fucking hated each other.
Aidan could feel his canines lengthening. He had to clench his fists because his claws wanted to spring from his fingertips. The last thing he needed to do was transform right there, with cops swarming around—he would have to erase too many memories later. Far better to just stay in control. To slip away. Then he could hunt down the vampire bastard and end him.
He whirled away from the blue lights and the crowd of cops and onlookers. Humans—they’d come out to see what fresh hell had been wrecked in the city. In his experience, humans liked to watch danger from a safe distance.
Don’t get too close. Don’t let it hurt you. Just watch the pain of others.
Most humans had no clue just what sort of real danger stalked near them every day.
Aidan quickened his steps as his nostrils flared. The vampire was close. It sure took some cocky bastard to come into his city this way. Especially after the way he’d ended the last vamp who’d dared to challenge him.
Aidan turned away from the main road. He slipped between two buildings. Walked onto a dark street, one that—at first glance—appeared completely empty.
His claws were out now, long and thick and ready to attack. He could feel his beast pushing inside of him. Kill. Destroy. When a vampire was this close, the wolf always reacted with the primitive instinct to battle.
The shadows to the left moved as the vampire just fucking boldly strode right toward him. “So I get to meet the alpha on my first night here,” the vamp’s voice rang out, loud and clear and not the least bit frightened. Dumb bastard. “I’m honored.”
Every muscle in Aidan’s body quivered with the urge to attack. “What you are…” Aidan gritted out, “is dead.”