My heart clenched in sympathy. No wonder Anton wanted my head. I hadn't known her well but from what I'd seen of her with him, the two had seemed like they'd had real feelings for another.
"Theo volunteered to go with her. We think he's the other victim."
Theo? I looked at the other body with sad eyes. The man had struck me as shy but nice and the thought of him lying dead and unrecognizable was more depressing than I wanted to think about while standing among those who now viewed me as an enemy.
"Have Makoto run his DNA through the system and compare it to the body. I want a firm confirmation."
Daniel nodded and walked away without glancing in my direction.
Liam crossed the alley over to my side. "This is why we're so hard on our newly turned."
"You still don't have anything proving it was Caroline," I said in a soft voice. “Why would she come after the same companions from last night? She hasn’t been a wolf long, and I doubt she knows who any of the other spooks are.”
I certainly hadn’t when I’d first been turned.
“Vampires have a distinctive smell to a wolf’s nose,” Liam said, his eyes thoughtful as he stared at the bodies. “Perhaps her wolf became confused and thought they presented a threat.”
Maybe. Or perhaps her wolf thought it was me, then lost control when the companions had no doubt panicked.
“I still don’t believe it,” I said.
"You can lie to yourself all you want, but you and I both know she's the only one who would do this."
I didn't know what I believed anymore. This scene looked like the site of an animal attack. While there were many spooks that could have caused a similar scene, the chances were very small. It would have to be a pretty big coincidence for some unknown spook to attack these two in the same way a werewolf would.
I didn't want to doubt my friend, but the two victims had punctured a gaping hole in my defenses.
"Brax will be here soon. He'll be able to tell if Caroline was present." Liam's face was grim. "If she's responsible, it could have grave repercussions."
"What do you mean?"
Liam looked down the alley, his gaze distant as if he wasn't seeing the bodies, but something else. Something worse.
"Brax will not want to give up one of his own. He is many things, but he'll protect his wolves to his last breath," Liam finally said. "Thomas is new to his position, and the murder of a companion cannot go unanswered. Not if he wants a stable power base. He'll want to make an example. Your friend makes the perfect sacrifice."
I took a deep breath and released it.
His touch whispered across my shoulder as he gave me an enigmatic glance before moving away to give me privacy and time with my thoughts.
"Caroline, what have you gotten yourself into?" I whispered, staring at the macabre scene before me.
I didn't know if I was going to be able to protect her from what was coming. Worse, I didn't know if I should. The friend I remembered wouldn't have been capable of this. Not in a million years.
If she did somehow do this, it meant that Anton was right. My actions caused this, and I played a part in innocent deaths. Something I had sworn I would not let happen. Emotion tightened my throat and a burning started behind my eyes. I couldn't deal with this now. Maybe later in the dark of night when I was alone. But not now.
I owed it to Catherine and Theo to find their killer and deal with them. Friend or not.
Liam and Nathan gave me the time to come to terms with this new development, discussing the scene in quiet voices as we waited for the wolves' arrival. While we lingered, I forced myself out of the dark morass of emotion that threatened to overtake me and studied the scene. I wasn't a crime scene investigator and most of what I knew came from watching detective shows or reading books. That didn't mean I couldn't notice something the others had overlooked. I might not know what it meant now, but knowledge was power, and observation was something I was good at.
What were they doing in this alley? If they'd been going to Schmidt's, they'd parked a fair way past it. Granted, parking in this area around dinner time was a bit tricky, but there would have been many better places to park closer to the restaurant. Also, I didn't see their car.
Could they have been chased down this alley? If so, why would they have turned away from the more populated parts of the city? If it was me, and I was being chased by a monster, I would have made a beeline for the biggest number of humans in the area. At least, when I’d been human I would have.
That sounds callous, but most people have a strong will to survive. The recriminations and self-hatred would come later, after the threat had passed. During the threat—it's every man or woman for themselves.
"Woo, she's a messy eater," Clay said from my side. I controlled my jump, knowing that's what Brax's beta wanted. A tall, lean man, with short blond hair and pretty blue eyes, Clay looked over the scene with an amused grimace. As beta to Brax, Clay was number two in the pack. I hadn't had many dealings with him, but he'd struck me as easygoing but competent in his job. He took care of the things Brax didn't want to, or didn't have time for.
Brax stood by Liam's side, Sondra at his back. The alpha and Liam acknowledged each other with a nod before Brax moved into the alley, his eyes scanning the scene.
"It's possible this wasn't Caroline," I said.
"Nose doesn't lie, babe." Clay tapped his nose as he stepped forward, uncaring of the blood as it squelched under his shoes. He crouched next to Catherine, placing one hand on the brick to steady himself and then leaned close, inhaling deeply, his eyes shifting to the ice blue of his wolf. He straightened, his eyes changing back to their normal blue. "Yup, our girl was here."
I stared, unseeing at the scene. The news freezing my insides. I'd hoped. I'd prayed that we'd been wrong, that by some miraculous turn of events, Caroline hadn't been part of this.
"Could the smell have been faked?" Liam asked, his face emotionless.
"Anything can be faked," Clay said, standing. "I doubt it, though. I spent some time with the girl after her turn. This is definitely her."
"Then you're sure Caroline Bradley is the one responsible for these deaths?" Liam asked.
Clay glanced at his alpha, turning the responsibility over to him.
Brax picked up one of the limbs with his gloved hands and examined it closely. "These bite marks are inconsistent with her bite."
"What does that mean?" I asked, afraid to hope.
He handed the bone off to Clay before moving onto the next piece.
"It's possible her bite has changed. The demon taint has affected her and made her transformation unstable. Her wolf is not as static as ours. It can be larger following some changes and smaller others," Clay said.
"But this is different than her bite in the past," I said.
Clay frowned and hesitated, as if he didn't want to confirm that. "Yes, it's different."