Code Wolf. Linda Thomas-Sundstrom

to receive the honor of such a direct form of contact with the central villain of Seattle’s vampire hive?

      “Her appearance might be connected to the woman we helped tonight,” he said to Dale, thinking out loud, rehashing everything that had happened and hoping something would eventually make sense.

      What if was a game all cops played to try to reason things out. Events had to be studied from all angles, no matter how absurd they might seem. There was no way he was going to mention anything about a weakness for pretty psychologists, though, or the vampire’s remark about her, when Dale already knew about his interest in Riley Price.

      Dale said, “You think our little victim might have caught the vampire’s eye, and that out of all the people in and around Seattle, a vamp queen could be interested in the one person we helped out of a jam? Why would that even occur to you?”

      “The two things happened on the same night. And Riley showed up at the head of that alley where the monster confronted us, as if she had been summoned there.”

      Dale appeared to mull that over. “Such a scenario could mean this heartless vampire bitch might be interested in our Miss Price because we helped her. But we help people all the time, so what’s so special about tonight?”

      He added with a meaningful sideways glance at Derek, “Maybe the vampire is interested in Price because of who helped her. Her sudden interest could be in retaliation for us dusting some of her newbies tonight.”

      “Then why didn’t she just go after us in the alley?” Derek said.

      Dale shrugged. “I don’t know.”

      Derek would never forget the problems they confronted the last time Damaris came out of hiding. If it hadn’t been for that renegade Blood Knight heading off the vamp queen, none of his pack would be around today.

      “Our Miss Price showing up again near that alley could be a coincidence,” Dale suggested. “We have to consider that.”

      “One hell of a coincidence,” Derek said.

      Dale went on, “You’ve shown interest in Riley. Could that vampire actually be interested in you, Derek, rather than Riley Price?”

      Derek had gone over those same questions fifty times since meeting with his pack an hour ago, and hadn’t yet gone to find Riley because of his fear of involving her further.

      He could feel Riley out there, and couldn’t trust that sensation. They had no real connection. She wasn’t a Were, so they couldn’t have imprinted by gazing so intently into each other’s eyes.

      The only serious relationships for his kind were Were-to-Were. A special look, a lingering kiss, or a roll in the grass without their clothes, and two Weres were as good as engaged if they were meant to be mated.

      Imprinting was serious business. Some Weres used the word fate to describe the immediacy of such attractions. And though imprinting rarely happened between a Were and a human, Derek supposed it didn’t have to be impossible if the circumstances were right and the stars lined up. He just hadn’t heard of any such cases. Still, he couldn’t shake the thoughts that kept him tied to Riley.

      Dale picked up on this unspoken thread, probably by reading Derek’s face. “If your sudden interest in Riley is the reason for the vamp’s interest, then you can’t go near her until we know for sure.”

      Dale leaned against a pillar in the parking garage. “I can’t help wondering why this happened tonight, out of all the other nights.”

      “I guess finding that out will be our new priority,” Derek said.

      “Will Price be safe in the meantime, if we’re the ones who brought this shit down on her?”

      “We’ll have to make sure she is,” Derek replied. “I thought I’d hand that job to you.”

      Dale didn’t even blink at being nominated for the task, though it was a dangerous one. “Should I start now? Do we know where she might be without going in to see her file?”