The Wolven. Deborah LeBlanc

aware of her.

      And the effect left him ravenous.

       Chapter 4

      Shauna pulled out of Danyon’s grasp more abruptly than she’d intended. She’d been lost in thought, not paying attention to where she was going and had nearly collided into him. It had taken a couple of seconds for her to blink all six foot four of him into focus, but once she did, recognition was instantaneous. That didn’t surprise her. Danyon was not a man easily forgotten. That exceptionally broad chest, sharp facial features and strong chin … his eyes, the color of honey still on the comb. His thick black hair, a little longer than shoulder-length, was combed back, away from his face. He smelled of soap and testosterone at full throttle. Shauna had never allowed herself to get this close to him before, and had it not been for this accidental encounter, probably never would have.

      And all for good reason.

      Her mind turned into a puddle of goo every time she was around Danyon. Her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth, and she would start fidgeting, like a nervous school girl, something she never did. His extraordinary good looks, sharp intellect and wit, and the smoldering sexuality that seemed to ooze out of him when he moved, made her heart beat too fast. She kept her distance to maintain control of her mind and her body, something she would never admit to another soul.

      As a Keeper, Shauna had a lot of expectations to live up to. Being the youngest Keeper made things even tougher, because it came with its own set of challenges. She always felt she had to prove her competency twice as much as her two sisters. And in order to do that, she had to keep her mind and body strong and focused. She couldn’t afford to appear vulnerable. Especially to a wolven. Even one as breathtaking as Danyon.

      “Something’s happened,” Shauna said, hearing her words come out as a statement rather than the question she’d intended.

      Danyon nodded, his eyes wary, quickly scanning both sides of the street. In profile, his hair glistened with a blue-black sheen.

      Shauna’s heart quickened. She had to force herself not to take a step back.

      “What did you hear?” he asked.

      Shauna looked up at him questioningly.

      “I mean who told you? What did they tell you?”

      She glanced away from the intensity of his stare. “No one told me anything.”

      “Then how did you know?”

      “That there was trouble?”

      He tilted his head, and his gaze intensified.

      How was she supposed to explain what she’d heard in the shop? That weird keening she’d instinctively known was a cry for help? Or that she’d heard it over a shop filled with tourists, city noise pouring in from the street and Mattie and Banjo’s fight? How was she to explain that without sounding like a kook?

      Shauna opted for the direct route. “I heard it,” she said.

      “Heard what?” He frowned, evidently confused.

      She chewed her bottom lip a moment. “I’m not really sure. It felt … it sounded like a wolven in trouble. I was going to August’s to find out if he knew anything.”

      “I’m headed there myself.” Danyon didn’t appear surprised in the least by what she’d said.

      “What do you know? Anything?”

      His face hardened. “Unfortunately, yes. Two of my weres are dead.”

      Stunned, this time Shauna did take a step back. “Who? When?”

      “Simon Filk and Nicole Bergeron. Not sure when they were killed, but both were found a couple of hours—”

      “Wait. They were killed? As in murdered?” Shauna’s head reeled. The name Simon Filk rang a bell, but she couldn’t place a face with the name. Nicole, on the other hand, she knew. Nicole and her boyfriend, Ian, came to A Little Bit of Magic often, especially the tea and coffee kiosk. She even remembered their usual order: bayberry tea and pecan scones.

      “It appears so, yes. Two other weres from my pack were headed home from work when they found Simon at the foot of the levee near River Road. Ian found Nicole. She’d been shoved between two pilings off Barataria.”

      “God … poor Ian. The guy must be—”

      “Devastated. And even that’s an understatement.”

      Shauna shook her head in disbelief. “But murdered? How … ? You’re sure?”

      Danyon gave her what sounded like a condensed version of what he knew so far and what he’d seen. As she listened, Shauna felt her stomach roll over, her knees weaken. By the time he finished, though, she was so angry, she could have tortured and killed the murderer bare-handed. She was also furious with Danyon.

      “I can’t believe you moved the bodies,” she said.

      “What do you mean you can’t believe it?”

      “You should have alerted someone first,” Shauna fumed. “The police, August, me. You might have destroyed vital evidence.”

      Danyon’s eyes darkened. “And what do you think would have happened if a human, or anyone else for that matter, had come across them the way Andrea and Paul did? They were in were-state, Shauna. What did you want me to do, just leave them there? Maybe throw a tarp over the bodies?”

      “Don’t be crass.” Shauna shoved a hand in the back pocket of her jeans. “When did you plan on telling me about this? Next week? Next month?”

      “When did you suddenly become my mother?”

      “I’m the Keeper of the wolvens! I have every right to know what’s going on at all times.”

      Danyon stood tall, jabbed a thumb to his chest. “And I’m the alpha of the East Bank pack. Those were my weres! I’m responsible for them, and I can take care of my own.”

      Shauna leaned toward him. “But I’m their Keeper. And, in case you’ve forgotten, yours, as well.”

      “What does that have to do with anything? Simon and Nicole are dead. Just what is there to keep … Keeper?”

      She snapped her head back as though slapped.

      Regret flickered in his eyes, but it went away as quickly as it arrived.

      “May I remind you, Mr. Stone,” Shauna said through gritted teeth, “it’s my responsibility to keep peace between the wolven, the other races, and the humans in this city. By not telling me, you put everyone in danger. When word of this gets out, too much or too little information can end up open to interpretation. Have you forgotten about the cemetery murders six months ago, or what happened when the walk-ins tried taking over the city three months after that? In both cases, vampires suspected the shape-shifters, shifters pointed at the weres, everybody pointed at everybody else. If Fiona hadn’t taken charge of her vampires during the cemetery murders and Caitlin her shifters in the walk-in disaster, we might have had another war on our hands. The same kind of war that killed our parents.”

      By that time, Shauna’s anger had grown to such a fever pitch, she stepped closer, pushed against him. “Look, you might be the big dog on campus when it comes to the East Bank pack, but—”

      “Big dog? Now who’s being crass?”

      “But I am the Keeper of the wolven in this city. Moving those bodies was poor judgment on your part. The police should have been notified immediately.”

      Danyon’s expression went cold. “How many times do I have to tell you? Simon and Nicole were in were-state. What sense would it have made to involve humans when we spend half our time hiding our true identities from them so they don’t destroy us? None, period. I was not going to take the chance that Simon or Nicole would be seen in that condition.”