“And if that happened?” Ellie looked just as distraught.
“CJ suggested we build a new hotel. It can be Victorian, small, exactly how we like our hotels.”
“But we love this one. Meghan and I were talking about it while we were away. How much we loved this hotel and how beautiful it is.”
“Right, but we may not have a choice.”
“Wait,” Meghan said. “You want to build a new hotel here?” She wiped away the tears trailing down her cheeks. “You’d do that to stay here? To stay with the pack?”
“I don’t know. We still have to learn why our aunt disappeared and all the rest. The pack may not even want us here after we learn the truth. Would you even want to build a new place? CJ said they’d help us, but is it even something we’d want to do?”
“We love the old buildings,” Ellie admitted. “But to stay with a wolf pack? Especially as welcoming as this one is? I’d be willing.”
“I agree with Ellie. I like the charm of old buildings. But if it meant staying, I’d do whatever it takes,” Meghan said.
Then Ellie smiled deviously. “The pack would never allow the Wernicke brothers to buy the hotel, or if they did, they’d run them out of business.”
“I agree. So in the meantime, we fight them tooth and claw if they try to ruin our business. Even though they have a TV show, which could give them some clout, we have a pack to back us,” Laurel said. “But that’s only contingent on the pack still wanting us here if we discover one of their beloved pack members had anything to do with our aunt’s disappearance.”
“Are you kidding?” Meghan set her drawer aside and pulled out another. “Poor CJ would have no one’s nose to kiss on a cold, snowy day.”
“Or a she-wolf to snuggle with on our sofa while watching Christmas movies.” Ellie ran her fingers under the top edge of the highboy.
“If his father was involved in our aunt’s disappearance?” Laurel asked, trying to be pragmatic about it. “Family is family, after all.”
“He’s not going to stick up for his father if he was involved in murdering Clarinda or covering it up.” Meghan gave up on the highboy and started to search the blanket chest for a false bottom.
Laurel was hoping that would be the case. Her phone rang and she hurried to answer it, her sisters watching her.
She frowned when she saw it was Darien calling, not Lelandi. Her stomach clenching with dread, Laurel feared the worse. CJ had been found.
And he was dead.
Chapter 15
When CJ came to, he was still in his wolf form, thank God, or he would have frozen to death. He was lying on his side at the bottom of a twelve-foot-deep killing pit, with leaves, twigs, and pine needles cushioning his fall. A few wooden stakes pointed skyward at the black night, waiting to skewer their victims. The pit had been used to kill animals—and had been here for years, he suspected, as he considered the weathered age of the stakes. He couldn’t see all that well in the dark, as deep as he was, but he would have been able to smell new wood that had been carved into stakes.
His head throbbed where he was certain he’d cut it, and minor bruises, scratches, and a few ligament strains made him ache all over. An animal or two must have fallen into the pit earlier, and the unfortunate beasts had broken a few of the sharpened stakes. Thankfully, the broken ones hadn’t been replaced, and CJ hadn’t been gored.
Unsteadily, he sat up and tried to get his bearing in the darkness, some of the deadfall still covering the hole. He had to warn anyone else not to take a misstep and fall into the pit. The snow-covered trees looming above hid the sky from his view.
Nothing on the sides of the pit could help him climb if he shifted. There were a few exposed, gnarled roots, but they wouldn’t be strong enough to hold his weight. Remembering that Darien was coming and also sending men, CJ lifted his chin and howled. Maybe someone would hear him. His howl sounded strange and unreal to his ears. Maybe because he was surrounded by earth and sitting so deep in the pit. He hoped whoever had built this pit wasn’t still around to finish him off.
Off in the distance, howls rent the woods and he was cheered to hear his brothers and cousins calling. He howled again in greeting and in relief.
Everyone was everywhere, combing the woods for him, he realized. But they would be in their wolf forms. No one could get him out of here without shifting and using ropes. And for that they needed a phone. He was destined to stay down here for who knew how long.
Worse, he worried about Laurel being alone and hoped Trevor was keeping an eye on things. CJ wished he had her in his arms, snuggling with her on the couch again, breathing in her sweet she-wolf scent, listening to her steady heartbeat, feeling the heat and softness of her body.
Everyone had stopped howling. He knew they wanted to hear from him again, to pinpoint his direction. He suspected they wondered why he sounded like he was buried alive. He howled long and low, letting them know just where he was again. His head splintering in two, he collapsed on his side and waited for his rescuers to come for him.
Then a wolf woofed down at him. He wanted to warn the wolf to watch out for the deadfall covering the hole. That it could still be dangerous. When he looked up, he stared at a white face, ears as long as a gray wolf’s, and legs just as long. The white wolf. The ghost wolf. He or she was very real.
CJ didn’t remember anything after that, didn’t hear anything for a long time. When he opened his eyes later, he realized he must have passed out. He expected to see the white wolf peering down at him, but it was gone.
Then barks and woofs grew close, and again he managed to sit up and howl.
Darien howled back. He was nearly there. His brothers howled in unison. They were close by. He loved the sound of the wolves’ calls to gather the pack, to warn, to share camaraderie. A wolf howled again, right above CJ’s location, and peered down at him. Then several more. Darien, his brothers, others. CJ wanted to tell them to watch that they didn’t fall into the pit, but he knew they would be careful. He felt like an idiot for falling into it himself.
Darien shifted, crouched to stay warmer, and quickly said, “As soon as you howled and sounded like you were buried, Peter and others went back to get ropes and gear to get you out of there. Is anything broken? Are you injured?”
CJ shook his head, his skull splintering into a thousand fragments before he heard Darien calling his name from what sounded like a million miles away. “Hell, CJ. You are too injured.”
As wolves, the pack gathered, his brothers lying down next to the pit. Darien shifted into his wolf form and remained sitting upright, waiting, watching, his ears twitching back and forth, his nose sniffing the air.
Then his brothers sat up. CJ heard the other men coming before they got there. Men were so much noisier moving through the woods than wolves.
“Which way do you want to do this?” Doc Mitchell asked. “Bring him up as a wolf or a human?”
Hell, they had called the vet? CJ wasn’t injured!
Lanterns were sitting all over the place, and someone threw a couple of glow sticks into the pit. They landed near CJ and he glanced over to see what kind of animal had fallen and broken the stakes that had saved his hide. The bones of a wild boar and an elk. But what chilled him to the marrow of his bones was a human skeleton lying among the rest of the bones scattered in the pit.
“Human skeleton,” Doc Mitchell said. “Hell, CJ, we thought you were searching for a ghost wolf, not a human skeleton. Good job.”
Yeah, as if CJ had jumped down here, risking life and limb, to get a look at a skeleton! But then he worried that it could be Clarinda O’Brien. That made him feel ill. He really didn’t want to have to be the one to tell Laurel that her aunt had died this way.
Staring at the remains—a stake between the ribs of the human skeleton—he just couldn’t believe it. Brett and Eric disappeared and reappeared a few minutes later, wearing their clothes. Each of them carried a backpack, then hooked themselves into climbing gear, getting ready to r
appel down into the pit.
When they were standing on the ground beside CJ, they made sure they didn’t step on any of the bones. Others in the pack would need to gather the evidence to determine who had died here and how. Instantly, CJ wondered if they’d had any other cases of missing wolves over the years. The problem was that sometimes wolves left the pack, no reason given, and there were always drifters and loners, so just about anyone could have made the mistake—like he did—of stepping on the deadfall and plummeting into the pit.
“Do you want us to take you up as a wolf or as a human?” Eric asked, crouching next to him and running his gloved hand over CJ’s head.
CJ hated to shift because it was so cold and it might take him a while to get dressed. He decided to run as a wolf. He woofed.
Eric smiled. “A wolf it is.” Before he put CJ in a harness to lift him out of the pit, Eric removed his gloves and checked him over, looking for broken bones or other injuries.
As a forest ranger, Eric was trained in first aid—which even meant caring for wounded animals. All the brothers and several members of the pack were trained in search and rescue and first aid. It was best that way so they didn’t have to call in humans to help find and take care of their kind.
Eric’s hand touched a tender ligament in CJ’s foreleg, and he yelped. Eric’s already furrowed brow deepened. He checked his foreleg again.
“Broken? Chipped? Torn muscle?” Doc Mitchell called down.
“Maybe just bruised,” Eric said, sounding relieved.
Then Eric and Brett carefully cinched CJ into a harness and gave the go-ahead to lift him. His body scraped against the exposed tree roots, and he gritted his wolf’s teeth until they hauled him up to the edge of the pit. Several hands grabbed for him, lifting him and placing him on a litter. He had every intention of running with them as a wolf, but he could see Darien and Doc Mitchell had other plans.
Three men strapped CJ down, while others went back into the pit with more lights to photograph and document the evidence and then to retrieve the human remains.
CJ growled. Wolves didn’t like confinement and he really wanted to run, to prove he was just achy and nothing was really wrong.
Brett soon joined him as the men carried him on the litter. “Trevor is watching the Wernicke brothers. While you’re getting checked out at the vet’s, I’ll let Laurel know we’ve found you and you’re all right. You might need to stay at the clinic overnight, depending on what Doc Mitchell says. We’ve got men locating your clothes and cell phone. They’ll give them to me so I can bring them to the clinic, and they’ll also drive your vehicle back to your home.”
“Doc Mitchell says CJ’s staying at the clinic tonight. Unless someone watches over him.” Doc Mitchell stalked up beside him, wearing his usual vet attire—leather vest, denims, well-worn cowboy boots, and a weather-beaten Stetson—and smelling of horses. He smiled.
Why couldn’t they have sent Doc Weber? Though he was even older than Doc Mitchell. Maybe Darien had been afraid that making the trek would be too much for the elderly doctor. But at least he worked on humans. Not that CJ was human at the moment.
CJ growled again at being strapped down. Brett and Doc Mitchell chuckled.
* * *
As soon as Lelandi called Laurel with word that they’d found CJ and he was getting checked out at the vet’s office, Laurel collapsed on the sofa, her body feeling numb, the blood draining from her face. “Thank you. I’ll tell my sisters, and I’m headed over there.”
“Brett asked if you’d wait and let him pick you up.”
“Thanks. I’d like that.” Laurel was so anxious, she wasn’t sure she could drive on the icy roads, but she was relieved that CJ would be okay. At least she hoped he was. They ended the call, and she looked up to see her sisters’ anxious faces. She explained what had happened, and her sisters gave her grief for not telling them beforehand.
“Do you want us to go with you?” Ellie asked, taking Laurel’s hand.
“No…he’s okay. He’s at the vet’s office.”
“Vet’s office?” Meghan asked. “Remind me never to get sick or injured here.”
Laurel managed a smile. “Yes. They brought him in as a wolf, and the vet took him to the clinic to check him over. Brett’s coming to pick me up and take me there.”
“Good. We’ll keep trying to find any hidden places in the highboy and blanket chest.” Ellie looked at the highboy. “I don’t know. Maybe neither of the pieces of furniture has secret compartments.”
“Maybe not. Or we might have to find a furniture refinisher or cabinetmaker and see if he can locate a hidden compartment,” Laurel said.
“Are you sure you’re going to be all right?” Meghan asked. “You looked like a ghost when the color drained so quickly from your cheeks.”
“Yeah. I’m just worried about CJ.”
“From the sound of it, he’s fine. We’ll let you know if we locate anything.” Meghan frowned. “Is he going home tonight?”
“I don’t know.”
“Well, if he needs someone to stay overnight with him, I’ll volunteer you.” Ellie smiled. “Don’t think about me doing it.” She glanced at the old grandfather clock. “Speaking of which, I need to go to bed.”
Meghan agreed. “We can look these over again tomorrow. It’s time to sleep. We’ll take care of the hotel in the morning, so don’t worry about rushing home from CJ’s place.”
“He may not even be going home.” And since when did Laurel’s sisters decide what she was going to do?
A knock on the door sounded, and Ellie hurried to get it. “Your chariot awaits,” she said, then opened the door. “Hey, Brett, I hope your brother is all right.”
Laurel stared at Ellie. Her voice sounded sweet and demure, and Laurel swore her sister was looking coyly at Brett, like a she-wolf who was interested. Laurel wondered if that had anything to do with her involvement with CJ. Maybe Ellie felt it was okay to start dating a wolf too.
“CJ will be fine. Kind of growly, but he wants to go home,” Brett said. “If Doc releases him, he’ll want someone to watch over him.”
“That would be Laurel,” Ellie said, nodding sagely.
“I’m certain one of CJ’s brothers will be vying for the task.” Laurel joined them, giving her sister a look to behave. Ellie just grinned back at her. “Night, Ellie, Meghan. I’ll see you in the morning.” After making sure that CJ was okay, she would return and retire herself. To her bed this time.
Brett escorted her out to his car.
“Will the doctor release him?” Laurel climbed into Brett’s car.
“Yeah, if someone will watch over him.”
She really thought one of his brothers would.
Brett shrugged. “Between you and me, if he has a choice, he’s going to ask for you to stay with him. He’ll be on his best behavior. Believe me. With me, he’ll be a growly wolf to live with. Especially if you won’t go home with him.”
She chuckled. “I doubt it.”
“Yeah, well, he won’t show that side to you. Just to his brothers.”
“Is he really all right?”
“He was knocked out when he fell, bruised, and scraped up, but all that will heal in the next few days. He’ll be fine. The doc just wants him watched overnight.”
“What happened exactly? Lelandi said he saw the white wolf across the river and then told Darien he was going after it. She just said you all had found him.”
“He did go after the wolf. He swam across the river and then started searching for the wolf, but before he found it, he stepped on top of snow-covered deadfall rigged to cover the top of a killing pit.”
She felt her stomach drop. “How’d he survive?”
“Other animals had broken off the stakes.”
“Thank God for that. So he never found the white wolf?” Not that the wolf was as important as what had happened to CJ. She couldn’t imagine anything more terrifying.
“No, and neither did we, but then we began to
search for CJ instead because none of us had run across him. Then he howled, and we knew he’d either found something or he was in trouble.”
“But he’s really okay.”
“Yeah. Just grouchy.”
She smiled, glad he was just ill-humored. That could be resolved with a little tender loving care.
Chapter 16
When Laurel and Brett arrived at the vet clinic, Brett went to see CJ while Doc Mitchell took Laurel into his private office and told her what he wanted her to do in case CJ began feeling bad. She hadn’t even said she was going to take care of him! She’d been torn between wanting to and not letting on that she wanted to while she let one of his brothers take care of him instead.
After Dr. Mitchell talked with her, he led her to a pet exam room where CJ was sitting in a chair in his human form, fully dressed, his eyes closed. As soon as CJ smelled her scent in the room, he opened his eyes. Brett was quietly leaning against the wall, waiting for her and Doc to get there. CJ smiled a warm, loving smile. Some of the knots in her belly untangled. He immediately stood, but wavered a little.
She rushed to steady him, and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. He wasn’t clinging to her as if he needed help standing, rather like he wanted to feel her touch and hold her close. Vastly relieved, she realized how much his disappearance had affected her when she had been trying so hard not to jump to conclusions. She slipped her arm around his back and gave him a squeeze, looking up at his darkened eyes and assuring herself he truly was fine.
“Sorry that we don’t have wheelchairs here. My patients don’t normally need them.” Doc Mitchell gave CJ a broad smile.
“I can walk,” CJ grouched, and Brett immediately winked at Laurel.
She smiled a little. She understood why CJ was irritated, probably feeling emasculated in front of her.
“Come on,” Brett said. “I’ll help you out to the car, and Laurel can get the doors for us.”
She thought she could have managed to help CJ all on her own. Then again, if CJ suddenly collapsed, Brett would be better able to handle him.