Page 10 of Red Hood, Bad Wolf

"Show us," he commanded.

They followed Serenity into the growing darkness. The quarry loomed ahead. Its sheer rock walls cast long shadows. Their mate bond was fragile and strung tight with shared tension as they approached the crime scene.

The victim lay crumpled at the base of the cliff. Made to look like an accident, Rowan realized, except for the distinctive claw marks. Her magic detected traces of wolf energy—loup garou, yes. But with a terrible focus. Except loups couldn’t focus or reason. That was the whole reason it was called moon madness.

"The ranger who found her said there was something else." Serenity pointed to a nearby boulder. "There."

Carved into the stone were words that made Rowan's blood run cold: LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD, HAVE YOU LOST YOUR WAY?

She felt Alder's fury through their bond. Someone was playing games. But why?

"We need to tell the pack," he said. "Put everyone on alert. We have a serial killer, not a loup."

“Maybe we have both,” she said.

Chapter 4

The pack house greatroom crackled with tension. Rowan stood slightly apart from the gathering, her magic cataloging everyone’s reactions, the stiffening shoulders when she moved, the subtle shifts away, the barely disguised hostility. Most of all, she felt Alder at the head of the room, their mate bond making it impossible to ignore the power and anger rolling off him in waves.

And judging by the wrinkled noses and sideways glances, every wolf in the room could smell that she still carried his scent from their kiss yesterday.

Elder Marcus caught it first, his weathered face darkening as he sniffed the air. His eyes narrowed as he looked between them, lips curling in barely concealed disgust. Around him, the other older wolves shifted restlessly, their disapproval apparent.

Serenity, the beta, kept her face carefully neutral, but her rigid posture and clenched jaw screamed volumes. Only the younger pack members seemed more curious than hostile. Danny, the newly turned wolf, kept shooting her encouraging smiles, while his sister Erin practically vibrated with romantic excitement.

"We have two leads to pursue," Alder announced, his voice steady despite the electricity arcing between them through the bond. Rowan felt his struggle to maintain professional distance, matching her own effort to focus on the investigation rather than the pull between them. "The territorial markings suggesting River Valley pack involvement, and the local evidence including the cave discoveries."

“I wouldn’t put it past them to sic the Red Hoods on us,” Elder Marcus's words carried clearly, dripping with suspicion. "Convenient timing. Just like when they came for your mother."

The mate bond flooded with Alder's anger and pain. Rowan felt his surge of protectiveness, saw his hands clench at his sides. But before he could respond, Mae spoke up from her corner armchair.

"Now Marcus, dear, let's be reasonable." Her smile was pure grandmotherly concern, but something in her tone made Rowan's magic prickle uneasily. "The poor girl's here to help. Though I do remember when River Valley's alpha mentioned expanding their hunting grounds at the last council..." She let the words trail off suggestively, then added, "They've never forgiven us for that territory dispute twenty years ago. When we had to be firm about our boundaries."

Several older wolves nodded at this, their suspicion redirecting. Rowan noticed how skillfully Mae had shifted the conversation while appearing to help. Even the way she sat, seemingly fragile in her floral dress, made her words seem more harmless than they were.

"Grandmother has a point," Alder said. "I'll investigate the territory dispute personally. Rowan will continue interviewing pack members and examining local evidence."

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