CHAPTER FIVE 

SANI

 

A chill wind over his Sani’s skin brought him to consciousness. Shivering, he sat up. Why was he outside? And naked? Where was he? He groggily glanced around.

Ah. The cottage Nascha had brought the woman to last night.

You crazy wolf. We’re not doing hookups at the moment.

The wolf snorted.

That was helpful. 

It was still dark. In winter, the sun rose late. The cottage was quiet. No reason to stick around. 

Yet, Sani found himself reluctant to leave. He’d seen the woman last night as she was getting into her car. The attraction had been immediate. That in itself wasn’t unusual. He often found women beautiful.

It was unusual for his wolf to take an interest. The animal had definitely never cared enough to keep watch outside a woman’s house like a stalker.

Another icy breeze sent goosebumps over Sani’s bare skin. He shifted to wolf again. Shifters weren’t self-conscious about nudity, but four feet traveled faster than two. Plus his wolf hadn’t brought anything to wear. Or his cell phone.

Inconsiderate beast.

When Sani entered his home, the phone beeped at him accusingly, with new messages listed on the screen. He read the latest text from Kayin.

New murder victims found in Port Storm. I’ll pick you up.

That meant in the main center of the ranch since a car couldn’t get to Sani’s cabin. The message was twenty minutes old. Not much time. Sani took a fast shower, threw on jeans, a button down shirt, and shoved his feet into boots, then headed through the trees.

Residents of the ranch were already stirring. There was always work to do, and most got an early start to their days.

Kayin was already in the lot, leaning against his parked truck with his arms crossed. He lowered his sunglasses on his nose and gave Sani a once-over. “You, my friend, look like shit. Murder cases, especially the ones like these, can weigh on you. Maybe it’s —”

“No. It’s not that. Just didn’t sleep much last night. I want to help.” He didn’t enjoy seeing murdered women, but this was pure exhaustion. What did his wolf want with that woman? It had been years since his wolf had taken over like that. Why stand guard outside all night? Against what? 

The animal offered no answers, but a deep contentment radiated from the creature.

“Hop in.” Kayin inclined his head. “I have coffee and donuts.”

“You are a man among men.” Sani rounded the hood and slid into the passenger seat. The interior of the cab smelled of caffeine and sugar.

As they made the drive into Port Storm, Sani scrolled through more missed messages — mostly updates from the security teams on watch last night. Nothing about the mage or a golden wolf. 

He slid his phone into a pocket and reached for a donut. “Do you think this victim is related to the others? Killed by the minion that got away?”

“Not sure. It’s a possibility. She wasn’t found by the highway, but the medical examiner is a friend, and wants to show me something.”

 

 

Sani trailed Kayin to the lower level of the building and through a pair of thick metal doors. The odor of death and harsh chemicals almost made Sani wish he hadn’t eaten so many donuts.

“Kayin,” the medical examiner, a tall, lanky man with pale skin and a blond military buzz cut greeted Kayin with an enthusiastic handshake. Behind him, a naked body, visible from the chest down, lay on cold steel, cut in a dozen places. 

Sani shook his head, glancing at it. Her. She looked young. Too young to die such a violent death. 

Kayin nodded. “Doctor.” He motioned toward Sani. “This is Sani of the Utopia Pack. Sani this is Dr. Smith.” 

“Dr. Smith. Nice to meet you.” Sani received a perfunctory handshake.

“Likewise. Let me show you what I found.” He led them to the examination table. 

Sani’s feet felt like they weighed a ton each. He wished he could give this woman back her life. Or at least her dignity.  

“We have an ID on the victim,” the doctor said. “Age twenty-four, no criminal record. No sign of drugs or alcohol. Roommates reported nothing suspicious when she left home.” 

Forcing his gaze to her face, Sani couldn’t help staring. This victim looked like the woman his wolf guarded all night. There was no way his wolf could have known about this, though.

Sani clenched a fist to keep his claws sheathed. He’d love to give the killer a taste of his own medicine. 

Dr. Smith detailed one injury and injustice after another. “A serrated blade was used for the cuts. But look closer.” He pointed to a slash on the victim’s inner thigh. “A puncture wound in the cut.” 

Sani froze and forced a neutral expression over his face. He followed Kayin’s eyes to the victim’s neck. There were cuts there, too.

“No other punctures?” Kayin sounded calm, but his fingers toyed with his braids. 

“The other wounds are too deep and jagged to ascertain if there are more puncture marks.”  

Sani slipped behind Kayin to lean in over the woman’s neck. He sniffed. Nothing but traces of perfume mixed with the acrid smell of terror. No trace of what he was looking for. He shook his head at Kayin. 

“Whoever bled her was thorough,” Dr. Smith added. “Bled her completely dry. Not a drop left.” 

Kayin shot Sani a meaningful look. Are you thinking what I’m thinking? 

Sani wished he wasn’t. But he nodded. Vampire. Just what they needed.

“Where was she found?” If not too many people had been there, maybe he could learn something from the scents.

“Not far from the college. She and her roommates rent a house together.”

 

 

A check of the crime scene affirmed his dread. The scent of vampire was all over the place. Definitely more than one, but the scents overlapped one another, and disappeared, leaving no way to track them.

“A couple of them feeding on her,” Kayin muttered.

Sani sucked in a breath to fight the bitter taste in his mouth. A lone vampire could be a handful, even for a wolf. His father bore scars from a fight with a vampire. 

They were quick and hard to kill. A fight with more than multiple vampires promised a high body count. A lone girl had no chance.

“Then they covered their bites by slashing her,” Kayin finished. “Think Sykod and Jioleta could track them?” 

Sani shook his head as they walked to the truck and started the drive back to the ranch. Sykod was the pack’s best tracker and Jioleta, a master hunter, but even they wouldn’t be of any help with this kind of trail. 

“Like Sykod would let his mate get anywhere near vampires.” Sani snorted. “As if any good mate would allow that. When I get my claws on those blood suckers… Well, as far as I’m concerned, the world would be better off without any vampires.” 

Kayin gave him a sideways glance. “Not all of them are evil, you know. My brother is vampire.”

“Ciaran?” Sani blinked. “But… I’ve seen him in the sun. And eating food.”

“He’s a hybrid. But the line of vampires he’s part of, they’re capable of love. They and the other kind of vampires, the ones we typically deal with, have been at war for thousands of years.”

“Vampires capable of love?” Sani wasn’t sure what to make of that. His father only ever talked about vampires as mindless, bloodthirsty creatures. 

“Only if they are turned by a member of a specific bloodline.” Kayin shrugged. “You can’t say all shifters are good. We fight scourges. In fact, we just fought a pack of murdering shifters a few days ago, right? No species is all good or all evil. There’s always a scale.”

Sani couldn’t deny that. Mika’s mate had almost died as a result of he injuries. He shook his head. it was easier when he could draw a line between good and bad. “How do you do this all the time?”

“What?” Kayin raised an eyebrow. 

“The deaths. The unsolved mysteries. The monsters responsible for the crimes getting away with everything.” 

Kayin’s eyes showed pain then gritty determination. He swallowed, then pulled back into focus. “This is the hard part. The waiting, thinking, and chasing false leads. But catching the bastards — that feels good.” 

He looked at Sani, his eyes burning with resolve. “We’ll solve this case. I promise you that.” 

“We’ll get the bastards, all right,” Sani replied. At the moment, though, there was nothing to do. 

They went to Kayin’s place since it was closer. He’d joined Utopia pack recently and slowly found his way into a new life. He spent too much time on his own, staring off into space, studying the ghosts of his past. Or maybe he was dreaming of something forever out of reach. 

Whatever it was, the man seemed more empty shell than soul. The girls loved it. He had that wounded warrior aura they just couldn’t resist. 

Sani threw his friend a sidelong look and wondered if he got tired of all the loose and empty hookups instead of… Instead of the steady rightness of a Fated’s companionship. 

And off his mind went on another round of imagining something that couldn’t be. Sani brooded throughout their pizza lunch and the football game on television, unable to shake the image of the dead woman’s eyes. 

His body twitched with the impulse to go check on the woman’s cottage. His pulse jumped at the idea. 

Right. He’d show up unannounced and say… What exactly? 

I just saw a dead woman who looked like you, and for some reason, my wolf stood guard outside your house all night. Then, just now, I had a sudden urge to come to your place.

Yeah. None of that would send her running for the hills.

Kayin pointed the remote at the TV and muted the volume. “Hey, Sani.” 

“Yeah?” 

“Want some advice?” 

Sani worked his jaw from side to side. “No.” 

Kayin hit a button, flooding the space with sound. 

Sani lasted thirty seconds. “Okay, what?” 

The TV muted. “If this is about a woman, go to her. If this is about the murders, don’t carry it around with you. All we can do is try to stop the murders. Either way, you need to get your head straight.” 

Kayin was right. He should clear his head. But how? 

His phone trilled with Nascha’s ringtone. Sani sighed. His wolf whined. She probably had some errand for him to run. More likely, an entire series of errands, like hauling fertilizer and tracking down hard-to-find parts. She loved torturing her little brother. 

He answered the call. “Hi, Nascha.”

“Sani, I have some heavy things to move. Will you take them to the library for me?”

Sani blinked. “We have a library?”

“We do now.” Nascha laughed. “We even have a librarian. I hired her to stock the shelves and help catalog everything we brought out of the cave we found.”

So that was who the mysterious woman in the cottage was.

Maybe this was the universe giving him a way to get his head on straight. If he met the woman, he could figure out why his wolf was obsessed with her and deal with it. One less thing to worry about.

“Happy to help. I’m on my way.”