The Wolf Within (Purgatory 1)

Duncan’s head had snapped up.

I said the wrong thing. Oh, crap.

“He’s slaughtered so many. He’s my blood, that’s what you’re test showed, right? That’s what he told me.” Duncan sucked in a deep breath. “A killer…that’s what he is.”

“But that’s not what you are.” She wanted to shake him—so she did. A hard yank against his shoulders. So much for soothing. “You aren’t him. You haven’t spent years killing. You’re a good agent. A good man. Whatever he is, that isn’t you.”

“But we share blood. A father.” His brows furrowed. “Wait, if my father was a werewolf, was it some kind pack war? Is that what happened? Other wolves came and killed him and my mother?”

And here was going to be another revelation that wasn’t easy to give. “I…I got the ME from your hometown to fax me the autopsy reports for your parents.”

“What?”

“I should have told you first but…” But what if she’d been wrong? “Duncan, the man who died, he wasn’t your father.”

But Duncan shook his head. “He was. That was my family. My mother. My father. My—”

“Do you remember them? Or do you just remember…” She hated hurting him. “Do you just remember that the cops told you that your parents were dead?”

His silence was her answer.

“You don’t remember your life with them, do you?”

His jaw locked. “I don’t remember anything before the blood and screams.”

He was ripping out her heart. She couldn’t stand for him to be in pain. “You were alone with their bodies for…for three days.”

His pupils expanded, turning his blue eyes almost totally black. No trace of gold showed in his eyes then.

“The ME…he told me that one of the cops found you in the closet. You were covered in blood. The woman in the house—”

“My mother.”

The pain in his voice made her ache. “Her body was found outside of the closet. It appeared as if she’d locked you in, and then she’d been killed outside of the door.” The ME's reports had said that her blood had slid under the crack near the bottom of the closet door.

Duncan had been trapped in that darkness as the blood came toward him.

All alone.

Three days.

She blinked away the tears in her eyes. She wasn’t shaking him now. Just holding him and wishing that she could take all of his pain away.

“How do you know he wasn’t my father?”

“Duncan, you know what happens when a werewolf dies in human form.”

“The teeth and claws come out.”

Because at death, it was if the beast inside was dying, too. The body shifted back to human form, but the beast didn’t totally vanish. The claws and teeth always stayed out in death. “I saw…I saw the pictures taken at the scene. The man who died then didn’t have claws. There were no fangs either.” MEs had been covering up those little telltale signs for years, and she’d even taken the step of calling the retired ME, Louis Hall, to make sure that her suspicions were correct.

“Hell, no, lady,” he’d told her, voice grousing with age. “I know a werewolf when I see one. Had two of ‘em cross my table. Scared the hell out of me at first. That slaughter? No, those were two humans who died.”

Darkness had filled Duncan’s gaze. The same deep rage that had burned from Connor’s eyes.

“He knows what happened to them,” Duncan muttered.

Yes, she suspected that Connor knew a great deal.

“I’m going to make him tell me.” He spun away from her and rushed for the doors.

But those doors were already swinging open. Pate stood there. With Shane and Elias at his back.

“Duncan.” Pate’s gaze swept over him. “I’m going to need you to come with us.”

“Get out of my way, Pate,” Duncan snapped. His hands were at his sides. His claws? Most definitely out.

Pate shook his head. “Don’t make us do this the hard way.”

Duncan laughed. “Like there’s any other way now.” He pointed toward the doors. “That ass**le in Containment Five knows about—”

“You mean your brother? The alpha werewolf who’s been clawing his way through the town? That ass**le?”

She could have slugged Pate right then. Holly marched toward him. “You tapped into my computer.”

He nodded. “And your phone line.”

Jerk. She should have known he’d pull tricks like that.

But Pate’s stare actually seemed to hold real sympathy as it turned back to Duncan. “In the morning, I’ll let you grill the guy as long as you want. But the moon is going to start rising soon. Your first full moon. And I can’t take chances with this night.”

“Scared I’ll hurt you?”

“No, scared you’ll hurt her.” Pate’s attention shifted to Holly, then back to Duncan. “The wolf will be in control. What do you think he’s gonna want most?”

“Not me,” Holly said. That had all the guys looking at her. She licked her lips. “Blood. Revenge.” That was what she’d seen in Duncan’s eyes.

“I want to talk to Connor.” Duncan’s voice had deepened. Roughened. Goosebumps rose on her arms.

“In the morning. When the moon is down, and your control is one hundred percent set.” Pate’s mouth firmed. “I have to make sure you control your beast tonight, and that he doesn’t control you. Duncan, you know the first full moon transformation is supposed to be hardest.”

“The one that tells me if I stay sane?” Duncan’s voice made the chill she felt even worse. “Or proves that I’ll be psychotic, just like my brother?”

She so wished she’d never used that word. “Duncan…”

His head inclined toward her. She could see his fangs. So what? She had fangs of her own. Holly reached for his hand. “You can talk to him tomorrow.”

There were no transfer orders on Connor yet. Duncan would get his answers. They had time.

“Just come with us for tonight,” Pate said. “We’ve got a secure cell waiting for you.”

“Like the last one?” Duncan mocked. “I ripped right through those bars.”

Pate’s cheeks flushed. It looked like Shane fought a smile. Elias…he paled.

“You’re going in the holding room tonight.”