Pack Dynamics by Julie Frost Page A

about Ben, I’m going to fall into bed and sleep for about twelve hours.” She rubbed her arms as if she was cold. “I … haven’t actually slept since he disappeared without calling. It was so unlike him I knew something was wrong.”
    No, she wouldn’t have slept, would she? “I can go check, if you like.”
    “Thank you.”
    He dumped hazelnut creamer into his Kopi Luwak and headed downstairs. The basement was eerily silent, and he took a second to remind himself that this was his house, dammit, and if it was quiet, that was his doing.
    The door to the surgical suite was shut. He tapped on it and stuck his head in. “What word?”
    “Just closing,” said Doc Allen, straightening and rolling his head around a couple of times before bending back over the table. “It was iffy for a while, but he’ll be all right, thanks to whatever magic Dr. Reed brought with him.”
    Alex felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his chest, one he didn’t even know he’d been carrying, and he sagged against the doorframe. “Good. That’s real good.” He closed his eyes and blew a breath out. “Thanks, Docs. Jeremy, you too. Bonuses all around. Coffee upstairs.”
    “We don’t do this for the money,” Jeremy said. “Or that rat crap you call coffee.”
    “I know. Bonuses anyway. Above and beyond the call of duty, all that stuff.” They knew the drill. “See you in a few.” He smiled, toasted them with his cup, and went back to find Janni and give her the news.
    O O O
    Hans Ostheim flung the handset of his phone across the room, cursing as it shattered against the plasma-screen TV and fur erupted on his back. Alex Jarrett was either very good or very lucky, but either way, two of Ostheim’s valuable employees were dead, along with his nephew.
    He snarled and allowed his wolf to come partially out, flexing claws and snapping teeth. Idna walked carefully into the room, supporting herself on various bits of furniture, and put her hand on his arm, not snatching it back as his canines closed around her wrist. “Rough morning, darling?” she asked, stroking his hair with the red-painted, manicured nails on her free hand.
    “That bastard Jarrett,” he growled, after releasing her. “Janine and Thomas are dead. So is Deiter.”
    “Oh.” She sat down in an opulent chair, chin resting on her knuckles. “What happened?”
    “I sent Deiter to Jarrett’s, as our message to back off was ignored. They intercepted some of our memos, just last night.” He put his face in his hand. “Deiter was captured. When I sent people to extract him, they killed all three of them.” His breathing was ragged. “I have to go and identify his body.”
    “How … unexpected.”
    He stared at her. “You know I love you, but even for a vampire, you can be a cold bitch sometimes, Idna. Unless.…” He rose and tilted her chin up, caressing her cheek with his thumb. “Are you feeling all right?”
    “Oh, the usual,” she replied.
    He clenched his jaw. Her illness made him feel completely helpless, and this was not a feeling he embraced or was used to. They were running out of time.…
    She continued. “One of us must look on the situation with dispassion, dear.” She lifted a cool, perfectly groomed eyebrow.
    He pounded his fist on the back of her chair. “I raised Deiter as my son! My brother entrusted his safety to me.” On reflection, perhaps they should have wolfed Deiter. It would have made him harder to kill in a situation like this. The boy had balked, and now Hans regretted not pushing the issue.
    “And we will avenge his death. In due time.” Idna rose and put her hand on his shoulder. “Priorities, Hans. Once we have what we want, we can go about destroying our enemies.”
    Ostheim grunted. “Including Alex Jarrett. Who has become more than just an inconvenience.”

Chapter Five
    Ben twitched violently awake with a curse, breathing in short sharp gasps because his chest was on fire from the inside and deep