“Yeah, all right.”
“Hell, you’re mating with her, aren’t you?”
“Done.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Son of gun. Congratulations. I would never have thought it. I swear I’ll get the info to you as quick as I can.”
“Thanks, Reid. Gotta go.”
Bjornolf stripped as fast as possible and hurried outside. He slammed the door closed and shifted before the frigid air chilled him too much. He could have used the wolf door, but he needed the cold for a moment to cool his heated blood.
He took off running, following her scent down the stairs to the pebble beach. To his guarded relief, he found her sitting next to a boulder, staring out at the ocean. She looked as though she wanted to be alone.
He wanted to hold her close like a human would. He wanted to ask her what the matter was.
She turned her head to see who was coming, her ears perked, her greenish amber eyes studying him.
Anna’s not wanting to share what was troubling her was killing him. But as a mate, he nuzzled her face in friendship and love, then lay down on the rocky beach next to her.
He tried to clear his mind of all the worries rushing through it, and then finally decided he wasn’t getting anywhere. He licked her face, snuggled next to her, and when she laid her head on the beach and closed her eyes, he laid his head across her neck and did likewise.
Whatever the matter was, they’d deal with it together when she was ready.
A noise woke Bjornolf up. Realizing that he and Anna were still on the beach in their wolf forms, he looked back at the house, wondering if he’d just imagined hearing a suspicious noise.
A crash that sounded like glass shattering had him on his feet in an instant. Anna was beside him. He was across the beach and up the stairs in several quickly pounding heartbeats. He heard the front door slam as he reached the back patio. Bjornolf raced around the house to see who was there.
A red pickup truck barreled out of the driveway, but he got the license plate number before it took off. He came back around the house as fast as he could to check on Anna. She wasn’t on the patio. He dove through the wolf door, ran across the kitchen, and saw her standing in the living room as a wolf. She was panting, her tail drooping, as she stared at the Christmas ornaments smashed all over the floor, bits and pieces of colorful chips of glass everywhere.
She looked back at him. Her eyes were so sad that he wanted to kill the bastard who had done this.
She shifted, walked back into the kitchen, and dressed as he hurried to turn into his human form and join her. Naked, he took her into his arms and said, “Anna.”
She was always so on top of everything. If one thing didn’t work, she tried something else. He’d never seen her look so devastated. He didn’t want to leave her alone for a second, even though he didn’t want to cancel the open house over this.
He had a million tasks to accomplish to set things right, and if it wasn’t for her shattered expression, he would have taken over and set matters in motion to fix everything immediately.
But no matter what, he couldn’t leave her like this.
He hugged her tighter and kissed her cheek, wanting to cheer her up in any way that he could. He noted the popcorn garland was unharmed. The tree was fine. The copper angel and wolf treetop ornament was still standing tall on the tree, watching over their little cottage. “The angel and the wolf are just fine.”
Anna burst into tears.
When Hunter got the distress call from Bjornolf, he didn’t know what to think. Hunter and Tessa were putting the finishing touches on their place before the open house, and now this. Bjornolf was ranting in a whisper. The waves were hitting the shoreline with such ferocity that Hunter could barely hear what Bjornolf was saying.
“Where are you?” Hunter asked.
“The beach down below the cottage,” Bjornolf said.
“Okay,” Hunter said, not used to a SEAL falling apart on him. “Say again.”
Bjornolf took a deep breath. “Someone trashed the tree decorations. Red Ford pickup.” He gave the license plate number as Hunter quickly jotted it down. “The ornaments are ruined. Anna’s shook up, and you know she doesn’t shake up easily. I’m really worried about her.”
“We’ll be right there. All right, Bjornolf? We’ll tend to it. You take care of Anna.”
“She’s cleaning. Not speaking to me.”
“Take care of her, Bjornolf. We’ll be right there. Ten minutes tops.”
Hunter ended the call and called his sister. Meara and Finn would meet them there. Then he called Caruthers with the truck description. The police officer would get right on it.
Hunter turned to see Tessa waiting anxiously to hear what he had to say about it. “Will you be alright alone?”
“I’m going with you. I may be having these babies any second, but I’m part of the pack, and we all help each other out during a crisis. If nothing else, I can pat Anna’s hand or something.”
“Who’s going to take care of me if you have your babies prematurely in the middle of that mess?” Hunter asked. He was serious. He didn’t know why Bjornolf was so rattled, but hell, if Tessa had her babies at a disaster scene? Hunter would have a stroke.
He kissed her and pulled her into his arms. “You can’t go like this.” He ran his hand over her flannel nightgown.
She gave him an exasperated look and sighed. “I planned to get dressed.”
Bjornolf was glad when the troops arrived. The women took Anna aside, and Tessa was talking to her softly. He was about to ask the cop Caruthers what he’d discovered about the license plate when Jessica spoke up.
“I know you all are looking for whoever was driving the red truck. Whoever that person was wrecked the decorations. It was Dottie Everton, aka Dorothy Wentworth, my adoptive mother,” Jessica said, both angry and upset. “I know her scent. It was her.”
Bjornolf had wondered when Jessica would finally realize she was part of the pack, even though it had to be hard for her to give up her mother like that. The woman must have followed the kids here when they left the tree farm after searching the safe.
While Anna and Bjornolf were at the beach, they’d left the back door unlocked. Neither of them thought anyone would come around the back to break into the house and destroy their Christmas.
Bjornolf had smelled the woman’s scent earlier at the Evertons’ house, but he didn’t know who the woman was. He was glad Jessica had revealed the truth. It would take time for Jessica to feel wholly part of the pack, but she’d made a nice start.
“The truck is registered to her husband, but with that additional information, we’ll know to arrest her for breaking and entering and destroying private property,” Caruthers said, taking pictures of the damage.
With that settled, Bjornolf and Rourke cleaned up the rest of the mess. Hunter was in the kitchen preparing wassail and apple cider. The police officers—Allan Smith and Caruthers’s wife, Greta—were busy trying to track down Everton’s truck.
Nathan and Finn had gone to the store to pick up more Christmas decorations that would match the ones that were ruined. With the Christmas tree lights and the outdoor lights on, a fire flickering at the hearth, and the smell of apple cider and wassail simmering on the stove, the place was soon ready for the open house.
Meanwhile, Anna, Jessica, Tessa, and Meara were all clustered in the master bedroom, talking behind closed doors. Except for Anna, who was still wearing all black from the clandestine visit to check out Everton’s safe, all the ladies were dressed in sparkly Christmas sweaters, ready for the open house. They were just a little early before the rest of the pack members arrived.
Bjornolf was dying to know what was going on. In the meantime, Rourke began laying out the case they were building on the coffee table. Copies of everything they’d found in the safe and other documents that Rourke had brought with him, including a transcript of his interview with Helen Wentworth, were spread out for everyone’s perusal.
With one more long glance toward the master bedroom, Bjornolf began to look over the documents again to see if he’d missed anything.
“Courthouse records show the tree farm still belongs to Oliver and Jenna Silverstone,” Rourke said. “Roger and Dottie Wentworth didn’t purchase it.”
Bjornolf nodded, concentrating on the paperwork when he heard the women laughing in the bedroom. He glanced up at Hunter, saw a hint of a smile in his expression, and realized then that everything would be all right.
He’d never known how truly important a pack could be in a crisis until now. He still didn’t know what had upset Anna, but he figured once she discussed the matter with the women, she’d share the truth with him. He loved her, and he had to let her know that every day of their lives.
He sighed heavily and looked at some of the papers concerning the planting of trees. One of them in particular caught his eye. He began thinking—if the DEA bodies had been buried at the farm, it would have been either where new seedlings were growing or on some spare acreage. He started looking at dates of plantings and found that the schematics showed a detailed planting regimen. And identified some places that might just yield a couple of bodies.
“Hunter,” he called out. “I have an idea where the DEA agent bodies might be located.”
Chapter 24
The women were all talking to Anna, trying to bolster her while she sat quietly on the edge of the bed. She had never been a member of a pack or truly belonged to a family, so she wasn’t expecting them to rally around her. She was stunned.
Anna had never talked to anyone about her past. She’d buried it, but it was there—always there. Deep. The first Christmas she’d thought she’d enjoy, one that she’d believed she could get through and forget the past, had been destroyed. She was numb all over.
To lighten the mood, Tessa said, “Hunter was ready to expire on the spot when I insisted on coming to Anna’s open house, afraid I’d have the babies spontaneously once we arrived.”
