A Wolf's Treasure (paperback)

CH 1

Duncan’s blood raced, burning through his veins with a shot of fear, a spark of excitement, and a twinge of longing, though he hadn’t felt any of those things in a very long time.

She was stalking him.

The lass with the dark curls. The one he’d seen that day he was with Lucian. 

The wee lass was stalking a werewolf. 

A wide grin split his face as he lathered his jaw and neck for a shave. It would do him no good to meet her properly for the first time with a day’s worth of whiskers. He rinsed his hands and wet his razor, then began scraping the stubble from his left cheek. 

As he shaved, he thought back to the first time he’d noticed he was being trailed. After everything had been sorted out with Lucian and Keelin, Duncan had decided to give the pup a little bit of space. Lucian was maturing nicely, and thanks to his new mate, that explosive temper of his was finally cooling to a simmer. 

Of course, he—Duncan—had helped with that by annoying Lucian on a regular basis for years until he no longer had such a hair trigger. Not that he would ever receive any thanks for it. 

But he was digressing. 

Unlike Lucian, Duncan didn’t feel the need to run wild every night. Older than the pup by many years—though a wee bit younger than Cedric, the almighty alpha—he was quite comfortable in his skin. And around humans. 

What he did love to do, was dance. Country dancing, to be precise. Something his pack mates probably weren’t aware of. Not because he was hiding it, but because they were a bunch of self-centered bastards when it came to their free time, preferring to spend it with their Faerie mates than with him.

All except Cedric. But as the alpha, he’d made it very clear long ago that he preferred to spend his downtime alone with his Guinness beer and the latest Netflix series he was binge watching.

Duncan had taken an interest after meeting Keegan when he’d come up from Texas. That alpha knew his way around a Two-Step, and Duncan had been immediately romanced by the music and etiquette of the dances—the Two Step, the Waltz, Swing, Line Dance…hell, even the Polka. He’d taken a few free lessons, watched some videos on YouTube, and now made it a point to sweep the lasses off their feet at least twice a week. Three times, if he could manage to sneak away. Human lasses loved nothing more than a male who could swing them around a dance floor.

And this was how he’d found out he was being followed by the lass in the forest. The one he’d never thought to see again.

All had been quiet on the Faerie front for a few days, so with his alpha’s permission to take a break from patrols, he’d climbed into Vina—his Jeep—and headed south to a nightclub he often frequented called Risky Business. Or maybe it was Risky Boys. Risky Beers? No, that couldn’t be right. Duncan stopped shaving and thought about it a moment. The name really didn’t matter, though, so he shrugged and continued with his task. 

What did matter, was that he was being followed. 

At first, it had been nothing more than a tickle on the back of his neck one night when he was at the club. Like the tip of a feather barely sliding over his skin. But over the next few hours, as he’d hit the dance floor with a few lasses he saw there on a regular basis, that tickle had become a scratch. And by the time he’d finally left the club, sweating his arse off and jonesing for a cheeseburger smothered with bacon, that scratch had begun to burn until his hackles rose in warning. As he’d weaved his way the few blocks to his Jeep, Duncan had glanced around, all casual-like, trying to pinpoint the source.

She hadn’t bothered to hide when he’d spotted her down the street. Hadn’t even attempted to stay out of his sight. Instead, she’d stood with her wee booted feet planted right in the middle of the sidewalk, arms crossed beneath full breasts that made his mouth water with the urge to bite into something other than a burger. 

The force of that hunger had taken him so unawares, his knees had weakened and he’d nearly stumbled.

Her head had tilted to the side in a curious pose as she’d watched him falter, and Duncan had been struck anew by the luxurious look of the dark curls falling loosely over her shoulder.

Pausing with his hand on the door handle of his Jeep, he’d stared back, too dumbstruck by the oddness of the situation to think straight. 

He knew those curls. He’d seen them before.

After a few seconds, her arms had dropped back to her sides. With a bored look, she’d turned and wandered all leisurely-like into the alley beside the dance hall. 

Unsure of what to do, Duncan had stared at the spot where she’d last stood. Should he follow the lass? Get in Vina and go home? Had he really seen her or had one of his dance partners dropped something in his whiskey when he wasn’t looking?

The possibilities were endless.

In the end, he’d gotten into his Jeep and headed home, convinced he’d imagined the entire situation. But mostly because he was fookin’ “knackered”, as his vampire friend, Aiden, would say, and just wanted to eat and get some sleep.

However, over the next few weeks, as he’d run patrols around the diameter of Cedric’s territory and went about other menial daily tasks, the lass had appeared another sixteen times.

And Duncan no longer thought she was only in his imagination.

She would appear out of nowhere, sitting up high on a branch in the forest as he ran beneath in his wolf form, swinging her legs without a care in the world as she watched him go by. She’d watch him walk in and out of his apartments. He’d even caught her staring blatantly in windows. Always watching. Never saying a word. 

As he didn’t discern any type of a threat from the situation, Duncan went about his business as usual until one day, feeling a bit crabbit and weary of her spying, he’d attempted to speak to her. 

He’d walked out of the grocery store to find her a few spaces away from Vina, head cocked at a curious angle, dark eyes serious as she’d studied his every move like he was some sort of alien creature. His steps had faltered when he noticed her there, but only for a moment. 

Opening the back of his Jeep, he’d put his bags inside. “Sexy grin” in place—the one that never failed to bring the females running—he’d turned to say something charming and perhaps slightly teasing. Something that would bring a smile to her face and a light to her eyes. 

But when he’d met her steady stare, whatever he’d been about to say had melted like sugar on his tongue. At some point, he’d finally managed to stutter out an awkward greeting, but even that had taken the majority of his brain power. He couldn’t even remember now what it was he’d said. But it must’ve been something especially glaikit, for the lass had looked at him like he was the village idiot before she’d turned and meandered away with not a whiff of urgency, as always. Her full hips had swayed back and forth with a natural swagger, causing a startling growl of need to rumble in his chest.

Och, aye. That, he could remember.

Over time, Duncan had come to the conclusion there was one reason and one reason only for his impaired reaction to this particular lass after he’d spent hundreds of years wrapping females around his finger—or at least not offending them by his presence.

She was more.

And as to why she’d been following him around these past weeks? Well, that was quite simple to see. This lass was not normally attracted to males, and yet, she found herself irresistibly attracted to one now. It was the only explanation that made sense. 

She obviously had a strange fascination with him. Perhaps she was confused by her feelings and was trying to puzzle it out, and this is why she kept appearing everywhere he was, she was trying to figure out why she was so very attracted to him.

It made perfect sense, and the only reason he could think of for her strange behavior.

Duncan rinsed the remaining lather from his face and checked to make sure he hadn’t missed anything. He slapped on a little smelly stuff—females loved the smelly stuff—and went to his room to finish getting dressed. 

It took him a minute to decide what she would like him to wear, but ultimately settled on jeans and a thin, green sweater that brought out the color in his eyes. Tonight, he was going to talk to the lass. Really talk to her without tripping all over his words…or his own feet. Tell her why he believed she was so taken by him, and they could finally stop dancing around each other, and he could get on with his life. 

Alone.

Duncan wasn’t a “love ‘em and leave ‘em” kind of male. For reasons beyond his control, he was just a “leave ‘em”. And he tried not to dwell on the reasons behind it. If he did, being in this world would be too lonely, indeed.

So, he was off to meet his mysterious lass. But first, he needed to stop by Cedric’s apartment for a quick briefing.

Duncan arrived at Cedric’s door at the same time as Marc, the pack mate he was the fondest of, though he would never tell the others such a thing as they would be devastated. 

The alpha’s voice came to them through the door, raised in anger. “Have ye lost yer wits, ye crazy fool?”

Another voice, quiet and refined, answered, “I haven’t had them in some time now, wolf. It’s one of the best things about living to be as ancient as I am.”

Duncan and Marc shared a look before Duncan opened the door and announced their presence. “What’s all th’—” His words were cut short as he strode out of the foyer and into the apartment proper and saw who Cedric was speaking to.

Prince Nada, aka the Faerie prince, was there, sitting in Cedric’s favorite chair. His long, silver hair hung loose down his back, and he wore his usual fancy suit. Black, this time. Though on occasion he would go with all white. One hand rested on the silver head of his ever-present cane. Though he seemed to carry it more for appearance, since Duncan had never actually seen him use it to walk.

Cedric paced back and forth in front of him, wearing a path in his new area rug between the couch and the window. Brock was already there sitting on the couch, as was Lucian, the two of them in almost identical poses with their heavy arms crossed over their wide chests. Lucian wore his usual severe expression, but Brock was watching the scene playing out before him with a look of amusement sparkling in his blue eyes.

“What’s going on?” Duncan asked his pack leader. 

The prince stood from his chair and announced in a stage whisper, “I think your leader is having some sort of breakdown.”

“I’m no’ having a breakdown!”

Duncan studied the male he’d known for more years than he could count. His cheeks were ruddy with temper, his eyes were flashing white sparks, and he could hear the scrape of his teeth grinding together. If Cedric kept this up, he would have no way to chew his meat to nourish himself. “Och, Cedric. Dinna let him get tae ye. Ye ken he only says what he says tae rile ye up.”

Cedric shook his head. “Ye dinna hear, Duncan. The prince has a plan.”

“Oh, yes!” The prince smiled. “I just thought of it this morning. And thought I would flash on over here to tell you about it.”

The grin on Brock’s face grew. “And it’s a helluva plan. Just wait till you hear.”

“Is anyone goin’ tae tell us this ‘plan’? Or are ye going tae leave us standing here like a couple o’ fools?” Marc asked.

“It does no’ matter, because I’m no’ going tae do it,” Cedric growled.

“But it will fix all of our problems.”

“No.” Cedric pointed at the prince. “It will fix yer problems. No’ mine. It will only give me more!”

The prince rolled his eyes. “I do think you’re being overdramatic. Princess Duana is—how do you wolves say it—quite a ‘bonnie lass’. You could do much, much worse.”

Duncan looked from one to the other. “What in the god’s green earth are ye two talkin’ aboot?”

With a great, heavy sigh, Cedric ran his hands over his head, smoothing back his ponytail, which had, in fact, become quite askew. “Th’ daft prince has come up with th’ perfect way tae distract Duana from her obsession with ‘curing’ th’ soul suckers.” His chest heaved with another intake of air, which he blew out slowly before he said, “He wants me tae mate with th’ lass.”

The prince grinned at everyone in the room in turn. “It’s a brilliant idea. I’m so glad Cedric thought of it.”

“I dinna think o’ it, ye fool. Ye did!”

Duncan buckled beneath the force of the alpha’s temper, as did the rest of the wolves. 

“You don’t have to shout,” the prince told him pleasantly. “I may be old, but I can hear you just fine.”

A low growl rumbled from Cedric’s chest, and he took a step toward the Faerie prince.

Acting fast, and as the only one in the room who’d been with his alpha long enough to get away with it, Cedric leapt between them just as Brock and Lucian jumped to their feet. Whether to run or to back up their alpha, he didn’t know, but one move would’ve been just as smart as the other. 

He didn’t dare lay a hand on Cedric, as it very well might get bitten off. Quite literally. But he did manage to catch his white eyes with his own. “I dinna think chewing up th’ prince is a good idea, Cedric.”

He flashed his canines. “Yer wrong. Tis th’ best idea I’ve had in a long time.”

Duncan felt a heavy weight settle on his right shoulder, and he caught a whiff of something sweet and pleasant. Lavender? Tearing his eyes from his alpha’s, he turned his head slightly to find the prince’s chin resting on his shoulder. The smile was still on his face. The one that made him look like he was off his head. 

“You do know I’m quite capable of taking care of myself,” he whispered in Duncan’s ear.

“Ye have no’ seen a wolf like my alpha when his temper is roused,” he responded.

The prince came around to stand beside him, never taking his eyes from Cedric. His head tilted to the side as he studied the alpha’s face and form. “That’s where you’re wrong, young pup. Quite, quite wrong.”

Duncan frowned, his hackles beginning to rise. He was not young. Nor was he a pup. And he was about to remind the prince of that fact when a flash of color in Prince Nada’s eyes distracted him. He blinked. Looked again. But the illusion was gone. 

Cedric pushed him out of the way, snarled at the prince, then abruptly turned on his heel and stomped away. They all let out a collective breath as the weight of his anger lifted from their backs.

Duncan however, continued to stare at the prince as a sense of unease crawled over his skin. But there was no sign of rainbows in his eyes.

Perhaps he’d only imagined it. Or, perhaps it was a trick of the Fae. Either way, there was no need for his heart to be thumping the way it was. 

Prince Nada gave him a wink, then retrieved his cane from where it rested against the side of the chair. In a rare moment of mental clarity, he said, “Think about my proposal, wolf. We need to get Duana under control, and who better to do that than you? And we both know why.”

Duncan exchanged a look of surprise with Marc just as Cedric whirled around with a growl.

But the prince was gone.

“Fookin’ Faeries!” Cedric shouted to the space where the prince had stood. Then he grabbed the chair he’d recently vacated and flung it across the room, where it smashed against the fireplace.

Brock and Lucian ran over and began to pull the larger pieces from the fire before they set the whole building ablaze. 

Cedric saw what they were doing and roared, “Get out! Get out! All o’ ye!” He pointed at Duncan, white eyes glowing through the strands of hair that had been ripped from his ponytail. “Except ye, Duncan. Ye stay here with me.”

The others filed out, nearly tripping over each other in their haste to get out of the way of Cedric’s wrath. 

Duncan watched them go, trying not to laugh. They should all know by now that Cedric was a fair and level-headed alpha. Well, maybe not Brock. He’d only just joined the pack a short time ago. But the rest of them should know; Cedric wouldn’t take out his anger on his pack. Not unless they’d caused it.

It was one of the reasons Duncan chose to stay with him.

“Ye owe them both an apology, for talkin’ like that aboot their mates,” he said.

“I was no’ cursing their lasses, I was speaking aboot th’ prince.”

“Aye, but still.”

Cedric glared at him a moment, but then the anger faded from his eyes. He sighed heavily. “Aye, I will.”

“What do ye need from me?” Duncan asked. Cedric would have a plan. He always had a plan. Because there was no way in hell he could ever see his alpha giving in to the prince’s crazy idea. Cedric would never marry one such as Duana. The lass was bonnie, for sure, but she was an olc—a Dark Fae. They had fought side by side to remove her kind from this world. And although a few of them—like Duana and Marc’s Bronaugh—had been missed and were as sane as the la maithe tribe the prince ruled over, it didn’t mean anything. She would turn, as would Bronaugh. It was inevitable, and Duncan wasn’t looking forward to the grief his brother would feel when she did.

Hands on his hips, Cedric just stared at him for a good long while. Finally, he took another deep breath, the last of the tension falling from his shoulders and the glow leaving his eyes. “Och. I dinna ken,” he said.

“How aboot a beer?” He, himself, sure as hell could use one.

“Aye. Thank ye, Duncan.”

He got two bottles from the fridge, popped off the caps, and brought one over to Cedric. 

“What th’ fook am I supposed tae sit on now?” he asked Duncan as he took the bottle without taking his eyes from the pile of smashed wood and blue material of his favorite chair. 

“Th’ couch is good and comfy,” Duncan told him.

“Aye, but it’s no’ my chair.”

“Then maybe ye should no’ have smashed it.”

Cedric grunted and took a drink. “Twas that or lose me shit completely. And it’s a wee bit early for the humans tae be seeing a black wolf running through their halls.”

“And that’s why I keep telling ye tae only rent out the spare apartments in our building tae fellow shifters.”

Those white-blue eyes shifted over to Duncan. “Ye may be right, Duncan. But I dinna ken if I could live around more o’ ye. I have enough on my hands just dealing with ye four.” 

“At least it was ye who broke yer furniture this time, and no’ us.” Duncan grinned. He and the others had crashed through Cedric’s furniture more than once when being a little too enthusiastic about leaving.

Cedric grunted, and took a long swallow from the bottle in his hand. 

“So, what are ye goin’ tae do?”

“Aboot?”

Duncan swung his arm out, nearly spilling his drink. “Aboot marryin’ the princess! And the daft prince who came up with th’ idea, tha’s what!”

Cedric shrugged one thick shoulder. 

A shock of surprise shot through him. “That’s it? Dinna ye want tae get out of the prince’s crosshairs?”

“Aye. But…” he drifted off, not finishing the thought.

“But?” Duncan repeated. “But what? The lass is an olc, Cedric. She carries th’ dark magic within her. Ye canna seriously be thinking o’ courting her!”

“Bronaugh is an olc.”

“Bronaugh will turn, just like they all do.”

“Haud yer wheesht, Duncan! Dinna say such a thing. Marc would be fookin’ destroyed were anything tae happen tae th’ lass!”

“It’s going tae happen, Cedric. It’s just a matter o’ time.”

“I thought ye liked her.”

“I do! She’s bonnie and braw. But that does no’ change what’s going tae happen in th’ future. And then she will be like…” He paused. “Well, ye ken th’ ones I mean.”

Cedric gave him a stern stare. “She will no’ become one o’ them, Duncan. Those Faeries are gone. Locked away with the sick ones.”

“That’s no’ what Lucian and I saw when we found Duana at Keelin’s house.”

Cedric’s gaze snapped to his. “Ye dinna tell him anything?”

“Och, no. O’ course no’.” Anger coursed through him. He couldn’t believe this male, his friend, who’d fought by his side in the last war, who’d rescued him from the enemy, was giving serious thought to mating one such as Duana. 

Or, perhaps it was just that if Cedric were mated, it would truly leave him all alone.

Cedric finished his beer in one long swallow and set the empty bottle on the mantle. Turning to Duncan, he put one large hand on his shoulder. It was heavier than the prince’s head had been.

The weight was reassuring. The words he spoke, not so much.

“Ye canna go through th’ rest o’ yer life with no one tae rest yer head on, Duncan. Dinna ye have a lass in mind ye could be with?”

“I have a lot o’ places tae rest my head, Cedric. A lot o’ choices. And so do ye. Ye dinna need tae settle, because ye think it will bring aboot peace.”

“I would no’ be settling, my friend.”

Duncan stared into his alpha’s eyes, searching for the truth. And when he found it, the anger that filled him turned to sorrow. “Then ye will end up no different from me, Cedric. and for that, I’m verra sorry.”