Free The Wolven by Deborah LeBlanc

wolven—are my responsibility. We have to do what’s right for the entire community.”
    Danyon knew she was right, but there was something in him that simply refused to admit it at that moment. Call it pride, determination, the word didn’t matter. Nicole and Simon shouldn’t have died. He should have been there to protect them. He needed to find who—or what—had murdered them.
    “Twelve hours,” he said. “At least give me that. If I don’t come up with something by then, we’ll call in the others, okay?”
    Shauna studied him for a long while, then said, “All right. Twelve hours.” With that, she turned and headed toward the SUV.
    Danyon watched her walk away, suspecting she fearedshe’d made a mistake in allowing him the time he’d asked for.
    He understood.
    Because in that moment, he feared the exact same thing.

Chapter 7
    L ightning ripped a jagged tear through the night sky, and the thunderclap that followed shook the ground beneath Shauna’s feet. She felt the first few spatters of rain on her head, her shoulders. Fat, wet drops that promised many more.
    Shauna glanced up at the sky, wishing for it to burst open and wash her, bath her in luxurious warmth and take away the spatters of blood on her clothes, the dirt on her hands, the emotional weight on her heart.
    She’d never felt more exhausted in her life. It wasn’t that she’d tackled anything physically laborious, but being so close to Simon and Nicole while Danyon examined them, watching as his fingers worked through bloody fur, had taken a greater toll on her than she’d thought.
    The entire time she’d held the flashlight, Shauna wondered why both weres had to suffer such horrible deaths. She thought of their families and the pain and sorrow awaiting them. So many whys, too many questions. Who was she supposed to go to for answers? How could anyone explain the unfairness of the universe when it presented life this way?
    Some questions in life simply had no answers; that much Shauna knew. But to her, not having answers to such grievous questions was almost as unbearable as the situation that prompted them in the first place.
    Once Simon had been loaded into the SUV, she’d helped Danyon clear the area of bloody clothes, anything that might cause a passerby to take notice and call the police. Shauna had thought that after helping with Simon, she’d built up enough emotional stamina to handle Nicole.
    She’d been wrong.
    Although Nicole had died in the same manner as Simon and had also remained in were-state, there was something in her eyes that looked all too human. Shock—terror—innocence lost forever. That look had literally dropped Shauna to her knees. She’d openly wept while Danyon examined the young were. It was incomprehensible how anyone could kill something so fragile. To make matters worse, Nicole’s body had been hidden away in an alley behind wooden crates, since there was no brush anywhere near the pilings. Seeing her slumped in a heap in that alley, like so much garbage, made the emotional stress ten times worse.
    The only thing that had comforted Shauna that night was seeing how gently and respectfully Danyon had cared for both weres. His large, powerful hands had moved so gently over their bodies. Nicole had been small enough for him to lift on his own, so Danyon had carried her to the back of the SUV, cradling her in his arms like a child.
    Danyon had Andy remain in the truck while they’d tended to Nicole, refusing to let Andy even see her. That had been a wise decision. As angry as Andy had gotten when he saw Simon, had he seen Nicole, Shauna feared he would have been beyond even Danyon’s control. She was confident that August would know how to handle Andy once he arrived at the lake house and had to unload the bodies.
    Now, the only evidence that remained to prove Nicole had even been in the alley or between the pilings were bloodstains. If the rain didn’t wash them away, time would.
    Another zipper of