Page 31 of New Blood (Werewolf Alliance #1)

“ F uck! Where?” Jude asked.

He’d been in the middle of reviewing the additional reports Violet had brought him when Heath had barged into his office.

“About two miles west, deep in the woods,” Heath replied. “If we take the ATVs, we’ll be faster.”

Together they hurried to the covered area behind the garage. There, three ATVs were parked. Heath hopped on one of them and pointed to one of the others.

“Keys are already in the ignition. We never remove them, in case of emergency, you know.”

Jude understood. Given that the entire estate was heavily guarded by cameras and high fences, it was unlikely that somebody would steal one of the all-terrain vehicles.

He jumped on one, turned the ignition, and felt the motor hum.

In Montana at the Werewolf Alliance ranch, they rarely used ATVs.

Instead, they took horses to reach remote areas.

“I’ll follow you,” he said with a nod at Heath.

As Heath headed across the open meadow toward the trees, Jude followed closely.

In the woods, they both slowed down, making sure to avoid hitting trees or other obstacles.

He could see that there were distinct paths that had been flattened by tires.

They stayed on them for a while before Heath pointed to the left.

There was no path there, but they nevertheless headed that way.

Small bushes and fallen tree branches snapped underneath their heavy tires, carving out a path.

The scent of blood suddenly drifted to him.

It was more intense than he’d expected, even though Heath had forewarned him.

As the stench of death grew stronger, Heath lifted his hand, alerting him to stop the vehicle.

Jude brought the ATV to a halt and switched off the engine.

Heath did the same and jumped off. He pointed to a bush next to a tall tree.

Even without Heath indicating the spot, Jude would have known which way to turn. The smell of blood and death was strongest there. They both walked to it and stopped right in front of it.

Jude stared at the large deer that lay on the ground.

It had been savagely attacked and killed.

Its throat was ripped open, the claw wounds clearly visible.

The deer would have bled out within seconds.

It was unlikely that it had still been alive when the attacker had ripped open its chest and pulled the ribs apart to be able to reach inside the creature.

“The heart?” Jude asked with a glance at Heath.

“Gone. Ripped out.”

They both knew what that meant. The attacker had eaten the animal’s heart.

“Any other organs missing?”

“Not from what I could see when I first examined it.”

Jude nodded. “There’s only one creature that would do this.”

“A werewolf.”

“It looks like a pretty fresh kill.”

“I would say it was killed sometime last night, maybe early in the morning.”

“I agree. What was William’s stance on somebody from the pack hunting in these woods?”

“I’m not sure. He had certain rules for his family and others for the pack. I just know that nobody outside the family would dare kill a deer on his estate and leave it there to rot.”

He’d guessed as much. “Well, there’s nothing we can do for the poor animal now. But we’re not gonna let it rot. Call Chase, and have him help you transport the deer to the house. Do you know how to butcher a deer?”

“Chase is good at that.”

“Good. Tell your sister to roast the meat for dinner tonight. Have her freeze the rest.”

“Will do.”

Jude marched back to the ATV and got on it.

He glanced at Heath, who was already talking on the phone, giving Chase instructions.

Jude followed the same path back to the garage, parked the ATV behind it, and switched off the engine.

He walked back to the house and entered via the back door near the kitchen.

It was only mid-morning, but the place was already buzzing with activity.

As he walked along the corridor, he noticed an open door and looked into the room.

It was a storage room with boxes stacked high.

Flora was rifling through one of them.

“Flora?”

She shrieked and whirled around. Letting out a breath, she pressed her hand to her bosom. “You startled me.”

“I didn’t mean to. I apologize.”

She forced a smile. “Good morning.” Then her gaze drifted to his boots. “I see you were already out in the woods today.”

He followed her eyes and noticed that his boots were caked with wet dirt. Lifting his gaze, he stated, “Yeah. Heath alerted me about a deer that was killed in the woods.”

“A deer? Are you saying somebody shot a deer on our grounds? Those damn poachers! I told William to get more cameras out there.”

Jude lifted his hand, stopping her rant. “The deer wasn’t shot. Somebody tore its throat out.”

Flora gasped.

“And then they ripped the deer’s heart out.” He didn’t need to tell her what this meant.

“Are you saying a werewolf took down the deer?” She scoffed. “Nobody from the pack would have dared kill a deer on this land when William was still alpha.”

The dig hit. But he wasn’t going to take it lying down. “But he was okay with Cameron killing two hikers in the same woods?”

Flora glared at him, her chest expanding with her next breath. “If William had known back then about Cameron killing those hikers, he would have stopped him. But there were no signs that Cameron would do that. It came out of the blue.”

He doubted that very much. Killers like Cameron didn’t start with killing humans.

They started with animals. There would have been signs that Cameron was disturbed and couldn’t keep his bloodlust under control.

Living in close quarters like the extended Gallagher family would have made it evident to everybody that Cameron was a threat.

Besides, he knew for a fact that William had covered up Cameron’s murders.

Striker, the vampire who’d made the Werewolf Alliance aware of what was happening with the Gallagher pack, had confirmed it.

It was a fact. But there was nothing to be gained by correcting Flora.

Now that he knew that she’d dated William before he’d married Clarice, he had to assume that she didn’t want anybody to think badly of the deposed alpha.

Maybe she still had feelings for him after all these years.

“Well, what’s done is done,” Jude said with a shrug. “I’m having Chase and Heath transport the deer back here, so they can butcher it. We’ll have it for dinner tonight.”

Flora nodded. “At least it won’t go to waste. I’ll make sure Priscilla and Danielle prepare a nice roast for tonight.”

“Thank you.”