Fate of the Alpha: The Complete Bundle Read Free Page B

distress.
    Grace looked around. Dylan Peterson, another deputy, came swaggering around the corner of the garage, his mirrored aviator sunglasses making him look like an extra in cheesy cop drama. Landon was just exiting the car. She had a few seconds.
    She placed her palm gently against the door and closed her eyes, willing the magic to flow.
    Immediately, her pulse sped up and her cheeks warmed.
    She ignored the warning of what the magic might do to her, she would worry about that later, and was rewarded with a vision of Sadie, unconscious on the floor at the bottom of the steps.
    Grace opened her eyes and focused carefully on the spot just below the bronze doorknob. With a swift exhale, she neatly kicked in the door on her first try. She felt bad about the damage, but at least the beautiful chestnut door was still in one piece. Only the frame had suffered.
    Landon whistled in appreciation behind her, but she didn’t turn.
    Sadie sprawled on the floor at the bottom of the stairs. A pool of dark blood congealed near her head. It didn’t look good.
    Camilla Parker Bowles had taken up a post between them and Sadie. The King Charles Spaniel snapped the air frantically between barks, her tiny body quaking.
    Grace studied the old woman’s prone body. Something wasn’t right.
    She felt Dylan’s presence behind her and heard Landon’s footsteps behind him.
    “Dylan, get the dog,” she said.
    “Hey, there little puppy,” Landon cooed in a sing-songy way.
    Camilla Parker Bowles stood her ground, hackles slowly rising.
    “I don’t think she knows you’re talking to her, man, she’s used to the way Sadie talks to her,” Dylan explained, taking off his jacket. He turned to address the dog himself.
    “Camilla Parker Bowles, you did just right. We’ll take it from here.”
    The little dog seemed to waver.
    “I know you’re tired, old girl, you earned your rest. We’ll take care of her.”
    With quiet dignity, Camilla Parker Bowles stopped barking and curled up at her mistress’s feet. She didn’t fight it when Dylan wrapped her in his leather jacket and lifted her up to cradle her to his chest.
    Despite an excess of false bravado, Dylan really was a good cop.
    Grace dropped to her knees to examine Sadie.
    There was a faint pulse and her chest was moving slightly. That was surprising but good.
    “Landon,” Grace said, her voice exuding confidence. “Go get me some towels from the kitchen.”
    He scampered off, and she turned her attention back to the injured woman.
    “Mrs. Epstein-Walker, it’s me, Grace Kwan-Cortez, Eva’s daughter. I’m here to help you.”
    No response.
    “Dale called the ambulance same time as he called you,” Dylan offered.
    Grace looked up the staircase and got another wave of wrongness.
    “Looks like she fell down the stairs,” Dylan said, following her gaze.
    At the top of the stairs, two of the sepia-toned pictures of Sadie’s family from the early 1900s had fallen and another was hanging crookedly by its wire.
    “Let’s check the house anyway,” Grace said. “You know the drill, windows and doors,”
    She took the towels from the returning Landon and used them to cover the nasty wound at the back of Sadie’s head, then instructed him to keep pressure on the spot while she searched the house. He looked a little squeamish, but Grace thought he would hold it together.
    They started the sweep with the upstairs. Sadie’s home was immaculate, although a bit fussy for Grace’s taste; antique settees and vanity mirrors everywhere.
    All the windows were intact.
    Same with the first floor. Even the windows on the sun porch were closed and locked.
    No signs of forced entry anywhere.
    She and Dylan returned to the foyer and Grace’s skin began to tingle. There was more going on here than a simple slip and fall. Sadie was old, but she was still pretty spry. Plus, Grace knew Sadie was a wolf. That head wound should have been healing by now.
    But everyone loved Sadie. Who would ever do