Lover Beware

chest.
    Lily aimed her weapon at the other wolf. “Silver bullets,” she said tersely. “Don’t move.” Then in a whisper to Rule, “He does understand me, right?”
    The growl cut off. The big wolf lifted his head to look at her in what she could have sworn was surprise. Or maybe amusement.
    “Oh, yeah,” she muttered. “If you understand me, then he does. Okay. You, there—you have the right to remain silent—at least you will, as soon as you’re back on two legs. You—oh, shit.”
    Four more wolves raced toward them along the shore.
    A big head nudged her thigh. Rule-wolf pointed his muzzle at those who approached so quickly, then nodded, his mouth opening in a grin a great deal like Worf’s.
    “Those are the good guys, huh?” When he nodded again she breathed a sigh of relief. “Good. We could use some backup.” And went back to informing the suspect of the rights he’d have when he wasn’t furry anymore.
     
    THE COUNTY SHERIFF’S office, while it wasn’t much like headquarters outwardly, held a comforting familiarity for Lily. Cops were cops, even when they were deputies. She was finishing up a report, using one of the deputy’s computers. Unlike her, the deputy had a tiny office to himself. The sounds that came from the bullpen weren’t much different from those at the city’s cop shop. And the coffee was just as bad.
    When the report was done she’d email it to the captain. She’d spoken to him on the phone briefly. He’d told her that the leak to the press had come from the mayor’s office—a secretary interested in helping the mayor’s opponent in the next election, it seemed.
    Lily frowned at the screen. The text was trying to blur on her. God, she was tired. She paused for another sip of awful coffee.
    Of the three wolves who’d attacked them, two were back in human form and being treated for injuries. One was in critical condition; he’d lost more blood than a human could have survived and had gone into shock. The other—the one whose neck Rule had broken—was actually in better shape. Paralyzed, yes, but with lupi that was a temporary condition.
    The one she’d shot would never walk on two legs again. Or four. Lily was putting off thinking about that.
    She’d been able to question the one with the broken neck before the sheriff arrived and he was taken to the hospital. He’d confirmed that they were Leidolf, and claimed that the one she’d killed had been the killer she was after. According to Rule, he’d told the truth. Lily was hoping for a little hard evidence to back that up, now that they had names and faces for the conspirators.
    Some of the conspirators, anyway. The man she’d questioned insisted that the three Leidolf who had attacked her and Rule were the only ones involved in the killings, that they’d acted without their Clan chief’s knowledge or consent. They’d attacked because their Nokolai contact—whom he insisted wasn’t involved in the killings—had told them about the Council meeting, thinking it was to be later that night.
    The Nokolai traitor turned out to be a woman. No one Lily had met.
    Lily was embarrassed. Unconsciously she’d kept right on equating clan interests with lupi, and lupi with male. She hadn’t considered any of the women of the clan as suspects because they couldn’t be the killer. Dumb. Lily had taken the woman into custody immediately, unsure that the lupi’s veneration of women would protect her from their notions of justice.
    So far, the woman wasn’t talking. But she was scared—and not of the police. Lily figured she’d end up with a second witness if she could get the woman into the Witness Protection Program. Which was what she was recommending to her chief right now.
    Her fingers paused on the keyboard. Rule was here. She knew it without turning to look, without his having made a sound. She swiveled her chair.
    He stood in the doorway. He wore tattered denim, not black. The last time she’d seen him he’d been furless, naked, and covered in blood—much of it not his, thank God—with Nettie calmly stitching the worst of the wounds. Lily had had to leave with her prisoners and the sheriff.
    He looked a lot better now. Except for his eyes. He had the rest of his expression locked down tight, but his eyes told the real story.
    She shoved the chair back and went to him.
    His arms closed around her, hard. He buried his face in her hair. She knew he was breathing her in, just as she was him.
    After a