Perfect Reflection (9 page)

“Benny?” Jewel growled.

“I was a member of the NYC Pack before I moved to
Atlanta. My father was the Beta of the Pack and I was supposed to
take his place,” Benny said slowly and looked at the two men
without flinching. Jewel could feel the power in the room and
waited. “However, when Ret was named as Alpha, he chose Lex. I
moved on and became the Beta of the Atlanta Pack until I joined the
Elders.”

“You stated in front of the entire pack that you were
going to make sure I paid for the snub,” Ret said smoothly.

“I think maybe you are thinking too highly of
yourself. Once I left, I didn’t care,” Benny said smoothly and then
looked into Ret’s eyes. “I still don’t care. If she needs my help
though, I will give it to her.”

Both men growled at the older man and waited. Jewel
put a hand on their thighs, looked at them both, and made a sound.
“He is like a father to me, let it go.”

Ret turned to her, breaking the eye contact with the
other wolf and he sighed, “Fine, whatever, listen it is late, we
have a lot of shit to talk about. I can’t find my secretary, so I
have to run into the office to grab the file. Lex and I are staying
on this floor also, in the room down the hall.”

Benny nodded and said, “Me, too, let’s take the night
and come at this fresh in the morning, shall we?”

Jewel nodded and looked at the men around her,
fuck,
two friends and two mates, all thinking they knew what
was best for her. Well, they could piss off, when she got them out
of the room she would do what she did best. She was going to make
her murder board, and try to connect some dots that seem to be
flashing in her mind but would not connect.

“Come on, Jewel, let’s get you back in bed.” Lex
hugged Jewel, rubbing up and down her back. Jewel let him help
her.

Ret stood and held out his hand, Jewel looked at it,
sighed, and allowed them to lead her to the doorway to her bedroom.
She had to unpack, maybe she could waste a bit of time before she
called down to the front desk and asked for supplies—and a bottle
of wine. They acted like just because she passed out that she was
helpless,
shit
, it was from lack of food and sleep for two
days. Neither the first time nor the last that Jewel would be
sucked into a case. Seeing the way that bastard liked to inflict
pain on females, she wanted him off the streets, and she pushed
herself hard.
Get the fuck over it
, she thought and then
frowned. Well, all of them were going to find out how strong she
was. She was not a push over, she was a bad-ass female with a gun,
and damn it, they would respect that.

“Benny, Vander, meeting here at eight in the morning
sharp. Lex and Ret, have the files delivered to me tonight so I can
get them done,” she said briskly. “I can handle it from here, I am
not a child. Go, and I will see you in the morning.”

The men looked at each other but didn’t argue,
instead they all filed out of the room. She didn’t realize she was
holding her breath until they left.
Damn men
. Too bad she
didn’t have any female friends to talk to, this one would have been
worthy of a phone call and bitch session, as it was, Jewel was on
her own.

***

She waited for them to leave before she walked back
into her bedroom.
Damn
, where was her suitcase. Searching
she finally found it tucked away in the closet, someone must have
moved it. She pulled it and picked it up, making it flop on her
bed.

With a sigh, she opened the zipper and then stepped
back in shock. On the top was a baggie; it held a necklace she knew
was not hers. Bending forward she looked at it closely, making sure
she didn’t touch it. Jewel looked around for a pen to move it
with.

Using the pen with the hotel name on it, Jewel turned
it over and she stood back and gasped.
Shit
, she knew this
necklace; it had been one she wore when she was a teen. What the
fuck was going on? It was a silver chain that had a circle pendant
with the words My Princess scrolled on the front with a cheap stone
in the center. Josh had won it for her at a carnival; she had worn
it proudly until it had turned her neck green.
Where had she
lost it
? she wondered, it had been so long ago, who knew.

Digging into the side of her bag carefully, she
pulled out her small murder bag she carried at all times. It held a
pair of gloves and other things needed if she had to process a
scene while on the run.

Finally picking up the bag, she looked at it closer.
When she pushed on the edge a little with her finger, she saw the
smear of blood come off the edge.
Shit
, someone was sending
her a message, it had to be the killer, but she had no clue what
the hell it meant.

She saw a small piece of paper attached to the edge
of it. WHORE NUMBER ONE, it said and she frowned. Was she the
whore?

Chapter
Ten

“Just a bit more and all will be forgiven,” the
Redeemer said as he held the knife in his hand. He had loved to see
how far he could push this one; shifter DNA was amazing. For hours,
he cut, burned, beat, and fucked this woman into submission. The
fact that she healed after every instance was amazing, well, until
he began to push it. Blood loss would kill a shifter if they were
drained, the Redeemer found out. Her sobs meant nothing to him.

He pulled her skin taunt over her arms again when the
wound closed too much. He smiled, then registered the groan she
made when he pressed the sharp edge against her arm. “What do you
have to confess?”

He laughed while she mumbled and spoke to him of all
of her transgressions—the first ones he had been able to listen to
for the humans died after the first time he cut them, shifters were
so much better.

When he had returned from making a show for the
people who would never know that he was the Redeemer, he had been
pissed. After all these killings, the police still had no idea what
they were doing. Possibly, maybe these cases were connected. What
the fuck? They should have realized he was not playing games, so he
did the only thing he could, and made sure the whore found
something that would begin to tie things together.

Damn, they were stupid, it was as if he had to draw
them a fucking map, hell, even then they probably wouldn’t be able
to solve this case, let alone fight their way out of a paper bag.
How did she make detective in the first place?

Madeline had cried when he fucked her, it was like
she didn’t like it, the bitch. However, it had taken the edge off,
maybe it was because when he fucked her before, she hadn’t been
tied up and bloody. Who gave a shit, she was dirt under his feet,
all of the whores were, he was sick of wasting time with them; they
should be thanking him for picking them.

He refused to put his clean clothes back on when she
had soiled him with her blood and fluids. So he stood over her
naked now and studied the way his cum dripped off her stomach mixed
with her blood. It fascinated him, three times during her
confession, when he made her tell him specifics with other men, the
Redeemer had gripped himself while cutting her and jacked off
spraying her with his seed to help cleanse her. It surprised him
that listening to the woman cry and whimper made him so
excited.

At first, he thought it was wrong, but the rightness
of his erections made him rethink. No, it was natural to become
stiff during torture. Read any of the books from psychologists,
pain and pleasure were released from the same area of the brain, so
naturally it was fine. That was good too, because through this
process he had thought of other ways to make women talk.

After he was done and the object of his thoughts was
taken care of he could move on, evolve to bigger things. It was
imperative he took care of his distraction. She was not worth the
time he was expending into planning for her death, she wouldn’t
appreciate it, she would think he was crazy.

It was time to move on and end this. First he would
take care of this female, setting up Wexford a little more, and
then the finale. She would be waiting for him with bated breath. He
was sure she would figure it out soon; he left her enough clues if
she looked.

“Now, once again,” the Redeemer said, focusing back
on the task-at-hand. Madeline needed him; she needed him to pay
attention to her, and no one else. She deserved it.

As the blood dripped from her arm, he felt her
beginning to become weaker and weaker. Soon it would all be over
for her. He leaned over and tapped her lightly on the face until
her eyes opened. “Once again.”

She cried as he gripped himself again. When she cried
and began to mumble, he thought about her earlier words as he
pumped himself. Madeline didn’t know what a gift he was giving her.
She would soon though. As he felt his balls draw up, he knew he was
going to come.

“As the Redeemer, I give you the greatest gift of
all. Death with a clear conscience,” he said and held the knife
with one hand and finished himself off with the other. As he raised
his arm with the knife, her eyes widened, acceptance glittered in
her eyes, she knew she was going to die. He grinned and came while
he brought the knife down for one last slash and cut her throat
deeply as his cock pulsed in his hand, wringing every last drop
from his body, the life went out of her eyes and she died.

The power he felt surge through him with her death
was amazing. He was the Redeemer; no one could touch him, because
he was more powerful than any wolf on the planet. He had been
chosen to bear this burden and he would never stop. The women who
betrayed their mates deserved it.

Chapter Eleven

Jewel was running in the woods feeling the wind rush
through her fur. She loved when she could let her wolf run free.
She ran up to the creek where she could lay down and rest after
killing her dinner. Jewel heard the wolves approaching from behind
her. She got up quietly, putting her back to the creek.

Jewel knew that if she had to, she could run, jump
into the creek, and allow the rushing water to carry her downstream
away from the danger. She was watching as two wolves approached
her. One wolf was as black as midnight while the other wolf had
brown fur. Both of the wolves were bigger than Jewel.

She knew she couldn’t beat them, but she could
outsmart them. Jewel started backing up toward the water as she
continued to watch the wolves. Before she could jump into the
water, both of the wolves changed into men. There before her stood
Retten and Lex.

After she transformed, she whispered, “What do you
want?”

“
You are ours,” Ret growled and stalked toward
her, both of them circling her and breathing deeply. “We are here
to claim you as our Alpha female, the tri-leader of the NYC Pack
and Atlanta Pack.”

Jewel laughed and stepped forward boldly, it was as
if she had done this before. “Really? Do you have what it takes to
be my mate?”

“
Oh, we have more than what it takes,” Lex growled
and she laughed. “Enough teasing, mate, we are ready for you to
come home.”

“
But I am home,” she said innocently and held out
her hands to embrace the woods around her.

“
You know what I mean, it is time for the
ceremony,” Lex growled and she gasped when he kissed her neck from
behind while Ret stepped to her front.

“
A few more minutes?” she said and then sank to
her knees while she grinned.

“
Shit,” Ret said when she swiped at his cock with
her tongue.

She pulled back, and then took Ret in her mouth,
while she grasped Lex. She loved the feel of one of their cocks
sliding in her mouth, while holding the other one. A few more hours
and they were going to be joined, mated in front of both of their
packs.

Ret wrapped his hand in her hair and started to
move. Rex reached down, covered her hand with his, and started to
guide her hand to the pace he wanted.

“
Baby, suck me,” Ret groaned, and moved a little
faster, but Jewel pulled back and switched, taking Lex in her
mouth.

“
Fuck,” Lex cried out and leaned toward her, and
then began to move. Back and forth, she teased the men until they
were both almost ready to come, then she stopped and leaned
back.

“
My turn,” she grinned, and laughed when both men
groaned and then laughed along with her.

“
It's your turn alright,” Ret said, and knelt in
front of her, then leaned forward and grabbed one of her legs and
raised it over his shoulder spreading her wide for him. Lex gripped
her shoulders, helped her steady herself, and then rubbed his hands
over her straining nipples. Ret smiled at her before leaning to
lick her folds from front to back. “Paybacks are a bitch.”

She moved slowly as they focused their attention on
her. She was in heaven, Ret lapped at her pussy taking slow and
long passes of her opening, missing her clit on purpose, while Lex
cupped her breasts and kissed her neck, whispering into her ear how
much they loved her. She tried to move so Ret would get to where
she wanted, but he held her waist and legs firmly. Finally, when
she thought she was going to have to tell him where to go, he
circled her clit with his tongue.

Ret growled and nipped her inner thigh when she
squirmed against him, and as if they were reading each other’s
mind, they both sucked at once, Ret her clit, and Lex her ear while
plucking her nipples.

Just when she thought she was going to come, they
both stopped and looked up at her and smiled. “Assholes,” she
growled and then pushed their heads back to where they were. Both
men chuckled but got down to business quickly. She was perfect for
them they said to her and she grinned, no, she was the lucky
one.