Tempting the Enemy

Detective Pale Rysen, an Alpha, is determined to secretly rebuild the Wolf packs from the ashes of genocide. When a killer starts picking off young females looking for sanctuary, it’s his job to protect them. Forced to work with a hated enemy, he fears his cover will be blown.

Jade-Scarlet’s membership in the powerful Order of the Sibile has always been controversial. A half-wolf, Jade’s unstable psychic powers are a disappointment to her mercenary handlers. So when the Oracle commands her to work with Pale, Jade must prove herself...even if it means challenging the enigmatic shifter.

Yet Pale triggers more than her curiosity. He sends her into Heat, and the intense sexual attraction could mean losing control of her gifts—something she can’t allow. As the number of victims rises, so does the danger. A murderous darkness wants them both dead. But even if they stop the killer, how long can they fight each other?

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Tempting the Enemy

Dee Tenorio

For Alisa Rowley,

longtime friend and the person who first believed there was more to this story than even I imagined. (Incidentally, also first to demand I go find out what it was.) Thanks for everything.

Prologue

Shae trudged through the snowdrifts, her feet sinking nearly to the knee with each step. Cold seeped into her bones, but she didn’t dare stop. Holding the bundle high against her chest, she pushed harder. It wasn’t far now.

Another mile through the trees. Maybe less.

If only she knew what chased her. It had been following, though she couldn’t say how closely, since she left the road. That she knew of. It could have been following since the last checkpoint, even, and only revealed itself now. Sparing another fearful glance over her shoulder, she looked past the mist of her own breath on the night air for some sign of the person, maybe even the thing, that had come with her into the forest.

Nothing.

But she sensed it… Just because she couldn’t smell it or see it in the shadows of the black trees or hear it crunching through the white snow didn’t mean it wasn’t there. She could feel it. It was nothing good.

She gave a shriek as her foot suddenly dropped deeper into the snow, throwing her off-balance onto her hands. The bundle at her chest wriggled desperately.

Gasping, she gathered it close, peeling back the blanket layers to check the baby’s face for signs of pain.

Once again, she wondered if this was the right move to make, but the second-guess was gone almost before it formed. The baby would have a better chance this way.

Freedom was the only gift she could give to her.

2

Tempting the Enemy

Thankfully, the sleeping infant was more startled than hurt. She settled again when Shae made shushing noises. It took time, precious time, but she got the baby back to sleep, tightening the straps that bundled it to her chest before finding her footing again.

She made it five more steps before the first sound scared her nearly out of her skin. An angry hissing roar that echoed in her ears long seconds after it passed. If she didn’t know better, she’d swear the sound had circled her, inches from her face. She had only time to gasp, her throat preparing to scream, and it was gone.

Panting, adrenaline rushing like an overflowing river through her veins, Shae did the only thing she could think of. She ran.

Arms tight around the baby, she skidded, crunched and sloshed through the snow, barely finding solid ground before she rushed to the next step.

Too much noise.

She wanted to obey the Instinct, but fear ruled her.

This hunter was no pack of lustful wolves. Not even a death squad determined to end her. She didn’t know what this was, but it was toying with her. She lurched backward at another hissing threat from between two trees, already changing direction.

South. Head south.

Half a mile. That was all. But Shae could feel the truth in her soul as the terrifying noise struck her spine, the sensation more frigid than the snow, nearly overturning her again. She wouldn’t reach the last stop on the Underground, wouldn’t have the chance to plead with the new Alpha she’d heard about. The one rebuilding the packs. To have come so far, escaped being caught over Dee Tenorio

3

and over again because the dream of safety—a future for her child—kept her going despite the dragging hunger and exhaustion, only to know she’d never had a chance to get there tore the few remaining pieces of her soul.

She pulled the strap at her shoulder, loosening the bundle. There wasn’t much time left. She was almost to the cottage. A few hundred yards more and the Alpha would hear her if she screamed. He’d hear, but not with enough time to do anything about it. The animosity she tasted in the air wouldn’t end in anything but death. Her last seconds, though, would be spent ensuring that the only death would be her own.

She pulled the baby free, spotting a small gap between two roots of a nearby tree. She yanked off her wrap and added the layers around the infant. Her bag joined the small, pitiful pile. It would have to be enough.

She didn’t take even the time to say goodbye. She simply ran.

The sounds, ricocheting like echoes in a cave, nipped at her heels, pelting her like stones. Still, she ran. The pressure came from the left, then the right, broadsiding her with force enough to send her spiraling into the snow.

She didn’t care. As long as it followed her, the baby had a chance. Instinct demanded she roll onto her knees, scramble forward and move again.
Shift
.

She considered it. The Instinct was never wrong, but it was striving to keep
her
alive. If she shifted, she might outrun this hunter, but who knew if she’d be fast enough to circle back in time to save the baby from his wrath. No.

She remained in human form.

Icy air surged in and out of her lungs, burning and sharp as blades in her throat.
Is this punishment?
she wondered in the back of her mind. For not wanting the 4

Tempting the Enemy

child that had been forced on her? She’d done her best; it wasn’t good enough. She was weak and couldn’t protect the pup.

She crested the last hill, able to see a cottage in the distance. Smoke rose from the chimney, steady and dark.

Relief surged through her.

No, not punishment. This was a chance to save the baby. The last gift she’d been given in this harsh existence she’d known. The Alpha would make sure her daughter knew a better one.

Before she could take another step, something grabbed her arm, spinning her around. Her eyes went wide in horror at the sight in front of her. She’d known it wasn’t human, but she’d never imagined
this
.

The scream that tore from her lips was not from fear.

Her body jerked at the impact of the bones in her chest breaking, sinews and flesh tearing in a single, vicious strike. Blood speckled her lips, dripping from her chin even as life left her eyes.

Her body fell in a discarded heap. The snow beneath her turned dark, melting under the heat of the still-warm flow. Moments later, half of her heart dropped to the ground, forgotten.

Chapter One

“They’ve called in the Sibile.”

The words silenced what had been a bustling roomful of homicide detectives for a full second. Someone at the back of the squad room swore amidst the sudden rush of groans and whispered objections. The crashing sound of a heavy folder being tossed haphazardly to the desk scraped Pale Rysen’s ears almost as much as the news.

If there was one thing he didn’t need right now, it was one of those damn witches underfoot.

He shook his head and sighed, closing the file he’d already read countless times. Complaining wouldn’t do any good. The higher-ups resorting to the Sibile—

basically robbing him and the rest of the Violent Crimes Unit of their case—wasn’t much of a surprise. A Sibile with the right kinds of “gifts”—sometimes psychic, sometimes just fucking creepy—could crack a case in seconds flat. With the killer’s sudden acceleration, part of him had expected it. Dreaded it, but it was only a matter of time before the city’s political leaders became desperate. He couldn’t even blame them.

But he could sure as hell resent them.

“When?” he asked, attempting to sound unconcerned but his gruff voice still cut through the increasingly pissed protests. No one had seen a real bed in three days. Just parts of dead bodies, countless people in the area of the body dumps, and rivers of shitty coffee. Jake Kennison, the captain Pale liked about as much as an itch on his ass, 6

Tempting the Enemy

had been on duty just as long, getting by with naps in his office chair every twenty hours or so.

“Sometime tonight. Any minute, really. But don’t give me any shit about it, they didn’t ask my opinion. I just work here.” At least Kennison didn’t seem to be looking forward to it either. But Pale figured at least one part of the man’s unease was the knowledge that the woman existed at all. In that respect, they were on the same page. “The chief offered to let her come in the morning, but apparently she prefers to work nights.

Whatever the hell that means.”

“Maybe she’s too ugly for daylight,” Jorgensen called out from the back of the room, refilling his coffee by the sounds of it.

“Like that ever stopped you.”

Laughter drowned out any response Jorgensen could have made, not that Pale paid more than cursory attention.

His mind stayed on the incoming Sibile.

Why would she prefer nights? Unless she was stronger at night, which didn’t make a whole hell of a lot of sense. Phases of strength meant phases of weakness, and the Sibile didn’t admit to having those. Rumor had it the weak didn’t live long in the enclaves.