Except, Brittany had been promised to another.
Messy.
“Don’t you have people to do this sort of thing for you?” a deep voice rumbled behind me.
Shit. I knew that voice. Sighing, I surged to my feet and turned toward one Evan Knox, brother of the Alpha of the Silver Summit Pack, our closest—but greatly disliked—neighbors. Course, Knox’s and my relationship went a little deeper than that. No, not that way. This wolf was the tick in my fur. Always annoying the hell out of me. It’d been a few months since I’d last seen him, but I highly doubted his attitude had improved any. That wasn’t Knox’s style. “What are you doing here, Knox?”
“Could ask you the same thing, Princess.”
My jaw tightened. In all the years I’d known Knox, he’d only ever referred to me by that stupid moniker, no matter how many times I’d threatened to cave in his skull if he kept it up. I’d lost count ’round thirty. Guess he didn’t take my threats seriously. Yes, being the alpha’s daughter awarded me certain luxuries and comforts, but it hardly made me a princess. As the brother of another alpha, one would assume he understood that. Then again, I’d always believed there were a couple screws loose in his head.
I stared up at him. Yup, up. Bastard stood at least a foot taller than me. And didn’t he just love it. For years, I’d been working on a theory that he enjoyed looming over my pitiful five foot three. As though he found pure enjoyment in staring down his nose at me. I had to give it to him, though. He was pure strength and power, not unlike his brother. Their parents had given them the sort of genes that made me hate them. Not that I didn’t have other reasons.
That was where the brother’s similarities ended, though. At first glance, one would never assume they were related. Whereas Eli, the alpha of the Silver Summit Pack, was a blond god with piercing green eyes, Knox was his darker shadow. A lesson in duality, I suspected. Short, dark hair and smoky, black eyes. Those eyes that had left me arrested more than once. All expressive and curious. Not that I’d ever admit that aloud. I’d rather chew on my own tail then own up to that.
“Well, don’t you?”
“Don’t I, what?”
He rolled his eyes and gestured toward the crime scene. “Have people who do this sort of thing for you? Shouldn’t you be locked up in your marble tower, swathed in bubble wrap?”
“Go hump a leg,” I retorted.
“I would, but it seems like Ditton here beat me to the punch.”
“He’s not your pack. So, why are you here?”
A crooked smile tugged at his lips. “Likely the same thing you’re doing here, Princess.”
I bit back a retort. The more I fought him, the more he’d annoy me. I knew his stupid little games—had been playing them since we were six—and I refused to resort to his level. “Brittany is my pack mate.”
“Thanks for the update.”
“So, I have every reason to be here. Silver Summit doesn’t.”
A chuckle rose from his throat. “Please.”
I ground my back molars together. And this right here was a prime example as to why my pack disliked his. While Knox was an unconscionable prick, his brother was a brute. All brawn, no brain. It’d been the cause of many issues between the two packs.
“What have you figured out?”
“Nothing you need to know,” I retorted.
“Your pack isn’t the only one attempting to track down the source of these deaths,” Knox stated, his hands clasped behind his back as he walked the perimeter of the crime scene.
I blinked. Could it be? Had he actually put a full sentence together? And one that made sense? Alert the authorities. Still. One coherent statement was hardly enough to convince me to play ball. “Go do your own investigation then.”
Knox glanced over his shoulder and tsked me. “Now, now, Princess. We wouldn’t want it said you were being difficult, would we? What would Daddy Dearest say if he found out?”
I lifted my chin and glared. “Bite me.”
“Don’t tempt me, little girl,” he growled, clicking his teeth together menacingly.
“Just stay out of my way.” I strode over to Ditton and crouched down. The sooner I concluded this investigation, the sooner I could leave Evan Knox in the dust.
I studied Ditton’s length, noting the similar claw marks on him as Brittany. Sadly, the worst of them seemed focused on his dangly bits. Even I winced as I snapped another picture.
“Sorry,” I muttered under my breath as I dropped onto my stomach and repositioned my phone.
Knox’s laughter tightened my shoulders. “Oh, this is priceless. Wait till I tell everyone I caught the great Rumor Hayes nose deep in some dead wolf’s junk.”
“God. Could you be any more unsympathetic? These photos are to compare to the other crime scenes. The police are no closer to tracking this scumbag down.”
“And they won’t.”
The determination in his voice brought me up short. I lifted my head and watched him over the swell of Ditton’s torn up stomach. “What do you mean?”
“Have you seriously not figured it out yet?”
“Figured what out?” I growled.
Knox spread his hands. “Sorry. Far be it for me to share my information with you.”
Bastard. Jackass. Asshole! I wanted to fling every name I knew at him. He’d strung me up and waited for the perfect moment. Course he had. Not sure why that surprised me. The guy had been a douche his whole life.
“What do you know?” I snarled.
“Oh, is it share time?”
Holy hell. Every last button pushed. I scrambled to my feet and slid my phone into my pocket. “What do you think your brother will say when I tell him I castrated his little brother?” My fingernails lengthened into vicious claws.
Knox grinned at me. “He’d thank you, I’m sure.”
Thank me? I shook my head. “Tell me what you know.”
“Only if you tell me what you know.”
“Fine,” I ground out.
“Promise?”
“Yes!”
“Pinky swear?”
“Knox!”
“I love it when you scream my name like that.”
Oh, my God. I really was going to castrate him. Anger rushed through my veins, my vision going black as I struggled to control myself. No one had ever been able to incite a rage in me quite like him.
“All right, Princess. Don’t get your panties in a knot. The reason you haven’t been able to track down their killer yet is because they killed each other.”
My brow twisted. “What are you talking about?”
“There’s no scent of anyone else in the room, other than the police and us. The room is utterly thrashed, but there’s no evidence of forced entry. I’d wager any money that the claw marks on Brittany are a match to Ditton’s, and vice versa. Their throats were ripped out, which seems to be the cause of death, which means they’d have to have been bitten by a werewolf since they didn’t heal. Except, they’re the only two werewolves in this room.”
My mouth fell slack. What the hell? When had Knox grown a brain? I was so accustomed to dealing with his half-wit brother, I hadn’t expected this. Who knew he could string together a cohesive thought?