See Chapter 1 for disclaimers and such.

Chapter 2

My head was beginning to hurt, one of those headaches that crawls behind your eyes and stays there like it means business. I rubbed my hand over my face, trying to rub it away, even though I knew it wouldn't do a damn bit of good.

Savannah stood up so quickly that I had my gun pointed at her before I'd even realized I'd drawn it. She froze, her eyes wide, and looked at me. "I knew you were armed, but I didn't think you would draw your gun on me."

I didn't ask how she knew. No doubt she could smell the gun oil I used. "I don't normally make a habit of pointing a gun at clients, Savannah. So why don't you tell me what's going on?"

"I was trying to help," she said, sitting down with careful, slow movements. "Sometimes contact with the pard helps with pain."

"You knew I have a headache?" I didn't bother to hide my surprise.

She nodded. "It is what I do in my pard, Anita. I'm a healer." She gave a short laugh and shook her head. "I can't be a real doctor or nurse, but I do what I can to help."

I eased the gun down to my side. It seemed silly to keep pointing it at her when she was sitting there, trying to look as harmless as possible. Of course, I knew she was anything but harmless. Like all lycanthropes, she was much stronger and faster than she looked. 

"Tell me why you don't think she's human anymore." I put my gun away and sat down. I really didn't think I'd have to draw it again, but I kept my hand near it just in case. Shapeshifters, especially ones I don't know, make me more than a bit paranoid. I'd learned my lesson the hard way more than once about meeting lycanthropes without a weapon handy.

"The man she met two months ago is a werewolf."

I blinked, then frowned at her. "So?" Then I got it. Sometimes I'm a bit slow. "He's from here?"

Savannah nodded slowly. "Yes. I think he infected her before he left Mississippi, and now she's gone to be with him."

"There are a few new wolves in town," I said, frowning harder. "But none of them are named Louisa. What was the name of the man?"

"Ryan." If she knew his last name, she wasn't sharing it. 

"I don't know a Ryan, but I can check with the local Ulfric."

Savannah stood again, and this time, I didn't draw my gun on her. See? I'm not totally paranoid. Much.

"I want to meet him. If he is the one that Louisa met, he'll know where she is."

I shook my head again. "Wait a minute. Let's not go off half-cocked. First, tell my why you think he infected her? Second, tell me what your intentions are."

She stiffened, but sat down again. "I know he infected her. I read it in her diary." The admission was colored by embarrassment so strong I could practically smell it. If I'd been a wereleopard in truth, I probably could have.

"You read it in her diary?" I couldn't keep the smile out of my voice. 

Savannah frowned at me. "I didn't know where else to look. She's been gone long enough for her mail to start piling up at her door. I was desperate for any clue that might tell me what had happened to her."

I could understand why she did it. "So, she said he'd infected her? What else?"

"Only that she wanted to be with him, and be like him...and me." The last was said so quietly I nearly missed it. Savannah looked up at me with a pained expression. "She never could handle being different from me. She was always trying to prove that she was better. I guess she thought if she was like me, that we'd be even again."

I nodded. "How old is your sister?"

"Twenty-four. She'll be twenty-five next month."

"Then she's old enough to make her own choices, Savannah. You can't make them for her." It wasn't difficult to sound sympathetic. I know how I'd feel if my brother Josh decided to pull something like this. Yeah. I'd kick his ass clear to Sunday.

Savannah shook her head. "I know that, Anita. And honestly, if that's what she wants, then that's what she wants. I'm not objecting to that. I'm objecting to her pulling out of her life like this, disappearing without a trace. I just want to know that she's okay."  Her face crumbled and she buried it into her hands.

I stood up and walked around the desk, handing her a tissue. She took it from me, and I patted her shoulder awkwardly. She grabbed my hand before I could pull away and rubbed her cheek against the back of it. I let her, because I knew her gesture for what it was: a submissive asking for the protection and aid of a dominant. "Please, Anita," she whispered, rolling her teary eyes up at me. "Please help me find her."

I've never been good around crying. Men or women, it affects me the same, though truthfully it I find it harder to see a man cry than a woman. Don't ask me why. It just is.

~ * ~

I gave Savannah directions to my house after I called Micah to let him know she was coming - it was a good way to keep the body count down. It wouldn't do to have a strange wereleopard show up without notice. Not that I expected her to cause trouble, but I never knew how some of the newer members of my pard would react.

Micah is my Nimir-Raj, king to my queen, though in reality, he's more like my consort than anything. He's happy to let me do whatever it takes to keep our people safe, even if that includes sharing me with several other men. He takes it all in stride, never asks more than I can give, and he's there for me when I need him. 

Yeah, sometimes it scares me too. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. 

He showed up a while back, ostensibly to petition for the position of Nimir-Raj for my pard, though in reality he was being manipulated by a seriously psychotic lycanthrope named Chimera to bring my leopards over to his side. I met Micah the first time under less than ideal circumstances - if meeting someone for the first time naked in your bed can be considered anything but - and he changed sides when his beast reacted to mine. I'm not a wereleopard, but they seem to be my beast to call. Chalk it up to one of the many fringe benefits to being a vampire's human servant and a necromancer all rolled up into one. Don't ask me to explain it any better than that, because quite frankly, it’s never happened before in all the long history of vampires. 

After defeating Chimera, Micah and his pard joined with mine. Together we're just one big, happy family. 

Rii-ight. 

For the most part, the merging of the two pards went just fine. He just has one or two in his group that are consistently pains in my ass. That was why I called him ahead of time to let him know Savannah was coming. He's good at dealing with that sort of thing. 

After Savannah left, I had one more phone call to make before I could leave work. She was my last appointment of the day, and it wasn't even six o'clock yet. Like I said, it’s been a slow month. 

I refilled my coffee cup and picked up the phone, dialing Richard's number from memory. He was really the last person I wanted to talk to, but it was my best chance for finding out about any new werewolves in the area.

Richard Zeeman is Ulfric for the local werewolf pack and the third of our triumvirate formed by myself, Richard and the Master of the City. He's also my ex-fiancé. It makes things just a wee bit tense whenever I have to deal with him. It seems he couldn't handle me being a better monster than he was. 

He answered the phone after just one ring. "Anita." There was a wealth of unspoken anger in just the way he said my name. I could practically feel it vibrating through the phone.

"Hello, Richard," I said tiredly. I so didn't want to deal with him today. "I need your help."

"I'm not surprised. The only time you call me is when you need something. What is it today? Jason not enough for you to feed on? You need another wolf?" His sarcasm was thick enough to cut with a knife.

I bit back my anger and forced myself to be pleasant. I can actually do that sometimes. "No, Richard. I have a missing person case that I'm hoping you can help me with."

"I see." His voice was quieter, as if some of his anger had leaked away. "Tell me about it."

I explained, keeping the story short and simple. When I finished, I heard him sigh. "We do have a Ryan in our pack. He's one of the new ones that used to belong to Jacob's pack. I can talk to him for you, but not tonight. He's out of town, visiting family. Do you want me to call you after I've talked to him?"

I shook my head, then realized he couldn't see me through the phone. "No, Richard. I want to ask him a few questions. Can you set up something?"

"You don't trust me to question him?" His anger was back. "He's a member of my pack. I am his Ulfric, not you. If he's done something to this missing woman, I will get the truth from him."

I closed my eyes and counted to ten. "I know, Richard."

"I can smell lies, Anita. You can't."

"Fine. You question him about Louisa. You're probably right."  There was a breath of silence on the other end of the phone. "Richard?"

He let out a sigh. "You just surprised me, Anita. I didn't expect you to back down that easily."

My headache was coming back, full force. "I didn't call you to fight with you. I called you for help, and you have been gracious enough to agree to assist me in this." I was being sarcastic, but at this point, I didn't care. I was rapidly running out of nice. "I'll wait for your call. Goodbye, Richard."  I hung up the phone before he could reply.

Once, I blamed myself for Richard and me breaking up. Now, I'm not so sure it was such a bad thing. I think in the end, we would have ended up hating each other worse than we do now.