Primal Law

confusion, as though he couldn’t grasp his situation. Apparently it affected the Necromancer the same way, because he was looking at Henry in sympathy, his caring for the man’s plight etched on his face.

“Yes, Henry, you can go. And thank you.”

Black waved a hand, murmured a few words in a different language, and a translucent green smoke drifted toward Henry, swirled around him. The old man stiffened, and then mechanically lowered himself through the seam in the grave, bit by bit until he’d disappeared from sight. The kid repeated the procedure over the grave and more green mist shrouded the ground. Once again, tremors shook the earth and the dirt began to push inward, filling the seam, and in moments, the scar was repaired and nobody would be able to tell such an amazing thing had ever taken place.

Holy shit, I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life.

Considering some of the shit Ryon had seen, that was saying a lot.

“Rest well, old man.” Pushing to his feet, Black brushed the dirt off the knees of his jeans and then suddenly turned without reaching for his backpack, his posture deceptively relaxed with his hands at his sides, and gazed directly at the spot where Jaxon and the other wolves were hidden in the darkness.

Or so they believed.

“Did you enjoy the show? Afraid I’ll find out who you are and why you murdered poor Henry? Or maybe you were just passing through the graveyard in the middle of the night, out on a romantic stroll.” The words were tossed as a challenge, laced with a touch of sarcasm. One thing was for sure—the kid wasn’t one bit afraid of who he might face.

Come on, let’s see what he thinks about taking on a pack of wolves.

As a unit, they emerged from the trees and padded forward, fanning out some in an attempt to surround him. Careful not to make any abrupt moves, they made their way toward him as he studied them in return, fists clenching and unclenching as though revving up his magic to hurl at them if necessary. His expression was hard, those green eyes glittering like cold jewels, none of the warmth or caring that he’d shown with Henry in evidence.

When they were within about twenty yards, Jaxon, Zan, and Hammer in front of him, Aric and Ryon to each side, the Necromancer held up a hand. “Far enough,” he ordered. “Now I think it would be wise of you all to change, shifters, and tell me what the fuck you want.”

Jaxon gaped in astonishment as a ripple of shock went through them all. The kid had to have known they weren’t exactly human when they came out of the trees after he acknowledged them, but to call them exactly what they were—shifters—without batting an eye?

They might be in deeper trouble than they’d thought.

Jaxon half-expected the man to at least make a crack about their state of undress, especially given his youth, but when they shifted and stood, he didn’t smile. Didn’t so much as blink. He simply let his gaze travel over each of them as though memorizing details that might be useful later.

Jaxon got the heart-to-heart rolling. “Kalen Black? Why did you raise Henry Ward and question him about his murder?”

“What’s it to you?” he challenged, pinning Jaxon with a cool stare.

“Not a damned thing. But it’ll matter to Sheriff Deveraux, since he’s the one who asked us to see why you’ve been hanging around.” Indirectly, but he didn’t need to get into the particulars.

“That asshole?” The kid gave a humorless laugh. “He couldn’t find his dick with both hands and a tube of K- Y.”

Now that sounded more like a young dude.

“Be that as it may, we need an acceptable answer or you’re going to come with us for a more private chat.” He glanced at his brothers. “Might not be a bad idea anyways.”

“Second the motion,” said Aric. The others agreed.

“Forget it. Deveraux doesn’t have any grounds to arrest me if he called in the canine squad, and what I’m doing here is nobody’s business. I left everything the way I found it.”

“What about the murders of four men who’ve been dumped around Cody in the past few months? Know anything about those?”

The kid’s jaw ticced and his eyes narrowed, the first sign of his control slipping. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

He’s lying, Ryon projected. Get ready to take him, on three. One.

“Or perhaps those two men who killed Henry are buddies of yours and you were making sure their tracks were covered?”

Two.

“You’re full of it, man.” Those fists, clenching. Unclenching.

He was going to bolt.

“According to Henry, one of those men had blood on his hands, the other a shovel. If I was a betting man, I’d say that the perpetrators had just finished disposing of the newest victim of the string of murders we’re looking at. That makes you a person of interest in the crimes, and that means you’re coming with us.”

“Fuck this.”

Three!

Everybody flew into action at once. Shouting a word, the kid flung his arm at Jaxon, palm up and fingers spread, firing a blue ball of pulsing energy that would’ve hit him in the chest if he hadn’t shifted at the same time. Instead, the orb merely singed some fur as it whizzed past, doing God knows what damage to the graves behind him as it exploded.

Black raised an arm, but before he could fling another nasty surprise, Jax leaped, hitting him square in the chest and taking him to the ground. He didn’t want to hurt the guy, but that might not be an option. Black was strong as an ox for someone so lean, almost too thin under the bulk of his coat, and was fighting like a wildcat.

And that analogy turned out to be correct. The writhing body underneath them rippled, and in an instant they found themselves wrestling two hundred pounds of pissed-off . . .

Black panther.

“Goddamn!” Ryon shouted. “Hold on to his ass!”

Whether he was getting weak or was too worked up, Black couldn’t maintain the shift and morphed back to human form. Still, though Jax had him pinned and Aric jumped on board, the red wolf closing his jaws around the young man’s wrist to help immobilize him, it took four of them to hold him down. Hammer and Ryon stayed in human form, Hammer sitting on the kid’s legs, Ryon pinning his other arm.

“Go back and get the SUV, and bring the iron restraints!” Hammer shouted at Zan, halting him in midstride before he could add to the pile.

Zan shifted and took off as fast as his four legs could carry him. Wouldn’t be quick enough, though, if Black got his dominant hand free to let loose more of his impressive mojo.

Shifting back to human form, Jaxon grabbed a handful of the young man’s raven hair and muttered, “Sorry, kid.”

Then he slammed the back of Black’s head into the ground, wincing at the soft ughnnn that burst from his lips before his eyes rolled back into his head and he went limp.

Hammer’s brows lifted and he grinned at Jax. “That’s cheating.”

“Whatever works.” But he didn’t smile back.

Jaxon felt like a piece of goat dung for knocking out the kid. Yeah, it was dirty pool, but Black would’ve fried them all if he’d had the chance. Wouldn’t he?

Turning in the passenger’s seat, he glanced over his shoulder to where the young man was slumped between Hammer and Aric, dark lashes resting against white cheeks. His chest rose and fell steadily, so Jax wasn’t worried that he’d killed the kid. He’d come around soon, and then they’d all have more questions for him.

Such as why he was practically starving, and didn’t seem to weigh nearly as much as he should have when they’d picked him up to take him to the SUV. His T-shirt had ridden up as they carried him, and despite the guy’s cut