A Forbidden Love (3 page)

"If you've done such a great job at earning their trust, how come you've only ever met one of them? How come you don't know where their base is or even what their full names are?"

"This stuff takes time. Patience. Not that you would ever get that through your thick skull. And plus, our guys were no match for them at the warehouse. Don't you think we ought to arm ourselves a bit better before we can even think of acting?"

"Well you better hope it doesn't take too long, or we'll never get Dad and the others back. As for weapons, they're on the way. Don't you worry about that."

Alison gave him a dirty look and picked up her bag. If she had to stay here with Gareth one more minute, she'd be tempted to clobber him over the head with something. Such was her relationship with her brother – he really knew how to push her buttons.

Wallet, phone, all was in place, so she zipped up the top and threw the strap over her shoulder, ready to make a quick escape when her phone rang, stopping her in her tracks while she checked who it was.

Aidan.

"Keep quiet, it's them," Alison warned her brother, who still had a disapproving scowl on his face.

"Hello?" Alison answered the call.

"Alison. It's Aidan."

"Hello, Aidan. What's going on?" Alison asked, while keeping her eyes glued on Gareth.

"We've made some progress in our investigation and I've been asked to bring you in to see if you can shed some light on a few things..."

"Bring me in?" Alison repeated.

"Yeah. I'll text you the directions. It's time we had a more formal chat, what do you say?"

"Sure. Fine. I'll be there." Alison hung up and stared at her phone for a moment while she collected her thoughts. "They're bringing me in," she said triumphantly when she looked up at her brother again.

"So?" Gareth asked.

"So it seems they
do
trust me sufficiently now. Fingers crossed this goes well and we can get Dad back soon." Alison grinned and looked down at the flickering screen. One new message. She was to meet Aidan in half an hour, at a park only a couple of blocks from the cafe where they'd met last time. He would take her the rest of the way.

Gareth didn't comment, and Alison didn't wait for him to. She had already been ready to leave before the call, and now she definitely didn't feel like sticking around. She'd grab a bite to eat, then head to the meeting point as instructed by Aidan.

Perhaps she still had a chance to fix things.

Alison reached the meeting point ten minutes early and spent the time sitting on a park bench, watching the world go by. It was cold, but she was well prepared and didn't mind the fresh air. Today was a rather ordinary late October day, and Edinburgh's inhabitants as a whole didn't seem to care about the chilly weather either.

Mothers pushed buggies with small children. A group of construction workers passed by her bench on their way further into the park to eat their packed lunches. Of course they couldn't hold back the obligatory inappropriate remarks once they noticed her.

All of these people acted like everything was fine. It wasn't their fault, obviously, nobody had told them about the threats that lurked in the city - and everywhere else in the world for that matter. They had no idea about werewolves, and other dangerous creatures that could attack at any moment. They had no reason to fear the dark.

Alison knew better though, thanks to her dad and his work with the Sons. All their lives, she and Gareth had been taught about the various monsters that threatened humanity. Wolves, bears, lions. These were the three types they knew about, but it wasn't too farfetched to consider that perhaps there were other kinds of hybrids too.

The one thing Alison was certain about was that they were all predators and that human society was no place for them to reside.

She felt herself grow a little jittery, like she normally did shortly before her meetings with Aidan. She wasn't sure which of the three shifter species he belonged to, though she suspected he was a bear due to his impressive height and build. Either way, she wasn't fooled by his calm and controlled exterior.

Most were-creatures were savage animals unable to control the urge to kill. That's what her dad had told her. And that made Aidan a dangerous exception.

"Alison." Aidan's familiar voice interrupted her dark thoughts and made her flinch slightly.

"Hey." She jumped up, not to greet him per se, but more because seeing him tower over her bench put her in too much of a disadvantage if anything were to go wrong.

"Ready?" he asked. "Please give me your phone." Aidan held out his hand.

Alison nodded, and did as asked. He switched the mobile off, opened the back cover and removed the battery just like he'd done before earlier meetings. After he put all of the separate components into his pocket, he gestured at her to follow him out of the park.

They barely spoke while they walked, but Alison couldn't resist the urge to pry.

"So you said you've made some progress?" she asked, while trying to keep up with Aidan's long strides.

"That's right." He looked down at her, probably considering exactly how much information to share with her. "One of our own was taken, but we got her back. With interest."

Alison nodded and kept quiet. Aidan wanted to be vague, and that was fine. Today he was going to bring her into the Alliance hideout, and that was already a massive step in the right direction. Alison didn't want to push her luck.

"How about this weather, eh?" Alison attempted a bit of small talk.

"Mhm." Aidan looked left and right, then scanned the area behind them. "You weren't followed, were you?" he asked finally.

"No. Who would follow me?" Alison asked. God, she hoped Gareth hadn't actually followed her. That was exactly the sort of thing that could ruin her cover.

"All right." Aidan started to walk again and Alison followed, through the narrow alleyways in the old town. Left, right, zig-zagging around the historic buildings, until finally they made it to the other end of the city where the buildings started to look more modern.

Perhaps he had been trying to confuse her, so that she wouldn't remember the route they'd taken. That wasn't going to work, though, Alison thought. She'd lived in Edinburgh for most of her life, ever since her family had moved here when she was just seven years old. She knew this part of town like the back of her hand and no matter how much they walked in circles, she would know exactly how to get to where they were going.

Plus, unless he blindfolded her, she would be able to read the street signs and remember the landmarks.

After walking around seemingly aimlessly for about fifteen minutes, he led her further away from the center of town and towards the harbor. The streets no longer featured pretty old buildings, but bland warehouses and offices, most of which had been constructed in the sixties and seventies. A lot of this area was empty, abandoned. It was the ideal location for a hideout.

Finally, they reached their destination. An old warehouse that didn't stand out in the least. It was as rundown and dilapidated as all the others in the area. The paint was flaking off the woodwork, and weeds made their home in the cracked concrete of the facade. Bingo.

Aidan knocked and waited, though not very long, until the door was unlocked from the inside and swung open.

It was dark inside, and it took Alison a moment before her eyes adjusted to the low lighting. Inside stood a man, at least as tall as Aidan, if not slightly taller. The sight of him took Alison's breath away. He was gorgeous, and also a little familiar...

It was the eyes that got to Alison the most. A pair of almost sparkly blue eyes that pierced the darkness. She couldn't shake the sense of déjà vu. Where had she seen those same eyes before?

The man opposite her was frozen in place as they stared at one another, until what felt like minutes later Aidan cleared his throat, breaking the silence and dragging both of them back into reality.

"Err, I'm Jamie Abbott. You must be Alison Carter."

Alison reluctantly accepted Jamie's outstretched hand. As soon as their fingers touched, a jolt of something - excitement perhaps, or nerves - hit her right in the chest. She didn't know why, but was certain Jamie had felt it too. It was difficult not to say something about how strange she felt.

A subtle smile played on Jamie's lips as she let go after their handshake. As if he understood...

Meeting the human, Alison, for the first time was a huge shock for Jamie. For a moment he wasn't certain if he was actually awake or had somehow found himself in a vivid dream, like the ones that plagued him every night.

That face. Those green eyes and soft feminine curves. Alison was literally the girl of his dreams. As stupid and cliché as that sounded, it was true. She was the girl from the beach, he was certain of it. There was no way that this was a mistake. He’d seen her face every single night for as long as he could remember.

He'd wanted to ask her if she knew him too, but with Aidan around that seemed too weird a question, so he'd just shaken her hand and introduced himself instead. The look on her face had told him that their meeting was significant for her too. Or had he imagined that?

Shortly after he'd regained his composure somewhat, he'd stepped aside and let Aidan and Alison pass him and head upstairs. Luckily Aidan had understood that Jamie wanted him to take lead on this after all. Jamie found himself sitting opposite the radiant redhead in their newly set up interrogation room. The harshness of the fluorescent light overhead made her hair light up like it was on fire. He was glad that he didn't have the best view of her feminine curves while she sat there, half-obscured by the table, or he'd have even more trouble concentrating.

Aidan asked the questions Jamie had come up with earlier, and Jamie observed. He caught himself staring at her so intently that his eyes burned from forgetting to blink.

He looked down at his right hand which rested in his lap. It was warm where her fingers had touched his. Like they were still touching.

What did it mean? Had he lost his mind?

"Could you tell us again how you found out about those websites you mentioned to me before?" Aidan asked. His tone indicated that he wasn't expecting much of an answer, but Jamie didn't care.

He wasn't sure he wanted to know how she knew either. He just wanted to hear her voice as she answered.

"I worked part time for a hosting company a while back. Tech support. They had some issues with their software which I sorted out. That's how I found out," Alison responded.

Her voice sounded clear yet melodious, like she was singing her answers, not speaking them. He'd definitely lost his mind. Perhaps the years he'd been suffering from insomnia were finally catching up with Jamie.

"Those websites are quite vague to the untrained eye. How did you know that you'd found something worth sharing?" Aidan looked up from the list of questions, scrutinizing Alison.

Jamie tried to read her body language, but he kept getting stuck on tiny, irrelevant details. The dimples in her cheeks. The freckle on the tip of her nose. Her curvaceous lips which begged to be kissed...

"While sorting out their issues, I gained access to the private messaging system," Alison said. She glanced over in Jamie's direction.

Yes, she felt it too. Jamie could tell.

He knew for sure that she was the girl he'd dreamed about as recently as perhaps twelve hours ago. But did that automatically mean that she was also the same girl he'd actually talked to on that beach so many years back? How could he be certain? He had to ask her, but not with Kyle's comprehensive video surveillance system running in the background.

"What did you learn exactly?" Aidan asked.

"That they're dangerous. They want to hurt people."

"What people?" Aidan pushed.

"I'm not sure. The words they used are confusing. Animals. Monsters. I figured they're a bunch of crazy fanatics." Alison blinked a few times, then focused her green eyes on Jamie again.

He couldn't look away. He could barely breathe.

"How about we take a break, huh?" Aidan suggested, while picking up and straightening out the papers with his questions and notes.