AMAZON KINDLE VERSION A Siberian Werewolf In London EDITED 3 9 2012 (16 page)

Grigori looked over at Melisande, and she nodded, her eyes shining with excitement.

“Very well. It’s rather long, but if you don’t mind, I will begin . . . ,” Grigori said. “A long time ago when Russia was young, there was a prince who fathered a very beautiful daughter. She was his oldest child and only daughter, and he loved her mightily. He gave her anything she asked for. But she was never greedy, or unkind, and grew into an enchanting young woman with golden hair.

“The one thing she loved to do was go into the woods surrounding her father’s walled city and speak to the animals or pick wild flowers. She would ride her favorite horse with her maid accompanying her. They spent hours playing in the sun.

“One day she raced her horse down a trail. When the horse stumbled, she was thrown. Her maid did not follow her or see the accident. The prince’s daughter tried to move, but her ankle was sore, and she couldn’t get up. She looked around for a stick or something to lean on, when out of the trees a huge white wolf appeared. The princess stared in amazement at the beautiful animal with eyes the color of the deepest emerald.

“The wolf came toward her, and she realized she should be afraid. As she opened her mouth to scream, a rainbow of light came upon the wolf, and he changed into a handsome young man with emerald eyes and light-brown hair. The man leaned down and offered the princess his hand to help her up.

“It is said that, as they touched, their hearts were tied together with a golden cord, and the pair knew they were destined to mate. The young man helped her to her horse, and the princess gave him a scarf from around her neck. Promising to meet again, the princess returned to the city.

“She rode out many times to meet her wolf prince during the summer, and their love bloomed into an unbreakable bond. But at the beginning of the harvest, a horde of marauders rode out of the mountains and attacked the city. There was a terrible fight, and the field of battle was covered with bodies from both sides. The marauders were forced to ride away.

“The princess went to her wolf prince and begged him to help her father’s army when the horde reappeared. For all her father’s subjects knew their respite was a small one. The wolf prince agreed with one condition: the princess would be his wife and come to live with him. She agreed gladly because she loved him already, and her father prepared a formal parchment describing the terms.

“When the marauders reappeared, wolves boiled out of the forest in a fury. The human prince sent out his army and together the two forces fought the horde until the few survivors ran away in terror. The wolf prince howled, calling the princess to him. But the army rode back into the city, and the princess never came out.

“Her father, the prince, refused to see his daughter married to an animal. So, he locked her in a tower and reneged on his promise to the wolf prince. She begged and pleaded and called upon his honor, but still he refused her. She fell into a melancholy that no amount of coaxing could bring her out of.

“As the days turned into weeks, she stopped eating. Each evening a white wolf could be seen howling at the edge of the forest, calling to his mate. The princess would cry when she heard him, missing her true love desperately.

“The princess grew weak, and the prince, her father, was forced to bring in a healer. But the man reported the princess was dying from a broken heart and he could not repair it. The prince, her father, raged and ranted. But the princess became weaker and frailer. Finally, fearing his favorite child would pass from this world, he lifted her up on his own horse and carried her into the forest.

“When they came into the clearing, a beautiful young man with emerald eyes and brown hair awaited them. He took the princess from her father’s arms and walked into the forest, never to be seen again. Her father returned to the city, hoping the wolf prince would heal his daughter.

“On the anniversary of the day the prince gave up his daughter, a note came tied with a piece of golden hair. The people rejoiced when, after reading the note, the old prince smiled for the first time in a year.”

“Grigori, how beautiful,” Melisande said in awe.

“Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. I loved it. Thank you so much,” Wentworth gushed.

“It was a pleasure to share with you. Thank you for making this such an enjoyable evening for us, Kimberly,” Grigori said.

A slight shift in the energy of the room brought Grigori’s wolf senses howling to the surface. He glanced up and saw a man with a heavy overcoat coming in from the stairwell. For the first time since arriving that evening, he allowed all his senses to be fully present.

“Valerii, stay with the ladies, Brencis, with me. Excuse us a moment, please,” Grigori said, rising from the table.

Knowing Brencis was right behind him, Grigori went through the crowd to cut off the man in the overcoat. The smell of gun oil and metal was apparent to Grigori’s lycanthrope senses. The man reeked of fear and excitement, and his heart could be heard beating at an accelerated pace. He is not a professional assassin, Grigori thought in satisfaction. He tried to read the man’s mind, but it was a jumble of images and thoughts, too convoluted to straighten out. The man wasn’t quite sane.

Grigori caught Officer Kincaid’s eye and nodded toward the man. But Kincaid stood near the door to the balcony and could not reach him. Kincaid lifted his wire and spoke into his microphone.

Brencis cut off his escape. Make sure there are no accomplices.

Grigori had almost reached the man when the intruder ran up to the head table and pulled a gun from under his coat. Using his lycan speed, Grigori rushed up and grabbed the man’s wrist, as the first person at the table started to react.

The world went into slow motion as Grigori flowed into action. A woman screamed. Applying pressure to the man’s wrist, Grigori crushed his wrist bones. People rose from their chairs. A man yelled. The gun fell from useless fingers. The assailant turned toward Grigori. Officers from around the room rushed forward. Grigori gave a quick jab to the man’s nose. The assailant fell unconscious to the floor. And time returned to normal.

Grigori glanced down at the fallen man. The room was in an uproar with everyone talking at once. He started wiping his hands with a napkin from the head table, when several officers leveled their service revolvers at him.

“Bloody, Hell!” Barras shouted. “Don’t shoot him. He saved my life. Captain, call off your men. Didn’t you see the idiot in the coat pull a gun on me? Dammit, Solovyov, I’ve never seen anyone move so quickly. I owe you my life. How did you know he was carrying a gun?”

“It was the way he moved. And he was slightly overdressed, don’t you think?” Grigori asked, hoping to cover up the fact that he had used his lycanthrope speed and sense of smell to recognize the assailant. “If you don’t mind I would like to go back to my fiancée, now that you are safe, Barras.”

“Yes, certainly. Melisande must be terrified. Let him through, captain. You can get his statement later,” Barras said, directing his security force.

Grigori turned to see Brencis speaking with Officer Kincaid. He started to make his way back to the table when Melisande came through the crowd and grabbed him around the waist.

“Do you always need to be a hero? You scared me half to death!” she said as she hugged him tightly.

Looking in bemusement at his mate, he felt his heart fill to bursting.

“I’m sorry if I frightened you,
lyubov moya
. I thought you might be upset if something happened to your dear cousin. Was I wrong?”

“No, but I would have been more upset if something had happened to you, you arrogant man.”

Grigori chuckled in delight at his mate. “Come, I think it is time to go home. I believe the party is over.”

At that moment Wentworth came through the crowd with Valerii.

“I know a back way to get you out of here, but we better go right now,” she said.

“Lead the way, Kimberly. We are right behind you,” Grigori encouraged her.

Brencis, Kimberly is sneaking us out of here. Dump Kincaid and follow us.

Right behind you.

Wentworth led them through the kitchen to a service elevator in the back of the building. Sirens could be heard coming from the front entrance.

“If you go down to the main floor there is a back door to the street behind Kensington High Street. You can catch a cab from there. Here is my card. Call me tomorrow, and I will give you all the contact information Lord Barras wanted you to have,” Wentworth said, pushing them into the elevator. “Thanks for a great evening. It was fun.”

“You were pretty terrific, too. It was nice meeting you, Kimberly,” Melisande said as the doors closed.

Once they were on the main floor, the back door was easy to find. A quick scan proved they were alone. If an officer had been posted here, he must have been called upstairs. Grigori grasped Melisande’s hand, their fingers twining, as they quickly walked to the back street. They found a crossing before looking for a taxi. Valerii hailed a passing cab, and they all squeezed in on their way back to the townhouse.

“Quite an evening,” Valerii commented.

“You saved Lord Barras’ life tonight,” Brencis insisted.

“Do you think we could order a pizza?” Grigori asked, seeing a sign advertising the dish. He had noticed the food on the local television commercials and was intrigued.

“Is that all you can think about? Food?” Melisande asked irritably.

“Well, I don’t know about the boys, but I’m still hungry,” Grigori complained.

Melisande shook her head and then started to laugh. Soon they all were joining in. The cab driver stared at them as if they were crazy, but he offered them a number to a pizza place that delivered.

Later in the evening as Grigori and Melisande lay in each other’s arms. She ran her hand down his chest.

“Thank you for saving Andrew tonight.”

“I did it for you,
lyubov moya,
though I think your cousin wishes it was anyone else but me. He doesn’t like the idea of his favorite cousin marrying a Russian.”

“Well, he can get over it because you are everything I’ve ever wanted.”

“Remember what you said when our first child shifts into a wolf pup.”

“You know I was thinking . . .”

“About our first child?”

“No, about the pack. You said it came as a surprise that your Alpha was able to mate with a psychic human. But in your story tonight, which I realize is more than a fairy tale, you said the wolf prince mated with the Russian princess. You also mentioned she liked to talk to the animals. So, maybe she was psychic.”

“The story is very old and passed down through the generations. My father’s mother used to tell it to Brencis and me to make us sleep at night. We were so enamored of the wolf prince and how he saved the city from the marauders. I never thought about the line of her speaking to the animals, or much about the fact she was human. It became a beautiful fairy tale. It didn’t seem real.”

“Perhaps the answers to the pack breeding problems are hidden in your old family legends.”

“I’ll suggest it to Dmitry. You might be right. Now come here so I can love you.”

§

“Idiot! You were supposed to bring me the woman. Instead, Zaytsev saw them returning to the townhome in a cab. And how is it, you let Solovyov’s young protégé find my newest rental? I can’t keep finding new places to hide out. This is getting tedious. I’m paying you to spy for me, not cause more problems. This is your first and last warning. Fail me again, and you will pay with your life,” Funenko shouted into the phone.

Hiring someone inside to spy on Solovyov had seemed like such a good idea. But this venture was costing Funenko more money by the hour. Melisande Reule was going to pay for every cent with her delectable body. Rubbing his hands together, Funenko imagined the fun he was going to have.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Grigori dreamed. Melisande was walking down the aisle toward him, wearing a beautiful white gown. Her eyes sparkled with joy, and she consumed him. He loved her so much.

Grika! Wake-up! Little Joe is at the back gate. Something is wrong.

Grigori jerked awake. Melisande lay sleeping peacefully beside him. He expanded his senses, searching for danger. But he didn’t smell or hear a threat.

Grika, should I let the child in?

Brencis?

Aren’t you awake yet? Having a mate is bemusing your brain. Little Joe is at the back gate. I smell fear.

Let the child in. Meet me in the kitchen. Let little Joe see your wolf form. Take note of the reaction, then report it to me later,
Grigori sent to Brencis as he got out of bed and started putting on clothes.

He hated to wake Valerii, but they might need him. Sighing, he calmed his thoughts and reached with his mind to the man sleeping down the hall.