Fated Mates: Book 1 of the True Mates Series (24 page)

A week after the ball, Alynna felt fully recovered. The effects of fighting the poison left her tired, like she had been hit by a truck and though she was annoyed at having to spend a few more days in the recovery room, she was glad she got out of having to move her stuff from Gus’ apartment to her new place in The Enclave.
 

She wasn’t sure what to expect when she moved into the Lycan stronghold. She had lived in New York all her life and had never realized what was hiding right under everyone’s noses. How could an entire community of secret werewolves remain hidden on the small, dense island of Manhattan for generations? She as quite surprised that The Enclave wasn’t one building, but an entire complex of buildings, taking up three blocks on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. There were three main clusters - North, South, and Center. Cady explained that to outsiders, The Enclave looked like any ordinary collection of buildings, but inside, it was more like a mini city, with an underground complex that connected all the buildings and could be fortified if necessary. Cady also added that a bit of magic was involved in keeping The Enclave secret from non-Lycans and those not associated with the New York clan. A few decades before, a witch that owed the New York clan’s Alpha a favor (Alynna’s great-great grandfather, as she learned), put a spell over the complex that repelled outsiders. When people walked by the complex, they simply felt the need to go the other way, completely ignore it, or even forget about it. There had been some close calls, but the magic held up even after decades. Lycans, Cady warned, did not mess around when it came to the place that protected their pups.

When Cady had brought up the issue of where she was to stay in The Enclave, Alynna wanted to have some semblance of privacy, so she declined Grant’s offer of staying in his plush, 5-bedroom penthouse in Center Cluster. So, Cady found her another place, a loft apartment just below Grant’s floor. It was roomy and had a great view of the Hudson river, and best of all, it was just hers. While she wanted to spend time with her brother, she also wanted a place where she could just be alone. And, with The Enclave having the best security (Lycan, technological and magical), Alynna no longer had to have security detail posted at the door or tailing her around, as long as she stayed in the complex.

Today, she found herself once again heading into Fenrir to meet with Grant and Cady to go over a few things and update her on the investigation into what happened at the ball. Patrick picked her up and brought her directly to the office.

“Good morning, Ms. Chase,” Jared greeted. “How are you feeling today?”

“Good, thank you,” she greeted the assistant back. “Is my brother ready to see me?”

“He’s in there with the other Alpha, but he said you’re welcome to interrupt them if you arrive early.”

“Other Alpha?” she wondered as she opened the heavy wooden doors that led to Grant’s office. As soon as she entered, the four men sitting in the middle of the room stood up.

“Liam—Mr. Henney, Matsumoto-san, ” she said in a surprised voice. “What are you…” she looked over to Grant, who gave her a sly smile.

“Alynna, glad you could make it,” Grant motioned for her to come sit with them. “Liam and Takeda are here on some business.”

“Boring business, I’m afraid, with Fenrir and Amata Ventures, my company.” Liam explained. “But I asked Grant if I could see you as well, to see if you were feeling better and he said I should just come in this morning.”

“Uh, cool,” Alynna said, giving her brother a knowing look. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“Oh no,” Liam. “We’re the ones interrupting. We should go on our way.”

“Oh,” Alynna said in a disappointed voice.
 

“Liam and Takeda will be here for the entire week,” Grant said. “We’re in talks about funding some startups he’s working with. Cancer research - some really great technologies, at least from what he’s explained.”

“Really?” Liam nodded at her. “That’s…great!”

“You’ll join us for dinner tonight, I hope?” Liam asked. “I mean, it’ll be all of us. With Ms. Gray.”

“That sounds good!” Alynna smiled. “I’ll see you then?”

The two men said their goodbyes and Nick escorted them out of the room.

“So, Liam Henney just showed up here today?” Alynna raised an eyebrow at her brother. “What a coincidence.”

“Actually,” Grant began. “Liam has been hounding me for a meeting for weeks. But, seeing as he seems to enjoy New York, I thought I’d finally invite him and listen to what he has to say.”

“I see,” she said as she sat down.
 

“Anyway,” Grant poured her a cup of coffee. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fit as a fiddle,” she declared, taking a sip of the warm liquid. “Are you going to fill me in on the investigation?”

“Well about that…”

“Grant,” she said, a tone of warning on her voice.

“Look, I’m not gonna stop you from helping. But, you have to tell us more about what you remember.”

“I have, haven’t I?” she feigned.

“Not everything.”

“What?” she said. “Are you still going on and on about the woman in green? I told you all I know!”

“Are you sure?” Grant sounded doubtful. “I think you’re hiding something.”

“And I think you’re barking up the wrong tree,” she said, her cup making a loud clinking sound as she set it back on the saucer a little too forcefully. “I’ll be conducting my own investigation on that matter and if I find out anything, I’ll tell you.”

Nick had rejoined them. “Ms. Chase, may I remind you that a week ago, someone tried to poison you and a few weeks ago, someone broke into your apartment?”

“Could be totally unrelated,” she retorted.
But unlikely
, she added silently. She did not believe in coincidences.
 

Grant sighed. “Alynna, please don’t be stubborn about this!”

She crossed her arms. “What did you find out about that waiter?”

“His name’s Fred Allman and he’s gone. Fled.” Nick supplied. “We tracked down his apartment, and it was empty. Clothes all gone, his landlord and neighbors don’t know anything and haven’t seen him in a week.”

“Hmmm…” Alynna said thoughtfully. “Definitely suspicious. Do we have names or numbers of relatives, girlfriends? Have we checked his social media accounts?”

“We’re working on it,” Nick stated.

“Good, you can keep me updated and I can start looking up records on him. What?” she said as she bit into a croissant. Both men were looking at her strangely. “Look, this is what I do. You do your…Lycan thing and I’ll do my PI thing, ok?” She finished the croissant and stood up. “Well, I guess I’ll see you…”

“Alynna, wait,” Grant put a hand on her arm. “Nick, give us a minute?”

“Yes Primul,” the other man said, and silently left the room.

“What is it?” she asked.
 

“We need to talk about other things.”

“Oh,” she picked up another croissant. “What is it?”

“First, Alex will be back on your regular security detail.”

She took a deep breath. “Ok?”

“I couldn’t interfere anymore, and Nick was starting to get suspicious. After all, Alex rushed to you when you collapsed and all stayed throughout the night.”

“What?” she asked, confused.

“Well, as soon as you fell and he rushed in and brought you to the ante room. And well, frankly, we couldn’t get him to leave.”

“Excuse me?” she asked, swallowing a mouthful of pastry.

“Yeah…I mean, I was too busy worrying about you, but Cady said one of the other security guys tried to get him to leave the room, and Alex almost bit his head off!”

Holy crap.

“There was so much going on that we just left him alone. He never left your side, only when you went into the clinic and Dr. Faulkner insisted everyone stay out. Anyway,” he continued. “My hands are tied. You said so yourself, I shouldn’t interfere.”

“I know,” she said quietly. “And it’s ok, really, I’m…over it.”

He gave her a smile. “I’m glad. And if Liam is helping you…”

“Ugh!” she let out a frustrated groan. “Can we please not talk about my love life?”

“Oh, it’s love, now is it?” he teased. When Alynna grabbed one of the pillows on the couch he put his hands up in defeat. “Ok, ok, no meddling! But,” he said in a serious voice. “The other thing was, I wanted to know if you’ve had some thoughts about what you wanted to do, now that you’re officially part of Lycan society? Did you have ideas? I mean, there’s no pressure, especially with what happened…”

“No, I….” She paused. “I’ve been thinking about it and have had some thoughts, but nothing concrete…is that ok? I mean, I can pay rent on the apartment or what…”

“Oh no, Alynna, it’s not that,” he said. “That apartment is yours, your right as a part of the New York Clan. As long as you decide to live in The Enclave, you’ll always have a place there. I’m more worried about you. You don’t seem like the type to spend your days idling and going to lunches and shopping.”

She shook her head. “No, I want to do something…I just don’t know what.”

“Take your time,” Grant said. “And if you need advice, just ask.”

“Thank you. I’ll definitely think about it.”

***

Alynna opened the door to her new apartment, kicked off her heels, and slunk down on the couch. It had been a long day, her first full day doing anything since she was poisoned. She had gotten her appetite back (though to be honest, she never really lost it), and dinner had been at an amazing sushi place that impressed even Takeda. Both Liam and Grant had an early day so they called it a night by 10pm. They dropped off Liam and Takeda at their hotel, but before they left, Liam asked Alynna to dinner at some point during the week, an invitation she gladly accepted.

“What am I going to wear?” she said out loud to no one in particular. There were all those nice dresses she and Cady had shopped for at Bergdorf’s. That seemed like a years ago, not weeks. She sighed and stretched her calves out. She wanted to dress to impress tonight, so she put her little black dress and stiletto heels on. She’d have to find the right outfit for her dinner with Liam.

She couldn’t quite bring herself to get ready for bed yet, so she picked up a pile of folders on the coffee table. Nick had been quite surprised at the request, but he indulged her. The files pertained to all the “Lycan Requests” that Nick had gotten so far for this year, about 6 or 7. Most were petty things - car break-ins, stolen property - she could see how these didn’t need to go to Grant’s desk. However, there were a couple that caught her eye - one was a Lycan-owned small business downtown, a dry cleaning shop that was getting frequently targeted by robbers and the other a custody battle between a Lycan mother and a human father. She took the first file and began to read it thoroughly.

A knock on the door broke her reverie.
Who could it be at this hour,
she thought.
Probably Grant
. He said he was bringing work home tonight and maybe he couldn’t sleep.

She stood up and walked to the door, not bothering with her shoes. She unlocked the door and opened it slightly.

“Alex,” she said softly. “What are you doing here?”

Alex stood in front of her door, wearing a black tank top and jeans, his hair wet from a recent shower.
 

“May I come in?” he asked.
 

She let out a breath and then closed the door, unlatching the chain so she could open it. “It’s late, what do you want?”

He strode in and she closed the door behind her. “Well?”

“Nice place,” he looked around and walked into her open living room/kitchen area.
 

“Thanks, it still needs some work.” God, he smelled good. And he looked damn sexy. His shoulder muscles rippled as he bent down to pick up a magazine she had left on the table. The tight tank top showed off his muscled arms and the way it clung to his flat stomach made her mouth water. She could almost see the outline of his delicious abs. And those tight jeans molded to his ass like they were painted on.
Get a grip
, she told herself.
 

He moved to her window, looking out at her view. He whistled. “Now that is a view,” he said, turning back to her.

She crossed. “What do you want, Alex?” she repeated. “Tell me now or get out.”

Alex’s eyes blazed like amber gold. He strode over to her, his long legs crossing the distance between them in short time. “You,” he growled as his warm hands grabbed her arms, pulling her close to his chest. “I want
you
.”

Alynna wanted to protest, but it was like her hands had life of their own. She slid her fingers down to his waist, pulling his tank top up to expose his rippling abs. Jesus, she’d forgotten how sexy he was, the way his muscles moved and his warm skin. “Off,” she said in an urgent voice. “Need to touch you…now…”

He complied, grabbing the bottom of his tank top and pulling it over his head. He stood there, his chest heaving. “Now your turn,” he said.
 

She turned around, and lifted her hair away. “Unzip me?” she said coyly, turning her head to look at him.

Alex wanted to rip the dress of her, but he told himself to get a grip. He took the zipper between his fingers and pulled it down deliberately, slowly exposing her creamy white skin. Last time they came together was rough and quick, his anger and jealousy getting the better of him. Then, seeing her collapse and then fighting for her life…he was wracked with guilt, knowing that if he had been doing his job, he might have prevented everything. He wanted to stay away, knew he should stay away from her, but he just couldn’t. Something inside of him was pulling him to her and he couldn’t resist her. Yes, he wanted her luscious body, purring and mewling underneath his, but he also wanted more than that.

Alynna let the dress fall to the floor, and she stepped out of the pool of fabric, turning around to face him, wearing only her matching green lace bra and panties. She grabbed him by the arm, and then pushed him back until the backs of his knees hit the couch. She reached down and unbuttoned his jeans, pushing them down. She gasped audibly when she realized he wasn’t wearing and briefs and he was already fully erect.