The Finding (21 page)

He rubbed his
chin thoughtfully. Why had she left? Her story about her uncle
being murdered didn’t quite ring true now. He’d always assumed
there was some illegal activity involved, but if she were wealthy,
why hadn’t she simply called the authorities? And why had she
stayed away all these years? She must have known there was money
awaiting her, even after she’d emptied her bank accounts. Who in
their right mind would turn their back on all that? He bit his lip;
there was something about this whole situation that bothered
him.

His wrist watch
beeped and he checked the time. The crystal was cracked—Hugh’s
fault probably—but he could still make out the time. He added
getting a new watch to his list of things to buy with the extra
reward money while swearing under his breath at the passage of
time. Damn! He’d been sitting here longer than he’d planned. Hugh
would be at the house in just a few hours, looking for the money.
Kellen stared at the paper in his hand one more time and then
folded it carefully before tucking it back in his pocket. Sighing
heavily, he tossed a tip on the table and walked out, frowning,
deep in thought.

*****

Bryan balanced
a tray of coffee and a bag of donuts in one hand as he pulled open
the door to the motel and quickly crossed the lobby, hoping
Cassandra hadn’t come around during his brief absence. She hadn’t
stirred once when he’d scooped her up off her sidewalk and driven
her to his motel. Nor had she shown any sign of gaining
consciousness when he’d moved about the room, drying off and
changing out of his damp clothes, so he’d figured there was enough
time to head across the street for food.

The bump on her
head hadn’t appeared serious and given the fact that she was a
werewolf, he knew she’d quickly heal. Most likely it was shock more
than the injury that was causing her unconscious state.

He chuckled
softly. When she’d knocked herself out, he’d had flashbacks to his
first meeting with Mel back in Stump River. Mel had been running
from him and had smacked right into a tree, knocking herself out.
He’d ended up carrying her back to the house, thinking he’d found a
pretty bit of fluff to play with for a while. Of course, Ryne had
taken one look at the woman and subconsciously claimed her, giving
‘back off’ signals that were hard to miss.

Well, this
time, he was the only male around so that wouldn’t be a problem.
Not that he had anything, but a professional interest in Cassandra,
he assured himself. He was here to do a job and that was a far as
his involvement should go. It didn’t matter that she’d been soft
and warm in his arms, or that her scent had wrapped itself around
him causing his blood to thunder in his ears. No, it was just the
adrenaline rush of finally finding her.

Bryan frowned
and shushed his wolf’s protests before it could even speak. Her
plump red lips and smooth golden skin had only a minimal effect on
him. And the fact that he could see her cleavage and feel the swell
of her breasts brushing against him as he carried her from his
car... Well... He stepped into the elevator and surreptitiously
adjusted the crotch of his pants; okay, so she did have
some
effect on him.

He clamped his
mouth shut and applied cool logic to the situation. Cassandra
was
attractive and it was only natural that he responded to
her, especially considering how his wolf was acting lately. It even
explained his appalling lack of judgement with regards to how he’d
introduced himself. Duh! He gave himself a mental forehead slap.
‘Hi! I’m Bryan’ hadn’t been the cleverest introduction.

She could be
bordering on going rogue and he should have been more careful until
he’d fully assessed her stability. It was little wonder she’d
freaked out. To her way of thinking, he’d been lurking in her
backyard, like some crazy stalker and her wolf might even consider
him an invader of her territory. He should have had some excuse
prepared or better yet, have avoided the yard altogether. Casually
walking down the street and bumping into her would have provided a
perfect opportunity to strike up a conversation in a
non-threatening manner. He was glad Ryne wasn’t around; he’d never
hear the end of it after his boasting that he knew how to handle
women.

Of course—Bryan
considered another point of view—she might still have reacted badly
to him, no matter how he introduced himself. She’d become even more
agitated when he mentioned wolves and the pack; the idea of another
werewolf seemed to scare her to death for some reason. He knew
she’d been raised by humans, but Greyson had been seeking out a
werewolf pack for her to join, so why had she been on the verge of
hysterics?

The elevator
gave a slight pinging noise announcing he’d arrived at his floor.
He took a deep breath wondering what he’d find when he got to his
room. There was some major damage control to do and it was all his
fault. Hopefully, she’d just be waking up and they could start off
on a fresh note. He had coffee and donuts as a peace offering. And
maybe he’d even try a bit of humour. That usually helped break the
ice...

*****

The pillow
beneath her head was softly scented with the most delicious smell.
Cassie buried her face into it and inhaled deeply, a slight smile
forming on her face as a sense of warmth and security filled her.
Reaching out, she searched for the covers, anxious to pull them up
around her shoulders and drift back to sleep.

Her grasping
fingers didn’t find a blanket and she muttered in annoyance,
wondering if it had been kicked onto the floor. Usually, she wasn’t
a restless sleeper except during a full moon. Frowning, she tried
to recall what day it was.

Could it be the
full moon already? Her brain responded sluggishly as images and
memories drifted past. For some reason her thoughts were hazy and
focussing was difficult. Well, she was often confused or
disoriented during a full moon, so possibly that was the case.
Rolling over, she groaned, the back of her head throbbing lightly
as it pressed into the pillow.

“Must have been
thrashing about and hit it on something.” She mumbled to herself as
she manoeuvred her head to the side. Ah! That was better. Still
half asleep, she brought her hand up to touch the tender area. Her
fingers encountered a small lump, but there was no stickiness to
indicate blood. That was a good thing. During a full-moon, it
wasn’t uncommon for her to awaken bruised and battered, having only
the vaguest recollections of what happened while she was locked in
her room. On a few occasions, she’d even managed to escape the
house, waking up in some of the strangest places.

The first time
it happened, she’d ended up in the alley where Kellen had found
her. On another occasion it had been a neighbourhood park and once
she’d even found herself in the employees’ room at the grocery
store. Luckily, she’d always been able to make her own way home or
find a means of contacting Kellen.

A smile drifted
over her face as she thought of Kellen. He always came to get her;
scooping her up, lecturing her about her drug habit... The smile
faded as she thought about all the lies she’d told him over the
years. She wished she could share the truth with him, but it was
too dangerous. No one could ever know what she really was...

It seemed
amazing that no one had ever discovered her wandering about in a
semi-conscious state; at least to the best of her knowledge, no one
had. She always scoured the news after the fact, praying that there
would be no reports of strange inexplicable attacks by wild dogs.
There never were, but she always worried, just in case. The animal
inside her wasn’t to be trusted.

Cassie shifted
back onto her side, keeping her eyes closed as she hovered on the
edge of sleep. It was puzzling how she ended up in those places.
They were usually locations she was thinking about just before the
pills took effect, she never had any recollection of how she got
there. And when she returned home, the door to her room was still
locked, so how had she managed to escape?

Over the past
three years, she’d done her share of research on werewolves, trying
to understand this mysterious other half of herself. There were so
many sites and so much information, but no real way to authenticate
what she read. Most of it she supposed was just the stuff Hollywood
movies were made of—images of grotesque and painful
transformations, creatures howling at the moon—or at least she
hoped it was all fanciful cinematography. Still, her own experience
allowed her to glean a few nuggets of truth such as the monthly
effect of the moon.

One site had
talked about supposedly ‘royal’ or ‘blue-blooded wolves’ being able
to teleport, or move from place to place, simply by thinking of a
location, though apparently it was a skill that was hard to master.
She wasn’t sure if that was what she did or not, though it was a
possible explanation.

The main flaw
in the theory was the whole idea of being werewolf ‘royalty.’ It
was almost farcical to her to suppose that savage beasts could ever
organize themselves into an aristocracy! Yet again, she shook her
head in disbelief of the very idea, wincing as the movement
reminded her that her head hurt. She sighed supposing she should
get up and put some ice on the lump.

Slowly
stretching, she reluctantly opened her eyes and then froze her arms
still extended at her sides. A gasp escaped her lips as she took in
the unfamiliar curtains and furniture. This wasn’t her bedroom! She
bolted upright and everything seemed to spin wildly for a moment
before slowly righting itself. Her heart pounding, she looked
around finding herself in a totally unfamiliar room.

Something about
the decor led her to believe she was in a motel, but where? She
half fell off the bed and rushed to the window to peer outside. A
partially filled parking lot and the back of a building met her
inquiring gaze. There was no visible sign to indicate the name of
the place, but at least it appeared she was still in Las Vegas; the
palm trees and cacti that bordered the parking lot were
reassuringly familiar.

Letting the
curtain fall back into place, she scanned the room, her gaze
lighting upon a pile of clothing on the floor and an open suitcase
sitting on chair in the corner. She approached it hesitantly,
almost fearful of what she’d find. The clothing was damp to the
touch and she found a previously unnoticed towel folded across the
arm of the chair. Biting her lip nervously, she began to rifle
through the contents of the suitcase. Men’s shirts, pants,
underwear... She quickly dropped them, wiping her hands on her
pants in disgust. Dear heaven, they weren’t even Kellen’s—he wore
boxers not briefs!

A horrid
thought suddenly popped into her head, and she looked down, running
her hands over her body, relieved to find she was fully dressed
except for her shoes. For a moment, she’d feared she’d gone into an
early heat and ended up with some strange man! Sighing in relief
that at least she hadn’t done something totally inappropriate, she
rubbed her forehead trying to recall who owned the suitcase and how
she’d come to be here...

Before any
answers came to mind, a sound behind her alerted her someone was
coming. Swinging around, she faced the door and watched with
trepidation as it swung open. A tall, well built man walked in, and
that’s when it all came rushing back to her.

Oh God, it was
Bryan, the stalker guy from the grocery store! Somehow, he’d
followed her to her house and had been waiting for her when she
left for work this morning. And, worse still, he claimed to not
only know about werewolves; he said he was one, the pack Beta no
less! Warily, she backed away from him, her legs hitting the bed
and causing her to sit down on the mattress with an undignified
bounce.

He chuckled,
seeming to find her retreat funny. “Just the sight of me already
has you falling into bed, eh?”

“Stay back!
Don’t come any closer.” Cassie issued the warning while managing to
right herself and then skittered across the bed, pressing herself
to the headboard. The beast inside her was bouncing up and down
like a puppy presented with a juicy bone. Its obvious pleasure in
seeing the man was in stark contrast to her own horror. Did the
creature have no sense at all? Sure the man was drop dead gorgeous,
his eyes an intriguing hazel, his lips curved in a smile that
begged to be tasted...

The man stepped
even closer and her breath caught in her throat. Was that a leering
expression on his face? Her skin tingled with expectant awareness,
waiting for the touch of his fingers, the brush of his lips. A
mental image of his mouth on her flesh, his body pressing hers to
the bed popped into her head and—how embarrassing—an ache began low
in her belly at the idea of being ravished. No! These couldn’t be
her thoughts; the creature was taking over, that had to be it!

Her eyes
fixated on his gleaming white teeth, the slightly longer than
normal canines. She took in his broad shoulders and muscular
forearms, part of her longing to run her hands over their surface
while another piece of her acknowledged she’d never stand a chance
against him in a real fight. A distressed whimper escaped her lips
and she snatched up a pillow, clutching it to her chest even though
it would provide no protection. The man had claimed to be a
werewolf and she knew what werewolves could do...

*****

Marla finished
the electronic transfer that deposited money into Nick Grant’s bank
account as per Aldrich’s instructions, then sighed heavily and
finger combed her hair away from her face. Wrinkling her nose in
distaste, she mentally went over the tasks she still had to
complete; double checking the other employees had been paid,
dealing with the utilities, setting up an appointment with Swanson
for a security check of the Estate... She hated this part of her
job. Travelling about in the limo was one thing; sitting at a desk
was sheer drudgery.