The Finding (31 page)

“Don’t worry,
Edward. I have that taken care of. I’ll arrange for a private plane
to meet you at the Vegas airport. It will fly him directly to
Chicago and I’m sure Cassandra will soon be hot on his heels. You
just get the man on the plane.”

“Yes, sir.”
Eddie sounded resigned to the plan, which was just as well since he
really didn’t have a choice. After a moment, Eddie spoke again.
“Er...what about the reward? The hundred thousand dollars?’

“Edward,
your...future...was rather precarious yesterday, wouldn’t you
say?”

Aldrich could
hear the man gulp before answering. “Yes.”

“It isn’t now.
Surely that’s payment enough.”

The
disappointment in the man’s voice was audible, but he didn’t argue.
“Yes, it’s enough.”

“I thought it
would be.” He paused, then continued. “And Eddie? You might want to
start looking for another job before my benevolent mood wears off
and I see the books for the next quarter. I think we should end our
business association on this high note, don’t you?” His comment was
met with silence, then the sound of the receiver being hung up.

Aldrich
chuckled to himself. Talking to Eddie had lifted his mood
considerably. He rubbed his hands together. If the Greyson girl
took the bait—and he’d bet his last dollar she would, given how
foolish young lovers could be—he’d have control of her and her
inheritance in the near future. Then after waiting a suitable
length of time, and judiciously rearranging the estate funds in his
own favour, he’d reveal her for what she was. When the news broke,
it would make him famous and, more importantly, finally free him of
the werewolf threat. The beasts would be too busy trying to run and
hide to ever bother him again.

He chuckled
gleeful, then began to cough as mucous gathered in his trach tube.
Reaching for the buzzer that would summon Sylvia to his side he
coughed again, managing to smile in anticipation of her gentle
attention. It had certainly been his lucky day when she came to
work for him.

*****

Bryan watched
Cassandra as she moved about the living room, tidying up the
evidence of the struggle that had occurred earlier. The scent
washing off of her was a veritable smorgasbord of emotions; fear,
anger, distrust, confusion...and reluctant arousal.

The arousal he
could relate to; she was a pretty, curvaceous female and the male
in him reacted to that naturally, but there was something else. It
was more than just basic lust. His wolf seemed to know hers even
though they’d just met. Sure, he’d caught a faint whiff of her
scent all those years ago in a motel room, but it couldn’t have
been enough to bind the two animals together. Besides, Cassandra
had never encountered him before this morning yet the animal within
her had shown no shyness of him.

An earlier
conversation with Marco came to mind; about how certain select
wolves knew their mates in some dream world long before they
actually met. The idea seemed a bit far-fetched and yet... Bryan
thought about his recurring dream of a chasing a chocolate brown
wolf. Coincidence or something more?

With half
closed eyes, he examined each detail of her appearance and compared
it to the nebulous female in his dreams. Her breasts were full, her
waist narrow. Rounded hips perfect for holding during mating. Long
legs that would wrap around his waist, her heels locking in the
small of his back as he—

A sound from
the computer drew his attention and the erotic dream images he’d
been recalling disintegrated into a million pieces. Damn, just when
it had been getting interesting; rather like his dreams he thought
morosely. They always faded at the good part, too.

He checked the
computer screen. A message appeared from Daniel. Bryan shook his
head, as always amazed at what his friend could do when armed with
a computer and internet access.

Leaning
forward, he studied the information on the screen. Hmm... Now that
was interesting. The van, which had taken Kellen, belonged to a
company known as Dollar Niche. Dollar Niche was run by a fellow
named Eddie Perini, though he wasn’t the owner. Daniel was still
working on that. He called out the information over his
shoulder.

“Cassandra? My
friend just confirmed the van that took your friend belongs to
Dollar Niche.”

She looked up
from the pile of dust she was gathering, a thoughtful look on her
face. “Dollar Niche? It certainly sounds like one of those shady
loan places where you can get money quickly, and end up repaying
for the rest of your life.”

“Uh-huh.” Bryan
tapped the computer screen. “That’s basically what Daniel found
out. It operates just this side of legal.”

Abandoning her
cleaning she came to stand beside him, peering at the screen over
his shoulder. Her sweet breath softly caressed the nape of his neck
and he struggled to control the shiver of awareness that raced over
him.

“Did he find an
address for the place? That’s probably where that goon took
Kellen.”

“Just a post
office box, but Daniel should have that information in a few
minutes.”

In his
peripheral vision, he saw Cassandra twist the hem of her shirt and
nibble on her lip. “When we find out where he is, what will we do?
Contact the police?”

Bryan snorted
and spun the chair around so he was facing her. “No! Remember what
I said earlier? Werewolves keep a low profile.”

“But Kellen
isn’t a werewolf and I doubt Hugh and Eddie are either.”

“Cassandra, the
police ask questions. They’ll want to know your name. Do you really
want them checking into your background?”

Her hands
stilled, then her fingers tightened into fists, as she shook her
head. “So what do we do?”

Rubbing the
back of his neck Bryan considered the situation. He could easily
take on the two men, knocking them out, but it might lead to
questions. Hugh might already be wondering what type of creature
attacked him at the house. Another attack would definitely put the
man on alert.

Lycan Link had
been less than amused when Bryan informed them of Cassandra’s
attack on the man. The Damage Control division had been put on
alert for any rumours coming out of the Vegas region and a few
Lycans would be deployed to the area just in case. He grimaced as
he recalled the tone of the email which basically said Ryne’s pack
was on the verge of being considered negligent in carrying out its
duties as outlined in the Finding clause. If Cassandra wasn’t kept
in line, there would be serious repercussions. Exactly what that
meant, Bryan didn’t know and didn’t dare ask. Thankfully they’d
liked his suggested excuse of an animal escaping from one of the
shows; perhaps it would gain him some leniency. He just hoped
Cassandra didn’t do anything else to upset... A thought popped into
his head.

“Does Kellen
know that you’re a werewolf?”

“No!” She
backed away from him, appearing frightened. “I never told him, I
swear! I said I had migraines once a month. He doesn’t know
anything, honestly! There’s no reason to kill him.”

Perplexed by
her reaction, Bryan stood and took a step towards her, but stopped
when she backed up even more, finally running into the wall. He
spoke slowly and calmly as if trying to gentle a wild animal.
“Relax. I wasn’t planning on killing him—” As he spoke, his wolf
muttered to the contrary, still not pleased that another male had
been living with her.

Cassandra
interrupted. “I’ve heard about the Keeping; how you kill anyone who
discovers your secret. Kellen knows nothing. I made sure he never
found out!” Panic laced her voice and Bryan raised his hands in a
placating gesture.

“It’s okay. I
believe you. I was just wondering what he knew.”

“What would you
have done with him if he did know?”

Bryan sighed.
“I don’t know exactly, but since he’s sort of like a part of your
family,” he almost choked on the word. “We’d work something out, I
guess.”

A look of
relief washed over her face and she visibly relaxed. Bryan wondered
about the depth of her relationship with the man, but before he
could inquire, another message from Daniel appeared on the screen.
He turned and leaned over the computer, bracing his weight on one
arm.

“Way to go,
Daniel. We have an address and... Huh! Imagine that!” He
straightened and rubbed his chin. “Now this makes things a bit more
interesting.”

“What?” She
stepped closer, obviously curious.

“Dollar Niche
is an anagram for Leon Aldrich who is the actual head of the
company. And Aldrich is the name of the guy who tried to capture
and sell our Alpha’s mate.”

Cassandra
paled. “Leon Aldrich was my uncle’s lawyer. I saw a werewolf kill
him!”

Bryan snorted
in disgust. “
Tried
to kill him, but the bastard didn’t
die.”

“What do you
mean? I saw the wolf attack. There was blood everywhere. Mr.
Aldrich was gasping for air.”

“And then you
ran.”

She froze. “How
do you know that?”

He shrugged.
“The werewolf was Ryne, my Alpha. He told us what happened that
night.”

“Your
Alpha
killed a man?” Shock echoed through her voice.

“As I said, he
tried, but at the same time his mate, Mel, was in danger of dying
from an ill-timed transformation. While Ryne was saving her,
someone found Aldrich and got him to the hospital. Since then,
we’ve never been able to get close enough to the man to finish the
job.”

“Finish the...
That’s horrible! How can you say something like that as if...?” She
shivered and shook her head, obviously at a loss for words. “I
can’t imagine killing being just a part of daily life.”

“It isn’t part
of daily life. It’s actually very rare, but I’d advise you not to
be so quick to judge until you know all the facts.” Bryan narrowed
his eyes, not liking the way she seemed to view his people—hell,
they were her people too, though she didn’t seem to realize the
fact. “Aldrich had no compunction about kidnapping Mel, attacking
her friend Lucy or holding both Mel and Ryne at gunpoint. The man
had been planning on selling Mel to the highest bidder simply for
fame and fortune. Aldrich had no respect for her as person. In his
mind, she was just an animal to be put in a cage.”

“But—”

“Some of our
laws might seem harsh to an outsider, but rest assured they aren’t
enacted without careful consideration and full examination of all
the facts. Aldrich’s plan would have resulted in the deaths of
countless men, women, and children. He would have exposed us to the
whole world purely for personal gain. There was no consideration
for the lives that would be destroyed, the societal changes, the
distrust, or even panic that would erupt because of his actions,
because of his greed. Man and Lycan coexist peacefully only because
our existence is kept secret. To reveal us to the world would have
grave repercussions, not only for shifters, but for humans as
well.”

She folded her
arms, her disbelief audible in her voice. “I don’t believe it would
be that cataclysmic.”

“History
repeats itself, Cassandra.” He struggled to keep his voice calm in
the face of her attitude when in reality he’d like to give her a
good shaking. “Werewolves have kept their existence secret for
millennia and with good cause. In ancient times we were hunted to
near extinction. Only by banding together and following a strict
set of rules were we able to save ourselves. The Book of the Law
was our salvation and we adhere to its tenets. Maybe someday, when
humanity is more accepting of those that are different—when there
is peace between countries, races, religions, ideologies—then we
might come out of the shadows, but not now. Humanity isn’t ready
for us yet.”

Cassandra was
frowning, but Bryan could tell she was considering his words. A
heartfelt sigh escaped his lips. The girl was suspicious and
unaccepting of her own kind. Finding out that Ryne—the man who
would be her Alpha—had attempted to kill someone was not helping
him build a case as to the benefits of belonging to his pack.

Deciding to
leave the philosophical discussions for a more appropriate time, he
concentrated on the matter at hand. Aldrich owned Dollar Niche. He
was also the lawyer in charge of the Greyson estate and was
searching for Cassandra. Cassandra’s boyfriend was being held by
Dollar Niche because he owed them money and was willing to use
Cassandra to get out of debt.

He shook his
head. It was definitely a tangled web and he wondered how much was
pure chance and how much, if any, had been engineered. When he had
more time, he’d try to figure it out, but right now, getting Kellen
out of the clutches of Dollar Niche was his main objective. Once
the man was safe, he’d stand a better chance of convincing
Cassandra to accompany him back to Canada.

“So... We’d
better head over to Dollar Niche and check the place out. If your
friend is there, I’ll get him out. Then we’re having a serious talk
about Canada, agreed?”

Cassandra
nodded, but Bryan questioned the look in her eyes. She was plotting
something, he was sure of it.

Chapter
14

Mel leaned
against the doorframe that led to Daniel’s room and knocked softly.
The man inside was engrossed in his computers, as usual, so she
waited patiently for him to acknowledge her. He was aware of her
presence—she’d learned long ago that sneaking up on a werewolf was
hard to do—but seemed busy with his current task. She amused
herself by looking around his bedroom. A few piles of dirty clothes
lay on the floor while various items covered the dresser top and
bedside table. The bed was rather haphazardly made as well. In all
the room had an air of casual neglect, as if the occupant had good
intentions to keep things tidy, but kept finding more important
things to do. In contrast to the scattered appearance of most of
the room, one corner was perfectly organized. Several shelves were
covered with a sea of electronic gadgets, only half of which Mel
had any understanding of.