The Finding (60 page)

“I might. Was
one of them concerned about your manners?” Bryan quirked an
eyebrow.

“Yep. She
preferred Kane and felt I was rude. Can you imagine?”

“Definitely
delusional, I’d say.” The two men laughed and Cassie could see the
friendship they obviously shared.

Ryne got to his
feet. “We have quite a mess to clean up here. Concocting a story to
cover all of this won’t be easy”

Bryan slowly
got to his feet. A few grimaces passed over his face hinting that
he didn’t feel quite as fine as he claimed. “I’ll be with you in a
minute, Ryne. I just need to...” He flicked his eyes towards Cassie
and smiled sheepishly, giving a small shrug. “You know.”

Ryne glanced
between Bryan and Cassie. “Yeah, I know. I just finished with Mel a
few minutes ago. Needed to reassure her I wasn’t dead. And Kane’s
still with Elise.” He chuckled and walked away.

Inexplicably,
Cassie suddenly felt shy. Staring at the ground, she struggled to
think of what to say. “I’m glad you’re all right.” She rolled her
eyes and shook her head; that was a dumb thing to say. The man had
almost been killed trying to save her.

However, Bryan
seemed to have no problem knowing what he wanted. He took her by
the shoulders and pulled her close, kissing her soundly before
releasing her abruptly. “God, Cassie, I’m so glad you’re all
right.”

“Me? I’m okay.
My ankles and wrists hurt a bit from absorbing the shock of
landing, but other than that I’m fine. You’re the one we were all
worried about.”

He shook his
head then wrapped his arms around her. Rocking her gently, he
rested his chin on her head. “I wasn’t sure... When I told you to
jump, I prayed we weren’t too high, that you’d be fine. I didn’t
know if I was making the right decision, telling you to jump, but I
wasn’t sure where Aldrich might take you and if I’d be able to
track—”

Cassie stopped
his ramble of self doubt by twisting in his arms and kissing him.
When she felt him relax, she slowly pulled away. “I trusted you. I
knew you’d never tell me to do something I couldn’t handle.”

“Yeah, well...”
He pulled her close again, rubbing his cheek against her hair.
Cassie sighed and melted into him, content to stay within the haven
of his arms while others dealt with the chaos around them.

All too soon,
Bryan sighed heavily and released her, his hands loosely resting on
her hips. “I should go help. But first tell me what happened to
Aldrich.”

“He’s dead.”
She stated the fact plainly feeling no remorse over the man’s
demise. “You landed on the roof. He didn’t.”

Bryan winced.
“That’s going to be hard to explain.”

“Not really.”
Kane strolled up to them in a state of undress equal to that of his
brother’s. “We have some unexpected help from some friends of
yours, Cassie.”

“Friends of
mine? Who...?”

Kane nodded his
head and Cassie looked in the direction he indicated and gasped,
barely able to believe her eyes. “Franklin?”

The man in
question was framed in the French doors that led into the
penthouse, looking much the same as he always had, well except he
wasn’t wearing his butler gear. He took a half step towards her, a
smile breaking out on his face and Cassie began to run towards him,
barely aware of Bryan’s hands releasing her.

“Franklin!” She
launched herself at the old man, nearly knocking him over, but he
managed to brace himself. His arms wrapped around her, hugging
tightly and she buried her face in his shoulder inhaling the long
forgotten scents of cologne and peppermint that she’d always
associated with him.

Leaning back,
she smiled up at him. “I’m so glad to see you, but how...?”

Franklin smiled
down at her, his eyes twinkling. His grip tightened slightly, then
he slowly let her go and stepped back. Arranging his features into
the bland expression she knew so well, he clasped his hands behind
his back. “Your uncle charged me with your care if something ever
happened to him. I’ve been using certain...resources...to keep an
eye on you. When it seemed you were in a spot of trouble, I felt it
prudent to step in and do what I could.”

“What he
could!” Ryne barked out a laugh from where he stood nearby. “The
man’s got everyone involved convinced this is some top secret
government case and that they’ll be arrested if they breathe a word
to anyone. His partner, Meredith, is going around collecting
‘affidavits’ and having people sign some pretty official-looking
papers swearing secrecy.”

Franklin lifted
an eyebrow and inclined his head. “We do what we can.”

“So you’ve been
watching me all along?” Cassie frowned, still focussed on what he’d
revealed earlier.

“Well, not
myself, but Meredith Mitchell has been supplying weekly
reports.”

“Mrs. Mitchell
from the grocery store? I thought she was just a nice old lady who
took an interest in me!”

“She is a nice
old lady as well as my former partner.”

“Former
partner?”

“I wasn’t
always a butler, Miss Cassie. Before working for your uncle I led a
rather interesting life. In fact we met through one of my cases.
Unfortunately, I’m not at liberty to tell you anything about it
though.”

“Oh.” Cassie
stared at the butler, not sure what to say.

He cleared his
throat. “I’ve also taken the liberty of making arrangements for
your young man.”

“My young man?
You mean Bryan?” She swung her head around and saw that he was
walking towards them.

“Not that young
man, the other one.”

“The other...?
Kellen! Oh my God, I forgot all about him!” She made to run inside,
but Franklin put out his hand to stop her.

“No need to
worry. He’s on his way to the hospital. I’ve been assured he’ll be
fine.”

Bryan arrived
at her side and slid an arm around her waist. “What’s up? You look
worried.”

“I forgot all
about Kellen!” Cassie shook her head unable to believe her lapse in
memory. “I can’t believe I forgot about him. He’s the reason we’re
here.” She looked up at Bryan expecting to see... Well... She
wasn’t sure exactly what she was expecting, but it wasn’t Bryan
trying to hide a smile! “What are you smiling about?”

“Me? I’m not
smiling.” Bryan’s face became a study of innocence and she stared
at him suspiciously. Was he pleased that she’d forgotten all about
an injured friend?

Turning to
Franklin, she opened her mouth to ask his opinion, but thought she
saw a hastily erased smile on his face as well.

She folded her
arms and huffed. “All right I get it. Neither of you are Kellen
fans. I understand, but he was good to me and I feel I owe him some
loyalty.”

Franklin nodded
slowly. “Yes, he helped you when you needed it. But over the years,
you’ve repaid your debt with interest. Supporting your friends is
important so long as you don’t let it come between you and
something even more meaningful.”

Cassie bit her
lip wondering if ‘something even more meaningful’ was standing
beside her or if it was just another caring, concerned friend.

Chapter
27

Bryan lay
beside Cassie, his arm curved under his head as he watched her
sleep. Her lips were slightly parted and her lashes fanned out over
her cheeks. He reached out and brushed a lock of hair from her
forehead and she murmured slightly, but didn’t awaken.

His eyes were
heavy and gritty; he knew he needed to get some rest for the day
ahead. There was still some clean up to do, if they wanted keep
their involvement in this affair out of the public eye In only a
few hours the alarm would be going off and he’d have to leave, but
right now, observing Cassie seemed more important. Poor thing was
worn right out, he thought to himself. The teleporting, the drama
at Aldrich’s apartment, her reunion with Franklin and Teasdale, and
now tonight, her first full moon. He smiled thinking of how the
night had played out.

Things had been
cleared up at Aldrich’s with surprising ease considering the scope
of the mess. While the case wasn’t closed, Kane had seemed
confident that the Chicago pack, with Franklin’s help, could cover
up the entire incident, and was planning on contacting the other
pack in the morning. With that in mind, they’d returned to the
Estate at Franklin’s insistence and enjoyed an elaborate meal of
all Cassie’s favourites, prepared by Mrs. Teasdale, the cook.

Since it would
be a full moon, they decided to spend the night at the Estate as it
gave the wolves lots of room to roam. As the evening progressed and
the skies had darkened, Cassie had become increasingly
distraught.

She’d pulled
him aside into one of the alcoves off the living room where they’d
gathered and whispered desperately to him. “Bryan, I can’t do this.
I can’t just let go and allow a wolf to take over my body. I’m
scared of what it might do.” As she spoke, she constantly darted
her eyes about as if fearful the others would hear.

He’d laced
their fingers together and squeezed her hand. “You don’t have to be
scared. You’ve already changed twice. Once at your house and once
on the rooftop.”

“I know, but...
I didn’t plan those, they just happened because I was scared.
Tonight, it will be my choice to change.”

“Yes, it will
be your choice to embrace who you really are, to accept your whole
self. The wolf’s been with you for years. You know it, you’ve
talked to it; is it really such a scary creature?”

Cassie had
frowned thoughtfully. “I guess not... We actually had a nice talk
today and I could sort of see the wolf in my head.” She gave a
little laugh. “It was like a puppy wanting to play.”

“See? Puppies
aren’t scary.” He’d quirked on eyebrow. “I think what you’re really
worried about is losing control. You, my dear, are a control
freak.”

“Me?”

“Yes, you. And
I can understand why. You’ve had to be in control to survive; there
was Anderson you watched out for, working to support the two of
you, maintaining the house, and keeping your wolf under control so
you weren’t discovered. It was a lot of responsibility to have
thrust on you with no training and no one to guide you. But now,
you have to realize you aren’t alone. You don’t have to be in
control all the time. I’m here, Ryne’s here. We’ll keep you safe.
Just let go and enjoy the experience.”

She’d exhaled a
shuddering breath. “I’ll try, but my stomach’s quivering.”

“First time
butterflies.”

“Butterflies?”
She snorted. “They feel more like vultures, if you ask me.”

The sky had
darkened and it was time to go outside. Kane and Elise slipped away
first. Then Ryne had clapped his hand on Bryan’s back and wished
him luck before moving on to Cassie. The Alpha had taken her by the
shoulders and stared at her intently. “You did a great job today
Cassie and you’ll do fine tonight. Bryan’s my Beta for a reason.
He’ll take good care of you.” He’d then playfully tapped her nose
and hugged her before putting his arm around Mel’s shoulders and
leading her outside. Mel was going to watch the transformation
rather than participate since shifting after the first trimester
was considered too dangerous. Bryan watched them leave and thought
he overheard Mel whispering something about giving Ryne a belly
rub. Given Ryne’s throaty chuckle and the way he nuzzled Mel’s
neck, Bryan decided he’d probably overheard correctly.

Alone in the
front entrance, Cassie had looked up at him nervously. “Well, this
is it.” She’d tried to smile, but it had been wobbly and he sensed
she was on the verge of tears. “What do I do?”

“Nothing. We’ll
just go outside, sit in the moonlight, and relax. Our wolves will
do the rest.”

“Just like
that?”

“Yep, just like
that.”

And so they’d
sat on the front step, side by side silently watching the sky
darken until they were bathed in moonlight. It was a perfect
evening for a first transformation; no clouds to obscure the moon,
the air crisp and clear, but not too cold, at least not for him.
Cassie shivered, but whether it was nerves or the temperature he
wasn’t sure.

He’d pulled her
close, an arm around her shoulders and had her rest her head on his
chest and close her eyes. She snuggled in closer and he felt her
breath feathering across the exposed skin at his neck. Rubbing his
cheek over the silky smoothness of her hair, he kissed the top of
her head, then lifted his face to the sky, calling his wolf and
setting it free.

His muscles
slowly tightened, his breathing grew more rapid. Tension grew
within him and he reached for it, embraced it, straining to draw it
out as long as possible so that Cassie would be sure to join him.
It grew and coiled tighter and tighter until he was teetering on
the edge... And then, when he could resist the pull no longer, he
let it wash over him; the most delicious feeling of release
exploding within him as the air shimmered and his body changed form
and the wolf appeared.

As he’d planned
Cassie had been drawn along with him. He’d reasoned she was too
nervous and too tired after the day’s events to go it alone.
There’d be time enough for that on the next occasion. Turning to
look at his companion, he’d nudged her playfully, snuffling her
neck and welcoming her to the pack. The creature had been all
aquiver; nervous and excited, eager to explore yet unsure...

He’d led the
way, across the lawn and towards the tree line, the wolf at his
side gradually relaxing as it came into its own. Their bodies had
cast long shadows across the frost covered ground as they’d raced
side by side, their breath puffs of vapour in the cool night air.
Together they’d explored the small forest, playing tag, jumping
over fallen logs, splashing through small streams created by the
spring thaw. In a few places, small patches of snow still existed
and her wolf had enjoyed burying its muzzle in the cold whiteness,
then snuffling and shaking its head when the frosty crystals got up
its nose.