The Finding (65 page)

Someone was
following her. Not someone from the bar. This person had been
waiting outside. Her rogue perhaps? She wouldn’t put it past the
unpredictable beasts. Well, if he thought to get the better of her,
he had another think coming.

The man was
good, she’d give him that. His pace matched her perfectly, but a
prickling on the back of her neck, and the faintest shuffling sound
gave him away. He had a slight limp and she wondered why. Wolves
usually healed completely. Well, she’d ask him once she was done
taking him down a peg or two for tailing her.

It wasn’t that
she needed help against Sinclair’s spy, she was sure she could take
whoever the bastard sent, but a male always seemed to impress other
wolves more than a female and creating an illusion was what this
was all about. Smoke and mirrors. She’d been using it successfully
for the past three years, it would work again—a faint frown passed
over her features and she bit her lip—it had to.

Sam reached the
corner and walked around it, then ducked into the first doorway she
came to. This was the corner she was supposed to meet the rogue at.
She chuckled thinking of how the meeting wouldn’t go quite as the
man had planned.

The sound of
his footsteps grew closer, but the tempo had changed. The man
suspected something. Sam twisted her lips, impressed, but not ready
to let the man off. Muscles tensed, senses alert, adrenaline rushed
through her as she prepared for a fight.

*****

Damien paused
in the shadows and assessed the situation. He’d been standing
outside the bar, looking in through the windows, and had seen the
little she-wolf sitting in the corner acting as if she owned the
place. Her chair had been set an angle to maximize her view of the
room and prevent anyone from creeping up on her. It was a smart
move, especially given the fact that she was nearly daring every
red-blooded male in the joint to approach her.

She’d
negligently rested her ankle on her knee, pulling the already tight
jeans even tighter against her shapely legs. And her t-shirt, while
conservatively cut, showed off her curves; not overblown but
definitely present and well toned. Yes, she had the type of body
that haunted every man’s dreams but what really attracted
attention—at least his—was her attitude. The tilt of her chin, the
narrowed eyes—were they really violet or just a trick of the
light?—and arrogant half smile that played over her full red lips
all screamed a challenge.

He’d love to
take her on, but he had a job to do. Damien snorted at the word
‘job.’ It was a make work project dreamed up by Kane but he’d taken
it to humour his old friend. What was supposed to be a short visit
with Kane’s pack had turned into two months. Every time Damien made
noises about leaving, Kane had another ‘job’ for him to do.

Kane and his
cute little mate, Elise, were trying to save his soul, Damien was
sure of it. Not that he had a soul left to save, but with no real
plans of his own, he’d let himself be drawn into their various
schemes.

Which was how
he found himself in Chicago, watching this little girl with the
purpose of gathering intelligence about her pack. Were they really
vulnerable to a takeover or was Kane overstepping himself? So far
he’d only encountered the little girl, but no doubt other pack
members were about the city. Damien gave a brief chuckle. He really
shouldn’t call the female a little girl. While her height was
lacking, she was supposedly in her early twenties.

Sighing, he
tried hard to recall being that young. He’d just turned thirty and
felt twice that old. And when he looked in the mirror each morning,
the bleakness in his eyes and the haggard lines of his face told
the tale of a life lived too hard for too long. Not that it
mattered to him what he looked like. In fact, nothing really
mattered anymore. He was just going through the motions of
living.

When the girl
finally stood up, she’d strolled across the bar and was promptly
accosted by a middle-aged man unable to say no to the challenge she
presented. Damien took half a step forward, ready to act—old
instincts hadn’t died after all—but stopped himself. He had to see
if she was as tough as she pretended to be. If things got really
bad, then he’d step in.

Of course, his
chivalry hadn’t been required. She’d flattened the man with a few
smooth moves that gave no indication she was a werewolf before
strutting out of the bar as if she owned the place. Observers would
just think she was a star student from some local self-defence
class.

Now she was
walking down the street as casual as could be. Only the slight
stiffness of her shoulders gave any indication she was aware
someone was following her. Most wouldn’t even notice the change in
the set of her shoulders, but fine points like that always stood
out to him; just one of the many ‘talents’ he’d acquired over the
course of his misspent life.

Well, he was
here to learn about the Chicago pack. Using Samantha Harper seemed
as good a way as any of getting up close and personal. With any
luck, he’d have the information he’d need in no time and be sending
it back to Kane.

If the Alpha
decided to go with a takeover, it would eventually lessen the man’s
workload. Part of the pack could move to Chicago and function under
the direction of a strong Beta appointed by Kane. With half as many
wolves to watch over, in theory Kane would have more family time.
It was a wise move. In just the short time Damien had been there,
he’d seen how much time the pack took, how the hours spent on pack
business carved lines of stress in Kane’s face and took away time
from his personal life.

Yeah, he’d do
this for Kane and his family. Family was important; they were with
you for so short a time... Damien blinked and swallowed past the
lump that suddenly appeared in his throat. No, it didn’t pay to
think of the past. There was only today. No past. No future.
Just...today.

His skin
prickled, the hairs on his arm rising slightly as his instincts
warned him of upcoming danger. Narrowing his eyes, he inhaled
slowly and gently so no one could hear him testing the air. Picking
through the scents, he drew out the salient information, then
assessed the shadows again for any new movement. He cocked his head
and listened. The she-wolf was poised, ready for action. He’d
discreetly followed her progress down the street. Now he wondered
what she’d be like against one of her own species.

This is for
you, Kane, he thought to himself. I hope your idea works.

Holding his
arms loosely at his side, ready for what might come, he stepped
forward.

Chapter
29

Time seemed to
drag by. Cassie smiled politely, made small talk, and tried to stop
checking the time every few minutes. Where was Bryan? When was the
ceremony? Did it really take this long to clear the tables? She
clenched her fists and tried not to scream in frustration.

Mel came
bustling up and pulled Cassie to her feet, leading her to the back
of the room. “It’s almost time. Let me look at you.” She began to
adjust Cassie’s dress and smooth her hair.

“Mel, stop
fussing. She looks fine and you’re going to make her nervous,”
Elise appeared with a glass of water and Cassie took it thankfully,
enjoying the feel of the cool liquid sliding down her throat.

“I’m living
vicariously through her—I never had a bonding ceremony—so leave me
alone.” Mel continued on with her poking and prodding, but Cassie
frowned.

“You and Ryne
never officially bonded?” She looked at the Alpha female in
surprise.

Mel’s hands
stilled for a moment and then she continued. “No. Ryne was too
unconventional back then and I was too new at being a werewolf to
even know bonding ceremonies existed. And there was no Alpha around
to perform the ceremony, so...” She let her voice drift off and
shrugged.

Elise frowned.
“I’ll be back in a minute.” She hurried off and a minute later
could be seen talking earnestly to Kane.

“I wonder what
that was all about?” Cassie stood on her tiptoes to see over the
crowds, squinting as she tried to determine what was being
said.

“Who knows?”
Mel gave the dress a final twitch then stood back looking
satisfied. “There, all set and just in time. Here comes Ryne and
Grace.”

Cassie watched
Ryne proudly carrying his daughter. The baby was now dressed in a
frilly pink dress with a lace headband complete with a big flower.
Her eyes were already deep brown and framed by long lashes
reminiscent of her mother’s. “Here’s our princess, all clean and
ready to go.” He tenderly kissed the baby before passing her to
Mel.

Elise must have
finished her conversation with Kane, for he strolled up and nodded
at Ryne, smirking. “All done with your diaper duty, daddy?”

“Yep, all
done.” Ryne eyed his brother with a ‘want-to-make-something-of-it’
type of expression.

Kane grinned
and hit his brother playfully on the shoulder. “Welcome to the
club, bro.”

“If you men are
done, we have a bonding ceremony and then a naming ceremony to
perform. The moon’s rising. We can’t wait much longer.” Mel raised
her brows, her toe tapping impatiently.

“In a minute,
sis. I—” His cell phone rang and he cast an apologetic look at Mel
before answering the call. “Kane here ... Damien? Do you have
something to report already?”

Cassie listened
with interest to the one sided conversation. From the sounds of
things this Damien person had been in some sort of a scuffle but
was fine, just a bit bruised.

“All right.
Keep me posted. Oh, and Damien? Good luck with Sam.” Kane chuckled
then flipped his phone shut.

Ryne raised his
brows. “You didn’t warn him about Sam Harper?”

“Naw. The
surprise was just what Damien needed to perk his interest.” Kane
smirked as he put the phone away then looked Ryne up and down. “You
and I, we need to talk.”

“What about?”
Ryne eyed at his brother warily, but Kane just grabbed his arm and
dragged him away.

Mel sputtered.
“Kane! You bring him right back. We need to start the
ceremony!”

Kane waved at
her negligently and Mel folded her arms, obviously fuming.

Thankfully,
Olivia and Marco passed by just then and offered some distraction.
Both praised Mel for her planning of the event and then brushed
kisses over Cassie’s cheek. “You look so lovely dear.” Olivia’s
eyes misted over.

“Just like the
pictures of her mother,” Marco nodded taking Olivia by the arm.
“Come, we need to find our seats.”

Elise returned,
holding Leah. “What was that about Cassie’s mother?”

“Marco’s done
some discreet research and discovered he knew of Cassie’s mother.
As we suspected she was from one of the royal families and quite
well known.”

“So how did
Cassie end up in Chicago with Anthony Greyson?” Elise pulled her
necklace out of Leah’s mouth and shifted her to the other hip.

Cassie only
half listened to the explanation as she scanned the crowd wondering
where Bryan might be. She already knew the story by heart.

Luisa, her
mother, was supposed to mate another royal werewolf since
apparently they were big on keeping royal blood in the family. But
her mother fell in love with another were—no one knows for sure
exactly who since it was covered up right away—and she ran off with
him. When it was discovered, her lover was killed and Luisa was
almost beaten to death for defying a royal edict. Somehow Anthony
Greyson found her and whisked her away to America where Cassie was
born. Unfortunately, Luisa eventually grew homesick and wanted to
return to her pack to see her family, not knowing there was now a
price on her head for sullying the blood line. She was killed just
hours after stepping into the country.

When the tale
was finished, Elise looked at Cassie with sympathy in her eyes. “Oh
Cassie, I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Thank you.
It’s strange, though. I’d like to have known my parents, but I have
no memory of them so it’s more like a story than something that
really happened, if you know what I mean.”

Elise patted
her arm. “I think I understand.”

“Oh look!” Mel
interrupted. “Ryne’s heading to the front. Elise, we have to
go.”

Cassie leaned
forward to accept Mel’s kiss, then Elise’s and then, finally, she
was alone. She slumped back against the wall, already exhausted,
her face hurting from the smile she’d been maintaining for what
felt like hours.

From her alcove
at the back of the room, she could survey the crowd. The whole pack
was there as well as Kane and his family and some of Bryan’s as
well. She’d met his parents briefly and they seemed like nice
people.

Franklin, Mrs.
Teasdale, and Mrs. Mitchell had been invited, but had declined
feeling it might be too dangerous and draw unwanted attention to
their connection with Stump River. Instead they were back at
Greyson Estate. Cassie had decided to open it up as a getaway for
members of both packs. Franklin, Mrs. Teasdale, and Mrs. Mitchell
were considered her ‘family’ and being in on the secret of werewolf
existence, now had the status of unofficial pack members. They took
care of the Estate and made sure it was ready for any visitors.
Mrs. Mitchell was especially proficient at ensuring there were no
inexplicable wolf sightings and arranging cover ups if any
vacationers got careless. Even Netty was happy, once the poor dog
got over the shock of being surrounded by wolves.

Cassie
understood their reasoning for not attending, but still missed
them. The pack might be her new family, but sometimes she still
felt alone.

Not for
long
, her wolf whispered.
Soon we will be joined with our
mate
.

That’s true.
Cassie nodded, shaking off her moment of melancholy. Soon she and
Bryan would be as one. She squared her shoulders and lifted her
chin. The signal came. The ceremony had begun.