The Mating (20 page)

Momentarily, Kane stood with one foot on the bottom step, digging his fingers into Elise’s body, and then he let her slide from his arms. They both took a step towards the phone, only to freeze when Marla’s voice could be heard again. “Please, please, Ryne! Don’t hurt me! I—” The sound of flesh hitting flesh and Marla’s cry of pain had Kane leaping into action.

Kane grabbed the phone and growled down the receiver. “Marla? Marla! Don’t worry, I’m coming. Ryne if you can hear this, you keep your fucking hands off her or this time, I will kill you!” He turned to Elise, the look on his face causing her to step back in fear. “I’ve got to go to her! Elise, do you have a cell phone?” She nodded. “Good, keep listening on this line, so we have an idea of what’s going on. Call John on your cell phone—here’s his number.” Kane shoved a hastily scribbled number into her hand. “He’s in town and can probably get there before I do.”

As he turned to go, Elise caught his arm to stop him from leaving. Quickly she kissed him. “Good luck and be careful. I’ll be waiting here.” With the briefest of nods, Kane ran out the door.

Elise called John several times before she finally got a response. Apparently he’d been in the theatre and his cell phone was set on vibrate, so he hadn’t noticed it right away. Quickly, she explained the situation and he said he’d be at Marla’s as soon as possible.

Chewing on her lip, Elise listened to the sounds of the argument at Marla’s apartment. There’d been no more screams, just yelling and angry voices, but she couldn’t make out what was being said, except once she was sure she’d heard Kane’s name. At that, her stomach clenched in fear. What if Ryne was trying to lure Kane over to Marla’s so he could attack him? After tense moments, a door slammed and glass broke, then all was silent. Tentatively, she called into the receiver. “Marla? Marla? Can you hear me? It’s Elise. Kane’s on his way. Marla?”

There was a scuttling sound and then Marla spoke, sniffling and obviously crying. “Elise? Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me. Marla, are you all right? What happened?”

“It…it was Ryne. He broke in and…and…he was just crazy, yelling at me and hitting me.” Marla’s voice cracked and she started to sob.

“Marla, shh, it’s okay. John and Kane should be there any minute.” Elise felt her own eyes filling with tears at the sound of the other woman’s grief. While Marla wasn’t her favourite person, she didn’t deserve to be treated that way. Eventually, Elise heard Marla’s doorbell ring and then John’s voice was on the phone.

“Elise? I’m here. Marla’s pretty upset and it looks like Ryne slapped her, but I think she’ll be okay. I’m staying with her until Kane arrives and then I’ll go look around to see if Ryne left a trail. If you don’t mind, I think we’ll be bringing Marla back with us. She’s in no state to be left by herself.”

“Of course! She can’t stay there. I’ll make sure the guest room is ready.”

“Good, we’ll see you in while.”

“Okay— and John?”

“Yes?”

“Make sure Kane doesn’t do something crazy like going after Ryne on his own tonight. He was really upset when he left here and—”

“Don’t worry, Elise. I’ll keep our Alpha in line.”

“Thanks.” Elise hung up the phone and leaned against wall, slowly sinking to the floor. She hadn’t realised how tense she’d been holding herself, until now. Her arms and legs felt rubbery and she was a bit light headed. Thank heavens Ryne had left before Kane arrived. While she knew Kane could take care of himself—he’d defeated the other man before, hadn’t he?—still, she didn’t want the two meeting. What if Ryne had a gun or a knife? Kane could be seriously hurt, and the very idea of that happening caused an ache in the centre of her chest. Forcing her mind away from that possibility, she focused her thoughts on Marla. The poor thing; Ryne had been her boyfriend. How could he turn on her like that? What real or imagined action on Marla’s part had sparked the man’s fury? There could be no doubt about it now; he was definitely unstable and extremely dangerous.

Elise shook her head. Just last night, Kane had been telling everyone that there was no hard evidence against Ryne; that he might not be guilty of shooting at Thomas, but now… Well, there was no doubt in Elise’s mind about the man, and she certainly hoped she’d never come face-to-face with him. Frowning, she realised that she had no idea what Ryne even looked like. Possibly there was a picture of him somewhere; she’d have to ask Helen tomorrow.

Gathering her energy, Elise stood and went upstairs to prepare a room for Marla.

*****

It was late by the time they got back to the house. Marla’s face was bruised on one side where Ryne had hit her and her wrist sported a bracelet of bruises from being grabbed. Elise got ice and salve to apply to the injuries and then helped Marla into a nightgown. The woman shook with fear and kept bursting into tears. Holding her hand, Elise offered what little comfort she could, finally getting a mild sedative down her so that she could rest.

Once Marla was asleep, Elise convinced Kane that he needed to go to bed as well. He and John had done a cursory look around Marla’s apartment and were planning on a more thorough search in the morning. Ryne had definitely been there—his scent was strong around the apartment, but he’d travelled by car and the smell of exhaust and fuel obliterated the trail once they reached the main highway.

“I should have listened to Marla last night,” Kane muttered as he prepared for bed, his movements angry and abrupt. “She told me tonight that Ryne had left a threatening message on her answering machine. That’s what she wanted to say after the meeting yesterday, but I wouldn’t listen. I was too mad at her for even thinking that we should sell out to Northern Oil. If I’d paid attention to her, this wouldn’t have happened.” He balled up his shirt and threw it in the corner, then flopped back on the bed, his dark brows set in a scowl.

Elise hesitated and then climbed in beside him, sliding up against his side, and laying her hand on his arm in a comforting gesture. “Hindsight is always twenty-twenty. And from what you’ve told me about Ryne, this type of behaviour is totally out of character. Even if you’d known about the message, you probably wouldn’t have suspected he’d actually carry it out.”

“But I should have, especially after the incident with Thomas. Despite what I said at the meeting, Ryne is my half brother and I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt. Now, he’s obviously becoming increasingly unstable and we have to find a way to catch him before he really hurts someone or does something that could expose the pack to the humans.” He scrubbed his face with his hands. “Tomorrow, I’m going to personally head up the hunt for Ryne. We’ll put even more men on it and if he’s still in the area, we’ll find him.”

“Just be careful, okay? I’m sort of getting used to you, and I don’t want to have to start breaking in a new mate.”

Kane smiled briefly at her teasing. “Thanks a lot.” He rolled over and faced her. “You did well tonight, Elise. Staying on the phone, then getting hold of John, and you were really compassionate to Marla.” He brushed a strand of hair from her forehead. “That’s one of the things I like most about you.”

Elise felt all warm and mushy inside from Kane’s praise, but shrugged in response. “I didn’t do that much.”

“I still appreciate it.” A yawn escaped him, even as he brushed the pad of this thumb over her lips. “I guess I’d better get some sleep. Tomorrow looks to be pretty busy.” He reached over and turned out the light, then pulled Elise to his side.

*****

The next few days passed in a blur of activity. Elise had picked up her car and started her job, working a three-hour shift to help with the lunch crowd. Marla was now staying at the house, too nervous to return to her apartment and unwilling to go to work until the bruises faded. Kane left early each morning and came home late at night, busy heading up the search for Ryne. Each night he returned looking exhausted and even more frustrated, quickly eating dinner before burying himself in the office to catch up on the day’s work. A few nights he even went on patrol, hoping to catch Ryne sneaking about the property, but nothing came of it.

Elise found herself reminiscing about the ‘good old days’ of the previous week when she and Kane had had time to themselves. Her mate was so tired at night that he fell into bed and was sleeping before his head even hit the pillow. There was no companionable cuddling or toe curling sex, though he did put his arm around her if she snuggled up close, but Elise doubted he was aware of what he was doing. Even when he was awake, Kane seemed preoccupied and spent what little free time he had chatting with Marla. The topics ranged from reliving childhood memories, to trying to think of where Ryne might be holed up, to offering the woman comfort and assurance that he wouldn’t allow her to be hurt again.

At first Elise had sat in on these conversations, trying to contribute, but soon realised that her presence was superfluous. It irritated her, but since the attack, Marla was being so pleasant that Elise felt she could at least let the woman have an hour of Kane’s company each night. While it did mean he had less time with her, Marla had experienced something traumatic, and probably needed a bit of extra attention for a while. Also, Elise didn’t want Kane to think of her as a nagging, jealous mate. She trusted him and—she crossed her fingers—she supposed she could trust Marla too.

While being attacked was never a good thing, it certainly seemed to have had a positive effect on Marla’s personality. She was quieter, a bit withdrawn and hadn’t said anything snarky since arriving. In fact, she went out of her way to be polite, offering to help around the house. Even when talking to Kane, she was even keeping a respectful distance rather than hanging on his arm. Elise felt herself relaxing around the woman, while even Helen had to admit that Marla wasn’t being her usual nasty self.

With Kane working so much, Elise was more than happy to have her new job to keep her busy. Being out talking to people was fun and the work wasn’t too hard; her biggest challenge was keeping the orders straight. She admired the other waitresses who hardly had to write down anything.

After her shift ended, Elise usually wandered the mall for a little while, always stopping at Bastian’s Art Gallery to admire the picture of Kane that she’d seen that first day. It was still on display in the window, the astronomical price making a quick sale unlikely. She didn’t mind that no one bought the photograph, though. It was like her own little secret. While everyone around her saw a wolf, Elise saw her mate and since he was working so much lately, it was one of the few times she did get to see him.

It was with great surprise then, that she noticed the picture missing one day near the end of the week. At first, she wondered if they had just rearranged the displays, but a quick inquiry told her that it had been sold to a collector who focussed on art featuring wolves. Elise was disappointed that the picture was gone. She didn’t have a photo of Kane and from the sound of it he was not a willing subject. Possibly Marla, having been close to Ryne at the time, might have a copy and Elise could scan it on the computer. Making a mental note to ask her at dinner that night, Elise continued on her way.

*****

The meal was almost over when she remembered the photo and introduced the topic. Since Marla hadn’t returned to work yet, Elise thought she’d be pleasantly surprised to learn of the sale. There’d likely be a commission in it for her, as she was probably acting as Ryne’s sales agent.

“Guess what, Marla? That wonderful picture of Kane finally sold at the gallery. I was by there today after work and it wasn’t in the window, so I asked inside and they said someone who collects art featuring wolves, bought it yesterday.”

The whole table suddenly went silent and Elise looked around in puzzlement. Everyone was frozen in place. Helen, Carrie, and John appeared surprised. Marla’s face had turned white as a sheet and she was clutching the edge of the table tightly. Turning to Kane, Elise realised why. Kane was glaring at Marla, and without a doubt, he was absolutely furious.

Helen was the first to speak. “I’d forgotten all about that picture. I’m surprised that you allowed it to be displayed, let alone put up for sale, Kane. It’s not like you at all.” Carrie and John nodded in agreement.

“And what picture would that be?” Kane’s voice was a deep, low growl.

Elise swallowed nervously. Something was going on here, but she didn’t know what. “It…it was a picture of you in your wolf form, down by the lake.” She licked her lips and glanced at Marla, who looked ready to leap and run at any moment. “Um…Marla said Ryne had taken it of you a while back. It was very good. I really liked it.” She ended weakly.

“Marla, how could you?” Kane’s fist hit the table and everyone jumped.

“N-n-now Kane, calm down. It’s not what you think.” Marla stuttered, pushing her chair back.

“How can it not be what I think? As a favour to you and Ryne, I let him take that picture with the express understanding that it was a practice shot, never to be shown. Now I find that it’s been on display in a public mall for several weeks and you never thought to tell me? That is directly disobeying my orders!” Kane stood up and towered over Marla, who seemed to be trying to disappear into the floor.

Gathering her nerve, Elise stood up and stepped between the two, placing her hand on Kane’s arm. “Now Kane, calm down. It really was a great picture. You’d be proud of it and there’s no harm done. Besides, no one will ever know it’s you.”

Kane shook her hand off and glared. “No harm done? Didn’t you say the picture went to a collector? A collector of
wolf
art, who no doubt has other similarly minded collectors examining his purchases. What’s going to happen if one of those people starts to realise that there’s something unusual about that wolf? That the proportions are off, the slant of the forehead is different and the set of the ears isn’t quite right? And don’t you think someone might question where such a
large
wolf might have come from? To the average observer a wolf and a werewolf are identical, but we know differently. One of the collectors might decide that there’s a new undiscovered species in the area and start poking around here, looking for tracks and dens, maybe setting up time-lapse cameras or traps. What’s going to happen then? Hmm? I’ll tell you what. We’ll be constantly looking over our shoulders, worried about being discovered.” Kane whipped his head around and snarled at Marla. “We’ve spent years in this community, trying to stay below the radar. Your little stunt here might just have jeopardised the well-being of every member of this pack!”