Werewolf Dreams (2 page)

Ava’s eyes popped open and she felt a stream of adrenaline start to flow through her veins.

“What’s the matter?” Harry asked, looking at her curiously.

Ava glanced around, noticing all the dark shadows hiding behind trees and rocks. “We’re being watched. I can feel it,” she said softly, still scanning their surroundings.

Harry repositioned his back pack without stopping. “I know. We’ve been watched since we got here. Don’t worry about it. It’s probably just an animal.”

Ava felt a few hairs at the back of her neck rise up and she stared at a small ravine where a dense amount of fir trees grew. Whatever it was, it was tracking her and her father.

They walked down the path to the first vacation cottage and paused at the steps leading up to the small porch looking out on the lake. Ava turned and stared at the pristine view and wondered what could have scared everyone away from something so beautiful.

“You know we could have brought the jeep right to the front door Dad. Why did we have to hike from the main road?” she asked as her father took off his back pack and opened the zipper.

Harry grabbed some plastic gloves, tweezers and baggies before answering. “It’s still basically a crime scene. I don’t want to disturb any prints,” he said, glancing around the cottage and lake, pausing on the trees that nestled around the small house protectively.

Ava moved to follow her father but he held up hand. “You stay here. I’ll let you know when or if I need you to take pictures,” he said and then disappeared into the cottage not waiting for her response.

Ava huffed out a breath and then rolled her eyes. Knowing her father, he could be inside for hours and not remember she was waiting. She slipped off her back pack and rooted around inside until she found a granola bar. She walked over to the lake and sat down on an old Adirondack chair and stared at the silent, smooth water as she finished her snack. She glanced at her watch and then sighed.

She knew back home in Bellevue
Washington, her friends were going off to their jobs at the mall and spending their free time sailing and going dancing. Having fun. She understood her father not wanting her to stay home all summer by herself, that’s why she’d been so certain her father would have agreed to let her go with Kendra down to California for at least a month. Being told no had come as a complete shock. The only reason she wasn’t throwing a fit was because deep down, she did want to spend more time with her father. They’d both been so busy with their separate lives lately it had felt like they were slowly growing apart. She had school and sports and he had his classes to teach and his research. But hanging out in front of creepy crime scenes was not what she would call a good bonding experience.

She ran her hands through her long golden hair and
then paused. She felt like she was being watched again. She turned and scanned her surroundings with a glare.
Nothing
. Not even the sound of birds. She blinked as she realized that the quietness surrounding her wasn’t exactly natural. It was
too
quiet. Where had all the animals gone? She shivered unexpectedly and then smiled at herself. She, Kendra and their other friend Larissa loved going to scary movies on the weekends. Her imagination had always been over the top and now she was doing a good job of freaking herself out.

She was
just restless after the long ride in the jeep. She needed to be at a gym. If she could work out, she’d be able to get rid of the excess adrenaline she always seemed to have too much of. She stood up and stretched and then walked over to the beach. She glanced around the shoreline and smiled at the soft sand.
Perfect.
She would just work out here. Who needed a mat when she had sand?

Ava stretched out and warmed up her muscles before jumping into a sprint and jumping up to twist her body into
a triple full layout with three twists. She landed on her feet and laughed happily.

This is what she loved the most. Doing what she loved doing
without
an audience. It was so much more fun to fly through the air when no one was critiquing every move she made. Ava turned and glanced at the silent cottage her father was working in and shrugged. No one to see but the trees. She grinned and jumped into another sprint and then threw her body higher than she ever had before, fueled by freedom and the joy of having complete control over every muscle.

She landed perfectly on her feet and then bent backward
s, creating a flawless back bend before kicking her feet up into the air. She walked around the soft sand on her hands and then got bored, so she balanced on one hand as she brought the other close to her side.

“How long can you hold that?”

Ava squeaked and flipped quickly to her feet, frowning because not one sense had warned her that someone had casually walked up to her.

She stood up and stared at the man standing in front of her, looking at her speculatively. He was tall, probably as tall as her dad and he had glossy medium brown hair that hung just below his ears
and bright clear, light blue eyes. She couldn’t tell how old he was, but he looked a little older than her. She looked him up and down quickly and recognized his strength and power immediately.
What was he?
A professional athlete? But there was one thing she did know for certain. He was absolutely the most stunning man she’d ever met in her life.

She pushed her long dark blond hair out of her light brown eyes and frowned at the man. “I thought I was alone,” she said, sounding as irritated as she felt.

The man grinned at her and shrugged. “I would have said hello before but then I would have missed the show. I’m Cyrus Carlston and you must be Harry Paskell’s research assistant,” he said holding his hand out to her.

Ava relaxed and smiled back. Cyrus
Carlston must be the guide her father had mentioned. “I’m Ava, Harry’s daughter. It’s nice to meet you,” she said reaching out to grasp the man’s firm hard hand.

Cyrus looked surprised and he stared at her curiously, not letting go of her hand as he studied her face carefully.

“Harry’s
daughter?
Interesting,” he said softly, still holding her hand. He stepped closer to her, leaning down as if he were trying to see inside of her.

Ava lost her smile as she stared up into his ice blue eyes. This guy had no clue about personal space. She pulled on her hand, but he refused to let go.

“Are you going to let go of my hand now, or are you going to tell me my future?” she asked, jerking hard one more time on her hand forcing Cyrus to let go.

Cyrus looked down at his now empty hand and frowned at her, before his face cleared and he smiled.

“I see a summer filled with excitement and nights filled with mystery and romance,” he said with a grin before stepping back and shoving his hands into his jeans pockets.

Ava laughed and rolled her eyes as she glanced at the cottage. “With
my
dad watching every move I make? Yeah, right.”

Cyrus glanced at the cottage and stared at the door as a second later it opened and her father walked out.

“There you are. I was wondering when you were going to show up,” Harry called out as he ran lightly down the pathway to the beach.

Ava smiled
in surprise. Sometimes she forgot just how fast her father could move when he wanted to. Within seconds he was shaking Cyrus’s hand and looking at her quickly with a warning in his eyes.

Ava moved back from Cyrus and stood next to her father as she studied the man who was still looking right at her.

“Harry, you never told my father that you had a daughter
.
How old is Ava? Eighteen, nineteen?” he asked, his eyes bright with curiosity.

Harry waited until Cyrus looked back at him before answering. Harry’s eyes had narrowed to slits and his shoulders seemed larger somehow as he stepped closer to Cyrus. “
Ava is eighteen and my having a daughter is nobody’s business but my own. By birth she belongs to no one but herself. She’s half. She’s of no interest to anyone.
Especially you
,” he said, his voice sounding like hot metal, dangerous and violent.

Ava’s mouth fell open in surprise. Her father sounded like he was almost threatening Cyrus.
But why?
And what the heck did he mean by her being half?
Half Canadian
? Like that was a big deal.

Cyrus’s welcoming smile stayed in place as he looked at her again and she felt a little zip of adrenaline flicker down her arms. “
I might disagree with you. My father wants to give you the files himself tonight after dinner but he wanted me to show you the sight of the last attack since it’s the freshest. Follow me,” he said and then walked past them and down the shoreline.

Ava looked at her father silently, waiting for some kind of explanation. Harry stared at her for a moment before walking to her and grasping her shoulders in his strong hands. “Cyrus isn’t the type of man you’re used to being around. You should never be alone with him,” he said quietly, glancing at Cyrus.

Ava frowned. “
Why?
Is he dangerous?” she whispered back staring in sudden fear at Cyrus.

Harry closed his eyes for a moment and then shook his head. “
No, not in the way you’re thinking. Ava, you’re a beautiful young woman and you’re innocent. I’ve made sure of that. There are men who would take advantage of that and of the fact that you’re, well . . .
different
. Be on your guard,” he said and then hurried after Cyrus, catching up within seconds.

Ava huffed out a breath and ran back to get her back pack before following her father. She’d felt different her whole life and she was sick to death of it. She wondered sadly if there was anywhere in the world where she could fit in.

Ava waited outside of another almost identical lake side cottage while her father and Cyrus discussed matters inside. After a half an hour of playing Temple Run on her phone, her battery went dead and she was bored again. She was baking in the sun and wanted nothing more than to go swimming in the beautiful clear lake. Her bathing suit was back in the jeep but it wouldn’t hurt to just wade in.

She threw off her Converse shoes and laid her phone next to her back pack as she headed like a magnet toward the water. She dipped her foot in and sighed happily. If she could spend all summer swimming in a private lake she’d be more than content to let her father dissect every vacation cottage he could find. Ava glanced back at the cottage and wondered if she could take a quick swim and have time to dry off before her father reappeared.
Ah
,
who cared?
Ava grinned and walked into the water, smiling bigger with every step. It had been a long day and who could blame her if she wanted to take a quick swim. She glanced down at her t-shirt and shorts and shrugged. It was better than skinny dipping.

She got waist deep and then dove under, kicking her legs hard. She’d always been a good swimmer and she reveled in the smooth glide of water over her overheated limbs. She surfaced a minute later and grinned when she saw she was almost to the middle of the lake. She turned over on her back and floated for a few minutes with her hands outstretched from her body. She let all the confusion and anxiety float away from her on the ripples of water surrounding her body and zoned out. It was the most delicious feeling anyone could feel.
The warmth of the sun on top and the cool water beneath.

She took a deep breath and then turned over to head to the middle of the lake. She needed the exercise and she loved to p
ush herself. She’d been involved in sports since she was five. Her father had insisted at an early age that she gain total mastery of her body. She’d done every sport imaginable, but had focused on gymnastics for the last few years because there was no other sport that gave her such complete control.

When she got to the middle of the lake, she paused and turned around to scan the shoreline.
Crap.
Her father and that Cyrus guy were standing on the small beach staring at her. She took a deep breath and dove back under the water, swimming as fast as she could to the shore. She stood up when she could hit the bottom and walked the rest of the way. She smiled unrepentantly at her father as he shook his head at her.

“I never could keep you out of the water. I should have known,” he said with a grin.

Ava pulled the water out of her long hair and laughed. “Sorry Dad. But I had no idea I was just going to stand outside cottages all day,” she said with a narrowing of her eyes and then gasped as something soft hit her stomach.

She looked down and saw she was holding a t-shirt in her hands. She looked at Cyrus with a frown, holding the shirt up as she walked out of the water and stood next to her dad.

“You might want to dry off,” Cyrus said, clearing his throat and looking away.

Ava shrugged and did as she was told but couldn’t help staring at Cyrus who was now shirtless.
Oh my
. She looked away quickly but saw immediately her father was looking at her knowingly and shaking his head. Ava blushed bright red and sighed in embarrassment. Did she really have to be caught checking out a cute guy in front of her dad?
Awkward
.