“Now Elise, maybe you have it all wrong. When a couple first start to sense each other, it’s usually just vague emotions and it can be hard to interpret exactly what they mean or what caused them. It takes practice and time for the connection to fully develop.”
She shook her head sadly. “No, I felt those emotions and they weren’t coming from me. They were Kane’s. And if he wasn’t loathing me, then why was that feeling there?”
Pursing her lips, Helen shook her head. “I don’t know, but I’m sure there’s an alternate explanation. That man loves you. Why, he even had a birthday present delivered for you! It came around noon yesterday, but he’d already left, so I just set it on your bed. Did you find it?”
Elise nodded. “It was lovely, but I think he’s changed his mind about me now.”
“People don’t just change their mind about who they do and don’t love that quickly. I’m not saying he wasn’t a bit upset with you earlier, but it wouldn’t cause him to fall out of love. It was just a misunderstanding and once he thinks about it, he’ll realise that.”
“No he won’t. He believes Marla can do no wrong.”
Helen sighed heavily. “True. She’s his blind spot, but Kane’s bound to realise the truth, through what he’s sensing from you. Has he been reading you at all? Any tingling in your mind, like someone else is there?”
Elise shook her head. “I don’t think so.”
“Humph! Stupid man. How is he ever supposed to understand you, if he doesn’t make some effort?”
“I really don’t think—.” The door opened behind her, and Elise stopped mid-sentence.
John walked in grinning from ear to ear. Immediately, he grabbed Elise by the waist and spun her around before planting a kiss on her face. “Hey Elise! Did you hear the news? I’m a daddy!”
His happiness was infectious and Elise couldn’t help, but smile and hug him back. “So I heard. Congratulations, John. I saw Carrie and the baby yesterday.”
“Isn’t he perfect? And strong too! Takes after me.” John boasted as he crossed the room and peeked in the oven. “Mmm, ham and scalloped potatoes for lunch! Helen you’re the best. The guys will appreciate that after being out in the cold and wet.”
“Wet?” Elise glanced out the window. It wasn’t raining.
“Yeah, down by the mouth of the river. Someone—aka Ryne—left three barrels of oil there. Thankfully, the patrols scared the guy off before he tipped over all three. The clean-up won’t be nearly as extensive since we caught it so early. Kane’s been out there almost constantly coordinating efforts the past two days.”
Helen looked meaningfully at Elise. “That explains it, Elise. He’s been so busy; he hasn’t had time for anything else.”
Elise gave Helen a faint smile, not nearly as hopeful as the other woman was, but at least she now knew where Kane was spending his time. Hmm… Barrels of oil; oil containers were missing from the back of Marty’s garage. It was too much of a coincidence for it to be a coincidence. Ryne had probably seen the oil there when he left his car, or Marla—posing as Marlene—had noticed it and then told Ryne.
Recalling how dishevelled and muddy Marla had been coming in the other morning, it now made sense. She’d been out helping put the barrels in the river, though why she was helping Ryne after he’d threatened her, still made no sense.
The next question was how to convince Kane of what was going on. There was no hard evidence. Marla wouldn’t be dumb enough to leave muddy shoes and pants lying around, and obviously she’d masked her scent since no one mentioned scenting her. Furrowing her brow, Elise wondered how she could prove her suspicions. She considered telling Helen and John, but decided to go to Kane with her evidence first. Even if he was mad at her, he was the Alpha and anything concerning the pack on a large scale needed to be brought before him.
Deciding some fresh air might help her think about how to present her case, she took her leave of Helen and John. Helen seemed reluctant to let her go, but Elise assured her, she’d only be gone a short time.
Standing in the back entryway, she looked out the window checking the weather, hesitating about wearing a coat. The weather was rather chilly, but she didn’t plan to be outside that long. For the most part, werewolves were immune to slight fluctuations in the temperature though, like all creatures, prolonged exposure to the cold could have its effects. Finally grabbing a light jacket, she stepped outside.
After an extremely warm October, November was proving to be colder than normal. The trees were now just bare skeletons, their once colourful foliage long gone. A cool, damp breeze danced across the open spaces, reminding everyone that winter was just around the corner and most nights, frost blanketed the land.
As Elise stared up at the sky, she noted the heavy grey clouds gathering on the horizon and sniffed the air. Snow was likely. For the most part, she enjoyed the wet white stuff, especially in her wolf form. It was great to tumble in, and the white blanket made the whole forest seem like a giant treasure hunt, with interesting smells rising through the snow, begging her to dig through the fluffy layers in order to discover what was hidden beneath. She wondered if Kane enjoyed a winter romp as well, but then felt the smile leave her face. Sighing, she realised he probably wouldn’t want to go with her anyway.
Shoving her hands in her pockets, she stared at the ground as she walked, instinctively heading for the woods and the trail that ran through it. The sound of footsteps caught her attention and she noted someone else was out as well. With narrowed eyes, she watched the figure approach. Average size, light brown hair, shoulders hunched… It was Rose and she was heading this way. Pausing, Elise waited for the other girl to catch up to her. To the best of her knowledge, Rose hadn’t spread her rumour beyond Zoe and Phoebe, but Elise felt the need to set her straight just in case.
“Morning, Rose.” She called out once the girl was close enough to hear her.
“Elise.” Rose looked at her a bit warily, as if unsure what to do, then took a deep breath and gave a rather forced looking smile. “I was just heading out for a walk. Care to come with me?”
Somewhat surprised by the offer, Elise hesitated before nodding. This was a change. Where was the angry attitude of a few days ago? Could Zoe have talked to her and explained the situation? Possibly…
“Uh… Sure. A walk would be great.” They headed into the woods together, each cautiously observing the other. Finally, tension seemed to get to both of them at the same time.
“Elise—”
“Rose—”
They both gave a short laugh and Rose nodded for Elise to go first. Since she was technically the higher-ranking wolf present, Elise decided to take what was her due. “Rose, I know what you think you saw the other day—”
“I didn’t think anything. I know what I saw.”
Elise raised her eyebrows and the other girl fell silent. “Yes. You saw me with another male, but your interpretation of what you saw was all wrong.” Rose frowned obviously not understanding. “I mean, it looked like I was having a…a romantic meeting with someone, but it wasn’t. Bryan is an old friend from my former pack. We grew up together. At one time, we thought there was something between us, but now we both realise that we’re more like brother and sister than lovers. It’s a platonic friendship.”
Rose walked along silently for a moment, considering the information. She looked at Elise out of the corner of her eye. “So there’s absolutely nothing between you two?”
“Nothing at all. Just friendship.”
“And you’re in love with Kane, not this other guy?”
Elise hesitated, but then decided it could do no harm to tell Rose the truth. She did love Kane, even if it wasn’t reciprocated. “Yes, I really do love Kane.” Impulsively she decided to press the point and pulled her jacket open, revealing her neck. “See? We’ve even blood bonded.”
Rose stared at the mark, apparently speechless. Finally, she smiled and spoke cheerfully, though it seemed a bit forced. “Well! If you guys are
blood bonded then what you’re saying must be true. Kane would know if you were cheating on him.”
He would if he cared enough to try and find out, Elise thought sadly to herself, but put on a happy face for appearance sake. “So, are you convinced now?”
Flushing, Rose nodded. “I’m sorry, Elise. When I saw you with that other guy I was so surprised, and then angry for Kane, and mad at you.” She shrugged and looked at Elise apologetically. “I guess I’ve always sort of hero worshipped Kane and the idea of someone hurting his feelings really had me upset.”
Elise wondered if Kane knew how lucky he was to have so many in his pack worried about his well-being. She supposed it was a statement of how much he must care for them, that they would have such devotion towards their leader.
A sound drew Elise’s attention and she saw Julia slowly loping towards them, her breath appearing as little white clouds as she ran down the woodland path. Once she drew near, Julia phased back into her human form. “Hey, Elise. I haven’t seen you for a few days.”
“I know. I’m sorry. The time just seems to fly by now that I’m working more days.” Elise felt bad for ignoring her friend.
“It’s okay. I understand. Where are you off to?”
“Just taking a walk and talking,” Rose supplied.
“Do you want to join us?” Elise noticed that Rose seemed to stiffen a bit at her suggestion and wondered if the two didn’t get along, though Rose was usually so soft spoken and demure it would be hard not to get along with her.
Julia checked her watch. “As much as I’d like to, I really don’t have time today, but we’ll get together soon, okay?”
After promising to call each other and saying their goodbyes, Julia left and Elise glanced at Rose as they continued to stroll along. “Don’t you like Julia?”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, when I asked her to join us, you didn’t seem thrilled with the idea.”
“Oh. Well, I have a confession to make and I’d prefer not to have an audience. I… I told Zoe and Phoebe what I saw, or what I thought I saw.”
“I know. I met them in the mall and they were really mad at me, but since then I’ve cleared things up with them.”
“And you’re not angry with me?” Rose looked rather surprised.
“Not now. I was a bit put out with you at first, but I can understand how it looked from your point of view.”
“But they probably told everyone…”
“No. I was lucky. They decided to keep it to themselves. What about you? Did you tell anyone else?” Elise braced herself for the answer.
“I… I also talked to Marla about it.”
“Marla?”
“Well, actually, now that I think about it, she approached me, saying she was suspicious that you were cheating on Kane and asking if I knew anything about it.”
Oh really, Elise thought to herself. The conniving bitch knew all along that there was nothing going on, but just twisted things around to make it look bad. “When was this?”
“Um…the morning after I saw you.” That would have been Wednesday.
So Marla had most of Wednesday and Thursday to plan her sabotage. Had the other woman somehow known Bryan would be in town yesterday and manipulated events so they’d have to see each other? If the Marla-Ryne relationship was still intact, then she would have known because Ryne was Bryan’s Alpha. Did that mean Bryan was also somehow involved in all of this? She hoped not.
Rose gave a short laugh. “Marla is sure going to be surprised when she learns the truth.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Well, she called me this morning, saying how worried she was about Kane and that maybe the two of us could help keep your relationship stable. She wanted us to get together and talk to you; convince you that seeing this Bryan guy was a bad idea. Just wait until she finds out how wrong we both were!”
“Marla said that?” Elise couldn’t keep the shock from her voice. Something was wrong with this picture. What was the woman planning now? And why involve Rose? “Um… So where were we supposed to be getting together?”
“In the woods. She said how you loved being out here, and that you’d be more receptive to what we had to say if you were in a comfortable environment. Actually, we’re almost at the meeting spot now. It’s just over this little rise.”
Elise looked around, suddenly taking stock of her unfamiliar surroundings. She’d been so busy thinking that she hadn’t really noticed where she was going until now. Tall trees surrounded the place where she stood, and just the faintest evidence of a trail was noticeable through the tangled, dried grass. The sound of rushing water told her she must be near the waterfall Kane had told her about and sure enough, a glimpse of the lake was evident through the trees. Realizing they must be in one of the areas that Kane had said to stay away from, she moved to walk away. “Rose, I don’t think we’re supposed to be here. Wasn’t most of the area around the lake declared off limits?”
Rose took Elise’s arm in a firm grip, stopping her from leaving. “Technically, yes. But the cleanup is happening a few miles away, almost on the other side, so we’re in no danger. Marla thought there’d be less chance that we’d be disturbed here.” Rose checked her watch, and then sat down on a fallen log, pulling Elise down beside her. “She should be along any moment.”
A nervous feeling skittered down Elise’s spine. This whole setup didn’t seem right. “Rose, I don’t think we should stay here. Let’s go back.”
“But Marla’s going to be here any moment. It would be rude to leave without letting her know. If we wait, we can both explain the mix-up and then walk back together.”
“I don’t care if it’s rude or not. We need to go.” She tugged her companion to her feet then froze when a twig snapped behind her. Closing her eyes, a feeling of dread washed over her. Somehow, she just knew who it was going to be behind her.
Chapter 30
Elise turned to face the newcomer. As she’d suspected, it was Marla, though her attire was decidedly un-Marla-ish. Sturdy boots, jeans, and a winter jacket weren’t Marla’s usual garb and would almost lead a person to think the woman was planning to do physical labour of some kind. She was smiling too, though it didn’t reach her eyes.
Rose stood up and nodded in greeting. “I wondered when you’d get here.”
“I knew you’d wait for me. Why should I hurry?” Marla flipped her hair arrogantly and Rose compressed her lips, as if holding back a retort. Instead, she merely replied in her usual quiet tones.
“Well, we don’t want to keep Elise too long. You’ll never guess what exciting news she has. Did you know that she and Kane have blood bonded? I’m sure he’ll be keeping tabs on her now.” She strangely over-emphasised the words ‘blood bonded.’
Frowning, Elise stared at her. What was Rose doing? It seemed a rather unusual way of delivering the news, almost as if she was trying to tell Marla something, without actually saying it out loud.
Marla didn’t take the news well. She looked at Elise, then at Rose, and back to Elise again, her mouth opening and closing, but nothing coming out. Finally, words burst out of her painted red lips. “That’s impossible! Kane’s angry. He thinks you’ve been cheating! He wouldn’t blood bond with you, if you were the last female on earth!” Storming over, she grabbed the collar of Elise’s coat and pulled it down, revealing her neck and the mark from the bond.
Watching the woman’s face turn purple with rage, Elise couldn’t help but smirk. “That’s right, Marla. Your plan backfired. Even after hearing the tapes, and seeing the false diary entries, Kane still wanted to bond with me.” While that wasn’t quite the truth, Elise didn’t feel the least bit guilty about altering the facts. After all that Marla had done, she deserved it.
The Mating Page 30