“I know. The detective in Mystic told me when I called him.”
Mallory looked at her. “I’m sorry you’re getting caught in my mess,” she said and reached across the seat to touch Cordelia’s leg.
“I’m thinking of getting out of town for a few days,” Cordelia said.
“Going home to your parents?” Mallory asked casually.
“They’re dead, Mallory,” she said quietly. “I was a brat. I should have been there.”
Mallory glanced at her. “I’m sorry.” She covered Cordelia’s hand with hers for a moment, giving it a squeeze. “Did you go back for their funerals?”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Maybe if you did it would help.”
“Help me relive it?” Cordelia demanded. “I don’t want to, Mallory. Damn it. Okay. I saw—let it go. Please.”
“You saw them die.”
Cordelia sighed. “Why do you have to push so damned hard?” she asked. “I’m not out to get you. I just want to live my life in peace.”
“Then, tell me where you’re from.”
“So you can have someone investigate me further?” She shook her head. “I’m no one. No. One.”
Mallory put her foot on the gas and continued toward their destination. “That night you overheard Cadillac and Ella talking, why didn’t you say something?”
“I told you. Anyway, this mess is obviously not just a problem between you and the wolves. I mean, your alpha must be working with them.”
“I’m the alpha of Snow Fur,” Mallory said. “So, what did you hear that makes you say such a thing.”
“I overheard a guy. He’s one of your packmates. He’s working with some guy named Isaiah.”
“Are you sure you heard right?” Mallory demanded.
“Yes.”
“When did you hear this?”
“This morning,” she said. “I was out taking a walk, looking around, and I heard him.” She told Mallory what she’d heard.
“I’m going to leave him on detail,” Mallory said. “That is the only way I can find out what his plan is. If they think I’m not aware of the mole, they’ll continue to act as they have been.”
“I understand.”
“I’ll make sure he’s never on duty alone. He’ll have a few minutes that he might be able to get to you before help arrives, but help won’t be far, okay?”
“Sure.” She knew how these things were done. She’d been bait and a sacrificial offering for a tiger before.
Look how that had turned out.
The restaurant’s parking lot wasn’t too crowded when they arrived. They were seated in five minutes next to a window with a view of the pier and the rolling waves.
Cordelia stared out the window instead of at her menu, sensing a coming storm. The cold of it moved over her, a psychic breeze that chilled her.
She wasn’t a weather working witch, but she was in tune with the snow and ice. She could bring the element to bear on an enemy. It was a part of her ability that she kept tightly leashed.
People couldn’t know about her. They’d attempt to use her for their own ends as Yamamoto had wanted to do. Being obsessed with her mother hadn’t been his only reason for killing her father. He’d wanted to control Cordelia’s power and use it against his enemies.
As if being a freak hadn’t been bad enough for her.
Her mother had had the gift of foresight which the mobster had made use of and wanted at his disposal as well.
“Cordi?” Mallory’s hand warmed her.
Cordelia brought her gaze to Mallory’s, seeing a question in those blue-gray pools. “What?”
“I asked if you knew what you wanted,” she said. “But I guess the better question is, what are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.” She shook her head. “I mean, this whole mess that’s gotten my life into a twist.”
“This’ll iron out, honey, I promise,” Mallory said caressing her hand. “Just give us time to get a handle on this.”
“Us?”
“Me and Sam,” she said. “We’re going to get those jerks off our butts, and we’ll get back to business as usual.”
“Which is?”
“Living without threats of violence against us or our dancers.”
Cordelia gave her a smile. “Good luck with that.”
They ordered a few minutes later and sat in silence for several moments before Mallory spoke again. “You need to go shopping.”
“I’ll do that tomorrow with Kyra. We already have a girls’ day in Mystic planned.”
“Oh. Okay. Well, I’ll send a guard with you,” Mallory said.
“You don’t need to do that,” Cordelia protested. “We’ll be in public and if someone shoots at me, there won’t be much a guard can do to stop that, and I don’t want anyone taking a bullet for me.”
“We’ll talk about it later,” Mallory said. “I don’t want you dancing until this is over.”
“I have to make a living, Mallory,” she said mildly. “So, I’ll be on stage tonight.”
“What if I say no?” Mallory asked studying her with enigmatic eyes.
“Why are you pushing this?” she asked softly. “I’m just an employee you had sex with.”
Mallory averted her gaze for a long moment. Then looked at her, her stare unreadable. “I care about your safety.”
“Fine.” Cordelia said coolly, Mallory’s words like a blade to her chafed emotions. “I’ll stay at the cabin tonight. I could use the extra night to clear my head.”
After their lunch, Mallory led her out to the pier for a walk down the long wooden path where a few people were gazing at the water and having a light lunch. The tang of the salty air, the waves, and boats out in the distance, created a postcard perfect picture.
Cordelia took it all in, wondering how she’d lived in the town for the last few months and not been down here. She captured the moment in her mind deciding a picture would do it more justice, but would only be a liability in the end.
“It’s beautiful here,” Cordelia commented wistfully.
“It is,” Mallory agreed. “I don’t come down here that often, but I thought today was a nice day for it.”
“Yes.”
Mallory took the turn on the pier that stretched east. Only two people were enjoying the solitude there, and Mallory led her past them.
“Why do you dance?” Mallory asked.
Cordelia stared at the water thinking of the job she’d had to give up. She’d managed to get a college degree in accounting like her parents. She’d been working for the IRS thanks to the federal agent who’d been still looking out for them.
Before that, she’d danced some to help pay for her education.
“My—I needed to live, and it was flipping burgers, turning tricks, or dancing.” She shrugged. Fast food wasn’t going to get tuition paid even though her mother had urged her to take one of those decent jobs.
“What did your parents do that you needed to work?”
“Kids do it all the time,” Cordelia said. Lying was so easy, she mused. It was one of the things she’d had to learn to do well after her father was killed and her mother testified.
She’d learned not to even notice her own face because when she saw it, she connected her reflection with the life of the girl she’d been before.
“They do,” Mallory agreed. “But why you?”
“Why are you asking me so many questions?” Cordelia demanded softly. “I’m just a dancer, and one day I’ll be gone.”
“I’m not going to let Larue harm you, Cordi,” she said reaching out to pull Cordelia into her arms. “So, don’t think like that.”
Cordelia allowed herself to snuggle against Mallory, savoring the strength of her embrace, the warmth of her skin, and the scent of her. It was a memory she’d call up frequently, on lonely nights in the future.
“Do you miss having a family?”
“Yes.” She swallowed back the tears.
Mallory tightened her arm
s around Cordelia. “Me, too. I kept telling myself one day I’d find my mate, and we’d adopt a few kids. I’d have what my parents had. My father was a fantastic father and my mother loved him crazy.”
“Really?”
“People said he was hard-headed.” She laughed. “But when mama called him, he would be at her side in a heartbeat. He doted on her, and he would die for us kids.”
Wet dampened her hair and Cordelia looked up to see tears sliding down Mallory’s cheeks.
“It was the end of summer when the hyenas came. The only reason they didn’t stay was because the weather grew unseasonably cold that year.”
“Most of them hate the cold,” Cordelia commented. “The breed is native to the warmer climes.”
“They turned people in the pack and that made the fight even bloodier than it would have been. My father died saving a young soldier who was overwhelmed by the sheer strength of the hyena female that attacked him.”
“It must have been a hard time for your pack—the recovery.”
“It was. I took over after taking down the hyena alpha with Sam’s help.” She laughed bitterly. “If not for Sam, I’d be dead. She was fearless, and I owe her my life and more.”
Cordelia understood loyalty and family. Those were the only two things that remained intact when her father was murdered.
“She’s your sister.”
“More or less,” she agreed. “That’s why I can’t leave her to deal with this mess with the Coalition on her own. Pack stands by family.”
“How do you expect to find your mate if you won’t get in a relationship?” Cordelia asked. “You’ll never make your dreams come true holding back.”
“Maybe I’m just waiting for the right beta to come along and sweep me off my feet,” she said with a teasing smile, but through the humor Cordelia saw the pain and reached up to wipe away the tears.
“You better stop waiting for Ms. Right and start looking around for her.”
“Are you applying?” Mallory asked.
She shook her head. “I’m not looking, Mallory, and I probably never will be. I like being alone.”
“Does that lie keep you warm at night?” Mallory asked.
Chapter Nineteen
Her talk with Cordelia still rang in her head that evening as she headed into the meeting of the Coalition. Mallory didn’t deceive herself. She knew she was lonely, and Cordelia’s words only drove that home despite her attempts in the past to cover that with playmates.
None of the women she’d been with had touched her heart or made her want to see them beyond the period of her heat. However, she did crave a deeper connection. At the same time, Mallory wasn’t willing to take chances, but Cordelia made her want to.
“Are you okay?”
She turned in the spacious room with its long rectangular table and small circular windows high up on the wall. Sam stood behind her, her eyes filled with concern.
“Yeah. I was thinking about something,” she said and motioned to the table. The room had leather couches on each side along with a mini bar that was always well stocked just moments before the meeting.
This evening was no exception. Two people busily laid in the supplies. The wolves wouldn’t stay, as what transpired could only be witnessed by members of the Coalition itself.
“Ah, the mighty self-confirmed bachelorette has found someone who’s captured her attention?” Sam teased.
Mallory smiled. “I never said I’d never mate, Sam,” she said. “Just that it would take a special kind of person.”
“Obviously one of mystery,” Sam said as they reached the table. “Anything concrete on her? She could be a plant.”
“I’ve considered that,” Mallory admitted grimly. “I’m just hoping the shroud around her is because she’s running from something not because she’s stupid enough to attempt to deceive us on Bradley’s behalf.”
“You’re sure he’s involved?”
“Not overly, but Cordelia said she overheard a conversation in the den this morning.”
“Bradley?”
“Isaiah, and you know they’re always working on something together.”
“With Jerry. They were all buddies growing up,” Sam said. “I’m starting to wonder if Bradley isn’t a serial killer, too. It would make sense.”
“Yeah, well, we’ve got nothing to back up that angle since experts—”
“Wolf experts,” Sam broke in. “Not human ones.”
“You want to take that chance?”
“No, but I’ve got no choice. Kamari gave the FBI copies, and they’re working on it even as we speak. She’s quietly investigating Bradley and everyone else associated with Jerry from his youth.”
“She’s not giving up?”
“Her sister was killed by Jerry, but she’s a cop. She wants justice for all those women Jerry and his buddies killed,” Sam told her. “She’s working with Jen’s sister.”
“She’s doing a story,” Mallory said. “That could be dangerous for her.”
“Kamari said the girl’s already digging into places that could get her killed on her own,” Sam replied. “She’s just working with her so she can stay in the loop.”
“Smart. And with Delaney looking into this, too, we should get some real answers.”
“That hopefully won’t get anyone else hurt or killed,” Sam answered.
“Evening ladies,” Claudia, a coyote breed, said as she joined them.
“What’s going on, Claude?” Mallory asked giving her a smile.
“I’d rather be elsewhere tonight, but I guess duty calls,” she replied and motioned to the doorway where men where filing in. “What’s this all about?”
“They want me to turn over Gray Tail lands, but it’s not happening,” Sam said. “Besides, I don’t own the land. One of my packmates does and isn’t interested in selling.”
“So, your taking over the pack is the issue then?” Claudia quizzed with a frown.
“It would seem as though, but only the men who called this meeting will tell.”
“Ladies and gents,” the chairman said. “Let’s take our seats and get started. Looks like a storm is brewing.”
“That it does, but it won’t fall until tomorrow,” Claudia said and moved on to take her seat on the other side of the table.
When everyone was seated, the chairman called the meeting to order. “The top item on the agenda is Mystic Snow pack and how it was acquired,” he said.
“Illegally,” Bradley muttered. “The lands were sold to me and Jerry.”
“Even if you have proof of that,” Sam said coldly. “The sale is void since the lands weren’t the former alpha’s to sell.” She removed an envelope from her jacket pocket. “The real owner of those lands has no wish to sell.”
“The papers are faked,” Isaiah said, even as they were passed down the table to the chairman.
“Because you want control?” Sam asked. “You can’t have it.”
“I can take it,” he snarled.
“Come down here and try it,” she invited in a hard tone. “I’m sure no one will object to you showing off your manly prowess.”
He growled.
“That’s what I thought,” Sam said. “You’re a coward, Isaiah, and you think you can hide behind this coalition. Well, you’re wrong.”
“I’m not hiding,” he growled getting to his feet. “And I’m damn sure no coward.”
“Gentlemen,” the chairman drawled, and Sam growled. He gave her a placid smile. “If the papers aren’t forged, then the issue becomes you taking over the pack by deceit.”
“He attacked us, and he failed,” Mallory said. “I gave Sam the pack in my stead. I didn’t want it, and she led the teams that defeated Gray Tail, so to the victor went the spoils.”
“Besides that, the conflict between two packs isn’t ours to judge,” Claudia said. “Tensions were simmering, and we all knew it. Just as we all know tensions are simmering between Summerfield and some of you.”
&nbs
p; “The lawlessness of the woman can’t be abided,” Bradley muttered.
“And we can abide that of you?” Claudia asked. “You seek to take lands that have long been rumored to be owned by pack members not in the alpha’s control. Does that not make you lawless?”
He sneered at her.
“I still won’t support an attack without proof to back up your claims,” Claudia said.
“I tend to agree,” the chairman said with a shrug. “This is all elemental, the business between two packs. Let’s close that matter and move on. We have more serious concerns.”
“What about the murder of Jerry?” Isaiah demanded.
“We have no proof he’s dead, so absent of that, I’m not touching it,” the chairman’s second said, brown eyes filled with determination. “On top of that, it goes to an issue between the packs. Jerry moved against them, if he’s dead there’s nothing to be done.”
“He was a big boy,” a female wolf, Pike said. “He gambled, and he lost, and I heard the FBI was investigating him for serial murders and rapes. I’d be interested in looking at the footage rumored to be circulating.”
“It was falsified,” Bradley snapped.
“Summerfield, do you have copies available for us?” Pike asked. “I’d rather have my own experts make that determination.”
“I second that,” Claudia said.
“Agreed as well,” the chairman said. “I think the more of us who have access to it, the better. We’ll be able to put the matter to rest or decide if Summerfield should be sanctioned for her unilateral actions against him.”
“I think any other matters between Summerfield and the Snow Dogs or any other pack should be handled without the Coalition,” the chairman’s second said coolly. “I won’t be a party to the games being played out here, especially with the humans getting involved.”
“Seconded,” the chairman said. “So, for now, Summerfield and Blacklaw you have a reprieve. We’ll meet again soon to determine if any actions will be taken against you.”
“Meeting adjourned,” the second said and was out of his chair and the room before the rest of them could process it.
“We expect the video to be forwarded within a couple of days,” the chairman said.
“For fairness I think we should all get a copy,” Bradley said.
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