The Mating Rite (Big, Beautiful Werewolf) (Werewolves of Montana)

by Vanak, Bonnie

  “Except for the ogre who is the night manager,” Sienna said humorlessly.

  Sam’s shoulders slumped. Then she raised her chin and gave both Elves a defiant look. “Get out of my room.”

  “It is not your room, it is rented by the company,” James said.

  “A rental. Good. Then I don’t have to worry about breaking this.”

  Picking up the lamp, she threw it at him. James just barely ducked as the lamp sailed through the air and smashed into the wall. The crystal base shattered. Darius’ mouth curled in a satisfied smile.

  Both Elves turned and walked out. At the door frame, James turned. His gaze remained blank. “I am sorry you have chosen to leave Comairise Energy, Samantha. You have served the firm well.”

  “At my desk or on my back?”

  James blinked, but Darius growled and kicked the door shut in his face. He went to her and rubbed her arms. “You okay?”

  She gave a shaky nod. “I really regret that, though.”

  “Resigning?”

  “Throwing the lamp. It was a very nice lamp.”

  He rested his forehead against hers, the brief touch recharging his senses. His wolf howled, not for sex, but to keep her safe. Because she was not safe here.

  “You packed already?” At her nod, he sighed with relief. “Good. We’re leaving.”

  “Where are we going?”

  Good point. Until they figured out who wanted Sam dead, he couldn’t keep her safe. Only one thing would protect her. Pack.

  “Montana. To my ranch.”

  “No.” Sam shook her head. “If I return with you to your ranch, you’ll pressure me into staying and undergoing this mating rite. I can’t do it, Darius. I need space, time to think. Pick another place.”

  He thought hard and then fished out his cell phone. “I’ve got one more in mind. Lupine, but a close friend’s pack. I’ll call them right now. Okay?”

  She nodded.

  “Good. Get dressed. I’ll be right outside your room. We’re leaving in ten minutes.”

  Chapter 12

  After they’d driven for a few hours, Darius stopped for lunch. The small, homey restaurant he’d chosen promised good food, judging from the enticing smell of grilling meat wafting from it.

  He opened the door for Sam and ushered her inside.

  Sliding into seats at the bar, they scanned the menu. Sam wanted mac and cheese. He hid his dismay—she needed more meat, damn it!—and ordered a burger for himself. Rare.

  The restaurant was pleasant, with plenty of dark wood and comfortable booths. It was decorated like a hunting lodge, complete with a stone fireplace and a stag’s head resting above it. Hanging near the fireplace was a rusted buzz saw someone had whimsically crafted into a clock. The air held an odd metallic scent. He searched with his senses, but the scent had faded.

  When their order arrived, he dug into his hamburger with zest, but she only picked at her meal. Darius glanced over. “What’s wrong?”

  Sam set down her fork. “It feels odd here. Some kind of bad energy.”

  He wiped his mouth.

  “Maybe your former employer likes to frequent this place.”

  “I had no idea they were Fae.” She sighed and picked at her food. “Elves. Mom always told me Elves were sweet and protective of the planet.”

  Darius shook his head. “Sweet? Maybe in the movies, but these Elves are sly, manipulative, and will snap your neck in half as easily as they’d shake your hand. They’re dangerous. Like us. You just have to remain aware of them at all times.”

  “I had no clue. I thought they were human. All of them. I wanted to work in a firm filled with humans, return to the human lifestyle…” She shook her head. “What a fool I’ve been. Running from the Lupine life, hoping to make a new start, far from anything paranormal, only to walk into a spider’s web.”

  “Don’t blame yourself,” he said quietly. “It’s part of their glamour. It takes years of practice using all your senses to detect what they really are. They’ve learned to cloak their scent from us. I only knew for certain James was Elf because I pissed him off and he dropped the glamour. When it came to the others, I wasn’t certain, but they hardly ever work alone.”

  Sam tilted her head. “You’ve worked with Others like Elves. You knew.”

  Darius nodded and swallowed a bite of burger. “After I left Maxim’s pack, I bused tables for an Elf who owned an organic restaurant. Doing business with them is a thousand times more challenging than dealing with Skins. Humans are easy to work with in business. You can smell their sincerity, or lack of it, when they’re duping you. Elves don’t care as much about money. They have ulterior motivations. Those could be as lofty as restoring the woodlands so the animals can return. Or as petty as wanting to get rid of someone permanently.”

  “Why do you do business with them if Elves and Lupines don’t get along?”

  He took a deep breath. “We share a common bond, to protect our environment, we just don’t always see eye to eye on the process. Elves hire Skins to cover for them, but in minor positions where they can’t gain power. And if they sense anyone getting close to company secrets, or advocating an agenda they don’t like, they simply fire them.”

  “Like Ralph. He was angling for a promotion. They let him work from home. Then Ken fired him for not putting in enough hours at the office.”

  “It’s how they deal with threats and competition. They are very clever. You’d have seen through it, had you still been living as Lupine. But you shut down all your natural senses trying to adapt to the Skin world.”

  “I need help, Darius. I don’t know how to be Lupine anymore. None of it. The scents, the senses, the awareness. Certainly not the savagery of being wolf, especially in the bedroom.”

  Darius couldn’t help himself. He touched her cheek, rubbing his thumb over the velvet smoothness of her fair skin. “Lupines aren’t always savage in the bedroom, but we can be extremely feral when facing our enemies, and protecting the pack and those we care about. We need to teach you all over, just like you taught me to read, sweetheart. And we need to do it soon, because the faster I can teach you to be aware of your surroundings and protect yourself as Lupine, the safer you’ll be. I have the perfect pack for your training.”

  “Whose?”

  “Ryder’s pack. He is mate to my alpha Aiden’s sister. The pack was run by Aiden’s father. When Alastair died, Ryder took over.”

  “Aiden didn’t assume power?”

  Darius regarded her with his steady gaze. “Alastair was a cruel, heartless bastard. It’s why Aiden left with his sister Kara. Now Ryder and Kara are together and have three young. Their pack lives in Colorado, but they own a condominium complex here in Oregon, near Mt. Hood. They’re meeting us there tomorrow night. Location is perfect, on the banks of a river, with plenty of game for hunting.

  “And what are we going to do there? Shoot things? Fish for our supper?”

  “Teach you how to be a Lupine again.” He drew in a deep breath. “Sam, are you certain your father was Lupine?”

  “You think he wasn’t and my mother lied to me?”

  “She lied to me about your death,” Darius said dryly. “Why wouldn’t she lie about your parentage? I suspect your father was Skin. Not regular Skin, but a Seeker, a psychic human or maybe even a Mage.”

  “Why do you think I’m not a full-blooded Lupine?”

  “Because a full-blood Lupine would understand the sensual side of her nature. A full-blooded Lupine would surrender to the instinct to mate, to eat meat and to hunt, and darling, you like meat as much as I enjoy sprouts.”

  She went silent, her gaze troubled.

  “We’ll talk about it on the drive to the condo.”

  He’d nearly finished his burger when someone sitting in one of the booths screamed.

  To his shock, the giant buzz-saw clock had detached from the wall. It spun through the air, straight at them. Cursing, he threw Sam to the floor, covering her body with his.

&n
bsp; Grind, crack. The buzz-saw sliced through a high-top table, scattering patrons, and cut off a portion of the bar as it hurtled toward them. “Stay low!” Darius commanded Sam.

  Standing, he grabbed his fork. This had to be Mage or wizard magick. Kyle had confided in him one night while they got drunk: if caught in a jam with a wizard, throw silver. Tristan, the Silver Wizard and their guardian, used silver as his power. Silver would slow down, maybe even stop, other sorcerers.

  Hoping the utensil wasn’t stainless, he threw it. The buzz saw cut through the fork like butter.

  Shit. He leaped over the bar, saw an iron key hanging on a peg, and tossed that at the buzz saw. It ground to a halt and dropped to the floor, the spell enchanting it now shattered. People began chattering quickly and some took photos with their cell phones.

  Darius fished out his cell and dialed the OtherWorld equivalent of 911. The Silver Wizard materialized, took one look around and shook his head.

  “I need a Skin cleanse.” Darius told him what had happened.

  “Seriously? I was in the middle of a concert.” Tristan snapped his fingers and froze everyone in the room. The wizard sent a ball of blue energy smashing into the buzz-saw and vaporized it. Then he waved a hand. The Skins shook their heads and looked confused. The bartender, who’d been dialing emergency services, looked lost. Tristan removed the phone from his fingers.

  “False alarm. Sorry about that.” The wizard hung up and gestured to the parking lot. “Outside, both you and Sam. Now.”

  Darius dropped a $50 bill on the bar and herded Sam outside to his car. Tristan leaned against it, his arms folded across his chest. Dressed in an elegant tuxedo with a white scarf around his neck, he looked mighty pissed.

  Sam looked nervously at the wizard. “What kind of concert? I love music.”

  “Opera. A shifter who sings a delightful aria when she climaxes.” Tristan looked impassive. “I had just warmed her up.”

  Great. Tristan was never in a good mood when he was summoned for a Skin cleanse. Interrupting his bed sport put him in a worse one.

  The wizard’s eyes glowed ice blue, gathering power. “Samantha, what did you do?”

  Darius slid a protective arm around Sam’s trembling shoulders. “It wasn’t her fault or mine.”

  The wizard’s eyes resumed their normal dark brown. But he still focused on Sam. “Are you going to tell him or shall I?”

  “Tell me what?” Darius looked from Tristan to Sam, who now bit her lip.

  “What Samantha did when she left the pack.”

  Guilt flickered in her eyes. “I was going to, when we got on the road.”

  “Do it. And the next time you get attacked by a flying buzz saw, make sure it’s in a secluded area where no Skins are around.”

  The wizard vanished. Darius rubbed the back of his neck. “Level with me. What aren’t you telling me, Sam?”

  She looked miserable. “It’s about your father and what I did to him before I left the pack.”

  He went still.

  “Not so much what I did, but what I took.” She twisted the straps of her worn Coach purse. “Money.”

  Darius’ heart dropped to his stomach. His father kept a tight grip on his funds and accounted for every single penny. “How much?”

  Please tell me it was not that much, maybe he didn’t miss it…

  “Fifty thousand dollars.”

  His limbs felt shaky. Darius sagged against the rental car and just stared at her.

  “It was my money! Mom brought it with her when we joined the pack. Cornelius had given it to her as severance. But Maxim said since we were part of the pack now, it belonged to everyone. All those times he had me working in his office, I memorized the combination to his safe. It was easy enough.”

  She suddenly took her purse and slammed it to the ground. “I hated being broke all the time, knowing the money was there. I hated him for making me work so damn hard in the pack, and he was too damn cheap to even put my sister’s name on her gravestone! The money was mine by right. After I left Maxim’s pack, I needed money to live until I could find a job.”

  Darius forced his voice to calm. “Where is the money now?”

  Sam knelt on the ground and picked up the items spilled from her handbag. “I spent half of it and put the rest in a safe deposit box in a Portland bank.”

  He pressed a hand against his sweating temple and his temper fractured. “Holy shit, Sam. You took money from my father? My father, who is so cheap he refused to buy a dishwasher and made us wash by hand more than 300 plates at a time? No wonder he’s after your ass!”

  “I’m sorry.” She looked up at him, her mouth wobbling. “I wanted to tell you sooner, but I figured I was safe and he’d never find me.”

  “Obviously he did and he sent someone after you, otherwise we wouldn’t be eating our lunch in a restaurant with a goddamn buzz saw trying to cut my fucking burger!”

  A couple walking to their car looked startled, then quickly climbed into their vehicle. Darius dragged in a deep breath, fighting his temper. Yelling accomplished nothing.

  She finished putting everything back into her purse and faced him. “This is my fault, Darius. I take full blame. I don’t want you in trouble for something I did. Or getting hurt because I was foolish and resentful.”

  Anger died. She looked so damn brave and determined, and he remembered how she’d stood up to his father when Maxim wanted to break every bone in his body. Darius sighed. “You’re not ditching me that easily, sweetheart. We’re together in this, all the way.” He opened the car door. “Get in.”

  Silence fell between them as he turned south on the coastal highway. If Maxim had hired someone, or some Other, to take Sam down, he’d have a hard time following them. When he turned, using a less traveled access road, she finally spoke. “It doesn’t make sense. Maxim’s Lupine. He doesn’t have the kind of power to cast a spell on a buzz saw or get a sea demon to drown me.”

  “No, but he has enough money to hire assassins to do his dirty work if he wants your ass that badly. Or he’s blackmailing someone into doing it.”

  “Like Todd.” She took a deep breath. “Maybe that’s why Todd was after me.”

  Darius gripped the steering wheel, his stomach tight. Damn his father.

  Fir trees flanked the car as they followed the road. The trees marched up a sloping hill to their right. Darius looked at the forest, knowing deer and other animals might bound out of the trees and run across the road. But this road seemed oddly deserted of traffic.

  “What good would my death do Maxim?” She twisted around in her seat. “He’s never been patient with schemes. If he wanted something, he took it. After the first attempt with Todd failed, he’d just find me himself and wring my neck after forcing me to confess where I’d hidden the money. He’s not that sly.”

  Sly. Scheming. Using spells of enchantment to influence other beings and enchant tools to cut Sam down. Like buzz saws, which cut wood in a forest protected by OtherWorlders such as Elves…

  “Darius, watch out!”

  Cursing, he slammed on the brakes and yanked the wheel to the right, driving off the road and narrowly avoiding the boulder that suddenly rolled onto the pavement.

  Hands shaking, he turned to Sam. “You okay?”

  Her face was pale, but she nodded. “What was that?”

  Darius looked at the boulder, which had mysteriously rolled off the road to the other side, leaving the way clear for them to continue.

  “Fae Magick. Someone’s dicking around with us.” He turned off the ignition, parked and then unbuckled his seat belt. Darius shut off his cell phone and opened the car door. “Turn off your cell phone. Stay here. Someone has a tail on us and knows exactly where we are headed.”

  He ran his hands over the car’s exterior, searching for clues. Twenty minutes later, he found a small black box stuck to the wheel well. Darius wanted to crush it in his fist, but palmed it instead.

  When he climbed back into the driver’s
seat, he set it on the console. Sam looked at it.

  “It’s a GPS tracker,” he told her.

  “Your father couldn’t have placed it on the car. Unless he hired someone to do it, and he’s simply too cheap to pay.”

  “And he prefers the direct approach.”

  “Someone else put it there. Where?”

  “The beach house. Or when I picked up the rental at the agency. Someone who knows our relationship and wanted to keep an eye on my movements, knowing I’d take you with me.”

  She sucked in a breath. “Ken. You said he’s Elven. He doesn’t want my resignation. He wants me gone, permanently.” Sam twisted her hands in her lap. “I threatened to expose both him and HG Jenner for what they did. I didn’t think he’d resort to this kind of drastic action.”

  Darius dragged in a deep breath and cupped the back of her head, pulling her close to him. “Sam, it could be Ken, could have been any of them all along. Until we find out who it is, you’re not safe. The best place for you is Ryder’s pack. You need to reawaken your Lupine senses. It’s not going to be easy, but it’s your best chance.”

  She nodded reluctantly, then closed her eyes as he rested his forehead against hers. Then he buckled up and started the car, heading back to the coastal highway. With more cars on the road, whatever was after them would have a harder time trying to arrange a sly accident.

  “What are you going to do with this? Destroy it?” She poked at the tracker as if it were a cockroach.

  He shook his head. “They’ll know we found it. I’m going to use it to our advantage.” He gritted his teeth. “And dodge the son of a bitch who wants you dead.”

  Chapter 13

  They spent the night in a cheap motel in Washington. Darius guarded the door all night. Once or twice she’d awakened to see him staring out the window.

  Late afternoon of the next day, they pulled up before the entrance to the Pine Crest Condominium complex near Mt. Hood. Thick forest surrounded the townhomes, flanked by a narrow river.