A Wolf's Obsession

by Jennifer T. Alli

  “Why not?” he asked genuinely confused.

  “No one deserves that. Especially not on my part.”

  His amber gaze darkened and Kass’ heart quickened. “Listen, you are the only link I have to my mate, to my Emily, so that means I will do everything in my power to protect you.”

  “Words won’t hurt me,” she said softly, trying to calm him.

  His eyes looked down at the ugly bruises he’d left on her skin and he growled angrily. “This is the least I can do after what I’ve done to you.” He sighed heavily. “About the…” He waved a hand at her bruises. “I’m sorry. I’m not a bad guy. In fact, if my family found out about what I’d done to you they’d be the first to kill me for it, but without Emily…I’m not right...in the head. People have been telling me for a long time that I’m crazy. Some people even think that I should be put down. I wasn’t sure about the crazy thing but I did think that someone needed to kill me up until yesterday.”

  “What happened yesterday?”

  “I met you.”

  Three simple words that shouldn’t affect her but Kass found butterflies growing in her stomach, her heart clenching at the promise that the words held.

  “You can lead me to Emily,” Wyatt continued. “When I have her I’ll be normal. I’ll be right. I can be happy. All you have to do is take me to her.”

  The trust beaming from his eyes made her melt but she quickly hardened herself against him. She couldn’t afford to trust anyone until she was completely safe and even though she was beginning to think it wasn’t possible, there was still a chance he was the enemy. “Take me home.”

  “And you’ll take me to Emily?”

  “I’m still not convinced you aren’t a danger to her,” she said, neatly sidestepping the question. “Take me home and I’ll think about it.”

  “But you said she’s in danger. If she’s in danger then I’m going to need more than an ‘I’ll think about it.’ I need to make sure she’s okay.”

  “Then you need to get me home quickly and work on not seeming so crazy. Can you do that?”

  Still aware of Kass’ plan to run as soon as she was home, Wyatt sighed. She was making this unnecessarily difficult but if this was the game he had to play to have Emily in his arms, he’d play. His arms reached out and he swung her barefooted into his arms. He’d like to see her get far without any shoes. “Fine, we’ll go now.”

  “Wait!” she protested, squirming in his grip. “I need to get some shoes. I can’t go out like this.”

  Ignoring her protests, Wyatt placed his palm against the door scanner, the door sliding open easily. “Don’t worry, your feet will never touch the ground.”

  Her eyes widened when she looked down and saw that he wasn’t wearing any shoes either. “And what about you? You’re not wearing any shoes, you can’t go outside like this.”

  He walked towards the elevator the smile never leaving his face. “Of course I can.” A quick scan of his fingerprint had the door opening and another of his eye had the elevator descending. “I have tough soles.”

  “But there could be all sorts of things out there. Glass, needles, nails…”

  “None of that will hurt me.”

  “Look, I know you said you weren’t quite right so maybe you’re just not aware of how much those things hurt. Trust me, when something hard stabs you in the foot you’ll wish you were wearing shoes. Lets go back upstairs–” Her words trailed off when she looked into his eyes. They were glowing. The amber was burning a hole into her skin and suddenly she wished she hadn’t said anything. She gulped, trying to shrink away from him and failing miserably.

  “You sound like you’re talking from experience. Did something happen to you?”

  Memories assaulted of her feet being torn to pieces as she’d run over hard rock, crawled through thorny brambles and leapt over glass. Her lips tightened into a thin line. Her memories were private. No one needed to know about what she’d been through or what she was going to do again especially a self confessed madman. “That’s none of your business.”

  “I’m making it my business,” he snarled.

  “Snarl all you want. I’m not telling you anything.”

  “You will tell me what I want to know and you’ll tell me right now.”

  Sighing, Kass rolled her eyes. What he wanted was impossible. “When we get home I’ll think about telling you then.”

  The scent of her lie made his stomach turn and his wolf howl in annoyance. He’d warned her about lying to him. “I don’t like it when you lie to me Kass so don’t do it again.”

  “Get me home and you’ll never have to deal with my lying again.”

  The elevator dinged, the doors opening to reveal an empty garage. The lack of people made Kass deflate. She’d thought, hoped, that she could attract enough attention in a lobby to force Wyatt to release her. Clearly even though he was crazy he wasn’t stupid. Deflated, she ignored him as he continued to demand she tell him her secret and started to plan her escape. She might not have shoes now but that wasn’t going to last forever. As soon as he took her home she would have the advantage and she fully intended to make use of it and escape.

  Chapter Four

  The silence was deafening and in the confined space of the car it was maddening too. Kassandra wasn’t talking to him and that bugged Wyatt though not as much as the secrets she was keeping. His eyes moved from the road ahead to the exposed skin of her legs and not for the first time his grip on the wheel tightened. Scars crisscrossed over her calves and he suspected there were more on the soles of her feet. Thoughts about where she’d gotten the scars were driving him mad but she was being tight lipped about the whole thing. The steering wheel bent beneath his hands, the metal unable to withstand his rage.

  “What are you doing?” Kass hissed, trying to pry his hands away from the wheel and failing. His grip was unmovable. “Are you trying to make us crash?”

  Her words did what her actions hadn’t and his iron grip relented. If he crashed she couldn’t just walk away like him. “I’m thinking about your scars,” he said through gritted teeth.

  “Why?”

  “Because I want to know where you got them from.” And if a person gave them to you I want to hunt the bastard down and kill him…slowly. His wolf purred in agreement.

  “It’s not important.”

  The muscles in his jaw tensed and Kass knew instinctively that she’d said the wrong thing.

  “It’s important to me.”

  She reached out cautiously, touching the scars on his arms. “You tell me about yours and I’ll tell you about mine.”

  He tensed even more and growled at himself. She was asking for the impossible. He couldn’t tell her he’d gotten the scars being restrained by wolves trying to stop him escaping the clans when he’d been half mad with wanting his mate. He’d been young, vulnerable to scarring, and crazed with grief for the mate he’d thought lost to him. Emily. Just thinking about her still made him ache and Kass’ scent was doing nothing to help matters.

  “Open the glove box,” he barked, sweat beading on his brow. “Pass me some of the candy floss in there.”

  “Candy floss?”

  Swallowing hard he tried to keep his eyes on the road. Cars surrounded him on all sides preventing him from pulling over and satisfying the craving himself and he almost howled in anger. “Yes, candy floss,” he barked, his grip on his temper fading. “Hurry up and pass it here.”

  Confused by the strange request, Kass still did as he asked. He didn’t look well. If he thought candy floss was the cure who was she to argue? There were far worse things to be addicted to. Shrugging her shoulders, she plonked the bag into his lap and watched from the corner of her eye as he began to eat the sugary treat. His skin became healthy right in front of her eyes. “What the hell? Candy floss is not medicine, ask any dentist and he’ll tell you that. What the hell is going on?”

  “I don’t take medicine but candy floss helps with the memories. It reminds me
of her,” he explained breaking off another morsel and popping it into his mouth. “She smelt like sugar, like candy floss.” He turned to look at her, his golden gaze intense. “You smell like it too. That’s why…” I’m attracted to you even though it’s wrong. “I don’t want to talk about her…unless you plan on telling me where she is now?”

  His tone was hopeful which made it that much worse when she had to say no.

  Silence filled the air again.

  After a few minutes of mind numbing silence, Kass decided she couldn’t take anymore. “Do you have any family?” she asked hoping to break the silence.

  The corners of his lips twitched in the beginnings of a smile. “Yeah I have a family. A big one.”

  Relaxing into her chair she smiled encouragingly. “Tell me about them.”

  “I have two sisters. Erica raised me and Dylan. Dylan's my twin.” His smile widened. “She worries about me too much even when I tell her not to. I was meant to call her the night I met you.” His smile faded. “She’s going to be really worried now. As soon as I have Emily I’ll call her. She’ll be so relieved.”

  Not going to happen, Kass thought sadly. He sounded so honest that more doubt niggled at her conscience. He was too crazy, too sweet, to work for Ethan but his story made no sense. He couldn’t know Emily but the fact he knew of her, was trying to chase her down, made him dangerous.

  “It used to be just the three of us but Erica mated Sebastian and now there are so many of us. Uncles, aunts, cousins…I have three nephews and two nieces.”

  “Wow, you’re right, that is massive. What’s that like?”

  “You don’t have a big family?”

  “No. It’s just me and Charlie.”

  He couldn’t miss the sadness in her voice and his hand reached out instinctively to comfort her. Touching her thigh, he squeezed gently, trying desperately to rein in his strength. He’d hurt her enough; he didn’t want to give her any more pain. She deserved better. Electricity crackled along his skin, settling quickly in his shaft, the flesh hardening against his will. Groaning, he pulled back resolving to keep his hands to himself from now on.

  “Is that the man you were speaking to yesterday?”

  She glared at him but nodded her agreement. “Eavesdropping is rude.”

  Laughter spilled from his lips, the sound almost making Kass moan in pleasure. He had a beautiful laugh one that she’d pay to hear again.

  “I haven’t needed manners for a very long time.”

  “And I’m sure your sister Erica is very proud,” she retorted, each word dripping with sarcasm.

  Ignoring the blatant dig, Wyatt pushed the conversation back to where he wanted. They’d be arriving at King Street soon and he was determined to find out something about the mysterious waitress before they had to go their separate ways. “Tell me about Charlie…please.”

  Words flowed unbidden from her lips as soon as he added please to his request. She couldn’t help herself. Something within her couldn’t deny him. He might not have used manners for a long time but clearly he wasn’t hopeless. “Charlie raised me.”

  “What about your mum? What happened to her?”

  She was tempted to lie, to tell him what she’d told everyone else who asked but the words wouldn’t come. Despite their circumstances she wanted to tell him the truth. “I’m adopted. Charlie isn’t my biological father. I don’t know who my birth parents are. Charlie is the only family I’ve ever known.”

  “No husband? No boyfriend waiting for you at home?”

  She blushed furiously and said nothing. It was none of his business.

  “Well?” he pushed. They were almost at her home and he needed to hear the answer, it was important.

  “No, just me and Charlie.” Sighing, she turned to look out the window and watched the familiar streets whizz past.

  “Lonely?”

  “No, he made sure that I was never lonely. You can stop, we’re here.”

  Glancing out of the window, Wyatt’s frown deepened. The neighbourhood, if it could be called that, looked anything but neighbourly. The streets were dirty, covered in bloodstains; vomit and what looked suspiciously like bullet casings. Men loitered on the corners, objects passing hands suspiciously while their knives glittered dangerously in the sunlight.

  His hands fisted on the wheel as outrage filled his body. “You can’t live here. Tell me where you live Kass.”

  “I’ve just told you. I live in that apartment there.” She pointed to a set of windows on the ground floor and smiled fondly. She’d lived in the little flat for over a year and had never had any problems. It might be small and the location certainly wasn’t something to write home about but it was hers and it was easy to defend and escape from if Ethan should find her. Bad neighbourhoods might keep others away but she’d chosen to come here. Neighbours never asked any questions and they would never tell anyone who came knocking about those that lived nearby. Ethan’s men looked too much like the law for any of them to willingly speak for fear of retribution.

  “No,” Wyatt growled, his eyes glowing. “You can’t live here, it isn’t safe.” He took a deep breath and cursed. “Fuck, why the hell aren’t you lying about this Kass? You can’t expect me to leave you here.”

  “Why not?” Her hand was already on the door handle ready to step out.

  His hand whipped out, clasping her small hand tightly within his own. “Don’t.” He sighed heavily, his eyes scanning the area again. The frown marring his brow deepened the longer he looked around. This was not a safe place to live especially not for someone as delicate and fragile as Kass. “We’re not stopping here.”

  “Why? This is my home Wyatt. You said you’d take me home, are you lying to me now?”

  The thought turned his stomach but given the choices he would rather lie to her than leave her in this hellhole. “I didn’t know you lived in a place like this. If you’d told me you lived here then I never would have agreed to bring you here.”

  His words were confusing her even more than his actions. “Why?”

  “Because you deserve better. You deserve more than this. I’ll make sure you have better Kass. I’ll take care of you.”

  The doubts she’d had about him disappeared. There was no way he could work for Ethan and sound so honest about protecting her. Emotion welled within her throat and despite the fact she knew she was going to regret it she reached for the well of power that rested within her. “Wyatt,” she began, her voice light and airy. “You don’t work for Ethan do you?”

  Her voice was like a song, floating gently through his thoughts on its search for truth. In the face of such beauty there was no way he could lie. “I have no idea who Ethan is.”

  Relief wafted from her skin in waves and even though he couldn’t understand why she felt that way he smiled. Her scent was so much sweeter when she was relaxed. I can give her peace. The thought made him relax, his hands falling away from the steering wheel, his muscles losing the tension that had filled them since he’d gotten into the car.

  “If you don’t know Ethan then how do you know about Emily?”

  The seductive lilt to her voice was back, compelling him to answer truthfully. Her scent was changing; sweat beading on her brow as though she was working hard and it made his hackles rise in alarm. There was something going on and Wyatt couldn’t shake the feeling that Kass was putting herself at risk. “Emily is my mate,” he answered honestly. Shaking off the stupor her voice had lulled him into he turned to her, his eyes fierce and his voice hard. “Tell me what you’re doing. You’re doing something dangerous and I don’t like it. You don’t put yourself at risk. Ever. Especially not when you’re with me.”

  “Emily.”

  The smooth voice turned Kass’ blood to ice. She knew that voice, had heard it while she lay strapped down and bleeding. Ethan. Slowly she turned her head to look out of the window and her heart plummeted into her stomach. How had they managed to surround them so quickly without either of them noticing? Clos
ing her eyes, Kass shook her head. She knew exactly how Ethan and his men had managed to get the drop on them. Her voice. She’d been concentrating and had robbed Wyatt of the ability to think in the process.

  With his grey hair cut short and his skin smooth he didn’t look like the monster she knew him to be but that was what made it worse. To anyone else he looked like an average older man and he constantly used that fact in his favour and against her. “Emily.”

  His voice came again and her goose bumps appeared on her skin.

  “Emily, why are you ignoring me? Aah, I know. It’s Kassandra now. Kassandra, I’ve come to get you. Get out of the car.” His lips tightened with impatience before the second gun in as many days was pointed in her face. “Now.” His lips had thinned, the little warmth in his green eyes had evaporated and his eye was twitching with impatience.

  “Kass, what the hell is he talking about?”

  For the first time in an age, she turned away from Ethan when he issued a demand. Despite his madness, she wanted to reassure Wyatt that everything would be all right even if that was a complete lie. He’d been telling the truth, he didn’t work for Ethan and he deserved the truth.

  “Why does he keep calling you Emily?”

  She sighed heavily, torn between the two men. “Because…I am Emily.”

  Looking over Kass’ slender form, Wyatt shook his head immediately. No matter what her scent and his wolf were saying she wasn’t his mate. She looked nothing like her and there was no way that the differences could be explained by plastic surgery. She wasn’t Emily. She couldn’t be.

  “You don’t believe me do you?” He didn’t need to say a word; it was obvious from the look on his face.

  Impatient, Ethan tapped the gun against the glass of the window trying to get her attention. “Kassandra, we don’t have all day.”

  He’s not going to risk shooing me…but Wyatt…he’d kill him without even blinking. Ignoring Ethan completely, she tilted her head back and removed the contact lenses that had been bothering her since she’d woken up. They might have been designed for overnight use but going two days without changing them was asking for trouble. Her disguise gone, she cast her intense gaze on Wyatt and watched the colour drain from his face.