by Roxy Wilson
“Yeah,” she agreed. “I just don’t like them handling me as if I’m a kid.”
His throaty laughter filled the interior of the car once more. “You do realize that this stems from the fear of losing control.”
“So I’m a control freak?” She chuckled. “I don’t care.”
“Neither do I.” He glanced at her. “I wonder what happens when two control freaks are forced to spend time together?”
She sniffed. Was that a hint? “I wouldn’t know, and lucky for us, we probably wouldn’t have to find out.”
“Maybe,” he said in an enigmatic, cryptic manner. “What’s your address?”
Belatedly, she realized she hadn’t given him any information. Nya told him where to go.
He turned a corner and then sped up the hill. “It must be nice to live high up, surrounded by the forest.”
“I inherited this house from my parents. When my mother moved away, she gifted it to me. It’s the place where I grew up. It’s home.”
“I’m thinking that one day, I should build a house on one of these hills. It’s nice and quiet.”
Her nearest neighbor lived five miles away, but that was just the way she liked it. Nya enjoyed the company of others but at home, she loved her solitude. Even when she was in the forest, her partner, Quinn, was with her and she was never truly alone in that sense of the word. But in her house, it was just her and the owl that lived on a tree right outside her living room window. Sometimes, she saw deer and of course, squirrels were constantly coming right up to her patio. “Where do you live now?”
“I have a house right on the edge of town.”
“Oh yes, I’ve seen it.” She wasn’t too impressed with that particular building. It was constructed by a family that planned to settle in the town, but they left after a year. The wife had an affair with the gardener and that resulted in breakup of the marriage. “It’s a nice place.”
“Oh please. It’s an atrocity, a crime against construction, but it was the only house I could snap up when I wanted to move, and I definitely didn’t want to stay in a rented place. The ceilings have moldings, and the moldings have moldings.”
She laughed at his description. “Yeah, well. I haven’t seen the interior but it’s pretty fancy from outside. Too fancy for my taste. I like a simple house with an open design. Luckily for me, my parents had fabulous taste, so I didn’t have to change things that much.” Nya couldn’t believe she was telling him all this. She barely knew the man, and she didn’t have any intention of getting to know him. Perhaps the accident shook her up more than she realized.
Almost as if he sensed her thoughts, he glanced at her. “Do you want to file a complaint to the police about the accident?”
“Yeah, I’ll call them and see if they want me to come down. Perhaps I can do it tomorrow.”
“You didn’t recognize the car? In a town this size, everyone knows everything.”
Oh yes, that was true enough. Hadn’t she recognized his car in the forest? “No, I didn’t. Maybe it was someone from the outside, or someone just passing through. I don’t know. It happened so fast, and I have to admit I wasn’t paying too much attention to the traffic that was coming up from behind me.”
“It’s a good thing you weren’t seriously hurt,” he said.
Touched a little by his concern, she gave him another glance. “Yeah, it was.”
When he took another turn and cast his eyes at her house, she saw his eyes widen.
He whistled. “Simple? Are you sure?”
She looked at her house. Yes, sure, it was huge. Her parents really splashed out when they made the house thirty years ago but it was a work of labor and love. The house was too big for a single person, but she loved it anyway. Yes, it was a bitch to maintain, but once again, she liked the effort that went into it. “It’s my childhood home.”
He parked the car and strode out to open her door.
She stepped out. As she passed by him, the scent of his cologne hit her nostrils. Something primal and wicked awakened in her heart. It raced through her veins and made her heart thunder. Nya took a careful step back. “I—umm, thank you. It was very lucky for me that you came there at that time, otherwise I would have been stuck on the road until someone came out to help me.”
“No problem. Do you want me to come in and stay with you until you feel better?”
She couldn’t bear the idea of him sticking around. If he did so, she would likely go mad from the effort it took to control her hormones. “No, thank you. It’s—I’m fine, really.”
Much to her amazement, he reached forward and tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear. “I’m glad to hear that. You know, someday I would like to come in and take a look at the interior of your house. This is a perfect location and a really nice place. If you ever decided to sell—”
“It’s not for sale.” She took another step back. The brief touch of his fingers on her cheeks made her heart lurch. “I live here.”
“Yes, of course.”
Maybe she was a tad bit too abrupt. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t as if she was going to see him again. This was just plain dumb luck she encountered him twice in one day. They managed to spend months in the town without running into each other, and she was sure they would be able to continue their old pattern. As she walked towards her house, Nya glanced back at him. “Bye.”
“Nya, wait.” He strode forward.
For a moment, her leg muscles constricted, as if they sensed she wanted to run. It felt as if some aggressive, dangerous animal was lunging towards her, but then she managed to control the irrational feeling. This was crazy. Maybe she really needed to go to the hospital.
“I…was wondering if you’re free tomorrow evening. Maybe we could go out for dinner?”
So stunned she was by the casual manner in which he asked her out…that for a moment, she only stared at him. Did he just ask her for a date? No, it couldn’t be. And yet, it was so. She wanted to say yes. That was the word that wanted to slip out of her mouth but she swallowed it back. Hobnobbing with men like Reece Madison wasn’t her style. She was a simple girl who preferred her men to be uncomplicated and trouble-free, and he wasn’t both of these things. Also, she couldn’t forget the words of her Chief. He’d very bluntly told her that since he was the prime suspect in the murder investigation she needed to not be seen around this man. “I can’t. I mean—I’m not free.” She expected to see some reaction to her rejection of his offer, but he didn’t appear disturbed. Perhaps he only asked her because he wanted to convince her again, about helping him. Was that the reason? She wouldn’t ever know. Nya turned and went inside her house before he could say anything. She closed the door behind her. While curiosity urged her to flick the curtain to see what he was doing, she refrained from doing so.
The engine of his car revved as he sped back down the road.
She waited for a few moments and then eased back the curtain. Yes, he was gone. A fleeting sense of sadness skipped through her heart. The man sure was intriguing, but there was no way she could allow their relationship to progress anymore. It was best she didn’t see him again. That was her decision, and she intended to stick to it.
Chapter Four
Why the hell did he ask her out?
The question popped out of his mouth even before he could fully analyze the reason behind it. Yes, he would like another chance to convince her to help him. But more than that, he wanted to see her again. The strange hold she exercised over him was mystifying.
Yet, Reece was glad she said no. If she’d agreed, he wouldn’t have known how to behave with her. The truth was he was wildly attracted to her, but indulging in a relationship with her wasn’t something he could afford to do. She was way off limits. He couldn’t even go in that direction, so there was no point thinking about it.
But then again, he wished she’d agreed.
He wondered if she’d made a complaint to the police about the accident. He was a little shocked that someone would run a
stranger off the road and then not even stick around to help. What if she was seriously hurt?
When he’d left her house, he planned to go home, but some instinct made him go back to the spot in the forest where the body was found. He kept going to the scene of the murder. Even Reece didn’t understand the reasons for his fascination with that place. Still, it was good that he went there. If he wasn’t returning back just at that moment, Nya might have been stuck there for a long time.
Good thing he was there to help her out.
Now, he needed to forget about her. Rather than go back home, Reece drove towards his factory. He parked the car and then headed for the office. Most of the employees were gone and the place was deserted. Good. It would give him some opportunity to sleuth around. He went into Miles’ office. The police had already checked the place, but he hoped to find something they may have missed. He opened each drawer and checked inside. Taking out each file, he looked at each paper. Reece wasn’t sure what he was looking for, but he had a feeling he would get some clue regarding Miles’s death from her.
He found a note. There were some dates scribbled on a piece of paper. It could be anything, but then he realized the first date was the one when the embezzlement started. If Miles was the one behind the crime, why would he write the dates like that? Was it possible he had nothing to do with it and was actually investigating it, so he could bring it to Reece’s attention? If that were the case, it was possible that whoever took the money out from the company learned Miles was hot on his trail and hence…decided to murder him.
There was a big leap from a white collar crime to a murder.
Yet, nothing else made sense.
Reece slipped the note into his pocket. He might do some sleuthing to figure out why Miles wrote down those dates. In all likelihood, Miles did it just to check when the money was siphoned out of the company’s account. More than a little disappointed that he didn’t find anything else, Reece sat on Miles’s chair. The final tally revealed that more than a quarter million dollars had been taken from of his company. His people managed to follow the trail of the money as it was transferred to an offshore account, and then to another, and another until it was impossible to follow it anymore. While Reece could take the financial hit because his businesses were doing well, he didn’t like anyone to get away with a crime. It might encourage others to do the same. If he was perceived as a soft target, some other employee would try the same thing.
He couldn’t afford for that to happen.
Was it possible that Miles was one of the perpetrators of the crime? Maybe he had a partner, and they fought over splitting the money. If so, the partner must be quietly laughing at them all as he counted that money.
Shit.
It made Reece’s blood boil. He didn’t care what others thought, he knew that he didn’t have anything to do with Miles’s death. So someone out there got away with a murder. If so, it would only motivate this person to do the same thing again. And if his suspicions were correct, and if the embezzler and the murderer were the same person, then that person would have a lot of courage because he or she got away with not one but two crimes.
Reece sent an email to his manager to file a case for embezzlement with the relevant authorities. He’d not done so earlier because Miles begged him to give him a few days so he could prove he was innocent. Now there was no need to protect anyone. Even if Miles was the one who stole the money, they still needed to recover it.
His mind was replete with ideas, but not many of them made sense. He needed more information, but he didn’t have it. He rubbed the back of his neck. Frustration coursed through his veins, and there was only one way to take care of it. Reece got out of the factory. As he reached the forest, he leapt into action. As he landed on his feet, it wasn’t on two of them but rather on four. Reece Madison was a werewolf; a superior, lethal animal that could shift form at will. It was something he neglected to tell Nya.
Oh well, it was his secret and would remain so for a long time.
After changing into his wolf form, he ran. He didn’t know where he was going and what he was going to do, but all he needed was to make sure he got too tired to think about all that happened. He didn’t want Nya to come in his dreams, and he didn’t want to worry about Miles’s murder. Too much was happening too fast, and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it.
After the run was finished, he went home, changed, and went to sleep.
The next day, he was busy with work. The police didn’t bother him. While he longed to call Nya, he forced himself to not think about her. Two days later, he went into the forest again just so he could clear his mind. There was still no clue about Miles’s murder. If the police knew something, they weren’t sharing.
Just as he reached a clearing, Reece stopped in his tracks. He shifted into his male form. His muscles stretched and tightened into their new position. “Faine?”
No one could deny that the woman who sashayed into the clearing was attractive. She wore a black tank top over a pair of dark blue jeans. Faine was a woman who looked just as good as a wolf as she did when she was a woman. “Hi, Reece.”
He was the alpha of the pack, and as such could have the attention of any female pack member he desired. Circumstances became such that he had to take the place of the alpha who stepped down because of his advancing years. Reece was a good choice. Although he was relatively new, he had the means and wisdom to guide the pack. Still, he was having a few issues with some members who weren’t ready to accept him, at least, not as yet.
It would all happen in time.
He was confident of his abilities to handle any situation; but this murder investigation made him worried and cautious. “What are you doing here?”
“Just out for a run.” She stepped a little too close for comfort. “How have you been?”
He ignored the need to step back.
Faine wasn’t one of the members of the pack who were giving him trouble. Actually, he had more than a feeling she would like nothing more than to be recognized as his partner. While he would have liked to have those same feelings for her, he just wasn’t attracted to her. She was a smart girl, beautiful too, and at times really funny. But he just didn’t feel that way, and he wasn’t going to push himself into a relationship just because it was a convenient option. If he did that, and then they broke up, the fallout had the potential to mess up the whole pack.
Funnily enough, the woman that he really liked was Nya, but she was someone who was definitely off limits. Rather than focus on her, he studied Faine. What was she doing here at this time of the day? Sure, some of the wolves preferred to roam the forest at will, but he’d never seen her do it. She wasn’t into solitary walks.
“I’m fine.” Faine nodded. “Good really.” She curled a lock of her hair around her finger. “I heard that the police questioned you about Miles’s murder.”
“Yeah, well. I’m hoping they’ll figure out they’re looking at the wrong man.”
“It’s mighty inconvenient. I don’t know how they can pick on someone like you. I mean, you’re the epitome of a good citizen. Even in your factories, you follow all the rules and everyone knows you mind your own business,” she said in a voice that was seductive and sultry.
“It’s a bump along the road.” He gazed into her eyes. “Faine, have you seen any unusual activity in the forest?”
“Unusual?”
“You know…” Reece shrugged his shoulders. “…someone who doesn’t belong? That corpse didn’t bury itself. Someone dragged it here.”
“Did you try to follow the scent back?”
He tried to do that, but he’d caught too many scents, and it wasn’t possible to follow all of them. By the time he got to the body, the police and the forest rangers had been all over it. It would be impossible to figure out which, if any of them, belonged to the murderer. “No. If I had gotten to that Miles’s remains earlier, it might have been possible to do that.” He’d been about to do that when he was inter
rupted by Nya’s predicament. He chose to save her, and lost out on a good opportunity. It didn’t matter now. What was done was done, and he would have to figure out another way to find the person who landed him in so much trouble.
“That’s a pity,” Faine said. “Let me know if you need me for anything.” She flashed him a smile. “It must be exhausting to deal with so many responsibilities: the pack, your work, and now on top of it, this mess with the police.”
“I can handle it.”
She fluttered her eyelids. “Oh, I bet you can handle anything.”
Reece resisted the urge to flee. What had he gotten into? For him, she was simply a member of his pack, and while he owed her his loyalty, he didn’t want to get into any other situation with her. “I should go,” he said abruptly. “Just remembered I’ve got to do something.”
“Oh!” A pained expression crossed her face. “Reece, I was thinking maybe we could get together for a meal someday, you know, like a date.”
Shit!
He should have run in the opposite direction when he caught her scent. This was the first time he allowed himself to be engulfed in this bizarre scenario. While he felt bad, Reece didn’t want to give her false hope. “Faine, we shouldn’t cross the line. It might not end well, and I don’t want to create a negative atmosphere in the pack. You know what I mean?”
Did she?
Was she going to take it badly?
“Sure, no problem. You’re right, of course. We don’t want to do anything that would make the pack uncomfortable.”
Her smile made him sigh with relief. “Yeah, great.” He was happy she seemed unperturbed by his words. “See you around.”
“Yes, why not?”
He leapt into the air and shifted. Reece raced off. He didn’t know where he was going or what he intended to do. It felt good to run in the forest and to be one with nature. He could hear the birds, and he could smell the crickets and the rats. This was his domain, and he intended it to be safe and secure for all those who dwelled within its depths. He thought about Miles; the poor man met his end here. This proved to be a very unsafe place for him.