by Roxy Wilson
She opened her mouth and then cleared her throat. “It’s too early for a serious discussion, but I think we’ve pretty much covered one year of dating with all the things we’ve been through.”
“Yes, getting shot at manages to bring people close. If I find that shooter, I might just be able to forgive him because he was the one who brought us together.”
“Did the pack manage to trace him?”
“They lost his scent when he got into his car, but they’re still working on it. The wolves are efficient. They’ll find him.”
“It must be pretty awesome to have such extraordinary powers,” she mused. “It probably comes in handy a lot of times.”
“Yes, it does.” He passed her the eggs. It amazed him to realize she accepted that part of his life with such ease. It didn’t bother her that he was a werewolf, that he could be dangerous at times, or that he belonged to a pack who all roamed the forest. She was really an extraordinary woman. “What time do you have to be in your office?”
“I prefer to go in early, at eight thirty, so I can get in some paperwork before field trips. There are a lot of environmental conferences scheduled for the coming month, and we have to file a great number of reports.” Her eyes sparkled as she talked about her work.
He could understand the passion because he felt the same about his. “You love your work, don’t you?”
“Of course.” She nodded. “And so do you.”
“Yeah.” He ate a portion of his eggs. It felt a little unreal he was sitting across the table and sharing breakfast with her. Reece hoped this would become a regular part of his life. Now that he’d found her, he couldn’t bear to lose her. “I’ll have to travel in a few days because I want to go to the gallery and set things in motion for your father’s exhibition.” He hesitated. “But I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone now that so much has happened.”
“I’ll be fine,” she assured him.
He didn’t think so. Too much had happened that made him believe she was on someone’s hit list. The shooter wanted to kill her, as did Faine. The sooner they wrapped up this mess, the safer he would feel with regards to her. “You could come with me.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I can’t just take off whenever I want.”
“Yeah, sure. I understand.” He would just have to postpone his trip until they figured out who was after her. She didn’t fully appreciate how close to death she came on those two occasions. If he didn’t arrive on time, Faine would have hurt her, and if the shooter was lucky, if one shot had hit her, she might have…
He didn’t want to start his day with these morbid thoughts.
Suddenly, he stiffened. Thinking about trouble and it came their way. He could scent her. Reece put a finger on his lips and cautioned Nya to be quiet.
Startled by his strange behavior, she set the cup down.
Reece moved to the door with stealth. The window of opportunity was very narrow. Surely, she could sense him as clearly as he could her, but it seemed she was too eager, too wrapped up in her own thoughts, to pay too much attention to safety. He lunged out of the door and caught up with her just as she realized how much danger she was in. Before she could shift and run, he grabbed her hand. Reece whirled her around to face him. “Faine. Stop! There’s no point in running away.”
Her hair was matted and filthy. There was a streak of dirt on her cheeks, and her jeans were torn. Gone was the sexy, cute woman he remembered, and in her place was a crazed individual who harbored wicked thoughts. “Leave me alone,” she yelled.
He held on as she struggled. Reece grabbed both her arms. “We need to talk, and we can do it quietly or else we can have it out with the pack. Which do you prefer?”
She gnashed her teeth. He could sense that deep desire that lurked within her. She wanted to shift and attack. Her eyes shone with an unholy light, but then with an effort, she curbed that need. With an effort, she exercised control over her emotions. “Fine. Inside.”
This woman tried to kill Nya. He couldn’t just take her in. “I won’t just stand here and allow you to attack Nya.”
A sneer curled over her lips. “Already in love with a human? How low you have fallen, Reece.”
He ignored the jibe. She wanted to rile him, so he would get angry and then attack her. He sensed the need for violence that streaked through her eyes. If he allowed her, she would start a fight, and he was loathe to battle it out with a woman, even though she deserved the fate he longed to give her. “Promise me, Faine, that you won’t hurt her. I don’t want to fight you.”
“Fine. I won’t put a finger on your precious human, but I’m sure you know she’s not worth the effort you put in to keep her safe.”
He didn’t answer her. Reece wasn’t comfortable with this situation. He didn’t trust Faine, but there was no other option but to take her in. Now that he found her, he needed answers. Together, they marched towards the door. She hesitated a little before stepping inside. Something akin to pity stirred in his heart, but he squashed the emotion. He couldn’t afford to lower his guard, not when Nya was around and could be in danger.
He strode inside. “Nya, I think you need to give us some privacy.”
She remained seated, looking as calm as composed as if he walked into her house with a crazed werewolf every day. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“This is between Faine and me.”
She didn’t budge. “On the contrary, she attacked me. I think I deserve to know what prompted her to do so,” she said. Much to his surprise, she stood and walked over to pour a fresh cup of coffee. After putting it on the table, she got a new plate and put some eggs and bacon on it. “Would you like some toast, Faine?”
Faine stared at her. She then glanced at the food and the steaming cup of coffee. It was obvious she hadn’t eaten well in days. Since the pack was monitoring her house, she probably couldn’t go home, and she didn’t dare to show her face anywhere. While a werewolf could hunt and eat, they had a natural aversion to it due to their sharp minds. It wasn’t fun to catch a squealing, innocent animal and kill it.
Reece walked over to the table and slid out a chair.
Reluctantly, she sat.
He put the plate in front of her.
She began to eat.
Nya and Reece didn’t disturb her as she ate everything. Nya gave her four pieces of toast and all of the bacon before she appeared satisfied. Reece finally sat opposite her. Nya didn’t take a seat, but he made sure she was far enough from Faine. The werewolf would have to go over him to catch her, and he wasn’t about to let down his guard. “Now talk.”
“There’s nothing to talk about.” She picked up her cup of coffee and took a sip. Her eyes closed for a moment as she savored the taste. “Thanks,” she said in a reluctant voice. “I don’t remember the last time I had a hot meal.”
“You did this to yourself,” he pointed out. “Why did you attack Nya?”
“I just went crazy. Something to do with the moon,” she said.
Annoyed by her flippant behavior, he pointed a finger at her. “Don’t be silly. We don’t get affected by the moon. That’s all for books and movies. In real life, things like that don’t happen.”
“It happened to me.”
Frustrated, he stared at her. She was hell bent on annoying the life out of him. Of course, there was a reason why she attacked Nya. Why didn’t she just tell them? “Did you kill Miles?”
She nearly jumped off the chair. “Of course, not!”
“Is that why you attacked Nya, because you thought she might tell the police you were Miles’s murderer?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I didn’t have anything to do with Miles’s death. Don’t you dare pin that on me!”
He didn’t believe her. Since she didn’t have a reason to attack Nya, this was the only thing that made sense. “And then you tried to shoot us?”
“What nonsense! Now you’re making stuff up. What shooting?”
He stared at her. It seemed she was
clueless about the shooting. Of course, they’d already deduced she wasn’t there. Any one of the pack members would have recognized her scent if she was the one sitting on that tree, but he just couldn’t believe it. There had to be a connection between her attack on Nya and Miles’s murder. Nothing else made sense.
“Someone shot at us,” Nya said, breaking into Reece’s thoughts. “We barely escaped. Either one of us could have died in that shooting.”
Faine looked from Nya to Reece. “I didn’t do it.”
“You’ll have to come with me and talk to the pack,” he told her. “We’ll decide what’s going to happen to you.”
“I’m no longer a member of the pack. I quit.”
“You can’t just quit like that.”
Faine sniffed. She picked up her cup and finished her coffee in one gulp. She grimaced as if she hadn’t expected the beverage to still be boiling hot. “I can do anything I want. Working with you wasn’t as exciting as I thought. This town is dead. Nothing ever happens here. I want to leave, and since I’m no longer a member of the pack, you can’t punish me for attacking—your—Nya.” Her eyes were hot coals.
She was right in a way. He could enforce punishments on members of the pack, but if she planned to leave then there was little else he could do. It was punishment enough that she didn’t have the security and companionship of the pack anymore. “If you ever show up here, or near Nya, we’ll have to treat you just like we would another intruder in our territory,” he informed her. He was grateful she made that decision on her own.
Something flickered in her eyes. Regret? Rage? “Whatever.”
He expected contrition, some kind of remorse for her behavior, but instead she was almost defiant. Didn’t she care at all that she nearly killed Nya? Or perhaps she was waiting for another opportunity to have a go at the woman he loved?
He couldn’t trust her. She wasn’t apologetic. Anger rose inside him, a fiery hot lance of it. No one could ever harm Nya, not when he protected her. Something had to be done. Even if Faine wasn’t a member of his pack anymore, he couldn’t—shouldn’t—just let her go. She would take another swipe at Nya whenever she got a chance. He could restrain her, and even though the alpha in him applauded that thought, he tempered his rage. He had no right to hold her a prisoner.
It was easy for him to make all the decisions, but he wanted a consensus. “We’ll have to hold another meeting with the pack,” he said. “Together, we can decide on a suitable course of action.”
“I don’t want to meet anyone.” Faine stood. “As soon as I’m out of here, I’ll be leaving town.”
Reece’s muscles tensed. She wasn’t walking out of this house, not when they weren’t done. He loathed to use his power on a woman, but if she pushed him, he wouldn’t have a choice. She would regret it.
“Where would you go? Your life is here,” Nya said. Despite all she went through because of her Faine, her voice was warm and friendly. “Why do you want to leave?”
Faine didn’t even as much as glance at Nya. Instead, a snarl escaped her lips. “I just don’t want to live here.”
His mind grappled with the possibilities. If he let her go, he would constantly be looking over his shoulder to see if she planned to target Nya, and if he restrained her, he was actually committing a crime against a person who didn’t deserve it. She didn’t hurt Nya, and while she tried to do so, there wasn’t enough justification for him to take her prisoner. His mind was at war with his heart; he could make her do what he wanted, but he also wanted her to choose the right course of action on her own. “I’m sure Laney will let you stay with her.” It was a good compromise. He would be able to keep an eye on her, and in the meantime he would be able to make a better decision regarding her ultimate fate.
She waved a hand. Rage filled her eyes. “I’m leaving right now. The only way to stop me is if you kill me.
Reece leapt over the table and stood in front of the door like a shield. A loud snarl echoed in the room as he bared his teeth at her. While he didn’t want to fight her, he would have to do so if she didn’t give him a choice. Faine was strong, but she was no match for him. She’d violated the rules of the pack, and she would have to face them to know her fate. “You can’t leave.”
Faine snarled.
He held his ground. The atmosphere was charged with electricity as he braced for a fight. He’d made up his mind; she used up all her chances. If she didn’t want to change, he would force her to do so.
“Let her go, Reece,” Nya said in a firm voice.
“Are you crazy? This girl tried to kill you. Given half a chance, she would do it again.”
“I don’t think she’ll do that. It was a mistake, and it won’t happen again,” Nya said.
The woman had to be deluded. Why did she think Faine wouldn’t do something like that? Faine was unpredictable, and she was aggressive. Given one chance, she would go after Nya. Instead of relaxing his stance, he rotated his shoulders. “I don’t think letting her go is an option.”
“And neither is keeping me here an option,” Faine said. “If you want to force me to stay, you’ll have to kill me. Can you do that, Reece?”
He could kill her, right here, right now. Even as his hands turned into fists and the blood raged in his veins, his gaze met Nya’s. He would do anything to protect her. Anything. But then, he didn’t want to be the man who used power as a first weapon of choice.
That wasn’t him.
“Fine. Go away, but Faine…”
She gazed at him.
The sadness in her eyes was visible to him, but he couldn’t quite figure out the cause for it. “Don’t you dare come back to this town.”
Faine’s laugh held no humor. “Don’t worry; I won’t.”
He watched her walk out. Her shoulders were stooped and there was a defeated air about her, as if she’d given up all hope. “What was that all about?” he muttered after she left.
Nya sighed. She picked up his empty coffee cup and placed it in the sink. She sauntered over to the counter and prepared another cup for him. “Men! Everything has to be spelled out.”
He whirled around to face her. “What do you mean?”
She handed him the cup.
He was more interested in an explanation and slowly took it. What did he miss?
“She’s in love with you.”
He recalled his conversation with Laney. She’d pretty much said the same thing. “It can’t be.”
Nya raised an eyebrow. “So a woman can’t possibly be in love with you? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I’m not saying that. But I mean—I never ever dated her. There was never anything between us.”
“She loves you,” Nya said in a firm, no nonsense voice “Maybe she had hopes of you guys getting together one day. I’m sure she must have shown some interest in you.”
“She did, but…” He shook his head. Reece felt like a total idiot. Had he done or said something to encourage Faine? Maybe he should have been more forthright about turning her down. “I didn’t know she was serious.”
“Unrequited love is the worst,” she said. “When she realized you were interested in me, and not her, it must have devastated her. She probably lost her mind for a while. I bet she came here to see what we were up to. Maybe she just wanted to find out if we were…you know, serious about each other. She must have sensed you were inside the house, but she still took the risk of coming close. It’s obvious she’s not thinking straight.”
“She must have caught my scent.”
Nya ran a hand over her face. “I feel sorry for her. If there’s anything I could do to help—but I can’t figure it out. She can’t stay here.”
“Obviously not. She might attack you again.”
“We can just hope she’ll find someone who can help her.”
Was obsessive love the reason that drove Faine? If so, he needed to do something about it. Obviously, he wasn’t the right person to talk to her. “I’ll tell Laney to find her. She migh
t be able to talk some sense into her,” he growled.
“That’s a good idea.” She gazed at her watch. “I should go and change. Oh! Will I see you again tonight?”
“Oh yeah,” he said.
They both grinned. They really needed to figure things out regarding the status of their relationship, but right now there was so much else going on.
“Great,” she said.
He was also late for work. Quickly, they both showered and changed. He watched her drive away, and then he took his car and went to his office. She should be fine. He didn’t think Faine would attack again, and of course, there were other people in her office. He tried hard to not think about all the times she was alone in the forest with just one guy for company. If Faine got her then, if the shooter found her—no, he would drive himself crazy thinking about such things. She was a strong independent woman and he couldn’t ask her to remain cooped up in the house for too long. They had to live their lives and figure out the new normal.
It would happen. In time, they would find a new balance.
Chapter Twenty Three
Work kept her mind off the turbulent events that continued to plague them. Just as she thought everything was settling back into an easy rhythm, Faine’s appearance disturbed her. Faine wasn’t functioning well. That was easy enough to see, but there wasn’t much Nya could do to help her. She was the last person whose help Faine would accept. Plagued by uncertainty, she continued to pound on her laptop keys to complete the report as fast as possible.
Hopefully, Reece would have called Laney and asked her to find Faine before she left town. The younger, female werewolf needed to talk to someone who understood her pain. She loved a guy, but he wasn’t interested. While it was something everyone pretty much had to deal with at least once, the pain of it was unique for the person who experienced it. If Faine didn’t get an opportunity to vent her feelings and to discuss them with someone who understood the anguish, she might do something drastic again.
Nya picked up her phone from her desk to dial Reece’s number. Just as she was about to hit the first digit, her door burst open and her co-worker peeked in. “There’s a fire on the eastern ridge. The firefighters have been called in, but we’ve also been deployed.”