Tempted by the Wolf

by Alicia Montgomery

  A few minutes later, the door slid open, and Grant walked back inside. This time, Daric was seated at the small table in the middle of the room. He motioned for the Alpha to sit.

  “Well?” Grant asked, leaning back on the chair.

  “Fine, I will share my knowledge with you. But only if you promise me I will be there when you try to capture Stefan.”

  “Done.”

  “Now take this off me,” Daric demanded, waving his arm with the bracelet.

  Grant shook his head. “You know I can’t. You could dematerialize at any time, and I wouldn’t be able to find you.”

  “Then we have no deal. You’ve seen what Stefan can do, what he did to me without my powers,” he said, motioning to the bandages on his torso. “Stefan will kill me with a wave of his hand.”

  “If you were in my position, would you remove the bracelet?”

  The warlock remained silent.

  “Daric, I promise you, when the time comes, you will be there when we get Stefan. But for now, you’ve got to trust me.”

  “But trust goes both ways, right?” the warlock asked.

  Grant uncrossed his arms and leaned forward. “I suppose, but then it’s also earned.”

  “Then we will have to see what happens,” Daric said cryptically.

  “Fine,” Grant said. “I’ll inform the team and see what we can do. But, to show you my trust in you, I’ll hold you to your word and your pledge to me on your father’s grave and your mother’s life that you won’t try to escape.”

  “And how would you do that?”

  “I won’t have you outfitted with a tracking device. I’ll only have your word that you won’t run away.”

  “How can I run away when I’m in this cell?”

  “You won't be for long. I’ll have you transferred to our security team barracks on the 16th floor. You might like communal living, but you’ll be free to stay in your room, if you prefer.”

  Daric shrugged. “As you wish.”

  The Alpha continued, "You'll have the freedom to go to certain areas and have some privacy," Grant said. "I will, however, assign someone to escort you when you’re around the building or if you need to go outside. I do have my people here, and some of them don’t know who you are or what you’re doing here.”

  “Fair enough,” Daric said.

  “Someone will be by to bring you upstairs,” Grant said, getting to his feet. “By the way, you know Nick Vrost will not be happy with this arrangement. Do not cross him. I’ll talk to you soon, Daric.”

  “Alpha,” he nodded. As soon as Grant left, Daric lay back down on the bed. His ribs were still sore, but he didn’t want to show his weakness. Trust the Alpha? Trust the Lycans? Years of brainwashing from Stefan had conditioned him to hate the Lycans. Could he learn to trust them? Could they trust him? For one thing, he’d already lied to the Alpha. No, not about wanting to kill Stefan. But about his powers. As a seer, he couldn’t see his own destiny, but there was another who left him drawing a blank.

  The Lycan woman. Meredith.

  Aside from seeing flashes of the future here and there, when he touched another person, he’d get visions about them, both past and future. Some good, mostly bad. He learned to live with it. He had to or it would have driven him mad and prevented him from touching anyone. It became difficult when he needed the company of a woman, but he managed. For one thing, he mostly went back to the same half a dozen lovers he’d had over the years. Women who he knew had happy or even boring lives.

  The first time he held Meredith when she was under him, and he pinned her arms over her head, he flinched and prepared himself for the visions that usually took him over. But there was nothing. Complete silence and merciful blackness. He was so surprised that he could do nothing but stare into her dark amber eyes and her flushed face.

  Daric thought it was a fluke. He wanted to test it again. She had been so close he could smell her perfume—it reminded him of the wildflowers that used to grow in his mother’s garden. Her hands were on his face and he reached up to touch them. Again, nothing. No flashes or images from her past.

  What did it mean? He shook his head. He wasn’t sure. Was it possible the bracelet was also dampening his seer powers? No, he could still feel the link to his mother.

  It didn’t help that he desired her, and could see the bold wanting in her eyes that time he pinned her down with his body. It had been a while since he’d wanted a woman. He only sought out female company to relieve the biological need. But with Meredith…He often wondered if her lips would feel soft against his or what her breasts would feel like in his hands. How her bare skin would feel against his. She was intoxicating. And all wrong for him. She was brash, loud, crude, and his enemy. Or at least, she was a Lycan, and she stood in his way. No, this was one path he wouldn’t go down. He had to control himself and make sure she stayed away from him. Stefan’s demise was his singular goal. Nothing would stop him, no matter how lush or desirable the temptation.

  Chapter Two

  “Did you do what I asked, Victoria?” Stefan said to the woman in front of him.

  “Of course, Master,” she answered. “But, if you would allow me to speak—“

  “About what?” Stefan’s voice grew angry. “Do you have a problem with what I’m doing?”

  “Of course not, Master!” The witch shook her head. “I’m just thinking, perhaps we are moving too fast! The mages aren’t getting the proper training and they’re getting sloppy! And the humans we’ve been taking to amass our armies! Why, they’re not trained, many of them were half starved when we picked them up off the street!”

  “You dare question my tactics, Victoria?” the master mage asked. He raised his hand, and a ball of blue fire began to form.

  “No! Of course not,” she bowed her head and cowered back. “I know our defeat and the loss of Daric—”

  “Do not say that traitor’s name out loud!” Stefan raged. “He is dead to me! He tried to kill me and he can rot in that Lycan jail for all I care.”

  “As you wish, Master,” she said, cowering back.

  Their last defeat at the hands of the Lycans had deeply affected the master mage. While their previous skirmishes with them kept revealing Stefan’s cleverness, cunning, and the deeper layers of his plans, this time, it seemed to unravel him. Victoria wasn’t sure if it was the betrayal of his protégé or the loss of the Creed dragon that did it, but Stefan had changed. Instead of careful plans, he was getting careless. And Victoria was at a loss. She hated the Lycans as much as Stefan did, but it was as if her master was taking a last stand—the last battle to be fought to end the war, and she wasn’t sure if they were on the winning side.

  Stefan turned to her, his face drawn into a pensive mask. “Do not fret, Victoria,” he assured her, his lips curling into a smile. “I still have many cards to play. In fact, perhaps it’s time to use my most important one yet.”

  “What is it, Master?” Victoria asked curiously.

  He laughed. “Rome wasn’t built in a day, my dear. And so I’ve been working for decades.”

  “Working on what, Master?”

  Stefan let out of laugh. “My dear, what did you think this was all about? Just destroying the Lycans?”

  “Isn’t it?” Victoria gritted her teeth. “Those filthy creatures should be wiped off the face of the earth!”

  “Ah, your hatred does fuel your well, my dear,” Stefan commented. “But, no.”

  “What? You don’t want to get rid of them? But why—”

  “Shush, my dear, have you no faith in me?” Stefan asked. “I want to crush them as much as you do. I hate them all. But, death would be too good for them. Don’t you want them to suffer?”

  “What are you saying, Master?”

  “The Lycans are an untapped resource. You don’t think the spell control to the humans was the final goal, do you? No. I’ve also been working to modify it. To control the Lycans and take over the world.”

  Victoria gasped.

>   “With an unstoppable army—both human and Lycan—I will rule this wretched world!”

  “So, you do have a spell to control the Lycans? But how would that work?” Victoria shook her head. “The Lycans are programmed to obey their Alpha—it’s ingrained deep in their DNA, which is why our spell wouldn’t work on them in the first place.”

  “With some modifications, the spell will work.”

  “And the Alpha? Would you have to break a Lycan’s pledge to their Alpha?”

  “Something like that,” Stefan said mysteriously. “And I still have our biggest ally working behind the scenes.”

  “An ally?” Victoria asked. “Who?”

  “Someone who you and the Lycans would never suspect.”

  Chapter Three

  Meredith walked—no, she practically ran back to her room on the 16th floor. She closed the door behind her and sat on her bed, breathing deeply. Was Daric putting some sort of spell on her? She could hardly tear herself away from his gaze. No. It must have been her imagination. Daric and his damn sexy chocolate scent and his muscles and stupid handsome face and his yummy abs and…

  Grreeowwrl.

  Ugh. She would have told the she-wolf to shut up, but it would only encourage the damn animal.

  “Arrggghhh!” she moaned, throwing herself on the bed and placing her pillow over her head. Stop it, she told herself. Why was she acting like some teenager? She had to stay away from Daric. Throwing the pillow aside, she sat up.

  After the last skirmish with the mages, Meredith was transferred from her cell in the Fenrir Corporation basement detention level to the security barracks on the 16th floor. Alynna Westbrooke, who took charge of Meredith after she was detained, said that she had earned it. Meredith had, at that point, risked her life several times for the New York Lycans. The room in the Fenrir security training facilities was spartan, but it was certainly an improvement from her cell. At least here she had a window, along with a great view of the Manhattan skyline. She started to put her own touches in the room to make it homey.

  Meredith also joined the new batch of recruits for the New York clan's Lycan security force. She supposed she had to do something with her time. And most of the people in the security team weren’t bad, but they were definitely in the “hazing the new girl” stage. Or at least she hoped it was, and it wasn’t just because she kicked some of their asses the first time she encountered them.

  A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. “Come in,” she called.

  The door creaked open, and Grant walked in.

  “Hey, what’s up?” she asked.

  “You know, most Lycans here would call me Alpha or Primul,” he said wryly.

  “Well, you’re not my Alpha, are you?” Meredith retorted.

  “I suppose you’re right,” Grant smirked. “May I?” he asked, motioning to the chair in the corner of the room.

  “Go right ahead,” she shrugged.

  Grant took the chair and moved it closer to the bed. He looked up and squinted at the large poster hanging over Meredith’s head. “Wow…that is…” It was a picture of a unicorn in screaming shades of purple and pink on a lime green background.

  “Fabulous?” Meredith supplied.

  “I was going to say headache-inducing,” Grant said, shaking his head.

  “So, to what do I owe this visit? I don’t think you’re here to comment on my interior design skills.”

  “Right.” Grant cleared his throat. “I have a job for you.”

  “A job?” Meredith asked. “You know, you can just tell me what to do, right? You don’t have to make it sound like I have a choice.”

  “But you do,” Grant said. “This is entirely voluntary. But it could be beneficial to you.”

  Meredith was intrigued. “All right, you have my attention. What is it?”

  “Daric has agreed to help us find Stefan and stop him. I need you to keep a close eye on him.”

  Nuh-uh. No way. She just resolved to stay away from Daric, and now Grant wanted her to spend more time with him?

  “I can see you’re not crazy about the idea,” Grant said. “So, why don’t you think about the next part of my deal? I’ll shorten your sentence to 5 years if you do it.”

  “What?” Meredith shot up to her feet. Five years was a lot. That meant she’d be out of here soon (or soon-ish) and sunbathing on a beach in Bora-bora in no time. It was certainly better than a decade. All she had to do was babysit the warlock? “What’s the catch?”

  “It wouldn’t be any different from guarding Dr. Cross,” Grant said.

  “Then why not offer it to any other of your security guys?” Meredith countered. “Is it because I’m dispensable? You know, he’ll try to escape the first chance he gets and get rid of anything that stands in his way.”

  “Not at all,” Grant replied. “In fact, the reason I want you to do this is that I don’t think he’d hurt you.”

  Meredith remained quiet. What did Grant mean?

  “Is there something wrong, Meredith? Why don't you want to be assigned to Daric? Did I walk in on something this morning?”

  “What?” the blonde Lycan gasped. “That was…it wasn’t…I was just being nice because I know what it’s like to be locked up for weeks without any company.”

  “Then is it because you don’t think you can guard Daric?” Grant challenged.

  “No!” Meredith protested. “Fine. I mean, yes, I can babysit the warlock.”

  “Good,” Grant stood up. “Because he’s moving into the room next to yours.”

  Before Meredith could protest, Grant stood up and left the room.

  “Oh, fuck me,” she moaned and fell back on the bed.

  Chapter Four

  The following morning, Meredith received orders from the Alpha that she was to escort Daric from the 16th floor barracks to Jade’s lab on the 33rd floor. She was finishing her morning workout, practicing her martial arts floor exercises by herself when one of the assistants from the executive floor handed her an envelope. Inside were instructions, including a schedule for Daric, which basically just consisted of three hours a day working with Jade and then back to the barracks. Seeing as she only had about an hour to go before she had to pick up the warlock from his room, Meredith headed to her room, took a shower, and got dressed for the day.

  Her current clothing options were quite limited, seeing as she didn’t exactly earn a salary. She put on a pair of dark jeans, a pink t-shirt, and sneakers then pulled her long, blonde hair back into a ponytail. After checking her reflection in the mirror and swiping some lipgloss on (which, she told herself, was not to impress anyone), she walked over to the room next to hers and knocked on the door.

  “Yo, warlock, time to get up!” she said, rapping her fingers on the wood. “I don’t have all day, you know.”

  The door slid open. “I’ve been ready for the past hour,” Daric retorted.

  Meredith stood still, her eyes roaming over Daric. The warlock was dressed casually in a pair of blue jeans, boots, and a tight, dark green t-shirt with the Fenrir logo that stretched across his expansive chest and showed off his muscular arms. His long blonde hair was freshly washed and pulled back in a messy man bun. There was already a light stubble on his face and she suddenly found herself wondering how it would feel against her inner thighs.

  “Well? Are we going or not?” Daric asked, his blue-green eyes peering down at her, a haughty look on his face. Scratch that last thought; now she wanted to wipe the floor with that handsome, arrogant mug.

  “Right,” Meredith muttered. “Follow me.” She turned around, not even bothering to check if he was following, because, where else would he go?

  They took the elevator up to the 33rd floor. Meredith’s handprint and retina scans were already programmed in, and they entered Jade’s lab with no problem. The clean and modern laboratory was large and looked like any scientific research facility. Meredith had no idea what most of the equipment in there was for, but she knew they were probably expen
sive. In the middle of the room was a staircase that led to an upper level which housed Jade’s office and inner lab. As they entered, Daric looked around in wonder. “So, this is where you Lycans study magic?”

  “Yeah. Sorry, no cauldrons or pointy hats here,” she quipped.

  “And where is Dr. Cross?”

  A loud crash from the inner office interrupted Meredith before she could answer. Daric tensed visibly, his brows knitting. Then, a faint feminine moan resonated from the inner lab followed by the rhythmic banging of furniture against the wall.

  “Goddamnit Jade!” Meredith slapped her hand on her forehead.

  “Is that…Dr. Cross and her mate…”

  “Going to Pound Town?” Meredith finished.

  “That’s rather crude,” Daric said pointedly.

  “Just be glad you don’t have enhanced hearing,” she groaned, sticking her fingers in her ears. She was happy that Jade and Sebastian were True Mates and all, but Jesus, someone needed to take a hose to them.

  She sighed. Meredith was still trying to wrap her head around the concept of True Mates. She had never even heard of or knew what True Mates were about until she came to New York. Lara and Jade had explained it when the witch had found her own True Mate in the San Francisco Alpha.

  Lycan couples had trouble conceiving, and the couples who do have children hardly have more than one. Lycans who marry non-Lycans also don’t conceive shifter kids, only fully human ones. The one exception was True Mate pairings. It was some type of Lycan magic/biological mojo that made two people so compatible that they immediately conceived a shifter baby the first time they had sex. Apparently, it also made the mother invulnerable to most things, including poisoning, stabbing, bullets, and falling a hundred feet off a cliff. While she thought it would be cool to be invincible like Superman, growing a magical bun in her oven didn’t sound appealing. No. A family wasn’t in her future. She was too fucked up to even think about being a mom.

  They stood there awkwardly for a few more minutes until the sounds finally stopped. Another minute later and the door to the office opened.