“And how would you lose her? Was she into someone else?” I knew I was treading on thin ice, but it felt like the way to go.
“No, but it wouldn’t take long at Wellington before she figured out what we were and what we were working with. She’s human, it would have freaked her out.”
“But if she’s your mate she can’t freak out and run.” At least that’s how I understood it working.
“Exactly. Like I said, I can’t lose her.”
“You were worried she’d be upset you were a wolf?” If so she’d have an issue with me as well.
“That and that we deal with weapons. She’s the kind of girl who hates hunting. She hates guns. She couldn’t hurt a fly.”
“So, what does she think you guys do?” They were unnaturally good at making up stories.
“Computers. She thinks we sell computer components and chips.”
“How’d you manage to keep her away from the truth?” She’d known them for four years. Surely someone would have slipped.
“We choose carefully what work she gets.”
“What about the merger?” I had him talking, I needed to push him to continue. “She has to know about it.” I had to keep my cover, but I couldn’t forget the real reason I was there.
“She thinks it’s a rival company. We’ve been careful how much we’ve said.”
“It must be hard.” I kept my voice even. “Keeping so much from the girl you care about.”
“It is, but like I said, she’d have run and that would have made things difficult. It sucks to be Kenai. We have such few chances to find a mate.”
“I know what you mean.”
“Haven’t found anyone yet?” He returned to the bar and filled the remainder of his glass with what I assumed was whiskey.
“Not yet.”
He held up the glass bottle. “Want some of this instead of your tea?”
“No thanks.” Alcohol didn’t affect me much, but that didn’t mean I was interested in diluting my senses at all.
“I met Hope when I was twenty-one. It’s been hell waiting for her, but some things are worth waiting for.” He took a big swig before returning to his seat.
“I can see why she would be.” I definitely could, but that didn’t mean I wanted him to know it. He’d probably fight me if he had any clue the thoughts going through my head about her.
He set down his glass. “What else did my brother tell you?”
“Tell me about what?” I wondered if my comment had gone too far. It wasn’t as if I could lie and say she was unattractive.
“He really sent you here in case Hope was pregnant? That’s insane. We’ve only been here a few days.”
Maybe Justin wasn’t as gullible as his brother thought. “But you have to be careful with a Kenai pregnancy.”
“Of course, but unfortunately that may take a while. I trust you had no plans to get home anytime soon.” He pushed his chair back and put his feet up on the table. And he wondered why Hope didn’t want him?
“I wanted to work for my own kind. I don’t mind waiting.”
“Yeah, I bet taking orders from humans was a pain.” He downed the rest of his drink.
“It was what it was, but I’d rather be here. Not a bad climate either.”
“No, not at all. Perfect for all sorts of things.” He gazed out at the water.
“What do you guys use this place for when not this?” I carefully avoided pointing out exactly what this meant.
“Storage, meetings sometimes. Messing with new formulas we can’t risk getting out.”
“But all that stops when you rent the island out, or use it yourself for things like this?”
“The mating use is new, and it’s just cover against the other families.”
“Yeah, I figured that much.”
“Will you help me?” His expression grew serious.
“Help with what?” I asked cautiously.
“Getting Hope to come around. She’s been freezing me out worse than normal.”
Of course she was. He’d kidnapped her. Was he a complete idiot? I couldn’t say any of that out loud. “Of course. I’ll talk to her.”
“Great. Maybe she’ll relax knowing she’s not alone here. I think that’s the part that’s freaking her out.”
“Regretting picking the isolation?”
“No.” He took his feet off the table. “This stays between you and me.”
“Of course.”
“She had a thing for Clayton. I needed to get her away from him.”
“Did he know that? That why he suggested you guys come?” I wasn’t going to admit his words came as no surprise to me.
“He knows if I mate the pressure is off of him. Our family line continues, and everything is fine. He can just have fun with whatever women he wants and run the business.”
“But you want to mate.” I sipped my sweet tea. The ice had long ago melted, but it was still cold enough.
“I want Hope. Once I met her I knew.”
“Where does your sister fit in all this? Did she know all along?” Hope had seemed particularly upset about the sister.
“She assured me it wouldn’t come to this. She thought when Hope realized she couldn’t have Clayton, she’d transfer those feelings over to me.”
“But it didn’t work?” Hope had referred to the sister as her ex-best friend. Assumingly her best friend would know how serious her feelings were for Clayton, which suggested either Hope wasn’t serious about him, or the sister was lying.
“Guess not. Clayton said he’d tried to let her down easy, but she didn’t seem to get it.”
“Hope seems like a smart girl.” I chose my words more carefully this time.
“She is.”
“Is there anything in particular you want me to tell her? You know, to convince her?”
“I don’t know. I can’t tell how much of this comes from her still wanting Clayton, and how much is nerves.”
“Maybe it’s a mix.”
“Maybe.” He stood and looked out over to the water. “I don’t recognize your name? What family line were you born into?”
“None. I was raised by humans.”
“Oh yeah?” His eyes widened. “And you never found out who your parents were?”
“I never cared to. I figured things out on my own.”
“Impressive.” He turned back toward the water.
“Not really.”
“Well, we’re always looking for new blood. Play your cards right, and you’ll be inducted.”
“That’s the hope.” Both Wellington brothers seemed to think that’s what I wanted. In truth I wanted nothing to do with their family, nor any like it.
He smiled. “Good. I was worried you were hiding something. Now I know what it is. There’s nothing wrong with ambition.”
“No. There’s not.”
“Just like there’s nothing wrong with hiding your ambition.”
“Oh yeah? You know that from experience?”
“I do.” He smiled, and I realized there might just be more to Justin than met the eye.
I also realized this talk wasn’t going to lead to any new information. My best bet was to find Hope. “Any idea where Hope might be?” Even talking about her sent a thrill through me. “I can go talk to her.”
“She’ll stay close to the water. Follow the beach and you’ll find her.”
“I’ll make sure she’s okay.”
“Don’t let her fool you though. She wants this. It’s all Clayton and nerves, that’s it. She’s been into me for years. She’s just repressing it.” His eyes were darker now.
“I’ve heard of that happening.” Pretending to agree was getting easier.
“One day she’ll appreciate all the things I did for her.”
“Oh yeah?” This guy was completely crazy, but I wanted to hear what he had to say.
“Yeah. I did more for her than anyone in my family even knows.” He put a hand to his chest. “More than she even knows.�
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“That’s dedication.”
“And I would do it all over again. You get it? I’d kill for her.”
“Have you?” I wasn’t sure what made me ask, but I did. I needed to get a better idea of who this Justin really was.
“I’ll leave that up to you to decide.” He smirked. “Go talk to her.”
I turned around without another word. This situation was getting stranger by the minute.
Ten
Hope
I dipped my toes in the water and closed my eyes. For a moment I pretended I was dreaming, but like every time I’d had that delusion in the past few days, I opened my eyes to find myself right back where I started. I pushed away those thoughts and focused instead on Ryan Carter.
I had no idea who he was, but I had trouble believing he was a doctor. I’d known it from the moment we first made eye contact. I also knew he had an effect on me I’d never experienced before in my life.
I pushed the second thought away. It couldn’t help me. I needed to find out if he was on their side or mine. Of course he was probably on their side, but then did why did I want to trust him? Was it just because his eyes seemed to see deep into my soul, or the way he looked in that blazer? No, there was something about him that made me wonder if he was hiding something from Justin. Anyone willing to hide something from Justin was a potential ally of mine right now.
I opened my eyes and blinked a few times. The sun was still high in the sky, and the bright afternoon was nothing like the darkness when I closed my eyes. I never thought I’d prefer darkness to the brightness of a sunny day on the beach, but that was because I never expected to end up stranded on an island with a crazy man.
“Hey.”
I jumped at the sound of the voice behind me before composing myself and turning around. I knew exactly who’d I find, yet I was still surprised by Ryan’s friendly face. There was a hesitation there, as if he was nervous. What in the world did he have to be nervous about? “Hi. Get tired of Justin too?”
He smiled ever so slightly. It was there one moment and then disappeared the next. “Maybe.”
“Have you come to talk some sense into me? Huh? Remind me how my freedom is all in my hands?” I tried to ignore the way his eyes raked over me. Would he be doing that if he was really working for the Wellingtons? Maybe. I wouldn’t put anything past the people that associated with them.
“No.” He sat down on a boulder jutting out near the water. “I’m here to talk.”
“Talk?” I replied as evenly as possible. “About what?”
“I don’t know. What sorts of things do you like to talk about?”
I laughed despite not wanting to. “Oh boy. Let’s see. I like to talk about getting home.” It was what kept me sane, thinking about getting back to a normal life.
“I mean before you came here. What did you like to talk about?” His eyes seemed kind, and from what I could tell he actually meant the question. He wanted to know. The real question was why.
“Before or after meeting Mirabella?” It was depressing how my life could be segmented that way. There was the life before, living in the Atlanta suburbs with my parents and two little brothers. Then there was the after. The parties, the private jets, Clayton. I could barely imagine how different life would be without them. “It’s like everything about me changed once I met her.”
“Explain.” He swiveled his body so he was looking right at me.
“You could ask nicely.”
“You want to talk. You said it yourself earlier. This is your chance.” His eyes challenged me.
“Are you a shrink too?” Not that I actually believed the man held a medical degree.
“When I want to be.” He grinned.
Of course. He had to have an attitude. “All right then. I used to be into all sorts of things. Music, movies, books. But everything else kind of faded away after freshman year. Life became parties, business school, getting the right internships.”
“Mirabella was into these things too?” He held out his hand to me. “You could sit, you know. There’s plenty of room.”
“No thanks. I’m fine standing. And to answer your question, no. Well, she was definitely into the partying part. That was her favorite thing in the world.”
“Why’d you allow yourself to change?” He made no move to stand up. I’d expected him to. If he was trying to win me over he would have, which made me wonder what his end game was.
“You think it was a choice?” I put a hand to my chest.
“Maybe, maybe not. I’m just asking.”
“You are a shrink.” I stepped into the water, thankful that the cove we were in protected us from the worst of the waves.
“I already told you, I am when I want to be.”
“You don’t seem like Justin. But are you?” I studied him. He was handsome. That was for sure. And he was tall, muscular, but he was also something completely different than the guys I was used to. Wild almost.
“Meaning what exactly?” He raised an eyebrow.
“Meaning whatever you think I mean.” I threw it back at him. I wasn’t bringing up the shifting into a wild animal thing until he did. That might help me decide whether I was crazy or not.
“Are we talking about the wolf part?” He looked out at the water.
“He can turn into a wolf, can’t he?” It was hard to say it out loud. It was easier to pretend it was all my imagination.
“He can. So can I.” His voice dropped down in volume.
I jumped back.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” He stood up, which was the wrong thing to do. I remembered him being tall, but he seemed even taller now.
I backed away another few steps. I wasn’t going to make the mistake of trying to out swim one of them again. “You sound just like him.”
He glanced over his shoulder as if checking to make sure no one was around. “Except I mean it.”
My jaw dropped. I never knew what that felt like until that moment. His words were real. I felt them. How could one feel a word? I don’t know, but I did. I believed him whether that was a smart decision or not.
“Why don’t we end this conversation there.” He turned away.
“Wait.” Was he serious? He finally had my trust and he was going to walk away? “Please.”
He stepped toward me, and this time I didn’t consider moving away. He leaned in, his lips brushing against my ear. “You’re not as alone as you think, Hope.”
I nodded, stunned by the electric current flowing threw me from his lips.
“I almost forgot.” He pulled a white envelope out of his interior suit pocket. Then he took the coat off. It was as if he’d only still had it on for the envelope.
“What’s that?” My chest clenched slightly, fearing what the contents held. Not that anything could be much worse than my current situation, but somehow I felt it wasn’t going to be good.
“It’s from Clayton. He specifically told me to give it to you when Justin wasn’t around and to make sure you read it.”
I turned the envelope in my hands, searching for evidence that it was something other than what it appeared. “I’m not sure if I want to open it.” I didn’t want to know what Clayton had to say. I’d wasted years pining over a guy who turned out to be a psycho. If it was up to me, I’d never think about him again.
“You want me to?” He held out his hand.
“Yes.” I handed the envelope back to him. Normally I would have done it myself, but really all I wanted to do was throw it in the ocean; however, I knew that wasn’t a particularly good idea. I needed any information I could get no matter how much I didn’t like the sender.
“All right.” He carefully opened the envelope and pulled out one exceptionally thick piece of stationary. “I assume you want me to read it first?”
“Yes. I already feel like crap. I don’t need to read whatever he’s going to say.” Yet I needed to know exactly what was in it.
He nodded and met my eyes. “Ok.”
“What does it say?” Suddenly my nonchalant attitude was gone. I needed to know.
“I need to ask you something.”
“Ask away.” I tried to bite back my impatience. I was the one who asked him to read the letter first.
“Has Clayton told you he isn’t interested in you?” Ryan looked down, as if uncomfortable asking the question.
I was uncomfortable hearing it. The words hit me in the gut, but not in the same way I would have expected them to. This was more embarrassment than disappointment. “Told me as in with words?”
“Yeah… or in any way.”
“No. If anything he’s been nicer. Almost flirting. He did this thing with my shirt the other day.” I felt blood flow to my cheeks and knew I was blushing. I could scream about my lack of virginity without embarrassment, but somehow discussing Clayton alone with Ryan made it so much worse. And I knew why, because it showed my weakness. I’d fallen for a guy who was a complete and utter jerk.
“What did he do?”
“I had ink all over me, and he cleaned it, and it involved…” I shook my head. “Never mind.”
“OK. But he was more touchy than he needed to be?” Ryan asked.
“Not inappropriate.” Not like Justin. I shuddered.
“What does the letter say?”
“You really need to read it yourself.” He handed the paper to me.
I accepted it and made myself read it. Hope- I know what you are thinking. Stop. I already know you would never mate with Justin. I’m sure a few days in paradise won’t hurt you long term. Have no fear, I’m coming for you. All will work out exactly the way it was meant to.
Stay strong for me.
Clayton
What? I tried to understand the message. Was Clayton trying to say he was into me and this was part of some plan? Was he really that crazy? Ryan was watching me expectantly so I had to say something. But there was nothing to say that didn’t involve various profanities. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“Is this what you wanted?” There was a note of disappointment in his voice.
“No.” I shook my head. “Maybe once, but not now. I want nothing to do with any of them.” Then I realized how that might be interpreted. I didn’t want Ryan to think I was anti-wolf. I wasn’t losing my only potential ally, especially not one who appealed to me as much as Ryan did. “With the Wellingtons.”
Heart of the Wolf (The Heart Chronicles Book 1) Page 9