The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.
Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Tall Dark Handsome Lycan, Book 4
Copyright © 2014 Anastasia Maltezos
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilization of this work in whole or in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now known or hereafter invented, is forbidden without the written permission of the publisher.
Tall Dark Handsome Lycan, Book 4
Author: Anastasia Maltezos
Chapter One
Matt stared at the woman entering his office. Most of his clients appeared tense on their first meeting with him, especially the ones who wanted their lovers followed, but this woman looked terrified, as though she was ready to drop from sheer fright.
He rose and stretched his hand across his desk. “I’m Matthew Walker. How do you do?” The woman’s breath caught as she stared at his hand, her eyes widening. “I don’t bite,” he added gently.
She recovered quickly and took his hand. “No, of course you don’t. I’m Madison O’Reilly, but you can call me Maddy. I’m pleased to meet you, Mr Walker.”
“Matt, please.” She was soft spoken and he found her voice appealing. He shook her hand and was about to release it, but his inner wolf opened its eyes and released a long, slow growl. Matt clenched his jaw, cautioning his beast to behave. This woman was hardly a threat, he thought, as he skimmed his gaze over her features. She was rather plain looking with long, brown hair pulled back in a ponytail and a simple black skirt and white cardigan. Slowly, he released her hand, the immediate absence of her warm touch disturbing him on a level he couldn’t define. “Please, have a seat.”
She took the seat in front of his desk. “Now, tell me what I can do for you,” he said, sitting down. She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, so she couldn’t be here for a wayward husband.
Maddy took a deep breath and released it on a weary sigh. “Where do I start?”
Matt smiled. “How about starting at the beginning?”
Her gaze wavered under his. “All right.” She paused, clearing her throat delicately.
“Would you like some water?” He asked. “Or a coffee?”
She flashed him a fleeting smile and Matt was taken aback, correcting his earlier thought. This woman wasn’t plain. Her brief smile had softened her face, the fear behind her brown eyes disappearing, her expression warming. An undeniable tug of awareness settled in his gut at the sensual curve of her mouth.
“No. Thank you.” She drew in a soft breath. “I’m here because you have something I need,” she said, her expression returning to its former anxiety.
Matt raised his brow. “And what might that be?”
“A wand, or rather, a broken wand.”
Matt stiffened. Perhaps his inner beast hadn’t been so quick to awaken a few minutes ago. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She must have referred to the wand that had belonged to Catherine when Leo had killed her a few days ago. How the devil did she know about it?
“Look, I’m on your side,” Maddy said, a tremor running through her voice. “Isn’t that what all this is about? Sides? Good versus evil?” She paused, drawing in another long breath. “Please, let’s not waste each other’s time. I know you have the wand and I need it.”
Matt clenched his jaw. “You are mistaken. I have no wand. Halloween isn’t for a few more months.”
A brief flash of annoyance darkened her otherwise pale features and he narrowed his eyes.
“Look, I’ll save us both some time,” she said. “I know who you are. You’re a two hundred year old lycan and this private investigator’s office is a front. You’re really a member of an elite, secret organisation of lycans who live in anonymity. Your prime directive is to protect the innocent and to keep the New York city streets safe from Garos’s army. A few days ago, Leonidis Stefanos and his one, Samantha Hope, killed one of the most dangerous witches.” Maddy stopped to catch her breath. “I’m Catherine’s descendant and I’m human. Will that do?”
He tensed under her innocent gaze, making him think of the old adage, a sheep in wolf’s clothing. “Leo’s one?” He asked slowly.
His beast was on high alert now, thrashing and howling within him. Matt did nothing to calm it down. He inhaled slowly through his nose. Even in his human form, his lycan speed could snap her neck in two seconds. This innocent looking woman apparently had more brewing under her than met the eye.
“His one as in Leo’s soul mate, his true love,” Maddy said. “I know about the lycan legend. I...I also know your one died two hundred years ago.”
Matt stiffened violently. Very few people knew about that dark time in his life. So few, he could count them on one hand. “Who the hell are you?” He growled.
****
Maddy cowered under his withering glare. This man was huge, with wide shoulders, strong arms, and a lycan monster beneath his surface that could rip her to shreds in mere seconds. She shivered in spite of the comfortable temperature in his office. She had to proceed gently and try not to anger him. His reputation as Leonidis Stefanos’s right arm did him justice. Matt was a powerful lycan who had braved many undefeated battles alongside the family’s leader, Leonidis. No wonder Garos wanted them both dead. With Matt and Leo out of the way, he could rule New York and then conquer the rest of the main cities.
“I have no interest in interfering in your family’s ongoing battle with Garos,” she said. “That is a war you and your European counterparts must fight. I’m here because I need that wand.”
“You seem to know a lot about me, don’t you?” He asked in a dangerously soft voice.
Little did he know how much of that was true, she thought. “I may be human, but I was born from a long line of witches. Catherine wasn’t the only one with a crystal ball.”
His brow rose. “Are you implying you possess a crystal ball?”
Maddy’s face fell. “I did. Rather, my sister did, but it was destroyed.”
“I see.” Matt’s face hardened as he leaned forward in his seat, staring at her with a dark and dangerous gaze. “If I did possess this wand, as you say, why do you need it?”
It had been wishful thinking on her part thinking he’d simply give her the wand and she’d be on her way. Her heart raced and she realised she needed to cut this meeting short. His presence was wreaking havoc to her senses and she didn’t think she could take another minute with him. There was something predatory behind his dark gaze and she couldn’t help feeling like little red riding hood about to be devoured by the big, bad wolf.
“I need to destroy it,” she said.
Matt held her gaze for what seemed an eternity before he spoke. “The wand is already destroyed. Sam snapped it in two before Leo killed Catherine. It’s useless.”
Maddy hid her relief. At least he admitted, in a roundabout way, he had the wand. “No, it isn’t. It’s still alive.”
“Alive?”
“Yes. It must be burned. As long as the wand exists, her magic is still with us.”
<
br /> “Why should I believe you?” Matt asked. “Catherine was dangerous and if you’re one of her descendants, how do I know you’re not as evil as she was?”
“If I was, you would already be dead.” Maddy knew she was going to have to be patient. Leonidis’s family hadn’t protected humankind for centuries because they’d been fools.
Matt raised a haughty brow. “Witches are able to produce spells only with their wands. If I had seen you produce a wand, I would snap your neck. Magic cannot defeat my speed.”
Maddy’s mission started unravelling before her eyes. She swallowed the wave of frustration building in her throat. “Catherine’s descendants have wanted her dead for centuries. My family is grateful to Leo and Sam for having done what we couldn’t do. We’ve had members of our coven hunt her down for as long as anyone can remember, but to no avail.”
“You don’t say.”
Maddy tensed her mouth. She wasn’t getting anywhere and her racing heart was starting to make her feel faint. She wished for the umpteenth time her heritage had bestowed her with magic. She could have benefited from a protection spell to guard her from his energy.
Her stomach was in knots and she rose on unsteady legs. “I’ve...I don’t think...I’m going to leave. I’ll be back tomorrow at the same time for the wand. If you don’t give it to me, you will force me to ask the coven for help. They are as anxious as I am for the wand to be destroyed and they’ll stop at nothing to get it.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you threatening me?”
“No. I’m voicing a fact. I took this mission because anyone else would have already killed you. My family isn’t wicked, but this mission is literally a matter of life and death. Your death would be unfortunate, but retrieving the wand would save hundreds, if not thousands.”
“So you chose this mission to ensure I wouldn’t be harmed. How altruistic of you. Why should you care if I live or die?” He asked, rising from his seat.
Maddy swallowed, avoiding his gaze. She had to get out of here before she fainted from the overwhelming rush of emotions beginning to suffocate her. “I...I believe this mission can be accomplished without bloodshed.”
“How noble of you. Leo would welcome a recruit with your values in his family,” he said dryly.
Maddy turned and went to the door. “You have until tomorrow,” she said over her shoulder.
As soon as she shut the door behind her, she gasped for air. Maddy knew she could never tell him the whole truth. Even after she destroyed Catherine’s wand, she still couldn’t tell him what her sister had seen in her crystal ball all those years ago.
The woman Matt had fallen in love with two hundred years ago hadn’t been his one.
According to the lycan legend, Maddy was Matt’s one, his true love, and she knew she could never compete with a ghost.
****
Matt grimaced as he jabbed the intercom button to his secretary. “Cancel all my appointments for the rest of the day.”
Grim-faced, he opened his drawer and grabbed his gun loaded with quicksilver bullets. He didn’t know if he should believe Maddy, but he sure as hell was going to be prepared if she was a spy sent from Garos, or worse, another Catherine.
He shoved the gun in the back of his jeans and grabbed his jacket. Maddy was going to be easy to tail. Her essence still hovered around him and he growled under his breath, disturbed by her effect on him. Tailing her or not, he would have preferred it if his beast wasn’t this damn attracted to her sweet, intoxicating scent.
He left his office and stepped outside onto the busy New York street. She was close by. He sensed her. Matt snapped his gaze to his left and watched her getting into a car. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and went to his car parked six spots behind her.
Matt watched her pull away and he started his engine. Moments later, he was driving three cars behind her, his thoughts getting darker by the minute.
Leo was on his honeymoon with Sam and hell would have to freeze over before Matt disturbed them. No, he would have to take care of this alone.
A half hour later, he watched Maddy pulling into the parking lot of a nursing home. He parked his car away from hers and watched her walk around the back of the building toward an open, green lawn. Matt followed her, stopping by one of the sporadic trees. Suddenly, she stopped and swung around toward him. Matt stiffened and sprung behind the large oak. Damn, that was close, he thought. Cautiously, he looked at her through the low hanging branches and watched her slowly turn back toward the big lawn.
She hurried toward an elderly woman who sat in a wheelchair with an attendant dressed in white standing off to the side. Maddy reached the old woman and dropped to her knees in front of her. She placed her hands on the woman’s lap and spoke.
Matt trained his lycan hearing on what she said.
****
“Hi, Gran,” Maddy said softly. “How are you today?”
Maddy’s odd feeling that she was being followed disappeared as soon as she gazed into her grandmother’s pale, worn out face.
Her grandmother stared at her, her expression confused. “I’m sorry, dear. Do I know you?”
Maddy’s heart squeezed. “I’m your granddaughter, Maddy. Remember?”
Her grandmother’s expression flickered for a moment. “I...It’s a tad chilly today, isn’t it?”
“Here. Let me wrap your shawl more securely around you.” Maddy swallowed the painful lump in her throat as she reached behind her grandmother’s thin shoulders and secured the paisley, silk shawl over her. “I bought this for you last week? Don’t you remember?” She asked gently.
Her grandmother didn’t comment as she settled back in her wheelchair and shifted her gaze to something behind Maddy. “I’ve been watching those two little girls play ball.” The expression behind her eyes was distant. “They remind me of my granddaughters when they were younger.”
Maddy took her grandmother’s hand and squeezed it gently. “Gran, it’s me, Maddy. I’m the one you remember.”
Her grandmother dropped her gaze to Maddy and stared at her for a long time as clarity flashed sporadically over her face, her mouth working with emotion. “Maddy?” She asked, her voice breaking.
Her heart swelled with relief. “Yes, it’s me, Maddy.”
Her grandmother frowned. “Where’s your sister? Where’s Melissa? She hasn’t come to see me in a long while.”
The back of Maddy’s eyes pricked. “Gran, Melissa died five years ago, remember?”
“Oh. Oh, yes, that’s right.”
Confusion and lucidity darkened her grandmother’s face and Maddy wondered if this was a good time to tell her the news. Inhaling slowly, she leaned forward. “Gran, I have to tell you something,” she began, dropping her voice so the nurse standing a few feet away didn’t overhear her. “I found the wand.”
Her grandmother’s expression shifted for a brief second as surprise lit her face. Hope flared in Maddy’s breast, but it disappeared quickly as her grandmother gave her another blank stare. “I...I’m tired, dear. I just want to sit here and watch those little girls play with the ball.”
Maddy bit her lip and nodded. “Okay, Gran. I’ll sit here with you and we can watch them together.” She turned around and watched the two little girls toss a yellow ball, back and forth, as their parents sat to the side, talking to an elderly man in a wheelchair.
Maddy’s mind was on the wand. She prayed Matt would have it when she returned to his office tomorrow.
****
Matt stayed behind the tree for another hour, watching Maddy sit by her grandmother. Neither woman spoke, but he could tell by the haunted look on Maddy’s face she was disturbed.
His thoughts remained on one interesting fact he’d discovered. Maddy needed the wand to break a spell. He watched Maddy rise and kiss her grandmother on the cheek.
“I’ll see you in a couple of days, Gran,” Matt heard her say.
He stayed behind the thick, shady tree until Maddy got into her car. With quick s
trides, he went to his car. He lined his brow into a thoughtful frown, realising there was more information he needed before he decided if he should help her.
Tight-lipped, he followed her out of the parking lot.
Chapter Two
Matt followed Maddy for another half hour until he watched her pull onto a residential street lined with small homes. She pulled into the driveway of a small, white bricked house and got out of her car. Matt parked across the street, a few car lengths away. His gaze narrowed on her as she walked to the porch.
All of a sudden, her front door flew open a little girl dressed in blue shorts and a red top flung herself toward Maddy. A curious tension settled in his gut. Was she married? Maddy laughed softly and gathered the little girl in her arms as she lifted her up in a warm embrace. Matt’s gut clenched at the appealing sound of her warm laugh.
“What a lovely greeting, honey,” he heard her say. He tightened his grip on his steering wheel and watched the little girl wrap her arms around Maddy’s neck.
“Can we go now, Auntie Mad?”
His tension eased. The little girl was her niece. Matt frowned, disturbed this piece of information had given him an immediate, yet odd sense of relief.
Maddy kissed her niece on the cheek. “Sweetie, the movie doesn’t start for another hour. We still have time.”
Her niece’s face crumbled. “I’ve been waiting all day.”
“Three hours isn’t all day. Come on. Let’s go inside so Wendy can leave.” Maddy lowered her niece on the porch and gazed down at the upturned face. “Speaking of which, were you a good girl for Wendy while I was gone?”
Her niece nodded. “I like this babysitter more than the last one. Wendy’s not afraid of me.”
Matt watched Maddy stiffen. “Effy, you didn’t say anything to Wendy about what we talked about, did you?”
“No.”
Tall Dark Handsome Lycan, Book 4 Page 1