Wild About You las-13

by Kerrelyn Sparks

  “Howard!” Shanna’s voice shouted. “Don’t hang up!”

  “Don’t you dare come—” He groaned when two forms materialized. Dougal and Phil.

  Then Ian appeared, holding a tote bag and two duffel bags. “All right, ye can hang up now.”

  Howard grunted and pocketed his phone. “Go away. I didn’t invite you here.”

  “I met Harry,” Phil growled. “I’m attending the memorial service.”

  “I’d like to go, too,” Dougal added.

  “It’s in the afternoon,” Howard grumbled.

  Dougal sighed. “Verra well.” He looked around the hotel room. “Is there a safe place here where I can do my death-sleep?”

  Howard snorted. “In the bathtub, but the maid will freak out and call an ambulance.”

  “Then I’ll teleport to yer grandfather’s basement,” Dougal said. “And take Ian with me.”

  With a groan, Howard dragged a hand through his hair. “You don’t have to stick around.”

  “Aye, we do,” Ian said. “We’re part of yer family. Just be grateful the entire school dinna come. They all wanted to.” He dropped the duffel bags on the floor. “We packed you some clothes.”

  “I went through your closet and found a suit,” Phil added.

  Howard swallowed hard. They were being too damned nice to him, and he didn’t deserve it.

  Ian opened the tote bag. “I brought some Bleer for Dougal and me.”

  “I’ll take one.” Dougal grabbed a bottle.

  “And there’s a six-pack in here for you and Phil.” Ian set the regular beer on a dresser, and Phil opened a can.

  “And Shanna packed this for you.” Ian passed Howard a box from the bakery in Cranville. “They picked this up after their meeting with Elsa. Shanna reports it went well.”

  Did that mean Elsa had decided not to reject him? That should have lifted his spirit, but Howard felt strangely numb. He peeked inside the box. Fresh donuts and some cherry streusel. He set the box on the dresser.

  “Here.” Phil passed him a beer. “What time is the memorial service?”

  Howard took a sip. “One.”

  “We’re verra sorry—” Dougal began.

  “I don’t want to hear it!” Howard slammed his can onto the dresser and paced across the room. “I should have never involved him in my stupid scheme—”

  “Bullshit,” Phil grumbled.

  Howard spun to face him. “I’m telling you it was my fault.”

  “And I say bullshit,” Phil growled.

  Howard growled back.

  “Och, ye wee beasties,” Ian said as he opened a bottle of Bleer. “Take it easy.”

  “Easy?” Howard shouted. “Harry is dead because of me!”

  “Get over yourself,” Phil hissed. “Harry was doing exactly what he wanted to do. I was there at the diner when we had lunch. You wanted to keep everything stealthy and secret, right?”

  Howard shrugged. “So?”

  “It was Harry who insisted on making it public in his paper,” Phil insisted. “And you told him to keep it anonymous, but he started putting his name on the reports. He wanted Rhett to know it was him. That was his decision, not yours.”

  “Aye,” Dougal agreed. “Ye canna blame yerself, Howard.”

  “From what I understand, Harry also had a good reason to hate Rhett,” Ian added. “Dinna he lose his father, too?”

  Howard raked a hand through his hair. The guys were clearly trying to relieve him of any blame, but he couldn’t let himself off the hook. Harry was the one who had stayed in Alaska, while Howard had run off to a safe place. He’d thought his disappearance would keep his family safe, but he’d only succeeded in making Harry the main target of Rhett’s vengeance.

  “Harry was investigating your fathers’ deaths, right?” Phil asked. “He thought Rhett’s father killed them?”

  “It looks that way.” Howard related what Harry had found out.

  “So the feud between yer families has been going on for a long time,” Ian concluded.

  “I guess.” Howard drank some beer. “I was only four when my father died, so I don’t know the details. It could have been as simple as Rhett wanting the land that my father and Harry’s father owned.”

  Phil nodded. “For a Pack Master like Bleddyn, more land means a bigger pack, which means greater power.”

  Howard sat on the end of a bed. “It’s a clash of two different cultures. Werewolves always want to grow the pack, whereas were-bears want to be alone. Unfortunately, the wolves usually beat us, because they have greater numbers.”

  Dougal sat on the other bed next to Phil. “This is more than a clash of cultures. The hatred between you and Rhett is personal.”

  “Of course I hate him!” Howard jumped up to resume pacing. “He just killed my best friend.”

  “And your girlfriend,” Phil added.

  Howard snorted. Nosy bastards.

  “Rhett killed yer girlfriend?” Ian sat in the desk chair. “When did that happen?”

  Howard paced, remaining quiet.

  Phil drank some beer. “Well, it must have happened before he was banished, which means it happened before he went off to college.”

  “Ah, first love.” Dougal sighed. “Puir lass. What was her name? Was she a were-bear like you?”

  “She was innocent,” Howard grumbled. “An innocent mortal who trusted me. She died because Rhett hates my guts.”

  “Why does he hate you so much?” Dougal pressed.

  Howard sat on the bed and leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees. How many people would die because of him? First Carly. Now Harry. Was loving him a death sentence? Wasn’t that what Elsa feared?

  Howard took a deep breath. “It began when I was in high school.”

  Chapter Twenty-one

  “Rhett was the quarterback for a high school team in Anchorage,” Howard began. “Since his father was Pack Master of Alaska, Rhett enjoyed the support of hundreds of werewolf minions all over the state. Those who worked in the media turned him into a star. Werewolf boys who played on other football teams let Rhett’s team win. Their loyalty to the Pack Master’s son was greater than any loyalty to a mortal school. Werewolf teachers gave him perfect grades. He could do no wrong. He was the state’s golden boy, destined for greatness.”

  Phil nodded. “We heard about him in Wyoming. The rumor was he was being groomed to run for governor or senator, and, ultimately, president.”

  “What went wrong?” Ian asked.

  “I did.” Howard grabbed his beer and took a drink. “Harry and I were defensive linemen for the football team in Port Mishenka.”

  Phil snickered. “The Port Mishenka Marmots.”

  Howard arched a brow at him. “I’m looking for a fight if you want to accommodate me.”

  “Enough, you two,” Dougal muttered. “Back to the story.”

  Howard drank more beer. “It was our senior year, a pre-season game just for fun. Everyone was expecting the bigger team from Anchorage to slaughter the little team from nowhere. We knew we’d been selected as a scapegoat to make Rhett look good. The media was there, ready to fawn all over him.”

  Dougal sat forward. “What happened?”

  “Harry and I could tell his offensive linemen were all werewolves, willing to die to protect him. And of course, they realized Harry and I were were-bears. We were the only shifters on our team. The rest were mortals, who had no idea why the game was suddenly becoming so violent. Harry would attack as many linemen as possible, keeping them busy so I could barrel my way through. I sacked Rhett ten times.”

  Phil chuckled. “I wish I could have seen that.”

  “The werewolves in the media reported I was a vicious psychopath, but the mortal media, who didn’t care for the Bleddyns, made me into a hero.” Howard sighed. “I started getting more attention than Rhett.”

  “Rhett’s father probably beat the crap out of him for that,” Phil muttered.

  Howard nodded. “The media was e
ager to see us pitted against each other again, so they arranged for an all-star game at the end of the season. I was selected to play on one team. Rhett was named quarterback for the other. It was televised all over the state.”

  “Did ye sack him again?” Ian asked.

  “Twelve times. I was named MVP and won a trophy. Scholarship offers came in. I was considered a state hero.”

  “And that honor was supposed to go to Rhett,” Dougal said.

  “Right.” Howard shrugged. “I didn’t think about the consequences at the time. I was too excited about the future. My college expenses would be paid for. I was dating a mortal girl from high school, and I wanted to marry her. Carly was her name.”

  “Did she know ye’re a were-bear?” Dougal asked.

  Howard nodded. “She was okay with it. She spent a lot of time with me on Paw Island, and she liked the were-bear community. I was going to propose to her the night of the senior prom. I went to Anchorage to buy an engagement ring. While I was away, there was a full moon, and Rhett and some of his werewolf buddies went after Carly.”

  “They attacked her?” Ian asked.

  “They surrounded her.” Howard took a deep breath. “I assume it was Rhett who bit her. They didn’t have to do anything more than that. A simple bite, and she was lost to me forever.”

  “She would become a werewolf instead of a were-bear,” Dougal said.

  Howard nodded. “When I returned, I didn’t see her much. She was ill and missed a lot of school. Her parents thought she’d been bitten by a wild dog, so they took her to get shots. I never realized . . .”

  He sighed. If only he had known, he could have prepared her. She could have lived. She’d be a werewolf, but she’d still be alive. “The senior prom took place in the school gym on the next full moon. I was ready to propose, when her body started wavering. She didn’t know what was happening. She ran from the school, screaming.”

  “Puir lass,” Ian murmured.

  “I followed her outside,” Howard continued. “I could tell she was shifting, but I didn’t know why. Then I saw Rhett and his buddies, waiting for her. Rhett laughed and said she would be his bitch.”

  “The bastard,” Dougal muttered.

  “Poor Carly was so terrified. She shifted and ran up the mountain. Rhett and his buddies shifted and chased after her.” Howard scowled. “I knew I had lost her as a bride, but I couldn’t let Rhett and his friends take her and abuse her. So I ran up the mountain to stop them.”

  “The same place where we found you the other night?” Dougal asked.

  “Yes. I found her on the cliff, surrounded by snarling werewolves. I told her to stay put, that I would help her. I shifted and started fighting my way through the wolves.” Howard rubbed his brow. “Two of Rhett’s minions attacked me, and I tossed them off the cliff. The other minions ran away, and Rhett howled with rage. He pushed Carly off the cliff, and when I rushed forward to try to save her, he attacked me. We fought for a little while before I managed to throw him off the cliff.”

  “And that’s why ye thought ye’d killed him?” Ian asked.

  Howard nodded. “The three werewolf guys, including Rhett, had turned back to human form, so I thought they were dead. Carly had turned back to human form, too. I shifted back and went to the police to report her murder. Her family thought I had killed her, since I was the last person seen with her. I was arrested that night.”

  “You dinna tell the police about Rhett and his gang?” Dougal asked.

  “Yeah, I said they had chased her off the cliff, but when the police checked the mountain, the werewolf bodies were gone. I figured Rhett’s minions had cleaned the place up right after I left.”

  “But Rhett was still alive, the asshole,” Phil muttered.

  Howard grunted in agreement. “I was never put on trial, for lack of evidence, but I was banished to keep Rhett’s father from declaring war on the were-bears. I was gone for years, so I never knew that Rhett had survived.”

  “We heard in Wyoming that he was dead,” Phil said. “His father must have kept him hidden to make you look guilty.”

  “And to keep my people afraid of retaliation,” Howard added. “Harry was the first were-bear to publicly challenge them in twenty years.”

  Ian finished off his bottle of Bleer and clunked it down on the desk. “Rhett needs to die.”

  Howard couldn’t agree more. In fact, if his friends hadn’t shown up, he might have given in to his berserker instincts and gone after Rhett. “I want him to suffer.”

  Phil nodded. “From what I can tell, nothing bothers him more than public humiliation. Harry was humiliating him and became his number-one enemy.”

  “And I humiliated him in high school,” Howard said. “He was too cowardly to go after me. He used Carly as a pawn to hurt me.”

  “A pawn.” Ian stood and fumbled around in his sporran. “That reminds me. Tino wanted you to have this. I doona ken why, but he insisted I give it to you.” He handed a wad of napkins to Howard.

  Howard unwrapped the napkins and found a chess piece inside. The white knight. Harry.

  “An odd gift,” Phil murmured.

  Howard swallowed hard. Tino must have taken the piece from his chess set in the office. The marble was smooth and cool against his fingers. Harry, what have I done? How could I lose you like this?

  He curled his fist around the piece. “Tino asked me once if it was possible to win the game without losing any pieces.”

  “Ye said nay?” Dougal asked.

  Howard nodded slowly. Like a fool, he’d boasted that a player had to take his losses like a man and press on. His eyes grew moist, and he blinked. Tino was reminding him of his own advice. I’ll press on, Harry. I will avenge you.

  Every tear that was silently shed by Harry’s mother felt like a knife thrust into his heart. Howard sat stiffly in a wooden church pew, his clenched hands resting on his knees, while the editor-in-chief of Northern Lights Sound Bites stood at the podium, talking about Harry’s bravery and persistence when it came to chasing down a story.

  Several of Harry’s journalist friends had taken turns speaking at the memorial service, and they were all fighting back tears. Howard didn’t want to show any weakness, so he tried not to mourn but to focus more on his anger and need for vengeance.

  The fact that he’d never met Harry’s friends before this service was a painful reminder of the long banishment he’d endured. Twenty years away from home, and it had all been based on a lie, for Rhett had been alive. Even so, the banishment had been easy to endure compared to the guilt he’d felt over Carly’s death.

  Now he had more guilt. Harry. Howard pushed that thought aside. The guilt would cripple him, make him weak, and he needed to stay strong to avenge Harry.

  He turned his thoughts back to the enemy, Rhett. Apparently, old man Bleddyn had punished his son, too, for Rhett had been forced to live in secret, his existence known only to other high-ranking werewolves. It wasn’t until the old Pack Master had died a year ago that Rhett had emerged into the public eye, making sure the media knew he was powerful and rich. Rhett’s history of embezzling from his father’s companies had probably been his way to repay his father’s cruelty. Like father, like son, Howard thought. The twisted Bleddyn family needed to end.

  The pastor said a closing prayer, then mourners lined up to pass by the small wooden box that rested on a table, wreathed with flowers. Howard stood behind his grandfather, his cousins, Jesse and Jimmy, and Phil.

  The editor-in-chief, Mr. West, stopped by Harry’s mother to convey his condolences, and lights flashed as several journalists snapped photos.

  “Bastards,” Howard muttered.

  Phil turned to look at him. “We could arrange for their cameras to accidentally—” He suddenly stiffened, his eyes wide.

  Howard glanced back. “Holy crap!”

  The woman in line behind him fussed at him, but he didn’t hear. His ears buzzed as red-hot rage engulfed him.

  Rhett Bleddyn and
two of his minions had just entered the small church.

  Phil grabbed Howard’s arm, but Howard shook him off and stalked toward Rhett. The werewolf stiffened with surprise, then masked it with a sneer.

  “Howard,” Phil hissed as he followed him. “Not here. There are too many cameras.”

  “What’s up?” Jimmy asked as he and Jesse joined them.

  “Why are those stinky wolves here?” Jesse whispered, then added, “no offense, bro.”

  “That’s Rhett Bleddyn,” Phil muttered.

  “Whoa,” Jimmy breathed.

  Howard stopped in front of Rhett and his minions. “Get out. Before I toss you out limb by limb.”

  Rhett gave him a bland look. “I thought you were permanently banished from Alaska.”

  “I could only stay banished as long as you stayed dead,” Howard said. “It’s been a great disappointment all around.”

  Rhett snorted. “And look who’s standing by your side. Phil Jones, the traitor to his own kind. Why am I not surprised?”

  “You bastard,” Phil growled. “You were going to kill my entire family.”

  Rhett cast an amused glance toward the journalists who were inching toward them with video cameras. “Go ahead, attack me. I’d love to get that on film.”

  “Leave,” Howard growled.

  “I will,” Rhett smirked. “I just came to see who showed up. I knew Harry couldn’t be the mastermind behind his little smear campaign. He was never all that bright, you know.”

  Howard seized Rhett by his tie and jerked him forward. Lights flashed as pictures were taken. Rhett’s minions jumped on Howard, but Phil dragged one off while Jimmy and Jesse held the second one back.

  “You’re wrong,” Howard hissed in Rhett’s face. “We’re not smearing you. We’re going to destroy you.”

  “Yeah,” Jimmy added. “We already got two of your houses, a-hole.”

  “And we’ve got proof you were embezzling—” Jesse started.

  “He’s a killer!” Rhett yelled to the journalists. “Howard Barr was arrested twenty years ago for killing his girlfriend, and now he’s threatening me!”