Anchor

by Jorrie Spencer

  His mind went to Mala, briefly. She was soft in a way werewolves weren’t. She curled into him on occasion, more physically affectionate than he might have expected a human to be.

  “I don’t think I properly thanked you.” The words were quiet but terse, as if Sally expected a price to be paid for having been rescued and put in a safe place.

  “We were all glad to help.” He made it a point that it was not about him. Huge favors owed to alphas had something of a historical basis, and they didn’t always bode well for the one who did the owing.

  She eyed him—that mix of wariness and anger he was not unfamiliar with. They were of an age, and female werewolves were coveted by males. She could still bear children.

  But none of it meant anything to him, to his libido, to his dreams of family. For one thing, he had family. Something that would be useful for him to emphasize. “You’ve met my daughter, Jancis, of course.”

  Sally was taken aback, searching for his hidden meaning and deciding he wanted gratitude. “Yes. She’s been very kind.”

  Angus allowed himself a crooked smile. “She’s not always kind. She has to like someone first.”

  Sally fiddled with the spoon she’d picked up as she stood by the counter, not yet comfortable enough to sit down. “She’s…old to be your daughter. And doesn’t look much like you.”

  “I’m an adoptive parent. Jancis’s twin, Rory, is also mine. Caleb’s my ward. I’ve had other wards over the years.” He wasn’t going to say he was done with parenting, because he wasn’t. But he could see something in Sally’s tense body relax.

  With that he rose, because he suspected Sally would be able to eat more when he wasn’t around. “Jancis will be back at lunch, for her break. I’m heading over to the local B and B. I’ll return around the time Caleb’s done with school, and I’ll probably see you then.”

  Sally nodded, her dirty-blonde hair falling in her eyes.

  “You’re safe here, Sally,” he assured her. “No one is going to force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

  Mala sat at the counter, munching on her early lunch and finding herself amused by the contrast between today and last week when she’d first walked in here. For one thing, Eden hadn’t kidnapped her credit card. In fact, Eden refused to touch her credit card, all things being charged to Angus.

  Which was plain weird. She felt a bit like a kept woman. Well, apart from the fact that Angus didn’t regard her in that light. Fortunately no one was around to see her face heating at her own thoughts. She tried very hard to put the crush away, once and for all. She’d take it out again when she’d returned home and was no longer at risk of running into the alpha.

  That’s what half the town called him.

  On cue, the door flew open, caught by the wind, and in stomped Angus, brushing the snow off his jacket. At least he no longer thought she was a threat to Caleb. As she lifted her gaze to meet his, a smile greeted her, warmth in those eyes.

  She’d seen this expression of his when Caleb or his kids entered the room, when almost anyone entered the room. Part of being the alpha appeared to involve being genuinely happy to greet and talk to everyone. It must be an interesting way to live. The awful thought that she was going to miss Wolf Town when she left crossed her mind, and she pushed it away. Just as she pushed away the crush.

  Who walked right up to her. For God’s sake she was too old for this.

  “Hi there, Mala. How are you feeling this morning?”

  Shy. “Good.” She didn’t want to appear tongue-tied so she added, “I slept well.”

  “I’m glad to hear it.”

  “No dreams, of the regular or irregular kind.” She was trying to forestall the questions by answering them preemptively. It made the conversation feel more normal, less like therapy, or like she was a strange creature he needed to better comprehend.

  Something of her thoughts must have shown, because the warmth receded, replaced by a look that suggested he was searching for the real meaning behind her words.

  Then he quirked a smile at her. “I wasn’t asking for a report, Mala, though I’m glad to hear all this.”

  “It’s weird talking about it,” she confessed. “I’ve spent years not talking about it, avoiding it or being shut down if I tried to say anything about my dreams. So…” She shrugged. “It’s a little freeing, in its way.”

  He nodded.

  “Part of me is relieved that I know it’s real, because it always felt so real,” she continued, unable to stop, though they were in public and he’d only asked how she was. “But part of me is appalled at what I’ve witnessed over the course of my life.”

  He dropped a hand on her shoulder, a warm, broad hand, and she wanted to lean into him. He probably wouldn’t even mind, and she couldn’t decide if that was good or bad. As if he read her thoughts, he slid that palm down her back, a caress, and she breathed in deeply.

  He retreated. This was normal for wolves, she reminded herself. She’d read a lot about them during that week-long study session before she took the bus north. Though she couldn’t say for sure that Canadian newspapers provided expert content on the subject. But wolves were physically affectionate. If nothing else, this might indicate that Angus liked her as a person.

  Or a tool, a tiny voice said. It had become increasingly clear that the wolves in Wolf Town regarded her as having a special ability that meant she belonged to them, and she didn’t know what to think about that. While it was nice to belong somewhere, to be acknowledged as a wraith—another new word she’d learned—took her aback. How much did they care about who the wraith actually was?

  Maybe it didn’t matter.

  “It’s a burden,” Angus stated, and Mala had to go back to her last words, about being appalled at what she’d witnessed in her dreams for so many years. “Power often is to those who care about its effects on others.”

  She glanced up at him to see fellow-feeling there. Well, they had that to share, though her alarming, erratic dreams didn’t quite compare to someone who took responsibility for an entire town of wolves and their brethren.

  What was she thinking, that they had so much in common? She barely knew the man and her emotions were beginning to alarm her.

  “What happens next?” She expected more charm, more warmth, he had such a supply of it and she had little protection against it, but instead he studied the menu on the chalkboard.

  “I am trying to convince you to stay with us,” he said, his voice low, his gaze turned forward as he settled on the stool beside her. “Tell me about your life in Toronto.”

  She blew out a breath. “There’s not much to tell.”

  “Family?”

  “They’re in BC. We’re not close. My father got fed up with my foibles. I decided to travel east and start a new life.” Which had ended up feeling like the old life in a different place.

  “They cut you loose.”

  “It was painful for all involved. My parents are used to having a lot of family around. But my two brothers can fill the gap.” She paused. “What about your family?”

  “You’ve met my children.”

  “Yes. I was wondering about your parents.”

  “Dead.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  He grimaced and his tone was flat. “Don’t be. I’m not.”

  Her eyes widened. Yes, she had issues with her parents but never would she wish them dead.

  He didn’t smile when he turned to her. “I don’t mean to shock you. But Davies is not the only werewolf who has turned violent like this.”

  “Oh.” Then, staring at his eyes which were a brilliant blue, she remembered. “One of the monsters…”

  He cocked his head, an encouraging gesture.

  “…he, the wolf in my older dreams, he appeared a number of times.” She gave a sharp shake of her head. For God’s sake she was capable of speaking clearly. She pulled in a breath to try again. “In my teens, I’d have what I considered a recurring nightmare, with variations. T
he wolf tended to be the same. He had your color of eye.” Though the eyes themselves were so different: ice versus warmth, harsh versus caring, monster versus Angus.

  He frowned. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-eight.”

  “So it ended eight years ago?”

  “Yes.”

  “That would coincide with Gabriel’s death.” Angus pointed to the corner of one of his eyes. “We had a similar eye color, yes. No doubt distantly related, though it’s difficult to track parentage among us. Children get abandoned. Fathers don’t stay around. The gene is passed through the mother.”

  “They look different on you,” she said softly, because though his manner was amiable it also seemed a little forced, as if she might have hurt him in some way.

  At that, he sent her a wry smile. “I would hope so.”

  She pushed the rest of her food around her plate for something to do. “After that wolf disappeared from my dreams, died, I guess…” It was odd thinking of the monster that way. Back then, after he’d finally left her alone, she’d thought her mind had become stronger and was no longer indulging in the bloody terrors of the blue-eyed one. “Well, I had a break for two years. I thought the dreams were over for me.”

  “How many times have you dreamed of Davies?”

  “The dreams with Caleb and Sally, that’s it.”

  “That might mean his behavior is deteriorating,” Angus said grimly. “That before he was holding himself back in some way.” His voice became even lower. “He has to be stopped.”

  She put her hands to her cheeks and shook her head, fending off the feeling of being overwhelmed. “It is so strange talking to you like this, as though my observations matter. It’s so matter of fact. So—”

  “—real,” he finished. “You’ll let me protect you until we figure this out, won’t you?”

  She wasn’t going to make a rash promise again, like when she’d told him she would stay and a day turned into more than a week. “I can’t know that. I can’t know anything about how this will play out.”

  He accepted that with a nod and changed the topic. “It’s time you came to my place and met Sally. In flesh and blood.”

  “I want to meet her. Is that strange? That I want to meet the people I see in my dreams?” It had happened before, this longing, but she’d never been able to take it seriously, only as an indicator of her unhealthy loneliness.

  “I don’t think so,” he said, rising.

  As he guided her out the door, she didn’t feel lonely, when that had been such a constant companion. She hugged her crush close, hiding it, as she walked beside him, into early spring’s wind and snow, and they made their way to his house.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Sally looked different in person, of course she did. It wasn’t a dream, and Mala wasn’t inside someone else. She wondered if something of the same thought had gone through Sally’s mind after Angus’s brief introduction where he touched glancingly on the point that Mala had helped them find Sally.

  She was regarding Mala with deep suspicion.

  “Would you like a coffee?” Angus asked Mala, who said yes in order to have something in her hands. He left the living room, and that meant she and Sally were facing each other.

  Sally made a point of looking away.

  It wasn’t that Mala expected gratitude, the entire situation was too weird for that, but clearly Sally didn’t consider that they had any connection she was interested in.

  Mala bit down on her lip. Caleb had seemed keen to recognize Mala and understand what had happened between them. But there was no reason to believe everyone would react the same way.

  When Angus returned, Sally gazed up at him deferentially, as if awaiting his command, while Angus’s easy expression appeared to stiffen.

  She was glad Angus didn’t like deferential. In fact, Mala guessed he was uncomfortable with it. He passed Mala a cup of coffee and sat on the couch beside her with his. Sally hadn’t wanted a drink.

  Angus leaned forward to look at the woman across from them. “Sally, we need to know how you met John Davies.”

  Sally’s gaze cut to Mala, her way of saying she didn’t want Mala there, and Angus didn’t acknowledge it.

  “I didn’t,” she bit out, eyes downcast and at odds with her angry tone. “He found me, chased me, demanded that I come with him. I escaped. He chased me some more.” She paused and her lip curled. “Some wolves are like that, you know.”

  “I know,” said Angus.

  Sally indicated Mala. “She’s not a wolf. Why is she here?”

  Angus scratched his jaw. “Jancis isn’t a wolf either. That’s not how we decide who is in and who is out.”

  Sally persisted. “Your daughter is related to a wolf.”

  “And Mala has a connection to wolves,” Angus remarked.

  Sally shrugged, her body language screaming that she didn’t want to talk or even be with them.

  At that point, Caleb slammed inside the house, Rory close behind, shaking off the heavy, wet March snow that continued to fall. Caleb’s face lit up at the sight of Angus and when he turned to Mala, he kept his smile. “Hi, Mala.”

  “Hey, Caleb. How are you doing?”

  “All right.” Then he added, since that didn’t seem to be enough of an answer, “School was okay.”

  She recalled her brothers and how they weren’t great on specifics. “Good.”

  Caleb was taking in the three of them, and with a glance back at Rory he said, too loudly, “So, do we have a plan?”

  Mala could fill in the gaps, a plan to handle Caleb’s father. She hated that Davies had done this to his own son.

  Angus shook his head. “Not yet. We’re working on it.”

  “As far as we can tell, he’s gone to ground.” Angus met Teo’s solemn gaze.

  Teo’s disgruntled expression deepened. “Have you told them?”

  “Caleb, Sally and Mala know, if that’s who you’re asking about.”

  “Who’s got them?”

  “Rory’s watching Caleb, except at school when Harrison has him. Aileen and I keep an eye on Sally and Mala, switching off, and sometimes I call in backup.”

  “Do Sally and Mala know they have bodyguards?”

  Angus nodded. He wasn’t much for secrets. Secrets had done werewolves too much harm in general.

  “You and Aileen will be kept too busy.”

  With a sigh, Angus acknowledged Teo’s point. “I introduced them yesterday, Mala and Sally. It didn’t go over well. They were both nervous, but Sally was freaked out. I could barely refer to the fact that Mala’s a dream wraith.”

  “Well not everyone is going to be pleased with having had a wraith present in their body,” Teo said slowly. “If I’m understanding the experience.”

  “That presence saved Sally’s life.” Angus knew he sounded defensive and insensitive about Sally’s trauma. But he couldn’t help it when it came to Mala.

  Teo’s brief smile said as much. “I’m not arguing that. We’re talking about Sally’s discomfort not Mala’s motivation.”

  “Jancis is good with Sally. She seems to relax with her.” It bothered Angus though. He wanted to build an environment here so Mala could feel at home, but Sally’s anxiety wasn’t the best first step. It was hard to blame the poor woman, but in the grand scheme of things Angus worried her reaction to Mala would be the common one.

  “So. What do you need from me?” Teo asked. This was their weekly meeting, part of Angus’s program to delegate and not take everything on his shoulders. He supposed for such a strategy to be effective he needed to broaden the members of the meeting beyond two, and hold it in a more communal space than Teo’s living room.

  Later. Now Angus had a specific request. “I want you to test Mala, see if she has the wolf gene.”

  Teo’s eyebrows rose in surprise and disapproval. Testing was frowned upon, the blood test feared. It had the potential to be used for a witch hunt if the mainstream populace ever turned on shifters. Or,
if a small group of powerful people got their hands on the information, they could attempt to utilize shifters for their own ends.

  Neither scenario was all that far-fetched, despite how calmly they lived now in Wolf Town.

  Davies, for example, could fuck up the peace that existed between shifters and the regular population.

  “He has to be eliminated.” Angus let the anger show in his voice.

  Teo frowned.

  Crap, Angus was thinking too much and not talking enough. Old habit. He leaned forward, elbows on knees, and focused on his beta. “Sorry. I want you to test Mala off the record. I want to find out if she has a biological connection to us. As to who has to be eliminated…” Angus closed his eyes. He disliked killing, though he had a number of executions under his belt, nothing he’d ever tell humans about.

  “John Davies.” Teo supplied the name.

  Angus echoed it. “Davies.”

  “Who has gone to ground. Is Trey trying to track him down?”

  “Yep.”

  “Close to impossible if he’s turned wolf and is staying wolf.” Teo’s expression turned contemplative. “Unless Mala can work her magic.”

  Angus pulled a face. “It harms her, and that will require that Davies is actively terrorizing someone.”

  “It’s something to explore.”

  “No doubt.”

  Teo’s face went still, suspicious. “You like her.”

  “Sure I like her.”

  Teo didn’t blink. That was something Angus appreciated in Teo, his straight talking and his ability to zero in on what was important. He only wished it didn’t involve this—Angus’s growing feelings for Mala.

  “It’s nothing very deep.” Angus found he didn’t like this halfhearted denial. “No, that’s not what I mean. It might be deep, but it is new. We’ve been thrown together. She’s vulnerable, because of the way things have played out, and I don’t like to be asking her to give so much of herself. I don’t know what we’re giving back to her. It runs too close to the line of using someone.”