“Essence.” Natasha lowered her voice. “You mean like sperm?”
“No! And wouldn’t you wear a condom?”
“Of course I would, but what are you talking about? I didn’t have sex with him.”
“The impression begins during sex and that includes foreplay and kissing. What it does is makes a woman crazy for the shifter who she had sex with for days and sometimes weeks after the encounter. It’s like a craving and it won’t stop until you get the next fix or the essence leaves the system.”
“Sounds complicated and also sounds like you know from experience.”
“That I do.”
Natasha could sense Melody grinning over the phone.
“You’ll have to tell me more about this. All this time, I’ve been hanging out with your kind, I never knew.”
“You got it,” she chimed. “And if I find out anything else about Jacques, I’ll let you know. Our Pack grew like tenfold after the Cross City wolves joined us, so we’re sort of all over the place in terms of meddling in each other’s business all the time. Which is good.”
Natasha glanced at her wristwatch. “I hate to cut this short, Melody, but I have to clock in now. I’d hate to get fired after only a few weeks on the job. Lord knows that I need this job now that I’ve gotta move out of my parents home sooner rather than later.”
“I hear you,” she said. “Don’t be a stranger. Call me anytime you need to talk.”
“Thanks again. Talk to you later.”
When she hung up with Melody, the sinking feeling of trouble mounting never left Natasha. She wouldn’t be satisfied until she knew that Jacques was okay, even if it had been his intention to walk away from her with not a single voluntary explanation.
Chapter 11
At the end of the day, Natasha stopped at the information desk where the ever-watchful receptionist sat day in and day out. Surely she would know if Jacques had reported in as being sick from work.
“Hi Clara,” Natasha greeted.
Clara looked up from her cell phone. “Hi Natasha. Your dad just rushed past here only a minute ago.”
“Oh, he did?”
Natasha bit the inside corner of her mouth. With him working such odd hours, she barely saw her dad at home, which was probably a good thing considering the fact that she wasn’t on speaking terms with him.
She couldn’t remember why she thought it would be a good idea to accept a position at the same company where her dad worked, but given her circumstances then, she really didn’t have a choice. Not that she hated living with them, but the more she stayed there, the more her father tried to dictate every aspect of her life like he used. Now that she’d made it obvious to both her parents that she’d made one bad decision by becoming engaged to a complete, pathological liar, they felt the need to coddle and ward off things (and people) they thought weren’t good for her.
“Yeah, he flew right on past without saying hello…like he always does. I heard all of the execs are busy with the expansions up north,” Clara said, flipping her fluffy brown curls out of her face. “We haven’t chatted in a while, girl. How’s the new position coming along? Do you like it?”
“Yes, the position and the company are great.”
“Hmmm. You didn’t sound so enthusiastic about that. Also I noticed that you were moping around here a bit today. I bet I know the reason why.”
Natasha’s ears perked up and she almost wondered if Clara had witnessed her going on lunch dates with Jacques before he just vanished without a word.
“Why?” Natasha asked.
“This town isn’t as exciting as Miami, of course,” she said. “But you’ll get used to it. All you need is to make some connections with the right people here and they’ll tell you where to find all the fun, including the invitation-only parties.”
“Sounds like you know a lot about those parties,” Natasha replied.
Clara smiled, and then bent over an open desk drawer to pull something out of her purse. “I have an exclusive invite to a private party at LIVE nightclub. They only have these on occasion. The last one was so hype! I want you to go.”
She shoved the card into Natasha’s palm and then continued, “Invite only, so it’s not public knowledge. You can bring one friend, but last time I went, they were really skeptical of letting a bunch of people in at once. Two people I knew were turned away at the door.”
“I appreciate this, Clara, but I’m not really the partying type.”
Clara gave her a sheepish look. “Hey, I know what happened with your ex back in Miami.”
Natasha released a dismissive sigh. “It’s not that big of a deal. It’s over. And I’ve gotten over him.”
“Sure you have, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get on with your life and have fun while you’re doing it. Isn’t that why you moved away from Miami despite all of its pluses? To forget about that scumbag and close the door on that part of your life?”
Clara knew a lot. That meant people in this town gossiped—a lot.
“You’re right. I promised myself I wouldn’t waste the rest of my twenties sulking over what could’ve been.”
Clara grinned. “Maybe I’ll see you there. LIVE is shifter club, but they’re a friendly bunch and plenty of humans hang out there.”
“I’m sure they are. Actually, I wanted to ask you about someone. A guy that works here. He’s a shifter. Although, I’ve never seen his wolf…” Natasha felt herself blush. “Anyway…”
“Which one? The ratio of men to women at this place is like 3 to 1.”
“His name is Jacques and he works as a security guard. Nice gray eyes, dark brown hair, clean-shaven, and really built like he visits the gym or something every day. I haven’t seen him since Friday, and we usually eat lunch together.”
Clara’s playful expression turned to troubled. “Yeah, I know who you’re talking about. He’s a hunk and all. Pure eye candy and whatnot, but he was ugh…forced to resign.”
“Forced to resign?”
“Girl, are you living under a rock in Aspen Valley, or what? He was suspected of manslaughter. The case didn’t exactly make the news but people around town were talking about it up until they closed the investigation. We all thought the higher ups were okay with it, and then on Monday, I got notice that he’d been given his pink slip. I’m not at all sure about what made them change their minds. Something about company image for the investors.”
Clara turned her attention to the switchboard when a series of calls came through.
Natasha swallowed. So her father had been right. The news article he’d tossed at her the other day was real. She didn’t want to find out like this. She’d had every intention of asking Jacques about it on Monday afternoon. The least he could have done was to tell her that he had resigned or had been forced to resign and wasn’t coming back.
“So, yeah girl, that’s what happened to your lunch buddy,” Clara said.
“I’m sorry he lost his job over that, but it doesn’t seem fair.”
Natasha was still in shock and disbelief. She felt numb.
“I’m not sure how he got mixed up in it. He was involved somehow on the night of the crime, but he didn’t do it. He was cleared, but like I said, he’s not exactly a saint. There are some men in this town, including shifters, who you really want to steer clear of.”
“That’s terrible. He doesn’t strike me as the type of man that I need to steer clear of. He provides security here. This doesn’t make sense. Why would you say he’s not exactly a saint…do you really know him?”
“No,” she replied. “But do you?”
Natasha swallowed, her gaze dropping to the mosaic pattern on the receptionist’s counter. Did she really know Jacques? Why was she drawn to him? She should’ve asked him more personal questions when she had the chance instead of using him as a sounding board for her own issues. But dammit, he was just so easy to talk to. He never judged her, accused, or talked down to her. Believe it or not, she’d had her fair share of peopl
e expressing their opinions that she got what she deserved when it came to her breakup with Stephan. But never from Jacques.
“Gee, you know what? I’m sorry,” Clara said. “I probably scared you from going to that nightclub.”
“No, it’s okay. I was worried when he didn’t show up for work. Thanks for the info, but I’ve gotta get going before the traffic gets any worse.”
Clara smiled. “Stop by more often. Maybe we can go out for coffee one of these days.”
“Uh…sure thing.”
“Hope you got your umbrella. It’s raining outside,” she added.
“Oh, great…” Natasha grumbled and then turned to estimate how bad the downpour was. “Oh, it’s only drizzling. I’ll be fine.”
Clara waved. “See ya.”
Natasha headed for the door, but this time she felt worse than she did before. She needed to stop prying and stressing over things that didn’t concern her. Maybe it was best if she had continued to believe that Jacques simply vanished because he’d moved on to something else. But that was far from the truth.
Jacques—the shifter she’d been crushing on ever since her first day at work— was a mystery to her still. He’d warned her that he was imperfect and not a role model in the least. She should’ve listened to him. She should’ve known that he would end up letting her down just like someone else she knew. She hated comparing. But she’d been down this road before and it pained her every time.
To make matters worse, just as Natasha entered the courtyard, the slow, trickling rain turned into a torrential downpour. She began high-tailing it to her car, but it was too late. Her clothes were soaked and her hair was matted to her head. After saying a silent prayer in the hopes that there wouldn’t be any accidents on the way home, she started the engine and pulled out of the lot.
Chapter 12
About a half an hour after Natasha had arrived home, the rainstorm started to dwindle to no more than a drizzle. The skies were clearing…but the sun was also setting.
Natasha blew outward in exasperation and pulled the curtains close. She dabbed at her wet hair with a towel and walked back over to her vanity to grab some hair supplies. It would take at least another hour for Natasha to blow dry and straighten her hair. By that time, there’d be no more daylight hours left. The storm had completely derailed her plans of riding out to the countryside in search of Jacques. What should have been a quick trip home to change into some dry clothes turned into a complete 360 after she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. She looked like a redheaded hag who hadn’t gotten any sleep in about two days. And it was the truth…
She plopped down on her bed with her hair supplies and a laptop. She opened up a browser and typed ‘Aspen Valley underground fighting arena’ into the search bar. After inputting different variations of local fighting rings into the search field, she drilled down to find exactly what she was looking for. Nearly an hour and a half later, she still hadn’t finished drying her hair. And at nine at night, she just didn’t want to risk getting lost out in the middle of nowhere even though the rainstorm had already passed.
Just as Natasha was getting ready to plug her hair dryer into the outlet on the wall, she heard the sound of a motorcycle rumbling down the street. Nothing but intuition set in and she rushed to her bedroom window to peek outside. Of course, there was nothing and nobody pulling up in the driveway. The streets were clear. The sound of the motorcycle engine must have been a figment of her imagination because now all she heard was water draining from the roof and through the gutters in the aftermath of the storm.
Who was she kidding? She was a mess. Was this what being worried about someone you really cared about felt like? She’d never been this jumpy and worried with her ex and she’d almost married the man.
“Natasha,” her mom called from the other side of her bedroom door. There was a soft knock on the door. “Are you in there?”
“Yes, I’m here. Come on in.”
Mom pushed through with a package wrapped in red paper. “Sorry to bother you so late. It looks like the courier guy left a package for you on the step.”
“What is it?”
“Well, didn’t you order it?” Mom pointed to the label. “Your name and address are right here on the package. Odd…there’s not a return label.”
“I could have, but maybe I just forgot. There’s been so much to do lately,” she said.
“I know. If you need help with anything, let me know. I’m only part-time at the real estate office, so I can run a few errands here and there for you during the day when you need me to.”
“Thanks Mom. I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Alrighty,” she said. “Looks like you’ve been working hard, so I’ll leave you to it. Don’t stay up too late and get some sleep, okay?”
“I will.”
Natasha couldn’t wait to get into the package. She hastily tore the red paper off and cut through the tape to open the flaps of the cardboard box. Inside the box, there was no indication at all of who the package was from. Something small and narrow had been wrapped in tissue paper. She unfolded the wrappings to reveal an elegant, gold-plated bookmark with a string of glass beads and a single gold wolf charm hanging from it. The gift was beautiful.
Her breath caught in her throat with the sudden realization of who could have sent her something like this. Even before she picked up the lone white postcard sitting at the bottom of the box…she knew.
“Jacques…” she whispered.
The note on the card was handwritten: I thought you’d like this…it’s so you’d never lose your place in a good story again. - - By this time, you already have the news. Your life should be perfect. I’m not perfect. Not now. You have something I never had. Both parents. Don’t ever risk that. Not for me.
“No.” Natasha shook her head and dropped the postcard back in the box.
There was absolutely no way that Jacques was telling her that he was going to accept that her dad was indifferent to seeing them together. He didn’t know Jacques and didn’t even want to try. This was ludicrous! Jacques shouldn’t have even been let go in the first place. He never committed any crimes. If this were the way Reverie treated their employees, she wouldn’t continue working there.
She didn’t care that he wasn’t perfect. Not by a long shot. Something else set him apart from the rest. She’d already figured that much out. But how was she going to convince him that she truly enjoyed spending time with him and needed his company and not have it sound like she was some desperate chick looking for comfort after a nasty breakup?
Chapter 13
TWO DAYS LATER…
Sweat dripped down Jacques’s face as he pounded his fists into the punching bag hanging from the basement ceiling in the old Kent house. His pectoral muscles burned and his deltoids were just about pushed to the max. He shut out the pain and focused on the training exercise. A utility window was propped open, keeping the surface of his skin relatively cool with the crisp breeze flowing through. He always loved the smell of the forest in the aftermath of a rainstorm. While others had been praying for clearer skies for the past couple of days, Jacques had been enjoying the tranquil sounds of Mother Nature to ease his mood. He needed the diversion now more than ever as anger tried to creep up on him yet again. He wouldn’t let rage consume him any more over something he had no control over.
This was his private space. It was where he slept and trained. Excessive training was one of the ways he got through hard times. Plus, he had a fight coming up and he needed to condition both mind and body. His grandmother had kept the basement completely the same as the day he moved out of her home when he turned eighteen. Even to this day, he could recall her refilling his water cooler or bringing in those protein shakes she made for him when she knew he was done. There would be no more of those…Grandma Kent was dead.
The timer on his watch rang and he moved to the next circuit of one hundred push-ups. Midway through the exercise, some noise outside caught his attention. The
house was backed up to the woods just like the other homes situated on the street. The neighborhood was fairly quiet, so when anything occurred out of the ordinary, everyone around knew about it. For the most part, it was a shifter-friendly neighborhood.
Jacques propelled himself upward and grabbed a towel. Just as he swiped it down his face, he heard the howls coming from the woods. He froze, letting the towel fall from his hand and onto the floor.
The wolf howls weren’t ordinary howls. The call meant that a high-ranking member of the Pack was nearby. Although, this wasn’t a warning…just an announcement.
The howls grew louder and more distinct, and soon Jacques could pinpoint which high-ranking Pack member was about to visit the neighborhood.
Their Alpha.
There wouldn’t have been that much ruckus made for any other wolf.
Jacques picked the towel up off the floor and placed it on the back of his neck. He went up through the basement stairs, entering the first level of the home. By the time he reached the living room, all had gone quiet outside. He walked over to the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of water and began to guzzle it down.
Out of the corner of his eye, the curtains above the kitchen window lifted as air pushed inside. The refreshing breeze wasn’t the only thing that wafted inside. Along with it was the scent of the Alpha. Strong and potent. He was nearby and hella close.
Jacques left the water on the kitchen table and headed out into the foyer. His intuition finally kicked in and it dawned on him…
Had the Alpha come to see him? If so, he could only be here to bring bad news. More bad news…
When would it end?
Like he’d been doing all of his life, he decided to face his problems and not run away from them. He vowed years ago that he’d never become the person that his parents were and hide from the issues mounting like a pile of trash.
He opened the door and there stood the Alpha—Dane Magnus—in wolf form. His fur was black as night and the moonlight only enhanced its sleekness. With gold and majestic eyes that only a wolf from a noble bloodline could possess, he stared at Jacques.
Aspen Valley Wolf Pack (The Complete Series) Page 41