Awakened by the Wolf

by Kristal Hollis

  The ensuing silence made Brice think the call had dropped. “Dad?”

  “I hadn’t expected your compliance so quickly.” There was a pause. “Thank you.”

  His father’s appreciation caught Brice off guard and made him incredibly suspicious. The man was up to something and Brice was sure he wouldn’t like it one bit.

  “We have an appointment at the funeral home at seven. Your mother and I expect you to join us. Don’t be late.” Whenever his father issued a command, his tone always implied an “or else.”

  “As you wish,” Brice said, wanting to keep the promise to his grandmother at least in spirit. He doubted father and son could ever truly reconcile. There were too many disappointments and angry words to overcome. “Thanks for not turning me out, again. It means a lot to me to be here for Granny’s memorial.”

  “I’m glad you’re home, son.” Was there a note of sincerity in his father’s voice? “If you need anything, let me know.”

  Brice couldn’t believe his ears. Maybe grief had softened his father’s heart.

  But, he wouldn’t hold his breath.

  His father cleared his throat. “We’ll see you tonight.”

  “Wait.” He might regret involving his father, but Brice’s second promise to his grandmother concerned Cassie and right now his worry over her outweighed his hesitation. “Has Cassie clocked in?” By now, she should’ve returned from the state college over in Brasstown Valley. If not, Brice wanted to know sooner rather than later. “She hasn’t returned my calls.”

  “Hold on,” his father said. Muzak filtered through the speakers.

  Brice turned off Shelley Highway onto Chaney Boulevard, heading toward the small town of Maico.

  “Thank you for calling Walker’s Run Resort. This is Cassie. How may I help you?” Although her tone was all business, Brice found her voice as relaxing as the soft, bubbling warmth of a Jacuzzi.

  “Hey, Sunshine.”

  “Who’s calling, please?”

  A stab of jealousy scattered the unusual, fuzzy sensation spreading through his body. “Who else calls you Sunshine?”

  “Brice? Oh, I, um, didn’t know you were on the line. Mr. Walker only said someone needed my assistance.” She lowered her voice. “Are you coming to smell me?”

  Brice’s cheeks hurt from the grin splitting his face. “No, I found a way to manage for now.”

  “Oh, that’s good.”

  If she knew what it was, she might not think so.

  “How did you do on your test?” Brice expected that she did well. He’d found her to be quick-minded and doggedly determined.

  “Passed, I think.”

  “You think?” Raising his voice in a tease, he wondered if a blush reddened her skin.

  “Okay, I aced it.”

  Her bashful boast beckoned back the warm fuzzies. Their rushing invasion caused his hands, his skin, his groin to twitch. He couldn’t wait to see her tonight.

  “That’s great, Cas,” he said. “Hey, what time do you get off?”

  “Nine thirty.”

  Brice whistled. “That’s a long day.” Although his wouldn’t be much shorter. “I’m meeting my parents at the funeral home tonight. Want me to pick up supper on the way home?”

  “No, I’ve got food...” Cassie’s voice trailed.

  Brice hit the volume button. “Are you sure? It’s no trouble for me to grab some burgers or pick up a pizza. Whatever you want, name it.”

  “Some other time.”

  “All right, then.” Brice kept his tone light, flipping the air vent away from him to dispel the sudden chill in his bones.

  “Uh, Brice?”

  “Yeah, Sunshine?” He brightened, thinking she’d changed her mind.

  “About the housing arrangement I had.”

  “That’s not going to work for me.” He didn’t need Cassie to be his live-in maid. He wanted something more personal.

  Friends? Absolutely.

  Between-the-sheets friends? Hell, yeah.

  More than friends? He couldn’t risk that one, but whatever happened, he expected them to be on equal ground.

  “Oh, okay. Bye.” Her voice sounded tight, choked.

  “Cas?”

  The line went dead.

  A pinball pinged around in his gut. He activated the voice redial and asked for Cassie.

  “Hey, stranger,” Hannah Barkley, an old friend, said when she recognized his voice. “I’m glad you’re finally home. Sucks about the circumstances, though. I’m sorry about Granny.”

  “Thanks,” Brice mumbled.

  “Things must’ve gone a little better with your dad this morning.” Hannah’s tone sounded light and teasing, just like always. “At least the lobby chandelier didn’t crash to the floor like it did the last time you slammed the door to your dad’s office.”

  Brice cringed. His father always pulled the worst out of him, and Brice hated that he couldn’t control his emotions around the man.

  “Whatever Gavin said to piss you off, your mom sure took him to task,” Hannah continued. “I thought your temper came from your dad. After today, I think your mom might’ve played a role, too.”

  “I’m not particularly fond of the trait, no matter who passed it on to me.” Brice paused. “Maybe we can catch up later. I need time to get my bearings, and I have a lot weighing on my mind.”

  “Is Victoria Phalen one of those weights?”

  Brice’s gut clenched, and an unpleasant taste sprouted on his tongue. “Why?”

  “She called asking for a key to your suite. I told her you didn’t have a reservation, so she booked the honeymoon suite in your name.”

  “I’m staying at Granny’s cabin.” After the stunt Victoria pulled in Atlanta, Brice wanted to stay the hell away from her.

  “Um...” Hannah hedged. “Your grandmother had a boarder, Cassie Albright. We work together, Brice. And she’s a friend. Don’t kick her out. She has nowhere else to go.”

  “I’m aware of Cassie’s situation, and we have a mutually beneficial arrangement.” Or they would as soon as he spoke to her about it. “Can you put her on the line?”

  “Sure!” Relief lightened Hannah’s tone. “Hold on a sec.”

  Approaching Maico’s city limits, Brice remembered Mason’s stories of a small group of Wahyas who integrated into this dying human settlement more than three hundred years ago. Farmers by day, wolves by night. Growing crops, hunting game. Hiding their dual identities while cohabiting with their human neighbors to build a better life for all.

  Tired of the turmoil caused by constant challengers to Alphaships seized in trials of combat, the Maico Wahyas elected Abram Walker as Alpha and established a familial line of succession the pack continued to follow. Abram laid claim to Maico and the surrounding area, and acceptance by the Woelfesenat legitimized the fledging pack. Each subsequent generation saw the pack and their human neighbors prosper.

  Passing Maico’s welcome sign, Brice noticed the paint peeling from the board. The farther into town he drove, the antsier he became at the number of abandoned buildings and broken sidewalks and the amount of roadside litter.

  Maico had been a pristine community that could’ve popped off the pages of a fairy-tale book. For some reason, the quaint village had deteriorated into a shabby soon-to-be ghost town. His disappointment grew when a glance down Sorghum Avenue revealed the R&L—Rafe’s automotive repair service—looking as bad as the other places Brice had passed.

  Hannah came back on the line. “Sorry, Brice. Cassie is on another call. Your mom assigned her to rebook all the reservations scheduled through Sunday.”

  “Have Cassie call me when she gets a break.” Brice rattled off the cell number and disconnected the Bluetooth call.

  Turning left at the four
th red light, he drove to the Maico Medical Plaza across the street from the hospital and parked in front of the second brick-and-mortar building. He held open the office door for two of his grandmother’s elderly human friends. They offered profuse, sincere condolences, which he graciously accepted.

  Popping her gum, the young human receptionist at the check-in window buzzed him in. He limped to Doc’s office, less able to ignore the pain flaring since his jaunt through the woods.

  Following the obligatory hug and bantered greetings, Doc hitched up his pant leg and perched on the edge of his desk. More silver streaked his godfather’s hair than Brice remembered.

  “When Gavin said you’d drop by, I didn’t expect you to be so prompt.”

  Brice rubbed his chin. “When did he call?”

  “About fifteen minutes ago.”

  “That’s around the time I told him I was on my way.”

  “When did he ask you to come?” Doc cleaned his glasses using the corner of his lab coat.

  “This morning.” Brice scratched an itch behind his ear.

  Doc laughed. “At least the delay got shorter. I remember when you’d wait at least a week before doing anything he asked.”

  “He doesn’t ask. He demands.”

  “That is a matter of perspective, son.” Doc clapped his hands. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

  Brice provided the date of his last physical and rabies immunization, listed pain medications prescribed but not taken, described the same trouble sleeping, mentioned a few other things and then got to the real issue.

  “The nausea began when you scented this mystery woman?” Otoscope in hand, Doc tipped Brice’s head up.

  “After her scent faded.” Brice gurgled a sneeze. Having something shoved up his nose was as uncomfortable as gagging on a tongue depressor.

  “How long has this been going on?”

  “I’d rather not say.” Brice hadn’t mentioned Cassie by name. Providing a time frame would pretty much shine a spotlight on her. Something, he thought, she wouldn’t appreciate.

  “It’s important to give me all the details.”

  “You know that after the attack I smelled blood and guts 24/7.”

  “A posttraumatic olfactory hallucination. I told you it would fade in time.”

  “When it did, I lost my sense of smell completely.” Brice paused.

  Doc’s clinical expression didn’t change, so the information wasn’t new to him. Adam must’ve updated the Walker’s Run pack physician when it happened, although Brice wondered why. Generally, a pack didn’t concern themselves in the affairs of shunned wolfans.

  “After I met this woman, I started scenting again, but the smells make me sick unless she’s with me.”

  “How do you feel now?” Doc clicked off the lighted scope and tossed the plastic speculum into the trash. “Any nausea?”

  “Not at the moment.” Brice pulled the baggie from his hip pocket.

  “That’s creative. Carried it all the way from Atlanta, did you?” The crinkles around Doc’s light brown eyes deepened.

  Brice remained silent.

  “Well, your nose looks fine.” Doc scribbled in Brice’s medical chart. “My guess is that you’re simply regaining your sense of smell.”

  “Why would that make me sick?” Brice stuffed the plastic bag into his pocket.

  “You’ve been scentless for five years. Now that you can smell, your stomach is reacting to the sensory overload. The nausea should stop once you adjust. In the meantime, you might experience a confusion of scents until your brain relearns how to decipher the smells.”

  “Great,” Brice said not feeling the sentiment. “Any ideas as to why this woman’s scent triggered all this?”

  “A Wahya’s nose is quite remarkable, imprinting every scent it detects even if the wolfan doesn’t register it in his or her human form.” Doc tugged on the stethoscope looped around his neck. “Your mystery woman probably isn’t a mystery to your wolf. She may have stood behind you at the grocery store or sat near you in a restaurant at any point in your life.”

  “Then when I run into her again—” Brice snapped his fingers “—my nose starts working? Sorry, Doc. Not buying it. Trust me, I’d remember her if we’d met before.”

  “Your wolf remembers even when your human self can’t. The wolf always remembers.” Doc sat behind his desk. “Have you considered the possibility that you’ve found your true mate?”

  “Considered and dismissed.”

  “Keep an open mind. You might be surprised by what you discover.” Doc reached for the phone.

  The howl in Brice’s mind that he had twice banked reared triumphant. For a third time, he silenced the whine.

  He liked Cassie. Hell, he couldn’t deny his attraction to her, but that was lust, plain and simple. Besides, Cassie didn’t show signs of a deeper, inexplicable connection between them or any sense of knowing that they belonged together. Instead, she had made it clear he wasn’t a part of her destiny.

  True mates began bonding from their first meeting, the ethereal tendrils entwining and strengthening with each subsequent encounter. If he’d met Cassie in the past and if they were indeed true mates, Brice’s mating urge would’ve sparked in those first moments.

  It happened that way for Rafe and Lexi, and they were only eight. Of course, they didn’t pursue an intimate relationship until they were the proper age. They didn’t have children when Brice left. Rafe always said they were working on it.

  Brice hoped they had a houseful of wolflings now. And he planned to spoil each of them, if Rafe allowed him. Not once in five years had Rafe contacted him, and Brice had been too emotionally raw to reach out to his best friend.

  Doc placed his hand over the phone’s mouthpiece. “I want you to get a CT scan so I can compare it to your previous one. The imaging center has an opening now. Will you go?”

  Brice answered that he would. Doc finished the call and Brice asked, “Do you think Rafe and Lexi would mind if I stopped by their place?”

  Doc stooped forward as if he’d taken a punch in the stomach. He braced his hands against his desk and took a deep breath. “Brice, Lexi’s dead.”

  A breath-stealing pain crashed through the center of Brice’s being. The shock wave stemmed not only from the news of the death of a lifelong friend but also the sorrow and sympathy he felt for Rafe’s utter devastation.

  Brice never wanted to experience the depths of pain, despair and often guilt the loss of a mate-bonded partner would wreak on male wolfan. Thankfully, an apprenticeship with the Woelfesenat would assure he never would.

  Chapter 15

  Brice came home to an empty driveway and a deserted cabin. On the answering machine playback, his tired voice cracked the silence, urging Cassie to pick up the phone. After a pause, concern rang through his message for her to call him when she got home.

  For the umpteenth time, he fished the cell phone from his pocket. No missed calls.

  He dialed the resort. The night auditor, Shane McQuarrie, as he identified himself, swore Cassie clocked out on time and left.

  Maybe she had car trouble and called Rafe, though Brice wondered why she hadn’t called him, too. He’d left several messages for her at work, asking her to do just that.

  After three unsuccessful telephone attempts to reach Rafe, Brice drove to R&L Automotive. The tow truck, Rafe’s old Jeep and a few other cars were parked inside the locked fence. Doc said Rafe often ran the woods at night. Brice’s heart hurt for Rafe’s loss, and he intended to do whatever he could for his friend. Right now, though, Brice needed to find Cassie.

  He circled through town in case she’d opted for takeout over another ramen noodle supper. Not seeing her car, he drove to Taylor’s Roadhouse on the outskirts of town. Mondays used to be singles night. Maybe she we
nt for drinks after work.

  Kicking back with Cassie and dancing to a song or two would be a nice way to wind down the evening, unless she wasn’t alone. He hadn’t considered that she might be dating someone.

  Sight unseen, he immediately detested the guy. Anyone who showed the slightest interest in Cassie would have to go through him. After all, Brice had a promise to keep.

  The parking lot had no open spaces, and not one of the vehicles belonged to Cassie. He drove through the residential sections of Maico, conflicted. What if he found her car parked at some yahoo’s house?

  His ambivalence blossomed into anxiety when he didn’t. He sped over to Northeast Georgia College in Brasstown Valley, cruised the campus parking lots. He no longer cared if he found Cassie with someone. He just wanted to find her.

  On the return trip to Maico, Brice searched the condemned trailer park where Cassie had lived. Each call for her that went unanswered fed his imagination of finding her broken and bleeding.

  Panic frayed his self-control. His fingers gripped the steering wheel so hard that the rod inside the ring began to bend. At the red light, he pried loose his hands and shook them out.

  Cas, where the hell are you?

  Are you okay?

  The uncertainty ate at him like a cancer, devouring him cell by cell. He turned toward the last place he knew to look. The hospital. His already fast-beating heart launched into ludicrous speed at the sight of Cassie’s car parked close to the ER entrance.

  He wheeled into the parking lot, jammed the gear into Park, ran inside the building, checked every bay, questioned every person. No one had seen Cassie.

  The tightness in his chest threatened to put him in a hospital bed if he didn’t find her soon. All the things people swore when begging God for a favor, he offered and more.

  He’d promised Granny he would take care of Cassie. Promised! After only one day, it seemed he’d already failed them both.

  Walking toward Cassie’s car, Brice dug the cell phone from his pocket.

  “Yeah?” Pack sentinel and sworn sheriff deputy Tristan Durrance’s sleepy voice answered.