The Wolf's Mate

by Emilia Hartley

Scarlet folded her hands. “Working on her, most likely.”

  Casper felt heat rise up his neck. “This is my business, Scarlet. I want you to keep out of it.”

  “The pack is your business, Cass.” She walked into the room. Her hands gripped his arms. “I know you understand that hooking up with her would be a worse mistake than hooking up with me that summer. She’s with the media. Exposing us, revealing that shifters live alongside normal humans, imagine what that would do for her career.”

  He couldn’t help but recall the days after the Incident, the disappointment, the fear, the panicked flight from Wyoming. Scarlet was right. If Trina tumbled onto the shifters around here, it would be a hundred times worse. Ultimately, the Incident came of eyewitness accounts, a lot of speculation, and a blurry photo or two.

  Trina was loaded up with camera gear. From her point of view, the paranormal was something to capture. She was specifically looking for the supernatural. It didn’t help that she loved the spotlight.

  Casper pulled free of Scarlet’s grasp. “I’m working on a plan.”

  “Oh? What is it?”

  He put his dress clothes carefully on the bed. “I said I’m working on it.”

  “Well, sugar, I may not be pack, but I know the danger if shifters are uncovered.”

  He didn’t face her. “You don’t know the half of it.”

  “But I do. Don’t you think I regret what happened that summer? The fact that you had to leave your home? Packs all over the country held their breaths, waiting to see what came of it. Would we all be outed? Was the government going to hunt us all down? And that was all a stupid accident. Trina isn’t here on accident. She’s looking for something paranormal. We’re the most paranormal thing in the world, Cass.”

  He couldn’t help but recall the newspaper stories. At first, they were mocking. But as investigators dug up evidence, the stories became more serious. Reporters initially tried to brush the whole thing off. But when more open-minded professionals got involved, they had no choice but to concede that something weird was going on.

  Quickly the local TV station picked up the story. Then, the national news. The tracks. The photographs. The recording of howls in the night. All the eyewitnesses—many of them more than credible. Damn, how stupid had they been as kids?

  “I’ve had my say, Cass. You’ll do what’s right for the pack. If you can figure something out before that woman figures us out.”

  Casper watched as she swayed out of the room. He wasn’t sure if he was more irritated by her butting in, or the fact that she was right. Trina had to go. No doubt about it. But he wanted her. Was he subconsciously sabotaging his own efforts so that she might stay longer? It was too much to ponder.

  In the meanwhile, he had a few things going for him. Not the least of which was Trina’s budget vanishing. Without the money, she couldn’t produce a show. Or could she? How much did it really cost to walk around with a camera? Although she might be pig-headed enough to keep at it, he considered it a good sign.

  Additionally, the idea of ghosts and remodeling kicked around in his head. Only the Carstairs bid was on the horizon. Casper didn’t expect to hear back from her for weeks. Another one could pop up at any time. For now, he put the plan on a mental back burner. The idea needed to simmer for a while.

  He listened to Scarlet’s heels on the stairs. His life would be so much easier if he found a nice wolf-shifter girl.

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  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The whole drive home, Trina used the Bluetooth in the SUV to make calls. Each one made her more downcast than the last. She had to stop in a fast food parking lot to argue with her attorney. By the time she arrived at Casper’s house, the inevitable became clear. Even if the network’s legal eagles were going after Brian Truman, her show was cancelled.

  She could kick herself. This was her fault. If she’d formed her own production company, this wouldn’t be happening. In the effort to distance herself from the hoaxing in Eerie County, she’d only tainted the production with more fraud, and theft as well.

  Dejected, she walked down the driveway and into the in-law unit. Ben prairie dogged from his laptop. “Good news, boss. No underground grid in the national forest.”

  Trina sat in the recliner, head hanging. “What’s the point? The show’s cancelled.”

  “In the middle of production?”

  She gave Ben the story.

  “I knew that guy was a snake,” he said. “Should’ve busted him when I caught him faking evidence.”

  “Instead you blackmailed him into becoming a consultant?”

  He turned to the computer, muttering. “Just wanted to see if my gear worked.”

  “Send me a bill for your time. I’ll make sure you’re paid, okay?”

  Ben side-eyed her. “You’re just giving up?”

  “No, I’m not giving up. The show’s been eighty-sixed. Didn’t you hear me?”

  Face florid, he focused on the monitor. “Well, I stitched a rough edit of the clips you’ve shot so far. I think they’re pretty good.”

  He turned the laptop toward her and pressed a button. Trina saw herself interviewing the old guy at Little Crater Lake. The cell phone footage of the UFO was cut in, as well as some B-roll of the nerds hanging out. It cut to the two bikers she interviewed about the dead zone in the national forest. The segment was barely over a minute, but Trina sat up straighter. “Yeah, that does look pretty good. Considering there isn’t much to it.”

  “I’m not an expert, but I think this show would do well. The concept is good. Solo investigations by a woman—I think people would really like it.”

  “Be that as it may, Ben—”

  He interrupted her. “You pitched it to one network, why not another?”

  She sighed. “I didn’t actually pitch the show. I made a half-joking comment to my agent. Sue pitched the show. They went for it.”

  “Huh.” Ben pouted in thought. “I guess the concept sells itself. But there are so many networks to pitch to now. Apple TV, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Roku, Sling, not to mention all the start-ups and individual channels on those networks, and most of them are looking for original content.”

  Trina brightened up. “You think I should have Sue hit up the streaming networks?”

  “Why not do it yourself?” Ben opened his browser. “Even I know some guys who started up a streaming network. I’ll send them an e-mail.”

  “Really? That would be awesome.”

  Ben typed. “I think the goal is to become another Netflix, you know, show some original shows and hope for a big hit. It surprises me that you don’t know about this stuff.”

  Trina shrugged. “I never had to know. I have people.”

  She couldn’t read his expression. A moment later, his computer beeped.

  “Wow, that was quick.” Ben read the screen. “The BeeBo streaming service likes the idea. It says to have your agent call them.”

  “Seriously? Oh, Ben, I could kiss you!”

  His features opened wide. He stayed that way for an alarmingly long time. She sent a quick text to Sue Meyer. When she was finished, Ben was still in the same, shocked state.

  “I guess we carry on with the investigation tonight,” she said.

  Bend didn’t respond.

  “Earth to Ben.”

  He snapped out of it. “Sorry. I was just thinking.”

  “Casper and I have a dinner date, so we’ll have to start a little later. It takes forever for the sun to set around here, so we should still have a little daylight.”

  “Oh, right.” Ben hunched his shoulders. “Your date. I guess you’re really into this Casper guy.”

  Was it that obvious? “It’s just dinner.”

  “Yeah.” He returned to the laptop.

  She hadn’t seen the weight of Ben’s crush until now. “Don’t get all mopey on me.”

  “I’m not mopey.”

  “C’mon, Ben. You’re a good-looking man.
Women must be all over you.”

  “I have to beat them off with my quarterstaff.” His cheeks went rosy. “That didn’t come out right.”

  Trina got up from the kitchen table and put her hand on his shoulder. “Hey, I need a solid partner in this disaster. Not to mention a tech I can count on. I had the feeling you would stand by me from the moment we met.”

  There was some hurt in his expression, mixed with pride. He sighed. “I got your back.”

  “Maybe you and I aren’t meant to be. But some nice woman is going to see those strong shoulders and blue eyes and fall for you big time.” As long as she’s into nerds, Trina didn’t say. She gave Ben a hug and a peck on the cheek.

  He stood up quickly. “I’m going to shut eye for a while. You can call me when I sleep. When you want to go. Investigate. Call.”

  After Ben babbled out the door, she wondered if she couldn’t have handled that better. Or, at least, earlier. She liked Ben, but not in that way, even though he was a good looking hunk of man. Casper, she had clicked with from the first time she saw him through teared up eyes. Chemistry, animal magnetism, whatever it was happened immediately. There was no denying an attraction like that.

  She sent more texts and e-mails, made a few more calls. Sue reported a positive response from the streaming network. Her agent was hitting up several others as well. Trina texted back that she wasn’t looking for a bidding war, just the money to continue production.

  After catching the time on her phone, she realized she needed to get ready. She showered and dressed, and paid extra attention to her makeup. Not only was she going out with a sexy man; her public awaited. In theory, at any rate.

  Stepping into some strappy heels, she made her way to the main house. As she moved to the kitchen, her heart plummeted. Scarlet draped herself over one of the breakfast bar stools. Damn, but that woman’s legs went on forever. She was laughing at something Casper said before surveying Trina. She noted Casper looked good, his black jeans pressed, a crisp white dress shirt rolled up at the sleeves.

  “Hey,” Trina said. She forced herself to tamp down the jealousy. Scarlet worked in the spare bedroom office. She would just have to deal with it.

  “Hey yourself, Donut Girl,” Scarlet smiled.

  Trina let it slide. For now.

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  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Casper stopped talking in mid-sentence. Trina was a vision in a snug green dress, skirt and hair flowing with her motion. He suddenly felt underdressed. “Damn. You look too good for dinner anywhere around here.”

  She smiled, a million watts’ worth. “You look pretty good yourself. I haven’t seen you in anything but T-shirts.”

  Scarlet winced at the conversation.

  “You’re working late, Scarlet,” Trina said.

  “I’m lingering.” She shrugged. “Nothing but non-stop video games at Laramie’s house.”

  “Laramie’s boy?”

  “No, Laramie and Wendy. He comes home from work and they both plop down in front of the TV playing Super Mario Odyssey. The boy just mopes around and practices some kind of doom metal guitar in the garage. You can barely hear it over the video game.” Scarlet rolled her eyes. “Where are ya’ll off to, all gussied up like that?”

  “We’re having dinner at a haunted restaurant,” Casper said. “Later, we’re conducting an investigation in the national forest.”

  “Dinner in a restaurant? Cass, you squeeze a quarter so tight the eagle screams.”

  “This one’s on me,” Trina said.

  “How romantic. I reckon.” Scarlet grabbed her purse off the kitchen island. “See ya’ll tomorrow.”

  Trina’s face was tight as she watched Scarlet leave.

  “You don’t like her much,” he said.

  “What’s not to dislike?”

  Casper hid a smile. “It’s a long haul to Troutdale from here. We should probably get going.”

  “Would you mind driving? I’m still texting back and forth with my agent.”

  “Fuggedaboutit. As long as you put the phone away when we get there.”

  She smiled. “Deal.”

  As Casper drove her SUV, they chatted intermittently between Trina’s texts on the drive to Multnomah County. As they arrived, she looked up from her phone, eyes wide. “What is this place?”

  Casper eyed the looming brick building as he looked for parking. “Used to be the county poor farm. Historic society got a hold of it before it could be torn down.”

  They entered, and since it was early, the hostess seated them right away. Trina took in the warm wood paneling below the murals on all the walls. Their table was near the bar. “Nice place.”

  Casper ordered a beer from the onsite brewery.

  “We shouldn’t drink before an investigation,” Trina said. “We need to have clear heads.”

  Casper waved the thought away. “It takes forever for the sun to set, this far north. It’ll be hours before full dark. Have a glass of wine.”

  “Okay, what the hell.”

  They read through the menus, Casper surreptitiously looking Trina over. She looked impossibly sexy. He felt like he was having a date with a fantasy. He couldn’t say if that made it easier or harder to think about her leaving.

  “So what’s supposed to happen in this haunted restaurant?” Trina put the menu down.

  Casper made a face. “I dunno. Just what I heard.”

  As they spoke, the glasses above the bar rattled, jingling together. The bartender’s features fell. Then he laughed and spoke to someone out of sight. “Ghost is back, Donny.”

  Trina focused on the glasses. “Okay, that was something.”

  “Or something else,” Casper smiled.

  “What?”

  He angled his head toward the back of the room. “I just saw a couple go upstairs. They were on the hefty side. I think if it were quiet in here, we would’ve heard them walking across the second floor.”

  The drinks came. Trina toasted him. “Nice debunking, Casper.”

  “Yeah, kinda surprising, considering you’re sitting across from me. Hard to notice anything else at all, really.”

  “Observant, and a smooth talker.”

  The server reappeared, and they ordered. More people arrived, the noise level increasing. Casper leaned forward. “Here’s something I don’t get. Why do you hunt for ghosts at night? Do they glow in the dark or something?”

  “Well, as a Theater Arts major, I have to admit that there’s a little bit of showbiz going on. It’s traditional to associate ghosts with darkness, even if people experience things at any given time. As for the investigation tonight, there’s less of a chance someone will stumble into camera view in the dark woods. People just don’t walk in the pitch black woods, generally speaking.”

  Casper sipped his beer. “Did your own experiences with your family who passed, did they happen in the dark?”

  “No.” She gazed into her white wine. “Usually in the evening. But that’s just a statistical thing. You know, that’s when Mom and I were home from work and school. Like most people.”

  She seemed a lot more upbeat than she had when he dropped her off earlier in the day. “I don’t know if you want to talk about this, but how’s the financial stuff looking?”

  “Better. We might have some streaming networks interested.”

  “Streaming networks?”

  “Like Netflix and Hulu?”

  “Oh, yeah. I have Netflix. Netflix is interested?”

  She bobbed her head. “Not Netflix necessarily, not yet anyway, but some up-and-comers. They’re looking for original content. Hoping for a hit. I’m hoping for a hit as well.”

  “So it works out.” Casper finished his beer. “How’d this come about?”

  “Oh, Ben mentioned he knew some people. I texted my agent, and she started setting it up.”

  Casper frowned at the name. “I didn’t figure Ben for a showbiz type.”

  “
He’s not.” Trina grinned. “He’s a nerd type. But sweet.”

  Sweet was okay, Casper thought. Sweet was a word women used to describe men they liked, but weren’t really interested in. At least, in his experience. He could put up with sweet. For now.

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  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Even if no ghosts showed up, the meal was excellent. Trina admired both Casper’s skepticism, and his observant nature. Even if he wasn’t a believer, he had an open mind.

  As they left the restaurant, she saw that he was right. The sky was still bright despite the hour. Trina noticed Casper taking in the setting sun as well. Without looking, his hand slipped into hers.

  Why did it feel so right, so natural? Had she ever become so crazy attached to a man in so short a time? She took him in from the corner of her eye. His facial features were strong, verging on the exotic with the angle of his eyes, the amber of his irises. Broad shoulders made his torso a V. The forearms revealed by his rolled up sleeves were corded with muscle. The feel of his hand was rough, even as his touch was gentle.

  Hand in hand, they walked back toward her SUV. Bricks glowed like coals in a fire with the low sun. This was such a strange place. In the near distance, a water tower rose. The main building had wings, functioning as a hotel as well as a restaurant. Outbuildings housed a winery, a brewery.

  They strolled past a round planter in the center of the circular drive. Surrounding were fields in bloom, growing some of the food they had just eaten. Wind picked up, though the breeze was balmy. She noted Casper checking out her legs when her skirt lifted.

  “Thanks for dinner,” he said.

  She faced him. “You picked a fairly romantic setting.”

  “I was just looking for ghosts.” He shrugged. “I haven’t been here before. It’s a little out of the way for me.”

  “Plus, you’re a tightwad.”

  “There is that.”

  They continued to her car, the lot filling up as the hour aged. Trina leaned into his body as they walked, feeling his sturdy frame. Why was she doing this? Why? She didn’t mean to lead him on. Or was she leading herself on?