The Patient Wolf (Wicked Urban Fantasy #1)

by Karen Hodges Miller

  “Well, yes…we have seen quite a lot of each other. He’s been over to the house several times. He’s always just missed Sophie, that’s all. But he says he is very anxious to meet her.”

  It sounded lame, even as Ana said it. Alexander professed to be very interested in all aspects of Ana’s life, even her daughter, but somehow he kept making excuses whenever it came to actually meeting her.

  She couldn’t mention it to Monica, but Alexander would certainly meet Sophie on Halloween night. All three of them had a command performance at the Bertrand homestead. Ana sighed. She wasn’t looking forward to it.

  Now dinner at the club, and the chance to show off a little in front of her ex-husband? That was another story. And if she was going to be perfectly honest with herself, she was more excited about showing off in front of Jonathan than about spending the evening with Alexander. How could attentive, attractive, and sophisticated be boring? How could she still be thinking of Chris whenever she was with Alexander?

  She wouldn’t think about Chris.

  She wouldn’t think about Chris.

  No, she really wouldn’t think about Chris.

  But after an evening with Alexander, she was…bored. Maybe it was his propensity to talk about his work all the time. Or to assume she was just as interested in “the study of how the belief in the supernatural affects humans in their daily lives.” She’d heard it so many times she thought it in quotes.

  She wouldn’t think about Chris.

  Part of what bothered her was the basic dishonesty of Alexander’s work. He knew for a fact that werewolves, vampires, and other “paranormal” beings were real, yet his entire professional life was spent pretending that he was “hunting for the reality in the legend.”

  The night of the dinner Ana put on the one-shoulder, dark wine colored, knee-length dress she and Monica had chosen. The ruched bodice flattered her figure. “I can never get away with something like that,” Monica had said when Ana tried on. She looked down at her own curvy outline and sighed. “But on you it looks fabulous.”

  Ana had gulped at the price—even with a coupon. But she was tired of feeling as if she looked like the poor relation. She’d even bought strappy, silver high heels and a little silver clutch to complete the outfit. She was going to look fabulous even if she ate nothing peanut butter sandwiches for lunch for the next six months.

  “You are one of the Bertrands, Chérie,” Alexander told her whenever she protested something extravagant that he wanted to do or to buy. “I adore the fact you are modest, but remember, you do have a position in this town, and so do I. I want you to look beautiful. I want to show you off.”

  Ana’s family had never seen it like that. She had never been told she came from a prestigious family. She knew Jonathan had thought that, and had been disappointed her family had not lived up to his expectations. They had never belonged to the country club, never held elected office. But if you wanted something done in Rivelou, you went to Hank Bertrand.

  And Hank Bertrand would never accept Jonathan Dugan. He would never accept Chris Spier. If she and Chris got back together it would just be the same old problem she had had with between her grandfather and Jonathan—the problem that had ultimately torn them apart. Yes, the same thing happen all over again with Chris. She wouldn’t think about Chris, she reminded herself one more time.

  But her grandfather did accept Alexander. In fact, he’d practically thrown her into his arms. Wasn’t it time she accepted being with her own kind was easier? That being at peace with her family, rather than at odds with them would make her happier? Wasn’t it easier to love the sophisticated, wealthy, famous Alexander Fontaine? As she headed for the party, Ana vowed to work on learning to love the man she was with, rather than the one who had not contacted since their fight almost three weeks ago.

  When they arrived, Melanie and Jonathan were some of the first people they saw. Melanie was on the planning committee for the party and had arranged the decorations, which seemed to consist of an overabundance of cute scarecrows and pumpkins and hay bales all smothered by hundreds of bronze, red, and yellow chrysanthemums.

  “Ana, I’m so glad to see you.” Melanie kissed her on the cheek. “I’ve got to ask you. Were you sick all the time with Sophie? Jonathan thinks I’m faking. He says the minute I found out I was pregnant I started to puke, and it can’t happen that fast.”

  Ana grimaced and patted her arm to comfort her. “I’m so sorry you’re sick. I know lots of women who say the same. But I hate to tell you; I was one of those people who wasn’t sick a day. And that’s Jonathan’s only experience with a pregnant woman.”

  “Well, he’s just going to have to learn we’re not all alike, isn’t he? I always hear how I’m not as strong as you, until sometimes I just want to scream. Oh, I shouldn’t have said that,” Melanie put her hand to mouth and blush. “I don’t mean to complain about Jonathan. Really, I don’t. I love him so much and I want to please him. This really must be my hormones talking.”

  Ana stood with her mouth open for a minute as Melanie turned to greet another couple. Jonathan thought she was strong? That certainly wasn’t what he’d told her when they were married. Jonathan compared her favorably to Melanie? “That bastard,” she thought. “He used to do the same thing to me.”

  Ana shook her head in disgust. Well, luckily, Jonathan was Melanie’s problem now. She looked around and found Alexander, who, no surprise, had been cornered by Jonathan. She figured she had better go rescue someone—she just wasn’t sure which one of them would be more in need of a rescue.

  When she made her way over to the hors d’oeuvres table where the pair stood, she noticed that Jonathan was eyeing Alexander’s suit and suit, and watch, the favorite Patek Phillipe, and silently adding up the cost in his head. It was small of her, but she really hoped that they could manage to leave at the same as Jonathan so he would see the Lamborghini.

  Unfortunately, a short time later she saw the couple leaving early. Jonathan did not look happy, and Melanie was holding a handkerchief to her mouth. “Melanie must be puking again, poor thing,” she thought.

  The evening was wonderful. Alexander was an excellent dancer. They were one of the last couples to leave. When they finally arrived back at her house at the end of the evening, Ana could tell Alexander expected to be asked inside.

  “Chérie, I have made it clear how I feel about you, but you are holding back,” he said to her after she gave him a chaste good night kiss on the porch and prepared to go inside alone. “What is wrong? It is not your ex-husband, is it?”

  “No,” she laughed. “It is definitely not Jonathan. If I had had any romantic feelings left for him at all, they would have been gone tonight after I saw him with Melanie. It’s not her fault she has morning sickness. He was totally unsympathetic.”

  “If it is not Jonathan, then it is someone else?’

  “No. Of course not,” she said too quickly.

  “Ah, I see. It is the Hunter, then, that you are still thinking about.”

  Ana looked away. She couldn’t deny it. No matter what Chris had done, or who he was, she still had feelings for him.

  “He’s not the right man for you, you know. You are too different. It would never work.”

  “I know that. I just can’t help how I feel.”

  “I won’t quit trying, Chérie. You are the right one for me. I knew it the first time I saw you. We are meant for each other. Everyone knows it but you.”

  “Alexander, I don’t know if I’ll ever feel that way about you.”

  “Don’t worry. I have enough faith for both of us. And I have told you before, I can be very, very patient.” He kissed her again, lightly. “I’ll see you Monday at the university. It’s Halloween. First the seminar, then we will go together to the pack meeting at your grandfather’s home. You’ll see then, that I am your perfect mate.” He headed back to his car as she opened her door to her house.

  Stopping just inside the door she kicked off her high heels an
d had started to take off her earrings and necklace when the doorbell rang.

  “Alexander? Did you forget something?” she said as she opened the door.

  But it wasn’t Alexander standing on the stoop. It was Chris.

  Chapter 20

  “Ana, please. Can I come in? I’ve got to talk to you.”

  His hair looked as if he’d been running his hands through it, rather than combing it; his shirt was wrinkled. He looked exhausted, as if he hadn’t slept in a week. Ana’s heart leapt at the sight of him.

  She just didn’t want him to know it.

  Silently she opened the door wider and gestured for him to enter, then led the way back to the kitchen.

  “You look good,” he said, taking in her dress and hair, which was still pinned up with rhinestone clips.

  “You don’t. You look like hell.” She relented a little. “Do you want some coffee?

  “Sure. Yeah. It doesn’t matter. Ana, I couldn’t stay away. I’ve missed you every day. I’ve been worried sick about you. You don’t know, but I’ve followed you home each night. I’ve been afraid you would be attacked again.”

  She turned from the coffee machine to look at him. “So what now? You are telling me you’ve been stalking me? You think that is the way to win me back?”

  “No, I’m not stalking you. Okay, maybe I am stalking you.” He ran his hands through his hair again in frustration. “I’m sorry, if that’s the way it sounds, but I’m afraid for you. Alexander Fontaine is a very dangerous man, and you’re out with him almost every night.”

  “Chris this is crazy. Alexander says the same thing about you. Why should I believe you over him? He’s one of my kind. You’re not. You hunt my kind and lock us up, or destroy us.”

  “What does your heart tell you about me? And him?”

  “I’m supposed to trust my heart? It led my pretty far astray the first time. Jonathan isn’t a shapeshifter. He isn’t even a Hunter. At least you know what I am. Poor Jonathan had no idea what he was getting into with me—and I couldn’t tell him. I wasn’t allowed to. He never understood why my family wouldn’t accept him. I thought I was following my heart then, and it tore us, it tore me apart. How can I do that again?”

  “Because I’m in love with you and you’re in love with me.”

  “It isn’t enough! I want something easy this time. I want to be with someone my family approves of. I want to be with someone like me. Loving you just isn’t enough.”

  Chris suddenly felt triumphant. She had just admitted she loved him. He could work with that, he thought.

  “Love’s got to be enough, because it’s everything. There is nothing else,” he said, standing up and taking her in his arms. “I don’t care if you’re a shapeshifter. I don’t care who or what you are. I only know I love you and I want to be with you. To take care of you, and cherish you. And Sophie. She’s a part of you and I want the whole package, Ana. We’ll make it work.”

  And suddenly he could stand it no longer. He crushed his mouth against hers, tasting the cherry flavor of her lipstick, breathing in the sweet vanilla fragrance of her hair, and feeling the smooth, smooth softness of her skin as he ran his hands over her back and shoulders, left mostly bare by the incredibly sexy dress she wore. He loved the dress. She looked beautiful in it. He wanted it off of her. Now.

  But. “Where’s Sophie?” he asked, regaining enough control to remember her daughter.

  “She’s spending the night with Kaylee.”

  “Excellent,” he said, picked her up in his arms and headed for the stairs.

  ~~~

  A long time later Ana lay with her head on Chris’s shoulder, playing with the softly springy hairs covering his chest. “How can this ever work? How can we prove to my grandfather you are not the person responsible for killing that man in the park? That you don’t have a dog or a wolf hidden away somewhere?”

  “You believe me, then?”

  “Yes, I believe you. I think I always believed you. Alexander’s story just didn’t make sense. It didn’t fit with the man I knew you to be. I was just angry you hadn’t told me who you are, what you do. And I thought it would just be easier if, for once, I just went along with my family. They seemed to like Alexander so much.”

  “I want to say if you believe me, nothing else matters, but there’s more to it than that. Alexander Fontaine is dangerous. He’s killed at least twice. I may never be able to prove it in a court of law, but I know he killed both my brother-in-law and Dennis Halworth, over in Mitchell Park.

  “What does your sister have to say? She’s a police officer, you said. And, since she is your sister, I presume she knows about shapeshifters? And maybe she has heard something about the case that we don’t know.”

  “That’s true.”

  “Well, let’s go talk to her. Maybe she’ll have some ideas.”

  “All right. Sounds like a plan. But it isn’t dawn yet. I think we should wait at least until it is light outside,” he said.

  “Okay. I can think of ways to pass the time.”

  “I think I can, too.” He laughed and flipped on top of her. “Let me show you.”

  Chapter 21

  In the morning Ana called Lindsey and asked her to keep Sophie for the rest of the day. She punched on the speaker on her phone as she walked around the kitchen getting breakfast ready.

  “How was your date last night?” Lindsey asked.

  “It was okay. I guess the best thing you can say for it was that it helped me to clarify my feelings.”

  “Well, that’s cryptic. What does that mean?”

  “You mean Joe hasn’t looked in my driveway yet this morning?” Ana teased.

  “What? You and Alexander? How was it? Is he still there? Is that why you need me to keep Sophie? I’m at the window now and I don’t see…Ana. That’s not a Lamborghini in your driveway. That’s Chris’s car. You’ve got to tell me what happened. How was he? I want all the details.”

  “You’re a married woman. You should know about the details.”

  Chris walked into the room just in time to hear the last of the conversation. He groaned and put his head in his hand. Ana just laughed at him.

  “You know you can’t date a small town girl without everyone knowing what’s going on,” she told him. “You might as well just get used to it and accept it.”

  “Is that Chris? Is he there with you now? Did he hear me? Oh my god, I am so embarrassed! I’ll keep Sophie for you for as long as you need. But I want to know all about it as soon as possible. Hanging up now.”

  ~~~

  They drove over to Chris’s sister’s home right after breakfast.

  “Chris? I didn’t hear you leave this morning,” Shannon said, coming down the staircase of the old Victorian just as Chris and Ana arrived. “Oh. I didn’t know you had company.” Her voice turned aloof when she saw who he was with.

  Ana wasn’t surprised. She was either upset because she knew Ana was a shapeshifter and a shapeshifter had killed her husband, or because she thought that Ana had hurt Chris, or because it was obvious she and Chris were back together. Ana grimaced. There were a lot of reasons Chris’s sister might resent her. Whatever the case, it made for a very awkward meeting.

  Chris, however, was either oblivious to the frosty atmosphere, or just planned to ignore the tension between the two women.

  “Hey, Shannon. This is Ana. I’ve told you a lot about her. And I didn’t just come in. I couldn’t sleep last night. I went over to Ana’s to get things straight.”

  “Chris!” Ana protested.

  He gave her a grin. “What’s good for the goose, remember? Didn’t you just promise to tell Lindsey ‘all about it?’”

  Shannon, who had short, wavy light brown hair, that like her brother’s never stayed in place, pushed it back from her forehead and gave Ana a welcoming smile. “I can see that whatever was wrong between you and my brother is now right. I’m glad for you.” She came over and gave Chris a hug, then turned to Ana. “He’s my big
brother and I’m very protective. When I don’t want to kill him. So just keep that in mind, all right?”

  “I understand. I feel exactly the same way about my big brother,” Ana replied.

  “So, now that you two have bonded over the trials of having magnificent big brothers, let’s get down to business. Shannon, I’ve told Ana everything, and she now agrees with us that Alexander Fontaine is the shapeshifter we are looking for. The big question is: How do we prove it?

  Ana needs more background information. I thought maybe we should start with you telling her about Jason.”

  Shannon put up a hand in protest. “Chris, I really don’t want to relive all of that.”

  Chris put his arm around her and led her into the living room. “I know you don’t like to talk about it, but if we are ever going to bring his killer to justice you have to.”

  Shannon sat down on the sofa and took a deep breath. “Please sit down, Ana. It’s a long story.”

  Ana sat beside Shannon, whose brown eyes held sorrow as she talked about her dead husband.

  “Jason always wanted to be a cop. Ever since he was a teenager. We’d known each other since high school; he was Chris’s best friend. That’s how I met him,” she began.

  “Even then we knew, Chris and I, about the dark side: the vampires, the shapeshifters, the witches. Our mother was a witch. She didn’t always use her powers well. We saw things as children…”

  “Wait! Back up … your mother was a witch? Alexander said something about their being rumors about your power Chris, but I really discounted everything he said about you. Why didn’t you tell me this? It means that you and Shannon…”

  Shannon shook her head. “We don’t want those abilities. We’ve never used them. We saw what our mother was capable of. We saw her do terrible things to people. We both vowed never to use our powers.”

  Now it was Ana’s turn to shake her head in negation. “We aren’t all like that. Paranormal abilities are just like any other abilities. It’s like being good in math or chemistry or being able to throw a football. The ability isn’t positive or negative. It’s what you do with it that counts.”