by Amber Lynn
“I won’t let you kill him.” I gazed at the empty hall as I said the words.
“I suppose that depends on how this conversation goes. I mentioned the fact that he doesn’t listen to you because we’ve seen how good I am about following your directions.”
“For some reason I don’t think you’ve been as good as I thought you were. Why are you here and how did you sneak up on me?”
I hoped to figure out the answer to the latter maybe more than anything else. I hated when something happened that shouldn’t, and he shouldn’t have been able to get within twenty miles without me knowing.
“Because you would’ve taken our daughter and run if you knew I was around.”
“Of course I would, but that doesn’t explain how you did it. I think you switched around the question words in my statement.”
“Okay, then I’ll answer the why I’m here part, because I won’t reveal my secrets as far as how I can hide myself from you. I gave you time, but you had to know eventually I’d come looking for you and our baby. I had issues of my own to handle, so letting you leave initially was something I could deal with. It wasn’t something I wanted to do, but I could deal.”
“I can already tell we’re very different people, because I had no problem dealing with leaving you in the dust. Can I hope whatever you needed to take care of involved a little lady waiting at home for you, who is still waiting at home?”
I hadn’t turned around. Looking at him would’ve made things more difficult. I already had to fight my urges to simultaneously attack him while holding him close. I hated being a werewolf.
“My feelings didn’t seem to be as strong as yours are for him. It was a rather painless break-up, although her father was upset his daughter wasn’t going to be queen bitch, as some say.”
I laughed at the term. Theoretically I was already one, being the strongest female in my pack. I’d been challenged by every single female, including my mother, and had won every match. It was sadly something required of me if I wanted to leave the pack.
They still considered me part of them, but I’d done what I could to cut my ties. Our theories of the world didn’t jive.
“If you had a girl picked out, how in the world are we in this situation?”
I finally turned around and instantly jammed my finger into his chest. Hearing he had someone pissed me off, and I didn’t care if his chest felt like a stone as I tried to dig a hole in it.
“Because I didn’t want her, and had only been considering claiming her. It’s not my fault you were out running around and called to me like a beacon. I’d lived thirty years without having to settle on a specific mate, but you came in range and I was screwed.”
I had to admit I liked his romantic words. He really knew how to make a girl feel wanted, which was fine by me. If he didn’t want a relationship, I was happy to give him exactly that.
“From the sounds of things, I was the one who was screwed. I was already married and had a baby on the way.”
“And whose fault is it that you never turned him and mated properly? I’m sure you know as well as anyone else that a human relationship always comes secondary to a wolf one.”
He reached his right hand up and stopped my finger from digging into his chest. His touch was hot and caused my blood to start boiling. I tried to yank my hand away, but he wouldn’t let me.
“I don’t want to be a wolf, ergo, I don’t want my husband to be one either. I can’t help that our offspring is, but I can raise them in a world that isn’t governed by barbaric laws.”
“I’ve gathered from your family that you try to live outside of our world, and as I’ve watched you the past three years, I’ve seen you do fairly well. I have no issues continuing with how things have been, but I’m going to be involved, which means as far as you’re concerned, he can’t be.”
I skipped over the part about him being in touch with my family. I was sure my brother had been busy handing out more of his great advice.
“You’re insane if you think he’s not going to be involved in his daughters’ lives. Whether they’re both his or not, he has been raising them.”
The man, who I still didn’t have a name for, pulled on my arm gently, causing me to step forward a few steps. He was too strong for his own good, and it made the wolf inside me preen for his attention. She could be such a hussy.
“I’m well aware of how that works. What I said was that as far as you are concerned, he is no longer involved. I was outside deciding when to announce my presence when he stormed in here like a mad man. I’m aware of your marital issues, and I’m going to have to insist that he isn’t given a chance to talk his way back into your bedroom.”
“I don’t think you get to make that decision. It’s not like he’s been able to touch me in years.”
“I believe I do get to make that decision. Tell me how you feel when I touch you. I know you’re the strongest woman I’ve ever met by your ability not to rip my clothes off right now, but you can’t tell me you don’t feel the same things I do, that your body doesn’t want to be curled up next to mine as I caress every molecule on the inside and outside.”
He took the hand he was holding and lifted it up to his nose so he could get a deep whiff of my scent. Before he placed it so my palm was flat on his chest, he delicately nipped at my wrist. A move I was sure he knew the reaction that immediately hit my body.
I growled at him softly as I tore my hand back from him quickly enough to catch him off guard. I knew it was the only way I’d be free from his touch.
“I don’t let my instincts rule my life.” I wasn’t about to verify his words were correct. I’d lived years not killing Paul or Katie, so I was fairly certain I could keep from ripping my clothes off.
“I’m aware. It’s one of the reasons we’re so compatible. Most males would’ve killed your human by now, but I’ve been nice and watched from afar as you attend all your little society events.”
I supposed it was good to know I was stuck with a mate who had some mental issues. No werewolf I’d met would’ve sat back and watched my devotion to Paul. My own family couldn’t handle it, so the fact that someone who was supposed to be romantically linked to me had was unbelievable.
“Just how long have you been lurking around? I don’t understand how you’ve been able to move about without me knowing.”
“I moved into town before our daughter was born. If you want to know the exact date, it was four days after we first met.”
There was clearly something wrong with me. I wondered if the pregnancy had somehow screwed up my senses. I’d been able to feel other wolves in the area just fine, but I’d never felt him close.
“I’d ask if you were actually a wolf, but I have a mark on my shoulder that already answers that.”
I decided we’d stood close enough for long enough, so I took a couple steps back. He was quick to make up the difference.
“And the mark on mine lets me know you are one as well.” There was an evil glint in his eyes as I pondered his words.
“What do you mean you have a mark? Males don’t get marks.”
“When you figure out why I have one, you’ll understand the situation we find ourselves in. I suppose I should let you get back to the girls. It wouldn’t do us any good if I had to kill the governor today, and I have a feeling he won’t sit up there patiently as we get to know each other better.”
“As far as I’m concerned, we know each other more than we need to.”
Rather than reply, he leaned down and nuzzled his cheek to my neck. It was a sign of possession and marking, which thankfully Paul wouldn’t pick up on. I growled softly, but it wasn’t a menacing tone.
The smell of a pine forest clouded my brain. I felt my head tilt towards his and I rubbed my cheek on the top of his head. His short crew cut had a bit of gel in it, which prickled against my skin.
“I beg to differ, but we have time to get to know each other the way I want. My name is Viktor, by the way. I should’ve t
old you that before, Nicole.”
Done with his little show, he straightened back up, touching his cheek to any bare skin he could on his way.
“I remain convinced we don’t need to know anything more about each other.” I had to stop breathing through my nose to get the words out. I needed to take a shower to make his scent go away.
“Let’s see how long that lasts. I just wanted to warn you that I’m not going to stand by and let him believe he has a chance. You were prepared to be done with him earlier today, and that’s going to need to stand if you want him to continue breathing.”
I opened my mouth to say something, but he stepped back and walked around me to leave the pool area. Evidently the conversation was over. I was staring at an empty room, feeling like nothing had gone my way.
Chapter Five
I didn’t spend long standing there like an idiot, but I had to get my body under control before I went up to fill Paul in. The increased crazy chemicals being released from my brain wanted me to chase after the man. I refused to think of him by his name, admitting I knew it only reinforced my life was screwed.
Walking up to my room, I didn’t pay attention to the world around me. As much as I didn’t want to, I was replaying the words he had said. I didn’t doubt there were things I’d neglected to learn about my heritage, but I couldn’t think of anything that would explain him having some kind of mark.
He could’ve been lying about the mark, but I couldn’t think of a reason why he would. He hadn’t offered to show it, and I was thankful for that. I already pictured what lie beneath his clothes, lifting up his shirt would’ve been dangerous.
Without a key to get in, I was prepared to knock on the door, but Paul had it opened and stood in the doorway waiting. There was relief in his eyes when he saw me. It didn’t hide the worry also lurking in them.
“Are you okay?” He moved to walk over to me, but I held out my hand to stop him.
“Let me take a shower first, and then we can talk. Nothing happened, but all I can smell is him right now and I’d like to do everything I can to wash the smell away.”
Paul didn’t need to immediately know his life was in danger if he tried to touch me. I noticed him breathing a little deeper, obviously trying to smell the same thing I did. It annoyed me that he even tried. I knew he wouldn’t know the man’s scent from the smell of chlorine that still clung to my body.
“Okay, the girls just laid down to take a nap, so we should have plenty of time to talk.” He moved out of the door so I could enter the room.
I laughed. “Have you double checked on your little hellion? I learned that she likes to pretend to sleep when it suits her. She’s already done it twice today.”
“Yes, I checked. Are you sure you’re the one with extra senses? Because I figured out that trick months ago.”
I looked over and saw the girls tucked in on the king-sized bed in the middle of the room. The room was about the size of the room I’d once shared with Paul back at the Governor’s Mansion, but it wasn’t filled with memories of our time together.
There were no pieces of art hanging on the beige walls courtesy of our daughters, and the matching colored carpet didn’t have the small stain of purple paint that didn’t seem to want to come out from the time the girls decided the beige walls in our room were boring.
The hotel room had a stylish couch, an armoire with a TV hidden behind its doors and a beautiful view from the terrace. In all it was similar, yet so different.
Living in the city, I’d missed looking to see woods out my window. The woods behind the hotel weren’t exactly the deep forests I was used to, but there were more than a handful of trees and I felt calmer when there was nature around me.
I looked back at Paul as I made my way to the bathroom. “She told you, didn’t she? She’s always liked to have little secrets the two of you keep.”
I closed the bathroom door behind me, ensuring he didn’t get the idea he was needed to help me clean up. It wasn’t a task he’d done for a while, but the way our conversation had been going made me think he wanted to step back up to the plate.
“You got me there. She claimed she wasn’t tired like she used to be and didn’t need a nap anymore. I think she probably only has one when we exhaust her, which I believe you did today.”
Paul had taken a position leaning up again the door. I’d heard his head softly bang on it when he’d first moved into the position.
“I tried. I was hoping they’d both get some sleep tonight so I could check out locations to call home. Finding somewhere to hide out for a little while has become a necessity.”
I’d stripped down, climbed into the shower and turned the water on as hot as I could take it, which basically meant the single lever was turned all the way to the left. I hadn’t unpacked my personal soap and shampoo, which meant I was stuck with what the hotel had to offer.
“As long as you know that I’m going with you, we can make sure that monster doesn’t find you or the girls. My schedule is fairly clear for the next few weeks, I’ll just claim we needed to get away and are taking a family vacation.”
“That monster is Selina’s father, if you hadn’t figured that out, and is the strongest person like me that I’ve ever met. He’s probably been living just down the road for years and I haven’t noticed him.”
After emptying the whole mini bottle of shampoo in my hand and scrubbing my hair, I could tell the pine scent wasn’t going anywhere. While I let the shampoo sit for a few minutes, I took a washcloth and tried to see if the bar of soap would do any better, paying special attention to my neck.
“I know I’m not a werewolf, but I was able to piece together he was her father. I didn’t catch his name, though. I’d like to run some background checks and see if anything turns up that we can use to get him to leave you alone.”
“I’m sure he’s done all sorts of things in his life that would be usable in the human world, but I highly doubt any background check you could run would come back with anything. I’m not like most of my kind. If a werewolf has an issue, they don’t go running to the police.”
I tired of scrubbing my skin cells off and started to rinse. The thought of asking Paul to grab my personal products crossed my mind, but I didn’t want him coming in the bathroom. I was going to have to live with the mildly deluded smell and peel my skin off later.
I turned off the water and grabbed a towel from the nearby rack. It was rough against my skin as I toweled off. When I was dry enough, I wrapped it around my hair and grabbed another towel to wear like a short dress. I hadn’t thought about the need for clothing, and there wasn’t enough money in the world to get me to put my swimsuit back on.
Glancing in the mirror, I should’ve asked Paul to hand me something to wear. Whether he’d been playing with Katie in his spare time, or whatever the two of them had been doing, I knew the sight of me fresh from the shower was going to excite him.
“As I’m sure you’ve figured out, I’m ready to come out. I need you to go stand across the room and stay there until I grab some clothes to put on.”
“I can just hand you some clothes. I get the feeling from your tone that you aren’t willing to walk out here and get dressed in front of me.”
“I should’ve had you leave as soon as I came back, but we still have things to discuss. I can hear you breathing at the door.”
“Yeah, well I was hoping we could pretend none of the crazy stuff happened today.” I heard him sigh and walk away.
When I was sure he’d moved, I opened the door and walked straight to my suitcase, which I’d left on the couch. If it had been anywhere else, I would’ve had him move it for me, but I didn’t want him going through what was in my bag.
“Crazy stuff has been following me around since the day I was born. I’m pretty sure it’d take a bloody miracle for it to stop now.”
I grabbed a pair of jeans, my bra and underwear, and a purple t-shirt without turning to look at Paul. I made my way back into the bathr
oom without having to see him. I didn’t want to see the lust I was sure twinkled in his eyes.
“This is my first foray into the crazy. How bad are things looking after today? I get the feeling my pleading to get us back together is just starting.”
I was a quick dresser, so I already had my underwear and jeans on by the time he’d finished speaking. He’d seen me get dressed before, so I doubted he was surprised when I put the rest of me together and walked back out into the room. I left the towel on my head, with my long hair, it took a while to dry.
“You should probably save your pleading and see if Katie doesn’t want to make things real between you. I’m guessing you picked her because there was some attraction on your part, maybe it’s time to see how that works out for you.”
It hurt to say the words, because I really did love Paul, but even without the man showing up, it was time for me to stop pretending. My marriage had been over for years, and there was nothing I could do to make things better. At some point the pretending had to stop.
“I told you there isn’t anything between us. I was just following what I was told would help.”
“And you never questioned Jack’s motives?”
I walked over to the bed to check on the girls. I didn’t expect we’d say anything that would scandalize them, but I wanted to try to see if I could see any difference in the way Sierra was sleeping.
She was curled on her side next to Selina, who was flat on her stomach. I couldn’t see anything questionable about her breathing, so I studied her eyes, which were facing me. They moved around subtly under their lids, telling me absolutely nothing about her level of consciousness.
The girls’ slightly higher than normal temperature made them dry quickly, so if they’d been damp getting in bed, everything was dry by that point. Having short, matching haircuts made it easier for their hair to dry quickly.
“He was nice enough to tell me what you really were. Why would I think he was lying?”