by Terry Spear
“I had to keep a straight face when the director told me I needed to see him as one of my kinsmen. If only he knew how close to the truth he was.”
“I was surprised the director kept the scene after you spoke when you weren’t supposed to. Again.”
“How could I not speak a couple of words to reassure the wolf he had done well? I could smile at him, rub his bony head, but speaking a few words worked the best.”
“And throwing in some Gaelic?”
“That’s what we spoke back then. It just suited the occasion.”
“William will be sure to learn what you said to him. You showed Guy up for not being willing to comfort the wolf. I’m sure the director wasn’t happy with the way Guy reacted when he offered to pet William and looked so terrified in the scene. He didn’t pull it off well at all.”
“I don’t blame him, really. We have a secret understanding. To Guy, a wounded dog could lash out if in pain. A wolf? Even scarier and more dangerous. It made sense that he couldn’t do that part. Besides, he’s worth a lot more money than I am.”
Heather laughed. “You are worth a lot more than some guy that playacts about all this. You’re the real deal.”
“I would sure hope so. I need to check on William. He was moaning like he was in real pain.”
“I’ll come with you. I imagine Colleen will be seeing to him, too, so you’d better not get all growly with him if he is really hurting.”
Enrick grunted.
Heather smiled up at him. “Colleen will give him enough grief, believe me.”
They finally reached the room where William was staying, and sure enough, Colleen was there with another woman who was bandaging his shoulder. Between shoots, they’d moved William to the castle and cleaned the injury, hiding him in his room, but when he had to do his part again, they’d had to remove the bandages and let him shift.
“You’d better not be here to tell me William has to play the injured wolf anymore today,” Colleen said, her brow furrowed.
“Nay. I just wanted to check on how severe his bite wounds really are.” Enrick frowned to see William’s shoulder all bandaged and he couldn’t tell how bad it was.
“He’ll live, as long as it doesn’t get infected. Which it could if he keeps having to remove his bandage to shift,” Colleen said crossly.
Enrick understood Colleen’s concern. He was just as worried about William. “He doesn’t have a scene tomorrow or the next day. We can fill in with another wolf for any days after that.”
“No,” William said. “I can do this.”
“Not if you don’t allow the wound to heal,” Enrick said. No way did they want him to get sick over playing a part in a film.
Chapter 20
That night at the private meeting in the conference room, Grant met with Enrick, Lachlan, and Heather, since they had major roles in the film shoots.
“Colleen is seeing to her cousins at the moment and will join us shortly. All of you know we caught the wolves who attacked ours, and they’re currently incarcerated at Argent Castle. We found their vehicle and impounded it. I also called Paxton McKinley and told him if he wants us to start killing his wolves, we’ll do so. They are bound to get all of our kind in real trouble,” Grant said. “Robert said the wolves acted on their own, and he didn’t have control over all the wolves. They were McKinley wolves. Paxton says he knows nothing about it.”
“That may be, but I suspect Robert had something to do with stirring things up,” Enrick said. “Has Ian questioned the men yet?”
“He and his men tried to question them, telling them they only wanted the men issuing the order for the attacks, but the rogue wolves won’t shift,” Grant said. “By the way, you handled the situation perfectly, Enrick.”
“I wanted to kill them.”
“I would have felt the same way you did,” Grant said. “I’m glad you used restraint in front of the film crew. Especially since we know the wolves would have turned into their human forms if they had died.”
“I so agree.” Enrick figured the aggressor wolves hadn’t intended to kill their wolves, either, just injure them badly, disrupt the film, and maybe scare the film cast into stopping the filming in the woods, anything to cause trouble.
“So what do we do now?” Lachlan asked.
“Remain diligent. Keep a large security force surrounding the area of the shoots. Make sure the areas where they’re shooting are checked over to ensure there are no traps or other issues that could injure anyone in the vicinity. Be armed with tranquilizer guns if we have any further issues with their wolves attacking ours in the scenes. Shoot them if they’re not wearing their wolf coats too. Nip it in the bud, as Colleen says.”
Colleen stormed into the meeting room, her face three shades redder than Enrick had ever seen it. “I hope you plan to kill the wolves.”
She was all about life and living and forgiving. Enrick didn’t think he’d ever seen her this riled over the fighting going on between her pack and the instigators, except when Grant was trying to protect her from the McKinley clan and she had been in danger.
“You aren’t going to let them get away with this, are you?” she asked Grant, her voice furious.
“Nay, love. Not in this century or any other. But your cousins were not badly injured, and they wanted to continue to play their roles. The men who are ordering these crimes are the ones we’re seeking,” Grant said, rising from his chair and taking Colleen into his arms. He kissed her cheek. “Your cousins are fine.”
“Thanks to Enrick who single-handedly took on the three rogue wolves,” Colleen said, frowning at Grant.
“Aye, and he didn’t kill the wolves because you know what would have happened next.” Grant kissed her forehead.
She took a deep, settling breath. “Right.” She sat down on the chair next to where Grant had been sitting, and he retook his seat. “So exactly what are we doing?”
After Grant explained what was going on, Heather said, “I want to question the woman further.”
Everyone watched her but didn’t say anything.
“Maybe I won’t get anything more out of her, but I want to learn what her given name is. They might deny she’s one of them, but if we learn the truth from her, we’ll know for certain.” Heather sounded determined to learn it anyway.
“I agree with Heather. Maybe her family, once we know who she is, will put pressure on Paxton to cease and desist,” Enrick said.
“By all means, question her. I’ve tried three times without success,” Colleen said. “But you had the most luck with her already, so hopefully you will get somewhere with her again.”
“It’s certainly worth a try,” Grant said, everyone else agreeing. “If you have any success with her, maybe you can work on the three wolves who attacked ours.”
Heather smiled. “If you need me to try, I will. But I think I might have more luck with the woman.”
“Okay, Enrick, you stick with Heather until she’s done questioning the woman, then help Lachlan make sure we have plenty of security for tomorrow’s scenes.”
“Will do.” Tomorrow was going to be a good day. Other than a day filming some scenes with the hero and heroine of the story—one at the pond, one in a bedchamber that Enrick didn’t have to take part in—he planned to visit with Heather.
But for now, he was off to watch over her while she questioned the woman in custody.
* * *
Heather had wished she could just enjoy the night with Enrick, but he had to check out the details with the people providing security, and she really hoped she could make some progress questioning the woman.
When Heather and Enrick arrived at the cell in the dungeon, the woman was sitting on a cot and writing in a journal. She’d had a shower and was wearing clean clothes, so she wasn’t being mistreated. Only confined. Heather didn’t think the woman should hav
e anything she could use to entertain herself while she was incarcerated.
“Your pack leader wants to know your name.” Heather stood outside the cell.
Enrick leaned against the wall at the end of the cell block, listening but not intruding.
“Okay, look, if you did this for Robert, not once has he asked how you are or cared to have you freed or anything. I take it this is a one-sided love affair. You’re hoping he’ll care about you because you did what he wanted you to do. In truth, he really doesn’t care whether it was you or any other woman he could get to do it as long as he could convince one of you to go along with the plan. Do you wonder if he asked any others to deliver the contaminants who might have turned him down?”
The woman flinched. So she knew he had asked others and she’d been delighted he finally asked her.
“Were you the only woman gullible enough to do it?”
The woman frowned at her.
“Do you have sisters or brothers who care about your welfare? Parents? Cousins? Does anyone care you are incarcerated? Does anyone even know except for Paxton and Robert?”
The woman remained mute.
“Okay, let’s say you’re banished from the pack. Where are you going to go? Anyone allied with us won’t take you in. Not after what you pulled. Anyone allied with the McKinley wolf pack won’t take you in either. Robert? You think he would have anything to do with you if you were banished?”
“My brother wouldn’t banish me from the pack.”
Heather’s jaw dropped. “Paxton’s sister? You’re Paxton’s sister, Catherine?” As far as Heather knew, Catherine was really quiet and did what her brothers told her to do. Heather didn’t believe she would get herself into trouble by doing Robert’s bidding. But a woman hooked on a heel could be convinced to do things she never would have done without the rogue’s influence.
“We sent a picture of you to your brother and he said he didn’t know you,” Heather said.
The woman frowned at her.
Heather knew Enrick would text Grant as soon as she finished speaking with Catherine and then Grant would call Paxton and tell him they had his sister, of all people, even though he had denied that she belonged to his pack, and see where that led. As far as Heather knew, the brothers had always been protective of their only sister. Robert would be in a world of hurt if Paxton hadn’t truly ordered her to contaminate the food.
She suspected now Paxton wouldn’t have. Certainly, he wouldn’t have sent his own sister to do the deed, unless he thought Grant wouldn’t do anything to her because Catherine was his sister. But why lie about who she was? Ashamed of her?
Catherine didn’t confirm that was who she was, but Heather thought it was her, after she had the name to the face. The packs didn’t mingle, so it wasn’t like they would see each other at events or anywhere else all the time.
“So when your brother learns we know who you are, then what? He’ll ask for your release, or leave you here for doing such a stupid thing? And what of Robert? Will he reward him? Banish him? Kill him?” Heather was hoping for the latter solution so he wouldn’t be any more trouble for either of their clans.
Catherine just scowled at her.
Heather smiled. “Always nice talking to you. Next time, you ought to put your faith in a wolf who’s not a rogue.” Then she left to join Enrick and he escorted her up the stone stairs.
“Man, I can’t believe you got that much out of her. I seriously think you should speak with the men we’re holding at your cousin’s castle,” Enrick said and texted Grant to let him know what they learned.
Grant texted him back.
“What does Grant say about it?”
“Conference call now. I suspect he’s going to call Paxton with the news, but he’ll want us there to verify that’s who the woman is and to see what he has to say. I can’t believe we sent him a photo of her and he denied she was part of the pack.”
“He’s going to be angry we know the truth now, I betcha,” Heather said.
“He will be, I’m sure. I know if I had a sister that pulled that and threatened to harm the pack in doing so, I would be mad.”
“But would you banish her from the pack?”
“Nay.” Enrick escorted Heather up the stairs. “I’d probably put a ton of restrictions on her. I would definitely ban Robert, Patrick, and the others who caused trouble and could have gotten us involved in a pack war though.”
“I would banish her,” Heather said.
Enrick smiled down at her. “What if she was your sister? Or one of your brothers?”
Heather didn’t hesitate to say, “Aye, I would if she were one of my brothers instead.”
Enrick laughed.
“A sister?” Heather shrugged. “I guess I could forgive her if she straightened out. But she would have to do something to earn forgiveness from the pack she wronged.”
When they reached the conference room, Colleen and Grant were already there.
“You are amazing, Heather,” Grant said.
“I agree,” Colleen said. “You need to go and speak with the men locked up at your castle. We’ve sent pictures of them as wolves to the McKinley pack, but they deny they’ve ever seen them. No surprise since they denied who the woman was also. See if you can get the men to confess to who they are.”
“I don’t think it will work as well as me talking to Catherine. She might have made a slip in calling Paxton her brother,” Heather said. “She might have wanted to see if her brother cares, since Robert obviously doesn’t.”
“Okay, I’m going to call Paxton and see what he has to say about it.” Grant got ahold of Paxton and said, “I’ve got some news for you. I’m putting the call on speakerphone so my brothers, Colleen, and Heather MacNeill, who learned who the woman is who sabotaged our food, can confirm it.”
“Who? Everyone is accounted for. Are you sure it’s not someone else from another wolf pack? Someone else who has a grudge against you? I told you we’ve never seen the woman in the picture you sent to us,” Paxton said.
“It’s Catherine McKinley.” Grant didn’t say anything more, and there was a long moment of silence.
“Nay. She’s gone to see our aunt in London.”
“Unless a woman of your clan lied about who she is, and someone intercepted the photo we sent to you and switched it with another, then Catherine has lied to you about where she intended to go. Like I said before, Catherine said Robert gave her the go-ahead to tamper with the food, and he said it was under your orders.”
Again, a significant pause. “Hold on.”
There was a clunk that sounded like Paxton had put his phone down on a table, then a door opened and closed.
A few minutes later, the door opened and closed, and a breathless Paxton said, “Let me speak with her.”
Paxton must have learned Catherine wasn’t at her aunt’s place after all.
“It’ll take a few minutes,” Grant said. “I’ll call you back.”
“I’ll get her.” Lachlan headed out of the conference room.
Heather felt like she was sitting on a cushion of pins, wondering what Paxton would do about his sister. She couldn’t help feeling like the woman had been used by the man she thought she loved. Heather wondered if Robert could feel anything for anyone.
Lachlan finally returned to the conference room with Catherine. She looked glum, and Heather wondered if Lachlan had told her that her brother wanted to speak with her.
“Have a seat, Catherine,” Grant said, and she sat on one of the love seats as Lachlan took a seat beside her. “Your brother wants to talk to you.”
Her back stiff, she gave a curt nod.
Grant got her brother on the phone. “Here she is.” He offered his phone to her, and she got up from the love seat and took the phone, her hand shaking.
She listened for a few minutes, stil
l standing as if that would be easier than sitting while she talked to her brother. Though he was doing all the talking.
“No, he did not coerce me. No, Paxton, you know our aunt and I don’t get along.” Catherine let out her breath in exasperation. “He said you sanctioned it! No, of course I didn’t think to ask you. I believed him.” She began to pace across the floor. “You’re banishing me to our aunt’s place? No.” She glanced at Heather. “I can work for the MacQuarries to pay off my debt.”
“In my shop,” Heather said, feeling the woman needed someone on her side. Maybe it would change Catherine’s view of the MacNeills and the MacQuarries. They had to start somewhere.
The woman smiled at her.
“No contaminating the food or you’re terminated.” Heather smiled sweetly at her, but she meant it. She didn’t need someone ruining her reputation. And Heather didn’t mean that Catherine would be fired from the job either.
Catherine smiled back at her and the look was one of appreciation, though Heather didn’t trust her entirely around the food. Catherine would have to earn that trust. Cleaning tables and the restrooms would come first.
“Aye, that’s what I want to do. I’m not staying with our aunt. She hates me because she thinks I’m a useless beta wolf. And if she learns Robert convinced me to do this, she’ll be assured I’m just a problem wolf,” Catherine said to her brother. “What are you going to do about Robert and his brother? They’re the ones that pushed everyone to cause trouble for the MacQuarries.” Her eyes widened. “Banishment? At least a dozen wolves are loyal to them. You’ll have a fight on your hands.” She bit her lip. “Aye, of course, I’ll go along with banishing them. Nay. I know he doesn’t…” She took a deep breath and let it out. “He doesn’t love me. He just used me. Aye, they’re treating me well.” She glanced at Heather again.
Which made Heather feel a little guilty that she’d said Catherine should be staying in the dungeon and had made the comment about torture. Just a little guilty. After all, Catherine had been glad she’d done what she had, but Heather suspected it was because Catherine had truly believed her brother had called for it.