* * *
Unlike my previous visit, Grant’s mansion teemed with people. A lot of them wore sunglasses—what, did they think this was the Secret Service or something?—so I couldn’t tell who was werewolf and who wasn’t. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure I wanted to know.
Well-armed soldier types, both male and female, stalked past, barking commands at their minions. Mike had disappeared soon after seeing me inside through a side door, so now it was just me and my fears. And this tiny creature growing inside of me.
I pressed myself flat against the sofa, hoping no one would notice me. At the same time, I really wanted some answers. I got the first, sort of—people wandered past and gave me strange looks, but no one said anything to me. Finally, even though I really just wanted to run away and forget any of this had ever happened, I got up and waded through the crowd to find Grant.
I ran right into the woman who’d seen my walk of shame a month ago, his assistant. I took a better look at her this time: light brown skin, reddish-brown hair cut in a stylish bob, an ivory silk shell top over a long black pencil skirt. But no ocean-colored eyes, just plain old hazel ones.
I relaxed. At least one other human, even if she wasn’t totally friendly to me.
Her mouth tightened. “I assume Grant knows you’re here,” she said. When I raised my eyebrows at her rudeness, she added, “Of course he does. You wouldn’t be here otherwise. Forgive the question.”
Her phone buzzed, and as she read the message, her eyes widened. She glanced back up at me. “It seems I am to help make you at home. I suppose introductions are in order, then.”
“You’re Grant’s assistant,” I blurted. “But I never got your name.”
She looked taken aback. “Carmelita. But you can call me Caro.”
“What a pretty name,” I said, meaning it. “Makes me think of old movie stars.”
Caro smiled tentatively at that. “Well, thank you, I suppose.” She let her arms fall to her sides. “What can I do for you?”
“I’m trying to find Grant, actually,” I said, not sure how much to confess. How much, if anything, did she know?
But before Caro could say anything else, Grant’s voice boomed out from the living room. We exchanged glances, then hurried over and slipped into the back of the room. Everyone seemed to be talking at once.
Despite myself, despite my fear, my eyes slid right over the rest of the crowd and landed on Grant. Without even trying, he was just so damn sexy! I had thought knowing he was a werewolf would be a turnoff, but if anything, it just made the whole “animal side” thing literal. I wouldn’t mind him growling at me . . .
Grant clapped his hands, and the packed room instantly silenced. “Thank you all for coming out tonight. This isn’t quite the joyous full moon celebration I’d anticipated, but then, we’ve known for some time now that the Black Tails are out for blood. They’re not happy we have so much power in the bloc, and they have announced their aim to take some of that power from us. By shedding blood if they have to.”
The room rumbled with mutters and grumbles. Clearly this was not a new thing. Even Caro nodded.
An older man stood. He was black and had a distinguished face. If not for those blue-green eyes, I would picture him as a professor. Oh, hell, what did I know? Maybe that was his day job. “But what about throwing them a bone?”
Laughter broke out. “Good one, Charles,” someone called.
Charles allowed himself a smile. “All right, all right,” he said. “What I meant was, what about the betrothal? You have to know that part of this anger is the lack of succession.”
“Part of our weakness, you mean,” the man next to him shouted.
“We’ll get to that,” Grant said. “I’m on the hunt for the right mate. It can’t be just anyone.”
“You have all the woman you need right here,” said a blonde white woman in her twenties as she licked her lips. No doubt, she was a looker. I felt frumpy next to her.
But Grant barely acknowledged her. “Let’s get back to the immediate issue, please.”
“But we need an heir,” an older woman protested. “We need you to settle down and choose a wife. It’s the only way we can secure our position in the bloc.”
Sighing, Grant ran a hand through his hair, mussing it. “Enough. I will settle down when I’m good and ready.”’
“But without an heir—”
“I said, enough,” Grant roared.
Oh, God. I bit my cheek hard. What would all these people say if they knew? Well, I knew one thing: I sure as sure wasn’t going to be the one to tell them.
My phone buzzed again. Thank God it was on vibrate. Annoyed, I pulled it out. Avon again. We need to talk. Right now. Call me.
What was wrong with him? The man had cheated on me, thrown me out, and now had the gall to decide he wanted to talk? Well, he could wait until the sun burned out, as far as I was concerned. I had much bigger things to worry about.
And a much hotter man, that sly voice I just couldn’t get to shut up whispered.
Unfortunately, werewolves seemed to have great hearing, because even with the phone on vibrate, everyone turned to look at me, Caro and Grant. “What’s a human doing here?” a woman near the front of the room demanded.
Grant, to his credit, looked embarrassed. It made me simultaneously want to pinch his cheeks and slap him for putting me in this super awkward situation. “She was caught in the middle of the brawl tonight,” he said at last, “and she saw us for what we are. So we have to keep her from revealing us to the humans.”
“What are we going to do with her?” someone called. I couldn’t tell who.
Mike materialized out of nowhere and put his hand on my shoulder. “We’ll take care of that, no worries.”
Grant cleared his throat. “As I was saying, I’ve received a communication from the leader of the Black Tails tonight.”
A hush spread over the room. Even I found myself leaning forward.
“He wants to meet with me tonight.”
Shouts rang out at once. “Here?”
Grant nodded. “Here. We’ve agreed to a twenty-four-hour truce.” He made eye contact with each person in the room in turn—except for me. “I need you to honor that truce. I know the Black Tails have not exactly been behaving in accordance with the old rules, but that is no reason for us to turn savage.”
The group reluctantly agreed. I didn’t blame them for not wanting to fight back if they were being attacked, but Grant was right. They needed to hear their enemies out. Maybe a parley could even be reached.
And maybe I could go home.
Mike and Caro led me out of the room. “This is such a huge mansion,” said Mike, rubbing his chin, “that we’ve decided we need to limit the number of available rooms. There are just too many to guard well. So for the moment, we’re putting you up with Mr. Beal.”
Both Caro and I whirled on him. “What?”
Mike waved irritably. “Don’t be such drama queens,” he said. “This is a matter of security. Personally, I don’t care whether you get up close and personal with the boss or not—seems you already have, after all—”
I glanced at the floor.
“But my job is to ensure his safety, and right now, that includes yours.”
I dared to raise my head just long enough to see Caro’s incredulous expression. She was clearly about to explode with questions, but she wisely kept them to herself and let Mike lead us up the stairs.
I had already forgotten just how immense this house was. Like a palace. So many rooms for just one man. It was kind of sexy in a way.
Mike went into the bedroom suite first and checked it for intruders before waving us in. “We cleared it earlier, but it never hurts to be sure,” he said.
Caro walked in first. As I followed, Mike mouthed, “Do not tell her.” Then he jabbed a finger at his belly.
“Got it,” I mouthed back. Whatever. Who was he to tell me what to do? He hadn’t even told me about the marriage ritual.<
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“I’ll stand guard outside,” he said loudly, shutting the door behind us.
As soon as it clicked shut, I looked at Caro. “What did they mean about humans? Aren’t you one?”
She laughed bitterly. “Not as such.”
“But your eyes!”
She looked directly at me. “Yes, my eyes. Apparently they’re what happens when a werewolf and a human have a child and that child can’t shift.”
“You mean—” I tried to make sense of this. “You’re half werewolf, but you can’t change?”
“That’s what I said.”
“So doesn’t that make you human?”
“No. I’m still faster, stronger, and need to eat more meat than you do. I just don’t change at the full moon.” She sounded resigned.
My head spun. “That’s . . . that’s got to be hard.”
“And then Grant just goes around and sleeps with anyone. . . .” She whirled on me. “Do you have any idea what it feels like not to be able to run with the pack? To be the lame duck who feels the call of the moon in her bones and can’t respond?”
Tears ran down her face. I just watched, not sure what to do. My heart hurt for the girl. This in-between state was clearly not a good place to be.
“And I can’t even date normal humans, because I’m not allowed to tell them what I am! No one’s supposed to find out about the packs. They were almost hunted to extinction a few hundred years ago. We can’t let that happen again.”
I dropped my purse, kicked off my shoes, and went over to her. “Listen,” I said firmly. “There’s nothing wrong with you. I don’t know why you were born that way, but maybe you’re supposed to be a bridge between worlds or something.” I shrugged. “How do I know? I just know the world is filled with mysteries, and only God or the universe knows the answers.”
I’d meant that to be comforting, but her head snapped up. The look on her face cut as fiercely as a knife point. “He knocked you up, didn’t he.”
My eyes flew wide open. “Wh-what?”
Caro advanced on me. “Please do me the courtesy of not treating me like I’m stupid. It’s not much to ask. Admit it: there is no other reason Grant would endanger our entire pack for a mere human unless she were carrying his child.”
If Caro could put the pieces together, so could the other werewolves. Maybe I really was in more trouble than I could even imagine.
But I couldn’t let her see how scared I was. I stuck my face in hers. “I didn’t ask for this, you know. I’d take back that whole night if I could.”
She shook her head, and I saw she was still crying. “What if—what if your child turned out like this? Surely even you are not that cruel.”
I didn’t know what to say. “Then . . . then I’d take them and raise them as a human. What else?”
Caro burst out laughing. “Don’t you understand? Surely you are not that simple. The packs would never leave you alone! You carry the heir to the Golden Stripes throne, as it were. They wouldn’t be satisfied until the child was dead. You’ll never escape now. You should never have slept with Mr. Beal.”
Without waiting for me to answer, she turned on her heel and stormed out, slamming the door behind her.
I couldn’t think any longer. My head throbbed, my heart ached, and my stomach felt like someone had left something to rot in it. My poor child. I hadn’t thought that far at all, but Caro was right. We were stuck, both of us.
I threw myself into the huge bed. This time, the silken sheets were no comfort.
One last thought circled in my head before I fell asleep. I had my last nursing exam in the morning! What would happen when I never turned up?
Claimed By the Wolf (BWWM Erotic Paranormal Romance) (The White Wolf Billionaire Book 1) Page 10