Of course, a union between them would be totally unacceptable. Once Kellen was free, she planned on escaping and going...somewhere. There had to be a way to contain the animal within her and live a quiet, normal life. Her brief excitement over being royalty and having the ability to teleport had faded. The dangers involved were now looming over her. She’d have to be even more on guard now, watching her thoughts carefully, especially around a full moon. Thus far, she’d been lucky, but one of these days she might teleport into a group of humans or suddenly appear someplace dangerous, like the middle of a highway. Clenching her fists, her nails dug into her palms; the burden of her new found ‘talent’ weighed heavily on her.
Feeling wearier than ever, a soft sigh escaped her. Her life kept getting more and more complicated; would things ever be simple again? She turned her head slightly to stare at Bryan. Mates... She wondered how he really felt about the possibility of them being...connected by destiny. He’d been quiet, seemingly lost in thought for most of the flight. Did he find the idea of her as a mate repulsive? Or maybe he was just tired? He had been up early and sleeping on the couch couldn’t have been comfortable.
Nibbling on her lip, she turned back to watch the clouds skimming by the window, still wondering what the man beside her was thinking, but was too nervous to ask him in case the answer wasn’t to her liking. Though why she even cared, she didn’t know. Just because he was good looking, and a bit of a knight in shining armour who was willing to help her rescue Kellen, wasn’t any reason to be concerned about his opinion of her.
Besides, he had those flashes of bossiness, like he thought he was in charge and just assumed she’d fall in with his plans. So what if it was sort of hot when he stared at her with that implacable look of his. She was used to a gentler approach, like Kellen, and that was what she preferred wasn’t it? True, Kellen’s indecisiveness drove her to distraction at times whereas Bryan seemed to know exactly what he wanted... Cassie flicked a glance at him out of the corner of her eye and sighed at the pointless speculation. She had no business being interested in Bryan, or anyone else for that matter. Her future was sealed; she knew what she had to do. Glumly, she propped her chin in her hand and stared out the window, dully waiting for the flight to be over.
It was only as they arrived in Chicago and exited the plane that she and Bryan began to really talk again and then it was concerning their next course of action.
Cassie hefted her bag off the luggage carousel, slung the strap over her shoulder, and started walking towards the exit. “As soon as we’re outside where it’s a bit quieter, I’ll call the kidnappers. The number they gave is different than the one that was on the poster of me.”
“Uh-uh. No way. We’ll head to the motel and meet up with Ryne and Kane. Quite likely they have a plan already in the works.” Bryan attempted to negate her idea as they stepped out of the airport. He headed towards the line of people who were waiting for a taxi, his hand in the small of her back.
“No.” Cassie shook her head decisively. Twisting away, she resisted his attempts to herd her along beside him. “We need to call the number we were given. I’ll let them know I’m here so Kellen can be set free as soon as possible.”
“Not on your life. We don’t know what we might be walking in to. It’s too dangerous. They could snatch you and without having done any reconnoitring, I’d have no idea what I was up against. We need to approach the situation cautiously, with a calm rational course of action in mind.” Bryan glared at her, clearly annoyed.
“Who put you in charge of all the decisions?” She turned to walk away, but he grabbed her arm, spinning her around and pulling her close so they were almost nose to nose.
“Ryne put me in charge, that’s who. Our Alpha said no contact until we come up with a plan. As Beta I enforce his rules. We’re going to the motel.” He started to pull her along, but she dug in her heels.
“No.”
He turned around and they stared at each other in a battle of wills. Tension crackled in the air.
“Cassandra...” His eyes were flashing with temper and she could hear his teeth grinding together as he delivered the warning. A shiver ran over her, but was it fear or excitement at seeing the fire in his eyes, the carefully controlled temper? There was a certain thrill in defying him and something made her continue to push. How far could she go before he made her comply?
She tossed her hair, her pony tail swishing over her shoulder. “It’s my life. My choice. Kellen’s in this mess because of me—”
“Your friend’s in this mess because he was going to hand you over in exchange for saving his own butt.” He snapped the words at her. She could feel his fingers clenching around her arm.
Cassie pulled her arm free and glared at him. “That might have been his initial, impulsive plan, but I’m sure he changed his mind. He said as much at the house before Hugh grabbed at me.”
“And he might have reversed that decision just as quickly, once the pressure was put on him.” Bryan pointed out, slashing the air with his hand.
“You don’t know that! You know nothing about Kellen, nothing at all!” She took a step towards him, entering his personal space and poking him in the chest. Something flared in his eyes that had her suddenly freezing in place. A feeling of nervousness washed over her, as if she’d crossed some invisible barrier.
“I’d tread carefully if I were you, Cassandra.” The words were delivered in little more than a whisper yet the warning they carried reverberated within her, sending a shiver of fear over her. This was a side of Bryan she hadn’t seen yet. It was more than being bossy, there was an edge of barely controlled danger about him.
She swallowed and stepped back. He inclined his head slightly as if acknowledging her acquiescence and his whole demeanour relaxed. The fear left her, but now she was left confused. What had just happened? Some wolf dominance thing?
Making an exasperated sound, Cassie turned around and started marching down the sidewalk. Behind her she could hear Bryan giving an equally exasperated huff before following her. She made her way to a bench and sat down, pulling out her cell phone.
Bryan clamped his hand over it. “Cassandra, you are not making that phone call.”
She snatched her hand away. “Quit calling me Cassandra. People only use that name when I’m in trouble. It’s Cassie or Sandy.”
“All right. Cassie.” Bryan spoke in measured tones and she had a feeling that he was barely holding on to his patience. “Put the phone down and we’ll discuss this reasonably.”
“By reasonable, you mean I have to do what you tell me to do. You’ll do that weird Beta thing that makes me have to obey you.” She kept her face averted, her jaw stuck out defiantly.
“No. We’ll talk about it. I only do the ‘weird Beta thing’ when you’re totally out of line.” He sat down beside her, his thigh pressed against hers on the narrow bench. The warmth of it seeped into her, making her all too aware of his presence.
They sat for a moment, another silent battle of wills going on. Cassie stared defiantly straight ahead. Out of the corner of her eye, she noted how the muscle in his jaw flexed in and out and she idly wondered if he was counting to ten, trying to manage his temper.
A faint twinge of guilt stabbed her. She shouldn’t be giving him such a hard time. After all, he was here to help her set Kellen free, even when he’d never met the man before. And rushing blindly into the abductor’s nest probably wasn’t a good idea. Slowly, she flipped her phone shut.
Bryan exhaled loudly and ran his hands through his hair before turning to look at her. When he started to speak his tone was calmer. “I realize you’re concerned about your friend and I am, too. But if we just rush in, doing whatever they say, we have no guarantee that they won’t grab you and still keep Kellen or, worse yet, do him further harm.”
Cassie flicked a glance at him and then fiddled with her cell phone, turning it over and over in her hand. She studied the ground, noticing the dark marks from abandoned gum, cigarett
e butts, and a few small scraps of miscellaneous litter. Begrudgingly, she acknowledged the truth of his statement, knowing it was childish to hold onto her anger when he was doing his best to meet her half way rather than forcing his will on her. She sighed.
“I know. It’s just that I feel responsible for this. If I hadn’t hid who I was from Kellen all these years, if I hadn’t told him I wouldn’t help him out of debt again, if I’d only—”
“Shh...” Bryan laid a comforting hand on her thigh. “Playing ‘if only’ won’t help anything. Quite likely everyone is partially to blame, but we can’t live in the past. We need to focus on the best way to help Kellen and that means keeping the kidnappers guessing by dangling you—the figurative carrot—in front of their noses. They want you, so they have to give us some concessions. If we play our cards right, we can get them to give Kellen back and still keep you free.”
Cassie stared down at Bryan’s hand, noting his blunt nails, the calluses that showed he’d done manual labour before. It was a strong, capable hand and she liked how the warmth from it seeped into her leg. It was...comforting. For a moment she wished she could explore his hands, feel them touching her bare skin... Then she gave her head an imperceptible shake and jerked her attention back to the current problem. “How are we going to outwit the kidnappers?”
“Well... For one thing, we can check out where they’re holding Kellen. Daniel tells me he can use mobile phone tracking technology to determine where a call comes from. So, I’ll give Daniel the number, he can figure out where the goon is that has Kellen and we’ll check out the area.”
“Won’t Hugh or Eddie or whoever owns the phone wonder why Daniel is calling him?”
Bryan snorted. “Daniel’s a pro at stuff like this. He’ll block his number, pretend to be a telemarketer and get a fix on the guy in no time. We can grab a bite to eat and he’ll have a location for us before our burgers have even cooled.”
“Tacos.”
“Tacos?”
“Yeah. I want tacos, not burgers.” Cassie smiled mischievously at Bryan in lieu of an apology. She was pleased he hadn’t gone all ‘he-man’ on her over the whole ‘rush to save Kellen’ thing. Yes, he had asserted his authority but she was being a tad brat-ish. And truth be told, while she wanted to save Kellen, she wasn’t overly keen on handing herself over to the likes of Hugh and Eddie.
Bryan grinned at her, obviously not the type to hold a grudge if you dared disagree with him. She found that rather endearing, especially since Kellen was prone to pouting when things didn’t immediately go his way. “Okay. Tacos it is. Just let me call Daniel and then we’ll be on our way.”
*****
Daniel wandered out of the kitchen, a thick ham sandwich in his hand. Intently checking his cell phone for messages, he didn’t realize someone was walking down the hall until he stepped into their path. Bodies collided. His sandwich landed on the floor and a very feminine ‘damn’ was whispered as a load of laundry spilled onto the floor.
Tessa stood in front of him, an exasperated expression on her face, though it quickly disappeared when she realized he was looking at her.
“Sorry Tessa. I wasn’t watching where I was going.” He gave her a crooked smile then gestured at the laundry. “Was it clean?”
“Yes, but don’t worry. I’ll get it.” She spoke softly, bending down quickly, her long brown hair hiding her face.
“It’s my fault. I’ll help.” Daniel crouched as well and began picking up the bits of clothing. Some lace panties appeared when he picked up a pillow case, but they were quickly snatched from his view. From what he could see of her face, Tessa was blushing. If it had been Mel, he would have teased her good naturedly, but with Tessa... Well... She was different. Fragile.
He closed his mouth and said nothing, merely shoving the items in the laundry basket then grabbing it and standing up. Handing it over to Tessa, he apologized again. “I’m sorry about all your clean clothes ending up on the floor. If you’d like I’ll rewash them for you.”
“No. It’s all right.” She flashed him a panic stricken look and began to back away only to stop suddenly and glance down.
Daniel followed the path of her gaze and saw that she was standing on his sandwich. The mustard was oozing out under her foot. He looked back up, ready to brush the incident off with a gentle quip, but the words stuck in his throat as he saw the tears welling in her eyes.
“I...I’m sorry, Daniel. I’m really, really sorry.” The words barely made it passed her trembling lips before she spun on her heel and ran down the hall. Something fell from the laundry basket, but she didn’t stop, merely racing out the back door.
A heavy sigh escaped him. He’d hoped, now that the Loberos were living in the main house instead of in town, Tessa might start to relax around him. Unfortunately, if anything it was getting worse. She’d been living with her brother Marco, his wife Olivia and their two children in the north wing of the house for almost six months now.
“You’d think she’d be used to me.” He muttered under his breath. “They’ve been part of the pack for almost three years.” Bending he picked up the fallen clothes and then gave an ironic laugh. It was the white lace panties and pillow case of a moment ago. His fingers rubbed over the lace and he wistfully stared out the door to where he could see her hanging her things on the line. “This is about as close as I’ll ever get to her panties, too.”
“What’s that?” Olivia spoke from behind him and he jumped, then felt his face grow warm.
She laughed and shook her head. “Daniel, I was young once, too. No need to be embarrassed about what your mind is thinking.”
He grinned sheepishly, but then sobered. “Do you think she’ll ever...?” He didn’t need to finish the sentence.
Olivia shrugged. “I don’t know. The experience she had back in Spain made her wary of men.”
“Yeah.” Handing the laundry to Olivia, he sighed heavily. “Here. If I give it to her, she’ll likely burn it or faint dead away.” Picking up the remains of his sandwich he dumped it in the garbage and then went to his room, no longer hungry. Unrequited love played havoc with his appetite.
Sitting down at his desk, he glanced longingly out the window one more time before beginning to work on the latest task Bryan had given him. They needed to know where the thug was who had kidnapped Cassandra Greyson’s friend, Kellen.
Daniel smirked and shook his head at the ease of the task. Tracking the location of a cell phone user was child’s play. He’d find the dude and get the address of the building where he was holed up, then send the information back to Bryan. While Bryan checked the outside of the building, a little internet search should turn up a floor plan for said building. If the girl’s friend was being held there, they’d need a map to aid in whatever rescue plan was concocted. Maybe he’d even check the building’s security. If he could find the company that was in charge, he could research the systems they favoured using and see if any weaknesses existed. Shutting off a few alarms here and there might make Bryan’s job a bit easier.
Hunching over his computer, Daniel’s fingers flew over the keyboard. Tackling problems such as the ones Bryan had been giving him, always gave him an adrenaline rush and, today in particular, it had the added side benefit of taking his mind off a certain other problem. He forced himself not to glance out the window again and frowned fiercely at the lines of print appearing on the screen. It was amazing what you could find on the internet if you knew where to look.
*****
Mrs. Teasdale impatiently waited for Franklin to get off the phone. She’d been eavesdropping on his half of the conversation, but whenever she’d prodded him for information, he’d shushed her indicating he was listening and not to bother him. Pursing her lips, she twisted her fingers nervously, wondering what news Meredith Mitchell was delivering. Franklin’s face was always so deadpan—darn his perfect, butler countenance—it was hard to determine if the information was good or bad.
When he finally said goodbye a
nd hung up, she had to keep herself from pouncing on the man. As it was she bombarded him with questions as he walked across the room and sat down at the large wooden table that dominated one corner of the kitchen.
“Well? What did Meredith say? Is Miss Cassie all right? Was she involved in the scuffle at the house? Is that other werewolf still with her?”
“Give me a chance to answer, will you.” Franklin groused at her and waved for her to sit down.
She complied and clasped her hands tightly in front of her, holding back the other questions that threatened to spout from her lips. Miss Cassie was like a grandchild to her and the thought that some harm had come to her... Mrs. Teasdale blinked back a tear and sniffled; she was scared for the girl and not afraid to admit it.
“Meredith has kept a close eye on Cassie’s house and from all appearances our girl is fine.”
“Thank the Lord,” she breathed out and closed her eyes in silent prayer, her shoulders slumping with relief.
“The young fellow is still with her—”
“That sounds promising.” She opened her eyes and stared at Franklin, her spirits perking up at the news.
“But it seems Anderson is in a pickle with some loan sharks and Miss Cassie is set on saving him.”
“Well, Cassie does have the money—” She attempted to brush the fact away.
Franklin didn’t give her time to finish. “It’s rather complicated, but the long and short of it is, Aldrich is using Anderson and his debt as bait to get Cassie to come back to Chicago. As a matter of fact, she and the young man—the one we think is a werewolf—are on their way here right now.”
“She is?” Mrs Teasdale beamed for a moment at the news of Cassie’s imminent arrival, then frowned. “Wait a minute. What’s Aldrich’s plan for her?”
“I’m not sure, but it can’t be good or he wouldn’t be using blackmail to get her to come back.”
“But the werewolf is still with her? He hasn’t abandoned her over this?” She sought reassurance that Cassie wasn’t facing this alone.