Mating the Red Wolf: (Book 10, Grey Wolf Pack Romance Novellas) (14 page)

She was sure that Jamie would be okay.  She wasn’t putting her faith in Olivia; she was putting her faith in Ed.  Her trust in him had been rock-solid since the moment she met him… well, almost every moment since she met him.

She’d had the self-doubts about why he didn’t want her to meet his family.  Naturally, now that she’d met him, she realized it wasn’t her he was embarrassed by…

But the only other time had been when Ed attacked a drunken wolf who was hitting on her.  It was a little over a month ago.  At the time, it shocked her beyond reason.  It shouldn’t have, but it did.  She knew what males wolf shifters were like; she knew how they reacted to another male approaching their female, but she just thought that it would be different with Ed.  Unlike the other males she’d been with, he had been tender and flirty with her from the very beginning. 
A big departure from gruff and rough. 
And to see him flip out like that… she was ashamed to admit she was disappointed at the time.  She didn’t feel that way now,
but it had taken her more than a few days to come to terms with it.

*

11
th
January

“Hi.”

“Hi.”

“How are you?”

Ed gripped the phone as he stared at the document on his desk; the printed words swam in circles.  “I’m fine,” he lied as his beast snapped in disapproval. 

It had only been a week since they last saw one another, but he and his beast had been hurting badly.  With each passing moment, the ache was stronger.  Which was ridiculous; they’d gone for longer without seeing each other, but the fact that there was a rift between them made the time pass interminably slowly.

“I miss you,” she admitted quietly.  Her wolf whined at her; the beast couldn’t understand the woman’s reticence.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Do you miss me?” she asked, a hopeful tinge entering her voice.

He let out a long breath.  “You know I do, but it wasn’t me that told you to leave.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.  I just…”  Kim let out a sigh.  “I just felt scared.”

“You said that already.  I would never hurt you, how can you even imagine I would?”

Kim twisted the cord of her ancient phone between her fingers.  “It’s just that when I first started seeing Wade, he was all charm and…”

“You’re comparing me to him?” he demanded in disbelief.  His wolf was chomping at the bit to see his mate, but even he was crushed to hear she might think that.

“No!” she cried quickly, “I just… I just can’t be with someone who can be so casual about that kind of violence.  And I know it’s dumb; we’re wolf shifters, we are more aggressive and brutal than other species.  But, I lived with a wolf shifter for over a year who thought nothing about hitting me because his favorite sports team lost.  I just need to know that you don’t… you wouldn’t…” 

A sob caught in her throat, and Ed wished more than anything that he could be with her to wrap his arms around her and make everything better.  Although, he knew he could never really do that. 
She’d have the hurt of her first marriage with her forever.

“Kim, gorgeous, I don’t take anything about our relationship lightly.  I’m not a violent wolf by nature.  God, the last time I was in a fight was when I was 13 with some bullies at school, and it was over the school nurse.  We all had a crush on her and were arguing about who was going to get to see her for our made-up illnesses.”

Kim let out a sniffle of laughter, and it eased his ache a little.

“Course, they were bear shifters, so they beat the hell out of me.”

Kim cooed in sympathy, and slowly his wolf was beginning to brighten.

“It was fine; the joke was on them, I was beaten up so badly I did actually have to go and see her.”

She giggled lightly.  “Always looking on the bright side of life.”

“I can now that I have you.  I’m sorry I scared you.”

“No, it’s my problem,” she admitted sadly, “not yours, and I shouldn’t be blaming you for your nature.”

“I overreacted.  I saw what I thought was a dangerous male pawing at my mate, and I overreacted.  But, I swear, Kim, the only thing that riles up my beast is the thought of either you or Jamie getting hurt.  If either of you were in danger, I… I wouldn’t be able to control him.  But that’s the only time.  And you’re wrong, it’s not your problem, we’re in this together.  Now and forever.”

“Now and forever,” she echoed.

“I love you, Kim.”

“I love you too.”

*

Present Day

Kim held her breath as a bolt was drawn back on Helena’s door.  The corridor was so dark that even with her shifter eyesight Helena wouldn’t spot Kim squashed behind the massive, overhanging plant.  She had also spritzed herself with scent-covering spray that Jonathan carried around. 
She didn’t ask why on earth he would need to carry it with him at all times.

She saw the vague outline of Helena, slightly illuminated by the lamp in her room.  Helena stood and listened for a few seconds; luckily, the storm beating against the house drowned out any tiny noises Kim might be making.  Helena sniffed a couple of times, and, seemingly satisfied, turned off her light, carefully closed her door and disappeared down the corridor.

Oh, lord, here we go!

As quietly as possible, Kim followed, disentangling herself from the monstrous plant.  Stealthily, she slipped down the corridor. 
It had to be said, she felt more like Don Smart than James Bond.

Just before everyone retired for bed, Jonathan had slipped a note under Helena’s door.  Yep, this was his plan.  The anonymous note indicated that the wolfsbane had been found.  That was it.  Now, they were going to see how Helena reacted. 
Suspiciously, apparently.

Kim followed as closely as she dared, hoping that Jonathan and Ed were nearby.  Ed hadn’t wanted her to take part in this, what he called, ‘idiot’s game.’  But Kim was the only one slender enough to fit behind the plant, so they had no choice.  Ed grumbled that there was always a choice, but she shushed him.  Grudgingly, he had relented and said that he would be nearby in Jonathan’s room, listening for any trouble.

Helena seemed to be making her way to the kitchen – the opposite direction to Jonathan’s room.  Aww, hell, what if she was just going to get a midnight snack?  She sure was acting strangely if she was.  Every few seconds she stopped, listened and sniffed.  She was checking that no one else was around. 
Not the actions of someone just after a piece of leftover cheesecake.

Kim continued to follow until Helena went into the kitchen.  Kim was debating whether to go in and pretend she was getting a snack when she heard Helena gasp and a thump to the floor.  Kim growled; she ran into the kitchen and flipped on the lights.

Helena was crumpled in a heap on the floor, blood pooling under body.  Kim knelt; carefully she turned Helena over to find a seeping, bloody wound and a knife lying under her.  Lord, she’d been stabbed!  Her wolf howled at her.

Helena’s frightened eyes widened even more.  “Look… out…” she breathed.

Kim heard a noise behind her and just as she turned something heavy hit her head.  “Son of a b…”

Then, blackness.

Chapter Fifteen

21
st
February

Kim awoke with a start, anxiously looking around the room.  Where were they? 
She’d show them!
  Her wolf snapped and snarled on high alert; there was no sneaking up on her this time.

Ed came out the bathroom, and, on seeing her awake, he ran over to her and squeezed her tightly.  “Thank fucking hell!” he exclaimed, his voice full of emotion.  “You scared the bejeezus out of me.”

Kim clutched at his body and enjoyed the warm, familiar feeling of being locked in his arms.  Melting against him, the aches and pains of her body didn’t feel that bad.

“Where’s Jamie?  What happened?  How’s Helena?  Where’s Jamie?” she said in a rush.

“Shhhh, it’s okay.”  He made soothing circles on her back and placed butterfly kisses on her neck.

He quivered slightly, and Kim realized he must have been almost as scared as she was.

“Helena should be okay; you took a nasty bash to the head and Jamie’s fine; she’s with Jonathan, they’re both on the same emotional level, so they seem to get along.”

Kim tried to snicker, but the reverberations in her head were too much.  “Ooh, don’t make me laugh.”

“Sorry.  Not just for that, but for not being there.  I put you in danger, and you got hurt.  I shouldn’t have… I should have… I should have been there.”

“It’s not your fault…”

“It is,” he insisted, “I should have protected you.  I let you down, I’m a terrible mate.”

“Ummm hmmm, you’re the worst,” she mumbled, taking a deep breath of his fresh, lovely scent.

He pulled back slightly and scowled at her. 
Her wolf was taking the same stance too, not liking Kim berating their mate.

“What?  I was just agreeing with you.  Also, last month I fell over and twisted my ankle, why on earth didn’t you protect me from that?  And two months ago, I broke a glass and had a big cut down my palm.  What about that, hmmm?”

“It’s not the same,” he muttered grumpily.

“You can’t protect me from everything.  I chose to be there and I chose to run into that kitchen, but it’s okay, I’m fine, maybe a little worse for wear, but still fine.”

Gently he pulled her back down on the bed and laid next to her.  “I don’t know what I’d do if I lost you.”

Kim cupped his face.  “Hmmm, you could try speed dating?”

Ed harrumphed.  “Now who’s joking – like I would ever need to go speed dating.  With this charisma, the ladies flock to me.”

“Please, Ed, I’m feeling a little tender, I don’t really want to roll around on the ground laughing myself silly right now.  Seriously, how’s Helena?”

His lips twitched imperceptibly. 
Perfect poker face
.  “It wasn’t good, but, hopefully, she should pull through.  If she were human, she wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

Kim stared at the ceiling.  “Poor Helena.  She tried to warn me, you know?  Right before I…ummm…”

Ed shifted uncomfortably.  His wolf had been howling for their mate all night, and even though she was already healing, the beast would not let up.

What happened to Helena had not been pleasant.  It also illuminated the fact that Helena wasn’t their wannabe killer.  Unless the house held two potential murderers…
no, that didn’t bear thinking about. 

“Did you see anything?”

Kim thought about it for a few seconds.  “Not really.  I heard Helena fall, so I ran into the kitchen and turned the light on.  That’s when I saw her.  I guess whoever it was hid in the pantry until my back was turned.  I didn’t scent anything either.  But then, I was covering my scent, so it wouldn’t be that big of a surprise if they did, too.”

She hadn’t managed to catch a glimpse of her attacker’s face.  The only thing she noticed was that they were wearing black before that pan came down on her head.  She’d had dreams though.  Or rather, the same dream over and over.  Each time, she was attacked in turn by Ed’s family members.  She pictured each of their faces on her attacker. 
That was going to give her a few nightmares.

Gingerly she reached out and felt the lump on her head. 
Yeesh, it felt to be about the size of an egg.
  Her wolf whined at her and Ed tried to calm her.  They were okay; they were going to be okay.

“Has Helena said anything yet?”

“Not really, she was pretty out of it.  Marie gave her some prescription painkillers – which she’d been hoarding since her car accident.  Then Judy stitched her up as best she could, and she seems to be healing.  It was damn close to her heart. She was trying to ask if you were okay, though.”

Kim gave a sad half-smile.  “Do we know why she was in the kitchen?”

“No, not yet.  We’re hoping she’ll be a bit more lucid later today.  We can’t get to her at the moment.  As soon as Kurt saw her he broke down and started telling her he loved her, and that he was going to protect her.  My eponymous Alpha punched him in the face for breaking our little sister’s heart.”

“Well, as lovely a gesture as that was, I’m sure her heart is intact.”

Ed raised his eyebrows but didn’t respond to that.  “Right now, Kurt’s holed up in Helena’s room, whispering sweet nothings to her while she recovers.  None of us are allowed in.  Judy was adamant that she needed to check on Helena, but he won’t relent.”

“Now what, Fred?”

“Well, Daphne… I haven’t a fucking clue.”

*

Ed, Kim, and Jamie were playing pairs with Jamie’s set of Emily Wolf of Wolften Hollow playing cards she had brought with her. 
Jamie and Ed were both cheating outrageously, and Kim was pretending not to notice.

Christine and her pups were playing Twister in the games, but Kim just didn’t have the energy for it.  The rest of the family were in the kitchen with the caretakers, Ethel and George.  They were trying to make lunch together while scrubbing out Helena’s blood stain.

The blood didn’t bother them very much.  They were shifters, who regularly turned into wolves and hunted down small creatures.  They could handle the blood. 
It was just the act that led to the blood spill that was preying on people’s nerves.

Most of the family had taken to moving like a herd of gazelles.  None of them wanted to go anywhere alone.  Plus, given that one of them might be a poisoner, they were watching each other like hawks while preparing food.

The weather was starting to improve.  The water still looked choppy but at the least the rain and wind seemed to be letting up.

The shrill ringing of the phone almost made Ed jump out of his skin.  The thing had been dead for a few days, and it was a startling way to find out it was once again working.

Kim covered her mouth to stop herself from hooting with laughter.  Jamie was not so kind; she was shrieking from a fit of giggles.

Ed grabbed the phone and mumbled a grumpy hello.

“Hello!  Oh, finally!  I’ve been trying to reach you for days.”

Ed frowned.  “Hilda?”

“Yes, of course,” she replied impatiently.  If it weren’t for the fact that she was a lady, she would have added ‘duh’ at the end of that sentence.

“What do you want?” he blurted without thinking.

Hilda clucked her tongue.  “Don’t be rude, Edward.”

Ed almost expected her to tell him to sit up straight. 
He would have, too.

“I’m sorry,” he said quickly trying to unruffle her feathers, “I’m just surprised you’re calling.”

Hilda huffed into the phone.  “Why wouldn’t I?  I wanted to wish Marie a happy birthday.”

“Ummm, I’m sure she’ll like that.”

Hilda let out a bark of laughter.  “You and I both know that’s not true.  But really, I just wanted to check on how she was getting along with Judy.  She hasn’t driven the poor woman away yet, has she?”

“Ummm, no.”  What was happening here?

“I know Marie said not to call, and I that I was to enjoy my vacation, but I can’t help but worry about her.  Lord, help me, I even miss her cranky put-downs,” laughed Hilda.

Ed’s frown deepened.  “Ummm, you’re on vacation?”

“Why do you keep ummming, Edward?”  Irritation laced her voice.  “What is the matter?”

“I… just… I thought my grandmother had fired you!” he spluttered.

Hilda paused for a second before letting out an enormous peal of laughter.  “Is that what she told you?” she asked in between hiccups.

“Well, someone did…” he muttered, he couldn’t quite recall who.

Ed could almost picture Hilda’s chubby cheeks shaking.  “Oh, she is full of mischief.  No, my daughter just had a baby; I’m spending a few months up here in Ontario getting to know my grandson.  I’ll be back in April.  Forgive me, Edward, I forgot to tell your grandmother that you were bringing…ah… a date to the island.  I was a little frazzled with making arrangements for being away.  I hope I didn’t cause any distress.”

Ed looked at Kim, currently engaging in a very one-sided arm wrestle with Jamie. 
Jamie was winning
.  “No, it’s fine

“How is Judy working out?”  Ed could hear the tension in Hilda’s voice.  Against all odds, Hilda actually did like his grandmother, and Hilda was very protective of the elderly she-wolf.  He imagined it wasn’t an easy decision to take a long vacation away from her.

“Well…” he didn’t know whether to broach the subject that one of his family members accidentally poisoned her.

“I was a little unsure, but Marie seemed content.  It was actually a stroke of luck meeting her.  She actually from a red wolf pack in Portland.  We literally ran into each other at a coffee shop about a month before my daughter gave birth; we were both fighting over the last cruller.  I won, obviously.  But then we started talking, and it turned out we had a lot in common.  Judy used to be nurse too, like myself.  Of course, I only ever worked in a care home, but, apparently, Judy worked at a big hospital in New York dealing with the victims of wolfsbane poisoning.  She said that after a while you built up a kind of tolerance to it, but I can’t see that you would want one.  Nasty business.  Can you imagine?  Someone trying to poison one of us with wolfsbane - makes me shudder.  Edward?  Edward?  Are you still there?”

Ed dropped the phone and sprinted toward the kitchen.  He was vaguely aware of Kim and Jamie calling out to him, but he couldn’t wait; he had to stop Judy before she hurt anyone else.

“Stop!” roared Ed, as he burst into the kitchen.

His mother dropped a cup full of tea and scolded him for surprising her.

Ed ignored both her and the looks the rest of his family were giving him.  He must have looked like a maniac with his blazing amber eyes and fully drawn claws.  But, he didn’t care.

“Judy, stop whatever you’re doing, right now,” he ordered hoarsely.

His beast was frantically trying to get out, and Ed was struggling to contain him; the animal wanted to hurt the she-wolf who had threatened his mate, his daughter and his family.

Judy turned round from chopping vegetables.  Ed sucked in a breath as he saw the knife she was holding.

Kim and Jamie burst into the room; Ed howled at them to stay back.

“Something wrong, Ed?” asked Judy placidly.

“Ed,” said his father warningly.  “What’s going on?”

Ed breathed in and out deeply, not taking his eyes off Judy.  He could feel his fur pushing forward.  “Judy lied.  She used to treat shifters who had been poisoned with wolfsbane.  She has a tolerance to it.”

His mother, Marguerite gasped.  “You poisoned yourself?”

Jonathan got up and growled.  “Which meant hers was the only room we didn’t check, and she was the only one above suspicion.  Brilliant, really.”

“I disagree,” snapped Harold Jr., “she brought a toxic poison into our family’s house.  She could have hurt one of the pups.”

Judy shrugged and idly pointed the knife at each of them.  “I wouldn’t hurt the pups, but I was doing this for love.”

“Love?” scoffed Marie.

Judy nodded her head vigorously.  Her eyes were wide and flushed with amber.  She looked at Jonathan.  “I did it for you?”

Jo
nathan looked like someone had just told him he was the Queen of Sheba
.  He couldn’t have been more shocked.  “Me?”

“For you and Ingrid.  My niece…”

Jonathan looked like he was about to explode.  “Ingrid is your niece?”

“Yes, and the sweetest creature you’d ever meet.  She loved you, and she wanted to marry you.”  Judy smiled sadly, before fury stole over her features.  “But, oh no, she wasn’t good enough for the high and mighty Buchanan family, was she?  Once your precious family got their claws into her, she was kicked out on her ass.”

“She chose to leave me,” said Jonathan quietly.

Judy waved the knife around.  “No, she did what she thought she had to.  Dear old Grandmother here offered her money to go away but she refused.  So, she informed Ingrid that if you married her you would be kicked out of your family, your pack, you’d be cut off without a cent and she’d make sure you couldn’t get a job anywhere.  She said she’d ruin her grandson’s life before she allowed a whore like my niece to marry into her family.”