The Finding (23 page)

“I’m sure she’s
fine.” He stared at the steaming liquid, holding back a smile at
the good news he had to impart. It would take her mind off her
aching joints.

“That’s what
you always say.” Mrs. Teasdale scolded him gently, then sighed,
wrinkling her brow in worry.” I just wish she was here, where we
could take care of her.”

Franklin took a
sip of tea before responding. “She has her reasons for staying
away, I’m sure.”

“It’s been
three years. Surely by now...?” She let her voice trail off and
looked at him pleadingly.

“Cassie’s
special, we both know that. When the time is right—”

“But what if we
wait too long?” The elderly cook leaned forward setting her cup
down. There was an urgent expression on her face.

Franklin
shrugged. “Greyson tried his way and it blew up in his face. We
obviously can’t force contact. Letting a pack find her on their own
is a risk, but what other option do we have?”

Mrs. Teasdale
smacked the table with her open hand. “Bring her home! We’ll take
care of her—”

“And when we’re
gone? She’ll be alone again and all the money in the world will be
of no use to her.” It was an old argument; one they had every few
months. He reached across the table and patted her hand. “We agreed
to let fate take its course. If she stays away and ends up losing
the estate, then so be it. At least she’ll be with her own
kind.”

“But will she
find her own kind?”

“Perhaps.”
Franklin gave a slight smile. “Though I think they might be finding
her.”

Mrs. Teasdale
sat back, looking surprised that their habitual conversation was
taking an unexpected turn. “Are you hiding something from me?”

He tried to
look mysterious by looking to all sides before leaning forward to
whisper. “I’ve had a positive report.”

“Really?” She
clasped her hands to her ample bosom. “What did Meredith have to
say?”

“Just that a
man has been around.” He leaned back and tried to act casual, but
couldn’t keep the smile from his lips. “And not that young fellow
she’s presently with.”

Mrs. Teasdale
snorted. “Kellen Anderson. I’ve never liked him.”

“Cassie’s an
adult now. We have to accept her choices.” Franklin chided her
gently.

“But we don’t
have to like them.”

“True.” He
conceded the point. “Anyway, Meredith called this morning to give a
report. It’s not definite, but she claims the man had a certain air
about him; the way he moved, the way he held his head and watched
Cassie. According to Meredith, he matched most of the signs Mr.
Greyson used to identify that young reporter—Melody Greene—a few
years back. Even Netty concurred.”

Mrs. Teasdale
chuckled. “Netty wouldn’t know a werewolf from a hole in the
ground. Meredith was just pulling your leg on that one.”

Franklin
laughed softly. “I know, but she does a good job, so we can let her
have her little delusions about her pet. What’s important is that
this is the first real sign of interest that we’ve ever
noticed.”

Nodding in
excitement, Mrs. Teasdale started to push her chair back from the
table. “If it’s true, I’d better start to get ready. I’ll get out
my recipes for our Miss Cassie’s favourites—”

“She might not
come back,” he cautioned. “If she takes up with a pack, they might
not allow it.”

She stilled her
movements. “I know she’d not be here forever, but surely a
visit...?”

“We can only
hope, but their ways might not be ours.”

“Hope’s all
we’ve had these past three years. What with Miss Matthews always
coming around and helping herself to Miss Cassie’s things and that
Mr. Aldrich meddling with the accounts. It’s a good thing you kept
your connections when you retired from the Service.”

“They have
proven useful, haven’t they?” Franklin gave a pleased smile. “The
two doddering old retainers know more about Cassandra Greyson than
all the supposed professionals who are looking for her.”

Mrs. Teasdale
nodded. “It’s been a blessing knowing where she is and that she’s
safely tucked away from Aldrich’s machinations.”

“Indeed.” He
sipped his tea again, enjoying the warm sweetness. “Meredith and
Netty were a tad worried earlier this week. Someone else was
snooping around, but they’re placing their money on this young
fellow being the right one. And if he is, then Miss Cassie will be
fine. He’ll take good care of her.”

*****

Bryan stood
inside his motel room staring at the young woman cowering near the
head of his bed. She was clutching a pillow defensively to her
chest and seemed scared out of her wits. He’d hoped she’d be calmer
by now, but apparently that wasn’t the case. Why didn’t her wolf
sense that he meant her no harm? Was she already going rogue?
Losing her grip on sanity? No. She was too young for that, wasn’t
she?

Still, her
reaction made no sense to him; it wasn’t as if he’d attacked her.
The fact that she’d fallen and hit her head was her own fault. In
fact, he’d gone out of his way to assist her; bringing her here
until she recovered, bringing her food... He glanced down at the
coffee and donuts in his hand and set them down along with his keys
and cell phone, while searching his mind for a way to make her feel
at ease. Perhaps a little humour would help. Tilting his head, he
looked at her quizzically before speaking. “Now this is a new
one.”

“Wh... What do
you mean?” She eyed him warily, her body tensed as if to ward off
his advances should he decide to pounce. His wolf rumbled its
approval of pouncing, but he mentally shook his head. Explaining
his real purpose for seeking her out had to come first. Remember
what Ryne said? Business before pleasure. The wolf inside slunk to
the ground as it recalled the Alpha’s command.

“Women don’t
usually cringe at the sight of me. More often than not I have to
beat them away with a stick.” He shoved his hands in his back
pockets and grinned at her, letting his amusement reflect in his
eyes.

She didn’t
return his smile, if anything, she looked even more nervous than
before. He felt the grin slip from his face as she pressed herself
even tighter against the headboard. Okay, perhaps his choice of
humour might not have been in the best of taste, given the
circumstances.

Damn, but he
was messing this up. He ran his hand through his hair in
frustration looking around the room for inspiration and wondering
where all his purported common sense had gone. Something about this
situation was throwing him off his stride and instead of swaggering
through his encounters with Cassandra, he felt like he was
stumbling.

Dropping his
hand to his side, he took a deep breath. Okay, on to plan ‘B,’
which he was just devising at that very moment. Hmm, soft words and
some hand holding to soothe her nerves might be the key.

“I won’t hurt
you, you know.” He spoke in low, gentle tones as he stepped closer,
then sat down on the edge of the bed. “I just want us to get to
know each other better.”

Cassandra gave
a squeak and pulled her feet even closer to her body. The scent of
fear rippled off her in waves. Fear and—he sniffed carefully—a
faint undercurrent of arousal? He blinked rapidly trying to process
that fact. They’d just met, and while he wasn’t unaware of his own
sex appeal, for her to be turned on by him was extremely curious.
Searching for an explanation, the lunar cycle came to mind. Perhaps
the nearness of the full moon was affecting her wolf and bringing
it into heat. It was spring after all. He mentally rolled his eyes;
just what he needed, a sex-starved young she-wolf to keep in
line.

Bryan rubbed
the back of his neck and eyed her speculatively. Her fear,
inexplicable as it was, was bringing out the Beta in him; not the
enforcer, but the need to protect and reassure the weaker members
of the pack. He reached out his hand in a gesture of comfort, only
to be rewarded by her swatting at him.

“Hey!” Jerking
his hand back in surprise, he glanced at it. The tip of her nails
had caught the skin and the thinnest line of blood was appearing.
An instinctive growl rose from his throat, chastising her for her
actions. Another Beta characteristic was coming to the fore;
demanding respect from the pack members and enforcing the rules,
one of which was not striking out at superiors unless you were
trying for a coup.

Much to his
surprise, given her meek cowering just moments before, instead of
showing submission in the face of his reprimand, she shouted at
him.

“Don’t you dare
growl at me! Take that you filthy beast!” He caught a glimpse of
her face, furiously contorted just before she swung the pillow at
him.

“What the—!” He
blinked in shock as the pillow slammed into his face. As blows
went, it wasn’t much—he’d endured far worse in a bar fight—it was
just that it caught him by surprise.

Reflexively, he
raised his arm to deflect a second blow and saw her dive across the
bed. He shot his arm out, managing to grab her ankle, pulling her
back towards him. Her nails made a faint scratching sound as she
clawed at the bedspread, trying to pull herself across the surface
while her free leg kicked back at him. It caught him in the stomach
and his grip loosened as the air whooshed from his lungs. The
little hellcat!

In that brief
moment Cassandra reached the end of the bed. Pivoting around, her
feet hit the floor and she was almost completely upright by the
time he lunged across the mattress. Wrapping his arms around her
waist, he yanked her against his chest, intent in holding her in a
bear hug. With impressive speed she reacted to his move, jerking
her head backwards. If he hadn’t anticipated her actions and swung
his head to the side, she’d likely have broken his nose with her
move. Some part of his mind registered the fact that whoever had
taught her to fight, had done a damned fine job. Unfortunately,
that meant he had his work cut out, trying to subdue her without
causing any actual injury.

“Oh!” An
infuriated scream came from her throat as he tightened his grip and
she realized her head butting had been unsuccessful.

Arms and legs
flailing, she repeatedly tried to strike out at him. He was glad
that his early command about not shifting form was still stuck in
her wolf’s mind. If they were struggling as wolves right now, their
growls and snarls would have caused suspicion in the mind of anyone
passing by the room. As it was, the thumping of the bed against the
wall combined with the grunts and heavy breathing would lead a
passerby to suspect rather rambunctious sex was taking place, not a
fight.

In the end,
despite her efforts, his superior strength and weight won out. He
lay on top of her, his arms and legs wrapped around hers, their
bodies pressed together from chest to thigh. They were both
breathing heavily and he could feel her breath against his face,
smell the sweat that had gathered on her skin. As close as they
were, he was staring right into her eyes; incredibly deep green
pools with thick dark lashes.

If the
circumstances had been different it might have been rather sexy to
have her pinned beneath him after subduing her. Crap! No point in
lying to himself. It
was
incredibly sexy and it was turning
him on, even if he was mad at her.

And she was
interested as well; the faint musky scent of her arousal hung in
the air around them, stirring his instincts even further. She
probably wasn’t aware of the fact, but she’d pushed her hips up
towards him. Her wolf was instinctively offering itself to him and
for a moment his own self control slipped too. Grinding his hips
against her shot a thrill of heated lust up and down his spine and
a rumble rose in his chest.

Gritting his
teeth, he fought against his desire, trying to channel the
emotional energy elsewhere. He inhaled deeply and let his temper
rise to the surface instead. This young wolf was insubordinate and
disrespectful, challenging his authority, attacking her superior.
Some of the blows she’d landed with her elbows and knees had really
hurt! A spot on his inner thigh throbbed from her unsuccessful
attempt at kneeing him in the groin.

Deciding it was
time to lay down the law, he glared at her, rumbling a warning.
“That’s enough, pup. Stand down or face the consequences.” The tone
he used, and the words themselves, should have had her cowering.
For a moment their eyes locked and he waited for her to drop her
gaze in acknowledgement of his position.

The faintest
flicker of indecision could be seen in her eyes, then she squared
her jaw...and spat in his face!

His wolf surged
to the surface and he bared his teeth, his fingers tightening on
her arms as an angry growl rose in his throat. She was treading on
thin ice now, and her next move would determine her fate. If she
didn’t change her attitude, he’d tie her up and ship her to Canada
so fast her head would spin!

Cassandra froze
and he knew she was seeing the animal in him lurking behind his
eyes. A frightened whimper escaped her and she paled, seeming to
shrink into herself, her straining muscles relaxing as if admitting
defeat. Good. She needed to learn who was boss. While he was
willing to cut her some slack, there were limits.

He waited a
moment, keeping his gaze steady, letting her know he wasn’t pleased
and he wasn’t backing down. She flicked a glance at him, but
quickly looked away, remaining limp and passive beneath him.
Gradually, he eased his grip while continually monitoring her
response. There was no indication that she planned another
aggressive move, so he slowly sat up all the while watching her
carefully in case she made a sudden move. Her sudden acquiescence
seemed suspicious, but when there was not so much as a twitch, he
finally relented and leaned back on his heels, though he still
straddled her hips.