The Finding (37 page)

It had been bad
enough when her nocturnal imaginings were about being a wolf and
meeting another wolf in the forest, but now that the wolf was being
replaced by a human...

Her train of
thought stuttered to a halt. Wait a minute. The wolf in her
dreams...? Could it be Bryan? She had only a vague recollection of
what he’d looked like as a wolf when he’d chased her down in the
park, but surely it was the same creature! Suddenly, she had to
know.

“Bryan?”

“Hmm?” He
answered vaguely and didn’t look up from his magazine. Had he even
really heard her? She suppressed the need to hit him and
sighed.

Oh well, maybe
it was easier if he wasn’t looking at her. His eyes always seemed
to be seeing right into her mind, as if he knew her very thoughts
and these definitely were not thoughts she wanted to share with
him! Yet... She
was
curious. Besides, what where the
chances, really? And if she asked in an idle manner, he’d never
have to know... After a moment’s debate, she decided to try
again.

“Bryan? What do
you look like? When you’re a wolf, I mean?” She kept her eyes
averted as she tried to casually whisper her question, conscious of
the passengers around them.

Out of the
corner of her eye she saw him close his magazine and look at her
quizzically. “Most wolves have similar colouring to their human
form, though not all. I’m a light brown with hazel eyes. Why do you
want to know?”

She gulped.
That was the wolf in her dreams! Struggling to appear nonchalant,
she shrugged. “No real reason. Just curious. You want me to show an
interest in werewolves, so I’m trying to do my part.”

“And...?’

“And what?”

“There’s more.
I can sense you’re holding something back.” He half turned to face
her, folding his arms and giving her an unwavering stare.

Cassie shifted
nervously, feeling the weight of his gaze, the command in his eyes.
It was hard to defy. The animal inside her whimpered, urging her to
speak. She licked her lips, shot him a quick glance, and then
looked away again. There was a subtle power about him that seemed
to force the words from her. “I...I have...dreams.”

“Dreams?
Really?” Bryan shifted in his seat, his whole demeanour suddenly
seeming watchful, wary. He cleared his throat and looked away.
“What... What kind of dreams?”

“Well...” She
felt embarrassed sharing the memory but something was driving her
onward as if revealing this bit of information was of the utmost
importance. “I...I dream that I’m in the woods, being chased by
this light brown wolf with hazel eyes. He runs after me, catches me
and...and pins me down. Then, he...er...bites my neck.”

As she spoke,
her voice grew quieter until she was almost whispering, her
awareness of the man beside her increasing by the moment. She could
feel the heat generating off his body; was aware of the tempo of
his breathing, the way their arms almost touched on the armrest.
“I...I guess that’s sort of a typical werewolf type of dream,
right?” She gave a nervous laugh and looked up at him through her
lashes.

Bryan was
staring at her, a shocked expression on his face. Then he blinked
and looked away. “Uh...no. Actually it isn’t.” He cleared his
throat again and answered slowly. “Werewolves just have normal
dreams, like people do.”

“Really?” She
furrowed her brow. “So, why do I have that particular dream? It’s
happened over and over again for years.”

“Well...” He
exhaled heavily, then glanced around as if to make sure no one was
listening in. Most of the other passengers were dozing or watching
a movie. Even so, he shifted closer to her and slid down lower in
his seat. She did as well, leaning closer to hear his hesitant
words. “The funny thing is I...er...have a dream sort of like that,
too.”

Cassie turned
to look at him face on and found herself staring directly into his
eyes. Surprisingly, he was closer than she’d thought. She could
feel his breath against her face and somehow, his fingers had
become tangled with hers. Did he realize that? She suspected the
answer was no.

“I know. I said
most don’t, but a few do.” Bryan looked down, seemed to suddenly
realize he was holding her hand and let go. He leaned away and ran
his now free hand through his hair, looking ill at ease. “I...I’ve
been told it signifies the fact that you’re inner wolf knows who
will be its mate. The two wolf spirits are meeting on some other
level of consciousness.”

Her heart
started to beat heavily in her chest and she hardly dared ask the
next question, but knew she had to. “So... What does your dream
she-wolf look like?”

“She’s
chocolate brown with green eyes...” He spoke the words reluctantly,
as if he were anxious as to how she’d take the news, then shot her
a nervous look. “Just like you.”

“Like me?”
Abruptly, she sat up straight, speaking louder than she intended,
her voice squeaking. Several of the passengers turned to look their
way and she smiled weakly then sank down low in her seat again.
Finally, they turned away. After clearing her throat, she whispered
earnestly to him. “But... There must be lots of chocolate brown
wolves in the world, right? And lots of light brown hazel-eyed
wolves, too. Right?”

“Um...sure.”
Bryan’s eyes locked with hers. She searched his, staring deeply,
sensing another presence, a primitive wildness within him. It
called to her, beckoning her, daring her, and an answering response
arose within her. Her heart thumped heavily, like an ancient drum
creating a rhythm that surrounded her, mesmerized her, pulsed
through her very being until she couldn’t separate herself from
it.

Electricity
seemed to zing back and forth between them. She licked her dry lips
and inhaled deeply, intensely aware of his masculine scent. Bryan
did the same thing, half closing his eyes. The moment stretched
between them, the surroundings fading into the background. Images
from her dream flashed before her eyes; Bryan half naked leaning
over her, his hands on her bare flesh, caressing, bringing every
nerve ending to awareness. How she longed to feel that way
again.

Bryan reached
forward and touched her cheek with his finger tips. Cassie closed
her eyes, concentrating on the sensation. She slowly exhaled as his
thumb stroked her lower lip and leaned her head into his hand.
Half-opening her eyes she saw him drawing closer. His nose brushed
her jaw line and then her ear lobe; she could feel him
inhale...

“Our flight
will be arriving in Chicago at...” The sound of the pilot’s voice
crackling over the speakers broke the spell under which she’d
fallen and Cassie jerked back.

Her cheek bone
struck Bryan’s nose and he gave a muffled cry of pain, clamping his
hand over the injured member. The pilot continued talking, though
Cassie had no idea what he was saying. She was too busy staring in
shock at Bryan. At least he seemed equally surprised, though his
recovery appeared shorter. He swallowed hard, touched his nose
gingerly and then gruffly mumbled something about the bathroom.

Staring at his
retreating form, Cassie cursed herself for bringing up the topic of
dream wolves; she wasn’t ready for this...whatever it was...that
had just happened between them. If she’d understood him correctly,
Bryan could be her...mate.

She shivered,
hardly able to make her mind form the word. It didn’t matter that
he was the hottest man she’d been around in ages, or that she
turned into a puddle of desire around him. Mates sounded
so...animal-like. Her stomach churned. There had to be some other
explanation!

For a while she
tried to occupy her mind with her magazine, flipping the pages,
looking for something worth reading. Bryan returned and sat down
beside her but made no effort to start a conversation. Silence
stretched between them and she replayed what had just happened over
and over in her mind. He’d said a
few
wolves dreamed of
their mates but he hadn’t said
all.
Perhaps there was a
mistake. She needed more information.

Staring down at
her hands, she picked at her finger nail and gathered her courage.
She cleared her throat and tried to sound casual, indifferent. “You
said that only some wolves have dreams of their mates. Why is
that?”

At first she
didn’t think he was going to answer; he seemed lost in thought.

“Bryan?” She
looked over at him and touched his arm gently.

“Hmm? Oh,
sorry.” He gave his head a shake and started to explain. “I’m not
an expert on the phenomenon, but a friend of mine knows quite a bit
about the old ways. Marco—he’s a pack member by the way—said that
it’s mostly only royal or blue-blooded werewolves that can do this.
There aren’t many of those around anymore, though Marco claims a
few of the European packs have practised selective breeding to
ensure the trait isn’t lost.”

Royal.
Blue-blooded. Cassie repeated the words to herself thinking of the
information she’d read on the internet. “Er...what else can these
blue-blooded werewolves do?”

Bryan seemed to
relax fractionally, obviously more comfortable with this
conversation than their previous one. “Well, of course they can
magick their clothes on and off when they shift, but a lot of us
still have that ability. Um...telekinesis—that’s moving objects
with your mind—and teleportation—disappearing and appearing
somewhere else. There’s probably other stuff too, but like I said,
I don’t really know much about it. It seems sort of a cool trick,
if in fact it’s true.”

A funny feeling
was growing inside her. It was part dread as the reality that she
was indeed a werewolf became more and more apparent, but part of it
was anticipation as if she were on the verge of some monumental
discovery. “Can you tell me more about this teleporting?”

He shrugged. “I
guess it’s hard to do and to control. It involves thinking about a
place you’ve been or at least seen in a picture, similar to
imagining how you look when you resume your human form. Then
somehow you molecularize your body as if shifting, but then
transfer the energy across space and you appear in another
location.”

“You just
appear there...” Cassie squeezed her hands together tightly and
forced the needed words from her mouth. “Bryan, I can do that.” She
glanced at him nervously, wondering how he’d take the news.

“Do what?”

“What you just
said. Disappear and appear somewhere else. Teleport.”

“You what..?”
He looked at her sceptically. “But...? You said you’ve never even
changed into a werewolf until yesterday.”

“I know. I’ve
kept from changing by drugging myself and locking myself in my
bedroom. But sometimes, when it’s a full moon, I’ll wake up
someplace else. In the park or the grocery store.” Cassie looked at
him earnestly. “That’s how I ended up in Vegas. The night my uncle
died, I ran away. I was...scared the werewolf would get me because
I’d witnessed him killing Mr. Aldrich and knew the secret of
werewolf existence.”

She flushed,
feeling a bit embarrassed saying that to him despite the truth of
the statement. “Anyway, I got as far as Kansas that first night and
took a motel room. It was a full moon and I was feeling really
strange. I took one of my pills and lay down on the bed trying to
think of someplace fun, just to take my mind off things. For some
reason Vegas popped into my head. I started to feel really weird
and the next thing I knew, I woke up in an alleyway in downtown Las
Vegas.”

For a moment,
Bryan said nothing and she wondered if he believed her or not. Then
he shook his head, a deep rich chuckle rumbling in his chest.
“Damn, but Ryne does know how to pick ‘em.”

“What do you
mean?” She was bit affronted that he was laughing after her great
revelation.

“I mean, lots
of packs have found stray wolves, but Ryne goes and finds a rare
blue-blooded werewolf who is also an heiress worth millions of
dollars. Damn, but the other packs are going to be jealous
now!”

Cassie looked
at him askance. “That’s all you have to say? Bryan, I can appear
and disappear!”

“I heard you.
It’s a neat trick and we’ll have to teach you how to control it,
but in the grand scheme of things, it isn’t that important.” He
chuckled again, shaking his head.

“Oh.” Cassie
felt a bit deflated by his nonchalant acceptance of her ability.
She wasn’t sure why she cared. After all, she didn’t even want to
be a werewolf, let alone a blue-blooded one. Hmm... Blue-blooded or
royal. “So, who do you think my parents might be?”

“You mean, you
don’t know?”

She shook her
head. “My mother’s name was Luisa, but my uncle never mentioned my
father. I think my mom was from Spain.”

“With your
colouring that makes sense.” He eyed her, taking in her hair, his
gaze skimming over her features. His eyes seemed to grow darker,
heavy-lidded, and she could feel the pull beginning between them
again. She was just starting to lean closer, when he blinked and
shook his head, breaking the connection. Cassie felt a bit...put
out for some reason...but struggled not to show it.

Bryan continued
speaking. “Spain, you say? Marco came from Spain about three years
ago. When we get back to Canada, he might be able to help out.
There aren’t that many royal werewolves around. I’m sure he’ll know
something.”

The prospect of
learning more about her parents was exciting, even if they were
werewolves. Cassie had always known her uncle wasn’t really her
uncle, but had somehow sensed she shouldn’t ask about her
background. She wondered who they might’ve been, what they had
looked like and if she had any cousins. After years of being alone,
the idea of having relatives seemed almost unreal.

Leaning back in
her seat, she closed her eyes and contemplated all that she’d just
learned. She was possibly a royal werewolf with the ability to
teleport, she might have family back in Spain, and—she peered at
Bryan through her lashes—she might be sitting beside her future
mate!