The Heir (6 page)

As they neared the backyard he concentrated
on his human form and so did everyone else. Walking as humans once
again, the pack dispersed, they bid each other farewell and he went
to pick up his clothes. Feeling refreshed and relaxed, like he
always did after shifting, he dressed quickly; with anticipation
coursing through his veins because it was his turn to keep an eye
on their quarry.

In record time, he reached his car and was
digging in his pocket for his keys when his phone rang. He pulled
both out, with one hand he answered and with the other he unlocked
his car.

"She just rode out on her bike.” Christian
told him without waiting for a greeting.

"Stay with her but not too close! I'm on my
way; I'll call you when I get into town" He hung up without waiting
for a response and set the phone beside him.

He rushed into the driver seat and signaled
Axel to hurry into the passenger side. Within seconds they were out
of the driveway and headed into town. He didn't need to tell Axel
where they were headed. With keen hearing he'd heard both sides of
the conversation just fine.

Chapter 4

Jessica slept for twenty straight hours.
Healing at super speed took a lot of energy and sleep was needed to
recuperate. She was finally woken up by the loud knock on her door
the next afternoon.

Still groggy, she stumbled to the door and
opened to find Riley on the other side. Like an old western
standoff they eyed each other across the threshold sizing each
other up. Riley looked away, took a deep breath and then looked
back at her.

“Sorry about your room, it was just a
prank.”

Jessica nodded and also apologized, “Sorry
about snapping, I wasn’t feeling well.”

“Yeah we noticed, you slept like the dead.
Everyone has been waiting for you to wake up so we could talk…”

Jessica rubbed her eyes with the back of her
hand. Knowing that it couldn’t be avoided she agreed to meet
everyone downstairs after she got dressed. When she was ready she
found her way to the family room where everyone waited for her.

James indicated for her to take a seat and
Jessica sat on the chair, facing them all. James went to stand
beside her and gave her a warm smile meant to reassure her.

"Kids this is Jessica, she is our
daughter."

James turned to the other and gestured for
her to go to him and Jessica took the chance to look at her. She
had black hair and blue eyes like her, but that was about it, that
was all the resemblance they shared.

She watched as James and the other girl
embraced and forced herself to display a sense of calm that she
didn't really feel. Relaxing her facial expressions, letting the
tension go from her shoulders she reclined in her seat, crossed her
legs and started tapping her fingers on the arm rest.

"Dani I hope you know how much we love you
and nothing will ever change that." James told her and when she
nodded he looked at Riley and then Jessica. "We love all of
you."

Danielle looked up and said reassuringly,
"It’s OK dad I've always known.”

"Good because -"

"No dad, that's not what I meant." Danielle
cut him off. "What I mean is that I've always known I'm adopted. A
couple of years ago, the mail came with one of those envelopes that
you sometimes get. I was really bored" she explained, "and you guys
weren't home. I was just curious because you'd never open them in
front us and they're all kept in that safe."

The safe was hidden behind a bookshelf/door
in the office. A lot of thought, money and trouble had gone into
the concealing of that safe but it obviously hadn’t been
enough.

"I was really careful when I opened it; there
were all these pictures of her." she returned to her seat, "When I
was just putting the pictures away, I noticed a letter at the
bottom of the envelope. The letter talked about your daughter.
After that it took me a while to put it all together but little by
little I started to notice things."

"Like what?" James asked.

"First of all, I look nothing like you guys,
I have the black hair and blue eyes but that's it. She resembles
mom and I don’t." she pointed out the obvious.

To her ears, the explanation lacked substance
but she couldn’t tell them the truth. Those were her secrets and
hers alone. Nothing good would come from talking about them.

Nothing good at all.

"I hope you didn't lose any sleep over it.
You should have come to us when you first suspected it." He
admonished, oblivious of her turmoil.

His words brought tears to Danielle’s eyes.
She wished she could confide in her parents but she couldn’t for
fear of disappointing them.

Looking at her dad she shook her head and
gave him a watery smile. "I know you guys love me and I didn’t come
to you because I didn’t want to cause any trouble.”

Jessica, feeling like an intruder, couldn't
take it anymore. Jealousy and resentment were boiling up inside of
her.

All of her life she’d grown up feeling like a
discarded piece of trash, replaced by the best model. And it left a
bitter taste in her mouth to know that someone else had grown up
feeling the love from the family she had been denied .

Without a word Jessica got up and turned away
before anyone could see the tears swimming in her eyes. She forced
herself to walk away, ignoring the calls and dodging the hands that
tried to stop her. Hastily she wiped away the stupid tear that
dared to drop and ran upstairs for her backpack.

She made her way back downstairs and with her
hand finally on the front door knob, the walk there had felt like
an eternity, she turned to look at the family. Bitterness, like an
awakened volcano, exploded through her whole body.

They were a family, whole, with no room for
her.

She raised her hand to stop their attempts to
explain. Jessica didn’t want to hear their explanations. She was
hurting and knew that she had to get out of there.

"I'm sorry I have to get out of here. This is
turning out to be harder than I thought. I need...I need to
leave."

Before they could argue she closed the door
in their faces. Berating herself for the spectacle she'd just
caused, she ran to her bike and took off. She just wanted to be as
far away as possible before the tears really started flowing.

With no destination in mind, Jessica rode
around and it wasn’t long before she realized that someone was
following her. She couldn't explain how she knew, she just did. It
was like a sixth sense and it'd never led her wrong before.

Deciding to test the feeling, Jessica shifted
to the next lane, barely managing not to swerve into a car, and
quickly turned onto the intersecting street. At the next cross-way
she took a left turn followed by another left.

Keeping an eye on her side view mirror, she
watched a car turn to follow her. For the next fifteen minutes
Jessica kept making last minute turns, but no matter how fast she
went, how many sharp turns she took, she couldn't manage to lose
them.

Slowly terror started to creep in.

She felt as if she was in a horror movie or a
nightmare. The kind where no matter how fast a person ran, the
monster was always a couple of steps behind. No matter how long you
held your breath, how well you thought you'd hidden, the monster
always turned the corner and found you.

She hated this! She hated this day and she
hated feeling like a weakling.

Fear was clogging her throat and it was
making it hard to breathe. Nervously she toyed with her lip and
took a couple of deep breaths; she knew that now was not the time
to panic. If she was going to get out of this she needed to stay
calm.

As calmly as she could, she drove around
until she found what she was looking for, a deserted dead end
alleyway. As soon as she spotted it, Jessica parked her bike, took
of her helmet and left it on the seat, a block away and ran at top
speed towards it. Once in there she went to crouch behind a couple
of dumpsters all the way at the end of the ally. She dropped her
back pack and pulled out her knife.

She was done running.

Jessica held her breath and strained her ears
for the sound of running footsteps. When she heard them coming, she
braced herself. Their lack of skills was proven when they turned
their backs on her after only giving the ally a quick perusal.

Silently she inched up behind the two men.
She swiped her leg and tripped the one closest to her. Before he
even knew what hit him, he was flat on his back. With the butt end
of her knife she promptly knocked him out and turned to face his
partner.

She stood up promptly and flicked her knife
open. She didn't plan on using it, but he didn't need to know that.
He raised his arms and started to back up, but it was too late.

Jessica lunged for him.

Knocking his arms to the side, she hit him
under the chin with the heel of her hand and then struck the same
spot with her elbow. Quickly she crouched and swiped her leg,
effectively bring him down too.

When he hit the ground she wasted no time
pinning him down. She shoved her forearm across his throat and her
knee into his chest.

"Who are you?" she asked in a rough
voice.

He opened his mouth to speak but his eyes
suddenly widened when he looked at something over her shoulder.
Jessica noticed it and she realized that someone was coming up
behind her. Knife in hand, ready for battle, she pivoted on her
toes in a crouched position and froze.

"You!?"

Nick held his hands out, palms open wide
towards her and took a step back, trying to indicate his lack of
desire to harm her. In response she stoop up slowly and turned
enough to keep him and the man that was awake and still lying on
his back, in her sights.

"Good to hear I made a big impression." He
told her, trying to defuse the situation. One quick look at her
adversaries and he knew they were harmless. He knew because he
recognized the logo on the man’s jacket. They weren't trying to
harm her; they were trying to protect her. Apparently he wasn't the
only one worried about her safety. "I'm glad you remember me." He
confessed to her with a pleased smile.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, the
annoyance in her voice was self-directed because she had no better
comeback.

"I was just across the street when I saw you
being chased by these two. I thought you might need help."

In reality, his heart had almost stopped when
he'd turned on to the street and watched as his future mate was
chased into the ally by two men and he'd barely managed to keep
himself from shifting. He even almost forgot to park the car before
jumping out of it to run to her rescue.

But when he reached her he felt his anger
deflate as he realized how wrong he'd been about the situation.

She hadn't been running from them, she'd been
leading them there. And she didn't need his help; she was able to
handle them on her own. The fact that they weren't trying to harm
her helped but he was still impressed.

It pleased him to know that she wasn't a
sniveling little girl that expected someone else to save her. It
was the middle of the day, she could have screamed bloody murder
and people would have been jumping to her aid, instead she handled
it all on her own.

She was going make a great Alpha - if she was
who they thought she was. He seemed to have forgotten that they'd
yet establish her identity.

"I don't believe in coincidences" She
informed him, eyeing him skeptically. "How do I know you're not
with them?"

Nick crossed his arms and rocked back on his
heels. "Because if I was, you'd be the one on your back" He
taunted.

Following his words, images flashed through
his mind of her doing just that. Not as the outcome of a battle
between them but a dance between lovers. His wolf wanted to howl in
agreement and a certain part of his anatomy began to stir in
response to his wicked thoughts.

The sudden tightness in his jeans almost made
him groan. He couldn’t recount ever being turned on with just a
thought.

Frantically he ran through mathematical
equations in his mind, trying to reign in his raging libido. It had
been a very long time since he'd -scratch that- he'd never felt
such a strong desire for anyone in his life. For someone who prided
in his self-control, his lack of it where she was concerned was a
bit disconcerting.

"Means to an end" He reminded himself, "Means
to an end"

Even though he'd chosen her before they'd
even met, he was glad to know that mating with her wouldn't be an
issue on his part. As far as desire went, his future mate had all
the right equipment to entice him.

Her clothes did nothing to hide her figure
and he slowly raked his gaze over her.

She had a small straight nose and full pink
lips begging to be kissed. Her bright blue eyes and black hair were
a sharp contrast to her light skin and she was shorter than what he
was used to, just barely reaching his shoulders, but she looked
toned and fit with curves in all the right places.

Nick salivated at the thought of exploring
her body in a more intimate setting.

"Are you done?" She snapped, pulling him out
of his reverie and letting him know she'd noticed his not-so-
discreet inspection.

The question jerked his attention up to her
glaring blue eyes.

"That depends" He drawled silkily and she
raised an eyebrow in response. Nick wagged his eyebrows and smiled
mischievously. "Depends on whether you want to turn around."

Her eyes grew wide, her cheeks colored and
she released an outraged gasp. Intrigued he watched her chest rise
as she took a deep breath and once again he was imagining her body
naked next to him. Wondering what it would feel like, how she’d
taste and if she was just as feisty in bed.