The Mating (27 page)

She nodded. Her news wasn’t that earth shattering really. It could wait. This was Kane’s time.

“You know, I try to be a leader of the twenty-first century; calm, reasonable, civilized…setting an example for the others to follow. I want my pack to move forward and fit into society, but sometimes, like tonight, my instincts take over and I find that I’m more wolf than man. Don’t get me wrong, being a wolf is an important part of who I am—it’s just not always easy to keep it under control.”

“I think you do a fine job balancing the man and the wolf.” Elise idly traced the pattern on his shirt.

“I’m glad you think so. Me—I’m not so sure.” He inhaled deeply then surprised her by seeming to change the subject. “Has anyone told you about my parents?”

“Well, I’ve heard some stories…” Elise answered hesitantly, not sure if she was or wasn’t supposed to know.

“My father was a rogue wolf—a throwback to days long gone—who could never settle down or integrate into a pack. He dragged us all over the countryside, spending a month here, a month there. I think my mother was the only who could seem to tolerate him for any length of time.” Kane tipped his head up and stared at the night sky as if a picture of the man was forming in the stars. “He had his good points—he could be spontaneous and fun, always coming up with ideas for a new adventure. Apparently, he was quite a charmer of the ladies and a rather smooth talker too, which was a good thing because it got him out of quite a few scrapes. Unfortunately, even his glib tongue wasn’t always sufficient and his temper was what lingered on in everyone’s memory. We were kicked out of more places than I care to remember, because of him.”

“That must have been awfully hard on you.”

“It had its moments. We—Ryne and I—became pretty good at reading the signs and staying away when he was in a mood. Mom was great and did what she could to keep us fed and safe but… It didn’t always work.” Kane paused and seemed lost in his own memories. Elise could just imagine him as a child, undernourished and afraid, his dark hair all tousled, while his amber eyes solemnly assessed the mood in the house, wondering if it was safe or if he should hide… It was so foreign to her own experiences. She wished she’d been there to offer him some comfort.

Kane came out of his reverie and turned his head so he could look in her eyes. “Sometimes I wonder about how much of my father is in me. I don’t want to be him. I don’t want his anger to be part of me; I fight to keep that side buried. But sometimes, like tonight, it escapes and I worry about what could happen.”

“Nothing happened.” Elise reassured. “You stopped yourself.”

“No I didn’t. You stopped me, which by the way, was a very brave but foolish thing to try and do. I could have accidentally hurt you.”

“I wasn’t brave, I just reacted, and no, you wouldn’t have hurt me. You don’t have it in you. You stopped yourself. If you’d really intended to kill Thomas, I couldn’t have prevented it. You would have ripped his throat out before I even got to my feet.” Kane looked sceptical. “You’re a good man, Kane. You didn’t hurt Thomas tonight. You didn’t kill Ryne in the challenge. You aren’t your father. Yes, you have a temper—every werewolf does, especially the males, but you control it, not the other way around.” She paused, trying to clarify her own thinking. “I think we’re all walking a tightrope, trying to fit in, to control our wolf and not to be discovered. I’m always amazed at what a good job we do and how few people actually know we exist.”

He studied her for a moment, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight, before leaning forward and pressing a slow kiss to her forehead. “You’re very clever you know.”

“I always thought so.” She smiled up at him.

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For being you. For trying to make ‘us’ work, despite the fact that you were just thrown into this mating.” He took her hand and laced their fingers together. “I know I’m not good at expressing myself, but I hope you know how glad I am that you’re here with me. The pack is my extended family, but I’ve never really had anyone that was just mine, until you came along.” He brought their entwined hands up to his mouth and kissed hers gently. “You’re my mate, Elise.” Kane whispered.

Elise felt herself getting all misty. There was so much feeling evident Kane’s gaze and tone of voice. He might not be saying the exact words that she wanted to hear, but she was sure the emotion was there, just unspoken. With his upbringing, he’d probably learned to never get too attached, to keep a wall of reserve around his heart and to never say how he really felt. But he was trying now, in his own way. “I want ‘us’ to work, too.” She whispered back, pressing a soft kiss to his hand, before wrapping her other arm around him and resting her cheek on his chest.

*****

Elise skipped down the stairs the next morning. It was a beautiful day, even if the sky was grey and overcast. Last night had been incredible and its afterglow was transferring to her whole day. Kane had made love to her, not just had sex. It had been slow and sweet, everything she had ever imagined. Skilfully, he’d made her come over and over, gently stroking and caressing every inch of her, all the while whispering tender words into her ear. While he hadn’t initiated a blood bond, she was sure he was close. His teeth had grazed her neck several times and he’d seemed on the verge of saying something, only to draw back. At one point, she’d considered mentioning it, but then he’d used his wickedly talented fingers to distract her…

Never mind, it would be soon, she consoled herself. She could just tell. Besides, a secret smile played over her lips, her heat would likely start tomorrow or the next day. Surely then, Kane would lose his reserve. Already she was feeling so much closer to him. What would it be like to be blood bonded and to be privileged to have a sense of his actual thoughts and feelings? An excited shiver ran through her at the very idea.

Impulsively, she turned towards his office instead the kitchen, which had been her original destination. She rapped lightly on the door and popped her head in. He was just hanging up the phone and looked more than a little frustrated. The smile left her face and she walked over resting her hands on his shoulders. “You look like you lost your last best friend. What’s wrong?”

He leaned back against her and sighed. “You know the environmental report I was telling you about? The one I thought I’d misplaced yesterday? Well, I found it this morning and read it over, but it’s not nearly as positive as I’d been led to believe it would be.”

“You mean the land isn’t environmentally significant?”

“No—the report doesn’t negate the fact the area is of interest, but it doesn’t say anything about it being endangered if the oil drilling were to occur.” Kane rubbed his eyes. “I just don’t get it. Chloe, and the people at the university, knew what we needed in the report and had sounded so positive when we’d met, but this reads like a whole section has been left out.”

“Could someone have forgotten to print out part of the report?”

“I suppose it’s possible. Maybe I’ll give Chloe a call and ask her about it.” He shrugged his shoulders as if trying to ease the tension and she began to gently knead the tight muscles. “To top things off, I just got off the phone with our lawyers. Apparently, Northern Oil has already gotten wind of our having a study done. Now they want their own people to do another assessment because they question the validity of our experts.”

“But how did they find out so fast?”

“I don’t know. Only a few of us knew about it: Zack, Ryne, and myself—people in the Alpha house basically. Maybe someone at the university let it slip.”

“Does it really matter? I mean won’t another assessment just show the same thing? It could even help if their own people come up with similar findings.”

“That’s not how these companies work. Their ‘experts’ will make sure the report is favourable to the company that hired them. Studies and statistics can always be reworded and twisted around so they seem to support whatever point of view you want.”

“So it basically comes down to our word against theirs.”

“Pretty much—the courts will have to look at the qualifications of the ‘experts,’ check previous work done by them, their educational background, even how much they will profit by the report… It’s a long drawn out process and can get really petty.” Kane turned in his chair and pulled her down into his lap, nuzzling her neck. “But enough of that. Your incredibly talented fingers have managed to transfer the tension in my shoulders to an entirely different location.”

“After last night, I don’t know how you could possibly need—”

“Elise, when I’m around you, I always need.” He laughed seductively and his hands crept up from her hips to cup her breasts, caressing the soft flesh until her nipples peaked. She could feel his desire pressing against her through the denim material of his pants and wiggled slightly, eliciting a low growl from him. He picked her up and moved her so that she was straddling him and his hands pushed their way under her shirt, while his mouth locked onto hers. Their tongues battled for dominance as Elise raked her fingers across his scalp. How could he make her so hot, so fast? Finally, she had to pull back, gasping for air and that was when she realised the phone was ringing.

“We should answer that,” she panted.

“No, let the machine take it. I’m too busy.” Kane was kissing her breasts through her shirt, tugging at her nipples causing reciprocal twinges down low in her belly. The answer machine came on and then a crackly male voice spoke. “Hey, this is Marty’s Auto calling. The part for the sensor in your car is in. If you can have it here before noon, I can get it installed today.”

Elise groaned and regretfully pulled away from Kane. “As much as I hate to stop, I really should go, if I want to get the car taken care of today. The mechanic could be fixing it while I’m at work…”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Kane had a slight pout of on his face, as he slid his hands out from under her clothing.

Giving him a quick peck, she climbed off his lap. “We can finish this tonight, I promise.”

“I’m holding you to that.”

Smiling Elise started to leave, then paused in the door way. “That voice didn’t sound at all like the mechanic I talked to. I think you need to get a new answering machine.”

“It is getting old, and the tape is probably worn out too. I’m actually thinking of just going with an automated voice mail through the phone company.”

“Might be an idea.” With a wave, Elise headed for the stairs to change. There was a distinct wet spot on the front of her shirt from Kane’s mouth and she needed to put on a fresh top before leaving.

*****

After changing her clothes, she grabbed her coat and purse, then headed for the door, intent on getting her car to the shop and still making it to work on time. Opening the back door, she walked right into Marla

“Oh, sorry Marla. I wasn’t expecting you.” Looking at the other woman, Elise frowned at her appearance. She’d never seen Marla dishevelled before—the woman always seemed to have just stepped out of a fashion magazine. Today, her hair was windblown and her hands were dirty. Even a few of her manicured nails appeared to be broken. Glancing down, Elise noted that mud still clung to her shoes and pant legs. “What happened to you?”

Brushing at her clothing, Marla gave a nervous laugh. “Oh darn, you caught me. Don’t tell the others—I have to keep up my image of being a total sloth, you know—but I was out for a run and went farther than I’d planned. Excuse me.” She pushed past Elise and hurried inside, her head down.

That was strange, Elise mused as she walked to her car. From all reports, Marla hardly ever did the wolf thing, being more in touch with her human side. She wondered why she’d suddenly changed her habits and where she had been running in order to have gotten so muddy—there hadn’t been any rain for almost a week.

Shrugging, she pushed the matter from her mind and headed to the car, only to come up short as she started to open the door. Darn! She’d forgotten about Bryan. Kane still didn’t know. She nibbled her lip and considered running in to tell him, but then thought about the time. She only had a few minutes to spare and if it took longer at the garage… Well, the fact that she’d met with Bryan wasn’t that earth shattering of an event, was it? Last night had shown her that she and Kane were building a good relationship and something as minor as seeing Bryan wasn’t really a problem. Yesterday, she’d just allowed Marla to get her all worked up over nothing.

Climbing into the car, she pushed the matter aside. Tonight would be soon enough to let Kane know.

It was ten-thirty when Elise arrived at Marty’s Auto Repair. She hoped he had a car he could loan her. It was quite a walk to the Grey Goose, and phasing into wolf and running down the street really wasn’t a good idea. If need be, she’d have to hire a cab. When she asked, Marty looked her up and down, then smiled. “For a pretty girl like you, anything.” Expansively he waved his hand towards the rows of cars that were for sale. “Take your pick.”

Elise forced herself not to roll her eyes at the mechanic, who obviously saw himself as something of a ladies’ man. He wasn’t that bad looking with short brown hair and a pleasant smile, but compared to Kane, definitely fell into the ‘average’ category. Ignoring his flirting, she glanced over the line up, then impulsively pointed to the end of the row. “That red one, the sports car.”

“Ah! You’re a lady of discriminating taste, I can see.” Marty nodded at her knowingly. “Marlene, my girl friend, has a fondness for that one too. Always wants to borrow it rather than a nice conservative grey sedan.” Marty stepped a bit closer. “A hot sports car always looks good on a hot lady.”

Elise stepped back and folded her arms. “I have to get to work.” She looked pointedly at the rack were the keys hung.

Marty gave her a wink and then strolled over to get the keys.

“Have your girlfriend and you been together long?” Elise asked idly while waiting for Marty to get the key. Honestly, the man already had a girlfriend! Why was he acting this way towards her?

“Oh, we’re on and off. She was really keen about six months ago, and even wanted to help me around the shop just so we could spend more time together. Marlene looks like one of those runway models, but she doesn’t mind getting her hands dirty. Why, she even asked me to teach her about how the brakes and steering worked, and everything. I was real disappointed when she dropped me sudden like, but now she’s back again and I ain’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Besides, I’m getting smart. If she can have someone on the side, then so can I.” Once again, Marty winked at her.