The Mating

by Nicky Charles

  “Bryan! Thank heaven I got a hold of you … No, everything is fine, but I have to see you right away … Really? … Okay, I’ll be by my car in five minutes … It’s parked right across the road from the Grey Goose … Right. Bye.” Elise smiled as she hung up the phone. Bryan was just around the corner from her. She could meet him in the parking lot, quickly warn him not to get involved with Ryne, and then be on her way home to Kane.

  As she flipped her phone shut, she realised that Mr. Mancini was standing in the doorway. From the look on his face, he wasn’t pleased with her.

  “Er… Hello, Mr. Mancini. I was just talking to a friend.”

  “So I heard.” He nodded towards the phone in her hand. “Might I remind you, Elise, that you are married?”

  She forced herself not to roll her eyes and respond calmly. “Yes, I’m fully aware of that fact, Mr. Mancini. The call you just heard—it isn’t what you think. Bryan and I are just friends. We grew up together.” Mr.Mancini gave her a sceptical look and Elise opened her mouth to explain further, but the man was called to the kitchen and he left before she could say anything.

  Exhaling gustily, Elise pulled on her coat. Why was everyone so quick to believe the worst of her? She wasn’t promiscuous. Just because she was talking to a man, didn’t mean she was involved with him. What was it with the people in this town? Sure, they were all fond of Kane, but why assume she was cheating? So what if Marla had been two-timing him? That didn’t automatically mean that she was! Well, she’d deal with Mr. Mancini tomorrow and make sure he realised how wrong he was. Right now, Bryan was waiting for her.

  *****

  Standing in the parking lot, watching the traffic go by, Elise gave a start of surprise when someone’s hand landed on her shoulder. Swinging around, her arm automatically raising in a defensive gesture, she laughed when she realised it was Bryan. He’d always enjoyed sneaking up on her, supposedly proving his superiority through his stealth.

  “Ha! Caught you off guard again, Elise!”

  She playfully shoved his shoulder. “Bryan, quit doing that. You know I don’t like it.”

  He simply grinned at her before enveloping her in bear hug. The hug lasted slightly longer than necessary and Elise noticed that Bryan was sniffing her neck. Blushing, she realised that he was reacting to her being in heat and extracted herself quickly, all too aware of how things could easily be misconstrued.

  Bryan cleared his throat and looked over her shoulder rather than at her, obviously realizing what he’d unintentionally been doing. “Er…sorry about that.”

  “It’s all right.” She decided to just overlook the matter and get to the point of why she’d needed to see him. “Bryan, I called you for an important reason. That wolf you were meeting with—the one who wants to start a new pack—what was his name?”

  “You mean my new Alpha?” Bryan seemed to swell with pride, forgetting the awkward moment that had just occurred. “His name’s Ryne. I’m going to be his Beta, and as soon as he finishes some personal business here, we’re heading out.”

  Elise shut her eyes and groaned. Trust Bryan to get mixed up in something like this. She shook her head. As much as she hated to burst his bubble, she couldn’t let him go off with Ryne. It was too dangerous. Taking his hand, she led him to a nearby bench. “Bryan, let’s sit down. I have something I have to tell you.”

  After explaining what she knew about Ryne, Bryan just looked at her silently for a few minutes before speaking. “Elise, I know you mean well, but…I’ve met Ryne; you haven’t. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt his pack. Yeah, I believe you about the challenge, but I think there must be more to it than you know. Something’s being left out of the story. And the other stuff, the traps and the shooting, there has to be an explanation. The Ryne I’ve talked to wouldn’t do that.”

  “Bryan, maybe he’s just putting on a really good act. The people in my new pack wouldn’t be attributing these things to Ryne without good cause. He was scented at the scenes, for heaven sake!”

  Her friend stared at the ground, slowly shaking his head. “I don’t know, Elise. My gut is telling me you’re wrong about him.”

  Elise leaned towards Bryan, beseechingly placing her hand on his arm. “Please Bryan, think this over. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

  Bryan looked at her intently and she hoped he could see her sincere concern for his well-being. Finally, he sighed. “I’ll think it over, but that’s the most I can promise you.”

  She’d hoped for more, but knew from past experience that Bryan wasn’t easily swayed. He’d need to mull the situation over on his own and come to his own conclusions. Hopefully, they would be the right ones. With a nod, Elise stood up and Bryan walked her to her car.

  “I hope I get to see you again, some day.” He took her hands in his.

  “You will, Bryan. This isn’t goodbye. Our paths will cross again, I know.” Elise desperately hoped she was telling the truth. Bryan had been a big part of her life and she was going to miss him.

  Bryan gave her hands another squeeze, but Elise wasn’t really aware of the pressure. A strange feeling was washing over her, as if someone was watching. Slowly she turned to look across the road towards the Grey Goose. Standing on the steps talking to Mr. Mancini was Kane.

  Even from this distance, Elise could feel the anger radiating from him. It felt as if his eyes were boring holes right through her and she gave a shudder of fear. Never had she thought she’d be on the receiving end of such wrath.

  Sensing her distraction, Bryan turned to see what had caught her attention. A low whistle escaped his lips. “Hey, Elise, isn’t that your mate?” She was only capable of giving a short nod. “He seems majorly pissed off.”

  “He is. You’d better leave.” Not even looking at Bryan, she shoved him away.

  “Will you be all right? Maybe I should stay.”

  “No!” Elise forced her gaze away from Kane and looked at Bryan’s worried face. “Leave. Please. I’ll be okay.” She remembered how territorial Kane had been last time, he’d met Bryan. Now, with her being in heat, he’d be even more so and she didn’t want the two of them ending up having a fight in the middle of town.

  Reluctantly, Bryan left and Elise kept half an eye on him to ensure he kept going, while watching Kane. Mr. Mancini was talking to him, but Kane wasn’t really listening. Briefly, Elise considered leaving, but knew she’d have to face Kane and explain at some point in time. She might as well get it over with now.

  She didn’t have long to wait. Either the conversation ended abruptly or Kane just walked away for suddenly he was crossing the street towards her. Vaguely she was aware of Mr. Mancini shaking his head as he watched Kane leave and then giving a melodramatic shrug before going back inside, but mostly she was focussed on Kane’s approach. His nostrils were flaring, no doubt picking up the scent of her pheromones that were wafting towards him on the gentle breeze that was meandering down the street. Oh great! That was just going to set him off even more.

  Her mouth felt dry and she was sure her knees were knocking. Licking her lips, she started to speak as soon as he reached her side. “Kane, I can explain everything.”

  “Explain? How can you begin to explain meeting with an unattached male when you’re in heat?” His voice was so low and filled with anger that she could scarcely get her next words out.

  “Bryan’s not another male, he’s my friend.”

  “Oh right. I remember the kind of ‘friendship’ the two of you have.”

  “No! It’s not like that anymore.”

  “No? Then tell me, why have you been secretly contacting him?”

  “I—I haven’t been secretly contacting him!”

  “Of course, forgive me. He’s been contacting you.” Elise opened her mouth to protest, but Kane continued speaking, his voice increasing in volume. “Don’t try and deny it. I heard him on the answering machine—three times he’s called you!”

  “What?” Elise hadn’t meant to shout, but she couldn’t believe
what she was hearing.

  “Next time you remind me to change the tape in the answering machine, make sure you’ve erased all the old messages first. I suppose you never thought I’d listen to it before throwing it out.”

  Elise stared at him open mouthed as she tried to make sense of what he was saying. Bryan had only called once and Marla had taken the call… Wait! Hadn’t Marla said that someone had phoned for her several times and she’d let the answering machine take the calls before finally deciding to pick up? It had completely slipped her mind until this very moment. That must be what Kane was talking about. “But I can—“

  “Explain? I’d like to see how.” Kane looked around, as if suddenly realizing that they were standing in the street and their raised voices were attracting attention. He grabbed her arm, opened her car door, and pushed her inside. “We’ll finish this at home and don’t try to run off with your friend. I’ll be following right behind.”

  It took Elise a few tries to get the key in the ignition; she was so upset, her hand was shaking. Kane was really mad and she could see his point, in a way. On the other hand, he should have some faith in her; she’d done nothing previous to this to warrant such suspicion.

  Glancing in the rearview mirror, she saw that Kane was driving about two car lengths behind her. Hopefully, he’d cool down on the way home and be willing to listen to reason. His background while growing up would make him more sensitive to the idea of infidelity. Marla had dropped him for Ryne, so possibly he was expecting the worst, based on past experiences. He’d just watched her with Bryan and those phone messages were pretty incriminating, but at least there was nothing else. Unless of course, he’d heard Rose’s rumour. Surely if he had, he would have mentioned it though.

  Unsure of what to think, Elise felt herself becoming more and more tense, the closer she got to home. By the time she pulled into the driveway, she was a mess. Would Kane be reasonable or angry? Had he heard the rumour or not? Would he listen to her explanation or just continue to jump to conclusions based on his own past?

  The more she thought, the more her agitation increased. Suddenly, she realised she was sweating. God, it was too hot in the car! It felt claustrophobic; the air was stale. She unzipped her coat, while pushing the door open, welcoming the rush of cool air over her skin. As she went to get out, something jerked her back inside. Damn! She’d forgotten to take off her seatbelt. Fumbling, she worked the clasp, wanting to scream in frustration as the lock resisted her initial efforts. Finally free of the restraint mechanism, she slammed the car door shut and stomped towards the front porch.

  The sound of Kane pulling in behind her had her turning to look his way. Through the windshield, their eyes met and she could easily tell by the set of his face that he was still upset. Suddenly and inexplicably, she was angry at the whole lousy predicament she’d landed in, and glared at him before spinning around with a flip of her ponytail and briskly walking inside. It was a distinct snub, but at this moment, she really didn’t care.

  Chapter 27

  Elise stormed up the stairs towards the bedroom. The front door slammed behind her as Kane entered, but she didn’t look back. Her emotions were vacillating rapidly; at the moment anger was foremost. How dare Kane accuse her of infidelity? She’d done absolutely nothing wrong!

  Once in their room, she headed for the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Running cold water, she splashed some on her face, trying desperately to cool down. She was so hot, her nerves were on edge, her skin was crawling… Leaning against the vanity, she looked into the mirror. Oh great! It was last night all over again: eyes dilated, cheeks flushed, rapid breathing. At least this time Kane was here, but he was too mad at her to do anything to ease her discomfort. Somehow she doubted that jumping her bones was his main priority right now, and quite frankly, she was too put out with him to find the idea very appealing either.

  The sound of the door handle rattling caused her to jump. “Elise, come out of there this instant!”

  “Keep your shirt on!” She shouted back. The sound of Kane huffing and stomping away followed her comment.

  Briefly, she considered staying in the bathroom and taking another cold shower, but the argument still needed to be resolved and hiding wouldn’t solve anything. She sighed deeply then rubbed her arms with her hands, torn between the primal urge to mate, the need to make Kane understand what had really happened, and wanting to avoid his wrath as long as possible by staying right where she was. The longer she hesitated, the more the intoxicating male scent of him drifted under the door and into the small room, teasing her nostrils and elevating her hormones. He was aroused too—she could smell it—and even if it was mostly due to anger, her body yearned for his. Almost of its own volition, her hand reached for the handle and turned the knob.

  As the door swung open, she saw Kane standing by the dresser, a book clutched in his hand. Why would he be reading a book at a time like this? Confused, she squinted at the leather cover—it looked just like her diary! She hadn’t seen it for a few days and had been wondering how she could have misplaced it. But how had it ended up on the dresser? Temporarily distracted from all the other issues, she stepped out of the bathroom. “Is that my diary?”

  “Well, it certainly isn’t mine.” Sarcasm dripped from his voice.

  “That’s personal! You shouldn’t be reading it!” She walked towards him, intent on retrieving her book.

  “Then don’t leave it lying open on the dresser, especially not to the parts where you’re swooning over that pup.” Kane fairly snarled at her, throwing the book down in obvious disgust.

  “Don’t call Bryan a pup! And I’m not swooning over him!”

  “Oh no?” Kane snatched up the diary from the floor and read it in a mocking tone. “Bryan’s so good looking. I love watching him move and seeing his muscles ripple. When he touches me, I can hardly think straight and his kisses drive me insane.”

  Shocked, Elise felt her mouth drop open. “I never wrote that!”

  “Are you saying this isn’t your writing?” Kane shoved the book at her and she took it, studying the entry. It looked like her handwriting, but she would have never written that. Flipping back a few pages, she discovered that someone had forged several entries after the last one in which she’d said she was meeting Bryan. Dismayed, Elise looked up at Kane, shaking her head in denial.

  “Kane, I swear I didn’t write that. I don’t know who…” Her mind racing, Elise recalled the day that she’d found Marla leaving their room, claiming to have been looking for a book to read. Well, obviously the she-wolf had certainly found something to read—her diary! Pursing her lips, she fumed about how nasty Marla’s actions were. “Kane, I think Marla wrote that. My diary went missing the same day I found her in our room—”

  “Oh come on, Elise. Quit blaming Marla for your own mistakes. You got careless and left this out.”

  “No, it’s true! She’s jealous of our relationship and wants to break us up.”

  “Then why has she been encouraging us to spend time together? Even staying back to do the dishes, so we could go running together. Explain that.”

  “Well…I don’t know why.” Elise nervously dug her nails into the book in her hands, unsure of Marla’s motives at that time.

  “Because there is no reason. Face it, Elise. I caught you red handed—the messages, the diary—I even saw you with him.”

  “But none of this is what it seems! Before today, we only met once just to talk, because he happened to be in town.”

  “Right and I’m supposed to believe that?” Kane sneered at her.

  “It’s the truth,” she insisted, feeling herself growing more frustrated by the mounting circumstantial evidence.

  “Then why are there at least three messages from him on the answering machine tape?”

  “We were out for a run. He must have called a few times in one night.” Light suddenly dawned. “That’s it! That’s the night Marla told us to go out. She’d heard me on the phone earlier,
talking to Sarah, and knew that Bryan would call to confirm a time. Then she made sure we were out and let the machine pick up his calls so there’d be a record of it. Marla was planning to use the tape all along!”