by Scarlett Ray
Of course, the whole point of accepting Will’s offer was to make Noah jealous. And I knew how stupid and childish that was, but I did it without thinking, just trying to spite him. It wasn’t like I could take it back now. Besides, Will wasn’t exactly hard on the eyes. He was taller than Noah, leaner, his skin and hair lighter, and he somehow made that suit look comfortable instead of stuffy. Maybe I would enjoy going out with him.
Some part of me said it was stupid to think of him that way, because he was only there to talk business. But another part said why in the hell shouldn’t he be interested in me? There was no harm in giving it a try, anyway. It wasn’t like I had a lot of other prospects around.
Later in the afternoon, Will sent me a text message: How does Rosie’s sound? You’re the local, so you would know better than I would.
Well, at least we were being honest: Rosie’s is great. You might want to skip the suit and tie, though. It’s a pretty casual place.
I’ll keep that in mind, he wrote back. We planned to meet there at eight, and I realized I needed someone to take care of Nicky for the night.
Sidling into Maggie’s office, I cleared my throat, and she looked up with a smile, probably glad to see me starting a conversation for the first time in a week. “Hey, sugar. Saw you got a visitor earlier. What was that about?”
“Uh, that’s actually what I wanted to talk about.” Knowing she wouldn’t approve, I explained how I was supposed to have dinner with Will that evening. I was also very careful not to use the word “date” anywhere. “I know it’s short notice, but I was wondering if you could keep Nicky for me tonight?”
“So you can go out to dinner with some strange man?” she asked, even icier than I expected.
“An investor,” I reminded her. “Aren’t you the one who’s always saying I need to practice dealing with people like him?”
“Are you sure that’s all this is? A business meeting? You aren’t just doing it to get back at Noah?”
Since I was there to ask her for a favor, I made sure not to point out that it was none of her business—or Noah’s—who I was going out with or why. “It’s business. I’m just going to see what he wants. Shouldn’t take more than an hour or two. I already told him I would, so even if it’s not you, I’ll have to get someone to watch Nicky. But I don’t trust anyone else as much as you.”
After a few more seconds of pouting and hesitating, Maggie let out a defeated sigh, “All right. I’ll be over at the house around seven. You’d better not be out all night though.”
“Thank you.”
I gave Nicky the same explanation when I picked him up that afternoon: I had to go have dinner with someone from work. “Can I go?” he asked immediately.
“Now you don’t work on the preserve, do you?”
“I could!” he insisted. “I can tell him about the trees. And the wolfs.”
“Wolves. But we’re probably not going to be talking about them.” A lot of people said the wolves on the preserve were a sort of urban legend—but I had seen them a few times myself, and my dad had plenty of stories about seeing them. Still, without much proof, it probably wasn’t the best item to lead with.
* * *
As promised, Maggie showed up a little after seven. Since she’d watched Nicky plenty of times for me in the past, she knew what his routine was like, so I was comfortable leaving them together without giving her much instruction. After planting a kiss on my son’s head, I left for Rosie’s, a little diner on the northside of town, a local institution for years. The head waitress was a bubbly redhead named Camilla, another of Noah’s cousins by marriage. (I could swear the Wright clan made up nearly a quarter of the town.) She greeted me by name when I got inside.
“Long time no see,” she said with a smile. “Where’s Nicky?”
“He’s at home. I’m actually here on business,” I told her with a roll of my eyes. “I’m looking for someone. Tall, blond hair, obviously from out of town.”
“Oh. You don’t mean that one, do you?” she gestured to a booth in the corner of the room, where Will was sitting, looking over a menu. For some reason, she looked just as unhappy with his presence as Noah had.
“That’s the one. Why are you looking at him like he insulted your mama?”
“Hm?” she winced like I had caught her doing something wrong, quickly replacing her smile. “Sorry, it’s nothing to do with him. I’m just in a mood tonight is all. Go on over and I’ll be with you two in a minute, okay?” Somehow I got the feeling she wasn’t being totally honest with me, but I guessed it was her business.
When I reached Will’s booth and took the seat in front of him, he quickly looked up, “Ms. Vas—ah, sorry. It’s Daniela, right?” He had changed out of his suit, per my advice, but that sweater of his still seemed a little heavy for our weather.
“Ugh, just Dani,” I said, wrinkling my nose. “No one’s called me ‘Daniela’ since the first grade.”
“Noted. I appreciate you meeting me. I know this must have seemed like sort of an odd request.”
“Not the strangest one I’ve ever heard,” I said, waving it off. “I’ll admit you’ve got me a little curious, though. Why this instead of a formal meeting? If you don’t mind me saying so, you look like a pretty…formal person.”
“No, I don’t mind,” he laughed. His voice was low and smooth, and his smile was contagious. Now that I was a little closer, I could see his eyes were green. “I can understand how you might think so. And I’m well aware that I stick out like a sore thumb here. But maybe that’s part of the reason I wanted to do this less formally.”
“Oh yeah? What is?”
“I’ve heard a lot about the Vasquez Preserve,” he explained. “And it’s interesting to me how it can be so famous while the town it’s in stays so…”
“Quaint?” I suggested with a wry smirk, and he blanched.
“I was going to say ‘isolated.’”
“Is that better?” I snorted.
“Please don’t think I’m being condescending. I’m trying to say I think it’s impressive,” he insisted. “Even if I’m not doing a very good job of it.”
“Relax, Will. You haven’t said anything offensive yet.”
“Ahem.” Camilla had appeared at the side of the table and asked, “Y’all ready to order?”
“I’m fine with my usual,” I told her.
“How about you, sir?” she raised her eyebrows at Will. I wasn’t sure I’d ever heard her sincerely use that word before. Usually it was darlin’ or honey or sweetheart.
“I’ll have what she’s having, I guess,” he said, shooting me a curious look.
“Adventurous,” I said once Camilla had left with our menus.
“You seem trustworthy.” Judging by how close he was looking, I must’ve seemed like some other things too. “And that sort of thing is exactly what I’m talking about. How many people in this town do you think have a ‘usual’ here?”
“Plenty? It’s a pretty popular place.”
“Exactly.” Seeing that I was confused, he went on, “I’ve lived in Detroit my entire life. There are restaurants like this one—sort of—that I’ve frequented for years. If I went into one of them and asked for ‘my usual,’ they’d look at me like I was crazy. People don’t know each other there the way you do here.”
“You’re basing a lot of assumptions on that one little conversation,” I pointed out.
He shook his head, “It’s what everyone says. Everyone who visits from elsewhere, from cities like mine. It’s a different sort of community. That’s part of the reason I want to support it, and from what I can tell, supporting the preserve is the best way to do that.”
Well, I couldn’t argue there. I didn’t like bragging about it, but my family and our businesses were definitely a bit part of the town’s economy, “So that’s why you wanted to have this discussion outside my office, in the town itself. To see more of the community.”
“Exactly. And to see how you interact with
it.”
“Me? Personally?”
“Would I be wrong to say you’re the most important person in this town?” When he saw the frown on my face, he added, “Economically speaking.”
“Not completely,” I admitted.
“And I’m interested in how that effects your relationship with everyone else here.”
“You keep using that word, ‘interested.’ Is this like a study for you? Like a documentary or something?”
“No!” he said quickly. “No, that’s not what I meant at all. Is ‘curious’ a better word? This is an environment I’ve never really had much exposure to, so—I realize I’m not really making a very strong case against the documentary idea talking like this…”
“You ramble a little when you get nervous, huh?” I laughed, and Will dropped his head in embarrassment. “It’s cute.” He let out a brief laugh of his own, a little nervous, but he didn’t seem like the comment bothered him.
“I was just trying to say that I’m only here to learn a bit more about the town before I invest in it. Not to study or dissect anything. Just to observe.”
“Lucky for you, the preserve is open to that sort of thing. And so am I.”
Camilla swooped in again to deliver our dinner, two plates of double-meat hamburgers and steak fries, along with tall glasses of sweet tea. “Oh. That’s not what I expected,” Will admitted as he looked over his plate.
“No? I’m not really a salad-and-diet-Coke kind of girl, Mr. Hawthorne,” I informed him, already grabbing one of my fries to pop it into my mouth.
“You know, I wasn’t really getting that impression, somehow.” He smiled that infectious smile again as he added, “And please, call me Will.”
For a business meeting, the conversation was surprisingly personal. Nothing prying or inappropriate, just general background information. I learned that Will was in a similar sort of family-business situation to mine, only his family dealt in multimillion-dollar manufacturing and sales instead of nature conservation. He told me it was “not uncommon” for his family to donate to smaller projects—“no offense”—that could be improved with extra funding. The preserve wasn’t hurting for cash or anything, but extra donations along with our usual sponsors didn’t hurt.
“Frankly, I’m a little new at this,” he said once we’d mostly finished our meal. “Vetting things myself, I mean. I haven’t been very involved in our charitable work up until this point. So I’m trying to make sure I’m thorough about it.”
“Well, whatever I can do to help, just let me know. I know how tough it is to do a job no one prepared you for,” I tried to wash the bitterness out of my mouth with another swig of iced tea. I knew I couldn’t rightly blame my parents for the position I’d wound up in, but I couldn’t help being frustrated by it anyway.
“I think being in town is already telling me a lot. But I would definitely like to know more about the preserve itself.” He seemed sort of hesitant but finally asked, “Would you be willing to give me a tour by any chance? I know you’re busy, of course, so I understand if you don’t have time. But I feel like you must have a different perspective on the place than anyone else in town.”
“Let’s see, do I want to take time out of my miserable office hours for a hike through the park I grew up in?” I pursed my lips like it was a tough decision. “Hard to say. I’ll see if I can work you in, though. You said you’ll be in town for a week?”
“At least.”
“Then I’ll probably have some time for a tour somewhere in there. I’ll let you know once I figure out when.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.”
Will tried to pay for my food when the bill came, but I wasn’t having it. Camilla must have known that; she’d brought us separate checks without asking. It was getting late, so we said our good-byes and parted ways at the door. I couldn’t help wrinkling my nose a little when I saw what kind of ‘truck’ he was driving, but it was his business.
On the drive home, I found myself in a surprisingly good mood. When I thought “business meeting,” I naturally expected it to be like pulling teeth, but he was actually all right. Maybe it was just because I’d been in such a bad mood for the past week, but I had really enjoyed talking and…maybe even flirting a little.
Maybe I just liked the idea that I could have other options.
Chapter Eight: Noah
Once it was dark, I headed out to the private section of the preserve. My beast had been going crazy with jealousy and hostility ever since that northern pack bastard showed up—and even worse after Dani agreed to go out with him. I was pretty positive she only did it to spite me but that didn’t make it sting any less. With my head so full of pent-up resentment, I wasn’t going to be able to focus on anything else until I got it out. So I went out into the woods, stripped out of my clothing, and shifted into wolf form for the first time in weeks.
The process of my bone structure changing and my skin being forced to stretch differently wasn’t a pleasant one, but it only lasted a few seconds. Once it was over and I could focus all my newly-sharpened senses around me, I dropped my head back and let out a long, low howl, either of freedom or distress. Didn’t matter. More important things to focus on. My wolf and I were finally of one mind about what to do in this exact moment. And it involved finding something to hunt.
Concentrating on this, on something physical, on getting my aggression out through claws and fangs, made everything a lot clearer. At least for a while. Instinct was so much easier than caution. And attacking was sure as hell easier than holding myself back. I spent an hour or two indulging all those violent base desires, letting my beast run free and do what he wanted, what we wanted. But unfortunately, it couldn’t last forever.
Once I had tired myself out and my wolf was satisfied—for the moment—I shifted back and dressed to head to my truck. I’d given myself some time to rage, but now I had to be rational again. And it was my responsibility to inform my pack that there was an enemy in town. It was around 9 p.m. when I got to my phone and called Luke, shoving damp hair out of my eyes.
“Hey,” he said when he picked up. “What’s up?”
“Can you call your parents for me?” I asked, still forcing my breathing back to its normal pace. “We need to talk.”
* * *
Uncle Jared and Aunt Mel lived nearly an hour outside of town on one of the biggest ranches in the area, so we arranged to meet up the next morning instead. Lucky for me, I’d exhausted myself so much that I slept like a log that night; I didn’t even have the energy to be stressed. But that changed as soon as I woke up and remembered the conversation we were going to have.
When I got to Luke’s place, Camilla had breakfast ready, naturally, and his parents were already there. The boys seemed ready to jump me right when I got in, but Luke warned them off with a low growl. Now wasn’t the time.
“Well, Noah?” Jared said as we were all gathered around the dining room table. “Luke said you seemed awful upset last night. What’s bothering you, son?” No point dancing around it.
“There’s a north pack wolf in town,” I said plainly.
Camilla’s red head popped up in shock, “You met him too?”
“When did you meet him?”
“He was in the diner last night, having dinner with Dani,” she explained, and I had to bite back a snarl. “I was gonna bring it up this morning.”
“You should’ve told me sooner,” Luke said.
“Honey, you were conked out by the time I got home. I wasn’t going to wake you for something like this. Besides, nothing happened; he hardly said a word to me at all.”
“He didn’t bother much with me either,” I agreed. “He’s here for Dani.” We all looked to Jared for an answer.
“He didn’t threaten either of you? Didn’t fuss with you at all?” he asked with a hard frown. Camilla and I both shook our heads. “Well then, there ain’t much we can do. We might not like him being here, but if we run him off when he ain’t hurt anyone,
that’s just asking his pack to come down and confront us.”
“Are you serious?” I demanded.
“Noah…” Luke said warningly, forcing me to change my tone.
“He’s planning something with Dani,” I said through gritted teeth. “He’s gonna turn on her, and she has no way of knowing it. And we’re just supposed to let that happen? Once he does hurt someone, it’ll be too late.”
“Now Noah,” Aunt Mel started gently, “we know you care about that girl. ‘Course we don’t want anything to happen to her. But the fact is she’s not part of the pack. She’s not our responsibility. And we can’t be putting everyone else at risk for her sake.”
“But—”
“Besides, if he hasn’t said or done anything aggressive, where’s the proof that he’s dangerous?” Luke agreed. “He’s outnumbered and pretty well surrounded in another pack’s town. He’d have to be pretty damn—”
“Lucas!” his mom hissed.
“He’d have to be stupid,” Luke amended, “to try anything. Whatever business he’s got here, he’ll do it and then go on home.”
I had expected Luke to side with me, territorial as he’d always been, but of course he wasn’t about to argue with his parents. And I sure as hell couldn’t. Grasping at straws, I turned to Camilla. “You saw him with Dani, didn’t you? And he didn’t do anything suspicious?” She tensed up in her seat when I put her on the spot.
“Not that I saw,” she admitted quietly. “Dani didn’t seem upset. In fact, she was…pretty taken with him.” My voice betrayed me with a low growl at the thought.
“Your jealousy isn’t a good enough reason to pick a fight,” Luke told me firmly. I might’ve been able to keep a handle on my temper if he hadn’t added, “Might be for the best, anyway. Maybe if he marries her you’ll finally move on.”
