I had a California roll and shared in a appetizer sampler plate that had a bit of everything from salmon rolls to wagyu beef. Yes, he shared with me—his idea. Never growled, never grabbed, ate at a perfectly normal human pace, and only ordered two regular lunch dishes for himself—not seven. I was even happier to discover they would make me an iced coffee. My dream lunch.
And the guy? Isaac was such a breath of fresh air. I’d have had trouble believing he was the same species as the other five if not for my having seen first hand that he could eat just as fast and hear like a cat. Plus that bit about the white wolf. That first night in Cornwall, him meeting my eyes through the trailer window, his beautiful white coat too hidden by darkness to see the blood in it as he’d limped away…
He was the tallest, the oldest, and I was pretty sure the wisest. There were quick wits among them but I knew perfectly well that “smart” and “wise” were not the same things.
We talked first about what we were getting, then the day’s research.
Isaac had done one better than us, actually turning up the last resting place of Maximilian Walkenhorst with the help of research librarians—yes, there still are such people. An old civilian cemetery that was indeed nearby Max’s hometown in the Munich area. At least something solid to tell our elderly vampire friend.
Then we planned for the night. More the same. We would first return to Dieter and explain we’d done the best we could and the news we had. Isaac proposed going just after sunset, when there was a chance we could catch Dieter above ground, selling his goods on the street. Anything to avoid going back in there.
By then we had our food and I changed the subject.
“When you gave me a lift into Brighton the other night…” I was distracted from my own sentence by the memory of riding with him on the motorcycle, the feel of the speed and wind and his body against mine, then the kiss on the doorstep. A first kiss. Nothing more. Nothing less. An invitation of potential, an opening of doors.
“I forgot to give back your necklace,” I finished. “That started out as the reason I came back. Then … with one thing and another…” With Abraham dead. “We never even talked about it. I didn’t mean to keep it.”
The gold chain with the moon charm was around my neck as I spoke. Other than taking a couple showers, I’d never removed it since he’d given it to me in the Jeep.
“I would be honored if you would keep it,” Isaac said. “But that is entirely up to you.” He took a bite from a sushi roll—actually bit it, not gulping the whole thing—and chewed.
“May I ask…? You don’t wear any other jewelry. And the make is very delicate…”
“No, it wasn’t mine originally. It belonged to someone I loved. All the more reason you should have it.” He smiled and it was a gentle, sad smile, more in his eyes than his lips.
I remembered the warm feel of those lips on mine. The short trimmed beard had not been as rough as I’d expected. I wanted to feel it now, touch his face and lean in closer to be drawn into the smile in those emerald green eyes.
“You know I’m a newly ex-student and soon to be professional teacher by trade,” I said. “Asking questions is a favorite hobby of mine. So, if I’m being too personal, please let me know.”
He smiled more, really in his mouth while his enchanting eyes seemed to laugh. “You may ask me anything, Cassia. I can think of nothing you’d ask that I would have to decline answering. If, however, I’m proved wrong, I’ll bow out. Fear not.”
Fear not.
“Okay, this has nothing to do with what I was going to ask, but do all wolves have biblical names? Some roots in Christianity even though you worship Moon?”
“You do have good questions… Honestly…? Yes to the first, as far as I know in European wolf societies, but I have no idea about the rest. Perhaps try Zar? I’ve spent so long immersed in the world of humans, lore and history of my own kind is not one of my strengths.”
“What are they?” I shook my head and laughed a little. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ask that either.”
“My strengths? That’s an interesting one. Is this an interview?”
“Could be.”
“Perhaps we trade?” He cocked his head, thinking, chewed and swallowed. “I’m good with people of multiple species. For many of the same reasons I’m a good architect: an excellent listener, able to imagine someone else’s vision as well as communicate my own, and the ability to see ahead and solve or prevent difficulties, whether in conceptual design or interpersonal conflicts. And … I have a brilliant singing voice.”
I laughed.
“Although that’s typical of my people so we’ll put it down to genetics. Jason’s is the best of our group. He could be a concert tenor. Now your turn.”
He ate while I had to think. It wasn’t the first time I’d noticed how secure he was—able to unflinchingly recommend I speak to or offer compliments for the other guys: no skin off his nose, showing his own confidence. I loved it.
“No fair. Yours mostly did sound like something you’d say in an interview.”
“You may use interview answers with me if you like.” He smiled again and I loved that also. Startled by how much I loved it, how it made me feel when he looked into my eyes across this small table, just the two of us. And when he said my name. The way he said my name got me every time.
I took a drink and gave myself a minute, thinking again of his lips and the other questions I had to get back to.
Interview. Okay…
“I’m a good leader,” I said. “I value teamwork but I know how to make a choice and get things done together or on my own. I was one of those girls called ‘bossy’ in school. To my mom, that was a bad word in our house. Independent… I was about eight years old when she said that to me. ‘Independent, clear thinking, forward moving, a good leader. That’s what they’d say if you were a boy. Instead they say you’re bossy because they’re too stupid to recognize smart girls for what they are.’ I’ll never forget that. And it got worse, not better, as I got older—the stereotypes and labels.” I paused—visions of pimply boys with nylon backpacks turning in front of lockers to watch me walk past.
I didn’t have to say this, though.
Isaac said, “Because of how you look?”
“Yes.” I refocused on him. “I don’t know if the ‘dumb blonde’ thing is big over here, but it’s a smash hit in the States. I mean, my sister and I can be girly girls and we had a mall junkie phase and pink phase—all that and a plate of fat free angel food cake with rainbow sprinkles. But … just because we have a fun side doesn’t mean we’re twits.”
His full smile had returned. “You look lovely in pink, Cassia. Then again, you’d be enchanting in anything or nothing, so pink may be irrelevant.”
Or nothing. I also loved how Isaac didn’t have to choose. Polite like Zar, forward about his interest like Kage, patient and thoughtful like only himself, then slipping in just a pinch of spice that made me think of Andrew—without ever seeming obnoxious coming from him. I wished he’d say my name with every line he spoke.
“So, how about personal weaknesses?” I asked. “Or just one. Keep things even.”
“I have a short temper,” he said serenely. “Counterbalance to what I just told you. I usually manage well sorting out problems. But there are certain things I have no tolerance for and my temper will get the better of me. Best you know that anyway because you may be the sort to want to talk things out if you saw I was upset. It’s best just to let me be. Sometimes I need to get out and keep my own space.”
I nodded. “I’ll respect that then.”
“And one for you?”
“Oh … I’m…” I sighed. “Self-righteous. Was I too hard on Andrew? His culture is not my culture. His right and wrong are not mine. I don’t know. If he goes home and steals a car and breaks into a home … that’s on his time. When we’re working together … I couldn’t believe that’s what he’s been devoting his talents to in this city. I didn’t mean to
flip out on him. It’s just that we’ve been here twenty-four hours, enough time for everyone to feel acclimated, and that’s what—” I took a breath.
“I shouldn’t be imposing my views onto how someone else lives,” I continued. “But, in my world, what he was doing… Think of those people. Think of the panic of finding your whole life in a pocket is gone. What if you’re traveling and your passport is stolen? You can’t even go home. You need it for reentry. That’s how serious that stuff is. The impact… If that happened to me it would be terrifying. It would destroy your whole trip, even if you did eventually get it back. And he was doing it for fun—for a laugh.”
I had to stop again, breathing fast and feeling pressure in my throat just for the thought of what those people could be going through at this very moment—for how I would feel in their place.
Isaac watched me for a moment and we went on eating.
After a pause, he said, “Care to know what I think about your answers?”
I looked up from my plate. It was the best California roll I’d ever had. Ironic, all things considered. “Please.”
“You missed the two most important things about yourself. First you’re very brave: doing what you’re doing, being here with us when you didn’t have to be.”
Jason had once told me the same thing, yet I still didn’t feel I was doing much. I certainly hadn’t helped them a lot so far, or placed myself in danger or needed all this supposed protection.
“Also, you’re empathic,” Isaac said. “That’s why you were so upset with Andrew. Not because you’re self-righteous.”
“Maybe.” I let out a slow breath. “But, believe me, I am that too.”
Isaac grinned. “I believe you. Care for another coffee?”
“I would, but I’ll wait until this evening since we’ll be up all night. If I have more than three in one day I’ll be the one needing those vampire downers.”
After a server had cleared away our empty sampler plate and brought me a water—they don’t just assume with water here the way they do in the States—I tried to get back on track.
“This started with me asking you about the necklace,” I said. “How did it come to be yours?”
Belonged to someone he loved? Something sweet, like his grandmother? Or something I didn’t want to be involved in, like his ex with whom he’d been through a bad breakup?
Isaac nodded as if considering my question in court. “I originally commissioned it from a crafter in the Mountain Pack. There are many skilled artisans in the Sable Pack as well. I’m not sure if you know, but that’s how many of them support their families. It’s about half and half working out of the pack and working within. Zar and Jed, for example are exquisite leatherworkers. They can make anything from equestrian tack to boots to jewelry. Jed made the shoes I’m wearing.”
His gaze shifted to the gold necklace around my neck. “But, to answer you, I commissioned the charm and gave it to my mate. She was not long able to enjoy it, however. She died some time ago and I have been wearing it myself because … we wolves are superstitious.”
“Superstitious?”
“I eventually started wearing it to carry the energy of that bond. Those we lose in this lifetime are always part of our lives—our guides, our teachers. I hoped calling on that love through the necklace may light my path to a future with another. It’s been too many seasons. Wolves, perhaps even more than humans, were never meant to be alone. Then I met you. And the first thing of any note you ever said to me was…”
“Asking about the necklace?” I stared at him, feeling extra superstitious myself all of a sudden, skin tingling.
Isaac nodded. “I hope you understand, it’s not my intention to put you on the spot with this story. How you feel about me is your affair, Cassia. Not mine to decide or change. But I was glad when you asked me about the charm, now glad every time I see it on you. For however long you wish to keep it, it is yours. No strings attached.”
I wasn’t thinking about that, though. “I’m so sorry, Isaac. About you having to go through that. I can’t imagine… Her death wasn’t related, was it? She wasn’t one of the victims of these murders?”
He shook his head. “That was well before all this started last winter.” Then he let out a breath and repeated, “Last winter,” in a whisper. “It’s been far too long not to have taken more action before now. We have grown too used to thinking of ourselves as invincible. The elders should have pushed for human aid right from the start.” For the first time in the meal, he had a tone, sounding disgusted.
“You pushed them, didn’t you? Right away, you told Diana to involve humans?”
“I did. As did a few others, including Andrew. But we’re not silver. The pack is only democratic to a point. Andrew was the one who knew about the conference, of course. He’s the only reason we found you at all. I wish Diana had sent me to invite you to meet with us in the first place. Perhaps you would not have had such a rough introduction.”
“I wish she had also. But then … I wouldn’t have had all the fun of meeting Kage and Jed in Brighton.”
“Fun indeed.” He lifted one eyebrow. “Kage was begging for the job. He has aspirations to be a core member, so he has a lot of ground to catch up, a lot of proving himself to do since he’s been often in trouble. I’m sure he thought recruiting you—by any means possible—would go a long way toward clearing his name and getting him in better standing with Peter and Hannah, and the rest of core.” Isaac shook his head. “Not that you need boring with our politics.”
Yet I was lapping it up. On the trip to Cornwall I’d deliberately resisted indulging my own curiosity, not asking many questions. This whole thing was short-lived. It had to be. I was here for a vacation with my sister, after all, then flying home before long.
Looking at Isaac, that was so easy to forget. Easy to forget about the short-term and imagine still having his necklace not just tomorrow, but next year. Next decade. Forever.
“Not a chance,” I said. “Thank you. Especially for telling me about the necklace. And, no, I know you’re not trying to manipulate me. You weren’t even going to tell me if I hadn’t pushed you.”
“Just what a master of the craft would want you to think.” He was smiling again.
“A master manipulator? I think you’re referring to our light-fingered friend.”
“Cassia, for the record, if Andrew, or Kage, or any of them, are making life hard for you, or you just need space, you can tell me.”
“Tell you? Meaning? Tell you and you’ll do what? Lose your temper?”
“I’ll have a word with them.”
“You know what I would like between you all?” I asked after a pause. “Peace. I’m flattered by the attention. Yes, it’s a bit much. No, I don’t want your ‘help.’ What I want is for you all to treat each other at least halfway civilly even if I happen to have lunch with one of you, or happen to sit next to one on the train.”
He inclined his head. “I shall make every effort to respect your time and space with anyone else, while fully enjoying the time I get to spend with you.”
“That’s kind, but you’re already so far ahead of the curve with manners it doesn’t actually mean much coming from you.”
He chuckled at that.
By the end of the meal, though we’d already lingered, I didn’t want to return to the blaze of the city. Isaac ordered us a plate of espresso mochi and a dish of ginger ice cream. He did not seem to care for coffee—I’d never seen any of them drink the stuff, or anything besides water—and he ate most of the ginger while I ate the mochi.
Eventually, though, Isaac paid with a debit card rather than the fistfuls of cash Kage had been carrying around for all this, and we started out.
He held the door for me and, even though I wasn’t into being treated like I was helpless, I enjoyed him doing it. And the chair. And paying. Somehow, I liked feeling looked after and protected by this wolf in a way I’d never felt about a human date before.
Oh, God
dess, the heat.
I sighed on impact, out from the glass door onto the sidewalk, looking across to Victorian brick buildings and glass skyscrapers beyond—London was so confusing.
Isaac’s hand touched the small of my back as he released the door and stepped out with me. I turned my head up, facing back to meet him. And he kissed me.
I didn’t want him to stop: wanted to hold on, to touch him, his hands on my body, a place we could be alone.
All quick, in a moment of the door, perfect seconds of the kiss, then we started down the sidewalk to meet up with the others.
Chapter 9
Of course, we didn’t find Dieter on the street that night, even with Andrew in his fur trying to track him. Nothing was turning out that easy in London. Other than lunch with Isaac—which had been the easiest part of my vacation so far. I wouldn’t mind repeating lunch about a dozen times with different endings, in fact.
Andrew—a relatively small and skinny creature in fur—finally led us back to the entrance to the underground bomb shelter, flattened his big ears, gagged as if about to cough up a hairball, and walked away. He stood in the middle of the dark sidewalk, sniffing absently—we were near a pub—with his back to us.
He was interesting in fur. I had yet to get much of a close look at any of them besides solid black Jason and the dark, chocolatey Jed, who was taller and bulkier than Jason both in skin and fur. While they simply looked like dark timber or Eurasian wolves, Andrew was again smaller and lighter than Jason. His coat was rust red, cream, and white, tipped in black on tail and guard hairs. His fur was much shorter, his ears much larger and more pointed than the round-tipped classic wolf ears.
I’d remembered what Zar told me about him and had looked up images of red wolves to find he was right. With a mix of European wolf shifters and Australian dingo shifters in his ancestry, Andrew looked very much like an American red wolf.
Another odd one out. Andrew and Isaac. Why did my fascination with one give me butterflies and my fascination with the other actually scare me, even make me angry with myself?
Moonlight Hunters: A Reverse Harem Shifter Romance (The Witch and the Wolf Pack Book 2) Page 6
