Brandi crossed her arms. “Did you use that talent in your former work to avoid doing what you didn’t want to do?”
Heidi nodded against Reed’s shoulder, then pulled herself upright again. And now they knew the rest of her story. She could have maybe used such a power to do better things, but part of her had often believed being a paid working girl was the life she deserved for trusting the wrong man.
“Yes. Two of my former customers came into Wasilla and saw me yesterday. Katarina wanted to kill them because they were being crude. Ryan would have killed them if he’d heard what they’d said to us. I had to do something, so I made them forget who I was. They’re not evil men. They’re just lonely jackwagons who don’t know how to talk to women.”
“Excellent,” Brandi said with a snicker. “Death should always be a last resort. Do the effects of your werewolf amped up woo-woo last forever?”
Heidi shrugged. “The guys never came back again yesterday, so I suppose it does. In my work, I told them a story of what happened between us and they believed what I said. They became repeat customers and I did the same each time. I tried not to feel bad about not really delivering, but they say a mental experience is just as real as a physical one. Right, Ariel?”
Ariel sipped her tea. “Yes, I have read that. Why are you just telling us about this now?”
Heidi sighed. She looked at Matt. “Because I used that same skill to fix Ryan’s problems when we met. I didn’t want to sleep with either of his brothers. I wanted him.”
Matt’s eyebrows shot up in stunned surprise as he chuckled. “Lucky Ryan. Does your influence always work so well?”
Heidi dropped her gaze as she shrugged. “Not always. I gave Ryan’s mind the nudge it needed to set aside past failures. Then I used him to survive my burning time. Now you all know why a relationship between us can never work out. I created the connection we have, but it’s just an illusion.”
Reed ran a hand over her hair. “I wouldn’t be so quick to decide that with any finality. Time usually brings all truths to light. I’ve seen you and Ryan together. You didn’t manufacture all of what is between you.”
Heidi looked at Ariel, ignoring what Reed said. “Are you mad that I didn’t tell you?”
Ariel met her gaze straight on and Heidi felt it to her toes. Geez the woman was scary in Alpha mode.
“Did you ever use your amped up woo-woo on me or Brandi?” Ariel asked.
Heidi shook her head. “Never. I learned as a child not to take things too far. People have to find their own way.”
Ariel nodded. “Then no… I’m not mad. Are you hiding anything else? You might as well spill it now because it will come to light at some point. Apparently werewolves can’t have secrets from each other.”
Heidi bit her bottom lip, reluctantly nodding. Her gaze drifted to Katarina and back to Ariel, hoping her Alpha understood. “Yes, but I really don’t want to share the other things with the entire world. Most of those really are healing secrets. Eva said I should honor the sacred gifts I’ve been given.”
She saw Ariel look to Brandi, who was staring at the ring of red still circling Katarina’s neck. Her pack mates were sharp. It relieved her not to have to publicly explain the details about removing the collar.
Ariel’s understanding gaze eventually returned to her and made Heidi sigh in relief. “Okay. Eva’s a very smart person and an excellent Healer. I think you should heed her advice in this case.”
“Thank you,” Heidi said.
Silence fell in the room and lasted for over a minute. It made Heidi want to squirm, but somehow she managed to stay still.
“Now what?” she asked two minutes later, when the continued silence finally unnerved her.
Gareth suddenly came through the door answering that question. He looked at his mate. “Sheldon says Travis has gone rogue. He didn’t know anything about Katarina’s abduction. He also denies doing anything to her and barely remembers his lecture. It was a cover for other things he was there researching.”
“Do you believe him?” Brandi asked.
“Mostly,” Gareth said. “But we still need to find Travis before he finds us. I don’t see him going back empty handed to whoever is paying him. He needs to keep his bankroller happy.”
“The children…” Brandi began.
“Are safe,” Gareth promised, holding up a hand. “Travis doesn’t know anything about them. We’ll just make sure we keep it that way.”
Ariel stood and looked at both agents. “But Travis knows about the three of us and he knows exactly what we are. We’ll all need to take precautions until he’s caught.”
“Bastard will not take me again,” Katarina said.
“And I bet he knows that,” Ariel said. Her gaze turned to Heidi. “Don’t forget—Travis is an Alpha too. He’ll go for the weakest among us. If he’s on a deadline, my guess is he’ll either be coming back to collect Katarina or to collect you.”
Heidi was too shocked to react at first, but when she did, the anger moved swiftly through her. Her Alpha obviously didn’t have much faith in her. “You know, I’m tired of everyone thinking I’m a liability. I think I’ve proven my worth a time or two.”
“Bah… a Healer’s value is without question. You are most important of all and hardest to replace. You saved me. Now I protect you until bad seed is caught,” Katarina declared, looking at Ariel. “No one’s life changes. We look normal. Bastard come into trap that way, yes?”
Reed rubbed his chin. “I hate to say this, but if this is true, I need to go back today in case Travis returns to the pack. He knows something happened to me in the process of making the three of you. He may come after me… or his parents, if he gets desperate enough. They feel so badly for his disappointment in them, that he’d be successful. I need to protect them from themselves.”
Katarina lifted her fingers and flicked them. “Da. Is good idea. Go home, Temptation.”
Reed grinned about what she called him and at the Russian Alpha’s insistence he leave. Katarina was an intense and very interesting woman.
“Come visit my pack when this is over, Katarina. Nicolai never officially mated, but he had children with several females. Don’t ask me how he wasn’t killed by the mates the women eventually took, but he helped raise each child he fathered. From the stories my grandfather told, I think our pack back then hoped to replicate Nicolai’s visionary talent in his offspring. It didn’t happen for any of them, but that’s just a lesson in how natural biology works.”
Katarina huffed. “So you think a teacher of science does not know how science works? What about Ariel? You think she not know? You insult us, Temptation. You insult us with your theories.”
Reed grinned at her impassioned speech and bit his tongue so he wouldn’t laugh again. “That’s certainly not what I meant to do. Don’t make me stay here and prove myself to you, Katarina Volkov. I don’t have time to do it properly. Duty calls me to care for my pack.”
Katarina snorted as she pointed her finger it at him. “Duty drains soul. It does not fill it. All males think like you. My father think like you. He sent his sons to kill me. They lost their lives for duty. It took him years to replace those children with others. Still no Alphas for him except me—the natural child he hated. It is punishment for his soul. His loins spent their best making me. One day I will spit on his grave.”
Heidi cleared her throat to interrupt because everyone else was too fascinated with Katarina baring her soul to Reed. “I don’t understand what kind of danger I could possibly be in. How could Travis even get to me? I only go to the Healing Center. Someone drops me off. Someone else takes me home. I think I’m pretty safe, don’t you think?”
Brandi lifted her chin. “Travis can get to you while you’re there, Heidi. Any agent could. None of us have the luxury of being naïve about this. One of us needs to be with you all the time until Travis is caught or we know he’s gone.”
Heidi sighed and then nodded. What argument could she make? None th
at would satisfy her pack mates, that was for certain. “Okay. Fine. Katarina can shadow me then. We can be bait together.”
“Bait? Like fish samples at store, yes?” Katarina asked.
Heidi nodded. “Yes. Exactly like that. The Healing Center will be our personal aquarium,” she added, glumly thinking about how hard it was going to be to do healing work with Katarina always watching.
6
Heidi heard the truck the moment Ryan pulled into the lane leading to Gareth’s house. She was aware of his presence long before she felt him walking across Gareth’s backyard toward her. Maybe it was the sexual chemistry between them. Maybe it was because she genuinely cared about him. Somehow she always knew when Ryan was close.
Heidi’s gaze darted around nervously. The kids were playing in a nearby tree while Gareth and Brandi watched all of them from the living room window. The giant glass wall Gareth installed was supposedly bulletproof.
It was hard to imagine someone might come at the house with guns blazing. But what did she know about that kind of violence in the world? She looked at the trees and saw only the harmony of nature. Brandi and Gareth saw places for bad guys to hide before they attacked.
She’d come outside with the kids so she could take a bit of time to think more about what she’d decided to do. Now Ryan was here in person before her decision was completely set, but perhaps his arrival was an omen. The question was—did she have what it took to go through with it?
“Hey, Beautiful,” Ryan said, bumping her shoulder with his.
Heidi snickered when she heard guilty giggles coming from the tree. The children yelled “Hi”. Ryan yelled “Hi” back, demanding they show themselves. Teasing ensued until Ryan picked up a stick and lobbed it at the tree. A chorus of laughter followed his action. He was going to be a great father one day.
Heidi cleared her throat to ease the tightness growing there. “Hey, Handsome. Didn’t I just see you yesterday at dinner?”
Ryan’s gaze went to the girl who was being lowered out of the leaves to spy on them. The corners of his mouth quirked up in a smile. He shook his finger at her and made her squeal. Grinning, he turned his attention back to the woman he craved with every breath.
“Yesterday feels like forever ago. I miss coming home to you every day.”
Heidi sighed deeply. She knew he meant every word. But this couldn’t go on.
She focused her mind, set her intention, and placed her hands on each side of Ryan’s handsome face.
“Ryan Calder—you are one of the best men I’ve ever known. I want us to always be a part of each other’s life. I want us to always be friends, but we can’t be lovers anymore. From now on, I don’t want you to think of me with any desire. Leave here and let your feelings for me fade.”
Still holding his face, Heidi reached up and kissed his lips gently. When his eyes clouded over in confusion, she let her hands slide away from his skin. She took two steps back, refusing to cry until later. This was the right thing to do. She couldn’t keep him safe from Travis. As Brandi and Ariel constantly pointed out, she had no skills to protect anyone—not even herself.
Ryan was completely quiet for what seemed like ages. Finally, he nodded down at her, turned, and walked a short distance away. Then he suddenly stopped and turned back. His troubled gaze locked on hers. He was fighting her influence. She could sense him working to reject her suggestions. She knew from experience though that he wouldn’t succeed. No one ever had—a fact for which she was profoundly grateful—most of the time.
“Everything is going to be okay, Ryan. Our breakup is for the best. Tomorrow this will all make more sense to you,” Heidi said gently.
“Will it? I love you, Heidi. Nothing is going to change that. One day you’re going to figure out just what that means for a werewolf.”
Startled by his adamant words, Heidi swallowed nervously as she watched him turn and leave. A minute later his truck sprang to life and rambled down Gareth’s lane heading back into town.
There, she thought. She’d finally undone her wickedness. Hopefully, she’d use her special powers only for good from now on.
In wolf form, Travis watched from the trees trying to figure out what the wimpy she-wolf was doing out in the open by herself. She was just standing and staring into the woods. Had she somehow sensed him? That would be surprising.
Now that he’d lost the Russian, the former party girl was probably his easiest snatch. The werewolf currently chasing that piece of tail had come and gone quickly. What he didn’t understand was what happened after their little talk.
The she-wolf quietly wept over whatever words had passed between them—words he hadn’t been able to hear even as wolf. Given she smelled completely like the young wolf who’d left her, Crane’s third aberration had no doubted mated the kid, or least was well on her way to the pairing.
Did the three wolf children playing in the big tree belong to her mate who’d left? They’d obeyed instantly when the she-wolf had chastised them for something. They’d also obeyed the young wolf, though he’d teased them as he’d ordered them to behave.
His original thought in coming here was to stake out the house to see if Agents Longfeather and Jenkins were hiding the Russian. Instead, he’d found them harboring the weeping Healer and three whelps instead. If babysitting was their ideal life between their assignments, they could have it. He was so done with government work. Now he had one boss and so far she’d paid very well.
Travis rolled his animal eyes when his wolf whined in protest of the cold. Too much time spent as human had made him soft.
Nothing had been normal since their mutual agent handler—former handler in his case—had put the word out to apprehend him on sight. Though full-bloodied and organic werewolf, he was apparently not as valuable to Dr. Sheldon Crane as his brother, Randall’s, science experiments.
So he’d moved on to serve someone who did find him valuable. His Alpha side was still a little embarrassed that the half-ass cat agents had nearly taken him down in Russia.
Luckily, he’d made some powerful, interested, and loyal friends over the years he’d spent away from his pack. All he needed now was to solve his current dilemma.
His new backer was expecting him to deliver a female werewolf with breeding potential and that’s just what he intended to do. Her demand was for someone with no ties who wouldn’t be missed. The Russian Alpha bitch had been perfect. She’d been living among humans because no one in her pack gave a shit what happened to her.
He hated that his best prize was now out of reach. One of Dr. Randall Crane’s abominations was hiding the Russian Alpha. He was sure of it. She hadn’t been at the Gray Wolf Alpha’s house. She wasn’t at the Beta’s house either. Walking openly through town looking for her wasn’t an option, especially not with his grandfather visiting. As competing alphas for the same pack, they’d be instantly aware of each other’s presence if they got within a certain range of each other. It was a risk he couldn’t take.
Of course, finding his grandfather might be a way to bring all other Alphas out in the open. What if Russian bitch was hiding with the old man? His grandfather hadn’t exactly become a monk after Hanuk had killed off their grandmother. So much for his ancestors knowing about true love, right? It might be fun to steal the Russian from under his grandfather’s overly responsible nose.
His wolf grumbled in complaint over the direction his thoughts had taken. This time his animal side was right. He needed to give up on the Russian Alpha. He needed to turn his mind to the one werewolf bitch he could safely get away with taking hostage.
A rabbit darted out of her hole and fled across the brush surrounding him. He turned hungry eyes in that direction. It had been a long time since he’d had to chase down his own dinner. He was used to having it served to him.
Field work in the wild sucked, but he’d get by. Besides, he didn’t plan to do it much longer. After the next payoff, he could go live anywhere he wanted. But first… he had to complete his curren
t assignment.
The bed dipped deeply as someone sat down next to her. She wasn’t about to mention the rock hard muscle weight Brandi had gained over the last few months. Heidi rolled from facing the wall to face her frowning friend.
“Bedtime is always a scramble. I’m sorry I couldn’t talk earlier. I saw Ryan come and then leave after about two minutes. You undid your woo-woo on him, didn’t you?”
Heidi blinked back her still unshed tears over her loss and struggled up into a seated position to face her Beta. Even Brandi’s mild glare gave her a headache, so she leaned back against the headboard and closed her eyes. “Yes. I undid my evil. I had to so I could sleep at night.”
Brandi sighed and shook her head. “I wish you had waited just a little bit longer. Last night, I dreamed there was some bad stuff coming for you.”
“You mean like Travis?” Heidi asked, feeling weary of waiting and wondering. How did people live this way?
Brandi rubbed her nose, wondering how much to reveal. There was a sound in the doorway. Stewart stuck his head around the side.
“Did you tell her yet?” Stewart asked in a whisper.
Brandi switched her glare to her child. “Did you hear me tell her, you little eavesdropper?”
Sighing, Stewart shook his head. “No. You should though. I talked to Aggie and Kent about it. They agree with me.”
Sighing over her children holding such serious conversations with each other, Brandi patted one leg. Stewart nearly launched himself into her lap.
After Brandi gave her son a reassuring hug, Heidi watched them both turn concerned gazes her way. Heidi raised her eyes to the ceiling to escape hearing what the visionaries had seen about her fate, even though she knew it wasn’t possible. “Travis is going to get me, isn’t he?”
“Just because Stewart and I both saw it in our dreams doesn’t mean it has to happen in reality,” Brandi said firmly. “I’m still convinced we can nab him before he nabs you.”
Stewart shrugged. “But it probably will happen. You’ll be okay if the bear lady doesn’t stick a bunch of needles into you. She’s very scary. She almost got Mom once.”
Heidi: Nano Wolves 3 Page 5
