by Terry Spear
Bjornolf read a small portion of the notes to Hunter to give him an idea.
“Amor seco, a dense leafy perennial grass, rich in flavonoids and alkaloids.
“Ajos sacha, leaf power, calming effect for some, not sure of effectiveness, causes thirst.
“Uncaria tomentosa, cat’s claw vine bark and root powder, strengthens immune system, similar to a wolf’s.
“Bauhinia forficate, or pata de vaca, leaves of a flowering tree in the pea family used for diabetes mellitus.”
“Hmm, sounds like we have another mystery,” Hunter said.
Bjornolf took pictures and then emailed them to Hunter.
After a few minutes, Hunter said, “I’ll have a research botanist I know look these over and see if she can come to any conclusions.”
“Good,” Bjornolf said. “I’ll take pictures of the rest of these documents, then return the papers to the safe.”
“Do you mind if I grab a bag of a few more of my things? Some more of my clothes?” Jessica asked.
“No, go right ahead.” Bjornolf put away the papers as Nathan and Jessica went upstairs.
When he thought they were out of earshot, Bjornolf said to Hunter, “Something else that seems strange. Both Anna and I detected a very faint scent of gray wolves in the house. I checked out the whole house and found their scent in every room. It appears they were here years ago. A man and a woman.”
“Like maybe fifteen years ago or so? When Jessica was a toddler?” Hunter asked.
“Possibly.” Bjornolf glanced at the stairs. “Do you think maybe her parents actually owned this house? That this was her home all along?”
“Could be. My uncle lived here for many years, deeding the cottages along the coast to me and Meara this past year. He’s living in Florida now, but he might know something about them. I’ll call him.”
“Something else to consider,” Anna said. “What if it was combination of things? Something the Silverstones were looking into in the Amazon that the Wentworths wanted, and Dottie had seen the Silverstones’ toddler and wanted to replace the toddler she’d just lost?”
Bjornolf swore under his breath. Then he told Hunter about what Jessica had revealed to them about the family dynamics. “We’re finished here. We’re taking the kids to our cottage for a bit, then they’ll go back to the family they were staying with until the open house tomorrow night.” Bjornolf grimaced as he realized it was later than he’d thought. “Actually at this rate, it’ll be tonight. Talk to you later.”
He took Anna’s hand and walked up the stairs with her to the first floor.
Nathan and Jessica met them at the landing, two bags in hand. Nathan was smiling at them. He was glad when Bjornolf invited them to the cottage.
Jessica looked upset as she wrung her hands, then caught Anna’s eye and quickly shoved her hands in her jacket pockets.
Anna said to Jessica, “It’ll be all right. It’s not going to be the end of the world, no matter what the results show.”
Bjornolf realized it was probably getting to be time for Jessica to take the pregnancy test. They could feed the kids breakfast, see them on their way, and spend the rest of the day in bed while Hunter learned what he could about the situation.
“What do you think of all this?” Anna asked, climbing into the Land Rover with Bjornolf. Nathan was loading Jessica’s bags into his truck.
“Seems odd that Everton was getting a lot of cash for Christmas tree sales and stuffing it in a safe. The list of rainforest flora doesn’t make any sense unless it’s something that’s making them money.”
“Like illegal drugs,” she said.
“Yeah. And the deed? I’m wondering if Everton came by the property in the same way they came to adopt Jessica.”
“He murdered her parents and raised their daughter,” Anna said, believing just what Bjornolf had been thinking.
How could they prove it, and how would Jessica take the news if they learned the truth?
Chapter 22
Hunter guessed it was about six in the morning when he settled on the couch in his living room to make some more phone calls. Tessa was finally sleeping soundly after another restless night, the babies kicking in her belly and giving her fits.
Hunter dialed his uncle’s number.
“Hunter. This must be important if you’re calling me at this ungodly hour. Babies come early?” Hunter thought his uncle sounded hopeful.
“No, not yet. Knowing you, you’re sitting on your porch watching the waves roll onto the beach while eating grapefruit with your highly sweetened coffee.”
Hunter could envision his uncle smiling at that. “All right, here’s a question for you. Did you know a couple of gray wolves who ran the Christmas tree farm near here? Everton’s Christmas Tree Farm? They would have been a family—a man, woman, and baby.”
“Hmm, yeah, now that you mention it. Long time ago, though. Twenty years maybe? Fifteen? They were off to the Amazon on trips all the time.”
“How do you know that?”
“They told me. They were an odd couple. They had some notion they could control a wolf’s need to shift. For those who were newly turned or who had a lot of human roots in their lineage. I bought a Christmas tree from them once. Mr. Silverstone was excited about some new finds, chemical properties of the rainforest plants he thought might help some of our kind. He told me because he recognized I was a wolf and might be also interested in a ‘cure.’ Blamed fool notion if you ask me. We are what we are. Instead of trying to change our nature, revel in it, I say.”
“So they must have been fairly new wolves. What happened to them?” Hunter asked.
“I really never thought of them after that.”
“Did any wolves work at the Christmas tree farm?” Hunter asked.
“No. All humans. The couple was kind of like me. They enjoyed not being part of pack life. So what’s this all about?”
“Looks like we’ve got a case of humans taking over the farm, due to foul play, and adopting a wolf baby.”
Hunter’s uncle didn’t say anything for a moment. When he did, he said, “Hell.”
After ending the call, Hunter called Shelley Campbell, a wolf botanist he’d located when he was trying to learn something about plants for a mission he’d been on. “Hey, Shelley, Hunter Greymere here. I’m looking into a situation out here on the Oregon coast that I thought you might be able to shed some light on. I’ve got some plant names and their properties I want you to look over and see if you recognize any of them. You’re not too busy, are you?”
She gave a heavy sigh. “No. Let me turn on my computer if my Highland hero will let go of me.”
Duncan grunted. “No man should be calling you at this hour, lass, unless I know him personally. Even then, he’s walking on thin ice.”
“Whatever,” she said, and Hunter listened, smiling as she left the bed, the mattress squeaking slightly.
Her computer signaled it was waking up, and he heard the Highlander with the distinctive Scottish burr say to her in a hostile throaty voice, “Who… is… he?”
She laughed. “A mated wolf friend who has twins on the way. He’s a Navy SEAL who sometimes asks me to look into botanical questions relating to his missions.”
“Tell him to hurry it up, then.”
Hunter emailed her the images of the handwritten notes about the plants.
She gasped and said to Hunter, “Where did you get this information?”
“A couple of gray wolves living out near me were investigating plants in the rain forest, and—”
“Jenna and Oliver Silverstone? The initials in the margins look like theirs. She’d make notes and he would also, both documenting who had done what by initialing them. That way if one of them made a mistake, the other didn’t get blamed for it. I haven’t seen them in years. How are they?”
Hunter nearly stopped breathing. “You knew them?”
She paused and he wondered if she realized he’d referred to them in past tense. She too
k a moment to collect herself and said, “Yeah, I knew them. They were the ones that first got me interested in plant biology. They were trying to find a way to stop our kind from shifting. Not so much that we wouldn’t shift ever, but just be able to control it. Especially for newly turned wolves. They had only been turned for a couple of years. Before that, they had trained and worked as a plant biologist team. Instead of continuing to look for new cancer cures, they began researching remedies for werewolves.” A heavy pause ensued. “What happened to them? They had a daughter—Jessica. She was their angel.”
“It seems they’ve disappeared. The new owners had a young daughter die, and the toddler they raised was named Jessica,” Hunter said, confirming a piece of the puzzle. “Had you ever been to their house?”
“Yeah, while they were in the Amazon, I lived there and even managed their Christmas tree farm for a few months. They had the technology down to an art. The business fascinated me.”
“The couple took their daughter with them when they visited the jungle?”
“They always took her with them. I saw them at a plant biology conference and they had the baby with them then, which is where they talked to me about taking care of their tree farm. They didn’t belong to a wolf pack. They adored their daughter. As much as they loved plants, they would never have left her with strangers. She’s okay, then?”
“She is, although it’s going to be some adjustment for her as we try to teach her our ways and how to get along in a wolf pack. Are any of these plants something that might be turned into illegal drugs?”
“One of them can intensify the effects of some kinds of illegal drugs, but neutralize others. Otherwise, no.”
“Thanks. If you think of anything else, let me know.”
“If Jessica wants to learn anything about her parents that I might know, she can call me.”
“Will do. I’m sure she will. Thanks.”
Hunter ended the call with Shelley and stared at the floor for a moment, gathering his thoughts. Then he called Bjornolf back and gave him all the details. Next, Hunter contacted Rourke. “I need you at the courthouse as soon as it opens. Let me know if anyone bought this property from the Silverstones.” He sent an email of the deed.
“Get right on it first thing in the morning.”
Soft footfalls padded down the carpeted hallway to where Hunter was standing in the dining room. He smiled to see Tessa wearing her gown with the woolly lambs on it.
“It isn’t even light out, you know,” Tessa said, running her hand over his chest. “You’re not micromanaging again, are you?”
He smiled and turned off his phone, then took her hand and led her back to bed. “What else did you have in mind?”
Chapter 23
With apprehension, Anna joined Jessica in the guest bathroom of the beach cottage to study Jessica’s pregnancy-test results. If the test was accurate, Jessica wasn’t pregnant. Anna knew teen pregnancies were risky at best, and the young couple needed to get to know each other better, so the results were good news. But she wasn’t sure how Jessica felt about it.
“As long as the test worked, it says you’re not pregnant,” Anna finally said, a sense of disquiet filling her.
Jessica had been tense, but she looked ready to collapse at learning the news. Anna took her in her arms. “Are you going to be okay?”
Jessica was crying softly but nodding her head.
Anna rubbed her back in a soothing manner. “Shh, it’s going to be all right. Really.”
“Nathan kept telling me he’s happy to have the babies. He’s going to be upset with me.”
“No. You’re both going to be fine. You’ll share mated life together. Enjoy being a couple before the kids come. Learn all about each other and about being one of us, and get to know the pack.”
Jessica sat down on the side of the bathtub as if she couldn’t stand any longer. “Nathan told me all about you. About how you ran away from home. How you never had a Christmas.”
Anna’s throat tightened at the memory. Jessica couldn’t know. Bjornolf… Anna should have told him already.
“I… I don’t know how you could have managed. Yet now…” Tears filled her eyes again and Anna grabbed a box of tissues and sat beside her.
“My father isn’t my father,” Jessica continued. “I think… I think he murdered my real parents. But he was good to me growing up. And now he’s in jail. I… I don’t know what to feel. Should I hate him when all I can do is think of the time he got me my first bicycle for Christmas and taught me how to ride it? How he taught me to drive my first car?”
She sniffled, took Anna’s hand, and squeezed hard. “But I saw what he tried to do to you. We thought he killed you. Suddenly my adoptive father became a monster. Did he kill the DEA agents? Others?”
“We don’t know for certain.” Anna handed her a tissue.
“But he did try to kill you. And what about my mother? Was she in on all of this?”
Again, Anna said, “We don’t know. She might have been.”
Jessica nodded, tears still streaming down her face. “I’m glad I’m not pregnant yet. I can’t imagine dealing with that when I still haven’t come to grips with being…”
Jessica bit her lip. Then she looked at Anna. “A werewolf. Nathan said that some are royals who have been werewolves for generations. They can control when they shift. I’m not one of those,” she said glumly.
“Rourke is newly turned. So is Hunter’s mate, Tessa. You’re a first-generation-born pure werewolf.”
Jessica’s expression brightened a little. “Tessa isn’t a royal?”
“No. She has trouble with having to shift, just like any of the newer wolves.”
Jessica nodded, looking as though she was at least farther along than that. She waved her hand. “I have to deal with all of this stuff about my parents, too.”
“I understand. You know what, though? You don’t have to do it alone.”
Not like Anna had to.
Jessica blotted her eyes, then her teary gaze met Anna’s. “Not like you did.”
A teen alone, pregnant, and bereft.
Something in the way Jessica said it again made Anna feel as though the teen knew about her horrible past. She couldn’t, and yet Anna felt swamped with guilt.
She should have already told Bjornolf. But it happened so long ago. Maybe he didn’t have any need to know. It didn’t have anything to do with their relationship, she told herself.
And yet what if she couldn’t have babies of her own? She knew he was looking forward to having his own offspring. She felt terrible, small, and unworthy of his love.
* * *
Bjornolf knew something was wrong when Anna and Jessica left the bathroom. Anna wouldn’t meet his gaze. Jessica gave Nathan a small smile, her eyes blurred with tears, and said, “I don’t want breakfast. Can we go now?”
Pregnancy? No pregnancy? What had happened?
Anna’s distressed expression shook Bjornolf up the most.
“You’ll be back later? For the open house?” Bjornolf asked Nathan and Jessica, unsure what was going on.
Jessica nodded, and she and Nathan left the house hand in hand, cuddling together. He was glad to see that Jessica seemed to be all right with whatever the results were. Anna was a different story.
As soon as Bjornolf watched Nathan and Jessica leave, he locked the front door and turned to question Anna, but he heard the back door close. He thought she’d gone outside to get some fresh air until he saw her clothes lying on the kitchen tile floor, scattered as if she’d been in a rush to escape the confines of the house, her human form, and him.
He should have left her alone, let her sort out her feelings, and then comforted her if she still needed a shoulder to lean on. He was quickly coming to the conclusion that he couldn’t do it. He had to take measures to help her in any way that he could, but waiting for her to resolve her own issues wasn’t his way.
First, Bjornolf punched in Reid’s number. He needed to k
now what Anna was hiding, and he couldn’t wait any longer.
“Time’s up, Reid. What have you learned about Anna? Anything?”
“Hell, Bjornolf. Ask her yourself if you want to find out quicker! Okay, this is what I’ve learned so far. She was born and raised in New Jersey. She moved around a lot. I haven’t found any clue that would indicate why she would have an aversion to Christmas. I’ve questioned a friend of a friend of a friend, and I think I’ve got a lead. But damn it! I’ll call you. I promise. Okay?”
“Yeah, all right.”
“Hell, you’re mating with her, aren’t you?”
“Done.”
“Why didn’t you tell me? Son of gun. Congratulations. I would never have thought it. I swear I’ll get the info to you as quick as I can.”
“Thanks, Reid. Gotta go.”
Bjornolf stripped as fast as possible and hurried outside. He slammed the door closed and shifted before the frigid air chilled him too much. He could have used the wolf door, but he needed the cold for a moment to cool his heated blood.
He took off running, following her scent down the stairs to the pebble beach. To his guarded relief, he found her sitting next to a boulder, staring out at the ocean. She looked as though she wanted to be alone.
He wanted to hold her close like a human would. He wanted to ask her what the matter was.
She turned her head to see who was coming, her ears perked, her greenish amber eyes studying him.
Anna’s not wanting to share what was troubling her was killing him. But as a mate, he nuzzled her face in friendship and love, then lay down on the rocky beach next to her.
He tried to clear his mind of all the worries rushing through it, and then finally decided he wasn’t getting anywhere. He licked her face, snuggled next to her, and when she laid her head on the beach and closed her eyes, he laid his head across her neck and did likewise.
