by Anya Nowlan
“Oh no, you’re not cutting me out of this,” Wes shook his head. “I know I promised to stay out of your way, but I still want to see how you work. Besides, you’d probably lock me in my room while you go chase down Elias.”
“I would never,” she replied with exaggerated shock, making him laugh out loud.
“Sure you would,” he said.
“Yeah, you’re right,” she smirked. “That does sound like something I would do.”
“So go on, rest. I’ll wake you in a couple of hours and we can go stake out The Crawford,” he said, tilting his chin toward one of the beds.
“I guess a little nap wouldn’t hurt,” she replied, stifling a yawn.
“Then it’s settled.”
She nodded as he headed into the bathroom, closing the door behind him and giving her some privacy. He knew she must have felt awkward sharing a room with a practical stranger, but he couldn’t afford to let her out of his sight.
Turning on the faucet, he fished out his phone from his pocket, not at all surprised when he saw a message from Tate displayed on the screen.
How’s it going? it read.
Wes glanced back at the door behind him, listening to the rustle of sheets behind it. He didn’t know how to respond. It wasn’t going according to plan, that was for sure. In the end, he opted for the truth.
Now all that was left was to see how that went over with his Alpha.
Hours later, Wes was back to sitting next to Dakota in her car, parked outside of The Crawford. It was an elegant brick building, with high windows and an industrial feel to it. People were walking around the small café out front, and the scent of freshly brewed coffee hung in the air.
“How sure are we he’s even going to be here?”
“Reasonably sure,” Dakota shrugged. “If he doesn’t show, we can try the other hotels. Campbell will be in town for another night before returning to New York.”
She looked more rested than before, her eyes bright as she kept her gaze on their surroundings. Wes kept his eyes open, as well. From magazine covers and interviews, he knew exactly what Elias Campbell looked like, so spotting him wouldn’t be a problem.
“You do realize he might be even less eager to talk to you in person?” Wes questioned.
“Yes,” she replied. “But this time I’m going to make myself a lot harder to ignore.”
There was a dangerous edge to her voice, and Wes didn’t like it one bit.
“You still haven’t told me, what exactly are you planning on doing?” he asked, studying her closely. “I’d hate to see you wrestled to the ground by his security, or worse.”
“What are they going to do, shoot an unarmed woman?” Dakota scoffed.
“They might,” Wes argued, brows rising. “Dakota, tell me you’re not going to do something stupid.”
“You know, tagging along usually means you’re seen and not heard,” she replied.
“What, and miss an opportunity to be called an idiot who hasn’t got a clue about how the supernatural world works?” Wes asked, before leaning closer to Dakota and lowering his voice. “Never,” he whispered, grinning to himself.
Dakota stiffened for a moment, perhaps at how close he now was to her, before sighing.
“I’m sorry,” she said, taking him by surprise. “I’m a little more on edge than usual. I actually appreciate having someone to talk things through with. But having this rich asshole running around with magic at his fingertips has gotten me in a bad mood.”
Elias Campbell did have a bit of a reputation, that was for sure. No one would dare publicly call him an ‘asshole’, but he did walk around with an air of superiority that came from being born with a silver spoon in his mouth.
In Elias’ case it was more of a diamond encrusted spoon, but that was neither here nor there. Add in the fact that Campbell Industries had gone through a wave of lay-offs since Elias took control, and it made sense he wasn’t a well-liked man.
“Apology accepted,” Wes said, throwing Dakota a quick smile. “And I told you, you would grow to enjoy my company,” he couldn’t help but add, earning an eye-roll from her.
Wes wasn’t easily offended, and even if he were, Dakota had all the reason in the world to be high-strung. Her father had died while she was out of the country, and his prized collection had ended up in the hands of people who had no business even touching the stuff.
Now, it was all up to her to make it right. That kind of pressure had to be weighing on her.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when Dakota suddenly reached for the door, flinging it open. It only took Wes a split-second to see a black SUV had pulled up to the hotel, with men in suits pouring out of it.
One man in particular struck him as familiar, with his dirty blond, slicked back hair and hawkish features.
That’s Elias Campbell, all right.
Wes reached for Dakota, grabbing onto her wrist just as she swung her feet out of the car.
“Let go,” she all but snarled, yanking her hand back.
“Dakota…” Wes tried to reason with her, still holding on to her wrist.
“You said you would stay out of my way,” she cut him off, staring pointedly at his hand on hers.
Wes could have easily pulled her back into the car, but that would be crossing a line. Putting his hands on her in the first place was more of a reaction than a decision, and one Dakota was not taking kindly to.
With a resigned sigh, he uncurled his fingers from around her wrist, and watched her stomp away. Resisting the urge to punch a dent into the dashboard, Wes groaned to himself, before jumping out of the car and following her.
No way am I hanging back for this.
Fifteen
Dakota
Boots thudding on the pavement and her hands curled into fists, Dakota finally had Elias Campbell in her sights, and it was an opportunity she wasn’t about to miss. Her heart was pounding fast, the adrenaline only pushing her forward.
Was just storming over to the man while he was surrounded by security the greatest plan? No, of course not. But Dakota had let her emotions take over, and now it was too late.
“Hey, Campbell,” she called out, making the man she was now mere feet away from turn his head toward her.
His three security guards were already flanking him, but lost some of the tension on their bodies after giving her a quick once-over.
“Miss,” one of them warned, holding up a hand.
He was a tall, broad man, wearing a dark suit with matching sunglasses, and she could spot tattoos peeking out from beneath his sleeves. Dakota ignored him completely, coming to a stop as close as she could get without getting tackled by the man, and fixed her attention solely on Elias.
“My name is Dakota Thompson,” she announced. “And you haven’t been taking my calls.”
Elias turned around, crossing his arms in front of him as he studied her with cool blue eyes. He was clean-shaven, wearing an expensive-looking pinstriped suit tailored perfectly to his tall, lean frame, his shoes all but gleaming against the fading sun. The watch hanging off his wrist was hard to miss, and probably cost more than her car.
Smirking to himself, he licked his lips, not seeming at all taken aback at being accosted on the street.
“Ms. Thompson,” he said smoothly, giving her the faintest nod. “And who’s your friend?”
It was only then that Dakota realized Wes was standing right behind her, glaring at the security guard blocking her off from Elias.
“None of your business,” Dakota snapped back, not giving Wes an opportunity to speak.
Being on the radar of someone like Elias could be dangerous, and she didn’t want Wes involved any more than he already was. She should have known he would never just wait in the car, but she hadn’t really given that much thought in her rush to confront Elias.
“Now that’s a little rude,” Elias tsked, a confident smile on his face that Dakota couldn’t stand.
“You bought some of my father’s books
,” Dakota pushed on, ignoring the man’s complaints. “I want them back.”
“I’ve bought a lot of stuff,” Elias waved a dismissive hand, turning to leave.
“The spell books,” Dakota called out. “You know what I’m talking about. You’ve been after them for years.”
That seemed to get Elias’ attention, making him pause.
“Spell books?” he arched a brow. “I’m afraid this isn’t Hogwarts.”
“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” she shot back. “And I know you’ve been using them.”
Elias’ arrogant smile didn’t waver, but his eyes narrowed.
“Well, this woman is clearly delusional,” he said to no one in particular, chuckling. “Have a nice evening, Ms. Thompson. You’ve wasted enough of my time,” he declared, turning on his heel and heading for the hotel.
Dakota tried to run after her, but his guards formed a wall in front of her, pushing her back with firm hands.
“Hey, back off,” Wes growled from somewhere behind her, catching her when she stumbled backwards.
With his arms around her, and his warm chest pressed against her back, Dakota snapped back to reality with amazing speed. Blinking at the three suited men in front of her, with one of them holding his hand near his belt, where his gun would be, she quickly steadied herself.
What the hell am I doing?
Wes was still growling deep in his throat, edging past her toward the man that had shoved her, but Dakota grabbed his arm, yanking him back with all the strength she could muster.
“No,” she said urgently. “Let it go.”
Wes was still as tense as could be, but at least he stopped moving. The guards gave both of them one last look before slowly backing away toward The Crawford. Dakota continued pulling on Wes’ arm, trying to get him to walk back to the car.
“Come on,” she said. “There’s nothing left to do here.”
It took another moment, but finally he seemed to relax, his jaw unclenching. As Elias’ guards followed the man inside the hotel, the growl in his chest subsided, and Dakota was able to guide him toward her car.
Once they both got inside, she let her head fall back as she pinched the bridge of her nose, feeling a headache coming on.
“Well, that was a disaster,” she muttered.
“Why did you do that, Dakota?” Wes asked, the sudden calm in his voice vaguely unsettling.
She turned to look at him, and it was clear he was fuming beneath his mild façade. It was quite the departure from his usual carefree attitude, and she could tell she wasn’t getting out of answering that particular question. And after the way she had acted, he deserved an explanation.
“I wasn’t thinking,” she admitted, shaking her head. “I just…reacted. I saw him, and something inside me snapped.”
“You don’t even know the guy,” Wes replied. “And if we had the advantage of him not being aware of you knowing exactly what the books are about, that’s gone now. You told me to stay back, because you were supposed to be the expert,” he said, and Dakota was feeling worse by the second.
All this time, she had been pushing him back, warning him to not get in the way, thinking of him as impulsive… When she had turned out to be the hothead, not him. This wasn’t who she usually was, not at all. Sure, there were times when her emotions got the better of her, but she never let it affect her work.
Until now.
And Wes was right – she was making this personal for some reason. The smugness on his face didn’t exactly help her think very highly of him, but she didn’t really know the man. Yet, he had had a spectacular effect on her temper.
Her guilt and self-admonishment had to be showing on her face, because when Wes spoke again, his tone was a lot gentler.
“Hey,” he said softly, drawing her eyes to him. “You can talk to me. What’s going on?”
Without even really knowing why it was happening, Dakota felt tears springing to her eyes. The last time she cried in front of someone she had still been in her pigtails, so she quickly dabbed at her eyes, trying to blink the tears away.
“He’s really gone,” she blurted out, trying to pull herself together but failing.
“Your dad?” Wes asked after a moment of silence, and she nodded.
“I always knew this day would come, in my head,” she replied. “Dad warned me about it, tried to prepare me the best he could. But now that he isn’t here anymore, it’s different.
“I could always count on him, you know?” she said, letting her hands fall into her lap. “Even when I was in the middle of a jungle or running around Rome, I knew I could call him and he’d know exactly what to do. He was always the calm, rational one. I was the one who went running into danger in search of adventure. Nothing’s changed, I guess.”
She almost flinched when Wes leaned over, taking her hand in his. But when he squeezed her fingers in his huge, warm palm, she instantly felt comforted. That was odd, since she usually hated being vulnerable.
But when she looked up at him and saw the genuine concern in his eyes, her instinct to hold back wavered.
“You’re without your safety net,” he remarked. “And you’re doubting whether you can do all this on your own,” he added, and Dakota couldn’t help but agree.
“I took it all out on Elias,” she nodded. “My father had always made it clear I was to inherit his collection. It was in his will. First, my Aunt Helen took that away from me. And now Elias Campbell has taken what my father vowed to protect, and is using it to do who knows what,” she said, gritting her teeth. “I just saw red.”
“I get it,” Wes sighed, his shoulder bumping against hers. “But you don’t have to do this alone. I’ll be your safety net, if you’ll just let me.”
And in that moment, she believed him. Hopefully, trusting Wes wouldn’t come back to bite her in the ass.
Sixteen
Wes
Wes closed the hotel room door behind him and watched Dakota plop down onto her bed. They had driven over mostly in silence, and Wes still wasn’t sure if he had gotten through to her or not.
All he wanted to do was help, but with him reporting back to Tate and her not used to trusting outsiders, things were a little complicated, to say the least.
“We’ll regroup in the morning,” he said, shrugging off his jacket.
“Yeah, that’s probably wise,” Dakota sighed, pushing herself up and walking to the mini fridge. “A drink?” she asked.
“Sure,” Wes shrugged.
Sitting down on his bed, he watched her pull out a couple of tiny bottles.
“Scotch all right?” she asked, earning a nod from him.
Grabbing two glasses, she poured a scotch for him, and a vodka for herself, before coming to sit down opposite him. Their beds were almost side by side, with only a small nightstand beside them, so they were almost knee to knee as Dakota handed one of the glasses to him.
Wes’ wolf certainly didn’t mind the closeness. His animal side had become even more active ever since Elias’ security guard put his hands on Dakota. That had kicked his protective instincts into full gear, unlike he had ever felt before.
Now that those feelings had calmed down, he just felt a deep sense of possessiveness, and a magnetism between himself and Dakota. It seemed every second he spent with her made staying at a respectful distance more and more difficult.
When she licked her lips before lifting the glass to her mouth, his self-control nearly faltered. His fingers clenched around his own glass, as he struggled against the urge to reach out and touch her, maybe trace a finger up the side of her arm, or brush her hair aside…
With a low growl he pushed those thoughts aside. Dakota needed a friend right now, not someone to hit on her.
“We’ll get the books back from Elias,” he assured her.
She let out a humorless laugh.
“How?” she asked. “We’ll never get within a hundred feet of him now that his security team knows our faces.”
; “We’ll think of something,” Wes shrugged, taking a sip of his drink. “You’re a real-life Lara Croft and I can turn into a wolf,” he arched a brow at her.
This time, her laugh was genuine.
“Well, when you put it like that,” she grinned, before downing the rest of what was in her glass. “I don’t mind the upgrade from Indy, in this case.”
“Thirsty?” he joked.
“Thank you,” she said, catching him off guard. “For not listening to me and not staying in the car. My dad never had a partner, or someone to work with. He used to always keep me on the sidelines as much as he could, and there was no one else that knew about his… extracurricular activities.
“I’ve been obsessed with trying to make him proud, to do things the way I think he would do them… But maybe, I can do this my way. And with your help,” she finished, looking him right in the eye.
Wes couldn’t help but smile.
“So we would be… a team?” he asked.
“Yes,” she replied, almost sounding defeated. “It’s not like I’ll be getting rid of you any time soon, anyway,” she said with a small grin.
Wes lifted his glass to her.
“Damn right.”
The lights were off, the hotel mostly quiet, and Dakota was breathing deeply in the bed next to him, sound asleep, but Wes was still awake. The darkness was no problem to him – he could still clearly see Dakota opposite him, wrapped in her covers so that her nose barely poked out from under the blanket. He didn’t know if it was the vodka or the exhaustion that had crept up on her, but she was out like a light.
He, on the other hand, couldn’t get his mind to quiet down. Thoughts of family and what that really meant kept racing through his brain, brought to the surface about what Dakota had said about her father.
The connection she had with him had to have been strong, and only made stronger by the fact there were things they could only share with each other. It was no surprise suddenly being on her own had driven Dakota to be rash.
