Paris sighed heavily and looked down at his clasped hands. “Yeah, yeah we do.” He said unhappily.
30
After his talk with Paris, Wiatt went straight to Zane’s house. He wrapped on the door quickly and hard. Zane and he were friends as well as him being Zane’s superior. Wiatt had to ensure he wasn’t in for some uprising shit because of what Zane or Ash thought he was doing with Tatum. Whatever they thought that was. More than likely they thought he was running her for rent to stay in their territory and that would be okay if that were the case and he was an asshole. But he’d have expected Zane to pull him up on that, because despite the other werewolves in the pack who sometimes did their jobs like complete hard-asses without question or conscience, Wiatt and Zane, did not. Wiatt believed Zane understood him.
Wiatt wrapped on the front door again. By comparison when he thought about if it were him put on the case of watching and trailing Tatum and seeing his supposed superior finger fucking her and the like, his mind started creating scenarios for expected behavioural responses that a werewolf could expect to get for supposedly, slumming it with a wolf considered below their standing and biology, a lycan.
The front door unlatched and Zane, half asleep still, opened it and rubbed the back of his bed head hair and scratched his naked, hairy chest. “Wiatt.” He muttered opening the door as Wiatt walked in.
“We need to talk.” Wiatt stated marching in and turning around and frowning and pointing at Zane who was topless and only wearing jeans. “Wait, if you’re not on the job, does that mean Ash is? My head is all over the place this week” Wiatt said realising for the first time that he’d just travelled to Zane’s house without calling him when he knew Zane should be trailing Tatum because that was the job he’d given him to do, both him and Ash. He could’ve called to find out where the werewolves were. “Damn it.” Lunar week and Tatum were proving a highly distracting counterparts when he couldn’t think straight. Thinking about Tatum was making him loose his ability to focus.
“No I let Ash go the other day, told him to make the last of his lunar week.” Zane replied.
Wiatt stared at him. “Why’d you do that?”
“Pretty obvious it wasn’t a pressingly urgent job and that it wasn’t a two man team job. “Wiatt let out a breath and relaxed a little. “And it gave me a chance to have one over him, by covering for him.” Zane smirked. “That and he was getting rather fired up about what he was seeing. With you.” Zane replied honestly. “I came close to punching him in the face at one point.”
“Can we talk?”
Zane pointed to his living room and they walked in. “Got say, it has me perplexed too.” Zane sat down on in an arm chair. “Tatum’s a lycan right?”
Wiatt nodded his head. “But she’s not just any lycan.” He sighed wondering how to start. He anted to explain it to Zane, it was important to him.
“You like her.” Zane offered.
“Well, yes. And I’m highly aware that she’s a lycan and I’m not supposed to like her, being a pack werewolf and a Manhattan Maen at that.”
“Love doesn’t work that way. Doesn’t know logic, just knows what it wants. We are but instruments to it.” Zane said relaxing in his chair. A door banged in the back of his house somewhere, out of sight.
“Didn’t know you were a romantic.” Wiatt said looking in the direction of the sound.
“There’s plenty about me you don’t know Wiatt.”
Wiatt looked from the doorway back to Zane. Was he entertaining company? “Is now a bad time?”
“It’s fine.” Zane said waiting patiently for him to continue.
“I guess I just, uh, wanted to call you guys off the job. It’s not necessary Tatum’s not a threat and I’ll figure out what to uh, do about her.”
Zane smiled broadly. “Like I said, I think you already have. And for what it’s worth, I’m not one to judge. Despite being a Manhattan Maen. Some laws are antiquated, and a lot of social beliefs in the pack are out of touch with reality.” Zane said. “Don’t get me wrong I’m not saying I don’t love my pack. But sometimes, I think we, werewolves, we get it wrong. I guess I’m one of the minority that thinks we often get it wrong, especially when it comes to love. You don’t have to explain yourself to me. But I’m pretty sure they’ll be others you will have to.”
Wiatt stood up and Zane copied him, walking back out to the front door. “We’re good here.” Zane said opening the door again. Wiatt nodded his head and clasped hands with Zane. “Thank you.” He said softly as he walked out.
“No problem.”
Wiatt looked back at friend as he stood in the doorway of his house. He let his nostrils flare and smiled recognising the hint of the sent he’d gotten off Zane that wasn’t his own. Before turning around and skipping down the steps to his house.
31
Wiatt returned home, showered, changed clothes, ate some food and left again to go to Tatum’s place. He didn’t want her spending all day working herself up to the state that she’d gotten into the night before. She’d been somewhere between feral wolf with no control over her animal base state and somewhere between shifting to her lycan self. Either way, it wasn’t a good state for her to be in, especially mentally, the wolf side of her would think like an animal, and the animal self, held very different values and opinions to the human side of her.
Wiatt had to ensure he helped her through full moon night, even during the day time. He was already feeling more out of control and forgetful and twitchy than normal. Like he constantly had to keep moving. Like his werewolf was wriggling around under his skin, wanting him to start running around the streets of Manhattan. And he was an alpha werewolf, a wolf that had far more calm, control and sense than a newly turned wolf like Tatum. Even Paris looked like he was sweating a bit back at the café.
Sometimes lunar week was just more intense than other times. Wiatt thundered up the steps taking them two by two to the top landing of Tatum’s place. He wrapped on the door, loudly, twice. He listened putting his ear to the door. He didn’t hear anything, maybe she’d gone for food.
“More meat.” He grinned to himself pulling out his spare key and putting it in the lock. “That would be fun.” Turning the key in the lock he thought of the night before and how she’d come because of him. “Yeah, more fun together.” He opened the door and walked in. Something was wrong, he couldn’t put his finger on it immediately. But he knew it was. Her apartment was neat, completely neat, and devoid of anything other than the furniture. Not that it had been messy when he’d been there, but there was a clothing piece of two laying on a furniture surface.
“Tay,” Wiatt called out and looked over at the kitchen counter and the item lying on top of it. Watt wandered over and picked it up. It was a key. Like the key he had to her front door. “Tatum!” Wiatt called out feeling panic creep in. He ran around to her bedroom and saw nothing in there, he squatted down and looked under the bed, where she stashed her duffel bag. It was gone.
“Damn it!” he muttered standing up and looking around wildly. He walked out into the main living room and towards the windows. “Think, damn it, think, where would she go?” Wiatt’s nose twitched. He smelt perfume in the area he was standing in. Tatum didn’t wear perfume, at least, she hand’t the whole time he’d known her. He inhaled it and knew he knew the brand. It was Chanel number five. Wiatt knew two women who wore that, Gabby Colton and his mother.
Wiatt frowned thinking about the three women. Why would his mother be in Tatum’s apartment? She wouldn’t. She didn’t know about Tatum. So it couldn’t be her. Which meant it had to be Gabby Colton who’d paid a visit to Tatum. “Gabby has motive.” Wiatt said to himself. “She was not happy about being tossed out after Tay turned up the other night. You humiliated her by tossing her out and now her fucking werewolf pride is hurt and she’s got Tatum. Fuck!” Wiatt said out loud pulling out his cell phone.
“Gabby is just pissy enough to do something to her, because she has it in for the D’arenb
erg males. Fuck, fuck.” He pressed speed dial on his cell phone. “I should’ve known not to fuck with her on a lunar week.”
“Paris, it’s Wiatt,” He greeted his brother with.
“Hey,”
“Something’s happen to Tatum.” Wiatt rushed out. “I’m not sure what, but my instincts tell me something is off and she’s not here, at her place, all her stuff is gone and I can smell Gabby Colton’s perfume in here.” There was momentary silence on the line before Paris spoke calmly down it to his brother.
“Okay, I’m going to get Jules and Bohm on to tracking Gabby’s movements down, you need to find Tatum. You track her Wiatt , because we can’t have an uncontrolled lycan roaming Manhattan on full moon night, she’s likely to set any werewolf she comes into contact with off, wether she means to or not.”
“Well I’ll call my guys, cause Jules is …” Wiatt paused catching himself quickly. He didn’t really have a right to out Zane. All the boys knew about Jules. But Wiatt doubted very much they knew about Zane. Hell, he hadn’t known that about Zane and he worked closely with him and spent a fair amount of time in his company. Which made him wonder how he’d missed the signs. Zane wasn’t an obvious stereotype either. Maybe that had thrown him somewhat.
“Jules is what?”
“It’s cool, I get a hold of him and let him know. You might want to ensure Bg has a body guard around her wherever she is today.” Wiatt suggested pacing around the living room. “If Gabby’s feeling the need to get vengeful on us D’arenberg’s then Bg is a likely target for her too.”
Paris growled down the line. “She’s not getting anywhere near Bg, if she harms her, I will kill her without a second fucking thought. Addison’s on Bg detail with her now, I’ll alert him to what’s going on. Let’s find Gabby and bring her to me.” Wiatt had forgotten that being Paris’s pack mate, had exposed Bg to all manner of threats against her. She often travelled with a protective werewolf detail, wether it was lunar week or not. He should’ve remembered that since part of the time, he was on that detail for her. Lunar week was screwing with him.
Wiatt hung up and dialled Zane who picked up on the forth ring. “Hey, I’m really sorry to interrupt your day, especially today,” Wiatt said knowing how the fourth day and night of lunar week, were the one that every werewolf really indulged in with their pack mates and partners for the week. It was the hardest day for all of them to get through until the full moon and they shape shifted.
“It’s fine boss, what’s up?”
“Something’s happened to Tatum.” Wiatt rushed out. “She’s not at her apartment and all her stuff is gone.”
“Damn it,” Zane cut in over the top of him. “When I find Ash I’m going to give him the greatest ass kicking of all time.”
“Why, what does Ash have to do with Tatum’s disappearance? Does he know something?” Wiatt asked feeling his anxiety rise.
“Remember how I said Ash and I almost came to blows over the assignment of watching Tatum for you?”
“Yeah,” Wiatt replied.
“Well, that was because Ash was fired up, I mean properly fired up about what you were doing with her and he kept ranting on and on about how we had to do something about. How we couldn’t allow that kind of behaviour from one of our leaders to continue.”
“What?” Wiatt’s voice was a whisper.
“He wanted to report you to someone, kept saying he was going to make Paris or Addison do something about Tatum if not you. Because you were,” Zane hesitated.
“Because I was what Zane?”
“Because you were disrespecting the pack by associating yourself with the lycan, when it clearly had nothing to do with your job or pack businesses.” Zane finished sadly. He didn’t like talking to Wiatt like this, but he had to know the truth. The truth was the only thing that helped when figuring out unplanned situations like this.
“What’s he done to Tatum, Zane? Where is she?” Wiatt yelled down the line angrily.
“Honestly boss, I don’t know. I just know he wanted to report you to a higher authority, to get you pulled into line over your actions.”
Wiatt frowned in thought. “Well the only person really higher than me is my pack leader and I’ve spoken to Paris this morning. In fact we had a nice long chat about Tatum and me. So he’s aware and if he’d needed to, he’d have said something then and there about her. So it can’t be him, that just doesn’t make sense why he wouldn’t tell me he’d done something with her, and then was going to reprimand me.”
“Maybe he didn’t want to do it to you cause you’re his little brother.” Zane offered up.
“No, that’s not Paris’s style. He’d do the right thing because that’s who he is, regardless.”
“Just playing Devil’s advocate here.” Zane said. “I mean who else do you have that you have to report to, that’s a higher ranked alpha than you or Paris?” Wiatt looked around himself quickly and screwed up his face. As he realised his mistake in thinking about pack business rather than making Tatum’s disappearance a personal matter.
“My mother.” Wiatt replied simply as the realisation hit him clearly.
“So Ash gets worked up over you and Tatum and when I give him time off, he decides to act on it and goes straight to your mother, by passing Paris, because he thinks your mother will pull you into line?” Zane offered as a new scenario.
“That’s it.” Wiatt replied heading out of Tatum’s apartment.
“I’ll find Ash and get him to you boss if I don’t mark him up first. What else do you want to do?”
“I got to find her. I’m going to speak to my mother.” Wiatt said hanging up and leaving the apartment again.
31
Tatum sat down on the park bench and wiped her hand under her nose and sniffed again. Adjusting the duffle bag slung over her back as she rested back against it and let her shoulders sag. Bursting into tears again. She’d done not much more than cry for the past hour. She couldn’t stop it seemed. She didn’t know what to do, she felt lost. She looked up around her for the first time and her attention snapped back to the here and now. How’d she’d gotten to Van Cortlandt Park? She wondered reading the park signage.
She’d just let her feet take her where they took her. All she remembered was somewhat being on an autopilot and crying as she hoped on a train, some train, any train that was taking her away from Wiatt D’arenberg. His mother had personally seen her off to the train station and told her, it really was for the best. For both of them, and that was when the tears had started.
Marion had told her what she could expect if she had tried to have a relationship with Wiatt. The end message was the same as she’d come to her with. Lycans and werewolves did not mix, could not mix, it just didn’t work that way in their world.
They’d be in for nothing but heartache if they did and that was no way to live a life. For either of them. And it wouldn’t be fair on Wiatt, Mrs D’arenberg had told her. Her son came from a werewolf pack of prominence and prestige, he had a good family name and standing in the larger werewolf community. She couldn’t expect him to jeopardise all that just because they were both horny and mistaking lunar lust for love.
Tatum reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a tissue and blew her nose loudly. She’d never felt this miserably unhappy in her whole life. Even after she’d found out she’d been turned into a lycan. Her chest ached deeply like she’ been wounded. And now she didn’t know what she was going to do? She had no idea where to go, and what was the point to going to a new place when she was likely to be kicked out and moved on, like she had from Manhattan.
Tatum sighed and looked up as another figure sat down next to her on the park bench. She glanced across at him and immediately scented him, it was now turning into an automatic response for her. He smelt like fresh cut grass with fur and metal shavings. Hadn’t Wiatt said something about her lycan scent having a metal edge to it? So was that the common denominator between lycans, that they had that metallic signature to their scen
t? Tatum couldn’t remember. She looked away again and sat their in silence.
“You’re not for around here, are you?” The male lycan said looking across at her. “Not local?”
Tatum frowned and looked ahead of herself. She suddenly felt uncomfortably next to the male beside her. Oh god, why hadn’t she been paying more attention to her surroundings? She looked around quickly surveying the parkland. There wasn’t a soul in sight. Just her and this stranger. “I mean, if you were you wouldn’t waste your time on such a glorious day, sitting here, in this section of the park. It’s really quite pretty parkland. I can show you around if you like.” Tatum felt panic rise in her and she gripped the strap of her duffel bag across her chest.
“No, thank you. I’m fine.” She said standing up quickly and looking back down the pathway she’d come. She started walking slowly, hating the fact that she had to turn her back on the male lycan on the bench.
“Too bad.” She heard him say and the rustling of his clothes, which Tatum took to mean he was now standing. She refused to look back over her shoulder and check like a scared little girl. She was probably just being paranoid, being a single female on her own, vulnerable, in a park that had lots of bushes and trees for dragging females into. “That just makes you fair game, then. And there are plenty of lycans around here who would love a piece of tail like you.”
Tatum started to run, and her bag banging across her back, hitting her repeatedly, making her feel slow and sluggish as she ran. She heard a wicked laugh directed at her and his footsteps chased after her and she ran harder and faster.
32
Wiatt found himself outside his parents condo in Chelsea, New York. Confronting his mother, had never been a particular strength of Wiatt’s. But then again, he reasoned, it had never been Paris’s either. Neither of them were particularly head on when dealing with their mother. Which might be thought of as a little weird and weak coming from an all alpha werewolf family of the first Manhattan Maen pack lines.
Wolves Page 12
