I waited until Theo’s golf cart disappeared from sight before heading down the boardwalk that led to the bungalow. It was one of those over-the-water kinds you always see in vacation brochures but know you’ll never stay in. I wondered if Hope was thinking the same thing. Maybe I was about to find out. The boardwalk extended around to the back onto a deck that spanned the whole length of the bungalow. The screen doors were wide open, so at least he wasn’t keeping her locked up. I knocked on the doorframe.

I heard faint arguing from somewhere inside. It was one male voice and one female. The male voice was calm, the female’s was angry. My hearing was strong enough to hear most of her words. She was begging him to go home.

I knocked again. Something in her voice shot right through me, hitting me in a place where I normally felt nothing. If her voice reflected her as a person, she was strong, but she was afraid. I would get rid of her fear. I would free her from this place as soon as I finished the rest of the mission.

After my second knock the arguing stopped abruptly. A dark haired man who looked an awful lot like Clayton Wellington stepped onto the deck. “What do you want?” He was wearing linen pants and no shirt.

I held out my hand. “Hi, Mr. Wellington. I wanted to introduce myself.”

“Ok. Introduce yourself.” He leaned back and closed the screen doors.

“I’m Ryan Carter. The new doctor.” I got a bad taste in my mouth pretending to have medical skills, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Why do we need a new doctor?” He crossed his arms.

“Your brother thought it prudent, particularly in case of a high-risk pregnancy.” Once again this all came down to trust. Was Clayton right that this story would work?

“Did he really?” Justin’s expression softened.

“Yes. He thought you would have better piece of mind with a physician around.” I racked my brain for more persuasive words, but my thoughts kept turning to Hope’s voice. Why hadn’t she come out too?

“We don’t have to worry about pregnancy quite yet, but it may be an issue soon.” He straightened up, his angry look replaced with one of pride.

“Oh.” Well, at least Clayton was right and Justin hadn’t touched the girl yet. “Great.”

“Great?” He narrowed his eyes.

“I mean I’m glad I got here before you needed me.” I needed to be more careful.

“Is there anything else, or will you be leaving for the staff housing? I assume someone can set you up with whatever you need.”

I needed to think fast. I’d achieve nothing if I didn’t, besides I wasn’t leaving until I saw Hope with my own eyes. I needed to make sure she was okay.

“Hi.” The screen door pushed open, and I saw a flash of blonde hair before Justin stepped back as if to block her.

“Hi.” I tried to see around him, but he noticed and made sure to keep her out of my view.

She stepped around him, and I had to act fast to hide my reaction. My heart rate went through the roof, and my body reacted to her immediately. She was gorgeous. Completely and utterly gorgeous. Her long blond hair was the least of her features; her big blue eyes nearly undid me, as did the curves hidden beneath her pale pink sundress.

I tried to compose myself. I needed to, for both of our sakes. “Hi, I’m Ryan.” Lying to her seemed like the most reproachful thing to do, so I introduced myself with only my last name. Technically I answered to that name all the time.

“Clayton sent us a doctor. He was concerned you might need him if you got pregnant.” Justin kept his eyes on me as he spoke, as if he were afraid I’d do something if he turned his back. I wanted to do something. I wanted to pull her into my arms and run off with her. I’d never been hit with such a strong urge in my life.

“I’m not going to get pregnant because I’m not going to have sex with you.” She glared at him. “Besides what happened to your whole the second I agree to your ridiculous mating BS we go home?” She put a hand on her hip. “Was that a lie too? Like everything else you and your family have said to me over the past four years?”

Guilt welled in me. I was going to have to lie to her too. But not for too long. In less than two days I’d get her far away from the Wellingtons and tell her the truth. I thought over the rest of her comment. Four years? She’d been involved with these guys for four years, and it had only gotten to this point now?

“I assume Clayton sent him so he could be with us on the trip back.” He shot me a look that said it all. If I disagreed I’d be sorry.

I had no interest in starting a fight yet. Right now I had to find a way to get a few minutes alone with Hope.

“Would you like to join us for lunch?” Hope smiled at me. “We’d love the company.”

Justin looked anything but happy about that idea, but I wasn’t going to say no to her.

“Sure, that would be great. I haven’t eaten in hours.”

“I’m sure the doctor would like to get set up in his new room.” Justin sent me another look, this one slightly less intense.

“He can after he eats. Or do you think he won’t like what I made. Is that it? You don’t think I can cook?” She frowned. “I knew it.”

“That’s not what I’m saying at all.” He shook his head vigorously. “You know that.”

I had to give it to her. She knew how to work the guy.

“I don’t know what else you could be implying.” She crossed her arms over her chest, in the process pulling the fabric of her dress tightly against her, and giving me more of a clue of what lay beneath.

I pulled my eyes away before either of them caught me staring.

“I meant what I said. He doesn’t want to sit around with us.”

“Lunch sounds wonderful.” I smiled at her, careful to keep my eyes on her face.

“Even after your long flight?” Justin wasn’t hiding his thoughts on the matter.

“The long flight makes his staying more important. He needs to eat before he goes to sleep. You remember what happened to me when I waited too long to eat.” Hope’s smile had turned into a frown. Thankfully it was directed toward Justin and not me. I already wanted her happy with me.

“Were you sick?” I asked entirely too fast. Then again, I was supposed to be a doctor so maybe I had an excuse for my concern.

“I was. I passed out even.”

“Too much sun, too little food.” Justin put his arm around her.

She tried to shrug him off, but his arm didn’t move. “He’s a doctor, you shouldn’t lie to him. I was upset about the situation.”

“She was surprised. Upset isn’t the right word.” He pulled her tight against her side.

My wolf stirred inside, ready to pounce. Every part of me rebelled against seeing him touch her.

“Upset is exactly the right word.” She knocked her hip into him. This action seemed to surprise him, because seconds later she slipped away.

Well. At least I knew Clayton was right about one thing. She wasn’t mating with Justin. That brought me far more relief than I’d initially expected.

“I’ll be right back.” She walked back inside.

“What else did my brother tell you?” Justin asked as soon as she disappeared inside.

“Not all that much. He insinuated you would feel better if I were around. He didn’t mention you’d be so surprised.”

“We are here for privacy. We don’t need any extra staff.” He glanced back at the screen door.

I waited until he’d turned back toward me. “I will do my best to stay out of your way.”

“No need for that. We love the company.” Hope pushed open the screen door with her hip. She stepped outside holding a large red bowl, three smaller bowls, and some forks and napkins. “I made a seafood salad. I hope you like it.”

“I am sure I will.” I took the large bowl from her and brought it over to the table.

“We have staff to cook and serve us, Hope.” Justin whispered, but I could still hear.

“And I don’t want someone else making all my food.” She gritted her teeth. “I’m already having trouble trusting you enough to sleep, do I also need to worry about what someone puts in my food?” She turned to me. “How about some sun tea? I figured I’d make some lemonade from my lemons.” She poured three glasses before I could say anything.

She walked over and handed me one.

“Thanks.” I accepted the cold glass.

“You are very welcome.” She smiled. “Do you know anything about gynecology, Ryan?” She used just my name rather than a title. Well, my last name, but she didn’t know that. That momentarily distracted me from her question. Gynecology? Where was this going?

“Of course he does. Didn’t you hear what Dr. Ryan said about pregnancy?”

“Pregnancy is obstetrics, not gynecology.” She carried the remaining two glasses to the table. “Of course I get that they are related and a doctor would normally study both, but so much is weird here that you never know. I wanted to make sure.”

“I know some.” Almost nothing.

My answer seemed to be enough. She set down the remaining glasses on the table. “Is there a way to prove that a woman isn’t a virgin?”

I coughed. Thinking about virgin status with Hope wasn’t good for my health.

“Hope. Stop.” Justin’s face reddened.

“No. He’s a doctor, so I might as well ask him. There’s no way to prove that, right? I mean because of the whole tampons and riding a horse thing.”

“Uh, no. No way to prove that, but why would you need to prove that?” I looked between them.

Hope took a seat. “He doesn’t believe that I’ve had sex before, and I don’t want him misinformed.”

I sat down on one side of her. “Why would you lie to him?”

“Because she thinks it makes me want her less.” Justin begrudgingly took the seat on the other side of her.

“And does it?” I watched as Hope scooped some of the salad into one of the bowls.

“It wouldn’t, but she’s lying.”

In any other situation, I would have politely excused myself from the very awkward conversation, but this wasn’t any other situation. I wasn’t leaving Hope alone with this guy any more than I had to, and I needed to get answers from him.

“I’m not a virgin. End of the story.” As if she were talking about the weather, she went about filling the other bowls. She handed one to me. “I wish you weren’t in on all this too.”

“In on what?” I accepted the bowl. The seafood salad looked good—although it wasn’t something I’d ever eaten before.

“You think what he’s doing to me is acceptable.” She sipped her tea. “Sorry, scratch that, what his whole family is doing to me. None of them are innocent.”

Hmm. I wonder what Clayton would think of that. She didn’t seem particularly happy with him.

Justin groaned. “When are you going to stop? You are being ridiculous.”

“I’m being ridiculous?” She glowered. “You’re the one who tricked me.”

“As you just stated, it wasn’t just me.” He leaned back and looked up at the sky.

“It was your whole family.” She slammed a fist on the table. “Do you know how he got me here?” She turned toward me as she asked the question.

“He doesn’t care.” Justin took a large gulp of his tea.

“You do care, don’t you? Even if you don’t, please nod so I can say it. I really want to say it out loud to remind myself this is real.” There was such a sadness in her voice; it made her seem more vulnerable. She was strong, there was no question about that, but she’d been put in an impossible situation.

Justin groaned. “You’ve said it out loud to me plenty.”

“That doesn’t count.”

“How could it not count?” Justin ran his finger over the rim of his glass.

She rolled her eyes.

I nodded, letting her know I very much did want to hear.

She noticed my nod and smiled ever so slightly. I would never get tired of that smile. I only wished there was true happiness in it. “My ex-best friend set me up.”

“She’s still your best friend. She did this for both of us.” Justin sighed.

“My ex-best friend, also known as his sister, set me up. She asked me to fly out here, and her brothers and dad said I needed to help bring her home. Me being a gullible idiot got on the plane with this guy.” Hope pointed at Justin. “Biggest mistake of my life. Well, after taking a job working at Wellington & Sons, oh and being friends with Mirabella. Really I’ve been making horrible decisions since meeting her. In a perfect world I’d get to redo my college years cutting her out of them, but since this isn’t a perfect world I’d settle for getting off this island.”

“You are going to get off this island. We won’t stay much longer if you just own up to what you really want.” Justin rocked back in his chair.

“What I want is for you to leave me alone and take me home.” She pushed away her chair. “Or better yet just send me home. I don’t need to make that trip with you.” She turned and started back around to the boardwalk.

“Don’t go too far. I’m not in the mood to chase after you,” Justin called.

“Oh no. I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you,” she shot over her shoulder.

I wanted to go after her. I wanted to tell her she’d be safe now, but I couldn’t. I remembered Asher’s words. Millions of humans. I had to get the info I came for.

Justin turned back toward me. “She’s a bit dramatic.”

“She’s upset.”

“Who’s side are you on?” He got up poured some scotch into his drink. “I need this.”

“I’m not on anyone’s side. I mean I work for you, but…” I wasn’t sure what the right answer was.

“Then you’re on my side.”

“What made you decide now was the time?” I asked as innocently as possible. My thoughts were on Hope. Was she safe? Surely none of the staff on the island would hurt her. And if there was real danger Justin would have run after her. He wasn’t going to let anyone else touch her.

He took a long swig of his drink. “She’s twenty-two.”

I said nothing. Twenty-two. Was that something special?

“I gave her a few months after her birthday, but nothing changed. I was going to wait another month but Clayton told me I couldn’t.”

“You listen to your brother?” I took a chance. Maybe if I could get him talking about Clayton he’d open up.

“Not on most things, but he knows losing her isn’t an option for me.”

“And how would you lose her? Was she into someone else?” I knew I was treading on thin ice, but it felt like the way to go.

“No, but it wouldn’t take long at Wellington before she figured out what we were and what we were working with. She’s human, it would have freaked her out.”

“But if she’s your mate she can’t freak out and run.” At least that’s how I understood it working.

“Exactly. Like I said, I can’t lose her.”

“You were worried she’d be upset you were a wolf?” If so she’d have an issue with me as well.

“That and that we deal with weapons. She’s the kind of girl who hates hunting. She hates guns. She couldn’t hurt a fly.”

“So, what does she think you guys do?” They were unnaturally good at making up stories.

“Computers. She thinks we sell computer components and chips.”

“How’d you manage to keep her away from the truth?” She’d known them for four years. Surely someone would have slipped.

“We choose carefully what work she gets.”

“What about the merger?” I had him talking, I needed to push him to continue. “She has to know about it.” I had to keep my cover, but I couldn’t forget the real reason I was there.

“She thinks it’s a rival company. We’ve been careful how much we’ve said.”

“It must be hard.” I kept my voice even. “Keeping so much from the girl you care about.”

“It is, but like I said, she’d have run and that would have made things difficult. It sucks to be Kenai. We have such few chances to find a mate.”

“I know what you mean.”

“Haven’t found anyone yet?” He returned to the bar and filled the remainder of his glass with what I assumed was whiskey.

“Not yet.”

He held up the glass bottle. “Want some of this instead of your tea?”

“No thanks.” Alcohol didn’t affect me much, but that didn’t mean I was interested in diluting my senses at all.

“I met Hope when I was twenty-one. It’s been hell waiting for her, but some things are worth waiting for.” He took a big swig before returning to his seat.

“I can see why she would be.” I definitely could, but that didn’t mean I wanted him to know it. He’d probably fight me if he had any clue the thoughts going through my head about her.

He set down his glass. “What else did my brother tell you?”

“Tell me about what?” I wondered if my comment had gone too far. It wasn’t as if I could lie and say she was unattractive.

“He really sent you here in case Hope was pregnant? That’s insane. We’ve only been here a few days.”

Maybe Justin wasn’t as gullible as his brother thought. “But you have to be careful with a Kenai pregnancy.”

“Of course, but unfortunately that may take a while. I trust you had no plans to get home anytime soon.” He pushed his chair back and put his feet up on the table. And he wondered why Hope didn’t want him?

“I wanted to work for my own kind. I don’t mind waiting.”

“Yeah, I bet taking orders from humans was a pain.” He downed the rest of his drink.

“It was what it was, but I’d rather be here. Not a bad climate either.”

“No, not at all. Perfect for all sorts of things.” He gazed out at the water.

“What do you guys use this place for when not this?” I carefully avoided pointing out exactly what this meant.

“Storage, meetings sometimes. Messing with new formulas we can’t risk getting out.”

“But all that stops when you rent the island out, or use it yourself for things like this?”

“The mating use is new, and it’s just cover against the other families.”

“Yeah, I figured that much.”

“Will you help me?” His expression grew serious.

“Help with what?” I asked cautiously.

“Getting Hope to come around. She’s been freezing me out worse than normal.”

Of course she was. He’d kidnapped her. Was he a complete idiot? I couldn’t say any of that out loud. “Of course. I’ll talk to her.”

“Great. Maybe she’ll relax knowing she’s not alone here. I think that’s the part that’s freaking her out.”

“Regretting picking the isolation?”

“No.” He took his feet off the table. “This stays between you and me.”

“Of course.”

“She had a thing for Clayton. I needed to get her away from him.”

“Did he know that? That why he suggested you guys come?” I wasn’t going to admit his words came as no surprise to me.

“He knows if I mate the pressure is off of him. Our family line continues, and everything is fine. He can just have fun with whatever women he wants and run the business.”

“But you want to mate.” I sipped my sweet tea. The ice had long ago melted, but it was still cold enough.

“I want Hope. Once I met her I knew.”

“Where does your sister fit in all this? Did she know all along?” Hope had seemed particularly upset about the sister.

“She assured me it wouldn’t come to this. She thought when Hope realized she couldn’t have Clayton, she’d transfer those feelings over to me.”

“But it didn’t work?” Hope had referred to the sister as her ex-best friend. Assumingly her best friend would know how serious her feelings were for Clayton, which suggested either Hope wasn’t serious about him, or the sister was lying.

“Guess not. Clayton said he’d tried to let her down easy, but she didn’t seem to get it.”

“Hope seems like a smart girl.” I chose my words more carefully this time.

“She is.”

“Is there anything in particular you want me to tell her? You know, to convince her?”

“I don’t know. I can’t tell how much of this comes from her still wanting Clayton, and how much is nerves.”

“Maybe it’s a mix.”

“Maybe.” He stood and looked out over to the water. “I don’t recognize your name? What family line were you born into?”

“None. I was raised by humans.”

“Oh yeah?” His eyes widened. “And you never found out who your parents were?”

“I never cared to. I figured things out on my own.”

“Impressive.” He turned back toward the water.

“Not really.”

“Well, we’re always looking for new blood. Play your cards right, and you’ll be inducted.”

“That’s the hope.” Both Wellington brothers seemed to think that’s what I wanted. In truth I wanted nothing to do with their family, nor any like it.

He smiled. “Good. I was worried you were hiding something. Now I know what it is. There’s nothing wrong with ambition.”

“No. There’s not.”

“Just like there’s nothing wrong with hiding your ambition.”

“Oh yeah? You know that from experience?”

“I do.” He smiled, and I realized there might just be more to Justin than met the eye.

I also realized this talk wasn’t going to lead to any new information. My best bet was to find Hope. “Any idea where Hope might be?” Even talking about her sent a thrill through me. “I can go talk to her.”

“She’ll stay close to the water. Follow the beach and you’ll find her.”

“I’ll make sure she’s okay.”

“Don’t let her fool you though. She wants this. It’s all Clayton and nerves, that’s it. She’s been into me for years. She’s just repressing it.” His eyes were darker now.

“I’ve heard of that happening.” Pretending to agree was getting easier.

“One day she’ll appreciate all the things I did for her.”

“Oh yeah?” This guy was completely crazy, but I wanted to hear what he had to say.

“Yeah. I did more for her than anyone in my family even knows.” He put a hand to his chest. “More than she even knows.”

“That’s dedication.”

“And I would do it all over again. You get it? I’d kill for her.”

“Have you?” I wasn’t sure what made me ask, but I did. I needed to get a better idea of who this Justin really was.

“I’ll leave that up to you to decide.” He smirked. “Go talk to her.”

I turned around without another word. This situation was getting stranger by the minute.