Chapter 9
The door opened without a knock, and Beatrice spilled into the room with Wyatt and Wes hot on her heels. The three of them circled Abraham, eyes locked on him as they waited silently for him to speak.
“Wesley, Wyatt, you’re on security detail until further notice.” He swung his arm wide to point at me. “One of you will always be with her no matter what. I want you to be her new shadow. Am I clear?”
“Abraham is that really necessary?” I asked but was ignored.
“Yes, Alpha,” both men intoned together.
“Actually, Wesley, you’re in the running for gamma, am I right?”
“Yes, Alpha,” he repeated.
Abraham scratched his scruffy jaw for a moment. “Then, Wyatt, you’ll be primary on this. Wes, you can help him if he needs you to fill in. That good?”
Both men nodded, and Abraham turned to his sister. “We think it may be one of the enforcers.”
Beatrice’s eyes widened before narrowing suspiciously. “Who’s ‘we’?”
His eyes flitted to mine and back to her. “Elizabeth and I. We think it might be a guard.”
“Why are you taking her word for it? You’ve known these men for years.”
Abraham growled and took a menacing step in her direction. “I’m not taking her word for it. I’m listening to what she has to say, and it makes a lot of sense. Who else would be able to avoid detection this long? Who knows these woods well enough to do something like this?”
Slowly she must have fit all the pieces together, because her eyes widened once again. “What do we do?”
Abraham let out a frustrated sigh and turned on his heel to pace the floor. “I don’t know!” He ran both hands through his dark hair with aggravation. “I don’t know. I never thought someone from our pack could do this, let alone one my enforcers.” He stopped pacing to spear Beatrice with a look. “They’ve all been handpicked by me. How did I let something like this slip?”
Beatrice shook her head and stayed silent.
But I couldn’t let that go.
“Abraham, he’s a psycho. He’s probably really good at lying and manipulating. It’s not your fault.”
I saw Beatrice’s head swivel in my direction, but I ignored her, so I could watch Abraham continue to pace.
“It is on me, El. Everything is on me. This is my pack and I’m supposed to keep everyone safe.”
I tried again.
“Everyone in this room has come in contact with him.” I looked at Wes, Wyatt, and finally Beatrice. “Have any of you suspected anyone?” When they all shook their heads, I turned back to Abraham. “See? None of them knew either. He’s fooled everyone.”
“She’s right, Abey,” Beatrice spoke up, and I almost sprained my neck whipping in her direction. “None of us had any idea.”
Abraham remained quiet. I couldn’t tell if our words were having an impact or not. Finally, he came to a stop in the middle of the floor with his back to us. His shoulders rose with a large breath and fell seconds later.
When he spun to face us again, his eyes were hard and determined. “Wyatt, you have your assignment for the foreseeable future.” The man nodded, and Abraham turned to Beatrice. “How are the training sessions going? It’s more important now than ever that she at least knows the basics of self-defense as a wolf.”
Beatrice’s eyes glanced my way quickly before taking an interest in the wall behind Abraham. “Um. They’re all right.”
Abraham quirked a brow and looked my way. “What is it?”
An annoyed sound grumbled from between Beatrice’s lips before she spoke up. “Look, Abraham, the truth is–”
“They’re going fine,” I interrupted, keeping my eyes locked on Abraham’s. “I’m still learning how to move as a wolf, and Beatrice is showing me some of her… techniques.”
The lies tasted horrible on my tongue, but I didn’t regret them. Abraham worried about my safety and learning to fight was his way of trying to protect me. I wouldn’t be another line creased in his forehead or something else for him to lose sleep over. He had enough to deal with without adding my petty drama with Beatrice.
I vowed then and there to find a way to work with her. She definitely wasn’t the easiest personality to get along with, but I’d met worse.
I wasn’t going to let Beatrice scare me away.
Abraham nodded, but his shrewd eyes were cataloguing everything. “That’s good to hear,” he said, his tone making it obvious he was suspicious.
Knowing that sometimes less is more, I kept my mouth shut and left it there.
Abraham ran both hands down his face again as his shoulders slumped. “All right, I need to go make a few phone calls.”
Everyone filed out of the room, Abraham the last of them. When he got to the doorway, instead of walking through it like the others, he closed it behind them. Within seconds I was in his arms with his warm lips pressed against mine.
We stood there wrapped around each other for a long time before either of us came up for a breath. When Abraham finally pulled away, he used both of his large, rough hands to cradle my face.
“I’m going to keep you safe. I promise.”
My heart clenched in my chest as tears pricked at the backs of my eyes. “I know, Abraham. I trust you.”
He closed his eyes and took a big breath, my words seeming to physically affect him. When he opened his beautiful blue eyes again, they were full of something so warm I felt it down to my fingertips. “Good,” he said before claiming my lips again.
When enough time had passed that we were both out of breath, Abraham pulled back again and dug his face into my neck taking a deep breath. “I really need to go.”
I laughed lightly and pushed at his hard chest half-heartedly. “Then go.”
He took another deep breath. “But you smell so good.”
I rolled my eyes, but I couldn’t help the stupid grin on my face. “Then you can stay and smell me if that’s what you want.”
Abraham’s deep chuckle against my skin sent shivers racing down my spine.
“Don’t tempt me.”
He ran his lips from my shoulder to my mouth before he kissed me soundly and took a few steps back. He stared at me hard and wiped his mouth with the back of his big hand. The sight sent a jolt of electricity between my legs.
Abraham halted in his retreat, eyes heating from across the room. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“Like what?” My voice was breathy and soft.
He took one halting step toward me before clenching both hands at his sides. “Soon. I’m going to do something about that look soon.” He took a deep breath. “Right after I make a few phone calls.”
With that, he spun on his heel and left the room, crossing the hall and disappearing into his office.
I took a deep breath and tried to will my heart to slow.
“Elizabeth?”
Wyatt popped his head into the open doorway. “I just wanted to let you know I’m right out here.”
Ugh.
The security detail.
“Thanks, Wyatt,” I called.
The fair-haired man nodded and retreated from the doorway, presumably to stand watch.
I stood there for a moment trying to figure out how I felt about having a two-hundred-pound shadow follow me everywhere I went from now on.
My first instinct was to fight against the notion. I was an independent woman who’d never relied on someone else in my entire adult life, and I didn’t want to start now. It wasn’t a good feeling. Like I couldn’t take care of myself. Like I needed someone else.
But the reality was, I did.
There was someone after me. Someone who’d killed seven other women. Someone who’s clearly targeting women who look like me. Someone smart enough to hide his true nature from the whole pack. A nameless, faceless threat that none of us knew how to fight.
How do you defend yourself when you don’t know who the enemy is?
With a reluctant sigh, I admitted that having a wolfy protector wasn’t the worst thing in the world. And it wouldn’t be forever. Just until we caught whoever was responsible for the murders.
But that thought brought a new one to the forefront that I hadn’t considered until now. What would be done with the killer when we found him? Were there werewolf prisons? I would assume turning him over to the authorities was out of the question. He’d have no choice but to shift every month at the full moon. How would they explain a giant wolf in a cell that should have held a man?
That must mean the pack had the intentions of being judge and jury for this guy. Would they keep him locked up? I knew werewolves were unnaturally strong. Were there steel bars that could hold one?
I didn’t know anything about werewolf justice, and that left me with an unsettling feeling. I was used to knowing the law inside and out and the consequences and repercussions of every action. Had the ability to foresee the outcome of the trials I was involved with. With this situation, I was completely in the dark.
My stomach rumbled reminding me I’d skipped lunch. Before becoming a werewolf, skipping meals was something I did regularly. Now, however, my body was quick to remind me if I wasn’t supplying it with large amounts of food.
I looked around quickly to see if Charlie had come back out after all the commotion had left the room, but sadly, my cat was still hiding. With a heaviness in the pit of my stomach, I realized I hadn’t been being a very good fur mom lately. My poor kitty has had more upheaval in his life the past couple of weeks than he’d ever had in his whole life.
It wasn’t fair to shuttle him back and forth from Raleigh to Asheville every other weekend. He didn’t like to travel, and he didn’t feel comfortable here. He didn’t have his creature comforts from home or any familiar smells to make him feel better.
I vowed then to figure out a better solution for him. I’d talk to Abraham and see if he could help me come up with something that made Charlie happier while still keeping me safe. There had to be a way to make this work, to make my old life back in Raleigh mesh with my new life here in Asheville. I just needed to figure it out.
◆◆◆
Sunday morning, I woke up warm and content, cocooned in Abraham’s warm arms. The happy feeling deep in my stomach was short-lived, however, when I remembered I was going back to Raleigh today.
I turned in his arms, careful not to wake him, until I was face to face with my werewolf.
I worked at memorizing his features as his slow, steady breaths puffed out of his swollen lips. He was so beautiful. So ruggedly handsome that it made my insides clench.
I swiped a stray lock of hair off his forehead. As soon as my fingers touched his skin, his hand darted out from beneath the covers to grasp mine. I gasped at his quick movements, always forgetting how fast werewolves could move.
He pulled my hand to his lips and pressed a long kiss against the center of my palm.
“Morning, baby,” he murmured against my skin.
Damn, I loved when he called me baby.
“Morning.”
In another quick movement, he rolled over, pulling me beneath him until I was pinned between his large, naked body and the mattress. I couldn’t think of a single place I’d rather be.
“What are you doing?” I asked breathlessly.
Abraham leaned down to my neck where he took a deep breath before biting the tender skin.
“I’m making sure you can’t leave today,” he said, voice deep and gritty against my skin.
My stomach dropped at the reminder.
“You know I have to go.”
His lips slid from my shoulder to my ear. “No. I don’t. You’ll have to remind me.” He kissed across my jaw to my chin where he stopped to nip before kissing to the other side of my face.
“Abe,” I breathed.
“Yes, baby.”
Between the gravely way he said baby and his warm lips leaving a trail of fire across my face, I didn’t know how I’d string an intelligent sentence together.
What were we talking about again?
His mouth worked down the other side of my neck, getting dangerously close to that spot right above my shoulder that I knew would send a shot of pleasure through my entire body.
Raleigh.
Right.
“I have to be in court Monday morning,” I whispered.
There. That sounded intelligent enough.
He growled against my skin, sending another shot of pleasure through me, but guilt weighed down my insides, and I reached out to cup his face. When he was finally looking at me, I stared deep into his blue eyes and tried to memorize all the different shades there.
“I don’t want to leave,” I assured him. “But I have to.”
He sighed and hung his heads between my hands. “For how long?”
“I thought I was coming back next weekend.”
He shook his head softly. “How long are we gonna do this back and forth stuff?”
My body deflated at his question. “I don’t know,” I admitted.
He pulled away until he was suspended above me. “We have to figure it out, El. I can’t lose you every week.”
I reached up to cup his face. “You’re not losing me, Abraham. I just need to work during the week.”
“Then why can’t you find a job out here?”
I looked away. “It’s not that simple.”
He made a disgruntled sound in the back of his throat and sat up, pulling away from me completely. “What’s so complicated about it? Your home is out here with us. Your place is here with me.”
His words pulled at a longing deep inside. I wanted to wake up next to him every morning. I wanted to spend every night in his arms. I didn’t want to go back to my empty apartment and leave all my friends here.
But, I couldn’t just drop everything on a whim like that.
I’d worked too hard to get where I was in my firm to just leave. I needed to think it through. Needed to make sure I was making the decision for the right reasons and not just for my libido. Because, looking at Abraham, naked in the bed with me, it’d be easy to throw all caution to the wind and just agree to move out here.
But doubts slithered through my mind, leaving a nasty film of insecurity behind them.
Things were still so new between us, what if we didn’t work out? What if living together was too much too soon, and it broke us? I wouldn’t risk my relationship with Abraham for anything.
I sat up and cupped his face again, feeling his scratchy stubble beneath my fingers. “We’ll figure it out. I promise.”
He sighed and leaned against my hand, letting me know the battle was over for now. The topic dropped, but close enough to be picked up at any time. And I knew he wouldn’t leave it alone forever. This conversation was far from over, and I needed to figure out where I stood and what I wanted before it was brought to light again.