Chapter Seven
“Anything?” Leif said, stepping into Erik’s office.
Erik shook his head, setting down the old book he’d been reading. He spied Lillian sitting there quietly just outside at her desk. He sighed.
The woman hadn’t said much after the man died in her arms. He had tried to convince her to go home, but she said she didn’t really want to be alone.
It was hard to argue with that, especially considering the shock she was likely in. Most people could go a long time without seeing a man die right in front of them.
The only thing Erik could do was instruct Margaret to go easy on her. It was something he could tell the older woman wasn’t thrilled about, but she wasn’t exactly thrilled about anyone unless they had a dick. If she wasn’t otherwise so good at her job, he might have fired her a long time ago.
Leif closed the door and took a seat across from him.
“Did you find anything?” Erik said.
He’d left Leif at the accident scene to see if he could sense anything while he ushered Lillian into the building. After that Leif checked around the area.
Something strange had happened, and that was saying something given that they were both werewolves.
Leif shook his head. “What the fuck was that? We didn’t imagine it.”
“No, we didn’t. There was some sort of light around her.”
He’d been asking himself the same question all morning.
Erik still couldn't get what had happened out of his mind, trying to find some evidence to explain who or what the hell Lillian was.
He still wasn’t sure what the hell had happened. One second they had been talking and the next she was kneeling next to the dying man, offering the poor man some sort of comfort in his final moments.
Erik had been in awe of her as she spoke softly to the man, helping to ease the pain. He hadn’t thought much about it at first, thinking she was just showing some kindness and bravery in a dying man’s last few moments.
Then the unearthly glow filled the air around her. Whatever it was, it was not natural.
He couldn’t exactly make out what he was seeing, but it stunned him for a moment. By the time he had regained his senses, the man was dead, and a lone white feather floated down to his feet.
Erik closed the large old book he’d been reading with a loud thump. He picked up the feather sitting on the desk and carefully swirled it between his fingers. The pristine white color was remarkable. He’d never seen a feather so white in his whole life.
He brought it to his nose and breathed in deeply. Surely there had to be some hint of something.
Cocoa? What the hell? It was like the universe was playing a big joke on him.
“Maybe it came off her dress,” Erik offered.
Even as he said it, he didn’t believe it. The soft white sweater dress she wore looked nothing like the feather.
“And the light?” Leif asked.
Erik shrugged. “Reflections off the snow?”
That might explain it. Maybe. Still the answer didn’t feel right, but it was better than the whole lot of nothing they currently knew.
The fact was Lillian didn’t appear to be anything more special than a temp. Nothing else about her was out of the ordinary, and she certainly didn’t act like someone who was sent to spy on them. The man’s death seemed to take a lot out of her emotionally, another sign she wasn’t some sort of hardened supernatural assassin.
As far as Erik had been able to tell, she was proficient at her job and didn’t cause much trouble. Lillian was just… normal.
But even that didn’t seem right. There was something about her. Not just the glow. He’d felt it again today he held her in his arms, something pulling the two of them together every time they were near one another.
The more he thought about it, the more he could feel his wolf start to pace inside. She called out to the animal in him, and something about that scared the ever-loving shit out of him, especially since she might be more than she appeared.
He worked hard to contain his wolf. Letting his wolf rule him wasn’t an option. Erik had real problems to deal with, and the wolf wouldn’t let him achieve his goals if it gained control.
Part of him wanted to call Nan and see what she had to say, but he knew that she would make this more than what it was. Or at least more than what he wanted to make it out to be, which was an isolated incident.
“What are we going to do?” Leif said.
Erik placed the feather back on the desk and looked across to his friend. “Nothing.” He leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head, stretching a little after sitting so long. “We don’t know what it was that we saw, and as far as I can tell, she isn’t acting any differently,” he said. “So we watch her and see.”
Leif nodded to the door. “And she wouldn’t go home.”
Erik shrugged again. “Said she didn’t want to be alone.”
“And that’s not strange? The woman just had someone die in her arms, and she’s sitting happily at her desk like some sort of Angel of Death.”
Erik frowned. “She’s not the angel of death. And from the look I saw on her face, I wouldn’t say she’s all that happy.”
“She’s not exactly crying about it either.” Leif sighed loudly. “I think your judgment might be slightly clouded when it comes to Lillian.”
Erik felt a low rumble come from his chest. The wolf eager to be uncaged.
Leif held up a hand. “She’s special,” he said quietly, clearly realizing just how on edge Erik was. “There is something at work between you two. Whatever else she might be, that much is clear.”
Erik snorted. “There’s nothing at work here. She’s clumsy and runs into people.”
Leif raised a brow, and Erik couldn’t say it without a sliver of doubt. Something clawed at him, as if telling him something was strange about this whole thing even before the light and feather.
“You know what your Nan would say.”
Erik grunted and stretched out his legs under the desk. He could feel the wolf looking for a reason to fight. “Nan has let her view on things be tainted by myths. Those are just old stories and legends. They aren’t real.”
“Are you kidding me?” Leif snorted loudly. “I can’t believe you can still say that when we live in the world as werewolves and have dealings with vampires on a regular basis. We are the thing that myths are made from.”
Erik didn’t have an answer to that really. They did live in a world that was beyond strange, but if they just started believing any old myth, where did that leave them? He needed something concrete to believe in, and that was what he could see in front of him, even if it was werewolves and vampires.
A small knock came from the door.
“Let’s keep this between us,” Erik said quietly.
Leif nodded.
“Come in.”
He was surprised to see Tyr step into the room and close the door. The tall man wasn’t the talkative sort, so seeing him in the office was very unusual.
“Something wrong?” Erik asked.
Tyr sat hard in the other chair. “It’s Hall.” He sighed.
Erik frowned. After everything else that had happened this morning, he was surprised Tyr was in to talk about his brother.
“Is he not working out? I thought he was handling the new position well.”
Tyr shook his head. His shaggy blond hair slipped in front of his eyes. “It’s not that,” he said. “He’s been restless recently. Snapping from time to time. I’ve tried to figure out what’s going on, but he doesn’t have a good answer. I think he’s having trouble dealing with not having the freedom of the land.”
Finally, something Erik could actually understand and handle.
“We were all like that at his age.” He laughed. “He just needs a chance to blow off a little steam. Maybe learn a thing or two.” He rubbed his chin. “A little dog fight would do us all some good.”
“Really?” Leif raised a brow. “You sure?”
Erik shrugged. “Why not? It’s been a while, and it’s a Friday. Perfect time as any for this. Let the boys know there’s going to be a dog fight after closing.”
If he were being totally honest, he needed this as much as the men did. It had been a while since he’d let the wolf out, and the animal paced restlessly inside him.
Tyr let out a breath, his shoulders relaxing. They all knew burning off a little steam in human and then wolf form was the best way to help. Well, that or a little time between the sheets.
Erik’s mind instantly conjured up the pretty blonde just on the other side of the door. He could feel his dick grow hard at just the idea of slipping between her thighs.
He grunted. Maybe Leif was on to something. Lillian did seem to occupy his thoughts more than even he was comfortable with. Even if he did want to bed her, that didn’t mean there would ever be the chance for something more, especially if she was more than she appeared. It was better to put her out of his mind and burn off a little pent-up energy.
"This new group of men in general doesn't have near the discipline that we did coming up,” Erik said. “They're quick to anger and can't hold their own in a fight because of it. It’s not enough to just have instinct, especially against things like vampires.”
Leif and Tyr both nodded, though the first man didn’t seem as excited.
Erik hadn’t forgotten what it was like to be young with all those raging hormones kicking in and no guidance on the land aside from a few elders left.
It had been something he and his team had learned on their own. They’d trained until they could handle the responsibility they had been given.
"It's been a while since we showed these young pups how it’s done," Erik said with a smug grin.
Tyr grinned as well. This might be the exact thing Erik needed to clear his mind of the strange woman.
“I’ll let the boys know,” Tyr said, and stood.
Leif stayed quiet until the door was closed behind the other man. “You think this is smart?”
Erik leaned forward. “I think this is needed,” he said. “Tyr wouldn’t have come in unless he was concerned. These younger men are softer, and many had parents at home. Ones to coddle them. If we don’t train them for the realities of life, they will never learn. Or worse, they’ll lose control and do something stupid that will cause problems for us all.”
Leif snorted. “You just want to take them down a peg or two.”
Erik grinned. “Someone has to show these pups how it’s done."