o 35b0a02a46796a4f (22 page)

Cade lifted his gaze. “She needs to know.”

“Know what?” she asked. “And he, who?”

Cade put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her against his side. Alex was so startled she let him. Then it felt so nice, she didn’t move away. She couldn’t remember the last time anyone had touched her with anything but violence or lust.

Or in the case of Barlow—violence
and
lust.

“There’s a secret society,” he began.

“That’s enough.”

Alex glanced over her shoulder. Barlow’s nostrils flared, his eyes, fixed on Cade’s arm, blazed. What was he so mad about?

“I’ll tell her,” he said.

“I don’t mind.” Cade smiled, and Alex smiled back. She ‘felt so much more at ease with Cade than she could ever feel with his brother. “Besides, you’ve got places to go, Inuit to see.”

“Just find out what’s wrong with her.” Julian plucked his brother’s arm off Alex’s shoulder, snatched her by the wrist, and yanked her with him toward the door.

“Keep your skin on!” she said, hanging back.

Fury flashed, and for an instant she thought he might, grab her by the throat. Instead, he bent, hitting her in the gut with his shoulder and effectively stifling any further protest before he lifted her over his back and headed down the corridor.

By the time she recovered her breath, he’d kicked open the rear door and fresh air wafted across her overheated face. “What is
wrong
with you?”

He unceremoniously dumped her to the ground. The only reason she didn’t land on her ass in the snow was that she was getting more lithe on her feet with each passing hour.

His eyes still blazed; his voice now rumbled between wolf and man. “What we’re concerned with here is what’s wrong with you.”

“There’s nothing wrong with me that you didn’t
make
wrong with me,.”

Barlow turned away, presenting her with his back as he leaned against the white building. “You need to leave Cade alone,” he said. “He has work to do. You can’t.
.
. fuck with him like you fuck with me.”
-

Alex stiffened. “Excuse me?”

Obviously Barlow didn’t hear the danger in her voice, because he just kept talking.

“He’s innocent. A bit of a doofus. He’s spent his life trying to heal people. All he cares about is helping others.”

“ I bet I could make him care about me.”

Barlow spun so fast she didn’t have time to move away. Not that she would have. She’d meant to poke the beast.

He’d poked her.

“Leave him alone.” His skin rippled. He was losing control.

Good. So was she.

Alex stepped in close; her voice so that even super-wolf had to lean in to hear what she said. “You think I just bang anyone who comes along?” She lifted her eyes and showed her fury. “Like you?”

He snapped, grabbing her by shoulders and dragging her against him. Despite her Sweater and his flannel shirt, she could feel the heat wafting off him like the waves of the sun across the asphalt in August.

“You’ll bang no one,” he said between gritted teeth. “Except me.”

Julian wanted to kiss her. He wanted to throw her on the ground and do a helluva lot more than kiss. Ever since he’d walked into his brother’s lab and seen them together, so comfortable, so at ease, he’d been itching to remind her to whom she belonged.

He shook his head. What was he thinking? She didn’t belong to him. He didn’t want her to.

As if she’d read his mind, Alex snapped, “You don’t own me, Barlow.”

“No?” he murmured, and lowered his mouth to the pale skin visible above the sweater and below her ear.

She stiffened, straining to get away, but he was stronger than she was; he always would be. She kicked him; he barely felt it, the scent of her calling him home.

He took a fold into his mouth and suckled, tongue pressing against the pulsing vein, and she stilled, going pliant in his arms. His hands slid around her back, then down her pants. He cupped her cheeks, warming himself before he slid his thumb along the crevice.

“Ahem.”

Julian registered the sound of throat clearing like the buzz of a fly—annoying but it could be ignored.

“Ahem!”

Or not.

He kept his hands right where they were and raised his head. The mark left by his mouth resembled a full moon.

Even as he admired it, the hickey began to fade. He grit his teeth against the nearly overwhelming urge to put it there again.

Julian lifted his gaze a bit more and met his brother’s.

“I wanted to talk to Alex,” Cade said. “I’ll come back when you’re finished.”

Alex tensed as if to pull away, but with his palms still cupping her ass. . . wasn’t happening.

“Shh,” Julian murmured, tugging her closer, pressing a kiss to her brow.

She jerked away. “What are you
doing?”

He blinked. What had he been doing? Comforting her, cuddling her, as if what he felt for her was more than lust, as if what he felt for her was—

Julian yanked his hands out of her pants and took one giant step backward, even as she tried to move away, snagged her clumpy rubber heel on the snow, and began to windmill her arms so she wouldn’t fall.

Cade smoothly stepped up, caught her around the waist, and set her on her feet. Alex peered over her shoulder and smiled at him in a way she’d never’ once smiled at Julian.

“Stop growling,” she said without even glancing in Julian’s direction. Then she covered Cade’s hands, which still rested on her hips, with her own. “Thanks.”

Julian had never seen her behave so gently, or, speak the same. He hadn’t believed that she could. What he really couldn’t believe was that he yearned to have her speak like that to him.

And because he did, Julian turned and walked away.

Barlow disappeared into his house. The slam of the door echoed in the still morning air. Alex understood the sentiment. Anger, hatred, lust—that she could get behind. But when he’d gone gentle on her, kissing her forehead, mur-

muring into her hair...

What the hell had just, happened?

“He was marking you,” Cade murmured.

Alex turned her attention from Barlow’s house to his brother, who seemed far more amused than he should be.

“There’s a mark?”

Cade lifted his hand, and his fingers brushed the place on her neck that still burned from Julian’s mouth. “Not anymore?’

Cade’s touch was all business—like a physician during an exam. Nevertheless, Alex stepped out of his reach, suddenly uncomfortable. “Why would he do that?”

“You’re his. He wanted me to know it?’

Alex didn’t bother to correct him. Right now, she
felt
his—chosen, branded. . marked.

“It’s a wolf thing,” Cade continued. “Sometimes we pee on trees.”

“I guess I should be glad he wasn’t a wolf when he decided to mark me.”

Cade’s lips quirked. “I guess.”

“Is everyone in town going to think I’m—”

“His?” Cade’s smile deepened. “They already do.”

“What?”

The word erupted, loud and confrontational, causing a middle-aged man who’d just come out of his house to glance across the street in their direction.

“Morning, Barry!” Cade lifted a hand, and after a few more seconds’ contemplation Barry bent, picked up his newspaper—The
Werewolf Gazette?—and
went inside.

Cade tilted his head and observed Alex as if she were a fascinating new specimen. “Julian hasn’t brought a new wolf to town since—” He paused and unease flickered over his face.

“Since Alana?” Alex asked.

Cade’s eyes widened. “He told you about her?”

Alex shrugged. He had; then again he hadn’t.

“If he didn’t bring you here for himself,” Cade murmured, “then why did he bring you?”

She wasn’t going to touch
that
question with a ten-foot pole.

“You’ll have to ask him,” she said. “You wanted to talk to me?”

“I heard they were looking for a waitress at the coffee shop.”

“And this is something I need to know why?”

“Thought you might want a job. I know you said you weren’t a cop—” His forehead creased. “But Julian said you were.”

“PI,” Alex supplied. God, she was so good at lying it was kind of embarrassing. “Not really a cop, but chose.”

“Well, we don’t need a cop or a PT in Barlowsville, but we do need a waitress at the coffee shop. I bet you could handle it.”

“Maybe,” she allowed.

“It’s a great job for someone who’s new to town,” Cade continued. “Everyone drops by eventually. And once they know you’re working there, they’ll drop by even quicker.”

“Why’s that?”

“They’ll want to talk to you. Get to know you and let you get to know them?’ Cade opened the door, taking a step inside before glancing back. “If you’re interested, just ask for Rose.”

Alex had considered going door-to-door, or accosting people in the streets for answers. She could have made the case that she just wanted to get to know everyone, but she figured that would sound fishy. The coffee shop was the perfect cover. She could talk to people and get a peek at them. See if they had any telltale burn marks.

The owner, Rose Bianchi—not a mark on her that Alex could see—was so thrilled to have an applicant that Alex feared the woman might hug her.

“You can start today?” she asked, her fluffy, white halo of hair bobbing above cheeks the same shade as her name. “Right now?”

“I don’t know anything about being a waitress,” Alex lied. It wasn’t as if she could mention all the towns where she’d picked up a few days’ work for tips just so she could buy another box of silver bullets.

“What’s to know?” Rose asked, handing her an apron, and her own pencil and pad. “You write down what they want; then you bring it to them.”

The place smelled like every diner Alex had ever been in. Coffee and fried eggs, bacon and toast. What had she thought they’d serve? People burgers?

“What happened to your last waitress?” Alex asked.

“She’s working at the bookstore now.” Rose shrugged. “Folks switch around. After a few decades, even a job like this gets boring.” -

“Even a job like this?” Alex repeated.

“We’re always busy. Got something new on the menu every day?’

She indicated the chalkboard where the specials had

been written in a precise, curving hand. Today’s omelet contained apples, spinach, and bacon, while the pancake of the day was cranberry nut. Alex realized she hadn’t eaten since yesterday. Luckily free food came with the job. She wondered if they’d care if she ordered
all
the specials at once.

“Always someone to talk to. Stories to hear,” Rose continued, patting Alex’s arm with a surprisingly soft, supple palm. Didn’t waitresses usually have rough skin? Although anyone that could heal a knife to the throat was going to heal dishpan hands in a jiffy. “You’re gonna love it.”

“Thanks,” she said.

Rose grinned, exposing slightly crooked but very white teeth. “I’ll be right there.” She pointed at the ancient cash register near the front.

Sometimes this town seemed like the land that time forgot. Then someone would wheel in on a snowmobile, or turn up the sound on their iPod, earbuds trailing into the pocket of their plaid flannel shirt, or share the latest
Saturday Night Live
skit, as the guys at the corner table appeared to be doing.

“That’s Joe behind the grill.” Rose lifted her chin to indicate the equally white-haired man flipping pancakes as he sang a song about the moon, and an eye, and a big pizza pie. He saluted them both with his spatula, but the look he leveled at Rose was pure devotion.

“Husband?” Alex guessed.

“Nearly a hundred and eighty years now.” Rose winked and headed for the register.

“A hundred and eighty years,” Alex echoed. She couldn’t imagine. She’d kill Barlow before the first year was through.

Alex jolted at her thoughts. She wasn’t going to marry Barlow. She wasn’t going to marry anyone. She was going to find the werewolf she’d come here to find, kill it, then run.

Once she got to work, Alex discovered that Rose was right. The job wasn’t hard. For a werewolf.

Alex had superior strength and amazing stamina, even in this form, so being on her feet for hours, carrying heavy trays loaded with equally heavy plates, setting them down, picking them up, and running, running, running...

Not a problem.

However, if she’d been human she’d have washed out in an hour. The place was unbelievably busy, with wave after wave of customers filling the seats. Did anyone in the entire village eat breakfast at home?

A second waitress, who introduced herself as Cyn— short for Cynthia—and appeared to have been a waitress since the dawn of time, or perhaps the mid-1950s considering her red beehive and tendency to crack gum at the end of every sentence, handled most of the booths, leaving Alex the counter.

“That way you’ve only gotta deal with one person’s order at a time,” she said as she hurried by with a tray of coffee, juice, and tea for the local bridge club.

Alex couldn’t help but stare at the table full of elderly ladies, who twittered and laughed and discussed rubbers, slams, and dummies with great animation. She had to remind herself that they were
werewolves.

Then she got a flash of the same ladies sitting around the table in wolf form, pearls still encircling their hairy necks, earrings swaying from their pointy ears, tasteful pink nail polish adorning their claws as they finished a hand of duplicate.

“I bet if I painted that on velvet, it would be a surefire hit,” Alex murmured. “Bigger even than the poker-playing dogs.”

“Order up!” Joe sang.

Joe sang everything. Alex had yet to hear him simply speak, and whenever his wheel was empty, he performed songs by someone he referred to as Dino. Everyone in the restaurant went silent when that happened. Joe had a fantastic voice.

He also had both his ears and no visible scars, as did Cyn and everyone else Alex had encountered so far.

The order, for the dapper gentleman at the end of the counter, consisted of three eggs poached, sausage, bacon, cakes,
and
toast, as well as home fries with onions and mushrooms. Everyone at the EAT Café consumed enough food for a ravenous wolf.