Leader of the Pack (13 page)

“I brought you and no,” he replied flatly. She could hear the annoyance in his voice. Something about the feel of his tone warned her to be careful. “Come here and eat. It will help with your stomach and the headache.”

Jenna got up and walked over to the bar he was standing behind. From there, she got a better view of the room. It looked to be a living room. In addition to the extravagant couches there were shelves upon shelves of books and expensive looking antiques of all kinds.
Just my style,
she thought as she mentally priced out all of the stuff in the room.

Rafe was pouring a drink for himself and her. He pushed it toward her as she sat on the leather covered stool in front of the wet bar. “This will help,” he said contemplatively.

“You seem like you’ve done this before,” she said as she accepted the drink, smelled it and then took a sip. Orange juice and vodka. There was also a plate with steak and potatoes on it. It was prepared the way someone might be served in a decent restaurant, but her stomach wasn’t willing to chance it just yet.

“A couple times,” he said with a wicked amused grin that told her it was more than a couple times. “Just eat.”

At the obvious order she immediately picked up the fork and knife and cut into the steak. She wasn’t real sure why she felt so compelled to do as she was told, but she didn’t like it.

“You’ll get used to it,” he said. When she looked up at him he had that amused grin on his face, and now she was scared. “Good,” Rafe smiled. “You’re starting to get the idea. You and I need to talk. I think you’ll find that we can arrange a mutually beneficial relationship.”

Jenna wasn’t about to be cowed that easily. At the same time she didn’t know what her position was. The last time she talked to Rafe, he had convinced her to attack Cullen Arnauk during their mating ceremony, and now she didn’t even remember what had happened. It couldn’t have gone well from the tone of things. “Alright, I’m listening, but do you think you could arrange for me to get some clothes.”

Rafe heard the demand in her voice, but at least she knew how to phrase it right, even if she didn’t have the tone correct yet.
She’s trainable. Just like any dog
, he thought. He walked across the room to a door on the far wall and went through it. Jenna watched him enter the room and see could see a bed beyond the door after the light was switched on. When he returned he was carrying a silky black robe. He handed it to her and then went over to what appeared to be the main door. Jenna had just put the robe on when he opened the door, and a large golden, tan lioness came trotting into the room. Jenna growled instinctively as the cat entered.

“Play nice ladies,” Rafe said even though the lioness gave Jenna an unimpressed look before alighting on the couch and making herself comfortable. “Jenna, this is Kara and your new escort. I suggest that if you leave these rooms, you not go without her. I can’t guarantee your safety. They do tend to have minds of their own when I’m not around.”

Katta,
Jenna thought with disgust. She wondered how many of the beasts he had here. “Where are you going and why am I staying here,” Jenna said before taking another bite of steak.

“I have business that you needn’t worry about. You are staying here so that Brennus will be good and mad before I heroically return his one and only daughter to his possession,” Rafe said dramatically, but with a tone of someone being put out.

“I’m not that dense. There’s more to it than that.” She took another bite.

He smiled at her. “Don’t you remember what we discussed before?” Jenna felt herself starting to get sleepy. His voice was hypnotic. “It’s not too late for you to mate with me. We simply won’t have Arnauk’s pack as well this way. At least not yet. You, my dear will be
the alpha’s female and I will be the Tairneach alpha. It’s what you wanted isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess,” she said softly.

“Good. Now finish eating, get a shower,” he said wrinkling his nose and stepping farther away from her, “and get some rest. You’ve got no need to leave these rooms, but if you do Kara goes with you. You’re no prisoner here Jenna,” he said with an amused look. “But our plan will work much better if you remain out of sight. I certainly think these rooms are nice enough to keep you happy for a while.”

Jenna nodded, finished her steak, and then headed for the bathroom believing that Rafe was right and her best bet would be to cooperate with him. When she disappeared into the bathroom and the shower started Kara turned from lioness into her human form. Rafe looked the woman over. She had always been one of his favorites. He had done well when he changed Kara. Golden cat eyes stared back at him. “Orders,” she asked simply.

Perfect,
he thought. “Like I said to her. She doesn’t go anywhere without you. And behave. I need her unscarred for a while. But if she balks the suggestions I gave her. Put her back in her room and lock the door. Just let her have the impression she’s in control for now. And don’t let the others mess with her either.”

The woman nodded her compliance and turned back into the cat. Rafe preferred them like that.

Chapter 7

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

-Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Cullen and Aislinn had fallen back to sleep. When the hesitant knock came on the door Cullen groaned. He looked toward the clock on the table next to the bed and saw that it was nearly 9pm. He thought about that for a minute.
Yeah, I guess it could be that late. The ceremony, the drive into town, got back here, spent the morning asleep then afternoon with Aislinn.
The knock came again, a little more insistent. Cullen hugged Aislinn to himself as he pressed his face into her hair and took a deep breath. By the time the third knock came he was crawling unhappily out of the bed. Aislinn grinned at him before she pulled the blankets back around her and cuddled down into the bed again.

Cullen headed for the door and opened it, knowing that there were only a handful of people who had the key that would get them all the way up to the penthouse. Keith was on the other side of the door. He raised his eyebrows at Cullen when he saw the man standing there completely naked and the woman in the bed beyond the door. Keith shook his head. “Please tell me she’s conscious,” he laughed.

Cullen pushed Keith out of the doorway and back into the main living area, closing the door as they went. “Yes she’s conscious,” Cullen growled but couldn’t keep the smile from belying the tone in his voice.

Keith laughed openly at that. “Okay, I don’t feel quite so used as I did before. I do believe this is the first time I’ve seen you smile in months. I think that whatever she did to put you in that mood should be bottled and put in an emergency box that the rest of us can get to and throw at you when you start getting pissy. Or we could keep here around on emergency stand by and the next time you get that glare on your face and come after one of us we can hide behind her.”

“Alright,” Cullen said seriously. “You’ve had your fun. Now what’s up?”

“Well, we can start with the fact that most everyone is back from the reservation and they all want a more thorough explanation than I have to give them. Not to mention I’ve been running interference with Celia and the rest. Everyone downstairs knows you brought her up here last night. Between Meghan asking if she’ll be back to work at all and Celia’s group trying to find out who she is and how she got this privileged so quickly, I’m going crazy. Mostly because I don’t have the answers to give them. You kinda took us all off guard on this one, my friend.”

Cullen nodded. “Sorry. I didn’t plan it. As far as explanations for everyone go, I’ll need to talk to Aislinn before I’ll have the answers to any of the questions that are going to be asked. Give me an hour and I’ll be down. Besides, I’m starving.”

Keith grinned again. “Now if I leave you two alone, you will get dressed and make it downstairs right?”

“You know,” Cullen said smugly and crossed his arms over his chest, “do I need to remind you of that little party back in Boston, new years, 1907. I don’t recall complaining about all the trouble I went through dealing with the Merick clan while you were off with the alpha’s favorite daughter.”

“Ooo, low blow,” Keith laughed. “Alright alright I’m going, before you start digging up any more dirt on me.”

“I wouldn’t have to dig long,” Cullen smiled.

“Ouch, I said I was going.” Keith headed for the elevator and hit the button. “One hour,” he reiterated as the doors slid open and he stepped inside.

Cullen ran his hand through his hair. He knew that this wasn’t going to be an easy conversation. When he opened the bedroom door and walked into the room he was seriously tempted to jump back into his bed. He couldn’t believe how much of a hold she had on him or how pleased he was by it. The word mate kept running through his mind. He didn’t want to let her be around anyone else until he made their relationship permanent. Again he found himself forcing his wolf to concede to the human logic that it just wasn’t going to work that way.

There were a number of things he needed to know from her. First, he had to find out what else she knew about what happened during the mating ceremony and how she knew about it. He wanted to know more about her, and that included her past as well as what she was. He stood there staring at her realizing how little he knew. At the same time he didn’t really care. If he didn’t need the information for protecting the pack he would have been perfectly happy just being with her.

Aislinn stared back at him. She could see him thinking. She sat up, drew her knees up to her chest, and wrapped her arms around them. She watched him and waited for him to decide what he was going to say. When he didn’t seem forthcoming with what he was thinking, she decided to break the contemplative silence. Aislinn smiled widely at Cullen. “I guess you don’t worry much about modesty around here.”

Her statement jarred Cullen out of his thought process. “Huh?”

“Do you always answer the door naked?” Aislinn almost started laughing, between his confused reaction and the look on his face.

“I knew it was probably Keith. There aren’t many people able to get all the way to my bedroom door without making a lot of noise. And for the most part, no, I don’t think much about modesty the same way you might.” Cullen’s voice was heavy and serious. Aislinn could feel the next question coming before it actually came out of his mouth. “That is if you’re human.”

Aislinn shifted awkwardly . “Well, I guess that you might have a right to ask that after the way we spent the afternoon. But I can honestly tell you that I don’t really know. Not that I see why it should matter,” she added with a knowing look. “In any case, I prefer to answer my door with clothes no matter who is there. I’ve never known any guys who were quite that free. Even with good friends. Maybe you could arrange for me to get something to wear for when I’m on my way out of here?”

“Aislinn,” Cullen came over and sat down on the bed facing her. He knew from the tone, the run-on attempt at changing the subject, and the look on her face that he was in dangerous territory. He was speaking slowly and Aislinn figured that he was choosing his words very carefully. “As far as you and I are concerned, I don’t care what you are. I want you here regardless. You can be an alien for all that matters,” he smiled at her and she smiled back at the attempt to be light hearted. “But I’m in a difficult position when it comes to balancing my personal life with protecting the pack.”

Aislinn’s face dropped and became more tired and sad. “So if I were a danger to you would you get rid of me?”

Cullen quickly moved closer to her and reached out to touch her cheek. He forced her to look into his eyes. “No. I don’t think I’d be capable of giving you up at this point. But, I need all the information I can get if I’m going to make sure everyone is safe.”

Aislinn smiled at him weakly. She put her hand on the back of his, turned her face to kiss his palm and pulled his hand away. “I’m sorry but I told you the truth. I was born human. At least I thought I was. I don’t know. Rafe,” he felt her shudder at the mention of that name, “has confused me about a lot of things.”

“Alright, so start from the beginning. Who is Rafe? How do you know him? How did you know about the things you said to me at the restaurant the other night?”

“That’s all a long story,” she said and it was apparent that she didn’t want to talk about it.

Cullen nodded. He got up and headed over to a table where he had left his phone the night before. He hit a button and waited, all the while smiling at her reassuringly. “Hey, Sarah?” Cullen paused and then growled into the phone. “I told Keith an hour. You’ll get your explanations then. For now I need you to bring some clothes up here for Aislinn. I think Rissa had a bag for her downstairs last night.” There was another pause. “I don’t know,” he answered, then looked over at Aislinn. “What size do you wear?” She raised her eyebrows as if to say the question wasn’t polite. “Oh come on,” he said exasperated. “I can’t get you clothes if I don’t know what to ask for.”

“Six,” she responded.

Cullen echoed the number into the phone. “And give me some time.” Then he hung up and walked over to Aislinn with a frustrated air.

“You know I could have just worn my work clothes.” She indicated the pile he had made the night before. “I was just giving you a hard time,” she said apologetically.

Cullen mirrored the concerned look she was giving him and shook his head. “My frustration isn’t for you. Please don’t take it like that. And the clothes aren’t an issue. There are plenty lying around here somewhere. We tend to go through them regularly,” he smiled.

Aislinn smiled back but it was only half-hearted, and when he continued it dropped from her face completely again. “I’m sorry I have to push this. But I get the impression that you know a great deal that could help with some things we’ve been having trouble coping with.”

“Can’t we just go back to having sex,” she grinned wickedly, but Cullen’s eyes told her that she needed to be serious and answer her. She shifted uncomfortably, then shot a heavy glare at Cullen. “I’m not used to being able to trust people the way you’re asking me to trust you right now.”