The Finding (22 page)

Trapped
inside, always trapped inside. When will it end? Where is the
freedom to roam, to run?
Her inner wolf paced back and forth in
the cage she had imposed upon it.
A real mate, a real pack, our
own kind...

Rubbing her
forehead, Marla tried to ignore the relentless questions, the inner
agitation. Whining and complaining will do you no good, she
scolded. This is the best course for us. We never did fit into a
pack, nor enjoyed our pack mates, remember?

You
didn’t,
the wolf scolded back,
but then again you never
tried. Always out for yourself. Pack is everything, our family, our
reason for being.

Family, she
scoffed. I have no family. My father is dead, my mother left me
behind
.

You chose to
stay,
the wolf reminded her.

Only because
she didn’t really want me. No one ever really wanted me. Pack is
nothing! This, she swept her arm out encompassing the room, is
real. Clawing and scraping your way ahead, finding a secure source
of money. Then we’ll be independent and need no one.

No one
?
The wolf answered sadly
. How lonely...

Shaking her
head, Marla stood up and paced the room, trying to calm down from
the argument she’d just had with herself. Thankfully no one had
come in. She ran her fingers through her hair again and
straightened her dress. Then, chin lifted, she sat down, tucking
her chair in near the desk, once more the image of an efficient
personal assistant.

Her job had
evolved over the past few years, moving from simply being a
temporary secretary to that of personal assistant. Aldrich seldom
visited his offices anymore, conducting most of his business over
the phone or the internet, so she spent a great deal of time stuck
in his penthouse. At least if she was in an office building, she’d
be able to ogle the men that worked there. Instead, here she was
surrounded by the same boring people day after day, dealing with
Aldrich’s personal bills, consulting with his housekeeper over
menus and generally overseeing almost every aspect of his life.

At first, she’d
been pleased, seeing her work here as a stepping stone to gaining
his confidence and becoming more ‘intimately’ involved. She’d
envisioned accompanying him on business trips and to social
functions where she’d be required to wear designer gowns and drink
champagne. Instead, Aldrich had become increasingly reclusive and,
while the man allowed her to balance his household accounts, he was
proving to be annoyingly immune to her charms.

Oh, he
appreciated her physical attributes, but she never got a sense that
he truly trusted her. It was frustrating, considering all the time
and effort she’d put into this project.

See? It isn’t
worth it. We need to leave, find one who suits us better.

Marla chuckled
dryly, for once agreeing with her inner wolf. She really didn’t
wanted to marry the old man, but he was in line to receive a
considerable sum of money and some sacrifices were to be expected
if she was to get her hands on the main prize. However, she hadn’t
expected the sacrifices to be quite so...mundane.

When she’d
first begun working for Aldrich, he’d been in the hospital and
dependent on her to carry out his wishes. It had seemed a perfect
opportunity to worm herself into his life, and she’d succeeded to
some extent. In the beginning, he’d relied heavily on her, but
lately the plan was losing its momentum.

She frowned,
wondering what she was doing wrong, then smoothed her forehead so
as to not cause any wrinkles. A wrinkled brow wouldn’t help her win
over Aldrich or any other man for that matter.

A knock on the
door had her looking up and a middle aged woman popped her head in,
smiling cheerfully. “Marla, I’m just making a pot of tea, if you’d
care to have some.”

“Thank you,
Sylvia, but you can start without me. I need to clear my desk
first.” Marla returned the smile, and Aldrich’s nurse left with a
nod and a wave. As soon as the woman was out of sight, the pleasant
expression fell from her face.

Annoying old
cow. The nurse was unfailingly friendly and appeared happy to go
about her job of caring for Aldrich’s tracheotomy, claiming how
lucky she was to have landed such an easy, yet satisfying job.
Marla shuddered wondering how suctioning mucus could be viewed as
satisfying. The woman’s affable presence was grating on the nerves,
though Aldrich actually seemed to like the old biddy. They even
called each other by their first names.

Marla tightened
her lips as she recalled that not once in the three years she’d
worked for him, had Aldrich ever called her Marla. She was still
Miss Matthews’ to his ‘Mr. Aldrich.’ In fact, the few times she’d
tried to use his name and called him ‘Leon’ he stared at her as if
she’d taken leave of her senses.

Briefly, she
wondered if Sylvia could be a rival for the man’s affections, but
the idea seemed too preposterous to even consider. The woman was
actually dowdy whereas she, with her werewolf metabolism, had the
luxury of always looking sleek and fit. Plus, she aged more slowly,
so sags and wrinkles were still years in her future. Sylvia had
crow’s feet by her eyes, an overly round figure, and grey at her
temples. Marla grinned; the other woman’s short comings made her
feel quite happy suddenly.

She bent over
her desk intent on getting the menial tasks done as quickly as
possible, only to look up sharply when the sound of raspy laughter
drifted down the hallway. Tuning in her acute hearing, she heard
her employer joking with the nurse. Marla’s fingers tightened on
her pen until the plastic casing cracked. Laughter was not a good
sign; not good at all. Leon Aldrich never laughed. The man didn’t
even know the meaning of the word humour and yet...

He is
interested in the woman. She is for him in a way we never will
be.

Compressing her
mouth into a straight line, Marla fumed in her small stale office.
Despite all logical arguments to the contrary, Nurse Robinson was
somehow getting under Aldrich’s guard. And if Aldrich let the woman
in, she could very well ruin all of Marla’s plans to get her hands
on the money from the Greyson estate.

Tapping the
desk with the broken pen, she narrowed her eyes, annoyed that this
new obstacle had popped up. Well, there was only one way to deal
with a situation such as this.

Leave? Give
up this ridiculous plan?
The wolf perked up, its spirit soaring
at the possibility.

No. Sylvia
Robinson would have to go. Hopefully, she’d be as easy to get rid
of as the other nurses had been. If not... Marla curled her lips.
There were ways to make even the most unwillingly person leave.

*****

Mel paced
across the room, her arms wrapped around her waist as if she could
ward off the trouble headed her way. Nervously, she nibbled her
lower lip, not sure what to do or who to turn to. The email she’d
just printed was clutched in her hand, the only remaining evidence
of the message she’d received. She’d double checked the computer to
ensure it was truly deleted from memory, even dumping the recycle
bin and checking the temp files.

In other
circumstances, she might have found her actions a humorous
re-enactment of Ryne’s some three years ago. At the time, they’d
just met and he’d been suspicious of her motives. When she
accidentally downloaded pictures from his camera onto her computer,
he’d been furious at her invasion of his privacy. He’d deleted the
file, but neglected to dump the recycle bin, a fact that she’d
hesitated to use until circumstances forced her hand. She’d ended
up using the supposedly erased photos to create a report on him for
her employer, Anthony Greyson. That report had unwittingly
precipitating a series of life-changing events.

In the end, her
snooping in the recycle bin had led to a greater good, or at least
that’s what she liked to think. If she hadn’t found the pictures
Ryne had deleted, he might not have felt compelled to track her
down and he wouldn’t have been there to rescue her from the evil
clutches of Leon Aldrich. Ryne argued otherwise, but that was her
version of the story and she was sticking to it.

A faint smile
crossed her mouth at the memory of how the whole episode had ended;
her real heritage being revealed, she and Ryne becoming mates...
The smile faded quickly from her face. If only she’d known then
what she knew now. This past week, she’d felt as if her happy world
was being ripped apart. Her fingers clenched into fists causing the
note in her hand to crinkle. She read the message again and a wave
of nausea washed over her. Rushing down the hall, she made it to
the bathroom just in time before starting to heave.

Once the
ghastly experience was over, she splashed cold water on her face
then leaned against the cool tiled wall and sniffled sadly. Her
life had been going so well. The pack was her new extended family,
Ryne her loving mate and now a baby... Why did this have to happen?
She poked the note that had fallen on the floor with her toe.

A knock on the
door, had her lifting her head.

“Mel? Are you
all right?” It was Olivia, Marco’s mate.

“Just a
minute.” She picked the note up and shoved it in her pocket before
opening the door.

The other woman
was looking at her with concern. “Still having some morning
sickness?”

Mel gave her a
watery smile before answering evasively. “Maybe or it could be
something I ate.”

“Do you want
some tea? Or crackers? They always helped sooth my stomach when I
was pregnant with Maria.”

Olivia was one
of those calm, competent women who never looked fazed by anything.
She had two children—Angelo who was four and Maria who had just had
her first birthday—yet Olivia never seemed tired by their antics.
Mel hoped to be even half as good a mother as the woman who stood
before her.

Refocussing her
attention on Olivia’s question, Mel nodded slowly. “The tea might
help.” She brushed her hair from her face and vaguely noted that
her hand was shaking.

Olivia gave her
shoulder a sympathetic squeeze. “Being sick to your stomach is the
worst part of being pregnant. Why don’t you go lie down and I’ll
bring a tray to your room.”

“Thanks, but I
think I’ll just sit in the kitch—”

“Melody!”
Ryne’s voice boomed down the hallway and Mel cringed. She didn’t
want to see him right now, so she stepped back into the bathroom,
foolishly intent on hiding in there until she was more composed,
but it was too late. Before she had time to even grab the door,
Ryne was there.

His piercing
blue eyes searched hers, concern evident on his face. She looked
down at the floor, too unnerved by the secret she possessed to meet
his gaze. Her hand reached for the door knob and gripped it
tightly, her fingers tuning white.

“Melody, what’s
this about you being sick?”

Mel tightened
her lips. Damn his werewolf hearing! He’d picked up on the
conversation with Olivia, maybe even heard her retching. In vain,
she tried to shrug it off. “It was nothing.”

“Like hell it
was ‘nothing.’ I overheard Olivia saying you were sick. The
pregnancy book I’ve been reading said you should be over the nausea
by now.”

“Well, you know
I never follow the rules.” Mel gave a brief laugh and moved to walk
past him. He shot his hand shot out and caught her gently by the
arm. A familiar tingle washed over her at the point of contact. It
was always that way when they were together; the attraction between
them was like an electric current. Normally, she revelled in their
connection, but today it made her cringe away.

Of course he
noticed her withdrawal and gave her a puzzled look. She
strengthened the mental block she’d created, not allowing him
access to her thoughts. Being blood-bonded had its drawbacks when
you were trying to keep a secret and this wasn’t something she
could just spring on him. Besides, her own thoughts and feelings on
the matter were still in a muddle…

A hurt look
passed over his face as he realized she was keeping him out. Olivia
seemed to sense something was wrong too, for she quietly left,
murmuring that the tea would be ready whenever Mel wanted it.

“Melody?” Ryne
cupped her face and forced her to meet his gaze. He seemed to be
searching her eyes for an answer, but she had none to give him yet.
Tears welled and she blinked trying to keep them at bay. “Ah,
Melody, don’t cry!” Gathering her close, despite her resistance, he
rocked her in his arms. His tender gesture made her cry all the
harder. Ryne wasn’t one to display his feelings; he was more of a
‘rough around the edges’ kind of guy. When he showed his softer
side, it always made her emotional; it was only for her that he was
willing to be vulnerable and expose his true self.

She clutched at
his shirt with her fingers and sniffled, her tears slowly fading.
The warmth of his body seeped into her and she began to relax,
knowing it was wrong, but unable to resist.

Just for a
moment, she’d pretend everything was fine.

Chapter
10

The tea kettle
whistled softly on the stove in the kitchen of the Greyson Estate.
Through the large windows, Franklin could see the grey clouds
hanging low in the sky. With the temperature hovering at the
freezing mark, they could herald a spring snow or a cold rain.
Dampness permeated the air and he pulled his chair slightly closer
to the old, stone fireplace, enjoying the warmth emanating from
it.

He murmured his
thanks as Mrs. Teasdale placed a cup of tea in front of him before
sitting down opposite him.

“How do you
think our young miss is doing?” She asked as she curled her hands
around the cup. No doubt the dampness was making her arthritic
fingers ache.