With her shift finished at one o’clock and her car not ready until two, Elise decided to wander the mall for a while to fill in time. Halloween was over and Christmas decorations were starting to appear. She shook her head in amazement at how the stores seemed to push the season more and more each year. Still and all, the displays were lovely.
As she paused in front of a clothing store, she recalled the green sweater she’d seen there a few weeks ago. Maybe with her next paycheck she’d treat herself. There was a substantial balance in an account that Kane had set up for her, but she was still reluctant to use it. Perhaps once they’d been together longer, it wouldn’t seem so strange to accept money from him.
Entering the store, she scanned the racks, but couldn’t find the sweater anywhere. Humph! Wasn’t that always the way? When you finally had money, the item you wanted was gone. A sales lady approached, asking if Elise wanted any help and she inquired about the green top, just in case there was one in the back. After a few moments, the woman appeared and regretfully explained that there was one in the back, but it was on hold. Making a mental note to return in a few days, in case the sweater made its way back onto the shelves, she turned and began to wander down the mall again.
Two familiar faces could be seen a short distance away and Elise grinned in anticipation. Zoe and Phoebe were headed towards her. Maybe they could stop somewhere together and have a coffee. Waving, she made her way over to where they were. “Hi! Fancy meeting you here.”
The two women looked at her coldly and didn’t reply.
Elise felt her smile falter. Something was wrong, but what? She tried again, glancing at the bags in their hands. “So, have you bought anything interesting?”
Zoe narrowed her eyes and spoke from between clenched teeth. “I am so mad right now, I could smack you.”
Shocked, Elise stared at her supposed friend for a moment before gathering her wits about her. “Smack me? But why? What did I do?”
“Don’t try and act so innocent. We know all about it. Rose told us.” Phoebe glared and crossed her arms.
“Rose?”
“Yes, Rose. She saw the whole thing and told me this morning. You’re just lucky she hasn’t told Kane yet!” Zoe’s voice was getting louder and they were starting to attract attention.
“What did Rose see? What’s she going to tell Kane?” Elise was starting to feel panicky. She wasn’t sure what the problem was, but it sounded like it would be something that would upset Kane, and after last night, that was the last thing she wanted.
“You know perfectly well what we’re talking about.” Zoe stepped closer to Elise who had to fight the urge to back up.
“How could you? Especially when he obviously worships the ground you walk on! I thought it was so great when Kane brought you here; that you’d be perfect for him. Apparently, I was wrong!” Phoebe looked on the verge of tears. “Come on, Zoe. Let’s get out of here!”
As they stalked off, Elise watched them leave feeling as if she’d just been run over by a steamroller. What had that been all about? Rose had definitely been acting strangely last night and apparently, it was because of something she thought Elise had done, but she hadn’t had any real contact with the girl in over a week! She walked back to the red sports car and slowly climbed in, still puzzling over the strange encounter.
An awful thought suddenly popped into her head. Kane had mentioned Rose was in town yesterday to pick something up at the Gallery. What were the chances that Rose had seen her meeting with Bryan? Frowning, Elise replayed her time with her old friend and groaned. To an onlooker, it might have seemed really bad. They’d hugged several times and hadn’t she called out “I love you” as she drove away? That could easily be misinterpreted as her seeing someone behind Kane’s back!
Oh great! What if Rose had already told Kane? How would he react, given all she’d heard about his parents’ relationship? She could only hope that Kane had been busy all day. As soon as she got home, she’d have to find him and tell him the whole story before Rose put her own spin on things. Then she’d have to go to Rose and find out who else she had told the story to… Hitting the steering wheel with her hand, Elise cursed herself for ever having listened to Marla and her harebrained scheme!
Thoroughly deflated, Elise turned the key in the ignition and drove to Marty’s.
Chapter 25
By the time she arrived home, Elise’s stomach was in knots over the prospect of talking to Kane. Even though she hadn’t done anything wrong, it still wasn’t a conversation she was looking forward to. After all, who knew what Rose might have said? It had been an innocent meeting but apparently Rose was willing to believe the worst of her and jump to conclusions, which was rather upsetting given the fact that she had tried her best to be pleasant to the other girl.
Mentally, she played out what she’d say to Kane and how he’d react. How did she start? ‘Did you hear a rumour about me?’ probably wasn’t a good opening line. Neither was, ‘You know that rumour Rose told you about me and another man…?’ No, just a straight out explanation would be best. She would simply explain that she’d had lunch with Bryan but what with one thing and another, it had completely slipped her mind. Not because she was trying to hide anything but simply because it wasn’t that important. Yes, that sounded good and it was the truth. She nodded, satisfied with her plan.
Now all she had to worry about was Kane’s reaction. Surely, it wouldn’t be that bad, her rational side told her. Kane wasn’t one to jump to conclusions; he’d listen calmly and understand. Unless, the other side of her brain told her, Rose had got to him first. After all, he really hadn’t liked Bryan the one time they’d met. He had told Bryan to stay away and, implicit in that command, she was to stay away from Bryan as well. In a round about way, she’d directly disobeyed his orders. That wouldn’t go over well at all.
Elise suddenly realised that she’d been standing on the porch for some time, staring blindly at the door. Swallowing hard, she wiped her sweaty palms on her pant leg and stepped inside.
The house was unusually quiet and she strained to hear a sound that might indicate where everyone was. When nothing reached her ears, she gave a sigh of relief. She’d have to face the firing squad eventually, but any reprieve was welcome.
Peeking into Kane’s office, she saw that it was empty. A late afternoon sun streamed weakly into the room, leaving the corners in shadow. The smell of leather, mixed with the unique scent of Kane, permeated the space and drew Elise inside. Tucking her hands in her back pocket, she looked around wondering where Kane might be.
The desk held the usual piles of paper and the answering machine was blinking, indicating several messages were waiting for Kane’s attention. Briefly she wondered if he’d replaced the tape or not—the quality had really been poor this morning. Impulsively, she wrote a reminder on a sticky note and attached it to the machine. While at the desk, she noticed that the computer hadn’t even been started yet for the day. Had he even made it into the office? Seeing nothing that would provide an answer to her questions, she exited the room, shutting the door behind her.
Next stop was the kitchen. Despite the fact that it was mid-afternoon, there was no sign of Helen or dinner preparations being made. The coffee maker held the dregs of the morning’s coffee and the dishes weren’t done. Something was definitely up; Helen never left her kitchen in disarray. Heading to the message centre on the fridge, Elise scanned the notes and found the answers to everyone’s whereabouts.
Carrie had gone into early labour and John and Helen were at the infirmary with her. Ah! That explained the state of the kitchen. Well, since first births usual took a considerable time, it wasn’t likely she’d be hearing from them anytime soon. Elise thought for a moment and then frowned. The baby was only a few weeks early but still there was always a chance of complications. She crossed her fingers and sent positive thoughts towards the infirmary, hoping both mother and baby would be fine.
The next message was from Kane. He’d been
called away to the lake region. A patrol had found something that needed his attention and he wasn’t sure when he’d be back. Relief washed over Elise as she realised she wouldn’t have to tell Kane about Bryan for awhile. This was immediately followed by a large dose of worry. What if someone else told him first? The longer he was gone, the greater the risk and the more likelihood that others in the pack would hear the story. It had only been twenty-four hours since she’d met with Bryan, but rumours spread notoriously fast. Putting a stop to it was paramount.
She wished Helen were there. The woman had a level head and would know what to do. Chewing on her lip, Elise searched her mind for someone neutral she could call and that might understand her current predicament. Suddenly, she thought of Sarah! Sarah might understand. Grabbing the phone, Elise quickly dialled the familiar number, twirling the cord around her fingers as she waited for a reply. After a dozen rings, she hung up in frustration. Just when she needed someone to talk to, no one was around. Sighing, she wandered through the large, rambling home wishing that the usual steady stream of visitors would start up. Instead, it seemed as if everyone knew that all the ‘important’ people were away and there was no need to stop by for a visit.
Throwing herself into a chair by the front window, Elise scrubbed her face with her hands. Her emotions seemed to be all over the board and she didn’t feel like herself at all. Could it be because of her upcoming heat? Possibly, but the knowledge was of little comfort when she felt like her world was falling apart. This thing about Bryan wasn’t that big a deal, but for some reason it seemed like it was. She felt teary, and worried, angry and indecisive. Her stomach kept knotting up and even though she knew it was ridiculous, she was sure her relationship with Kane was in jeopardy. Inelegantly, she sniffled and wiped a lone tear from her eye as she succumbed to self pity. A nasty rumour was at this very moment probably spreading through the pack, costing her the new friendships she’d just formed and no one was around to talk to about it.
A car door slammed outside and she sat forward, peering through the curtains to see who it was. Darn! It was Marla. That was another cause for complaint. The woman was up to something, though Elise still wasn’t sure exactly what. Maybe instead of thinking about what to tell Kane, she should concentrate her energy on figuring out Marla. At least it would take her mind off one problem.
As Marla came up the walk, Elise debated as to whether or not she should confront her about where she was last night, and why she’d been with Ryne. Or should she say nothing so that the woman didn’t warn Ryne? And after all, it was just supposition on her part that Marla had been in the car, even though Elise strongly believed it to be true.
Deciding to say nothing, she wiped her face, grabbed a magazine and arranged herself into a casual position in her chair. When the door opened, she looked up, feigning surprise as Marla walked in. “Oh, hi Marla.”
“Elise.” Marla’s greeting was short, her gaze watchful as if expecting a question.
“How was your day?”
“Fine.”
“That’s good.” Elise felt that they were both tiptoeing around the other. Marla picked up the mail on the table and flipped through it, which Elise felt, was a bit presumptuous, since she didn’t officially live there and none of it would be for her.
Setting the mail down, Marla suddenly spoke. “I saw you in town today.”
Elise shrugged, “I went in for my shift at the Grey Goose.”
Marla nodded. “I was at the Gallery and you drove by. You were in a different car—a red sports coupe.”
“That’s right. I had to get something fixed on mine and the mechanic let me borrow a car so I could get to work.”
Again, Marla nodded. “I never would have pictured you as the sports car type.”
“Oh, I thought it would be fun to try.”
“So, what did you think?”
“It was a nice car—nothing special about it though. I guess I prefer my own.”
Marla seemed to be studying her, as if weighing each of her answers, looking for hidden meanings. Obviously, she found none, for she suddenly smiled. “Well, it’s been nice talking to you Elise; I’ve got lots to do—tell the others I won’t be here for dinner.” Turning quickly, Marla left, her heels clicking a staccato on the wood floors as she made for the stairs.
Elise could hear the door to Marla’s room open then close. Moments later, it opened again, and Marla quickly descended the stairs and left, slamming the front door behind her.
As she watched Marla drive away, Elsie wondered if Marla had bought her act or not. The woman was definitely up to something. Her questions had been too casual. She was obviously wondering if Elise had noticed anything while in the red car, but what was she hiding and why? The answer was there, just waiting for her to figure it out.
Grabbing a piece of paper, Elise began to write down anything she could think of that she’d heard or seen about Ryne or Marla.
Ryne was Kane’s half brother. Purportedly they’d had an amicable relationship until Zack, the previous Alpha, had died in a car crash.
Just about this time, Ryne’s behaviour had been changing. He’d always been impulsive, but sociable and suddenly he’d become more of a loner and obviously had something on his mind.
Unexpectedly, Ryne had issued a challenge for the leadership of the pack, willing to kill his brother.
When Ryne lost the challenge he left, asking Marla to go with him, but she refused.
Since then, there’d been traps found on the land, an oil spill in the lake and Thomas had been shot. Each time, Ryne’s scent had been found.
He was a skilled photographer and returned briefly, asking Marla to sell all of his pictures so he has some money to make a new start.
Most recently, Ryne had broken into Marla’s apartment, threatening and hitting her.
Lastly, Ryne had possibly been scented in the red sports car.
Tapping her pen thoughtfully against her lips, Elise studied the list. All she could make out of these facts, was that Ryne had a sudden personality change and wanted control of the pack. When he didn’t get it, he decided to exact revenge on them. Had he ever really left the area? Or was he somewhere nearby the whole time? No one had found him yet, so wherever he was, it was a good hiding spot.
Now how did Marla fit into all of this? She’d sounded terrified on the phone when Ryne had broken in and she definitely had been hit, so why would she hook up with Ryne again? Once more, Elise made a list of what she knew.
Marla had a relationship with Kane—Elise cringed slightly as she wrote this. The relationship began out of Kane’s sense of responsibility towards her, due to the death of Marla’s father, but later progressed.
After awhile, Marla shifted her interest to Ryne and they had talked about officially becoming mates yet, when Ryne lost the challenge and left, Marla refused to accompany him, saying she was too attached to her home.
Marla claimed to be heartbroken over the loss of Ryne. Elise put a question mark after this, because for all that the other woman had said she was upset, it hadn’t seemed overly sincere.
Once Ryne was gone, Marla set her sights back on Kane. Elise’s pen hovered over the page, wondering if she should include this or not. Marla had seemed to be fawning all over Kane and trying to catch his attention, but was Elise just misinterpreting close friendship for something else? After a moment’s consideration, she left the point as it was. After all, Helen and Carrie had seemed to feel the same way.
Marla had complained about how she was treated by everyone and Kane had scolded Elise, insisting they try to be friends.
Shortly after that, Ryne had broken into Marla’s apartment and Marla had moved to the Alpha house for safety.
Since being attacked, Marla had been acting nicer and was even encouraging Elise and Kane to be together.
Previous to the attack Marla had been selling Ryne’s pictures to raise money for him, including one of Kane that she knew she wasn’t supposed to display. Marla was
now trying to retrieve that picture by researching the collector who bought it. Elise added a question mark again; she wasn’t really sure why researching the man was needed. Wouldn’t you simply contact the fellow, saying a mistake had been made and return his money in exchange for the picture?