Chapter Nine
‘Thanks, Emberlyn, we really appreciate this.’
Folding the now empty laundry bag, Emberlyn smiled at Mrs Danvers. ‘It’s not a problem.’
Both the female werewolf and her mate were in their eighties, and the sweet couple didn’t venture out much. Emberlyn regularly picked up and dropped off their laundry for them – a free service for customers past a certain age.
‘Maybe not in your opinion,’ said the she-wolf, ‘but not a lot of businesses round here do home deliveries or pick-ups. They’re not interested in making things easier for their customers, so don’t think we don’t appreciate that you do.’
‘Well, it’s always nice to be appreciated, so thank you.’
‘Emberlyn?’ Mr Danvers called out, his telephone receiver in hand. ‘Our Alpha needs to speak to you. He was wondering if you could either wait here for him, meet him somewhere or drive to his home. He says it’s important.’
Emberlyn blinked. Mostly at the option of her heading to Ripper’s house. She wouldn’t have thought he’d extend such an offer, alliance or not.
‘He said you’ll want to hear this,’ Mr Danvers added.
Hmm, her curiosity was officially peaked. ‘I’ll be passing the lake on my way out of Ashwood, so tell him I’ll stop at his place.’ She wouldn’t say it aloud, but she wanted a little peek at it.
Minutes later, Emberlyn was driving down a narrow road approaching a large two-story house that had a mountain-modern feel. It was moody. Rustic. Earthy.
Both levels featured reflective floor-to-ceiling windows that allowed for a panoramic view of the lake. A sheltered seating area had been added to the flat roof as well as to the side of the house, where there was also a firepit.
Best of all, it overlooked a rocky shoreline, lush forest and the crystal clear-as-glass lake.
Yellowy-orange beams of light from the gradually setting sun glittered off the water.
A family of ducks floated along the surface.
Geese could often be seen further along the shoreline’s grass slope, but Emberlyn couldn’t spot any here.
Ripper and Crew waited not far from the Alpha’s truck, their eyes on her vehicle.
She parked her car, her gaze locking with Ripper’s and . . . fuck her hormones. Fuck them sideways and longways and frontways. Because it absolutely was not fair that they insisted on melting at the sight of him. Didn’t they have some pride? Didn’t they have any wish to form some immunity to him?
As she slid out of the car, the warm air whispered over her, fresh and scented by flowers, water and dewy grass. It was quiet here, the only sounds the lapping of water, the distant calls of birds and the shush of greenery rustling with the gentle breeze.
She returned her attention to the two men opposite her and walked toward them.
Still and watchful, Ripper fixed his gaze on her with the unshifting precision of a dangerous predator on the hunt. It was hard not to squirm under that kind of intense scrutiny.
‘Nice place,’ she told him. ‘Great view.’
Ripper let out a grunt of what might have been thanks.
‘Crew,’ she greeted politely.
He grinned. ‘Hey, Emberlyn. I was just heading out. I’ll see you guys later.’ He jogged into the forested area at the rear of the house, quickly disappearing from view.
She looked back at Ripper . . . to find his gaze skating down her beige cotton crop top, hint of belly, matching pants and strappy sandals.
At the growing need simmering in his eyes, her sexual bells started to ring-a-ding-ding-dong. More, her magick rose up, ever-attracted to his energy. She ruthlessly shoved it back down. But it wasn’t quite as easy to get her hormones in line.
His eyes zipped back up, darkening as they stared right into hers, his unblinking gaze so damn penetrating. It wasn’t only heat in his gaze. There was conflict. Like her, he was wrestling with this thing between them.
Good luck, dude.
She wasn’t doing too well with it. His presence tugged at her. Like a magnet. The sexual pull was electrically charged. She was coming to the unfortunate conclusion that this chemistry wasn’t going anywhere.
She cleared her throat. ‘So, what’s this super-important thing I need to hear?’
‘Something you’re not going to like,’ he warned.
Just then, a droplet of water landed on her shoulder. She held up her palm, catching another droplet. It was starting to rain. Awesome.
He sighed at the sky. ‘Let’s go inside.’ With that, he began prowling toward the house.
She blinked, stunned. Werewolves didn’t easily let you into their home. You wanted to talk? They’d have a porch for that, or even a separate meeting house. ‘Inside?’
He shot her a look over his shoulder. ‘I want coffee. Need to go to the kitchen for that.’
Both confused and surprised at his gruff invitation, she nonetheless followed him up the narrow path.
Werewolves operated differently. Their social language wasn’t what you would always expect.
To let you into their home was an indication that they were at ease with you and willing to allow a certain level of familiarity.
If they touched you of their own accord, it meant they felt unthreatened by you. If they sniffed you, they were ‘logging’ your scent into their inner database, enabling them to find you should they need to – which indicated a pinch of protectiveness.
Werewolves tended to attach, though there were different levels of attachment.
If they fed you, it meant they felt protective and wanted to take care of you, which could be perfectly platonic.
But . . . if they left their scent on you using the glands on their palms, it was an indication of possession – especially if they scent-marked your hair, neck or no-no places.
Any face nibbling or cheek rubbing were demonstrations of affection. If they touched your belly in front of others, it was a huge back off signal. As were bite marks, though the bites were never deep enough to break the skin.
Aside from their single and very businesslike handshake, Ripper hadn’t ever touched her.
So Emberlyn wouldn’t have thought he’d feel at ease enough around her to be like, ‘Hey, come on in.’ He could have asked that she wait on his sheltered porch while he made coffee.
Instead, here they both were walking into his house.
She glanced around. Nice. It was open, light and airy with exposed wooden beams and a lodge-like vibe.
She didn’t dawdle; she stayed close behind Ripper as he walked further into the house. The color palette of warm beige, eggshell-white and taupe continued throughout, linking the rooms and adding to the open feel of the place.
Finally, they arrived at a sleek kitchen-stroke-dining room that provided plenty of seating. It was all dark woods and light-gray stone. Very masculine and contemporary.
‘Coffee?’ he offered as he pressed buttons on a machine.
Through his thin tee, Emberlyn could see the strong muscles in his back flexing and rippling. Damn. ‘No, thanks.’ She leaned back against the kitchen island, a little jealous of that machine right now – she couldn’t help wanting those fingers to push her buttons. ‘I’m more of a tea drinker.’
He let out a grunt.
‘Yes, talking is hard.’
Pausing, he shot her a narrow-eyed look over his shoulder.
She gifted him a bright smile. ‘So, you gonna tell me what inspired you to invite me here?’
Turning back to the machine, he set a cup beneath the dispenser. ‘I had a visit from Carver. I got the impression he hasn’t approached you.’ There was a question there.
‘He hasn’t yet, no,’ she confirmed.
‘And he won’t if he has any sense – I ordered him to stay away from you just now.
He came to pressure me to relinquish the land to Reena.
’ As the coffee machine began whirring, Ripper turned to fully face her.
‘He also informed me that your family is declaring that Millicent wasn’t of sound mind when she wrote the will and so the conditions shouldn’t be followed. ’
Emberlyn felt her mouth tighten. ‘Ah.’ What little motherfuckers they were.
Cupping the rim of the counter behind him, Ripper leaned back against it.
‘I don’t know if Reena is part of this. She could have decided to back off – either because she’s letting it go or because she’s fine with letting your family take all the risks.
On the other hand, she could be running things from behind the scenes. ’
Emberlyn ran her tongue along the inside of her lower lip. ‘What does Carver intend to do?’
‘There’s nothing he physically can do. He supports your family’s theory, but only because it suits him.’
‘I should have considered they might go down this route, especially when they were hardly going to personally push you to cooperate – they can hide behind a lawyer.’ Emberlyn was disappointed with herself for not expecting it.
The laws at Chilgrave were different. There were no trials, no juries, no judges. Members of the council supervised meetings where matters could be discussed while lawyers were present to guide the conversation and ensure that their clients’ rights were protected.
‘I regularly went to Millicent for potions,’ said Ripper. ‘Her mental state wasn’t deteriorating.’
‘No, it wasn’t. But I’d struggle to prove that she was ever sane.
’ Emberlyn idly fingered the rose quartz pendant on her necklace.
‘Still, I don’t think them contesting the will could amount to anything.
You have a rightful claim to the land regardless – it belonged to Lupin originally, and you’re his descendant.
I might not have been Millicent’s daughter, but the manor chose me.
It had the option of selecting either Gill or Dez. It didn’t.’
‘And if you’re wrong? If they manage to get the conditions of the will overturned?’
‘It won’t change that the manor chose me. If Reena wants it, she’ll have to take it from me by force – I won’t give it up willingly.’
Ripper’s gaze sharpened on hers. ‘Could she take it from you?’
Not a chance. ‘What do you think?’