Chapter Four
Rhodes held open the door to the Italian restaurant and Mairi entered, smiling at the hostess.
When he placed a hand on her lower back, they were escorted to a table partly obscured by a potted fern.
The low lighting provided an intimate atmosphere she wasn’t sure set the right tone of the conversation she was about to have with him.
The waitress came over and took their drink order, and when she came back, she brought a sliced-up baguette and olive oil to dunk the pieces in. Mairi took a deep breath.
“That’s not a good look,” he teased.
“Yeah, there’s something I need to talk with you about.”
“Okay,” he said. He dipped some bread in the oil and then ate it, not looking disturbed at her declaration. “Does this have something to do with the Scottish wolf?”
“I guess I don’t have to explain that part.”
He smiled at her. “Esmeralda has been telling every person who walks into the diner about the man with the brogue. And since you have a more delicate one, figured it wasn’t a coincidence.”
Mairi rolled her eyes. “Of course, she did. I swear, she’s the biggest gossip.”
“I take it he’s here for personal reasons.”
She nodded.
“And you are his personal reason?”
Again, she nodded.
“Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
“His name is Tavish MacAlary and his grandmother and mine were great friends. His grandmother insisted he get a wife to gain controlling interest in the family business, and mine offered me up.”
“I see,” he remarked. The waitress returned with their order and when they were alone once more, he cocked his head. “You married him.”
It wasn’t a question. “Aye,” she affirmed. “By proxy.”
“Proxy?” he asked, sounding surprised. “You’re telling me, as gorgeous and as sweet as you are, he didn’t even show up for the wedding?”
“Neither of us wanted that.”
He cocked his head. “I don’t think so. You wanted the romance.”
She blinked. “How did you know?”
“I’ve known you for three years now,” he said, smiling. “In that time, I’ve seen how you watch mates interact. Hold hands. Start a family. Every single time, there’s yearning in your eyes. You would only marry for one reason, and if you weren’t fated mates, then it had to be for love.”
She dropped her gaze and refolded her napkin on her lap. “It so happens he is my fated mate, and he wanted nothing to do with me. At least, not until the moment he caught my scent and realized our connection. But ... I can’t be with him.”
She took a bite of food, and he respected her silence. The lack of conversation didn’t bother her because it gave her a moment to think of what to say. The waitress came back to refill their drinks.
“Why is he here?” he finally asked after a few minutes.
“To bring divorce papers.”
“I see. No chance of reconciliation?”
“We’d have to be together for a reconciliation, so I don’t think so.”
“That’s not a definitive no.”
“As definitive as the fact that he’s going back to Scotland and I’m staying here,” she said.
“I’m glad to hear that. I don’t want to say goodbye to you.”
“Rhodes,” she murmured on a sigh.
“Oh, no,” he joked. “That doesn’t sound very good.”
“You’re going to find your moon-fated mate one day,” she insisted. “And when you find her, she’s going to be your sun and you’ll be her gravity. I don’t want you to ever feel like you betrayed me.”
“Mairi, I—”
“Mairi.”
Both she and Rhodes looked toward the voice.
Tavish stood there, hands on his hips as he glared at Rhodes.
The gravity she had just mentioned tugged at her, and her wolf wanted her to go to their mate.
To rub against him until his scent covered them both.
Mairi had to restrain herself because she refused to let some biological hormone override her common sense. She and Tavish were not a good match.
Rhodes stood up and held out his hand. “Hello, I’m—”
“Don’t care,” Tavish snapped, glaring at him for a quick moment before focusing on her. “Mairi. I need to talk to you.”
She became aware of the nearby diners staring at them. “Stop making a scene.”
“I need to talk to you,” he repeated with a forceful bite to his words.
“Goddamn it,” she muttered, rising. Throwing an apologetic glance at Rhodes, she grabbed hold of Tavish’s hand and yanked him so he’d follow her.
She headed toward the restrooms because it was the closest place she could think of to get some privacy.
When she pushed open the men’s bathroom, there was someone at the urinal.
The man did a double take, finished quickly, zipped, and flushed before rushing out.
“Gross,” she muttered. “He didn’t wash his hands.”
“Are you on a date?” Tavish demanded.
“None of your business.”
“Everything about you is my business! I asked you out to dinner and you said no, and now I find you on a date with another man. How could you—”
“Houl yer whisht!” she snapped out the Scottish slang. “You came to America in order to get me to sign divorce papers! You wanted nothing to do with me until you scented I was your mate. This isn’t you, Tavish. This is nothing but ... but ... wolf hormones!”
He blinked. “Wolf hormones?”
She shrugged and huffed. “You know what I mean. You don’t really want me, Tavish. It’s just a forced biological response.”
Tavish stared at her for a long moment, visibly calming down. “I understand now.”
That surprised her. “You do?”
“I finally understand what it means to find your fated mate. When my friend in university told me about it, I thought it was stupid. Like you said, nothing but a programmed biological response to ensure we propagate our species...”
“Exactly!”
“But I was wrong,” he insisted and tapped the area over his heart. “I can feel you, Mairi. Here. Please, all I ask for is a chance to explore this connection between us.”
“Explore?”
He took a step closer, resting his hands on her shoulders. “I was wrong to deny you, but circumstances got the better of me. Please. You have to feel it.”
She retreated and his arms fell to his side. “I wish you wanted me from the beginning. I kept waiting, but you never showed up. Not even for our wedding. I got married through a contract, and that’s not the romantic way I pictured marrying my mate. You dismissed me like I was nothing.”
“I was wrong. I see that now, so we can—”
“You hate your wolf,” she snapped.
He jerked like she touched him with a live wire. “What?”
“You heard me. I like being a shifter. I love that presence inside my head. So, how can I be with someone who resents our very soul?”
“How do you know that?”
“Doesn’t matter.” She looked away, trying to gather her wayward emotions. “I wanted pups, you know, but you denied me that privilege without even bothering to talk to me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“You broke my heart,” she admitted.
“I know.”
“You’re a selfish man.”
“I agree.”
She frowned. “Why are you agreeing with me?”
“Everything you’re saying is correct. I can’t argue with facts.”
Biting her lower lip, she studied him. “You came here so we can finally settle this marriage.”
“True, but things have changed.” He ran a hand through his hair.
“Don’t tell me you’ve changed in two days.”
“My perspective has changed.”
“Businessman to lover?”
“It better not be that bloke out there.”
She sighed. “Rhodes is a friend.”
“He wants you.”
“I’m trying to let him down easy, and you’re not helping the situation.”
He cupped her face. “Fine. I’ll let you have your meal with him, but I expect to be your next date.”
She searched his face. “Please don’t break my heart again.”
“I won’t. Trust me.”
“What have you done for me to trust you?” She couldn’t help the slight bitterness that entered her tone. “Trust is earned.”
“Fair enough. Have a late lunch with me tomorrow. After the coffee shop closes.”
I’m a fool. “All right.”
He took her hand and kissed the knuckles. “Thank you, Mairi. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
With her skin tingling from his touch, she exited the bathroom. Good Lord, what had she just agreed to? Rhodes waited at the end of the hallway. Taking a deep breath, she joined him.
“Would you like to go home?” Rhodes asked.
“Nae. I want us to have a wonderful date.”
He grinned. “Me too.”
“I can’t offer you more, Rhodes. It’s not fair to you. Or to me. Or Tavish.”
“Hey,” he said, lifting her chin. “Let me worry about myself. Tonight, we’re just having a delicious meal together.”
She nodded, accepting those terms. At their table, he held out her chair as she sat.
Glancing over her shoulder, she locked gazes with Tavish.
Underneath the tumult and uncertainty lurking in his eyes lay determination.
A shiver slid down her spine. For some reason, she had the notion she might have just dangled a tasty morsel in front of a hungry wolf.
****
“What’s the conclusion, Doc?” Jericho asked through his mask.
Doctor Rosedale raised brows. “Are you squeamish?”
“I’m a wolf,” Jericho reminded him. “I create squeamish situations.”
When the cover was pulled back on Ezra’s corpse, Jericho understood why the doctor warned him. The torso had collapsed. Bones and organs completely dissolved, although there wasn’t any blood. Instead, little red beads coated the remaining flesh.
Jericho moved his hand closer, intending to wipe the red beads. “What is this stuff?”
“Don’t touch it!” Doc warned. “It’s blood, but it’s been mutated. I tested it against my human blood and it didn’t react to anything. Then I used shifter blood and it was like a magnet. The bead immediately rolled to it, and the blood practically exploded before it turned into another bead.”
“A bioweapon?”
Doc shrugged. “That I can’t answer, but I think you should use caution when dealing with this. I’m going to call a colleague to see if they’ve ever heard of something like this. For now, I’ll quarantine the body and keep you informed.”
“Thank you.”
As soon as Jericho stepped out of the coroner’s room, he took off his mask. The woman behind the desk bowed her head in deference, and he acknowledged her silent respect with a nod. Then he left, because he had to know if whatever Ezra Parsons had affected his family.
He drove out to the Parsons’ plot of land, which hugged the border of Sheridan Pack territory.
When he arrived, he pulled on a new mask and stepped out of his truck.
The Parsons lived in a run-down trailer, perched up on concrete cinderblocks.
Various mechanical things, like a washing machine and a dishwasher were in various stages of disrepair.
Tall weeds had sprung up between the patches of rust. The whole area had a clichéd neglective feel.
The screen door opened and Jericho recognized Juniper immediately, although the last time he’d seen her she’d been a little girl in pigtails. She looked healthy, and relief surged through him.
“Hello, Alpha,” she greeted with a bow.
“Hello, Juni,” he replied. “May I come in?”
She stepped back and invited him in. The trailer might be run-down on the outside but the inside didn’t have a speck of dust or dirt anywhere. “Have you found my father?”
He wanted to stall, finding it difficult to break her heart. “Where’s your sister?”
“She’s taking a nap. Do you want me to wake her up?”
“No, I don’t want to disturb her.” Heaviness weighed in his heart. He hated giving bad news. “Juni, I’m afraid your father is deceased.”
She was silent for a moment. Various emotions flittered across her face, finally settling on sadness. “How?”
“He was sick,” he said.
“Sick? Like a head cold or something?”
“No,” he replied. “Your father was found with some odd disease that seemed to have, uh, killed him. I just wanted to make sure you and your sister were okay.”
He ran a hand down the back of his neck, not knowing how to phrase his next suspicion.
“You think Clover or I could be infected, don’t you?” she asked. “That’s why you’re wearing a mask.”
“I won’t lie,” he said solemnly. “Yes, I do. This disease is heinous, and we don’t know how, or if, it spreads. It might be prudent to come into town to let Doctor Rosedale take a look at you and Clover.”
Juniper’s eyes widened. “Are we going to die? Please be honest with me. I have a right to know.”
Jericho opened his mouth, ready to give reassurance, but the words died on his tongue.
“I don’t know,” he admitted truthfully. “The disease seems to attack the blood. So, when Clover wakes up, please go to Doc so he can look you and your sister over.”
“Father didn’t like for us to mingle with humans.”
“Well, as callous as this sounds, your father is dead. And with your mother gone as well, you get to make the decisions now for you and Clover. I don’t know what the deal with your dad was, but wolves were never meant to be solo, living on the edge of society.
We’re creatures that need a pack. We need each other.
So, I’m asking you to please come to town so the doctor can make sure you and Clover are safe. ”
She studied him a moment, emotions playing out in her dark-eyed gaze. Finally, she nodded.
“All right. When Clover wakes up, I’ll bring her to the doctor.”
Relief surged through him. “Thank you. I’ll let Doc know you’ll be in later today.”
As Jericho left, he got the feeling she knew nothing about the disease, and his instincts were rarely wrong. All he could do was pray she and her little sister were okay.