Designs on a Warrior

Chapter Eight

Stephen slowly worked his way around the large, open room. The loud music blaring out of the speakers played havoc with his sharp hearing, but he did his best to ignore it. His gaze shifting from left to right, he searched among the mortals for exactly what he looked for. The males, he didn’t pay much attention to. The females, they were what interested him. Not finding what he sought, Stephen circled back to the bar and ordered a beer. It was still relatively early. He had all night if needs be.

He’d just taken a swig from the bottle of beer when three women walked past him. One of them had him trailing her with his gaze. She definitely could be the one he wanted. Leaning with his back against the bar, he watched her sit at one of the tables not too far from where he stood. She talked and laughed with her friends, all the while not knowing he, one of mortals’ predators, had her in his sights.

The longer he watched the woman the more she appealed to him. She would be the one. There was an innocence about her, a goodness, that he would enjoy stripping from her. And a woman like her was always the type to scream and cry. He was more than looking forward to breaking her, teaching her not everything was bright and cheery in the world. That bad men like him did exist.

All night he kept his gaze on her, and when she got up to leave the nightclub with her friends, he followed at a discreet distance behind them. As if he’d planned it himself, the two other women walked off down the sidewalk while his prey went to the parking lot.

He took a quick look around to make sure no one watched him as he increased his pace. She’d just reached her car when he came up directly behind her. His hand on the door stopped her from opening it. With a gasp, she turned toward him. Stephen gave her an evil grin.

“Hello, beautiful. You and I are going to have some fun.”

She opened her mouth as if to scream. He clamped his hand over the lower half of her face and shook his head. Pulling back his other hand, he slammed his fist into the side of her head. She crumpled against him.

He gathered his prize in his arms and forcibly put her in his own car. He’d take her to his pack’s den and really see how loud she could scream.

Cydney came awake slowly after Wulfric gently shook her. She was stretched out on her side on top of his bed, which had been covered in an old sheet to protect it.

Rolling onto her back, she blinked up at him and looked around. As if she suddenly remembered where she was, she sat up.

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to fall asleep. After I cleaned up the brushes and paint tray I only thought to sit and relax until you came back.”

The room smelled of paint and the walls already had the first coat on them.

“No need to apologize. It’s late, or should I say very early in the morning.”

“What time is it?”

“Almost four o’clock.”

“I guess I really did fall asleep. I’ve been out for three hours. So what do you think of the color?”

Wulfric glanced around the room. “I love it. The room is looking better already.”

“I just need to do one more coat of paint and then the day after that I can rip up the carpet.” Her last word ended on a large yawn, which she covered with her hand.

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I think I should take you back to Maggie’s place. You don’t want to wear yourself into the ground. Or better yet, you can just stay with me in the spare bedroom.”

Wulfric felt a flutter of hope that she would agree when she looked as if she seriously considered his offer. But in the end, she shook her head.

“I’d better not,” she said sleepily. “I told Maggie’s parents I would come home late. And since they are more than likely still asleep, I don’t want to call them to say I’m staying here overnight. And if I don’t call, they might worry if they wake up and find I’m not there.”

He nodded. “All right. I understand, but I do want you to seriously think about staying here on the nights you work on the room late. You’re not going to get much sleep if I have to wake you up just to take you back to Maggie’s place.”

Cydney yawned again. “You’re right. Interrupted sleep isn’t going to do me any favors. When I come tomorrow, I’ll make sure I bring some extra clothes with me, and I’ll let Maggie’s parents know ahead of time.”

“Good. Now let’s go before you end up falling asleep again.”

He ushered Cydney out to his car and they were on the road in a matter of minutes. Halfway through the trip, Wulfric glanced over and saw she’d rested her head against the seat and had shut her eyes. She sighed softly in her sleep. He smiled at the small sound.

As he turned onto the street where Maggie’s parents lived, he gently shook Cydney awake. “We’re just about there,” he said once she opened her eyes.

She sat straighter as he pulled his car over to the curb in front of the house.

“Something is up.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Both of Maggie’s parents are standing outside.”

He leaned forward and looked out the passenger window. Sure enough, Maggie’s mum and a slender man stood at the front of the house. Even from this distance, he saw the concerned expressions each of them wore. “Let’s go talk to them.”

After they got out of the car and walked toward the house, Maggie’s mum rushed over to them. “Is Maggie with you?”

“No,” Cydney said. “What’s going on?”

“She hasn’t come home yet. She never stays out this late. For some reason I woke up and decided to see if she was home. Seeing her bed not slept in, I went downstairs to wait. That was an hour ago.”

“Maybe she’s still with Ali and Carol.”

“She’s not. I called them already. I woke them up and they both said they left the nightclub with Maggie two hours ago. We were about to drive there and see if we can find her.”

Anytime Wulfric heard of someone missing in the middle of the night, the first thought that came to mind was one of Fenris’ get. Their preying on mortals accounted for a fair amount of unexplained disappearances.

“I’ll go look for Maggie,” he said to her mother. “It’s best if you and your husband stay at home in case she calls. If she does, Cydney has my mobile number.”

Cydney shook her head. “I’m coming with you.”

“I think it would work out better if you stayed here.”

While they spoke, Maggie’s father had joined them. He cleared his throat. “I would prefer if Cydney did go with you, Wulfric. Two sets of eyes are better than one.”

Seeing the determined look on Cydney’s face, he knew she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. He nodded. “Okay, I’ll take Cydney with me. I’ll give you my mobile number in case Maggie shows up on her own. And I’ll be sure to call if we find her.”

They only waited long enough for Maggie’s mother to go inside for a piece of paper and pen to take his number before Cydney and he were back on the road headed for the nightclub.

“I hope nothing bad happened,” Cydney said as she stared out the passenger window.

“There’s no point thinking anything negative just yet.”

He sure as hell hoped one of the werewolves hadn’t gotten to Maggie. Even though female mortals could be turned with one bite just as males could, Fenris’ get hadn’t been targeting women to bring into the pack for some time. It had gone all male.

But that didn’t mean they didn’t prey upon them with their thirst for flesh and blood.

The streets were pretty well empty at this time of night. Wulfric sped down them, wanting to get to the nightclub as fast as possible. If two hours had gone by since Maggie had last been seen just about anything could have happened, especially if she ended up falling prey to a werewolf.

At the nightclub, he pulled into the parking lot, and Cydney stiffened. She leaned forward and looked out the windscreen as she put her hands on the dash. “The white car, Wulfric. It’s Maggie’s mother’s--the one she drove tonight.”

Seeing the lone, white car in the parking lot did not bode well for Maggie. He parked two spots away from it, not wanting to contaminate the area any more than it already had. If he were lucky, there was an off chance he could pick up the scent of a werewolf if one had been involved.

Wulfirc got out of the car first, and using his preternatural speed, while Cydney was busy getting out of her side, circled the white vehicle. His heart dropped when he spotted a set of keys lying on the ground by the driver’s side. He leaned in closer to the door and took a sniff, detecting the one scent he’d hoped wouldn’t be there—a werewolf’s stench.

He straightened and said, “Cydney, I found something.”

She gave him a bit of a double take seeing where he stood, but she didn’t mention him being over by the car already as she walked toward him. “What? What did you find?”

Once she reached his side, he pointed to the keys at his feet. She went to bend to pick them up, but he stopped her. “Don’t touch them yet.”

“Why?”

“I’m going to call the others. They’re more than likely on their way home. I don’t want our scents mixed with the ones on the keys until they’ve had a chance to smell them.”

Cydney gave him a confused look. “You mean you’re going to call Raed, Algar, Garrick, Dolf and Brand? And what the hell do you mean about them smelling the keys?”

He sighed. Her accompanying him had definitely put a wrench in the works. He needed the other warriors to see if they could pick up the werewolf’s trail. Since time was of the essence, they all needed to work together. And to better help them, a few of them would have to go wolf, since in their werewolf or wolf forms their sense of smell was even greater. Wulfric had to tell Cydney what he was at some point, and it looked as if that moment had arrived. With her friend missing, and the car being the only lead, he couldn’t see her letting him take her back to Maggie’s parent’s place.

“I’ll explain after they get here,” he said. Before she said anything else, he pulled out his mobile phone and dialed Raed. Once the warrior picked up, he said, “Raed, we have a bit of a situation going down. I need all of you to meet me in the parking lot at the nightclub called ‘The Nightclub.’”

“Trouble with one of Fenris’ get?” Raed asked.

“Yes, I’m afraid.”

“Are you still with Cydney? I thought you returned to the manor to take her home.”

“Yes, I’m still with her. I had taken her. It seems her friend, Maggie, has disappeared from the nightclub.”

“Shit. I’ll round everyone up and we’ll be there as soon as we can.”

Wulfric snapped his phone shut and put it back in his pocket. He looked at Cydney. “They’re on their way.”

“Why do I have the sudden feeling you’re keeping something from me?”

He pulled her into his arms and hugged her, not answering her question. He had no idea what Cydney’s reaction would be once the truth came out, but the fate of her friend weighed heavier on him at that moment. The chances of finding Maggie living decreased with every minute that went by.

After a little while, Cydney pushed away from Wulfric and paced, not too far away from him. The feeling he hid something from her wouldn’t go away. Even the look on his face said he was resigned about something. And the whole thing about not touching the keys until his friends arrived to smell them was just plain strange.

On one pass, she looked toward the entrance to the parking lot. The not doing anything, when deep down inside she knew something bad had happened to Maggie, did not sit well with her.

“They’ll be here very soon,” Wulfric said as she paced in his direction. “Try to stay calm.”

She stopped in front of him. “It’s a little hard to do that when my best friend is missing and all we’re doing is standing next to a car, waiting for your friends to arrive.

Are smelling scents part of what you do for your job?”

“Partly.”

“What? That’s it?”

“For now.”

“You’re just a fount of information, aren’t you?”

Wulfric didn’t have a chance to say anything when another Mercedes and Brand’s Lexus pulled into the parking lot. Five large men piled out of the cars and walked over to where she and Wulfric stood.

Raed took charge of the situation. From their previous meeting, Cydney had noticed he came across as the ‘head of the family.’ The others seemed to defer to him.

“What happened, Wulfric?” Raed asked in a brisk tone.

“When I went to drop off Cydney, her friend’s parents were outside. Maggie hadn’t arrived home, and the two girls she’d been with said the last time they’d seen her was a couple of hours ago when they’d left the nightclub together.” He motioned to the white car with a jerk of his head. “This is the car Maggie drove. It’s her mother’s.

We found her keys on the ground. They haven’t been disturbed.”

Raed looked at her and then back to Wulfric. “And you’re sure about the other thing I said on the phone?”

“Yes, you definitely can smell werewolf.”

“A what?” Cydney asked, thinking she had to have misheard him.

Wulfric met her gaze. “A werewolf.”

She stuck her finger in her ear and gave it a little wiggle before pulling it out. “I really couldn’t have heard that right. Did you just say a werewolf?”

Raed didn’t give Wulfric a chance to answer. “Are you sure this is the way you want Cydney to find out, Wulfric?”

He pulled his gaze away from her, and with his face devoid of all emotion, he jerked his head in a short nod. “Cydney isn’t going to want to leave. And we need to use every edge we have to see if we can find a trail.”

Not liking how the two men spoke as if she weren’t there, and feeling anxious about what she’d soon find out, she said, “Damn right I’m not going anywhere. Would someone explain what all this werewolf crap is about?”

Wulfric blew out a loud breath. “It’s probably better if I go first and show you.”

“Before you do,” Algar cut in, “I suggest you go wolf, and save the other until she has gotten over the first. I made that mistake with Kamryn, remember? And since we have to start the search for her friend, we really don’t have the time to calm Cydney down.”

The sound of her heart pounding with unease filled her ears. The way Wulfric and the others looked at her, as if they were prepared for her to react badly, had her a little scared about what Wulfric was going to do. Go wolf? What did Algar mean by telling Wulfric to go wolf?

Cydney soon found her gaze locked on Wulfric, and she was unable to move or say anything. In the bright lights of the parking lot, she watched as his eyes seemed to change, the iris taking up most of the white. His body blurred, and from one blink to the next, he’d shifted from a man to a wolf who stood staring up at her. His fur was a very light brown verging on a blond shade, a bit darker than the color of his hair.

“Holy fucking shit,” she all but yelled.

She backed away only to slam against a hard body. Looking over her shoulder, she saw Brand behind her. He wrapped his hands around her upper arms, preventing her from going anywhere.

“It’s okay,” he said. “It’s still Wulfric. Touch him.”

Not giving her a chance to protest, Brand slid one hand down her arm to her wrist and forced her to place her palm on top of Wulfric’s lupine head. His fur felt soft against her skin. He turned his head and rubbed it against her hand. She looked into his wolf’s eyes and saw intelligence and understanding. This was all so surreal. If she hadn’t seen Wulfric change, she wouldn’t have believed him if he’d just straight out told her.

Brand let go of her wrist. Cydney kept her hand on Wulfric’s head, stroking his fur. She didn’t feel as if she wanted to run screaming in terror. But that didn’t mean she felt any less unsure about what he could do.

But then his body blurred again, he grew bigger, taller and took on another completely different form. This one had her heart trying to beat out of her chest, and a trickle of fear ran down her spine. Wulfric stood seven feet tall. His body was completely covered in the same fur as the wolf had. He looked to be a cross between a wolf and a man with his large lupine head, pointed ears on top of his head, bushy tail and clawed fingers and toes.

“It’s still me,” Wulfric said, his voice deeper and gravelly sounding compared to his normal one.

Her breath sawed in and out of her lungs as if she were about to hyperventilate.

Hearing Wulfric’s voice come out of a wolf-looking mouth had her about ready to balk.

As if he sensed she was about to run, he reached out and pulled her to his furred chest.

She heard the wild thud of his heart under her ear, almost matching the rate of hers.

“It’s all right, Cydney. You don’t have to be afraid. I won’t hurt you. Just relax.

You’ll get used to seeing me like this.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The scent that filled her nose was the one she’d come to associate with Wulfric—masculine with a hint of the aftershave he always seemed to wear. His hands stroked her back and he rested his chin on top of her head. When all he did was just hold her, by slow degrees, her fear abated enough for her to calm down slightly and slow her breathing, so she wouldn’t pass out.

Putting her hands on Wulfric’s chest, she pushed back in his embrace and looked at him. It was hard to think of this half man and half wolf as being the man she’d slept with. But looking into his wolf’s eyes, she saw something that let her see into the soul of the man inside.

“What are you?” she asked shakily. “Are you a werewolf?”

“For now that’s the best explanation. We don’t have time to get into it. We need to see if we can pick up the trail of the werewolf that was here with Maggie.”

“You think one of your kind has her?”

Wulfric let out a low growl. “This one isn’t like us. This werewolf was sired by Fenris the wolf, one of the creatures me and my fellow warriors have been charged to put down. They’re bloodthirsty and prey upon mortals for sport.”

Cydney felt her heart race again. “Oh god. Are you telling me one of those things has Maggie?”

“We’re going to do everything we can to find her, Cydney,” Raed said. He then turned all business as he addressed the men around her. “Dolf, you’ll search with Wulfric. Garrick and Brand you team up while Algar and I will as well. One from each pairing will stay wolf while the other stays in human form.”

Cydney stepped out of Wulfric’s arms and watched as Raed shifted to his wolf form and sniffed the keys on the ground. Once he changed back, he said, “There are too many scents on it to pinpoint Maggie’s.” He stooped to look inside the car. “Cydney, can you tell me if the jacket on the backseat is your friends?”

She walked over to where Raed stood and peered into the back-side window.

“Yeah, that is Maggie’s.”

He picked up the keys, used one to unlock the driver’s door and reached inside to pull out the jacket. Raed held it to his face and took a deep breath. “I’ve got it.” He held it out. “Everyone take a sniff.”

“And be sure to check out the werewolf scent high up on the car door,” Wulfric added.

One by one, the others went wolf, checking out the two scents. As each one shifted, Cydney found it less jarring, and that she could accept it better. Dolf went last.

He buried his wolf’s nose into the jacket and his whole body visibly stiffened. A low growl rumbled out of his throat as he snatched the garment out of Raed’s hand with his teeth. He dropped it at his paws, threw back his head and let out a loud howl. In a blink of an eye, he shifted to his human form, picked up the jacket and held it to his face.

Cydney couldn’t help but notice how Dolf desperately clutched at what he held.

“Are those claws I see on the tips of his fingers?” she asked uncertainly.

“Aw, fuck,” Garrick said in a loud voice. “She’s his mate. It figures Wulfric and Dolf would find theirs practically at the same time.”

Wulfric punched Garrick in the arm. “Shut the fuck up, big mouth.”

Garrick rubbed where he’d been hit as he shot her a glance before looking back at Wulfric. “Sorry, I wasn’t thinking.”

What Garrick had said about Wulfric and Dolf slowly sank in. She gasped. “I’m your mate?” she asked Wulfric.

“Yes, just as Lexi is Raed’s, Kamryn is Algar’s and Nika is Garrick’s. But again, this is something we’ll discuss later.” He turned toward Dolf. “You have to pull it together, my man. If you go all wolf you’re not going to keep yourself thinking straight enough to find your mate.”

Dolf lowered Maggie’s jacket and clutched it in a tight fist. “He’s mine. No one takes him down but me. I haven’t waited a thousand years to find my mate to have one of Fenris’ werewolves take her from me before we’ve even met.”

Cydney swallowed. A thousand years? She turned a gaze that had to be filled with the shock she felt toward Wulfric. He didn’t notice as his full attention was centered on his best friend.

“He’s yours,” Wulfric reassured Dolf. “We’ll get her back. Just keep it together.

I’ll be the one to go wolf.”

“No,” Dolf snarled. “I’ll be the one who does that.”

“No, you won’t,” Raed said sternly. “You’ll stay in human form, Dolf. You go wolf and you won’t be able to control yourself. Wulfric will be the one to shift while you stay at his mate’s side to keep watch over her.”

Dolf let out a loud wolf growl that Cydney had heard Wulfric make before. “Is that an order from my leader?”

“Yes, that’s an order. Now pair off and look for that scent trail.”

Algar and Garrick shifted to wolves, then they, along with Raed and Brand, began their search, leaving Dolf and Wulfric with her in the parking lot.

Cydney stayed where she was as Wulfric came to her and lightly kissed her. She shivered at his touch. Her mind was too jumbled with all that had been revealed to think straight.

“I’m going to go wolf now. You and Dolf will follow me. Stay with him.”

At her nod, his body blurred and he was once again a wolf. Walking at Dolf’s side, she followed Wulfric as instructed. He had his nose to the ground as he searched for Maggie’s scent.

After they’d walked for a bit, Dolf asked, “What’s she like?”

“You mean Maggie?” At his nod, she continued. “She’s smart, funny, a bit on the shy side at times. I’ve known her for four years now, ever since we shared our first dorm room at university in Toronto. She just finished her BA in journalism.”

“What does she look like?”

“She’s a little taller than I am. Has long, black hair, green eyes. She’s cute, but doesn’t think she is.” Not knowing how else to describe her friend, Cydney added, “When it comes to men, Maggie can be overcautious, at least I think so. She’s only dated a few guys since I’ve known her. She also isn’t seeing anyone right now.”

Dolf grunted. “Good. Then I won’t have to steal her away from another man.”

Seeing how grim he looked, his anxiousness practically rolling off him in waves, Cydney asked, “You want to know something funny? After I met you, I told Maggie about you. I told her I thought you’d be perfect for her.”

His gaze shot to her face. “You did? What did she say?”

“That I could introduce you to her at any time. I actually tried to use you as a bribe to get her to come help me with Wulfric’s room today. She hates painting or anything that entails decorating. I should have pushed harder to get her to come with me.” Her voice caught on the last sentence.

“You didn’t know this would happen,” Dolf said through gritted teeth. “Don’t blame yourself.”

Before she could say any more, a loud wolf’s howl sounded off in the distance.

Dolf came to a standstill as did Wulfric. “What was that?” she asked.

“Garrick has found something.”

Dolf turned and headed back in the direction they’d come. Wulfric came to her side and licked her hand. He then maneuvered himself so it rested on his neck. A little more comfortable with him in this form than the other, she threaded her fingers through his fur and allowed him to walk her in Dolf’s wake.