Wolf's Valentine

Chapter Four

Frozen rain spilled down on her hair but Jana didn't notice as she listened to the clink of her high heels on the pavement beneath her. Three more feet and she'd be inside the building she'd called her second home for so many years. When this was over, she would miss work.

But she wouldn't miss the sick son-of-a-bitch that'd sent the wolves after them last night.

Stepping into the building, she thought of Malcolm. She could feel his eyes on her even though she wasn't entirely sure where he was hidden. Well, where he and the team that had shown up early this morning currently resided.

She had been right. One call to Westervelt had sent down a recovery team. It was the other group that shocked her. To give them their due, the Kane brothers seemed to be running a more efficient team than their father had. Plus the private plane landing at dawn in a field had been pretty cool to watch.

She clenched her hands at her side. How long had Carl known about her and how had he known it? There would be answers today, if she had to personally rip them out of his worthless throat.

Smiling at the receptionist as she headed for the elevators, she had the strangest inclination to shift right there in the lobby and see what happened. At least some of the people had to have cellular phone cameras. It might make a good video on the Internet.

The elevator was crowded and she tried not to breathe. She'd spent a lot of time in wolf form the night before and the fight had brought back long suppressed instincts.

There was no way she was going to be able to commune with the humans in such small spaces for very long.

Not if they were going to insist on wearing perfumes, deodorants, and scented soaps.

There was a real worry that she might gag. Tapping her foot, she tried not to breathe as the elevator seemingly stopped on every floor on its way to the top. At least she was certain that none of these people were made-wolves in disguise since none of them would willingly wear the products that were making her ill.

Looking up, she caught a glance of the video camera recording the goings on inside the elevator. As she leaned back against the wall, she raised her right hand and waved.

They knew she was coming. There was no point in acting like they didn't. She'd survived the night—thanks to Malcolm's instincts—and she knew what Carl was up to.

The elevator dinged, signaling her arrival at the top floor. She was alone on the elevator, most of the employees having no reason to go near Carl's private offices that morning. As the door opened, Jana raised an eyebrow. Standing in front of her was Carl himself.

Short with broad shoulders and the body of a battering ram, Carl had almost single handedly brought his small sneaker company from a one-man operation to a multi-billion dollar corporation with offices and factories nearly everywhere in the world. For the last ten years, Jana had run his advertising. Now, she wanted to rip out his throat with her teeth.

Calm down, my mate. You are not alone. Nothing he can say or do right now will matter very much. Malcolm's voice was like a balm on a sore leg. It immediately settled her.

"Hello, Carl. I have to say; I expected to be greeted by hoards of wolves and guards, not you yourself. Or maybe you're just so surprised that I'm alive you had to come out of your office and see me yourself?"

Carl grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. "This was never about you. They were not sent there to go after you." Jana felt herself hauled forward with a surprising amount of strength by Carl. When had he gotten so strong? His voice was a low hiss and Jana realized he didn't want the secretaries to hear what it was he said. She smiled. What would the others do if she started ranting and raving about shifters in the woods at night?

The thought amused her more than it should and she couldn't help the giggle that exploded. Quickly, she covered her mouth with her free hand.

Finding composure, she continued. "So what was it about then? Just a Valentine's Day surprise?"

He pushed open the double doors that led to his office suites and locked them behind him. If a little thing like a lock could keep Malcolm out, Jana might be worried. But she was more than aware that her mate would scale the side of the building to get to her so she shrugged off the feeling of dread that threatened to overtake her. She was a wolf.

Even without Malcolm, she could destroy this little man.

Carl grabbed both her arms, his face showing no emotion. He looked like a robot or, she shuddered, a psychopath. He pulled her close like he wanted to hug or kiss her.

Turning her head away, she tried not to retch at the though. Pre-Malcolm she wouldn't have liked it; now she wanted to hurl the contents of her stomach.

"It was about eliminating Malcolm Denon who was sent here to interfere with what is between us."

She shook her head. "Are you insane? There is nothing between us, just a working relationship. I've made that clear over and over."

"Kendrick explained it to me."

Raising an eyebrow, she pushed down her inner wolf that wanted to push to the surface. This is what she'd been sent here to retrieve, information. Carl was obviously in the mood to share. "Kendrick Kane explained what to you, Carl?"

"That you are a wolf princess and that there are rules that have to be followed to woo a wolf princess."

This was going to be bad, she could just tell. In no way was she Westervelt royalty.

Carl had been sold a bill of goods by her psycho former Alpha and he was likely going to pay for all of that with his life. It was unfortunate but considering the ordeal she and Malcolm had endured on Valentine's Day, she just couldn't seem to bring herself to care all that much.

"What rules would those be?"

"I have to be a strong Alpha. I need my own army. He told me you would never settle for anything less than to be one of the Queens in his pack."

She cleared her throat. There was so much wrong with that, she couldn't even begin to pick it apart. The main point was that Kendrick was trying to create a pack and had obviously promised her to Carl. Kendrick was the key. Her goal was to gather as much information as she could gather about him and the sick wolves.

"So he gave you the wolves?"

Carl let go of her arms and walked to the window. She took a silent deep breath, grateful to be rid of his touch. "'Gave' would not exactly be correct considering that I'm paying a fortune or them." Aha. There was the money angle. Malcolm just got his proof that Carl was one of Kendrick's financial suppliers.

See if you can find out how they met. But be aware, I am in the building. I will have you out of there in moments with or without the information.

Smiling at Carl, she hoped she looked sexy. "You certainly are a man of means, Carl.

I wish I had known you were going to all of this trouble."

So I could have bit him.

Jana did her best to ignore her wolf. She wouldn't help anything at the moment.

"I've always been able to make one dollar turn into one hundred. You know this."

Sighing, she walked closer to him. "And Kendrick helped you turn the hundred into thousands, even millions, how? Is it one of his witches? One of those women he employs to turn those poor people into the doomed wolves he's creating? Is she conducting spells for you too?"

"It's a mutually comfortable relationship. I pay to keep the Institutes furnished with everything they need and he uses his witches to keep me very wealthy. That first witch that your wolf friends slaughtered did me a favor that I'll never be able to repay by cursing Westervelt. Kendrick was smart to find others who could do the same things, almost like he knew she would eventually be killed."

She traced her hand down his cheek and he shuddered. "Why doesn't he just have his witches make money for him?"

"He needs allies, darling."

The double doors burst open with a crash that caused three paintings to fall from the wall. Malcolm stood in the doorway like an avenging angel, his hair long around his shoulders, looking as though black fury fell from the sky. For a moment, he stood alone his eyes assaulting Carl as his hands clenched at his sides ready to fulfill the promises his glare had already made.

"We are not his allies and you picked the wrong side."

Carl's eyes got huge as he realized Malcolm meant to grab him. Jana pushed Carl forward, surprising him and Malcolm caught him in his arms. Immediately, her mate threw the other man to the floor.

"Couple of questions, and I'm not as nice as my Jana."

Carl's head banged on the ground with the force of Malcolm's elbow pushed against it. "I'll tell you whatever you want but you might want to be careful. All I do is make a small noise and I'll have fifty wolves on you and this time there won't be any dark field to hide you."

"Ha. I don't have to make a noise."

The door banged open again and Westervelt wolves plowed into the room. Jana had to smile. It had been too long since she'd seen them assembled like this. Standing at the front with his head tilted to the side was Gabriel Kane. With the absence of Kendrick, Gabriel seemed less intimidating than he had when she was a child. Not to mention, he was looking at Malcolm for direction. Things had obviously changed with the Kanes.

In what Jana assumed was his quick round up of the odds, Carl scanned the room.

Finally sighing, he looked up into the eyes of her mate and Jana saw terror in his brown gaze. She snorted. Had it just occurred to the man that it was a bad idea to taunt a bunch of wolves? It was highly likely you would get eaten.

She bent down. "Let's start with question number one, shall we? You lured Malcolm here on purpose. That much is obvious. How did you know to hire his security company?"

Carl's eyes darted left and right, as he tried to look anywhere but at her. She blinked twice and realized from the dry feeling that she wore her wolf in her eyes. It seemed to be disturbing the little man. Smiling, she tried not to laugh. So much for his wanting her sexually.

I still want you. Malcolm's voice filled her mind.

You'd better.

"Kendrick told me to."

Behind them, Gabriel Kane hissed a breath. "Damn it. He is still getting way too much information from us. What is the point of neutralizing a traitor if another one is just going to pop up?"

"You'll never stop him. He's a genius, he's a god. Kendrick creates life."

Jana rolled her eyes and looked back at Carl. "Are you on drugs? He creates monstrosities."

"All of our inside operations are going to have to be altered and once again we are going to have to ferret out a traitor." Gabriel looked tired and Malcolm moved to continue the interrogation.

"How did you know Jana was a wolf?"

"Kendrick told me." Jana dwelled on that for a moment. The devil incarnate had known who she was. How many other women were in precarious situations and didn't even know it? It wasn't bad enough they'd had to leave their homes, or never knew their wolf heritage, now they had to be on guard all the time from Kendrick?

"Where are the made-wolves and how many are running around New York City?"

"The wolves are here. You can't smell them anymore. You can't see them unless we want you to. It's really quite pathetic how completely clueless you are." Carl motioned with the top of his chin towards a full-length mirror that hung from the wall. Jana stared at the mirror. Wow. This place crawled with secrets.

Gabriel moved forward and ripped the mirror off the wall, revealing a hidden door.

The mirror hit the ground hard and shattered into a thousand pieces. Jana sucked in her breath at the noise. If they'd been human they would worry that mirror breaking was a sign of bad luck to come. By contrast, the wolves in the room were trying to hide their smiles at Gabriel's display. It was a clear 'fuck you' to both Carl and Kendrick. Breaking something that belonged to them was akin to peeing on their doorstep. It was insulting, plain and simple.

Kicking in the closed door without even trying the handle, Gabriel disappeared into the darkened room. Malcolm waved his hand and two males Jana didn't recognize came forward.

"Hold him."

They nodded and Malcolm followed Gabriel into the room. Never one to be left out of any situation, Jana quickly made her way in as well. The room was at least three degrees colder than in the rest of the building and the lights were dimmed. A loud humming noise filled the air. Hundreds of cages lined the walls. Jana gasped. It wasn't wolves in the cages. No, instead of being caged as wolves, they'd been shifted back to their human forms.

Jana felt tears sting her eyes and she blinked them away. Whatever else they were, they had been at one time human beings who Kendrick had all but destroyed in his sick scientific games. One lone tear slipped to her cheek before she wiped it away.

Turning around, Malcolm walked behind her and squeezed her shoulder tightly.

"Any sign of the medicine they need to stay alive?"

Gabriel shook his head. "Not anything. Evidently, Carl isn't overly concerned with these people living very long. He probably gets new shipments of them when they die."

"How long can they live without that drug?"

"Az has been examining this subject for some time. It seems to depend on the wolf but none of them live more than a month."

Jana approached the cages cautiously. Gripping the cool metal of one holding cells, she stared at the young woman inside. Almost unblinking, the poor thing couldn't be more than in her late twenties. Her hair, ill kept, unwashed, and tangled looked like it fell somewhere between the blonde and brown hair categories. "Can they understand us?"

Gabriel shook his head. "No. They have less communication than actual wolves.

Their lives are devoted to nothing more than instinct. Whoever feeds them, commands them."

For a moment, Jana thought she saw the woman's eyes flare before she saw the glazed, no one at home look reappear in her pupils. Had she just imagined what happened?

"Are you sure?"

"That's what Az tells us and I've never known him to be wrong." He sighed. "Looks like he really got the mother lode here to test on."

Jana's stomach rolled. "Feels really wrong to me that you experiment on these people."

Gabriel's eyes flared. "My brother is trying to save them. He's been killing himself trying to synthesize the drugs they need to survive or to figure out how to wean them off of the stuff so they don't die. I assure you, he is not treating them like lab rats."

"I know you're not thinking of yelling at my mate, Gabriel." Jana swung her head around to stare at Malcolm. Had he just threatened a Kane for her? She placed a hand on his arm hoping he would take the message of restraint.

So nice to have a powerful man as our mate.

Jana agreed with her wolf but she'd be damned if she watched him get his head placed on a stick because he spoke disrespectfully to a Kane.

Gabriel snorted. "What the hell happens to you mated males? You all become something out of a regency romance novel. No, I was not going to yell at Jana. I've known her since I was born." Jana winced at the reminder of her ancient age. "I don't want anything to do with this mating thing I see going on with everyone. I'd rather keep my brain."

Laughing as he walked from the room, Jana heard him pick up his cell phone and snap it open to call back to Westervelt.

Jana ran her hands on Malcolm's hard chest. "What were you going to do if he had planned on yelling at me?"

"Let him know in no uncertain terms that wasn't an acceptable thing to do." Leaning down she smelled his earthy scent and thanked the fates that she had found Malcolm and was not currently residing in one of those cages.

"How would you have done with that?"

He raised an eyebrow, his dark hair lifting off his shoulders as he shrugged.

"Anyway I needed to."

She laughed and snuggled closer as she let him lead her from the room. "What now?"

"Well, if it's okay with you. We go home."

Home. The word caused a shiver to pass through her body. She would love to go home. More than she'd ever even admitted to herself. Nodding, she took his hand and decided not to ask what they planned to do with Carl.

The boat shook in the water and Malcolm felt Jana shake in his arms. He had a feeling it had nothing to do with the cold air that assaulted their senses. Compared to New York, Maine was an icebox.

No, he could only imagine the nervousness she must be feeling and he was doing his best not to speak telepathically to her. It seemed to him that if he were returning to a place he'd had to run for his life from in the middle of the night, he might be having strong reactions as well.

That did mean, however, that he couldn't distract her if he wanted to. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the cardboard cutout he'd gotten up way too early to construct.

Would she think it was dumb? The last one had quickly found its way into her garbage can.

Clearing his throat, he handed her the red wolf he'd made that morning.

"What is this?" She stared up at him and his heart jumped in his chest.

Swallowing, he tried to compose himself. "It's a valentine."

"It's a wolf."

He shrugged. "It's a wolf valentine."

"But you already gave me a valentine."

"Which you promptly put in the trash."

She sat back against the side railing. "Because I thought it wasn't real."

"So, now I'm giving you this one in person."

Her grin rocked him to his core. "I love it." Reaching up, she kissed him. Her lips felt soft against his and he couldn't help the groan that came from his throat. How could he want her again? It had only been a few hours since their early morning joining. He ran his hands through her hair to get a better look at her face. The dark circles that had formed when they got on the boat seemed to be diminishing.

"I'm glad."

A mischievous glint lit her eyes. "I have an idea. February fourteenth is the actual Valentine's Day. Let's make February fifteenth the Wolf's Valentine's Day. It'll be our thing."

He liked that idea and nodded. Fairly certain he would still give her gifts on the actual Valentine's Day he had some ideas of what he could do every February fifteenth too.

Jana turned from him, drawn by the island as it appeared in the horizon. She gasped and leaned forward a little further. Not liking how far over the edge she seemed, he pulled her back slightly.

"All of those buildings?"

"Tristan's mate Ashlee made us all modernize a bit."

He tried to imagine the horizon as she'd last seen it in the pitch blackness. Much better to witness it like this.

She squeezed his hand tightly in hers and brought it to her mouth to kiss. "I assume one of those buildings belongs to you."

"I live in the main facility but now that we're mated we can take one of the cottages if we want to." He pulled her closer into his arms. "Happy Wolf's Valentine's Day, Jana…and welcome home."

"Thank you, mate, I'm so glad to be here."

The End