Black Wolfe's Mate (Paranormal Shifter Romance) (6 page)

“For what purpose?”

Christophe averted his eyes. “She said she needed to speak with the person in charge of on-site medical care.”

“And?”

Christophe shifted uncomfortably. “She said...if anything should happen to her during her stay, no measures were to be taken to save her life. She said she had a standing, legal, Do Not Resuscitate order locked in the resort safe, should it be needed.”

Derrick gaped at him. “You are just telling me this now? Did you not find this worthy of mention?”

“It was unusual, I admit,” Christophe said slowly. “Guests usually do not come to me with such things. Certainly not one so young and outwardly healthy. I asked her, pointedly, if there was something I should be aware of. She said no, that sometimes things just happened because they were meant to be.” He sighed. “I thought she might just be a bit eccentric — some of our guests are. She did not visit me again, but I cannot help but feel as if I have missed something.”

Thus far, Dieter had remained silent. Derrick turned to him now. “And what of you, Dieter? Is there something you wish to tell me?”

The large man’s face remained expressionless. “No.”

“Let me rephrase that,” Derrick said carefully. “Have you had any direct personal contact with Angelica?”

“Yes, but I do not wish to discuss it.”

Derrick narrowed his eyes. “Dieter.”

Dieter exhaled heavily, looking as if he’d rather be anywhere else at that moment. “We...talked.”

“Excuse me?” Next to Dieter, Silas was a chatty Kathy. He rarely spoke, and when he did, it was more a series of grunts and growls than actual words.

Just a hint of color rose in Dieter’s classic Nordic features as he remembered the events of a few nights ago.

He was making his rounds just before midnight, ensuring all of the guests were accounted for within the sanctioned perimeter. He rounded the corner when he felt a soft thud around the vicinity of his lower chest. Thinking someone had tossed something at him, he glanced down just in time to see a young woman landing solidly on her backside upon the flagstones below.

“Oh, excuse me,” she said with effort, since much of her breath had been forced from her lungs at the point of impact. Her eyes started somewhere around his ankles, then lifted as she tilted her head upwards. By the time she got to his face, they were as wide as saucers and her lips parted in shock. They stared at each other for what seemed like several minutes.

Angelica was the first to break the gaze. She began to get her feet beneath her when Dieter reached down and plucked her up as if she weighed nothing.

Standing at her full height, her eyes fell somewhere around his solar plexus. She looked up at him and he found himself at a complete loss, not knowing what to do.

“Has anyone ever told you that you look just like Chris Hemsworth?” she asked, smiling.

He might have grunted; he couldn’t remember. “You know,” she continued, “the Australian actor who played Thor in the movie?”

“You have seen Thor?” he asked, rather stupidly. Girls didn’t like action adventure movies, did they? Especially ones concerning old gods no one remembered.

“Oh, yes,” she breathed with a significant blush. “Six times, in fact. It’s one of my favorites. Have you seen it?”

“I have the DVD,” he rumbled in his deep voice.

“Lucky you,” she murmured, suddenly seeming a bit shy. “Well, sorry about running into you like that.” She eyed him doubtfully. “I didn’t, um, hurt you or anything, did I?”

The very idea had Dieter doing something he hadn’t done in a very long time. He smiled. “No.”

Angelica laughed then. “Right. Good night, then.”

When Dieter did not attempt to move, Angelica stepped around him. With a final smile and a shy little wave, she was gone, and he was left standing there, watching her until she was out of sight.

He relayed the story in as few words as possible. When he was finished, Derrick looked every bit as stunned as the others.

“Thor?!” Steffen chuckled, unable to conceal his amusement any longer. Christophe tried to hide his smile by turning away. Antoine simply roared with laughter. Even Silas’ mouth turned upward in a half-grin.

“So, she has touched upon each of you,” Derrick said thoughtfully. “What of you, Niko? How does Angelica know your face?”

The dark sentinel stepped from the shadows. He was the most reclusive of all of them. Hair of the darkest chestnut hung haphazardly, framing a face so perfect, it was distracting. Eyes of molten gold, liquid and hypnotic, looked out from beneath impossibly thick, dark lashes.

“Our paths crossed in the night once,” Niko said quietly. Derrick held his breath. Niko was cursed with such beauty, women often found themselves drawn to him. It was one of the reasons he stayed far away from the guests. He performed his daytime duties from within their security office, only appearing outside the walls when there was little or no danger of coming in contact with human females.

“And?”

“And nothing,” Niko said. “She bade me a good and safe eve and went on her way.” Stunning the hell out of him in the process. She had barely glanced at him, or so he had thought. The detailed sketch suggested otherwise.

Derrick shook his head, pinching the spot between his eyes. None of it made any sense to him, but there was little chance he would find the answers he sought this night. Tired and weary, he wanted nothing more than to simply crawl into bed with Angelica and hold her. Yet his pack was clearly looking to him for some guidance.

It was more than a little odd that Angelica had managed to encounter each of them since her arrival less than a week earlier. Even more so that she had created images of them. Their very survival depended upon the ability to keep their secrets.

It was hard to pose the question he knew he must. “Do you believe her purpose among us is a dark one?”

The men exchanged glances with each other. It was Silas who answered. “No. There is not one among us who believes that.”

“We found at least a ream of paper amongst her things,” Steffen added, producing a thick stack. “Sketches of the castle, the grounds, the ocean, other guests. All of this quality.”

“She did all of this since she’s been here?” Derrick asked, surprised as he thumbed through the etchings. They were impressive, so perceptive and crafted with exquisite detail.

Antoine nodded. “She must have. Niko found the receipt for the paper from a mainland shop, dated the day she arrived. That, and an inexpensive set of drawing charcoals.”

“When did she have time to do all of this?” Derrick wondered aloud. All the times she had sat on the rocks or beach, not once had he seen her drawing or sketching.

“At night, perhaps,” Christophe answered thoughtfully. “It appears she did not sleep much. We found a bottle of sleeping pills amongst her personal things, and it contained all but one of the original amount.”

Christophe’s words stirred a vague memory, something she had said to him the night they spent beneath the palms. Night, too, would have been when she ran into Dieter and Niko. “What else did you find?” Derrick asked.

Again, it was Christophe who answered, though he hesitated. “Pain medication.”

“That is not so unusual among humans, is it?”

“Not as such, no,” Christophe said slowly. “But what we found was no over-the-counter analgesic, Derrick. Among her things, she had Percocet, Vicodin, OxyContin, Tramadol, Maxalt, Darvocet, Morphine...”

Antoine whistled. “It is no wonder she did not have much of an appetite.”

“She is a drug addict?” asked Steffen, his voice laced with disbelief.

“I don’t think so,” Christophe said. “Most of them were unopened.”

“A dealer?” The thought was reprehensible.

Christophe shook his head. “No. They were definitely filled for her. Strong enough dosage to take down a bull.”

“Do we know why?” Antoine asked.

Christophe shook his head. “No, but I think we must assume she was not as hale as she outwardly appeared.”

Niko spoke from the shadows, his voice quiet. “Have any of you considered the possibility that Angelica would not want to have been Made?”

Derrick stilled, the room falling deathly silent. “What are you saying, Niko?”

“I only speak the thoughts already in your mind. Whatever ailed the poor woman left her with few choices. Perhaps when she went out in the storm, she had no intention of returning. It would align with what she spoke of with Christophe shortly after her arrival.”

Rage surged through Derrick, but he knew Niko only spoke the truth. The same thought had been nagging at him as well, but he refused to give it substance.

“What’s done is done,” he said, stiffening. “The only thing we can do is wait until she can tell us what it is she wishes. I will abide by her choice.”

Antoine’s eyes grew wide. “You would honor her wish for death?”

Derrick clenched his jaw so hard, it would have cracked had he been just a man. It had been his choice, his decision, not hers.  “Yes, if it is truly what she wishes.” But he would do everything in his power to try to change her mind first.

“Do you know what that would do to you?” Silas whispered. “To all of us?” Losing a mate was devastating, and because Derrick was Alpha, the loss would ripple throughout the pack.

“Nay,” said Steffen, shaking his head. “You will do no such thing. For better or worse, Angelica is ours now.”

“You forget yourself, Steffen,” Derrick warned.

Steffen straightened. While they were loyal to a fault, Derrick had chosen each of them based on their strong characters and beliefs. He refused to be surrounded by ’yes men’. He wanted intelligent males who would speak up when necessary.

“I forget nothing. Ending her life at this juncture will destroy you and we are sworn to protect you. We will not allow any deliberate action — by your own hand or any other — that will result in your downfall.”

Derrick sunk down into a chair, giving voice to his worst fear. “What if she does not wish for that which I have forced upon her? What if she hates me for it?”

“She will not,” Antoine assured him, laying his hand on Derrick’s shoulder.

“And she did not kiss any of us, did she now?” said Christophe with a mischievous grin.

“If she has doubts,” Dieter’s low voice rumbled, “we will ease them.”

Derrick looked around at each of his pack mates. “You are all united in this?” he asked, shaking his head slightly in disbelief. They nodded in unanimous agreement. “I was under the impression you would not accept her.”

“Perhaps not at first,” Niko agreed, “but there is clearly much more to her than any of us originally thought.”

“The very fact that she has survived this long proves she is stronger than any of us realized,” Christophe mused with approval.

“Any woman who can resist Niko is all right in my book,” Steffen quipped.

“She clearly is a woman of exquisite taste,” agreed Antoine.

“She likes Thor,” Dieter nodded.

“She needs us, Derrick. All of us.”

D
errick stood and stretched. Three weeks had passed and Angelica’s body had undergone the transformation at the cellular level. All of the physical damage had been repaired and now she lay quietly in the depths of unconsciousness, awaiting the next full moon. Only then would they know whether the change had been truly successful.

“She will make it, Silas,” Derrick said, gratefully accepting the tray of food. Antoine had been sending a constant supply of food up from the kitchens to maintain his strength. Supporting his own overactive metabolism as well as providing for Angelica required high quantities of sustenance.

“I hope she does.” The words were spoken genuinely. She had touched each of them in some small way and they were all hoping she would survive the final challenge — not only for herself, but for the happiness of their Alpha, her mate.

Upon the next full moon — now only days away — her beast would attempt to rise. The physical aspect was only part of the shift; Angelica would also have to accept and embrace it. If she didn’t, it would quite literally rip her psyche in two and render her insane.

That sudden duality was yet another reason why the Making was usually a much longer process. In addition to selecting a proper candidate, the one to be Made was typically schooled in the transformation and what would occur. It took weeks, sometimes months, to adequately prepare. Angelica had none of that. She had no idea what was happening to her. But Derrick would be with her, trying to reach through the panic and confusion to guide her.

He’d already spent hours by her bedside, conditioning her to his voice and scent in the hopes that her beast would recognize it when it began to emerge. He’d been explaining everything as well, but he had no way of knowing whether any of it had made it through. While her physical form had been healing, her mind remained in a protective stasis to facilitate the necessary chemical changes that laid the groundwork for the awakening.

“You know nothing about her,” Silas mused, standing over her. She looked so young, so peaceful.

“Not quite true,” Derrick argued with a small smile. “I know she is the first woman to capture my interest in nearly half a millennium.”

“You have been with many women,” Silas noted.

“I said she captured my interest, Silas, not my cock. What she has accomplished is far more difficult.”

“But you will give her your cock as well,” Silas teased.

“No doubt,” agreed Derrick with a grin.

“You will truly make her your mate, then?”

“Yes, in all ways.”

Silas threaded some of the silken gold of her hair through his fingers. If she changed, she would indeed make a stunning she-wolf. Nearly all in their pack were dark. Derrick’s much stronger wolf-DNA should have dominated over her weaker human strands and changed her hair to match his, but it hadn’t.

“She keeps surprising us, this one,” Silas mused. “A most unusual feat, considering we have been around so long. Why is that, do you suppose?”

Derrick had asked himself the same thing many times over since Angelica had so quietly slipped into his life. “I am afraid I have no suitable answer to that, my friend, except perhaps to say Fate or Destiny has decided it should be so.”