The Patient Wolf (Wicked Urban Fantasy #1) (12 page)

Chapter 18

Despite her initial
reaction, when Monday morning came Ana wasn’t sure she really wanted to go into all of the details of the last few days with anyone. So when Monica asked, “How was your weekend?” as she and Ana arrived at the door of their office almost at the same moment, Ana’s only response was, “Complicated.”

“Well, that sounds intriguing.” Monica was never one to be put off by an obvious message that the other person was not interested in talking.

“My ex’s wife, Melanie you know, is pregnant...”

She was about to continue telling about her weekend with a slightly edited tale of two men, when Monica cut in. “Oh, honey, I know just how you must be feeling. You’ve said you always wanted another baby, and here that bitch is having one.”

Ana laughed. You always knew where you stood with Monica. If you were her friend, you were always in the right and everyone else was wrong. Maybe, she thought, it would be easier to just focus on Melanie and the baby. That was going to be complicated enough. She wouldn’t even think about Chris and Alexander right now.

“Do you think I should give her a baby shower?” she asked.

“What! No. That is entirely too nice of you, Ana. I know you are friendly with her, for Sophie’s sake, but really, that is going way above and beyond. You let people just walk all over you.”

Ana smiled. Well, at least she wouldn’t have to think about Chris and Alexander for a while. Monica could run on about babies and Melanie for the rest of the day.

The hours passed quickly, too quickly in fact. She knew Chris would be waiting for her at the front entrance to the university when she headed home after her class. She had a feeling of dread that sat like a lead weight in her stomach. What was she going to say to him?

As she approached their usual meeting spot, he walked up to her, smiling, to give her a kiss.

Ana turned away.

“What’s wrong?”

“You lied to me.”

“I lied to you? What do you mean? Has someone been talking to you?” Chris asked.

“You see. You know you haven’t told me the whole truth or you wouldn’t have put it like that,” Ana said. She turned away from the man and crossed the street quickly, trying to get away from him before she started to cry.

“Ana, I don’t know what you are talking about.” Chris caught up with her on the other side of the street and took her arm, stopping her on the sidewalk so that she had to face him. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to talk to you. You lied to me. You used me.” Ana pulled her arm away and continue to walk home as quickly as she could.

“Ana, you have to tell me what you are talking about. I can’t answer if I don’t know what the problem is.”

“I checked you out on PackNet.”

“Oh,” he said flatly. “So you know about …”

“Yes,” she said, stopping and turning to face him so suddenly he almost ran into her. “I know what you are and I assume you know what I am. There are a lot of shapeshifters in this town, that’s why you’re here, isn’t it? You want to get rid of us. To hunt us. But we don’t cause trouble. We keep to ourselves. We don’t bother anyone else unless they try to bother us.”

But Chris had stopped listening at the word “shapeshifter.”

“You are a what?” He sounded genuinely stunned.

Don’t pretend like you don’t know. My grandfather is the head of the pack here. He has been for years. A werewolf Hunter,” she spit the words out at him, “of your caliber should know who Hank Bertrand is.”

“Your grandfather is Hank Bertrand? Yeah, I know who he is. But how was I supposed to know he’s your grandfather? All I knew, all you told me, was that you were Ana Dugan. You didn’t tell me your maiden name and it didn’t occur to me to ask.”

Chris tone turned from confused to angry as he talked. He’d been thinking about this evening ever since he left Ana on Sunday morning. He’d walk her home. He could spend some time getting to know Sophie, and then maybe have a little alone time with Ana on the sofa once Sophie was in bed. And now? Ana was a shapeshifter? She was right. She was the very thing he had come to hunt. How could he have not known?

Ana turned away from him and continued her march down the sidewalk. He watched for a moment, still stunned, then hurried to catch up to her.

“Isn’t that why you were stalking me the night that animal attacked? You wanted to see me turn, didn’t you? It was a full moon. You wanted to scare me into turning, and then you were going to expose me.”

“Ana, this is all crazy talk. I wasn’t stalking anyone that night. I was just out for a walk. I didn’t expect to run into any werewolves in Rivelou, particularly not the one…”

But Ana wasn’t going to listen, and she wasn’t going to be stopped. She spoke over him. “Is it yours? The wolf? That’s what everyone thinks, you know. That you have a pet wolf, or maybe a shapeshifter under your control. That you use it to scare people and get more business for yourself.”

“Ana, I don’t know where you are coming up with this. And do you really think the sidewalk is the right place for this discussion? I thought you shapeshifters were the ones who liked privacy.” He knew he shouldn’t speak so sharply to Ana. Her experiences with her ex-husband had obviously made her very susceptible to harsh tones and anything that even hinted at criticism. He needed to slow down. He cared about Ana. They should sort this out. But really, how could he help the fact his tone was angry and sarcastic? She was the one who had attacked him.

“We’ll have this discussion anywhere I want to have it. I’m tired of being told what I can and can’t do by men.”

“I don’t know where you are coming up with this. I’m not trying to tell you what to do. And I didn’t know your grandfather was Hank Bertrand. You said your name was Dugan. I don’t do genealogical searches on everyone I meet.”

Ana started walking again. It sounded reasonable when Chris said it. But Alexander had sounded reasonable, too. Who was she supposed to believe?

“I told you, my brother-in-law was killed by a werewolf,” Chris continued, following her. “I came here to help my sister move into her new place. I didn’t expect to find a trail to her husband’s killer.”

“You didn’t tell me anything of the kind. You said your brother-in-law was attacked by a dog.”

“What was I supposed to say? I didn’t know you were a werewolf…”

“A shapeshifter,” Ana cut in.

“Ok, a shapeshifter. How was I supposed to tell you I thought my brother-in-law had been killed by a werewolf? If I said that to any sane, normal person they would have me locked up in an insane asylum.”

“So I’m not sane? I’m not a normal person? Of course you would think that.” Ana flounced off again as Chris hit his head with his hand.

“Ana, you know that is not what I meant. I meant someone who doesn’t know about…about your kind.” He rolled his eyes. He knew he was just digging himself in deeper and deeper. How was he going to convince this woman he wasn’t out to eradicate her family?

“So instead you lied to me.”

That did it. Now he was through trying to placate her. “And what about you? I didn’t hear you saying, ‘By the way, Chris, I’m a werewolf and my grandfather is the notorious Hank Bertrand, head of all the werewolf clans in this area.’ Oh no. This goes both ways. If I lied to you, you lied to me.”

“It’s shapeshifter. Not werewolf. And I didn’t lie. I just didn’t mention one thing about myself. Did you expect me to tell you everything on our first date?”

“This makes no sense, you know, Ana. If you weren’t comfortable telling me everything about yourself, why is it when I wasn’t comfortable telling you something you call it lying? What’s good for goose, right?”

“What’s different is you are a Hunter. You are out to destroy me and my family.”

“Why would I be out to destroy your family?”

“Because that is what you do. I read all about you on PackNet. You look for people like me and you ‘take us down.’”

“I’m not out to destroy your family—not unless one of you is the rogue werewolf. He’s dangerous. Not just to humans, but to other werewolves, too. If someone doesn’t take him down soon, then all of you will be exposed.

“Someone has to police the rogues and the monsters. I only hunt the creatures who aren’t following the law. Someone has to do it. Someone has to police the system. And that someone is me. When a werewolf—or a vampire or any other supernatural creature—gets out of line, I’m the one they call to take them down.”

“How do I know you aren’t the rogue. That’s what Alexander thinks you are.”

“Alexander? You mean Alexander Fontaine?”

“Yes, of course. I’ve told you about him. I’m working with him on the seminar.”

“You told me you were working with someone, but you didn’t say it was Alexander Fontaine.” This time, Chris stopped Ana, taking her arm so he could look into her eyes. “Ana, you need to be very, very careful You need to stay away from him. He’s dangerous.”

“Dangerous? Alexander is not dangerous. He’s a gentleman. Unlike some people I know.”

“If I’m right, Ana, he’s the rogue. Everywhere he has been in the last five years there have been strange deaths. He’s the one I’ve been hunting for. I wasn’t sure of it until I came here, and found he suddenly moved down her shortly after Jason, my brother-in-law’s, death. It was getting too hot for him in Chicago. I wasn’t the only person after him. Death follows him, Ana. You need to watch out for yourself.”

“No, he’s not the rogue. He met with Grandpa last night, and convinced him. My grandfather is very hard to fool. You say you know about Alexander? He knows about you, too. He told Grandpa you’re the rogue.

“But Chris, you know what? I just don’t care if he is the rogue or if you are, or about anything else you have to tell me. The bottom line is you are just like all the other men in my life. You want to control me and tell me what to do. That’s why I just don’t think we can keep seeing each other. Besides, my grandfather wants your head. He believes you are the rogue, too.”

“How can I be the rogue? Honey, I can be the Hunter or the rogue but not both,” Chris said, trying logic.

“Alexander explained it to us, to my grandfather and grandmother and brother. He says you are trying to frame him. He says you have a dog you are hiding. That you bring it out to kill people and frame Alexander.

“That is crazy!”

“Don’t call me crazy!”

“I didn’t call you crazy. I said Fontaine’s theory is crazy. Ana, why would I do something like that?”

“It’s good for your business. You make everyone think werewolves are dangerous and you are the only one with the solution. That’s what Alexander thinks.”

“I’m sick of hearing about what Alexander thinks. When did you two have time to get so cozy? You know what you are saying doesn’t make sense. My own brother-in-law was killed by a werewolf. I’m just trying to track down the werewolf who did it. I don’t bother any werewolves, or shapeshifters, or other creatures, that don’t bother us.”

“So it’s us against them. And I’m obviously one of ‘them.’ That is a perfect example of why you and I can’t be together. Goodbye, Chris. I don’t think we should see each other again.”

They had been so busy with the argument that until she looked up, Ana didn’t realize she had arrived at her own front door. It was about time. She didn’t want him to know how much he had hurt her. She had thought he was different. She’d been wrong. She wanted to get away from him while she was still too angry to cry.

She ran up the steps and slammed the door in Chris’s face.

Chapter 19

During the next few
weeks Ana often found herself in the company of Alexander. He was charming, he was attentive. And she didn’t have to hide who she was when she was with him. Then why was she still looking for Chris every night on her walk home from work?

She sighed. What was wrong with her? She was pining for a man who obviously wasn’t interested, when the man who
was
interested in her was intelligent, sophisticated, well-traveled. Yes, he had an ego that was “just a little bit large.” She smiled as she thought that. She wasn’t making excuses for him. After living with Jonathan she knew how to deal with a man’s ego, she added wryly. No one was perfect. But in fact, come to think of it, Alexander was the real thing. He was everything her ex-husband had ever wanted to be.

And she had to admit she wasn’t beyond using Alexander to get a little of her own back with Jonathan. Alexander invited her to join him for the annual Harvest Dinner Dance at the Rivelou Country Club on Saturday, the weekend before Halloween. Dinner, dancing, and a lot of very important people. Ana knew Jonathan wouldn’t miss it.

“This is so exciting!” Monica gushed when Ana told her. “What are you going to wear?”

“I have no idea. I don’t have anything appropriate—at least not anything so old that Jonathan hasn’t seen me wear it before. It’s a nice black dress, but in fact, I may have bought it to go to the country club with him one time.”

“Well that won’t do! You and I are going shopping.”

~~~

“What does Sophie think of Alexander?” Monica asked as they browsed through the selections at Westford Mall.

“She hasn’t met him yet.”

“She hasn’t? I thought you were seeing Alexander almost every day.”

“Well, yes…we have seen quite a lot of each other. He’s been over to the house several times. He’s always just missed Sophie, that’s all. But he says he is very anxious to meet her.”

It sounded lame, even as Ana said it. Alexander professed to be very interested in all aspects of Ana’s life, even her daughter, but somehow he kept making excuses whenever it came to actually meeting her.

She couldn’t mention it to Monica, but Alexander would certainly meet Sophie on Halloween night. All three of them had a command performance at the Bertrand homestead. Ana sighed. She wasn’t looking forward to it.

Now dinner at the club, and the chance to show off a little in front of her ex-husband? That was another story. And if she was going to be perfectly honest with herself, she was more excited about showing off in front of Jonathan than about spending the evening with Alexander. How could attentive, attractive, and sophisticated be boring? How could she still be thinking of Chris whenever she was with Alexander?

She wouldn’t think about Chris.

She wouldn’t think about Chris.

No, she really wouldn’t think about Chris.

But after an evening with Alexander, she was…bored. Maybe it was his propensity to talk about his work all the time. Or to assume she was just as interested in “the study of how the belief in the supernatural affects humans in their daily lives.” She’d heard it so many times she thought it in quotes.

She wouldn’t think about Chris.

Part of what bothered her was the basic dishonesty of Alexander’s work. He knew for a fact that werewolves, vampires, and other “paranormal” beings were real, yet his entire professional life was spent pretending that he was “hunting for the reality in the legend.”

The night of the dinner Ana put on the one-shoulder, dark wine colored, knee-length dress she and Monica had chosen. The ruched bodice flattered her figure. “I can never get away with something like that,” Monica had said when Ana tried on. She looked down at her own curvy outline and sighed. “But on you it looks fabulous.”

Ana had gulped at the price—even with a coupon. But she was tired of feeling as if she looked like the poor relation. She’d even bought strappy, silver high heels and a little silver clutch to complete the outfit. She was going to look fabulous even if she ate nothing peanut butter sandwiches for lunch for the next six months.

“You are one of the Bertrands, Chérie,” Alexander told her whenever she protested something extravagant that he wanted to do or to buy. “I adore the fact you are modest, but remember, you do have a position in this town, and so do I. I want you to look beautiful. I want to show you off.”

Ana’s family had never seen it like that. She had never been told she came from a prestigious family. She knew Jonathan had thought that, and had been disappointed her family had not lived up to his expectations. They had never belonged to the country club, never held elected office. But if you wanted something done in Rivelou, you went to Hank Bertrand.

And Hank Bertrand would never accept Jonathan Dugan. He would never accept Chris Spier. If she and Chris got back together it would just be the same old problem she had had with between her grandfather and Jonathan—the problem that had ultimately torn them apart. Yes, the same thing happen all over again with Chris. She wouldn’t think about Chris, she reminded herself one more time.

But her grandfather did accept Alexander. In fact, he’d practically thrown her into his arms. Wasn’t it time she accepted being with her own kind was easier? That being at peace with her family, rather than at odds with them would make her happier? Wasn’t it easier to love the sophisticated, wealthy, famous Alexander Fontaine? As she headed for the party, Ana vowed to work on learning to love the man she was with, rather than the one who had not contacted since their fight almost three weeks ago.

When they arrived, Melanie and Jonathan were some of the first people they saw. Melanie was on the planning committee for the party and had arranged the decorations, which seemed to consist of an overabundance of cute scarecrows and pumpkins and hay bales all smothered by hundreds of bronze, red, and yellow chrysanthemums.

“Ana, I’m so glad to see you.” Melanie kissed her on the cheek. “I’ve got to ask you. Were you sick all the time with Sophie? Jonathan thinks I’m faking. He says the minute I found out I was pregnant I started to puke, and it can’t happen that fast.”

Ana grimaced and patted her arm to comfort her. “I’m so sorry you’re sick. I know lots of women who say the same. But I hate to tell you; I was one of those people who wasn’t sick a day. And that’s Jonathan’s only experience with a pregnant woman.”

“Well, he’s just going to have to learn we’re not all alike, isn’t he? I always hear how I’m not as strong as you, until sometimes I just want to scream. Oh, I shouldn’t have said that,” Melanie put her hand to mouth and blush. “I don’t mean to complain about Jonathan. Really, I don’t. I love him so much and I want to please him. This really must be my hormones talking.”

Ana stood with her mouth open for a minute as Melanie turned to greet another couple. Jonathan thought she was strong? That certainly wasn’t what he’d told her when they were married. Jonathan compared her favorably to Melanie? “That bastard,” she thought. “He used to do the same thing to me.”

Ana shook her head in disgust. Well, luckily, Jonathan was Melanie’s problem now. She looked around and found Alexander, who, no surprise, had been cornered by Jonathan. She figured she had better go rescue someone—she just wasn’t sure which one of them would be more in need of a rescue.

When she made her way over to the hors d’oeuvres table where the pair stood, she noticed that Jonathan was eyeing Alexander’s suit and suit, and watch, the favorite Patek Phillipe, and silently adding up the cost in his head. It was small of her, but she really hoped that they could manage to leave at the same as Jonathan so he would see the Lamborghini.

Unfortunately, a short time later she saw the couple leaving early. Jonathan did not look happy, and Melanie was holding a handkerchief to her mouth. “Melanie must be puking again, poor thing,” she thought.

The evening was wonderful. Alexander was an excellent dancer. They were one of the last couples to leave. When they finally arrived back at her house at the end of the evening, Ana could tell Alexander expected to be asked inside.

“Chérie, I have made it clear how I feel about you, but you are holding back,” he said to her after she gave him a chaste good night kiss on the porch and prepared to go inside alone. “What is wrong? It is not your ex-husband, is it?”

“No,” she laughed. “It is definitely not Jonathan. If I had had any romantic feelings left for him at all, they would have been gone tonight after I saw him with Melanie. It’s not her fault she has morning sickness. He was totally unsympathetic.”

“If it is not Jonathan, then it is someone else?’

“No. Of course not,” she said too quickly.

“Ah, I see. It is the Hunter, then, that you are still thinking about.”

Ana looked away. She couldn’t deny it. No matter what Chris had done, or who he was, she still had feelings for him.

“He’s not the right man for you, you know. You are too different. It would never work.”

“I know that. I just can’t help how I feel.”

“I won’t quit trying, Chérie. You are the right one for me. I knew it the first time I saw you. We are meant for each other. Everyone knows it but you.”

“Alexander, I don’t know if I’ll ever feel that way about you.”

“Don’t worry. I have enough faith for both of us. And I have told you before, I can be very, very patient.” He kissed her again, lightly. “I’ll see you Monday at the university. It’s Halloween. First the seminar, then we will go together to the pack meeting at your grandfather’s home. You’ll see then, that I am your perfect mate.” He headed back to his car as she opened her door to her house.

Stopping just inside the door she kicked off her high heels and had started to take off her earrings and necklace when the doorbell rang.

“Alexander? Did you forget something?” she said as she opened the door.

But it wasn’t Alexander standing on the stoop. It was Chris.