Obsessions (18 page)
Authors: Bryce Evans
“Are you sure you will be okay here by yourself?” Donnie
asked his voice was still emotional from their talk earlier. London nodded.
“Yes I will be fine. As soon as you leave, I will
turn on the alarm. I have my cell phone. The police department is just around
the corner. I will even lock my office door and put something against it,” she
said amused.
“I don’t like this London. You can come and stay
with me at my cabin. Please don’t stay here.” Donnie pleaded, but she had
already made her mind up and he would have to understand. She needed to be
alone.
London watched Donnie’s shoulder’s slumped with
defeat before she walked with him to the door and waved good-bye, turned the
alarm on, and turned the lights off. Walking back to her office, London
realized that she had forgotten to call Me-Len for the information she needed.
Dialing the number, London waited for her
grandmother to pick up. “Hello baby girl.” Me-Len answered.
“Hey Me-Len,” London answered as she put her feet up
on the table. “I have some questions about magic.”
London pulled out her notebook and started writing
down her answers. She spoke to her grandmother for over an hour asking a ton of
questions. London finally got off the phone then went into her bathroom and
took a shower. She was putting her brush up when she heard a noise. London knew
that the alarm didn’t go off or she would have heard it. The power hadn’t been
cut so the alarm was still on, but Me-Len had said that witches could mess with
electronics so they could have gotten in if they broke the lock.
It started again, and the fear of the unknown
grasped her body and she started sweating, thinking that someone or the woman
on the hill was in her office. She didn’t have any weapons in the office with
her or anything except her cell phone. Shit, she had her cell phone. London ran
to her office door and made sure the lock was turned then she pulled her chair
over to the door and put it underneath the doorknob.
She heard another noise and this sounded like it was
outside her door. London backed up and called 911. She was shaking now, and she
could hear the sirens coming, but now she had a real problem. How were they
going to get in if the door was locked? She’d watched every horror movie ever
made and she wasn’t about to unlock the door and go open it for the police.
They could break it down for all she cared. She would have it replaced.
London called 911 again and told the operator to let
her know if the front door was open. She also gave them permission to break it
and let themselves in if it wasn't, because she wasn’t going to leave from her
locked room to do it. The 911 operator instructed her to stay in the room until
officers told her to open the door.
London waited but didn’t hear anything for a few
minutes. She looked down at her necklace but nothing was glowing so she figured
it was a false alarm and just her imagination, but she still jumped when she
heard the crash of glass hitting the floor.
“Ma’am this is the police. You can open the door
now.” She sighed, conceding that living in her office by herself was a huge
mistake. She couldn’t take it anymore. She slowly opened the door to the
concerned faces of two police officers.
“Are you okay ma’am?” The officer asked. “I
contacted the Alpha, and he should be here in a few minutes to pick you up.”
“What? Why would you do that? He has nothing to do
with this. Did you find anything?” London fired off the questions.
“Nothing, ma’am. We didn’t find anything. The Alpha
gave us strict instructions about you. If you needed anything then we were to
make sure you got it. Plus, we were supposed to keep watch on your door and keep
you safe. We left for a few minutes to get some dinner. It was only ten
minutes, but the Alpha is going to kill us.” London blew out the breath she was
holding. Why was Ryder doing this to her? Why did he care enough to do this?
London heard tires squealing to a stop. The officer
hurried out the door to go and meet Ryder. London shook her head then sat down
hard on the couch. She had her head in her hands when she heard footsteps stop
in front of her. She glanced up to the worried face of Ryder Malone.
He grabbed her up and hugged her to him. “Are you
okay?” He started rubbing her hair and back, and she could feel him inhaling
her scent like he was having difficulty catching his breath.
She pulled back and looked at him. “Hey, are you
okay Ryder?” London could see the struggle he used to control his emotions.
“You are coming home with me. This was a mistake.”
he demanded without answering her question.
“No Ryder. I’m not. I will go stay with Zoey or
Donnie.” London offered calmly.
“NO! You’re coming home with me. Get your stuff
London.” Jamie came striding in the room before she could respond to Ryder’s
demand.
“It looks like someone tried to jimmy the locks on
the front door, but couldn’t get in that way, but I found a ladder in back.
They came in through the roof, and they must have left when they heard the
police. They had to have heard you in here, London. I guess what I’m trying to
say is, they knew you were alone. You need to go to Ryder’s house. We have
plenty of rooms so you won’t have to see us much,” Jamie said with a smile. She
could tell he was trying to make up for what happened.
“Did you pick up any scent?” she asked, recalling
that the lack of scent was the main reason Jamie and Ryder didn’t believe her
before.
“No…no we didn’t.” Jamie looked worried that he
couldn’t pick up a scent. She decided it wasn’t worth fighting him over so she
pulled away from him and started packing her bags. If someone was masking their
scent that well then she was a target. She looked back and could see the stress
leave Ryder’s face when she started packing. He didn’t say anything as she
continued to get her stuff together. It didn’t take her long since she hadn’t
unpacked anything but her sweat pants and t-shirt.
Ryder was looking at the pictures she had drawn of
the system she was making. Jamie came over and silently took her luggage out of
her hand. He stopped and looked at the pictures too. “What is this?”
“You asked me to help you with the problems with the
wards so I’m making a program that will. At least I hope it will. I will need
someone who is a tech person and can make the system while I make the program
that will make it work. I know you need it fast so I’m trying to hurry,” she
explained pointing at the cameras. “We will need to put the cameras on
telephone poles or the cable poles so it looks like they are working on the
lines. Maybe get a TV network company to put them up so it won’t look as
obvious as to what they are.” London hesitated to continue with the other
wolves listening in the room. She didn’t want anyone to know but Ryder and the
Council. If it got out then she would know where it came from.
“Listen it’s not that I don’t trust your people but
I’m very careful about this stuff and I only want you and the Council to know
about this so can we talk about this at home?” London whispered as she leaned
into Ryder’s space. She could see his nostrils flare, as she pressed closer,
and his eyes dilated and appeared to glow. She could tell that he was starting
to get aroused. How in the hell she did that she didn’t have a clue.
“Is this everything you need London?” Jamie asked as
he walked over to her. London watched Ryder close his eyes and move away from
her.
“Yes except I can’t leave the front door wide open.
What if someone comes back and steals the computers. All my work will be gone.
They can’t get in the system but they can keep it from me. It has to be
protected until I can get the door fixed tomorrow and the ceiling closed off so
nobody can crawl through that vent in the roof. And I’ve got to back up my
stuff so I can remote in from anywhere,” London said firmly.
“I will bring in some Enforcers to guard the roof
and front door until tomorrow.” Ryder’s voice was raw with emotion. She could
see how stiff his back and shoulders look, and he didn’t turn around for a few
seconds. She had never seen him like this.
“Okay. I’ll lock this door just in case and put a
lock on the computers. If they are moved, I will be able to tell. Tomorrow I
will order some equipment that should keep the information safe even if they
take the computers,” London said then walked over to her computers and typed
something in then watched as the computers blinked off.
“I’m ready,” she said, walking toward the door with
Ryder following behind her. She could feel the heat coming off of him. It felt
strange. Why was he acting so protective of her? If he liked her so damn much
then why did he…London shook the thoughts out of her head.
If the man liked
her, he would show it and most of the time they argued.
Jamie spoke to three men she had never seen before.
She turned back around to ask Ryder who they were but decided not to since he
was helping her out. When she looked back at her business, they were gone. She
scanned the street and roof but didn’t see anyone.
That was weird
. Jamie
got into the driver’s seat and backed up.
London didn’t realize just how tired she was until
the darkness of the night made her eyes droop. Before she knew what was
happening, Ryder had picked her up and carried her into his house. She inhaled
his scent as she snuggled closer. She would regret it tomorrow. Tonight she was
too damn tired.
Ryder laid her down on the bed and covered her up,
and London remembered a brief kiss to her forehead before she went to sleep.
She usually slept five hours a night, her body never allowing her to sleep past
six, so when her eyes blinked open later, she figured it was still early in the
morning until she looked over at the clock on the dresser that said it was nine
in the morning.
Panicking she jumped up and started scrambling to
find her clothes. She had a lot to do today. Why Ryder let her sleep this late
was beyond her. In fact, where was her cell phone? She remembered setting it
last night before she got in the shower. It should have woken her up if she could
find the damn thing. London ran over to the closet to search for her suitcases
and found all of her clothes unpacked and hanging up. Stepping back, she wondered
what the hell was going on?
Who did this and why?
Walking over to the dresser she opened the drawers,
and gasped when she found all her underwear and bras and a few other lingerie
items sitting neatly in the drawer.
There wasn’t any time to ponder this new drama. She
needed to take a quick shower and get to work. When she located Ryder she would
ask who unpacked her stuff.
* * * *
Ryder couldn’t believe someone broke into her
office. If something would have happened to her he…couldn’t even think about
the possibility of that happening. He would never forgive himself if that
happened.
Sitting in the chair all night watching her sleep
gave him time to think. She was his to protect. No matter if they couldn’t mate
she was still his to protect. All he could think about at the moment was her
scent. It drew him in like a moth to a flame. He burned inside not being able
to touch her. Her sweet musky scent made his mouth water. She would always be
his crutch. He didn’t want people to know that either. She would be pushed
around or used to get to him. He needed to be careful when he was around her
and not show her any extra attention or people would figure it out. Nobody
understood that. Not even Jamie or his best friends. Jamie thought he was crazy
about London and if he let him know that he was correct then he would never
leave it alone. This way nobody got hurt. He could still protect her and care
for her without marking her. Because once he marked her she would most likely
be challenged by someone stronger just to make a point. He couldn’t let anyone
hurt her. He knew he would kill whoever did and that could never happen.
Stirring the eggs, he thought about how pretty she
was as she slept. Watching her sleep, Ryder could see the bags under her eyes
and knew she needed to rest more, so he took her cell phone with him in case
her alarm woke her up or Zoey called her.
Zoey had called as soon as she got to the office and
the front door was being replaced. The Enforcers tried to calm Zoey down but
she wouldn’t stop crying until she called and checked on London. Ryder promised
that she was okay and still asleep. He laughed when he told her she was still
asleep.
“I’m coming over there now. London never sleeps this
late. Never! Something is wrong.” Ryder assured Zoey that nothing was wrong and
he would personally drive her to work and make sure she was okay.
He could hear her moving around upstairs as he hung
up the phone. She was probably freaking out when she saw that her clothes were
hung up. What would he say when she asked why? He would think of something.
He was always better off the cuff.
He heard the bedroom door open. He stirred the eggs
faster so they would be hot when she walked into the kitchen.
He glanced over at her when she walked in. He felt
lost as he stared at her. It made him sick knowing he couldn’t have her.
He turned around when she walked in the kitchen. “Good
morning?” Ryder choked out. His voice left him when he saw her beautiful face. She
wasn’t even wearing much make-up and the woman was the sexiest woman he had
ever seen.
“You didn’t wake me up?” London complained.
“No. You were sleeping too well. I thought you
needed the sleep. I’ve got breakfast ready. Sit down and eat before I take you
to the office.”
Ryder watched as London sat down and started
eating. Her stomach was growling loudly until she started shoveling the food
in her mouth.
He grinned when she finally looked up at him.
“That was great,” she said, making Ryder smile. “No
really it was great. Thank you. I enjoyed it.”
He watched her as she picked up her plate and glass,
and placing them in the dishwasher.
“I’ll take you to work when you’re ready.” Ryder
suggested.
“I will be ready in a minute. Just need to get some
things and I will meet you outside.” London responded.
“Sure. Meet you back in five minutes.” Ryder agreed as
he continued to watch London walk back upstairs to the bedroom. He couldn’t
figure out what was taking her so long when she came downstairs carrying a
small bag. He knew his sister carried a lot of stuff with her when she went
place to place so he didn’t ask what was in the bag.
They were silent as they left the cabin, and got
into his vehicle, but Jamie walked up to the SUV before he pulled off, leaning
down he whispered, “Kenny didn’t show up for work this morning.”
“Find him,” Ryder ordered. Fuming at the ignorance
of his enforcer—Kenny Davis. He’d been found drunk more times than he could
count since he lost his wife two years ago in a car accident. A drunk driver
killed her and their unborn child.
Ryder had found someone who dealt with shifters and
could help Kenny cope with his loss, but it was nearing his wife’s birthday and
the therapist said anything like a birthday or seeing a family member of hers
could trigger him into drinking again. She said to keep him busy and on those
particular days to make sure someone was with him. However, it didn’t make any
sense since her birthday was two months away. He would deal with him later. He
was probably out on some binder and would turn up later and apologize for his
actions. He thought that since he found another mate he would be okay, but the
therapist said anything could trigger a relapse.
