The Keeping (41 page)

“Um...Ryne?”
Daniel looked worried. “There was an e-mail today from the
Registry.”

“Really? About the
Loberos?” It was the only reason Ryne could think of at the
moment.

“No. Someone from
this area was going through the Lycan site and made an application
for membership. They wanted to know if we were aware of anyone in
the area who was a shifter.”

Bryan frowned.
“How would the Registry know it was from here?”

Daniel rolled his
eyes. He was the ‘computer geek’ out of the three of them. “The IP
address. When someone gets an e-mail, you can usually get a general
idea of where it came from by right clicking on the sender. You go
to view message source, find what IP address it’s from, and then do
a search where it’s located. There isn’t a specific home address,
but a general area appears. I didn’t think much about it, when I
read the e-mail this morning—I figured it was probably a hoax. You
know, some kid playing around, but now, from what you’ve said about
Mel, I’m not so sure.”

Ryne felt a chill
wash over him. Had Mel been searching for information about
werewolves? Was it because of the slip-up he’d made over Harley? Or
was it just a coincidence as Daniel had said, some kid fooling
around?

Slowly, Bryan
frowned and walked over to the book shelves. “That reminds me... I
didn’t think much of it at the time, but that night Mel slept over,
she might have been looking at the heritage books. When I was
straightening up in here the next day, I saw they were just shoved
back on the shelves.” He pulled the books out and looked at Ryne.
“I thought maybe you’d been looking at them and wondered why they
weren’t put back properly, since you’re usually so careful with
them.”

Ryne shook his
head. “I haven’t had time to look at them in weeks.” He strode
across the room and plucked a book from Bryan’s hand, checking the
title. It was Lycanthropy. Raising the book to his nose, he took a
sniff. A faint trace of Melody’s scent remained. Grimly, he
clenched the book in his hand. “I think we have a problem.”

Chapter
29

Ryne pulled into
the parking area in front of Melody’s cabin and forced his jaws to
relax. The drive over had been accomplished at record speed, but
the pressing urgency he felt inside left no time for the niceties
of traffic laws. He had to find Melody as quickly as possible,
ascertain what she did, or didn’t know and deal with it swiftly.
Curses had tumbled from his lips the entire length of the drive.
His complacency, his arrogance, his lust...all three had combined
and conspired against him, causing him to ignore his duties as
Alpha. And now, because of him, the lives of his pack and Kane’s
could very well be at stake. But no more. Firming his resolve, he
climbed out of the truck and slammed the door.

Long, determined
strides carried him to the door. He forced himself to control his
knocking. Pounding on the door, as if trying to break it down,
would only increase Melody’s reluctance to talk to him. Due to his
performance earlier in the day, he’d be lucky if she didn’t slam to
the door in his face. Not that it mattered. She’d talk to him, and
tell him what he needed to know, whether she wanted to or not. At
this point in time, he wasn’t above using some strong interrogation
techniques if needed. If she was innocent, she’d just add it to his
already lengthy list of sins. But, if she knew more than she
should... Well, it didn’t really matter then, did it?

There was no
response to his knocking and he strained his ears to hear sounds of
movement inside. After a moment, he determined she either wasn’t
home, or she was sleeping. Checking over his shoulder to ensure no
one was watching, Ryne strategically applied forced to the door and
it popped open. Once inside, he listened again, but the small cabin
was silent. He scanned the kitchen area, then quickly made his way
to the bedroom, only to freeze in the doorway. The bed was
stripped, the closet door open revealing empty hangers. Pulling
open the dresser drawers, he swore. Melody had already packed and
left.

A frustrated growl
rose in his throat and he ran his hand through his hair, agitatedly
contemplating his next move. Her scent was still strong, so she
hadn’t been gone too long. Would she stop in Stump River before she
left? Possibly. Melody had made friends with several of the
residents and he couldn’t see her just leaving without saying
goodbye. Maybe he could catch up to her in town.

He ran to his
truck and hopped in. Gravel spewed from beneath his tires as he
gunned the engine and headed towards Stump River, determined to
find Melody before she left. He had to discover what she knew and,
if necessary, ensure that she never left the area to spread the
information further.

*****

Ryne parked behind
Miller’s Service Station, and jogged across the road. He’d check
the diner first, then the Gazette. Surely, between the two places,
he’d find Melody or at least information on where she’d gone and
when.

Pulling open the
door, he stepped inside. Absentmindedly, he noted the supper crowd
was just starting to wander in, the general din slowly rising as
debates were held about the various menu selections while Al banged
and clanged his pots and pans in the kitchen. Blocking out the
noise, Ryne scanned the tables. Melody wasn’t there and he felt his
jaw tighten in frustration. Forcing a casual expression, he
wandered up to the counter and sat down hoping Lucy was on duty. He
hadn’t talked to her much recently, his attention having shifted to
Melody, but he was sure the waitress would be willing to chat and
share some information with him.

“Hi there! Can I
help you?” A cheery young voice spoke behind him and he swung
around surprised. He’d been so intent on looking for Lucy, he’d
missed the presence of the other waitress. Pencil and order pad
clutched in her hands, a young girl of about seventeen stood
smiling at him expectantly.

“Yeah...I need to
speak to Lucy.”

“Sorry, but she’s
gone on vacation. I’m filling in for her. Do you want to see a
menu?”

Gone? Lucy was
always here or at the bar. Ryne frowned and stared at the girl’s
name tag. Tabitha. She probably wouldn’t know anything useful about
Melody. Who would? Ruth? Maybe. “Um...is Ruth available?”

“Probably... I
didn’t do anything wrong did I?” The girl looked nervous. “This is
my first time waitressing and—”

“No. Everything’s
fine.” He pasted one of his most charming smiles on his face to
reassure her. “I just need to ask Ruth a question.”

“Oh. Okay.”
Tabitha looked relieved. She grinned at him and scurried off into
the kitchen.

A moment later
Ruth appeared, wiping her hands on a towel. “Oh! It’s you, Ryne. I
wondered who that girl was talking about. She was practically giddy
about the ‘hunk’ who wanted to talk to me.” Ruth chuckled. “I
should have known it was you or one of your friends. What can I do
for you?”

Impatient over the
time he’d already wasted, Ryne got right to the point. “I need to
find Melody. Do you know where she is?”

“Well, you just
missed her by a bit. She and Lucy left around four-thirty.”

“Left? For where?”
He struggled to keep the sharp urgency from his voice. Apparently
he was only partially successful as Ruth cast him a puzzled glance
before answering.

“Chicago. Mel was
heading back home for some reason—she never did say why she was
going so sudden like.” Ruth frowned before continuing her train of
thought. “Anyway, Lucy was going with her for an impromptu
vacation. It’ll do Lucy good to get away for awhile, don’t you
think? That girl works way too hard. And she’ll be a help for Mel,
too, seeing as how the girl wasn’t feeling good when she left.”

“Melody was sick?”
Ryne frowned, not sure why he cared. Her health wasn’t his concern.
He just needed to know how much she’d discovered about his
people.

“No. She had a cut
on her arm from that fight you were all in last night and I think
it was infected. I had her put some salve on it but by the time
they were ready to go, she was complaining of it aching and having
a fever and chills. Al and I both tried to talk her into staying
and going to the clinic. She could have left first thing tomorrow
morning, but she was determined to go. I suppose it was hard enough
to get that last minute seat for Lucy and then there was her boss
to deal with too.”

“Her boss?” Ryne’s
brain went on high alert. Melody had said she was here of her own
accord because she was writing an article about him. There had
never been any mention of a boss, only college professors. Damn!
She’d been lying to him all along. Why hadn’t he caught on to the
deception? Her aura had never screamed ‘lies’ to him... He tuned
back in to what Ruth was saying, in case she had any further
information that he needed to know.

“Yeah. Some guy
named Aldrich, I think. I overheard her telling Lucy that the man
was really hard to please and I don’t think she was exaggerating.
You know, she reported into him every day that she was here? Just
like clockwork, she’d come in, place a call—it was always short—and
then she’d sit down for some coffee and a chat.” Ruth sighed.
“We’re going to miss her. She was nice young thing, wasn’t she? Too
bad she had to leave so suddenly.”

“Yeah. Too bad.”
Ryne stood up and distractedly thanked the older woman before
heading towards the door. ”Um...thanks for the information. I’ll,
uh...talk to you later.”

*****

Kane gripped the
phone more tightly and vaguely acknowledged the cracking sound as
the plastic casing began to break under the strength of his grasp.
He’d had a sense of foreboding the minute he’d heard Ryne’s voice.
The longer they talked, the worse it became and he felt the need to
confirm the dreaded message. “You’re sure she knows about
werewolves?”

The sound of heavy
sighing met his ear before Ryne spoke. “I’m almost certain.
Everything points that way; the fact that she was checking out the
books was bad enough, but if she’s actually trying to get into the
website... Well, she must have strong suspicions. And then I messed
up by letting her see me as a wolf and then trying to pawn it off
as a dog. Damn! I knew better, I just...”

Gritting his
teeth, Kane knew social protocols would have him uttering
platitudes, but right now he had none. His brother had effectively
been playing Russian roulette with all their lives and if the man
had been in the room with him right now, he’d probably be ripping
his throat out. Instead, he had to be satisfied with firing
accusing words at his brother. “Yeah. You should have known better.
You were supposed to deal with her; make sure things never got this
far. What the hell happened?”

In his mind, Kane
could see Ryne running his hand through his hair in frustration. “I
don’t know. When I’m around Melody, my wolf starts to take over and
I find myself doing things I know I shouldn’t.”

“Your wolf? Is it
looking on her as a mate?” Kane frowned at this possible
complication.

“Damned if I know.
I’m not into this life-long mate thing. That’s your area of
expertise. And right now, quite frankly, it doesn’t even matter.
The Keeping outlines my course of action.”

“One I seriously
doubt you’ll be able to uphold if your wolf is intent on claiming
her. I’d better take over.”

The snarl that
echoed down the phone lines left Kane in no doubt as to Ryne’s
feelings on the matter. “You’ll stay the hell away from her. This
is my problem right now. Besides, it isn’t safe. So far, she
doesn’t know who you are. She doesn’t know it’s you in that damned
picture. All she has is the knowledge that werewolves exist.”

“And does she
suspect that you’re one?”

There was a pause.
“Possibly... She might be suspicious.”

“So what do you
propose to do, if she’s already on her way back to Chicago?”

“I’m following her
there. I’ll find out what she knows and take the necessary
steps.”

“If your wolf lets
you.”

“It will. I’m in
control.”

“If that were the
case, things wouldn’t have gotten this far.” Kane knew he was
pushing, but he had to be sure Ryne was capable of carrying out his
duty.

“That’s a low
blow.”

“But the
truth.”

Silence followed,
then quiet words. “Yeah. I fucked up.”

“And?”

“It’s not an issue
anymore. The needs of the pack are more important.”

Kane detected a
certain steel-like tone in his brother’s voice, but this was too
important to leave to chance. A blunt warning never hurt. “Just
remember that or I
will
take care of it myself.”

A low growl was
his response. “I need some information from you.”

“Such as?”

“Can Elise check
the books at the Grey Goose and see how Melody signed in? I want
her address in Chicago, her phone number, her credit
card...anything Elise can find. You never know what might prove
helpful if Melody turns into a runner.”

“I’ll call you
with the information as soon as we have it.”

“Make sure you
call me on my cell phone. I’m leaving for the airport in less than
an hour. If I’m lucky I’ll be able to get a stand-by seat to
Chicago.”

“All right.” He
hung up, not bothering to say goodbye, his anger, and frustration
roiling about in his gut. The decision to let Ryne deal with this
on his own, was debatable, yet Kane knew the more wolves that were
involved, the greater the danger of discovery. Inaction ate away at
him as he played out various scenarios out in his head, none of
them pretty. If Ryne’s wolf was looking for a mate, his judgement
could be impaired. Yet, Ryne was an Alpha, biologically programmed
to protect his pack. The question was, which instinct would win
out? Narrowing his eyes, Kane considered the situation before
pulling a heavy book from the shelves.