The Keeping (59 page)

“Don’t worry. I’ll
take care of it. As a werewolf, you get lots of practice creating
plausible half-truths to cover things up.” Ryne gently squeezed her
hand, and then opened the car door.

*****

The time in the
apartment wasn’t pleasant. It was cordoned off and a police officer
was on guard. Ryne did most of the talking, the lies rolling out of
his mouth with no hesitation. By the time he was done, even Mel
half-believed the tale. The police officer allowed them in so Mel
could check if anything was missing; the police were operating
under the assumption that Lucy had walked in during an attempted
burglary.

A chalk line
showed where Lucy had fallen, in case the blood stains on the floor
hadn’t been sufficient indication. Mel’s breath hitched as she
stared at the spot before forcing herself to look away and blink
rapidly, holding back the tears that threatened to fall.

The apartment
units surrounding hers were unusually quiet, almost as if everyone
knew of the tragedy and where paying their respects. As she walked
into the living room, her footsteps echoed in the silence. Bits of
dust floated on a sunbeam that had managed to work its way through
a crack in the curtains, its brightness a stark contrast to the
general air of gloom that pervaded the space.

As she looked
around at the shabby furnishings, Mel realized that there wasn’t
much here that she would want to keep. A few personal papers, some
photographs, a teddy bear from her childhood...but that was all.
She forced herself to think dispassionately, making calm, logical
plans. Call the phone company, contact the landlord... It wouldn’t
take much time to box up her things and have them shipped to Stump
River.

While Ryne talked
to the officer, she walked around the rooms, trailing her fingers
over the back of a chair, adjusting a crooked picture on the wall.
This place represented her past; a person she no longer was. It
hadn’t been much of a life, but it had been hers. She’d been free
to come and go as she wished. There’d been no need to hide, no
secrets to keep from friends. Sure, things had been tight but it
had all been so normal. A part of her mourned the loss.

Eventually, she
made her way back to the spot where Lucy had been struck down. A
wave of grief and guilt washed over her. If she hadn’t offered to
take Lucy to Chicago, the woman would still be here, possibly
planning a future with Armand. For that matter, if she hadn’t taken
the job interviewing Ryne, then Greyson would still be alive and
that young girl wouldn’t be completely alone in the world. Even
Aldrich—slime ball that he was—would still be around. Whoever would
have thought that trying to interview a photographer could have led
to such an end?

She said as much
to Ryne after they left the apartment. He shushed her, claiming
that if you wanted to lay blame, it was his fault.

“If I hadn’t taken
that picture of Kane in his wolf form, Greyson wouldn’t have gone
looking for me. Sometimes the simplest of things can cause a
landslide. The main thing is that everything you did was done in
all innocence. You had good intentions, that’s all that
matters.”

“I suppose so...
Ryne?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you give me a
hug?”

“Sure.” He slipped
his arm around her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze as they
exited the building.

“We’ll need to
contact Lucy’s family...”

“That would be
me.”

“You? You’re her
family? But you two—”

“No. I mean she
didn’t really have any family. I’ll take care of things.”

“Oh.” Something
Lucy had said on the flight to Chicago came to mind. “You might
want to talk to Armand. Apparently, just before she left, he
indicated he was interested in her.”

“Damn!” Ryne shook
his head. “I always wondered about that, but the man was afraid to
make his move.”

“Why?”

“Well... Lucy and
I were casual so it didn’t matter that she wasn’t aware of my true
self—that I was a werewolf, I mean. But Armand, he was always
afraid to get close in case it did come to mean something.”

“I don’t
understand.”

“I suppose I can
tell you. Remember, now that you’re one of us, you’re bound by the
Keeping. You can’t tell anyone.” Ryne waited until she nodded and
even made a ‘cross your heart’ gesture.

“Armand is a
bear.”

“A bear?”

“Uh-huh.”

“You mean...? I
know he’s big and has all that fuzzy hair, but...”

“He’s a bear. A
shifter or were-bear, though he hates the fact that it rhymes.”

Mel leaned back
and stared at Ryne in disbelief. “A were-bear? Exactly how many
other shifter creatures are out there?”

“Almost any
creature you can think of, though it’s mostly larger predatory
animals. Tigers, panthers, lions... I think the non-predators died
out pretty early, not being able to defend themselves.” Ryne
reached over and ruffled her hair. “So you won’t have to worry
about were-rats in the sewers.”

She cast a dirty
look his way before climbing into the car. “Hey, what are we going
to do about Aldrich’s car? We can’t keep driving around in it.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll
take care of it. I’ve had experience with this type of
situation.”

“Oh, really?
Exactly what type of experience? Grand theft auto?”

Ryne merely
smirked and started the car, leaving Mel to wonder exactly what
else might be hidden in his background.

Chapter
41

A week later,
in Stump River...

It had taken a
week before the police wrapped up the investigation into what had
transpired at the apartment. It was deemed a random act of
violence, the perpetrator likely looking for something to steal and
Lucy had unfortunately surprised him. It grated, that Aldrich would
never be blamed for the crime, but involving him would result in
too many questions and it wouldn’t change the end fact.

With that settled,
they’d returned to Stump River with Lucy’s casket. Everyone mourned
the loss of the friendly waitress, especially Armand. The twinkle
was gone from his eye and he literally shuffled about The Broken
Antler. After the memorial service, he disappeared for a week and
Mel wondered if he had shifted into his bear form and was wandering
the woods. Were his emotions any less intense when he was an
animal? Or was he scratching trees and ripping open logs, trying to
work the grief out of his system? Whatever the case, he eventually
returned looking a bit haggard, but seeming to have found some
inner peace.

Beth and Josh ran
a long article in the paper, featuring quotes from the various
citizens and random pictures of Lucy at several town functions as
well as a full colour picture on the front page. It was nice to
have the picture, giving them a last look at the young woman they
were all fond of. The service had a closed casket, Ryne having
stated that Lucy was always proud of her appearance and wouldn’t
appreciate people gawking at her. Mel agreed it was best this
way.

Ruth declared that
Lucy was a hero who had been trying to protect Mel’s apartment and
everyone else in town concurred. It wasn’t the complete truth, but
Mel knew the hero part was correct. While she’d never know exactly
what happened that fateful day, she suspected that Lucy had been
trying to defend her.

Life in Stump
River slowly fell back into its usual rhythm, though there were a
few changes. Ruth’s seemed quieter,The Broken Antler a bit more
subdued. On the positive side, the Loberos moved to town and that
caused quite a stir of speculation. And Ryne had some business to
finish off with regard to the Keeping...

*****

Ryne sat down with
Bryan and talked to Kane. They were trying to tie up all the loose
ends.

“We have to take
care of Aldrich. He knows too much.” Kane’s voice was firm as it
came over the speaker phone.

“Agreed.” Ryne
rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I tried to get into the hospital
several different times last week, but security around him was too
tight. Greyson—the guy he shot—was a multi-millionaire and there’s
a big investigation going on. Since the police already knew what I
looked like from seeing me at Melody’s apartment, I didn’t dare get
too close.” He growled in frustration. “Too bad the butler went
looking for Greyson as soon as he did. If he’d waited just a bit
longer, Aldrich might have been dead before the old man found him.
At least the bastard won’t be saying anything right away. The
report Daniel hacked from the hospital’s computer states that
Aldrich has been unconscious for almost a week with severe damage
to his windpipe and vocal chords.”

Bryan chuckled.
“Too bad Mel couldn’t have held off a bit longer until you finished
him off.” Ryne flashed him a dirty look and he quickly qualified
his answer. “Not that it’s her fault in anyway, of course.”

“Right.” Ryne
glared at Bryan once more before continuing. “He’ll probably keep
the story to himself since without proof, people will think he’s
crazy, but we can’t take any chances.”

Kane agreed. “I’ll
contact a pack I know in the area. Maybe they can find a way to get
someone through that security net. We’ll have to try to get them to
burglarize the estate as well. I want the picture back before it
can cause any more trouble.”

“And we’ll deal
with the girl.” Ryne suggested.

“Sounds good to
me.” Kane could be heard pacing in his office.

“A bit anxious,
Kane?” Ryne teased.

His brother
growled in response. “You know damned well I am. Elise is still
away and I need her back here with me. The sooner we get Aldrich
taken care of, the sooner I can allow the dispersal groups to
return home. Until such time... Let’s just say, it’s best to give
me a wide berth.”

Ryne chuckled.
“You could always go visit her and ‘relieve’ some of that
tension.”

The sound of
pacing ceased. “You might be on to something, Ryne.”

Ryne and Bryan
exchanged glances, but kept their laughter in check. Both were
aware of how devoted Kane was to his mate and knew the forced
separation was hard to deal with.

Once the
conversation was over, Ryne sighed heavily and rubbed his hands
with his face. “That young girl—Cassandra—she’s just a kid and
likely scared spitless over seeing her uncle murdered, let alone
watching me transform and attack Aldrich.”

“You said Greyson
apparently raised the girl since she was an infant and knew all
along she was a werewolf? I wonder where he found her and how he
knew what she was?” Bryan got up and started to pace the room.

“I wondered that,
too. He said he was looking for a pack for her to join.”

“But she doesn’t
know any of this?” Bryan queried. “Hard to believe if she’s about
seventeen, like you said.”

“I only got a
glimpse of her, but I’d say she was around that age and from the
look on her face, I’d say she was in shock. I think she must have
been eavesdropping. You know, I thought I scented another werewolf,
but I was too caught up in what was going down to have time to
check it out.”

“But how could she
not know she’s a shifter? She should have gone through her first
change.”

“Greyson must have
hid it from her somehow; maybe he drugged her each month.” Ryne
shrugged. “Now that she’s out there on her own, who knows what
might happen. We need to find her and bring her in before an
outsider figures out what she is.”

Bryan had been
staring out the window, but turned as Ryne stopped speaking. “Ryne,
I’d like to go. I’ve always been a pretty good tracker.”

Ryne gave him a
crooked grin. “I was wondering how long it would take for you to
ask. You can go. Tomorrow. Mel’s going to have her first
transformation tonight and it would be nice if her whole pack was
here to support her.”

“Tonight? But it’s
not a full moon.”

“Nadia said, given
Mel’s recent genetic changes and several partial transformations,
it would be best to try her first full one without the added stress
of a full moon.”

“So... Have you
told her
everything
?” Bryan had an evil glint in his
eye.

“Well, not the
clothing bit. I think she might be a bit pissed off when she
realizes she’s the only one in the pack that won’t be able to
magick her clothes on and off.”

“Oh, I’d love to
hear that conversation.”

Ryne stood and
headed towards his room, where Mel was rearranging the closets to
hold her things. “Who knows? If she’s mad enough, you just might.
Be listening for a loud scream of fury in about ten minutes.”

*****

Mel awoke slowly
from one of the best sleeps she could ever recall having. Smiling
contentedly, she stretched, pleased to realize that her muscles
weren’t protesting. Last night she’d had her first real
transformation into a wolf. It had been strange, but exhilarating
at the same time.

She’d shifted with
Ryne in the woods—just the two of them, even though it was
tradition for the whole pack to be present. However, given her
half-human background she’d been told she would probably lack some
of the abilities the others possessed, specifically, she probably
wouldn’t be able to magick her clothes back on. The news hadn’t sat
well with her, and Ryne—with a little persuasion on her part—had
made some readjustments to the usual ceremonies to accommodate
her.

As they gathered
in the woods that night, Bryan had teased her no end over the fact
that she’d be naked.

“Aw, come on, Mel.
Don’t be standoffish.” He pleaded.

“I’m sorry, Bryan.
I’m not being standoffish, but darn if I’ll waltz around in the
woods buck naked in front of you and Daniel and the whole Lobero
family.”

“We won’t mind.”
Bryan had laughed before dodging the punch she aimed at him.

“It’s not just me.
Our Alpha made the final decision.” She tried not to sound too smug
about the fact. At first, Ryne hadn’t had a problem with the idea
of her being naked in the woods with the rest of the pack. He’d
even gleefully teased her about the fact for a while, but she’d
skilfully turned the tables on him. Mentioning that Bryan and
Daniel were both good looking, unattached males had been her
starting point. After that, it had only a taken a few more
carefully chosen words to have Ryne seething with jealousy.