Lorie OClare - Lunewulf 4 - In Her Nature.jpg Page 18

  “How about if we go see Samantha, and see about getting you some supper?”

  Jere’s grin told Simone that her daughter liked the idea.

  She didn’t mind running through the back fields with her daughter. The young cub couldn’t move as fast in her fur, which was okay, since Simone felt every sore muscle by the time they reached the back yard of her old home.

  The kitchen was dark when they entered. She noticed Gertrude sitting on the couch, in the living room. Samantha was talking, but Simone couldn’t see her.

  “Simone. What are you doing here? Is everything okay?” Gertrude noticed her first.

  “Where is Rock?” Samantha appeared in the doorway.

  “Hello to you two, also.” Simone hid her disappointment that Rock wasn’t here. Heat rushed through her, an impending need to find her werewolf, and make sure he wasn’t getting into trouble. If he wasn’t here, then he must have gone after Johann. “Where is Johann?”

  Samantha smiled. “Sounds like neither one of us know where our mate is.”

  “Samantha was just telling me about Elsa.” Gertrude walked into the kitchen, while Samantha busied herself making coffee.

  Jere started digging in the refrigerator, lightening the tension Simone felt in the room, when the three women laughed and helped the cub find food.

  “Elsa did okay for herself.” Simone noticed the sadness in Gertrude’s eyes. “Do you miss her?”

  “Who? My bratty little sister?” Gertrude laughed, crow’s-feet making her look older than Simone knew she was. “I miss both of my sisters sometimes. I miss how simple our lives used to be.”

  Samantha gave her a sympathetic look, but Simone studied her old friend. “Where is Sophie? Has she left the pack?”

  “Oh, no. She and Nik are still here. I just never see much of her.”

  “How is she doing?” Simone could tell something bothered Gertrude, and she suspected the two of them had been discussing it when she arrived. That would explain the tension she felt.

  “Sophie is happy. She has three wonderful mates, and Nik has no problems with either of them coming over from time to time.” Gertrude lowered her voice. “Jonathan, one of her mates, has a girlfriend, and she comes over too. I think all of them…well, you know.”

  Simone couldn’t help grinning when Gertrude blushed.

  “Sophie is bisexual?” She remembered how excited Sophie had been to fuck all of her mates. “Well, good for her. Sounds like she’s made the best of that nasty law Grandmother Rousseau left all of us with.”

  “A law I know Johann will abolish.” Samantha patted Gertrude on the arm.

  “I take it life with your three mates isn’t going as well?” Simone realized suddenly that might be why her friend worked so much, because her home life sucked.

  “That’s an understatement.” Gertrude stared past Simone, her pretty blue eyes suddenly watery. “Sometimes I think Elsa was the smart one to run.”

  “The American mate she has now defeated two of her mates in a challenge.” Simone took down three coffee cups, and placed them next to the coffeemaker.

  “Sounds like everything has worked out well for all of you.” Gertrude crossed her arms against her waist, and Simone could see her determination not to cry.

  She’d never believed herself any good at consoling someone. It was so hard to know what to say. But her friend’s pain was obvious, and Simone had to say something. “I don’t remember who your three mates were.”

  “Matt Jordeaux is one of them. He’s our pack doctor.” Gertrude shrugged, seeming uncomfortable with the topic. “The other two aren’t with the pack anymore.”

  “You don’t like Matt?” Simone wanted to ask why the other two left, but decided Gertrude would tell her if she wanted, and it seemed she was uncomfortable enough talking about any of it.

  “We don’t talk very much.” Gertrude took the cup of coffee Samantha offered, and blew on the hot brew. “He was my first mate. And at first, I thought he was wonderful. When it was time for me to go to my next mate, I couldn’t do it. Matthew is sort of possessive.”

  “Imagine that. A possessive werewolf.” Simone rolled her eyes for Gertrude’s benefit, happy at least that it brought a smile to her friend’s face.

  “It’s a ridiculous law,” Samantha reassured her.

  “More milk, Mommy.” Jere held her cup up, and Simone took it to the refrigerator.

  “It won’t be as easy for Johann to dissolve the law as you think.” Gertrude nursed her cup of coffee, watching Jere. “There are couples, like Sophie, who are happy having sex with different werewolves.”

  “Sounds to me like that is a personal matter, between her and Nik.” Simone watched Jere gulp down her milk, then climb out of her chair, and disappear down the hall toward their old bedroom. “Dissolving that law won’t disturb their happiness.”

  Simone couldn’t picture Rock being willing to share her with another werewolf. If his behavior toward Armand Gaston were any indication, she would never have to worry about another werewolf bothering her. Rock would always be possessive of her, which didn’t bother her a bit. What a change from the casual fucks she had known for so many years. None of them cared at all what she did the next day.

  That thought made her wonder again where he might be. If he had returned to the house, he would be looking for her. She suspected this would be the first place he would look. But she had a feeling he wasn’t home. More than likely, he had taken off after Johann.

  Quinnie had told her that Rock had words with Johann over the phone, and had stormed out of the house right after that. If he had gone to Derek Rousseau’s house, it would be real hard for anyone to prevent him from taking matters into his own hands.

  “Simone?” Samantha brought her out of her meanderings. “Thinking about Rock, are you?”

  She sighed when both Samantha and Gertrude gave each other knowing looks.

  “Yeah, actually I was. I’m worried he will get himself into trouble. Rock won’t listen to Johann.” She didn’t want to offend Samantha, but it was the truth. She doubted the werewolf would listen to anyone.

  “There were many who wanted Rock to be pack leader,” Gertrude told them. “The Rousseaus threw a fit, and then announced loudly when they found Johann and he agreed to return home. They wanted the pack leader to remain in the Rousseau family.”

  “He’s Cariboo lunewulf. That would have caused all kinds of problems with this uptight pack.” Simone could only imagine the reaction many would have had if Rock had become leader.

  He would make an outstanding pack leader. But he would have ruled with an iron hand. Johann was more of the diplomat, and maybe that was what this pack needed to get back on to its feet.

  It was a good thing Rock wasn’t pack leader. She liked having him to herself, and with all that room on his ranch, they would have plenty of privacy.

  “He has a lot of respect in the pack.” Gertrude pulled her from her thoughts once again. “You got yourself a good mate.”

  “Yeah, I do.” She couldn’t argue that one. “But I’m dying to know where the hell he is right now.”

  Causing trouble, she feared. The more she thought about it, the more she needed to go find him. He would kill whoever murdered those bitches. She didn’t doubt that for a second.

  And if Johann brought pack law down on Rock for killing a murderer…

  That thought made her sick to her stomach. She knew the two werewolves already barely got along. And as pack leader, Johann could kill Rock for murdering another werewolf, even if the wolf were a murderer.

  What was she thinking? Johann wouldn’t be able to kill Rock. Her werewolf was undefeatable. But Johann could make his life hell for him. Johann could have Rock shunned, preventing any merchant from doing business with him. What a mess that would be. The more she thought about it, the more she knew she needed to find Rock, and prevent him from doing anything rash.

  “I need to go find him,” she blurted out, before she had even figur
ed out how she would stop him from doing anything he had set his mind to doing.

  “And what are you going to do if you find him?” Samantha was queen bitch. Simone realized she could order her not to leave.

  “I’m not sure.” She really didn’t have a set plan. “Maybe if he sees me, it will distract him from any plan he may have.”

  Samantha didn’t look convinced. She glanced at Gertrude, who watched her as well. Then she placed her hands on the bulge in her tummy, and sighed.

  “Okay. One hour. But you better check in with me within the hour, okay?”

  *

  Simone rubbed at the wet spot that had formed on her shirt from carrying it in her mouth. She really needed to get a car. Getting from one place to another in her fur wasn’t a problem, but after a while, her clothes got wrinkled…and damp.

  It had surprised her a bit to see Derek Rousseau’s house dark and quiet. No one had been home. But it surprised her even more to find Rock’s truck parked outside Howley’s, and Johann’s Suburban there as well.

  “Now what to do.” She paced outside the front of the bar, muttering to herself, trying to figure out the best approach. She hadn’t expected Johann to be with Rock.

  There were more cars parked along the street. She didn’t recognize any of them, but it seemed a lot of people were inside Howley’s. Images of storming the bar and grill, only to run straight into the iron chest of Rock, didn’t sound like it would accomplish much. Well possibly she would find herself strapped to his truck.

  No. She needed to learn what they were up to, without being obvious. How would she enter Howley’s without every head turning to see her do so?

  The front door to the bar and grill almost hit her in the nose when someone pushed it open while she paced.

  “Excuse me.” Jordan Rousseau stepped around the open door, but then halted when he recognized her. “Well, well. Simone De Beaux.”

  “It’s Simone Toubec.” She didn’t like the way Jordan’s beady eyes undressed her.

  He let the door to Howley’s close behind him, the noise and smells of the bar and grill fading quickly. Unease settled around her.

  “So you have mated with the Cariboo?” Jordan moved to pass, but then turned, facing her. “But could such a mating be legal?”

  The best thing to do would be to make it look like she was headed to Rock’s truck. There was no reason to respond. She didn’t answer to him, or anyone else.

  “Now where are you going?” Jordan moved again, blocking her path. “I do believe your Cariboo mate, legitimate or not, is inside. But you are not joining him? Could it be he doesn’t know you are out here?”

  She didn’t like the emotions swirling in the air. Jordan stood a fair bit taller than she, but he was skinny, no muscle to speak of. It wouldn’t be too hard to bully him. However, a warped sense of determination swirled around the werewolf, making her nervous.

  “Move, wolf-man.” She put her hands on her hips, glaring at him.

  “Or what? You’ll kick my ass?” He snorted, a most unappealing sound. “From what I hear of you, your best work is on your back.”

  “My best work is any position I choose.” She wanted to smack that pompous expression right off his face. Who the hell did he think he was? “And yeah, right now I could do very good work kicking your ass.”

  She didn’t expect aggression out of him. His blue eyes seemed to glaze with fury. He moved faster than she expected, wrapping his long bony fingers around her neck.

  “I’ve had enough threats for one night,” he hissed. His spit hit her in the face, making her stomach turn. “The last thing I need is the likes of you, slut, trying to bully me.”

  “Get your hands off of me.” She pried at his fingers, wrapped around her neck, but he grabbed her wrist, and pushed her backwards.

  The door to Howley’s opened again. He tried to push her into the alcove of the nearest store, stealing the shadows for shelter. He surprised her with his strength, obviously fueled by anger. The best she could do was to keep them at a standstill.

  “What are you doing?” Matthew, Gertrude’s mate, stopped, noticing the two of them.

  “Let go of me, you scrawny mutt.” Simone could have kissed Matthew for his timely arrival. Not that she needed any help. “You’re going to make a fool out of yourself.”

  “You breed with a Cariboo, and call me a mutt?” Jordan’s grip around her neck tightened, making it hard to breathe. “God only knows how many mutts you have fucked, you disgraceful slut.”

  “You know. She might just be the answer to our problems.” Matthew tapped his chin, studying her, a quiet calm in his tone that chilled Simone’s blood. “We can do this murder ourselves, and make sure it looks like Toubec did it. Then Johann would definitely run him out of town.”

  Jordan must be blocking air to her brain. What had Matthew just said? And why did he stand there calmly watching her, when this scrawny werewolf had his fingers around her neck.

  “Let me go!” It was a struggle to speak. Breathing became difficult. She could feel her fingernails dig into Jordan’s flesh, with her efforts to make him release her.

  “That’s exactly what I was just thinking.” Jordan shoved her against the brick wall behind her. “Toubec sits in that bar like he owns the place. And he has some of the merchants backing him now. But this little bitch here will ensure that everyone hates Toubec. No longer will he have the support of the pack.”

  It scraped her back, banged the back of her head. Realization hit her that she could be in trouble, and she kicked with all her might, rejoicing when the tip of her boot hit a bone.

  “Bitch!” Jordan spit in her face again.

  “My car is right here. Let’s get her out of here before we are noticed.” Matthew reached out, grabbed her nipple through her shirt, and twisted it painfully. “You, little bitch-slut, have just become our meal ticket.”

  She put everything she had into fighting them. She kicked, managed to free her hands and struck out. She even tried changing in the middle of downtown, purely out of desperation. Halfway through the change, from woman to beast, something sharp pricked her shoulder. The last thing she saw before blackness consumed her was Matthew, with a needle in his hand, injecting something into her flesh. His expression was pure evil.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Everything was blurry. Simone pried her tongue from the top of her mouth, and realized she was dying of thirst. The room seemed to spin when she forced herself to sit.

  Where the hell was she? She jumped at the sound of thunder, and then the crack of lightning, which briefly lit the dark room she was in. Recent memories flooded through her just as a torrent of rain pelted the window.

  Matthew, the pack doctor, and Jordan, one of the established Rousseaus, had kidnapped her. It took a moment to get her bearings when she stood, and she leaned the back of her legs against the bed until she got her head together. It made no sense why they had taken her, or the last words she remembered them saying before she passed out.

  “How am I an answer to a problem?” Her voice cracked, and she coughed. “And what was that about a meal ticket?”

  The rain made it hard to see out the window. Everything was pitch-dark. She pressed her face to the cool glass, doing her best to identify the surroundings outside. All she saw was trees, and the fact that she was in an upstairs bedroom. So much for changing, and running through the window.

  “He’ll go for it. I’m confident of the fact.”

  She spun around at the sound of voices outside the bedroom door.

  “I heard he about attacked Gaston down at Howley’s for touching the little slut.” Jordan Rousseau chuckled.

  There was other men’s laughter too.

  “Those Cariboo get mighty possessive of their own. They will attack without notice.” Matthew’s voice sounded nearer. “They are a completely unpredictable species.”

  Simone crept across the room, moving as quietly as she could until she leaned against the wall next to the
door.

  “Which is just another example of how unstable their hybrid breeding is. Grandmother wasn’t thinking clearly when she stated the Cariboo were equal in breeding to the pure lunewulf. They are obviously quite primitive compared to us.” Derek Rousseau allowed enough hatred to swirl around his words that she swore she could smell it through the walls.

  Her heart pounded so hard she could hardly hear. They were right outside the bedroom door. She searched the dark room, clueless what to do when they entered. And she was scared to death that they would open that door any minute.

  “Claiming to be with that slut in there won’t hold as an alibi.” Jordan’s laughter twisted her stomach. “The pack doesn’t trust him now. They will push Johann to run him out of town. We will be able to pin the murders on him. And if we can’t, a private bargain with the Cariboo should do the trick.”

  “Then gentlemen, our work will be done.” Derek Rousseau sounded so damned arrogant she fought the urge not to pull the door open, and yell in his face. “We will notify Toubec that he may have his slut back alive after we are assured he has left town. But first, shall we enjoy the spoils of our hard work?”

  Light flooded the room when the door opened. It took only a second for Simone to understand the meaning of Derek’s words. She was the spoils. But she would be damned if they would enjoy her for one second.

  “Where the hell is she?” Matthew’s fury, as he stared at the rumpled covers on the bed she had been on, gave her chills.

  Someone turned on the bedroom light, stealing the darkness that protected her. Before anyone could notice her, she charged into Derek, hitting him square in the back.

  “You will all die for this,” she screamed, while she and Derek tumbled to the floor.

  There were only seconds. The chances of her taking down three werewolves were slim to none. But she had to give it her best shot. Her knuckles crushed into Derek’s ear. His screams fed her strength.

  “Fucking little bitch.” Matthew grabbed her, lifting her off the ground.

  She only got a second to see Derek lying on the ground, moaning, while holding his head. But it was a wonderful moment of satisfaction.