Howling Moon (12 page)

Cat reached across
the rumpled bedclothes to shut off the offending blare of the alarm clock. She groaned, not wanting to get out of bed, but knowing she probably should. She shook her head in amazement. It was Friday already. The week had flown by! Violet was released from the hospital, but instead of coming back to the house, she moved in with Ned, only coming down for daily therapy appointments with the newly recovered Dr. Perdue. Cat knew Violet was trying very hard to get over her fears, but the efforts didn’t seem to be bearing any fruit. The best she could manage right now was daily phone calls. On the phone she could almost pretend that things were all right between the two of them. Cat had rented a car for herself, and offered to move to a hotel or apartment so that Violet could come home, but her aunt had declined.

“I won’t
be
coming back to that house, Catherine. Not after what… happened in the kitchen. As soon as I’m feeling a little stronger, I’m going to put it on the market. In the meantime, I’d appreciate it if you would stay. I don’t want it just sitting vacant. It’d be an invitation to burglars.”

So she stayed, but it felt a little weird. And despite Mike’s best efforts to take advantage of that big, empty house, she hadn’t bedded him. Nor had she accepted any of his invitations to do things with “the crew.” They all joked constantly about being “party animals.” Cat wasn’t interested. As she told Holly, “Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.” Mike was nice, and had been trying very hard to cheer her up, but she couldn’t get the thought out of her mind that he was a… well, a
kid.
More to the point, he just wasn’t Raphael.

And few of Mike’s crowd liked Raphael.

Her relationship – acquaintanceship…
association
– with Raphael was just another reason for none of the wolves to like Cat. Cat was almost as frustrated with “the pack” as they were with her. Puppy school was a disaster of the first order. It was impossible to learn anything with Tatiana’s sniping and the whispering and giggling of the youngsters – at Cat’s expense.

She would’ve liked to discuss it with Raphael, but the usual Alpha Male for the pack had gotten called out of town on business, and Raphael was apparently up to his ass in alligators and sinking fast. She didn’t want to make things worse for him, so she kept her mouth shut and tried to make the most of what she was learning in the few lessons he’d managed to give her.

The first night, after she’d gotten over her hysterics, he’d given her exercises regarding the telepathy: exercises that required a second person’s participation. After all, you have to talk
to
someone, and confirm that he heard you. There was the same problem with listening. Raphael had just assumed she’d have somebody to work with. Well, she hadn’t at first. Because while she had no doubt that Michael would be more than happy to help, she didn’t particularly
want
to slip in and out of his head. Besides, she knew exactly what he was thinking. His wandering hands made
that
clear enough.

Finding a partner for her exercises had been a real problem, until Holly had stepped up to the plate.

Cat smiled at the thought of Holly. The seeds of friendship from their first meeting at the restaurant had begun to grow and blossom. It was kind of surprising how well they got along; after all, they came from such different backgrounds. Cat had grown up the only child with wealth and privilege. Holly was the youngest of a large brood, all female. Cat had earned her Ph.D. At twenty-six Holly had finally managed to save enough money to start college. She might not have had the opportunity to go for her undergrad degree yet, but she was smart and funny. And one thing she understood better than anyone was the loss of a parent. Her mother had died when she was very small, leaving her to be raised by a grief-stricken father and her older sisters.

Despite her background, Holly didn’t show even a hint of bitterness. But her sense of humor was black, dry, and Cat found it utterly hysterical. Oh, the snarky things she thought at her friend during work hours! Jake and the other wolves had begun looking at the two of them very strangely because often, suddenly, for no apparent reason, one or the other would just start snickering or burst out laughing.

Mike had tried to steer Cat away from Holly, saying she wasn’t their “kind.” It had backfired badly. Given a choice between her new friend and a guy she wasn’t all that interested in, Cat was going to choose her friend. When he’d realized that he’d backed down. But a part of him was still seething about it, she could tell.

She’d talked about it in her solo therapy session with Dr. Perdue just the day before. The good doctor made all the right neutral noises, and gave not a single constructive suggestion. Typical therapist bullshit. Still, Cat was always calmer after each appointment, so she kept her them without arguing.

The phone rang. Cat threw off the covers and padded over to where she’d left the handset on the dresser. She shivered a little. The black satin and lace nightgown she’d worn to bed last night was beautiful, but not terribly practical.

“Hello?” Cat wandered over to the window. Looking out she saw a light dusting of snow sprinkled unevenly over the dead Kentucky bluegrass of the front lawn. Where the sun’s rays hit the ground the snow had already melted. It only lingered in the shadows. Not a single cloud was visible. Which meant there was a good chance for another day of unseasonably warm weather.

“Catherine, it’s Ned.”

“Oh, hi, Ned! What’s up?”

“Violet’s scheduled to be in therapy this afternoon. Is there any chance you could come up and talk?”

“Sounds serious. Am I in trouble?” She teased.

“No. Of course not.” She could tell he was smiling. “But it
is
serious. There’s something I want to talk to you about, but I’d rather Violet didn’t hear us discussing it.”

“Okaaay – “ Cat dragged the word out slowly. Her aunt might not exactly be her usual self right now, but she would absolutely hate it if she thought they were keeping secrets from her.

“Don’t worry.” Ned answered the worry that had crept into her voice. “I’m not planning on keeping anything from her. I just wanted to get your opinion on something before I bring it up to her.” He paused. “To be honest, I’m a little nervous about it.”

Cat smiled.
Now
she understood. In fact, if she was the betting woman her mother had been, she’d lay heavy odds that a proposal was in the immediate offering. “What time do you want me up there?”

“Can you be here at four o’clock?”

Cat thought about it for a second. It was Friday, so she had no therapy, and there would be individual lessons with Raphael in the morning, instead of puppy school. Since she wasn’t scheduled to work the Joint, her schedule was completely free after noon.

“No problem. Let me run downstairs and get a pen and paper; you can give me directions.”

“Nah, just meet me at the pack complex. I’ll meet you there and show you the way up.”

“See you then.” Cat cut the connection with a smile. If she was right about what Ned was planning, Violet would be ecstatic. She was the ultimate romantic, and she and Ned adored each other.

Humming under her breath she padded downstairs to the office to turn on the computer. She had enough time to check her e-mails before taking a shower and heading over to St. Francis for a run at the school track.

She plopped down in Violet’s office chair making herself comfortable as she waited for the blasted machine to boot. It really took way too long – Cat pondered whether or not Violet’s computer was full of spyware slowing everything down. She didn’t have the most updated virus protection, and she did a lot of Internet research. What her aunt needed was a new computer – maybe even a laptop, especially because that way she wouldn’t be off schedule now, without her computer with her at Ned’s house.

It was while she was debating whether or not she should download virus-scan updates when the first kernel of an idea struck her. She needed to know who Jack’s lawyers were. If she used spyware to track all of the action on the computers at his various offices… There’d be a ton of data to wade through… Then again… what if… oh, now that was an idea.

What if she let Jack “overhear” her thinking about hiring an investigator to find the file? He would contact the right firm almost immediately, which would mean less data for her to sort through, and a faster resolution to her problems. And if it didn’t work… well, what harm could it do?

Of course, most spyware was illegal, which meant there would be hell to pay –
if
she got caught. She pulled her legs up under her, rocking back in the chair.

She’d just have to make sure she didn’t get caught.

Cat put one foot on the floor so she could scoot the chair across the room and pulled a hardback book from the shelves and a pen and blank paper from the table that held Violet’s combined copier and printer. Soon she was immersed, sitting cross-legged in the chair, using the hardback as an improvised desk, alternately tapping the eraser of the pencil against her front teeth and scribbling notes. In the process she lost all track of time.

Cat? Where the hell are you?

Raphael’s voice in her head caused Cat sat up in her seat so abruptly that the pen and several loose sheets of paper slid to the floor. Oh crap! What time is it? She jumped up from her seat, and wound up hopping over to the computer as her left foot was completely asleep from having been pinned under her body for so long.

It’s ten thirty. Raphael’s voice confirmed what she read on the screen.

Cat swore under her breath.

I take it you overslept? There was a hint of amusement in his mental voice.

No. I was working on a problem and lost track of time. I haven’t even dressed, let alone had breakfast. Crap! Cat squatted down to gather up her scattered notes from the floor. She was seriously annoyed with herself. Of all the stupid things to do!

Tell you what, Raphael offered. I’ll get some food and come pick you up. I’d planned on taking you up into the woods anyway.

Up in the woods?

Tracking and hunting. You need to know how to catch your own food on the moon. I’ll be there in twenty minutes. Don’t keep me waiting!

Right! Cat stacked the book, pen, and papers on top of Violet’s desk and took off at a sprint up the staircase.

Raphael pulled his
Jeep into the parking lot at the restaurant. He’d brought the more rugged vehicle to use on the steep graveled roads in the area he planned to have the two of them hunt. He was glad Cat was all right, but he did have to wonder what she’d been working on that was so engrossing she’d forgotten their lesson. He’d only known her for a week, but she’d shown no sign of being anything other than dependable and mature. Much as he hated to admit it, he’d been surprised. So much of the background information Raven had dug up on her depicted her as a wild, hard-partying airhead. But even his stepbrother Jake, who was
not
the cat’s biggest fan by any stretch, had to admit she was a hard worker who showed up on time for every shift.

He was surprised Jake didn’t like Cat – she was nicer to him, and to Holly, than practically anybody outside of the family.

Raphael crossed the half-empty parking lot to the glass entryway. He and Jake were close, but they’d always had their problems. Part of it was jealousy. Raphael was Second, while Jake was the lowest wolf in the pack, the Omega. But there was one thing Jake had earned for himself that Raphael had always envied: his family. Maria had been fully human, and the two of them’d had half a dozen beautiful daughters before she died. Four of them were Sazi. Bright, beautiful, and ambitious, they moved up within the Boulder pack, or moved on to other places. Rose was fully human, but she had married and relocated cross-country, coming back for the holidays. Which left Holly, the baby, and the last one living at home. She was in her twenties. She should have gone to college, been dating humans, moving on with her life. Instead she was still behind the counter at Jake’s and living at home. Raphael suspected that if his brother had his way, she always would be.

And Raphael couldn’t say a word about it – if he did, Jack would accuse him of being jealous. Which wasn’t necessarily untrue.

But Raphael did have Raven.

Raphael pulled open the door at the Joint, the scents of humans and Sazi, fresh coffee and cooking food enveloping him. He smiled and nodded at a few of the patrons before walking up to the counter where Holly was waiting to take his order. She greeted him with a professional smile, but she reeked of anger. Jake did, too, although he was venting his rage by slamming things around in the kitchen.

“Good morning, Holly. What’s going on?”

“Nothing important.” Her smile grew warmer, her wide brown eyes showing a little of the affection she held for him. “Just an argument. We’ll get over it. What can I get you?”

Raphael leaned onto the counter palms down and looked up at the menu. What would Cat like? He supposed he could ask her, but he’d be risking interrupting her shower. Raphael tried to force himself to think about something else – but it was nearly impossible. Every time he thought about Cat, the link between them tried to spring to life, and his body reacted. Right now his jeans were binding uncomfortably and he was damned glad it was a tall counter.

Bedding her might ease the sexual tension between the two of them. Then again, it might just make things worse. The sensible part of him thought it would cause nothing but trouble. But there was a deeper part that ached to do it anyway, and damn the consequences.

“I figured I’d bring breakfast to Cat over at the house,” Raphael told Holly. In the background, the slamming grew louder and was accompanied by a few choice mumbled curses. “Any idea what she’d like?”

“Steak, eggs, hashed browns, and the biggest mug of black coffee you can find,” Holly answered promptly.

Raphael laughed. “A woman after my own heart.”

“Yeah,” Holly agreed. “Except
she
doesn’t smother perfectly good meat in hot sauce and green chile.”

“I
like
hot food!” Raphael protested.

“Whatever!” Holly rolled her eyes.

Raphael laughed again. “All right, give me two orders to go and put a cup of jalapenos on the side.”

She rang up his order and took the money, sliding his change across the counter to him. She got him a tall paper cup and filled it with coffee fresh and hot enough to scald his tongue. He sipped it with a smile, moving out of the way and leaning his back against the counter to survey the restaurant while he waited.

Midmorning on a weekday, he would have expected the restaurant to be nearly empty, but it was doing a fair amount of business, though most of the customers were older family members. They’d retired from their jobs and spent mornings at the caf6 playing checkers and arguing politics over the morning paper.

Mike sat in the corner, poking savagely at the food on his plate with a sour expression. There was a ring of empty space around him. The humans were giving him wide berth. Raphael couldn’t actually blame them. The scents pouring off of the boy were just nasty: anger, jealousy, frustration, and hopelessness were all mixed together at levels that were enough to make Raphael’s eyes water.

On impulse, he decided to walk over and talk to the boy. Maybe he just needed an adult who wasn’t a parental figure to talk to – Raphael certainly remembered himself at that age. He definitely didn’t want to talk to a parent, or any authority figures from his own life. But Raphael wasn’t technically an authority figure in Mike’s life – except for Raphael’s position as Second Alpha, which, for some wolves, was akin to Charles’s position as Chief Justice. Far removed from the realities of their day-to-day lives.

As he approached the table he noticed that Mike wasn’t wearing his usual Levi’s and bomber jacket. Instead, he had on a worn and faded black sweatshirt with the CU buffalo on it, and baggy black sweatpants.

“Going for a run?” Raphael asked as he pulled up a chair to join him.

“I
thought
so, but apparently not,” Mike answered. A fresh wave of bitterness and anger burst forth from him. Raphael buried his nose in his coffee to clear away the scent.

A woman, it had to be. There was no way he’d be this upset if one of the guys hadn’t made it. Raphael tried to guess who it might be, to remember if he’d heard any rumors, but he was drawing a blank. Then again, he’d been buried up to his eyeballs in paperwork and training Cat this past week. He hadn’t been around to hear the rumors. “Why don’t you give her a call?” Raphael suggested.

“She’s not answering the phone.” He snarled. “If she’d been practicing with
me
instead of Holly I
might
be able to just talk to her mind to mind. But
no.
That would be too
intimate.”
Michael snarled again. It was an ugly sound, and several of the humans shifted in their seats, looking over at him nervously. The scent of their fear swirled in the air.

Mike’s still after Cat?
Raphael managed not to choke on his coffee and then berated himself for missing the obvious. He’d underestimated the boy, assumed that Mike would drop Cat when he saw the pack’s negative reaction to her. Then there was the difference in their ages. Raphael felt a stab of what could only be jealousy. It surprised him. He’d known he was attracted to the woman – hell, who wouldn’t be? But jealousy? Jealousy hinted at feelings a lot more serious than lust, or even the admiration he’d admitted to himself.

The big question, of course, was: what was Cat feeling? Raphael didn’t
think
she would go for Mike. He was too immature, impulsive, and controlling. She’d hate that in no time. But he was good looking and attentive. Then again, those two words,
too intimate,
used with such venom, hinted that he wasn’t getting anywhere with her.

Raphael couldn’t suppress a surge of hope. The reaction frightened him. Logically he knew he should leave her alone, not give in. But his emotions were ready to send logic straight to hell.

“Food’s up.” Holly called.

“Right.” Raphael turned to Mike. “Gotta go.”

“Have fun with your
training session!”
Mike didn’t bother to hide the bitterness in his voice. Raphael knew he probably should punish him for the affront, but he really couldn’t blame the kid.

He settled for a verbal warning. “Watch your mouth, kiddo.” He pointed his index finger at Mike but didn’t back it up with any power or threat. Turning, he went up to the counter and grabbed the to-go bag from Holly along with a huge thermal mug of coffee, easily the largest he’d seen.

“For Cat.” The surprise must have showed on his face because Holly explained: “She doesn’t do mornings well without coffee.”

“Apparently a
lot
of coffee.”

“Oh, yeah,” Holly agreed. “Trust me on this.”

“Thanks.” He called to his brother through the kitchen pass through. “Later, Jake.” He gave a quick wave and left.

The scent of the food filled the Jeep in a matter of seconds and had his stomach growling audibly by the time he pulled into Violet’s driveway. He climbed out of the car, giving a cheery wave to Mrs. Zabatos, who was taking her pet for a walk. The little dust mop of a dog strained at its leash, barking hysterically as it bounced up and down.

Raphael stood at the door, one hand hidden behind his back, laughing at the fact that Mrs. Zabatos’s dog actually considered itself dominant to him. He was still laughing when Cat answered the door.

She was lovely, as always. Her hair was damp from the shower, and the sweet vanilla scent of her went well with the citrus of the shampoo she’d used. Raphael had to fight the urge to pull her into his arms and kiss her breathless before peeling off those low-slung blue jeans and taking off that little blue sweater one button at a time and kissing his way down her body.

Raphael tore his mind forcibly from the image. “Breakfast.” He sounded gruff. He hadn’t meant to. But just thinking about her made him hard. Seeing her, having her within touching distance, it was damned near torture.

“I don’t suppose you brought coffee?”

Raphael grinned, and showed her the mug he’d been hiding behind his back.

“You wonderful, wonderful man!” Cat stepped forward. Throwing her arms around his neck, she kissed him.

It started as just a quick brush of her lips against his, but it was enough to set his body alight. Warm electric energy flowed between the two of them everywhere their skin touched, through her arms on his neck, between their lips – building until she gasped from it, her mouth opening for his.

He couldn’t fight it anymore. His tongue danced with hers, his body hardening at the feel of her body pressed the length of his. Both hands were full, but he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her tighter against him.

She tasted of cinnamon toothpaste. She smelled of need. She pulled back a fraction just enough to be able to speak. “We should go inside.”

“Right.” It was harder than it should have been to move his arms to let her go. The wolf in him fought against it, neither knowing nor caring about propriety. She was his to take – all he needed to do was reach out and claim her.

Cat untangled her arms from around his neck, letting her hands slide slowly down his chest. There was a darkness in her eyes, an acknowledgment of mutual need. But it was a need that he couldn’t satisfy, as much as it was killing him.