Howling Moon (29 page)

I’ll do my best, she promised mentally as she followed Ivan out of the vehicle. She closed the door and stood, watching as the limousine turned in the driveway and went back through the gate. She was sorry to see Charles go. He was one of the few remaining links she had to her past. Just knowing he was here was a comfort.

Cat’s musings were cut short as Ivan took control of the situation. “Raven,” the big Russian said. “You are familiar with the property?”

“Yes.”

“Good. You will show me. We will plan the security. Raphael will guard the lovely Cat
inside
the cabin.”

His tone brooked no argument. Not that he would’ve gotten any. Cat had been hoping to have a chance to talk to Raphael.

The “cabin” was actually a large A-frame house. A deck ran along three sides of the building, its weathered wood blending gently wim the gray and tan stone of the huge stone fireplace that took up most of the north side of the building and pale gray siding. The second-floor balcony jutted out to protect the front entrance.

Cat reached into her purse to retrieve her key to the front door. “Have you ever been here before?”

“Nope.” Raphael followed close at her back, like the trained bodyguard he was. “I’ve hunted on the land for years, but I never got to know Ned well enough to receive an invitation.”

“It will need a little work, but it’s really quite nice.” She reached inside the doorway to switch on the overhead light.

Raphael followed her
inside. The entryway was relatively small, and made more crowded by a stack of half-packed boxes. There was a door to the immediate left that he assumed opened the coat closet. The staircase to the second floor was just inside the door as well.

Raphael took the three steps down to the right, walking into the great room. It was huge. The ceiling was open to the top of the peaked roof, with natural stained beams that held a pair of large wrought-iron chandeliers. The fireplace on the north wall was flanked by built-in bookshelves that rose twelve feet from the floor. The furniture was old, comfortable but battered, and the rugs that covered the slate floor were a little threadbare. But there was a solid oak entertainment center with a big-screen plasma television, and it was obvious the house itself was still solid and had an unmistakable rustic beauty.

But it was the west wall that was most spectacular. The entire rear wall of the house was made entirely of double-paned glass and offered an unobstructed view of the meadow and woods from both the living room and the kitchen. It was absolutely gorgeous, and a security nightmare. Raphael took the three steps back up and turned left. A short hallway led to a large bathroom on the left and a walk-in pantry to die right.

“Very nice.”

“Can we go upstairs?” she asked, gesturing toward the spiral stairs.

“It’s your house, sweetheart.”

Cat grinned at him, showing the deep dimples he liked so much, but had so seldom seen. “It is, isn’t it?” Cat almost skipped up the staircase with Raphael close behind.

“Hey, I
like
this.” Raphael came up behind her in an open doorway and slid his arm around her waist, making her laugh. The master bath opened both to the upstairs hall and directly into the bedroom. A set of three steps led up to a tub built for two and air jets that made it double as a Jacuzzi. The wallpaper was a floral pattern with brightly colored butterflies. Drooping plants hung from the ceiling and the window ledge. Ned had left them without thought to their care. Cat rummaged in the cabinet under the sink until she found the watering can. Raphael watched her happily watering the plants before wandering through the door that led to the bedroom.

The master bed had been hand built of pine logs, the large dresser was of matching knotty pine. The room was a bit of a mess, but Cat didn’t appear to mind. She stood in the middle of the floor, sunlight from the French doors playing with her hair. She tilted her head sideways, turning toward the windows. “I hear a car.”

His light mood vanished. “Stay back.” Raphael shoved Cat away from the glass opening and watched the car approach from the side. After a moment, he turned his head to where she stood. “It’s okay. It’s Holly. Although what the hell she’s doing here I have no clue. She’s supposed to be on duty at the Joint training Tatya.”

“Training
Tatya?”

Raphael sighed and unlocked the French doors. Sliding them open, he stepped onto the deck with Cat following right behind. “I demoted Tatya to omega for six months for the incident with Ned up at Wolf’s Run. She’s got to put in thirty hours a week at Jake’s and tell every customer that there’s no longer credit.”

“You didn’t announce
that
last night!”

“No. When Ahmad arrived I forgot all about it. But she starts today, and Holly was going to be the one to train her.”

As Holly climbed from the vehicle, Cat smiled and waved happily from the deck. Raphael wondered if it was his imagination that led him to think his niece’s answering smile was less enthusiastic than usual. On closer examination he noticed the sag of her shoulders and her chapped, red-rimmed eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but Cat was quicker.

“What’s wrong, Holly?” Cat asked. “What are you doing here?”

She stared up at the two of them, her expression miserable. “I didn’t know where else to go.”

“We’ll be right down,” Cat said.

The two of them hurried downstairs to open the front door. The minute she could, Cat pulled Holly into a tight hug.

Raphael could sense Cat’s fury at her friend’s tears. But by the time Holly was seated inside and had told them the story, Raphael had become just as
pissed.
A part of it was his own anger. A larger part was Cat’s rage. It beat at him through the tightest shields he could erect. She was doing her absolute best to control her temper, and failing miserably.

“She is
not
joining you in your new life, Cat. It is too much of a risk.”

Ivan had come to investigate the arrival of a visitor. He turned to address Holly. “I do not doubt your courage or your integrity. Both your cousin and your uncle have vouched for you. But each time Cat breaks cover there is more risk. You are an attack victim. You will
need
to be with your family the night of the full moon, need the strength of everyone connected to you in order to survive.”

“Cat lived through her first change,” Holly pointed out.

“And we have no idea
why.
I can’t allow you to risk yourself so foolishly,” Ivan responded.

“I’m not going back. I’m never speaking to any of them again.”

“Holly!” Raphael protested.

Holly stood up, her eyes blazing, her stance more fierce than he’d ever seen it. The wolf was taking over, and she was letting it. “Goddamn it, Raphael! Dad
stole
my tuition money. He stole my
future!
He
knew
that I had to make the payment by Friday. He
could
have asked. But he didn’t. His name was on the account so he just
took it
for a fucking
freezer
for the restaurant. He didn’t even tell me. My
check bounced!
I could be arrested! That’s
a felony,
and now that I’m Sazi, I’m subject to Wolven!”

“You are
not
going to be arrested, and you
are
going to college. I’ll cover the costs.” Cat’s voice was cold enough to frost the windows.

“Cat!” It was Holly’s turn to be shocked.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that,” Cat snapped. “It’s not like I can’t afford it.”

Raven’s voice was calm, but Raphael knew his son well. When he was annoyed he’d argue, even raise his voice. But it was when he grew quiet that he was at his most dangerous. “Actually, I’ll be the one paying, but thank you Cat. It’s very generous of you to offer. But this is a family matter. Dad doesn’t dare get involved, but I can.”

Raphael stood with his back to them, staring out the windows. He was only half listening to the argument. If Holly wanted to go to school, she’d go. It’d get paid for somehow. There was no question about that. And while he was furious with Jake, his heart ached for him, too. He
knew
Holly. She was just like her mother had been: gentle, quiet, patient to a fault – until you crossed that last, invisible line. Then it was over. Maria’s father had crossed it when he forbade her marrying Jake. Now Jake had done it by taking the tuition money. There would be no going back. And no matter how dangerous it was for her to be with Cat, he’d rather that than have Holly out there alone. Cat was an attack victim. If Holly lived past Tuesday, Cat could help her deal with the inevitable physical and mental changes in a way no one else could.

“Raphael?” Ivan made the name a question. “It’s your call.”

Raphael didn’t turn around. He just watched a hawk circling above the meadow, “She can either go to school as Holly Sanchez or go undercover with Cat. Not both. It’s too risky. Everyone knows they’re friends. They’d just follow her back to Cat.” The hawk dived, plummeting downward. When it rose again, a small furred form was clutched in its talons.

“Then I’ll wait and go to school in the fall. Can you get me an identity, too?”

Ivan sighed. “I can.” He shook his head, turning to Raphael. “Charles will not be pleased when he finds out.”

“He’s a seer.” Raphael watched Ivan’s movements in the reflection of the glass. “Chances are he already knows.”

Ivan hung his head in defeat. Raphael could tell just how unhappy he was with this turn of events by the fact that just a trace of his original accent and speech patterns came through in his words. “Volves.” He muttered. “With volves it is
always
something. Never is easy.”

It was a complaint Raphael had heard from Ivan often when they’d worked together. Today, he couldn’t honestly argue. This was just one more problem in an ever-growing pile.

The silence stretched on uncomfortably. Six people, and nobody was talking.

“How much longer until the movers arrive?” Holly finally asked just to break the tension.

“Four hours,” Raven answered.

“So, are we supposed to pack or something?”

“Nope,” Cat answered. “Ned paid the movers to do it.”

“Oh. Right. Well, anybody want to watch a movie?” Holly asked.

Raphael laughed. He couldn’t help it. Leave it to Holly to try to come up with a way to make them all more comfortable. He looked over at Raven, who had a wry grin on his face. The bigger man walked over to the entertainment center. “Why not?” Raven agreed. “Doesn’t look like Ned’s disconnected anything yet.”

They argued about movies for a bit, finally settling on
Die Hard.
Raven and Holly drove down to Wolf’s Run to get them all beer and food for lunch. When the movers arrived everyone was in a better mood and was milling about the house or out onto the deck to stay out of the way. Raven and Ivan were teasing Raphael about shooting, each of the three claiming to be the best shot until they finally agreed to settle the score for certain at the shooting range, with the loser buying dinner.

Then Holly’s sister Jasmine drove up her SUV raising a cloud of gravel dust as she slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop.

“Holly Sanchez, you get in this car right now!” Jasmine shouted at her sister through the open window. “How
dare
you just walk out and leave Dad alone at the restaurant just before a full moon!”

Several of the movers had stopped and were staring. Jasmine didn’t even notice.

“Jasmine.” Raven stood, casting a meaningful look at the non-Sazi, which his cousin blithely ignored. The movers, however, went immediately back to work, very deliberately ignoring the brewing argument. But the antifreeze smell of their curiosity didn’t dissipate.

“Get
in
the car, Holly!”

Holly rose slowly, but rather than walk to the vehicle, she followed one of the uniformed humans into the house.

“Holly Marie Sanchez!”
Jasmine shrieked her sister’s name at the top of her lungs, her voice shrill enough to do a raptor proud. Throwing open the SUV door she leapt out, then slammed it hard enough to rock the vehicle. She started to storm after Holly but Raphael was just, suddenly, in her path.

“Stop right there,” he ordered. When she tried to brush past him, he used his magic, first to hold her in place and then, slowly, to adjust her posture to a more natural position. Her eyes blazed with fury and defiance, but she could
not
move.

“This place is crawling with humans.” Raphael kept his voice pleasant and low enough that none of the “civilians” would hear. “And you have very nearly said more than you should.” A flicker of fear flashed through her dark eyes. “These past few weeks should have taught you – I will not have you risking all of us with your temper. The fight between your sister and your father is
none of your business.
They’ll work it out, or they won’t.” He loosened his control, intending to let her walk to the car. Instead, she tried to push past him, forcing him to clamp down his control again.

“I need to talk to her.” Jasmine forced the words out through rigid lips.

“No,” Raphael answered. “You don’t.” He tried a different tack. “Now’s not the time. She’s too angry. If you push this now, you’ll just drive her further away.”

He saw tears sparkle in her eyes. “But… Daddy was
crying.”

Raphael’s heart ached for his brother, but it didn’t change a thing. “Now is
not
the time,” he repeated. “Don’t make things worse than they already are.” Once again he loosened his control. This time she didn’t try anything.

“He won’t tell me what happened.”

“No. He wouldn’t.”

“You know? What was it? What did she do? It’s that damned cat, isn’t it!” She turned, glaring daggers at Cat. Her body tensed. This time Raphael stopped her with a hand on her sleeve.

“It has nothing to do with Cat. It’s between your father and Holly, and it’s none of your business.”

“You’re
only saying that because you’re mated to her. It’s why you keep choosing her over your own people. Well, alpha or not, the pack’s not going to put up with that for long. You’ll have to choose. You can’t have her and the pack both. They won’t stand for it.” Jasmine’s normally pretty face was twisted and ugly with rage.

Raphael’s expression hardened. “Leave. Now.” He released her arm. “Before I do something we’ll both regret.”

“Fine,” she spat the words at him. “I’ll go. But I’m right about this. Just wait. You’ll see.”