Most Eligible Wolf - Julie Steimle (e novels to read TXT) 📗

ground, “The thing is, they sent emissaries to ask for help to find a missing wolf from their pack. Kurt Blithe.”

<< I don’t want you to have anything to do with that pack. >>

“I know,” Rick said with grief, running his fingers through his hair. “But Kurt needs our help.”

His father was silent for a moment. Then he said, << You don’t care to help the pack find him? >>

“No.” Rick stared at the floor, thinking what a travesty that would be. “Matt overheard their thoughts, and he let us know that Kurt wasn’t the only one who ran away. His mother, Mrs. Blithe—who is human—ran off also, taking all her kids with her. The pack only has been able to track Kurt.”

<< I see. >>

“Dad… Kurt is a good guy.” Rick groaned inside, worry swelling in his gut. “And Mrs. Blithe had been trapped by her abusive husband and the pack for years. I… I think it is best that we help them as much as we can.”

<< Against the pack’s wishes… >>

Sighing, Rick nodded. “Yes.”

<< I’m in. >> His father did not even hesitate.

“Oh, thank goodness.” Rick then said, “We need to find him, first. But, uh, we need to think of a safe place for Mrs. Blithe specifically, as she needs peace from all the werewolf chaos.”

Someone passed by and slipped into the conference, casting Rick an odd look. There were also others coming from within the hotel. It was a high traffic area after all, another main access to the conference. He should have known. Rick walked in further toward the hotel, slipping into another recessed doorway. He could see the crossing corridors from there.

<< How about the Colorado pack? >>

Groaning, Rick said, “I don’t know if that would be a good idea. I mean, for Kurt, Susi, and Luko, that’d be great. But I really think Mrs. Blithe needs a break from wolves.”

<< I see. >> His father then chuckled painfully. << That is understandable. >>

Rick could feel his grief. He knew what his father was thinking. His mother had left them because she too needed a break from wolves. And she was still uneasy about meeting him, her ex, even though she and Rick had reestablished a relationship.

“Dad,” Rick said, sighing with grief. “One day you’ll get to see with your own eyes that Mom is ok.”

He could hear his father chuckle, though he could have been crying. Eventually Mr. Deacon said, << I am just glad that you got to see her again. >>

Nodding to himself, Rick murmured, “Let’s just focus on this for now. Um… we need to think of a safe place for them. I don’t want the witches of our town getting to them either.”

<< Understood. >>

 That meant taking the Blithes to Middleton Village was out of the question. The witches would be worse than the Blithes staying with the Wolverton pack.

“Call me when you’ve got something? I’ll call you again if we find Kurt.”

<< Got it. >>

Rick pushed the off button to the phone. He was about to return to the conference center when he caught scent of something delicious. Curious, as the scent was irresistible—and a food smell, as he was hungry—Rick followed his nose. Going inward towards the hotel, Rick found himself meandering down in the direction of the back entrance of a dining room where a feast was being carried out to the buffet line. It wasn’t attached to the convention. The decorations were celebrating something or other. A made up holiday. In fact, Rick recognized the trappings of a Junior League style buffet and party.

Groaning, he backed away. He was in New York, and it was likely he would bump into all those overinflated snobs he had been avoiding since he stopped escorting Selena Davenport way back when he was sixteen. And he sneezed. One of the dishes had garlic in it.

“Rick Deacon, where have you been?” Stiffening, Rick saw one of Selena’s old acquaintances from Junior League—Jenna Something-or-other. She wasn’t someone Rick had paid much attention to though they had been to all the same parties. Jenna looked a lot more curvaceous than when he had last seen her. Her dress had a classy, almost Marylyn Monroe style to it. Her hair was bleached blonde, her darker roots barely showing. She smiled, her eyes shining. She looked good.

“Here and there,” Rick murmured. He then thumbed over his shoulder. “I just came from the conference and smelled the food. I’ll be going back now.”

“That environmentalist conference?” Jenna looked mildly amused. “Your family still donates to animal reserves and stuff?”

Rick nodded. “Yeah. As always.”

She smiled, chuckling. “Well, we do miss you at Junior League. You should stop by this evening. I’m sure everyone would be glad to see you.”

To that, Rick shook his head. “I don’t think so…. I believe Ewan Steed is still pretty ticked off at me. And besides, I have no date.”

“You can be my date,” Jenna said, winking.

Laughing more, Rick grinned. “I’m flattered. But really, I’m at the conference with friends. I think you might recognize a few of them—remember my pals who crashed that summer pool party?”

“Oh…” Jenna groaned, making a face and stepping back with incredulity. “Why do you still hang around such people?”

Chuckling, Rick said with a smile. “They’re my friends, Jenna. Selena’s ex is still among them.”

“That guy with the weird eyes?” Jenna shuddered. “What’s-his-name?”

“Tom Brown," Rick said. “And he now works for the CIA.”

She stared more. “No way.”

Rick nodded. “Yeah. And my friend Matthew is now a detective for the NYPD. Our friend Randon is attending the conference to make connections for veterinary medicine, and we’re helping him out.”

Jenna slowly nodded. “Ok… I see.”

Backing up, Rick waved. “I should get back.”

Clearly dismayed, Jenna nodded. “Alright. But it is going to be a great party.”

“Hey! Deacon!”

Rick cringed. He saw another guy from Junior League march across the room. Unfortunately, Rick could not remember his name at all.

“Long time no see!”

Rick nodded to him. “I’m actually going now.”

“Don’t go yet,” the guy said. Rick didn’t even remember his face. He had butterscotch curls on his egg-shaped head and cinnamon brown eyes. He was also in a suit. “You’ll miss the party.”

“I’m not attending,” Rick said. He thumbed over his shoulder. “I have to get back to the conference.”

“Oh, yeah, I heard you attended those for your dad now.” The man nodded. “How do you like it?”

“Not much,” Rick said while walking backward. “But I gotta do it. It’s part of the job.”

They nodded, waving, and watched him go down the hall.

He overheard their gossip as he went.

“I hear a rumor that he has been in and out of therapy.”

“Nonsense. It heard it was something else. He found his mother. And she was remarried with kids.”

“No, that was recently. I am talking about waaay back. I saw this article that said he was kidnapped by a cult one summer and they did something to him, and he had people watching him all the time.”

“You’re kidding me. Rick?”

“Yeah, he—”

Rick’s face felt hot. He knew people were gossiping about him all the time. But when the gossip was actually true, especially with those people of Wolverton showing up again, he felt so fragile. In one turn to get away, he bumped into someone around the corner.

“Sorry,” he said, apologizing. But his eyes rested on her face and he drew back. “Daisy.”

The sweet southern blonde with light honey colored hair smiled back at him, gently touching his elbow as if trying to keep her balance. “Sorry. But are you alone?”

Rick shook his head, looking around. “My, uh, friends are here somewhere.”

In panic, he realized he had left them way behind at the conference center. And now it was imperative that he get back, especially as Daisy’s aroma encroached on his senses again.

“Look,” she said, “I am sorry about the way I behaved earlier. It has been a long while, and I understand your father does not want us to meet anymore.”

He nodded, looking for a quick exit.

Her fingers stroked up his arm, sending almost paralyzing electricity through him. His body drew up, and his eyes drifted back to her. She really was lovely. And he missed gazing at her.

“I’d like it if we could talk,” she said, her voice like music.

Rick shook his head, trying to keep focused. “I really… I really… I really shouldn’t.”

“Just talk,” her sweet, melodic voice said. It drew him in better than Selena’s manipulative voice ever could. He listened.

Yet he said, “Ok. Talk.”

Nodding, Daisy took hold of his hand, intertwining her fingers in his the way they used to. “The thing is, I think the pack came here to look for Kurt. You remember him. Kurt Blithe? He was your friend in the pack once, right?”

Rick nodded, thinking about Kurt.

“I’d like to help him,” Daisy said. “If I can.”

His eyes fixing on her, Rick’s heart raced. “Really?”

She nodded gently. “Of course. We were friends.”

But Rick also knew Farkas had been Kurt’s good friend. And yet he was on the hunt for Kurt. Logic was telling him all of this was most likely a lie.

“He hasn’t come to you for help at all, has he?” she asked.

Shaking his head, unable to deny her the truth, Rick replied, “No. But I know that Kurt wanted to travel. He had wanted to leave the pack way back when we first met. But I really have no idea where Kurt or Mrs. Blithe are.”

For a second, Daisy looked flustered. She asked, “How did you know about Mrs. Blithe?’

Gazing at her, Rick smirked, though he was unable to deny her. “My friend Matthew can read thoughts behind the words people speak, and he heard it when the pack asked me to help them find Kurt.”

“Your friend is a mind reader?” She gasped. 

“Not exactly,” Rick said, swaying on his feet. “It is sort of something that comes on when people make noise. I don’t quite get it. Just trust me when I say he can tell if you are lying.”

Her face went through a series of confused expressions. But it finally rested on a resolved and peaceful one. Her smile spread as she gazed up at him. She leaned into Rick, allowing him to breathe her completely in. It was like swallowing a strong drug, one he had never been able to entirely shake the addiction to though he had forgotten it for a while. He had allowed her to step closer, leaning into her also. He missed her touch, the feel of her against him. He missed the heat of her body. Rick swayed there, breathing in her luscious scent, hoping she was being genuine.

“I’d love to hear more about them,” her voice softly whispered, “But I think the pack is following me. We also need to go to a safe place to talk about what we can do for Kurt. I’m afraid if they come upon us, they’ll drag us both back to Wolverton before we can help him.”

Rick nodded eager to help. Eager to be with her, really. The rest of his brain went to mush.

Yet, a tiny protesting voice rose up in the back of his head and screamed that he was being played. Daisy had never really hung around him and Kurt back when he was with the pack. She either took him away from Kurt, or delivered him into Kurt’s keeping. It was almost like tag team—except Kurt had on occasion tried to warn him that if he got any closer to Daisy it would go too far. And it had.

“Is it true you have a room in this hotel?” she asked.

Rick nodded, breathless. “Yes.”

“Why don’t we go there for a quiet talk?” she suggested.

That angry tiny voice in the back of his head screamed for him to push her away and run. But it could only scream. Her claws were already deep in him and had been for years, pulling his soul along to obey her. Rick nodded and, with his heart pounding while his entire body