Caging the Wolf (Snowdonia Wolves) (4 page)

Another club. More swirling, blindingly-bright strobes that swept across a packed dance floor. Techno beats this time, skinny girls wearing very little, and a different guy at my side.

I wondered if Mighty Mike’s was anything like I’d dreamed. It was certainly nothing like Sx2, where I was now. This place was huge. Oceans of space for dancing, long polished steel counters, and a bar that ran the length of one wall, it gleamed and shone, and screamed
exclusive
. I’d already seen three TV celebrities and a clutch of pop stars.

“How did you get tickets to the opening night?” I had to shout for Jack to hear me, and he obligingly slithered closer on the padded bench seat.

“I know the owners. They gave me a couple of comps.” His smile was white and predatory. It reminded me of a shark, zooming in on its prey. I had to wonder. If I’d said
no
, or hadn’t seen him in the pub at all, who would he have taken instead? I shook the thought away. I was here now, I’d enjoy it.

Another couple came to sit on our bench, pushing us even closer together, and I felt uncomfortable. I hadn’t seen Jack for a year, had barely spoken to him before that. I wasn’t ready to sit in his lap. I stood up, and gestured toward the crowd on the floor. “Should we?”

“Damn right.” He grabbed my hand and led me to the centre of the throng. There was no room to dance, and two people had already trodden on my toes on the way. Jack didn’t seem bothered. He dropped his hands to my hips and began to sway to the beat, inviting me to move with him.

This was what I’d longed for so many times. A chance for Jack to notice me. So why didn’t I feel more excited? He was handsome in a sharp-suited, clean fashion, his short hair precision cut, and trendy clothes immaculate. The cool boy from school had grown into a hungry real estate agent, his fingers in dozens of money-making pies—and my dad’s shop was one of them.

Over dinner tonight, my parents had been pleased to hear I was going out with Jack. “Morgan’s is going to be yours one day, Jess.” Dad spoke slowly, his voice serious. “And with the economy the way it is, having Harper’s money on your side wouldn’t hurt.”

“
Dad
.” I couldn’t help laughing. “We’re just going to a club. Nothing more.”

Mum flashed a smile at me. “I met your Dad in a club. I was on holiday in Wales, camping in Snowdonia with my friends from school, and this handsome young buck wouldn’t leave me alone. He even followed me back to Manchester and insisted I marry him.”

I’d heard the story a dozen times before, but this time, something had jolted my attention. Someone else had mentioned Snowdonia.
Levi
.

Caught up in my thoughts, I didn’t object when Jack turned me in his arms, to stand at my back. Maybe I should have. “Relax, baby,” he crooned in my ear. “You’re so hot. I can’t keep my hands off you.”

When Jack bumped against my ass, his hands gliding down to rest on my thighs, it felt wrong.

This was how I’d danced with Levi.

In my imagination.

Levi didn’t exist, but Jack did.

I wriggled free and turned to face him again, a gap between us. The music was far too loud to permit any conversation, and so I gestured toward the bar. He nodded, and followed me off the floor. Our miniscule space was swallowed up instantly by other partygoers.

The drinks were ridiculously expensive, and made more than a dent in my bank balance, but I didn’t want to be beholden to Jack. It was also quiet enough here to be able to talk, to some degree at least. I chinked our bottles together and pasted on a smile. 

“Why do you want to buy my dad’s shop?”

Jack ran a hand through his hair, mussing the front of it. It made him look like a mischievous child. “I’ve a buyer interested.” The shark smile returned. “I heard your dad is thinking of retiring soon, so it’d make sense to quit now, rather than losing this investment opportunity.”

Retiring? That was news to me. “You might have heard wrong. Now I’ve got my business diploma, I’ll be working for Dad. We’ve got plans to expand.” I hadn’t actually shared my plans yet, and they were still vague, but I wanted to quash any rumours of him retiring. That made him sound old.

Jack eased nearer, invading my space again. “Maybe we should compare notes.”

“Maybe.” I took a gulp of my beer. “Who’s your buyer?”

He shook his head. “Sorry, baby. That’s privileged information.” His gaze dropped to my chest and then back up to my face.

Heat filled my cheeks and I was consumed with the urge to pour my drink on his head. I was fed up of being groped and eye-fucked by him, and the night had only just started.

All these years I’d lusted after Jack. What a waste. I wanted someone like Levi.

I want Levi.

When my phone vibrated in my pocket, I was glad of the distraction, but the text message from Mum, filled me with dread.

Charlie not well. On our way to Emergency vet. Pls call when you get this message
.

I had to get out of the club. Abandoning my beer on the bar top, I grabbed Jack’s arm and tugged him toward the cloakroom. It would be freezing outside, and I’d need my coat, so while I lined up to collect it, I phoned Mum. It dropped to voicemail. I rang Dad, and the same happened.

Fear lodged in my throat, and I shoved my phone at Jack, to show him the message.

“Who’s Charlie?”

“My dog.” I reached the front of the line and thrust my ticket at the clerk.

“So where are you going?” Jack held onto my phone, his brows tugging together into a puzzled frown.

“Where? I’m going to the vet.” I bounced on my toes, mentally urging the clerk to find my coat, and find it quickly.

“It’s just a dog, baby.”

“He’s
my
dog.” I snatched my phone from his fingers and dialled Mum again. “And don’t call me
baby
.”

“Hey.” He laughed, and took a step back, his hands held up in surrender. “Sorry,
Jessie
.”

I pressed the phone to my ear, and heard Mum answer. “Jessie?” Her voice was high and stressed. “We’ve just arrived at the emergency vet on Whitmore Street. Oh, love, he doesn’t look good. Is there any chance you could get down here?”

“Whitmore Street.” My coat appeared on the counter and I nodded a thank you to the girl, then I turned to find a quiet space. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

She’d already hung up. I stood there for a moment, fist pressed to my mouth, trying to compose myself. I sucked in a shaky breath, and then another. I had to get outside, find a cab, and get out of town and back to Stockport. The journey alone would be twenty minutes. Mum hadn’t said
what
had happened, just those awful words:
he doesn’t look good
.

I’d forgotten about Jack. He snaked an arm across my shoulders and squeezed me close. Maybe he’d help me get a cab. This part of the city was unfamiliar to me and I didn’t even know where the nearest taxi rank was.

“Jessie. I get you’re upset. Let’s go and get a drink.”

“I want a cab.”

“What? You’re leaving?”

I nodded. I was holding myself together by the finest of threads and didn’t trust myself to speak.

“Jesus. This is the opening night of Sx2, and you’re leaving it for a fucking dog?”

I wished I’d kept my beer. I could have poured it all over his designer shirt. Instead, I turned and pushed my way through the crowd to the exit. Jack Harper was a dick, and this had been a mistake of epic proportions.

I just hoped I could get to Charlie in time.

I sat in the vet’s reception area, one parent on each side, and waited for news. Dad had found Charlie lying motionless, and semi-conscious, in the back garden. They didn’t know if he’d had a stroke, or a heart attack, or any number of equally dire alternatives.

It was serious. The vet diagnosed acute kidney failure, and had spent the last hour running tests and trying to stabilize him. I expected to be told at any minute, he hadn’t made it.

Eventually, we were allowed to go and see him. He lay on his side in a cage, a drip connected to one paw. I fondled his soft ears and stroked his muzzle, smiling through my tears when he licked my hand. We had to leave him and go home, and the vet promised to call us in the morning. It was a horrible end to a rotten evening, and I wished I’d never gone to the damned club with Jack.

Seeing Charlie lying in a cage reminded me of the dog I’d freed from the pound.

Back home, I comforted myself by thinking about Levi. I longed to lose myself in his embrace, and he filled my thoughts as I went to sleep. If only he was real.

When I opened my eyes in my dream, and saw him sitting on our wooden bench, I stumbled forward and threw myself into his arms. The tears I’d been holding back escaped, and I sobbed against his chest, uncaring that I was making a fool of myself.

He wasn’t real.
This
wasn’t real, even if it was the most lifelike set of dreams I’d ever had. His woody fragrance, the muscles that bunched in his arms he wrapped them tight around me, and the softness of his much-washed T-shirt. It all added up to way more than a dream.

“Jess.
Babe
.” He stroked my hair, and ran one hand up and down my spine in a soothing motion. “What’s the matter, my love?”

This was the intimacy I’d wanted from Jack. Fat chance. Another pang of despair for Charlie brought a fresh wave of tears. I was an ugly crier, always had been. Some girls could sob delicately and look fragile and pretty, but I went the full hog. Bright red nose, swollen eyes. Even perfect-Levi wouldn’t find
that
attractive.

“Talk to me, babe.” Worry lined his voice, and I sucked in a shaky breath.

“It’s Charlie. My dog. He’s very ill.”

He held me even closer. “Poor you. Do you know what’s wrong?”

“Acute kidney failure.” My voice was wobbly.

“I’m sorry. I wish there was something I could do.”

My tears were receding, but I kept my face pressed to his shirt. “I wish you could see him. I wish you were real.”

“Do you know where he is?” His hands continued to soothe me. “You could take us both there. Just think it.”

Did I want to go back to the vets?
Yes
. I squeezed my eyes shut, thought of the kennels at the back of the vet’s consulting rooms, and opened my eyes to see Charlie staring at me.

“Hey.” Levi dropped to a crouch and held one hand through the bars of the cage. His other held me, our fingers tangled together. “He’s a handsome boy.” Charlie sniffed him thoroughly, always suspicious of strangers, and then licked his palm. Accepted him.

Fear had taken root as a solid lump in my throat, and I could feel fresh tears welling. Levi squeezed my fingers. “He’s strong, Jess. He won’t give up without a fight.” I hoped he was right.

Moments later, Levi slid his fingers through my hair, and tucked an errant strand behind my ear. “I’m sorry. I can’t stay as long as I’d like. Go get some sleep now. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“You’ll be waiting on the wooden bench? Are you always there, Levi? I don’t dream of anywhere else at the moment.”

“Waitin’ for you, Jess. Only you.” He pressed the most exquisitely tender kiss onto my forehead and then disappeared.

I stroked Charlie’s head some more. Was this the last time I’d see my dog alive?

I surfaced slowly the next morning, my memories a mixture of fear and calm. Levi’s soothing voice telling me Charlie was strong, mixed in with the desperate cab ride to the vet. I thought back to my disastrous date with Jack. If Mum hadn’t sent me a text, how much longer would I have stayed in the club with him?

I shivered, and tugged the duvet higher. Everything had changed in my year away. Charlie. The idea of Dad retiring. Jack being a complete asshole. Even Becca acting oddly with Toby.

Was anything as I’d left it?

The news from the vet was hopeful. My dog looked a little stronger this morning, but it was still too soon to tell if he’d make it.

When I checked the calendar, it was two weeks until Christmas. Mum and Dad insisted I stay out of the shop until the new year, that I needed time to get used to being at home again. My friends were all busy at work, and after visiting Charlie, I had the day to myself.

It was typical December weather in Manchester, icy cold and overcast, and not pleasant to be outside. I found myself heading for the warmth and lights of the Trafford Centre.

The Christmas decorations were just as lush and colourful as I’d hoped, and after wandering up and down the galleries, I ended up at the bench close to the cinema. I had an odd, déjà vu moment, when I wondered if Levi would be there. How stupid.

Even though I knew he couldn’t join me, I sat there and watched the world go by. Harried mothers with children clinging to their hands, office workers shopping during their lunch break, and bands of noisy teenagers all walked past me. Nobody I wanted to see, and yet I stayed. I felt closer to Levi when I sat there, and how crazy was that?

****

I watched my parents prepare dinner together, as they did most nights. It was one of their ways to unwind after a busy day, and was a routine as familiar to me as brushing my teeth in the morning. Was it my imagination or was Dad moving slower these days? His hair was more silvered at the temples, but his eyes were as bright blue as ever. Not as bright as Levi’s, but I’d never seen anyone with peepers like his.

My parents had the perfect marriage. Even when they argued, you could see the love underscoring whatever it was they disagreed on. I’d never marry unless I found someone to love me as much as Dad loved Mum. A foolish part of me had hoped to find that with Jack, but I knew better now.

“Hey, Dad. I know you were Welsh, but did you come from Snowdonia?”

He turned and smiled at me, reaching for Mum’s hand at the same time. “No, but my
Taid
—your great-grandfather—did. I’d been researching my family history that summer, when I met your mother. Why do you ask?”

A guy I’ve been dreaming about mentioned it
. “No reason.”

I caught up with Becca in the evening, and managed to grab half an hour with her, in a quiet corner of the pub.

“How was Sx2?”

I grimaced. “Not my thing. Not the club, or Jack.” I looked up from my drink and met her sympathetic smile. “It wasn’t a good night.” I’d already told her about Charlie, but wanted to tell her about Jack face to face.

“I’m sorry, hun. I always thought he was an arrogant prick, but you never saw that.”

I did now. “What’s the deal with Toby? You like him?”

Her cheeks coloured and she fanned herself with a beermat. “Have you seen the boy play rugby? Jesus. He’s fit.”

“And?”

“And nothing. He hangs out with Jack. And no matter how much I might be lusting after Toby, that’s enough to make me see sense. His first loyalty would always be to Jack-god’s-gift-to-women-Harper.”

I giggled, for the first time that day. “Are there any decent guys left in town?”

She shrugged and pulled a funny face. “Now you’re asking.” Fixing me with a smile, she raised her glass. “It’s my day off tomorrow. Let’s hit the Trafford Centre. We can go shopping, have a liquid lunch, and go the movies in the afternoon. What do you say?”

“You’re on.”