Patrick's Heart (8 page)

“Her house.”

A sudden rush of male aggression tainted the air, followed by Patrick’s fangs peeking out from under his upper lip. “Talk to me, Red.”

“I left her fucking brother at her house.”

“What brother?” shouted Garret.

“Scott—the long-lost brother. He showed up here last night looking for Cassidy. I figured if I introduced them, she’d see me in a favorable light.”

“How do you even know it’s her brother?” asked Matthew. “Surely you didn’t just take his word on it.”

Patrick shrugged. “Don’t judge me. Either of you would have done the same thing.”

“Leave Cassidy alone with some stranger after everything that’s happened around town lately? I don’t think so.” Matthew clutched his radio, his knuckles turning white.

“You’re the one that left her there alone! You couldn’t bring her along for the ride?”

“She wanted a few minutes alone. How was I supposed to know you let a stranger on Cassidy’s property?” The two men started to butt chests, their feral nature emerging. The longer Garret put off the official mating, the harder it was to control his pack.

“You’ll both pay if she’s hurt,” said Garret, his voice deceptively calm. On the inside he wanted to shred the sun right out of the sky. Cassie was the center of his universe now. Whether the mine passed the inspection or not wasn’t his main priority any more. She knew about Patrick, so they were one step closer to creating a pack with its own female.

“Are we breaking out the fur?” asked Patrick.

“You know, I expect this kind of fuckup from Travis, not you, Red. I can’t believe you’d bring a man to Cassie’s own house without checking him out.”

“He asked for her by name. He even had a picture of her in his wallet. Do you think I want to be remembered as the man who ruined her chance to meet her brother? How the fuck did I know Matthew would bring her to her house? That’s the last place I’d expect her to be.”

“And where’d he come from, this brother? Drop right out of the clouds?”

“I–I don’t know. He didn’t have a car or truck that I could find.”

Garret and Matthew locked eyes for a moment.

“Did you scent wolves?” asked Matthew. “This could be a trick by the Rockfords. Corbin hasn’t made it a secret that he wants her for his pack.”

“No wolves. His scent was unusual but it wasn’t wolf.”

“Let’s go. Now, before the inspector notices I’m not running the mine like I should be.”

Guilt welled up inside Garret as he boarded his pickup truck. If he wasn’t so obsessed with pleasing the inspector, he would have brought Cassidy to work as usual. His priorities were off. She would have been safe in the office or his personal trailer, and not alone with some man who may or may not be her missing kin.

His mind wandered as he navigated the rough back roads at speeds far above the limit. The truck jostled and lurched but it didn’t faze him. What if this man
was
her missing half brother? Would she want to return to the city to be closer to him? Would he quench her need for acceptance and belonging, making his pack unnecessary and obsolete?

He felt like an asshole. Cassidy’s happiness had to come first, regardless of her future choices. But as decent as he tried to be, wanted to be, he wasn’t a man. His wolfen heritage shone through, demanding he claim what was his under any circumstance. Cassie was his woman, the mate his pack all agreed on. But slaughtering a threat would not go over well, so he had to fight his natural tendencies.

Garret parked the company truck at an odd angle in front of Cassie’s house. It was too quiet for his liking. He knew his two pack mates were itching to shift and prowl the area, but they needed to hold off until he knew what they were dealing with.

“Did he even look like her?” asked Garret as they climbed the front steps to the porch, the old wooden boards creaking.

“Not really. They’re nothing alike.”

Garret knocked on the front door but got no response. “You sure you left her here?” he asked.

“Yeah, and there was no car, no way for her to leave,” said Matthew.

“Patrick, do what you have to do.” As he opened the door to enter the house, Patrick eagerly dropped down to all fours, shifting into the red wolf. He shook out his thick coat and pawed the ground before racing off into the dense forest at the rear of the house.

“Cassidy?” called Matthew. “Twenty minutes is up, sweetheart.”

When she didn’t answer, Garret’s blood flashed cold. The little house was empty.

“Do you have the same feeling that something isn’t right here?” asked Matthew.

“If he’s hurt her…”

“She can’t be far.” They both raced back outside, ready to join Patrick.

Cassidy had kept her cool as long as possible. When Peter started demanding answers to personal questions, she bolted for the door. He grabbed her upper arm as she tried to escape, his fingers digging deep into her soft flesh.

“No, Cassidy!”

“Please…I don’t even know you.”

“How can you say that? I’ve been watching you for years. I know your favorite color, it’s green. You bring a paper-bagged lunch to work every Monday and Wednesday. And you chew the ends of your pens when you’re flustered.”

“Let me go!” She managed to wrench open the door and began to run. Her heart beat so fast and her breathing was so rapid that she couldn’t hear anything else. Her legs burned from exertion. She hoped to find cover in the thick brushwood ahead. Her men had taught her a trick or two about surviving in the forest. Peter was a city boy, so he’d likely be clueless in these rustic surroundings. So could hope.

It sickened and terrified her that one man could be so obsessed with her while she didn’t have a clue. Was he also dangerous? He’d traveled all the way to Climax and had already showed he had the potential for violence.

As she ran, she tried to garner why on Earth he’d be this fixated on her. She wasn’t a flirt and barely knew him. And she certainly wasn’t the prettiest girl at the call center.

Peter was just a familiar face at the office, and there was nothing besides friendly small talk between them. What did he expect to happen now? What had he planned? All the recent deaths and disappearances played in her head. Maybe it was Peter that left the threatening note on her door. Who else could it be? It would make sense given his recent crazed behavior.

“Cassidy… You can’t hide from me.”

“Fuck,” she muttered under her breath. He wasn’t far behind. Had twenty minutes passed yet? Would Matthew know to look for her in the woods? Where was Patrick, the wolf-man who claimed she had nothing to worry about now?

She should have left a clue, but it was too late. The landscape was a mix of forest and rocky outcroppings. Mountain ranges dotted the horizon in most directions, a secluded paradise under other circumstances. She’d never ventured this deep on her grandfather’s property before, and soon came to a dead end. There was a low cavernous rock about thirty feet across. Rather than waste time traipsing around the obstacle, she ducked for cover under the low overhang, hoping to remain hidden. If she didn’t have to, she wouldn’t venture into the dark interior. She waited in suspended terror, listening for the sound of Peter’s footsteps. Time passed slowly, minutes feeling like hours. When all remained silent, not even the birds or squirrels complaining in the branches above, she dared to creep out of her hiding place. Her legs cramped, her toes going numb. Cassidy ignored the discomfort because the alternative was far worse. She ran her fingertips along the smooth rock, tracing the dark, glittering veins of crystals. The diversion calmed her somewhat.

“I told you, you can’t hide from me.” He was standing only feet from her, watching her intently. She’d heard absolutely nothing, not even the rustle of a leaf or snap of a dry twig. “Let me have my say.”

She shook her head. “Stay away from me or I’ll scream.”

He laughed, a maniacal sound. “Who would hear you?”

“My ride should be back by now. He’ll look for me.”

“Who? Your boyfriend?” Peter scoffed. “He thinks I’m your brother. If he shows up, I’ll make sure he never bothers us again.”

Now she wasn’t sure if she wanted Matthew to show up and save the day or not. She didn’t want him hurt, and Peter was just unbalanced enough to become dangerously violent. Cassidy tried to remember what was public knowledge at the office. She was certain she’d mentioned looking for her brother, Scott, on more than one occasion. When she got her inheritance, it was hard not to spread her joy that she was moving up in her life. Peter must have taken in all her information to use against her—but why?

“Why are you doing this to me?”

He stepped closer, but she had nowhere to go with the stone wall behind her. “You’ll understand soon enough. We’re made for each other, Cassidy. You’re the only woman to ever rouse such an interest in me. I knew you had to be the one from the first day you started work.”

“That’s not my problem. You can’t force someone to love you, Peter.”

“If you can love that oversized brute, you can learn to love me.” He lunged forward and grabbed her shirt so she couldn’t escape. Cassidy instinctively screamed, all her life-and-death experiences coming back to haunt her. Why couldn’t she just live happily ever after without every nutbar in the country trying to ruin things for her?

She struggled for all she was worth. Even though Peter wasn’t a big man, he was strong and wiry. She continued to scream until a sound more terrifying than her predicament brought her to silence. The deep, low growl of a predator was unmistakable. Before she could spot the beast, Peter twisted her around, his forearm around her throat. He was using her as a human shield to protect himself from the lone wolf. Its lips were pulled back off its lethal fangs, and its ears were back. But was it
her
red wolf or a feral beast capable of tearing her to shreds?

“Back!” Peter shouted, kicking dirt at the wolf. “Get!”

Cassidy whimpered when he tightened his hold around her neck. The sound acted as a catalyst for the wolf to act. It sprung forward, avoiding her and sinking its fangs into Peter’s thigh. She knew enough to get out of the danger zone while the attention was off of her. She crawled away after being tossed down, only getting to her feet once at a safe distance. The wolf was attacking, and Peter was screaming out for help. As much as she loathed him right now, she couldn’t stand to see anyone suffer so greatly.

“Patrick!” she dared to call out. It was a gamble. If the red wolf wasn’t her Viking, then she was shit out of luck by bringing attention to herself.

The animal recognized the name. It turned its head and looked directly at her. Those eyes. Cassidy knew in a moment that it was the wolf she’d met before—once by the river and then in the forest after Patrick shifted forms.

The distraction gave Peter enough time to scramble away, disappearing into the dark interior of the forest. The red wolf huffed and tossed its head. Its chest was still heaving, ears back. As it gradually approached her, its threatening posture eased, bringing down her nerves. It settled on the ground a few feet away, watching her, waiting.

“You’re Patrick?” She was talking to a wolf. It was wrong on so many levels, but this was the life she’d chosen.

There was no response.

“Thank you for saving me. That jerk worked at my call center in the city. He’s a few screws loose. Well, maybe a lot of screws loose.” It felt better to talk than remain silent. The awkward tension grew the longer the wolf stared at her with those intelligent eyes. Was he going to shift again? She couldn’t even say with one hundred percent certainty that the wolf was indeed Patrick. Where the fuck was Matthew?

Suddenly, the wolf’s ear pricked up. It rose to its feet, its attention focused on the path leading to her house. Two other wild wolves emerged into their little clearing—one black, one brown. One moment there’d been a wall of leafy underbrush, and the next the wolves had parted through it like a living green curtain. Unlike Patrick, these animals wouldn’t think twice about making a meal of her. She scrambled away only to fall on her rear, scraping her palms in the process.

But they paid no mind to her. The three wolves converged for less than a minute before the two newcomers ran off in the direction Peter had taken. With a bleeding wound on his leg, he’d be ripe picking for a hungry predator.

The red wolf dashed into the cave, disappearing from her view. She was still on the ground, her state of shock keeping her rooted in place. A few moments later, Patrick exited the same cave, not a stitch of clothing covering his muscled form.

“I’ll never get used to this,” she admitted. He’d found her, saved her. Wolf or no wolf, she felt loved and protected.

“Come,” he said, waving her to join him by the mouth of the cave. “Hurry, little one.”

There was a distinct sense of urgency in his voice. Patrick was never urgent. He was usually laid back and slow to rile. Maybe to a fault. Right now she felt compelled to obey him.

The inside of the cave was dark and foreboding, which was the reason she refused to enter earlier. Patrick nudged her forward, but she braced herself at the entrance.

“There might be something in there,” she said.