Wolf's Desire (2 page)

She’d make a note to call the gardeners out again to trim back the trees and hedges. She couldn’t remember the last time they had come.

A loud bang from an object hitting the outside of the house jolted her upright. It frightened her so badly, that she bit into her bottom lip and drew blood.

Keira held her breath and slowly slid her hands under the mattress
for the weapon she kept there. She made contact with the hilt of the gun, gripped the handle, and pulled it out. Holding it tightly in her fists, she listened to the sound of someone fumbling with the locks on the window.

She propped
up the gun with both hands, holding it level.

She was scared shitless
. Could feel it with every jolt of her heart. Could feel the blood racing through her veins like a freight train. Despite the adrenaline shooting out through her fingertips, she held steady and focused in the dark as the top of a head came into view.

The trespasser wore a hood
and she couldn’t make out whether it was a man or woman, but judging by the width of the shoulders she knew it was a grown man.

It was literally too late to call for help, an
d if she didn’t want to give herself away. She lowered herself to the bed in a position where she could still focus, aim, and shoot.

A gloved hand broke through the window. Most of the sound was muffled as he expertly used a thick towel in the act.
His face was hidden by a dark scarf. From afar, she saw as he examined the room. His center of attention fell on the row of bookcases to the right. It became evident that the intruder had no idea that she was at the other end of the room lying motionless on the daybed.

The window frame shifted and creaked as he reached inside and turned the lock. She cocked the gun with a shaky thumb, and took a deep breath.

Adorned in black clothing, he lifted himself inside not even making a sound.

Keira feared for her life, but she was just as curious to find out what the intruder wanted. It was obvious that he came here on a mission.

As he stood in front of the tallest bookcase with his back to her, she noticed that he was slimmer in build than she’d originally thought. His head moved from side to side as he took in everything in front of him. He slid a bulky duffel bag off his shoulder, held it by his side, and then moved closer to the bookcase.

In her silent observation, Keira’s
fingers went lax on the gun. After catching herself, she immediately tightened her grip again.

The hood
ed intruder reached out and glided his gloved fingers along the middle row of books. He prowled slowly, his movements quiet and graceful.

She had perfect aim,
but still she failed to pull the trigger and make the shot that would kill the intruder on the spot. Hours and hours of gun practice for this very purpose…and she had yet to act.

Suddenly, he stopped.

Keira bit into her lips and held her eyes wide, careful not to blink.

He plucked a b
ook from the shelf, set it aside, and fumbled with something behind the other leather bound hardcovers.

To her astonishment, the entire bookcase shifted almost as if someone had moved it away from the wall.
The frame titled forward, almost as if it was a door.

He reached inside,
and pulled something out.

It was a b
ook. Larger in size than the others sitting on the shelf. She’d never seen any like it before. He shoved it inside his jacket, and then opened the door a little more.

Keira
craned her neck to get a better glance, but the angle was all wrong. His body blocked the view, and the darkness in the room didn’t help.

Keira gasped.
There was something metal-like in a glass box behind the door.

T
he intruder turned sharply and spotted her. His wide eyes sparked bright against the darkened interior of the room.

He reached for something behind his back.

Her finger slipped and the gun fired. The bullet hit a tall decorative vase near the fireplace, shattering it to pieces.

He made a bolt for the window, knocking over sev
eral items as he made his escape.

She stood, gripping the gun tightly, but no longer had a p
erfect aim.

His jacket tore on the jagged edges of the broken window as he hurled himself out of the home.
The book he’d tried to swipe fell to the floor under the window.

She jumped up with the gun still in h
and. Heart pumping violently, she rushed toward him.

He paused to assess the book lying on the floor, looked up at her, and then
swiftly disappeared.

As Keira
peered outside in the darkness, she saw absolutely nothing. Heard absolutely nothing. The intruder was gone.

Her heart s
till pulsed with ragged terror and she doubled over, fighting to catch her breath.

Someone
burst inside the library. “Keira! What happened? What was that?” It was the maid. Francine. She had turned on the lights.

“Are you okay?” another asked, and she felt a delicate
hand gripping at her shoulder.

“No.”
Keira shook her head, still looking out into the night, clueless. “Someone broke in here.”

Francine made a wail of distress. “Thomas!
Call the police.
Now!”

The police would do nothing, Keira was sure of it. They already
thought she was crazy, and a lunatic. If they’d been patrolling the area in general as promised, the intruder would have been deterred from breaking and entering her home.

“Are you okay? Can I get you something to drink until the authorities arrive?” Francine rubbed either side of her arms, and then spotted the gun. “Did you shoot him?”

“I don’t think so.” Keira picked up the book that had fallen under the window. It had a metal cover with some sort of design. It was extremely heavy and the pages were thick and uneven.

Francine was eyeing her strangely, so she walked over to the bookshelf with it in her hand. Astonishingly, the door that was once open was now closed, with no evidence whatsoever of the bookshelf being moved.
Odd.
Not wanting to call any attention to the book, she placed it in an empty slot.

The maid nodded, and too
k her arm. “Come. Let’s get you something cool to drink until the police arrive. You seem to be running a fever.”

Keira went with the maid without protest, but she had a strong inclination to turn around and find out what
else was behind that particular bookcase. Whatever it was, she was certain it would turn her world upside down.

***

Aiden lifted his nose to the air just before he breathed in a whiff of something burning. The smoke detector went off. He dropped the envelopes he’d been shuffling through and rushed into the small galley kitchen.

“Motherfucker!”

It was too late. Black smoke floated up from the skillet and triggered the smoke detector. He turned the burner off and removed the pan to the back of the stove. As he fanned at the dark fumes with a dish towel, his eardrums pulsed. The shrill sound of the alarm aggravated him.

The smoke detector was on the wa
ll just above the archway leading out into the den. He hurried over to it, reached up with one hand, and pressed the red button to disarm the smoker. The sharp beeping ceased.

When he returned to the stove, most of the smoke had disappeared and hi
s grilled cheese sandwich was still intact albeit extremely charred. Groaning, he threw the blackened mess in the trash. He grabbed a large bowl, poured in a generous helping of corn flakes and milk and retreated to have his meal on the sofa.

If he expected to survive in his retirement, he needed to
learn how to cook or hire a chef pronto. Hunting and eating in wolf form wasn’t always possible in this town. Maybe he should’ve taken Devin up on his offer to build a cabin on his land just outside of Caedmon village. Then at least he wouldn’t have to worry about scaring any of the townsfolk while hunting. On the other hand, he’d have to worry about other wolves too close to home getting in his business. There were advantages to moving near his kind, and there were disadvantages. He still didn’t have all the facts to determine if one outweighed the other.

T
he Pack meetings had become frequent and lengthy over the past few months. It seemed every month he was being called to attend one. He understood it was his duty and all, but had he lived a little closer to the village the meetings probably wouldn’t have been such an inconvenience to attend. That was the one thing about this retirement. He could now devote all his time to the Pack, as it should be. With so many things going on, his Alpha needed him and the other Council members now more than ever.

Picking up an envelope
he’d thrown aside in the haste to get to the kitchen, he settled back on the sofa. After sliding his thumb under the seal, he pulled out what he expected to be his last real check.

It was written out for forty
thousand dollars to guard a congressman during his three month re-election campaign. Not a bad bonus at all.

The actual fee of three times the bonus
had been received during the term of his employment. A five month contract. This had already been invested in various portfolios by Truman, his trusty financial advisor. Not all jobs brought in stipends of this size. With this particular client, there were already threats on his life. And the higher the client’s risk, the more the pay.

Just seeing and having the check in his hands brought back temptations of calling his scout up and asking if
there were any others. But he had to remind himself why he was retiring in the first place. Money wasn’t everything. Especially when one never had the chance to enjoy it on himself.

At thirty-five years old, Aiden was a retired professional bodyguard.
It came late—two years after he’d originally planned to quit this line of work. All his life he’d only served one purpose…and that was to protect. He was damn proud of his accomplishments, but what he wanted now was his own purpose in life. There was purpose—there was always a purpose—but not much time to embark on it.

While he was finishing up his
cereal and flipping through a few channels on the TV, his cell phone rang. He unhooked it from his belt loop and pressed it to his ear without checking the caller ID. “Aiden Price.”

“I’ve got an assignment.”

The sound and urgency of his scout’s voice caused a vein on Aiden’s neck to twitch. He took the phone away from his ear for a few seconds to look at the LCD screen that flashed with a name.
Max.

Aiden brought the phone back up to his ear, and
sat straight up in the chair. “I’m retired. Why am I still on the list?”

“You’ve technically been removed from the master list, but
you’re still programmed in my cell.”

He
made a mental note to change his phone number. Moving probably wouldn’t have been a bad idea either. Disappearing off the face of the earth would’ve been even better. “I’m done, Max. You know this.”

“Come on, Aiden. The client requested the best. All my good people are out on other assignments…and you are the best. You know that, don’t you?
Why do you have to quit out on me now, man?”

“Call Rodney. I spoke to him yesterday and he’s out of work a
nd looking for another quick job.” Rodney was a fellow friend and trusted co-worker. He’d just entered the profession, and for the past year Aiden had trained him in some areas that the newer bodyguard schools didn’t cover.

“No, I’m calling you,” Max said, adamantly. “Beside
s, you’re less than three hours from the client.”

“Who is it?”

“Aiden, you know I can’t reveal that until you accept.”

Aiden swallowed. “
And you and I both know I never accept a client without the details.”

“A widow.
Once married to Jamison Ellis, a very wealthy man. The liaison claims that she’s alone, confused, and scared. She requested protection beyond the police. Based on the circumstances surrounding their request, I negotiated and they’re offering one hundred thousand…
upfront
.”

Ellis.
The name sounded vaguely familiar, but he was too rattled about being bothered in his retirement to paint a clear picture of anything at that moment.

“What is she scare
d of?” There was more to it than Max was telling him. The generous fee told him that.

“Will you take the job or not? If I don’t deliver the best, there’
s a chance her liaison will move to the next security firm.”

“Call Rodney, or they’ll have to do just that.”

“Come on. I’ve already sent them two portfolios. The liaison picked you.”

He growled. “
Max…”