Her Perilous Wolf by Julie Steimle (free e books to read .txt) 📖

She turned that one over and peered at the web address and phone number. Audry recalled meeting nearly everyone of this group when Jessica gave birth to baby Ivy. Daniel was one of them. So was Jessica’s husband, Andrew. All of them were friends of Rick in one way or another—though each one left her with an uneasy feeling, except possibly Peter McCabe who was about as down-to-earth as a world famous soccer star could be. And he was rather grounded for a guy who wore a shark’s teeth necklace and always carried a faux shrunken head.

The thing was, the only thing she really knew about the Seven was that they were a bunch of weirdoes from Massachusetts—opponents to the witch coven that ran the town (something Silvia often said as a matter of pride in her brother). Who were they really? And why had Rick and his other friends (Matthew and Tom both) insisted she have their business card? They had always said to keep it for emergencies. Up until now, she had never really questioned it. But she had ignored it ever since. Now, she was not so sure she had acted as smart as she ought to have. She hadn’t researched them at all. She knew all about the SRA. She had also researched Gulinger Private Academy as far as she could. It was about time she found out the truth. If she was going to see supernatural things, she ought to know the whole of the story.

Audry then took out one more card, staring at it.

 

H. Richard Deacon, Executive in Training, Deacon Enterprises Inc. Ltd. And his personal phone number was penciled on the back with the note: In case of emergency.

 

She tucked that one back into her wallet. He was the last person she wanted to trouble.

 

Her arrival in the JFK Heathrow International airport could not have come sooner. Audry’s body ached from sitting from so long. For a moment, she had thought the disease had come back. However, her appetite was still there and she did not feel nauseous, so she took it for what it was.

Yet when she staggered off the airport ramp and made her way to baggage claim after visiting customs (with nothing to declare unless she counted Darth) her anxiety rose. Would anyone be there to meet her?  And while standing at the baggage carousel, waiting for the load to arrive, Audry hoped Darth had been treated well. She could only imagine how frantic he had been, stuck with baggage, treated as baggage. She needed to get him to a safe place and uncrated as soon as possible.

The carousel started. Bags soon were conveyed in, going round as passengers kept their eyes out. Spotting one of hers, Audry heaved it up onto her trolley, having two trolleys ready, just in case the crate had no wheels. She could not recall if it rolled or not. Then she saw two baggage handlers roll in Darth’s crate along with the other oversized luggage. She rushed over to meet them.

“That’s a beautiful animal. What breed is he?” said a warm masculine voice to her left.

Audry turned. Once more she saw the kind of man she would have been attracted to in another time. He was tall, dark haired, well-dressed, bright blue eyes and a smile like sunshine. His face was sun-kissed, so she knew he spent time in the outdoors when he was doing whatever it is he did to earn a living. And yet he was just that, a thing of another mental space. At one point, such a man would have swept her off her feet, eyes full of stars and hope, thinking he finally was the one. But in staring at him, she thought of Rick and that wounded wolf—who were indeed one and the same, and her heart thumped a little harder.

“He’s a Belgian Malinois and extremely loyal,” she said, greeting those who were carrying the overlarge crate out with a wave, rushing to claim it. Darth was making lots of noise in the crate, happy to see her—and maybe a little annoyed that he had been in a crate for thirteen hours. She couldn’t blame him.

“You take him when you travel?” The man flashed a million-dollar grin. He could do toothpaste ads.

She shook her head, deciding to keep it friendly. He was just a passing flirtation—at least for him. “No. He was a gift from my friend Juma Ajanlekoko. He was his dog.”

The man stared at her longer than was polite, his eyes widening. He regained his composure while clearing his throat. “Wow. He must really like you.”

Audry nodded. “Actually, yes. He kept proposing to me.”

He smiled wider at her. “Ah, really?”

She chuckled, getting Darth’s crate to move. The handlers left it to her, glad to be away from the dog. Audry tossed Darth a snack and kindly petted him on the head to let him know it would take a little longer before he would be free. She stacked her bags on top of the crate, deciding to consolidate anyway. She did not want to maneuver two trolleys. It just would stack high. It was good most of her bags were not luggage for junk as much as it was her equipment.

When she went back to the carousal and pulled off the baggage containing her guns, the same time the man heaving up his suitcases onto his trolley, his eyes widened on the gun case with familiarity. His eyes flickered to her tentatively, asking, “Do you do hunting?”

Blinking at him, she pulled back, then glanced at her gun case. “Oh. No. I’m the opposite. I’m an animal rescue worker. These are tranquilizer guns.”

His eyebrows raised. “What would you use them for in rescuing animals?”

Audry smirked back, having all her bags now. She grabbed a bungee from one of her camping suitcases and strung them together as best as she could so they would not slip. Darth was barking at the man. Something about him bothered Darth, worth noting. She said, “When an animal is wounded, he is the most dangerous. If you sedate him first, you can treat his wounds then safely let him back out into the wild.”

The man smiled his smile, walking with her, yet said, “You’re a real bleeding heart then, aren’t you? What if it was a dangerous animal?”

“I deal with dangerous animals,” she replied, annoyed at being called a bleeding heart. Even Rick never called her that. But then he wouldn’t. He understood.

“Like what?” the man asked, grinning a little too flirtatiously. He was definitely a predator, but not quite like Hogan. There was a different feel about him. He seemed more a cruel sort of player, a thick façade over a well-hidden true self. It was a bit like staring at James Bond, if James Bond were the supervillain.

She could play this game.

With a gentle, harmless sort of shrug that would seem demure in some circles, Audry replied, “Name an animal from the African Serengeti. Recently I rescued a lion from poachers.”

He nodded, genuinely impressed—or rather, he played genuine really well. She did not feel true guilelessness from this man. He was all guile, all show. She wondered what he wanted. Was it just a flirtation? Or was there something more he was after? He did not seem to be supernatural at all. Quite ordinary as a human being, in fact. Those amazimu and that witch with the mouth on her back of her neck had given her the heebie-jeebies, tingling chills through her skin. This man was different. She had normal human suspicion toward him, the kind of suspicion she should have had toward Hogan when she had met him. She still regretted being such a fool for that man.

Audry pushed her top-heavy trolley toward the customs. The man walked near her, but not exactly with her. Possibly he detected her wariness. That at least made him wise. As they got closer, she wondered again if she would have to declare her dog. She did have all the papers for him, and she was ready to pay if she had to. She just did not want to upset him. Darth was barely settled down in the crate, making unhappy noises.

“It’s ok, Darth,” she cooed to him. “I’ll let you out as soon as I can.”

The dog made a few more whimpering sounds and barked twice.

As she pushed him along, the guards at customs urged her to one gate with wide doors. More stamps in her passport, they asked for the documentation on her dog, and she quickly passed them over. The clerk took his time with them, critically eying the print and shape of Tanzanian paperwork, especially eying the name of the previous owner.

“Breed?” he said.

“Belgian Malinois,” she replied.

“And what kind of dog is that?” he asked, truly curious.

Shrugging with a peek to Darth, she said, “Kind of like a German Shepherd, but better looking and tons of energy. They’re great for herding sheep and, uh, poacher hunting.”

The man laughed. “Is that was you did in Africa?”

She nodded, smiling.

He stamped her documents without further ado.

Then she went on.

Through to the exits where she hoped to find her mother or father, Audry’s eyes raked the crowd. At first she saw no one she had recognized. But then she spotted her cousin Vicky—right next to Selena Davenport.

Recovery

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twelve

 

“Vicky?” Audry pushed her cart faster toward her cousin, noticing the man slip off with a quick glance at the two women also. Selena and Audry’s cousin were holding up a sign that said: Bruchenhaus Babe in neon pink with flowers. Audry’s eyes tracked to Selena. “Selena, what are you two doing here?”

“Picking you up, silly,” Vicky said, smacking Audry on the head with the sign. “Your mom called and asked me to do it since I was in New York, and Selena happened to be with me so she came too.”

Audry’s eyes flicked to Selena as she asked Vicky, trying not to sound rude, “What are you doing in New York?”

“Oh, she’s been with me and her grandmamma.” Selena laughed, eyeing up Audry’s tower of luggage, especially the crate underneath.

Darth had gone strangely quiet. Audry peeked to see if he was ok. His eyes were wide on Selena, but more out of curiosity. He was sniffing, as if Selena’s smell was something novel, but not to be disliked.

Audry’s eyebrows raised on Vicky. “You and Gran?”

Vicky shrugged. “She was impressed at my behavior at the last society shindig. And since I am still job hunting, I figured why not see what she’s been all up and excited about.”

Audry leveled a dry gaze at her.

“Ok! Ok!” Vicky lifted up her hands. She nudged Selena. “I bumped into Selena at this party Grandma Bruchenhaus wanted all of us to show up at, and Vincent ditched. It wasn’t a total bust because Selena is seriously a kindred spirit. Now can we get your stuff and go? And why do you have so much luggage? Is that a dog?”

Audry nodded with another look to Selena. But Selena had crouched down on her heels, letting Darth sniff her hand through the mesh door. There was a gentle expression on Selena’s face as she did it. It occurred to Audry that the supernatural debutante probably felt as