Most Eligible Wolf by Julie Steimle (the best e book reader txt) 📖

Audry could tell Daisy’s act was all a fake. Of course Daisy knew Rick hadn’t said a word about her. The question was why.

Averting his gaze with a degree of shame, Rick murmured while his face went redder, “I was trying to avoid a scandal….”

Randon lifted his eyebrows.

“I mean, Dad was so against us,” Rick amended, trying to placate Daisy as her affronted expression was genuine. But then he gazed more squarely on her. “Besides, whatever happened to your plan to study veterinarian medicine yourself? Did you ever pursue that? Or was that just something you were saying to me to—” He colored, peeking at Audry. “Look, you never did contact us for a scholarship… Dad never said anything, and he would have told me.”

This was something. Did he know he had been played by this woman?

Embarrassed this time—though Audry wasn’t sure it was genuine—Daisy shrugged and admitted, “Our town elders decided that since the incident in town that summer, it was best to not ask favors from the Deacons, just in case the SRA were keeping wire taps or the like on you guys.”

The entire group nodded, almost in unison. Audry shuddered, having heard of the SRA. Randon narrowed his gaze. Clearly he knew about them too.

“We wanted to take you up on it,” Farkas added sincerely. He looked truly sad about the lost opportunity.

“Kurt had been counting on it,” one of the others put in, nodding.

One of them elbowed that guy in the side, frowning with a headshake. Audry wondered who this Kurt was, and why he was coming up as a non-topic. That was the second time the guy was mentioned accompanied by quashed and surreptitious looks. An old friend of Rick’s was all she got out of it.

“That and your father sent that cease and desist order to keep me from contacting you,” Daisy added with finality. She sounded bitter.

“No kidding,” Randon murmured, intrigued. There was a faint laugh in his voice. Audry could tell he knew Rick’s dad also. There seemed to be a lot of thought behind his remarks. But he wasn’t judging the dad. He eyes took in the crowd instead.

Their group stared back at him sharply, suspiciously. Their friendliness towards him thinned. Randon smirked back though, almost as if to say: Rick’s dad liked him and they just had to suck it up.

But one part of that whole conversation had shaken Audry up, leaving her feeling rattled. These people were aware of that kooky monster hunting organization known as the SRA—the Supernatural Regulator’s Association. The SRA were total nut jobs as far as Audry was concerned. They were the kind of people who would have shot at Rick and that wolf. And further, what had occurred that summer? What horrible incident that had the police confiscate comic books for fingerprints, and made it so this town of weirdoes want to avoid the SRA? Were they like the coven of witches Silvia’s was escaping? Did they also believe in witchcraft? They had to be the rumored cult from way back then. It added up, especially with the moon worship talk these southern weirdoes were whispering about. The summer scandal might have included Rick getting Daisy getting pregnant—but it seemed more than that. These people seemed to want Rick to join them permanently and get her pregnant again.

But all Rick said was: “I see. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize.”

Didn’t realize what? What had happened?

Daisy just shrugged. “No worries. We’re still good.”

The others of her pack chimed in the same.

Finally, Rick huffed, rolled his eyes and stepped close to Daisy, pulling her by the arm to the side of the booth for a private conversation with a posture of I-need-to-deal-with-this-now-and-get-it-over-with. He whispered to Daisy in a tone Audry could hardly overhear. Audry tried to go back to making the booth neat, hoping other patrons would not be driven away by the considerable crowd that was in it. Randon was watching Daisy and Rick keenly, though.

“…so you recovered ok?”

“Yeah. I’m in good health. Truly”

Randon smirked at Audry then leaned over the table toward her, asking, “Can I still get a tee shirt?”

Nodding, Audry went back to the one shirt she had been about to sell him.

“I am so sorry I could not be there for you. I wanted to, really. But Dad pretty much had me under guard all the time. He made sure I was focused on only my studies, and he insisted that I never had contact with Wolverton ever again.”

“Can you also slip me one of those smaller posters?” Randon whispered to Audry.

Audry blinked at him. “After all that protesting?”

Randon chuckled, peeking their way. “No. I was just doing that to rile him up. Rick does not get rankled very easily, so when he does, we take advantage of it.”

With a snicker, Audry nodded. She decided to give this one on discount. “Five dollars,” she said.

“Your dad is a control freak. You’re a wolf, aren’t you?”

“Daisy. No one is more of a wolf than my dad. And I know he cares about me. So don’t even start.”

“That’s not the full price,” Randon murmured with amusement, digging out a five.

Grinning back, Audry replied, “I know. But I am supporting your worthy cause.”

Randon laughed. His eyes then flickered to Rick, reading his posture. The way Randon watched once again reminded Audry of a cat tracking a mouse. But she could not tell if Rick was the mouse, or if Daisy was.

Audry tried not to peek that way. Though she was impressed that Rick Deacon did in fact care about the girl he had gotten pregnant and about her miscarriage, she was sad that he confirmed what Daisy had said about them both and that summer. It surprised her a little that she wanted to think well of Rick, and now couldn’t.

“I’m sorry. It’s just that I’ve utterly missed you all these years. You know we are moon-bonded.”

“I know,” he murmured even quieter. “It’s just…”

“I wasn’t in your father’s glorious plans?” Daisy sounded so bitter.

“No.” He sounded annoyed. “Don’t say it like that, Daisy. I have responsibilities.”

“Oh with your responsibilities again,” Daisy muttered. She then leaned closer to him. Audry could see a shudder wash through Rick, overwhelmed by Daisy’s smell like an alcoholic drinking again for the first time in a long time. “I miss you. Can’t we just take a walk and catch up?”

Rick seemed to melt at Daisy’s words—very different from the Rick Deacon she knew. In fact, his eyes were peculiarly dilated, like he was hypnotized. Or drugged.

“I can’t now.”

“Then how about we meet up later, at your hotel?”

Daisy’s fingers were in the back of his hair, stroking down the back of his neck in such a way that he looked prepared to melt into her.

“Holy cow,” Randon murmured, watching also.

Audry glanced to him.

“I have never seen him like this,” Randon mostly said to himself. But then he looked to Audry. “Have you?”

Audry shook her head. She could tell Rick is having a severe internal struggle to resist the succubus, and was failing. Maybe Daisy’s claim about the balm was real. Aroma therapy worked. Audry used essential oils all the time rather than modern chemical-medicine. They were better for the environment, for starters. Rick really looked like he would take Daisy into an empty room right then to make love to her.

“I think I’ve seen enough,” Randon murmured. Immediately, he marched to them and grabbed Rick’s arm, pulling him away. “Time to go, buddy.”

Rick swayed on his feet, dizzily reorienting to the conference center he was in. His eyes set on Audry and then the booth again as if he had forgotten where he was.

Randon nodded to Daisy, “Nice to meet you.” Then to the group, “It’s been a pleasure.” And then to Audry. “Nice seeing you again. And thanks for the shirt.” He quickly dragged Rick off, declaring, “Off to lunch.”

Daisy’s jaw dropped.

And the pair was gone around the corner.

“I guess you don’t have as much of a hold on him as you thought,” one of her pack said as soon as he was out of sight.

“Shut up, Lukas,” Daisy snapped. She marched to the other side of the booth with a growl.

But Farkas called after her, “Come on. It’s been four years. There’s bound to be some resistance after all this time. Don’t you think his Dad would have been working on weaning him away from you?”

Weaning? It was a weird choice of words.

“He’ll come back,” Tola said to her, almost sorry though clearly enjoying the quick rescue of Rick Deacon from Daisy MacTire’s grasp. “Once his chaperone is gone, he’ll return. He knows where to find you now.”

Audry shot her a look. This had gone on long enough. She didn’t want them to stay there any longer. She shared a look with Jandra who seemed to agree. The others with them from NYU were also getting annoyed. It was their booth after all, and it had been taken over.

Glancing to Tola, Daisy nodded with a sigh.

“We need you to leave,” Audry said firmly.

The entire pack turned their eyes on Audry, no longer so friendly-like, though still polite.

Daisy smiled genially at her. “Not yet.”

“No,” Audry said, setting her eyes on that woman firmly. “I need you and your pack to go. I don’t care if you wander the convention. But our booth is suffering with you here. It is not made to have this many people in it, and you have scared off a lot of potential patrons.”

“And I said, not yet.” Daisy smiled like a wolf—a wolf who really wasn’t smiling. It was a show of teeth, rather.

A shiver ran down Audry’s spine. She got the distinct impression that she was surrounded by a pack of ravenous wolves—and they would tear her and her friends to shreds if she did anything to draw attention to their group. Maybe not now. But later.

This was the definitely cult Rick had escaped. And now she was in their clutches.

Confessions

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Five

 

 

Once out of Daisy’s odor range, Rick’s comprehension and personal will resurfaced. His heart raced into a panic and his hands went clammy. He grabbed on Randon’s arm and rushed them both around a corner, panting.

Randon stared at him like his friend had lost it.

“You gotta help me!” Rick said, his eyes wide upon him.

“What is going on? Is she like a wolf-witch or something? That is the pack you just talked about, right?” Randon asked, watching Rick carefully.

Rick nodded. But he shook his head then, looking likely to break into tears—which really freaked Randon out. Only a few particular things upset Rick to that degree. One was having a bullet in his leg. The other was the safety of his mother. Neither were at play here.

“Who in the blazes is she?” Randon asked.

Pressing a hand to his forehead, Rick closed his eyes, cringing. He pulled Randon into a recessed doorway for more privacy, whispering. “Daisy MacTire. The biggest mistake I ever made.”

“Pardon?” Randon was beyond bemused. After all, Rick had never mentioned Daisy to him ever.

Closing his eyes as the memory was not just painful but also difficult to sort through as it also involved uncontrolled passion, the confusion he had over being human and wolf at the same time, of dealing with the full moon and