Most Eligible Wolf, Julie Steimle [important of reading books .TXT] 📗

Rick Deacon to their Alabama home. It was unforgivable of Mrs. Blithe to have brought outsiders in.

But those Blithes ran off before the elders could mete out just punishment upon the infidel woman. She wasn’t a wolf, after all—but only a human. She had no connection to the world besides the pack. No one outside the pack would have missed her disappearance once they meted out justice.

It was infuriating

*

Farkas and two of his pack associates showed up in the gallery where they found Rick Deacon and his friends touring the protest art for animal rights and re-greening the planet. Tom was making snarky remarks as usual about the kind of art it was and whether any of it was recyclable. Rick did not notice them first, though Randon did.

“Rick,” Farkas jogged up, almost breathless. “I just want to apologize for what happened with Daisy. We didn’t realize we were freaking out your friend Audry. We were just trying to find you.”

Matthew frowned, watching Farkas intently, listening to the thoughts behind Farkas’s words. It was Matthew’s gift—a kind of mind reading, though it was limited to only when people were speaking. He could always tell when someone was lying. Rick peeked to him, and Matt nodded. It was the truth, though it felt strained. Controlled.

Farkas glanced at the other three men with Rick and looked sincerely apologetic. “Look, can we talk?” Farkas asked. “As old friends?”

Rick glanced to Tom this time, who was frowning. Tom could overhear the shouts of the invisible imps that were around everyone, tempting them to do naughty things. Rick rolled his eyes and sighed loudly.

Tom whispered to Rick, “They’re not tempted to grab you and run. They know they’re ‘outnumbered’.”

“They’re sincere enough,” Matt added.

They gestured to get out of the main traffic. Farkas led the way with Wulf Woods and Thomas Blaidd at his flank. They went to one side of the displays

“First off,” Farkas asked, looking to Rick’s friends. “Do they know about…?”

“Wolverton?” Rick asked dryly. He sighed heavily. “I had to tell them because you guys were harassing Audry.”

Matt shot Rick a rolling-eye look. It wasn’t exactly the truth. Rick still didn’t want to openly admit to his summer affair with and subsequent addiction to Daisy.

The Wolverton boys did not look happy about it, but since it was the state of things they accepted it. Standing more like a trio of embarrassed old friends, Farkas spoke for the group. “Look. I’m not saying we don’t want you to come back to the pack with us. We’d love it. But we’re not just here about that. We need your help.”

Again, the truth. Matt peeked sideways with Tom who was frowning at Rick, who apparently was tempted to go with them. Actually, Rick yearned for it. But he was keeping his head and his priorities straight.

“My help?” Rick stared, wondering what kind of help he could give that they could not just ask his dad for. They had his contact information. “What can I possible do for you? You, yourself, said the pack elders decided not to take Dad up on the scholarship offer.”

“Not that,” Wulf said. “Something else. We need help with something that happened recently.”

Rick frowned. “You didn’t deal with another hunter, did you?”

Tom and Matt shared a look, getting only cursory thoughts related to that—beating himself up with guilt on Tom’s side and an intense memory on Matt’s which Rick didn’t like thinking about. Randon was the only one who did not know what Rick was thinking. He decided he needed to pry Rick of the info later.

“No,” Farkas shook his head. “We don’t need help with hunters.”

Rick was relieved. However, he was also annoyed. “Look, Farkas, just spit it out. What do you need?”

“Fart-face?” Tom busted into laughter, hearing the name.

Matt resisted joining in.

Farkas shot him a dirty look. “No. Far-Kas.” He turned toward Rick. “We—”

“Just as bad, really,” Tom commented to Matt who refrained to respond.  Matt smothered a chuckle.

Through his teeth, Farkas said to Rick, “We need you help to find Kurt Blithe. He’s run away. Have you seen him?”

That was news.

Rick blinked at him, surprised most especially by the wording. Kurt was only three years younger than him, after all. As for if he had seen Kurt, Rick decided to lie and say, “No. Why do you say he ran away? He’s nineteen now, isn’t he? He’s an adult. He can leave home if he wants.”

Apparently they did not see it that way, which to Rick was enough reason to be wary of the pack.  It considerably reduced the temptation to want to join them. He didn’t like restrictions. His freedom of movement was precious to him. The gazes of those wolves were almost chastening him for getting the whole pack dynamics wrong. Their eyes were sadly calling him a heretic—which in the moon cult they held to, he was.

“Look,” Rick added, “He even told me way back then that he wanted to leave the pack. So I’m not surprised he ran off.”

To this, the three wolves genuinely stared. Farkas, who had been Kurt’s good friend, seemed the most stunned. “He told you that?”

Rick nodded frankly. “First day I met him.”

“Why didn’t he tell me?” Farkas looked blown by this news.

“You were probably against it?” Rick shrugged matter-of-factly. His friends watched him carefully, silently.

Farkas frowned deeper, truly unsettled by the news.

Then Rick asked, “How has this affected Mrs. Blithe? Is she worried? Did she send you to find him?”

Farkas’s reply came a little slower as he thought over his response in the wake of this news, “Mrs. Blithe is in tears.”

Which was a lie. Matt heard what he was really thinking. Farkas’s thoughts cursed Mrs. Blithe for grabbing her three kids and running. But they had only caught sight of Kurt’s scent. The woman had masked their own smells so the pack could not trace them.

“She’s worried to death.” Farkas’s expression was perfect with sympathy. It hardly looked like he was acting, though he was. His thoughts were shouting that they didn’t know where Mrs. Blithe was, but once they caught her and brought her daughter Susi and Luko back, she was going to pay. Forget Kurt and his betrayal of the pack—choosing his human mother over his wolf father.

“Will you let us know if and when you do see him?” Farkas asked. “We’re really worried.”

Frowning, Rick nodded, thinking. Farkas was, after all, Kurt’s best friend. “You actually think he will come to me?”

The three Wolverton guys nodded.

“I see.” Rick frowned, wondering more why Kurt would seek him out and if it was a good idea to let the pack know where he was. “I suppose I should call his mother… Do you have her number?”

Farkas shook his head as Wulf looked a little panicked. Thomas said, “No. We don’t.”

“Our new place is a little less modern than the last one,” Farkas said. “We’re on our second relocation.”

Which was true and false at the same time. Matthew knew it. So did Tom. Matt heard the entire truth. Tom heard the extension of the lie Farkas wanted to tell, but did not go quite as far. They didn’t know her phone number because they didn’t know where she was. Their tech was also pretty lousy, but they had a land line to use if necessary.

“I see.” Rick frowned.

“Can we have your phone number, though?” Farkas asked.

Tom heard Rick’s imps severely tempt him into giving it as well as to ask for Daisy’s number. Truthfully, that entire time Rick had been tormented with urges to hunt down Daisy and take her to a private room for some serious personal ‘interchange’ in an intense ‘debriefing’. He could smell her on them. Her scent haunted him. And now he was severely tempted to leave with these wolves even though logically he knew it would end up with him trapped with the pack.

Tom rested a hand on Rick’s shoulder, reminding him he wasn’t the only one hearing his temptations. It gave Rick strength.

“Uh, no,” Rick said, blushing. “I’m sorry. I’m under strict orders not to be in contact with the Wolverton pack.”

“But aren’t you like twenty-two?” Farkas asked, chuckling in irony, considering what he had said about Kurt just a few minutes ago. “Aren’t you an adult?”

Rick shrugged, coloring. “I’ve got my pack, and you’ve got yours.”

Randon patted Rick on the shoulder, grinning with pride. It was the answer he was hoping for.

Sighing, the wolves backed away. Their eyes clawed over Rick’s friends, realizing whom Rick was referring to. The conversation was over—for now. Rick could feel it was not quite at its end yet. The pack was still a deep part of his life, perhaps forever would be. He was moon-bonded to Daisy after all. And if what was affecting him was in fact not a spell or curse, he knew Daisy was his future mate—and they his future family.

“Well, contact us if you see Kurt,” Farkas said. “I’m worried about my friend. And we need to talk to him. He’s stressing out his family, you know. If he could just check in, that would be great.”

They turned and stalked away.

Rick watched them, feeling unsettled. He then turned to Matt. “Well? We’re they telling the truth?”

Matt cringed, shaking his head. “Yes, and no. That Kurt did run away, but so did that Susi and Luko Blithe with their mother.”

Now that made sense to Rick. He nodded. “I see. So… she got up the guts to leave the creep… Did you get the exact reason why? Did Mr. Blithe beat her?”

Matt shook his head, cringing. “I didn’t get the details. But they are furious with the mother.”

“Furious with the mother?” Rick muttered.

“You were severely tempted to run off with them,” Tom said, frowning at him. “Which makes no sense, because logically—”

“Logic is not a factor right now,” Rick cut him off with a severe head shake. He met Tom’s gaze. “I can smell her on them. I can’t think straight when her scent just…” He shook his head more, feeling the urge rising in him. Their scent (and her scent) lingered.

“Maybe we should find a way to kill your sense of smell,” Randon muttered. “What would help?”

Shrugging, Rick’s mind immediately went to Audry’s Tiger Balm. He thought of Paris and the Eiffel Tower when he had first met her. He wondered if she still had the Tiger Balm. It was used on sore muscles and not a common item to be in a purse. And Audry didn’t smell like Tiger Balm that day. He could smell it on her at the Eiffel Tower.

Tom chuckled. “Are you that tempted to go back to that booth?

“Go back to the booth?” Matt frowned. “I don’t that would be a good idea. We don’t want to stress out those guys more than they have been.”

“Which was why it was a temptation,” Tom interjected.

“Yeah,” Rick murmured. “Audry probably doesn’t carry her Tiger Balm with her anymore anyway.”

“Tiger Balm?” All three were unfamiliar with it.

“Yeah,” Rick said, “It is a Chinese herbal remedy. A brand name for a rub-on balm like Icy-Hot.”

They nodded. The conversation lulled.

“So… you lied to them,” Tom said, glancing once to Randon. “You did see this Kurt.”

Matt raised his eyebrows, as he had not picked that up.

Sighing, Rick nodded. “Earlier today. I just thought it was a look-alike, though.”

“So, that was the guy you though you saw that you said would not actually be here,” Randon clarified.

Cringing, Rick nodded. “I confess. Yes.”

“But you didn’t want to tell those guys about him even before you knew it wasn’t just him,” Matt said. “Why?”

“The way they phrased it,” Rick said. He looked to the ceiling as he recalled it. “Run away.” He shook his head. “Kurt is nineteen. And I explicitly remember him telling me he wanted to see the world. I wouldn’t stop him. Why should I help the pack stop him? I want Kurt to be happy.”

They nodded.

“And now that I know Mrs. Blithe had taken her kids and ran—” Rick said.

“And upset the pack,”