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

got in Tom’s way so he could not lash out at Thomas. He could hear Tom’s extended thoughts screaming in fury at the guy. “What do you want?”

Thomas sighed, meeting Matt’s gaze. “Kurt was my friend. I volunteered for this trip so he could have a chance to escape. Did you ever find him?”

Matt looked to Rick. “He’s telling the truth.”

“Yeah, though I won’t tell you where,” Rick said.

Thomas smiled. “Good.” He then looked over his shoulder. “Keep him and Mrs. Blithe safe. She didn’t deserve the raw deal she got. None of them did. But can you give him this for me?”

Tom’s frown thinned into a line. However, he took whatever Thomas was handing over. It turned out to be a stack of playing cards.

“It’s sentimental,” Thomas said. And he backed away.

Tom tucked the cards into his pocket.

Rick peered at him hard. Tom said nothing and Matt seemed a little discontented.

“Nothing wrong with the cards?” Rick asked.

“I don’t know,” Matt said as they continued on their way. “His thoughts and words matched. But you know ways around that.”

“Temptations?” Rick asked Tom.

“He wasn’t tempted to lie…” Tom murmured. “But…”

“You don’t trust him,” Rick said, nodding.

“No.” Tom heaved a sigh. He fixed his eye on Rick, “You have been able to pull fast ones on me before. It feels the same.”

They continued on into the convention, noticing the effect of Tom’s imp friends almost immediately.

Some booths were wrecked. The one selling humane-honey—a pro-honeybee preservationist display—was dripping with broken honey jars and tons of sticky honey everywhere. Rick jumped away from it, and Matt and Tom had to drag him in a wider loop, cutting though booths to get away. Unfortunately, it was also the path those Wolverton wolves had to have gone. They could see the trail of their chaos winding here and there up to where it apparently stopped.

It didn’t stop at the essential oils booth, though. That was somewhere in the middle of the chaos. Rather, it stopped somewhere at the door where some of them had run outside. There were honeyed foot prints in the carpet—and abandoned shoes. They made their way past it all and stopped at the Go-Green compost booth where there was no Troy or Kurt.

“What now?” Tom muttered, keeping tight hold on Rick.

Rick’s cellphone rang.

Tom grabbed it from his pocket before Rick could. “Where are you?”

<< To your left. >>

So they looked to their left.

<< Sorry, I mean right. >>

Rolling their eyes they looked right. There, among aromatic plants stood Randon with Troy and Kurt.

Tom let Rick go.

Rick rushed over to Kurt. “It is you.”

“You doubted?” Kurt asked, though he looked a little harried, still peeking around for the pack.

Shrugging, Rick said, “No. But… I was unsure.”

Kurt peered into Rick’s eyes and groaned. “Oh, man, Daisy got to you.”

Closing his eyes, Rick groaned. He wished it wasn’t so obvious.

“Hey,” Randon said, with a peek to Rick, “Do you know a thing or two about this moon-bonding thing? Is it a spell?”

All of them looked interested, though Rick was still cringing.

Kurt shook his head. “No. Is there such a thing?”

Randon sighed painfully, glancing to Rick. “Yes. It is what makes me a cat.”

They saw Kurt avert his eyes uneasily. Apparent he had seen Randon transform back from cat to human right in front of him. He looked incredibly uncomfortable.

“So then what is it?” Matt asked him, listening intently to Kurt’s thoughts.

With a peek to him, Kurt answered, “What it sounds like. We believe that when two wolves mate under the full moon they are moon bonded. It usually leads to permanent pairing, though not always.”

“Not always?” Rick looked to Kurt in hope.

“Yeah,” Kurt said with a nod. “Moon-bonding is more like a test of mating compatibility. Usually wolves who mate under the full moon are drawn to their perfect mate. Not always, though. I mean, it isn’t a guarantee they will actually get along, but it is a good indication.”

“Mating compatibility…” Rick stared at him. He heaved a breath and thought on that.

“So it might not be permanent,” Randon whispered to him.

Rick nodded, thinking.

“It’s just a biological compatibility, I’m sure,” Randon added.

Kurt nodded frankly. “Exactly.”

“Which means, I am not fated to be with Daisy.” Rick stared into the space in front of him.

“Fated?” Kurt snorted. “She wishes.”

They stared at him. A smile crooked up on Randon’s face. “Explain. Explain.”

A little startled this was an issue, Kurt did explain. “Look, wolves like Rick are rare. But a he-wolf is capable of having multiple partners—especially a lone wolf like him. Moon-bonding is romantic crap they tell the she-wolves to encourage them to seek the perfect mate and reproduce. Otherwise, they might not get so frisky on the full moon. It is a pack thing. You guys are way superstitious if you believed in it.”

Exhaling, Rick closed his eyes and massaged his forehead.

Tom laughed. He looked to Matt who was grinning, glad it was the entire truth as Kurt knew it. Randon smiled and looked to Rick. He nudged Rick with his elbow. “See? She is not your only shot. You’re not stuck with her.”

“Ok…” Rick nodded to himself, still deep breathing. “But then how come I am so… addicted to her.”

To that, Kurt looked grim. He ducked down and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

Rick lifted his eyes to Kurt. “What do you mean you are sorry? Sorry for what?”

Cringing more, Kurt did say, “I’m sorry to tell you… some wolves do, uh…”

“I don’t believe in imprinting,” Rick bit back before Kurt could say it.

His friends stared, worrying again.

“No,” Kurt chuckled, but painfully. “No. Not that. Um, it’s just that some he-wolves do fixate.”

“Fixate?” Randon asked. “What do you mean?” It didn’t sound like a dog thing.

Shrugging, Kurt gestured to Rick. “It is an addiction, basically. I’m afraid Rick has formed a powerful bond with Daisy—not a moon bond, though I don’t think the full moon helped him much. It is more like… they had such an intense moment that she is indelibly imprinted on—”

“I said, I don’t believe in imprinting!” Rick growled.

“I know!” Kurt tried not to laugh, though it came out painfully. “This isn’t like that. I used the wrong words. It is more like… uh…” His eyes whipped to Troy. “Like a vampire bite. Yeah. You’ve been bitten, so to speak. Rick. And your wound for her keep bleeding. And until you either give into it and accept the lifestyle, or until you find a way to cure it, it will keep bleeding forever.”

Troy rubbed his neck. Apparently he had talked to Kurt about what his university research had been. He was looking for a cure.

“That sucks…” Matt murmured.

Tom made a face.

“But what is the cure?” Rick nearly whimpered.

Kurt gently shrugged as he said, “Find another girl who impacts you more than Daisy. I know it sounds cheesy, but you might be cured by true love.”

Rick colored, especially since his mind immediately went to Audry. But of course he and Audry as a couple would be impossible. His addiction to Daisy really was like a vampire bite. It was eventually going to kill him.

“So…” Tom followed that train of thought as well. “We need to set Rick up on dates then.”

Matt laughed, nodding.

“No…” Rick moaned. He shot them all dirty looks, especially Randon who was gazing toward the NYU booth. “Come on, guys. I don’t want to ruin a girl’s life.”

“Don’t be a pessimist.” Tom slapped him on the shoulder. “Hey! I know! Selena’s free!”

Rick pointed hard at him. “Don’t you dare. Not even as a joke!”

Tom shrugged, his smile crooking up with enjoyment.

“Let’s go get lunch,” Matt said, jerking his head toward where he knew was a buffet.

They all nodded, hooking their arms into Rick’s and Kurt’s, dragging them off.

Devil in the Details

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Twelve

 

 

Audry watched as the convention security guards dragged off those Wolverton punks.

It was gratifying, really. That Farkas was swearing at the one who had cuffed him. That Tola gal was scratching a rash from what looked like an allergic reaction to honey as they carted her off. She still had honey in her hair. And that Daisy—she looked like she had been drowned in mucky water, as her clothes had a stink to them. But she was only following the rest, saying she would make ‘the call’.

“Good riddance,” Jandra murmured as the last of them were kicked out of the building.

A few minutes after, Rick and company marched by, nearly arm in arm as if his friends were making sure Rick was not going to get away from them. She recognized Matthew Calamori with them, who winked at her when he saw her. But then Matt paused at her booth—just like everyone else had, laughing when he saw the tee-shirts.

 “Come on and leave it,” Rick groaned. “I’m starving!”

But Matt said, “Are you kidding? I want a shirt first. Five, actually.”

Rick let out a completely exasperated groan, as if he were having stomach pain from the idea.

Matt winked at Audry again and asked when she counted up the shirts, giving him the sizes he requested, “You’re a friend of Jessica Mason’s right? Have you been invited to her wedding?”

Rick perked a little, listening—as Jessica was marrying Rick’s best friend and clearly going to be the best man.

Audry grinned at him, amused. “I have been invited.”

“Great! You can go as Rick’s date!” Matt cheerily suggested.

Rick immediately slapped Matt on the head for making the suggestion, hissing “Stop it.” It was funny to watch.

 “But I will be in Africa then,” Audry tagged on, watching Rick’s friends deflate after teasing him with jibes that Audry was totally his type. She tried not to blush, as it was flattering that they wanted to set them up. But her and him? Get real. “And I don’t need a date.”

“See?” Rick hissed.

“Rick does,” Randon chimed in, loudly.

Rick irritably smothered his hands over Randon’s mouth, wrangling him like a little brother to silence him. It was play, really. And kind of cute. A bit like kids in junior high teasing their pal over a crush. That was when Audry realized that Rick was no longer wearing his work-of-art suit, but a simple pullover and some jeans. Why had he changed clothes? Did something happen to the other ones? And his hair was damp. He smelled a bit like wet dog, actually.

“Thanks for the shirts,” Matt said, lifting them. He was about to go when he paused and laughed to himself. Looking back to Audry, he said, “Can I buy two more? I want to give one to Jessica and one to her fiancée, Andrew as a wedding present.”

“Don’t you dare!” Rick snapped at him, jerking out from Tom Brown’s grip, almost with super human strength. He desperately ran to Matt’s side to stop him from buying more.

“And why not?” Audry colored in her defense. “He is supporting a good cause.”

Rick pulled back from, hesitating for a second as his eyes rested on her. He drew in a breath. Then he said, sounding humbled, “I know. But…” he shook his head. “I will pay you lots of money if you switch the picture on these shirts to a cheetah or an alligator.”

Her stare went dry on him. He was being stupid. The wolf was her best seller. That was also one of the reasons she had chosen