“Hello Eve”, he smiles as he greets me.
I do everything I can to hold in my growl. Through gritted teeth and a low threatening tone, I demand, “What do you want”.
He’s trying to be gentle and reassuring but this does nothing to calm me down. “He wants to see you”.
“I don’t care what he wants”. I just glare at him while using my peripheral to decide on an escape plan.
I look across the table at my girls and get a mix of excited and angry faces. They had missed some huge gossip in my life after I just said I had nothing going on.
Michelle as usual is the first to pipe up. “I’m sorry, our friend here has clearly not filled us in on the details. Who wants to see her”.
“Billionaire Conrad Strongheart”.
Their eyes are so wide now that with the smiles on their faces, they look like Disney characters.
Kimberly instantly goes into her sickly sweet voice, “Why don’t you join us and tell us all about him and what he wants with our Eve”.
I protest as they don’t know the risk he poses or that they need protection right now. “What about girls only for the first two hours”. They quickly look around at each other and they give each other knowing looks.
“You’ve been outvoted. He’s joining us”, Michelle says proudly. “Firstly, what’s your name and what is your link to Mr. Strongheart”.
He pulls up to the seat next to me and starts addressing the group. “My name is Connor, and I work in his security team. My specialty is surveillance and intelligence, so I scope out and gather information to ensure the safety of the team”.
Kimberly and Michelle are currently swooning over his words and batting their eyelashes for attention. Willow seems to be deep in thought and analysing his words.
“Does he run the Strongheart foundation. There are several artifacts on display at work in the museum from his collection”.
“Yes, he does, among many other things”. He turns to me as he can now feel the blade I am holding against his femoral artery under the table. Let's him know I have control of the situation and that if he does anything to threaten us I will either kill him or cut off his manhood. He starts to squirm slightly in his seat to move away but I just apply slightly more pressure.
The girls don’t notice this interaction at all, while Michelle is furiously typing on her phone.
“OH. MY. GOD. Is this his picture? He’s Gorgeous. Is he really a billionaire? What does he want with Eve? How did he meet Eve? Why didn’t he come?”
Connor starts laughing. “That’s a lot of questions at once. Yes, he really is a billionaire. He met Eve a week ago during a mission and was very impressed. I think he has a bit of a crush on her as he has been moping around his house since then hoping she would come to him. He didn’t come as he tries to keep a low profile as he is very recognizable and that is why he sent me”.
With my anger growing, I ask him the only thing I needed to know. “How did you find me”.
“All soldiers wear cameras so we have footage from that day. We got a still of you and sent it to a hacker friend. He searched your picture and found your driver’s license. That gave us your license plate and your address, so I followed you here”. Connor starts to look at me very concerned as he can sense me getting angrier. He keeps trying to talk in a low calming tone which is difficult when I'm holding a blade to him. “We’re not your enemy Eve. He just wants to see you and make sure your OK”.
“I’ve been OK for years and don’t need him or any of you”. I stand up to leave hiding my blade from view under my jacket.
“You know he won’t do that”.
“Then I’ll just disappear again”.
He grabs my arm to try and stop me. I use the knife to slice his hand just enough for him to let go, get the message, and pull away. I re-sheath it before anyone in the bar notices but my girls are staring at me in shock. They look very concerned and scared now as they have never seen me like this before.
I start to storm out of the back of the bar making sure my girls are in front, and I can hear him yelling after me.
“He will keep looking for you if you don’t go see him and you know why”.
“I already told you, I don’t care what he wants or why. I’m not going back”.
As soon as the cold night air hits me I start to feel like there is not enough air in the world. It gets more difficult to breathe and the world gets smaller as my adrenaline rushes through my veins. I need to get home. I need to get us to safety. The girls know not to argue with me and get in the car.
As we pull out, I see Conner watching from the entrance, wondering if he has done the right thing.
Conrad POVI walk through the forest hand-in-hand with Lewana. The forest seems completely different after unlocking my wolf-smelling capability in this form. The breeze brings in the scent of my soldiers who are on guard tonight. I can sense rabbits running. Even the wildflowers nearby. I can also sense her nerves as we walk but I try and send calming energy to her to let her know it's going to be OK. We can handle whatever is going to happen. The first day of the full moon is here. Tomorrow is the pack run under the true full moon so it is literally now or never. She looks around and sighs. "OK. I think there is a good spot". It is a very shaded spot with a small ledge bathed in moonlight. I just stand waiting letting her take her time. She turns to me and is clearly nervous. "I just want you to know before I do this that I know this puts us in more danger. So if I do have to leave, it's not because we don't love you and want to be with both of you. It will be to protect you". I
Conrad POVI was ecstatic when my girls agreed to share their secrets with me. I honestly don’t care what it is. I just want to see Serena. I’m picturing a magnificent wolf with fur the same color as her hair. Jace starts purring at the thought. “What are you purring at”. Lewana snakes her arms around my neck while looking into my eyes as if to address Jace himself. “Picturing how amazing Serena might look”.“Well you will have to wait and see won’t you. But before we go out tonight. We need to work on your Lycan training. Meet you in the living room at 8pm”.She starts playfully shoving me out of the room as she knows I have some meetings this afternoon. We have dinner as a group again and after dinner, Mary hands Lewana a large basket of random items. I raise an eyebrow and she just shakes her head. Not sure how cheese is going to help my Lycan but I know better than to argue with her. I enter the living room at 8 and see her smile when she sees me. “You ready”.“Ready for what
Lewana POVI'm giggling about Cordelia as I head to the medical center. I know Conrad will be in a great mood today if he doesn't have to spend time with her. Not sure what he will do with his time but I have data to review. Even though the rogue attack was terrible, my treatment worked. I knew it would in theory and I have tested it on myself but now I have mini-test groups for two medications that could save lives. I go check on all the soldiers and they are very grateful to be feeling better this morning. All their wolves are alert and talking but still weak so will need more chelation therapy to clear the silver but the wolfsbane antibodies worked really well. I check all their blood work, and mine, before I start analyzing data from them. It is fascinating how quickly their blood levels are dropping. I notice mine is still a bit elevated so I get an IV pole, cannulate myself, and start another course while working. I am going through my today's list and realize another one of
Conrad POVMy girl fights the tiredness and puts on a stoic face for the rest of the day, but I can tell she is exhausted. She is thinking hard about responses and scrunching her face as she tries to think. She insists on going to check the soldiers who were positioned this morning and she is slowing down even more now. “Ok. I eerrmm …… need to confirm orders for overnight”.I look over at Arthur and the head medic who look as concerned for her as I do. I turn to look at them. “You both know what needs to be done tonight”. They both nod so I turn to Lewana. “Look like you can go to bed then”.“I just need to check a few things. Where…. where are the errrrmmm ….. charts”. I can see Arthur is very worried and not sure what to do. He knows his daughter needs to sleep but his Alpha wants to work. I walk up beside her, “Sorry moonlight, but you need to sleep”.I send a strong calming aura through her and she passes out instantly in my arms. “I think I get why you use it on her now. Sh
Lewana POV I just stare at Valerie shocked. What was so funny. When she regained her composure she started asking me questions. "Is that seriously what you are worried about. Packs not accepting you". "No. It's wars starting because of me. Wolves suffering because of me". "Then trust me you have nothing to worry about". She's stating this as if it is obvious. I look at her perplexed. "How can you be so sure". Her nervous eyes suddenly dart to Conrad. "For me to prove this to Lady Lewana, I will need assurance from yourself Alpha King that no charges will be laid against me". Conrad starts to growl and holds his hand to comfort him. "What have you done". "Nothing that violates the Werewolf Rights act. There may be some questionable activities but not one was harmed". Conrad looks at Liam and I can see they are discussing something on the mind-link. Conrad huffs. "Fine. Anything else you need before you tell us"."Yes actually. You can get your hacker to stay away from my net
Conrad POVI stare daggers into Valerie for interrupting me while Cordelia stands as defiant as ever. That bitch needs to suffer for everything that she has done. Why would Valerie even waste her breath trying to save her? Lady Valerie stands with her hands towards both of us and then turns to Cordelia. “Apologies for interrupting but my date with Alpha King is scheduled for tomorrow. Unfortunately, I have another commitment. I know that, as per the rules of the ceremony, times cannot be changed unless the Alpha King himself is incapacitated, but they can be swapped. I am sure you have prepared a wonderful spread as usual so why not enjoy that with your father and I will have my date with Alpha King now. That way he is well rested and in a better mood for your date with him tomorrow”.Cordelia thinks about it a huff. “Well, it’s not like you were going to win anyway. You can have it here and I will see you tomorrow handsome”. She blows me a kiss and I shudder at the thought. I turn