Page 25 of New Blood (Werewolf Alliance #1)

D anielle came out of the laundry room, a stack of clean dish towels in her arms, when she heard a commotion coming from the foyer.

“We’re back!”

She recognized the voice as Austin’s.

The dish towels still in her hands, she walked toward the foyer, just as Flora breezed out of the kitchen, heading in the same direction. She and Priscilla had come back from their Costco run a few minutes earlier.

“Finally,” Flora said with a sideways glance at her.

“Yes.”

Austin and Francisco dropped a few large bags at the foot of the stairs. Parker was right behind them, placing two more suitcases on the floor.

At the same time, rapid footfalls—coming from the stairs—echoed in the high entry hall. Danielle glanced up and saw Eve descending, dressed as usual in riding pants and a casual shirt.

Austin and Francisco stopped in the middle of the foyer, intercepted by Flora, while Parker exited again, presumably to fetch more luggage.

“Do you have news about William?” Flora asked.

Before Austin could answer, Francisco set a small cat on the ground. Eve shrieked as if she’d been attacked by a monster and reared back, disgust spreading on her face.

“I hate cats! Get that damn thing outta here!”

“It’s not a thing,” Austin said calmly, shaking his head in disbelief. “Kitty belongs to Wendell.”

“I don’t care! Get her out of my face!”

Danielle furrowed her forehead. She’d never realized that Eve didn’t like cats, perhaps because nobody had ever brought a cat onto the estate. Realizing that Eve’s reaction could escalate quickly, Danielle placed the towels on a sideboard and bent down to the ground to intervene.

“Hey, Kitty,” she cooed, and the frightened little fur ball hissed and stretched her paw, claws extended, toward her as a warning. Danielle drew back instinctively.

Heavy footfalls came from the corridor behind her, accompanied by Wendell’s voice.

“You brought Kitty?”

He sounded excited, and before he’d even reached them, the tiny cat charged in the direction of its owner.

Danielle rose and watched the white furball jump into Wendell’s arms. The two of them were quite the contrast: he, a massive black man, and she, a tiny kitten no larger than a cantaloupe. Kitty rubbed herself on Wendell’s neck and purred contentedly.

Meanwhile, Parker entered again, dropping more bags near the door, before closing the entrance door.

“How did she do on the flight?” Wendell asked, addressing Austin.

Austin jerked his thumb in Francisco’s direction. “Ask him.”

Francisco rolled his eyes. “She used me as if I were her favorite scratching post. I kinda felt dirty afterwards.”

Wendell roared with laughter, and Austin joined in.

“That’s my girl! You should feel honored, bro, she doesn’t do that with everybody.”

Francisco grinned. “Your girl’s a little slut, ‘cause on the ride in the car, she was all over Parker.”

Parker raised a hand in protest. “Don’t even ask. I’m just glad she’s not a he .”

Danielle smiled at the cat. “She’s adorable.” She reached her hand out once more, but instantly the cat let out a warning cry, making her retreat again.

“Don’t take it personally,” Wendell apologized quickly. “She doesn’t like women.” He shrugged. “Competition for my affection, you know.”

He winked at her, and she wasn’t sure if he meant it or was simply joking.

Wendell was hard to figure out. On the surface, he seemed like a tough guy who felt at home in every biker bar from here to Tijuana, but this side of him, the tender side he showed with his cat, suggested that there was more depth to him than at first suspected.

Since she didn’t have a smart reply to his comment, she simply nodded. Wendell was pretty much blocking the corridor with his broad frame, still cuddling his pet, and she didn’t want to interrupt, so she remained standing where she was.

“Austin, I asked you about William,” Flora said in a firmer tone now. “Is there any news?”

Danielle looked at him, also curious about what had been decided about her former alpha.

“I don’t have much to report,” Austin started.

“But you must know what’s happening with my father,” Eve interrupted.

Austin snapped his head toward Eve, looking a little peeved about her tone.

“He’s in Bozeman right now, awaiting trial.

Not all governing members of the Werewolf Alliance are currently at headquarters.

It’ll be another day before they can assemble and hear the case.

They’ll contact us when they have news.”

The door to William’s old office opened all of a sudden, and Violet exited, a stack of files pressed to her chest, her cheeks flushed a little. Jude followed her into the foyer.

“Thought I heard some noise,” he said with a nod to his brother and team members. “How was Bozeman?”

“Cold,” Austin replied.

Jude’s gaze drifted to Danielle, and even though it was but a very brief glance, she couldn’t help but recognize the heat in his eyes.

She quickly averted her gaze, sure that the desire she saw in his eyes wasn’t meant for her.

After all, earlier this morning, he’d told Ransom that he thought she would be boring in bed, pretending that—of course—, he didn’t know first-hand, but that her shyness seemed to suggest it.

That memory sent ice water through her veins.

How could he turn from cruel to lusty so quickly?

She reached for the dish towels to have a reason to leave, because she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of making her flee his presence just by looking at her.

“Oh, and Charlotte wants to visit,” Austin added casually.

At the name, Danielle listened up involuntarily. Who was Charlotte?

Jude’s chuckle was unexpected. “Let me guess, she’s driving Mom and Dad nuts.”

“More like the other way around.”

This could mean that she was their sister. And even if she wasn’t, why was she even interested or concerned? She shouldn’t care at all about the women in Jude’s life. It didn’t mean anything to her. He didn’t mean anything to her. Or at least, he shouldn’t.

“Francisco,” Parker called out, pointing to the luggage. “Give me a hand with the bags. Do you know which ones belong to whom?”

“Yeah, we labeled them all before we left.” Francisco marched to the foot of the stairs.

It appeared that Austin and Francisco had brought clothes and personal items for the entire team.

Danielle wasn’t surprised. Jude and his men had arrived only with one small travel bag each.

But now that it was clear that they would be staying for quite a while—and Jude for good—they needed more than just an overnight bag.

“You must know more,” Eve insisted, addressing Austin again.

Danielle turned, tuning out her comment, and almost bumped into Wendell, whom she’d forgotten was still blocking the corridor.

“I’m going to the kitchen. Would you like some milk for Kitty?”

“That’s a good idea,” Wendell said. “I’ll come with you. Do you think you could also find an old blanket that she can sleep on?”

She smiled at him. “Of course.” Together, they walked toward the kitchen. She was glad when they were finally out of earshot of the foyer.

“How long have you had Kitty?” she asked, hoping that nobody had noticed the look between her and Jude.

Was anybody suspecting that they’d been in the woods together?

That they’d had sex? Oh God, she hadn’t even thought about that possibility.

Any one of them could have been out there in the woods last night, watching them.

They’d been too preoccupied with each other that they wouldn’t have heard or smelled another wolf approaching.

“She found me.”

For a moment, she didn’t understand what Wendell was saying.

“Mmm?”

“Yeah, she just showed up one night when I was coming back from a run. I was still in wolf form when she ran to me. A dog was chasing her, and I guess she felt safer with a wolf than a dog.” He laughed. “Isn’t that right, Kitty?”

As if she understood him, the cat meowed softly.

Danielle noticed the collar around her neck and looked a little closer.

Kitty wore a pink collar with rhinestones that sparkled in multiple colors depending on the angle the light hit them.

A name seemed to be spelled out in red stones that looked almost like rubies.

“That’s a gorgeous collar you got for her. Does it say her name?”

“Actually I didn’t get it for her. She wore it when she came to me. And since it said Kitty on the collar, I figured I’d call her that.”

“So she must have had an owner.”

Wendell shrugged. “Probably. But she wasn’t microchipped and there was no contact phone number on her collar.”

“Well, she seems to be happy with you. Let me get some milk for her.” She turned to the fridge and opened it. “Or perhaps she prefers cream?”

She looked over her shoulder when she noticed Kitty looking into her eyes.

The cat’s green eyes were hypnotizing. Almost human, she thought.

She shook her head to shake off the odd feeling.

Perhaps all cats had eyes like that. She’d never had a pet, and it was rare for any werewolf pack to keep cats, because many cats instinctively shied away from werewolves.

They could sense the predator even when in human form.

“I think you might be onto something,” Wendell replied with a grin. “Perhaps you’ll cure Kitty of her aversion to women. One drop of cream at a time.”

She chuckled softly. “It’s worth a try.”

But she knew her words were a lie. She wouldn’t be here long enough for Kitty to get comfortable with her.