The Keeping(147)

Greyson tried to hide his concern by clearing his throat. “I don’t. That’s why I’ve sent someone else in ahead of time. To test the waters, so to speak and see if they’re receptive or not.”

The butler nodded. “That would be Ms. Greene.”

“Correct. Their reception of her will let me know if it’s safe to have Cassie approach or not.”

“But what of Ms. Greene?”

“If she safely makes contact, all the better for her. If she doesn’t, well...collateral damage does occur. It’s regrettable, but the woman isn’t my primary concern. Cassandra is.”

Franklin nodded again. “True. I’ll tell cook about dinner.” He gave a slight bow and left.

Rubbing his chin, Greyson considered the situation. Given what Luisa had told him and the cold facts of how she’d been treated by her own kind, he was reluctant to introduce Cassandra to other werewolves. Unfortunately, he also recalled all that he’d seen during his time with Luisa and the information she’d shared with him about transforming with the moon, blood bonds, fertility cycles... He couldn’t just let Cassandra flounder through life scared and uninformed. She needed the support and guidance of her own kind. After all, how long could he keep drugging her to prevent a complete change before she balked? The potent sedative that Dr. Freidrich—a well payed actor—prescribed was doing the job for now but for how long? Already the girl was questioning subtle differences between herself and her peers.

Yes, finding a pack to accept her was the best solution. He wouldn’t live forever and she couldn’t be left alone. Wolves needed a pack. The trouble with that was their damned laws and secretive way of life. After all, you couldn’t just go out and advertise! And so, he’d spent the last seventeen years looking unsuccessfully for evidence of packs. Unsuccessful that is, until he purchased the Taylor picture. Now he knew there was a pack out there. The question remained, where?

Melody Greene was his hope. Aldrich scoffed at his choice, but after viewing secretly taped footage of her, Greyson knew she was the one. He’d watched the videos of her, fascinated by the subtle signs she was showing, signs he would have passed over if he hadn’t watched Cassie growing up. The way she lifted her head slightly and sniffed the air, the way she cocked her head to listen... Greene didn’t know it, but she had a werewolf someplace in her background.

It was an unexpected turn of good fortune, finding Ms. Greene. Greyson reasoned that if she found a pack and was accepted by them, then there was an excellent chance that they would accept Cassandra too. Once he knew their location, he’d establish Cassandra in a house in the area—with secret body guards strategically living around her of course—and then wait and watch for them to sense her.

*****

Melody had joined Ryne in pacing across the small room. The strange feelings inside her had subsided again; she refused to dwell on their meaning since she had a sneaking suspicion they meant that a certain arrogant werewolf was right and she was on the verge of transforming into one of the beasts. No, it was just too fantastical to believe. Instead, she’d concentrate on how to get out of this room before Aldrich returned.

“So, what are we going to do?”

Ryne ran his hands through his hair. “I don’t know. I can’t break us out of here.”

“I thought werewolves had all these superhuman powers and stuff.”

“Well, we do have keener senses and are relatively stronger and faster than humans, but there are limits. Bullet proof walls being one of them.”

“Oh.” She was sort of disappointed in that one. If she was going to be a werewolf—which she wasn’t, she reminded herself—she’d hoped for a few more benefits than just being able to smell things really well. Where was the advantage in that? Mel suppressed a shudder as she imagined being keenly aware of the scent of public washrooms, garbage, and the cabbage her one neighbour was so fond of cooking. Ugh! Giving her head a little shake, she licked her lips and looked around for a sink suddenly realizing that she was thirsty. Strangely enough, there didn’t appear to be one. Hmm... “Hey, Ryne?”

“Yeah?” He was examining the door hinges.

“You said you overheard Mr. Aldrich calling this a safe room, right?”

He grunted in acknowledgment.

“And if this is a safe room, people are planning on being holed up here for a while, correct?”

“That’s usually what they’re constructed for. What are you getting at?” He turned and looked at her.

“So shouldn’t there be supplies? Food? Water? Communications? Maybe even a bathroom?”