The Mating(105)

Eventually, Marla quit pacing and stood with her back to the others, breathing heavily before spinning around and looking at Rose. “Now what do we do?”

Rose spoke calmly and slowly, as if speaking to a child. She was staring straight into Marla’s eyes. “We don’t have to talk to her now about cheating on Kane. She and Kane are connected. He’ll know the truth about what’s going on.”

Again, Elise frowned. Yes, most would assume that since they had a mental connection, Kane would know the whole story—even though he didn’t, she included wryly—but the way Rose was explaining everything made Elise uneasy. They seemed to have a different agenda than the one Rose had explained.

Marla began to protest. “No!”

“On the way here, we also ran into Julia. She knows I’m with Elise.” Again, Rose seemed to be explaining something to Marla. Elise looked from one to the other. It was as if they were having their own coded conversation.

“I don’t care. We’ve waited long enough. The original plan stands. I’ll think of a way of dealing with Julia.” Shoving her hands in her pockets, Marla glared at Rose.

Rose’s voice became slightly louder. “You’ll think of a plan! No way. I’ve kept a low profile through all of this, and I’m not about to let that change.”

“It’s too late to worry about that now. We can’t pretend that we were just going to talk to her and let her go back home as if nothing was wrong. Even someone as dimwitted as Elise must realize something is going on now.” Marla gestured derogatorily towards her, and Elise felt herself bristle at the comment.

True, she still wasn’t sure exactly what was up, but there was a lot happening and she was doing her best to put it all together. Really though, what with suddenly finding herself mated, a new pack, a job, oil spills, people getting hurt, babies being born, red sports cars, rumours flying... Was it any wonder she was confused? Elise bit back a retort, and concentrated instead on what was going on in front of her.

Rose was silent for a moment, and then scowled. “As much as I hate to admit it, you’re right. Julia knows I’m with Elise, so whatever happens, I’ll have to think of an alibi.” She turned to look at Elise, “Sorry about this, but you’re in the way of our plans.” With that, she pulled out a gun.

Elise felt her eyes go wide as she stared at the barrel pointed towards her. Whoever would have thought that sweet, mousey little Rose would be in on this—whatever ‘this’ was! “What are you planning on doing?” She knew it was a dumb question, but couldn’t help asking.

“Killing you.” Marla grinned. “We’re going to drug you, weigh your body down, and dump it in the lake. Kane will think you’ve run off with your friend Bryan, and the way will be clear for me again.”

An icy chill ran through Elise. The two women before her seemed so calm and matter of fact, as if they were talking about getting their hair done rather than killing someone.

“We can’t use that plan anymore, Marla.” Rose rolled her eyes, as if fed up with her partner in crime. “If Elise and Kane are blood-bonded, he’ll be sensing her fear. She wouldn’t be afraid if she was running away with Bryan.”

“Rose, when are you going to stop being such a wimp? The blood-bonding doesn’t change anything. I’ve got Kane out of the way; he’s busy with another oil spill. Even if he and Elise are blood-bonded, his mind is occupied elsewhere. We have to do this. Too much planning has gone into it to turn back now

“But we can’t use the runaway bride story anymore. If Kane knows there was no affair, it wouldn’t make sense for her to just run off.” Rose pursed her lips and her fingers flexed on the handle of the gun. Elise tensed, hoping the woman didn’t accidentally touch the trigger.

“True.” Agitated, Marla chewed her manicured thumbnail.

As Elise eyed the gun in Rose’s hand, the most inane thoughts began popping into her head. This was ridiculous. Werewolves didn’t carry guns. They changed into wolf form and fought! Hadn’t either of these two read any popular literature lately? Of course, Marla wasn’t into the whole wolf thing, and possibly Rose wasn’t either, so maybe it did make sense. Elise gave herself a mental shake. She was definitely suffering from shock if that’s all she could think about at a time like this! Get a grip she chastised herself.

The gun was still aimed in her direction, but Rose wasn’t paying attention to her. As the two talked, Elise began to inch away. She couldn’t believe that Marla was so desperate for Kane that she’d be willing to kill just to have him. And why was Rose helping? What was in it for her? Well, no matter; she needed to make her escape before they came up with a plan for her demise.