Tara's Fate

Chapter 5

He watched her like a hawk, eyes narrowed and fixed on her, studying every flicker that crossed her face, waiting for her to respond. Tara bit the inside of her cheek. The man made her very nervous, and that was saying nothing.

She thought of the actual reason she had been in the woods or forest, whatever he called it. Olivia, her younger sister who had gone missing. Tara had left home to go in search of her sister. She was more than worried about Olivia’s whereabouts and needed to get back on the road as soon as possible. Her sister was only eighteen, certainly not old enough to be on her own, regardless of what the law said. Every hour she lost made the possibility of finding her sister more difficult.

Tara contemplated telling the hunk of a man the truth, but then she changed her mind before the idea could even fully form in her head. She did not owe him an explanation, not even the truth. Besides, she hadn’t survived years raising Olivia on her own to suddenly want to turn to a total stranger for help. Tara mused. If by any chance she was actually in danger and being held by a psychopath, she didn’t want her sister involved.

She raised her chin defiantly at him and folded her arms over her average sized B-cups.

Martin saw the moment the woman had made up her mind to be difficult. Even before she had folded her arms. It was like watching a river freeze in front of him. The woman would not tell him anything. His eyes, however, involuntarily followed the movement and stared at her chest. Parts of his body stirred.

She had a nice pair. His mind immediately analyzed how well the pair would fit in his hands. The images his brain brought up quickly had his self-control take a small dive. He could remember how that chest had pressed against his body when he had carried her out of the forest.

Martin cleared his throat and raised his eyes back to her face. He realized he was going to have a genuine problem with the woman. The smartest thing would be to take her out of the pack lands and never see her again. He was very capable of covering her head and carrying her out. She would never find her way back to them, even if she was a spy.

But the idea had his wolf growling, deeply and insistently, clearly not in support of the idea. And even though he didn’t want to admit it, he, too, didn’t like that idea much.

But keeping her on the pack lands would have consequences, of this he was sure. For starters, the woman’s scent drove him crazy and the more time he looked at her in her simple pair of dirty jeans and polo shirt, he wanted to burn the clothes like they were offending him. They touched her skin like he craved to do. The jeans hugged her legs and felt her warmth at the very core of her. He wanted to be the one to know just how hot she was.

Martin took a deep breath quietly and tried to get his head back on track. He reminded himself that he had found the woman wandering close to the boundary of the pack territory and she had lied to him.

No matter how beautiful, sexy, and tasty she looked. Regardless of how she called to his wolf, he had to think of the pack and the safety of his people first.

“Woman, you are doing yourself no favors by being difficult. Tell me why you were in the forest,” Martin demanded angrily.

The woman in question didn’t even blink. He could tell she was a little scared. He could smell it in her scent. But her face showed none of it. It was impressive and puzzling at the same time. His alpha nature usually sent even strong, stubborn werewolves into a complying state; it should have made her at least tremble with fear, but it didn’t.

Then she tilted her head and asked, “Have I trespassed on private property?”

“Yes,” he answered through clenched teeth.

“Then you should have put up a signpost or something, because I saw nothing to warn me I was walking onto somebody’s land,” she stated angrily.

She had a point. The pack did not put up any signs to warn people off their lands. The reason was simple; they did not want to be found. Sign posts would guide intruders right to their doorsteps rather than warn them off. And besides, what would they put on the warning signs? ‘Beware of wolves?’

“That may be the case,” he accepted reluctantly. “But it still doesn’t answer my question… what were you doing wandering on my land?”

“Dude, get a life! I told you I was exploring. I don’t owe you any explanations. And you carrying me here like a caveman is very much against the law.”

Martin gave her a smirk. “Thank you for informing me. I haven’t brushed up on my law studies of late.” That was a lie, of course. He was very much up to date with both pack and human laws. He couldn’t afford not to be.

Tara narrowed her eyes at him. The man was making jokes. The smirk made his face look even more enthralling. She wasn’t sure whether she wanted to slap it off or kiss him. Tara blinked and looked away. Was she going mad? She wondered. She had to get out of there. “I need to get out of here. Show me the way to reach the main road.”

“You haven’t answered my question. I found you wandering the forest, lost and hopeless…”

“I was not hopeless,” she interrupted him angrily and abruptly stood up. If they were going to argue, she would at least try to level the field physically, although he had almost six inches on her.

Martin raised a brow. “Hopeless is the kindest word I could come up with. You were far worse than that.”

“Look, mister. I don’t appreciate your sarcasm or belittling observations. And frankly speaking, I don’t care for your hospitality either. Just point me in the direction to go and I will be out of your precious land and you never have to see me again.”

He watched her as she spoke. “The name is Martin,” he told her and turned to leave the room before he spoke over his shoulder. “And you are not going anywhere until you tell me the truth.”

He stepped out of the door and locked the door behind him. He heard her gasp in shock, then she ran to the door and turned the knob, but it was already locked.

A heartbeat later, she banged on the door in anger. She was pissed and demanded to be released immediately. Obviously, her earlier resolve to remain calm and enjoy the collection of books had flown right out the window.

Martin walked away from the door. He didn’t want to agitate her further, but he also couldn’t do it any other way. He frowned as he walked down the hall back into the primary space of the library.

He wasn’t shocked when he found his Beta, Kent, seated at one of the tables with a book in his hands.

“Reading anything interesting?” Martin asked as he approached the table and sat down across from his friend with a heavy sigh.

Kent shrugged. “Not as interesting as the conversation you just had with the young woman in there.”

Martin scoffed. “Right, that was very interesting.”

“Should have tried to charm the answers out of her,” Kent suggested quietly as he turned a page in the book.

“Not a good idea.”

Kent looked up and stared at him for a few seconds. “Problem?”

“Nothing I can’t handle,” Martin responded easily.

His beta returned to his book. Martin took a peek at the cover and saw it was a book about baking. For a moment, he frowned as he remembered the comment the woman had made. He really did not have a clue about some of the books he purchased for the library.

Suddenly, Kent closed the book and stared at Martin, snapping him out of his musings. “So what exactly do you plan to do with Ms. Tara Winslow?”

“How the hell do you know her name?” He couldn’t help the wave of jealousy and possessiveness that slammed into him. How could Kent know the woman’s name before he had even found out? Everything in him screamed that it wasn’t right.

Kent reached his hand down next to his chair and retrieved the woman’s bag. Martin vaguely remembered dropping the bag at the entrance of the library when he had stormed in with the woman over his shoulder. He had completely forgotten about it.

The beta retrieved the woman’s purse and pulled out a driver’s license. Martin took it and confirmed the woman was indeed Tara Winslow, aged twenty-three. It was nice to finally know the name to put on her face. Tara, he mentally whispered, loving it. It suited her.

“Anything else of interest in the bag?” he asked.

Kent shook his head. “No. Just some energy bars, a change of clothes, an empty bottle of water and a cell phone. Nothing to raise suspicion.”

Martin continued to stare at the driving license. She looked a little younger in the picture and cleaner. It made him wonder if the woman needed a bath and possibly some food.

Kent pulled him out of his thoughts as he repeated his earlier question. “So… Alpha, what is the plan?”

“She doesn’t leave here until we know exactly what she was doing, wandering so close to our borders.”

“She could have just been lost, like she said.”

“Scent doesn’t lie, Kent. You know that. I smell deception. She isn’t saying something, and I won’t let her go until I know what that is.”

Kent was thoughtful for a moment. He looked around the library, then looked back at his alpha. “You can’t keep her in the library, Martin. Books make a terrible bed.”

His beta had a point. It would be inhuman to keep her locked up in the library's back room. But the alternative options were limited and not very pleasant. He thought about it a moment before he made up his mind.

“Take her bag to my house,” he instructed, and stood up. His back was already turned, and he was heading back to the back room when Kent’s voice stopped him.

“Should I also grab you a box of condoms and birth control pills?”

Martin turned back and glared at his friend. “Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t have any plans to touch the woman.” He thought he had sounded very convincing, with a healthy dose of irritation in his voice.

But apparently, he didn’t. Kent gave him a very skeptical look before he nodded. “I will grab you some food and groceries.” He stood up. “For the woman,” he added quickly, before Martin could say another word.

Martin frowned, but gave him a nod. He then turned back and continued down the hallway to the back room. He could still hear her shouting and threatening to do him harm. Martin’s frown deepened. “Great. Just great,” he murmured to himself.