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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Design: Leighann Phoenix
Leader of the Pack © 2008 Leighann Phoenix
eXcessica publishing
All rights reserved
Leader of the Pack
By Leighann Phoenix
To the brave, belong all things.
-Celtic Creed
Chapter 1
As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.
-Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Smoke thickened as the night wore on. Aislinn moved from one person to the next along the crowded bar, filling drink orders. She took the job a month ago, when she arrived in town. Her scummy boss, Derrick, was more than happy to hire her. He recently lost a bar tender, and Aislinn was above average in appearance, even if she didn’t think so. When Aislinn applied to the job Derrick didn’t even asked if she could mix drinks. He figured he could teach that. She wasn’t a super model, but she was attractive in a strange way, and she was better than moving Kelly up. The patrons liked her where they could reach her.
Aislinn hated the place. She learned relatively quickly to keep space between herself and Derrick, the ass. He tended to grab her and make lewd comments. He even attacked her once, but she managed to get away. Unfortunately, she needed the job. She needed the money. That was the only reason she kept working after that. One would think that after she decked him he would stay out of her way, but Derrick just kept trying. Aislinn thanked the stars that currently he was at the far end of the bar talking with some regulars. With Luke tending bar between them, that was about the right distance tonight.
The other people she worked with were mostly nice. Kelly was really the only bitch and that was because Aislinn got the job Kelly wanted. In this place, the best spot to be was behind the bar. Then the only person who could grab you was Derrick. Anywhere else and you were fair game for all the jerks who came in the place. Kelly thought that she did her time and deserved the bartender job. When Derrick gave it to Aislinn, he made Kelly a permanent enemy for her.
Aislinn approached the new guy who sat down at the bar near the wall. He was impressive. His presence caused most of the other patrons to make more than enough room for him, resulting in an unnatural amount of space at that end of the bar. Aislinn was perfectly happy to have a short lull in the number of people she had to deal with.
The man was pretty big, even sitting on the stool. He had black hair, brown-black eyes, and tanned skin. He looked hard muscled even under the black leather duster he was wearing. But the strangest thing was this ageless appearance to him. At first look she might have said he was in his late twenties/early thirties. Then, at second glance, he looked almost 100. Whether that was normal for him or because he just had the worst day of his life was up for grabs. “What can I get you?”
The guy looked up at her as if he only just realized that he was in a bar. Aislinn waited and when he didn’t respond she asked again. “What can I get you?”
Cullen stared appraisingly at the girl speaking to him. She had an odd scent. It was hard to make out between the rancid smell of the bar, the smoke from the people around him soaking into everything, and some awful perfume she seemed to have bathed in. But there was something to it that caught his attention. She was attractive, but she wasn’t remarkable in any way. She had brown hair, blue eyes, pale skin, and medium build. She wasn’t his type. I would probably break her; he thought and grinned at himself. Besides she wasn’t what he was here for. The last thing he wanted was a woman tonight. No matter how intriguing her scent was.
“If you’re not ready to order I can come back in a couple,” Aislinn offered at his silence and the annoyed, confused look on his face as he stared at her.
“Guinness.”
Aislinn nodded, poured the beer and placed it in front of him. No sooner had she waited on the next person but he was pushing his glass toward her again. She gave him another. Then another. At first she was concerned. He didn’t look very friendly and adding drunk to not very friendly usually didn’t end well. But he kept to himself, paid for each glass as he indicated his need for a refill, and didn’t do anything to bother her or anyone else. He just stared at his glass and drank. Something about him that she couldn’t quite put her finger on kept everyone else away.
Aislinn really wasn’t sure what kept drawing her attention back to him. His smell, for one thing, disturbed her. Since she had escaped her previous life, her sense of smell seemed more pronounced, sharper. After everything she’d been through to this point she kept her own council. That included not telling anyone that she could determine who she was talking to even with her eyes closed if she’d ever met the person before. Smells bothered her very easily. When she got out into the big wide world, she started layering on perfumes to mask the smells around her. But tonight his smell was getting through her defenses. He smelled foul or dead. At least that was the only way she could describe it. She didn’t know what could possibly make that odor. Every time the air shifted she nearly flinched at the awful reek that overpowered even the rancid beer in this place. God why did I decide bartending was a good idea, she thought to herself.
Cullen was still sitting there drinking as the place was getting ready to close. He watched the girl who had been serving him all night walked up to him as she cleared the bar. “Hey, buddy, do you need me to call you a cab or something?”
“Cullen,” he said before he knew that he had said it.
“What?” Aislinn stopped what she was doing and started reaching for a phone. “Is there someone I can call for you,” she reiterated.
“My name. Cullen. Not ‘buddy’. And no, I don’t need a ride. I’ll walk.” He started to get up only to realize that he drank more than he originally thought. It’s been a long time since I managed to get drunk, he thought with a measure of amusement. Well that’s what I came here to do wasn’t it? He sat back down on the bar stool.
Aislinn sighed and looked over at one of the other girls. Nikki just shrugged. “Alright, Cullen,” she said haltingly. “Look, we’re closing. You’re too drunk to move. You’ve got to have a friend somewhere who’ll come get you.”
He looked up at her and grinned with wry amusement. “Yeah,” he said, “a whole pack.”
Normally a guy who said something like that and looked at her that way would have scared the crap out of her. But there was just something about the smelly guy that told her he wasn’t a threat to her. If there was one thing she learned over the years since she started running it was reading people. That was half the reason Derrick didn’t really bother her. She had known what he was the minute she took the job. So, obviously it was her own fault she had to put up with him. Aislinn picked up the phone. “Give me a number.”
Cullen rattled off a number and she dialed. It rang twice and then a gruff, sleepy voice picked up. “Hello?”
“Yeah hi, sorry to wake you,” Aislinn said.
“Yeah, who is this?” the voice said.
“Um, I tend bar. Do you know some guy named Cullen?”
A shocked, “Huh?” came from the sleepy voice. Cullen was watching Aislinn with amusement. His eyes sparkled a bit and he had a grin that reminded her of a kid playing a great joke on someone. He was taking note of everything about her. For a human she was either quite impressive or very stupid. There wasn’t another person in this bar who had been willing to be within two feet of him, but the girl didn’t seem bothered at all by his appearance or mood. He got the feeling that there really wasn’t anything he could have said or done to have made her afraid of him. More than any of that, she was able to make eye contact with him and stare him down. It had been a long time since anyone had enough balls for that.
Aislinn growled her annoyance at the situation. “Look, I’m sorry I woke you up, buddy. But there’s this guy in my bar and we’re closing. He’s too drunk to leave on his own. He says his name is Cullen and he gave me this number when I asked him if he wanted me to call someone for him. Can you come get him or not?”
Keith rubbed his face. He thought he was having a crazy dream. He looked at the cell phone and then put it back to his ear. “Cullen?”
“Yes, Cullen.” The female voice at the other end of the line was sounding more agitated by the minute. “Are you coming to get him,” she insisted.
“Yeah fine. Where is he?”
“The bar’s called the Blood Pit. It’s on the corner of Elm and Oak. Do you know it?”
“No,” he said. “But I’ll find it.” Then there was a click.
Aislinn stared at the phone. Cullen chuckled. “He hung up?”
“Yeah, but he said he was coming.” Aislinn went back to cleaning up.
Cullen reveled in the feeling of the spinning room. As he waited he watched the girl move about. The drinking had done precisely what he wanted. It drowned out the look, smell, and feel of Jenna, that bitch he wasn’t interested in being mated to. He was trying to figure out what that scent was on the girl when one of the other girls walked up to her. That annoyed him to no end. Now there were two obnoxious smelling perfumes in addition to the rest of the odors in this room covering up the girl’s scent.
“Ais, I’ve gotta go.” She lowered her voice and looked over at Cullen uncertainly then back at Aislinn. But Cullen’s ears were better than most and he heard every word she said. “I want to wait for you but Jeremy’s outside already and he’s being impatient. I don’t know who to be more concerned about. Derrick or this guy you’re looking after. It’s not real bright of you.”
Aislinn looked back toward the offices then over at Cullen. “I know. Maybe I can talk Derrick into watching him ‘til his friend gets here.”
“Fat chance on that. How’s he gonna stalk you if he’s gotta stick around here for some guy. Nope, he’ll say that you didn’t just kick him out so this guy’s your problem. Then when he’s gone and you don’t have me around to give you a ride home, Derrick offers you a ride and guess how he’ll expect you pay for it. Not to mention, the jerk’s been drinking tonight. He’s checked his brain at the door.”
“It’s okay Renee. I’ll be fine. I’ve taken care of myself for this long.” Cullen noted the tired, lonely sound in her voice.
Renee looked at Cullen again, just as some big football type poked his head in the doorway. “Renee,” he yelled. “Are you coming or what?”
“Yeah,” she answered sheepishly. “I’ve really gotta go,” she said in that abused, manipulated, will-answer-to-any-jerk-that-pretends-he-cares-about-her way. She hugged Aislinn. “Be safe,” Cullen heard her whisper.
“You too,” Aislinn said knowingly. Renee blushed and then hurried away. As she reached the door the guy grabbed her by the arm and led her out.
Cullen held himself back. She was just another human in an abusive relationship and it wasn’t any of his business. He growled under his breath and tried to stand up anyway. Suddenly the room began spinning again and he sat back down on the stool with a grin and a chuckle.
“Aislinn!” The voice that called the girl’s name was slurred and angry sounding. Cullen looked up to see the girl hurry to some greasy looking guy who was standing in a doorway on the back wall. He tried to get her back into the office but the girl was smart enough to not let him draw her in. “Haven’t you gotten rid of that guy yet?” His tone was annoyed and drunk. “He’s got a friend coming to get him. If you want to go I’ll lock up behind me.”
“And leave you here in my place?” He grinned luridly at her. “The only guy you get to stay here alone with is me.” He tried to grab her, but she stepped back and he missed. That earned her a glare.
“You know that I don’t work that way, Derrick. You wanna fire me go ahead. I don’t play touchy feely with random fuck-offs.”
Cullen grinned again. She was amusing. Her tone was assertive and she seemed to be in control, so he let her protect herself. It was nice to see that some people could. Cullen missed the end of their conversation to his swimming brain and his own thoughts. The guy disappeared back into his office and Aislinn was walking toward him when he looked up.
“So where is this friend of yours anyway?” She said. He could hear an edge of concern in her voice when she said that. She stared at Cullen and then over at the door.
“You know what,” Cullen said and eyed the office door. “If you need a ride home or something…” His voice trailed off as he looked at her.
Aislinn’s eyes meet his again. She couldn’t help see there was something in there. He was just one of those people she knew could be trusted in the same way she knew that Derrick couldn’t be. At the same time logic dictated that she not accept rides from drunken strangers.
“No thanks.” She walked over to the main doors and looked out. There wasn’t anyone there and the parking lot was abandoned except for a large black SUV and Derrick’s dilapidated red Honda. Presumably he SUV belonged to this Cullen guy. She was considering calling a taxi. It would cost her but at least that was safer than any of her other options at the moment. Aislinn turned around to find Cullen standing directly behind her with a confused, appraising look on his face.
He just couldn’t put his finger on it. He wasn’t sure what she smelled like. But he was starting to think that he liked it, whatever it was. He figured that if it weren’t for the alcohol he probably wouldn’t be being so introspective or even care. The worst part was that he wanted a closer inspection. Not that she’d submit to that. She wouldn’t even let him give her a ride. She was standing there looking at him cautiously. He closed his eyes and smiled, shaking his head. He could just imagine her reaction if he said something like, I’ll give you a ride home. You can take a shower. Then you can let me smell you. He chuckled again. Alcohol hadn’t felt this good in ages. It’s pretty sad with a little bit of amusement caused by a random female and alcohol beats out everything else in your life.
Aislinn could see the thoughts spinning through his head. He was amusing himself with whatever it was he was thinking. She couldn’t help wondering what it was. He certainly had a pleasant smile. As he was standing there she finally saw what was making him smell so foul. He was wearing a t-shirt and jeans under his duster. Everything he was wearing was black, so in the gloomy bar with all the smoke and him sitting behind the bar she hadn’t noticed. But now that he was standing, with the coat open in the light from the main entrance she could see what appeared to be blood all over the front of him. She wasn’t an expert but she was pretty positive from the smell that it wasn’t human blood. That had a more coppery smell to it. She had caught that smell coming from people a number of times. People were always getting hurt. The smell of human blood wasn’t pleasant, but it wasn’t this foul either.
Cullen saw confusion on her face and followed her gaze to the front of his clothes. When he realized what she was staring at he pulled the duster closed and looked up at her again. That sobered him up a bit. He’d nearly forgotten the fight with the vamp he’d gotten himself into after he left Jenna’s. He intended to go home after that, but spied this dive and decided to stop instead. Maybe that was a mistake. When their eyes met again they seemed to be staring into each other, trying to read the other’s mind. That was when another large black SUV pulled into the lot.
Aislinn turned to look at who was pulling in. “This your friend?”
“Yeah, I think so,” he said, still looking at her. He didn’t want to be done with this yet. She had obviously seen the blood. Didn’t she even care?
Aislinn looked over his shoulder toward the office, and then sidled past Cullen and headed for the bar. “Excuse me.” She half jogged, half walked toward the bar and jumped over it in one motion. Cullen noted the athletic ability that her non-athletic build masked. She grabbed some stuff from behind the bar and then came around the side, all the while watching the office door. As she came back toward the main entrance she called back to the office. “Derrick, that guy’s ride’s here. I’m leaving.”
Before Derrick could get out of the office to stop her she had moved passed Cullen again and out into the parking lot. “Have a good night,” she waved and walked hurriedly toward the street.
The guy from the office came trotting across the floor and stared out the door after her but she had managed to get out to the road and was on her way toward town. “Shit,” he said and glared at Cullen.
Cullen could see the look in the man’s eyes and knew that whether it was tonight or some other night Aislinn was in danger. Something in Cullen was outraged at the thought. But the alcohol was making it difficult for him to think beyond doing something unfortunate to the man right then and there.
Keith walked up to Cullen as Derrick ushered him the rest of the way out the entrance and closed the door, locking it without a word. Derrick would never know how close he came to being ripped to shreds that night.
Keith followed Cullen’s gaze as he watched Aislinn walking quickly down the road. “Hey, you alright?”
“Yeah,” Cullen answered and looked over at his friend as he was led toward the SUV. “Congratulate me. I’m engaged to be mated.”
Keith understood. He shook his head. He couldn’t believe that Cullen was going along with this. It wasn’t the way the Arnauk operated. As they neared the SUV Ranaild stepped out. Cullen threw Ranaild the keys to the SUV he’d driven here and Ranaild walked to the other vehicle. Keith headed for his side of the car. As they were getting in, Cullen saw Derrick appear out the side of the bar and head for the beat up car at the other side of the lot.
“Do me a favor,” Cullen said. “Consider it a condemned man’s last request. Follow that guy.”
Keith stared at Cullen a minute and then shrugged. Putting the truck in gear he headed after the guy. It didn’t make any sense but who was he to argue with Lord General Cullen Arnauk. “You gonna tell me why we’re following him?”
Cullen smiled sardonically. “Cuz he’s an ass and I want a reason to rip his throat out.” “Alright.” Keith wasn’t used to Cullen being like this. Firstly, he didn’t get drunk. Secondly, he didn’t disappear and then need rides summoned by strange girls in the middle of the night. Thirdly, he didn’t show interest in human females. And if that wasn’t enough, he didn’t chase human males around for any reason. Keith glanced sidelong at Cullen. He knew that being forced into mating with Jenna Tairneach was the last thing in existence that he wanted, but this was just strange.
“Faigh muin,” Cullen swore vehemently and brought Keith’s attention back to the situation. Keith slammed on the brakes and Cullen dove out of the car before Keith could see what the problem was.
* * * *
Aislinn had been walking as fast as she could. She was just praying that she could reach her crappy apartment before Derrick could get his act together. It was only a ten minute walk from the bar but if he got in his car relatively quickly he’d be able to catch up.
When Derrick pulled in front of her, cutting her off, she knew that she was in trouble. Aislinn headed for the other side of the road as Derrick got out and followed her. “Hey Ais, are you sure you don’t want a ride,” he slurred.
God, I wonder how much he drank tonight? Aislinn’s mind raced. He was between her and her apartment. Just one more block. Momentarily she thought she might be able to get around him. She was rather quick. Then there was the other option. He had tried this once before. She had cold cocked him and he had left her alone for a week. “Do you want me to hit you again?”
“You bitch,” he said with a wicked glare. “You really do think you’re too good for me. I’ll teach you this time.”
Aislinn set herself up in a defensive stance. As Derrick got closer she balled her hands into fists and punched him square in the face. Derrick grunted, but managed to catch himself just before he fell over. “Damn bitch!” he said, spitting out blood. “You on steroids or something?”
Aislinn took the opportunity to try and run around him but he yanked a black boxlike thing out of his pocket and caught her in the side with it as she tried to run. Aislinn felt the excruciating electric shock blaze through her body. Suddenly everything spun and she lost control of her legs. She found herself lying on the ground in confusion, unable to move and staring up at Derrick. He held up the black box and pushed a button so that she could see what he had done. Electricity jumped across the electrodes on the end of the taser. Derrick smiled an evil smile. “I bet you feel just as good unconscious as not.”
A low growl caught Derrick’s attention and he turned around but all he could see were shadows down the street. He figured he needed to work quickly before the stun wore off. Derrick shocked Aislinn again for good measure and shoved the taser back in his pocket. He had something more permanent in the car to deal with her. But he had to carry her over there. Another growl caught his attention and he looked behind him to see that guy Aislinn had been waiting on standing there out of nowhere. The guy didn’t say anything and his face was shadowed where he stood with a street lamp behind him.
“Mind your own business,” Derrick spit at him and headed for his car with Aislinn slung over his shoulder.
Cullen lost it. He couldn’t believe that the piece of caoch would still be trying to get away with this even after being caught. He stepped up and knocked Derrick’s feet out from under him. As Derrick fell Cullen grabbed Aislinn and pulled her to himself. The stun was starting to wear off and she looked up into his face. His eyes were like molten pools of amber. It was almost hypnotic. They seemed to swim between dark brown almost black and glowing gold.
Derrick stood up swearing and pulled the taser out again. He headed toward Cullen and Aislinn and jabbed the device at them. Cullen took the shock in his arm and then shook his head at the guy. Derrick finally figured out that this was not going to go his way. He turned and made a dash for his car but somehow Cullen was there first. Derrick tried the taser again but Cullen only grunted as the shock went through him and grabbed Derrick by the wrist that was holding the gun. There was a disgusting crunching sound and Derrick’s screaming as Cullen’s hand squeezed around Derrick’s wrist and the bones gave under the pressure.
Aislinn was still a bit dazed as she watched Cullen beat Derrick to the ground and then toss the guy in the backseat of his car. Then, as if nothing had happened, Cullen came walking over to her. “Are you sure you don’t want that ride home,” he asked.
Aislinn swallowed deliberately. She just didn’t get it. “Why did you do that?”
Cullen watched her. She still wasn’t afraid of him. This little human girl had just been attacked and watched him throttle her boss. He knew that she had seen his eyes turn. He nearly killed the guy without thinking. The alcohol was warping his sense of control. “I don’t really know,” he said honestly.
Cullen knew that Keith was watching from the truck. He could see the black SUV down the road a ways. “That ride,” he asked again.
“I just live a block down from here.”
“Then I’ll walk you.” It wasn’t an offer.
Aislinn could tell from the tone in his voice that he wasn’t going to take ‘no’ for an answer. She took a deep breath. “Fine, it’s this way.”
Cullen walked with her toward her apartment building. “I think you need a new job.” Aislinn harrumphed at him. “Yeah, well you gonna give me one? Here’s my resume. College dropout with minimal bartending experience seeks nice stable job not working for an ass.” She refused to look at him and he knew there were tears in her eyes from the shaky way she finished the statement.
“Alright, you’re hired,” he said.
She stopped and looked at him incredulously. “Are you for real?”
Now he could see the glassy eyes. He wasn’t sure if it had been his question or everything that had just happened that had caused her to be suddenly upset. But he didn’t like the idea that it might be his fault.
“What do you mean,” she persisted when he didn’t explain himself.
“I have some influence with a number of different businesses in town. I can give you a job. Secretary,” he shrugged, “waitress if you really want. If that’s what you do.”
Aislinn wasn’t sure if she should take him seriously or not. “Who are you? Superman?”
Cullen chuckled and one corner of his mouth turned up in that amused smile he’d been wearing off and on all night when he looked at her. “I prefer Batman. I don’t think I could pull off red and blue tights and Batman had better toys.”
Aislinn shook her head. “I think you’ve done enough for me at this point,” she said cautiously.
Cullen rolled his eyes and sighed in annoyance. “Why is it that people never do the smart thing when it’s right in front of them? Look, I’m just offering you a legitimate job. You shouldn’t have to put up with a creep like that.”
Aislinn glared at him. What right did he have to be angry with her? It’s not like she asked for his help. “And what about the other girls there? You gonna give all the people working for Derrick jobs elsewhere? Why are you so concerned with me?”
“Honestly?” Cullen ran his hand through his hair and looked back toward where the black SUV was parked. He knew that Keith was sitting behind the tinted windows watching the scene. “I don’t really know. No, I’m not going help out everyone working in that dive. But I thought I might be able to help you out. If you want to keep working for that guy, be my guest. But my guess is that when he gets a grip after what I did to him he’s going to be looking to take it out on someone. Who do you think is going to end up the target?” He was suddenly feeling very sober again and didn’t like it.
Aislinn stood in silence for a minute staring at nothing on the ground. “You’re right. I’m gonna have to quit. I can’t stay there now. It would have been one thing if I’d just beaten him off like last time, but you really screwed this up.”
Cullen growled at her. “Would you have rather--“
“Let me finish.” Aislinn interrupted him. Cullen was shocked into silence. No one interrupted him. “No I wouldn’t rather the alternative. But you didn’t have to put him in the hospital.”
“He’s not in the hospital. At least I don’t see you running to call an ambulance.” Cullen shook his head. “You know what? Just forget it. I’m sorry I interfered.” He turned and started to head for the SUV.
Aislinn watched him leaving for a moment. “Shit, wait!” She was standing there nervously. “God, why does the smart thing have to feel so shitty? Look, I just don’t like owing people anything. I seem to be accumulating quite the bill with you. First you come out of nowhere and… Well, you know what you did. Now you want to give me a real job. How the hell am I supposed to pay you back for this stuff?”
Cullen could understand how she was feeling. He didn’t like owing people either. “You can call us even for the first thing, considering you spent half your shift keeping an eye on me and then making sure I got home all right.” She looked like she was about to argue but an authoritative look from Cullen kept her silent. Even if the glare she threw at him was screaming that she didn’t think it was an even trade off. “As far as the job goes, I’m just offering you a job. Intelligent, reliable people are hard to come by. It’s not as big a favor as you might think.”
“I’m really not in a position to turn you down.” Aislinn was feeling trapped. But she knew better than to think that it would be at all feasible to go back to her job at the Blood Pit.
Cullen nodded. He started searching his pockets. Empty handed, he looked up at her. “Got a piece of paper and a pen?”
Aislinn opened her purse and started rooting around inside. “Now you’re asking a lot.” After a moment she shook her head. “Not with me. But I know I have one inside.” She pulled her keys out and without another thought about letting a complete stranger into her apartment she headed up the cement steps from the sidewalk and opened the main door. Cullen followed along behind.
Keith watched out the window as Cullen headed into the building with the girl he had just rescued. None of it made any sense. He was torn between getting out and following them and just asking Cullen what the hell he was doing. It was late and he wanted to go back to his bed. Jaylyn was already pissed that he’d left. If he didn’t get back soon, he’d be sleeping on the couch.
Cullen was still just drunk enough to completely forget that Keith was waiting outside. The elevator was out of order so they headed up three flights of stairs. The place was entirely unpleasant. It smelled of mould and piss and there was garbage in the halls. It didn’t look as though it had been cleaned in about a century and graffiti covered the walls and railings of the stairwell. He couldn’t help the look on his face when Aislinn opened the door to her apartment and let him in.
“I know the place is pretty awful. But the rent is cheap.” She was more than a little embarrassed by letting him see the place. She lived in efficiency in the bad part of town. There’s only one look for places like that. Aislinn liked to refer to it as post-apocalyptic chic. The only thing worse would be being homeless. The one room she was in sported tattered wallpaper in an old 70’s pattern. She slept on a mattress on the floor in one corner and the kitchen was only functional because of the microwave she got at the local Goodwill. She tossed her purse down on the table. She was kicking herself for letting him in here. She could just imagine where he probably lived if he was able to say that he ‘had influence over a number of businesses in town.’ She rummaged through some things on a small table in the kitchen/dining/living area of the room and managed to produce a pen and paper.
Cullen could see the embarrassment on her face when she handed him the stuff without looking him in the eyes for the first time that night. He put the paper on the table so he could write and it wobbled. He ignored it and wrote a name, number, and address on the paper. Then he wrote something else underneath that. “Here,” Cullen handed her the paper and she looked over the information. “Go to the address there. The guy you want to talk to is Liam Arnauk. Tell him that Cullen sent you. I wrote him a note there. He’ll give you a job.”
Aislinn looked over the paper. The note he had written on the bottom of it wasn’t written in English, but she could read it. “The girl’s name is Aislinn. I’d appreciate if you found her a job. I’ll call us even if you manage something good. Cullen.”
Cullen was stunned. It took a lot to surprise him. But this girl had managed one thing after another tonight. “You read Gaelic?”
Aislinn was pleased by the shocked look on his face. She smiled at him smugly. “Actually I read and speak several languages. Gaelic is one of them.”
“How? No one bothers with Gaelic.” He couldn’t help the curiosity. Who was she?
“I wasn’t always living in crapholes like this and waiting tables in bars to make ends barely meet. Before I came here I was a college student. I was studying folklore and dead languages. Gaelic may not be completely dead, but it’s pretty close. I find it interesting. Actually I was wondering why you were using it. Studying something like that in college is one thing. But it looks like you’re using it on a casual basis. And ‘no one bothers with Gaelic.’” Aislinn mocked with a grin and raised eyebrows. She could tell by the incredulous look on his face that she had managed to get a little past his guard and that didn’t happen often.
“My entire family speaks Gaelic. We just always have.” He was giving her that appraising look again. Cullen couldn’t hold back his curiosity any longer. He stepped in close to her and moving very slowly so as not to scare her he leaned down and smelled her hair.
Aislinn felt an almost electric surge shoot through her as he stood so close to her. Her heart began pounding. At this proximity she could still smell the awful odor of whatever the blood on his clothes belonged to, but she also got a much stronger scent of him.
They both just stood there breathing, neither of them wanting to move. Cullen had never felt this compelled to touch a woman before in his life. Aislinn didn’t know if she wanted him to go or stay. When they finally moved they just stood staring into each other’s eyes as if they were trying to understand what was happening. But neither of them could wrap their brains around the situation.
Finally Cullen gently reached out and cupped his hand along the side of her face. Warmth spread from the touch through Aislinn’s body. Cullen ran his thumb slowly over her parted lips. She took in a sharp breath as shock waves seemed to travel through her from the place where he touched. All the sensations were amazingly strong and resulted in a heat forming between her legs.
The minute the scent of her arousal hit him Cullen felt his wolf surge like nothing he’d ever experienced. No battle or woman before now had ever summoned his spirit like this. He wanted her. There was nothing else in the world right at that moment; just this enigmatic female standing proudly in front of him, challenging him, and drawing him in. He still couldn’t place her scent. It wasn’t lycan, was it? But it wasn’t completely human either. Could he even be drawn like this to something that was neither human nor lycan? Was she fey? But he thought he knew those scents as well. Maybe the alcohol and all the competing smells from the evening were messing with his senses. He wanted to know.
Aislinn stared at him. She wanted him to do more. She couldn’t believe how badly she wanted him to do more. She cursed herself for not being able to keep control. He was a complete stranger. An incredible, sexy, kind, complete stranger. As she stared into his eyes they changed again. It was like staring into molten gold. There were dark flecks swimming in this iridescent amber around his black pupils. Aislinn felt herself being pulled in, as though she could be happily lost in those eyes.
Cullen felt his wolf taking too much control. He forced himself to pull his hand away from her and step back. It wasn’t until he wrenched himself back into the moment that he realized his eyes had shifted. She was just standing there staring. He could smell her arousal, hear her breathing, he could almost feel her heart beat thudding in time with his own. When he felt the stirring in his pants he knew that things had gone way too far. His brain was screaming, You don’t even know what she is! But his heart, soul, and wolf were insisting, Take her.
Cullen closed his eyes, breathing heavily, willing himself to get control. Aislinn watched as he seemed to be trying to gain a measure of composure. She couldn’t help herself. She really didn’t want him to stop. She stepped toward him and placed her hand on his chest. “Are you all right,” she said breathlessly. This is insane, Aislinn thought, Derrick tries to rape me and now I’m encouraging my would-be protector to do who knows what. This just didn’t make sense. It was as though her body had taken over and it wanted this man, badly.
When her hand touched his chest Cullen thought he might lose it. He needed to leave or rip her clothes off. He settled for something in the middle. Leaning into her he pressed his lips to hers. The entire room seemed to spin and it wasn’t from the alcohol. The kiss was long and lingering. Neither of them wanted to stop. Aislinn felt her heart in her throat, goose bumps ran down her body, and she could feel the heat between her legs intensify.
The kiss became more and more inflamed. Cullen gently bit at her upper lip and she parted her lips to allow him to taste her. He snaked his tongue into her mouth and brushed against her tongue. Their breathing became increasingly ragged and Cullen’s hands managed to find their way along her waist, move under her shirt, and then drift deftly upward as he began to explore her body. When he reached her breasts Aislinn let out a soft encouraging moan that soaked into Cullen’s mind and called his wolf up full force. He wasn’t going to be able to stop it if this continued. His mind was trying desperately to regain control of the situation while knowing that the fight had already been lost.
When the tentative knock came on the door Cullen turned suddenly toward it as if he had been startled and growled menacingly at the unknown intruder. For a brief moment he was in guardian mode and would have attacked anyone who came through that door. At the second knock reality grabbed hold of him and Cullen was able to reassert his mind over his wolf.
Aislinn watched Cullen’s reaction and heard the growl issue from his chest. It was like some kind of weird guard dog sound. She remembered the sound in the street when Derrick had attacked her and knew it must have been Cullen as well. Oddly she wasn’t bothered by it. She didn’t really know why it didn’t bother her. A third knock on her door, and she moved to see who could possibly be knocking. The only thing that kept her from locking the door instead of opening it was the fact that Cullen had proven himself more than able of handling the situation should something terrible be on the other side of the door.
Aislinn took a deep breath and willed her heart to stop racing in her chest. She looked back at Cullen before she opened the door. He was staring at it readily, as though he expected something bad on the other side. His eyes had returned to normal brown, and he stopped growling. So she opened the door.
Aislinn recognized the guy at the door as Cullen’s friend who came to get him. She realized that he must have been waiting for Cullen all this time. She really wasn’t sure how long they had been standing there kissing. But if Keith hadn’t come knocking she was fairly certain that it would have gone much farther.
Cullen eyed Keith standing there, then let his head roll over his shoulders and sighed heavily. He knew logically that it was a good thing Keith had shown up. The last thing Cullen should have been doing was having sex with some girl he’d met tending bar. No matter how intriguing she was. No matter how much he wanted to take her. For a brief instant Cullen’s wolf reared its head again and Cullen considered telling Keith to get lost. But instead he headed toward the door.
“Like I said,” Cullen looked at Aislinn with a long suffering stare telling her he wished things were different, “take that note to Liam. He’ll take care of the rest. It was,” he paused and stared into her eyes with intense regret, “good to have met you.”
Aislinn felt as though she wanted to cry. None of this made sense. Why should it hurt so bad that this complete stranger was leaving instead of staying to have sex with her? If she didn’t know better she would have thought that her heart was mistaking Cullen for someone she had been in love with all her life. “Yeah, thanks,” was all she could muster.
Cullen almost changed his mind about leaving when he saw the glassy look in her eyes. It just wasn’t something he could do. He was supposed to be mated to Jenna. The arrangements were made. He shouldn’t be having sex with some random girl. This was probably just his subconscious trying to get him in trouble and out of the arrangement. He nodded at Aislinn, pushed past Keith and headed down the stairs at nearly a run. When he reached the street he let out a yell and punched a nearby signpost hard enough to bend it in half.
Keith was completely baffled by the situation. He followed Cullen in silence to the SUV. They both got in and Keith started driving before he finally got up the nerve to ask, “What was that?”
“I’ve found myself saying ‘I don’t know’ to similar questions repeatedly tonight. Just drop it.”
The tone in Cullen’s voice was dangerous and Keith didn’t really know what, if anything, he could or should say. So they drove back to the den in silence.
Chapter 2
A man's as miserable as he thinks he is.
-Lucius Annaeus Seneca
Aislinn put on what she considered to be her best interview clothes. The outfit consisted of a pair of black dress pants, a white button up shirt, and a shear black scarf she tied at her neck. She put on a pair of black heels and combed her brown hair into a twist at the back of her head. She didn’t really know what kind of business was at the other end of the address, but she figured that the look was conservative enough for just about anything and not overly dressy. She had bought the clothes to attend a funeral and hadn’t been given another opportunity to wear them since. She sighed and remembered that she didn’t even get to go to the funeral.
She took one last look at herself in the mirror before pocketing the piece of paper she’d been given and heading downstairs. She put this off for more than a week. When she had gone into work at the bar the day after she met Cullen she found out that Derrick ended up in the hospital after all. Luke said that he’d been told Derrick would be out for a couple of weeks or more.
When Derrick had initially gotten to the hospital he’d been unconscious. Some nice passerby doing a good deed had called the ambulance. Aislinn had decided to wait and see. She hoped that he would keep his mouth shut and leave her alone because he wouldn’t want to have to deal with her accusing him of attempted rape. But when he woke up he fired her. Then he decided to press charges against her for battery. She was arrested and spent the night in jail before Renee and Luke managed to put together bail money.
The story she ended up getting was that Derrick claimed she tried to steal some money from the register that night. Supposedly he caught her and she took off with the money. He chased her down and she and some big guy that Derrick didn’t know beat him up and left him for dead. When Aislinn told the cops what really happened they suggested she bring up charges of attempted assault.
Everything was going to hell. Aislinn hadn't wanted to accept this job after Cullen had taken off that night. He'd given her that kiss, and then disappeared like there had been something wrong with it. She didn’t understand why she felt betrayed by that. It was all too strange. On top of that, there was the court case, and now she owed Renee and Luke a lot of money. She tried to find another job at a different bar, but Derrick apparently had a few friends. No one was hiring Aislinn. She finally decided that she needed the money too badly to let her pride get in the way of taking the job she had been offered.
Aislinn had been so caught up in her misery that she didn’t pay attention to where the taxi was going. When the taxi pulled up in front of Taigh-Osda, the restaurant/bar/hotel attached to the most popular casino in town, the Madadh-alluidh Saobhaidh, she was positive that he had to have taken her to the wrong address. “Are you sure this is it?”
“Yeah lady. That’ll be 13 even.”
Aislinn handed the guy her last twenty and accepted her change. She took a deep breath, turned around, and walked toward the main entrance. When she got to the front door of the popular steak house a woman in expensive looking heels, a knee-length brown skirt, and a white silky shirt opened and held the door for her. “Welcome to Taigh-Osda,” the woman said warmly. Aislinn immediately felt as if she were in over her head.
Aislinn walked in with as much confidence as she could manage toward the front desk. An incredibly attractive dark haired woman with a clip board approached her. The woman’s eyes were the same kind of dark brown as Cullen’s and from the look of the woman she could have been his sister. Aislinn wondered if she had ever met a more attractive woman in her life.
“Do you have a reservation?”
“Um, no,” Aislinn said. She pulled the paper out of her purse, noticing that her purse didn’t match her shoes and wondered if the woman she was talking to noticed. “I’m here to see Liam about a job. Cullen sent me.” She held out the paper to the woman.
The woman’s dark eyes showed obvious shock. Aislinn was fairly certain that this woman wouldn’t have believed her if it weren’t for the note.
“Okay,” the woman said haltingly. “Uh, wait here a minute. I’ll go get Liam.” She handed Aislinn back the paper and she headed through a door just off to the right of the desk. Aislinn had to step out of the way as a couple came up to the desk and a different woman, also very attractive and with a similar look to the other approached the couple and spoke with them quietly. Then the couple was led off toward the restaurant entrance.
As Aislinn waited she couldn’t help take in the delicious smell of steak that was wafting from the restaurant. Once the initial nervousness of the situation wore off some she decided to look around a bit while she waited. She took a few steps through the hotel lobby so that she could get a view of the inside of the restaurant through the entrance.
The lighting was low and the booths were high backed and mostly private so she couldn’t tell how many customers were there. But it was relatively early. The place probably picks up with the casino in the evenings, she thought as she glanced across the elegant lobby to the casino entrance that was opposite the restaurant. The Taigh-Osda had only opened for lunch about an hour before she showed up. So it was still pretty early. The casino was pretty empty yet as well. Both venues were definitely more of a night life kinda thing. She knew of this place by reputation and it appeared well deserved.
The lobby was decorated with an old Celtic feel. The floors and walls were cut, carved stone and large wooden beams arched up to the ceiling. The beams were decorated with elaborately carved Gaelic sayings that were most likely wasted on the average patron. But Aislinn was entranced by the intricacy and the beauty of it all. There were stained glass murals high on the walls that threw beautifully colored shadows across the floor from the sunlight streaming in. Tapestries lined the stone walls and sconces holding lighting that looked remarkably like flames. It was as though she had stepped into some different city. No wonder this place gets so much attention, she thought.
As she waited she contemplated the names of the two businesses. The name of the restaurant, Taigh-Osda, was actually “the pub” or “hotel” in Gaelic. The name of the casino, Madadh-Allaidh Saobhaidh, was “wolf den”. She thought about Cullen’s eyes and the growling. She didn’t really know how to take it all. She was smart enough to make the movie world guess and jump to really insane conclusions. But she just couldn’t force that thought into her head. At the same time, she thought, I wouldn’t have ever believed that there were druids until I’d had to run away from their creepy culty “circle.”
It wasn’t too long before the woman returned and then asked Aislinn to come with her. She led the way back through the door next to the desk, passed a set of doors on the wall that shared a corridor with the restaurant. Waiters and waitresses were going in and out of the doors with trays and food, presumably room service for the hotel. The woman led Aislinn to a similar set of doors farther down the hall. “This way,” she said with a smile, then hesitated and turned to look at Aislinn. Her eyes flashed with curiosity. “I’m sorry I just have to ask, how do you know, uh, Cullen?” Aislinn noted the strange emphasis the woman placed on his name. It was almost as if Aislinn shouldn’t have been allowed to use it. The tone reminded Aislinn of a parent pointing out to a child that she should be more formal when speaking of adults.
Aislinn had really hoped that question wouldn’t come up. She cleared her throat. “He helped me out last week. Uh, he thought the guy I worked for wasn’t very nice and suggested I get a job elsewhere.”
The woman looked at her as if she didn’t believe what Aislinn said, but didn’t press the issue farther. She just turned around and led the way through a door at the end of the hall into an office. There was a man in a gray suit shuffling paperwork at a desk. He looked up and motioned for Aislinn to come in. The woman immediately headed back out the door and closed it behind her.
He looked up at Aislinn with a piercing dark stare. Aislinn stared right back. He looked older than Cullen, but again there were those strange dark brown eyes and dark hair. Liam was much paler in skin tone than the woman who had brought her here or Cullen, as if he spent all his time in doors behind a desk. He seemed to be trying to see through Aislinn, but she put up her standard wall and waited for him to be done appraising her and say something.
“Meghan said that Cullen sent you here with a note for me.” Aislinn stepped toward the desk and handed Liam the note that Cullen had written. He looked it over and then looked up at Aislinn with more of an interested gaze than before. “Okay, so do you have any experience with waitressing?”
“My last job was tending bar. But I’m a quick study,” Aislinn offered.
The man nodded and looked back at the note. It was pretty obvious that this kind of thing didn’t happen often. Somehow it made Aislinn feel good to know that Cullen didn’t go around getting every woman he met a job. “Well Aislinn, I do have an opening for a new waitress. When can you start?”
There wasn’t even an interview really. Aislinn filled out the paperwork, was given a tour of the place by Meghan, and was told what to buy as a uniform. That evening she went to the store and spent the last of the rent money on appropriate clothes for her new job. As she did it she wondered what her landlord was going to do when she didn’t have rent on time. She shook her head. There wasn’t anything she could do about it at the moment. One step at a time, she thought.
* * * *
Cullen had been into Taigh-Osda several times throughout the week. It was his favorite place to eat so no one thought anything about it. But really he had been looking to see if Aislinn had shown up to get that job. He had been more than a little annoyed when she didn’t show. Muin, he swore to himself. If she wants to work for some jerk who tries to rape her then let her. She’s just some random human female. Why the hell do I care?
Jenna showed up at the den late that week. She was excited and waited all afternoon for Cullen to manage enough time to meet with her. For his part he had been finding as many extra things to do as he could come up with. The woman was driving him crazy. Ever since he had agreed to the mating she had been calling non-stop and making a fuss. As far as he was concerned, this was supposed to be an arrangement of convenience and nothing more.
Cullen was only mating with the girl as a favor to Brennus Tairneach. He was ancient. Jenna was his only child and he wanted his bloodline to retain some power in his clan. Cullen owed the man a great deal. Brennus had been an alpha when Cullen was still a child. If it weren’t for Brennus Cullen would have been killed centuries ago. But as time wore on Cullen came into his own power. He had never been interested in being an alpha, but he was more than strong enough mentally and physically to do the job. He had created clan Arnauk a long time ago and it was now one of the most powerful clans on the continent. At the same time Brennus was growing older and becoming less influential among the stronger members of the Tairneach clan. It was more than apparent that Jenna would not be able to succeed him and the vultures were clamoring for his throat.
Brennus’ plan was simple. He called in an old favor. Here was his beautiful daughter Jenna. Cullen couldn’t debate that point. The girl was attractive. Cullen owed him a favor and was more than strong enough to merge the Tairneach with the Arnauk. Brennus wanted the Tairneach name to be carried with one of Jenna and Cullen’s children and when the child was old enough to rule Cullen was to give the Tairneach land to Brennus’ grandchild. Brennus’ only hope was that he would be around long enough to see it happen. But he had no delusions about his ability to hold his position as alpha for much longer.