The Wolf's Call (Two-Natured London) (12 page)

The next few days were
incredibly straining for Charly. Rafe had been true to his word and had given
her space. He’d driven her and Bob back to Jack’s on Sunday afternoon, an
awkward ride, as her rejection had put a strain on their earlier easy
companionship. For a man who claimed to be her mate, he had given her up pretty
easily, without so much as a kiss goodbye. He hadn’t even stayed in town; he
had driven back to Epsom, and she hadn’t seen him since. He hadn’t even called.

His
absence made an enormous hole in her life, disproportional to how long they had
known each other. But the feeling was real, even though she knew her wolf was
multiplying her misery. At least she understood now how shifters’ relationships
were about more than love. They were about belonging together and completing
each other in Might, as if the universe itself bound couples together. Love was
just a sweetening – or a cause for suffering, as it was in this case.

She
and her wolf agreed on one thing. They would not go to Rafe. It was their
mate’s duty to come and claim them. So she hadn’t called him either, even
though her wolf was driving her crazy and she could have used his help. As long
as he had been near, her wolf had been fairly manageable, but without him she
didn’t have the tools for handling its demands.

It
didn’t like the humans around her, the scents or the sounds, even though they
were exactly the same as before it had manifested. Everything irritated it,
making her cross too, and she was exhausted for constantly struggling for
control with it.

Had
Rafe known it would be this difficult for her to get accustomed to her wolf? In
that case, wouldn’t it have served his purpose better if he had stayed around
and helped her process her new life instead of giving her space to work it out
herself? He did want her to become a shifter, didn’t he?

She
wasn’t sure what she wanted. She knew she was strong enough to handle the
mental side of becoming a non-human and face the possible discrimination
because of it. Her own father had treated her like a second-class citizen and
she had survived that. But the actual shifting scared her. She feared pain, but
more importantly she feared losing control of her human side. What if she
couldn’t shift back? Rafe would be able to force her wolf to shift back to
human, but she didn’t want to count on him. She should learn how to handle the
wolf herself.

Only, no
matter what she told herself, she did need Rafe. An incredible new world had
opened for her. It tickled her to be part of this great secret and she would
have wanted to share it with him. The tube was full of wonders in the mornings:
a leopard-shifter in a pin-stripe suit heading to the City, sitting next to an
unsuspecting human colleague, talking about closing figures in Asia; a gaggle
of children in school uniforms, half of whom were fox cubs, bantering with a
group from a different school, this one including non-predatory shifters like
bunnies and deer; a nurse heading home from a nightshift who was most
definitely a vampire, although Charly didn’t know how she could tell that.

She
had seen people like them every morning and hadn’t paid much attention to them,
but she was different now. She watched, fascinated, how the human hosts didn’t bat
an eye while their auras greeted each other either with deference, caution, or
barely restrained hostility, their lack of reaction a survival tactic. She
longed to be part of that secret world, but until her wolf learned to behave
better, she didn’t dare to approach anyone. Already she was having trouble
keeping her face straight when her beast tried to make everyone’s acquaintance.
She was seriously considering taking a cab to work and back until it calmed
down.

At
least she could relax at work. Even the aftershaves didn’t bother her as badly
as before. Everyone in the office was human so her wolf calmed down pretty fast
after its initial curiosity had passed, allowing her to concentrate on her
work. But since her most important client was Rafe, her mind tended to wander.

At
least the case was going well. On Tuesday, she was contacted by Lord Foley’s
personal lawyer, Christian Eliot, a short but nicely-built and powerful man who
looked about thirty. He had laughing eyes, a bed-head and a scruffy chin, and
he wore a vintage Rolling Stones t-shirt with his suit instead of a shirt and a
tie. Nothing in his demeanour indicated why a vampire as scary as Foley would
have a lawyer so cool, but looks were definitely deceiving when it came to
vampires.

“I
handled the previous transaction for this piece of land as well,” he said with
an infectious grin when they were behind closed doors in a negotiating room.
“Though I can’t remember why we bought it. Something to do with fishing, I
suppose.”

“The
landlord at the pub in Betchworth said there’s no fish in that creek,” she
noted, hiding her reaction to his announcement. It was really difficult for her
to comprehend that some people were much older than they looked.

“No
fish?” he exclaimed in mock horror. “Of course there’s fish.”

It
figured the landlord had lied. “So the landlord is part of this,” she said, and
his laughing demeanour turned lethal so fast it was like another person had
taken his place. This one she could believe was a vampire warlord’s lawyer, or
a Circle warrior himself.

“Yes.”
He told her that Kieran had managed to track the shooter, who had subsequently
confessed that the pub’s owner was leading an anti-shifter group in Betchworth
and had hired him to shoot Rafe. Unfortunately, when the Greenwood clan had
moved in on him, he had been nowhere to be found. That worried Charly. “Never
fear,” Christian consoled her, noticing her anxiety. “We’ll get the bastard.”
Though she didn’t doubt him for a second, she couldn’t help fearing for Rafe’s
safety.

The
fear for him was so all-encompassing that it made all other fears
insignificant. Even the one about confronting her parents. She had thought to
keep her newfound knowledge a secret from them, but that would have been
cowardly, not to mention that it would be impossible to hide her new life if
she agreed to release her wolf. So, that Thursday, she took a cab to her
parents’ place by Regent’s Park. She didn’t bother calling them beforehand but
timed her visit to dinner time, knowing they would be home.

Her
parents’ housekeeper opened the door for her and informed her that Mr and Mrs
Thornton hadn’t sat down to dinner yet, which was propitious. Her father
greatly disliked having his dinner interrupted. She went to the parlour where
her parents were sitting opposite each other on antique sofas, sipping their
drinks. Wilfred Thornton was a tall and imposing man in his late sixties, with
steel-grey hair that had begun to thin after his stroke. Elisabeth Thornton was
a couple of years younger than her husband and ten inches shorter, with a round
figure she reined in with whalebones, and perfect blonde curls courtesy of an
expensive hairdresser. Both were impeccably dressed even though they were
dining alone at home.

Her
mother’s perfume hit Charly the moment she stepped into the room, but thanks to
her wolf, she was able to handle it. Handling her wolf proved to be more
difficult. It didn’t like her parents and it kept straining in her chest,
wanting to attack them. And what was worse, it made her want to attack them
too. But she knew from lifelong experience that the only way to deal with her
parents was to keep her head cool. At this, she had become an expert.

Behave.

Her
parents looked mildly surprised to see her, but not displeased. Then again,
they didn’t look delighted either. Her father got up to pour her a glass of
sherry. Charly didn’t like the taste of it, but it was no use asking for
anything else. Her father held that women shouldn’t drink anything but sherry
before dinner.

“What
brings you here?” he asked, handing her the drink. “Are you regretting your
foolish decision to reject the place I got you?”

Charly
had actually managed to forget that, but she hid the annoyance the reminder
brought. “No, I’m very happy at Latimer and Holby, thank you.” It was true too.
If her boss still held grudge over their battle of wills, he didn’t show it,
and her cases were as interesting as before. She took the plunge, not wanting
to give her father a chance to continue with the topic. “I came here to talk
with you about how you had my wolf bound when I was a child.”

The
faces of her parents turned to rigid masks. “I have no idea what you are
talking about,” her mother said calmly.

But
her father just harrumphed. “Found out about that, did you?”

Charly
was a bit surprised he hadn’t tried to deny it too. Knowing it would be useless
to ask for explanations, or to expect an apology, she just nodded.

“Yes.
And I was told that the binding can be reversed. I’m considering doing that.”

“I
absolutely forbid you to even consider it,” Wilfred Thornton said with his most
autocratic tone.

It had
no effect on her. She had survived meeting a man as scary as Lord Foley, and
the effect of Jamie’s mere gaze was stronger than her father’s anger.

“That
is not for you to decide,” she said as evenly as she could, not wanting to get
angry. It would be no use. “You’ve already crippled me once. I won’t allow you
to stop me from healing.” That’s what it would be, she understood now, healing.

In a
thunderous voice, her father bellowed, “Crippled you? We made it possible for
you to have a normal life without being treated like a freak.”

She
just shook her head. “Since you have no idea what you’re talking about, I’m
letting that pass. I just came to tell you that I’ve learned the truth and that
I’m most likely going to take the opportunity.”

“If
you become a filthy shifter, you’ll have no place in this family.” There was no
heat of anger in Wilfred’s voice anymore. The decree was absolute.

Charly’s
heart began to ache. She wasn’t close to her parents, but it hurt nonetheless
to be cast aside so easily. She hid the heartache behind a polite smile, and
didn’t try to convince them to change their minds. Her face a pale mask holding
back her emotions, she got up and turned to leave.

“I’m
sorry to hear that,” she said. “You don’t know what you’ll miss.”

Not
surprisingly, her wolf had other ideas. It tried to make her stay and lash out
at her parents. It occurred to her that it had been her wolf all along that had
made her so aggressive, but even now that it was free, her self-controlling
techniques were still working. She curbed her wolf’s anger with a tight command
and left, not looking back. Her parents might relent later, but in the meantime,
she would have to face the fact that she would lose her parents if she released
the wolf.

She
didn’t realise how sad the night had made her until she found herself before
Jack’s door some time later with no clear recollection of how she had gotten
there. The moment he opened the door for her, she burst out crying, taking him by
surprise. He looked around, as if searching for someone to handle the emotional
female for him, but since he was alone, he bravely shouldered the
responsibility and pulled her indoors, trying to soothe her, patting her on the
back clumsily until she stopped crying.

She
studied her brother with teary eyes. They looked so alike. He was a couple of
inches taller, but their colours were similar, as were their lean builds; his
just came with surprisingly masculine strength, considering that he probably
couldn’t spare much time for working out. But lines of responsibility were
already adding character to his face, and in a couple of years his expertly-cut
black hair would start showing the first signs of grey.

A
realisation hit Charly like a jackhammer, so overwhelming her crying started
again. If she accepted her wolf, she would live for centuries while everyone
she knew would grow old and eventually die. She wasn’t close with Jack, but
suddenly the thought of watching him die seemed too much.

“What
is it? Has something happened? Are you ill or something?” Jack sounded almost
panicky. He walked her to the sofa and sat down next to her. Bob trotted over
to them and pressed its heavy head on her lap. After its initial bafflement at
her change, it had accepted her as she was. After the rejection by her parents,
it felt wonderful. Jack took her hand, digging out a soft linen handkerchief
from his pocket with the other.

She
wiped her eyes. “No, I’m not ill.” If she had gained the shifters’ ability to
heal with her wolf, the opposite would be true. “I recently found out something
about myself that mother and father have kept from me.”

He
looked bewildered. “Like what? If you’re trying to tell me you’re adopted, try
the other leg. We look too much alike, and too much like father, to be anything
but his get.”

Charly
acknowledged this with a nod and just jumped to it. “No, I learned I wasn’t
born human.”

To his
credit, Jack didn’t laugh or get angry. He just swallowed a couple of times, an
uncomprehending look on his face. “What are you then?”

“I was
born a wolf-shifter.”

This
truly stunned her brother. “A latent-one,” he said carefully, revealing that he
actually had some knowledge about two-natured races.

She
sighed, surprised at how upset it still made her that her true nature had been
kept from her. “No, I’m a genuine shifter. And mother and father knew it too.
They had my second nature blocked with some kind of magic so that I was unable
to shift.”

Jack
nodded as a memory dawned. “You were a horrible child, weren’t you? And then
you suddenly just calmed. Mind you, you’ve never been easy to deal with,” he
then added with a pointed look, but she let it slide. “So … how did you find
out?”