Page 39 of New Blood

“I don’t have much to report,” Austin started.

“But you must know what’s happening with my father,” Eve interrupted.

Austin snapped his head toward Eve, looking a little peeved about her tone. “He’s in Bozeman right now, awaiting trial. Not all governing members of the Werewolf Alliance are currently at headquarters. It’ll be another day before they can assemble and hear the case. They’ll contact us when they have news.”

The door to William’s old office opened all of a sudden, and Violet exited, a stack of files pressed to her chest, her cheeks flushed a little. Jude followed her into the foyer.

“Thought I heard some noise,” he said with a nod to his brother and team members. “How was Bozeman?”

“Cold,” Austin replied.

Jude’s gaze drifted to Danielle, and even though it was but a very brief glance, she couldn’t help but recognize the heat in his eyes. She quickly averted her gaze, sure that the desire she saw in his eyes wasn’t meant for her. After all, earlier this morning, he’d told Ransom that he thought she would be boring in bed, pretending that—of course—, he didn’t know first-hand, but that her shyness seemed to suggest it. That memory sent ice water through her veins. How could he turn from cruel to lusty so quickly?

She reached for the dish towels to have a reason to leave, because she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of making her flee his presence just by looking at her.

“Oh, and Charlotte wants to visit,” Austin added casually.

At the name, Danielle listened up involuntarily. Who was Charlotte?

Jude’s chuckle was unexpected. “Let me guess, she’s driving Mom and Dad nuts.”

“More like the other way around.”

This could mean that she was their sister. And even if she wasn’t, why was she even interested or concerned? She shouldn’t care at all about the women in Jude’s life. It didn’t mean anything to her. He didn’t mean anything to her. Or at least, he shouldn’t.

“Francisco,” Parker called out, pointing to the luggage. “Give me a hand with the bags. Do you know which ones belong to whom?”

“Yeah, we labeled them all before we left.” Francisco marched to the foot of the stairs.

It appeared that Austin and Francisco had brought clothes and personal items for the entire team. Danielle wasn’t surprised. Jude and his men had arrived only with one small travel bag each. But now that it was clear that they would be staying for quite a while—and Jude for good—they needed more than just an overnight bag.

“You must know more,” Eve insisted, addressing Austin again.

Danielle turned, tuning out her comment, and almost bumped into Wendell, whom she’d forgotten was still blocking the corridor.

“I’m going to the kitchen. Would you like some milk for Kitty?”

“That’s a good idea,” Wendell said. “I’ll come with you. Do you think you could also find an old blanket that she can sleep on?”

She smiled at him. “Of course.” Together, they walked toward the kitchen. She was glad when they were finally out of earshot of the foyer.

“How long have you had Kitty?” she asked, hoping that nobody had noticed the look between her and Jude.

Was anybody suspecting that they’d been in the woods together? That they’d had sex? Oh God, she hadn’t even thought about that possibility. Any one of them could have been out there in the woods last night, watching them. They’d been too preoccupied with each other that they wouldn’t have heard or smelled another wolf approaching.

“She found me.”

For a moment, she didn’t understand what Wendell was saying.

“Mmm?”

“Yeah, she just showed up one night when I was coming back from a run. I was still in wolf form when she ran to me. A dog was chasing her, and I guess she felt safer with a wolf than a dog.” He laughed. “Isn’t that right, Kitty?”

As if she understood him, the cat meowed softly. Danielle noticed the collar around her neck and looked a little closer. Kitty wore a pink collar with rhinestones that sparkled in multiple colors depending on the angle the light hit them. A name seemed to be spelled out in red stones that looked almost like rubies.

“That’s a gorgeous collar you got for her. Does it say her name?”

“Actually I didn’t get it for her. She wore it when she came to me. And since it said Kitty on the collar, I figured I’d call her that.”