For Her: A Malsum Pass Novel Read online

  Alek hadn’t been surprised. He’d been to the Florida Panther Pride; had met some of its people. Their small number had come as a shock until he’d spoken with the pride leader and some of his enforcers. The group was so archaic in their rules and traditions that they bordered on barbaric. There was nothing wrong with holding on to some traditions in Alek’s opinion, but if a group refuses to change with the times, they stagnate and die; a truth which the panthers refused to recognize. He hadn’t blamed the females for wanting to escape if the opportunity presented itself. It was why he was dragging his feet so much on this case. He had no respect for the pride leader, a man who ruled by fear, and he would have turned down the job if the circumstances surrounding the Munroe sister’s disappearance hadn’t been reminiscent of the modus operandi of another group he had been hunting. He hadn’t ruled them completely out yet, but until he was able to talk to the sisters and find out what actually happened, his hands had been tied. Now that opportunity had presented itself, he had to move carefully. Daisy was already showing signs of a skittish nature, spooking her further by pouncing on her with an interrogation was not the best way to go. Slow and easy would win the day in this case.

  The tea kettle whistled and Alek turned off the heat. He grimaced as he poured the hot water into the pot of Mrs. Potter’s fancy tea service. What he wouldn’t give for a bottle of fine Russian Vodka right now. He wasn’t really a fan of tea, but he would partake so that he had an excuse to sit in the living room with the women and insinuate himself into their conversation. With that in mind, he tried to make his expression as non-threatening as possible, and carried the loaded tray into the living room.

  Alek had to pause in the doorway. Daisy was seated on the couch, angled to face Mrs. Potter, her head thrown back as trills of laughter escaped her from something the older woman had said. His heart pounded against his rib cage and he gripped the tray a bit tighter than necessary. I get the impression her sister is the only one who ever showed that poor girl any kindness… He couldn’t imagine anyone seeing her like this wouldn’t instantly want to spoil this woman. He’d only been in her presence a bare handful of minutes and he already wanted to do just that. He pushed away the thought. He needed to focus. Daisy Munroe was a job and he couldn’t afford to be distracted. She may prove to be the key that would lead him to the monsters that had created him.

  With that thought in mind he set the tray down on the coffee table and took a seat on the other end of the couch. Daisy poured the tea, more familiar with the ritual than he ever would be. She glanced shyly his way, “So Alek, Mrs. Potter said you were thinking about moving here but wanted to experience a Vermont winter before you made the commitment.”

  He accepted the fancy teacup and saucer and took a sip without a single grimace of distaste. She hadn’t actually asked a question, but he chose to respond as if she had. “I’d done most of my research on-line and this seemed to be a nice quiet place to settle.”

  Daisy nodded. “Where are you from? Mrs. Potter didn’t say.”

  Alek had to bite back a smile. This little kitten was so transparent it was amusing. She was trying to ascertain his threat level to her friend. No wonder Mrs. Potter loves her so. “As I told Eloise, I’ve recently left the military so I’ve lived all over the world. I’d like to find something permanent now.”

  Daisy raised an eyebrow at the familiar use of Mrs. Potter’s first name and shot the older woman a speaking glance. Mrs. Potter just let out one of her cackles and thumped her cane against the floor before taking a sip of her tea.

  “And what are your thoughts so far on all of this snow?” Daisy said shooting a scowl at the frosty windows that looked out over the porch. Obviously, this Florida native was not impressed with the abundance of white.

  He shrugged. “I grew up in a much colder clime, so this has actually made me a bit nostalgic.”

  Daisy took a sip of her tea and eyed him over the rim of the fancy china. “And that was… where?” She asked, attempting to pry more answers out of him. He wondered if she realized how adorable her stern face was. She probably had no idea that she couldn’t even scare a mouse but he’d give her points for trying.

  “Canada,” he replied, the lie sliding easily off his tongue. He’d definitely spent enough time in that country and could speak knowledgeably enough about it should he be questioned. He’d go so far as to say he could probably convince a native, much less this woman who he would bet had never left her small little area of Florida prior to her journey to Vermont.

  Daisy picked up a cookie and nibbled it thoughtfully. “So you were, what? A Mountie then? Isn’t that what they’re called?”

  He eyed her for a moment, noticing again that she couldn’t maintain eye contact. Daisy Munroe had very little confidence, but she did have some backbone. It was obvious he made her uncomfortable yet here she was continuing to grill him for the sake of her friend. “No, Canadian Armed Forces. But I wasn’t one of them. I lived there in my childhood.” A shrug, “We moved around a lot.”

  She nodded. He was wondering if she was going to pursue her current line of questioning. After all, he hadn’t actually said which branch of the military or for what country, but Mrs. Potter cut into the conversation. “Daisy has said she might like to travel someday, Alek. You should tell her about some of the places you’ve been.”

  Chapter Four

  It was nearly full dark by the time Daisy spotted the cabin in the distance. One thing she did like about snow was that when the moon was bright and it shined on the snow it lit up the area perfectly. That rule didn’t apply though when you’re walking through a dense section of forest where light barely penetrated. Luckily for her, a quick shift of her eyes and she could see just fine.

  Her sister was probably going to tear into her as soon as she walked through the door, but Daisy was used to that. This certainly wouldn’t be the first time she had lost track of time. She sighed. It had been a wonderful day. Her attraction to Alek Stevens had made her uncomfortable at first, but once he started talking about all of the places he’d been and sharing humorous anecdotes of his exploits with friends, she’d quickly relaxed; listening with rapt attention to every word he’d said.

  He’d been to so many exotic places, seen so many things. Daisy was envious. He probably thought her quite boring and, what was that word? It had been one of the words in Mrs. Potter’s calendar block – gauche, that’s right. She could easily picture him describing her as a gauche little country bumpkin. She shook her head. Someday she would travel the world and achieve a level of sophistication that would make people like Alek Stevens sit up and take notice.

  At some point, they’d all decided to have lunch and play a board game. Mrs. Potter had Trivial Pursuit, Scrabble, Monopoly, and Life. Since Daisy was terrible with trivia, even ones that might be considered general knowledge and her vocabulary was sadly lacking for a game like Scrabble, she chose Life. At least with that game it had more to do with the luck of your spin than over all intelligence.

  When Mrs. Potter had later asked her if she wanted to stay for dinner, Daisy had finally looked out the window to see that the sun was rapidly setting. She hadn’t wanted to leave. The conversation had been flowing and Alek had been asking about her, showing an interest. Granted, a lot of the questions he had asked, about her home life and where she had grown up, she hadn’t wanted to answer, but she had been thrilled to have his undivided attention. Before she’d left with a bag of books that Mrs. Potter had packed up for her, he’d even asked if she’d be returning soon. She’d gotten so excited that he found her interesting enough to want to see her again, she was surprised she hadn’t jumped up and down. Luckily, she had managed to rein in the urge just in time. At least she hoped she had sounded casual when she had told him that she usually tried to visit Mrs. Potter several times a week. At that, he’d smiled and said he’d see her soon. Her heart had done little flip-flops and somersaults in her chest as she left.

  “Where have you been?” The ste
rn words jarred Daisy out of her daydream of that smile and she flinched. She knew this was coming. Once again, forgetful, distracted Daisy messed up.

  She sighed and flopped down in a kitchen chair, depositing her bag of books on the table and pulling off her new hat and mittens. “I went to visit Mrs. Potter.”

  “You left the territory?” Lily nearly screeched, hands on hips like a proper mother hen. “You know you’re not supposed to leave the area, Daisy. It could be dangerous.”

  “I went to visit an eighty year old woman. It’s not like I went on a weekend bender in an opium den.”

  Lily just stared at her a moment with a confused look on her face before she shook her head. “What?”

  Okay, so perhaps channeling the “Adventures of Alek” wasn’t the best idea. When he’d shared the story of having to retrieve one of his buddies for just that very thing, it had sounded dangerous and exciting. She almost shared the story with Lily but hesitated. That would mean telling her about Alek. It didn’t make sense since she told Lily everything, but for some reason telling meant sharing and she didn’t want to share him. She didn’t want to be warned away from him. She didn’t want to hear another lecture on why she needed to be so careful. Or have her sister once again paranoid that they had been found. At least for now she wanted to keep Alek Stevens all to herself. This one part of her life was for her alone.

  Daisy waved away Lily’s question. “When I didn’t come across any patrols I figured they must have lifted the restriction. After all, plenty of time has passed.”

  Lily sat in the chair opposite Daisy and sighed. “You’re probably right but you still need to be careful.” She nudged a plastic bag with some carry-out containers inside. “I brought home dinner from the diner.”

  Once she’d eaten and changed into her flannel pajamas, Daisy settled into bed with one of her new books and her trusty dictionary. It came in handy whenever she ran into words she wasn’t quite sure of. Mrs. Potter had initially given Daisy several historical romances to read, and while the stories had been fun and interesting, there had been too many words to confuse her that her dictionary just couldn’t help with. For example, most of those books had referenced the ton. She knew they had to be referring to a group of people when taken in context, but the only definition she could find when she looked up ton was a unit of measurement. A rake was a garden tool so she really was confused when it was used to describe a man. She’d written the words down and Mrs. Potter had explained, but it caused too much disruption to the flow of the story and Daisy had quickly lost interest. Now Mrs. Potter just loaned her contemporary novels which were much easier to wrap her head around.

  Unfortunately, this evening she was way too distracted. She’d barely read a full page before her mind drifted back to Alek. Those blue eyes that would occasionally flash a hint of gold and turn turquoise had been fascinating and the way he had watched her had sent a purely feminine thrill through her body. She had never been this attracted to a man, not even Bryan.

  Daisy grimaced as memories and guilt flooded her brain and she quickly forced the thoughts out of her head and turned her attention back to the book in front of her. Tonight she didn’t want to think about death, she wanted to think about romance and possibility.

  One more paragraph read and again Alek intruded. She wasn’t really surprised. He was so much more exciting than any character on the page. He was real. Tomorrow she could go see Mrs. Potter again and perhaps she might convince Alek to go out walking with her. There was a lovely, secluded spot not too far away that had a waterfall. She hadn’t been there since it had snowed but she bet it would still be pretty. If the weather was nice enough, maybe they could have a picnic. Daisy imagined spreading a blanket on one of the large, flat boulders that edged the water and she and Alek stretched out across from each other, the sound of the falls roaring behind them as they shared food and conversation. Anticipation danced through her system, she sighed dreamily.

  “What’s the matter?”

  Daisy had almost forgotten that Lily was over in the bed on the other side of the room with a book of her own. She blushed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to disturb you.”

  Lily was looking at her and grinned. “If that book is so good that it makes you sigh and blush than I definitely want to read it when you’re done.”

  Daisy had no idea if her book was good or not considering she couldn’t keep her mind off of a certain man. “What are you reading?” She asked, hoping to distract Lily.

  Lily flipped the book slightly up to reveal the cover. “It’s a vampire book.” She shrugged. “It’s okay, though I really don’t see why the woman is so hot for this guy. He’s a douchebag.”

  Daisy chuckled. “You think every guy is a douchebag.”

  She saw Lily frown and immediately regretted her words. It had been meant as teasing, but considering what Lily had been through, Daisy wouldn’t have blamed her if she never wanted to even look at another male for the rest of her life. Trying to regain the light atmosphere she said, “Though I’ve noticed one particular redheaded douchebag has been coming to see you a lot. Are you thinking about getting a little doggy love, sister dear?”

  Lily snorted loudly. “Conner Pierce just hates it that I can totally kick his ass.” She wiggled her eyebrows. “And I have to say I enjoy kicking that ass a little too much.” She laughed and Daisy was immediately relieved that her sister’s mood had indeed relaxed. Daisy may not like feeling so trapped here in the mountains of Vermont, but Malsum Pass had definitely been good for her sister.

  Chapter Five

  Daisy wasn’t sure what woke her. She blinked a few times, yawned, and stretched before the rhythmic tapping finally penetrated her foggy brain. What was that? Was it raining? Stumbling out of the bedroom into the main area of the cabin, she spotted Lily feeding a small log into the woodstove. “What time is it?” She mumbled.

  “Just past eight.” Lily replied as she stood and brushed her hands together to remove bits of bark.

  Daisy yawned again. “Shouldn’t you be at work by now?”

  “Sleet and freezing rain,” Lily said, stepping into the kitchen area and pouring a cup of coffee. “Lucy called over the radio to tell me to stay home. It’s pretty nasty out. Luckily we have the wood stove to keep us warm if the power goes out.”

  Daisy took the steaming cup that Lily offered and frowned. So much for her plans for the day. Lily saw the frown and chucked her under the chin. “At least you have that bag of books from your Mrs. Potter. Personally, I’m kind of looking forward to a lazy day in bed.”

  The freezing rain continued to tap dance across the roof throughout the morning. While Lily seemed to have no problem staying immersed in her book, Daisy once again couldn’t concentrate on the pages before her. Putting the book aside, she pulled out her sketch pad and sharpened a pencil. Turning to a clean page, she began to sketch. It wasn’t long before she saw Alek’s eyes looking back at her. She wished she had colored pencils to add the blue with a swirl of gold, but the few times she’d tried adding color to her work, it had completely ruined the sketch in her opinion. Maybe she just preferred the silvery-gray tones left by the lead or maybe she just didn’t have a knack for blending colors the way some artists did.

  Lily stood up and stretched and Daisy quickly closed the sketch pad. It was an odd reaction, smacking of guilt and she had nothing to feel guilty about. She had never had a problem in the past letting Lily see her work, but once again she felt the need to keep Alek Stevens a secret and this sketch would raise questions she just wasn’t ready to answer.

  The whine of a snowmobile broke into her thoughts and she got up to join Lily at the window before turning to grin maniacally at her sister. “I think your boyfriend misses you already.” She teased before releasing a cackle that would have done Mrs. Potter proud.

  Lily shot her a speaking glance and then turned her attention back to the rapidly fogging glass. “How do you know it’s Conner? It could be any one of the males on pat
rol just coming out to check on us.”

  The snowmobile stopped beside the front stoop of the cabin and the driver stood and swung a long denim clad leg over to dismount the vehicle and pulled off his helmet to prove Daisy right. “Hah!” She said, and then laughed.

  Lily let out a huff of laughter and shook her head. “Okay, how did you know?”

  “I’m just that good.” Daisy teased as she moved to the door to open it for Conner.

  Actually, it had just been a good guess, mostly because it was typically the Pierce boys who came around to check on them, especially now that Sebastian Black, the resident bear shifter who had lived close by, was out of town. Neither Lily nor Daisy was quite sure if it was because they enjoyed the female company or if it was simply to keep an eye on the “enemy”. Of course it was always possible that the mischievous males did it purely to aggravate their rather overbearing mother. Sherry Pierce had made no bones about her distaste in having felines living in wolf territory. And having one or more of her boys possibly interested in a romantic relationship with one of those felines was sure to set a spark to the woman’s short fuse. It hadn’t taken Daisy long to discover that Conner, Jacob, and Zachary Pierce (when he was home from school), loved to tease their mother unmercifully.

  Conner Pierce, stomped snow off his feet and shook himself as he stepped into the cabin. Tall, handsome, with a head of thick dark red hair and an equally dark red beard Conner grinned, his brown eyes twinkling. “How are you ladies liking this fine weather?”

  Lily laughed softly and shook her head as she went to the coffee pot to pour a cup for their visitor while Daisy let out an inelegant grunt and snarled, “Just how much longer is winter going to stay? I want spring.”