Rebecca Royce: Wolf's Valentine

Wouldn't sell in my line of work."

Leaning back in his chair, unfettered amusement lit his complexion before he grinned. Jana couldn't help responding. She didn't have friends but she wouldn't mind keeping this man around for a while to test her wit and intellect. He would be a worthy opponent. Back on Westervelt, even though he wasn't a Kane, he would have been considered among the top advisors to the Alpha for his sheer audacity.

"It's Valentine's Day."

She nodded, remembering the crumpled up card in her wastebasket. "Yes, it is."

"Have dinner with me. Unless, of course, you're having dinner with Carl ." The way he said their boss' name was akin to his having suggested she was having dinner with a dictator, or a person responsible for mass genocide, not the head of a sporting goods company.

"I am not having dinner with Carl."

She had, however, promised her wolf a nice long run. But she could still do that, she'd just have to take the ten o'clock train and make it to her running spot later than usual. It wouldn't be a problem considering she hardly required any sleep to function and she had all day Saturday or Sunday to sleep if she needed it.

"Good. Then you'll have dinner with me."

Jana couldn't recall actually saying she would eat with him but she nodded like she'd agreed to it just the same.

"I'll pick you up at eight."

So maybe she'd have to make the eleven o'clock train instead. "I live at…"

He flashed a grin and winked. "I know where you live."

"You do?"

"I'm good at what I do, and knowing where you live is one of the things I have to know." Reaching out he stroked the side of her face with his long callused finger. She jumped at the contact. When was the last time someone had touched her unexpectedly?

Her heart pounded. "I'll see you at eight."

As she watched him walk out the door, his hair in the braid swinging behind him, Jana couldn't help but smile. She had a date. So what that it could never go anywhere? It was a date and she would enjoy it as just that. An evening alone with an interesting man she wanted to know more about.

Swinging around in her chair, she stared out of her large window at the Manhattan skyline in front of her. A million plus people lived their lives in this city every day and she would hasten to guess that quite a number of them had dates for Valentine's Day and now she was one of them. Alone, she let herself grin.

Malcolm stomped out of the high-rise office building at full speed. Walking down Park Avenue, he stared at the window displays even as he moved faster than he probably should, given the surroundings. She'd thrown out his damn card. Maybe it was pathetic but it had taken him the better part of the day before to decide how to phrase that card and the woman had put it in the garbage.

What do you want? It's not like she knows you are who you are. You don't even smell like a wolf .

The herbs Theo Kane ordered them all to take when they were out on assignment rid them of their shifter smell so they couldn't be scented by Kendrick's created wolves. It had never bothered Malcolm before; however, knowing now that he could scent his mate as clearly as he could breathe in the soot, sewer, and leftover sludged-up snow of New York City and she didn't react to him at all made him crazy.

Perhaps you should have just signed your name .

His wolf was not in the habit of not saying 'I told you so' when appropriate.

You would think she would know, she gets a card, signed Your Mate and then I show up and she doesn't put two and two together?

She's having dinner with us. What more do you want?

Well truthfully, that was bugging him too. She didn't know who her mate was and so she was having dinner with a man she couldn't be sure was her destiny? The woman infuriated him. Why wouldn't she just tell him if she was dating Carl? Did shifter women away from Westervelt just date ?

His cell phone began to vibrate and he groaned as he pulled it out of his coat pocket.

Malcolm looked down at the display, recognizing one of the secret numbers from Westervelt. Moving to the side of the street to avoid oncoming pedestrians, he leaned up against the jewelry store window earning him an odd glare from one of the employees coming out. It had to be a big day for them; maybe they didn't want to miss out in sales based on his blocking the storefront. Who the hell knew what these humans did or did not want?

"This is Denon."

Malcolm watched his breath form into tiny crystals in front of his face as he spoke.

He needed one of those hands free devices but he still hadn't gotten around to getting one so he had to hold it. Most of the people on the street wore gloves to prevent the cold but he just didn't find fifteen degrees to be that chilly, not when he'd been raised in Maine and carried wolf blood.

"It's Theo." Malcolm could have guessed. The fourth Kane brother had designed this mission and micromanaging was his middle name.

"What's going on?"

"How is the mate thing going?" If he heard amusement in the prince's voice, he decided to ignore it. Theo had had to fight off demons to mate with Faith. He supposed the man had earned the right to find the love lives of others amusing. Even if Malcolm wasn't in the mood to listen to it at the current moment.

"I have a date with her tonight." Looking at his watch, he saw it was almost five o'clock. That gave him three hours to change his clothes, pick her up, and decide where the hell they were going to eat. It was next to impossible to get a restaurant reservation on Valentine's Day.

"Date? She wants to date?"

"Still doesn't realize I'm her mate."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone. "You know you can stop taking the drugs long enough to expose your wolf scent to your mate, right?"

Now there was some information he could have used a week ago. "No I was not aware of that."

"You could have just asked, Malcolm."

"My prince in charge of safety of our pack tells me to disguise my scent, I disguise my scent. Your order is a direct order from our beloved Alpha." It wasn't lip service to Malcolm. He meant it. They'd been through hell and back, saved only by Tristan becoming their Alpha. He'd rob, destroy, or kill anyone that tried to harm Tristan Kane or any of the Westervelt Wolves.

"We know you feel that way. I suppose I should have realized when I sent our Warriors out to investigate this problem with the made-wolves that fate would give some of you your destined mates and that the scent would be a problem."

Malcolm nodded even though he knew Theo couldn't see him. "You've been working on keeping us safe. That is certainly enough without considering our love lives."

"Your love lives are what will continue this pack and our traditions. Ha. Unless we all rely on Tristan and Ashlee to produce endless heirs."

"Did the Alpha's wife give birth?"

"Any moment."

Malcolm couldn't help letting his mind wander to Jana. The woman was exquisite and now that he had scented her, found her, and claimed her—at least in his mind—he could understand his Alpha's desire to continuously procreate with his mate. Jana's long dark hair that nearly touched her waist when she didn't keep it tied up at work would hang down below her belly as it grew with his child. He closed his eyes on the image.

They had to 'date' first.

"So I have your permission to reinstate my scent for the moment."

"Yes you do, but it's not why I phoned."

Malcolm could have guessed that. "Has something happened?"

"Tristan sent Michael to Louisiana. We found the other pack."

Michael was the oldest Kane, but he wasn't their Alpha. That role had been destined for Tristan, the third Kane brother. The news of the other pack was interesting but Malcolm didn't think that was why Theo had called. The Kane's quest to find their sister was not on his agenda; at least he didn't think it was at the moment. "Uh-huh. And?"