I swallowed the lump in my throat and found my voice. “That’s from a poem, isn’t it?”
His lips curved up just slightly at the corners. “You recognize the words of William Blake. Do you study poetry?”
“Not really, but I’m a writer. It just sounded familiar.” He stood up, forcing me to tilt my head back to meet his eyes. “It seems odd to hear a trained killer talk about innocence and virtue.”
“I am good at what I do, but I am not defined by my occupation.” He paused, his eyes locked on mine until I finally broke the contact and stood up too. I took a step back, toward the hotel phone, but I didn’t make a move to pick it up. Not yet. At least I knew I was close enough to reach it.
“A wolf will never understand you the way I do. We are not like them. We need our independence, and we do not count on others for our strength.”
“Did you barge into my room tonight just to put down wolves?” I could feel a spark of anger starting to glow inside of me. “Or did you have something important to say?”
His eyes narrowed, and his hands balled into fists. Holding my breath, I waited him out.
“I came to tell you that I did some digging into the Organization’s records. I have to be very careful—if I am caught, the punishment will be severe. When I realized you hadn’t escaped, I wondered how and why I was sent for you. I found this.” He handed me a flash drive. “The Organization touches many branches of government and has access to databases in many fields.”
I looked at the flash drive and then back up at his unsettling green eyes. “Why are you helping me?”
“Are you surprised that I am not all I seem?”
“You didn’t answer my question. A couple nights ago you were trying to kidnap me.”
“I am sorry we couldn’t meet under better circumstances.”
“Yeah, me too, but helping me now doesn’t change anything. I’m not interested in a relationship if that’s what you’re after.”
“Have you told the wolf this, too?”
My brow furrowed. “I’m new to this whole animal instinct thing, but trying to push your male dominance and your racial prejudices isn’t doing anything for me.”
Sebastian rolled his eyes, pulling his black hair back from his tanned face. I could almost see the sinewy muscles ripple under his tight black shirt. “Read the information and then destroy it.” He paused, then added, “Tell the wolf to ask his Alpha about Operation Moonlight. I will find you when I know more.”
“Thank you for the intel, but this won’t change my feelings.”
“This has nothing to do with your feelings. I have to find out what they have planned for you now.” He looked down at me again, but behind the cold, calculated smile, there was a light in his eyes. “I’m curious.”
“Be careful.” I raised a brow, unable to stop the words from falling out of my mouth. “You know what curiosity did to the cat.”
He flashed me a dangerous smile. “I am hard to kill.” Without another word, he turned and walked out of my room.
I leapt over the bed and landed silently at the door to throw the deadbolt latch. There were definitely some perks to being a feline. I was maybe even starting to like it. If I had realized what I was capable of earlier in life, I might’ve done some things differently.
I took a deep breath, leaning back against the door, and looked down at the flash drive in my hand. A smile crept up on me. Finally. I might actually learn who I am.
Chapter Twenty
Adam
My hackles started to rise as I neared Lana’s door. That fucking cat had been there. The hallway reeked of him as soon as the elevator opened to her floor, and the closer I got to her, the stronger his scent became. By the time I reached her room, my entire body was tense, every muscle ready to attack.
Quietly I slipped the key in the door and as soon as the electric lock disengaged I burst into the room, popping the deadbolt right off the doorframe. “Lana are you—” I frowned, looking around her room. “You’re alone.”
She was on the bed, clutching her laptop with white knuckles. “Jesus! You scared the crap out of me.”
“Sorry. I could smell the jaguar and…” I paused, processing the scents in her room. My sharp gaze cut over to meet her eyes. “He was in this room.”
Lana nodded and set her laptop aside. “Before you get all Big Bad Wolf on me, sit down so I can fill you in.”
Jealousy, anger, fear, and adrenaline all combined in my bloodstream at once. I crossed my arms over my chest to keep from taking my frustrations out on her hotel room.
“What the hell is going on, Lana? It’s after four a.m. and not only are you not sleeping, but you’re entertaining the jaguar who killed my friend. You do remember Gabe, right?”
The instant the words left my lips I saw the hurt in her eyes, and my heart constricted in my chest. “Yes, I remember Gabe.” She wrapped her arms around her middle, raising her head a little. “It’s good to see you too, by the way. And I’m all right if you wondered.”
Part of me wanted to rush to her side and pull her into my arms to apologize, but my pride demanded I stand my ground. What was I supposed to think? She had been naked in my arms a few hours ago, and now she had some jaguar up in her room in the middle of the night? Furious didn’t begin to describe what I was feeling.
There wasn’t another woman on earth that could replace Lana in my heart if something happened to her. It was a dizzying, terrifying realization, but it didn’t make it any less true. Although my instincts screamed mate, the rest of me was just catching up. Uneven, unfamiliar territory.
For the first time in my life, I felt weak. Lana held all the power over me, and my future. And I hated it.
That fucking jaguar had been in her room. Had she touched him? I hadn’t gotten close enough yet to see if his scent lingered on her skin. I almost didn’t want to know, but at the same time, I had to know. The wolf inside of me howled, demanding her attention and her loyalty.
But Lana didn’t have the same instincts I did. I crossed the distance between us and sat beside her on the bed. When I reached for her hand, she pulled it away and kept her arms crossed. “Don’t touch me.” Her eyes shone with tears, but she kept them back. “You don’t get to burst into my room and accuse me of getting friendly with the guy who killed your friend.”
My fingers clenched. “Did you let him touch you?”
“Really, Adam?” Lana’s eyes narrowed. “Do you honestly believe that’s who I am?”
I struggled with the primal rage of the wolf within. Lana didn’t deserve it but catching the jaguar’s scent in her room made my animal instincts nearly impossible to rein in. “You did touch him,” I growled.
“God, what is it with you men?” She shot up from the bed and took a few steps away from me. “I’m not a trinket for anyone to claim, all right? Something big is happening in my life. Something I have to sort out. You can’t do it for me, and you can’t protect me from it. Neither can Sebastian.”
I ground my teeth together hearing her use the jaguar’s name, but I managed to keep my mouth shut and let her finish.
“So the way I see it, you can either help me, or get the hell out of my room.” Her nostrils flared just slightly and her cheeks flushed with color. She was the most beautiful, impossible, amazing woman I’d ever met.
I stood up. I had to walk off the rage burning inside of me before I exploded. Lana watched me, glaring, every bit the wary cat ready to pounce. The animal in her made the wolf in me edgy and eager, but I made no move to touch her. It took all the control I had to keep the warring emotions inside of me at bay.