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Tall Dark Handsome Lycan, Book 4
Copyright © 2014 Anastasia Maltezos
All rights reserved. Except for use in any review, the reproduction or
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Tall Dark Handsome Lycan, Book 4
Author: Anastasia Maltezos
Chapter One
Matt stared at the woman entering his office. Most of his clients appeared
tense on their first meeting with him, especially the ones who wanted their lovers
followed, but this woman looked terrified, as though she was ready to drop from
sheer fright.
He rose and stretched his hand across his desk. “I’m Matthew Walker. How
do you do?” The woman’s breath caught as she stared at his hand, her eyes
widening. “I don’t bite,” he added gently.
She recovered quickly and took his hand. “No, of course you don’t. I’m
Madison O’Reilly, but you can call me Maddy. I’m pleased to meet you, Mr
Walker.”
“Matt, please.” She was soft spoken and he found her voice appealing. He
shook her hand and was about to release it, but his inner wolf opened its eyes
and released a long, slow growl. Matt clenched his jaw, cautioning his beast to
behave. This woman was hardly a threat, he thought, as he skimmed his gaze
over her features. She was rather plain looking with long, brown hair pulled
back in a ponytail and a simple black skirt and white cardigan. Slowly, he
released her hand, the immediate absence of her warm touch disturbing him on a
level he couldn’t define. “Please, have a seat.”
She took the seat in front of his desk. “Now, tell me what I can do for you,”
he said, sitting down. She wasn’t wearing a wedding ring, so she couldn’t be
here for a wayward husband.
Maddy took a deep breath and released it on a weary sigh. “Where do I
start?”
Matt smiled. “How about starting at the beginning?”
Her gaze wavered under his. “All right.” She paused, clearing her throat
delicately.
“Would you like some water?” He asked. “Or a coffee?”
She flashed him a fleeting smile and Matt was taken aback, correcting his
earlier thought. This woman wasn’t plain. Her brief smile had softened her
face, the fear behind her brown eyes disappearing, her expression warming. An
undeniable tug of awareness settled in his gut at the sensual curve of her mouth.
“No. Thank you.” She drew in a soft breath. “I’m here because you have
something I need,” she said, her expression returning to its former anxiety.
Matt raised his brow. “And what might that be?”
“A wand, or rather, a broken wand.”
Matt stiffened. Perhaps his inner beast hadn’t been so quick to awaken a few
minutes ago. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She must have referred to the wand that had belonged to Catherine when Leo
had killed her a few days ago. How the devil did she know about it?
“Look, I’m on your side,” Maddy said, a tremor running through her voice.
“Isn’t that what all this is about? Sides? Good versus evil?” She paused,
drawing in another long breath. “Please, let’s not waste each other’s time. I
know you have the wand and I need it.”
Matt clenched his jaw. “You are mistaken. I have no wand. Halloween
isn’t for a few more months.”
A brief flash of annoyance darkened her otherwise pale features and he
narrowed his eyes.
“Look, I’ll save us both some time,” she said. “I know who you are. You’re
a two hundred year old lycan and this private investigator’s office is a front.
You’re really a member of an elite, secret organisation of lycans who live in
anonymity. Your prime directive is to protect the innocent and to keep the New
York city streets safe from Garos’s army. A few days ago, Leonidis Stefanos
and his one, Samantha Hope, killed one of the most dangerous witches.” Maddy
stopped to catch her breath. “I’m Catherine’s descendant and I’m human. Will
that do?”
He tensed under her innocent gaze, making him think of the old adage, a
sheep in wolf’s clothing. “Leo’s one?” He asked slowly.
His beast was on high alert now, thrashing and howling within him. Matt did
nothing to calm it down. He inhaled slowly through his nose. Even in his
human form, his lycan speed could snap her neck in two seconds. This innocent
looking woman apparently had more brewing under her than met the eye.
“His one as in Leo’s soul mate, his true love,” Maddy said. “I know about
the lycan legend. I...I also know your one died two hundred years ago.”
Matt stiffened violently. Very few people knew about that dark time in his
life. So few, he could count them on one hand. “Who the hell are you?” He
growled.
****
Maddy cowered under his withering glare. This man was huge, with wide
shoulders, strong arms, and a lycan monster beneath his surface that could rip
her to shreds in mere seconds. She shivered in spite of the comfortable
temperature in his office. She had to proceed gently and try not to anger him.
His reputation as Leonidis Stefanos’s right arm did him justice. Matt was a
powerful lycan who had braved many undefeated battles alongside the family’s
leader, Leonidis. No wonder Garos wanted them both dead. With Matt and Leo
out of the way, he could rule New York and then conquer the rest of the main
cities.
“I have no interest in interfering in your family’s ongoing battle with Garos,”
she said. “That is a war you and your European counterparts must fight. I’m
here because I need that wand.”
“You seem to know a lot about me, don’t you?” He asked in a dangerously
soft voice.
Little did he know how much of that was true, she thought. “I may be
human, but I was born from a long line of witches. Catherine wasn’t the only
one with a crystal ball.”
His brow rose. “Are you implying you possess a crystal ball?”
Maddy’s face fell. “I did. Rather, my sister did, but it was destroyed.”
“I see.” Matt’s face hardened as he leaned forward in his seat, staring at her
with a dark and dangerous gaze. “If I did possess this wand, as you say, why do
you need it?”
It had been wishful thinking on her part thinking he’d simply give her the
wand and she’d be on her way. Her heart raced and she realised she needed to
cut this meeting short. His presence was wreaking havoc to her senses and she
didn’t think she could take another minute with him. There was something
predatory behind his dark gaze and she couldn’t help feeling like little red riding
hood about to be devoured by the big, bad wolf.
“I need to destroy it,” she said.
Matt held her gaze for what seemed an eternity before he spoke. “The wand
is already destroyed. Sam snapped it in two before Leo killed Catherine. It’s
useless.”
Maddy hid her relief. At least he admitted, in a roundabout way, he had the
wand. “No, it isn’t. It’s still alive.”
“Alive?”
“Yes. It must be burned. As long as the wand exists, her magic is still with
us.”
“Why should I believe you?” Matt asked. “Catherine was dangerous and if
you’re one of her descendants, how do I know you’re not as evil as she was?”
“If I was, you would already be dead.” Maddy knew she was going to have
to be patient. Leonidis’s family hadn’t protected humankind for centuries
because they’d been fools.
Matt raised a haughty brow. “Witches are able to produce spells only with
their wands. If I had seen you produce a wand, I would snap your neck. Magic
cannot defeat my speed.”
Maddy’s mission started unravelling before her eyes. She swallowed the
wave of frustration building in her throat. “Catherine’s descendants have wanted
her dead for centuries. My family is grateful to Leo and Sam for having done
what we couldn’t do. We’ve had members of our coven hunt her down for as
long as anyone can remember, but to no avail.”
“You don’t say.”
Maddy tensed her mouth. She wasn’t getting anywhere and her racing heart
was starting to make her feel faint. She wished for the umpteenth time her
heritage had bestowed her with magic. She could have benefited from a
protection spell to guard her from his energy.
Her stomach was in knots and she rose on unsteady legs. “I’ve...I don’t
think...I’m going to leave. I’ll be back tomorrow at the same time for the wand.
If you don’t give it to me, you will force me to ask the coven for help. They are
as anxious as I am for the wand to be destroyed and they’ll stop at nothing to get
it.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you threatening me?”
“No. I’m voicing a fact. I took this mission because anyone else would have
already killed you. My family isn’t wicked, but this mission is literally a matter
of life and death. Your death would be unfortunate, but retrieving the wand
would save hundreds, if not thousands.”
“So you chose this mission to ensure I wouldn’t be harmed. How altruistic
of you. Why should you care if I live or die?” He asked, rising from his seat.
Maddy swallowed, avoiding his gaze. She had to get out of here before she
fainted from the overwhelming rush of emotions beginning to suffocate her.
“I...I believe this mission can be accomplished without bloodshed.”
“How noble of you. Leo would welcome a recruit with your values in his
family,” he said dryly.
Maddy turned and went to the door. “You have until tomorrow,” she said
over her shoulder.
As soon as she shut the door behind her, she gasped for air. Maddy knew
she could never tell him the whole truth. Even after she destroyed Catherine’s
wand, she still couldn’t tell him what her sister had seen in her crystal ball all
those years ago.
The woman Matt had fallen in love with two hundred years ago hadn’t been
his one.
According to the lycan legend, Maddy was Matt’s one, his true love, and she
knew she could never compete with a ghost.
****
Matt grimaced as he jabbed the intercom button to his secretary. “Cancel all
my appointments for the rest of the day.”
Grim-faced, he opened his drawer and grabbed his gun loaded with
quicksilver bullets. He didn’t know if he should believe Maddy, but he sure as
hell was going to be prepared if she was a spy sent from Garos, or worse,
another Catherine.
He shoved the gun in the back of his jeans and grabbed his jacket. Maddy
was going to be easy to tail. Her essence still hovered around him and he
growled under his breath, disturbed by her effect on him. Tailing her or not, he
would have preferred it if his beast wasn’t this damn attracted to her sweet,
intoxicating scent.
He left his office and stepped outside onto the busy New York street. She
was close by. He sensed her. Matt snapped his gaze to his left and watched her
getting into a car. He pulled his keys out of his pocket and went to his car
parked six spots behind her.
Matt watched her pull away and he started his engine. Moments later, he
was driving three cars behind her, his thoughts getting darker by the minute.
Leo was on his honeymoon with Sam and hell would have to freeze over
before Matt disturbed them. No, he would have to take care of this alone.
A half hour later, he watched Maddy pulling into the parking lot of a nursing
home. He parked his car away from hers and watched her walk around the back
of the building toward an open, green lawn. Matt followed her, stopping by one
of the sporadic trees. Suddenly, she stopped and swung around toward him.
Matt stiffened and sprung behind the large oak. Damn, that was close, he
thought. Cautiously, he looked at her through the low hanging branches and
watched her slowly turn back toward the big lawn.
She hurried toward an elderly woman who sat in a wheelchair with an
attendant dressed in white standing off to the side. Maddy reached the old
woman and dropped to her knees in front of her. She placed her hands on the
woman’s lap and spoke.
Matt trained his lycan hearing on what she said.
****
“Hi, Gran,” Maddy said softly. “How are you today?”
Maddy’s odd feeling that she was being followed disappeared as soon as she
gazed into her grandmother’s pale, worn out face.
Her grandmother stared at her, her expression confused. “I’m sorry, dear.
Do I know you?”
Maddy’s heart squeezed. “I’m your granddaughter, Maddy.
Remember?”
Her grandmother’s expression flickered for a moment. “I...It’s a tad chilly
today, isn’t it?”
“Here. Let me wrap your shawl more securely around you.” Maddy
swallowed the painful lump in her throat as she reached behind her
grandmother’s thin shoulders and secured the paisley, silk shawl over her. “I
bought this for you last week? Don’t you remember?” She asked gently.
Her grandmother didn’t comment as she settled back in her wheelchair and
shifted her gaze to something behind Maddy. “I’ve been watching those two
little girls play ball.” The expression behind her eyes was distant. “They remind
me of my granddaughters when they were younger.”
Maddy took her grandmother’s hand and squeezed it gently. “Gran, it’s me,
Maddy. I’m the one you remember.”
Her grandmother dropped her gaze to Maddy and stared at her for a long
time as clarity flashed sporadically over her face, her mouth working with
emotion. “Maddy?” She asked, her voice breaking.
Her heart swelled with relief. “Yes, it’s me, Maddy.”
Her grandmother frowned. “Where’s your sister? Where’s Melissa? She
hasn’t come to see me in a long while.”
The back of Maddy’s eyes pricked. “Gran, Melissa died five years ago,
remember?”
“Oh. Oh, yes, that’s right.”
Confusion and lucidity darkened her grandmother’s face and Maddy
wondered if this was a good time to tell her the news. Inhaling slowly, she
leaned forward. “Gran, I have to tell you something,” she began, dropping her
voice so the nurse standing a few feet away didn’t overhear her. “I found the
wand.”
Her grandmother’s expression shifted for a brief second as surprise lit her
face. Hope flared in Maddy’s breast, but it disappeared quickly as her
grandmother gave her another blank stare. “I...I’m tired, dear. I just want to sit
here and watch those little girls play with the ball.”
Maddy bit her lip and nodded. “Okay, Gran. I’ll sit here with you and we
