Chapter 15

Part Two: Heart of the Wolf

I have to talk to her. I know the book she used is the one I need. How can I make her understand its importance? And how did she get it, anyway?

Lia Popescue hitched the strap on her purse higher on her shoulder, shifted the book she was holding to her other hand, and tried to conceal her nervousness. She hadn't known what to expect when she arrived in Calderwood. She just knew not coming here hadn't been an option. The fact that she might finally have a lead to the family treasure she sought, to the traces of her lineage had kept her in a constant state of excitement during the two-day drive. Talking to Jamie Dalton Volka was her top priority. It was the reason why she was here in the first place, here in this town and this bookstore.

Now tThe author sat at a table to one side, in front of a huge display of her book, signing all those books people had purchased.

"If you will all be patient," the woman standing by the author's table said, "Jamie will be happy to sign every one of your books. We're thrilled and delighted with today's turnout. We'll get you through the line as quickly as we can."

But Lia didn't necessarily want to be quick about it. She had to find a way to talk to Jamie Dalton Volka.

She probably shouldn't have been surprised at the size of the crowd in the bookstore. After all, when a well-known local resident, in fact, the head librarian, wrote a book that was moving up the charts, people would certainly turn out en masse for it, and they did. She had listened while Jamie spoke about writing her book. How her fascination with wolves had led her to do her research and write this romance about a wolf and a human. She hadn't, however, given any hint as to what had sparked her interest in the first place. Paranormal was a very popular genre with people these days. Lia wondered what they'd say if they knew there was more truth than fiction in all those stories.

She'd deliberately taken a place near the end of the line, hoping to create an opportunity to exchange a few words with the author, invite her to lunch for an extended discussion. She just hadn't expected the line to be quite this long. It had shortened considerably, but there was still a significant number of people waiting to get their books signed. Ahead of her, people shuffled forward again, a step or two.

All around her the crowd was buzzing about the event, the author, and the book. She tried to hear what they were saying, to catch snatches of the conversation because the excitement actually hummed in the store.

"Do you really believe in such things as shifters?"

"She talked about them as if they are real."

"I'll tell you, if her hero looks like her husband and he shows up in my bedroom, I won't care what he changes into."

"But a shifter? Wolves are pretty sexy animals."

Sexy! Lia hadn't heard that particular adjective applied to wolves in her lifetime, at least from humans. From them, she'd heard adjectives like rabid and vicious and crazy. And certainly those applied to the pack that had decimated her own. But Lia knew firsthand wolves could be definitely sexy.

"She certainly made it believable," the woman behind Lia said.

That she had. Jamie Volka's presentation on her first release, Wolf, had been fascinating. Lia had so many questions she wanted to ask the woman, but not here, not in front of a crowd. The kind of questions she had needed to be asked in private. It was important to arrange to get Jamie alone. She hoped when it was her turn at the signing table, she'd find the best way to bring up her lunch invitation.

Oh, right. Like she's going to accept an invitation from a total stranger. Idiot.

Lia scanned the area, taking in the bookstore. It was well designed and decorated, easy for readers to browse, yet still with the charm often found in small towns as opposed to the city.

She loved the reading areas placed thoughtfully throughout the store. There were little chairs and miniature tables in one colorful corner with a significant stock of children's books. A huge stuffed bear sat in one corner, holding a poster of a new release. Café tables had been set up around the coffee bar, where people could sit with their laptops. The aroma of hot chocolate, really excellent coffee, and spicy cookies drifted on the air, making Lia's mouth water. She realized she hadn't even taken time for lunch, so anxious had she been to get to the bookstore and get a seat in front. Now she had to wait in a line that seemed endless and hoped her stomach wouldn't start grumbling.

It seemed all of Calderwood was like that, something from a postcard or a novel. There was something so comfortable about the town and this store, something that appealed to all of the senses. It was comforting - that was the word. It certainly appealed to her wolf senses, and she had to work hard to keep her nose from twitching. It was hard to believe there might be savagery beneath the surface.

She moved, as the line again shifted incrementally forward, and drew in a breath. A faint fragrance drifted across her nostrils, startling her. Wolf! The scent of wolf! But how was that possible? She looked around, scanning the room as casually as she could but could not identify where the scent came from. Then, just as suddenly, it was gone.

What on earth?

Pulling her attention back to the situation, she focused on the woman sitting at the table with a stack of her books, smiling and chatting and signing for the people who had come to see her. Lia studied her, memorizing each detail. She was pretty in a soft, warm way. Long, sun-streaked brown hair swept her shoulders, and a tinge of blush highlighted her creamy complexion. The red turtleneck sweater and the matching dangling earrings gave her an electric vibrancy. Lia didn't think she was a shifter - she did not pick up any connections from her - but sometimes it was hard to tell.

Lia hoped against hope the resource Jamie Volka had referred to turned out to be the book. Not the one everyone had come to hear about. The Book. The one she'd heard about for so long. The one that was the key to her past and, hopefully, her future.