Claws and Effect (Small Town Shifters Book 1)

by Lola Kidd

  "Thank you. Good night."

  "Good night."

  She went to her room and put on his clothes, then dragged herself back down the hall to put her wet towel in the bathroom. When she snuggled deep down in the bed, her eyes were closed almost before her head hit the pillow.

  She didn't open her eyes again until a delicious smell made her ache between her legs. She thought she was dreaming, but it was very real. Her entire bed reeked of him. She wasn't sure if it was his cologne or just his natural scent, but she hadn't noticed it the night before. Now it was driving her wild. It was so manly.

  She stretched and thought about what she would do next. First choice, jump in bed with him and find out if that smell was natural to him. Since that wasn't happening, she would settle for her second choice: breakfast. She was so hungry. She wondered if he cooked.

  She padded downstairs and found him reading in a chair next to the front window. "Good morning," he said. "How did you sleep?"

  "Great. Is there any food for breakfast?"

  "I thought we could go to my favorite diner."

  "That's fine by me. I still have nothing to wear, though."

  "Good point. What about one of my T-shirts and a pair of sweats? You're not going to be the most fashionable woman there, but at least we won't make a scene. We can go and pick you up something later. Maybe from your place?"

  "Really? I didn't think I'd be able to go back to my place so soon."

  "Of course you can. As long as I'm with you, anyway."

  There was a knock at the door. Rhett looked surprised. "I don't usually get visitors this early in the day."

  He went and opened it. There were two familiar faces: Hayes and Knox. They looked even more handsome today. They were both wearing black suits and were even more menacing dressed up.

  "What do you two want?" Rhett's tone was harsh and cold.

  "How's that woman?" Hayes asked.

  She was surprised he was the one to talk. She'd thought he was just the muscle and Knox was the mouthpiece.

  "She's fine. Get off my doorstep."

  Rhett slammed the door before they could say anything else.

  "How did they know I was still here? You think they were just checking to make sure?" she asked.

  "We'll wait until they leave, and then we'll go. Don't let those two worry you. Nothing is going to happen as long as I'm here."

  From the intensity of his stare, she believed him. There was no way that those two dragons or anyone else was going to get close enough to hurt her as long as he was around.

  Chapter Eight

  It was a short walk to the diner. They weren't talking much. She was putting her hands in her pockets and taking them out. When he could see them, she was wringing her hands in front of her. Her nerves were getting to her.

  He wanted to make conversation to distract her, but he couldn't think of anything to say. He was mighty distracted himself. First of all, his tiger was losing its mind. Being this close to her and not being able to touch her, hug her, or kiss her was driving it crazy, especially since she was so worked up about the dragons. He knew they hadn't gone far. Those two were bound to show up again.

  He was going to have to talk to them eventually. Get a plan together between them. He wanted to hear how the scorpion was doing first. The dragons were being foolish. None of them had any idea what was going on yet. Yes, a shifter had attacked a human but it hadn't harmed her. As far as he could tell, Joseline was very pro-shifter. He wasn't going to let them mess with her head because they were scared.

  If he was going to have to tear them limb from limb, that was what he would do. Nobody was going to terrorize his mate...his friend. That's what he meant. His mate, as in his friend.

  It was hard to keep it all straight in his mind. It was impossible to stop his tiger from thinking along those lines when it came to the lovely Joseline. It wanted her so badly.

  Second, and the part that made it the hardest, was that his human side wanted her too. What man alive wouldn't want a woman so soft and precious for himself?

  As they walked, her full breasts jiggled with each step. His eyes were drawn to their hypnotic movement. He was glad they made it to the diner without any incident. Not just from the dragons, but also from his out-of-control animal. He had no problem controlling his human side, but his animal was acting like it had never seen a beautiful woman before. It was embarrassing. He was a Keeper, a protector of shifters in his territory. He wasn't supposed to almost lose control like a young pup.

  "Hey, Rhett," his friend Sheridan greeted them. "You two want a booth?"

  He'd known Sheridan since before they'd joined the human world. She was a great waitress, even though she had only picked the job up in the last two years. He had no idea what she'd done in the time between, but he was glad to have her back in town. She was another unique shifter, and the younger women looked up to her. He had tried to get her to become a Keeper on more than one occasion. He'd love to have a woman on the force, but she always turned him down.

  "This is Joseline. Joseline, this is my friend Sheridan."

  "Nice to meet you," Sheridan said, waving the menus for them to follow. "This fine?"

  Joseline nodded. "Yes, thank you. Nice to meet you too."

  "I'll be back to take your orders in a minute. In the meantime, here's some coffee." She grabbed a pot from the burner and set it down on the table with a smile.

  "They have some of the best coffee in town," Rhett told Joseline, then he poured her a mug. "How're you feeling?"

  "Not great."

  "Anything you want to talk about?"

  "Do you think the dragons are going to stop?"

  "I think so. They're going to realize coming after you is a waste of their time. And it's not like you're going to say anything. Not that there's much to talk about anyway."

  "If I were going to say everything I know about shifters, I would've already done it." She sighed. "I just don't know how I can convey that to them."

  "Can I ask how you were able to withstand the magic?"

  "I was born that way. I don't know how it happened. I've only ever had that happen when I was a kid. On the playground, a little shifter from my class peed his pants. He tried to wipe my memory so I wouldn't tell anyone. Didn't work, of course." She shrugged. "Don't know why. Shifter magic just doesn't work on me."

  That couldn't be true. "Do you mind if I try something?"

  Her eyes were wide over her coffee cup. "You want to clean my memory?"

  "No, I just want to see if it's possible."

  She looked at him for a long minute before nodding. "Fine."

  Rhett reached out with his mind and probed her. It was like hitting a brick wall. Normally, all he had to do was lightly touch a human's mind and it would open to him. He had never seen anything like this before. Some humans were harder to reach but not impossible to probe.

  This might be a problem if the dragons decided she was a threat. He wasn't sure they would be able to make her forget. Not that it would stop them from trying. The only way to be sure she never spoke would be more permanent measures. She might be in even more danger than he'd first suspected.

  He smiled and hoped his worry didn't show. "Consider yourself lucky. It looks like your mind is impenetrable. Those dragons probably would've gone too far trying to get you to forget. Have you ever tested the limits of your little gift?"

  "Besides what you just did, I haven't, and I don't plan to in the future. Why do I get the feeling this is all kind of a big deal? Everything that happened with that scorpion back there."

  Rhett shook his head. "Not at all. Obviously it has the Abbott Keepers worried, but I'm not. This will all blow over."

  "Yeah, but there's been problems with shifter towns. I've heard about it on the news. I can see why they would be worried. Shifters attacking humans is kind of a big thing. What I don't get is why they want to hurt me? I'm not the one who did anything wrong."

  He put his hand over hers. "They won't
hurt you. They're young and they're scared. They've never had to deal with anything like this before. Let me talk with them and they'll come around."

  A woman walked into the diner and drew his attention—a woman he didn't want to see this morning.

  Lydia Lionheart marched right to the table. She sat down next to Joseline and gave him a terrifying glare.

  "Where is my brother?" she demanded.

  Joseline went from looking terrified to looking angry and then jealous in a quick series of facial expressions. The first two, he understood. The jealousy made his saber-tooth happy, but that was something to dissect later.

  "This is my friend, Lydia. And by friend, I mean, I arrest her brother frequently and she comes and bothers me about it," he explained.

  "If you didn't detain him so much, I wouldn't have to come and talk to you," she said fiercely. She was a small woman, but there was a lot of fire in her. Her three brothers protected her like she was a piece of treasured china, but Lydia needed no protection from them. The girl could hold her own. She was a hawk shifter. As a bird of prey, she knew how to take care of herself.

  "If he wasn't doing so many crazy things, I wouldn't have to detain him," Rhett said matter-of-factly. "He should already be out, anyway. They let him go last night."

  Lydia's face relaxed. "Nice to meet you, Joseline. Thanks for the information, Rhett. Hope I don't see you again soon."

  Rhett reached under the table and rubbed Joseline's knee. "She's really just a friend."

  "I hope I didn't interrupt anything." Lydia turned around and came back to the table. He must have spoken loudly enough for her to hear. She put a hand on Joseline's arm. "There's nothing going on here, honey. I assure you, he is not my type, and I am not his."

  Normally, this would have annoyed him. How the hell did Lydia have any idea what his type was? But now he was grateful. It would be to his advantage to keep his mouth shut and let her do the talking. She would be able to put Joseline more at ease than he ever could.

  Not that he thought she cared. But if she did, he wanted her to know that he wasn't carrying on affairs with the women in town.

  "Why are you looking for your brother?" Joseline asked. "You sound worried. Does he usually stay out all night and get arrested? I don't mean to pry, but that can't be healthy."

  Lydia sat down again. "It really isn't, and you aren't prying. He's been acting so strange lately. I know people think it's drugs, but that's not it. I don't think he would be doing that again. I know you've never met him, but believe me when I say Nolan is the sweetest. He used to be rough around the edges, but he's turned it all around. I'm just wondering if maybe someone slipped him something."

  "What do you mean?" Joseline asked. "Like, laced his drink with something? I thought you said he didn't do drugs."

  Lydia nodded. "He doesn't anymore. He stopped mighty fast after a bad trip a few months back. I'm wondering if maybe his dealer laced his stuff to make him go crazy. It wouldn't be the first time that happened."

  Rhett tried to remember, but came up short. "I'm not remembering anything here. Can you jog my memory?"

  "Well, it didn't happen here," Lydia said quickly, looking away. "It happened a few towns over. Maybe you didn't hear about it. Somebody was putting stuff in the drugs, and it made the shifters go crazy. They would shift uncontrollably and act out. It only happened to maybe two or three people before they found the man who was doing it. Nolan didn't get hit then. We were only kids. But we knew one of the people it happened to. It was some nasty stuff."

  A light bulb went off in Rhett's head, and he gave Lydia a sympathetic look. Her mother had taken some bad drugs and almost attacked her kids. How could he forget that? He wasn't a Keeper in Lake Magnolia at the time, but it was a huge story back then. Maybe that was what had happened to Murry. He was going to have to do a little research into this himself.

  "Has your brother been acting strange at all?" Joseline asked.

  "He's been acting real sad," Lydia said. "Sitting around watching the mosquitoes land on him and drinking all day. I don't think he'd do anything to hurt anyone, but he's been drinking more than usual. That's how he got himself locked up. I'm just worried about him."

  "Maybe he's depressed. You should probably talk to him and maybe get him some help," Joseline said. "Easier said than done, I know. But I think he'll be fine. You really care about him, and with a sister like you, he'll have a leg up on most people in his situation."

  Lydia sighed. "You're so right. Much easier said than done. I swear, if Nolan liked to talk, he wouldn't have been doing so many drugs."

  "What I find is that if you talk to people in a car when you're sitting side by side, it can be a bit easier," Joseline told her. "I hate having those kinds of conversations too, especially face-to-face. It makes me so nervous, and I freeze up like a deer in headlights. I always get so defensive, and nothing good ever happens. But when I'm sitting side by side, it's much easier. Less pressure."

  "That's a good idea. Nolan does like to drive his truck. I bet I can get him to take me somewhere, and I'll try talking to him then."

  "Let us know how it goes," Rhett told her. "I like your brother, and I hate having to bring him in all the time. If you need any help with anything, please don't hesitate to ask me or one of my guys."

  Lydia nodded. "Thanks. You've got a nice one here, Rhett. Don't mess this up."

  Joseline smiled as Lydia left. "You usually mess things up, Rhett?"

  "Not if I can help it."

  He really didn't want to this time. It had been so long since he had found a woman he could connect with. Maybe his tiger was right—maybe this was his mate. At the very least, maybe she could be his friend. He could never have too many of those.

  Chapter Nine

  Breakfast with Rhett was wonderful. He was easy to talk to. Lydia was nice too. Talking to her about her problems with her brother had taken Joseline's mind off her own issues. It made her feel like a regular person out to breakfast and not like someone in witness protection.

  Rhett spent most of the meal reassuring her that Lydia was not an ex-girlfriend, but he didn't need to do that. She didn't care who he used to sleep with, but it made her feel nice. Maybe he really did like her, or at least didn't want her to think he was a womanizer. Either way, the one thing she knew for sure was that he was a nice guy who was going to protect her.

  She didn't know why she wasn't more worried. She had been before breakfast. There were moments she was scared, but mostly she was okay today. The only reason she could think of was his calming presence. This was a potentially dangerous situation, yet here she was, walking along like it was a normal, peaceful fall day.

  In fact, this was probably nicer than her regular days. Her vacation was going to be spent at her apartment alone, trying to clean as best she could and trying out new recipes. Now, at least she had someone to try the recipes with and get feedback. Yes, she was going to hang out with her friends, but most of them were busy during the week. In a way, this whole ordeal was much more of an exciting adventure vacation than anything she could have planned. As long as no one got seriously hurt, this whole thing would be a great story to tell one day.

  As they walked back to his place, up ahead she spotted a woman sitting next to a box. The woman's legs went on for days and were the first thing Joseline noticed. That was saying a lot, since she had a box full of puppies next to her. This lady was hot. Even hotter than Sheridan or Lydia. This one had to be a shifter too. There was no way that women this perfectly beautiful were mere mortals. Lake Magnolia was a pretty little town, but everyone here was too good-looking.

  This woman could've put any model to shame. She was wearing short-shorts that showed off her long, tanned legs to perfection. She was also wearing cowboy boots and a cowboy hat. It wasn't the usual look for the women from around here, but Joseline mentally gave her a pass. This woman could wear whatever she wanted, including a vest without a bra underneath, it appeared.

  Joseline glanced
at Rhett. He wasn't drooling like she would have expected. His eyes were trained on the box.

  When they got closer, she glanced inside. It was filled with precious little golden retrievers.

  "Can I pick one up?" she asked the woman.

  The woman tipped her head at her. "You're welcome to test them out. Any friend of Rhett's would make a great dog owner. I'm Nora."

  "I'm Joseline. These dogs are so precious." She picked up one of the puppies and held it to her face. It was a perfect little ball of fluff, love, and light. "I've always wanted a dog, but I can't have one at my apartment."

  "I guess they're okay." Rhett looked at the box, standing as far away as possible.

  "You can come closer and pick one up too," Nora said. "I know you can have a dog at your house, Rhett."

  From the sly look she gave him, Joseline could tell Nora was hinting about her. She was trying to convince him to take one of dogs. Get the dog, keep the girl, or something.

  It wouldn't have been a bad play if they had been together. Nothing would have made her happier than being able to come home to a beautiful dog like this and a beautiful man like Rhett.

  Rhett came closer and pulled the smallest dog from the box by its scruff. "Look at this little guy. He's so small."

  The runt of the litter. It struggled and wiggled in Rhett's grasp. He chuckled and cradled the dog. He rubbed the puppy's little belly until it was barking with happiness. His little tail was going a mile a minute. It was all too precious.

  Rhett would look good with almost anything in his hands, but his holding that puppy like he would a baby sent a shot straight to her ovaries. She couldn't help but imagine what he would look like holding a child of his own. She knew that shifters were very family-oriented. It would be wonderful to see him like that with a child.

  She had a feeling he would be a great father. He was the Keeper, which was like a shifter police officer. He had come to help her and had put his life in danger even though he didn't know her, and he did the same thing for others every day. There was no way a man like that would be bad with kids. She bet if she asked around, his friends would say the same thing. She'd already met three beautiful women who had nothing but nice things to say about him. Eddie the tow truck driver, too, and Tucker.