by Lisa Kessler
None of this made sense. “And so are you.”
“Exactly.” His gaze fell to my lips and back up. “If I kiss you again, I’ll never want to stop. This pack is too important to me to risk having to leave it behind.”
“Leave the pack?” I searched his face. His heart was racing, pounding in my ears. “I don’t understand.”
“When you find your mate, it would be over for us. No way I could stay in this pack and watch you with someone else.”
Mate. The word flashed through my head, taking me back to that last kiss with Chandler.
“I’m protecting us both by keeping my distance.” He pried my hands from his shirt and took a step back. “I’m sorry.”
“What about you? You already know I’m not your mate?” I was speaking English, but somehow, I didn’t quite understand the translation. I was still processing it all. Asher and Naomi were married, and they were werewolves. So they were mates? Had they really just touched and that was it?
Chandler clenched his jaw. “Jaguar shifters don’t have the same instincts as werewolves. Fate hasn’t chosen the other half of my soul like she has for you.” He kicked the dirt. “I’ve seen it happen more than once. Nothing can keep them apart. The wolf will demand its mate.” He shook his head and met my eyes. “You deserve that. Don’t settle for less.”
“So that’s it?” I was dumbfounded. “We can’t even be friends?”
“Eventually maybe. Just give me some time.” He swallowed and stared across the valley. His chiseled profile seemed cold and hard, haunted.
What kind of demons was he running from?
I pulled in a slow breath and crossed my arms, not trusting myself. The urge to touch him was cranked up with the wolf this close to the surface. “All right. I’ll keep my distance.”
“Thanks.” Chandler walked past me and jogged up the front steps without looking back, leaving me with more questions than answers and a wolf that was howling. Seeing the shadows in his eyes hurt. And although I barely knew him, I ached to heal the wounds he refused to show me.
I lifted my hand, examining it as though some cosmic answer might appear, then glanced up at the house. The first time Chandler and I touched, the wolf inside me had howled like she recognized him. When we kissed, she had called him ours.
Mate.
No. It had to be wishful thinking. Wouldn’t he have noticed to too? Maybe not. He had said jaguars didn’t have mates the way wolves did. Besides, tomorrow I was heading back to Evolution Defense. This was my chance to make things right, and I had to focus on that mission.
When it was all over, I could see if there was a chance to do the same with Chandler.
CHAPTER 12
Chandler
Wendy kept her distance as I had asked. Right now, she was in the backyard with Naomi and Cole and a couple other pack members. Sounded like they were training her to make a run inside Evolution Defense. Not that I was eavesdropping, but with heightened hearing I couldn’t help it.
Micah, Vance’s younger half-brother, came into the living room and tipped his chin in my direction. “Good to see you, Chandler.”
“Hey, Micah.” I nodded to him. “What brings you here?”
He shared Vance’s Australian accent, and they both had the same bright-hazel eyes, but Micah had darker hair that he kept very short. Micah had never made it a secret that he’d wanted to be a shifter. He’d witnessed Vance’s first shift as a teen. Vance had skipped the continent afterward, but Micah had chased him halfway around the world. Now he was a man without a species. No longer humans but still unable to shift. I felt for him.
He gestured to the backyard. “I gave the new girl a rundown on the Timberwolves’ skills, so she understands what her blood did to us.” He crossed his arms, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Poor little rich girl.” He glanced my way. “She won’t stand a chance if she crosses paths with anyone from my unit.”
Because of Micah’s DNA enhancement from Evolution Defense, Asher thought it might be dangerous for him to be bitten, so Micah was left in a strange limbo between the mundane and the supernatural.
I understood his frustration, but his obvious anger toward Wendy rubbed me the wrong way. “She thought they were finding a cure, not making a super soldier serum. She didn’t stick that needle in your arm.”
Micah narrowed his eyes. “Good men died because she offered up her blood to that lab.”
I stood up, loosening my shoulders. The jaguar paced within, ready to attack, almost hoping he’d make a move. “She was bitten and abandoned. This isn’t her fault.”
Micah drilled me with his gaze, but he didn’t come any closer. Time stretched until he finally turned for the door. “I don’t have time for this shit.”
“See you later.” I waited until the door closed behind him to sit down again. With no outlet, the adrenaline and aggression tied my muscles in knots.
Wendy wasn’t my responsibility. She wasn’t my anything. I needed a distraction. Asher and Vance were still in the office, and Wendy was still out back with the others. I settled on the couch and opened my bag. I took out my laptop and busied myself with researching into the threatening e-mails.
This week the IT department at the station had the police tracking the IP address, but so far, no leads. I’d tried going the safe, legal route. Now it was time to face this head-on. I clicked on the latest threat and hit “Reply.”
Tomorrow night, eleven o’clock, at the Wolf Pack Bar in Sedona.
If you really know what I am, you won’t show up.
I didn’t bother signing it. Ryker ran the Sedona Pack’s bar in the heart of town. Tourist traffic was high, which meant we didn’t have many regulars. No one would ever believe the Wolf Pack Bar was actually owned and operated by werewolves. We flew under the radar, and it brought in money for the pack to maintain the ranch.
If this person did make an appearance tomorrow night, Ryker could empty the bar while I dealt with whoever it was. It was probably nothing anyway.
“Hey, Chandler.” Vance came into the living room and I closed my laptop.
I got up and clasped his forearm. “What’s up?”
“You’ve been working a lot lately, mate.” A knowing glint lit his eyes. He knew damned well why I’d been drowning myself in work. “Haven’t seen much of you this week.”
Why the small talk? Although Vance was our pack’s deadliest enforcer, you’d never know it with his easy smile and Aussie accent. But this was different. He was stalling.
“Yeah. Pretty busy at the station. I told you I got a partial on the license plate for the car that was following us the other night after the opera and I’m trying to find out if there’s a connection to some anonymous e-mails I’ve been getting.” I looked past Vance down the hallway. Still no sign of Asher. I just wanted to get out of this house and get Wendy out of my head.
Vance glanced around the living room and kitchen area. “Did my brother leave?”
“He did.” I raised a brow. “Was there a reason you and Asher needed me to come by?”
“Ah, yeah. Sorry, mate.” There was the smile.
Shit. I already didn’t like it, and he still hadn’t told me why I was here.
“Wendy has an appointment coming up with Deidra Harlow, so we’ve been training her all week. She’s going to plant a virus on their server to destroy their data.”
I clenched my jaw, trying to bite back my concerns and wishing I could. I sighed, keeping my voice down. “Aren’t you rushing things? She’s only going to get one chance at this.”
“If you’re right about the car tailing you being from Evolution Defense, we can’t risk allowing her to reschedule. It could tip them off that she’s working with us.”
That made sense. I clasped the back of my neck, wishing I could ease the tension building up. “So why did you want me to come over?”
“I thought you’d be the best one to train her about how to talk without tipping her hand.” Vance paused. “Deidra could have so
me of those enhanced Timberwolves protecting her. They’ll be able to hear Wendy’s heartbeat.”
I didn’t like where this was headed. “You want me to teach her to…?”
“Lie.” Vance glanced out the French doors to the back patio where Naomi was working with Wendy on some martial arts self-defense moves.
Not that I was watching. Much.
Vance went on before I could interrupt. “We’re teaching her to fight and shoot, but that’s not going to help her talk her way inside and get the information we need. You sit in front of a camera talking to strangers every night.” His gaze locked on mine. “Teach our girl how to stay calm while she’s not telling the truth.”
Our girl.
Fuck. I’d been keeping my distance while they trained Wendy, burying myself in my work, but I still couldn’t get her beautiful eyes out of my head, her scent haunted me, and it was her lullaby that ran through my head when I tried to sleep.
I lowered my voice. “She runs a philanthropic foundation all on her own.” Outside, Wendy flipped Naomi onto the mat and then grinned while pulling her back up. God, she had an amazing smile. I forced myself to focus on Vance again. “She knows how to talk to people.”
Vance draped his arm over my shoulder with a crooked smile. “Of course she knows how to talk, mate. Now teach her to lie.” He patted my back. “Her appointment is tomorrow afternoon.”
“Tomorrow?” Every inch of me wanted to stuff her in my car and drive west until we hit the coast. I needed to protect her. “You think that’s a good idea?”
“She’s tough.” Vance started down the hall toward Asher’s office. “She’ll be okay.”
She was probably too valuable to Evolution Defense to kill, but they could cage her, keep her alive for experiments. And if the Transparency Collective got her, she’d be treated like a circus animal, using her to prove to the world that some people could shift from humans to wolves.
“No.” I shook my head. “She can tell them she’s going out of town and lie low for a while until we’re sure she’ll be safe.”
Vance stopped and faced me without a trace of a smile. “This is a door that isn’t going to stay open. We’ve got to act now. We’ll be there if she needs us.” He turned back around and disappeared around the corner.
“Hey, Chandler. Good to see you,” Naomi said as she came inside with her water bottle.
Wendy followed, wearing a pair of black bike shorts and a black tank top. Her cheeks were flushed with color, and a bead of sweat rolled down her chest. Even with her hair up in a ponytail and no makeup, she stole my breath.
We locked eyes, but neither of us said anything. I refocused on Naomi. “Good to see you, too. How’s training going?”
She smiled, a playful spark in her gaze. “Ask Wendy.” She took a drink from her water bottle. “I’ve gotta go check on the monkeys.”
“We’re wolves, Mama!” Ben shouted from the other room.
No keeping secrets from little werewolves.
She grinned. “Great work, Wendy. You’re lethal.”
Naomi left us alone in awkward silence.
“Okay.” Wendy looked me over from head to toe before she wiped her forehead. “What’s next?”
“Lying, apparently.” Between her tight clothes hugging every curve of her wet body and the way she sucked on the sports bottle of water, one part of my body was definitely paying attention. I stuffed my hand in my pocket, making a quick adjustment as I walked over to the couch.
Wendy pulled over a chair from the kitchen table. “I don’t want to sweat all over Naomi’s couch.” She sat down, and I tried not to watch her chest rise and fall. “I didn’t realize you were an expert liar.” Her head tipped slightly. “Wait. That actually explains a lot.”
I deserved that. In fact, I welcomed her sarcasm. Anything to keep distance between us.
“I’m not, but I do live interviews for a living and keep shifters from being front page news.” I settled back against the couch, tapping my hand in time with her heartbeat. “Keeping calm and cool is the key.”
She frowned, glancing at my hand. “Am I making you late for something?”
“No.” I looked at my hand and back to her face. “This is the beat of your heart. If Evolution Defense has any of the Timberwolves working for them, they’ll be able to hear it as well as I can. Another perk of being a shifter is that you’re a living lie detector. If you hear someone’s heart race and they’re standing still, it usually means they’re lying.”
She narrowed her eyes and crossed her legs. “So if I told you I’ve missed you, am I lying?”
Ah fuck. This was a dangerous game. Her pulse was even.
“No. You’re telling the truth.” I cleared my throat. “But the truth is easy. Lying is harder.”
“Show me.” She leaned forward, resting her elbows on her knees, her cleavage distracting me for a second.
I ran my tongue along my teeth, gathering my emotions and tucking them far away so I could direct all my attention to my pulse and keeping an even rhythm. One breath in, one breath out. “I drove the speed limit all the way here.”
She paused, tilting her head for a second before she nodded and raised her eyebrows. “Impressive.” She listened for a few seconds. “Your heartbeat is even, but I’ve ridden in your car before so I know you’re lying. Okay, my turn to lie.” She swallowed, my gaze following the column of her slender throat. “I haven’t thought about the night Bart interrupted us. Not once.”
Her heart rate was even. But that was a lie.
Shit. She’d been thinking about that, too? I’d thought about it a thousand times. I struggled to keep my pulse even, but my growing erection was going to out me in this game if I didn’t back off soon.
That sparkle in her eyes told me she was baiting me, the lone white wolf daring me to make my move.
“Not bad.” I nodded, keeping my breathing even. “I haven’t missed the taste of your mouth.”
Her lips parted slightly. Fuck. She was so damned sexy.
Her voice was breathless, a ragged whisper. “If I live through tomorrow, will you take me out?”
Her question caught me off guard for a second. We were practicing lying. Or were we? I wasn’t sure anymore. She drove me crazy.
If we were still lying, then yes would mean no and no was definitely the truth. There was no way I could take her on a date without wanting more.
My well-trained voice broke as I lost myself in her eyes. “Yes.”
The corner of her mouth twitched, but her pulse stayed steady. “I won’t go.”
She was lying. She would go out with me. This game was killing me. I shifted a little, trying to relieve the pressure building in my jeans and forced out another lie. “I won’t take you flying in my plane.”
She bit her lower lip, but it didn’t hold back her smile this time. Her heartbeat skipped in my ears. “I would hate that.”
“Liar.” I smirked.
“Shit. Okay, I got caught up and forgot about my heartbeat.” She got up and sat beside me, her scent adding another level of difficulty to the game. “One more chance.”
“All right.” I searched her eyes. “You first.”
“I’ve been married before.” Her pulse stayed even. She was getting better at lying to me.
“Me too,” I replied.
She listened for a few seconds, then whispered, “I never wanted a family.”
I didn’t like where this was heading. “I did.”
“Wait.” She paused, gradually frowning. “That means you didn’t want a family, right? Are you still lying?”
I shrugged. “Does it matter?”
She sighed. “I guess not.” She took a slow breath and rested her hand on my leg, breaking eye contact. “If friendship is all you want from me, I’ll learn to live with that.”
This game was killing me. Her heart rate was even, but I wasn’t sure if she was lying or telling the truth. Hell, I was finished with this game.
I put my
hand over hers. “I want more than you can give.”
She leaned into me, staring down at our hands. “I could give you everything.”
“Enough.” I studied her face. “We’re finished here.”
She tipped her chin up a notch, her gaze locked on mine. “I’m not lying.”
I couldn’t take anymore. She was cracking me open, and I didn’t have any more fight left in me, I needed to put some space between us. I answered without thinking about my heartrate. “I don’t believe you.”
Her eyes shone with emotions I couldn’t read. “You heart is racing. You’re lying.”
I fused my lips to hers, pulling her in close. She moaned as our tongues tangled, hungry and urgent. Her hand slid up my leg, and my erection throbbed. I’d never needed anyone so desperately.
She broke the kiss, resting her forehead on mine. I stared into her eyes, struggling to find my equilibrium. What the hell was I doing?
“Before you start pushing me away again…” She struggled to catch her breath. “I’m holding you to the ride in your plane.”
I chuckled in spite of myself. “That means you have to get out of Evolution Defense safely tomorrow.”
“Oh, I intend to.”
God, she was fierce. Nothing like the victim I’d fought with a few days ago. She was already embracing that white wolf.
“Good.” My lips brushed hers once more. “I’m scared shitless.”
She paused and smirked. “Lie or truth?”
I cupped her cheek. “I’m done lying to you.”
“Good.” Her gaze reached right into my soul. “Just so you know, I was tapping my toe in my shoe to keep my pulse steady while I lied.”
I raised a brow. “Why are you sharing your secret?”
“Because I want you to know my tell. Just in case.” She grinned. “So tell me yours.”
I chuckled. “I’m just a better liar than you.”
She laughed, and my battered heart pounded. Apparently, I’d never learn. She shoved me playfully, and I wrestled her back onto the couch.
