“Enough,” Sheriff Anders barked as Liesel drew her boot back for another one.
“I know who you fucking are you dumb bitch,” the bleeding, howling man on the ground between them spat out. “We’ll fucking kill you.”
Without waiting for permission, Liesel kicked him again. When the sheriff protested, she stuck her tongue out and picked the boy up, hoisting him onto her hip. As she walked around the still cursing mountain lion, she whipped out a folded piece of paper and shoved it at the sheriff.
She cocked her head down at Arnie.
“His copy of the court order,” she said simply and walked to her pick-up truck. Inside the cab there was a human social worker assigned to Bo’s case waiting, looking terrified and pale.
“It’ll be okay,” Liesel said, both to the woman and to Bo as she strapped him into the car seat she’d brought along for him. Locking and closing his door, she turned back to sheriff who still didn’t know what to do with himself.
“You need to stop this,” he finally said, the note of exasperation clear in his tone. “I’m going to have to arrest you one of these times.”
Liesel snorted at that.
“Yeah, you’re real good at that, aren’t you?” She taunted him. “Good thing we have you around keeping the backroads of Calero County safe.”
It wasn’t his fault, really. Liesel just didn’t have a soft spot for another person telling her how to act or how to think. His position of authority naturally chafed her and her need for space and independence.
“You’re going to get yourself hurt soon,” he said, his voice low and menacing. “Is that what you’re after? Smarten up soon or you’ll end up dead.”
“Like you care,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “You don’t need to pretend for me. And no worries, there’s no real love lost on my side.”
Sheriff Andres crossed his beefy arms across his chest and let out a frustrated breath.
“Why are you so stubborn?” He bit out. “Why are you so difficult?”
“Because,” she said with a wink as she let herself into her truck. “It’s fun.”
With that, Liesel drove away, leaving Sheriff Anders to deal with the damaged mountain lion and any of his friends who might show up in the next few minutes.
Chapter Three
Grayson
On his way out to Boulder Pack lands, Gray did everything not to think about Liesel Gaytan. Not about her ebony hair that fell down the middle of her back. Not those smoldering violet eyes, and most definitely not about those lush, scrumptious-looking curves she stuffed into those tight jeans.
Christ, but she was a vision, no matter how much he didn’t want to admit it. And to watch her lay out that train wreck of a shifter had damn near made him hard. She was feisty. She was fiery. His wolf liked everything about her.
Fickle animal, he thought to himself. Women like that meant nothing but trouble.
Just like always, Liesel had left and chaos had followed. Gray had helped the battered man to his feet and he’d raged. He’d pulled out his cellphone and called every Desert King he could find that wasn’t already plotting their next move at the local dive.
He knew for a fact that Arnie knew Liesel’s name and pack. He’d muttered so much into the phone while he raged a few feet from him as Gray’d tried to talk sense into him and explain the contents of the judge’s orders. By that point, the man didn’t give a rat’s ass about the boy anymore. With his old lady long gone and the kid he’d been forced to look after in the state’s hands, he had a new target—Liesel Gaytan.
Gray turned down the long road that led deep into the woods that belonged to the Boulder pack. He liked their space—it was well cared for and nestled far enough back that nobody wandered out there without a specific reason and a very clear invitation. On top of that, Brody had some of the best sentinels out there—second only to his own, of course.
He sent a second text message to Brody letting him know he was close and, sure enough, the heavy front gates to the drive that led to the main lodge and cottages swung open. There was enough high-tech camera security trained on him that it could have been built by the NSA, which was close enough if Dane had anything to do with. The sentinel was a genius with anything IT and had even built the Canyon pack’s security system and private servers for their computers. All 100 percent secure and hack proof.
His phone pinged with the receipt of a text message from Brody.
Come on in when you get here. I’ll call Liesel over.
He grimaced but tried to ignore the fact that his wolf all but yipped deep inside him. Enough of that already, he griped to nobody in particular. Nobody that would listen, anyway.
He parked his car around the back of Brody and Sienna’s large log cabin lodge and walked around to the front. Before he could knock, the front door flew open and he was greeted by a smiling Sienna with a toddler curled around her neck.
Last he’d seen Carter a few weeks ago, he’d been trying to walk and from the dark circles under his mother’s eyes, he was probably running by now.
“Hey, Grayson,” she said with a large smile before passing the sticky child right into his arms. Gray froze, unsure what to do with the squirming shifter pup and feeling completely out of his league.
“Wait—,” he began but Sienna was already headed toward the kitchen in the back.
“Brody had to run to help Sage with some busted pipes in one of the cabins and I need to finish dinner or this guy will make us all miserable,” she called from the kitchen. “He gives new meaning to the word hangry.”
As if he knew his mother was talking about him, Carter looked at Gray and he swore the kid raised an eyebrow.
“Grrrrrrrrr,” Carter scrunched his face up in an adorable attempt to look fierce.
“Sienna,” Gray called nervously. “Why is your son growling at me?”
“He’s a good reader of personalities, apparently,” a female voice behind him said and his shoulder stiffened.
Liesel had managed to sneak up on him while the toddler and his mock growls had him distracted.
“Good evening, Miss Gaytan,” Gray drawled as he set Carter down, who immediately toddled toward Liesel when she crouched down low and spread her arms wide for him. The little boy dashed right into the hug and wrapped his chubby little arms around her neck, squeezing for all he was worth.
The squeal of delight Liesel gave let him know the feeling was definitely mutual.
“My big man,” she cooed as she lifted him and tossed him gently in the air a few times. Carter squealed some more at the game. “Auntie missed you—yes she did!”
Gray was suddenly uncomfortable and cleared his throat.
“Oh,” Liesel said as she the boy down. “You’re still here. Why?”
He frowned at her but saw the slight curve of her lips. She was messing with him. Again.
“You made a mess of things today at the trailer park,” he said simply. She shrugged.
“He made a mess of that little boy’s face,” she said as she fell back on the leather couches and propped her feet up on the wood coffee table. “You think I’m really concerned if I pissed off a mountain lion? They’re worthless.”
Gray rolled his eyes and looked toward the ceiling.
“Of course you wouldn’t be concerned,” he ground out. “But when you enrage a pride of High Desert Kings, you’re bringing danger down on more than just your own head. You ever think what would happen to your pack if they managed to get past Dane’s security or Sage’s sentinels? Your rash behavior put your entire very vulnerable pack in danger.”
Gray hadn’t realized how angry he was until that moment. Less for the safety of Brody’s pack, as he was a well and truly capable Alpha and had some of the strongest wolves he’d ever come across. No, he was raging at the fact that the woman was so blasé about her own safety. It’s almost as if she wanted to get hurt. Was she crazy?
His words, at least, had their intended effect. He watched as her pretty violet eye
s danced from him to the baby babbling in front of her and then back to him. He was powerless to break his gaze from hers for the space of a few breaths before he spoke.
“It’s true,” Gray said, a little gentler now. “There’s a whole mess of trouble brewing with the Kings and you just forced yourself, and your pack, into the center of it.”
“Is that why you’re here?” She kept her tone light but her eyes danced around the room, searching for her Alphas.
Gray nodded.
Brody chose that moment to burst through the front door with his Beta, Sage, right behind him. Sage and Sienna were twins from the Cheyenne pack across the northern border of Colorado. Sienna had spent a few years, Brody explained, as a lone wolf because of the twins’ abusive Alpha stepfather.
Overtime, things had been righted in the Cheyenne pack when the twins’ older brother Samuel had finally grown strong enough to challenge their stepfather. But by that point, Sienna’d had no reason to leave her life in Las Vegas. That is, until Liesel got herself kidnapped by a den of bears heavy into sex trafficking. The act had brought Brody and Sienna together and 18 months later, here was baby Carter toddling all over the living room.
That story, thankfully, had a happy ending. And Gray was going to do everything he could to make sure that the Kings didn’t get away with whatever they were planning—for his pack or for Brody’s. They’d miscalculated when they thought taking on two wolf packs was wise. Then again, years in the Army had taught him that idiots rarely made sound decisions—especially if they were in charge.
“So, it’s bad, isn’t it?” Brody asked as he took his seat and pulled his son on his lap. Sage took a seat on an opposite chair. Not long after he was settled, his own mate Emery appeared from the kitchen and came to sit on his knee while he wrapped his arm around her waist.
Gray shook the images of having Liesel on his own lap from his mind (where the hell had that come from?) and focused on the Alpha across from him, and his serious-looking Beta.
“Late last night the motorcycle club called High Desert Kings were at a bar in the south end of the county. They got drunk. They got mean and they started tearing the place apart,” Gray said. “A couple deputies from Ostaro County showed up along with three of our own and I’ll just say that all hell broke loose when those mountain lions got it in their heads that they were in some sort of wild west shootout.”
He noticed Brody tensing for the worst part of the story.
“The deputies were all fine, including ours, but one of their members was killed and four were put in the hospital full of bullets,” Gray said. “They’ll go to jail, of course, but that only accounts for five of about 50 jackwagon shifters in that pride. And they’re all on the warpath now.”
So far, the story only involved the Calero County sheriff and his deputy, but from Brody’s body language, Gray knew the Alpha understood the story was about to get worse.
“They put out a hit on my pack. Basically declaring war on the Canyon pack and probably on wolves in general,” Gray said, sitting back in his seat and looking up at Liesel for the first time since starting. Her face was calm and didn’t betray any emotions as he neared the part of the story where she came in.
“It just so happens that Ms. Gaytan decided to serve a custody order this morning on a trailer that housed one of the meaner mountain lion shifters who’d spent the past four months beating on his dead sister’s kid,” he said. “She lacked, shall we say, tact in the exchange and I’m pretty sure the man has a broken jaw. Needless to say, she’s on their list now, too, from what I heard.”
Brody closed his eyes and scrubbed his hand over his face. Liesel shifted in her seat uncomfortably. Good. She should be worried.
“This is bad,” Sage said simply, no other emotion escaping him.
“What were you thinking, Liesel?” Brody practically shouted. Even though he was her Alpha and it was to be expected, neither Gray nor his wolf liked the tone.
To her credit, she looked downright miserable.
“I would never do anything to endanger this pack, Alpha,” she said in a low voice, keeping her eyes lowered so she wouldn’t anger the Alpha’s wolf any more than it was already probably raging. Liesel was a dominant wolf herself, but the shifter world worked in power structures and Alphas had demonstrated they were on top for a reason—they were not only dominant, but the strongest as well.
“I know you wouldn’t do anything on purpose, but you’re making really bad decisions lately and it was bound to catch up to you,” Brody said, his tone softening a bit, even if his message didn’t. His words were mostly true—Liesel acted and talked how she wanted to. Consequences be damned.
“We have a baby in the pack and mated pairs,” Brody said as he sat back and looked to his Beta. Gray spoke up instead.
“What about a temporary trade?” he said. It’d been the whole reason for coming out here. “Liesel comes to the Canyon Pack for a few weeks and my mated pairs come here.”
Brody made a face immediately, every fiber of his being not interested in sending one of his wolves away. Hopefully he’d understand where Gray was coming from before kicking him off pack lands.
“We have way more sentinels than you guys do. Hell, half of my old Ranger unit are sentinels in my pack now. We’re safe. We can keep Liesel safe until we take out the problem—and we will,” Gray said. “We’ll make it known she’s with us so the lion shifters take their attention away from you guys and keep it squarely on us. And with our mated pairs gone, it’ll be nothing but me and sentinels and you know we can keep her safe with our background.”
That background included almost a decade of boots on the ground in the middle east, almost always as forward observers or performing quick covert missions designed to be unseen and unheard until the last possible, devastating second.
He knew Brody was weighing his options, as was Sage.
“Liesel has to agree to this,” Brody finally said. Sage nodded.
All eyes suddenly turned to the woman in question. Her face was a mask by then, so it was difficult for Gray to read what he saw. Resignation? Maybe a little. Regret? Some of that, too. Maybe she was rethinking her “guns blazing” method of doing things now.
“It’s fine,” she said to Brody after the space of a few seconds. “I’ll be fine over there and maybe I can learn a few more moves while I’m at it.”
Gray noticed her attempt to lighten the mood and was impressed. She didn’t want her pack to worry about her. Good.
Brody and Sienna had a hushed talk in the kitchen and with his shifter hearing, he could tell that Sienna was having a mild panic attack about sending Liesel away. Brody, however, had one thing on his mind—his young, vulnerable family.
When they both returned to the living room, Brody looked resolved and Sienna looked resigned. At least it was progress.
“She’s agreed and Sienna sees reason,” Brody said until his mate delivered a sharp elbow to his ribs. “Ooof! You know what I mean!”
Liesel rose from her seat on shaky legs before pausing to right herself. When she looked up again, the fierceness was back in her eyes and Gray’s wolf practically sang.
“I’m going to pack up a few things,” she said, her voice even. “I’ll be right back.”
Once she’d gone, Brody let out a long sigh and ran his hands through his hair.
“This isn’t easy, Grayson,” he said with a weary tone. His dark eyes were on his son as he spoke.
“No,” Gray said softly. “I don’t expect it is.”
Chapter Four
Liesel
Nearly a week had passed since Liesel had become the guest of honor on Canyon pack lands. It wasn’t so different that her own home, just less trees. While the Boulder pack was nestled in a large swath of trees, the Canyon pack was situated near the base of a mountain on high ground. There were trees aplenty and a nice river not too far away. And the view.
Her cabin that she shared with Bailey had been nestled into some trees. Very q
uiet. Very secluded. But from her second-story window in Grayson’s lodge, she could see for miles. It was gorgeous. And for being such a stiff-shirt, stick in the mud, his lodge was really homey and comfortable.
He’d chalked it up to Hannah, one of his mated females, of course.
“Like I’d ever take the time to pick out coordinating curtains and pillows,” he’d chuffed.
Yeah, the sheriff might like to pretend he was some sort of hard ass, but she hadn’t missed the emotions as his three mated pairs reluctantly got into the SUVs to head toward the Boulder pack. He bonded with his packmates fiercely and Liesel couldn’t begrudge him that.
Things had been quiet once she’d unpacked and they all seemed to have settled into a sort of routine. Grayson and the rest of the sentinels who had stayed behind, six of them, met each morning at 5 a.m. sharp for a daily briefing, coffee, and breakfast. As much gruff as she gave him for being more machine than living being, it was impressive to see the men work together so effortlessly. They were truly of one mind when it came to their duties and it was more than clear that they’d honed their bond in war.
All they were missing were camouflage uniforms and they’d still be an elite military unit.
As for Liesel, when she wasn’t forcing herself to stop eyeing Grayson like he was some sort of giant sprinkled donut (and, boy, did she enjoy a good rainbow-sprinkled donut with dark hair that was always perfectly gelled into place and a strong, stubble-free jawline punctuated by full lips and mocha-brown eyes), she was trying to keep her schedule relatively normal.
At 7:30 each morning, Gray would get into his immaculate quad-cab Dodge Ram and follow her out the front gates to the highway. In her little beat-up Tundra, she’d drive the nine miles to the county courthouse with Gray behind her and go inside to work. Once she was safely in the front doors, Gray would make a U-turn and go about his day.
Each afternoon, like clockwork, she’d leave the office around 4:30 and go outside to her car. Across the street, every day so far, she’d find the Ram parked in the same spot waiting for her.
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