Zan focused his gaze directly on Jackie, his next words unmistakable in their double meaning. “I lost my chance at finding my brother then. That experience taught me to never again hesitate when what I want is within my grasp.”
Jackie cautiously eased back into her chair, her expression not unlike prey caught in a trap.
“So now you know your bro’s alive.” Ben broke the invisible connection by stepping into his line of sight and picking up the chopped potatoes. “Why’d it take so many years to locate him— since I guess you’re older than twenty-six?”
Unconsciously, Zan twirled the knife in his right hand. “All I had was a first name and the fact he looked like me. I don’t remember a last name, though now I know that Kinigos was the pack name. Using what little I knew, I began searching various photo IDs, filtering for first name Dean and green eyes.” His eyes were hot and frustrated. “You want to know how many men named Dean who have green eyes live in the United States alone?”
Ben pressed his lips together. “Not really. But I would like to know how you got access to that kind of information.”
Oops.
He didn’t lie when he said, “I have military access to all kinds of data.”
“So you’re in the military? What branch?” Ben casually asked as he placed the potatoes in a pan to fry up.
“A special one.” Zan’s attention turned back to Jackie and caught her looking at the tattoo on his shoulder through narrowed eyes. Was she wondering if the ink represented his affiliation? Because he would be happy to tell her all about it when they were alone.
Which had him thinking. His work kept him out of the country for unknown periods of time and in places Jackie couldn’t, or safely shouldn’t, go. If he were to continue working for LunaWatch, he’d have to limit his assignments. Zan already didn’t like the idea of being gone from Jackie for extended periods of time.
Stunned by that revelation, Zan slouched in the chair. They hadn’t known each other for twenty-four hours and already he was thinking about their future. Together. This woman who not only had an established medical practice in the mountains of Colorado, she was an integral part of the shifter pack that resided there as well. A pack that was run by his brother. Even if Jackie miraculously agreed to change her life around for him and move to Virginia, he didn’t want to continue living in Russell’s home. But then not doing so would leave Jackie alone and vulnerable when he was gone. At least if they lived in the mansion, Jackie would have Russell’s mate, Marion, to keep her company.
“That’s how you found Dean?”
Jackie’s question brought Zan back from his whirring thoughts. It took him a moment to regroup. “No. Two pals of mine were here back in April, at some fair or something. At any rate, Scott, a techno-wizz, was messing around with his new phone, snapping pictures. One was of Dean. When I saw it for the first time last Thursday I finally had visual confirmation, a time frame, and location. And here I am.”
“Well thank God you never stopped looking.” Jackie said.
“God is a myth,” Ben murmured as he broke eggs into a large bowl.
“So are werewolves, yet here you are,” Jackie fired back. The smug smile on Ben’s lips made Zan suspicious that the by-play was a common occurrence. Zan fought against a flare of jealousy. He wanted to have that kind of connection with Jackie.
Hold on dammit, his brain screamed. This is going way to fast.
His wolf snarled in disagreement. Not fast enough. Mate. Take. Claim. Now!
“And what in the world are you doing cooking up all my eggs?”
“Company’s coming.” Ben retorted.
Jackie’s brows drew together in confusion. “I already have company and the three of us aren’t going to eat two dozen eggs. Speaking of which, I didn’t have two dozen eggs. When did you get those?”
Ben only smiled again. “Be a dear and get the doorbell.”
Sure enough, the doorbell rang. Shooting daggers at Ben, Jackie rose to her feet. “I hate your nose.”
When she left the room, Ben turned to Zan with a conspiratorial wink and waggled a cell phone that had been sitting on the countertop, hidden from Jackie and Zan by Ben’s body. “I love technology.”
Chapter Five
Jackie opened the door to three men. Two shifters who appeared to be in their early twenties, their barely contained youthful energy vibrating along their lean, muscular bodies, and Dean, who looked shell-shocked. She didn’t know if Dean’s expression was due to the reunion with his brother, the news of his impending fatherhood, or if the hand gestures that abruptly ceased two seconds after she yanked open the door were responsible. Having caught the last few words of the militarized sign language, Jackie knew that, despite their youthful appearance and “at-ease” stance, the newcomers were alert and ready to cause chaos if the situation was deemed a credible threat.
They had to be here for Zan, either as backup or retrieval. She was guessing the later.
“Here for the invalid or the free food?” Jackie crossed her arms over her chest.
Dean pressed a thumb and forefinger to his brow, as if trying to ease a tension headache. He casually waved his other hand and made introductions. “Doctor Jacklyn Chavez, this is Scott Boeing and Joe Feider. They’re...friends of Zan’s.”
“Free food?” The two questioned with such boyish enthusiasm that Jackie narrowed her eyes, assessing. Smart, strong, and deadly. Just a little lax in their training, and a little young in their demeanor. Though that could be part of their ploy. It might have worked if they’d been less intent on each other and more aware of the unknown behind the door.
The hand signals had given them away. Maybe they felt secure in their positions, or too confident about their abilities. Either way, it was a mistake that needed to be corrected. But as it wasn’t her place to do so she kept her mouth shut, because other than that giveaway, Jackie would have taken the two at face value, just concerned friends of Zan’s. Their camouflage was almost perfect and she had to give a silent kudos to the man who recruited and trained them. A man she knew all too well. Hadn’t he trained her as well? Only in Jackie’s case, the training had started when she was a child because of pure interest and then as self-defense. Not for military expeditions.
Dean raised an expectant brow at her hesitation. “May we come in?”
With a start, Jackie peeled her eyes away from the younger shifters and focused on Dean. “They’re your responsibility.” Which basically meant, if they cause a problem, Dean better deal with it or Jackie would have Dean’s hide, regardless if he was her Alpha or not.
“They always are.” His resigned tone had Jackie re-evaluating Dean. Though he looked tired and his tone hinted at exhaustion, she caught the glimmer of heat in his eyes. His innate power resonated in a parody of a distracted shifter.
Dean wasn’t sure about these two men, especially on the heels of silver bullets and long-lost brothers, and because of it, her Alpha was throwing them off the track of his real power. He couldn’t show weakness; that would be a dead giveaway. But distracted, exhausted? Perfectly acceptable under the circumstances. Until he knew their motives and picked their brains clean, Dean would remain extremely vigilant. And unlike the younger pair shifting awkwardly behind him, Dean’s camouflage was perfect.
With a spurt of pride Jackie squared her shoulders, pasted on a brilliant smile and stood back to let the men in her home. She also gave up a silent prayer that the testosterone overload wouldn’t turn her small space into a pissing contest.
She also prayed she would have food left over after five grown shifter men filled their bellies.
Since the living room opened into the kitchen Zan wasn’t difficult to spot. He rose from the table, a wide grin on his face as his friends made a bee-line to his side. Following behind Dean, Jackie noticed his muscles eased at the sight, which in turn made her relax. But only slightly. Having several male shifters in her home with no one needing immediate medical attention was a bit unnerving. Enterta
ining was not her forte and she had no idea what to do next.
Surprisingly, it was Zan that solved her dilemma. He padded around his friends and grabbed her hand, dragging her around Dean. “This is Dr. Jackie Chavez.”
Jackie did her best to ignore the heat of Zan’s body and the way her skin warmed in reaction to his nearness. Instead she tried to tug her hand free. “Dean already introduced us.”
Zan squeezed tighter. “Maybe so, but I’m sure he didn’t know to tell them that you’re my—”
“So how did you two know Zan needed checking on?” Jackie blurted out loud and just one octave shy of shrill, effectively cutting off what she was sure Zan was about to say.
Really. The nerve of some people. They’d known each other less than a day and he was ready to stake a verbal claim? She didn’t even know if her crazy attraction to Zan was due to the mating heat.
All right. So maybe that was a small lie. But that didn’t discount the fact that Zan’s confidence bordered on arrogance. Not a redeeming quality to Jackie’s way of thinking.
Joe, the lighter-haired of the two, looked from Jackie to Zan and back again. “He didn’t call us last night so we got worried. We didn’t know about his condition until we spoke this morning. After we’d already flown to Denver.”
“Wow.” She finally extracted her hand and went to the refrigerator to retrieve a can of coke. Right now she was just too hot for coffee. “Don’t you think that’s a little extreme?” She popped the top, feigning the innocence of the untrained. “I mean coming all this way—of course I don’t know where you came from—to check on Zan just because he didn’t call?”
All five men looked at her with varying expressions from speculative to thinking she’d lost her marbles. Gracefully, she rounded the group and slid into the chair closest to the back door, thinking she might need to escape if the room got any hotter. As agitated as she was, it only then registered that the table had been set for six, which meant they would all be eating in very close proximity.
Joe cast another furtive glance at Zan whose lips were pressed tight under narrowed eyes in disapproval. If Joe and Scott had been trying for covert, they’d blown it, and they now knew they’d blown it. Zan’s expression read, “you got yourself into this mess, get yourself out”.
Before Joe could come up with some excuse, Scott slid himself into the chair at her left and aimed steely-blue eyes at her. “Chavez? I know a General George Chavez. He lives in Virginia. Don’t suppose you’re related?”
Nice counterattack. Useless on Jackie. She was raised to throw them off like a pesky fly. Besides, she took his related comment to mean blood kin, which the general wasn’t. “Sorry. It’s a common last name.” She swung her gaze to Zan. “So, you’re from Virginia?”
Judging by the flashing expressions on Zan’s face, he didn’t know what to think. He settled on amused and settled into the chair on her right. “Yes. And to answer your unasked question, Joe and Scott are part of my unit. Military unit. When I didn’t contact them last night at the appointed time, they overreacted, thinking the worst. However, in this case, they were partially correct.”
Which, in truth, if Dean and Ben hadn’t gone into the woods after hearing gunshots, Zan might still be out there, alone, bleeding to death. Jackie shivered at that horrible thought. Maybe the boys hadn’t overreacted after all.
“Do you think someone followed you up here?” Dean asked Zan. “Maybe someone with a grudge against you?”
Zan slouched in his seat, his knee brushing hers. A deliberate move Jackie knew as his leg continued to rub against hers. Slowly. From thigh to knee and back again. Her hands clenched around the soda can. If she moved her legs away she’d knock into Scott’s. She knew her table was small. Four fit comfortably but six, with two of her patio chairs added to provide the extra seating, would be tight.
Pretending to be unaffected, Jackie sat still, and let the intentional caress shoot her blood pressure into the stratosphere.
“I don’t believe so, but I was preoccupied about meeting you. It’s possible I wasn’t as thorough as normal.” Zan responded.
“Have a lot of people pissed-off at you, do you?” Ben wanted to know. He was scooping scrambled eggs into one of Jackie’s mixing bowls.
“Happens in our line of work.” Joe said. “No matter what precautions we take, we can’t always maintain our invisibility.”
Which was another hint at what Zan’s unit did. Someone really needed to tape Joe’s mouth shut. She held a picture in her head of the general doing just that and had to bite back a chuckle.
Zan turned to Scott. “Check with Russell. See if there’s any intel on undesirables entering the country.”
“On it.” With those words Scott whipped out his cell and began punching buttons.
“And with that, I’m ready for breakfast. Or lunch since it’s almost noon.” Ben placed bowls of eggs, fried potatoes, sausages and a heaping platter of pancakes—when did he make pancakes?—and toast on the table.
If the men at her table were fully human, she might have to give a lecture. After all, she was a doctor and in front of them were steaming piles of artery clogging goodness. Between the pizza last night and the appetizing food she was about to eat, she vowed to have a healthy dinner to make up for it.
And because of the huge salad that loomed in her future, she dug into the bowls before any male had a chance to.
Chapter Six
In a mass, every iota of testosterone departed from her home, leaving her with a strange feeling of abandonment. Shaking it off, Jackie tackled the mess in the kitchen. Though the men had offered to help, albeit—other than Zan—half-heatedly, (Ben of course pulled the I cooked you can clean card) she waved them off. She just wanted a time out. And maybe a nap.
After tackling the kitchen Jackie tidied the house, but when she found her gaze, and her nose, lingering on the bed Zan had slept in, she let out a disgusted breath, changed clothes and headed outside to work in her garden. She loved her backyard, with it’s small patch of grass edged on two sides by raised flower beds. She’d created concrete stepping stones that not only led to the beds, but were placed strategically throughout the garden so she could pull weeds or prune without standing on the soil. At least that’s what she told people who commented on the pretty steps. In actuality, she hated the thought of accidentally squishing any worms living in and enriching her soil. She considered it a symbiotic relationship. She was careful with the worms and they were nice to her plants.
Unfortunately, the joy she usually felt from tending her flowers eluded her. Flashes of Zan would pop into her head. Zan sitting at the table, his hands deftly cutting potatoes. Zan standing by the edge of her bed, his green eyes intent with predatory awareness, as if about to pounce. Zan, injured—and hello, naked—on the bed in her guestroom. To her delight—shame, she meant shame—the latter image caused her to react in a very nonprofessional way. And of course, it was the picture that seemed the most vivid, and repetitive.
What she needed was a mental and physical diversion.
A shower and grocery list later, she was pushing a cart through McKensie’s Market. And it was a hotbed of gossip. Already the arrival of Dean’s brother was well-known. When she turned into the frozen food section she also found out how well-known it was that five men had been seen leaving her house early that afternoon. The older of the two whispering women pressed her lips together and gave her a tight nod, though her daughter, Penny, gave her a genuine smile. “Hey Doc.”
“Hello, Penny. How’s that finger of yours?”
Penny held up her pinkie, the one she’d accidentally gouged with a knife during one of her shift’s as a waitress. “Almost healed. That cream worked like a charm.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” No lie. Penny was smart, funny, worked circles around most people, and didn’t hold anything back. If you don’t want the truth—aka does this make my butt look big—don’t ask Penny. Jackie couldn’t help but adore the woman.
&nbs
p; “So I hear you had a bunch of men leaving your place early this morning?”
Jackie choked on her spit while Penny’s mom let out a horrified huff. But seriously. Wasn’t it better to ask the question of the individual involved rather then to gossip about it, incorrectly at that? “Uh. Actually, it was about one. After they all ransacked my kitchen that is.”
“I also hear that one of ‘em was Dean’s brother. What’s his name? Zack?” While Mrs. Vernon turned away, apparently showing her disapproval at the whole incident, she hadn’t moved away. And while Jackie shouldn’t care what people thought about her, she was one of the few doctors in the community and couldn’t afford to alienate anyone. Even one with a closed-mind.
“Zan Sutton. Yes. He was involved in an accident last night and they brought him to me to tend to.”
That got the older woman’s attention. “Accident? Like a car or chainsaw?”
Bloodthirsty female. Jackie rubbed her hand over her lips to hide a smile. “I really can’t say. Doctor-patient privilege and all. But he was badly hurt and when he was stable, Dean and some others came by to help move him to an appropriate location.”
Mrs. Vernon’s tight gray curls bobbed on her head. “That was right fine of you, Jackie. But surely you could tell Penny and I what happened. It’s not like we’re gossips or anything.”
Talk about a one-eighty. And a big, fat fib. Even Penny rolled her eyes at her mother’s outlandish conspiratorial whisper. “Mom. You heard Jackie. Doctor-patient privilege.”
“Added to that,” a deep voice joined the conversation. “Until the investigation is complete, all information is confidential.”
What This Wolf Wants Page 5
