by Paige Tyler
Great. Another question she couldn’t answer.
Nodding now and then to make it seem like she was paying attention to the conversation going on around the table, Rachel continued running through last night’s discussion with Knox, realizing maybe she hadn’t been truthful about not trusting him. How else could she explain telling him how she’d become a werewolf? No one in the Pack but Gage knew about the clown who’d attacked her.
Then there was the part where she’d agreed to meet with Knox again and give him a chance to explain himself. If that wasn’t evidence of some kind of trust, she didn’t know what was.
But why the hell would she do that?
There had to be a reason—beyond the fact that Knox Lawson was ruggedly handsome, smelled delicious, and had a droolworthy body.
Oh. My. God. Had she seriously put the words drool- worthy and former hunter in the same thought? What was wrong with her?
Rachel was still considering how far around the bend she might have traveled to even think crap like that when Adalynn Lloyd, Jennifer and Conrad’s sixteen-year-old daughter, appeared in the doorway. Petite and slender with wavy, dark hair just past her shoulders and blue eyes, she regarded Rachel and the others around the table curiously.
“Mom, Dad,” the girl said, sounding more than a little nervous. Rachel didn’t blame her. The fact that the family needed private security—and four SWAT cops—to keep them safe had to be terrifying. “Dominic said you wanted to see me?”
Conrad waved her in. “We do. Come in, Addy.”
The girl slowly made her way over to the table, still looking a little unsure about this whole thing. Addy seemed to relax after she sat down and her father introduced her to everyone, but Rachel got the feeling it was all an act. The girl’s heart still thumped as fast as it had when she’d first walked into the room, and the scent of fear coming off her made it obvious she was scared as hell. It only got worse as Theo went into detail about some of the security measures, like sweeping vehicles for explosive devices three times a day and keeping the curtains closed to reduce the chance of a sniper getting a clean shot. Maybe they thought Addy would be fine with hearing that stuff, but Rachel knew she wasn’t. In fact, she was on the verge of hyperventilating. Rachel’s heart went out to her. Addy reminded her of Hannah so much right then, and it hurt to see the girl so anxious.
Since Addy was sitting beside her, it was easy for Rachel to lean over and speak to her without interrupting the conversation the rest of the table were having.
“You want to get out of here and go talk about some of this stuff?” she asked softly. “I promise it isn’t as scary as it sounds.”
Addy looked at her mom and dad, then at everyone else at the table, before giving Rachel a nod.
The teen led the way over to the spiral staircase and up to the catwalk area, then kept going until she reached the gigantic window with an equally large built-in bench seat. Rachel waited until Addy sat down, then did the same, taking in the picturesque view of the big backyard and woods beyond.
“Wow,” Rachel breathed. “It’s gorgeous up here.”
“I know.” Addy smiled. “Besides my room, this is my most favorite place in the house.”
“I can see why.” Rachel turned back to look at the teen. “So, like I said downstairs, this whole thing isn’t as scary as it sounds, and I don’t want you to let any of this stuff freak you out, okay? You have my word that we aren’t going to let anything happen to you or your parents.”
Addy regarded her thoughtfully for a moment, like she’d never had a soul make a promise like that to her. It must have been exactly what she needed to hear, because her heart rate started to slow to normal and the tension began to visibly seep out of her body.
“I’m not naive,” the girl said softly. “I know my mom could have been killed in that explosion and that someone I met at last year’s Christmas party was killed. But to hear you guys talking about searching our cars and having to worry about someone shooting through a window just makes everything so much more…”
“Real?” Rachel asked.
Addy nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s the word I’m looking for.” She played with the strings on her Dallas Cowboys hoodie, her brow furrowing a little. “Dad said you guys will be around for a while. How long do you think the trial Mom’s working will last? I’ve asked her, but she doesn’t want to tell me anything about it.”
Rachel shrugged. She hadn’t exactly been keeping up-to-date on the Alton Marshall front. Her slowly dissolving sanity had been a bigger concern for her. But Addy deserved at least some kind of answer. It was her life after all.
“I don’t know much about the trial but, best case, a couple weeks,” she said. “It could drag out for months, though.”
Addy’s eyes widened, but then her expression changed, taking on a panic-stricken look. “Does this mean I’ll be on total lockdown that long? I won’t be able to go to school or…date?”
Rachel resisted the urge to laugh. Addy was in danger and she knew it, but she was also a teenager with a social life that was probably more important to her than her actual life.
“The plan is to make sure you have as normal of a life as possible,” she assured the girl. “That means sending guards with you wherever you go. They’ll be discreet when you’re at school, so hopefully, no one will even know they’re there. And as far as dates, I’m sure we can work something out.”
Addy breathed a sigh of relief. “Thank God. The Valentine’s Day dance is coming up soon and I can’t miss it. Aaron asked me weeks ago to be his date.”
The girl’s heart began to pitter-patter for a completely different reason now, and Rachel couldn’t help but smile at the obvious signs of young love. Or at least what a sixteen-year-old thought was love.
“Aaron?” she prompted.
Addy’s eyes took on a dreamy expression. Dang, this girl had it bad.
“He’s eighteen, is a senior, and has a motorcycle,” she said softly, throwing a glance from the corner of her eye at her parents sitting at the table on the floor below, like they might overhear, then leaned in a little closer to Rachel. “My mom and dad won’t let me ride with him, but I’ve sat on it once. When he asked me to the dance, I seriously thought I was going to pass out!”
Rachel briefly wondered if she’d ever been that dramatic when she was a teen. Man, she hoped not.
“Something tells me he wears a cool leather jacket when he’s on his bike, right?” she asked with as much seriousness as she could muster.
“Ermahgerd, yes! He wears it all the time, even when it’s not cold. He looks so amazing in it.” Addy giggled. “How did you know that?”
Rachel grinned. “Just a guess.”
As Addy continued to gush about Aaron and his black leather jacket and how the boy was so gorgeous and smart and funny, Rachel nodded and smiled. While she couldn’t remember if she’d ever been as gaga over a boy in high school, she vaguely remembered what it was like to be a teenager, so she knew there was a good chance the girl wouldn’t even be interested in Aaron by the end of the school year.
Somewhere in the middle of Addy’s soliloquy, Rachel found her gaze drawn to the floor below and Knox. As if feeling her gaze on him, Knox glanced up at her. Rachel didn’t look away but instead locked eyes with him, blatantly studying him.
His face was a bit more rugged, with more scruff, compared to the guys she was normally attracted to, but in Knox’s case, she had to admit it worked. Not that she really cared, since he was a former hunter. The guy could be David Boreanaz’s twin and she wouldn’t have looked at him twice.
Riiiight.
“I think they’re finishing up down there,” Addy said.
Rachel dragged her gaze away from Knox to look at everyone else at the table and realized Addy was right. By the time she and the teen girl got down to the main floor of the library, Jennifer and C
onrad were already heading out the door with Theo and Ethan to show them the room where they could set up the security command post. Addy gave Rachel a wave and raced after her parents, saying something about needing to remind them about the new dress they promised to buy her for the dance.
That left Knox alone with Rachel and her pack mates.
Zane leaned back in his chair and regarded Knox thoughtfully. “You’re new in Dallas, aren’t you?”
Knox nodded. “I’ve been in town a few weeks.”
“Did you come here looking for protection from the hunters?” Diego asked.
Knox glanced at Rachel and she tensed, suddenly terrified he’d admit he used to be one. No, he couldn’t be that dumb. She had no idea if he knew how to lie convincingly, though. Since he was talking to a group of werewolves, he’d better nail it, or he was screwed.
“The hunters did play a big part in my coming here, but I wasn’t looking for protection as much as information,” Knox said smoothly, looking at Diego. “I wanted to find someone who could help me understand what was happening to me.”
“When did you go through your change?” Zane asked.
“A little before Christmas,” Knox said. “I ended up in the middle of a shooting, and long story short, I took a bullet in the thigh that hit an artery. I thought for sure I was going to bleed out.”
Rachel thought Knox had done an exceptionally good job of lying until she saw the expression on Diego’s face change from curious to suspicious. Crap, maybe Knox should have been a little more vague on the details. Something he’d said had obviously caught Diego’s attention. But what?
“Wait a minute.” Diego’s eyes narrowed. “You expect us to believe you turned into a werewolf and were calm enough to not only understand what happened to you but to also figure out you needed help from a pack of werewolves? I’ve met a lot of new werewolves, and in my experience, most of them were still in denial at the eight-week point, and those who weren’t were completely freaking out instead. What’s so different about you, and how did you know there was a pack in Dallas?”
Rachel bit back a growl. Diego was like a dog with a bone once he thought something sneaky was going on.
Knox chuckled. “Wish I could take credit for being a genius, but I can’t. By pure happenstance I ended up being around some people who knew a thing or two about werewolves. When the bullet wound in my leg healed up on its own, I had a pretty good idea what was going on. I was familiar with the Dallas pack and knew this was the best place to come to find answers. So I came out here and got a job, hoping to run into one of you.”
Rachel held her breath as Diego considered that, but luckily, he seemed to accept Knox’s story. Zane and Trey continued to ask questions, wanting to know more about him. Knox kept his answers vague, but thankfully, it seemed to satisfy her pack mates’ curiosity.
“Why don’t you come by the SWAT compound sometime, and we can introduce you to our alpha and commander of our team,” Zane suggested. “Gage would like to meet you, and if you want to learn how to be in touch with your inner werewolf, he’s the best teacher.”
Double crap.
“I could teach him!” Rachel said quickly.
Everyone turned to her in surprise, Knox included. She didn’t know why he was so stunned. Maybe because her voice was suddenly so high it practically squeaked. She tried to look relaxed, as if offering to teach Knox how to be a werewolf was the most natural thing in the world, but from the way her pack mates were eyeing her, she was pretty sure she didn’t pull it off. Probably because they knew what a train wreck her life currently was.
“What, you don’t think I could do it?” she demanded, some of the anger she’d been stuck with for the past few months coming out. She might be a freaking mess, but that didn’t mean she wanted her pack mates to treat her like a soup sandwich. They were supposed to support her, dammit.
“Of course we do,” Zane said, though he didn’t sound convinced.
Diego didn’t even bother to hide his concern. It was right there on his face for everyone to see. “You sure about this?”
Rachel wanted to growl at him but couldn’t find it in her to be angry with him. Diego wasn’t the oldest member of the Pack, but he worried about everyone like a big brother, and since he’d watched her experience those nightmares firsthand in LA, he worried about her constantly.
So instead of biting his head off, she gave him a warm smile. “Yes, I’m sure. I think it would be good for me to focus on someone else’s issues for a while instead of mine. And if I run into something I can’t handle, you’ll be the first one I come to for help.”
That seemed to satisfy him and the rest of her SWAT teammates—or at least shut them up—and after another round of handshakes and comments on how much they were looking forward to working together, Diego, Trey, and Zane left to go check out the security command post.
“Well, that went well,” Knox murmured the moment they walked out.
Rachel cursed and held a finger up to her lips to shush him before he could say anything else. Only after she was sure her pack mates were out of earshot did she turn and look at him.
“Okay, they’re gone,” she said. “I’m not sure how well developed your hearing is yet, but werewolves can clearly make out a normal conversation from a block away. It wouldn’t be a good idea to have the other members of my pack realize I know you already—or that you’re a hunter.”
“Ex-hunter,” he corrected. “But I get your point. I take it they wouldn’t be thrilled to hear about my background?”
Rachel snorted. “They’d be thrilled, all right. Though you wouldn’t because they’d probably kill you.”
There was a perverse part of her that hoped to get a reaction out of him with her threat, but she ended up disappointed. He didn’t even bat an eye.
“Dead isn’t a good look on me,” he quipped. “So, thanks for the warning. I’m getting the feeling there’s a lot more I’m going to need to learn than I’d realized. I never thought about being able to hear better now that I’m a werewolf.”
“Yeah, well, at least you’re getting a chance to learn all this from someone else. I had to pick most of it up on my own and it sucked.” Knox looked curious, but she waved him off. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll tell you tonight. You’re still coming over, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I helped Theo put together the duty roster and made sure I’m on day shift with you.”
Huh. That’s convenient, she thought as she headed for the door. “Good. I’ll see you then.”
“It’s a date.”
She stopped like she’d hit a brick wall, immediately turning halfway around to poke her head back in the door. “No, it’s not a date. It’s a meeting. It’s a training session. It’s a chance for us to talk. But it is most definitely not a date.”
Rachel left before Knox could reply, but as she walked down the hall, she couldn’t miss the amused chuckle he let out. Damn her own werewolf hearing.
Chapter 4
The mouthwatering aroma of a home-cooked meal wafting out of Rachel’s apartment hit Knox the moment he reached the second-floor landing. He paused, amazed he could possibly discern the smell was coming from her place considering it was all the way down at the end of the hallway. Then again, how did he also know it was something homemade and not takeout? Since getting the answer to questions like those was the reason he was there in the first place, he did his best to ignore his nose as he headed toward Rachel’s.
He ran a few opening lines through his head as he went, hoping to come up with something to make up for that lame-ass comment about tonight being a date earlier. He had no idea why he’d even said it. The words had simply slipped out. He was usually smooth with the ladies, but there was something about Rachel that threw him completely off his game.
Knox lifted his hand to rap his knuckles against the door, but she opened it befor
e he could knock. Unfortunately, he still hadn’t come up with the line he’d been looking for. Not that it mattered. His mind vapor locked the moment he set eyes on Rachel. Crap, this is embarrassing.
Luckily, she didn’t notice his mouth was hanging open like he was an oversized carp because she turned away, busy typing something into her phone and motioning him in with a jerk of her chin.
“Addy Lloyd was a little freaked out this morning about the whole security detail thing, so I gave her my cell phone number in case she needed to talk, but I think that may have been a bad idea,” Rachel said as she continued across her small living room toward the kitchen. “She’s been texting me nonstop since I got home. I can’t believe that girl is worrying about what she’s going to wear to a high school dance when there are people out there trying to kill her family.”
“It’s probably because she doesn’t have any idea how much danger she’s in.” Knox closed the door behind him. “Or she does realize and is using the dance as a way to cope with the fear.”
She kept tapping on her phone. “Assuming Addy takes after her mother, I’ll go with the former. Jennifer is obviously a brilliant woman, but I get the feeling she thinks this whole security detail is a bother.”
He couldn’t argue with that. “If it wasn’t for her daughter and husband, I don’t think she would have even accepted the protection.”
Rachel nodded in agreement as she sauntered into the kitchen, silky blond hair hanging loose down her back. His gaze lingered on the curve of her butt as she moved. He was a little disappointed she wasn’t wearing the same shorts she’d had on last night, but the jeans she wore looked damn good, too. He also loved the way her snug T-shirt had a tendency to ride up as she walked, showing off a little glimpse of skin above the waist of her jeans. He had a crazy urge to run his fingers across all that exposed perfection to see if she was ticklish.
He forced his attention away from the distraction that was her body and looked around the apartment as he tossed his leather jacket over the back of the couch. He’d been too keyed up last night to notice much beyond the superficial. He hadn’t even gotten a good look at any of the framed photos she had on display. There were pictures of her with an older couple who had to be her mom and dad, and some with a tall guy and two women who looked enough like her to be her siblings, as well as some fellow cops. And if her southern accent hadn’t already given her away, the apartment’s decor definitely betrayed her country roots. There was a homey feel to the place, with pictures of old barns, tree-covered mountains, and crystal-clear lakes. The banner from the University of Tennessee on the wall over the TV as well as the orange-and-white fleece blanket with the signature checkered pattern on either end, along with a bold T in the center, thrown over the back of the love seat were sort of a dead giveaway, too. He wasn’t a fan of the Volunteers, since he grew up in Kentucky Wildcats country, but he decided not to hold it against her—much.
