“Come,” her mom said in English and snagged each of their hands. “We must go tell the others that Lisa has finally found a man.” She dragged them inside of the cool dwelling.
Lisa smiled apologetically at Lance as they moved to the family living room. However, he didn’t seem at all upset. In fact, there was a suspicious gleam in his eyes that caused her to suspect he might be laughing at her, and his impudent smile confirmed it.
“You won’t find it so funny when my dad starts grilling you,” she said and watched smugly as the smile dropped, and he gasped.
“I, it...I don’t think it’s funny,” he protested.
She grinned but didn’t have a chance to say anything because they’d reached the living room. Her dad and brothers were all there. Then a strange thing happened. Her dad stood up, faced Lance, and bristled. Actually bristled. Lance wasn’t much better. His stance had become defensive. He’d thrown an arm in front of her and tried to push her back, away from her family.
“What game is this?” Lance growled out.
“Lance?” The undercurrents were strong but undefinable.
“Who are you, and how’d you find me—us?” Her dad’s question caused her mother’s brow to furrow in response.
“Dad?” This was getting ridiculous.
“I am here with Lisa,” Lance replied, the low growl still reverberating in the back of his voice.
“Lisa?” Her dad turned to her, but her confusion kept her from understanding what he wanted.
“I came to introduce you to my fiancé, Father,” she responded in a more formal tone. So not the happy dad moment she’d envisioned.
“How did you meet?” her dad asked.
Lisa’s startled gaze met Lance’s. With all the preparations for leaving town, they hadn’t spoken of basic things—like the answer to that question.
“We met at a meeting,” she replied.
Her dad did a sniff thing with his nose that reminded her of—no it couldn’t be. “Why are you sniffing, Dad?” she asked. Her tone had gone from unsure to demanding. She rarely spoke to her dad like that, but this was no ordinary time.
He stopped mid-sniff and exchanged looks with her mom—and her brothers?
The awareness slammed through her gut and instinct told her what she should have known long ago. “You’re a werewolf, aren’t you, Dad?”
In all of her life, she’d never seen her father look so shocked—or guilty. No one spoke. Her mom wrung her hands and looked back and forth from father to daughter. “Well?” Lisa demanded.
“You ask as if it’s not a fairy tale,” her dad replied cautiously.
She wanted nothing of caution. Her whole life she’d been treated like a fragile china doll. Allowed to go to school and learn but not allowed to go out alone. Always, big brothers around. They’d treated her as if she couldn’t protect herself. It had been worse right after the Joseph incident. When she withdrew from the family, except for the monthly dinners, they’d all left her alone. Or so she thought.
“Dad!”
After a long look at her and Lance, her dad sat down. “You too, Lis,” he said, using her childhood nickname for her. Although, seeing as how they were all part animals and hadn’t bothered to share it, maybe she should say pet name.
Lance grabbed her hand, and she looked on in surprise. He gently, albeit firmly, led her to the couch and sat her down under the protective crook of his arm.
“I’m not exactly a werewolf,” her father began.
“How can you not exactly be a werewolf?” she asked incredulously.
Lance took her hand in his again and pulled it to his mouth for a gentle kiss. “Shh, my darling. Let him tell his tale. I feel it may be important.”
Her mother broke in. “Lisa smells of pack now. We assumed she’d been hanging with pack members. Is this true.”
“I’ll talk to you all about it later, Mom. I need to hear what Dad has to say. Things have happened.”
Her parents exchanged some unknown message then nodded to her before her dad continued. “My mother loved a man. Not in the way of mates, you understand. Hers had died, and my older brothers, well...” He looked away then back at her. “That is a tale for another day. I don’t know what she thought, but when she found herself pregnant with me, she told her lover. As you know, he’s never been around, and my mother raised me on her own. Things were fine until my first shift.”
“What happened your first shift?” she asked.
Lance squeezed her hand, and her dad smiled at her like he used to when she’d ask him a hundred questions. It brought tears to her eyes in memory of happier times. It played on her heart, and she wondered if she’d been a burden to him and her mom with her lack of abilities.
“I got hairy, and my teeth got pointy.” His self-deprecating smile didn’t fool her for a minute. That had to have been hell for him.
“But no wolf?”
“But no wolf,” he said and sighed. “My father was human. From that point on, the pack rejected me.”
“What pack,” Lance asked in a tone that told her he’d like personally to get his hands on them for the misdeed.
He started to say something, but nearby the loud crunch of cars crumpling filled the air. She glanced up at Lance. Could they have been found already?
“Lance?”
***
“We’ll have to do this family story another time, Mr. Sanchez. For now, you need to know that your daughter is a werewolf, part of the Wahpawhat pack, and my mate. She’s also in danger. Who in your family can change?” Lance stood up and prowled around the room, looking out all the windows.
“Lisa is the only one who showed no signs. Otherwise, I am the only one who can’t fully change, but I have the strength of a werewolf.”
“Good. This may be a real car accident, but I doubt it. Your daughter is a healer—like in the old ways. We believe that others would like to take her for their own means and likely hurt her. Can you provide a distraction? I’ll take Lisa, and go as planned.” He spoke rapidly.
Lance had to give him credit. Lisa’s dad didn’t hesitate or ask the questions he had to have, just got up and began doing.
“Boys, go and see what the wreck is about. Lance, Lisa, they’re large enough to hide you. If you’ll duck anyway,” he amended as he looked up at Lance’s towering height over them. “You get into the car and go. Let us know you’re safe when you can.”
Lisa’s mother gave her a frantic kiss and pushed them out the door. He took Lisa’s hands. “Give me your keys,” he said.
She dug them out of her messenger bag and handed them to him.
Her wide eyes made him wish they could stop and promise her that her family would be okay, but that couldn’t be. Instead he asked, “Ready?” At her nod, he squeezed her hand. “Whenever the rest of you are ready, give the word. And thank you,” he added quietly.
“Take care of her,” Lisa’s mother added before her father gave the go ahead.
He raced ahead and yanked open the driver’s door and shoved her across to the passenger side. He got in as soon as she’d cleared the seat and started the car before the door had shut. With only a quick look behind them to make sure no one paid them any attention, he sped off. He hadn’t even moved a block though, when he saw someone he recognized from the clearing. The human.
“Damn it!” he exclaimed and slapped the wheel as he took a squealing turn to head back around.
“What,” Lisa asked, holding on to the dash for balance.
“That human from the clearing is here. I can’t leave your parents and brothers to face him. They are unaware of the silver bullets.”
“Oh, Lance! No!”
They stopped down a side road. The two of them ran quickly up to where the wreck was centered.
“I don’t see him, Lance.”
“Neither do I,” he replied. He worked on picking up the scent, but it remained elusive. He carefully moved closer to the scene, but nowhere he scanned revealed anything more.
/>
“Get back to the car. We’ll have to call your parents. Call the ulfric as well. Damn it.”
They hurried back to the car, she snagged the phone out of her purse, and dialed before he had the engine started again.
“Mom. Just listen. There was a man there. He’s involved somehow. He and his friends—including the weres—carry silver bullets with liquid silver inside that explodes on impact...Yes, Mom.”
She moved into rapid fire Spanish then hung up. “My mom is going to get the men out of there if she has to threaten them with no meals for a month. Apparently, they’ve gone all macho male on her.”
As he glanced over, he caught her blowing her wayward bangs out of her face. “That would work on me,” he said in an attempt to lighten the mood.
She gave him a wan smile. “Thanks. I’ll feel better when I know they’re safe.”
“Call the ulfric, tell him and the lupa what has happened, and let them know of your family’s heritage.”
“I—I don’t know if I can tell him. They’ve hidden from the pack this long. They must have their reasons.”
Her point was valid, but this was bigger than one family. He knew it the same as he knew she was his mate. “Whatever it was, this is more important. They will need the protection of the pack from this human Roxy has aligned herself with.”
“You’re right,” she said and started to dial another number.
“Nolan,” she said into the phone. “We, I, you, my family. Help?” she said imploringly and handed the phone to him.
“Ulfric, I formally ask for the pack’s protection of Lisa’s family... I’ve just found out they are of werewolf decent. All but the father and Lisa, although he comes over hairy I guess... I don’t know, but the human from the clearing was outside their place when Lisa and I went to say our goodbyes before disappearing... Right. The same address I gave you before we left... Thank you.”
He handed the phone back to her. “Your family will be protected.”
She tucked her arm in his as they left Yakima. That small touch, that hand, brought it forward how much more he had than a couple of months ago—and how much more he had to lose. When would Roxy ever be out of his life?
Chapter Twenty
Night had fallen and the light of the waning moon left an eerie glow on the low-lying fog. Lisa had finally settled down and lay sleeping with her head on his shoulder. The island was settling for the night. They’d made the last ferry over from Seattle and were headed to a home downtown.
As he neared the last turn on his directions, he woke her up. “We’re almost there,” he said.
“How long have I been out,” she murmured in a sleepy voice.
“A few hours. Although I’m surprised you slept through the ferry ride.” That woke her up.
Abruptly, she went from still half laying on him drowsily, to sitting straight in her seat and looking around. “Ferry?” she echoed.
He laughed. “Yes, sleepy head,” he said as he stopped in front of the two story house. “Wait here. I’ll make sure it’s the right house and that it’s safe.”
He should have known better.
“And what if it isn’t safe?” her voice called out from behind him. “I’m not a damn china doll. I am an Elite Guard, a better fighter in hand-to-hand than you are, and you’re going to leave me behind like the little woman?”
Oh, she was angry, which shouldn’t have brought a grin to his face, but it did. More of her hair had fallen out of its braid as she slept. And though his mind knew it to be the wind of the waters which blew it around her face, it still looked as if it were its own living entity. That it felt as she did—angry, defensive, and ready to strike.
He became so enamored with the lifelike quality of her hair that he missed her approach until she jabbed her finger in his shoulder. “Well?”
“You’re beautiful,” he breathed. “All of you. Every inch of you, even enraged. I can’t help the protective feelings I have of you,” he hastened to say when her eyes narrowed at him.
“Then we’re going to have a problem. Because I am a protector as well as a healer, and I’ll not be pushed aside.”
“Oh, Lisa,” he said and drew her to him. “I don’t mean to push you aside. I’ll try to remember you’re a fighter, but I can’t promise I won’t try to protect you the best I can.”
Her rigid posture relaxed a little. “Well, as you can see, I’m quite capable of reminding you when needed. Now, shall we do this together?” she asked and gestured toward the front door.
“Yes,” he said and bit down on his cheek to keep her from seeing his smile. He may be new to the mate thing, but something told him that smiling at her now and telling her how cute she was wouldn’t go over well.
The porch light was on. However, no one answered when they knocked, so he drew out the key Nolan had given him and tried it in the lock. It gave way easily. “Well, right house anyway.”
“Shall we separate and search or do it together?” she asked.
“Toge—” he started to say then stopped. “Separately,” he amended.
It took little time to finish the sweep. “I’ll get the luggage if you could scare us up a meal. And before you get upset, you should know, I carry luggage a hell of a lot better than I cook.”
Her laughter followed him down the walk as he went and brought forth his libido. As if it needed much encouragement. He adjusted his walk to ease the discomfort and made plans on how best to seduce his lover.
***
“Did you scare them off?” Justin asked Evan.
Justin lay semi reclined in his living room, a cheroot in one hand and his glass of wine on the table nearby while he held the phone.
“They left in a hurry and haven’t returned to their homes.”
“Good.”
“I wanted her at my place of choosing,” Evan growled. “How is this good?”
“If she is on the run, she won’t be around to help out her Ulfric if needed. Or anyone in the pack.” The silence on the other end lasted so long, Justin wondered if Evan had hung up.
“That is good. It will be better when she is around to help me. But it will do for now.”
It’ll be better when she’s around to help me. Evan may be a fabled werepolar bear, but he had no idea of the extent of Justin’s powers. So he tread cautiously. Evan remained a largely unknown entity, and it wouldn’t do him any good to piss off the bear.
“It’s the easiest and most expedient way to put her out of contact with the rest of the pack. As she’s an aswan, her human family will be vulnerable should we choose to exploit that option.”
The pause on the other end was infinitesimal. “Of course. In the meantime, we need to move on to the next phase. The werepanthers.”
Justin felt a warmth flow through him. “They won’t even know what hit them. And this time of the year, no one will be expecting what I have planned for them.”
“I want the werebears there implicated. I don’t care how you manage it.”
Some of Justin’s warmth left him at the coldness in Evan’s voice. “I’ve already agreed to it, haven’t I?” he replied testily.
“Just make it happen, wolf, or you will see the legendary werepolar bear in a wrath. I promise you, it’s not something you will ever forget.”
“There is no need for threats, Evan.” He put out his cheroot. “We are on the same side, and I am no fool,” he added and hung up.
He was nothing Evan had ever seen, but he’d keep that fact to himself. As a precaution, he only revealed as much as he needed for the polar bear to know. The little show in the clearing had been his proof. He’d proven to the bear he could perform without turning into a wolf, just as Evan requested.
Roxy walked in wearing little more than a thin, gold negligee. And here was more proof, he decided as she knelt in front of him and began to unzip his slacks. Every day, she became more his as he practiced on her mind.
He closed his eyes and savored the power even though he never used his
special skills to seduce women. As a matter of pride, he preferred they came to him willingly. Like this. All at once his cock was jerked up, and the sharp bit of a silver knife poked into his balls.
His eyes flew open to meet the glittering rage of Roxy. If he tried his mind control now, she could slip and cut him with the silver that already made his ball sac itch from the small touch. No, better appease her in other ways.
“Wh—”
“Don’t. Speak.” Roxy’s temper, rumored to be bad, looked to be flaming tonight.
“I don’t know how you controlled that aswan back in the clearing, but you try that on me, and I’ll make you pay. Boris will be brought back, and you’ll give him official sanctuary, however you have to make it happen.”
“Why is this Boris so important to you? You are not mated. And though I know you’ve screwed his brains out more than once, you’re not jealous of the others he takes to his bed—or torture chamber.”
Her face clouded over, and she frowned up at him. “It is none of your business. Suffice it to say he has more than meets the eye, and he’s my enforcer. You have no one in the pack that measures up to him. Boris has an injury that isn’t healing. Apparently he has some of Heather’s serum in him from his paw being shoved into his own gut by Kamiakin. You will come with me, and we will pick him up.”
She pricked his balls with the silver knife, and the sting, though painful, exhilarated him. He found such fire, passion, and loyalty sexy. And a little pain never hurt anyone. His cock sprung tall and thick.
By the widening of her eyes, he thought it surprised her. “I find your passion for your friend stimulating. I will do as you say.” The rush of taunting glee that washed over her face made him angry. A fact he’d take out on her later, but by the gods, she was sexy as hell. “But not out of fear. I can control you if I choose. I’ll do it because I appreciate loyalty such as the two of you have together. First though, let’s not let this go to waste.” He indicated his hard on and let her see the lust in his face. However, he was careful to hide the little push he gave her to put the knife down.
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