by Anna Lowe
Officer Meli stumbled back with wide, disbelieving eyes, and Cruz caught her hand just as she cocked the gun for a second shot. Boone raced up and blocked the view as Hunter finished the wolf off for good. Officer Meli didn’t need to see that. He didn’t particularly want to watch, either. His eyes stayed on the owl that circled once, then flew off, leaving Boone to wonder what that had been all about. He didn’t have time to wonder for long, though, because a moment later, the area went deathly quiet.
Boone turned slowly. Hunter, still in bear form, backed away from the slain wolf. His mournful eyes fixed on the policewoman. He shook his fur, sat back on his haunches, and—
“Oh, shit,” Boone murmured.
Hunter’s bear half had taken over during the fight, but his human side pushed toward the surface at the sight of the woman he loved. He shifted in plain sight of Officer Meli and stood quietly, working his jaw.
The policewoman gasped, lowering her gun. “Hunter.”
Boone bit his lip. In all the time Boone had known them, Office Meli and Hunter had always been painfully formal with each other, keeping their distance in spite of the obvious attraction that pulled them together again and again. Boone had never heard the policewoman use Hunter’s first name. Not that she got much chance to since the bear rarely broke the speed limit, but she’d found a few clever excuses to pull him over from time to time. A broken taillight here, a quick check of inspection dates there — and Hunter had always glowed for days afterward.
Well, he sure wasn’t glowing now. He just gulped and stared at her.
“Dawn…”
When Hunter took a step forward, the policewoman stepped back, and Hunter’s face fell.
“Let me explain,” Nina said, stepping up with her hands in clear view.
Boone whipped his head around. Nina had just found out about shifters herself. How was she going to explain? But her soft, feminine voice seemed like the only thing getting through to Officer Meli, so Boone held his tongue.
“They saved me,” Nina said. “I was being kidnapped, but Hunter, Boone, and Cruz stopped them…” The words flowed off her tongue in a rapid stream.
“But he…he…” Officer Meli stuttered.
“He’s Hunter,” Nina said. “Just like Boone is Boone, and Cruz is Cruz.”
Boone’s heart swelled. God, did he love his mate.
The radio in the squad car squawked, making Office Meli jolt. “I have to report…”
Boone barely held back from cutting her off and raised his hands instead. “Please don’t report this. Let us explain.”
Officer Meli looked at Hunter, who murmured, “The wolf was going to kill you. I had to stop him…”
Boone was pretty sure the policewoman wasn’t too worried about that part. It was the shifter part that made her turn pale. She stared and stared until the radio came alive again.
“I don’t understand it all, either,” Nina said when the cop turned toward her vehicle. “But one thing is clear to me, and I know it has to be clear to you. These aren’t the bad guys, Officer. I owe them a chance to explain. You owe them a chance to explain. Please, let’s hear them out.”
The policewoman slowed but didn’t stop, and Cruz glanced at Boone.
We have to stop her. She can’t report this.
Boone shook his head quickly. Things were bad enough as they were. And anyway, Hunter wouldn’t let either of them touch the woman he loved, even if it meant disaster for them all.
Everyone stared in silence as Officer Meli reached into the squad car and pulled the radio out. “Unit 239, checking in.”
Boone went stiff all over as the dispatcher’s staticky voice came through.
“Please,” Hunter whispered, reaching a hand toward the policewoman.
Boone pulled Nina closer, wondering if he’d won over his mate only to lose her. If Officer Meli reported what she’d seen, half the Maui police force would swarm the place, and he and his shifter brothers would be…well, screwed.
Officer Meli pinched her lips, staring at Boone. His chin dropped in defeat as she opened her mouth to reply to the call.
“Negative,” the policewoman murmured. “Negative,” she repeated, making Hunter’s head snap up. “False report. All units stand down.”
If Nina hadn’t been gripping his hand, Boone would have sat hard on his ass.
“Thank God,” Nina murmured. “Thank God.”
Chapter Nineteen
Three days later…
The cool water of the shower rushed over Nina’s skin, and she closed her eyes to Boone’s gentle touch. He slid the soap over her back, caressing every inch of her body. Gradually, he worked his way lower…lower…
Nina sighed and caught his hand. “We’re supposed to be getting ready, Boone.”
“I am getting ready,” he rumbled into her ear. “Ready to love my mate all over again.”
Her blood heated at the suggestion of even more pleasure at the hands of her lover. But they’d already spent most of the morning screwing, plus half the night.
Perfectly normal for a pair of freshly mated wolves, Boone had insisted, giving her a naughty grin. The others will understand.
The bite mark on Nina’s neck tingled. The mark of the mating bite. She and Boone were bonded forever, and her whole soul rejoiced.
“Later, my love,” she said, trying to slow him down with a kiss. It almost backfired, though, because his heat drew her in, and she started running her hands down his toned body all over again. She caught herself an inch away from his cock and stopped. “Bad wolf.”
Boone put on a sad puppy-dog look, and she laughed.
“You’re a very bad wolf, and I love you for it. But we really need to get moving. We can pick up where we stopped later.”
Boone guided her hand back to his hips. “Promise me, my mate.”
“I promise if you promise.”
“I promise,” he said, growing serious.
I promise to love and protect you forever, my mate, his wolf hummed into her mind.
Ever since the mating bite, she could hear every thought Boone sent her way. That was one more thing to get used to in her new life — a life she already loved. She had the world’s best mate, and she got to live in a gorgeous little cottage by the sea. A tiny slice of paradise, and she never had to leave.
She gazed around as she dressed, counting her luck all over again. So much had happened to her, it was still hard to believe.
“Don’t forget that,” Boone said, tilting his head toward the ruby.
She’d pulled it out an hour earlier — before Boone had drawn her into another mind-blowing round of sex, that is — and left it on the bedside table, glowing in the sun beside her mother’s teddy bear. When she took the gem in her fingers and held it up, it warmed her hand in a reassuring way, and a faint whisper reached her ears.
You have nothing to fear from me — you, the new keeper of the Firestone. My last keeper chose well.
Nina smiled at the memory of sweet old Lewis McGee and his note. I wish you all the love, laughter, and joy that was in my dear wife’s heart.
Nina sighed. True love. Lewis McGee had been blessed by the ruby, though she doubted he’d known about its special powers. Now she was the one blessed by it.
With the ruby in one hand and Boone’s warm grip in the other, Nina walked up the path, grateful for the strength both gave her. She’d known she would have to face Silas at some point, and this was it. According to Boone, Silas had returned late the previous night and immediately set a meeting time.
As in, right now.
Silas, the dragon. She took a deep breath. Everyone was gathering, and it scared her a little bit. The good news was a hot new celebrity scandal had broken out in Hollywood, and the press had dropped her story like a dead fish, so Silas hadn’t returned to find a posse of reporters blocking the front gate. At least there was that.
The other good news was that Kai, Silas’s cousin, and Kai’s mate, Tessa, had returned to Hawaii two days
before Silas did. Meeting Tessa was like reuniting with a long-lost friend, and the little time Nina spent away from Boone, she’d spent with Tessa having long, girl-to-girl talks. They’d laughed over each of the men’s quirks, talked dirty about amazing shifter sex, and cried, too, sharing what they’d each been through. They’d also discovered that with a little effort, they could read each other’s minds much like they could with their mates. It seemed like an incredible discovery, but Boone had just shrugged.
“Sure. You’re part of the same pack.”
He’d explained that, too. Wolf shifters usually lived in all-wolf packs. Bears lived in clans, dragons in weyrs, and tigers…
“Tigers keep to themselves,” Boone had sighed, pointing in the direction of Cruz’s house, all the way out at one end of the estate. Then he’d grinned and whispered, “If you want a good laugh, tell the others I said pack. We argue about what to call it all the time.”
Nina had decided not to try that just yet. She was just happy to call the place home.
Tessa, a striking redhead with a warm smile, waved as Nina approached the meeting house.
Remember, they’re just big puppies, she whispered into Nina’s mind.
Nina pursed her lips, looking at the men gathered there. Tessa had also told her Koa was Hawaiian for an elite class of warriors, and that’s what she saw in the men. Not a puppy among them. They were all big and battle-hardened, fiercely loyal and frighteningly powerful. Kai was the tall, dark-haired man pressed up to Tessa’s side. Cruz paced along the perimeter of the building, restless as ever. Hunter hung back in the shadows, looking so pained, Nina wanted to give him a hug. It wasn’t her touch he needed, though. Officer Meli had agreed to keep the shifter fight under wraps, but she’d left the scene looking wary and conflicted. When Hunter had tried to stop her for a final word, she’d hurried away, and the grizzly hadn’t smiled since.
Nina squeezed Boone’s hand. Hunter had helped her earn her destined mate. Someday, somehow, she would figure out a way to do the same for the grizzly.
“Let’s start,” Silas said, pulling Nina back to the business at hand.
Silas was terrifying — tall and dark and sheer power. But when he moved through a beam of sunlight, Nina saw what she hadn’t noticed at first: deep lines of worry creasing his brow, and fingers that tapped restlessly. According to Boone, Silas was in charge of the estate and the group of shifters who lived there. The responsibility had to be crushing.
Maybe he needs a hug, like Hunter, she half joked to Tessa.
Ha. I don’t recommend you try it. But someday, you and I will find him a mate, too.
Nina grinned and gave Tessa a hidden thumbs-up.
“I don’t know whether to be relieved or furious,” Silas started, motioning everyone to the couches set in one section of the meeting house.
Relieved, Boone murmured into Nina’s mind.
“I’m sorry,” she said immediately. “I never meant to bring you trouble…”
Silas shook his head, and to Nina’s surprise, the gesture was gentle, not curt. “Trouble has a way of finding us, it seems.”
Everyone went quiet, and Nina saw Hunter close his eyes.
“You said the Spirit Stones would call to each other,” Tessa said. “Is that what caused all this?”
The redhead stretched her arm out and opened her hand, setting a huge emerald on the table. Nina stared and slowly held her ruby up to the light, letting one facet after another catch and magnify the light. When she set it down next to the emerald, both gems glowed brighter, casting red and green shadows on the white tablecloth.
“Spirit Stones,” Nina whispered, looking at Silas. Boone had explained the basics, but even he was stumped about the ruby.
“That is the Lifestone,” Silas said in a reverent voice, pointing to Tessa’s emerald. “It magnifies the bearer’s innate powers.” Then he gestured at the ruby. “Yours is the Firestone.”
“What power does it have?” Boone asked. “I haven’t been able to figure it out.”
Every head turned to Silas, who nodded gravely. “Fire is power. Fire can be a boon, but it can destroy, too.”
Nina shivered, remembering how Tamara had screamed and writhed.
“The Firestone reflects the bearer’s qualities back on them. It seeks and rewards the pure.” He paused, looking at Nina.
She dropped her eyes, feeling awfully self-conscious.
“And it punishes the evil,” Silas finished.
Nina closed her eyes on the image of a dying Tamara.
“But a truly powerful shifter…” Kai murmured.
Silas nodded. “A truly strong shifter might be able to channel the power of the Firestone and use it for his own gain. To corrupt the good and ally with dark powers.”
“Someone like Drax,” Kai whispered.
Nina saw Tessa’s eyes flicker with fear. Nina had heard about Drax — the most powerful dragon of all. An evil dragon that Silas had tangled with a long time ago.
“Does Drax know about the Firestone?” she asked, looking at Boone.
I will protect you forever, her lover’s eyes promised.
She forced a smile. Boone had certainly proven himself with landborne shifters. But a dragon?
Tessa nudged her foot under the table. Together, we are strong. Stronger than any of us could ever be alone. We’re one weyr now.
Nina couldn’t hold back a faint smile, remembering Boone’s comment about packs. She looked from one face to another, and they all bore the same determined expression. Together, we are strong.
Poor Boone — she was probably clutching his hand too hard, but Nina couldn’t help it. For most of her life, it had been just her and her mother. She’d never had much of an extended family, either. But now, she did. She was part of that we. Slowly, Boone’s mating bite would work on her and allow her to shift, and she made a quiet vow to learn everything she needed to protect her pack. Tessa was learning dragon fighting skills; Nina would do the same as a wolf. She didn’t savor the thought of having to use such skills, but if it meant protecting her mate, her pack, her future kids—
Her breath caught as an image of Boone popped into her mind — Boone cooing at a tiny bundle wrapped in pink. No, wait. A blue bundle, too. Holy smokes. He held one in each arm.
She clutched the table. Did destiny have twins in store for her somewhere down the line?
A ray of light caught in the ruby, making it wink.
Nina took a deep breath. No need to think too far ahead. The present was good enough. And if ever evil visited again, she’d do her part to repel it.
Boone kissed her knuckles. You and me. Side by side.
She listened as the others murmured, considering the other Spirit Stones. But it was all too much for her overloaded mind, and she stood quickly. A cup of tea might help her settle down as the others discussed the long-lost treasure.
“The Waterstone…”
“The Windstone…”
“The Earthstone…”
The room grew quiet as everyone chewed on the notion.
“Coffee, anyone?” she asked, coming around with a pot. “Tea?” It might help them settle down, too.
Boone laughed and pulled her into his lap. “You know you don’t have to waitress any more, right?”
She elbowed herself free carefully and poured tea into the cup Tessa pushed forward.
“I guess old habits die hard. I’ll be pouring coffee forty years from now.”
“Fine with me,” Boone chuckled, his eyes bright with the thought of sharing so many years.
Nina grinned. In truth, she never wanted to give up the habit. She might not have to waitress for a living, thanks to Lewis McGee’s incredible gift, but she’d never stop enjoying the way people smiled when she filled their mugs. Liquid sunshine, as her boss used to say.
Bringing joy to the world, one mugful at a time. That was the way Lewis put it.
She stepped over to Silas and poured him a coffee, black. She looped back to the ki
tchen, grabbed a jar, and continued to Hunter.
“Chamomile tea. Perfect with a little honey,” she murmured.
Hunter looked up at her and managed a weak smile.
Nina sighed. Some people had a gift for music. Others, for languages. Hers was a simple gift, but it was enough. Even Cruz gave her an encouraging nod.
Silas swirled his coffee for a long time then sighed. “Back to business.” He looked around, and Nina swore he was trying to look stern. But the edge was gone from his voice, and his eyes weren’t quite as hard as before.
Keep that coffee coming, Tessa joked in a private aside. I’ll cook up some steak, and we’ll have that beast tamed in no time.
Nina didn’t know about the in no time part, but maybe there was hope for Silas. Hunter, on the other hand…
“When we settled here at Koa Point,” Silas said, addressing the other men, “we agreed to some ground rules. Number one: no humans.”
Nina winced and wandered back to the kitchen.
“Humans? I don’t see any humans,” Boone growled.
Nina hid a grin. Technically, she was a shifter now, too. And weird as the prospect of changing into wolf form was, she couldn’t wait to try it. Running on all fours beside Boone, singing at the full moon with him… Something deep in her soul yearned for it.
“I don’t see any humans here, either,” Kai grumbled, pulling Tessa closer.
Silas sighed. At first, Nina had assumed he’d be the barking-orders, autocratic type, but the respect he had for his men shone through.
“Seriously, I think we might have to revisit the no-humans policy,” Boone said, looking at Hunter.
The bear looked sadder than ever and downed his tea in one gulp.
“No humans,” Cruz growled. “Don’t get me wrong. Tessa is okay. Nina, too.”
Gee, thanks, Tessa sighed.
“But otherwise — no humans, I say. They’re unpredictable. Irrational. Dangerous.”
“Not all humans,” Boone shot back. “Some are smart. Amazing. Wonderful.”
