by E A Price
“Plus, I had been drinking wine and reading way too many murder mysteries – I got a little carried away.” Temp chuckled at the memory before frowning. “Stop distracting me; this is serious. I’m calling Branch – I’m sure he’ll know what to do.”
Heather turned back to the window and peered through the blinds as Temp made the call. Ummmm had returned and had folded a pair of gloriously thick arms over his magnificent chest. Well, if nothing else, she could enjoy the view while she waited for this situation to resolve itself.
*
“Jax!”
He almost jumped as Temp stormed out of her office, swiftly followed by Marion and Heather. Both Marion and Temp looked worried. Heather was smiling in a come-hither way. At least, he thought it was a come-hither way – it certainly made him want to follow her wherever she wanted to go.
“Ooh, Jax is it?” cooed Heather.
He gulped at the way she said his name. It sounded deliriously sensual coming out of her lips. Or that could be his overactive imagination, as nobody else seemed to notice. No one else appeared to be sweaty or dealing with a racing heartbeat either.
He cleared his throat, trying not to look at the cause of his sudden discomfort, or at least his increased discomfort. He focused on Temp – nice, sweet, Temp, who in spite of her attractiveness couldn’t even raise a flicker of interest in him. Not even the thump of a hoof, unlike the female smirking at him.
“Temp?” he murmured, pretending he didn’t know he was blushing outrageously.
“I need you to drive Heather and me to the alpha’s house – now.” Temp grimaced. “I mean, please, if you don’t mind.”
He nodded and looked at Marion. There were always two herd protectors at the center. Usually, one of the two was Tank, but Mal wanted him for another task that day. One protector always remained by Temp while the other was supposed to work at the front desk, not that the other protector assigned today ever stayed there.
“Burke’s ah…”
“Flirting with the female herd mates who are volunteering, instead of doing what he’s supposed to?” said Marion archly.
“Ummm…”
Heather snickered, and he blushed even more.
Marion patted his arm, and if he didn’t know any better, he could have sworn that Heather flickered in irritation.
“Not your fault, sweetie,” soothed Marion, and again, he thought he saw the irritation. “I’ll talk to him, and if that doesn’t work, I’ll get Tank to do it.”
Jax nodded and gestured for the women to follow him. They did, bidding goodbye to Marion and various other people at the charity – though for some reason Heather just humphed at Ariel – and if he didn’t know any better, he could have sworn he felt Heather’s eyes glued to his butt. But no surely not… but he did clench his well-toned muscles… just in case.
Chapter Nine
“So, Jax, how long have you been protecting the center?”
“Few months,” he muttered.
He was determinedly staring straight ahead as he drove, not even glancing at her in the mirror. But the blush that was creeping over his neck was indeed an indicator that he wasn’t oblivious to her. Actually, it was a blush on top of another blush. It was a layered blush.
Heather had tried to procure the front seat, but Temp had determinedly taken it, and Heather was in the back, able to admire little more than his neck. To be fair, it was a good neck. Temp, for her part, was preoccupied with a murmured conversation with Harlan. Or at least, Heather assumed it was Harlan – she wasn’t paying her any mind. Nope, her attention was entirely taken by him.
“I’ve never seen you there before today.”
She would have remembered him. She’d seen quite a few of the protectors – the walking slabs of meat that were frankly barely indistinguishable from one to the next – but not Jax.
“I’m not there all the time,” he grunted in a rush. The tips of his ears were turning a delicious shade of puce at this point.
Hmmm, maybe she should spend more time at the center. Heather wasn’t quite so charitable or selfless as Temp, but she had helped out over the years in getting donations to set it up, and she did help out when she could. Such as in organizing the Easter pageant – that disastrous episode made her realize that kids were waaaaaaay in the future for her. But, she did want to help her best friend, so inevitably, she would be directing the Thanksgiving and Christmas pageants. Plus, although she complained a lot, she secretly loved it. Perhaps the upcoming pageants were going to need a lot of rehearsals…
She leaned forward in her seat, trying to crane and get a better look at him. His hard body seemed to stiffen even more, and she brushed against him.
“Oh my god!” she exclaimed.
“What?!” roared Jax in alarm. Temp squeaked at them both.
Heather pointed in front of them. “There’s a Momma Pie up ahead, ooh, and they have a drive through!”
Momma Pie was a chain of restaurants which sold nothing but pie – both savory and sweet, though Heather rarely bothered with the savory. They had also branched out into having drive-throughs – for on the go pie needs! Which was terrific because Heather always felt like she needed pie.
“Quick, turn left,” ordered Heather.
Jax, bless his enormous cotton socks, was about to do it, too, were it not for Temp’s frowny interruption.
“Don’t you think we have more important matters?” she said pointedly before returning to her phone call.
Heather huffed and collapsed back into her seat. She supposed so, but she wasn’t as worried as Temp at the situation. She was sure it would all work out okay. Hey, she was sunnily optimistic. She was sure there was no way she was going to end up as Mrs. Carson Bell, living in California and trying to smother her unwanted husband every night with a pillow.
“We could, ah… get pie later,” came a gruff yet hesitant suggestion from the driver’s seat.
Heather looked up, finally managing to catch his eye in the mirror before he focused on the road again.
“Yeah, we could, couldn’t we?”
Heather sank a little further into her seat with a smug smile on her face. She would hold him to that.
*
Heather tried to object as Harlan hustled her into his brother’s house. He had been waiting for them when they arrived at Branch’s home. She barely had time to enjoy Jax helping her out of the SUV – and his hand lingering on her waist – before Harlan snapped her up and hustled her away from him. She didn’t even have a chance to pin him down about their pie date!
He took her into the living room, and she vaguely heard familiar voices coming from the kitchen.
“Is that Tank in there? And is that Ariel? How did she get here before us?”
Harlan nodded grimly. “Branch called a meeting about you.”
Heather scrunched her face. “About me? A meeting with who?”
“My mom, my uncle, Mal, the herd historian, Mira.”
Harlan looked up and let out a small hoot as Branch strode through the room, pulling his mate Mira with him. Mira smiled and waved when she saw them, her pregnant belly leading the way, but Branch apparently wasn’t stopping to socialize. The gruff alpha walked straight into the kitchen without even a hello.
“You wait here,” said Harlan.
“Excuse me?”
“We’re going to discuss what to do, but you need to wait here.”
Heather goggled at him. “You’re discussing my situation, but I’m not allowed to be part of the discussion?”
Temp looked mildly embarrassed, but Harlan didn’t see there was anything wrong with that. “Only the alpha’s closest herd members are allowed.”
“Don’t I get any say in this?”
“No.”
Heather rolled her eyes noisily and flopped onto the sofa, and then leaped to her feet again as her descent met something soft and groany.
“Sorry.”
“No problem,” murmured the woman she just sat on.
“What’s up with Jessica Rabbit?” asked Heather.
Harlan guffawed as Maris opened her eyes to glare.
“Just a little sickness – to be expected,” said Temp sympathetically.
“Yes,” grumbled Maris, “that complete and utter bastard over there knocked me up!”
She waved her hand in the direction of Clay who was making his way to the kitchen along with the herd historian, Alden.
The complete and utter bastard in question merely smiled smugly and stopped to drop a kiss on Maris’ forehead. “Don’t worry, darling; we’ll be going home soon.”
“Umm, good, hurling in your own toilet is so much more fun.”
He chuckled and then hooted at Alden who was giving Maris a lovelorn look. “Move along, boy,” he boomed.
Alden scurried to the kitchen with Clay and Harlan following. Harlan held the door open, and Temp followed him with one last apologetic look at Heather.
“Unbelievable!” she muttered and dropped into a chair, pleased that this one was unoccupied from sick, leggy reindeer shifters. “They drag me over here, and then I’m not even allowed to hear what they’re saying!” She was kind of a little peeved by that.
“Hmmm, shifters are pretty high-handed,” agreed Maris unconcernedly.
“How come you’re not in there?” asked Heather pointedly.
“Eh, I’m not technically mated to Clay, so I’m not part of the inner circle yet. Though if I had wanted to be in there, I reckon Clay would have made a fuss until I was allowed in.” She cast the tired look of a woman who had been throwing up for more than an hour in her direction. “No offense to whatever’s happening to you, but I wouldn’t be much use in helping you, so I’m not getting involved.”
Heather kicked her legs and blew out a breath. “How come you and the complete and utter bastard aren’t mated? Does he not want to mate?”
“No, he does – asks me all the time. Twice as much since we found out about the pregnancy. We will mate eventually when I’m sure he’s ready. There’s no rush.”
Heather shrugged. “So, are you still planning on going to the herd Halloween thing?”
“Yeah, I already got my costume.”
“Oh yeah, who are you going as?”
Maris gave her a sour look. “Jessica Rabbit.”
Heather snickered. “Well, it will suit you.”
“Clay is going as Eddie Valiant – you know the detective from the movie.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it was a compromise – he didn’t want to dress up as Roger Rabbit.”
“Good – because I may be going as a slutty rabbit and I don’t want to clash.”
Heather looked up as she heard the front door open and close. Oh, who was this now? Who else had been roped in to decide what was happening with her little problem? The alpha’s hairdresser?!
Heather felt a warm tingle as Jax ran into the room, his eyes immediately meeting hers.
“Ummm ah…”
“In the kitchen,” grumbled Maris.
He nodded, and his cheeks started heating as Heather beamed at him. She found his blush ridiculously adorable.
“Ah, yeah, ummm…” he mumbled, before nodding at Heather and going into the kitchen.
Heather watched him go, her eyes devouring the luscious sight of his vast, hard body moving. The phrase poetry in motion had never been so apt.
“See something you like?” teased Maris.
Heather swiveled to look at Maris who was grinning from ear to ear. She smiled in return. “What can I say? He’s a cute young man.”
“I guess. Not really my type.”
“You don’t think so?” demanded Heather incredulously. How anyone could look at him and not quiver in womanly delight was beyond her.
Maris shrugged and closed her eyes. “The bastard who knocked me up is my type. It’s kind of how it is for shifters. When we find our heart mates, we don’t really find other males and females attractive.”
Heather frowned, not really able to believe that. Maybe Maris didn’t look at other men, but she wasn’t sure it could be true for all shifters. Temp had tried to explain this whole heart mate thing, but she wasn’t sure she believed it. Yeah, Temp couldn’t believe in ghosts, but she thought that soulmates were real – her best friend had it all backward.
Best not to dwell on it – she didn’t want to piss off a pregnant reindeer shifter. “What’s with Jax anyway? Why’s he so shy?”
Personally, she found it charming, but she wondered if there was a reason behind it. She’d met a few of the other protectors, like Mal and Tank – both of which were large males, and while they were hardly chatty Cathies, they were not in any way bashful.
“I think it’s just how he is. His twin brother’s a real extrovert – they’re kind of opposites.”
Heather mulled that over for a few moments. “Jax wasn’t bullied as a kid was he?”
Maris snorted. “Only by his mother. Reindeer shifters make very pushy mothers.”
“Are you going to be a pushy mother?”
“The pushiest,” laughed Maris.
Heather stared at the kitchen door. A couple of hours ago she was pissed about Carson and his whole declaration, but when she caught sight of Jax and those beautiful blue eyes, her heart and her stomach flipped.
“How old is Jax?”
“Twenty-one I think.”
“Oh.”
“Oh?”
Heather tapped her fingers on the arm of the chair. “He’s nine years younger than me.”
“And I’m sixteen years younger than the bastard. Who cares? Jax isn’t a kid – he’s a grown man,” she said in a sleepy voice before yawning and falling asleep.
Maris’ lady-like snores filled the room. Heather sank back into her seat and thought about Jax.
Chapter Ten
Jax quietly slipped into the kitchen. Technically, he hadn’t been invited into the meeting, but well, he had driven Temp there, and he was a member of the herd. He supposed, ordinarily, he would have just stayed outside. After all, he was hardly a member of the alpha’s inner circle, but the idea of just standing outside, patiently waiting was unacceptable to his beast. The animal had hooted and grunted until Jax finally gave in and inserted himself into the meeting.
Branch glared at him for a moment, but he didn’t grunt at him to leave. His gaze finally moved away from him, and his cousin, Tank nodded in approval.
He didn’t know what was happening, but it had to be serious for the alpha to drop everything in the middle of the day and call a meeting. It was serious if Temp would actually leave work – the woman was a workaholic – and it was about Heather. Perhaps she was in danger; maybe she needed help. Whatever was happening, his animal was already pawing the ground in anger.
“Tell me again what you told me on the phone,” said Branch in a low growl to Temp. His eyes were already as dark as his beast’s – he was already pissed.
Harlan curled an arm around his mate, and succinctly, she told them about Heather’s ex and his outrageous claim. It was so outrageous that Jax forgot his usual reticence.
“This is ridiculous!” he snarled.
That raised a couple of eyebrows, but before anyone could express their surprise, he was quickly joined in his indignation by Ariel, who was just as irate.
“I agree. This cougar can’t seriously expect her actually to mate him. He’s such a… a… butthole!”
Mal’s lips quirked at her outburst. “Language,” he muttered lowly, and she blushed.
“Fudgin
g predator,” groaned Tank, who didn’t tend to swear given that he had three young kids who loved to repeat anything they heard.
“I can’t believe her ex is a cougar,” said Mira. “With all these shifters popping up, it makes me wonder if I ever dated one.”
Branch chuffed, and she grinned. “Not that I dated before I met you,” she soothed.
“I once heard of something similar to this in a gorilla crash,” said Clay thoughtfully, “though it was about a hundred years ago.”
Jax whipped his head around, looking at his herd mates. Were they insane? Some cougar bastard was trying to take Heather away, and they were chatting and flirting with one another! Hot, roiling, anger bubbled inside him, and he felt like he was going to explode.
“A belt you say?” asked Alden, dropping one of the heavy herd books on the kitchen counter.
Temp nodded.
“And he said it belonged to his grandfather? And that he gave it to her more than six months ago?”
“Yes,” she said hesitantly.
Alden flickered through the pages of the book and Jax thought back to their evening at the bar. He had only been half paying attention to what Alden was saying, but some of it had stuck.
“You can’t be serious?” he growled.
Alden winced. “Since she kept the belt for more than six months, there is a chance it might be binding.”
He found the page and read out the rule about mating claims. Jax stared at him stunned. So did everyone else.
Nobody said anything. Nobody argued, so for once, it was left to usually the quietest of them all.
“But surely a belt isn’t a family heirloom?” argued Jax.
“It’s not really specific what constitutes an heirloom. The footnote just suggests that it has to be something that has been passed down to at least two generations. So if it was his grandfather’s belt…”
“But… but…” Jax was damn near spluttering as his reindeer howled.
He didn’t know why he was so upset, but he was.
Ariel snapped her fingers. “Heather didn’t know about shifters when he gave her the belt. One of the clauses is that a human can get out of it if she didn’t know about shifters.”
