by Lia Davis
Travis tugged his mother to sit and told her Dani’s theory.
Robyn shook her head. “I was careful. I only got the freshest ingredients and never went anywhere but same market I always used.”
Travis drew her into a hug. “I know, Mom. This isn’t your fault.”
Shay reached over to touch Robyn’s shoulder. “It could have come from anything. A new toy, the bags from the market, or anything she came in contact with. There’s no telling what the rouges would do.”
Her emotions were running wild. She was pregnant, and if it took, she’d be a mother in about seven months. Josie, the sweet baby girl, was sick, possibly poisoned by the enemy; like a switch cold fear froze her in place. “Oh, no.”
“What?” Robyn and Travis said at the same time.
“What if it was something meant for me? The rogues might have done something to me, or it was on my clothes, or…”
Travis cradled her face, halting her speech and forcing her to meet his eyes. “This isn’t your fault. Don’t you dare take the blame.”
****
That afternoon, Travis exited his daughter’s bedroom in the apartment they’d call home for now. He wasn’t sure how long they would be there. This wasn’t his Pack, and he wasn’t naïve enough to think they’d welcome another alpha in the mix. He could tell there were already too many alphas with two Pack Alphas, two Heirs, and at least two among the enforcers.
Travis didn’t know how they had built such a solid community. Then again, the Packs had been together about thirty years now, but that wasn’t very long considering shifters could live thousands of years. At least they’d used to before Onyx was formed.
Those bastards would pay for every life they took.
A knock on the door put his wolf on alert. With quick strides, he moved toward the door and opened it, tension leaving his body at the sight of the petite redhead standing on the other side of the door. Dipping his head, he kissed Luna on the cheek before stepping aside. She gave him a tender smile that reached her haunted emerald-colored eyes and patted his arm.
“Blaine is right behind me,” she warned with a wink and wandered off toward the living room.
Travis chuckled and waited for Shay’s brother to reach him.
Blaine’s gray stare searched the area in a way Travis’s did when he hunted. He guessed the leopard did it out of habit due to his training and position as the leopard Marshal. Plus, as the Heir of leopard Pack, he’d have the instinct to protect at all cost. The Alpha inside him demanded it, because one day he’d have to step in as the Pack Alpha.
“Do you have a minute? I want to show you something.”
Travis nodded, took a moment to reach out with his senses to Josie to see that she was sleeping peacefully, and then stepped outside the apartment to follow Blaine to an old blue Ford truck.
A few moments later, Blaine parked the truck at a cabin about 500 yards from the main road that twisted through the Smoky Mountains. “This is a little close to the main road.”
Blaine grunted and got out of the truck. “I’ve told Dani that for years.”
Remembering the Healer’s name, Travis shut the passenger door and followed the leopard into the woods. “She lived here alone?”
A growl. “Yes. With no phone.”
Travis shook his head. He understood Blaine’s irritation. As Alpha, Travis would have pulled rank on a female living alone too close to the border. Then again, Dani was the Healer. “Was it because of her accident?”
Blaine jerked his head in Travis’s direction and narrowed his eyes. “She told you?”
“Yeah, well, Shay kind of let it out when Dani stopped by this morning.”
Blaine relaxed his shoulders a small bit and came to a stop next to a human male who was peering up into the trees. Blaine looked up and asked, “Dude, what the hell are you looking for?”
The human burst out laughing and punched Blaine in the shoulder—the males’ version of the play and touch shifters relied on from Pack members. An ache rose in Travis’s chest. He missed Pack.
Nevan shifted to stare at Travis and held out his hand. “Nevan Matthews, Dani’s mate.”
Travis shook the male’s hands. “Travis Hunter.”
“He’s Shay’s,” Blaine added dryly.
Nevan lifted an eyebrow. “He’s a wolf.”
That made Travis cock his head in interest, but before he could ask anything, Blaine spoke. “Nevan was raised by lions, and he’s empathic.”
Ah, that explains it. The human was too comfortable and relaxed around them. Most humans got antsy when one alpha-strength male was near, much less two. Nevan acted as though he’d been born in the Pack.
“Speaking of the lions, when is your family coming?” Blaine asked as he continued to search the trees.
“Next week. Sarah said they might stay for a week or so. She’s excited to finally meet Dani in person.” Nevan laughed and walked a few feet to the right as if searching for something. “My stepmother is already asking for grandbabies.”
Blaine snorted. “You’re doomed.”
Travis smiled at the teasing words. He’d been fully aware that Blaine had checked on Josie at some point in the night. Travis scented the male in the room where Josie had slept at Keegan’s home. He’d asked Shay about it, and she said it didn’t surprise her because Blaine loved children.
Nevan grew serious. “I want kids. Lots of them. It’s Dani who’s not sure.”
“She’ll change her mind.” Blaine growled in frustration. “I give up. What is up in the trees?”
Amusement lit up Nevan’s face. “Cameras. Dane is a genius.”
Blaine looked over at Travis and rolled his eyes. “Don’t tell him that. He’s already cocky enough.” He turned serious and motioned for Travis to follow him. A few yards away, Blaine asked, “My father says you’re a good tracker and have been hunting down the rogues. Someone has been putting up a fence in this area. Tell me what you see.”
Travis scanned the area. The earth was upturned where posts had been driven into the ground. Other than that, the place looked clean, too clean. “Did you scent anything on the fencing?”
A tic formed in Blaine’s temple, telling Travis the male had missed it. “No. The first time we came across it, we found Dani in leopard form tangled in the barbwire.”
Nevan released a low growl and Travis turned to face him. The animalistic sound was surprising coming from the human. However, Shay had said Nevan had been raised by mountain lions, so he guessed it was as natural for Nevan to growl as it was to Travis and any other shifter. Travis understood the human’s reaction to Blaine’s statement. The fence was meant to be a trap and had trapped Nevan’s mate.
“A trap?” he asked Blaine.
The male shook his head. “I don’t think so. That seems too elementary for Onyx.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” Travis paused to scent the air before speaking again. “You said the first time.”
Blaine nodded. “Yeah, the night Shay left.” It came out as a growl, but Travis ignored it and waited for him to continue. “A couple of juveniles found it. Cameron ripped it up. I’ll have to ask her if there was a scent.”
Travis was about to turn away to think about the possibilities and maybe get with Cameron later when he saw something. He advanced to where a shiny object lay half-covered by leaves. He picked up a silver lipstick tube and brought it to his nose. “Human,” he announced and passed it to Blaine.
The leopard agreed. “Nevan is the only human in Ashwood.”
That’s what Travis thought. Not many Packs took humans in unless they were mated to one of the members. “I heard mutters of Onyx consorting with humans.”
Blaine snapped his gaze up to meet Travis’s. “You think they’re using them?”
“Maybe. The den will have to be notified because all it would take is for a young wolf or leopard to meet a pretty human female—”
“And say somet
hing he shouldn’t,” Blaine said, finishing Travis’s statement.
“I’m not a hundred percent, but it is a possibility. I wouldn’t put anything past those bastards.” Travis clenched his fist.
Blaine turned to him with narrowed eyes. “I know Shay was hurt, bad. I felt it that night. I’m not asking you to tell me what they did. I just want to know if you killed the bastards.”
Travis didn’t flinch at the fury in Blaine’s tone because he understood it. “Ripped them apart.”
Blaine’s mouth twitched. “I knew I would like you.”
Chapter Eleven
Travis entered the apartment to a silence he wasn’t used to. There was no Josie meeting him at the door, and that made his heart ache. His baby girl had to push through this. They had to find out what she was infected with and fix it. The thought of losing his little girl to an unknown illness stabbed him in the heart.
Not sensing his mother, he stalked down the hallway toward the pull of the other female in his life.
When he opened the door to Josie’s room, a lump formed in his throat. Shay sat in a wooden rocker, holding a sleeping Josie, rocking her slowly. Shay lifted her head and smiled at him. Her blue eyes held a bit of sadness. His heart slowed, and his gut soured.
“What is it?”
Shay shook her head and whispered, “The fever spiked again, and now she has caught a cold. I was able to bring the fever down a little and gave her some tea to help her sleep.”
Travis crossed the room and lifted his daughter from Shay’s lap. He laid Josie in bed and drew up the covers to tuck around her. After kissing her on the forehead, he led Shay out of the room.
“Have you heard anything from Dani?” he asked when they reached the living room.
“I stopped by the medical center before coming here. She’s not sure what it is.” When Shay took his hand, he allowed her to tug him to sit on the couch. “I trust Dani to find the solution. She said something about searching the network to see if someone had ever come across anything like it.”
Travis released a sigh of relief. There were hundreds, maybe thousands, of shifter Packs from around the world registered in the network. Surely, someone would be able to help. God, he hoped so.
Peering over at her, he silently cursed himself. Fatigue showed in the way she slouched on the sofa. Her white-blond hair was twisted in a messy bun on top of her head.
She looked beautiful, and she was his.
He lifted her legs and placed them in his lap, forcing her to turn her body to face him. He took off her tennis shoes and let them fall with a thud on the floor. She tried to protest as if she guessed what he was up to. He tightened his grip on her ankles and met her gaze. “Just relax. What did you do today?”
She studied him for several seconds before letting her shoulders drop. He massaged her feet and ankles as she spoke. “I talked to a several potential youth mentors. I got four to agree, and each one had some awesome ideas for programs to keep the kids active and out of trouble.”
His chest swelled at her excitement. “That’s great. So, are you going to put together a committee or something?”
“Yep. Already done. Our first meeting is next week. I’m so happy my dad put me in charge of this.”
“It was your idea.”
Her eyes sparkled when she looked at him, and he couldn’t stop himself from pulling her into his lap. “Besides, he knew you’d be the perfect person for the job.”
Before she had time to respond, he captured her mouth with his and shifted her to straddle his lap. A soft moan rose from her throat, encouraging and inviting. He deepened the kiss and dipped his tongue inside her mouth in search of hers. Her peaches-and-cream scent intensified, intoxicating him.
He glided his hand up her leg, over her ass, and continued along her spine until his fingers released her hair from the bun. The silky waves tumbled down around her shoulders and caressed his arms as she moved against his hard erection.
Fisting his hand in her hair, he gently tugged, breaking the kiss. She peered at him with eyes that glowed with desire. God help him. He’d never get enough of her.
“We should move to the bedroom before my mother comes back or Josie wakes.” It came out as a husky demand, but Shay didn’t flinch. She just nodded and scooted off his lap. She started to walk off, but with his inhuman speed, he’d scooped her up in his arms before she’d taken her second step.
She squealed and kicked her feet. “Put me down.”
“Why?”
“Because I said so.” She held his gaze in a defiant, and dominant, manner.
He held her stare until she looked away. “Let someone care for you this once, Miss Independent.”
He proceeded to his bedroom at the end of the hall, stopping at Josie’s room to peer inside. His daughter slept soundly and peacefully. The sight eased his worry a little.
Shay cuddled against him and rubbed her cheek against his. “We’ll figure it out. I’m not going to give up until she’s better.”
He met her shiny blue gaze. Her words and dedication to Josie’s well-being strengthened the bond that had formed during the last time they’d made love. And, yeah, they’d made love. Despite her heat cycle and the demand he felt to take her, possess her, he couldn’t deny the fact that Shayna Andrews was his true mate.
He just had to convince her of that.
****
This was one time when Shay wished she were telepathic like her father. She’d kill to know what the sensual wolf carrying her across the threshold of his bedroom was thinking. The heat of his brown gaze told her only that he had naughty things planned for the two of them, but there was something else hidden in there.
After closing and locking the door, Travis released her legs so they drifted to the floor, but he didn’t let go of her waist as he walked her backward until the backs of her knees touched the bed.
Normally, she’d protest at any male’s attempt to dominate her, but part of her liked to be overpowered by the wolf.
Her wolf.
She smiled, liking the sound of that. Travis was hers. According to him, they were mates. Now that the sexual haze of her heat cycle had cleared, she was starting to feel the connection, the constant need to possess him.
The corner of his mouth lifted in a sexy smirk, and he raised one brow. “What are you thinking?”
She felt her cheeks heat. “That I want you.”
She slid out of his grasp to sit on the bed in front of him. She’d never done or thought about doing anything like what she was about to, but with Travis, she wanted to do things, feel things. Peering up through her lashes into his handsome face, she offered him her best I-want-to-be-naughty-with-you look. “Take off your shirt,” she commanded.
A raised eyebrow followed by a twitch of that mouth she wanted all over her was his response before he ripped the tee over his head, letting it fall to the floor without a care. She sucked in a breath, and heat bloomed in her abdomen.
Dear God.
She’d been too crazed with need the first time they’d made love to notice the masculine beauty of him. His sun-kissed skin over hard, powerful muscles begged for her hands. Not now. Now she wanted to savor the wolf in front of her. Take her time with slow, torturous explorations of every inch of him.
With trembling fingers, she undid the button on his jeans. Travis clasped his hand around her wrist, drawing her attention back to his face.
“Not today,” he said as he leaned into her so their noses almost touched.
She fell back on her elbows. Travis followed with the intense stare of a wolf with his prey. Pinpricks of desire raced through her. Anticipation heated her, and it took all her control not to give into his display of dominance and enjoy the pleasures promised in his desire-drunken gaze.
He was an alpha male, dominant to the core.
She was a dominant, maternal female.
When his nose touched hers, she didn’t shrink back or break
eye contact. Instead, she nipped playfully at his lower lip. He growled, sending desire shuddering through her.
In a sudden movement, Travis captured her mouth with his. She opened without hesitation to allow his tongue to dip inside to tangle with hers. She arched so her breasts rubbed against his chest. Her T-shirt and bra served as barriers, keeping their skin from touching. She so wanted that skin-to-skin contact.
As if sensing her thoughts, Travis broke the kiss, tugged her shirt over her head, and he tossed it to the floor. He paused to roam his gaze over her body. She suppressed the urge to cover up. The way both the human and wolf looked at her made her leery and filled her with need.
He lowered his head and pressed a gentle kiss to her belly as he unbuttoned her jeans and slid them over her hips and down her legs. He discarded the jeans just as he had their shirts and crawled his way up her body to nip her on the lip. The slight sting of his teeth breaking the skin sent a river of hot need flowing through her.
She wrapped her legs around his hips, drawing him closer. Travis’s lips left hers to trail kisses along her cheek to her ear. A nip to her earlobe made her purr. She threaded her finger into his hair and fisted a handful. Not to pull him away, but to urge him on.
“Travis,” she purred into the curve of his neck. “Lose the jeans.”
His answer was a chuckle before he lifted his head and locked gazes with her. His brown eyes held flecks of gold that burned with the promise of passion. “Aren’t we being demanding?” he teased then stood.
After removing his jeans, he leaned over her and, with a quick swipe, sliced the side of her panties with a claw. She jumped and gasped at the same time. When his lips touched the sensitive skin below her belly button, she moaned.
The sensations touching each nerve ending threatened to consume her. She was sure Travis was trying to torture her to a slow, pleasurable death. She felt his unshaven cheek brush against her inner thigh right before he pressed a kiss to her core. She cried out when his tongue licked her clit.
