“Because you have the abilities of a Lycan and you smell like a Lycan.”
She sniffed her shoulder. Nobody had ever mentioned that. Which was probably good. Who knows how she’d have handled being told she smelled like a wolf outside of this scenario.
Jordan gestured behind them. “And there was a moment there when you thought I was calling Travis weak, I thought for sure…”
She sniffed. “You almost saw the nasty end of my temper, but I wasn’t about to sprout hair and howl at the moon.”
He didn’t seem so sure.
“You’d think I’d know, right?” It’d be hard not to notice a thing like that.
“You’d think so. It’s hard to believe that you can’t. Have you tried?”
She rolled her eyes. “Travis asked me the same thing.”
He shook his head. “Well, assuming through some weird genetic fluke, you can’t actually shift, even if you can do everything else, I’d bet you’d still do patrols somehow. Some of my two-footers do patrols, and Dane is a two-footer and Beta for my pack—Alpha when I’m gone.”
She inhaled. “I smell an engine and gasoline. But it’s faint.” She pointed to the left. “Tire tracks. Looks like someone parked right here and took the body this way.”
A mist was falling again, and the scent was already dissolving.
Jordan eyed the faint trail left from whatever vehicle had been here. “I can try following it, but I’m wondering if the rainy season is screwing us.” He turned to look at her. “You should come spend a day here and there up in Glacier Peak. I’ll teach you how to track better outside. The bears come out soon—and they’re fun to track.”
“She’s not messing with bears!” Travis called from the house. Wow, he really did have incredible hearing, even if they hadn’t gone very far.
“Busted,” she said, grinning.
“Ignore him. You’re Alpha and he could use the practice anyway. You can both come. We’ll even drag along my in-laws and my mate and have a picnic.”
“So, it’s like that teddy-bear picnic song only with real bears.”
“Surly bears. They’re the most fun.”
“She’s not messing with surly bears!” Travis yelled.
“I’m Alpha! You can’t tell me what to do!” she shouted back.
“Damn straight,” Jordan said.
She high-fived him.
Chapter Ten
She had that hunting knife out on the dining room table, and she was spinning it in circles while staring at it moodily. “I feel so useless.” She’d come back from tracking looking pretty damn pleased with herself and almost, well, content for it having been a fruitless search, but her temperament couldn’t hold up to the forced reliance on others’ searching.
“We need to wait for some of the others to check in, and some of them are out on four feet so we haven’t heard back.”
She picked up the knife and pointed at him with it. “You should be sleeping. I sent Jordan home to take care of his pack, and he listened. You. Need. To. Sleep.”
He stared at the knife with raised eyebrows. “I can’t imagine why I’m not. I’ll get right on that.” He didn’t add that Jordan wouldn’t have gone along with her edict if he hadn’t already been intending on going back. It was probably validating to let her think she had some authority over Jordan.
Sheathing the knife, she said in a calmer voice, “Travis, you can at least sleep in between phone calls. You’re going to start seeing pink elephants soon.”
Oh, that already started. He could get where she was coming from right now with her moodiness—there was nothing worse in tracking than losing a trail to the elements.
Getting up, she grabbed his hand and towed him to the nearby couch. “You need to be ready for when something actually does happen.” She sat down and patted her lap. “Lie down.”
Blinking, he lay down with his head on her lap. Okay, this wasn’t relaxing at all. He could really smell her sweet honey scent. He opened his mouth to tell her that when she started running her fingers through his hair, her nails raking his scalp lightly. Mmm, that feels good. This might work.
“Did you hear Jordan telling me about people in the pack?” she asked.
“Mm. Yup.”
Her hand stopped.
He smiled and said, “Yes,” while closing his eyes.
“Was he trying to con me into staying?”
“What do you mean?” That had obviously been what he was doing. Travis was hoping it’d worked. She seemed less averse to being Alpha.
There was no way he was taking her on a bear hunt—even if she was Alpha.
“Do you have someone in your pack named Kurt?”
“Yeah. And he’s never spoken at a meeting I’ve held, either. You’d like him…but not too much or I’d have to kill him.”
She laughed softly. “What about the others?”
“You can’t like any of them too much, either—because jealousy is an ugly thing.”
“No, I mean how are the other members of the pack?”
“When you become Alpha, there’s this heavy responsibility that you feel for your pack—even the ones you’d like to shake. I like some more than others, but I sense potential in all of them. It’s just…a huge group, and the morons won’t form pairs and start families. It’s relationships like those that build a pack. Instead I’m running a fraternity, and I swear this week feels like a hazing gone wrong.”
“What if I asked you to leave the pack?”
It cut into him, and he felt a sharp ache in his chest. Being an Alpha was a part of him now. On the other hand, this was LeAnn. “Would you ask me to do that?” When they’d talked about it prior to the challenge, it’d felt like just words. This time, it felt like a real possibility.
“Of course not. How much of a girl do you think I am?”
He opened his eyes to stare at her. That was the weirdest question ever then. “I think I’m hearing things.”
She leaned over him. “No, you’re supposed to say, ‘Yes, LeAnn, I would do anything for you.’”
“Of course I would.”
She huffed out a breath. “That was weak.” She kept running her fingers through his hair. “What would you do if I accepted the scent-match right now?”
“Are you?”
“I don’t know. These are all hypothetical questions.”
He blinked. Hypothetical questions were practically his worst nightmare. Questions about possibilities that might or might not exist and you might be held to your answers either way? What strange torture was this? If not for the fact that he was amazingly comfortable, he’d be running from the room screaming.
“Never mind. We could talk about volcanoes instead.”
He kept blinking. This felt like a trick, too. It had to be. That was too strange a conversation jump, even for LeAnn. On the other hand, it was volcanoes. What could go wrong in a conversation about volcanoes? Unless one was erupting right beside you, it was a nice, safe topic.
He opened his mouth to talk about volcanoes and she asked, “Were you interested in Alanna before I came along?”
Okay, that was definitely a trick question. Maybe if he pretended to be asleep she’d stop asking questions. Maybe she wouldn’t notice if he didn’t answer the questions.
His phone rang, and he answered it quickly. Saved. Hopefully she’d forget that last question by the time he hung up. It was Kurt’s group. He’d even paired up with two females—which was also unlike him. Maybe defending LeAnn had given him some much-needed confidence. If he had defended her. Jordan might have been making that up to convince LeAnn the pack wasn’t as bad as she thought.
“We didn’t find anything, but, uhh…a bunch of us have talked about staying in the lodge tonight. Safety in numbers. With it being a Friday—most of us don’t have work tomorrow anyway.”
“That sounds like a good idea.”
He could hear the smile in Kurt’s voice as he said, “I thought so.”
“Report in a
nd tell me who ends up there and who’s still at their places.”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
“One last thing…did you ask Alanna not to bother LeAnn?”
There was silence, and then Kurt said, “Yes.”
“Good. I’ll wait for your call.” When he hung up, he smiled at LeAnn. “Well, I’ll be damned. I never would have guessed that.”
She’d stopped running her hands through his hair and was staring at him.
“What?” he asked finally. He couldn’t read her expression. This could be bad. It could be very bad. He never knew when she was two seconds from making a run for it. Maybe he should bring up volcanoes again.
“I think I want to accept the scent-match.”
Or good. Very good. Sitting up, he dragged her across his lap. She gasped, surprised, right before his mouth covered hers. Too far away. He pulled her into straddling his lap as he tightened his arms around her.
He needed her. He wanted her. It was finally okay to have her. She was his. The pack would know she was his.
Mine.
She laughed against his lips. “I thought you were tired.”
“Second wind.” He slid his hands up her back. She even had a perfect back. Her skin was so soft.
Still too far away. He tipped her onto her back, pressing her into the couch with his body.
LeAnn cupped his face. “Don’t you think you should get that?” she asked between kisses.
“What?” He kissed a path down her neck. Hell, why was she wearing so many clothes? He’d have to stop kissing her to pull some of them off—unless he tore them off. How much did she like this shirt?
“The phone.”
He stopped and stared at the glowing display on the side table where his phone was hopping around as it vibrated. Outside the pound of his pulse, he could hear it ringing. He should answer it. He could at least see who it was. It might be important. It might be life or death. Literally. And he went back to kissing her neck. Mm. She smelled amazing. He licked her skin—she tasted sweet as honey, too.
“Oh, whoa…but also…” She reached out and grabbed the phone. “Hello.”
He paused on her collarbone.
“Uhh,” the voice on the phone said.
“What is it, Liam? Travis is busy.”
He smiled against her skin. She sounded breathless, and Liam could probably hear his heavy breathing a foot away. They wouldn’t be fooling anyone.
“Troy didn’t leave. In fact, he took his tracking device out and, from his scent, I think he’s heading toward Travis’s.”
His heart stopped. You have to be kidding. “What the hell?” He sat up, grabbing the phone from her hand.
The window behind the couch shattered as a bullet whizzed by his head. Jerking back, he growled. Seriously? He ducked down, dragging LeAnn onto the floor in front of the couch. In a crouch, he tugged her behind him to the nearby oak dining room table. He tipped the table onto its side and pulled her behind it, out of sight. If that had even grazed LeAnn, he’d have ripped Troy to shreds. He might anyway.
“Was that a gunshot?” Liam asked.
Hell yeah it was. He should have killed the bastard after the challenge. “Yeah. Apparently, Troy has decided not to honor the terms of the challenge,” Travis said as he pulled out his gun. Another shot through the window.
“I’ll see who I can gather, and we’ll come at him from behind,” Liam said quietly before hanging up.
They couldn’t see Troy from behind the table, but he couldn’t see them, either. They’d both be firing blind. Unfortunately, Travis’s living room didn’t provide much other cover, and the attached kitchen wasn’t any better. An open floor plan had seemed like such a good idea when he was looking at houses. The real estate agent had failed to mention it wasn’t ideal for a hostile situation with gunfire. Running for the hall would leave them too long in the open. Damn. They were trapped.
“Stay down and stay silent,” Travis hissed. They had to hold their position until reinforcements arrived. Hopefully his mate could be levelheaded and calm in a tense situation.
LeAnn nodded, but reached out and grabbed the cord of the nearby lamp and yanked it from the wall, plunging them into the dark.
Hell, he loved this woman.
It was bad luck that the pounding of his pulse was making it difficult to concentrate, but what they’d been doing gave him a lot of motivation to survive this standoff. This waiting sucked. It wasn’t like him to be in a defensive-only position. Travis listened for a moment before popping his head up and taking a shot.
Troy swore and moved. Travis had gotten close, but hadn’t hit him.
He bounced up again and fired, hitting the tree Troy had ducked behind. Travis growled as he took cover.
Troy fired directly through the table a few times, but LeAnn dived to the ground, and they passed far above her.
Okay, now he was really mad. This was probably similar to the blind rage he’d seen between the two women earlier, but it seemed much more reasonable in this case. As he raised up and fired two more shots, LeAnn crawled quickly behind him.
He turned to glare at her as he ducked back down. What was she doing? He’d told her specifically to stay down.
She glared back but got up from the ground and ran at a crouch toward his slim gun safe on the nearby wall. Oh, hell… He had to go and find himself an Alpha, didn’t he?
Troy took a shot, but Travis jumped up from behind the table and fired on him, making him dive for cover.
“This was a bad idea,” he whispered to LeAnn as he moved toward her. He threw off a blind shot at Troy to keep him behind the tree while they were exposed like this.
They didn’t have time for her to… LeAnn opened the gun safe within seconds. Well, that was nice and secure. She tossed him his rifle and ammunition.
“Yeah, tell me that again after I’ve saved your ass,” she said in return, grabbing the handgun he kept taking from her and putting away.
“Do you know how to shoot?” he asked. She said she’d killed that criminal, but…
Troy let loose another barrage of gunfire that had them diving for the safety of the table.
A moment later, LeAnn bobbed up and fired three shots before crouching back down. “Does that answer your question?” she asked.
Okay, fine, she could shoot.
LeAnn listened and swore. “I was hoping that one hit him, but he’s fast.”
“It’s your fault Merilee is dead!” Troy yelled.
“Jordan was right—this whole pack is full of psychopaths.” He popped up and fired off a shot before dropping the handgun and grabbing the rifle she’d gotten for him. “Damn, he’s fast.”
“I know, right?”
She gave him a pointed look as he loaded the rifle.
“Out of bullets?” Troy shouted, laughing.
She bounced up and fired off a couple shots, which had Troy swearing. “Yeah, we are, Troy. Come in and get us.”
“Cute,” Travis said.
“Oh, I know.”
He pulled up and fired. “If he’d waited until we were done to interrupt us, I’d feel a whole lot less like killing him.” Though, really, their first time might take quite a while, and he wouldn’t have wanted an audience out there. Actually, considering how much he wanted LeAnn, their first time might have been fast and hot, but then he’d have wanted a second time right away, and that would have taken longer.
“Ow. Damn,” Troy hissed.
“Nicked him,” Travis said. “I think I got his shoulder before he could yank it out of sight.”
“Still feeling the love of the pack?”
“No, but we will be in a couple minutes.” He shoved her backward as Troy fired again. The table absorbed some of the speed, but the bullets still sprayed the floor between them. His living room looked like a war zone with the busted glass everywhere, along with pieces of furniture.
Both he and LeAnn bounced up at the same time, fir
ing.
More swearing from Troy.
“Yes!” LeAnn said as they dropped back down to the floor.
“I got him,” they said at the same time before scowling at each other.
“Oh, that was me,” LeAnn said.
“No, I’m sorry, but that was me.” He wasn’t going to give up his hits because she was a woman he wanted in a filthy way—one he wanted even more now that he’d seen her fire a gun. “Troy, was that last hit from a rifle or a handgun?” he yelled.
His answer was more swearing.
“It was from a rifle,” he translated for her.
“Oh, sweetie, if you really need this to boost your self-confidence, I’ll give you this one,” she said, giving him a long look.
“Honey, that wasn’t a gun in my pocket a few minutes back. Trust me, I have a lot to be confident about.” He gestured toward the other side of the table with his head. “Including that last shot.”
She pulled her shirt off. “And they’re real, babydoll.”
He stared.
“And that last shot was all me, too.”
“Put your shirt back on.” How was he supposed to concentrate with her there in only a bra? A black lace bra. He’d seen her naked, but this was somehow showcasing rather than concealing. And he hadn’t seen her naked since he’d gotten to know her…and knowing LeAnn had made her fifty times more sexy. Wow. Yeah. There was no way he’d have any kind of accuracy with her undressed. He picked up her shirt and tossed it at her. “Put it back on.”
She brushed it off her. “No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Next shot counts for both.”
“Fine.”
“Put your shirt back on.”
“Why?” She raised her eyebrows.
“You’re not supposed to take off layers of protection in a gunfight.” Yeah, his ability to think was being severely hampered but the vision of her…in lace…and, wow.
“What do you think my shirt was made of—Kevlar?”
Shaking it off, Travis slid up and then back down again. “No shot. He’s behind that tree out there. I think he’s reevaluating the poor choices he’s made in his life up until now.”
“Shut up!” Troy yelled.
A single shot tore through the table and caught the edge of Travis’s arm before he could move.
Crazy Over You Page 20
