Mate's Call

by Lola Gabriel

  A heavy silence fell over the room as all the men turned to look at her.

  “What did you just say?” Rocco murmured.

  Zoe’s mouth curved into a smile and she shrugged. “What? That I’m in love with you? Isn’t it obvious?” she asked nonchalantly.

  The Carrington men looked uncomfortable.

  “Well,” Don said, clearing his throat. “How do you feel about this, Rocco?”

  The words filled Rocco with an incredible happiness, and he couldn’t help shaking his head in disbelief. He had been sure that Zoe had seen their time together as fun while he fell deeper in love with her. He had never thought she mirrored his feelings.

  Rocco did not answer Zoe’s father.

  Instead, he leaned forward and cupped Zoe’s face in his palms. “I’m in love with you, too,” he told her. “These past two weeks have been the best of my life, and I can’t bear the thought of leaving you next week.”

  “You don’t have to leave me,” she murmured, and he felt a stab of uncertainty.

  “Zoe, Rocco has no say where he can live. The marines determine that for him,” Don said chidingly, and Rocco cast him a grateful look.

  Zoe laughed merrily. “I know that,” she replied. “I was thinking about going with him.”

  “Wait a minute now—” Don started, but for the first time since bursting into the bedroom, Branson seemed like the idea was growing on him.

  “Yes!” he cried, clapping his hands together. “We would be amazing as a team. The three of us, living on base together! And you could finish college online.”

  “Then, you’re happy?” Zoe asked Branson.

  With a deep breath, Branson answered, “Yes! I suspected something was up between the two of you since I’ve been home, but I didn’t suspect that you two actually had feelings for each other. This whole time, I thought he was taking advantage of you, but it seems it’s much more than that.”

  Don said, “Let’s go, Branson. We’ll give them some time to alone to talk.”

  Father and son left the room.

  Rocco stared at Zoe, his eyebrows raised in question. “Are you sure that is what you want to do?” he asked. “It means upsetting your life a great deal.”

  “I can guarantee you that nothing will upset my life more than letting you go,” she replied, and Rocco’s heart pounded with happiness.

  He kissed her deeply and passionately, staring into her blue eyes. “Are you sure?” he asked again. “I don’t ever want you to regret your decision.”

  “The only decision I would regret is letting my mate go once I have found him,” she replied, wrapping her hands around his. “Now, let’s finish what we started.”

  THE END

  Part VIII

  Shifter Scandal

  By Juniper Hart

  Prologue

  How can a city of this magnitude be so suffocating?

  The blackness of the subway tunnels did nothing to calm her racing heart. She willed herself to stare straight ahead as if the slightest movement would attract attention. She hoped her dark sunglasses and headscarf would protect her from potential scrutiny, but she had low hopes.

  She was Gabriella Medina, after all. Her face would be recognized from Maine to Alaska and everywhere in between. There was not a place on earth where her smoldering eyes would not spark a second glance. For the first time in her twenty-four years of life, she rued her sensational good looks. There was nowhere to go, no place to hide.

  How could I have let this happen? I don’t know what to do, she told herself mournfully. How did this get so far?

  It was a question she had asked herself many times over the past weeks, but the answer did not manifest itself easily. She had no part in what had happened, not really. She wished she had been more outspoken, though, louder in her protest. It was too late now; it had escalated beyond control, and all Gabby could think to do was run.

  This will blow over eventually, she reasoned, but the words were little comfort to a girl who wanted nothing more than to disappear into thin air. There must be somewhere I can go in the meantime.

  Slowly, she lowered her too-large glasses and peered about the cesspool that was the A train heading into Manhattan. Her wide, chocolate eyes scanned the torn advertisements above the doors, hoping for inspiration.

  Eyeglass store, therapist hotline, Mr. Chang’s Chinese and Wings… Oh!

  Forgetting her need for anonymity, Gabriella fully pulled the glasses from her face and scooted toward the rear of the car, where an ad had caught her attention.

  She stood before a drunk homeless man and a tightly wound businessman, staring in awe at the glorious colors of the picture before her: an endless blue contrast against a grassy sea of emerald green while horses roamed about with mountains framing the shot.

  “How can you have any worries in big sky country?” the caption read. A slow smiled formed on Gabriella’s generous mouth and she nodded agreeably.

  Perfect, she thought, exhaling slowly.

  “Hey! Aren’t you Gabriella Medina?” the homeless man demanded, jarring her from her reverie.

  Gabriella eyed him suspiciously. He was the last person she would have expected to recognize her, but within a second, she knew why he had. A newspaper lay open on the seat beside him, her picture in black and white accompanied by a full-length article.

  She shook her head quickly, covering her face again and backing away from the man, turning her head so her silken chestnut strands covered her partially.

  “No,” she muttered. “You’re confusing me with someone else.”

  The homeless man pointed, his voice raising an octave as he waved his finger in excitement.

  “Yeah! Yeah, you are! You’re the chick who’s having an affair with the mayor!”

  Color draining from her face, Gabriella watched as the entire car turned to stare at her, their mouths agape. The train began to slow at Cathedral Parkway, and a din erupted as people reached for their cell phones and iPads to document their encounter with the fallen woman in their midst. Without hesitation, Gabriella bolted onto the crowded platform as soon as the doors slid open.

  I have to get out of New York, she thought, hyperventilating as she rushed toward the surface of the city. She shoved the glasses back onto her face, willing herself not to cry.

  It was the same thought that had crossed her mind dozens of times since the scandal had emerged, but this time was different. This time she had a plan; she was going to the Treasure State.

  I will lay low and stay out of trouble, wait for everything to settle for a while. Then I will return to civilization. My only problem will be not dying of boredom in the middle of nowhere. After all, what the hell can happen in Montana?

  1

  “Yes Mrs. Giberson, I understand your complaint. You have the same one every week.”

  The raised pitch of Mrs. Giberson’s voice could be heard through the police station, and the officers exchanged a bemused grin as Sheriff Cameron Lapin rolled his cerulean blue eyes skyward, his face pained as he jolted the phone from his ear to keep from being deafened by the irate neighbor.

  “Yes, ma’am,” the sheriff conceded. “I know what you think you saw, but—”

  He listened as the old woman continued to howl in his ear as the other men watched in amusement. It was always the same complaint from Mrs. Giberson: coyotes were on her property, scaring and eating her chickens.

  “I will have an officer investigate as soon as one becomes available,” Cameron promised, hanging up the phone with a sigh. He peered around the room at the five idle policemen, and they all promptly averted their eyes.

  “Who’s up?” Cameron demanded. A complete silence fell over in the room. “Come on, ladies, don’t be shy.”

  “I went last time,” one officer said quickly, and his words were met with a round of grunts.

  “Sure you did,” another officer murmured, knowing the deputy’s aptitude for dismissing what he considered to be worthless calls.

&n
bsp; “Fine. Brewer, you go. Take Collins with you. After you’re done with Mrs. Giberson, head up Vaughan Road and keep an eye out for the Potter’s renegade horse. Someone said they saw him heading toward Emerson Junction.”

  Officer Brewer stifled a sigh but did not object, gesturing for the rookie to follow. James Collins jumped eagerly from his chair, happy to make an impression with his superiors. He had only been on the force for three months and was still trying to prove himself.

  The novelty will wear off, the sheriff thought cynically. When he realizes that Great Falls is boring as sin, he’ll stop looking for excitement.

  Cameron could barely remember what it was like to be a rookie. Was I ever really excited about this job? Not likely, he thought. Even if he had been, it had obviously not lasted long.

  “Brewer!” Cameron called before the men disappeared from the building. The seasoned cop turned to look at the sheriff, barely shielding the displeasure from his eyes.

  “Yeah?” answered Brewer.

  “Do me a favor and swing by Angelstone Nurseries and see if they have any Monkshood. Maybe Mrs. Giberson would also like some for her farm.”

  The men stared at one another for a long while. Cameron noticed the other officers trying to read his non-verbal communication to Brewer. Of course they had never been able to understand the undercurrent flowing between them.

  Brewer nodded almost unperceivably and left without a word.

  “What else is on the books for today?” another officer asked.

  Cameron shook his dark head, his perfect crew cut not shifting by the move.

  “Well then,” the officer said, sitting back and taking a sip of his coffee. “Just another day at the office.”

  “Would it kill you to patrol the town?” the sheriff asked, scowling. “At least pretend to do some work around here?”

  The officer’s mouth became a fine line of defiance, but he slowly rose to his feet. Cameron Lapin’s temper was infamous, and the officer clearly wanted to stay on his good side.

  Cameron eyed the remaining officers as they sauntered out. No words were exchanged and he smirked slightly in his silent win.

  He had been the sheriff of the small town of Great Falls, Montana for ten years. It was more or less a desk job, but upper management had its perks. Telling people what to do was one of Cameron’s strongest qualities.

  It was not his fault that his six-foot four, two hundred-twenty-five-pound frame inspired awe and submission. He relished in the fact that people cowered in his presence.

  The phone on his desk rang again, eliciting a sigh from him. It was shaping up to be a busy day—two phone calls before nine o’clock in the morning.

  Damn, it’s almost like the big city in here, he thought sarcastically.

  “Great Falls Police Department,” Cameron answered the phone.

  “Uh, sheriff?” An uncertain man’s voice flittered into his ear, and Cameron tried to place it. It didn’t instantly register.

  “Yes, this is Sheriff Lapin,” he answered. “Who is this?”

  Suddenly, he could hear the shrill voice of a woman yelling in the background.

  “It’s Bob Jacobs,” the man said. Cameron recognized him now: he was the owner of a grocery store. The phone became muffled, but he could hear Bob telling the woman to calm down.

  “Bob?” he called. “Hello? Is everything all right?”

  A moment later, Bob returned on the line.

  “Yeah, listen, I just got into a car accident on Second Street, across from Gibson Park, with this broad. The woman is hysterical and turning purple.”

  “I am not turning purple, you idiot!” came the screeching response.

  I wonder if she’s related to Mrs. Giberson, Cameron thought. Same wretched pitch of voice.

  “Is anyone hurt, Bob?” he asked, reaching for his radio and speaking into it. “Car 112, come in.”

  “No,” Bob replied. “But our vehicles are damaged pretty bad and we’re blocking traffic.”

  “Get off the street and wait for help,” Cameron instructed. “We’ll be there soon.”

  He replaced the phone and waited for his officers in the field to respond.

  “Car 112,” an officer called back through the radio.

  “What is your location?” the sheriff asked.

  “Eighth and Willmont Road.”

  Cameron glanced at the clock in surprise. How fast was he driving? He didn’t have time to worry about the officer’s infractions. Cameron was much closer to the scene of the accident than anyone else. He jumped up from the table and called out to Jeannie at the front desk.

  “You’re on dispatch, Jeannie,” he told her, grabbing the keys to his car. “Call out a couple tow trucks to Second Street across from Gibson Park. There’s been an accident.”

  “You got it, boss,” the amiable redhead replied, winking flirtatiously at him.

  A few years back, they had shared a night or two of drunken passion, but it had fizzled as quickly as it had begun. The novelty of an inter-office romance caused more problems than it was worth. That was fine with Cameron; he had neither the time nor the interest in a relationship. He was a lone wolf. But that didn’t stop him and Jeannie from remaining friends and continuing with the sexual banter. Sometimes Cameron wondered if he was missing out on something by dismissing the women he briefly dated, but his common sense overrode his moments of weakness.

  As he hopped into the squad car, Cameron wondered who it was that Bob had hit.

  He didn’t identify her by name, the sheriff realized. He probably doesn’t know her.

  It was hard to believe. In a town the size of Great Falls, Bob Jacobs was apt to know everyone. He had a long-standing market in the heart of town where he inevitably came to know all the residents. He was as much a fixture in the community as anyone could be.

  Probably a drunk tourist, Cameron thought, gritting his teeth. He really could have done without the drama this morning. The freshwater springs at Giant Springs State Park sometimes brought along the type of people Great Falls could do without.

  In mere minutes, Cameron was at the site of the accident, and for a moment, his heart seemed to freeze.

  As Bob had stated, both cars were in dire condition: the grocery store owner’s Toyota Tacoma was sandwiched to the size of a compact car, and a shiny silver Mercedes was in smithereens.

  How the hell did they walk away from that unscathed? Cameron leapt from the cruiser to examine the scene.

  Bob was standing on the sidewalk, his arms folded firmly over his chest, bald head turned slightly away from a hauntingly beautiful brunette who was yelling directly in the shopkeeper’s ear.

  “Bob?” Cameron asked as he approached. “Are you all right?”

  Bob’s annoyance seemed to melt into relief as he saw the sheriff, and without speaking, he pointed at the irate girl.

  “I will be fine if you can get her out of my face,” he said pleadingly, his hazel eyes wide with exasperation. Cameron could see the mild-mannered man was on his last nerve.

  Imagine having to arrest Bob Jacobs for assault, he thought, swallowing a smile as he envisioned the community backlash. Still, he could tell that it was a real possibility by the way Bob was twitching.

  Cameron turned sternly to the woman.

  “Miss, I need you to stop screaming,” he told her flatly. The beauty’s face turned more furious as she stared at him.

  “You call this screaming?” she shrieked. “You will know when I am screaming!”

  Cameron gritted his teeth and studied her closely. He was sure she was not a Great Falls native, but there was something oddly familiar about her, something he could not place.

  Maybe she is a tourist, he thought, peering at the shredded Mercedes.

  “What happened here?” Cameron asked stoically, and the young woman threw up her hands in frustration.

  “This idiot hit my car!” she snapped before Bob could speak.

  Cameron found himself growing angry with the boi
sterous girl.

  “Do not speak again,” he ordered her and turned fully to the store owner. “Bob? Do you want to tell me what happened?”

  “I was going straight and this deranged woman decided to make a left turn in front of me!”

  “Deranged?” the woman cried. “Are you kidding me? You ran a red light!”

  Cameron glanced at her. “What did I tell you about speaking, miss?”

  “You can’t shut me up!” she yelled. “What is this? The good old boys club where women can’t say anything? Am I in Montana or in the fifties?”

  Cameron didn’t want to deal with her attitude. “I am going to place you under arrest now,” he told her monotonously. A part of him enjoyed watching her jaw drop as he pulled the handcuffs from his waistband.

  “You’re what?”

  Her voice was so high, he was shocked it did not shatter the nearby windows. Bob grimaced and put his fingers in his ears.

  “For what?” the girl demanded as Cameron slipped the bracelets on her skinny wrists.

  “For being a public nuisance and causing an accident, for starters. I am going to run a breathalyser on you in a minute, after I finish taking Bob’s statement.”

  “I am not drunk!” she bellowed as he led her to the rear of the squad car. “This is false arrest!”

  Cameron maintained his calm, slamming the door on her inane babbling before turning his attention back to Bob.

  “Has she been like this the entire time?” he asked, and the older man nodded, sighing.

  “Thank God you got here when you did or you would have walked onto a murder suicide scene.”

  “I’ll talk to some witnesses and then I guess I’ll deal with that one,” Cameron said as he pointed to the squad car. “Can I call someone to take you home?”

  Bob shook his head.

  “Betsy is on her way now. She just dropped Devon off at the sitter so we can go to the insurance company.” He turned his full attention to the sheriff. “This wasn’t my fault, Cameron. She made a left turn when the light was still green, I swear it.”