by E A Price
But then, if they were right, she was special. The other animals they’d picked up were rare – animals barely seen in the wild, or throwbacks to prehistoric times, animals supposed to be extinct. But if he was right about her, what she was… that was something incredible. Something that shouldn’t exist. She’d be worth a bomb.
Plus, he’d decided to go after her because he thought it would be easy – thought they could take her down without any trouble.
He’ll admit he wasn’t quite sure about what she actually was. He’d gotten up close and personal with her when she went to a – shudder – organic coffee shop once. She ordered a chamomile tea with organic honey. What the fuck was wrong with black coffee? Anyway, she smelled like a horse but… slightly off. Course that could be a product of some kind of organic deodorant or weird shit like that. And the tip-off about her species was hardly encouraging. The guy was drunk and rambling and pissed that Sky had dumped him for falling off the wagon and drinking caffeine or some such crap. Yeah, the more he heard about this girl, the more he thought she did need to be locked away, if not for her own good then everyone else’s.
But, he’d taken this over a tip about a potential gigantopithecus shifter in New York. Mostly because he’d checked out the a-z animals website and realized that those suckers were fucking huge. His team was still licking their wounds over the big bastard in Ursa, even after all these months. He’d taken way too much to put him down. Maybe he could avoid the enormous ape altogether if he got enough smaller, easier creatures. He figured that if he had Sky, all he needed was another couple of rare shifters, and they would be all set.
The auction was only a month away, and he needed her. She would be a massive draw – and he’d have enough to buy his own private island and a bevy of mates willing to bow to his every desire. He licked his lips as he thought of the females he could buy. Maybe he’d have a selection of different species – just for the variety. He deserved it. Course, that relied on this girl playing ball.
His cell phone rang, and he growled an answer into it as he realized it was Dr. James.
“I have a tip about a potential sivatherium,” squealed the small woman in excitement. “A friend of mine is a medical doctor and ran this woman’s blood sample for a diabetes check or something, and it turns out, she isn’t a real giraffe.”
“What the fuck is a siva… sivather…?” Didn’t sound all that interesting to him.
“An extinct type of giraffe – supposed to look like a cross between a giraffe and an okapi.” He could practically hear her bouncing up and down.
“What the fuck is a… you know what, never mind, tell me where.”
Sky wasn’t going or doing anything. Dumb bitch. Time he started filling up his quota.
Chapter Eight
Present day – all caught up now
Sky flushed as she tried not to look at the handsome bear shifter. Not mate, she insisted to her swooning inner unicorn.
Yes, mate, insisted the horned beast.
No, no, no, he was all wrong for her. All big, dark, ripped and gruff – he wasn’t what she was looking for at all. No, but he was exactly what she found. What was that she was saying to herself about Ethan – never again would she go for a dominant male, and yet here she was, practically falling over herself to simper over the huge man.
Zane gave her an intense look, and she almost sighed.
“Tell me everything,” he ordered. As if she dared resist.
So she did, not that there was much to tell. Just feelings and uncertainties, but she did produce the bug from her bag, still resting in the Tupperware.
He took it and scowled at it as if it owed him money.
“I’m probably overreacting.” Her fingers stroked the skin of her hand where less than ten minutes ago his hand held hers. Her flesh still tingled. “Maybe the bug was there when I bought the phone.”
“We can’t take that risk,” he told her roughly. “You need protection, twenty-four-seven.”
“I’m not sure…”
“Hey, boss bear.”
A curvy blonde sauntered into the office, giving them both a blinding smile and swinging a bag filled with food.
Zane grunted but didn’t look up from the bug.
“Sorry, didn’t realize you had a client. I’m Mercy.”
Sky introduced herself, ignoring the twinge of jealousy as Mercy patted Zane’s shoulder and passed him a sandwich before leaving, perfect hips swaying. Her usually placid unicorn wasn’t as easily contained - she was all for mauling the perfect dove shifter for daring to touch Zane.
Hell, she hoped the woman wasn’t Zane’s girlfriend. How annoyed would Zane be if his girlfriend ended up with a unicorn horn-shaped hole in her stomach?
Never one to bottle things up – it wasn’t good for her or her beast - she asked, “Your girlfriend?”
Zane looked up sharply. “No, absolutely not. She’s my receptionist.”
“Assistant,” called Mercy.
“I’m single,” he growled, his eyes turning black as the bear brushed the surface. That should not be turning her on.
“Oh.” The smile spread across her face, and she tried to remind herself that she wasn’t interested in him. She merely wanted to know in passing interest. Yep, that was all it was.
“Tell me about yourself. Where do you live? Are you involved with anyone? Where do you work? Are you dating anyone? What’s your routine? Do you have a boyfriend?”
Was it her imagination, or was he oh so subtly trying to find out if she was single too? She told him she was indeed single and where she lived and worked, and basically went through her daily routine.
He grunted with each answer as if they didn’t matter, but she didn’t fail to notice the way his chest inflated when he found out she was single. Not that she cared. Nope… The unicorn huffed, and Sky hushed her.
She wasn’t here trolling for a date; she actually had a serious problem. Maybe. And she knew that if someone was stalking her, there was a good chance it was because of the unicorn. But she didn’t feel comfortable disclosing the truth of her beast to Zane yet. Yes, he was inciting feelings in her she’d never felt before, but… she’d only known him for fifteen minutes. And those were just naughty, bedroom feelings – probably because she hadn’t had sex in a while, and mostly because he smelled incredible. Like early morning dew on the grass. Fresh, beautiful…
“Can you think of anyone who might be stalking you?”
Sky hesitated. “Maybe. But I’m not sure if he really would go this far.”
He growled at the he just a little too loudly. “Who?”
“My ex, Ethan. We had a bad break-up, and he’s kind of been calling and leaving me awful messages. Bit rich considering I caught him cheating.”
“Asshole!” snarled Zane with feeling.
Sky managed to stop her eyelashes from fluttering, but only just. His growliness should not be sexy, but hell, it was.
“I’m just not sure it’s him.”
“Well, that’s why you came to me.” Zane leaned back in his seat, looking slightly smug. Again, that should not be sexy, yet she felt her sex sitting up and quivering in interest.
She smiled at him, cheeks flushing happily as a vision of a future with her being crushed in a sexy bear hug while lots of little unicorns and bears – or unibears! – ran around screaming.
Whoa, slow down!
Sky ducked her eyes from his fierce inky black stare. “So what happens now?”
“I’m going to check your place for bugs, and then threaten… talk to Ethan.” Zane came around the desk with a clumsy kind of grace, banging into several things in the small office along the way. He didn’t seem to notice. He dropped to the ground next to her and took her hand again. She drew in a sharp breath at the incredible warmth of his touch. Happiness flowed through her, making her secure, making her aware of his… his… maleness.
He was inches from her and his sensual scent invaded her senses, making all rational thought ebb
. Yep, her unicorn just swooned. The beast was down for the count.
Like a gallant medieval knight, he promised her, “I will never let anyone harm you.”
She believed him.
*
“She’s nothing special,” snarled Booker. He paced up and down, eyes flashing and beast banging his chest.
The giraffe shifter lay sprawled on the ground. When they tried to tranq her, she shifted. And yep, she was just a regular old giraffe shifter. Nothing interesting about that. Stupid fucking doctor, he ought to ring her neck. He would too if it weren’t for Vargas eyeing him warily.
Dr. James clasped her hands together. “She was supposed… my friend checked the blood four times. Maybe she just has strange blood – she’s still a strange anomaly.”
“But not one anyone will pay for,” spat Booker. “You fucking idiot.”
Vargas growled at him.
“Can’t we just put her back,” suggested the doctor.
“She saw my face,” said Booker slowly, his growling prowling in irritation. How fucking stupid was this woman?
“Won’t the drugs…”
“They’re tranqs – they won’t affect her memory. She’ll remember everything.”
The doctor wrung her small hands. “What do we do?”
“Only thing we can do.”
She paled. “You’re not serious.”
Booker gave her a cold smile. “We can’t let her go.”
“But, no, we can’t…”
“Vargas.”
His second in command upended the struggling doctor over his shoulder and strode away, ignoring the beating she was giving his back.
Booker looked down at the sleeping form of the giraffe shifter. She was a pretty girl in her human form. Shame. But then given what her future might have been if she had been special, maybe death was a better option.
Chapter Nine
Zane strolled into the SEA building feeling pretty damn buoyant.
Hey, he had a new interesting case, why wouldn’t he? His bear snorted. Yeah, it wasn’t that. It was her. Sky. Beautiful, fragile, perfect Sky. He’d never had such a reaction to a female. Not even Melissa. Then again, he’d known Melissa for a month before he fell for her – it hadn’t been instantaneous with her. But with Sky, the moment he saw her he felt like he was falling headlong into a deep chasm. It was scary but exhilarating, and he almost couldn’t breathe. But the world suddenly seemed hazy around this gorgeous woman. He wanted to hug her, kiss her, screw her and carry her off and away from every other male in the world all at once.
Hell, even his asshole bear was half in love with her already. One look from those bottomless green eyes and the bear was practically rolling around on the ground, whimpering like a cub.
Yeah, he was pretty fucking livid that she might be in danger, but he was going to protect her. Hades help the fucker who was after her.
He’d taken her phone and programmed all his numbers in – home, cell, and work. At that moment she was safely sitting in his car with the promise that she would stay put, and if she saw anyone she thought was a little shifty looking – she would call him, and he’d come running.
Zane was feeling pretty smug until his phone chirruped and he panicked, almost dropping it as he scooped it out of his pocket.
The SEA security guard, Boris raised an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. The burly male rarely did.
Zane checked his phone and found a text and a photo from Sky. The photo showed a huge male sitting on a bench with his mouth open and a dazed look on his face. A small, pretty female was hugging his shoulders and smiling. The text read, been like that for six mins – v. entertaining but is it shifty? A smiley face emoji followed.
Zane chuckled as he recognized the male – Cutter – a brusque wolf shifter and former SEA colleague. He texted back. I know that guy – he’s nuts, six mins is nothing. She replied with LOL.
His little horse shifter was adorable. His bear grumbled slightly at that. Yeah, her scent was a little off. The peachy like smell was delicious and appealing as hell, but he’d never come across a horse shifter quite like her. Maybe she was a rare breed. Plus horses did tend to be few and far between in cities – herds preferred wide-open planes. He’d quiz her on that later.
Now, to business. He was going to try and talk his way past Boris – not an easy feat especially given the death glare he was getting. Probably for the best that Gunner and Isis strode out of an elevator – even if the woman was a bit of a pill. Or rather, ten minutes with her made you wish you had a suicide pill.
Isis’ red lips curled. “Hey, nutjob. Beat up any lawyers recently?” The tigress had no concept of what could constitute a touchy subject.
Gunner let out a warning growl, which she naturally ignored.
“Love to stay and chat but some of us have jobs to get to.” She fluttered darkened eyelashes.
Zane snorted. “Give your mate my condolences.”
Bright white teeth flashed at him. “Oh, I’ll give him something all right.” She winked and patted Zane’s shoulder as she flounced out the door.
Gunner gave him a pained look. “She means… I was going to say well, but I doubt that’s true. What are you doing here?”
He decided honesty was the best policy with the straight shooting bear. “I was kind of hoping to borrow a piece of tech.”
Gunner frowned in disapproval.
“I’ll sign a receipt and bring it back. I wouldn’t ask, but I have a client who thinks someone's following her, I want to sweep her apartment for bugs.”
“She should report it to the LLPD or us.”
“She doesn’t have evidence.” Apart from the actual bug, but he knew that the SEA wouldn’t prioritize her over other cases. “Just a feeling.”
One he hoped proved false. He’d rather her be paranoid than be in potential danger any day. Although his gut told him it was the latter. He saw it in her eyes, scented her fear. There was something she wasn’t telling him yet, but then, they had only known each other for an hour. He could be patient. No, that was a lie, he couldn’t. But she wasn’t someone he could yell at until she started crying and gave in. He had to coax the truth from her. Yes, in bed, naked, with his tongue in her sex while she screamed his name. That’d work agreed his bear.
His old boss was wavering. For all his faults, Zane had good instincts, and Gunner knew it.
“Fine,” hissed the polar bear shifter eventually. “Boris, can you call Jessie and get her to come down and sort him out.”
Boris grunted and did as requested.
“How’s Erin?” asked Zane.
A soppy look crossed Gunner’s face and Zane almost hooted with laughter.
“She’s great. Not be too long until the cubs are born.” Gunner’s poor, small human mate was pregnant with his triplets. She’ll never walk right again after that birth thought his dirty bear.
“You know what’s a great name for a cub?”
Gunner rolled his eyes. “Zane…”
“Exactly.” He beamed.
“Gotta go, giraffe shifter murdered.” He paused. “Good to see you. Gimme a call; we’ll grab a beer or something.”
“Sure.” Zane took a deep breath and forced the next words out of his mouth, “And thanks for this.”
Gunner grinned as he left. “Sure.”
Jeez, now he was showing gratitude – paintball really was working. Either that or he was sick. Zane felt his forehead and yes, he did feel a little hot. His bear snorted something like pussy and Zane sent him visions of a one-fingered salute.
*
Zane withheld a snarl as he found another bug. That was the third in her apartment.
Sky’s pale features creased in worry. “Another one?”
His ire rose as she bit her lip and her eyes prickled with tears. Protect her ordered his bear. Keep her safe. Take her back to our den and keep her safe by having lots of sex. He didn’t know how that would actually keep her safe, but he was all for it. His cock, currentl
y causing a lot of discomfort, was also for it.
But no, as he looked into her sweet, worried face, his baser urges retreated. For the time being anyway.
“Someone is after me,” she murmured, almost to herself.
“Yes,” he grunted.
He placed the new bugs into the Tupperware too. His bear was all for destroying them – destroying anything at that moment was appealing. But who knows, maybe he could trace them back to who bought them. Doubtful, the bugs were a dime a dozen, but he needed to do something.
Zane placed a hand on her shoulder, and she smiled weakly at him. His thumb rubbed her collarbone, and he found the tension inside him easing a little. He wanted to comfort her, but honestly, touching her was more for his benefit than hers. His arousal ratcheted up a few notches, but the desire to go out and kill something diminished. He had a more dominant desire at that moment.
“I was kind of hoping I was just off my nut.”
“Me too.”
Sky raised an eyebrow.
“No offense,” he added quickly.
“I know. But if it was in my imagination, wouldn’t that detract from your fee, not that we’ve even discussed fees yet.”
“No – well you know, pay me what you can.” Hell, she couldn’t pay him to stay away from her.
“Seriously? I’m not great with money, but I can’t help but feel that’s not a good way to run a business.”
“Well, we can come to an arrangement.”
That elicited two raised eyebrows.
“That sounded dirtier than I thought it would,” he admitted.
She giggled. Although if she was up for that kind of thing they could be naked within thirty seconds… His bear howled excitedly.
Zane cleared his throat and counted to ten, ignoring his lust. The last thing she needed was a horny bear slobbering all over her. Shouldn’t she be given the choice? asked his bear. Ignoring him too…
