“You just left Henry,” she muttered as she glanced over her shoulder. But Henry was gone. Scanning the crowd that threw curious glances her way, she couldn’t find any sight of the old shifter. “Oh. Well never mind. Dean. What’s going on?”
Dean didn’t answer as he threaded his way through the fair goers, his stony expression causing most to turn away in trepidation, and then peer after them in confusion. Kaylie just raised her brows and shook her head at the gawkers.
Up the steps they went, Dean silent as the predator he’d suddenly turned into, while Kaylie tripped over her own feet trying to keep up with his long and purposeful strides. Finally she yanked her hand out of his. “That’s enough,” she hissed at him. “I don’t like being treated like some troublesome child.”
Her eyes flashed with irritation and fear, and she was a hair’s breadth away from beating him. He gazed at her a moment and then his shoulders slumped a fraction. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking of you as a troublesome child. I was just reacting to some news.”
Kaylie stared at him with a “go on” expression. When he didn’t “go on” “go on” she grit her teeth. “What news?”
Dean sidled up so close she could feel the heat of his body. He leaned down until his mouth was next to her ear. His breath made her shiver with excitement, until his words caused a shudder of dread. “We think Kyle killed Celeste, the pitcher for the Togans. The woman who knocked you out last Friday. If that wasn’t bad enough, she was found in my bed.”
It took only a heartbeat of time for Kaylie to go from mild embarrassment at the reminder of last week’s incident to anger that a woman was in Dean’s bed only a few hours after Dean had been in Kaylie’s body.
Furious, she placed both hands on his chest to shove him away. He didn’t budge. “Excuse me? Found in your bed? What the hell was she doing in your bed, Dean?”
“Dammit, Kaylie.” Dean covered her hands with his. “I didn’t have her over. In fact she’s never even been to my place. No woman has.”
Jealous anger melted away. “Oh.”
“Oh, indeed.”
Warily she peered up at him. “So how did she get inside?”
His thumbs began a slow, rhythmical stroking over the sensitive flesh of her palms, though he didn’t seem to notice. “Scott called this morning to let me know he was fully recovered and ready to come back to work. When he got to the bar he caught a whiff of blood and decided to investigate. He noticed the exterior door leading to my apartment was busted open and, concerned for me, Scott checked inside and found some woman in my bed, dead. Then he called the police.”
“Yikes.”
Dean raised a brow. “That’s putting it mildly.”
“So what was with the caveman tactics just a few minutes ago?”
Surprisingly, Dean jerked his gaze away. “Instinctive.”
Kaylie frowned. “Instinctive?”
He swung his head back, his amber-edged green eyes holding a fiercely possessive glint. “I was getting my mate to safety.”
Kaylie gulped but before she could respond, a figure approached. With obvious reluctance, Dean turned his head to the newcomer. “You. Guard duty. Do not let her out of your sight until I tell you otherwise. Do you understand?”
Looking to her right, Kaylie saw Ben Anderson, one of Dean’s leaders in the pack, standing at attention. The shifter was probably around thirty, had a head full of streaked blond hair, dark eyes, and strong physique. Unfortunately when those eyes snared hers a gleam of appreciation began to light in them. Kaylie actually liked Ben, thought he was not only an attractive male, but a good person. She just couldn’t handle any more unwanted advances right now.
Dean seemed to appreciate the appreciation even less. In a blur of motion Dean shoved Ben back against the door of the building and held the shifter’s right hand at an awkward angle between their bodies, hiding what he was doing from any onlookers. Power began to radiate off him, raising Kaylie’s flesh in tiny goose bumps. “If you so much as even think an inappropriate thought, I will rip out your claws. One. At. A. Time.”
Evidently this side of Dean was rarely, if ever, seen by the pack members because Ben paled and visibly swallowed. Dumbfounded, Kaylie swallowed in sympathy. Ben nodded sharply once and nothing but cool professionalism filled his gaze.
Apparently satisfied, Dean dropped the other shifter’s hand and, in front of anybody who happen to have their head turned toward town hall—which happened to be many—Dean stalked up to Kaylie, jerked her head back and covered her mouth with his in a kiss that could only be described as claiming. His tongue thrust past her startled lips, devouring her whole. Shock held her immobile for a second, then she melted into his dominating embrace. As soon as she met his invasion with her own, the tension in Dean eased a bit. He groaned in approval and grasped her ass, pressing her to his body. She felt his erection at the juncture between her thighs. Her breasts were crushed against the heat of his chest. All the while his tongue did a vigorous exploration of her mouth. When air became a real necessity, Dean drew his head back. “Nothing happens to her.”
Kaylie knew Dean was speaking to Ben even though his gaze never left hers.
“I will guard her with my life, Alpha.” Ben’s voice took on a revered tone.
Licking her lips, tasting Dean even as he walked away, Kaylie switched her gaze to Ben. The man, who just minutes ago practically stripped her with his eyes, stood on alert, eyes flickering from hard scrutiny when he wasn’t looking at her, to stunned respect when he was. No iota of sexual awareness was evident.
“Do you wish to stay here or go elsewhere, Lupa?”
At the unexpected title Kaylie’s mouth flew open as wide as her eyes, but no words emerged. Instead she presented Ben with a sickly smile and held up one finger, silently asking him to wait a moment. Then she spun around to stare blindly at a white pillar bearing part of the enormous weight of the building’s heavily ornate porch. Weight that seemed to transfer onto her shoulders.
Panic seized in her chest and her hands flew to her forehead. She breathed deep and counted to ten, making it to five before her brain began to scramble with anxiety.
What had she done? She’d wanted Dean, pursued Dean, and even managed to have Dean for a short period of time. Sure, she was more than a mite upset at Dean’s initial refusal to claim her as a mate, but she also had enough confidence in herself, and Dean’s attraction to her, that she figured it was only a matter of time before she won him over. But never, ever had she thought of the ramifications. Whomever Dean claimed for a happily-ever-after to beget a parcel of kids with, in reality wasn’t just for him and his bloodline alone. That female would come into a ready-made family, consisting of every one of the shifters in the pack. She would, in essence, become responsible for over a hundred lives.
With her head pounding a painful staccato, she dug out her cell phone. “I need to go home, Mom. I’m not feeling so hot right now and no, it wasn’t the cotton candy.”
Disengaging, she turned back to Ben with a guarded expression. “Are you then supposed to follow me around all day?”
Ben nodded. “Yes. I’m all yours.”
Kaylie sighed. “Well as you heard me tell my mom, I’m heading home. Surely you don’t need to hang around there? You’ll be bored stupid.”
Ben was already shaking his head. “Dean said to guard you until he told me otherwise and that means anywhere you go, I go.”
“Fantastic.” Kaylie replied, though her tone said otherwise. She wanted tell Ben to get lost so she could figure out how her life had just done a one-eighty and bitten her on the ass, but she didn’t want to get the shifter into trouble. “Did you walk or drive here?”
“Walked. It’s not far from my apartment.”
“Fine. I’ll drive.”
Thankfully “guarding” didn’t mean being in the same room. Once Ben checked out the house and the surrounding area, he plopped down on the living room couch with one of the numerous books the Gentry room own
ed and a bag of chips Kaylie gave him. Then she bolted to the sanctuary of her bedroom.
Kaylie didn’t need Ben. What she needed was a brain drain for her colliding thoughts. Instead she opened up her laptop and reviewed her bookmarks on the web. News, entertainment, and then on to the particulars of animal science. From there she moved to her personal research on the physiology, mentality, and pack dynamics of shifters.
Several hours later she realized she’d actually forgotten about Ben. It wasn’t until he rapped his knuckles on the doorframe that she resurfaced from scientific facts and theories. “Oh,” she blinked at him owlishly. “Are you leaving?”
“Yes. Jackson Cole, another pack leader, just showed up with your mom. He’ll take the evening shift.”
Her lips pressed together in a subtle frown. “This is ridiculous.”
Luckily Ben didn’t appear to be insulted. “When a mate’s safety is undetermined, caution is a priority.”
Well, crap. She’d forgotten about that as well, and certainly didn’t appreciate the reminder. “Yes, well, I do apologize that your day didn’t turn out the way you probably planned.”
A warm grin turned his face charmingly boyish and he glanced over her shoulder to look out the bedroom window. “I’m a shifter. My day has only just begun.”
Kaylie followed his gaze, more than a little surprised at how dark it was. She leveraged off the bed. “I should get you home.”
“No need. I prefer walking.”
“But it’s dark out.”
Ben gave her another grin, full of gleaming teeth. “I’m a wolf. We like the dark.”
Kaylie briefly considered that. “Well, if you’re sure?”
“Definitely. I’ll run Jackson around the exterior before I take my leave.”
They headed toward the stairs together. “That’s fine. Thank you, Ben.”
“You’re welcome. Good night, Lupa.”
Stunned once again by the title and the ease at which Ben addressed her with it, Kaylie’s movements became somewhat jerky as she sent Ben on his way, and greeted her mom and Ben’s replacement watchdog.
Chapter Eighteen
Deep in the night, Ruth Gentry jerked awake, a barely audible sound disturbing her sleep. Very aware of every creak and groan emitted by her home, she realized, as she heard it again, this noise didn’t fit. Rising, she slipped into her thick robe and tiptoed out her bedroom door, making a beeline to Kaylie’s bedroom. Ear to the slightly ajar door, she listened a moment, and hearing nothing, she pushed it open.
It wasn’t her daughter, burrowed under the bedding, that made her eyes narrow in concern, it was the second form on the bed. For there, lying alongside Kaylie, his furry head resting on her daughter’s vulnerable belly, lay a big black wolf.
Ruth crossed her arms over her chest as the beast gazed back at her with alert eyes. Though amber rather than his normal memorizing green, they were no less full of intelligence, determination, and adoration. It was the last that gave her pause.
“I wasn’t sure about you.” She finally spoke to the wolf. When it shifted it’s eyes to Kaylie’s face and back to Ruth’s, she said, “Oh, don’t worry. Kaylie sleeps like the dead. Both my daughters do. They take after me.”
Black, fuzzy brows drew together and Ruth smiled lightly. “I have something they don’t have. Yet. Mom alert. Having a baby changes everything.”
He blinked slowly in understanding.
“You’re obviously a powerful shifter, and while you might be a self-made man with a lot of responsibilities, it doesn’t mean you’re good enough for my daughter.”
The wolf closed its eyes as if in agreement. Then he rubbed his chin on Kaylie’s belly and let out a whimper.
Ruth sighed. “But you’re also obviously protective and I think more than a little in love with my baby. And despite the mating heat, you showed up in wolf form, as a protector rather than a lover.” She scowled at him in open reprimand. “But you probably knew if I found a naked man in bed with Kaylie I’d beat you with a broom.”
This time the wolf lifted his head and let out a soft yip.
Ruth smirked, pleased with both herself and Dean. “But most of all, you’re sneaky. You had to have come in the underground passage.” She explained at the wolf’s tilted head, referring to the same passageway Dean had utilized not all that long ago to save both her oldest daughter Tess and herself from a human who’d gone over the deep end. “A good sneaky, not a cruel one like that malicious bastard Kolter.”
This time the wolf growled softly.
Ruth looked at Kaylie, her daughter’s expression so peaceful in sleep. Ruth was well aware how close Kaylie lay to danger. Shifter’s claws and fangs were known for ripping, shredding, killing. And vital for protecting.
Once again Ruth eyed Dean, giving him a steely glare, unperturbed by those deadly extensions. “If you hurt her, I will hunt you down and gut you.”
The predator seemed to accept this as a mother’s due and nodded with a sort of regal grace.
Then Ruth flashed him a smile, a warm and welcoming curling of her lips. “You’ll do Dean. You’ll do.”
If a wolf could grin, this one did. Then slowly, he rested his head back on the soft belly of his sleeping mate, closed his eyes, and let out a sigh of pure bliss.
Chapter Nineteen
At the sound of her alarm clock, Kaylie popped her eyes open, yanked from the strangest dream. A dream where she had felt safe, protected. Her guardian none other than a large black wolf. It had seemed so real that she actually glanced around the room, looking for the beast. Seeing no evidence of a four-legged creature, she pushed from the bed, padded to the bathroom, and readied for the day.
Mondays were the worst, she thought, heading down the stairs. She smelled the coffee—thank you Mom! —but she missed the weekend scents of frying bacon, or sausage or fresh bread or …
She froze, one foot hanging in mid-step.
Missing scent? Could that even be possible?
As a vet, she knew that a dog’s sense of smell was so sensitive that, for example, while a human might smell a pie as a whole, a canine could scent each individual ingredient. Which meant, if the animal knew what belonged in the pie, it could tell what was missing by smell alone.
Which was the same for wolves. Kaylie knew from her research that a wolf’s olfactory sense was just a sensitive and could even detect a scent trace from up to a mile away. So they to could scent the absence of something that belonged, right?
Soooooo …
“Well, hell.” Excited by the theory, she continued into the kitchen where she dug out her traveling coffee mug from a cabinet and filled it up. She had priorities after all. Then she stared at her cell phone, contemplating. She wanted to contact Dean, not only about her idea but because, well, she missed him, the jerk. She wanted to hear his voice. See his face. Breathe in his scent. Run her hands through his dark hair. And screw his brains out.
Damn!
Kaylie thunked her head on the counter. She should have known this would happen. If her emotions were ruled only by the mating heat, she would have wanted to screw his brains out first rather than last. But, while that urge was undeniably strong, simply hearing his voice was stronger.
She cursed again, following that with another thunk, uncaring if she showed up at work with a welt on her forehead because frankly, she’d fallen in love. In love with a stubborn, sexy shifter.
Who’d kissed her in front of the world yesterday.
A shaky hand covered her aching forehead, because if Dean followed that kiss up with a claim, Kaylie would become the Lupa. Ben had already referred to her as such, shocking her to the core.
And a Lupa had to be strong, smart, and protective of her pack.
Which brought her back to wolves, scents, and her theory.
Only now she wasn’t quite ready to hear Dean’s voice. Her realization was just a bit too fresh, her emotions a little too raw. So she dialed her sister.
“What’s wrong?”
Tess asked immediately.
“What makes you think something’s wrong?”
“‘Cause you’re calling first thing in the morning.”
Kaylie heard a male voice and then Tess’s undecipherable answer. At the same time Kaylie blew out a breath and muttered, “Where do I start?”
“What?”
“Nothing.” Shaking her head, Kaylie refocused. “I need to ask a question, a shifter one.”
A pause. “Okay.”
Kaylie hesitated, formulating the question. Then she explained the pie theory.
“The absence of a scent? Why are you asking if a shifter can smell a missing ingredient?”
Kaylie frowned at Tess’s tone, thinking she was on the wrong track when something heavy dropped over the line, then came a male curse, then: “You’re a genius!”
Tess’s confused exclamation was cut short by what sounded like a passionate kiss, if the moaning sounds that drifted to Kaylie’s ear were any indication. Kaylie flushed, hoping she didn’t sound like that when Dean kissed her, but had a sneaking suspicion she did.
“Hey!” Kaylie yelled into the phone to cover her embarrassment. “I’m the genius. Why am I not being kissed?”
More muted conversation and then her sister gave a blissful sigh. “Get your own shifter, sister. Oh, wait. You already have.”
Kaylie was so not ready to go there. “Whatever. So tell me what Caleb said.”
“The lack of a scent is just as important as a new scent, and can actually be traced. If, for example, it’s Kyle Kolter producing the non-scent, he’s actually covering normal scents, and that makes him traceable.”
Kaylie took a sip of coffee before answering. “Because the absence is actually a marker. I know what my house smells like, nothing like with a shifter sensitivity, but enough to know if something is missing.”
“Yeah. Caleb was calling Dean as he ran out the door. Even though it’s been hours, they’re probably going to try and see if they can scent out a non-scent at the bar. That sounds so weird.”
Shifter’s Surrender Page 16
