On the Growl: A Shifter Romance Anthology

by Lynn Red

"Run your mouth? You think I'm keeping you under surveillance because you might give away the operation?"

  Jena shrugged at him and said, "Don, it's been two weeks, wouldn't the maybe bad guys have come for me already?"

  "Maybe bad guys?"

  "Hey, all they did was hire a creep. Someone blew up a building. I'm really not sure if you're good or bad. And I don't care. If you were going to try and kill me, you have had plenty of time. And so have they."

  Don shook his head and said, "They play a long game. I wish you wouldn't go. Besides, it will make the boys rage."

  Her spine straightened and her nostrils flared as she said, "Don, I don't have a mysterious organization paying my bills. I need to work."

  Before he could retort, they heard Vera call out, "Jena! Hang on!"

  The other woman hustled over, holding out a paper bag. She said, "Your favorite. When you said you had some work coming up, I wanted to make sure I got these to you before you headed out."

  Don looked startled and said, "You knew she was going?"

  Vera's face went cold and she said, "She and I are friends, unless you want to vet that too?"

  Don went bright red. Jena had never seen the man so discomforted. She hugged Vera and said, "Thank you so much! I'm not going far."

  "Oh, to the big park?"

  Jena didn't want to confirm anything in front of Don, so just smiled and said, "I'll make sure I get a good picture for your wall."

  Vera turned to Don, struck a belligerent pose and said, "Are you going to want to approve that too? She brings me pictures back from just about every trip she goes on for my picture wall." Vera turned on her heel and strode back to her house, with the other two left to watch.

  Jena finally said, "That went well for you."

  Don watched Vera walk away and said to Jena, "I'm handling her about as well as Matt and Jack handled you."

  "Give yourself some credit, Don. She's still talking to you."

  Before Don could retort, Jena hopped in the car and drove away.

  Chapter 8

  Two days later, Jena pulled into her parking spot. She pulled her things into her cottage and plopped in front of the TV. She almost groaned as the first thing that popped on was yet another talking head reporting about the explosion. She leaned over to change the channel when it finally caught her attention.

  "As authorities continue to comb the wreckage there are still no casualties reported. At this time, all workers have been accounted for. At this point, it appears there have been no deaths. The plant explosion is still considered of unknown origins, but no indications of outside materials have been found."

  Jena sat back, mulling over the news. Not that it mattered, as the heat on their organization died down, Don would go back to work and they would all forget about her. At least she wasn't in love with murderers.

  As she lay on the couch, there was pounding on the door. Vera burst into the house in tears and grabbed her. She pulled Jena outside, then into her cottage. She shoved an envelope into Jena's hands.

  "Vera, what is going on?"

  "Oh Jena, it's Don, they've taken him."

  Jena sank into a chair and said, "I don't understand, who?"

  "I don't know who it was. He just swept in last night, grabbed him. Said if I called the police we were both dead."

  Jena wrapped her arms around Vera and rocked with her.

  "He was very angry you weren't here, that's when he left the note for you."

  "Did you read it?"

  "No. They said they were watching. I believed them."

  "So they know I'm here."

  Vera nodded and whispered, "I'm so sorry. I should have just gone..."

  "No Vera, you were right." Jena stopped and pulled open the note. It was brief.

  Meet on the island in the bay. There is a boat waiting at the dock.

  "Okay, Vera, I'm not going to let them hurt Don. Did Don ever give you any 'in case of emergency' instructions or contact information?"

  Vera paused and said, "No, I mean, yes, he definitely gave me emergency contact numbers. You know I keep the neighborhood emergency list updated." Vera pulled some papers off the refrigerator, and flipped it to Don's entry. She said, "Yes, a young man, Matt Jack. Strange name, perhaps I copied it wrong."

  Jena felt a rush of relief.

  Vera looked at her and frowned, "He said our phones where tapped. How will we call them?"

  Jena frowned, "Everything I've ever read is about how sophisticated modern surveillance equipment is. Have you noticed anything unusual the last few weeks?"

  Vera shook her head, but reached into the drawer and pulled out a pen and paper. She quickly scribbled a note and handed it to Jena. She had to just hope that they weren't in a crazy spy movie and that they weren't reading the note by listening to the vibrations the pen scratches on paper made in the windows.

  "Do you still have your dive gear?"

  "Yes. In the boat house."

  "We don't have much time. I need a wet suit and tank."

  Jena hastily sketched out a plan and Vera nodded in agreement. The bad guys might have sophisticated gear, but they apparently hadn't bothered to find out anything about the community and house itself. The two women walked into the pantry and shut the behind them. Vera opened the hidden trap door and the two women eased down into the crawl space. Vera frowned at the dirt then sighed. She muttered under her breath, "Of course I'm wearing my new white suit." They belly crawled to the adjoining trapdoor.

  "Really glad you have a duplex."

  "Well, I'm just glad Patty never bothered to put a lock or bolt on her trap door. And that she's out of town. You know she'd start screaming if we popped up into her house when she went to get a nip of sherry."

  Vera opened the trap door and they both stepped into the other woman's pantry. "Patty has been bragging about finally replacing that terrible little phone of hers. Right before she left, she threw it on the coffee table. Very over dramatic. Her son got her the latest iThing. Not that he ever calls." Vera eased the pantry door open and crawled over to the neighbor’s living room. Jena watched her and tried not to think about Don being in Jason's control. This time she wasn't going to hesitate. No one was ever going to have to worry about him again.

  "Jackpot! She never gets rid of anything." Vera hustled back to Jena and said, "Looks like it still connected to the network and it's charged. She never got the chance to shut it off - she's too cheap not to have canceled it, except she got distracted." Vera fiddled with the phone a few moments then handed it to Jena. "I put that number you said was so important in the phone. Can you believe Patty sprung for the crazy expensive waterproof case, but wouldn't just buy a new phone 2 years ago? I'll call those boys from her phone. You just get out to the island. You're sure I shouldn't call the police?"

  "Trust me, Vera. I promise I'll tell you everything, but you really, really shouldn't call the police. When this is all over, they'll tell you everything. Then you can decide if you want to call the cops."

  Vera gave Jena a quick hug and whispered in her ear, "Good luck."

  Jena slipped back under the house and headed to the edge of the house. Her quick peek out showed that no one appeared to be around. Jena eased into the shrubbery and circled behind her target. This was the scariest part, there was no avoiding it. She pulled the baseball cap over her head and hoped the big housecoat she'd thrown over her clothes made her look like one of the other neighbors.

  She walked down the path, and slipped into the boat house. She closed the door with a sigh. After a few long minutes, she relaxed slightly, there was no uproar, no movement from the houses. She went to Vera's storage lockers and pulled out her gear. Jena slipped into the wet suit. She'd warned Vera not to expect anything back. She would ditch all of her gear into the ocean in a heartbeat if she had too. Jena just needed enough oxygen to get her well away from land.

  Jena geared up and slipped into the water, grateful the weather was cooperating. The flippers made the swim to the isla
nd go much faster than her last trek out. She was still exhausted when she dove down through the tunnel into the hidden grotto.

  She kicked most of the swim gear off, but kept the wetsuit on. She hoped it would help protect her. She pulled the phone out, relieved that the case really had kept the water out. She realized she had no way to let Vera know she'd made it.

  It was going to be dark soon - she eased out of the cave. The entrance wouldn't stay hidden if anyone saw her. The island was silent and she saw no one. She slowly worked her way toward the only beach. She saw Don tied to a stake, inside the high tide line. She didn't understand why he was alone, but stayed under cover, finally working her way behind him.

  She stayed at the tree line, calling out to him softly, hoping her voice carried only to him. "Don."

  "Jena?" She winced, he was so loud!

  "Sssh, Geez Don. Do you not want to be rescued?"

  "How did you...this is the only beach..."

  "Let a girl have her secrets. And maybe whisper."

  "No reason to, he left the island."

  "What?" She slipped forward, at this point, even if he was wrong, he was loud enough that everyone would hear them. She sliced his bindings. Don stood up and rubbed his arms. They walked back to the trees and he said, "He left me here. Did you have a plan? It's not a very big island."

  Jena guided them back to the rocks and the hidden cave. She could only pray he was right and they weren't about to be engulfed in goons. He laughed as he entered the cave, but his amusement died out as the twilight faded. Despite the opening overhead, it was getting very dark.

  "Will they fly over?"

  "Unlikely."

  Jena pulled out a glow stick from the pile of gear she'd left behind and cracked it. "It's not much, but if anyone is on the island, or comes back, they will certainly notice if parts of it start smoking, so no fire.

  Don sank into the sand and said, "You're smart and lucky. The boat was the trap. I'm not entirely sure how it was rigged, but Jason expected you'd be captured on it, never making it to the island."

  "Then why stake you out here?"

  "He had no intention of coming back for me. He apparently blames me for the crash. Did his standing in the organization no good to be out of commission when the plant was being blown up. Jason's main job was overseeing the plant's security so he was rather put out at me. But personally, not professionally. He was happy to let me drown. He had no backup. It's just him."

  Jena shook her head and said, "Well, it would have been unpleasant, but you weren't far enough out for even high tide to drown you."

  "Jason is an idiot. A violent idiot."

  "So, if he was going solo, what was the note all about? Scaring poor Vera?"

  "I have no idea, but he's a little bonkers."

  "Well, do you have a night swim in you?"

  "Jena, not only do I still have a broken leg, but I can't swim."

  "You can't swim?" Jena felt her heart sink. She really hadn’t counted on him not being able to swim at all.

  "Strictly doggie paddle."

  "Shit."

  She pointed at the water lapping in the cave and said, "Because that was our exit. So we're a little stuck here."

  "Vera...is she okay?"

  "Tough cookie. Very upset about the whole thing, and is going to demand answers. She was a CFO. You will not get away with bullshit half-truths like you did with me. The only reason the cops aren't swarming all over the place is because I said not to call, and that I would tell her everything if you didn't." Don winced away from that and slumped his shoulders.

  He said, "She is never going to forgive me."

  "She's going to wonder if you were using her."

  "I wasn't! I just, when I got here and saw her? It was like I was filled with a sharp tingling and rope wrapping around us and pulling us together. Never thought I'd find a mate again."

  Jena stared at him and said, "That's all bullshit."

  He laughed and said, "It's not that you can never find happiness without it. But there are some people in the world you connect instantly to, on an utterly primal level. I hope she feels it too, that I'm not just being wishful about it. Even if she never speaks to me again, we're connected. I'll always know where she is."

  Jena didn't like the way the conversation was going. Was she wrong about what connected her, Matt, and Jack? She said, "So, Jason is watching that boat, hoping to get revenge on me?"

  "He took your rejection poorly."

  "At least they don't know about...anything else."

  "They don't, but if we call in the big guns, they'll suspect me and the boys and our cover will be blown."

  "But if you don't call the police, won't they think you have something to hide?"

  "Jason will never tell them. This is way off the grid, they have bigger fish to fry than some low level guy trying to get a little revenge. They won't care, will figure we're all big kids and will handle our own business."

  "Well, that's fine and all, but I kind of figured on us swimming out of here."

  She finally pulled the phone out and thrust it at Don. She said, "Here. You can call for rescue. I can swim back."

  "Are you nuts?"

  She looked at Don and smiled, "Yeah, a little bit. But I can do the swim."

  "Or you can just wait."

  "Fine." She snatched the phone out of his hands and dialed the number.

  It caught her breath to hear Matt's voice answering the phone and she could feel the tension in his tone when he said, "Yes? Is this Jena?"

  Tears welled up in her eyes and she said, "This is not me asking for help. It's just that I found this friend of yours all tied up, so rescued him. But apparently he can't swim so would appreciate someone coming to get him. And I guess I could tag along."

  Chapter 9

  Don and Jena sat on the sand as the small boat came up onto the beach. Don waved the glow stick at them, recognizing them long before Jena did. Although she could feel them getting closer. Fuck. That means something. I don't care anymore. I can't not be with them. Ending up like Vera wouldn't be the worst. She had love and has found it again.

  The two men leapt out of the boat and swept Jena into their arms before she had the chance to do much more than stand up.

  Matt held her at arm’s length and just stared at her. He finally said, "I'm sorry, Jack was right. We should have just told you everything."

  "I don't care anymore." She pulled herself up and pressed her lips into his, until she tore away from him, turned to Jack and said, "I don't know how we'll make this work. It scares me so hard. But I don't care. I can't not love you both."

  Jack's mouth descended onto hers. Jena was so wrapped up in the two bears it took her a moment to remember about Don. As she turned, she realized he wasn't there anymore. They all stopped and looked at the boat. Don had made his way there already. They looked up as he tossed a black duffel at them, then waved and piloted the craft away from the beach. They just heard him shout, "It's a nice cave. See you tomorrow!"

  Jena started giggling and finally said, "I think Don wants us to make up."

  Jack picked the bag up and said, "So, there's a cave?"

  They quietly set up camp in the cave with the supplies Don left them. When Jena reached in and pulled out the big container of lube she couldn't stop laughing, finally saying, "What were you guys planning when you packed this bag?"

  Jack pulled Jena into his arms and stared into her eyes. He finally said, “A public display of us both getting very satisfied and very arrested.” Matt moved in behind her so she was wrapped in both of them, and he said, “When Don said you took off, I couldn’t bear the thought of losing you again. We were going to plant ourselves outside your door until you talked to us. Until you let us make up to you.”

  Jena felt complete in their arms, but couldn’t stop teasing them. She said, “Well drat, I really could have used some muscle around the house. Vera has been after me to paint for ages.” She felt the growls building in their chests
.

  Matt pulled her hair into his fist and pulled her head back against him. Jena lifted her hands to Jack’s shoulders and they both nibbled on her neck, until her hands tightened and her nails dug into Jack.

  “Do you want us, Jena?”

  She looked up into Jack’s eyes and felt Matt go still behind her, waiting on her response. She couldn’t hold back when she said, “Yes. I want you and I need you.”

  She felt Matt more than she actually heard him, “Now.” She just nodded. They eased to the ground, stretching out on the bedding they’d already set up. The weeks of separation came to a head in them and their clothes went flying.

  Hands were everywhere and Jena said, “I can’t wait, please. Please.”

  “Are you sure?” Jena could hear the tension in Jack’s voice.

  She grabbed his face, pulled it to hers and said, “If you don’t take me now, I will never, ever forgive either one of you, no matter how many fences you paint.”

  Jack groaned as she threw a leg over his and ground against him. He slipped the head of his shaft between her pussy lips, slowly stroking her until he finally entered her.

  Jack held her steady, while Matt pressed against her tight rosebud. He slowly eased past the tight ring, giving her time to relax against him, until he had completely filled her.

  They stayed still for a moment, letting Jena enjoy the fullness having both of them. Then Jack pulled out slightly and as he slid back into her pussy, Matt pulled out of her ass. They built a rhythm that Jena was powerless against.

  The men kept her from moving, and as they felt her build toward an orgasm, they changed their pattern, until they were both pounding in and out of her. Jena couldn’t hold back and screamed, “God yes, now!”

  Waves of pleasure crashed over her as the men lost control and exploded with her. They collapsed together and Matt pulled a blanket over them.

  Jena lay satiated in their arms, drifting in and out of sleep. She enjoyed their mutual afterglow. She hated to disturb it, but once she started, she couldn’t stop her panicked thoughts from racing.

  Finally, she said, "But what about Jason?"

  Matt gently stroked her forehead and said, "He got pulled into some other assignment, so he's at least not in the area anymore. He had limited time."