Shit. That had been his second choice. “I wasn’t planning to, but would it be so bad?”
Cavon slowly shook his head. He hadn’t felt so small since their dad had reprimanded him when he was ten.
“She needs some distance.”
“I’ll show her distance.”
He didn’t want to hear his brother’s response and trotted off. When he got near the gondola to go up to the top of the mountain, he jumped a fence, hoofed it up the hill about a hundred yards, and then shifted, hoping no one would see him.
Running all out got the blood flowing in his body. He’d forgotten how much he loved to sprint. Just because he could, he raced up a tree and scoped out the area. He didn’t sense any shifters but stayed for a few minutes to enjoy the view. He scurried down the tree and took off again. For at least an hour, he ran, climbed, chased anything that moved, and did everything he could to enjoy himself. His heart beat strong in his chest. The invigorating exercise helped chase away any of the doubts he might have about his future. He’d served his time in Anterra and was ready to live. Why couldn’t people understand that?
By the time he got back to the base of the mountain, shifted, and walked to the hotel, it was quite dark. When he arrived at the room, Cavon wasn’t there. He figured his brother was probably in the bar, but he wasn’t in the mood for his smugness. A shower and a good night’s sleep would do wonders for his mood. Tomorrow, he’d play some more.
Amy’s not going to buy into you playing games all the time. His brother’s words haunted him, but his frustration at being backed into a corner made him angry. Why couldn’t she love him for being himself? Love? Is that what he wanted? Hell yes, but on his terms, damn it.
Over the next week, he more or less avoided running into Cavon even though they shared the same room. His brother got up early to go to work or attend his training class, and Malik slept in on purpose. As soon as Cavon shut the door, he got up, free to do as he wished. He went to the falls to go swimming, but his wonderful memories of him and Amy were almost too much to bear, so he never returned. As each day passed, his joy at cutting loose diminished. Not having Amy in his arms was taking a toll on him. Even hamburgers had lost their appeal.
He’d finished a rather uninspired run, showered, and then changed before hitting the main drag to see what other interesting things he could find to do. As he entered the lobby, he automatically scanned the front desk, hoping to accidentally run into Amy. He really wanted to talk to her about why she’d been avoiding him. Cavon had a theory, but until he heard it from her lips, he wouldn’t believe it. They had too much fun together for her to willingly give that up.
“Malik!” Sella jogged toward him and wrapped her arms around his chest. “It’s so good to see you.”
She leaned back and he swore she truly glowed. “I can see by your smile that you had a great time in Miami. Did your husbands treat you well?”
“The best. Miami was amazing. You should go there sometime. The ocean is spectacular, but one day when it got really windy, I went into the ocean and got slammed with a wave. From then on Will or Gage insisted on going in with me.” She laughed.
“You didn’t have any trouble adapting?” She’d only been on Earth a short time, and he worried about her.
“Actually, I did. I couldn’t figure out how to use most of the electronic devices, but things like refrigerators and stoves were mostly the same.”
“So you really had a great time.”
“I had a fabulous time.” She grabbed his hand. “Will and Gage are on the way in with our luggage. They want to talk to you about something.”
He inwardly groaned. They’d already been over his helping to establish their company. Her eyes brightened at something behind him, but he didn’t need her change of face to know the two shifters had returned.
He turned and smiled. “Need any help?” They were loaded down with suitcases.
“We got it. I’m glad we ran into you. I want to finish checking in, but could we meet in the bar for a drink in say an hour?”
“Sure.”
“Okay. See you then.”
Instead of going outside as he’d planned, he went back to his room, angry that he didn’t just come out and tell them he wanted to rest for at least a few more months. However, he couldn’t disappoint Sella. After all, they had been best friends since forever. Admit it. It will be good to visit with someone from back home. He shrugged. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the place, it was that he was tired of all the fighting.
After forty minutes of trying to figure out why he had become so discontent of late, he headed down to the bar and ordered a scotch. Ever since the first time he’d come to Earth, he’d grown fond of the smooth taste of the stuff.
“Hey, Malik.” Will, Gage, and Sella slid next to and across from him in the booth.
“What did you want to speak with me about?” He might as well get this out of the way. Then he could find out more about the honeymoon.
Gage and Will ordered beers while Sella just asked for water. Apparently, she hadn’t developed a taste for the Earth drinks.
Gage clasped his hands. “Will and I have sold our security firm in Miami and want to have a two-part operation here. One will involve patrolling the borders to keep the wolves at bay. I’m afraid we will need to rely on volunteers until we get going.”
He said nothing. They better not expect him to volunteer. “Sounds like a plan.”
“The other half involves training humans to handle all sorts of security. Will and I can handle all of the gun range training, but we need someone to help with hand-to-hand combat. Sella said you were quite the expert in Anterra. No one could take you down, not even her brothers.”
He liked fighting as a man. It was dealing with those pesky wolves that got to him. “I appreciate the compliment, but I’m retired.”
Sella slapped a hand on top of his. “You’d be wonderful. I believe you’d be well compensated.” She grinned. “The extra money would come in handy when you need to take Amy out to dinner, huh?”
His mouth refused to move. Just saying her name hurt every inch of his body.
“Speaking of which, how is that going?” She winked.
Now he couldn’t avoid answering. “We’re taking a break from each other.”
Sella’s face fell. “Oh, no. I thought you three were so perfect together.”
So did I.
The waitress brought over the drinks and chatted with Sella for a minute. He guessed they used to work together.
“Malik, what can we do to make you change your mind?”
He slid out of the booth. “Nothing.” Okay, he had been a little tempted in that he could do what he enjoyed, but he wanted nothing to do with the responsibility of protecting all of Earth from the wolves. “We’ll catch up later.”
Without waiting for them to convince him to sit down, he strode out of the bar. Skelak. Why couldn’t anyone understand that he just needed a freaking break? He kept his gaze averted as he stomped through the lobby, not wanting to see or speak to anyone, especially Amy. He was bound to say something stupid if he ran into her.
Everyone’s comments ran through his head. You need to be yourself. You’re so talented. Don’t you love teaching those kids?
Why couldn’t they like him for who he was?
“Malik?” It was Amy, the last person he wanted to speak with.
Given she was the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, she deserved her say. He turned around and smiled. “Amy.”
She motioned he come close. His cock got hard looking at her, and his fingers itched to caress her supple breasts and lick her delicious pussy. She was more beautiful than in his nightly dreams.
“Can you come into my office so we can talk?”
Dread poured through him, but he needed to know if what Cavon said was true. “Sure.”
Once they got inside, she dragged her chair around to the front, motioned he take a seat, and then sat opposite him. �
�For starters, I want to apologize.”
That wasn’t what he had expected her to say. “For what?” He kept his tone as devoid of rancor as he could.
“You know. It’s about the other night when Jeremy’s father spoke to you.”
“What about it?” Playing dumb wasn’t his style, but he wanted her to be the one to say she didn’t want to be with him.
She clasped her fingers together and looked down at them as if this was as uncomfortable for her to say as it was going to be for him to listen. “When I first met you and Cavon, I was immediately drawn to you two.”
He tossed her his best smile. “Trust me when I say as soon as I saw you, I knew I wanted you.”
“If we’re so perfect for each other, why can’t you drop this I just wanna have fun act and be true to yourself?”
The comment about him dropping some act threw him. “Can you be more specific? I don’t have an act. I am being me all the time.”
She shook her head, looking too much like his brother. “I can’t tell you what it means to be yourself. You need to think about it, but deep inside, I know you know. Just do what you’re gifted at.”
“Is that all?” He stood and pulled her into a stand. “What I’m gifted at is making love to you.”
That got a smile out of her. “Be serious. Now go.” She patted his chest. “I have work to do, but think about what I said.”
He saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”
His automatic response to being attacked was to make a joke out of things. If she couldn’t handle him, then maybe they weren’t right for each other. Do what you’re gifted at. He wasn’t going back to Anterra to fight, but he might go back to Anterra to talk to his dad and a few of the others.
He stopped off in the room and left Cavon a note. He probably could have telepathed the message, but then his brother would have come running back to the hotel, and they’d have the same stupid discussion again. No thank you.
For a change, he took the lift up the top of the mountain and hiked in toward Anterra by foot. For some reason he wasn’t in the mood to be in his lion form just yet. He must have been lost in thought because he didn’t notice anything different until all of a sudden his entire body shot to alert.
Wolf shifters. Damn. They were near. The fork appeared a hundred feet in front of him. The middle path led to the waterfall and the one to the right took him to the goldmine. Without even thinking, he shifted. As he followed the path to the goldmine, his body picked up three lion shifters and four wolf shifters.
His muscles nearly locked. All he could think of was that Jeremy, Richie, and Darren were being attacked. Had he been on Anterra, three young cubs could easily defeat four wolves, but here, without any training, they didn’t stand a chance of getting away unscathed.
For some reason, he didn’t charge in like he’d been trained to do. He couldn’t say why he held back, but something inside said the boys he’d trained could take these four.
As he got near, he scurried up a tree to get a good view of what was going on. He didn’t want to get too near and alert the wolves. Anterran wolves would have picked up he was near, but from his last encounter with the ones from Earth, they weren’t as sophisticated.
From high on his perch, he could see four young wolves snarling and hissing at two of the lions, neither of which was Jeremy. He closed his eyes for a second trying to locate him. A noise broke his concentration. Up ahead, a lion jumped from one tree to another, and then scurried to the ground. A thrill raced through his body. Jeremy was going to get around and attack from the rear just like he’d taught him.
His muscles tensed as he watched. As Jeremy came from behind, the kid let out a roar, which Malik had to admit, sounded a little weak. All four wolves turned around. That gave Richie and Darren the perfect opportunity to attack. They each jumped on a wolf, leaving two others to pursue Jeremy.
Don’t forget to duck.
He probably shouldn’t have interfered, but he couldn’t help it anymore than a football coach could not yell from the sideline. He’d watched enough games to know that much.
Sure enough, as the two wolves came after Jeremy, he lowered his head and danced out of the way at the last minute. He had to hand it to him. Jeremy was a fast little bugger. His reflexes were good.
The two wolves that Richie and Darren had attacked whimpered and scurried off. The boys came after the two now with Jeremy. Once the remaining wolves saw it was three lions to two of them, they, too, ran off. As soon as they disappeared, Jeremy and his friends shifted back to being boys. They jumped up and high-fived each other. The celebration could probably be heard in town.
Malik beamed with pride. His boys had defeated those bullies. Yes!
Instead of showing his face, he moved back to a sturdier branch to think. Right now he wasn’t in the mood to go anywhere, and sometimes staying in his animal form helped him figure things out more clearly.
Chapter Twelve
Amy kept herself busy near the front desk hoping to spot Cavon when he came down to go to work. She hadn’t liked the way things had ended with her talk with Malik. Hadn’t liked? Who was she kidding? She’d been sick to her stomach since she’d stormed off in the first place. Sure, he’d smiled when she’d patted him on the stomach, but she’d hurt his feelings.
Malik might pretend that he was happy romping around the forest all day with no goals, but she saw a man who was lost. There might have been a three-month hiatus between the first time she’d met them and this time, but she knew without a doubt that she loved both men. She also was smart enough to know that since Cavon and Malik weren’t from this world, for the three of them to be happy, they all had to be content with themselves inside their own heads.
I did it for his own good.
She kept repeating her mantra. In fact, she was in the middle of saying that phrase when Cavon came downstairs in his cute polo shirt and jeans. He looked so American. She rushed out from behind the counter.
“Cavon.”
He stopped and smiled, but there was a sadness in his eyes. “Hi.”
Sure they were in the lobby of her work place, but usually Cavon was a little more demonstrative in his affection. “Something wrong?”
“Malik’s gone.”
“I haven’t seen him either.”
Cavon shook his head. “No, I mean he’s gone back to Anterra. I found a note when I returned from work.”
Her stomach tumbled. “I talked to him yesterday afternoon. I kind of told him that he needed to think about what he wanted in life or we couldn’t be together.” Even now those words stuck in her gut. “I caused this, didn’t I?” She didn’t wait for him to answer but walked over to one of the lounge chairs and sat.
Cavon pulled up a chair closer to her and dropped down. He leaned over and took her hands in his. “You know full well that you are not responsible for Malik. He has his own demons to fight. You were right to be honest with him.”
She’d told herself that, too. “Then why can’t I dislodge this dagger that’s stabbing my heart? Cavon, I love you. I want to be with you, but I also love your brother.” She pulled her hands out of his grasp. “I don’t expect you to feel the same since we haven’t know each other for long, but I wanted you to know.”
Her whole life, she’d always told what was on her mind. Perhaps she shouldn’t have.
Cavon bit his bottom lip then exhaled. “Amy. How can you not think we feel the same? You are everything to us. I know my brother can be a rogue at times, but he’ll come around. If he doesn’t get his act together soon, I might have to beat some sense into him.” His laugh sounded fake, but she appreciated his attempt at levity.
She stood. “I know you have to go to work. If you hear from him, let me know.”
He nodded. “If Malik’s in Anterra, we can’t communicate.”
Her stomach flipped and heart dropped. “You really think he left?”
He shrugged. “I have the note upstairs, but it doesn’t say much.”
She choked back the tears. “Okay.” She turned around and rushed to hide in her office.
All relationships had problems, but if something was worthwhile, the parties worked it out. The three of them were highly compatible in bed, so that couldn’t be why he left. Damn, Malik. The three of them belonged together.
As soon as she closed the door to her office and locked the door, she was unable to hold back the tears she’d forced to keep at bay all this time. She never thought he’d leave, but now he was gone. The least he could have done was say good-bye and tell her how much she meant to him. Not only would she miss him terribly, but it appeared as if Cavon liked it here on Earth and planned to stay. Malik’s brother had ethics. He’d said he’d take a group hunting in October and would honor his commitment.
Malik never made any promises. All he did was break her heart. The tears streamed down her cheek, and she dropped her head onto the desk.
If she could figure out a way to go to Anterra and contact Malik, she would. At least she had Cavon, and as much as she wanted both men, she’d have to turn all her love toward him. Not wanting anyone to see her with red eyes, she wiped dry her eyes. She made it to the bathroom unnoticed and splashed water on her face. She might be able to pull herself together on the outside, but on the inside, she’d grieve for a long time.
For the rest of her shift, she kept herself busy. As soon as her time was up, she rushed home to change. While today wasn’t her day to volunteer at the animal shelter, she needed to connect with the animals. They seemed to understand her needs and love her unconditionally.
Because other volunteers were doing the job she usually did, she decided just to enjoy the animals. For some reason she was drawn to the doggie yard where one of the volunteers was standing on the outside of the fence letting the dogs run free. If one of the dogs attacked another, the volunteer would have to intervene.
So far the animals were playing nice, but there were a few randy ones that were constantly trying to hump another dog. The image of Malik standing in the middle of the pen would forever be burned in her brain. He had the dogs running around in an organized fashion. She bet they weren’t even sure why they’d behaved so well.
Rogue Shifter [High-Country Shifters 3] Page 11
