by Marla Monroe
“I think they are moving them in and out to keep the suspicion off of them. If several new faces move in and act as if they are going to settle down all at one time, it would get our suspicions up for sure. They think we are so much of our animals that we won’t notice what it going on,” Wren said.
“In the meantime, we need to remove Serenity from their radar,” Creed said. “Once we’ve identified who is behind the hunt for her, we can eliminate the threat.”
“Eliminate?” someone said from the back of the bay. “What do you mean by eliminate?”
The newcomer wasn’t a wild dog, but close. Serenity wasn’t surprised to see a wolf, but she was surprised that he’d shown up out of the blue, without being invited. She shifted her eyes over to where Wren stood by her brother.
Or had he? Mojave didn’t appear upset or surprised by his appearance, but Wren looked anything but pleased. She shifted closer to her brother and slightly behind him. It was then that she noticed how Eason and Warren instantly came to attention and all of it on Wren, something to file away for later. Right then, she needed to focus on what this meant.
“Alex,” Mojave began. “This is Creed, the Zashchita of the sleuth. They have just moved here…”
“And already their mate has come to the attention of Rogue Hunters. I wonder how that could be?” the wolf asked.
Serenity felt her cat prickle all over. “Just a minute, wolf man. I’ve been living here for a long time. I didn’t just move in. Watch how you talk about my mates.”
Shayne chuckled a little under his breath even though everyone in the area could hear him.
“Feisty kitten. Isn’t she?” Alex the wolf said. “But I’m no wolf man to be trifled with. I’m Alpha of my pack and don’t appreciate the attention that is being directed on shifters. You’ve been too long without a mate to keep you under control. Now that you finally have two, maybe this problem can be averted.”
“Under control? I’ve done nothing to attract attention to either myself or other shifters. I rarely even leave my home. How dare you!” She could feel her nails lengthen with outrage.
“Settle down, Serenity. He’s baiting you for some reason. Don’t give him fuel for his fiery comments,” Creed whispered for her ears only.
The fact that he’d leaned down to do it wasn’t lost on her. It wouldn’t have gone unnoticed by the others either and they’d assume he had brought her to heel like a dog. The resentment built, but she held it inside. She’d pick her battles. Allowing the wolf to dominate the conversation like this wasn’t helping matters any. Still, she couldn’t help but get one last growl out for good measure.
“So, again I ask, what do you mean by eliminate?” Alex asked again.
Creed narrowed his eyes, but talked as if he were ordering a meal. “They should be brought before the shifter alliance for incarceration. That way, they are no longer able to hunt us.”
Alex lifted his eyebrows in obvious disbelief. “So you’d allow someone who was a threat to your mate to live.”
Creed smiled, bearing teeth this time. “As long as he doesn’t put up a fight when we track him down and capture him, there is no reason not to turn him over to the alliance for sentencing. But, if he doesn’t cooperate and fights, we can’t be responsible for our strength when blatantly attacked. I don’t back down from a fight—ever.”
Serenity could read the underlying warning in Creed’s words easily enough that she was sure the wolf could as well. Why had Mojave invited this irritating shifter? This had nothing to do with him at the moment. She wanted to rake her nails down the wild dog’s muzzle to show her displeasure, but didn’t want to upset Wren. Instead, she shot him a look the first time his gaze landed on him. He took it without flinching. She had known he would since he was the pack’s alpha.
Though Wren hadn’t told them that, once he’d shown up at the motel, Serenity could feel the power in him. If he hadn’t been alpha, she would have been very worried about the one who was.
“Why are you here, Alex?” Wren finally spoke up. “This doesn’t concern you in the least.”
“Oh, but it does, little pup. As your future mate, I get a say in anything that might affect you,” he said with a great deal of satisfaction.
She narrowed her eyes after turning them on her brother. Serenity could tell she wasn’t happy about that bit of news. Nor had she been privy to it before that moment. She turned her attention back to Alex who seemed to be preening in front of the crowd.
“Over my dead body. I’d rather announce myself to the Rogue Hunters and be killed before mating you,” she hissed out, in a voice that being a feline, Serenity could appreciate.
“Now, Wren,” her brother began. “This isn’t the time for mating squabbles.”
“Screw you, Mojave! You’ve been trying to push me at him for the last six months. I’m telling you and him in front of everyone that it’s not happening.” Her voice had gotten so growly that if you hadn’t been a shifter you wouldn’t have been able to understand all of it.
Since Serenity had been in her place before, she knew the struggle the other woman was going through. There was an innate need to please your leader and going against that not only hurt, but it weakened your trust and support in a way that could be dangerous for you as a member of the pack, chain, den, or sleuth. It had gone on for so long with her that leaving had been her only option. She no longer felt safe and secure within her den any longer.
She started to walk the two paces it would have required to reach Wren and offer her support, but became aware of a low, nearly imperceptible growling behind her. She looked over her shoulder and realized that Warren and Eason were bearing their teeth in the wolf alpha’s direction. Evidently Creed noticed it, too. He didn’t so much as turn to look at the other two, but Serenity felt something pass between the bear shifters through the hold both Creed and Shayne had on her hands. The growling stopped.
“We appreciate your offer of assistance in letting us keep the truck here, but if it is going to cause trouble, we can make other arrangements and leave,” Creed said. His voice remained relaxed as if discussing the weather.
“No. You’re welcome to leave it here for as long as you need to. We are all in this together. They somehow got information that there were shifters here and moved in to target us. Where there is one, there are others and they know this. Very few shifters live on their own. The need for other shifters around them is too great and they know this. Once this crisis has been resolved, I would like for us to all meet on neutral ground and discuss ways we can keep our separate groups safe from them.” Mojave looked over at Alex expectantly.
“I agree. Keeping each other appraised of any information you find out is beneficial and I’m all for keeping my pack safe. I’d be willing to meet.” He smiled broadly, the show of teeth an obvious show of power as far as Serenity was concerned.
“I will meet as well,” Creed agreed. “My priority is in protecting my mate right now, but once this is over, I will be available.”
“Good. If you need anything while we are searching for these men, just call the number on this card.” Mojave handed a simple business card to Creed. “We will help in any way we can. While you are securing your mate, we will be trying to determine exactly who all is attached to the hunters and what they know.”
“We appreciate the assistance, Alpha Mojave. I will contact you later to see if you’ve discovered anything.” Creed turned to his brother and the other two bears at their bakes. “Let’s go.”
Serenity was surrounded by the overly tall and large males as they escorted her to the huge four-wheel drive truck. Creed lifted her as if she were as light as a child and settled her on the seat, easing her closer to the center of the back seat. Shayne cl in on the opposite side and squeezed her knee. Once they were all inside, Eason backed the big truck out of the drive and onto the street.
“Better stay down until we’re safe inside the garage, guys,” Warren said from the front seat. We don’t know wh
o is watching or where they are.”
Creed growled but crouched down in the floorboard, pulling Serenity on his lap. Shayne scrunched down on the other side, taking her feet on his. She felt like a doll the way they moved her around as if she didn’t weigh a thing. She’d never felt small before, but between these two hulking bears, Serenity could almost imagine herself as dainty.
“What’s so amusing, kitten?” Creed asked in a gruff voice.
“Nothing. I was just thinking how uncomfortable you had to be all curled up so that you aren’t seen. I would never have believed that you could make yourselves so small.”
“We can do anything necessary to keep our mate safe, precious,” Shayne assured her. He’d removed her shoes and started massaging her feet. As much as she was enjoying the decadence of it, she needed to be ready in case they had to make a run for it.
“Shayne, I need my shoes on in case something happens. It really feels wonderful but I don’t want to be barefoot if I have to run,” she told him.
“Good point. I needed to touch you and thought I’d sneak it in by giving you a foot massage,” he admitted with a soft smile.
“I don’t understand. Why do you need to touch me?” she asked. The males of her den hadn’t been so demonstrative, dominant and protective, yes, but not touchy-feely like these bears seemed to be.
“You’re our mate yet we haven’t officially claimed you yet. It puts our bears on edge when you’re around other unmated males. We need to touch you as much as possible to assure our bears that you are ours and not being wooed away from us,” Creed explained.
“Somehow I don’t think your other bears would dare try that,” she mused.
“If they thought you were theirs, nothing would stop them from trying to claim you,” Shayne told her in a quiet voice.
That made her stop and think. Was Wren Warren and Eason’s mate? Was that why they’d been so angry at the way Alex had tried to stake a claim on her? And earlier, back at the motel, the little wild dog had taken one look at them and hid in the bathroom until her brother had arrived. It was something to consider, but not right then. She had enough going on in her life without adding matchmaking to it.
“So far there’s no one following us,” Warren said from the front seat.
“Contact the others when we’re about five minutes out to see if they’ve noticed anyone watching the den,” Creed told him.
“Yes, sir.”
* * * *
Shayne needed to move. Every muscle in his body had been on alert since they’d left the store earlier that morning. Now, crouched in the back of the truck, cramping and multiple aches threatened to awaken his bear with the growing discomfort and outright pain. His left big toe had morphed into his bear form several times already in an effort to control the cramps. Much longer and he was going to lose it.
On top of that, Brother Bear was anxious to claim their mate, as well. He didn’t like that she was around the others without his claiming mark on her and his scent blended with hers. As soon as they got to their den, they would take care of that issue. There was no way he could stay in control if she remained unmarked once they were within the walls of their home with other unmated males in the area. He just prayed that Serenity was in a receptive mood. He wasn’t sure he had the patience to wait much longer and knew that gentle was out of the question.
Unease seeped into his blood at the thought of scaring her. Even a shifter female needed gentle handling at first. Not because she might be a virgin, which was highly unlikely as sexual as they tended to be. But because she would be unsure of them, having no history with him and his brother to know that they were good males who believed in respect and treating females well.
Every time she moved around between them her scent grew stronger. None of them were comfortable but knowing about and feeling her discomfort added to his anxiety. It was a good thing they weren’t too far from the den now. He only prayed that both he and his brother would be able to control their bears until they could claim their mate. The other males would be anxious to meet their new Ursa and bond with her, but that couldn’t happen until they’d satisfied their need to mark her and imprint their scents on her.
“You two have to be hurting all crouched down like you are. I’m much smaller and my legs and back are killing me,” Serenity suddenly piped up with a groan.
“It won’t be much longer,” Warren told her from the front seat. “Maybe another eight or ten minutes, tops.”
“I’ll massage your back for you. Where is the pain worse?” his brother asked her.
“My low back, but I’ll be fine. I know you have to be miserable. You and Shayne are so muscular. This has to be sheer torture.”
Shayne winced as a bump jarred him so that his already sore ankles began to throb. He felt like a fucking pretzel.
“We’ll be fine,” he told her.
“Okay, coming up on the turn. Stay down. I’ll let you know when the garage door is closed,” Warren said.
“Hey, Locke. We’re just about to turn on the street. Anything?” Eason’s quiet voice as he talked on his cell had Serenity stiffening next to him.
“Shhh, baby. Everything’s fine. Our sleuth is keeping watch for us.” Shayne gently rubbed her shoulder.
“Wait until we’ve turned onto the drive before you open the garage,” Eason was saying.
“How many of you are there again?” she asked.
“There are ten of us, honey,” Creed told her. “They won’t hurt you. We’d never allow them near you if we didn’t know that for a fact.”
“Small bump as we hit the drive, guys.” Warren’s voice was soft and sounded as if he was speaking through his teeth.
The bump was a little more than slight, but Shane was sure it was only because he’d been folded up like a lawn chair for the last thirty minutes. Twenty seconds later Eason gave the all clear.
“Door’s down. You can get up now,” he said.
“Untangle you mean,” Serenity said with a groan as she tried to climb up on the seat. “I should have just laid across the back seat and left you guys the floorboard.”
“Easy, baby. Let us help you down. You’re legs are going to be stiff,” Shayne told her as he reached for her.
“I’m okay.” She still allowed him to help her to the ground. Despite the cramped space they’d shared, she didn’t show any signs that she wasn’t ready for anything. He admired her for not griping the entire ride or allowing anyone to see how it might have affected her.
“Status update,” Creed growled as he walked around to where most of their bears stood in a semicircle around him and their mate.
“No one is in her house, but there are two men posted outside of it watching,” Locke told him.
“One is on the other side of the house about even with the front corner of the house in some brush. Easy to see and even easier to smell,” Seth added. “Stinks of Scent-A-Way fresh earth scent. I think he used baking soda to brush his teeth with, too.”
“They treat us like forest prey. We are not prey for anyone,” Otto muttered in his broken English.
“The other one is across the street between our house and hers like they suspect us, Ursus,” Quill said.
“We haven’t seen any other intruders within a thousand yards of our territory,” Zeth told them.
While Zeth was the youngest and often needed to be reined in when his mischievousness got out of hand, he could always be counted on to do his job and do it well. If he said there were no others, they knew it was fact.
“Let’s get our mate settled then we can make plans,” Creed told them. He placed one hand on Serenity’s back, leaving Shayne to follow them. He wasn’t complaining. The sight of her ample ass swaying with her firm stride had his dick’s attention.
As they entered the house through the garage entrance, Locke and Otto turned away from Creed’s room, heading instead toward the basement door. Creed stopped and frowned at his Ruka.
“I think it is safer for our U
rsa downstairs. We went ahead and moved you there while we waited on you. We will work around the clock to have the final suite completed as soon as possible,” Locke said.
“She must be safe at all costs,” Otto added, his face tight with determination.
“I approve of your decision. It is a wise choice,” Creed acknowledged. “Give us a few hours to settle our mate. Then we will plan our next move.”
“We’ll unload the truck and have something to eat ready by then as well,” Seth said from the back of the room.
“Thank you,” Shayne told him as he followed his brother and their mate through the doorway that led down to the basement.
He nearly ran into poor Serenity as Creed stopped dead still at the bottom of the stairs after opening the door. He couldn’t see around them in the narrow space to know what was wrong.
“Creed?”
“They’ve been busy, brother. Come, mate. See what your sleuth has accomplished for you this afternoon.” He stepped into the small entry area and allowed first Serenity and then Shayne to pass.
Serenity’s slight gasp did little to prepare him for what greeted them below.
Chapter Eight
The room in front of her was huge. A massive curved sectional sofa of brown leather with built-in mini tabletops to hold drinks and snacks flowed along one wall. Another smaller sectional sofa curved along the other side of the room with several comfortable looking lounge chairs between the two. They all faced the huge, theater-size flat-screen TV hanging on the wall in front of them. She’d never seen a more cozy or comfortable viewing room in her life. Along one wall behind the second sectional was a bar that looked to house a large fridge that would certainly hold their beverage needs.
“Wow!” It came out before she could stop it.
“They have been busy. This is the communal den area. Our final suite will be in that area once we’ve finished it. Right now, we’ll take the one that already existed but isn’t what I would like to live in for very long,” Creed told her as he took her elbow and guided her across the room toward a closed door.
