by Vivian Arend
Out of the public eye, like when they’d been admiring the city from the high lookout, he’d stood close and wrapped an arm around her. Sat beside her and uncapped her water bottle when it got stuck. Nuzzled his lips against her hair and basically acted swoon-worthy.
Once they hit town he’d become a little more distant, putting on what she was beginning to recognize as his “formal face”. She could understand the need—they weren’t alone. They weren’t in a vacuum, and he had an image to uphold that he’d probably set on fire just being with her. They met bears in the museum, in the bookstore. Everywhere they wandered men in formal suits and ladies in expensive clothing stopped Tyler to chat for a few minutes.
She joined in when necessary, but otherwise watched. Listened. Admired Tyler working magic on his peers. He had a way with them, making each clan feel as if he knew their specific needs and how he could help them move to the next step.
Caroline wondered if appreciating his politicking skills made her twisted.
They were headed back to the Moonshine Inn when she recognized yet another couple walking toward them from the previous evening’s gala. Both eyed Tyler’s casual jeans with something close to shock.
Shock, maybe even disgust. She swore the gentleman sniffed as he glanced her over, but spoke to Tyler. “Harrison. Enjoying your free day, I see.”
“As I hope you are.” His outside might not look as shiny as they expected, but Tyler’s manners remained impeccable as he bowed slightly to the lady of the pair. “Mrs. Nakusp. Did you receive your invitation for tomorrow from Caroline yet?”
Nakusp. This was one of the important contacts. Caroline ran through names in her head as the woman fluttered her lashes and smiled hesitantly at Caroline. “I did. Thank you. I’m looking forward to it very much.”
Lynn, that was it.
“You need anything, Lynn, you be sure to let me know,” Caroline offered. “If you don’t have a swimsuit with you, I can recommend a wonderful shop here in town.”
Tyler squeezed her fingers in warning. Caroline kept her smile to polite levels instead of grinning like a banshee.
“Oh, that would be lovely.” Lynn twisted toward her husband. “If you don’t mind.”
Mr. Nakusp had continued to make a thorough examination of Tyler and Caroline, especially their linked hands. He looked partly repelled, partly intrigued. At Lynn’s words, however, he shook himself and faced her, his body and voice softening as he answered. “Of course I don’t mind.”
Caroline gave directions, and the two couples parted, headed in opposite directions.
“You are damn good at that.” Tyler guided her around a crowd gathered outside a coffee shop.
Underestimated again? “I’ve worked in customer service for years, what did you expect?”
He stopped, and she had to pause as well, since he still had her fingers trapped in his. “That wasn’t a negative comment. I’m seriously impressed. You’ve been marvelous all afternoon. Thank you.”
“Mr. Nakusp didn’t seem to know if I was a pet of some kind or not.” Caroline shrugged, deciding to ignore it like everything else she had no control over in the shifter world. She pulled out a set of keys and shook them. “You want to sneak into the hotel the back way?”
Tyler tugged her against him, right there in the street. “I don’t want to sneak anywhere with you. I want to walk right out in the open. Are you not getting that?”
Whoa. “Where did this grumpy attack come from?”
He glared, then stepped away, their hands separating. “Never mind.”
Caroline resisted rolling her eyes. Oh goodie. Temperamental mood swings went deep with these bears. It wasn’t worth setting him off again, though, so she took him the long way around and through the main doors.
A squeal of excitement rang from her right, and Caroline looked up in the nick of time to brace herself before being tackled by her sister.
Caroline squeezed Shelley tight before a low growl warned her to check on her boyfriend.
Sure enough, he’d misunderstood and overreacted, probably to protect her.
“Oh, Tyler.”
She released Shelley and swung to the side where Shelley’s partner had Tyler smashed against the wall. She bet it wasn’t often Tyler ended up at a physical disadvantage, not with his considerable size. Only appearances were tricky things in shifters…
Caroline glanced around the lobby quickly, relieved no humans were in sight. “Hi, Chase. This is my new boyfriend, Tyler Harrison. Tyler, that’s my sister’s beau.”
Tyler’s eyes were wide as he stared at the massive cougar paw pinning him in position. The rest of Chase remained human, his short blond hair standing in a spiked mess, his expression focused and firm. Only his arm had shifted into the cougar that was one of his animals.
“Caroline.” Chase held out his other hand and squeezed her shoulder in greeting. “Your new boyfriend seems stupider than your last. I don’t know that he’s an upgrade.”
“Chase, don’t be rude.” Shelley stepped in front of Tyler and examined him, tilting her head to the side as she considered. “I think he’s cute.”
Good grief. Caroline hoped Tyler wasn’t about to explode with frustration before she could fix this mess. “People, can we take this somewhere private? With all body parts human and accounted for?”
Chase pulled away and obediently put all his bits and pieces back to fully human. Tyler moved immediately to place an arm around Caroline’s shoulders.
She bit her lip and stared at the ceiling, attempting desperately not to start laughing because if she started, she wouldn’t be able to stop. “Come on, we can visit in Tyler’s suite.”
Light conversation carried on around them as they made their way to the upper floor.
The living space of the suite seemed overly full, but that might have been because four Alpha males occupied the close quarters. Justin had been waiting for them, a smirk on his face as he unlocked the door then retreated into the room. Evan sauntered in right before Caroline could shut the door, his satisfied grin making her fingers itch to whack him a good one. Which she wouldn’t do in public out of respect, but it didn’t make the urge any less tempting.
“You haven’t had enough interfering, I take it.” She closed the door more firmly than needed.
Evan patted her shoulder as he passed. “Hey, no need to get snippy. I’m not judging or saying anything about outdoor sexual escapades.”
Of course, that’s the moment everyone else chose to be silent, so Evan’s words echoed through the room.
Caroline twisted to examine her companions. Five sets of eyes stared back with various levels of amusement in them. Two bears—Tyler and Justin. Two wolves—Evan and her sister. A crossbreed cougar/wolf in Chase, and her, the lone human. Once again.
Fuck it.
She waved a hand at Justin behind the bar. “I need a margarita. You know how to make one?”
Tyler paced to her side. “We haven’t had dinner yet.”
Sheesh. “I’ll order in Mexican. And it’s five o’clock somewhere.”
His fingers slipped into hers, and she sighed. His attention was lovely, but her sister’s expression, and Evan’s, and all the rest of it made her tired. Too many explanations, too many questions.
Her life had become far too complicated.
“Sit down. I’ll order dinner then us guys will stay way over here, minding our own business while you say hi to your sister.” Evan grabbed the phone. “Justin? Make my margarita a beer.”
“You got it.”
Shelley patted the couch beside her. “Come on. Ignore them and tell me what’s happening. Shaun was amazingly tight-lipped when he picked us up.”
Chase snorted as he rose to his feet to make room for Caroline, heading to the bar as per Evan’s suggestion. “Tight-lipped? Not bloody likely. The wolf never shut up the entire two-hour helicopter ride from our place to Whitehorse.”
“Well, he talked, but he never said anything, if you kno
w what I mean.” Shelley winked.
“Hang on.” Caroline had requested Shaun pick up more than her family. “Where are Shaun and Gem? I’d have thought they’d be here as well, unofficial powwow that we seem to be holding.”
Evan pivoted on his bar stool, beer bottle in his hand. “He’s still fetching your friend from the north. She couldn’t get away until tomorrow. Shaun and Gem decided to spend the night in Chicken so they can help hurry Nadia along.”
Okay, that made sense. She nodded.
Evan kept watching her. Tyler was looking her and her sister over, Chase examining them as well. The only one of the guys not staring their way was Justin, and as soon as he finished pouring their drinks, he carried the glasses to them and stood looming like a statue.
Oh brother. “Minding own business, boys?”
A flurry of motion followed her words. Justin retreated behind the bar. The other three swung around on their bar stools so there was nothing but hulking male backs toward them.
Caroline leaned against her sister, providing the physical contact she knew Shelley craved as a wolf. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“We only left a week ago.”
Caroline looked down as Shelley linked their fingers together. “It seems like a whole lot longer, to be honest.”
“You’ve been busy.” Shelley leaned in close and whispered. “They can still hear us. You want to go elsewhere to talk?”
Ha. “To not be overheard we’d have to leave the building, and I don’t see your partner or Tyler letting that happen. Not with night coming on.”
Shelley nodded. “You’re right.”
Music started out of nowhere. Caroline blinked as Tyler smiled at her then cranked the volume on the music system even higher before going back to the guys’ conversation.
“So, the new boyfriend…” Shelley squeezed Caroline’s fingers. “He seems nice. Other than the hair trigger in the lobby.”
“He’s one of the bears in town for the voting.”
“What happened with Evan?” Shelley paused, and looked very uncomfortable. “Did he break up with you because of me?”
Caroline jerked upright. “Oh, honey, no. It wasn’t that at all—”
Evan was at their side in a flash. “Caroline and I are fine, Shelley. It has nothing to do with you or the pack or…”
Caroline swore she would break an eyeball one day, glaring at these creatures while they stomped willy-nilly all over her human boundaries. Damn shifter hearing. “So much for minding your own business,” she complained.
Evan rose to his feet and shuffled back a step. “Umm, right. Sorry. Go on, I’ll find something to do until dinner arrives.”
It was tough to stay mad at him when he really couldn’t help it, and he meant well. With Shelley giggling beside her, Caroline chose to ignore the guys and focused instead on her sister.
“No, it wasn’t anything you or I did. He got a sniff of his mate.”
Shelley’s mouth hung open for a second. “Holy. Well, that’s awesome. You okay with it?”
“Of course. What kind of question is that?” Caroline shook her head. “As if I’d come between a wolf and his mate.”
Shelley nodded. “That’s what I’d expect to hear you say, even though it’s got to be tough. I love you so hard, sis.”
Caroline paused, concern flooding her. “The situation did make something pop to mind, though. You and Chase…”
Shelley leaned back on the couch. “You’re wondering if we’ll have the same thing happen? One of us sniffs out a fated mate, and the other ends up with our heart ripped in two?”
Whoa. “You’ve obviously given this some thought.”
Shelley smiled. “It would have been stupid not to think about it but, hon, Chase isn’t all wolf—he’s cougar as well. Only wolves have predestined mates, and my wolf is seriously broken. We’ve chosen each other and created our own fate. Nothing is going to rip us apart.”
“Damn right.” It was Chase’s deep growly voice. His back was still to them, the music blaring, and the guys seemed to be deep in conversation, but he’d still responded.
This time Shelley rolled her eyes. “No privacy. Ever. You should move north with us.”
“Once the bear conclave is over, I might move to Siberia.”
“Too many grizzlies in Siberia,” Justin interjected. “You could try Nepal. All they’ve got is sloth bears, and they’re rumoured to be very reclusive.”
Caroline pressed her hands to her forehead. “Minding your business seems to have taken a new definition since the last time I looked.”
Shelley squeezed her arm. “Ignore them and catch me up. What’s happening?”
The food arrived about the time Caroline had finished explaining the situation as she saw it. Tyler had joined in the mindless conversation with the guys, but all of them were distracted listening to the ladies. There was no denying it.
Caroline’s concise analysis of the bear situation astonished him. Justin was nodding like a bobblehead, impressed as well.
But in the middle of her explaining to Shelley what was going on, in the middle of the women teasing and reacting to the shifters’ continued interruptions, something poked Tyler.
He found a place at the table next to her. Plates were filled, conversation resumed. Shelley asked about his brother, Frank, and Tyler gave an update. All the while he worried at the puzzle, trying to solve it.
His bear rumbled, confused that he was upset, but this wasn’t a matter for the animal to figure out. Tyler had enjoyed his time with her over the day, even with the moments of frustration, but something about the situation wasn’t right.
They were nearly done the meal when he figured it out. Caroline was wearing a cloak. Her humanness was hidden away under a surface layer that screamed shifter. As if she were speaking a foreign language to make things easier for all of them.
The way she moved was more wolf than human. The way she reacted, like the momentary lowering of her eyes when Evan spoke—respect for an Alpha—followed by her straightening and proving her own strength and value.
She deferred just long enough to offer a kind of give-and-take, never being weak but never unwittingly becoming a challenge either. The impressive display was something most humans lacked and shifters didn’t need.
He’d never seen anything like it in his life.
Evan pulled him from his musings as the wolf asked Caroline about the event scheduled for the next day. “You booked off the pool from the public. I double-checked, the staff scheduled for the day are all pack. That will cut down on any humans stopping in, but not eliminate the chances.”
Caroline nodded. “The Takhini pool is remote enough to make an excellent setting for the gathering. I’m sorry to have to anticipate trouble, but something could happen.”
Evan shrugged. “We need a new coat of paint on the place soon, so don’t worry about structural damage.”
“I can join you if you’d like,” Shelley offered her sister. “Another lady in the mix.”
“No.” Chase shook his head. “You are not going into a volatile situation where ninety-nine percent of the people around you can shift into bears or wolves. I won’t allow it.”
Shelley gave him a dirty look. “You won’t allow it?”
Chase met her gaze straight on. “You have skills that are needed far more elsewhere. It might make me an asshole, but having you in danger once was enough. If there’s fighting, and chances are there will be, you’d do more good having a medical base set up somewhere nearby instead of making me crazy.”
When Shelley touched her partner’s cheek tenderly, all her anger washed away, Tyler couldn’t stop from glancing at Caroline. She was watching her sister, longing on her face for a second before she pulled that cloak back in place and became business as usual.
“I’ll organize an RV with medical supplies in the campsite next door.” Caroline turned to Evan. “We might want some wolves to help patrol the campground anyway, to keep any human v
isitors away from potential trouble.”
“Deal. I’ll talk to the more reliable pack members. The ones who can be trusted to keep their heads.” Evan poked Tyler in the arm. “Head’s up. My pack won’t step in if you guys start fighting, not unless Caroline or anyone other than bears is threatened. It’s the best I can do in terms of keeping my territory safe and not overstepping boundaries.”
Tyler couldn’t believe this was happening. “You guys are really organizing as backup for us?”
Chase sprawled in his chair. “Strange, isn’t it? I don’t know if it’s all wolves or just this pack, but they have some weird attitudes.”
“It’s a potential fight. Since you didn’t send an invitation, we had to arrange one for ourselves.” Evan flashed a grin then checked his watch. “It’s been fun, kids, but I have things to do. Don’t stay up too late.”
He was out the door before Tyler could thank him. Or hit him, he wasn’t sure which he wanted to do more.
“We’re leaving as well.” Shelley loaded the empty takeout boxes into the garbage before giving Caroline a farewell hug and joining Chase at the door. “I’ll call you tomorrow, okay, Caro?”
“Not too early, I hope.” Caroline waved them off. She looked around the room, her lips twisting in resignation. There was only her and Tyler in the room, Justin having vanished into the back of the suite. “Well, that’s that, then. I guess I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Where are you going to sleep?” Tyler leaned on the door. “You don’t have a place with Evan, and your sister is back in her apartment.”
Her mouth tightened.
Justin stepped from his room, small bag in his hand. “I’m headed to the pack house for the night. Frank invited me to play poker with him and the wolves. Said to bring lots of money.”
And there was part of the solution Tyler needed. He opened his wallet and pulled out a roll of bills, pressing them into his friend’s palm.
