by E A Price
Avery threw her head back and laughed; a number of the other occupants of the bullpen looked up. “Of course I don’t mind; I’m a lioness.”
Erin’s eyes widened. “Really?”
The lioness waggled her eyebrows. “Don’t worry, I won’t eat you, unless you ask me nicely. I’m sorry; that came out weirder and more sexual than I intended.”
But if Avery felt any discomfort, she didn’t show it. No, Erin was plenty embarrassed for both of them. Thank god for the interruption.
A gruff voice called out, “Hey, Avery, conference room. Bring the newbie.”
She nodded in the direction of the voice. All the glee was gone from her face, and she was all business. “Time to meet the team.”
*
Avery strode into the conference room with all the confidence that befitted a beautiful lion shifter. Erin scuttled after her.
The lioness took a seat and patted the one next to her for Erin, which she gladly slipped into. Avery pointed to the two rough looking males staring at them.
“Erin, this is Cutter and Wayne. Guys, meet our new team member, Erin Jameson.”
“Nice to meet you,” she trembled.
They looked her up and down before bestowing her with matching grunts.
“Oh, and so you don’t have to ask, Cutter’s a wolf shifter and Wayne’s a gator.” Avery beamed at the three of them. “Erin’s human,” she told the males.
Wayne rolled his eyes. “We know.”
Cutter narrowed his own. “So is it true that you see ghosts?”
Erin shuffled in her seat. “Some ghosts. Most have already crossed over.”
Wayne looked around the room suspiciously. “Are there any in here right now?”
Erin bit back a giggle. “No, and even if there were, they’d have to want to show themselves.”
Sometimes, she just wished so many didn’t want to. As much as she’d liked her ghostly roommate, Gina at her last apartment, sometimes all she wanted to do was sleep – not stay up until 2am consoling her about how unfair it was to have been killed by a falling bathtub from the apartment above.
Cutter crossed his arms and looked at her doubtfully. “And you have visions?”
“Sometimes.” Oh, she knew where this was going.
“But you don’t know when or where you’re going to get them?”
“No,” she admitted quietly.
“So, if we come to a dead-end in a case, we can’t even rely on you to give us some kind of miracle vision?”
“Well, I…”
Cutter scoffed. “So, you can’t run as fast as us, you’re not as strong as us and you can barely even shoot a gun. And the one thing you can do is actually just a random fluke?”
The wolf shifter sneered at her in disgust.
Avery let out a low snarl. “Stop it wolfy, unless you want to feel my fangs in your hairy backside.”
Erin shook her head. She’d been there a couple of hours and already she was causing problems. “No, it’s fine, he’s right. Physically, I’m not like you and I can’t promise that I can get visions on demand.”
Cutter threw up his arms. “So what good are you?”
“Enough,” rumbled a soft but deadly voice.
Erin leaped out of her seat in surprise and spun to find herself face to chest with an absolutely enormous man. She craned her neck to see him looking down on her with interest. Oh, holy hell, he was unbelievably handsome.
Erin immediately looked away and gave herself a mental kick for that thought. So unprofessional. She’d never responded to a man like that before. It was the darnedest thing. Tingles of awareness swept through her body, and her heart rate started racing like a damn motor vehicle. Not a good thing in a room full of natural born predators. And yes, she was certain that this mountain of a man was a predator. Well, he wasn’t likely to be a fluffy bunny shifter!
Lord, he must have been at least seven-feet tall, and he was the beefiest man she’d ever seen. His t-shirt was stretched so tightly over his bulging muscles that she feared, or should that be hoped, that one flex would have him bursting out of it Incredible Hulk style. But, no, it wasn’t just his body, which was outstanding, it was his face. It was finely sculpted and set off by a pair of dazzling, pale blue eyes. Oh, those lips, the things she wanted those lips to do to her…
Erin blushed seven shades of embarrassed. She had to stop – that instant. Shifters could scent arousal, and she must have been lit up like the Aurora Borealis. She thought back to her visions – the ones that haunted her at night – and soon she was back on home territory, trying not to gag at eviscerated cats and people stabbing one another.
He opened those magnificent lips to speak but was cut off by the Director walking into the room with a huge scowl on his face that melted at seeing her. The snake shifter actually smiled. Had she done something to make him like her? If she had, it was completely unintentional. Usually, people started off smiling and then scowled when they saw her.
“Ms. Jameson, Erin.”
The Director walked toward her and carefully nudged the giant out of the way, who seemed disinclined to move. The snake shifter took her hand and shook it. She was very aware of the giant watching them closely.
“So, Erin, how are you getting settled in?”
“Umm, very well, thank you. Everyone’s been very helpful.”
She glanced at Avery and the lioness preened and beamed at the Director.
“And you had no trouble finding an apartment and moving up here?”
Erin felt a little uncomfortable at his solicitousness. She wasn’t exactly accustomed to people caring about her wellbeing, or even pretending to care about it, which is what she was sure the Director was doing. She murmured that everything was fine.
He nodded shortly. “Good. I’m sure you’ve met your other team members, but I want to introduce you to your team leader.”
He motioned to the big guy who stepped forward, never taking his eyes off hers. Even when she averted her gaze, she was sure his eyes were searching for hers. It was unsettling and yet disturbingly arousing.
“Gunner Christiansen this is Erin Jameson, and Erin, this is Gunner.”
Wordlessly Gunner reached out and took her hand. The heat of his large hand engulfing her tiny one immediately warmed her all over. Just holding his hand was a heavenly feeling.
What the heck was wrong with her? She never had this kind of reaction. Actually, she’d never had much of any kind of sexual reaction to a man. She wasn’t accustomed to feelings of lust or desire; she could only go so far as to say that she endured curiosity as far as the opposite sex was concerned.
“Nice to meet you,” he said lowly.
Great, even his voice was sexy – like the smoothest chocolate. Now she was hungry, and her stomach chose that moment to make a very loud gurgling noise. If he heard, he didn’t react, thank goodness. Nope, he was still staring at her with those inscrutable eyes.
She muttered about how nice it was to meet him too. After a few seconds she realized he still hadn’t let go of her hand, and it didn’t seem like he was about to. Not that she was complaining. No, she raised her eyes to meet his, and he caught her in a look. Why did she feel like she was prey to his beast?
The Director clapped his hands together, and the spell was broken. Gunner looked away and at once dropped her limp hand. He strode round to the other side of the table – as far away from her as possible - and smoothly sank into a chair. Before her legs gave out, Erin slithered back into hers.
She pinched the skin on her hand, and the pain gave her some modicum of control over her body again.
Don’t look at Gunner, don’t look at Gunner. Crap, she couldn’t help herself; her eyes drifted to him, but thankfully he wasn’t looking her way.
The Director opened his mouth but groaned as the door was flung open and a, no other word could describe her, bubbly woman erupted into the room.
“Sorry, sorry, sorry,” she chanted while twitching her nose.
The Director sighed. “Thank you for joining us Jessie,” he hissed.
She smiled at him, and was that a flutter of her extended eyelashes? “My pleasure,” she said, apparently ignorant of the snake shifter’s heavy sarcasm.
He rolled his eyes. “Jessie this is our new recruit, Erin. Erin, this is the team’s tech consultant, Jessie.”
Jessie’s eyes lit up, and she bounded over to a seat next to Erin. “It’s lovely to meet you,” gushed Jessie.
Erin was dumbfounded by the first person who actually did seem to be thrilled that Erin was there. Other than the Director, maybe. She was also a little surprised by the woman in front of her. She looked like she belonged there even less than Erin did. She was shorter than her but exceedingly curvy, and her colorful clothes and hair were in stark contrast to the muted blacks, blues and combat gear of the other team members.
“Umm, lovely to meet you too,” garbled Erin.
Jessie mouthed that they would talk later, and Erin could do nothing but nod. She felt a sudden twinge and looked up to find Gunner watching her again. She held his gaze, unsure of what to do, until the Director cleared his throat, and Gunner finally looked away.
What was that about?
The Director gave them all hard looks and passed them some files. “We have a new case, referred to us by the Los Lobos police force. Over the past two months three female shifters have been attacked with the same MO, and last night the latest victim was murdered in her home.”
Cutter, Wayne, and Avery let out matching snarls of disgust, making Erin jump. Gunner simply tightened his lips and took the file.
Jessie frowned. “I usually monitor all the news stations, how come this hasn’t come up?”
“The victims were all wealthy, and their families made sure it stayed quiet.”
“Why weren’t we told about this sooner?” snarled Cutter.
The snake shifter shrugged, but it was obvious he was unhappy about the situation. “The cops thought that they could handle it.”
“Fucking humans,” muttered Cutter.
“There are plenty of shifters on the police force, too,” murmured Jessie in a singsong voice.
“Do they have any leads?” asked Wayne putting an end to Cutter’s growl.
“No, the perp was careful about covering his scent and his DNA isn’t on file. None of the victims were sexually assaulted, but they were beaten up and the perp licked their cheeks.”
Avery pursed her lips in distaste. “So what changed with victim number four?”
The Director let out a long breath. “They were all attacked in their homes, but the others seemed to have been planned out in advance. The perp brought duct tape with him but victim four was restrained by a telephone cord. Plus victims one to three were in their early twenties and they were the daughters of males high up in their respective clans. Victim four was a housekeeper. It seems to have been a spur of the moment thing.”
“Or the other attacks were leading up to this. Are we certain it’s the same guy?”
They were the first words Gunner had said since he told her it was nice to meet her, and Erin almost fell off her chair. It was disgusting the way his sinfully, sexy voice affected her. No, she had to focus. Her lust wasn’t important right now.
“The cops think so, but it might be best if we look at each attack separately so that we don’t make any assumptions.”
“Agreed,” rumbled Gunner. “Jessie, get me all the info you can on the victims. We’ll start with the most recent attack. Avery, you go and talk to the cop in charge of the case, get all their files and notes. Cutter, go to the morgue, I want the autopsy report. Wayne, I want you to talk to victim four’s neighbors. I’m sure the cops have already spoken to them, but I want to know if there were any issues with her being a shifter. New girl, you’re with me.”
Erin’s eyes widened as they were met by Gunner’s steely look.
“Keep me in the loop,” said the Director as he swiftly made his way to the door. “Oh, and Erin, welcome aboard.”
Chapter Three
Erin flicked a glance at the massive man next to her. He hadn’t said a word to her since they left the conference room, and honestly, that was fine with her. The less she spoke, the less she could make a fool out of herself.
He didn’t look at her; if anything, his attention was resolutely directed in front of him as he drove them to their destination. Wherever that was, he still hadn’t deigned to tell her. But, was it her imagination, or was the tension between them crackling?
The big guy was tense; there was no mistaking that, but wasn’t it going a bit overboard? According to Avery, he didn’t want her there, which was fine - admittedly she kind of expected that. But, he was giving her the silent treatment, and his body seemed to be repulsed just by her nearness. Wasn’t that a bit much?
She was his new teammate, and although she was sure she was a disappointment, shouldn’t he just be professional about it?
“When we get there, let me do the talking,” he ordered gruffly.
The words were so unexpected she started and hit her head on the passenger window. Finally, he did glance at her. Probably wondering how he managed to get trapped in a vehicle with such a lunatic.
“Okay?”
Erin nodded quickly, “Of course, you’ll do the talking.”
“No, I meant is your head okay.”
Too much to hope that he’d missed that. “It’s nothing, you just… umm… startled me.”
He grunted. “You should think about wearing flat shoes.”
“Oh!” Her cheeks burned bright red. “I’m sorry.”
Gunner rolled his massive shoulders. “Not a big deal, but you’re likely to do a lot of walking and maybe some running.”
“Yes, of course, I wasn’t thinking.” Oh hell, running.
“You don’t have a problem with that, right?”
“No, not at all, I can… run.” She looked like a giraffe attempting a three-legged race when she did, but she could run.
“Well, uh, we’ll take things slowly. Right now, we’re going to the crime scene. Maybe you can get, I don’t know…”
“A vision?”
He let out a long breath. “Yeah, a vision. Don’t worry, the body’s already gone.”
Erin let out a snort of laughter but sobered at his raised eyebrow. Why couldn’t she behave normally? “Sorry, I’m not laughing at the situation. It’s just that I’ve been having visions of dead bodies since I was a kid; they don’t freak me out anymore.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” he murmured.
Erin scrunched her forehead. “That they don’t freak me out?”
The corner of his mouth twitched in an almost smile. “No, about you having visions, I wouldn’t wish that on any kid.”
She looked out the window. “You can get used to anything,” she muttered.
They continued on in silence. She clenched her thighs together, trying to quench the burning need that had decided to assail her the moment she met the reserved man-mountain sat next to her. Even his indifference didn’t do anything to cool her down. Jeez, 28-years-old and she had to choose this moment to grow a sexual appetite. She had the worst timing.
Erin spun round to look at him; the motion didn’t go unnoticed by him. A question occurred to her, and her first instinct was to blurt it out at him, but when faced with his cold, questioning face, she lost her nerve and bit her lip.
“What?” he demanded impatiently.
Crud. “I… umm… I just wanted to ask you something.”
“So ask,” he hissed but then relaxed a little. “I won’t bite.”
His words reminded her of Avery’s earlier, only she wouldn’t mind if he wanted to bite her. No, stop it, she had to do something about that overactive imagination.
“I just wondered what species you were.”
He burst out laughing, and she tried to sink down in her seat. Way to make her feel an inch tall.
“It’s not funny,” she g
rumbled. She didn’t know if there were rules about that sort of thing!
“No, it’s not,” he said, but his shoulders still shook. “I’m a polar bear.”
“Oh!” she exclaimed. No wonder he was so big!
“Oh?”
“Oh,” she reiterated.
“Oh, it is,” he murmured.
“And Jessie? Is she also a shifter?”
Gunner grinned. “Yeah, she’s a squirrel.”
Erin giggled before slapping a hand over her mouth. “Sorry, please don’t tell her I laughed.”
“I doubt she’d mind. Speak of the devil.”
Gunner pushed the answer button on his phone. “Jessie, you’re on speaker phone.”
“Hey!” called the chirpy squirrel. “Hey, Erin, how’s it going?”
“Umm, fine, thanks, how’s it going with you?”
The voice chuckled. “Peachy, is Gunner treating you okay?”
“Get to the point, Jessie,” growled Gunner.
The squirrel clucked her tongue. “Okay, so just a bit of info for you, victim number four was called Hilda Billington. She was a beaver shifter, and she worked as a housekeeper for the Samuelson pack Alpha and his family.”
“Fuck, wolves,” breathed Gunner.
“She’d worked for him for about ten years since she was 18, and she lived in a bungalow on his estate. She was a widow and didn’t have a current boyfriend. I’m doing some checking about her past, but so far I can’t find anything connecting her to a police report of any kind.”
“Thanks, Jessie, keep looking.”
“Okay, bye…”
Gunner cut her off, and Erin raised her eyebrows.
He caught the look and shrugged. “If you let her, she’ll talk your ear off. Besides, we’re here.”
Erin looked up, and sure enough they had arrived outside a gaudy, and opulent estate. The family home of the Samuelson wolf pack Alpha that appeared to have been modeled on the Parthenon.
Gunner leaned out the window and told security who he was; seconds later the gates swung open to allow them entry.
Before driving on, he turned to her and her breath caught in her throat. “Again, just let me do the talking.”
