by Chant, Zoe
Tirzah scooted her chair closer, nestling into him as she sipped her coffee and surveyed the apartment. “I love what you did with the place.”
Pete too looked around, satisfied with his work. With the help of a crew of workmen, he’d made their new three-bedroom apartment completely accessible. The shelves and cupboards were all within Tirzah’s reach now, and had kitten-proof latches. He’d built her a new cupboard himself, shaped more-or-less like R2D2, as well as a wooden cabinet to hide the litterbox.
“By which I mean your dollhouse,” Tirzah said, nudging him.
Pete glanced at his military base for action figures, currently half-done on one of his work tables. “Please. It’s a war game miniature.”
“If it has little beds with teeny people in them, it’s a dollhouse.”
Since the part of the base that was completed was the barracks, and Drill Sergeant Nick Fury was about to surprise a number of sleeping superheroes, Pete found this difficult to argue with. Instead of trying, he resorted to changing the subject. “Quickie before we go? It’ll be good luck for your first official day on the job.”
Tirzah wound her arm around his neck and purred, “Thought you’d never ask.”
Pete picked her up, bending to breathe in the scent of her hair.
Knock-knock!
With a sigh, he put her back down, then snapped his fingers to command the kittens and Moonbow to become invisible. Tirzah opened the door and found Esther, Tupperware in hand.
“Could you spare half a stick of butter?” Esther asked. “I’m making latkes, and I’m just a bit short.”
“No problem.” Pete headed for the kitchen. As he collected the butter, his sharp shifter hearing caught Esther’s whisper of, “My my, your young man is certainly very nicely built! And good with his hands. Look at that beautiful cupboard!”
Tirzah whispered back, “Confess. You came to check out Pete, not for butter.”
“I am making latkes. If I happen to notice that my neighbor has found herself a true mensch who’s handsome as well, what’s the harm in that?”
Pete returned with the butter, suppressing a grin as he handed it to Esther. “Good luck with the… what were they?”
“Latkes,” said Esther. “Potato pancakes. I’ll bring you one!”
“Not today,” Tirzah said firmly. “We’re about to go to work.”
She shut the door behind Esther, then held up her arms to Pete. “Where were we…?”
“On our way for a quickie.” Pete picked her up. “What’s a mensch?”
“A good guy. A person with honor and integrity. Esther is very observant.”
Pete took a step toward the bathroom.
Knock-knock!
“Let’s see who it is,” Tirzah whispered.
Pete tiptoed to the door and held Tirzah so she could peek through the peephole. She shook her head and pointed to the bathroom. He carried her to it and closed the door firmly behind them.
“That was Khaliya with a package,” Tirzah said. “I’m sure it’s something delicious, but she can wait till I come home. They all want to check you out, you know. Make sure they approve.”
“I know. You need a ‘do not disturb’ sign.”
She smiled. “Make me one. But first, the quickie!”
Once they got in the shower, their quickie turned out not to be so quick after all. As Pete combed his fingers through Tirzah’s drying hair, feeling the curls spring into life, he could hardly believe how lucky he was.
“When my cabin gets repaired, want to leave Caro with Lola and let your bear come out to play in the woods?” Tirzah asked.
Yes, rumbled the bear. I would like to play and catch fish and run and sleep in the sun.
“Yeah. I would.” He repeated what his bear had said, marveling at how far they’d come. Like Pete himself, his bear was meant for more than just fighting.
They took Tirzah’s car to the office. She drove with caution but confidence with the hand controls, navigating the madhouse that was Refuge City traffic like a pro.
At the office, a hand-lettered banner was hung in the lobby. It started out with neatly written letters in black Sharpie, but the black started to fade out on the second word, and switched to red partway through the third.
Welcome To Defenders, Tirzah
Hope You Survive The Experience
Tirzah laughed. “A+ X-Men reference. That was you, Merlin, right?”
Merlin gave a modest nod, adding, “Ransom did the lettering. And Roland made the cake.”
Pete eyed the rather lopsided cake with the icing sliding off, and hoped Roland had remembered to put in the sugar.
Roland snapped his fingers, and everyone yelled, “Welcome, Tirzah!” in a somewhat ragged chorus.
The front door banged open in the middle of this, and Carter stared from the cake to the banner to Tirzah. “What’s going on?”
“Tirzah’s our newest Defender,” Roland explained. “She’ll do research, hacking, and cyber security from the office.”
Carter’s jaw dropped. “What? But I do that!”
“Only when you’re here,” Ransom pointed out. “Nobody’s seen you in two months.”
“But—” Carter protested.
“I didn’t mean to take—” Tirzah began.
Roland held up a hand, cutting them both off. “Want to join the team, Carter? Tirzah keeps her job, but we’d be happy to have you too.”
“No,” Carter said. “It’s fine. Congratulations, Tirzah. I’m sorry I was ungracious. You’re a better hacker than me anyway.”
Tirzah glowed at the praise. “Aww, thanks.”
“Have you found anything on the wizard-scientists yet?” Roland asked her.
“Not yet,” she said. “I’ve resorted to combing conspiracy websites for any mention of them, but no luck so far.”
“Which ones?” Carter asked her. “Because I have a database…”
Pete sat back in his chair, put his arm around her, and glanced around the office, from the haphazard sign to the melting cake to the live trap someone (presumably Merlin) had jammed into a half-open window and baited with a chunk of lox, a hunk of cheese, half a Hershey bar, and a small carrot. Pete had been to the west coast office of Protection, Inc., and had been impressed with its professionalism. Anyone walking into this lobby right now would probably run screaming.
Pete wasn’t sure what it said about him that he felt as much like he belonged there as he did in his own apartment. But this gang of weirdos and misfits had welcomed his mate, protected his daughter, and saved his life. They might not exactly be a well-oiled team, but Gorlois had been wrong about Pete never finding his place in the world. It was right here.
Roland strolled to the window, removed the past-their-prime and odoriferous lox and cheese from the live trap, sealed them in a Ziploc bag like they were toxic waste, tossed the bag in the trash, then put a companionable hand on Carter’s shoulder.
Carter jerked away. “Roland! You just touched—what the hell is that, anyway? Other than a stink bomb and a hazard to pedestrians?”
“A magical pet trap, of course,” said Merlin.
“It should be bigger,” Ransom said unexpectedly.
“What?” Merlin said, turning eagerly to him. “How much bigger? Full-size cat? Raccoon? Dog? Horse? Elephant?”
Ransom shrugged.
“Seriously, Carter,” Roland said. “You might as well be on the team already. Why not make it official?”
“I’m not on the team,” Carter said. “I don’t want to be on the team! I only came in today because your systems… Well, never mind. Tirzah will take care of it.”
“When I was in the circus,” Merlin chimed in. “There was this one guy who kept hanging around the elephant tent, but whenever anyone offered him a job, he’d say—”
“Give it up!” Carter burst out, whirling on him. “I’ve had it with your bullshit stories about your non-existent circus! Anyway, I’m sick of circuses. Did you know some tacky circus just
now put up its tacky billboard right next to our—your—office? They were finishing it right when I pulled up. Now we—YOU—look tacky by association!”
“Awesome!” Merlin exclaimed. “We all need to go. Maybe we can get a team discount.”
He was heading for the window as he spoke. The rest of the team joined him. Sure enough, a brand new circus billboard was up in the space that had formerly been occupied by an ad for the Humane Society’s new (Tirzah-funded) cat shelter, which was currently occupying Sucks To Be You Square.
Pete had figured that Carter’s idea of tacky probably wasn’t Pete’s idea, but the billboard was, in fact, amazingly tacky. Enormous swooping letters in red highlighted with gold proclaimed:
The Fabulous Flying Chameleons!
World-famous circus on a special US tour!
The rest of the billboard was crammed with colorful illustrations of clowns piling out of a clown car, a ringmaster cracking a whip at a tiger that looked like it was about to bite his head off, trapeze artists in spangled leotards, a seal balancing a ball on its nose, and more. Much, much more. So much more that it reminded Pete of a Where’s Waldo illustration.
“Aren’t you going to say that’s your circus, Merlin?” Pete teased.
He’d expected Merlin to reply immediately with something like “No, that was the rival circus that we had a feud with which culminated in the riot police getting called out when the seals rampaged through the seafood section of the city’s biggest grocery store. Let me tell you how it all began…”
Instead, there was a long silence. Then, in the smallest voice Pete had ever heard out of him, Merlin said, “Actually… it is.”
It was his tone more than his words that made everyone turn to stare at him.
“What?” Merlin asked. “Did you guys think I was making it all up?”
Protection, Inc: Defenders will continue with Defender Raptor—coming soon!
Have you read the prequel series, Protection, Inc., about the west coast team? Start with Bodyguard Bear now!
A note from Zoe Chant
Thank you for reading Defender Cave Bear! I hope you enjoyed it. If you’d like to read about the west coast heroes—and catch the introduction of Defenders—the prequel series, Protection, Inc., starts with Bodyguard Bear.
I also write the Werewolf Marines series under the pen name of Lia Silver. All my series have hot romances, exciting action, emotional healing, brave heroines who stand up for their men, and strong heroes who protect their mates with their lives.
If you’d like to be emailed when I release my next book, please click here to be added to my mailing list. You can also visit my webpage, or follow me on Facebook or Twitter. You are also invited to join my VIP Readers Group on Facebook.
Please consider reviewing Defender Cave Bear, even if you only write a line or two. Reviews are what help me keep writing.
The cover of Defender Cave Bear was designed by Augusta Scarlett.
More Paranormal Romance by Zoe Chant
Protection, Inc. (prequel to Defenders)
Bodyguard Bear
Defender Dragon
Protector Panther
Warrior Wolf
Leader Lion
Soldier Snow Leopard
Top Gun Tiger
See Zoe Chant’s complete list of books here!
