by Jodi Vaugn
“Besides, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t stick to you like glue.” Damon slapped him on the back. “So are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
Braxton rubbed the back of his neck. “I already told you. I was accused of a crime I didn’t commit.”
Damon shook his head. “No, not that. That, I got already. I mean, what’s going on with you and the human.” He nodded toward Kate’s bedroom.
“Her name is Kate and nothing’s going on.” The lie stuck in his throat like an apple. A lot was going on; he just needed to figure out what it was.
“Does she know that?”
“What are you, Dr. Phil? I never pegged you for a relationship specialist.” Braxton gave him a dry look.
“Fuck you.”
“No, thanks, I’m into blondes.”
“So I’ve noticed.” Damon reached for his coffee. “Don’t you find it a little strange that Kate hasn’t freaked out about you being a werewolf?”
Braxton eyed him. “Of course she freaked out.”
“Really? What did she do? Go running for the hills?” Damon looked out the window. “Never mind, we are in the hills.”
“Smart-ass.”
“Did she call the cops when you shifted?” Damon crossed his arms over his chest and stared at him.
Braxton shook his head. “No.”
“Did she call her friend the vet to come shoot you?”
“Of course not.”
“So you’re telling me a human woman saw you shift into a wolf, helped dig a silver bullet out of your shoulder, and let you stay here in a secluded bed and breakfast? No questions asked?”
“What the fuck are you getting at, Damon?” Braxton curled his fingers into fists.
“I find it hard to believe that Kate is being nice to you out of the goodness of her heart. I mean, who’s to say she’s not using you for her own benefit?”
“If anyone’s using someone, it’s me using her,” Braxton muttered. Vivid images of Kate naked, under him, flashed through his mind. He remembered the way she held his gaze when he held her close, her body responding to his every touch.
“So it’s like that.”
Braxton gave him a murderous glare. “Change the topic.”
“For now. But, I still find Kate’s reaction to the whole wolf thing out of place.” Damon shrugged. “I mean, when Ava saw me shift, she did at least scream.”
“Did she try to run away?”
Damon scratched his whiskered chin. “She tried, but I didn’t let her.”
“So maybe it’s just you that women run away from.” Braxton smirked.
Damon grinned wickedly. “Maybe, but at least I got one to stick.”
***
The phone rang, jolting Kate out of a deep sleep. Since Damon’s arrival, he and Braxton stayed up late, discussing the situation with the Assassins. Exhausted, Kate had given up playing hostess and gone to bed.
She blinked back the cobwebs in her sleepy brain and answered the phone.
“Hello?”
“It’s Beau. Glad to see your phone is fixed.”
Kate eyed the alarm clock. Six o’clock. He had never called her before seven in the morning. “What’s wrong? Is everything okay?”
“No, it’s not. Something’s happened.”
“What?” She sat up in bed, fully alert.
“Someone discovered a dead body.”
A wave of nausea enveloped her. “Where? Who was it?”
“It was a construction worker on Oliver Bigsby’s crew. They found him dead at the construction site.” Bigsby had broken ground to erect his next eyesore of a hotel on an area just on the outskirts of town. The more hotels he built meant less business for the B&Bs in town.
“That’s horrible. How did he die?” Please don’t say he was bitten by a wolf. She held her breath, waiting for his answer.
“He was shot through the eye with a nail gun. Death by nail gun doesn’t exactly fall under the accident category.”
Her blood turned to ice in her veins. With a trembling hand, she pulled the quilt up to her chin in a feeble attempt to ward off the shivers racking her body.
“Kate, you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here.”
“I know it’s none of my business, and I don’t need you to remind me that you’re a grown-ass woman, but I can’t help but think this has something to do with your houseguest.”
“Which one?” She cringed. Though Braxton had not been out of her sight since he arrived, Damon, on the other hand, was another story. She didn’t know where he was half the time.
He snorted. “The house guest that happens to be a wolf.”
“Again, which one?”
“Christ, Kate. Please don’t tell me there’s another Were staying in your house.”
“Okay. I won’t.” She slunk back into the covers as unease slunk into her stomach.
“I knew I should have kicked his ass out the minute I saw him. I should have known he’d bring more Weres around.” She held the phone away from her ear at his acrid words. “I should have listened to my gut.”
She shook her head as her shoulders slumped. “Whoever killed that guy wasn’t one of my Weres. That I know.” She hoped her voice held more conviction than her gut. She wasn’t exactly the best judge of character. The last guy she trusted was her ex. Look where that had gotten her. On the brink of foreclosure and one step away from being homeless.
God, she was a mess.
She cleared her throat. “Thanks for the update. Somehow I feel like if a werewolf were going to kill someone, they would have done it without the use of a nail gun.”
The line went silent for a beat. “Maybe you’re right. They usually rip the victims’ throats out. Doesn’t change the fact that I don’t like the idea of you putting yourself in the middle of whatever shit Braxton has found himself in.”
She smiled a tiny smile. If he really thought Braxton was capable of murder, Beau would have thrown him out on his ass the minute Braxton had confided in them.
“Please tell me the new Were in your house is not wanted for a crime.”
“He’s not. He’s actually some kind of Arkansas soldier.”
“A Guardian?” She didn’t miss the surprise in his voice.
“Yeah. Someone named Barrett ordered him to find Braxton and make sure he stays alive until there is a Tribunal. Do you know Barrett?”
“I’ve never actually met him. He’s the ruling Pack Master over Arkansas, and from his reputation, very lethal. Anyone that crosses him ends up on the losing end.”
“I’m not sure if I should feel safe or scared.” Kate tugged on her lower lip.
“Probably a little of both. How’s the patient doing by the way?”
“Great.” More than great. He was totally fine, hot, and gorgeous. She licked her dry lips. “His wound has healed up nicely.”
“It will take some time to get the silver completely out of his system. He was damn lucky it didn’t hit his heart. Otherwise he’d be dead.”
Kate shivered at the image of Braxton’s lifeless body on the side of the highway.
“What are your plans for the day?”
“I’ve got to go back into town. The bank president called and wanted to talk about my loan. I’m hoping it’s good news and not an eviction notice.”
“Alright, honey. Good luck. And Kate?”
“Yeah?”
“Call me if you need me.”
“I always do.”
***
Kate saw Bigsby standing in front of the bank, holding the door open and smiling like he’d won the lottery. She snarled. He certainly didn’t look like someone who’d just lost one of his workers to such a brutal death.
She stepped closer and swallowed. “I’m sorry to hear about your employee.”
His smile left his face in a hurry as he sought to look mournful. “Thank you. It was quite a shock, I must say.”
“What a horrible way to die.” She didn’t bother s
uppressing the shudder that ran down her back.
Bigsby’s cold eyes found hers and he gave her a quick nod. “Yes, well there’s nothing to be done about it now. Life does go on.” Just like that, his smile was plastered back on his perfect face.
Unease coiled in the pit of her stomach as his façade of self-assurance slipped across his face. What did Bigsby know that she didn’t? Surely she wasn’t about to lose her home. Surely there was something right in the universe where the little guy who worked hard all his life would prevail.
“I must say you look lovely today, Kate.”
“Thanks.” She gave a polite smile and then hurried past him and into the warmth of the bank.
“There is something different about you. You have a glow.”
Her foot caught the edge of the rug and she stumbled. The only thing that would have that effect on her would be Braxton Devereaux and the multiple orgasms he’d given her.
“Must be my new lotion.” She kept walking, hoping he would just leave her alone.
“I was hoping to talk to you before your meeting with Mr. Weatherford.”
She froze. Slowly she turned and faced him. “How did you know I have a meeting with the bank president?”
He shrugged, and a sinister smile crept across his face. “I know a lot of things in this town. For instance, I know that guy you’ve got up at your place is bad news.”
She curled her fingers into her palms as her blood boiled. “I don’t think my houseguest is any of your business.”
“You don’t know anything about him, Kate. Where did he come from? What does he do? He certainly doesn’t look like he can hold down a job with all those tattoos.” He frowned, his perfect brow creasing.
She sucked in a breath and chose her next words carefully. “I still own the Bella Luna and I honor my clients’ privacy.” Bigsby was either afraid that her business was picking up or he was jealous at how hot Braxton was. She bet it was a little of both.
“As far as his tattoos go, I like them. I think they’re hot.”
His eyes rounded in disbelief, and she bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling. She fought the urge to tell him in detail of the tattoo on Braxton’s back, just to rub it in his face.
His lips puckered into a tight circle. “You need to be careful who you let into your bed and breakfast. You’re so isolated and if there was trouble, no one could help you.”
A shiver ran across Kate’s back.
Bigsby gave her a curt nod and walked past her to the first open teller.
She hurried toward the bank president’s office. The bank secretary looked up from her computer screen and smiled warmly.
“You can go on in, Kate. He’s waiting for you.”
She straightened her shoulders and stepped through the door.
The bank president smiled and waved her toward the empty chair while he wrapped up his telephone conversation. She took a deep breath and braced herself for the next few minutes.
***
“You really gonna eat all that?” Braxton looked at Damon’s plate overflowing with food.
“What are you trying to say?” Damon narrowed his eyes as he curled his arm over the edge of his plate and pulled it closer.
“Five ham sandwiches, two bags of chips, a liter of Dr Pepper, and almost a whole pie.”
“So?”
“So? If I ate like that I’d be five hundred pounds and couldn’t get my fat ass on my Harley.” Braxton’s stomach dropped as reality set in. He no longer had a Harley. His Harley was long gone at the bottom of the mountain.
“I just recently started eating this much. It’s like I can’t get enough food. Yet, I don’t gain an ounce.”
“Probably from all that sex you’re getting.”
“Probably right.” Damon took a large bite out of his sandwich and smiled.
“I’m getting sex. So why am I not eating like an elephant?” Braxton folded his arms across his chest.
Damon finished off his sandwich and swallowed. “Are you having sex every three hours?’
Braxton’s mouth fell open. “Every three hours at night?”
Damon snorted. “Every three hours around the clock, man.”
“You’re shitting me.” Braxton had never lacked getting laid. There was a time in his life when he didn’t go longer than a few days before sleeping with a willing female. But that had been years ago when he’d hit his teens and his sexual drive was so intense. The last few years he’d been less interested in the physical act of sex. He’d started wondering if there was something more for him in the world. But sex every three hours?
“Yes, it’s possible.” Damon smirked and began tossing back the first bag of sour cream and onion potato chips. “I see the jealousy written all over your face.” Damon poured the soda in a glass. “I think it has something to do with being newly mated. It’s like I can’t get enough sex. And as for Ava…” He whistled.
“What?” Braxton leaned forward
“She’s insatiable. Always wanting more. Always demanding more.” Damon smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. “I can’t get her off my dick.”
“This mating thing is starting to grow on me.”
Kate walked into the kitchen. “What’s starting to grow on you?”
From the innocent look on Kate’s face she hadn’t heard their conversation. Good. Mating was the last thing he wanted to discuss. Even with Kate.
“We were talking about the mountains, about how different Eureka Springs is from Shreveport.” Braxton shot Damon a warning look not to open his big mouth.
Kate laughed as she placed her purse on the kitchen island. “We don’t seem to have much going on in Eureka Springs.”
“It’s like Mayberry. I’m betting the crime rate here is zero.” Damon took another bite of his sandwich.
Kate paled. “Actually, now that you bring that up…”
“What?” Braxton straightened.
“Beau called me early this morning.” Kate licked her lips. “He said someone discovered a dead body.” Kate’s gaze drifted from him to Damon.
Damon shrugged and continued to eat. “Don’t look at me. I was here with you guys all night.”
“Was it somebody you knew?” Braxton reached for her hand.
“No.” Kate swallowed. “It was one of Bigsby’s construction workers.”
“The guy who’s trying to buy your B&B?” Braxton frowned.
“Yeah.”
“People get killed on construction jobs all the time. Hell, I heard someone in town talking about someone falling to his death while working on that old hotel on the top of the mountain here.” Damon crumbled the now-empty potato chip bag and tossed it in the garbage.
“This guy didn’t fall.” Her slender throat worked up and down as she swallowed. “He was shot through the eye with a nail gun.”
They both turned to her.
“So he was murdered.” Braxton glanced at Damon before looking at Kate. “Do they have any suspects?”
“No, but they are looking at anyone new that might have come to town recently.” Her voice cracked.
Braxton knew there could be cops showing up on Kate’s doorstep any time now, questioning his whereabouts at the time of the murder. Cops he could handle. It was the Assassins he was worried about.
“Maybe you should head back with me.” Damon scowled.
“And leave Kate here with some murderer on the loose? Forget it.”
“Maybe Damon’s right,” Kate spoke.
“What?” Braxton’s chest tightened.
“It sounds like you’d be better protected under the Arkansas Pack Master.” Kate looked at Damon. “What’s his name?”
“Barrett Middleton.”
Kate nodded. “Barrett can give you protection while you figure out who killed your father.”
Braxton stilled. “Is that what you want? Me gone?”
***
Kate’s lips trembled as she fought back the urge to scream that she didn’t want him to l
eave. “I think you should do what’s best for you.”
“She makes a good point. You need to listen to her.” Damon stood and put his empty plate in the sink.
“Stay out of this, Damon,” Braxton growled.
Damon held his hands up and backed away. “I’ll let you two figure this out. Kate, do you have ESPN?”
Kate nodded. “Yes. On the living room TV.”
After they were alone, Braxton took a step toward her. “Kate—
She held up her hand and shook her head. If he touched her now, she was going to lose any self-control she had and beg him to stay. She couldn’t be that selfish. “Don’t say anything. We both knew that you wouldn’t be staying forever.”
The hurt on Braxton’s face hit her like a punch in the gut. As painful as that was, she needed to do what was best for him.
“I see. If that’s what you want, then I’ll leave.” Braxton averted his eyes before making his way toward the bedroom.
Kate took a step to go after him but stopped. Her nails bit into her palms. The last thing she wanted to do was hurt him. Even though it had only been a few days, he’d come to mean a lot to her.
“You’re doing the right thing. He’ll understand,” Damon said quietly behind her.
“If it’s right, then why does it hurt so much?” Kate turned and headed outside, needing the cold, snowy air to freeze her tears.
***
Braxton stormed into the living room ready for a fight with Damon. “Just so you know, I’m not going with you.”
Damon stood, his mouth set in a grim line. “You’re not exactly in a position where you have a say, Braxton. I have a job to do and I intend on doing it.”
“I intend on finding my father’s killer.”
“You think you’re smart enough to evade those Assassins forever? They are killers, trained from the time they were old enough to walk to seek out and kill. You got lucky, but you won’t escape their bullet a second time.”
“I can try.” Rage burned through him. He wasn’t going to give up without a fight.
“You’ll lose. I’ve seen Assassins track down Were Guardians who had gone rogue. Once Assassins have a bead on you, they will be relentless in hunting you down until they are sure you are dead.” Damon shook his head. “They don’t care if you’re guilty or innocent. All they care about is getting the job done. That’s it. At this moment, to them, you, Braxton, are the job.”
