Ryder was in the midst of coming into his full shaman powers. None of them knew exactly what all that entailed, but it was taking longer than the shaman wanted.
Eryn looked at Carson with her brows furrowed. “There’s something different about you. You appear to be agitated.” She glanced down at where his fingers drummed on top of the table.
Agitated was putting it mildly. He’d spent the entire night having erotic dreams about Laci. And the worst part of it was he knew exactly what it was like to make love to her so it made it feel achingly real. Jerking off in the shower hadn’t helped at all either. He’d been told it would only increase his mating urge, but like the knucklehead he was, he’d had to find out for himself.
Carson forced himself to place his hand flat on the table. “I have a bit of a problem I’d like you to help me with,” he said to his sister.
Eryn nodded. “You know I’d do anything for you or Noah. You’re both my big brothers. Even though you drive me crazy at times, I love you.”
“And I love you too.” He paused, then pushed on. “Laci’s back in Juneau, to stay.”
His sister whistled. “How did you find out?”
“Who’s Laci?” Edensaw asked.
Eryn answered. “She’s Carson’s ex-girlfriend. The last steady one he’s had in the past four years. He was going to ask her to marry him, but she broke up with him instead and moved away.”
“Bummer,” Wren said.
Carson cleared his throat to gain the others’ attention. “Anyway, let’s move on, shall we?” He met Eryn’s gaze. “I saw her last night at the Northern Lights Pub. Laci was there with Angie, Wendy and Misty. I talked to her.”
Eryn groaned. “Carson, why’d you do that? It took you months to get over Laci, then you turned into a man-whore for a little while once you did. Stay away from her.”
He clenched his hand on the table into a fist. “I wasn’t that bad. And I can’t.”
“You really want to risk all that heartache again?”
“You’re not understanding me. I can’t because she fricking set off my mating urge last night.”
Eryn burst out laughing as everyone else gave Carson a look of pity. He didn’t want their pity, but he really didn’t like his baby sister laughing at the hell he was going through.
“Knock it off, Eryn,” he said through gritted teeth. “This isn’t funny. Laci doesn’t want anything to do with me. At all. She only remembers the old me. She has no idea I’d rather rip my heart out than hurt her, my mate.”
“I’m sorry,” Eryn said with a few last giggles. “I’m just thinking you’re getting payback for all the crap you’ve put me through.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, I’m good. So how do you want me to help with Laci?”
“You know some of her friends. Maybe you can make a few phone calls and see where she’s living. Even the name of the place she’s working at would be good. I have no way to contact her. And I sure as hell can’t call up her family and ask them. They’ll hang up on me.”
“I can try, but I’m not promising you anything. It depends on how much of a shit they think you are and if they take Laci’s side.”
“Thanks, Eryn. Right now I don’t have a clue if I’ll be able to win Laci back. It’s killing me.”
Wren got a faraway look on her face, then said, “Don’t worry, Carson. Laci will be your mate. I see the two of you together.”
Wren’s mortal mother had been psychic and had passed her gift on to her daughter.
“Did you see anything else, like a phone number or address for her?” Carson asked.
“Nope. Sorry. My sight doesn’t work that way. I only get images. And when I saw you two I couldn’t see exactly where you were.”
“It was worth a shot.”
“Give me a few hours and I’ll see who I can get to talk,” Eryn said.
Carson finished his coffee, then stood. “Okay. Thanks again. I think I’ll head over to Durlach and Meadow’s place. If you find out anything call me on my cell.”
“Will do,” Eryn said with a nod.
He left the kitchen and went out the glass sliding doors that led to the backyard deck. Reaching for the spark of magic deep inside him, Carson shifted to his dire wolf form, then took off at a run toward the trees that flanked the property. He found the trail that would take him to Durlach’s place once he came to the edge of the sentinel’s land. His wolf brother lived next door.
Carson shifted back to his human form once he arrived at his destination. In the yard, he looked toward the stables and saw Taylor, who worked for Meadow and Durlach by looking after the property and the two horses they owned. Taylor also happened to be a cat shifter and could take on the form of a cougar.
“Are Durlach and Meadow around?” Carson asked as he approached Taylor.
The other man nodded. “Yeah, but they’re a little busy, if you catch my meaning? I saw Durlach go to Meadow’s office, where she’s working, and he hasn’t come out. I’ve learned not to bother knocking when that happens. I don’t know how many times I’ve interrupted something between those two. It makes me wonder if I should move out of the apartment above the stables and find a place of my own.”
Carson glanced toward the outbuilding Meadow called her office. She was an archeologist who specialized in Ice Age Tlingit artifacts. It was a good thing her mate happened to be one.
“So much for having a visit then,” Carson said with a grin.
“You could always hang with me for a bit if you have nothing else to do.”
“I thought you only tolerated werewolves and didn’t want to get too close to any.”
Taylor shrugged. “It seems I’m able to get over my bad past experience with a werewolf and actually come to like you and your wolf brothers.”
“That’s good news. Then I don’t have to worry about you going cat on me and chasing my ass off the property.”
The other man shook his head and chuckled. “If I did that, I’d have to answer to Meadow. She’d go wolf and bite me in the ass.”
Carson laughed at the thought. “She would do it too. I guess I can hang out here for a while. Maybe Durlach and Meadow will be done soon.”
“Don’t count on it. As long as you’re here, make yourself useful and help me get the horses out to the paddock.”
Carson nodded, then followed Taylor into the stables. He welcomed any and all distractions right now. Until Eryn finished with her phone calls, his gut would be in a knot. If his sister didn’t pull through, he didn’t know what he’d do. He would somehow have to find a way to get in contact with Laci. Just letting her go wasn’t an option.
* * * * *
Laci walked into her aunt’s dog grooming business, Pampered Paws. Her Aunt Rita had offered Laci a job there as a groomer and all-around helper when Laci had talked to her mom about moving back to Juneau. Laci had been more than happy to accept the job offer. She loved working with dogs and especially liked the chance of getting to work with her aunt.
She waited for her aunt to finish with a customer, who carried a yorkie in her arms. Once the woman left, Laci joined Rita at the counter.
“Hello, Laci,” her aunt said with a large smile. “Are you all set to get into the world of dog grooming?”
“Yup. I’m all ready to learn.”
Her aunt came around the counter and gave her a hug. “I’m so glad you decided to move back home. We’ve all missed having you around.”
Laci returned Rita’s embrace, then took a step back. “It was time for me to return to Juneau. Anchorage was nice, but it’s not like here.”
“Of course it wasn’t. You didn’t have your favorite aunt there.” Rita winked.
Laci laughed. “That could have been it.”
Her aunt grew sober. “Have you prepared yourself for the chance of meeting up with your ex?”
“That’s already happened. I saw Carson last night at the pub.”
“Already? That didn’t take very long. How did you handle seeing him again?
”
This was what Laci loved about her aunt. She could discuss men and any other things that were personal with her and get the best advice. Laci’s mom, Rita’s older sister, never knew what to say. She didn’t love her mother any less for it, but had learned at an early age that Rita was the one she had to talk to when it came to those things.
“It was…difficult,” Laci answered. “Carson said he wanted the chance to start over again. After he stole a couple of kisses from me.”
“I hope you told him to get lost.”
“I did.” Laci sighed.
“You still have feelings for him, don’t you?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I thought for sure I was over Carson. That is part of the reason why I figured I could handle coming home. But last night showed me they aren’t completely dead. Plus, he can still kiss a woman silly.”
Rita chuckled. “Those are the worst kind of men to have as an ex. You want to hate them, but then you remember how great they are in bed and you melt like butter.”
Laci smiled. “Does Uncle Marty know you have an ex like that?”
Her aunt grinned. “Who’s to say he wasn’t my ex and that I finally caved in?”
Rita and Marty had been married for thirty years, and were one of the happiest couples she knew. “You and Uncle Marty actually split up before you got married?”
“For about a year. He wore me down and I took him back. I think it had a lot to do with the fact the man knows his way around a woman’s body.”
Laci shook her head. “I really didn’t need to know that about Uncle Marty.”
Rita waved her comment away with a flick of her hand. “So what are you going to do about Carson?”
“I have no idea. I don’t know if I can start up with him again. It hurt too much when I left him.”
“Maybe he’s changed. It has been four years, after all. He could have matured some.”
“I thought you just said you hoped I told Carson to get lost?”
Rita smiled. “I did, but that boy is a looker. And he seems to get handsomer with time.”
“That really isn’t helping me any, especially if I have to know my aunt thinks my ex-boyfriend is a hottie.”
“I’m not blind, you know.”
“Still, not very helpful.” Laci sighed. “As things stand now, I told Carson I didn’t want to give him a second chance.”
“Well, you do whatever you think is best. Just remember it won’t make you look bad if you change your mind about him. I did about Marty and I’ve never regretted it. If I hadn’t, I would have lost out on the love of my life. Enough about your ex. I’ll take you back and start teaching what you’ll need to know about dog grooming.”
Laci followed her aunt to the back room. Would she be losing the love of her life if she continued to stay firm in her stand against seeing Carson? There had only been a few men in her life after him whom she’d dated for a few months. None of them had turned into a meaningful relationship. She hadn’t wanted that, anyway.
When it came to Carson, she’d leave things the way they were now. He’d have to seriously do something to show he wasn’t the same man she’d broken up with to have her let him back into her life. She wasn’t ready to put her heart on the line like that otherwise.
* * * * *
“You’re a hundred percent sure this is what you want to do?” Eryn asked as she stared at him with a look of disbelief on her face.
Carson nodded. “You said Laci is working at her aunt’s dog grooming place.”
“Yes, but this is taking it a little far, don’t you think? Wouldn’t it be easier just to show up there and try to talk to Laci instead?”
“No. She’ll reject me again. With my mating urge riding me, I’ll be happy to have Laci’s hands on me any way I can get them.”
“So you’re willing to shift to your dire wolf form, let me put a dog collar and leash on you, take you to Pampered Paws and leave you there to be groomed? For one thing, it could be Rita who grooms you, not Laci. This is her first day on the job. She’ll still be learning.”
“Then you’ll have to arrange it so she does. This will work. While in my dire wolf form I’ll be able to read Laci’s thoughts, and without her knowing it, I’ll be acquainting her to the part of me she doesn’t know.”
Wachei, who had silently sat on the couch up until then, said, “It might sound a little silly, but it will help Carson with his mating urge.”
Eryn looked at her mate. “So you’re going to encourage him with this crazy plan?”
“Yes. Pretending to be a wolf hybrid worked for Durlach when he first met Meadow. It was also Carson’s plan that helped Durlach meet her in his human form.”
“But Durlach’s case was different. He’d been a dire wolf when he first ran into Meadow.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Carson said, breaking into the conversation. “I’m doing this, and you promised you’d help me. After you told me where Laci was working, I went to the pet store and bought a collar and leash. It’s my turn to play at being a wolf hybrid.” He held out the bag with the items he’d purchased to his sister.
Eryn took it, looked inside, then shook her head. “Fine. I’ll do it, but you’re going to pay the cost of having you groomed. This is your crazy-ass idea, not mine.”
“I’m okay with that.” Carson stood. “I’ll shift, then once you put the collar and leash on me we can go.”
His sister shook her head again. “Hopefully they take walk-ins.”
“They do. I already checked out their website.”
Carson shifted to his dire wolf form, then patiently stood as Eryn put the collar around his furry neck and snapped the leash on to it. That done, all three of them walked out of the house and to Eryn’s pickup truck. They piled into the cab with Carson seated between his sister and Wachei.
Once they reached Pampered Paws, Eryn parked the truck in an empty spot at the side of the building. It was a bit degrading to have his sister walk him on a leash. They garnered a few stares from some people on the sidewalk they passed as they headed for the shop’s entrance. In his dire wolf form, Carson didn’t exactly look like a domesticated breed of dog. And he didn’t look exactly like a timber wolf either. His legs were shorter, he was a little bigger in size and his teeth were larger.
Wachei pulled open the glass door of the grooming place and stepped aside for Carson and Eryn to enter ahead of him. A bell sounded from inside. The first thing that hit Carson’s nose was Laci’s scent. It was fresh, which meant she was inside the building somewhere. His heart beat a little faster in anticipation of seeing her again. In wolf form, his mating urge rode him a little harder, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t maintain control of.
Both Laci and her aunt came from the back of the shop. Laci greeted his sister. “Eryn, it’s nice to see you.”
“I heard you were back in the city,” Eryn replied. “But I didn’t know you were working for your aunt.”
“Aunt Rita was nice enough to offer me a job.”
Rita smiled. “I count myself lucky that Laci accepted.” She looked down at Carson. “Who do we have here?”
“This is…Carson,” Eryn answered.
Laci gave Eryn a surprised look. “You named your dog after your brother?”
“Well, you know how he and Noah can be around me. Driving me crazy whenever they can. I thought it would look good on him.”
He and his baby sister were going to have to have a little chat about this once he was done being groomed.
“And who is this other handsome man with you?” Rita asked.
Eryn smiled. “This is my husband Wachei.”
“I didn’t know you got married,” Laci said.
“We kept the ceremony really small. It’s been a couple of years now.”
Yeah, the ceremony had been small. It had just been Eryn and Wachei when his wolf brother had claimed her. Carson looked forward to having a chance to do that very thing to Laci. The first time he made love to he
r fully would cause their souls to join and the mating bond to form between them.
“So what can we do for you two?” Rita asked.
“I was hoping you could fit Carson in. He needs a bath. He’s beginning to stink up my house. I figured you would able to make him smell better.”
Carson looked up at Eryn and said telepathically, Watch it, little sis. Don’t overdo it. And for your information, I took a shower this morning. A slight smile twitched at the corners of Eryn’s mouth.
Rita nodded. “That’s perfect. It’s something Laci should be able to handle on her first day.”
Eryn held out the leash for Laci. “Then I’ll leave Carson in your capable hands. How soon should I pick him up?”
Laci took the nylon leash from Eryn. “About an hour. Is that long enough, Aunt Rita?”
“Give or take. An hour should be okay.”
“All right. Wachei and I will be around then to get Carson.”
Carson watched Eryn and her mate turn and walk out of the shop. He then looked up at his mate and met her gaze. This should be an experience he wouldn’t soon forget.
Chapter Three
Laci looked into Carson’s hazel eyes as he sat and stared up at her. There seemed to be more intelligence lurking behind them than she expected to find in a dog. Though, to be honest, he didn’t look like a dog. He looked more wolf than anything else.
“Are you ready to give this big boy a bath?” her aunt asked.
“Sure. It shouldn’t be that difficult.” Laci paused. “What breed would he be? He looks like a wolf.”
Rita nodded. “He does, doesn’t he? I bet he’s some kind of hybrid with more wolf than dog in him. He seems tame enough. I’m sure Eryn would have told us if we had to worry about him biting us.”
“Speaking of Eryn, did you know she was married?”
“I had heard she was. Her husband is another hunk.”
Laci rolled her eyes. “Am I going to have to go through this every time a good-looking guy comes through the door?”
Love on the Ice: 7 (Werewolf Sentinels) Page 2
