Tempering Steel

by Lea Barrymire

  They all sobered, turning their thoughts to the task ahead, and Margie hoped they’d find nothing out of the ordinary. She hoped Libby was playing hooky, ignoring the phone and being an irresponsible adult for a few hours. The alternative made her stomach flutter with worry.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The forest was silent. Well this is a bad sign. Even to a human with no sense of smell or keen hearing, the lack of bird noises or squirrels racing through the branches was telling. Warning…warning…

  Fighting the urge to whisper, Margie turned to her companions, one in wolf form and one still in human form. Jason had announced the moment they’d arrived that he was traveling in animal form. Connor ’hadn’t objected. She’d wanted to watch, but someone—Mr. Growls-a-Lot—wouldn’t let her. Instead she waited inside the truck until he’d called out the all-clear.

  “We’re going in together. The hairs on the back of my neck are tingling and twitching. I can feel something is going on. Stay close. Jason, you need to stay within sight even if you catch a scent.”

  The pure black wolf nodded.

  “I’ll never get used to this.” Margie thought she’d said it quietly enough, but the grins both man and animal sent her made it clear they’d heard. “Shut up, you two. I’ve only known about shifters for…what? A week? Two?”

  Connor chuckled, then waved everyone into the woods.

  Margie was tense, expecting something or someone to jump out from behind a tree, or one of the group to fall into a pit of vipers. An entire movie-length reel of traps and tortures streamed through her head. She pulled her imagination back from the brink when chainsaw-wielding mass murderers popped into her head.

  “You okay over there?”

  Connor’s question was a much-needed distraction. “Yeah. I’m just deciding how to outrun you two when the aliens descend, or how to plead for our lives from the bottom of a pit-trap.”

  His chuckle was music to her ears. “Let me know what you decide. I’d like to know your plan before you shoot me with the dart gun again.”

  Confidence in both him and Jason seeped into her bones. She was flanked by two powerful shifters. Things were going to be fine. They’d find whatever was making the forest critters nervous and get out of there. Then she’d talk Connor into going to her place and have a little sex, something to eat, maybe some more sex and a nap.

  Her prudish upbringing attempted to make her feel bad for loving sex, but she shoved it down. No time for that nonsense. She had a sexy shifter male who wanted to be mated to her. She wanted to catch up on all the nookie they’d been missing out on for the last year.

  Jason snorted off to her left, but her hopes of finding something good were dashed when Connor rumbled at the wolf, “If you don’t like it, walk upwind of her. I like that she’s thinking about us.”

  Shit. Well, that put the kibosh on her sensual thoughts. Stupid shifters and their sense of smell. She couldn’t help it if her body creamed when she thought about getting naked with Connor. Might as well poke the bear…er, coyote, when he was being smug.

  “Who said I was thinking about you?”

  The words had barely left her lips when she found herself pinned against the rough bark of a tree and a very intense coyote peeking out of Connor’s eyes. For an instant she feared she’d pushed him a little too far, but it wasn’t anger shining in those feral eyes. Oh no, it was something so much hotter.

  He leaned in and forced her head to the side, baring her neck to his nose. A puff of hot air flowed over her skin as he exhaled. Goose bumps rose all the way down her body and her knees sagged a little. He stroked her pounding pulse with his nose, inhaling loudly. He groaned against her skin and licked a slow, wet path along her neck.

  “Oh, God,” she moaned. Her pussy went liquid, her stomach pooled with warmth and her bones turned to jelly.

  “Mmm. You smell so fucking good.” His whispered words tickled the hairs along her skin. “I know you were thinking about me. Just like I know your panties are soaked now.”

  Margie shivered and tried to press her lower body to his. Wanton? Maybe, but she didn’t care. He pressed his hard cock against her stomach and her hormones did a little jig. He’d fix it. Connor would pull her up against his body, press her against the tree and rub her with that hot slab of—

  A snarl and woof from behind them had Connor retreating. “You’re right. Feel her up after we make sure Libby is okay.”

  His gruff words didn’t fully cover the blush coloring his cheeks. Margie wasn’t embarrassed. Nope, she was frustrated, on the verge of an orgasm and pissed at their wolfy friend. And would now be traipsing through the woods with damp panties and swollen clit. But, being a grown woman and attempting to prove she wouldn’t push every one of his buttons, she let it go. Or tried to. She did do some grumbling under her breath about teases and wolves who didn’t know when to stay out of other people’s love lives.

  *****

  Would he do anything more outlandishly adolescent around this wolf today, or was his run of testosterone-driven stupidity finally done? Connor sighed even as he tried not to grin as Margie distinctly said something about snipping the balls off a specific wolf.

  Between the coyote in his head pushing to claim the woman they’d wanted for over a year and the same woman doing everything in her power to make him break, Connor was stretched thin. If Jason hadn’t made a noise, he would’ve stripped Margie naked and taken her against that tree. Even as his cock agreed with the idea, his brain was against it. At least for now. They were supposed to be looking for a missing pack member, not cavorting around in the woods fucking like animals.

  The image of her on her hands and knees, all smooth and pale under the moonlight, shredded his resolve. A growl built in his chest and it was completely from his coyote. The animal wanted to claim her, get his teeth into her skin, mark her so no other male would talk to her.

  A few deep breaths calmed his inner beast. He couldn’t blame his animal. He’d denied their claim on her for too long. Now the baser creature wanted to ensure no one would step between them again, including the man he shared his spirit with. All Connor could do now was pacify his other half until he could get Margie to agree. Life was going to be hell before that moment, though.

  They continued for quite a while, wandering the game trails, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Jason raced around looking very similar to a puppy on a bender. He raced by her with his tail held high, swerving around Connor and running through the woods, nose to the ground. The behavior was so much different from the stoical man he’d met a few nights before.

  “He’s such a goofball, isn’t he?”

  Connor turned to catch Margie grinning and shaking her head at the prancing animal. He’d have to keep an eye on this one. Jason seemed to have no problem warming up to women, and it also looked as if they just as easily relaxed around him.

  But he couldn’t fault the guy for cutting loose a little. From the sounds of his story, he’d been duped by a woman, driven out of his pack, and then dealt with being caught in a trap. Anyone would be surly after those experiences.

  The radio in his pocket buzzed an instant before it beeped. He could hear Zeke’s voice, tinny and crackling, even as he pulled it from his jeans. Maybe they found something, or were just checking in. Margie rushed over and called out to Jason.

  “Zeke, can it. Start at the beginning.”

  There was a pause of static before a sigh. “Fine. I said, if you’d been listening the first time, that we’ve found her. She was in another coyote trap up behind the barn. Not too far into the woods, actually, but she’d lost her voice. Skip’s carrying her out now. Margie, can you meet us at the house?”

  Before Connor could reply, the radio was ripped from his hands by an agitated and worried woman.

  “Yeah, we’ll be there—” She fumbled the small device. “Fuck. How do you work this thing? Just tell him we’re heading that way now.”

  She rammed the radio back into his hands and
stalked off toward the truck. Connor shook his head even as he answered the impatient coyote on the other end. “We’re leaving now. Give us thirty minutes.”

  A crackle later, “Okay. See you then. Tell your woman that Libby is absolutely fine. She’s a little hungry and pissed off, but fine.”

  Yeah, like Margie would believe that. She’d need to see the injured woman before she’d believe all was well.

  “She’s quite an amazing person, isn’t she?”

  Connor whipped around and found Jason standing next to a tree, dark and muscular. The man looked relaxed, much more so than he’d looked when they’d left Skip’s house. “Yeah, she is.”

  “I mean nothing by my behavior around the women. I truly mean your relationship no harm.”

  Connor shrugged. “I’m not sure it would matter if you did mean anything by it. Margie has been pursuing me for months. If she didn’t give up on me when I was an ass to her, I don’t think she’ll do so now.” He smirked. “Not after we’ve become acquainted.”

  Jason laughed and the sound echoed through the woods. “I think I might like this town.”

  Perhaps Connor hadn’t given the man time to adjust before he’d made assumptions about him. Being the leader of a pack and then losing the position, the status, would drive most men into a bitter existence. He gave the other man a nod. “Good. Now change back. I don’t want Margie catching a glimpse of your cock.”

  The wolf chuckled again before quickly shifting into his animal form. With his tongue lolling from the side of his mouth, Jason bound off toward the truck. If he could change forms and carry his clothes, Connor would be in his coyote skin. Instead he sprinted in the same direction, sure he’d catch up with his human mate in a few minutes.

  “Connor.” The crackling, buzzing radio and Zeke’s metallic voice paused his run.

  Once he had the device out of his pocket, he responded. “Yeah.”

  “Have you guys scented anything at all out of the ordinary?”

  “No.”

  “Bubble gum?”

  That one baffled him. “Say again—I thought you said bubble gum.”

  “I did. We found a piece of recently chewed pink bubble gum near an undisturbed trap. The gum had to have been spit out or dropped after the trap was set up.”

  Bubble gum? “Really? I’m having a tough time thinking someone smart enough to set all of these up, mostly cover their scent and evade us would leave something like chewed gum. But in case it’s something important, pick it up. No, wait. You can show me where you found her and it?”

  “Yes. We didn’t move it.”

  “Good. We can look around and see if we don’t find some other evidence.”

  “Awesome,” Zeke answered. “See you in a bit.”

  Connor’s mind started racing over the possibilities. They could ask at the store in town to see if someone has been buying the brand of gum. If there were teeth marks they could use them to match a suspect. He’d have to call this in and make a formal report about illegal trapping and get the game warden involved. The red tape would slow things down, but if it was a human doing this, the county’s justice system would be plenty good enough to take care of a careless hunter.

  A horn blared obnoxiously in the silence and he couldn’t stop the grin. Margie was impatient, it seemed. He picked up his pace and sprinted the last few yards. He found a calm Jason watching a not-so sedate Margie. The minute she caught a glimpse of Connor, she strode toward him.

  “What the hell? You’re taking forever and wolfie-boy here wouldn’t let me leave you. Libby is hurt and you’re screwing around in the woods?”

  Connor bit his tongue to keep the first retort from flying off his lips. When he reached her, he placed his hands on her shoulders and gave a little squeeze. “Firstly, please don’t refer to other shifters as wolfie-boy or pup or anything else. Right? Not nice. He didn’t let you drive off in the county’s vehicle. You should be thanking him instead of ranting about him.” Before she could get all worked up, he bent down and kissed her hard, feeding her his breath when she gasped. The muscles that had been bunched with anger under his hands softened. He whispered against her lips, “I won’t let anything bad happen to Libby. She’s fine. I was talking to Zeke again on the radio.”

  “I don’t want anyone in pain because we were too slow getting to them.”

  The concern in her voice ripped through him. “I know. We’ll leave right now.”

  She nodded even as their lips still touched. “Sorry I tried to steal your truck.”

  He laughed and leaned back. “I’ll remember to take the extra set of keys with me next time. How did you know they were there?”

  She ducked her head. “Well, I watched you use them once. Figured if I ever needed to leave something for you, I could use them.” Turning toward the other man, she spoke up. “Sorry I called you dim-witted and, um, whatever else came out of my mouth. I didn’t mean it. Not really, anyway.”

  Jason smiled, gave her a nod and a shrug.

  “Good. That’s settled.” She turned back to Connor. “Come on, I want to check on Libby.”

  If Connor hadn’t known Margie for as long as he had, the whiplash of behavior would have had his head spinning, but it was par for the course. Crazy, some called her. He knew her heart was in the right place, and her mind was ten steps ahead of her body. He just nodded and climbed into his truck. No point in discussing it. Actually, it usually was better not to bring up her quirks. He wouldn’t get himself in trouble that way.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “Bloody traps and their fucking metal. Who in their right mind puts these things in the stupid woods anyway?” Margie scrubbed at the blood on her jeans. She’d worn gloves when dealing with Libby’s injuries, but a few speckles had spattered her clothes. And of course she didn’t have a stain treatment with her. Her anger over the whole thing added force to her movements. Suds obscured the stains, or perhaps it was the tears gathering in her eyes. Using her upper arm, she tried to wipe them away. Stupid emotions. There wasn’t any reason to be crying. Libby was going to be fine.

  “Hey, I was going to head out to the woods with Zeke to look at the site, see if we can’t find some evidence—” Connor’s words came to an end a moment before Margie was wrapped in the best set of arms she’d ever been hugged by. His exhalation ruffled her hair when he kissed her head. “Oh babe, why are you crying?”

  If he’d scoffed, made a crack about her being a girl, anything other than sounding so concerned, she would’ve been able to keep herself in check. But those arms were so strong, and his voice was so tender. The press of lips to her hair so endearing. She sobbed, turned within his embrace and buried her face against his chest. Letting go had her crumbling. Loud, wracking wails poured into his ruined shirt. At least they were muffled by his body. He hummed and she soaked the comfort in. His hand stroked from head down her back in long, slow sweeps.

  Time stood still while she let go of her anger over the situation, the residual fear and adrenaline rush from knowing a friend was in pain, and the utter lack of control she’d felt when she’d walked in the barn. Shuddering with the memory, she clung to Connor. Entering the structure, she’d expected to find a human-shaped Libby sitting on the table. What she’d found was a dehydrated cougar whining and crying weakly. Libby hadn’t been fine. Fur matted from mud and blood had marred the animal’s beauty. Eyes wide with fear and pain had stared beseechingly at Margie. Knowing a person was in there, begging for help but unable to shift or to talk, made it all worse.

  The blood and gore had been worse on Libby than it had been with Jason. She’d been out in the woods, pinned to the ground by a steel trap, for at least thirty-six hours. She’d tried to get out, tried to free herself, and had done more damage to her front leg. That wasn’t the worst part. It was the haunted look in the cat’s eyes. She’d shrunk away from every noise as Margie had worked. When she’d finally administered a sedative, a whine had escaped Libby’s feline mouth that had just about kill
ed her.

  Connor’s arms tightened minutely and it helped to pull her from her thoughts. Her head was pounding from the tears and violent sobs. She knew his shirt was a mess. Wetness had spread under her cheek and the thought of seeing drool and snot had a hysterical laugh bubbling up her throat. She was such a mess.

  “Shhh, babe. I’ve got you.”

  His voice finally filtered through her panic and distress. He’d been murmuring to her from the moment she’d fallen apart. God, he must think she was insane.

  Taking one final, deep breath, Margie steeled herself for not only the look of pity in his eyes but the mess she’d created on his shirt. A moment of panic had her stilling. Screw it. She pulled away from his chest and used her sleeve to wipe her nose and eyes.

  “Thanks.” Her voice was thick and weird.

  “Margie. Look at me.”

  She didn’t want to. She’d hoped to turn and escape to the bathroom to clean herself up and deal with the emotions still boiling in her chest. But she complied with his request anyway. Glancing up into his beautiful gaze nearly brought a fresh rush of tears. Affection and understanding shone brightly, wrapping her in warmth.

  “There you are.” He smiled softly.

  “Yup. Here I am.”

  He pulled her into his arms again and gave her a quick hug before pushing her lightly away from his body by the shoulders. “You needed that far more that you thought.”

  “Maybe. But you didn’t need to see it.” She closed her eyes and pulled in a deep breath. “I just…Libby’s in there, suffering, trapped inside her kitty-self, and there is nothing I can do for her as a person. She was suffering so much. And the fear…”

  Strong arms wrapped around her again and she snuggled into his embrace. “I know.”

  “She was terrified, Connor. I’ve never seen an animal or a person so petrified to be around people. If I didn’t know she was a shifter, I would have assumed some major abuse. Hell, I’m still guessing that. Once I had her injuries numbed I had to sedate her for her own good because she was still worked up. With that level of painkillers in her systems she should have been loopy and a happy cat.”