“What’s up?”
“You know you could just download the track from your music app on iTunes.” Zach’s voice was light with humor.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“Yeaaaaah. Okay, so we’re leaving town.”
Bo slammed on the breaks and almost crunched the device in his fists. “What?” His voice was a roar, and he was pretty sure he almost blew out his truck windows. He took a deep breath and told himself to calm. It wouldn’t do any good if he busted this phone. He was on his fourth, and the guy at the Apple store in the next town over knew him by name. Bo the Phone Killer.
“Relax, man. We’re not leaving for good, just for a few days, maybe a week.”
His chest filled again, and his shoulders slumped with relief. “You found a lead?”
“Maybe.” Zach’s voice sounded bitter. “The wolf pack that hired me went over my head.” He cursed. “My father is demanding a live meeting with all of us together on our pack lands.”
“Isn’t that what the royals do?” Bo shrugged and started back onto the road.
“Act like dicks, demanding my personal presence when a phone call or video conference would suffice?”
“Does your dad sit on a throne and wield his mighty scepter?”
“Shut up,” Zach growled at him, and Bo laughed. His sister’s mate was fun to rile up.
“So, you’re both going to meet with your dad and the pack that’s looking for their missing wolf shifter?”
“Yeah. Nissa wanted to meet my family, and my mom’s dying to meet her—God, she’s already talking about filling her belly with pups.”
“Nissa?”
“No, my mom.”
Bo couldn’t help it. He loved torturing the other man. “Your mom wants you to fill her belly with your pups? Man, you royals are kinda weird.” He laughed and held the phone away from his ear as the loud swearing and snarls echoed through the earpiece.
“Are you tormenting my mate again?” Nissa’s happy voice came from the other side. “Please stop before we have to buy a new cell phone for him.”
“I’ve got a good contact.”
She laughed. “I bet you do. We’re heading out within the hour, and will be back, hopefully, by next week. Are you going to be okay without me to boss around and nag all day?”
“I’ll figure something out. Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
Bo laughed and clicked end on the call. He cocked his head. Wow, he didn’t usually talk that much. Maybe the wolf was good for both of them. He drove the rest of the way home, thinking about who else would be good for him. Good in his bed, good under his tongue, good with his cubs in her belly. Dammit. He needed to get her out of his head.
Chapter Two
“Are you sure they’re going to be okay with me coming with you to this big, alpha tracker whatever meeting your father’s having?”
Zach turned to smile at his new mate as they drove down the main road to his pack’s place. Nissa had been fidgeting for the past three hours, her fingernails chewed down to the quick, her hair pulled in and out of ponytails more times than should be possible in that amount of time. “They’re going to love you because I love you. Now, stop messing with your hair. It looked fine the first twenty times you put it up.”
She scowled and ran her fingers through her long strawberry-blonde locks. “What do you know about hair? Yours is cropped short, and you can only wear it one way. I’m meeting royalty for the first time ever, and my new in-laws. I’m not sure how to act, how to be dressed, what to say.” She grimaced. “Okay, wolves like displays of dominance, right? Should I go in and punch one of your guards? Wait, do you guys have guards? I mean, does a wolf shifter need a royal guard? Then again, who protects you when you sleep?” She furrowed her brow and pulled the ponytail back out with an angry mutter. “But you’ve got good hearing. The royal family of Trackers is supposed to be the best. You can probably hear someone climbing in the window to kill you in your sleep, right. Gah! Who do I hit? What do I drink? Do you work outside in, or inside out with the silverware? Or do you not have fancy meals. Shit.”
He slammed on the brakes and pulled over to the side of the road. “What? What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t bring anything dressy. We packed so quickly, I didn’t even think about dressing up. Oh my God, they’re going to hate me. Then they’re going to tell you to cut our mating and go find someone new, like a princess. Someone who looks good in a tiara and waves. I don’t know how to wave! I—”
He shut off her escalating shouts by kissing her. Hard, fierce, licking, sucking her lips and tongue and taking her completely over with his mouth until they both parted, breathless and well kissed. Zach released her from his firm grip and smiled at the lipstick smeared up her cheek and the pink spots flushing her whole face. “Take a deep breath and relax, little bear. There is nothing about you that they could possibly hate.” He stroked her cheek and wiped off the lipstick smudge running up to her nose. “You don’t have to project any extra power by attacking anyone. You don’t have to dress up and wave or wear a tiara. And you definitely don’t have to eat with multiple silverware. We are normal, average shifters. My mom is the one with the royal blood in her, and she’s pretty down to earth. And my father is about as roughneck, blue collar as you can get. But, for the most part, they’re going to be just like your family in Bear Paw. Our family,” he added. Zach kissed her on the forehead and pulled a strand of blonde behind Nissa’s ear. “I like how your hair looks like this, if that means anything.”
Nissa smiled and started arranging her hair down.
“It’s the just-fucked look you have after we sprint through the woods, roll along the trails then shift back into human form so I can take you from behind while you shout my name.”
Her high-pitched shriek came right before she launched out of her seat at him.
Somehow, he was able to grab his feisty mate and turn her so she lay beneath him across both front seats. His cock was ready for another round with her gorgeous body, and it ground into her thigh as he held her squirming form beneath him. He disregarded the steering wheel poking into his shoulder. “Now, this position, I remember.”
Nissa growled and halfheartedly batted at him. “Yeah, you attacked me on my own lands.”
He laughed and nuzzled her cheek, reveling in the tiny shivers from her. His mate loved it when he touched her, when he dominated her body. “If I remember correctly, it was you who attacked me.”
“Yeah, well, I couldn’t let a wolf run around unmonitored in my forest. Could I, Dog Breath?” The glint in her eyes showed lust and humor as she lowered her hands to stroke up the legs of his jeans.
“Of all the people who could have tried to kill me, I’m glad it was you, little bear.”
She giggled and kissed him. “Thanks.”
“Feel better?”
She nodded, and they sat up, as he carefully worked his way around the steering column.
“Good. Now, let’s go meet my parents, talk to the elders of the pack that hired me, and then go to my place.”
She climbed over him and put her seat belt on. “Peace and quiet to decompress after all the stress?”
“No. Loud shrieking, howls, and roars as I claim your body in every room.”
“We haven’t done anything in your car yet.” She cocked her head with a sassy grin.
“There’s the whole drive home for that, baby. Let’s get this over with. The sooner we get done, the sooner I can be in you.”
She giggled and snuggled up into his side as he pulled his Chevy Impala back out onto the road. “Yeah, you really don’t act like royalty.”
“Just being myself. Do the same, and we’ll be a hit.” He gazed once more at his gorgeous mate. She seemed to glow from every pore in her body. “Love looks good on you, by the way.”
They pulled around the curve and up to the massive iron gates, and Zach wondered what Nissa thought of their compound at first gl
ance. Their lands stretched for miles, and the high gate and walls gave the impression of wealth and exclusivity. “It’s to keep humans and other shifters without permission to enter out. My parents wanted our pack to have freedom to run at will, so you’ll notice a few extra walls than you’re used to.”
“It’s okay. I get it. We got really lucky to back up to the wildlife preserve and mountains. It’s our very own natural wall.”
Zach waved as a guard nodded at them and opened another set of gates for them to drive through, and he followed the long driveway through the center of the compound. Some small stores were set along the main road then a bar, a restaurant, a laundromat, and a school. It reminded him of the small main street in Bear Paw. Only this one was surrounded by walls. And there were no humans in here. As they drove, they passed the driveways to different houses. Plenty of space between for each wolf family to have their own privacy, but close enough that they could call on each other for assistance. Wolves were very big on the pack life. But his father had long ago realized pack didn’t have to be right on top of each other to be close. This was the perfect compromise for everyone.
“It’s interesting that everything looks so good, new, even the streets and driveways,” Nissa mused as she gazed out the window.
“My parents share their wealth for the good of the whole pack. If a fellow wolf has a leaky roof, another goes over to help fix it. If someone falls sick—which is rare, but it does happen, because of the new strains of viruses out there—there’s always someone to help heal and someone to help pick up the slack. We work for ourselves and make our own lives, but we all come together for the common good.”
“It’s beautiful. It sounds like my family.”
“It does.” He smiled, proud of his pack and his family. He might have hated being royal, always treated like a step above everyone else, but he never felt bad about the rest of the pack. Because no one in his pack suffered while he bathed in wealth. It was another thing he could attribute to his father’s good character. Zach wouldn’t admit it out loud. That would be too much to ask for since he was still pissed off at the old man for not finding his sister. But he’d say it in his mind. This was a good place to live. And if Nissa ever agreed to leave Bear Paw—which he wouldn’t force her to do—this would be the place he wanted to be.
“I don’t see a castle.”
Zach chuckled. “I told you we don’t have a castle, silly.”
She frowned playfully. “So, no moat. No crocodiles. No fire breathing-dragons and hoards of treasure?”
“Our money is in many different banks and accounts, no dragons—unless you wake up my mom from a dead sleep—and no moats. But we do have a pond on the other side of the compound.”
“Cool. I’d love to see it if we have time.”
“We should have plenty of time on our hands. After we meet Mom and Dad, we can sneak off and tour the area. And then I can tour you.” He waggled his eyebrows.
“What about the other packs visiting?”
Zach shook his head. “Royal pack business is always done in the morning, except for emergencies. We probably won’t see them until tomorrow or the next day. We can just chill, get to know each other better—by better, I mean try out every position in that book you bought—and... What?” He glanced over at his pale-faced statue of a mate and followed her gaze out the window as they drove up his parent’s driveway.
Balloons and streamers decorated both sides of the long driveway, and children shouted and waved as they passed. One of the kids, the youngest of them from his father’s omega, held a huge sign and waved it back and forth as he jumped up and down.
“I think he spelled my name wrong.”
Zach chuckled at the backwards and missing letters on the huge, handwritten poster. “Well, it’s probably hard for a seven-year-old to spell Congratulations, Zach and Nissa.”
“So, nothing big, huh? No fancy dresses or silverware?” Nissa’s eyes crinkled inward.
“Uh, I can’t promise that anymore.” The main house that centered on the hilltop was adorned with even more flowers and balloons congratulating them and welcoming mating celebration party guests. “Did I mention my mom is a bit excited about me getting mated?”
Chapter Three
Jane walked out of the restaurant and untied her apron from around her waist. She couldn’t get that man out of her mind. Bo Alexander. The huge man, with the kind eyes, firm jaw, and wide shoulders, who had been talking with Liam yesterday. She’d been afraid of him, at first. Someone that huge could have squashed Liam in seconds. His fists were larger than her head. Well, not quite, but they were gigantic. The kind of hands that could turn deadly, and leave marks that would never heal. The kind of marks she wore on her soul.
She hadn’t always been this skittish around men. But after Seth… She shuddered and tried to take a few short breaths. The crisp mountain air never failed to calm her. Nature, the cool breeze, the calls of the birds and squirrels, helped her re-center herself. Being outdoors always had.
Except for spiders. Those things skeeved her out big time. After her first few terrifying screams at seeing the little jerks skittering over a counter or along the table, Liam had taken to being Spider Protector Number One. He’d scoop the thing up into his cupped hands and deliver it safely outside to a bush. She didn’t care, as long as it left her alone.
She pondered Bo, the giant cousin of her best friend, Sam. Was he the kind of man who took pleasure in torturing creatures? Would he stomp on a spider or pull its legs off as the look of sheer delight passed over his dark eyes—like Seth? Or would he pick them up—like her kindhearted son—and put them safely in a bush outside?
Was it weird that all men had to pass the “be kind to creepy creatures” test? Probably. But it was also weird that she was only twenty-four years old and a single mother to an almost six-year-old. The other mommies in preschool and kindergarten had given her looks with their noses upturned as if she was less than them. She never let them bother her. Heck, they could take their perfect manicures, amazing husbands on the fast track to 401K stardom, their two-point-four family, and shove it all. She might not be proud of the circumstances that led to her son being procreated, leading her to run for their lives for the last six years, but she would never feel wrong about her son. Liam was the best thing that ever happened to her. He was the sunshine in her dark life.
When Liam told her silly jokes about gas humor or butts, she could never keep herself from laughing. His wit and charm made her happy. And, hey, what was wrong with one more fart joke in the world? As she strode to her tiny car, she chuckled, remembering Liam’s request a few months ago that he be able to use the “eff word.” Her cheeks had flushed, and the instinct to scold her young boy came over her. But she had stopped, assessed the situation, and calmly asked him, “Which ‘eff word’ are you referring to, baby?”
“Fart,” he whispered, as if saying it quietly would make it any better.
She’d laughed so hard, tears streamed down her face. And “fart” jokes had become a staple of their chats ever since.
A cold prickle crept up her spine, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. She whirled in a circle. Someone was watching her. She shivered and looked around the nearly empty parking lot. Nothing. It was 2:00 p.m., and the lunch rush had already ended. Catching movement out of the corner of her eye, she turned to the alley behind the restaurant. A flicker of light caught her attention. She peered toward the old green Volkswagen and saw the man snap a picture. Of her. She knew it in her heart. The man took one look at her, shrugged, and put his camera down, pretending to look at a map on his dashboard.
Her breath caught in her throat. Why did this always happen to her? She sagged against the car and tried to get her key into the lock. Stupid old car with a real key instead of those cool key fobs that the normal moms had. She sniffled. Breathe, girl. She couldn’t stop the shaking of her hand to get it into the lock. She missed once then twice.
A loud r
umble of a motorcycle made her jump.
“Chill, girlfriend. It’s just me.” Sam stopped her bike next to her and put the kickstand down, peering at her with a frown. “What’s going on?”
Jane couldn’t stop shaking long enough to catch her breath. She glanced over at the man who was studiously poring over his map as if it showed the route to the Holy Grail.
Sam didn’t ask any questions. She saw where Jane’s frantic glance carried, and stormed over to the old car. Sam wrenched the door open and glared at the wide-eyed man.
“You got a permit to be sitting there in that piece-of shit car of yours taking pictures?”
“Ahhhh—” He furrowed his brow, but couldn’t come up with an answer. He looked more frightened than Jane felt.
“That’s what I thought.” Sam leaned toward him, invading his personal space as she leaned against the door of his car. “If I see you out here again without a nice little press tag on the back of your car, I’m going to drag you out of your car by the last few remaining hairs on your bald, shiny head and beat you with your fucking camera. You get me, little man?”
Sam was taller and had at least thirty pounds on the guy, so it seemed plausible. The man seemed to think the same thing. He peeled out of there as Sam pulled her feet back, a harsh grin on her face. She turned back and strode over to Jane as if she hadn’t just gone Wonder Woman on a strange man. “You okay?”
Jane’s breaths slowed, and she finally slipped the key into the door lock, giving her a shaky nod. “Yeah, just spooked.”
“You were more than spooked, lady.” She frowned. “Do you know why anyone would want to take your picture?”
Bear With Me: BBW Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (Mates of Bear Paw River Book 2) Page 2
