by E L Thorne
The Astra who hates shifters.
I had no doubt of that. Once she had realized who... what... I was, her fury and hatred were palpable. I smelled her interest, though it was faint and only in the early stages—until she’d figured out that I was a shifter. Then she’d done a complete one-eighty.
It was odd that she’d known it immediately, without my saying a word or doing a single thing. Like she had some sort of sense about it.
Astra closed her eyes, tilted, and began to fall.
I reached out, holding her, resting her body against my own. After that, I froze. What was I supposed to do? How could I help her when she held such vehemence toward me?
The other thing that paralyzed me was the ferocity with which my bear was reacting to her. It was as if the bear knew something about her that I hadn’t put together yet. Sure, I was attracted to her. What red-blooded man wouldn’t be? She had all the right curves, in all the right places.
Not to mention her scent. The woman’s scent was driving my bear crazy, even in the middle of this drama. I pushed her hair off her face, tucked it back.
Her eyes flew open. They were a light green color, clearer than the clearest water I’d ever seen, and I was drawn in, unable to look elsewhere, unable to think of anything else. There was a fire behind those light green eyes that appealed to the man in me. A spirit, an intelligence and an openness I wanted to know more about.
Well, her eyes had all of that until she focused on my face, and put together the fact that I was keeping her from falling.
And then all hell broke loose.
She pushed off of me aggressively. Shoving my chest, she stumbled backward, then righted herself, standing tall, her body ramrod straight, as if a steel rod had replaced her spine.
“Don’t touch me.” Her voice was full of the same steel as the rod she seemed to have in her back. “Don’t ever touch me,” she hissed.
I looked at Mae, then back at the ashen-haired, green-eyed Astra. “I’m sorry.”
Even to my own ears my apology didn’t sound sincere. I wasn’t sorry. Hell, no. I’d done nothing to merit her vitriol. If anything, I’d tried to help her. What was her deal with shifters, anyway? And Grant was a shifter, so her anger made no sense.
Chelsea stared at them, open-mouthed.
Grant’s arms were by his sides, as if he too were confounded by the display.
Mae stepped between Astra and me. “Kane, this is Astra. Astra, Kane.” Mae put her hand on Astra’s shoulder, as if she wanted to steady her—or keep her from running away.
Mae put her other hand on my shoulder.
I nodded my greeting, acknowledging the introduction. I wasn’t interested in doing more. This woman hated me. Here she was in her hiking boots, jeans that flared out over a luscious pair of hips.
Okay, what the hell. I reined the bear’s libido in. It had to be the bear. It couldn’t be me. No. It couldn’t be. I was impervious to women.
Mae squeezed my shoulder, her grip unforgiving. She gave a small nod, indicating Astra.
Fine, fine. I’d make nice. “Kane Ortiz.” I stuck my hand out.
Astra left me hanging, my hand still outstretched.
Casually, to keep from being noticed, I pulled my hand back, acting nonchalant, as if it wasn’t a big deal. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Astra.” I kept my Texas drawl under control. No easy feat when anyone spent as much time in Texas as I had in the last century.
Astra glared at me. Didn’t say a word. Just glared.
Well, was Mae going to squeeze her shoulder too? Or what? Was I the only one who was to be treated like a child? I gave Mae a dirty look for giving Astra a pass.
Talk about a room with palpable tension. I refrained from shaking my head at all of it. So much drama. I’d have been better off not coming north, if I’d only known I’d have to deal with temperamental women. Even if they were hot.
Grant cleared his throat.
Chelsea emitted a nervous giggle. “Why don’t we eat before everything gets cold?”
My stomach growled a response. It was my stomach. Though I knew deep inside, my bear was still responding to the woman named Astra.
Chapter Six
Astra
I tugged on Grant’s sleeve. “Can I see you for a moment before we eat?” I tugged again.
Grant looked at Chelsea, as if to verify it was okay.
Chelsea gave him a nod and said, “We’ll set the table while you talk.”
“Mae, you too,” I added.
“Kane, give me a hand?” Chelsea took Kane’s arm and let him escort her to the kitchen with a backward glance at Grant.
When the coast was clear, and I was alone with Mae and Grant, I whirled on them.
“Why am I here?” I fought, and failed, to keep my hostility from my voice.
“Because Doc’s not available.” Grant’s expression was stern, but there was an underlying note of concern there. He knew what this all meant to me.
“You know I don’t treat shifters.” The only thing I wanted to treat shifters to was the business end of a shotgun.
“You’ve treated me more than once.” Grant shoved his hands in his pockets.
“That’s different. I care for you.” I couldn’t believe he was pulling that card.
“As a personal favor?” Grant used his ‘favorite uncle’ voice. “Please?”
I harrumphed and blew my hair out of my face. I turned toward Mae. “What do you have to say about this?”
Mae put her hand on my cheek. “I’m sorry. If this could have been avoided... He’s a nephew.”
“You and your nephews. His kind killed my mother.” I gritted my teeth, my jaw clenched to the point of giving me pain.
“Astra, you could say the same thing about me,” Grant pointed out.
“You. Are. Different.” Why didn’t they get it? “You’re family.”
“Kane’s different too,” Mae said.
“Oh, really? Let’s see. So tell me why I’m here if he’s different? I don’t see anything wrong with him other than a few bruises and abrasions on his face. So why am I here?”
At least Grant had the dignity to look embarrassed, because I was pretty sure why I was there. For real, why else would I be?
“He was bitten,” Mae said.
So they weren’t going to come out and say it, were they? I wasn’t going to play twenty questions, and I knew it wasn’t a dog bite or a cat bite that had forced them to call.
“Bitten by a shifter.” I spat it out, since they wouldn’t.
Mae and Grant nodded slowly, simultaneously.
Mae spoke first. “Please, just check. Make sure he’s not infected.”
“Doc knows more about this stuff than I do.” I crossed my hands over my chest and planted my boots firmly on the thick carpeting, shoulder-width apart. “And you know I don’t give a damn about other shifters.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire, a voice in my head said.
Fine. I didn’t want to admit it, not even to myself, but there was something about this man Kane that drew me in. It more than drew me in, but I didn’t want to qualify or quantify it. I felt a crazy attraction for him, deep, deep inside, an attraction I was so adamant in denying that I’d reacted vehemently and unapologetically.
And I was pissed at myself. I had no business being attracted to a shifter. Look where it had gotten my mother: dead, a bloody mess who’d died in front of the ones who loved her and left behind a motherless daughter.
I drew in a deep breath. Between the hectic week’s fatigue and this new shifter, I was sounding irrational.
“I won’t have more territorial fights. I won’t see the only shifters I love killed. That shifter needs to leave.”
Grant looked at Mae pointedly.
“What?” I glanced between them. “What? What?”
“He’s staying in the cabin at Northpoint End.”
“What—!” I shut my mouth, containing the rest of my screech. “You invited him to stay?” I his
sed.
“A short stay,” Mae appended.
I smacked my forehead with my palm.
Did my friends and family have a death wish? I’d have to convince that damned shifter to get the hell out of the area before more trouble showed up.
“Fine. I’ll check him.” I rubbed my hands on the tops of my thighs to get rid of the sweat that was building up.
Sweat because I had other intentions for that damned shifter. He had to go. Period.
Now I had to come up with a plan. All I had was the time it would take to eat dinner to come up with something.
Chapter Seven
Kane
I followed Chelsea into the kitchen. She was a cute thing, but nothing like the firebrand in the other room. That one would spit fire darts at me if she could.
“Where do you come from?” Chelsea asked, indicating the sink so I could wash up.
I turned the water on, squirted some soap on my hands, lathered, and rinsed.
“I’ve been in Texas more than any place else for the last few years.”
I didn’t want to say decades. Some people, even those who had dated, married or bonded with shifters, were creeped out by our longevity. It wasn’t all that hard to imagine someone living for centuries, or at least I didn’t think it should be so hard to swallow. Hell, churchgoers and anyone else who’d read the Bible knew that the people in the Bible had lived for centuries. Why was it so hard to wrap their minds around shifters living for a hell of a long time?
“So where are you going?”
“You don’t beat around the bush much, do you?” She sure got straight to the point. “I’m not sure yet. I’m in transition.”
Transition. That was a good way to say ‘hiding from a bunch of ruthless mercenary shifters that want to see me dead.’
I took the casserole dish from Chelsea and walked it to the oversized, picnic-style pine table. “How long have you and Grant been together?”
“About a month. We’re making it official in a few weeks.” A blush rose from her neck to her cheeks. Kind of cute, if you liked blushing women.
I reminded myself I liked all women, but for some reason, a woman with ash-blond hair and light green eyes and a fierceness that rivaled my bear’s ferocity kept coming to my mind.
What the hell is wrong with him? The bear. I blamed the damned bear.
Unlike many shifters who had fairly peaceful relationships with their bears, I found myself occasionally mentally duking it out with my ursine other half.
“Congratulations. I’m sure you’ll be happy together.”
Chelsea’s smile beamed from her pretty face. She handed me some flatware to set on the table, a bunch of napkins and a trivet. “Do you have someone you’re happy with?”
“Someone I’m happy with?” I’ve had plenty of someones I’ve been happy with. “Not the way you and Grant are.” Safe enough answer. I set the table for her.
A look of pity crossed Chelsea’s face. “You’ll find someone when the time is right. You don’t seem to be a complete stranger to setting a table; that’s a bonus.” She gave me a conspiratorial wink.
Maybe not so safe an answer judging from her reaction. She looked like she wanted everyone to be in the same boat she and Grant were in.
I didn’t want to correct her. I wasn’t looking for someone. I let that romantic notion of hers sit. What I was looking for was simple: to stay out of sight until I wasn’t hunted anymore. Self-freaking-preservation. Screw love and all that happily-ever-after shit. I knew better.
“I’m sure when the time’s right I’ll find the right woman.” Or dozens of right women, the smartass in me wanted to say. Except I didn’t want to say that, not at all, because still imprinted firmly in my mind was that spirited hottie in the other room. Damn her. She’d gotten under my skin.
Maybe I should do her so I can get her out of my system.
Hell, now I was really thinking crazy. That kind of thinking would get me kicked out of the cabin. I couldn’t do that shit. It wouldn’t sit well with Grant.
The best thing I could do would be to stay the hell away from that hottie.
Chapter Eight
Astra
Game on.
I smiled my prettiest smile—at least, I hoped it was my prettiest smile, since trying to be flirty wasn’t something I normally did. I sucked at flirting. I was awkward at that whole ‘charming men’ thing. It wasn’t like I was a virgin or anything; I just didn’t get all the social niceties that I was supposed to be able to handle.
I took a seat where Chelsea indicated, which was next to Kane, the hunk of a shifter I had to get out of Bear Canyon Valley. Quickly.
I wanted no other shifters around. Shifters killed stranger shifters and their loved ones, and there was no way I was going to let Kane embroil Grant and Doc in a shifter territorial battle.
I’d kill to prevent that, or die trying.
I sat on the bench next to the large shifter man and cursed the picnic table setup that Grant’s kitchen had. Why couldn’t he have regular chairs and a table like the rest of the world?
My shoulder rubbed against the man’s huge arm. I cringed and tried to draw away, but if I kept that up, I’d fall off the bench.
Damn him.
I really wanted to tell him to scoot over. But no, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
I ignored that his closeness, and how the touch of his body sent a current through mine, even when we were separated by several layers of fabrics—his and my clothing. Dinner would not be fun.
“Pass the bread, please.” Kane’s voice was soft in my ear, as if he were telling me a secret he didn’t want the others to hear.
I forced a smile to my lips, reached for the basket and handed it to him, my knuckles white from gripping it so tightly. Kane took it from me, his large fingers closing over mine.
A tiny gasp escaped me as the surge of current that flew through my legs.
God. Damn. Him.
What was that about?
He gave me a sideways glance, as if he knew the effect he’d had on me. That made me hate him even more.
Hate. An odd word. Yes, I hated him. No, I didn’t. I couldn’t say what I felt for him. I’d rather feel nothing. I wished he’d never come to Bear Canyon Valley.
That’s how dinner went. I couldn’t concentrate on the food. Couldn’t even remember what I’d put on my plate and what I hadn’t. Another reason not to like him. He interfered with the enjoyment of my meal.
“Kelsey’s throwing me a bridal shower,” Chelsea said. “It’s on the eighth. Can you make it?” she asked me.
Like I have a social life that would keep me from going? Of course I’d make it. “I’d love to come.” I smiled, pretending to pay attention to the others, pretending to ignore the way the man next to me was affecting me.
I didn’t have much to say during the meal, though, and neither did the gorgeous stranger next to me.
Mae and Chelsea held up the conversation, while Grant contributed something every so often. Mostly they talked about preparations for the wedding. Mae was talking about the Bed & Breakfast being a perfect place for Chelsea and Grant’s wedding. Grant said it was up to Chelsea.
I wasn’t bored with the conversation; I just couldn’t focus on it. I normally would have paid attention—or tried to, at least, but all I could do now was concentrate on controlling my pulse and my breathing.
I knew shifters had extraordinary senses and was worried he’d be aware of my accelerated heart rate and shallow breathing. I hoped that he wasn’t, but I wasn’t sure. Every time Doc had tried to talk about his shifter senses and his life as a shifter, I’d shut the conversation down because I had no interest in that part of him—the part I hated.
“When is Doc coming back?” Grant asked.
“Probably late tomorrow or the day after,” I answered.
Kane shifted, his thigh rubbing against mine, pressing on my leg. I probably couldn’t fit a butter knife between us, that’s how clo
se he was to me. I moved slightly, but my ass was already partially off the bench. Any further movement and I’d land embarrassingly on the same ass that was trying to avoid being near him.
He’d love that. He’d probably laugh at me. I gave him a dirty look.
The only thing was, he was already looking at me. His dark, near-black eyes were hooded in a lazy, bedroom-eyes kind of way. He raised the fork to his mouth, a piece of meat impaled on the tines. He put the fork between his lips, and his teeth closed over it, pulling the meat off the fork in a way that was far too sexual for my comfort. I looked away immediately, glancing at Mae.
Mae was watching me, as if she’d been reading my emotions and thoughts.
I looked at my napkin. I’d had enough. I folded the rectangle of linen neatly and tucked it under the rim of my plate.
“I’m done.” God, was I ever. Stick a damned fork in me, I was done. Done, done, done.
And practically panting over this man. Like there weren’t other men in Bear Canyon Valley. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at myself, mostly because I knew many of the men in the valley, and none of them had this effect on me. That made this whole situation doubly irritating. Why did I have to be attracted to the one man I wanted to hate and drive out of town?
As if they’d been waiting for me, now everyone else was saying how full they were and they were pushing back from the table, rising to their feet. Kane rose and held out a hand to help me to a stand.
Really? Like we’re friends now or something?
I bit back a response and tried to graciously accept his hand, using his grip to stand quickly, then releasing it as if it were on fire. Which, yeah, it was burning me, but not in that way.
I’d almost come up with a plan to get him out of the valley. I just had a few more final touches to put into thought. Then I could go through the motions and put my plan into play.
