by Lynn Howard
He was the epitome of bad boy. The complete opposite of the preppy, well-groomed men she had always dated.
Ryanne wasn’t the only one paying close attention to the rugged, sexy male. Her lynx was practically purring inside her head as he slid across the seat and stepped outside, every move smooth and graceful.
Swinging the door shut behind him, he placed a big hand on the small of her back and walked with her to gather up the few belongings they’d brought with them.
As she folded up her tent and rolled up the sleeping bag, a touch of embarrassment hit her. The tent was worn out and bought second hand. The sleeping bags were some she’d bought from a local thrift store. She got what she could afford on the money left behind when her mom died.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to work. It was that she didn’t want to leave Penny home alone for eight to ten hours at a time. There were far too many crazies out there for a five-year-old to be safe home alone all day or night.
And she couldn’t exactly put Penny in daycare. All it would take was one slip up about her big sister turning into an animal at will to screw over Shifters everywhere. And if the teachers didn’t believe her, they could suggest psychiatric care. Either way, humans caring for Penny was a big, fat nope.
Daxon didn’t say a word about her old stuff. Just helped pick it all up and carried it to her waiting car. Ryanne popped the trunk and waited as he stuffed the tent in, then slammed it shut. Slamming it was the only way to ensure the stupid thing would latch.
“Go ahead. We’ll wait until you’re out of the woods then follow you home.”
Ryanne stopped as she strapped Penny in her booster seat. Turning, she looked over her shoulder at Daxon. “Why would you follow me home?”
One: She wasn’t sure she wanted any of these people to know where she lived. Two: She was very sure she didn’t want any of these people, especially Daxon, to know how she lived.
What would they think if they saw the place where she housed a small child? They might call the Shifter Council and try to have Penny removed from her custody.
Not a chance in hell would she ever allow that to happen.
“We’ll be fine. I drive pretty fast,” Ryanne said with a forced chuckle.
“No, you don’t,” Penny chimed in from her seat.
Ryanne turned her back on Daxon, gave Penny her best mom face, then closed her door. “Seriously. Thank you for all your help. And thank Campbell for me for keeping Penny safe. But I think we’ll be fine from here.”
Daxon took a step back and crossed his arms as he narrowed his eyes at her. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”
With a confused frown, Ryanne mimicked his position and crossed her own arms. Although her gesture wasn’t nearly as impressive or intimidating as Daxon’s.
“I’m not hiding anything. Are you hiding something? Is there some reason you need to follow us home?”
His head snapped back, and he dropped his arms. “This isn’t our first run in with those jack offs. I want to make sure no one follows you home. Because once you’re gone, once we have no idea where you are, someone else can take off with you both and we’ll never be able to find you again.”
Fear for herself was one thing. She had no desire to become a breeder for some whack job. But the thought of what they would do to her sweet baby sister made her sick to her stomach.
However, she couldn’t let Daxon know how much his words had scared her. She didn’t want him to think she needed him. She didn’t need anyone. She was twenty-five years old and had been raising Penny on her own for the last three years.
“Fine. If it’ll make you feel better.” She shoved the curls out of her face and opened her door.
Daxon held it open, keeping her from pulling it shut. When he knelt beside her seat, she took a deep breath, hoping to avoid becoming overwhelmed by his intoxicating scent.
She knew what her body’s reaction to him meant but refused to acknowledge it. There were too many things going on in her life to entertain the idea of taking a mate.
He was balanced on the balls of his feet, his arms resting casually on his knees. Even if she hadn’t seen his friends turn into big black panthers, she would’ve guessed he was a feline Shifter merely by his grace and balance.
“I just need to know you’re both safe. I need to know you and your daughter are home and behind locked doors.”
His voice was softer now. The glow in his eyes had faded, leaving behind a pretty golden-green shade. She hadn’t noticed earlier how dark and long his lashes were, or the scar above his left brow. And his lips looked soft and kissable.
Daxon had this rocker, bad boy exterior, but the man underneath was kind and sweet. How had she not seen that earlier?
Inhaling deeply, Ryanne let the air out in a rush and dropped her head against the seat. She so did not want to show him any vulnerability, and that included how strapped for cash she and Penny were. They got by just fine. They had enough food. They had heat and air conditioning. They had a place to live. They had clean clothes on their body.
But that money would eventually run out.
Imagine Ryanne’s surprise when she found out her drug addict mother had had a pretty hefty life insurance policy and had left it to Ryanne. The same policy that would barely last them another year or two if she wasn’t careful with her budgeting.
“Sister,” she said.
“What?”
“She’s my baby sister.”
Ryanne studied Daxon for a few more seconds, searching his eyes for the right answer.
“I know you want to keep us safe. And I appreciate it.”
“But?” he said when she didn’t say anything else.
Ryanne glanced in the back seat at Penny, whose eyes were closed. She had fallen asleep that fast. If only Ryanne could drift off so quickly.
“You promise you won’t hurt her?” she whispered to Daxon.
His brows dropped and his eyes darted to the back seat. When they returned to Ryanne she could see the depth of his emotions in their beautiful color. “I swear on my own life I would never hurt either of you.”
Blowing out another rush of air, she nodded. “Okay. You can follow us home.”
It might have been a bad decision, but she was sticking with her intuition. Not only was Daxon not a bad guy, she had a feeling deep in her gut he would become important to both Ryanne and Penny.
Maybe he’d become her friend. Maybe he and his friends would be another blanket of protection.
Or maybe she would allow herself to feel for another person other than her sister. Maybe she’d let herself feel happiness for the first time in a long time.
Chapter Two
Daxon would have rather ridden with Ryanne back to her house. The thought was irrational, he knew, but he couldn’t stop it from coming.
There was something about that woman that intrigued him. No. That wasn’t the right word. Honestly, he had no words to describe the way he had felt when he’d seen her run out onto the street.
After the shit they’d gone through after finding Charlie then rescuing all the women from the rogues, they had naively thought the assholes would have given up.
Either those guys were simply new fuckwads looking to entrap a female in a pairing or they still had some rogues out there snatching women.
They had to have known Ryanne was a Shifter. He’d smelled fur coming from her the second he had stepped out of the SUV. But had they known about the little girl hiding up the hill?
The thought of any of them getting their hands on Penny sent a rage so hot through his system he could have sworn his veins were on fire. She was a baby.
But that wouldn’t have stopped them.
“Something’s up with her,” he finally said in the quiet of the car as Mason followed her rusty Toyota to her house.
“What do you mean?” Campbell asked.
“She didn’t want us to follow her home.”
“Of course she didn’t,” Charlie sai
d. “We’re complete strangers. And she just ran from four rogue Shifters. Not to mention she has a daughter to protect.”
“Sister,” Daxon corrected.
“That was her sister?”
“That’s what she said.”
“Huh. Guess she’ll take her back to their mom. Ryanne looked in her twenties. Must have been a surprise baby.” Charlie’s tone was wistful. It was no secret she and Aron had been trying since their wedding last Christmas Eve.
Daxon had a feeling that wasn’t the case, though. Ryanne acted like more than simply a big sister. She acted more like a mother toward Penny.
Ryanne turned her car down a dirt road until they stopped in front of a house that made the single wide the Pride lived in look like a palace. The paint was chipping. There was a tarp on the roof. The porch sagged. But there were flowers in pots on the porch. And the yard was clean and well cared for. The only thing littering the neatly mown grass was some outside children’s toys.
When Ryanne stepped out of the car, she didn’t look toward the SUV. Even from this distance, he could see a light pink on her cheeks.
She was embarrassed of where she lived.
Why? Why would she think that would matter to them? They all lived in a single wide trailer, for fuck’s sake. Well, technically, only two of them still officially lived there. Aron and Brax had been staying with their mates a lot lately and meeting up with Daxon and Mason when they wanted to go out.
Since they hadn’t been actively hunting for rogues lately, they hadn’t gotten together nearly as often as they used to. They had thought the risk was over. Or at least reduced.
They knew the crows from Black Feather Crew were still out there causing trouble. Ravenwood Pride had no idea whether the crows were actively trafficking or if they’d simply done whatever earned them the most money, including acting as bodyguards or spies.
Instinctively, Daxon checked the trees around Ryanne’s house to make sure she didn’t have any company lying in wait. He lifted his head and scented the air and relaxed when the only smells were those from his Pride and Ryanne and Penny.
Daxon stepped to Ryanne’s trunk and started pulling the tent and sleeping bags free when she popped it open.
“I’ve got them. Thanks for following us home. And thanks for keeping Penny safe.” She still wouldn’t look Daxon in the eyes as she took the things from his hands and deposited them near the front of the car.
Penny was still sound asleep in the back seat. “You want me to carry her inside?”
She raised her attention to his face that time. “I’m almost as strong as you. I think I can carry a five-year-old into the house.”
Her tone was short, but that pink hue was still present in her cheeks.
She didn’t want him to see inside her house. She didn’t want the Pride to see the outside, either, by the way she’d done everything she could to keep them from following her home.
Daxon had no idea why. Wasn’t like they lived in one of those big houses in St. Louis. They lived comfortably, but hadn’t bothered buying some fancy house. Even if they’d had the money, he couldn’t see any of the Pride living on the high horse.
It wasn’t who they were.
Yeah, her house needed some repairs, but it was clean. He imagined the inside was as clean as the outside.
“You didn’t leave any lights on,” he said, nodding toward her house.
“I hadn’t expected to come home until Sunday morning,” she said, glancing back at the dark windows.
“At least let me go in and make sure no one’s in there waiting for you two.”
Her head whipped around and her pretty honey-colored eyes widened. “Why would someone be waiting in there for us?”
“Why would someone track you down in the woods?” he said with a shrug. “There are crazy ass people out there.”
Looking back at her house, Ryanne shivered lightly. It looked like she was fighting some inner battle with herself. She really didn’t want Daxon to see the inside, but the thought of bringing Penny inside and being ambushed didn’t set well with her.
“Fine. Just you, though,” she said, her eyes on his feet.
Daxon waved his hand out in front of her. “Want me to get her?” he asked, nodding to Penny.
“I’ve got her.” Her facial expression softened as she looked down at the slumbering girl.
Quietly, she pulled the door open, unfastened the booster seat, then pulled Penny into her arms. The little girl didn’t so much as twitch as Ryanne cradled her against her chest.
Ryanne wasn’t exactly a big female. She stood somewhere around five-foot-four or five. But Penny still looked so tiny in her arms. And those fuckers in the woods wouldn’t have hesitated to either use her as a bargaining tool to get Ryanne to do whatever they wanted or sell her to some sick bastard.
And he couldn’t stomach the thoughts of what might have happened to her.
“Sometimes,” Ryanne whispered as they walked to her front door, “I wish she had been born a boy.”
It was as though she were reading his thoughts.
Ryanne stuck the key into the doorknob then pushed it open. The scent of something feminine mixed with fresh baked cookies. It was a homey, welcoming smell.
She flipped a switch on the wall and turned on both the porch light and a lamp near the couch.
“Hang here for a minute and let me look around.”
“Do you need to let your friends know what you’re doing?” she asked, looking through the open front door.
The Pride stood outside the car, their eyes scanning the dark property.
“Nah. They’re watching out for you, too. Not our first rodeo.”
Daxon moved room to room, scenting the air, checking under beds, behind doors, and inside of closets. Just because he didn’t smell fur didn’t mean one of the crows wasn’t there waiting to finish the job of those assholes in the woods.
How had the Pride not realized those fuckers wouldn’t give up? There was a chance they weren’t connected to the previous rogues. They could simply be males looking to add to their harem. That shit had gone on for over a century. But the Shifter laws had changed. Males were no longer allowed to force a female into a pairing.
Yet, there were a lot of jackoffs who refused to follow the laws.
Regardless of who had gone after Ryanne, Daxon didn’t want to take any chances and have some dude waiting for him to leave so he could finish the job.
As he stepped into the bathroom to check behind the curtain, he smiled at the tub toys drying in a mesh bag hanging from the spigot. The bathroom was tidy, the purple fuzzy mat on the floor looked freshly vacuumed.
He’d gotten used to seeing girl stuff in the bathroom when Campbell and Charlie stayed at the trailer, but the only things in sight were some sweet-smelling body washes and fancy shampoo.
A pink toothbrush with a unicorn on the handle stood next to a purple one in a cup on the vanity. The mirror hanging over the sink reminded him of those medicine cabinets his parents had when he was a kid.
Everything in the house looked second hand but was in good condition. The house might be small and cheap, but it was clean and fresh.
The urge to climb on her roof and patch the hole hidden by the tarp was nearly as strong as the urge to pick up anything that belonged to Ryanne and inhale her scent until it was embedded in every cell of his body.
That thought made him stop short.
Turning, he looked down the narrow hall to see Ryanne still standing near the open door with her sister in her arms.
This woman was doing something to him. As his panther stretched and purred at the mere sight of her, he realized he’d be in trouble if he stayed here much longer. The other guys could have mates. That was fine. But he wasn’t mate material.
Or was he?
He had no idea what the fuck was going on in his head. He had never felt so damn discombobulated in his fucking life. He was damned near intoxicated by her scent that was on every item i
n this house.
Daxon wanted to roll on her couch, on her bed, wrap himself in her blankets and fill his lungs with the sweet scent.
Wait. He hadn’t seen any cookies sitting out anywhere when he’d come in. Was that vanilla scent Penny’s? They were obviously sisters, although Ryanne was a few shades darker than little Penny. But they had the same shape of eyes, the same straight nose, even the same full lips.
But where little Penny had stick straight blonde hair, blue eyes, and fair skin, Ryanne’s skin was the color of dark caramel or toffee, her curly hair was so dark brown it was almost black, and her eyes were honey-colored.
“I think you’re good,” Daxon said, snapping him out of the stupor he’d sunk into being near Ryanne.
It might be in her best interest if he stayed away from her. The Pride’s world was always chaotic. Even though they’d thought they no longer needed to actively hunt down rogues, they were still doing their best to find and free as many imprisoned women as possible.
After tonight, however, they might have to go back to the original MO of seeking out traffickers before they were able to disappear with some innocent female.
“Thanks again,” she said as she carried Penny further into the house.
“Want me to wait?” What the hell was he saying? He needed to leave.
“For what?” she asked, turning at the mouth of the hallway.
“Until you get her tucked in and get the house locked up?”
Ryanne’s eyes bounced around the living room. How did she see her own house? He saw a cozy place. There was a love seat that was probably the perfect size for the two girls. There was a smaller flat screen TV propped on top of a second hand, scuffed entertainment center, an older Oriental style rug positioned between the two giving the room a completed and warm feel.
There were dozens of pics of Penny and Ryanne together and some of Penny alone on the wall and the built-in shelves. He could honestly stay there all night and be at peace. Something he hadn’t felt in years.
Ryanne glanced through the open door. Campbell and Charlie stood on the porch smiling softly at her. She smiled back, but that blush was darker now.