by Lynn Howard
Ryanne washed her face, then decided to apply a little makeup. She didn’t wear it often, but she had a five minute routine that made her look more polished without much effort.
After checking her reflection once more, she nodded at herself and stepped out. Beth and Jamie stood near the kitchen like they weren’t sure if they were allowed further in the house.
“You can make yourselves comfortable. We don’t have cable, but there are a ton of movies up there.” She pointed to the two shelves full of various genres, although they were mostly dominated by the rated G type.
“Do you mind if I make something to eat?” Beth asked.
“Beth,” Jamie warned.
“No. It’s fine. There are some leftovers in the fridge. Or help yourself to whatever. Just…try to be quiet so you don’t wake Penny up. And call me if there are any issues.”
With promises that everything would be fine, Ryanne grabbed her purse, pulled it up her shoulder, then headed to her car.
She was going to get to spend some time alone with Daxon. Well, not totally alone since they would be at a bar full of Shifters. But they wouldn’t have any underaged ears hanging on their every word.
Chapter Eight
Daxon’s knee bounced under the table as he watched the door. He couldn’t stop fidgeting.
This was stupid. He should wait for her outside, make sure she got in safely.
Lunging to his feet, he pushed through the packed tables, making his way to the door, but stopped when it opened and Ryanne stepped through.
His breath caught in his chest and he was sure his heart sped up. Her hair was down. Curls framed her toffee-colored face, a shine made her full lips look even fuller, and she had done something to her eyes to make them stand out more.
His mate was stunning.
Stopping in his tracks, he realized he had thought of her as his mate for some time now. But they’d never truly discussed it. She would have to be the one to decide when it was time.
But he sure did love her. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind she was the woman for him.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said when she drew near.
That flush, that pretty pink he’d grown to adore, darkened her cheeks as she ducked her eyes and smiled. “Thank you.”
“You hungry?”
“I could eat,” she said with a shrug.
Daxon settled his hand at the small of her back and guided her through the somewhat full bar toward the table he’d claimed when he had arrived.
They had eaten dinner together a few hours ago, but Shifting and running in their animal form tended to burn a lot of calories. He knew she had to be as hungry as he was.
“Thanks for thinking of this,” she said as she settled into her seat and set her purse on the empty chair.
“I should’ve asked first,” he said. What had he been thinking? It was obvious Ryanne was super protective of her little sister. And then he’d gone and sent two strangers, two teenagers over to her house to stay with Penny.
“It’s fine. I get what you were trying. I guess I’m just not used to romance. Or surprises.” The smile she gave him was apologetic and a little sad.
How could a woman as gorgeous as she was not be used to romance?
Penny. Ryanne had spent the last three years devoting her energy and time to her sister, to keeping her safe and healthy. She hadn’t had time to date.
Hollyn crossed the room, her smile wide, and held a pad and pen in her hand. “What can I get you guys?” she asked.
“I’ll have a cheeseburger. Medium rare. And some sweet potato fries if you have them.”
“Sure. And to drink?”
Ryanne chewed the inside of her cheek, then turned her eyes to Daxon. “Would it be really bad if I ordered a beer?”
“Not at all.” She was worried about drinking and driving. One beer wouldn’t hinder her abilities. She was too damn cute.
When had he become so squishy? Had the woman sitting across from her and the tiny girl sleeping back at her house changed who he was?
Nah. It had always been there. Only now, he finally had someone of his own to dote on.
“Okay. A Bud Light?” she asked.
“Of course. What about you, Daxon?”
“I’ll have the same. Only double my order of fries.”
“You got it.”
Hollyn smiled down at Ryanne once more before heading back to the bar and letting Noah know there was a food order.
“She is so sweet,” Ryanne said. “I still can’t believe she showed Penny…uh, her secret.”
“Yeah. She’s pretty great.”
Daxon was a little surprised Hollyn had shown Penny her magic in the middle of the bar, too. But he guessed nothing these women did should surprise him anymore. Look how soft Hollyn had made Noah.
“Come up and get your own beer, asshole,” Noah grumbled from the bar, jabbing a finger toward Daxon.
He was pretty much only soft with Hollyn, though.
“Does he not like you?” Ryanne asked, leaning in close and lowering her voice to a whisper.
“Nah. He’s like that with everyone. But he’s one of the most loyal friends you could ever have.”
Ryanne looked up at Noah with disbelief in her eyes as he set two beers on the counter, shook his head, then disappeared to the back to make their order.
“If you were to talk to him, you’d see a different side of him,” he promised.
Daxon should’ve warned Noah before Ryanne got there to be nice. But she didn’t seem the type to hold a grudge against anyone, especially someone she didn’t know.
“So,” Ryanne said, leaning forward and giving Daxon a glimpse of the cleavage he’d buried his face in last night. “This is what you do on your nights off?”
She was teasing. He could tell by the glint in her eyes.
“Well, lately, I’ve been spending my nights off with a beautiful woman.”
It had become obvious to Daxon what would make her blush and he realized he lived for those moments and did what he could to make it happen.
“On the nights you’re not with me, what do you normally do?”
“We used to hunt rogues and try to stop trafficking. And we had thought we could stop and live normal lives…”
“But?” she said when he didn’t finish his sentence.
“But it looks like there might be a new problem.”
“Because of what happened to me and Penny?”
“Yeah. I mean, I guess it could be an isolated incident, but what are the chances of that?”
Ryanne tilted her head and studied Daxon a few seconds, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth to worry it. “You do that a lot, don’t you?”
“Hunt rogues?” She nodded. “We used to. We haven’t done it in months.”
“But you think you will need to do it again?”
“Yeah.”
She continued to stare at him, then inhaled deeply and blew it out slowly like she was calming herself. “It’s dangerous, isn’t it. I saw the way your friends ran after those guys. The way they killed them.”
He wanted to lie to her, to tell her it wasn’t a problem, that there was no risk. He didn’t want her to worry about him every time he went out with his Pride. But she would see through the lie.
“Yeah. It can be dangerous. We’ve been injured a few times, but nothing we couldn’t heal from.”
“Yet.”
“What?”
“You haven’t been injured by anything you couldn’t heal from yet,” she said, still leaning forward, still tilting her head as she watched him closely.
He nodded, but didn’t know what to say to that.
“Then why do you do it?”
“Honestly?” Daxon asked. It was her turn to nod. “Because of people like you. And Penny. And Charlie. If we hadn’t come along when we did, only God knows what would have happened to you and your sister. But I can promise it wouldn’t have been anything good.”
Ryanne sat bac
k in her chair, her eyes going unfocused as she looked at the table. No doubt she was thinking about all the atrocities that she and Penny would have experienced.
“Thank you,” she said after a few minutes of silence.
“For what?”
“For saving us. For saving all those women. For caring what happens to people you’ve never met and didn’t know existed until that night.”
Her lips were pulled up in a soft smile as she rested her chin on her hand and stared at him. “Tell me something about you. Something most people don’t know.”
Something most people didn’t know? He wasn’t one to have deep, dark secrets or anything. His life was rather boring…except for the hunting and killing rogue Shifters and trying to find a way to prove the crows had something to do with all of this.
“Uhhh…” He racked his brain for something, anything even remotely interesting. “Okay. But you can’t laugh,” he said, narrowing his eyes playfully at Ryanne.
“I can’t promise that, but I’ll try.” Her smile was so sweet as she watched and waited for his possibly embarrassing secret.
He sighed dramatically like she was making him give out the codes to a nuclear weapon. “I listen to old music. As in music from the forties and fifties. It’s my favorite.”
“You were listening to country in the truck,” she said as she tried and failed to hide a smile.
“Yeah. I don’t mind country, but the rest of modern music is…boring.”
Ryanne chuckled lightly. “So, you’re an old man at heart?” she teased.
“Guess so. Now, your turn.”
Her smile faded a little and she chewed the inside of her cheek as she tried to think of something she was ready to reveal. He really wanted to know every aspect of her, but would never pressure her into telling him anything she didn’t want to reveal.
She leaned in closer so Daxon mimicked her, leaning forward so he could hear her. Lowering her voice to a whisper, Ryanne said, “My animal is submissive.”
He had a feeling of that already. She didn’t feel heavy, didn’t feel dominant. But the fact she told him meant she trusted him.
Right?
****
Ryanne couldn’t believe she had told Daxon that. Sharing her animal’s submissive nature revealed a major vulnerability.
But she trusted Daxon. He hadn’t given her a reason not to, and her lynx constantly purred and tried to declare him her mate.
Why hadn’t they discussed that yet? It was obvious they were meant to be together. But she knew she was definitely a little gun shy. It had only been a short time. Even if it was normal for Shifters to find their mates quickly, she wasn’t sure she was ready to hand her heart and life over to anyone. Not yet. Not until she was sure he wasn’t going to be killed some night when he was out trying to save someone like her.
Even if she knew he was in danger, could she really force herself to walk away from him? In the short time they’d spent together he had burrowed himself so deep into her heart. And yeah, a lot of that had to do with how he treated her baby sister. Anyone who could step into a brand-new relationship and act as if he’d been there all along, anyone who could treat Penny as if she had been his family for years easily won her heart.
If she’d been stronger, she could’ve offered to hunt with them. Or not. She still had Penny to take care of, still had to make sure her baby sister was safe.
“Thank you for telling me,” he said after a few moments. “And I promise to keep your secret if you’ll keep mine.”
Ryanne was snapped out of her funk with that one sentence. His face was serious, but she could see the twinkle in his pretty eyes. She had another of those moments where she had a hard time combining Daxon’s hard exterior with his soft and witty interior.
“I have to be honest. When we first met…I don’t know. I thought you were some kind of hard ass. You know? Like, no emotions, heavy metal, ready to fight anyone at any time.”
He extended his arms. “Because of these?” he asked.
“Yeah. And you just have this…don’t mess with me look on your face. Not with me and Penny, but even tonight, the second you look away from me and scan the room, your look turns all tough guy and intimidating.”
“Don’t let the oldies music fool you. I am a tough guy.” He lifted his arm and flexed his bicep. Even leaned his head down to press a kiss to the bulge.
Ryanne slapped a hand over her mouth as a loud, surprised bark of laughter escaped her. A few heads turned toward the sound, but they smiled and turned back to whatever they were doing.
She didn’t blame them; that had been one obnoxious laugh.
“I love to hear you laugh,” he said softly. “I love your smile. I love everything about you.”
That had come awful close to an admission of feelings. Were they ready for that? Was she? She knew how she felt about him, but knowing it and saying it aloud were two different beasts.
“I think you’re my mate,” she blurted out without giving her brain a chance to catch up with her mouth.
Wasn’t she literally just thinking it might be too early for any form of declaration?
“I know you’re my mate,” Daxon said without missing a beat.
And then they sat there staring at each other. Now what? They couldn’t exactly mark each other in a bar full of people. And Penny was back at home with two teenagers. Speaking of…
“How do you know Jamie and Beth? Are they part of your Pride?” She didn’t remember meeting them before, and she had thought she had met all of his Pride and most of his friends.
Daxon rubbed the back of his neck, looked around the room, lifted his beer to his lips and took a long pull. She had a feeling she wasn’t going to like the answer.
“Remember how Charlie was shot trying to help some women?” She nodded. “Well, Beth was one of those women we set free.”
“Okay. Why did you look so nervous telling me that?” She smiled reassuringly at him so he wouldn’t think she was mad.
“James, Jamie…he was taken as prisoner when we attacked some rogues trying to take off with another woman.”
Ryanne frowned at him. “I still don’t understand why you look so nervous. You helped three people that day, two of them being siblings. Kids.”
A frustrated sound came from his throat. “Jamie was one of the rogues.”
Ryanne stood up so fast her chair toppled over and caught the attention of the entire bar. “What?!” she screeched, grabbing for her purse so she could rush home before that son of a bitch stole her baby sister. “How could you—”
“Stop. Ry, wait,” he said, reaching for her and wrapping an arm around her bicep before she could run through the door. “He wasn’t a rogue. Please. Sit down and let me explain. I swear on my life, I would never leave anyone with Penny I didn’t trust. You have to believe me. You have to know that.”
Her whole body trembled with fear and anger. “Talk fast,” she said. If he said one thing she didn’t like, she would push him away from her and drive home as fast as the car would go.
“Okay. Listen. Calm down—”
“Talk!” she nearly screamed.
“He was being forced to run with them. He didn’t want to. He was just a kid. One of the people responsible for the trafficking used the fact he and Beth had nowhere to go and conned them into staying with the rest of the rogues. Then they used Beth as leverage to get him to do whatever they wanted. He was simply trying to survive and to keep his sister alive. He wasn’t a rogue. He never wanted anything to do with it. Jamie and Beth have been with Morse Pack for as long as Charlie has been with us. They’re part of the Pack. They’re trusted in the Pack. We trust them. I swear, Penny is safe. I swear Jamie and Beth are both safe for Penny to be around. You have to believe me.”
Daxon spoke so fast some of his words were jumbled. His eyes were wide, and she could’ve sworn there was moisture glimmering in them as he held onto her arm the whole time. And he was shaking almost as hard as she was.
Inhaling deeply through her nose, she held it for a count of three, then released it slowly through her mouth. It took three more times before she no longer felt like she would either pass out right there in the middle of the bar or Shift and tear into Daxon.
Huh. Guess her lynx wasn’t nearly as submissive as she’d thought.
“I’m in love with you, Dax, but if anything happens to my sister, I will kill you.”
Daxon released her arm and his eyes went wide. His lips moved like he was trying to say something but nothing would come out.
And then Ryanne realized what she had just said. Shit. This was so not the time for this.
“I’m so in love with you, too,” he muttered so softly Ryanne almost missed it.
It was Ryanne’s turn to fail to form words. She opened her mouth. Snapped it shut. Opened it again, then snapped it shut again when Hollyn came over with a tray filled with their food.
“Did you guys want another round of beer?” Hollyn asked as she set the food on the table. She looked back and forth between them, finally noticing they were both still standing. “Or did you want me to pack this up to go?” Her brows were pinched together in confusion.
Daxon waited for Ryanne to answer. It was obvious he didn’t know where to go from here. She had no idea, either.
“No. We’ll stay and eat,” Ryanne said, picking her chair up from the ground and setting it upright. She lowered slowly onto the seat and waited for Daxon to do the same. “I’ll take another beer. And a shot of Jager.”
His brows shot high. “Same,” he said, like he’d done when Ryanne had ordered food. “A shot?” he asked her when Hollyn walked away.
Ryanne shrugged up her shoulders and fidgeted with the straw wrapper on the table. “I need something to chill me out. And since I don’t have any Valium…”
It was a joke. Shifters weren’t really affected by things like Valium, at least not in the same dose a human would take. And not many doctors would prescribe high doses of that kind of thing to a patient who refused to be seen by anyone in his practice.