“Hopefully, it’s finally some good news.” She straightened her shoulders. Maybe enjoying the peace of a hot bath would relax her.
“He’s found something if he’s coming here. He wouldn’t come to tell us that he’s still investigating. Good news or bad news, we’ll have to wait and see.” He stopped the car.
She nodded. The door to the house opened and Dawson rushed out. He rounded the car. She shoved open the door and stepped into his arms. He pulled her tight against him. She wrapped hers around him and squeezed hard.
“Damn, peaches, I almost went out of my mind.” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder. “You smell like blood. Are you hurt?”
“No, I’m not hurt. Some got on me.” She snuggled against him. It was so good to be home. Not the house, but with Ethan and Dawson. It would be even better when Griffin was here.
“Let’s get you inside and then I’ll hug you some more.” Dawson pulled away, but kept one arm around her.
She leaned into his side. “Have you heard from Griffin yet?”
“No.” Dawson shook his head
“We’ll call him. After you’re in the bath, I’ll go to the hospital. Dawson will stay with you.” Ethan came around the car and stopped beside them. “I’m going to bring in the groceries since John allowed us to bring them.”
She nodded and then tensed. “What about whatever we bought all this stuff for? It can’t happen with you at the hospital, Griffin hurt, and Dawson babysitting me.”
“Hey, you are not a baby.” Dawson scowled down at her.
His hand pushed against the small of her back. She strolled toward the door to the house.
“I didn’t mean it like that. Right now, I can’t be alone. It’s irritating.” She sighed. That fucking stalker had played havoc with her life.
“I know it is, peaches. I wish you could do as you like.” Dawson reached out and opened the door.
She strolled into the house in front of him. He waited until Ethan had come in with the first load before he pulled her into his arms. His lips slanted across hers. She relaxed into him.
The warmth of his mouth and the heat in his kiss seared her, pushing away the cold and isolation that had settled in her bones. His hand slipped down her body, cupping her ass and lifting her against him.
Her legs wrapped around his waist. So strong. She slid her arms around his neck and held him close. He groaned.
A hand landed on her shoulder. She tensed.
“Why don’t you go wash the blood off? I’m sure that will make you feel a little better.” Ethan rubbed her back. “You can touch more after your bath.”
She sighed. Damn. He was right. Before Dawson stripped and kissed her, the last of the blood had to come off.
“You know I should hit you for that.” Dawson lowered her to the floor, but his eyes focused beyond her.
Definitely not happy with his brother, but the two of them would work it out. She straightened as her feet touched the ground and reluctantly stepped back. Time to wash this junk away.
“Call Griffin.” She turned to Ethan. “I want to know how he is before I go scrub the blood out of my hair.”
“Sure thing, peaches.” Ethan dialed his phone and switched it to speakerphone.
She scratched at her head. Maybe some cat obsessiveness was emerging, but if she didn’t wash her hair soon, she’d probably pull it out. Her muscles tightened and a lead weight settled on her chest with each ring of the phone. Was he all right? The line clicked. She waited. Had it switched over to his message?
“Hi, Ethan, I’m still waiting for a doctor.” Griffin’s voice came over the line.
“They haven’t seen you yet?” Penny straightened. Her blood rushed through her. Why the fuck hadn’t the doctors checked him out?
“I told you that it’s likely I have a minor concussion. There was a wreck involving multiple cars. The serious injuries come before me.” Griffin laughed.
She exhaled. “How are you?”
“I’m all right. How are you?” he asked.
“I’m good. After I get off the phone, I’m planning to wash away every speck of blood and soak.” She leaned back against Dawson.
“That should relax you,” Griffin said.
“How’s your head?” She reached back and grabbed Dawson’s hand.
“I have a small headache,” Griffin admitted. “Nothing that wasn’t there before I got here. It will probably be a while before I can come home.”
“I’ll be there shortly. Penny wanted to know how you were before I left.” Ethan smiled at her.
“I’ll be fine, peaches. Go on, relax. I’ll see you when I get home. If I’m not there when you get out, you can call me,” Griffin said.
“As long as Ethan brings in my purse before he leaves. I left it in his car when I got out to hug Dawson.” She glanced over at Ethan.
“Will do.” Ethan nodded. “I’ll be leaving in a couple minutes, Griff. Is there anything you want.”
“Grab more clothes for me. They’ve got mine and all I’m wearing is a T-shirt and scrubs.” Griffin sighed.
“I’ll grab some.” Ethan laughed. “See you soon.”
Ethan swiped his thumb over the face of the phone. He stepped forward and kissed her cheek. “All right, peaches. He’s fine and I’ll be with him. You get in the bath and wash all that off you so that you can feel at ease. I’ll bring Griffin back. If you need anything, yell for Dawson.”
“She’d be yelling my name right about now if you hadn’t interrupted us.” Dawson wrapped an arm around her.
“Maybe, but if your mouth got near my chest, I would have remembered that I have blood on me. I wouldn’t want you licking there while I still felt sticky and dirty with it.” She shuddered.
“Peaches, if I’d tasted anything not you, I would have carried you to the shower and we would have continued there.” Dawson pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Go on and get in the bath. I have some things to do in here so I can’t join you.”
“Oh, Dawson, John said he’d be by when he got free so he might arrive before I get back. He said he had some things to tell us.” Ethan turned to the door.
He left. Penny sighed. Bath. She turned and headed for the bathroom. Shower first so she could wash her hair and then a soak. Dawson would come get her if John arrived.
* * * *
Penny secured her still damp hair on top of her head and headed for the kitchen. Maybe Dawson was there. If she was lucky, she could weasel a few morsels of information about what they planned for tonight. If it was still on. With Griffin’s head injury, they could call it off.
She peeked into the kitchen and found him cutting vegetables. He had a small pile that had already been chopped and several bags still awaiting the knife.
“Hey, need some help?” She stopped in the doorway.
“Sure, you can help me get through this mountain.” Dawson turned and grinned.
She strolled over and grabbed a knife. “And will you finally tell me what’s happening tonight?”.
The doorbell pealed. She straightened. Probably John, but Ethan and Griffin were still gone. Dawson turned.
“I’ll answer the door. Don’t worry. Ethan thought of this. They’ll be on the phone while we’re talking to John. They’ll know everything we do.” Dawson squeezed her hand before leaving.
Go, Ethan. She grabbed a cutting board. She could get a little done before they made it back in here. Everything else could be left until they finished the discussion with John.
“Penny, John’s here.” Dawson stopped in the doorway. “How about we sit around the table and let him talk?”
“Sure, I’m just getting a little more done.” She nodded. “Drinks.”
“I’ll get them. You sit down and call Ethan. He’s expecting it.” Dawson grabbed some glasses from the cabinet.
Penny grabbed her purse and fished out her phone. She dialed Ethan and tapped her foot. It rang twice.
“Hey, peaches, is John there? If he is, put me on
speakerphone,” Ethan asked.
Barely even a “hi.” She shook her head. Well, he certainly had his priorities in order.
“Yes, he’s here and I’m putting you on speakerphone now.” She activated speakerphone and put it down on the table.
“Good. So what have you learned, John?” Ethan asked.
She glanced across at the chief of police. He leaned back in the chair and nodded to Dawson as he put a glass of tea in front of him. Dawson handed her a cup and sat down next to her. She wrapped her fingers around the glass.
“All right, I still don’t know who your stalker is, so that threat is still out there.” John held up a hand.
“But you do know something?” She leaned forward.
“Yes, I do. The attack on you at the vet office, that wasn’t by chance and it wasn’t orchestrated by your stalker.” John took a breath and shook his head.
“Well, who was involved in it?” Griffin’s voice came over the phone.
“Patricia Hurd was the mastermind behind it. I think you know her, Penny.” John glanced over.
“The woman who moved in when Maggie left. Yeah, I know her. But I don’t understand how she could have gotten a key to the vet’s office. She seemed to have a real hate on for pets, so I can’t see her being friends with anyone from the office.” Penny turned the glass. “But why would she come after me now?”
“Because I told her she and her friends had to find another pride,” Ethan said. “How did she get the key?”
John exhaled. “It wasn’t her that came up with the key. Louis Durwood contacted her.”
“What?” Penny’s mouth fell open and she blinked. She gripped the table. Her stomach churned and the room tilted in front of her. Durwood?
Dawson leaned close. He rubbed his hand up and down her spine.
“How do you know?” Dawson scooted closer to her.
“We’ve slowly put it together since the attack at the vet’s. The two you captured talked almost the moment we got them in the police station. They had calls from Durwood on their phones. And they actually talked to both Durwood and Patricia Hurd in person when the money exchanged hands. I couldn’t tell you until I had enough proof.” John grimaced. “Your boss really didn’t like the fact that he couldn’t run you out as he did the others.”
“Yeah, but this almost guarantees I’m out of a job anyway. He’ll probably sell the business to finance a defense.” Penny ran her hand over the back of her neck. What the fuck am I going to do now? “Why did he want to get rid of me? Why did he even sell that share to me?”
“Maybe if you’d been the mate of a wolf, but the vet’s office will remain open.” John shook his head. “We’ve found some evidence of gambling. It could be that. We should learn more as the case goes to trial.”
“What does the fact that I’m not a wolf whyr have anything to do with it. I was a human when I first joined the practice.” She grabbed Dawson’s hand. An ember of hope flared to life. Maybe this wouldn’t be a disaster.
“It makes a difference, because he was part of an attack on a member of another group of whyr. There are rules about that.” John tapped his fingers on the tabletop.
“It’s to prevent infighting between the groups of whyr. The council oversees matters like this,” Ethan said. “I don’t know why they didn’t contact me though.”
“Because of the police investigation. In short, you’ll have half of the practice. The other half will be held in trust until a wolf vet wants to buy into it. You won’t have to do anything about that though. The wolf council will handle interviewing and selecting the wolf vet.” John took a drink of his tea.
“Did he think the men would scare me so much I wouldn’t come back?” She rubbed at her temples.
“He didn’t intend to scare you.” John straightened and exhaled.
She froze and the bottom dropped out of her stomach. “He meant to have me killed.”
“Yes, I’m sorry, but I won’t lie to you.” John frowned.
“Could he have paid someone to stalk her, to be her stalker?” Ethan asked.
“No, he’s confessed to everything he’s done. And we’ve checked his financials. The first payments were recent. He took advantage of an opportunity.” John shrugged.
“So we still have to deal with the damn stalker.” She exhaled.
“Yes, but we won’t have to deal with anyone else coming after you. We have the four cougars Jane, Brooke, Patricia, and Michelle, who was part of the arson. The vet is in custody as well as the attackers from the vet’s office. The male human who attacked you is still at large, but he should have to get medical help for those lacerations on his face and shoulder. I’ve alerted neighboring police forces and hospitals. We should be notified if he goes into a hospital.” John stood.
“Well, that’s good news. Thank you for that.” Penny exhaled. Why are those women so pissed at me? “Did the women attack me because they were being forced to leave?”
John blew out a breath. “Oh, they didn’t like that, but they blamed Ethan for that more than you. Thus, the fire at his house. No, they’re just prejudiced against anyone human, especially humans associating with whyr.”
“Fucking hell, a boss who wanted me dead because he couldn’t get out of the deal he made, a psycho roommate and her friends who hated me because I was human, and a stalker. Who the hell cursed me?” She threw up her hands.
Dawson squeezed her hand. “Hey, peaches, two of those threats are gone. Now, we just have to catch that stalker.”
She rubbed at the back of her neck. “Yeah, but how much more damage is he going to do before we catch him?”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Penny chopped fruit for a salad while Dawson stirred a pot on the stove. The big pain. He still wouldn’t tell her what all the food was for. Obviously some kind of gathering, but who? Not even naughty promises budged Dawson. At least she could help out until Griffin and Ethan arrived.
The door opened. Penny straightened. Her fingers tightened on the knife. A series of beeps followed. Hard soles hit the floor and advanced down the hallway. Dawson tensed, but didn’t turn around. Penny froze, knife poised in the air. Someone had put in the code. It had to be Ethan or Griffin.
Griffin strolled into the kitchen and plopped down in the chair. He braced his elbow on the table and leaned his face against his palm. Damn, he looked tired.
“Are you all right?” She dropped the knife and rushed to him.
“He’s fine. Slight concussion. But he’s got a headache from being at the hospital and arguing with the nurses and doctors. Dixie was there. Whenever he threatened to walk out, she took out her phone and told him she’d call you. According to him, the scans and tests took way too long.” Ethan leaned in the doorway. “Thank you for helping Dawson out, peaches.”
“It would be nice to know what we’ll do with all this food. I know we’re having guests, because even you guys can’t plow through all of this, but the question remains who.” She pointed at him.
“You’ll see soon. Why don’t you go put on something nice and relax.” Ethan strolled over and drew his fingers over her cheek. “We’ll get Griffin something to do he can do sitting down since he’s still feeling a little pain and I’ll go fire up the grill.”
She chuckled. “You know it doesn’t take me that much time to put on clothes and makeup.”
“I know that. I’ve watched you get ready. That’s why I added relax. We’ll handle the cooking and then we’ll come get you when our guests arrive. Now, off with you. I know you have a few things you’ve been looking at on the computer.” Ethan pointed toward the door.
Yeah, she had been looking at the computer. Since she was now responsible for most of the practice until the wolves found someone, she’d thought about changing the décor a little bit. It was all very austere. It was clean and it worked, but it should be friendly and welcoming.
“No working.” Dawson came over and pressed a fleeting kiss to her lips. “Play a game. Look at house
plans or something. Don’t think we haven’t noticed that you’ve been holding back there.”
“Yeah, if I get too involved, the cost will go way up.” She laughed.
“Why is that?” Ethan raised his brow.
“I’ve always wanted an indoor pool so I can swim in winter. And that would require more land.” She lifted a shoulder.
“With privacy windows so that no one can see in.” Griffin’s head lifted and his eyes widened.
“And here we go.” Dawson rolled his eyes. “He’s off.”
“That’s a genius idea.” Griffin turned and glared at his brother.
“You’re only thinking of the sex part. What about the large slide from the treehouse you mentioned when we discussed a pool for our future children and their friends.” Dawson went back to the stove.
Her eyes widened. She would have killed for something like that as a kid. Maybe they were right. With a membership to their gym, she could swim whenever she liked.
“I think maybe we might be able to compromise. We’ll discuss that later. Look at floorplans or furniture. Play a game. There are a couple consoles in the game room just waiting to be used.” Ethan grinned. “Now, we’ll check on you in a little while. Let us get to work.”
“All right, but keeping me in suspense is not nice.” She shook her finger at him before walking out.
Ethan laughed.
She headed back to the room. Makeup and a pretty dress. She could always change if the party included outside activities. Once she was finished, she grabbed her computer, Minnie’s treats, and went to the game room. She shook the treat bag and Minnie ran into the room.
Penny sat on the couch. Minnie jumped up beside her and sat.
“Hey, Minnie.” She opened the pouch and offered Minnie a treat.
Minnie leaned in and sniffed. The sleek gray feline took it from her fingers before dropping it onto the couch. Penny shook her head, but scratched between the cat’s ears. Pushover men were spoiling the cat.
“They’ve been feeding you again.” She narrowed her eyes and zipped the pouch.
She opened her computer and turned it on. As she waited a few moments, she petted Minnie. The cat crawled up in her lap and wedged herself between the computer and her stomach. Minnie nudged her hand. Penny stroked Minnie’s soft fur.
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