“Evil wolf.”
“Mmmm, that’s me.”
4
Tor
Dawn groaned and flicked her eyes open.
Tor tried to watch her silently from his chair across the room, but he couldn’t help it. He rose and moved to sit on the side of the bed next to her.
“Dawn,” he said, swallowing hard and touching her hand, avoiding the wedding ring. He shouldn’t be touching her. He shouldn’t even still be here. He needed to go.
“Who are you? Is my husband here?” She asked, her gaze finally focusing and connecting with his. Her dark hair was sprawled across the sheets like a fallen angel’s halo. Her icy blue eyes cut him to the core. She was perfect. Beautiful.
His.
But not.
And she was asking for her husband. That was the end of his hope. That word right there—husband. She would never be his. He looked away from her and started to rise.
She caught his arm. Their touch sent a sizzle of energy coursing through him. It was a lie from Fate. He refused to enjoy it. To desire it. It’d been a mistake to stay even this long. He should’ve left as soon as he saw the ring.
“I’ve seen you.”
“From the parking lot,” Tor answered.
“Right. I remember now. I remember thinking your hair was the same color as the tiger. You know I thought I saw a tiger and wolf save me from that lunatic, but I had to have been imagining things. He’d already knocked me against that dumpster several times.”
“I did not see a tiger when I picked you up, but anything is possible, right?” Tor answered her, hoping she wouldn’t see through his lie. He needed to go, but he couldn’t force himself to pull away from her hand.
“Probably not a tiger saving my life. I was easy pickings on the ground. More likely he would’ve just eaten me for dinner.”
He couldn’t help smiling at her comment. “No creature would dare,” Tor said, his cat was besotted with her. She would never be in danger from his beast.
“I was told moose were dangerous here, but no one said anything about large jungle cats.” He watched as she gingerly touched the back of her head, feeling around the bandage. “Or dumpsters.”
“How are you feeling? Does your head hurt too much? Connie said to call her once you woke.”
Too many questions. She stared at him. He could tell her brain wasn’t registering words quite that fast yet.
“I’m okay.” She paused. “Where am I?”
“In the apartment above the bar. I stayed with you. Ryder and his wife are in the living room. And Liam is downstairs in the bar. We weren’t going to leave you alone.”
“Who’s Connie?”
“She’s the town’s EMT. She bandaged you and checked you out after we carried you upstairs.” Tor pushed a piece of her hair back and tucked it behind her ear. “Are you in much pain?”
Stop touching her, you idiot.
Dawn took a deep breath and winced. “Maybe I’m not as good as I thought. My ribs feel like a dump truck ran over me. Twice.”
“I’m calling Connie,” a female voice called out from the other room.
Dawn turned toward Ava’s voice.
“Thank you, Ava” Tor said, into the darkness that was the living area of the apartment.
“Tell me your name again?”
“Tor,” he said.
“Tor,” she said, rolling the name off her tongue like it was a tasty piece of chocolate silk pie.
It made Tor’s tiger purr. He put a quick halt to that nonsense.
“I like it. It’s a cool name.”
“You’re staying here in case they come back?” She asked, first turning to Tor and then to Ava, who had stepped from the darkness into the semi-lit bedroom.
“Yes. They won’t touch you again, Dawn,” Tor said, sweeping another piece of hair from her face and tucking it behind her other ear. He needed to stop that. Every time he touched her, he wanted to touch her again. “I can’t stay, but Ava and Ryder will be with be with you.”
Dawn met his gaze and he could’ve sworn there were tears about to slide down those creamy pale cheeks. She would be the death of him.
An abrupt knock at the door startled them out of the moment.
“I’ll get it,” Ava said, disappearing from view.
“Sorry it’s getting late, but you said to call.” Ava’s voice drifted in from the other room.
“Oh, no. I’ve been waiting for your call. I hoped it wouldn’t take her too long to wake up. And I’d rather check in with her before she drifts off again. After getting the stuffing knocked out of her, I’ll expect her to be in bed several days.”
Light footsteps preceded Connie entering the bedroom.
“I can’t stay in bed for days. I have to work in the kitchen. There’s no cook.”
Connie smiled at her and waved a hand at Tor. “Lucky for you, Tor can cook like a dream. He’ll work for you, won’t you Tor?”
“You cook?” Dawn turned and looked up at Tor.
He froze. Damn that woman. “I’m busy. Sorry,” he grated the words out. He’d waited and wanted the job for months. Naomi had been teaching him how to cook since he got here. He was really good at it. The Watering Hole was supposed to have been his chance. But now she would be there.
He couldn’t work for her every day.
See her every day.
He would go insane.
“I have to go,” he said, his voice gruffer than he meant for it to be. He didn’t want to hurt Dawn.
Ever.
But he couldn’t stay. He hurried from the room, through the apartment, and out the door.
He sucked in a deep breath once he was outside. The cool crisp morning air was a welcome relief to the terror he’d felt just a moment ago when Connie decided to volunteer him to work for his shuarra.
His married, very unavailable, shuarra.
Dawn
She watched Tor walk out of her bedroom. What had she done? He’d seemed so nice and then when Ava had mentioned cooking for the bar, he’d practically growled and run. The door slammed behind him from across the living room and she jumped a little.
Ava turned back around and met her gaze. “That was strange. He’s been waiting to ask the new owner of the bar for a job, cause Liam wouldn’t hire him without owner approval.”
Wait? What? Dawn rubbed her head and grimaced. That made even less sense. She could’ve sworn the man was flirting with her. He’d been touching her. Watching over her like she was about to break into a million pieces.
“It’s fine. He certainly doesn’t need to feel obligated to work at the bar just because he helped me tonight.”
She liked Tor. He was adorable and sexy all rolled up into one. And gentle. His touch was nothing like her husbands—ex-husband’s. She corrected herself in her mind. Adam had never been gentle. She couldn’t even remember one time when he’d stroked her cheek or pushed a piece of hair from her face the way Tor had done.
But, story of her life, apparently, she’d read Tor all wrong. Cause he’d just made it clear as filtered water that he didn’t want anything to do with her or the bar.
Dawn sighed.
It wasn’t like she needed a guy in her life anyway.
She was attracted to him. Having him work at the bar would be a problem. Her life was a mess anyway. She was on the tail end of a divorce and she didn’t have the best luck choosing men. No need to rush toward another one. It would be better to find someone else. Someone old and unattractive to help in the kitchen.
“Surely there are other people in this town that can cook.”
Ava’s eyes widened and she shook her head slowly. “None that are looking for jobs. This town is small. We like it that way, but Liam’s and Lars had been looking for a cook for a while. They’ve had a few people in and out a few months at a time, but nobody worth keeping.”
Dawn laid back down on the bed, careful of her head. “Great. So, I should beg Tor to come back? I must’ve said something that
bothered him.”
Still, the last thing she wanted was to be beholden to a man. She hadn’t even been in town a day. She already owed Tor and Ryder a debt of gratitude for the save in the parking lot. Sure, she’d seen a wolf and a tiger, but that had to be all in her mind. They’d looked like something from another world. The wolf had been huge. As tall as a Great Dane and as husky as a Newfoundland. The tiger had also been abnormally huge with prehistoric-sized canines.
She was crazy.
Lack of oxygen.
Those were the only two explanations.
But she wasn’t a great cook and the bar deserved someone who really knew what they were doing. And that wasn’t her. She’d managed last night, but just barely. And Liam only had her cooking two different things.
She couldn’t imagine how she would juggle a whole menu. Even half a menu.
“I’ll talk to him tomorrow. He’ll help. I’m not sure what bug bit him tonight, but he’ll come around. I’ve never seen him not help anyone who needed it. And he wanted that job.” Ava glanced at Dawn again and stared, like she was looking for something she’d missed.
“What?”
“I don’t know. Just trying to decide when during the conversation he got grumpy.”
A heavy knock rapped at the front door. Dawn heard footsteps crossing the living area. “Your husband is out there still, right? He didn’t leave.”
“Oh, yes. We aren’t going anywhere. We’ll be here all night. And honestly, if I know Tor, he’s probably just sitting out in his truck watching the bar. You’re going to be fine. I promise.”
“I’m not usually this needy. It’s just been such a long day. I drove four hundred miles today. Found out I had a bar. Worked the kitchen in the bar. Got attacked and told to sell said bar. And now I’m surrounded by people I don’t know, and I’ve already ticked off one of them.”
Ava flashed her a wide smile. “I don’t know about the guys, but you’re stuck with me. I need a girlfriend and you look like you need a friend. And like I said, Tor is being weird. Let me talk to him.”
“I don’t want him to work for the bar if he doesn’t want to. Please. The last thing I need is a guy resenting me or feeling like I owe him something. I just—” Dawn cut herself off before she mentioned her ex—Adam. Mystery was her fresh slate. Maybe Ava would be a fresh start too. She didn’t need to bog anyone down with her baggage right off the bat. Ex-husband baggage was more on the friend level of six months down the road with a pitcher full of margaritas on the table.
“Don’t worry. And he would never see it that way. Seriously the man has the biggest heart. And he likes you, it wasn’t like he was hiding it well.”
“It doesn’t matter. I’m not ready for a relationship.”
“Hey, ladies. Am I interrupting anything good?”
“No,” Dawn answered quickly. “Sorry, did they wake you. You didn’t have to come all the way back over here.”
Connie laughed. “I was waiting to be called. Wouldn’t have slept a wink until I’d checked up on you again. Honestly, I should’ve just parked my butt on your couch and waited. Would’ve been better for me all around.”
Dawn smiled, feeling a little less guilty. Connie was a tall, full-of-energy, woman. Her green eyes sparkled with mischief and fun. She was being honest when she said she didn’t hold it against her for calling so late.
Connie flashed a light around. Told her to watch it. She checked the wound on the back of her head again and put some fresh gauze on it.
“Should be healed up enough tomorrow to rinse some of the blood out of your poor hair, but not tonight. Just let it sit. The cut’s not deep enough for stitches, but head wounds always bleed so damn much.”
“Thank you,” Dawn said, leaning back down onto the pillows at Connie’s insistence.
“My pleasure. You get some rest. I’ll swing by tomorrow and check on you again.” She pulled a small orange bottle out of her red medical kit. “Take one of these now and if you need it one in the morning, but don’t take more than two a day. The bruises on the rest of you are going to start aching more tomorrow, so be prepared. Your concussion isn’t bad, so I’m not worried.”
Dawn took the offered pill and swallowed it down without a thought. “I really do appreciate it.”
“No worries,” she said with a smile. “I’ll let myself out.” She waved off Ava and left the room as quickly as she entered. The front door opened and closed softly.
Dawn listened for the snick of the deadbolt and then relaxed just a bit more.
“I’ll be right in the living room. Just holler if you need anything. In fact,” she said, leaving the room. She was gone for a few seconds and then reappeared with a glass of water in her hand. Ava put it down on the bare nightstand. “Just in case. That way you don’t have to get up and fumble around in an unfamiliar kitchen.”
“Thanks,” Dawn said, feeling like a broken record. These people were being so nice. They were caring for her more than her own mother would’ve and they barely knew her. Tears welled, unshed and she turned away from Ava and tried to hide the emotions bubbling to the surface.
Everything hurt. Her head throbbed. Breathing was a conscious effort. Her arm ached where the guy had grabbed her. She could still smell his horrid breath and hear his voice echoing in her head. The threat. The pain.
It would be so much easier to just go.
Except that she wanted to stay. She wanted to see Tor again. She wanted the new life this town could offer.
Tor
“How is she?” Tor asked, stepping out of the shadows near Connie’s truck.
A slight yelp slipped from between the young EMT’s lips and her eyes widened in the moonlight. “Good grief. I should be used to you guys sneaking about like you do. But I’m not.”
“How is she?”
“She’s going to be fine. Dawn will be fine. She needs to rest for at least a couple of days. She’s gonna hurt like hell, but I get the feeling she’s a stubborn one and isn’t going to follow directions.” Connie tucked her bag into a compartment on the side of her truck. “Why did you leave? She’s upset that you’re not in there.”
Tor’s heart crawled up into his throat and lodged itself there like a rock. How could she know that? Had Dawn said something? He hadn’t told any of the others, not even Ryder that he’d seen the soul call in her.
“I can’t.”
“You were literally rubbing yourself against her, dude. What happened?”
“She’s married. That’s what happened,” Tor said, his voice more of a snarl than he meant for it to be.
Connie jumped backward a step and put her hand on the gun at her hip. Her body relaxed a split second later as the information registered its meaning. “Oh,” she said, her voice soft. She stepped back to him and put her arms out.
He shook his head. He didn’t want comfort. His animal was angry. His tiger wanted to be with Dawn. His tiger didn’t care. His beast would care for his shuarra no matter what. No matter if they never got to claim her as their own. He was bonding to her whether he liked it or not. The man in him was hurting though. And the man in him wanted to be angry.
“I can’t be around her.”
“You can’t leave her Tor. I’ve seen how your magick works between you guys”
“She can find someone else to cook in her damn bar.”
“You know she won’t.” Connie opened the driver’s side door. “If she does anything unusual. Bumps into things. Slurs her words. Gets lightheaded. You need to have her sit down immediately and then call me back.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“You’re going to be with her.”
“I’m not.” He straightened and stepped away from the truck, halfway back into the shadows.
A black SUV drove down the main road slowly. The lights were off, but Tor could smell the men inside. One of them was the man who’d attacked Dawn earlier that evening. His tiger could still taste the blood and wanted to go after them.
He nodded his head. “I’ll eat them if they come near the building.”
Connie grinned. “That’s my kitty cat.” She climbed up into her truck. “I’ll be back tomorrow. If you make a mess, be sure to clean up.”
5
Tor
All night he watched, never moving from his hiding place in the trees. Luckily this town was very undeveloped and covered with patches of forest throughout the town. It made hiding easy and slipping from building to building undetected even easier. Which was helpful and harmful at the same time.
The black SUV had passed by only once more that night. They were sticking with their vehicle for now, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t try something else later.
Liam had kept the lights on in The Watering Hole all night. The old soldier had slept there. Ryder and Ava flipped lights on and off all night upstairs too. It had seemed to deter them for now, but his instinct said they were just biding their time.
They would be back and if someone wasn’t with Dawn. He couldn’t let his imagination run wild with the thought. His tiger was already close to the edge. His magick pushed at his conscious.
His beast wanted out.
It wanted to eliminate the threat to Dawn.
Right. Now.
The door of Dawn’s apartment opened. Ryder emerged and walked down into the parking lot. Tor walked silently out of the trees toward his friend.
The wolf was a good man. Good to Ava. Loyal to his mate. Tor hoped at some point to convince Col to allow them both to join the Tribe officially. But for now, at least they had Col’s blessing to remain in the town as long as they stayed off the Tribe’s land.
All's Were That Ends Were: Soulmate Shifters World (Soulmate Shifters in Mystery, Alaska Book 6) Page 4