Wolf Shield Investigations: Boxset

by Dee Bridgnorth

  “Can I answer the question? I’m the one she asked.” He blew out an exasperated sigh before turning to her again. “I had a tendency to bust my way through problems like I was using a sledgehammer.”

  “What’s your actual name?” she asked as she flipped the steaks.

  “Oof.” Braxton was shaking his head when he entered the room. “That’s a touchy question. He never tells anybody his real name. I don’t even remember it.”

  “Maybe when this is all over.” Sledge winked.

  “Is Serenity your real name?” Braxton asked, leaning against the counter close to where she tended the steaks.

  “Like you don’t already know,” she smirked. “Like you don’t know everything about me down to my dental records and my elementary school report cards. Yes, it’s my real name. Maybe my mom was hoping for a little serenity in her life. I don’t know.” All of a sudden, she didn’t feel like joking anymore.

  And he understood why since she’d told him about it. That was the first time she’d ever spoken about that whole situation with anybody but her grandparents—and even then, they were never fans of talking about those days, especially not about the reason their daughter had forfeited her freedom when she was barely twenty years old.

  How did it feel having this perfect stranger knowing something so intimate? Something she’d been ashamed of for so long?

  “Here,” she breathed, going to the fridge for the salad. “Make yourselves useful.”

  A few minutes later, she had the steaks on a platter sitting under pats of butter. “Let them sit for a little,” she scolded when Zane immediately reached for one of the thick porterhouses. “The juice distributes itself better that way. Eat some salad.”

  “Whew,” Zane chuckled. “Did I take a wrong turn and end up at my mom’s house?” But he did what she asked too.

  “You’re not having steak?” Jace asked with a frown when she sat down to her salad. “Or a potato?”

  “Oh, God, no,” she laughed. “No, that’s for you guys. Salad’s as dangerous as I can get right now.” Even though her mouth watered, just like it had been watering since she’d slapped the steaks on the grill. She couldn’t even look to where butter melted into fluffy baked potato without her stomach clenching.

  “This is really generous. Thank you.” Braxton’s sincerity was almost enough to make her blush.

  “It’s nothing—a treat for me, honestly. I didn’t realize how much I miss cooking.” Not to mention cooking for people who appreciated it, who wouldn’t care how many calories were in this or that or whether it was too fatty.

  Even eating a salad was more fun when she had interesting conversation to listen to and a little ballbusting to laugh over. A lot of ballbusting, in fact. She got the sense of these guys liking each other a lot, respecting each other, trusting each other. They had to since some of their work was so dangerous.

  “So you took a bullet for the senator?” she gasped. It was enough to make her jaw drop.

  “It grazed me,” Jace assured her with a grin and a wink. “But yeah, I would’ve looked like a real dick letting a senator get shot on my watch.”

  “He wasn’t the one you were supposed to be taking care of though. It wasn’t up to you to take the shot for him.”

  He shrugged. “It was what it was. I didn’t want Kara to lose her dad either, and now that Krista’s starting to get the help she needs, she sees how wrong she was and how messed up that group made her. It would’ve been even worse if she’d shot him.”

  “Wow.” She looked over the table at all of them. “Would you all do that if called on to do it?”

  They nodded, shrugged, exchanged looks like this wasn’t even something worth thinking about, like it came naturally to them.

  Over the course of the night, she relaxed. She laughed loud and hard for the first time since she could remember, hard enough that her stomach ached and she couldn’t breathe more than once. For the first time since she’d moved to California, she felt like she was at home.

  It only took a stalker’s threats to bring her to this place. What would they think if they knew they’d only made her life better, even for one night?

  Chapter Fifteen

  “She’s a pretty cool girl.” Jace held up a bottle of beer, a question in his expression.

  “No, thanks,” Braxton muttered with a shake of his head. Tonight was fun and all, but he wanted to keep a clear head just in case. The presence of his teammates allowed him to breathe easier, but he couldn’t afford to rest.

  He sat with Jace by the pool while Zane gave Sledge the rundown on the cameras he’d set up. “We brought the motion and heat sensors with us,” Jace explained. “It should be interesting. I’m sure there’s plenty of movement out here thanks to where we are. I thought I sensed a bobcat earlier.”

  “I guess it’s better to be sure,” Braxton mused. “I know I don’t wanna take chances up here. There’ll be enough chances taken once she starts rehearsing for the movie. Her trainer will be here five times a week too getting her ready for stunt work.”

  “Wow. You don’t think about all the work that goes into this job.”

  “Can you imagine having to eat a salad while all of us were eating porterhouses and baked potatoes? I actually felt bad about it.”

  “Me too,” Braxton admitted. “But nobody twisted her arm to cook that way either.”

  “She’s a cool girl like I said.” He took a drink from his beer bottle, watching Braxton as he did. It was clear there was more he wanted to say.

  “She’s a girl who pissed somebody off. Badly. Enough that they had the twisted idea of taking somebody else’s murder and making it about her just to freak her out. I get the sense there’s a lot she hasn’t told me. She’s good at playing innocent, like she might’ve done something wrong but she had good intentions.”

  “You’re really that cynical about her? That’s not the impression I got at all.”

  He bristled. “Out with it.”

  “You’re sure you wanna hear it?” When Braxton didn’t answer, Jace leaned forward with his elbows on his knees and dropped his voice until it was barely a whisper. “You’re putting up walls. You gotta just accept it if she’s what your wolf wants.”

  “I don’t know if that’s the case or not—and I don’t like the distraction,” he added with a scowl.

  “I know. You know I do. That’s exactly how I felt.” A slow smile. “Congratulations. Now you know what I went through while we were trying so hard to keep Kara out of trouble. I didn’t know which end was up half the time. Did I want to save her life or kill her myself? There were times when quitting seemed easier. At least I wouldn’t have to suffer that indecision anymore, questioning myself.”

  “I’ve never questioned myself like this, not even… well, you know.” Before. When they were only men.

  “It’s like the universe laughing at us or something, isn’t it?” Jace snickered. “Like, why not put us in a situation we have no idea how to handle when we’re the type who don’t like not being able to handle things. We’ve gotta be in control all the time.”

  “Right. Yet here we are.”

  “Here we are.”

  Braxton wished he’d accepted a beer now. “You know, this doesn’t mean anything. I’m attracted to her. Anybody with eyes would be attracted to her. Don’t tell me you’re not.”

  “Don’t even start with me.” Jace laughed, holding his hands up. “I’m not going down this road. I’m mated, end of story. But whether or not you find her attractive isn’t the issue.”

  “What’s the issue, then?”

  Jace’s expression was one of disbelief, of humor… until he saw that Braxton wasn’t joking, which was when his face fell. “You didn’t do it on purpose?”

  “Do what?”

  “Oh, man.” Jace sank back in the chair, laughing. “There’s another thing we didn’t know would happen. You know, we should keep track of these things as they come up.”

  “What, for God�
�s sake? What did I do?”

  “Not you. Your wolf. I almost didn’t wanna enter the house, and I guess that was the point. You really didn’t know it was happening?”

  “No! What was it like?”

  He shrugged. “Like your wolf wanted us to know you’d claimed her. She’s yours. No touch.”

  He glanced inside the house, then up toward the bedroom. A light burned behind pulled curtains. He imagined her up there studying her script. “Do you think Sledge felt it too?”

  “I’m sure he did. It was impossible to miss.”

  “Damn.”

  “Would you relax?” Jace laughed. “It isn’t as bad as that, but you’re sitting here making it sound like a tragedy. This is just another thing we have to be aware of. That’s all. It isn’t the end of the world.”

  “That’s easy for you to say.”

  “Actually, you know I speak from experience. Don’t sulk.”

  “I’m not sulking. Children sulk.” He jerked a thumb toward the bedroom window above them. “She sulks. I don’t sulk.”

  “If you say so. Just, you know, don’t be so hard on yourself. None of us can help this. All we can do is go along with it and try to figure out how to live our lives now. That’s always been the case. Nothing has changed.”

  “Everything has changed,” Braxton insisted. “It would’ve been bad enough as a man, just a normal human. Having to be around her, having to navigate how I felt toward her while trying at the same time to do my job. Now, I have a wolf practically screaming in my ear half the time. It’s a miracle that I can even hear myself think. He wants me to—well, you know what he wants me to do.”

  “I know. I do. You’re preaching to the choir, my friend.”

  It was a comfort knowing Jace had been through all of this before, yet no matter how similar their situations might’ve been, there was no escaping the feeling that things were completely different. Sure, Kara was a senator’s daughter, a girl with a complicated life.

  That was nothing compared to Serenity’s situation. They weren’t even in the same ballpark.

  “You don’t think you can get her to back off?” Jace asked, careful with his words and with the look on his face like he knew the answer but felt like he had to ask anyway.

  “It means a lot to her.” He didn’t feel comfortable sharing anything more.

  “Of course it does. It’s her career. This is a huge break.”

  He shook his head. “It’s more than that. It’s a personal thing for her. She has a lot riding on this.”

  “Like what?” When Braxton grimaced in discomfort, Jace grew serious again. “Listen. This is where things get tricky. And I’m speaking both as your friend and as your teammate. I know you don’t want to break any intimacy between you guys or violate her trust or what have you, but this is what we do. This is where you have to draw the line between how you feel for her personally and whether or not you get the job done. If there’s a deeper reason why she insists on going through with this project, you have to tell us. It doesn’t mean we’ll tell her we know, but it’s better for us to have a full picture. You know that.”

  Yes, he did know that. It was just another pain point he would have to find a way through.

  So, after taking a deep breath, he filled Jace in on the specifics, what she’d told him and what she had left out—which was more telling than anything she’d said. By the time he finished, Jace looked sympathetic but no less intent on doing the job.

  “Well, that makes sense. I can see why she insists on going through with this.” He heaved a heavy sigh. “That’s a lot for anybody to take on themselves—especially a girl on her own.”

  Braxton only nodded, unable to speak. He didn’t trust himself to say anything more. He’d already said more than enough anyway. Jace now knew what he wrestled with, what he’d wrestled with ever since stepping foot inside the house and looking at the girl in question.

  The wolf knew what he wanted. He wanted her.

  What choice did any of them have once the wolf made a decision like that?

  Chapter Sixteen

  “Melody’s fine.” Serenity slid a bottle of kombucha across the counter for Angelica. “She’ll be around later. I think she’s still pouting a little. Luke’s on his way over even though I told him he didn’t have to bother.”

  “Please, don’t stop him. More eye candy for me.” Angelica winked before strutting out of the kitchen. Lola was in the living room with the four members of Wolf Shield, and from the way she laughed—that over-inflated, overdone laugh—it was clear she was doing her best to seduce at least one of them.

  It was almost enough to make Serenity stay in the kitchen. Anything was better than watching a friend make a fool of herself.

  Then again, maybe she wasn’t acting like a fool. Lola was pretty—beautiful even—and guys always thought she was hot. There was no reason at least one of the men wouldn’t bite at the bait she dangled in front of them.

  It was the thought of Braxton being the one to do it that made her feel sick.

  “So, which of you carries a gun?” Angelica asked. “And can I hold it?”

  She rolled her eyes and walked out to the living room before anybody made even bigger fools of themselves. “Can we not and say we did?” she sighed. “For real. I don’t wanna see guns waved around in here.”

  Braxton tried to catch her eye, but she wouldn’t let him—even if she wanted to look right back, even if she wanted to know if he found this whole thing as stupid as she did. She had the feeling he would, that he would’ve rolled his eyes a little and smirk because this whole situation really was laughable.

  She couldn’t bring herself to do it though—to look at him. It would mean they shared something, and the last thing she wanted was to share something with him, especially when Lola practically licked her lips every time she looked his way.

  This was a complication. She should never have given the okay for the girls to come over. The longer they talked, the dumber they sounded and the more she questioned her life and her choices. What was she doing with these people?

  “What the hell is going on?”

  She turned, stunned to find Luke standing not ten feet from her. There he went, managing to sneak around so quietly. It was unnerving even if she was glad to see him.

  He didn’t look glad to see her. He looked downright furious as he looked over the room.

  She didn’t see what there was to be so angry about. Zane was showing Angelica how to flip through the different camera feeds from around the outside of the house. Jace and Sledge were playing cards while Lola tried to help Sledge cheat—she’d already heard Jace talking about his girlfriend, so flirting would’ve been a lost cause. Braxton was pacing back and forth from one glass door to the other, the TV and fireplace in the middle.

  The way Luke looked and sounded, there might as well have been an orgy going on or a human sacrifice.

  She went to him, standing between him and the rest of the room. “Hey. I’m glad you came back.”

  He didn’t look at her, his dark eyes focused on the rest of the room instead. “Are you? It doesn’t seem like you need me around here.”

  Braxton spoke up from behind her. “We’re only staking this place out. Nothing more than that.”

  “I don’t remember asking you anything,” Luke murmured, staring at Braxton over Serenity’s shoulder.

  “Why are you trying to start a fight?” she whispered. “I thought you were coming back because you wanted to be here. I wanted you to come back but not if you’re gonna be this way.”

  He scoffed. “Why would you want me to come back when you have all the attention you could ever want here?”

  “Do you need us to take care of this?” Serenity didn’t need to look back at him to know Braxton wasn’t kidding. Luke’s eyes narrowed as a slow, snide smile began to spread. She could practically smell the testosterone flowing. It wasn’t pleasant.

  “Come here.” She took him by the arm, tucking her hand i
nside the crook of his elbow before pulling him into the kitchen. Either he knew better than to fight or he didn’t feel like it.

  “What is your problem?” she demanded in a tight whisper when they were alone. Everybody had gone quiet in the living room. There was hardly a whisper when everybody had been busy laughing and joking over the card game. She knew it was probably a combination of nobody quite knowing what to say and wanting to listen in on whatever she was about to say to Luke.

  “What’s my problem? What are all these guys doing here? What’s the point of all of this?”

  “You have to be joking. Are you seriously asking me that question? You know what this is all about.”

  He leaned down, his brow creasing. “Did something change? Have things gotten worse? Why are you keeping me in the dark?”

  “I’m not trying to keep you in the dark, but you weren’t here yesterday, and you didn’t see what I saw. You didn’t see that picture.” Just mentioning it made her shiver, the image flashing in front of her. The blood.

  “So what? Somebody sent you a picture, and you called in two more guys? This seems like it’s getting a little ridiculous.” He jerked his head in the direction of the living room. “What are they going to do about it?”

  “They’re going to do their job. They’re going to find out who did this and keep me away from them in the meantime.”

  He folded his arms. “So you don’t need me anymore, I guess. Is that how it is? I wish you would’ve told me.”

  “When did I ever say I don’t need you? Right now, I also need them.”

  “That’s not you talking. That’s somebody else. Somebody wants you to believe you’re not strong enough to handle this on your own.”

  “I think you’ve completely misunderstood the situation.”

  “Why? Because I’m not as smart as you?” He scoffed. “I don’t like the looks of those guys. I didn’t like them yesterday, and I don’t like it anymore now that there’s two more. If you’re not careful, that studio will be running your life in no time. Pretty soon, you won’t be able to take a piss without asking for permission.”