Her eyes met his, and she went numb. Her head swam and her knees buckled, forcing her to slump down onto the bed, her mind whirling with the implications.
Jared sat down beside her, slipping his arm around her shoulders.
“This is not happening,” she mumbled, shaking her head in disbelief. “I’m a partner in a law firm. I have to call my office. This is bad. Very bad.”
Her phone buzzed again, but as she reached for it, Jared stopped her, his face like stone. “Let it go to voicemail.”
“No. I’m not guilty of anything. If I start acting like I am, it’ll look even more suspicious.” With a quick breath, she scrolled up to answer the phone, holding it with both hands to keep from shaking.
“Hey, Angela…yeah, sorry about hanging up on you. I just turned it on. Pretty messed up, huh? What? No, I haven’t been home, why? What do you mean, they’re asking about me? No, I was pretty upset after the party, so I called a friend and went to stay with him. Yes, I said him. No, none of you have met him yet.
“What? I don’t know. I haven’t heard from Jesse since the party. Maybe he went back to my place and cleaned out his stuff. Missing? Not that I know of, but it certainly wouldn’t surprise me if he took off. Jesse was never one to not help himself to whatever he wanted. Look, I gotta go, but if anyone is asking for me tell them to call my cell. I’ll be in and out, and then I’m going away for a few days. Ha! You got that right. I could use a vacation. Okay, talk to you soon.”
Tanya hit end on her phone and put her head in her hand. Payton had come in while she talked to her friend, and she leaned against the dresser.
“You heard?” Jared asked.
Payton nodded. “Do you think we should call Aidan? Tanya, is there anyone you need to call? Your parents? A boyfriend, maybe?”
Jared stalked halfway across the room. “Payton, don’t be dense. She’s not calling anyone. As for her boyfriend, he’s now a scorch mark in the parking lot.”
“Jared!”
He exhaled, hand on his hips. “That just proves my point. The less people she talks to, the less chance there is any more of this is going to leak out. I have enough on my shoulders without having to worry about her freaking out and going postal, or pouring her heart out to one of her friends. Jesus, can you imagine the kind of nightmare that would create?”
Tanya pushed herself up from the bed, glaring at Jared’s back until he turned around.
“Look, Tanya, I’m sorry, but that’s the way it has to be,” he said, walking to where she stood.
Without warning or hesitation, Tanya backhanded Jared across the face. A red imprint welled on his stubbled cheek.
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not here, or like I’m some sort of incompetent, and don’t ever imply I can’t control myself. Considering what I’ve been through, I think I’ve more than demonstrated I’m capable of handling any level of weird.”
Payton cracked a smile at Jared’s stunned look. “I warned you about having your ears slapped back,” she teased, pushing past him to slide an arm around Tanya’s shoulders.
Eye to eye with the younger woman, she winked. “I don’t think I’m going to have to worry about you as much as I thought. C’mon. Let’s draw a nice, hot bubble bath and finish getting you settled.”
Jared’s face was grim, regardless of the finger marks Tanya left on his cheek. “Don’t fool yourselves, ladies. This is only going to get worse,” he called after them as they disappeared into Payton’s room.
Cursing under his breath he headed downstairs, but paused as soft, feminine laughter drifted down the hall. Rubbing his cheek, a flicker of a grin twitched at the corner of his mouth. Capable? Indeed. They both were.
Chapter Seven
Jared loped passed the stone wall marking the perimeter of his family’s compound. Raising his snout, he sniffed the air. It was full of spices and the delicious scent of home cooking. His mouth watered, and from the range of aromas he guessed his mother had cooked for an army, or more likely a handful of Sentinels who ate like one.
Swinging his big head toward the house, he took in the line of cars in the circular drive. An emergency meeting must have been called while he was chasing after Tanya. After seeing the local news, Jared didn’t have to wonder why.
A small wood and stucco outbuilding lay situated across from the perimeter wall. Inside were provisions including food and extra clothes for Sentinels assigned to run boundary patrols.
Phasing outside its door, Jared stood, his muscled back and firm buttocks flexing as he stretched for the key. If a meeting was in progress, there was no time to waste, regardless of how much he wanted a shower.
A loud, crude whistle, as obnoxious as any heard on the street, echoed behind him. Knowing exactly who it was, Jared clenched his teeth before turning his head.
“Need a little help there, Jared?” his sister, Claire, teased. She was with her best friend, Dana, who blushed red to the tips of her ears.
“No, Claire. I’ve got it covered.”
“Covered, huh? Well, that’s not how it looks from here, eh, Dana?” She smirked at her friend’s mortified face.
Key in hand, he took a step back from the door, careful not to bend or turn too much. The last thing he wanted was for his sister’s young friend to suffer anymore undue embarrassment.
For a shifter, Dana was unusually skittish around the nudity that went hand in hand with their kind. “Could you take a break from being such a brat for once, Claire? Your friend looks like she’d rather die than be here. Show a little sympathy, or is being a snarky brat the in thing?” he shot back, slipping the key into the lock.
“You should talk, Mr. Love’um and Leave’um. Although, from what I overheard in the kitchen, that’s all changed now,” she goaded, humming the wedding march.
Jared stiffened. Not caring how naked he was, he turned. Dana blanched, her gaze gluing to her feet. He felt bad for the shocked teen, but his sister needed a lesson in decorum, and more importantly, what it meant to be a member of the alpha’s immediate family. She should know better than to repeat what she overheard, even in jest.
Heat slicked across his skin, transforming him in seconds. Teeth bared, he lunged, and his paws hit Claire square in the chest, knocking her to the ground.
Jared was in complete control, but he snarled to make his point, his teeth were a hair’s breadth from his sister’s throat. With Claire pinned, he threw his head back and howled, ignoring her friend’s screams as she bolted across the lawn.
One by one the Sentinels came onto the porch. At the sight, Aidan folded his arms across his chest, annoyed. “Claire. Why am I not surprised? How many times have I warned you about that mouth of yours? One of these days I’m not going to be around, and Jared will have no one to answer to but himself. When that day comes, you’d better learn to run like your shy friend.”
“Who’s running where?” their mother asked, coming onto the porch. “Claire! Jared! What the hell is going on?”
Aidan smirked, but there was no humor in the set of his mouth. “What do you think?”
“Claire! As if we don’t have enough to worry about!”
Jared’s eyes met his sister’s angry and embarrassed glare, and he let her have it using their familial mind meld.
“Being a smartass doesn’t make you cool, Claire. It only shows how immature you still are. You know what’s been happening. You need to start thinking about what you say, before you open your mouth. Or do you want to be the reason one of us gets hurt?”
His words were firm as they brushed her mind, and Claire turned her head, averting his gaze. “Yeah, yeah, whatever—”
Jared caught her blink back tears despite her bravado. She was just a kid, and he knew she was scared. Not only of what threatened their world, but for him and Aidan and the rest of the Sentinels.
“It’s all good, Claire…so cut it out, okay? It’s starting to annoy the crap out of me.”
Despite the razzberry she blew his way, he nuzzled her
neck like he did when she was a little. Scraping his tongue from her neck to her ears in a sloppy, wet kiss, he hopped off and trotted into the house, leaving her in peace to wipe her tears in private.
***
The gathering looked more like a bunch of guys getting ready for Sunday afternoon football than a strategy meeting. Jared walked in buttoning his shirt. His stride was casual and unhurried, but his face was serious.
“Well, look who decided to join us. You finished frightening little girls, Jar?” Colton Sunderland joked, hooking his thumb Jared’s way.
“Hilarious. At least I don’t scare them just by looking at them, like you, you irritable fuck.”
Colton grinned. “Ha! It’s a thankless job, but somebody’s gotta do it!” He laughed, clapping Jared on the back as he sat beside him. Glancing over, Kyle and Evan chuckled nervously.
Colton Sunderland was a legend, and he scared the crap out of most juvenile wolves. Even now the two younger Sentinels gave the man a wide berth.
Aidan smirked. “Can we get down to it, please? The media is having a field day with this Meadowbrook clusterfuck, and we need to do damage control, not to mention figure out what we are going to do about these attacks. So far, this makes seven in the last two months, all lesser demons, and the questions remain, where the hell are they coming from and why?”
“Seven? We only account for three, including the one we took out last night. When and where were the others?” Jared asked, a little stunned by the stats.
“There were more attacks last night. In New Orleans. Bayou territory,” Aidan answered grimly.
“Have you spoken with their alpha about what happened? Was it a direct hit on his pack, or on the fringe like with ours?”
“Alain Grenville is securing his people and then heading north to discuss the situation with us. It wasn’t a direct attack. The lesser was caught within the peripheral boundaries of their compound, but not before it killed one civilian and severely injured another. They lost one of their Sentinels in the pursuit. So far, their compound and ours have been the only ones affected.”
“That’s only six. You said there were seven attacks,” Colton frowned.
“The total includes the attack six months ago in Montreal. At first, the elder council thought it was an isolated incident. The Laval pack reported it wasn’t even a fully formed lesser, and the attack only involved livestock. However, it appears that was the herald to what’s been happening now.”
“How are we going to deal with the media feeding frenzy at the trailhead? Plus, we still have the eyewitness to deal with.” Sliding his eyes sideways to Jared, Colton shrugged. “Sorry, dude, but it needs to be discussed.”
Jared opened his mouth to respond, but Aidan cut him off. “You’re right, but with these latest attacks we’ve got bigger fish to fry. Unfortunately, the human let curiosity get the better of her, and she followed where she shouldn’t have. She’s secure for now. It’ll keep.”
“What about the media? Want a couple of us to head over and do a mind-wipe on everyone?” Colton suggested.
“Can’t. It’s already been broadcast. We’d have to go door-to-door and mind-wipe the entire New York metropolitan area, all the suburbs, not to mention New Jersey and Connecticut. Forget it. I’m not Tommy Lee Jones and this isn’t Men in Black, although the idea of having a neutralizer is a tempting thought. We’ll have to let it play out,” Aidan answered tiredly.
Jared cleared his throat. “Aidan. Tanya’s been implicated at the scene.”
Aidan’s attention flew to his brother. “How? You said she was secured.”
“She is. She’s with Payton. Getting her there was harder than I thought it would be. Tanya is…difficult.”
“DIFFICULT? Jared, this is no joke. What happened? Did she go to the police?”
“Aidan, relax. It’s nothing like that.” Jared did his best to explain, but by the time he finished, there wasn’t a straight face in the room, that is except for Aidan.
The alpha’s eyes narrowed. “I’m glad you all think this is funny. At this point we can’t even mind-wipe this girl. The level of tampering we’d have to do would have her falling to the ground with migraines every time she tried to remember.
“It’s only a matter of time before the police show up looking to question her. Things are suspicious enough. The last thing we need is more ratings-grabbing, sensationalistic reporters sniffing around. Jared, you said you explained things to her. Does she understand? Does she get how serious this is?”
“Will you give it a rest, Aidan? Tanya’s fine where she is, for now. Payton, I’m sure, will find a way to reason with her. Besides, you’re partially to blame for this situation. You and Luke both. Where is he anyway?” Jared added, looking around. “Doesn’t matter. If the two of you hadn’t scared the crap out of her, things might have gone easier. As usual, you had to bite her head off. I know how serious this is, but Christ, Aidan, not everyone and everything is the threat you perceive them to be.”
Aidan didn’t reply. He glared at Jared for a moment and then simply walked to the window. Colton glanced between the two. Aidan’s back was turned, and Jared’s eyes were daggerlike, shooting straight between the alpha’s shoulder blades. Everyone else stayed quiet, afraid to utter a word.
“Luke was summoned home, Jared,” Colton offered, the silence grating on his ears like fingernails down a blackboard. “Your uncle is on some kind of a rampage. It’s not good. Something to do with a human girl Luke was seeing.”
Colton didn’t need to spell it out. It was no secret how their uncle felt about inter-mixed relationships. He bordered on the medieval when it came to that, and Jared felt his cousin’s pain whenever the subject came up.
Aidan turned from the window, his face grim. “Luke not being here leaves us another man short, but the girl being implicated might turn out to be a blessing. At least we know she’s not going to bolt, not with the police sniffing around.
“It buys us time until the council meeting is set. In the meantime we need every man available. I want the reserves list, as well as the name of every retiree still in the area. They can help secure the perimeters. Jared…you, Colton and I will reinforce the wards around the compound. As for the rest of you, get your game faces on. I’m doubling patrols as of now. At least until the council meets. After that, the elders can decide what’s to be done.”
Everyone dispersed without as much as a word. Jared was to take the first run after the wards were secured. He rose from his seat, catching Aidan’s eye. “I’m going to grab a shower before we get started. Give me ten minutes and I’ll meet you and Colton out at the south perimeter of the house.”
Turning toward the door, he felt his brother’s gaze. “What? Ten minutes too long for you?”
“Don’t be a jackass, Jared. I wanted to ask you about the girl. Is she okay?”
Jared shrugged, a little surprised the thought had even crossed his brother’s mind. “I don’t know, she seems okay. I mean, physically she’s fine” Unbelievably fine. Jared blinked at the errant thought.
Tanya was beautiful, there was no denying it. Images of her flashed through his mind. Her eyes like fire, her soft skin and the way she smelled. His cock jerked in response and he had to clear his throat, refocusing. “She’s a piece of work, though. Stubborn to a fault, though her instincts are sharp. Good sense of self-preservation. Tanya’s no fool, Aidan, and I don’t think it’s wise to treat her as one.”
“You do realize with tensions running as high as they are, the council isn’t going to play. If she’s a liability, especially now that the police are involved—”
“I understand. I’m no fool, either. The fact remains she’s claimed, and if push comes to shove, I’ll make her a wolf. The council is leaning way too far to the right these days, courtesy of our esteemed uncle. I won’t allow them to use Tanya for some masked power play.”
“You won’t allow? Aren’t you forgetting the blood oath we swore, or maybe you just needed ten minutes bac
k then, too?”
Jared stiffened. “Fuck you, Aidan!”
Aidan took a step forward, jabbing his finger into the younger man’s chest. “Something’s up with you, Jared, but right now I really don’t give a shit. I’ve got bigger problems to deal with than a little brother with a hard-on for some human chick. Do me a favor, either fuck her and get on with it, or hand her over to the council.”
Jared hissed, his fist connecting with Aidan’s square jaw. With an audible crack, the Alpha rocked back.
“Do me a favor, Aidan, and stay the fuck out of my way!” Turning on his heel, Jared stormed out, leaving his brother rubbing his jaw for more reasons than one punch.
Chapter Eight
Tanya opened her eyes, squinting against the sun streaming through the open window. Disoriented, she sat up, giving the room a quick scan. She slumped against the pillows.
It wasn’t just a bad dream. It was real, and the more awake she grew, the clearer it all became. Jesse was dead. Marlene, too. And she was the sole witness to it all. Well, the sole human witness.
Rolling over, she glanced at the clock on the nightstand. How long had she been asleep…an hour…two? Brows in a knot she squinted again, this time focusing on the digital display date and time. Impossible. She’d actually slept an entire day. Twenty-three hours to be exact. Maybe she suffered some kind of short-term coma. She inhaled. Nope. Just stress-induced exhaustion, courtesy of your average supernatural terror.
On the nightstand there were bits and pieces of a partially eaten sandwich and some kind of soup. Rubbing her eyes, Tanya had the vague recollection of someone trying to wake her up to eat, but since her mother was a thousand miles away, that only left Payton.
Tanya slid out of bed and stretched. What now? She had nothing—no clothes, no toiletries, not even a toothbrush. Exhaling, she padded to the bathroom. Snapping on the light, she looked around.
It was small and pretty, with a beach décor and cute little accents here and there. Payton had left clean towels and a hotel-style toiletries kit for her on the vanity. Tanya had to chuckle. Well, why not? Everyone thinks I’m on vacation.
The Wolf's Secret Witch: Howl's Romance (The Sentinel Brotherhood Book 1) Page 6