Gable strolled to the door. His heart pounded in his chest. He checked through the video monitor to the side of it. John, still in police uniform, but with everything, they couldn’t be too careful. Tension eased out of his shoulders. He opened the door and stepped back.
John nodded and walked into their house. The brown-haired man strolled down the hallway. Not the first time he’d been here, and it probably wouldn’t be the last.
“Hi, John, come on into the living room. Would you like something to eat?” Gable asked.
“Nothing for me. I just finished a cup of coffee.” John waved his hand as he strode into the living room.
John walked across the white carpet and took a seat in the plush, black chair. Gable dropped onto the couch. Maddox and Micah sat beside him, both casually dressed for a day at home in jeans and T-shirts. They both said hello.
“All right, enough of the pleasantries.” Maddox leaned forward and clasped his hands together. “What has happened or what have you learned? You said you needed to talk to us.”
“I do. There’s been an incident. I can’t be sure that it's connected to your attacks though.” John rolled his shoulders.
“An incident?” Micah frowned.
If it didn’t happen to them or around them, how could it be connected? Gable tilted his head. A sinking knot formed in his stomach. Oh, no, not her. He gasped.
“Dixie?” Gable sat forward.
“Yes, Dixie.” John nodded.
“What happened?” Micah rose to his feet and paced the length of the room.
“A hit-and-run. She’s all right, but we have no clues about who. The car was stolen. It could be kids, but it could be more which is why I’m telling you this.” John ran a hand through his hair.
“This shit has to stop,” Maddox growled, and his open hand smacked against the arm of the couch. “We need to catch this asshole.”
“You could try drawing the person out.” John took a deep breath.
“I’m not putting her in danger. We’re not even sure that there is a connection to the attacks.” Gable shook his head. No way in hell. If this wasn’t the person after her, if they brought her into their lives, she would definitely be in danger.
“I’m not suggesting that. I’m friends with her uncles. I like my head where it is. But we might draw the person out with a date with someone who knows the facts and is able to take care of themselves.” John clasped her hands together.
“You think that someone might be watching us.” Micah rubbed at his temples. “I told her that she’d be safe when she pointed out someone could have seen us in that parking lot.”
“As I said, the incident with her might be someone else.” John shook his head. “But if there is someone following, they might bite if they see you with another woman.”
“Do you think it would work?” Maddox clenched his fists.
“It could, but what we do know is that the person after you hasn’t stopped and probably won’t until he’s caught.” John lifted a shoulder. “It might help if we had some clue of what he wanted or his identity, but this guy isn’t a communicator. He just keeps coming after you.”
“What would this entail? Because we won’t cheat on our mate. We’ve just found her, and staying away is ripping at us.” Gable stared down at the floor. Fuck, even touching another woman casually would be hard.
“Nothing too bad, maybe some hand-holding, looking at each other across the table, walking her to her door, and going inside with her.” John shook his head. “I don’t want to make your mating with Dixie even harder than it already is.”
“Well, if she finds out about this, it won’t make it any easier.” Micah whipped around.
“She will understand about a date if we catch this person. I’ll explain it to her after it happens.” John held up his hand.
“I’ll do it. There’s no need for all of us to be involved.” Gable exhaled. Micah especially needed to stay out of it. If it ended this, it would be worth it to get this finished.
“I’ll arrange a couple meetings with a female officer. We can’t have you start dating her all of a sudden. It would be unbelievable. If someone is watching you, they need to see you doing normal things with her.” John clasped his hands together. “Every scent we’ve caught with the attacks was human. They might fall for a switch up.”
“I just wish we had some idea of who or why. None of us have had any threats against us.” Micah ran a hand over his neck.
“I’ll leave you to it. We will find the person. It’s just a matter of time. Something will happen or one of the person’s coconspirators will turn on him.” John nodded.
Gable walked John to the door and walked back to the living room. There would be a discussion about this. Without a doubt. The risk of Dixie being hurt or angry would be enough to warrant it.
“Are you sure about this?” Maddox looked up. “You’ll be on your own with this if she gets angry about it because I’m not taking the heat. This isn’t a good idea when we know we have a mate.”
“Good luck with that. We’re all on her list right now, and I have a feeling that if she hears about it, it will fall on all of us anyway.” Micah shook his head.
“But good to know that you’d let me take the entire blame anyway.” Gable narrowed his eyes on Maddox.
“Hey, do you think I want to start out our mating on her shit list?” Maddox laughed.
“Well, it’s not top of my list of things to do either, but if it gets this guy any closer to being caught, I’ll do it. The faster he’s found, the faster we can claim her.” Gable lifted his shoulder. “Unless something happens, we can’t go near her.”
“Yeah, we find him, or I go into mating heat. Those are the only two ways we can be with her now.” Micah shook his head.
“Are you feeling signs of it?” Gable leaned forward. If he was, they were so screwed.
“Not yet. I don’t think. I do think of her a lot, but there aren’t any physical signs yet.” Micah ran a hand through his hair.
“Well, then, hopefully, these meetings with the undercover officer will draw the person out.” Gable clasped his hands together. Living together in the same city and not being able to claim her was a version of hell designed to make him go crazy.
* * * *
Gable gritted his teeth. This was the second full date with the undercover. And that was after four meetings at coffee shops, restaurants, and clubs. Nothing. None of it had drawn a reaction from their attacker.
This time they’d come to a restaurant with all the romantic clichés—white tablecloth, dark suit, small table, candlelight. And a partner who didn’t belong across from him, but who had to be there if they hoped to lure the asshole out.
The black-haired woman, Kennedy, leaned forward. “You need to try to look happy and entertained. Otherwise we might as well call all of this off right now.”
“I don’t know what good it’s doing anyway. The person hasn’t made a move.” Gable pulled his lips up into a smile. Fucking hell. This wasn’t how he thought it would go.
“An operation like this isn’t a short-term thing. It’s something that takes a while to lure someone out.” The woman drew her finger up the side of his arm.
“Ugh, time might not be on our side. Did John happen to tell you that we have a mate?” He clasped her hand. His skin crawled with every touch. Fuck, he would owe Dixie a huge apology. Epic.
“Yes, he did. I think it’s sweet that you want to speed this up so much.” Kennedy smiled.
“I don’t think our mate would agree with that assessment.” He shook his head but continued to hold her hand.
“She’ll understand once it’s explained to her. Until then, though, you might get a few cold shoulders.” Kennedy shrugged. “I’m sure you’ll think it’s worth it when you can actually have her as part of your life.”
“Yeah, if that actually happens.” Gable looked down at the tablecloth before lifting his head and smiling.
Chapter Five
Dixie strolled into the Wild Beat. An ache throbbed in her legs, but she’d gotten lucky. Deep tissue bruising on her legs, stiffness, and a possible hairline fracture that required an aircast. She wouldn’t be changing to her bear anytime in the next few weeks, but it was a small price to pay when she could be wearing casts on both legs.
Girls’ night. Music pounded, and red and white lights flashed to the beat. The one night she could relax and have fun. Work had been tense, but she had only seen Micah twice and on the same day.
Every day was a freaking lottery and not the good kind. Would she have to deal with Mr. Attitude? Throwing out the excuse that “it’s not safe,” but he wouldn’t tell her anything else.
If this continued, she’d move to another ward. Anything to get a little peace. Even that might not help. It wasn’t so much seeing him or doing her job as a nurse. The problem was the wondering. Would she see him? Would he say anything about their mating? When would his mysterious problem be fixed?
“Dixie!” Chloe waved from her table.
“Chloe!” Dixie called back. She wove through the other tables and hugged her friend. Chloe’s bright red hair hung down her back.
“How are you? How’s work?” Chloe sat back down.
“I’m doing all right.” Dixie nodded. “It’s not exactly easy working with Micah when I don’t want to see him, but the good thing about that is that I don’t have to run into him every day. And he’s the only one I really have a chance of encountering.”
“That’s good.” Chloe nodded.
“What’s up with you? Are you back to the nonalcoholics? You’d stopped for a little while.” Dixie tilted her head.
“Now that it’s safe for me to get pregnant, we’re back to seriously trying.” Chloe lifted a shoulder. “And I’m having some fun doing it.”
“I bet you are, you lucky woman, but no details. Don’t need the ick factor. How much more obsessively do think they’ll watch you now?” Dixie raised her brows.
Chloe laughed. “You’re just a little jealous that you’re not in the same situation. And I still want to smack on those men for putting you through this. Too bad they’re bears, or I’d launch their asses.”
“Hell yes, I’m jealous. I wish I could be in your situation or even with my mates. It’s not supposed to go like this. Not at all.” Dixie shook her head. “And the fates or Cupid or whoever seriously sucks. I don’t know whose ass I kicked to deserve this, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t worth this level of suffering.”
“Mating has nothing to do with Cupid.” Shonna patted her on the back.
“Yeah, but mating usually moves forward. Meet, talk, sex, mate, or some variation of that order. None of it has gone according to the normal way of things. We met. They said they couldn’t and stayed far away from me. And they hadn’t even met my family yet. So no reason to run away.” Dixie threw up her hands.
“Yeah, your brother is a little scary.” Shonna nodded. “That is one intense man. I wouldn’t be surprised if he doesn’t challenge for leadership sometime.”
“Brent is a teddy bear.” Dixie waved her hand. He was big, but he wasn’t a threat.
“Yeah, but you’re his baby sister. Of course he’s a teddy bear with you. Just wait until your men have to go through the gauntlet of meeting your other brothers and Brent’s partners.” Shonna shook her head. “To almost any other person, he’s a big, intimidating, razor-clawed monster.”
“As if you’ve ever seen Brent’s claws, you big exaggerator.” Dixie laughed. “He considers you a younger sister, and you know it.”
“Yeah, but I’m not blind to the fact that he’s not a sweet, cuddly bear.” Shonna lifted her hand to catch the waitress’ attention. “He’s a predator, even more so than other bears. And your men might feel the brunt of that.”
“This isn’t a good day to talk to me about that. Right now, I’m in the mood for them to get smacked around a little by just about anyone.” Dixie rolled her shoulders. “So how is everything?”
“Yeah, I can understand that. I’m doing good. Work’s good and quiet for once on the drama front, but I’m sure that won’t last. If it’s not some argument, someone will be screwing someone else on their freaking lunch breaks.” Shonna lifted her shoulder.
“Where is everyone else? Did they decide not to come?” Dixie looked around.
“Penny’s coming. She called to say she’d be late. I haven’t heard from Leslie, but she’d probably call if she wasn’t.” Chloe took a long drink.
“So have you heard back from your cousins, or did you wuss out of contacting them?” Dixie turned as a waitress walked up to them. “A beer, please.”
“I didn’t wuss out.” Chloe scowled and cocked a hand on her hip. “I contacted them. One of them got back to me. She said it didn’t matter that I was a bear or that I lived in a whyr city. They’ll come here in a few months.”
“Dixie, I have something to say to you, and I don’t want you to jump to conclusions.” Shonna took her drink and gulped down half of it.
“That doesn’t bode well. Did you knock off a bank or something? Because if you’re looking for someone with pull in law enforcement, you should probably talk to Leslie.” Dixie raised her eyebrows.
“I wish it was that simple, and everyone knows to go to Leslie when it comes to matters of law enforcement. All she has to do is bat those eyelashes, and he melts.” Shonna gripped her cup in both hands.
“All right, what’s up and why do you look like someone kicked your dog?” Dixie frowned. A lump formed low in her belly.
“Because what I have to say won’t be easy on you. And I think it will piss you off.” Shonna bit her lip.
“Just get it out then. I won’t be in a better mood until after I’ve digested whatever it is you’re keeping to yourself.” Dixie clenched her fist. That so wasn’t helping.
“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Shonna looked down at the table before lifting her head. “One of my friends saw one of your men at a restaurant and a coffee shop with some black-haired skank. And they looked all cozy.”
Dixie’s heart lurched in her chest. One of her mates was dating someone else? “I guess maybe they aren’t all ready to take a mate.”
“Maybe they need to have their damn attitude adjusted. I’m sure your brother could do it.” Chloe slammed her cup down on the table. “I wonder if I could persuade Logan to do it.”
“I don’t want men who don’t want me. I guess I should just put some distance between them and me. Well, me and Micah. I won’t force them into anything. If they’re not all ready, it would make all of us miserable.” Dixie bit her lip. And she was having enough problems right now with the distance between them.
Damn, why did this have to be so complicated? Her stomach churned. Did this man still want to be single? Finding a mate wasn’t a guarantee of happiness, but it at least usually drew the people together.
“Yeah, if you want some help adjusting their attitude, I’ll volunteer. Those bastards need to be mauled. You don’t date when you’ve found your mates. Fuckers.” Chloe tossed the last of her drink back. She clenched her hand on the table.
“No, Dixie, that’s not it.” Leslie stopped beside the table. She shook her head.
“What do you mean that’s not it? Shonna’s friend saw him out with a woman.” Dixie turned to her blond friend. Why the hell was she denying it?
“He’s not dating. He’s trying to draw out the person after them so that you’re not hurt.” Leslie brushed her hand over Dixie’s.
Dixie narrowed her eyes. “And that’s supposed to help? And you can tell John I’m pissed at him. He knew I didn’t want him to tell them about that accident when we have no indication that incident is even related.”
“John does what he thinks is best, but your man’s not looking for some other woman.” Leslie dropped into the seat.
“Yeah, but he did go on the date. Maybe that’s some kind of signal.” Dixie focused on the top of the table. That they wan
ted the situation over was encouraging, but she wouldn’t make any assumptions. They hadn’t been open about anything.
“Don’t think like that. It’s not a signal of anything except he wants this crap finished. Believe me, when you have someone after you or someone you love, all you want is it to be over. You’ll do almost anything to finish it.” Leslie patted Dixie’s shoulder.
“Maybe. We’ll have to see.” Dixie shrugged.
“Hey, what’s up? Everybody looks intense.” Penny strolled up to the table with a fruity drink in her hand.
“Did you stop by the bar for that?” Chloe asked.
“Dawson got it for me. He’s over there with Tony now.” Penny nodded to the table where Tony was. “It’s been a long day.”
“Ah, Dixie’s just a little bummed right now and angry. One of her men is trying to speed up the capture of the person after them so they can get to the important stuff, like mating her.” Leslie bumped Dixie’s shoulder with hers. “She wonders if the men actually want her.”
“If they don’t, I’m sure we can do something about it.” Penny raised her brows. “I’ve stocked some tranquilizer darts at the clinic.”
“I’m not sure I want to be near them, much less kidnap them.” Dixie crossed her arms.
Penny sipped her drink. “I’m not suggesting kidnapping. If they were in animal form, you could send them on a trip. They’d get out, but they’d be out of your hair for a while.”
Dixie snorted. “It’s always the innocent-looking ones who have a wide streak of evil.”
“I admire that in a woman.” Chloe laughed.
“Ah, if only Mags was here, then you could see evil.” Penny shook her head. “Me, I’d send them on a trip, probably to Alaska to be ‘reintroduced.’ She would probably want to put them in a human zoo.”
Leslie grinned. “Oh, yeah, that woman can be bloodthirsty. I would really feel sorry for those three men if they had to deal with Maggie, too.”
“I heard the wolves wanted to talk to you last week. Have they found someone to take over their part of the veterinary practice?” Chloe rested her hands on the table.
In Her Bears' Arms Page 4