by Cara Adams
Not that the island ever had been attacked. But the ancestors had fled persecution and been very careful to design their new homes for their survival.
Asher took a long, slow breath and held it deep in his lungs, tasting it, weighing it, but there were no alarm bells sounding in his mind. The air was heavy and damp, rich with the scent of the earth and the plants but not with anything alarming or even foreign.
Silently he unlocked the door at the top of the stairs and opened it a bare inch, pressing his eye to the gap and resting his bodyweight against the sturdy wood paneling so it couldn’t be blown inward. Again, nothing out of the ordinary. Asher opened the door, moved through, closed it again, and stood quite still, looking around. The house remained unchanged, no signs of water or anything else inside. He hurried up the second flight of stairs to the first floor, walked to the front door, unlocked it, moved outside, and stood still.
The light was still that unearthly grayish color, but the wind was no stronger than a normally windy day, and the twigs, leaves, and flowers that covered the ground were no worse than he’d expected. Certainly there were no fallen trees to worry about. He walked backward away from the house and sighted along the roofline. All the tarpaulins and ties had held. Everything was good. The house and his family had weathered the storm intact.
Now they needed to check on the rest of the community, which meant taking Kenz to the big house, their office and gathering point. She already knew that they were panthers and that they were interested in knowing all about her. They’d spoken about the shortage of shape-shifter women and the need for a mate. Of course, it was much too soon to mention mating her, but there was no reason in Asher’s mind why she would not be their perfect mate. They all liked her a lot, appreciated her, and wanted her. In fact, he was clear in his own heart that he loved her. He’d never felt about another woman the way he felt about Mackenzie. No other woman had aroused him and enticed him as she did.
However, that was still something ahead of them. All three of the brothers had to make a unanimous decision about a mating, and there was no changing their mind after it happened, although he couldn’t imagine either Declan or Colter not wanting her. She was perfect in every imaginable way. However, they hadn’t discussed it properly, and they hadn’t even talked about what would happen now. Technically guests weren’t permitted to see the big house. But then there weren’t supposed to be hurricanes here either.
Asher hurried back inside, locked the door behind him, and went back downstairs.
Kenz was putting her shoes on, and his brothers were already dressed. Declan was tidying up the dungeon, although they hadn’t really messed it up.
“Everything looks good. Are we going to meet with our friends?” he asked cautiously.
“Oh yes. I haven’t spoken to Piper, Maddy, and Aria since I arrived,” Kenz said.
“You mustn’t tell them about the panthers,” Declan said.
“Of course not.” She frowned, looked thoughtful, and then said slowly, “Although I think they’d all believe it. I hadn’t ever considered the idea before, but yes, I really think they’d all accept the idea of shape-shifters.”
Asher was hugely relieved. That meant that if anyone else had fallen in love with their woman, that was one hurdle already overcome. Awesome!
Colter shook his head. “There’s no need for all of us to go running around the island. We’ll have to check it carefully to ensure that the cliffs are safe and the pathways clear of debris. I don’t think it’s a good idea for everyone to be rushing all over the place when leaf litter might hide a sinkhole or erosion toward the sea. I’ll go and find out what’s happening and report back to you.
Kenz had a stubborn look on her face. “And what, I’m supposed to sit here like a blob on a log doing nothing until you get back?”
Asher wanted to laugh at her attitude, but she really might be hurt and that wouldn’t be humorous at all. “You can help Declan and me take all the ties off the roof and put them away. But the time that’s done likely Colter will be back.”
He wasn’t sure she’d agree, and she did look a bit grumpy, but she shrugged and agreed.
“All right, as long as I get to climb on the roof as well, and you don’t expect me to just stand on the ground and hold the ladder or something.”
This time he did laugh. That was exactly what he’d planned to have her do. But if she wanted to be on the roof, he supposed that was a small price to pay to make her happy.
* * * *
Colter thought having a woman on the roof of the house helping untie metal eyebolts and unfurl tarpaulins was a bad idea. But taking her to the big house without prior approval from the Alpha was an even worse one. Knowing her ability to pick locks, leaving her locked in the dungeon wasn’t even an option. So his only hope of not going crazy with worry was to get to the main building, learn what the instructions were for his family, and get home again as fast as he could, preferably before she was blown off the roof or did something else he didn’t approve of.
As he walked at a fast pace toward the office, he wondered if she could pick the locks in a pair of handcuffs. He wasn’t stupid. There was no way on earth he’d cuff her hands in front of her body. But maybe if they were cuffed behind her, that would control her. Somehow he wasn’t convinced. He needed to have a serious talk with Kenz about her obeying them and not doing anything that might expose her to danger.
Once again he shook his head. He had a feeling she wasn’t all that worried about danger. After all, she’d wandered around outside in the eye of a hurricane. Her complaining about learning to kayak hadn’t been concern about the water or about being carried out to sea. It was more that she wasn’t interested in strenuous physical activity. Yet she’d walked perfectly happily on what had turned out to be quite a long hike.
Dammit, he couldn’t understand her thinking at all. She was a hell of a complicated woman. Likely it’d take him a lifetime to unpack all the layers in her mind and spirit. Colter smiled. That was something he’d enjoy doing for the rest of his life.
The narrow dirt path prevented him from moving as fast as he wished. Normally he knew every rock, every twist, and every overhanging shrub between his home and the office. But thanks to Hurricane Nathan, although the pathway was where it always was, some bushes had been torn up out of the ground, most were denuded of flowers and small twigs, and the path was inches thick in leaf litter. Where the bushes and trees had been protected from the storm and had kept their leaves, they hung damply over the path, making it even narrower than ever, causing him to push his way through them in places where the path had entirely vanished.
It didn’t take a genius to work out that the cleanup would take a while and would require the efforts of everyone on the island. At least very few trees had fallen down in this area, so that was good news. Of course, it didn’t mean they hadn’t fallen elsewhere.
That was one of his main memories from the last time a hurricane had hit the island. It was about fifteen years ago, and all the men had spent weeks clearing fallen trees, chopping them into firewood, clearing paths, and then planting new trees to replace the missing ones. Of course, he and his brothers had enjoyed being kept out of school to help with the work, but it had been damn hard physical labor. All the boys had agreed it was almost a relief to return to school where the hardest work they had to do was the homework for all the lessons they’d missed.
When Colter entered the big house, there was a thick mat at the doorway, with piles of shoes and boots beside it. Clearly he was meant to remove his footwear, although he didn’t think his boots were any dirtier than normal. He added his boots to the collection and then crossed the mat to a pile of towels, presumably for people to dry themselves if they were wet. He rubbed a towel over his head and shoulders, which had gotten damp from the dripping foliage, and dumped the towel in the laundry hamper right there. He grinned. These towels weren’t the thick, new navy blue Caves of Correction ones. They were a pile of mismatched linens
presumably belonging to some of the families who lived in the big house.
In his socked feet, Colter walked to the main office. He could hear a rumble of sound, which would have told him many others were here, even if he didn’t have the evidence of the pile of boots and shoes to go by.
The map of the island on the whiteboard, where people usually wrote down areas they needed to visit for work or to take clients, had been covered in a grid of squares. As Colter got closer, he saw that many of the squares had a name in them. Okay, he understood. People were checking the island for damage. That was a good idea. If each family was allocated a zone, it would mean they weren’t wasting time looking where others had already assessed the damage.
He put a tick beside “Lang” to indicate his house and family were fine and quickly read the list to see whose name was still not marked off. About two-thirds were checked, and two had annotations indicating the house was damaged.
So far, no one had been harmed, which was a relief. Although with some still to report in, that might indicate they weren’t doing so well. He hoped like hell everyone was safe. He’d been rather selfish, thinking only of himself, but he genuinely hoped no one was hurt. Everyone on the island was family. If one was injured, they were all harmed.
Colter held onto his marker and looked at the boxes still not marked off by a family. He was young and fit. He and his brothers could do a more distant place. The lake was unmarked, so he wrote “Lang” in that square. The lake was their source of drinking water, and it was important it be checked soon. It was unlikely the sea water would reach it to contaminate it, but there could have been run off from anywhere that might mean the water should be purified for a few days until any dirt dropped to the bottom of the lake again.
The Alpha was moving through the room talking to people, and Colter understood most people were waiting until everyone had checked in. He longed to be back with Kenz again, to watch over her, but his brothers had to restore the roof back to its normal condition, which would take some time, and there were two of them to keep watch over their woman. She would come to no harm with Asher and Declan there. So he leaned against a wall and began to talk to other people about their experiences of the hurricane.
Several women came around handing out mugs of coffee, which were wonderful. A hot drink was perfect right now. As far as he could gather, most people had stayed inside their dungeons, and their biggest problem had been the loudness of the thunder overhead. He was mentally patting himself on the back that their dungeon was soundproofed, although the noise had still been very loud.
After half an hour, most families, although not all, had arrived, and the Alpha raised his arms for silence.
“Please get started on your search areas. I want you to assess how much time the cleanup will take. If there are any serious problems, return immediately to let me know so I can begin assigning work parties to needed areas in priority order.”
“What about the families who haven’t checked in yet?” asked one of the women with a worried frown.
The Alpha nodded. “I’ll be sending people to their homes to visit them in a few minutes.”
Colter nodded. That was a better use of resources. Instead of half a dozen people all doing the same thing, one person per task made good sense. But then, the Alpha was very organized. He’d made a success of their little island hideaway. This latest tourist attraction was sheer genius.
The weeklong BDSM vacations were catering to a niche market for people interested in exploring the possibilities of that lifestyle. That meant the host could devote himself completely to his client while everyone else carried on with their normal lives.
Except Colter no longer wanted to carry on with his normal life. He wanted Kenz as his mate. It might have only been a few days, but she’d carved her own niche market right in his heart, and no way would he let her go back home without him telling her his feelings. Of course, a mating required both his brothers to agree as well. But he couldn’t imagine either Asher or Declan not wanting her after the amazing sex they’d had today. She was bright and intelligent, easygoing, sweet, and caring, as well as sexy as hell and enough of an enigma and a challenge to keep them on their toes and prevent them from taking her for granted.
The real question was, did she want them? It was a big ask of her to give up her old life and live here with them. Would she be prepared to do it? Hell, would she even be prepared to think about it?
Chapter Five
Declan’s heart was in his mouth about half the time they were on the roof. Kenz seemed to have no fear at all, walking across the roof as if she was on solid ground, helping drag the heavy canvas off the roof and fold it, enthusiastically hammering eyebolts loose, and untying ropes faster than he could have done. Once the roof was cleared and everything was locked away in the storeroom, they began carrying the food back upstairs from the hurricane shelter and putting it away, except for what Asher had started to cook.
“Fuck yes. I’m so hungry,” Kenz said.
“We all are. We need protein after all that work.” Asher threw some steaks into a pan, and Declan lost interest in what his brother was doing as he lugged cartons back upstairs and told Kenz where the items went. He stared at the neat way she’d replaced items in the pantry. All the tall containers were at the back. Duplicates of items were arranged in order of best-before date, and the entire shelf looked so neat it was almost painful.
“I don’t think it’s looked like that since Mom and Dad went to live in the big house,” he said.
“Where’s the big house? Do you see them often?”
Declan felt a twinge of guilt. “Not as often as I guess we should. Mom has arthritis and doesn’t get around much. Dad still works on the fishing trawler. Likely he caught that fish you ate your first day here.”
“I wondered if it was caught locally. It certainly tasted delicious.”
“This meal will taste delicious, too, because I’m cooking it,” Asher said.
“Anyone who cooks is my hero.”
“Don’t you cook?” Declan asked her.
“Why? Do you think all women should cook?”
Declan’s body heated, but he tried to answer honestly. “We can all cook. But I suppose I think back to Mom cooking for us, and it was kind of special. But I’m practical. I like to eat. So if no one else will cook I will. I often used to help Mom cook.”
He’d hoped he’d headed off her question about the location of the big house, but she was smarter than that and came back to it now.
“You didn’t say where the big house is. It’s on the island, isn’t it?”
“Yes it is. It’s the original building on the island, and it’s where the office of Caves of Correction is, as well as where some of the older people live.” When she didn’t comment he said, “We need to finish putting all this stuff away.”
Kenz followed him back down to the hurricane shelter and worked as hard as he did returning items to their regular space. She left her carry-on by the front door, ready to take back to her cottage. Declan was ready for that as well, to fuck her on her lovely big new bed and to punish her in her sparkling new dungeon. But right now he was more interested in eating breakfast, or lunch, or whatever it was.
She helped set the table, and Asher had just begun to serve the meal onto plates for them when Colter arrived. Declan burst out laughing and called out, “Colter smelled the meal cooking and decided to turn up and eat.”
“Of course. I’m hungry.”
Kenz looked from face to face and grinned. “I understand. You used to say that as kids.”
“Absolutely. We had it down to a fine art to arrive just in time for supper,” Asher explained.
“Is everyone all right?” Declan asked Colter after they were all seated at the table.
“Probably. Not everyone has reported in yet, so those who haven’t are being followed up. Meanwhile, each family has been given an area to look at and assess for any damage. We’ve got the lake. I thought drinking wate
r should be a high priority.”
“Hell yes. Is that why you gave us canned juice to drink?” Kenz asked Asher.
“No. That was sheer laziness. Everything we’re eating is stuff we took down to the hurricane shelter, and I couldn’t be bothered putting away again.”
“That’s just common sense. The meat had to be cooked because it’d defrosted anyway,” Declan answered.
“Why did you take some frozen food down there? Wouldn’t it have been better left in your freezer?” asked Kenz.
“Possibly, but we didn’t know how long we’d be stuck down there and we have a camping stove. I thought we might want a hot meal after a while, and I left most of the frozen food in the freezer to keep cold. Fortunately the power didn’t go off, so it’s all undamaged anyway,” explained Asher.
Kenz nodded. “Of course. I forgot no one knew how long the hurricane would take to go away. It has gone now, hasn’t it?”
They all looked to Colter.
“Yes. The Alpha told us it blew itself out between us and the mainland and was only a three at its worst. For most of the time it was over us it was fading down to a two.”
“Next time it can fucking fade the hell somewhere else,” Declan said. That hurricane had spoiled their plans for their time with their woman and now they’d be spending more precious time hiking around looking to see how the land had coped with it instead of tucked up warm and cozy in bed fucking their woman.
“Tell me the bad news,” he grumbled. “When do we have to go look at the lake, and what do we have to do there?”
“All we have to do is check to see if everything is okay. But I think we need to go as soon as we’ve eaten. The pathways are pretty messy with leaf litter, and the bushes are overhanging the paths everywhere. It won’t be as fast a walk as usual. Once we’ve checked it out we should have some free time before we need to help with any clean up,” Colter said.