A Grizzly Kind Of Love (The Mating Game Book 3)

by Georgette St. Clair

  “He was. He escaped a few months ago.”

  She scowled. “Nice of them to let Zane know that he escaped.”

  Leander looked at her in puzzlement. “No, actually, to the best of my knowledge, nobody informed Zane that Sergio had escaped.”

  Okay, so if it weren’t for the fact that he was a wolf shifter and Gillian was an ocelot shifter, she would swear this man was Gillian’s long-lost twin. He was not only a grammar freak, he was also equally oblivious to sarcasm.

  “The owners of the asylum were bribed to let Sergio go and place another inmate in his room. Since it’s an asylum, nobody believed the man when he insisted that he wasn’t Sergio.”

  “But what does Sergio have against Zane? It should be the other way around. The Molfettas murdered Zane’s parents. Zane should be the one with the grudge.”

  “While the Molfettas were attacking Zane’s parents, Zane apparently killed one of them. He ripped out the throat of the oldest Molfetta brother,” Leander explained gravely. “Apparently the young man was a favorite of their mother, who died of grief upon hearing the news. Sergio was mentally fragile already; seeing his mother die right in front of him tipped him over the edge, and he went on a killing spree that ultimately saw him confined to an asylum.”

  “Sergio is blaming Zane for defending himself and his parents? He’s insane!” Wynona said angrily.

  “Yes,” Leander said patiently. “That is why he was in an asylum for the criminally insane. Anyway, returning to your present dilemma. Sergio has been planning his revenge ever since he escaped. He could have killed Zane immediately, but decided to wait until Zane had found the woman he wanted to mate, and then kill her. So he would suffer more. Then after Zane had suffered for a while, he would have Zane murdered as well.”

  “Zane hasn’t decided to mate me!” Wynona spluttered. This was getting more ridiculous by the minute.

  “I am fairly confident that he has. Sergio indicated that they have listening devices at his house, and he waited to hire me until Zane told one of his friends that he had found his life mate,” he said. But she’d only met Zane about a week ago. And Leander had showed up in her parking lot the next day. Zane would have had to have decided that he wanted to be her mate as soon as he met her.

  Was that even possible? Of course not. Wouldn’t he have said something to her?

  She massaged her temples with her fingers. Her head was starting to pound. “Well, if you aren’t going to kill me, does that mean that I’m safe?”

  “No. Sergio sent another assassin after you when I refused the job. That person already attempted to shoot you, and then followed you on your motorcycle ride the other day. I followed him and forced him off the road before he could run you over.”

  “Er…thank you?”

  “I believe there is no need for a question mark. I did save your life, so proper etiquette says that you would indeed thank me. However, let’s get back to your current problem. I would suggest that the safest course of action is to break things off with Zane and leave the country immediately. Also change your name and cut off all ties with your old life.”

  “I’m not dating him!” Wynona spluttered indignantly. “I can’t break up with someone if I’m not dating them!”

  “Leave anyway.”

  “Or I could try to have Molfetta tracked down and arrested.” She didn’t want to live her life on the run, looking over her shoulder all the time. And if Molfetta couldn’t find her, he would probably just go after Zane.

  Leander shrugged. “That’s a much more dangerous route to take. Nobody knows where he is, so it could take a while to track him down. I can tell you that he has already hired a new assassin, whose nickname is the Shark. And, of course, he’s tried to put out a hit on me, which is amusing. Other than that, I cannot help you any further.”

  And he walked out the back door of her office.

  Wynona’s head whirled as she grabbed her laptop and headed out the front of her building. She turned the alarm on as she shut the door, although she wasn’t sure why she bothered. If Leander could get past it, she imagined that anyone who wanted to get at her could do the same. It was probably enough to keep out amateur burglars, and that was about it.

  When she walked outside, Zane was still talking on the phone. She cocked her ears and heard him telling someone how to take an engine apart. “I’m serious, do not let him find out,” she heard him say.

  What the hell? What was Zane involved in? As if he didn’t have enough problems with an assassin gunning for him and anyone close to him.

  She stomped up to him, and he quickly hung up.

  “Are you telling someone how to sabotage an engine?” she demanded.

  He looked embarrassed, then shrugged and cleared his throat. “It would be best if you could forget you heard that.”

  “Okay, for right now, but only because we have more pressing problems on our hands.”

  She told him what had just happened in her office, and Zane swore furiously, yanking the front door of the building open and glaring down the hall.

  “You just pulled the door off,” she pointed out to him.

  He glared at it, then tossed the door aside.

  “I’ll pay for it. Damn it to hell! He’s probably long gone,” he said. “And I can’t leave you out here alone, otherwise I’d go after him.”

  “It’s probably not worth it anyway,” she said. “I get the impression that he was telling the truth, and he’s already told me everything he knows. I mean, he could have killed me several times now, and he didn’t. I just don’t know what to do next.”

  “I know what we’re going to do,” Zane said, putting heavy emphasis on the word “we” and moving in front of her so that he stood between her and the street. He was shielding her with his big, burly body. “We’re going to report this to the authorities, who will put out an APB on Molfetta and also bust those slimebags at the asylum for letting him out. I’m also going to warn Rex, and my clan, in case he decides to go after them too. And until he’s caught, you and I are going underground. I can protect you in a fair fight, but I can’t protect you from a sniper.”

  “What about the agency? What about Gillian?”

  “I’ll have Rex and the guys from the shop guard Gillian. Gillian can run the business as much as possible from her home. Tell everyone that you were called away on a family emergency. It happens; they’ll have to deal with it. We’re going straight to the police station, and from there we’re leaving town.”

  As they drove to the police station, Wynona called up her niece Daisy to tell her that she had to disappear for a while.

  “What’s wrong?” Daisy asked, sounding worried. “Are you in some kind of danger?”

  “Everything will be fine. I can’t tell you exactly what’s happening, but I can tell you that I’ve got a big, scary bodyguard with me.”

  “Huh. That sounds kind of sexy, actually.”

  “He is kind of sexy,” Wynona said without thinking, and then was annoyed when Zane glanced at her and winked.

  “You and the sexy bodyguard should come and stay with Ryker and me. I have to give my approval of all…bodyguards,” Daisy said. “Especially if this is going to be a permanent bodyguard kind of situation. It is, isn’t it? I can hear it in your voice.”

  “You can meet him, but I can’t stay with you right now, and I can’t tell you why, either.” Ryker and his pack were badasses, but they weren’t immune to silver bullets. Daisy had a baby cub named Jasper and was already pregnant with Jasper’s little sister. There was absolutely no way Wynona would stay with them and put them in danger.

  Zane was right. The best way for her to keep everybody safe was to just disappear.

  Chapter Twelve

  Zane borrowed a car from Rex, and they left straight from the garage. He wanted to make sure that nobody had time to place a bug on this new vehicle. Rex and several other employees of the garage accompanied them back to Wynona’s house to pack up a suitcase before she left
. Zane had an overnight bag that he took out of his pickup truck.

  Even though Rex had checked the truck from top to bottom, they couldn’t be a hundred percent sure that they hadn’t missed a tracking device; hence the borrowed car.

  Then they drove for hours, out of North Carolina and into Tennessee. Wynona knew his parents had been killed in Tennessee, and she thought it was a little odd that he’d want to go there of all places, but she didn’t want to bring up such a painful subject.

  They finally drove through a tiny dot-on-the-map town called Fox Hollow, and then down a dirt road off the main road, until they reached a little cobblestone house set in a clearing among towering pines.

  They climbed out of the car and Wynona looked around. There was a neat stack of firewood in the front yard with an axe next to it, buried in a stump. There was an old-fashioned pump, the kind that needed to be primed. Clothing strung on a clothesline flapped in the gentle breeze. She saw adult clothing and several sizes of children’s clothing hanging from wooden clothespins. There was a vegetable garden off to the right side of the house, and a chicken coop. Chickens pecked in the dirt and a rooster strutted.

  “What is this place?” Wynona asked.

  “You’ll see.” He grinned at her, opening the trunk of the car. He reached in to get their bags.

  “Oh, no, let me do that!” a voice called out.

  A male fox shifter who looked to be in his fifties came from the side yard, on crutches. He’d lost his right leg below the knee, and had a prosthetic. He was accompanied by a wolf cub that trotted next to him in wolf form and sniffed at Wynona’s ankle, and a bobcat shifter female who appeared to be about six or seven.

  “Wynona Bennett, meet my honorary uncle, Frederick Wiley,” Zane said. Zane was more than a foot taller than the redheaded fox, who had a bushy mustache and thinning red hair streaked with gray.

  “I don’t know about honorary. More like ornery,” Frederick said cheerfully. He glanced at Zane. “Getting used to the new leg, though.” Frederick stuck his hand out and pumped Wynona’s hand with a firm grip. “Very pleased to meet you, I’m sure.” He glanced at the wolf cub, which was licking Wynona’s foot. “Lucas, you stop that, now – that’s not polite,” he said with a frown. Lucas turned and ran back into the garden.

  “He just came to us a few weeks ago. He’s still a little shy,” Frederick said apologetically. “And this young lady is Rory, the best chicken wrangler ever.” The little bobcat shifter beamed at that.

  Frederick grabbed one of the suitcases, and Wynona struggled not to wince as he painstakingly slung it over his shoulder, almost tipping over.

  She glanced at Zane, who shook his head and mouthed, “Let him do it.”

  “You kids go on in! I’m right behind you!” Frederick said.

  They walked up the front steps, onto a porch with a porch swing, and into the house.

  A female fox shifter with gray hair pulled into a bun stood by the sink, washing dishes, and when she turned around, her face lit up. “Zane, what a wonderful surprise! We didn’t expect you for two more weeks! And you brought a guest, how lovely!”

  Two other shifters stuck their heads into the room, looking at Wynona curiously.

  “Yes, forgive my bad manners for not calling to let you know I’d be coming,” Zane said.

  “You know you’re always welcome here. You did wipe your feet, now, didn’t you, dear?”

  “No ma’am, I did not. My sincere apologies.” He walked over to the doormat and wiped his feet.

  Wynona stared at him in open-mouthed astonishment as he rejoined her. “Who are you?” she whispered.

  “Wynona,” he said, “I’d like to introduce you to my aunt, Christine Wiley, and Shea and Dean.” Shea was a wolf shifter who appeared to be about fourteen, and Dean was a bear shifter who looked to be about seventeen or eighteen. They both came over and shyly shook Wynona’s hand, saying, “Pleased to meet you.”

  Frederick came in with the suitcase and set it down on the kitchen floor with a thud and an oof. “I’ll get the rest,” he said, sounding slightly winded. “Be right back.”

  Wynona itched to run out and get the suitcases, but she sensed it was important to Frederic to do it himself.

  Zane pulled out a package from his suitcase and handed it to Christine. “A hostess gift for you,” he said with a small bow. Christine opened it. It was a wicker basket, and it contained perfumed soaps. “From both of us.”

  “Oh, that’s so lovely, dear, you remembered my favorite scent!” She beamed at him like a proud mother. “And we got your thank you note, by the way. I’m so pleased that you enjoyed the jams.”

  Wynona stared at Zane with narrowed eyes. “A thank you note? Again, who are you?” she muttered. He winked at her.

  Christine looked at Wynona and clapped her hands with glee. “And you’ve finally found your mate! We knew you would! We’ll put you in the guest cottage out back. Where’s your ring, dear?”

  “My ring?” Wynona echoed stupidly. “Uh, well, you see… I—”

  “I’m still shopping for the perfect ring,” Zane said. “It’s got to be the perfect ring for the perfect woman. Aunt Christine, one thing, very important. Nobody can know we’re here.”

  “Mum’s the word. A nice private honeymoon, then.”

  “Oh, it’s really not—” Wynona started to explain.

  “—necessary at all, but thank you anyway,” Zane interrupted her again.

  “Dear, do not start out your married life by interrupting your wife,” Christine chided him. “We raised you better than that.”

  Frederick came through the door dragging the other suitcase as she said that. He nodded.

  “Listen to your auntie. By the way, do you need help with anything?”

  Zane nodded. “Actually, yes, haven’t changed the oil in my car in a while.”

  “Zane, Zane,” Frederick chided gently. “You’re such a good mechanic, and there you go, neglecting your own car.”

  Frederick eagerly hurried outside to change Zane’s oil.

  Christine glanced at Zane with her brow slightly wrinkled, and her mouth twitched in a smile, as if she knew exactly why Zane had brought a car that needed an oil change.

  Wynona was bubbling over with questions, but before she got a chance, Christine said, “You two are just in time to help with dinner.”

  The next thing she knew, Wynona was helping to wash and peel potatoes, and Zane was helping his “uncle” to grill steaks.

  There were six foster kids in all; two more had been out playing in the woods behind the house. They all sat down to dinner at an enormous old table in the dining room and said grace before eating. Wynona watched as Zane said things like “Please pass the potatoes” and made polite conversation with Frederick and Christine and the children.

  “We’re going to tuck in early,” Zane told Christine. “But I’ll gather the eggs for you tomorrow.”

  As Zane led Wynona to the guest cabin, she shook her head again. “One last time. Who are you?”

  They stepped through the door of the one-bedroom guest cabin, which was decorated in a frilly country style, with an overstuffed floral print sofa and hand-stitched samplers on the walls. Frederick had hauled their suitcases in there and left them in the living room.

  Zane started to walk towards the kitchen, but she blocked him, with her hands on her hips.

  “I imagine you have questions,” he said.

  “Boy, you got that right.”

  He sat down on the couch and she sat down next to him.

  Zane leaned back and heaved a sigh, his expression growing serious. “The Wileys raised me after I lost my parents. Well, not immediately after. I don’t remember much about my parents being killed. There was just this terrible blank. I was injured, and I ran away. I traveled through the woods for weeks until I found a campground where humans would come with their RVs. I lived in the woods near there for a couple of years, hunting my own food and stealing food from campers. Park range
rs finally chased me off, so I went on the run, traveled a long way, and stumbled on the Wileys. I was pretty near feral by that point, but you’ve seen how they are. They’re always taking in abandoned kids, and all of the kids turn out great.”

  “So they never called the authorities when you showed up?”

  He shook his head. “They had no idea who I was. Based on the condition that I was in, they thought that I was an abandoned, feral cub, which is not that unusual. By then everybody in my family thought I was long dead, so nobody was looking for me. I barely had any memory of my family at the time; it came back to me slowly over the years. When I finally started to remember things and did some research, I saw that the people who killed my parents were dead, and Sergio was in an asylum, so there was no need for me to do anything more. Once I turned eighteen, I started traveling around the country, working at mechanic’s shops, but I always came back here.”

  Her heart ached at the thought of all that he’d been through. “Why didn’t you tell your family that you were alive, once you realized who you were?”

  He shrugged. “Hubert and Cecily? I told you, I never liked them. My family never liked them. Didn’t even speak to them. They’re loud, flashy, obsessed with their social status, spend all their time shopping or jetting around the world, and so are the rest of the clan. About a dozen of them, all social-climbing posers. There was just no reason to reach out to them.”

  “Okay. I get that, But when you were finally found, why did you pretend that you’d lived on your own all those years?”

  “I wanted to protect the Wileys from all the publicity,” he said. “They’re very private, modest people; the world would have showed up on their doorstep, pestering them for TV appearances, and they would have hated it. I still call them all the time, visit them every month or two, I just don’t tell anyone about it. Even Rex doesn’t know.”

  She looked at him in bewilderment, as if seeing him for the first time. “When you were found…you took people to that campsite where you’d been living.”