by Laina Kenney
“What would you have done if I wasn’t here?” He challenged.
“Probably the same thing I just did, if they pissed me off enough,” she said and snapped her fingers with a little head swivel. “I’ve lived in the city all my life. I can deal with a couple of little twerps without calling for help from my manly man.”
His eyes fired, but not with anger this time.
He answered her challenge by grabbing her arms and lifting her up to meet his mouth in a searing kiss.
Iselle could feel the rush of blood in her veins, the wind in her hair, the strong beat of his heart slamming against her. Her head spun as passion flamed between them. He was pouring everything into that kiss. She could almost taste his worry and his frustration, his rage at the boys for daring to harass his mate, and his anger that she would take away his right to protect, as much a part of him as bone and blood.
When they surfaced from the cataclysm of a kiss, Iselle’s face was hot and her body was hotter. She was burning from within, and from the nuclear glow of Balke’s eyes, he was in as bad or worse shape than she was. Plastered against his body as she was, she could feel his thick erection pushing against her soft belly.
Suddenly, she was in need of her mate.
“Take me home,” she said, and watched that seductive smile cross his face. “Oh, and grab that paint box, please.”
Chapter 14
Iselle walked out to her car humming. She needed to get the portable paints she always carried with her to replenish the colors from her larger tubes. She had forgotten to bring them in earlier after that debacle at the harbor because Balke had distracted her with a kiss, and then a series of kisses. When one thing had led to another, she had dragged him inside and upstairs without sparing a thought for her precious paint set.
So, now she was shivering in the twilight and hoping no one saw her wearing her faded yoga pants with her hair twisted up on the top of her head with a pencil.
She clicked the unlock button and a muttered, “Shit,” froze her in her tracks.
Iselle’s heart pounded and her fingers tingled with shock when she saw a man rise from behind her little car and take off to run up to a waiting truck.
“Hey!” she shouted and started to run after him, but she bounced off the unexpected obstacle of a man who appeared from the bushes by the end of her driveway and fell backward onto the lawn.
“Ow.”
She propped herself up on her elbows on the grass and stared. The man was texting and watching as a dark vehicle pulled out and followed the man down the street. He was the very image of Balke, right down to his gleaming green eyes. But when he turned to her, she knew there was something off.
She didn’t know how she knew, if she felt it inside or if it was just that he didn’t look at her like she was the last slice of cake on the dessert tray, but she knew. It wasn’t Balke.
He reached down with one hand and after a moment, she took it and allowed him to pull her to her feet. When she was standing and steady, he pulled her hand to his mouth and kissed her fingertips.
“Get your mouth off my girl. You’ve got your own girl.”
Balke’s voice sent a thrill right down Iselle’s spine and she shivered as the stranger smiled and slowly let go of her hand.
There had been a hint of humor in Balke’s tone, but still his strong body inserted itself between her and the other man, blocking him from view. All she could see was Balke’s broad back.
“I am pleased for you, brother.”
Iselle peered around and looked from one to the other.
Brothers.
“Twins, of course,” she said and stepped to Balke’s side.
His handsome double bowed from the waist with that old-world elegance that always charmed her in Balke.
“Egan Reitn, at your service, little sister.” His eyes lingered on her throat and she resisted the urge to rub the spot that Balke always nibbled with a concealing hand. It seemed too personal a thing to have anyone else, even his brother, look at it.
“Should I ask why you were hiding in the bushes?” Iselle asked, trying to distract him from her no-doubt purple hickey.
She was pretty sure that she had figured that one out. Balke was a little overprotective, and with a twin brother, he really could be in two places at once, fixing her computer and still guarding the property.
She was about to give them her opinion on that when she realized that if a man was hiding behind her car, then there was a good reason for a guard. The thought made her stomach clench. Balke shifted to stand in front of her again, and Iselle punched him in the back, just hard enough to show she meant business.
He moved aside, but only an inch.
“John is running the plates on the car that picked up your sneak thief and Ives is following.”
“What was his purpose?” Balke asked.
Egan shrugged.
“He didn’t get close enough to touch the car before this young woman made him jump with her unlock button.” His grin showed pointed white teeth. “I thought he might wet his pants.”
Iselle didn’t know if she wanted to laugh or curse. But she didn’t want to do it in front of all her nosy new neighbors.
“Do we really need to stand outside in the street? Don’t be such an ass. Invite your brother in for tea,” she demanded, and was annoyed to see identical grins flash on both their faces.
Balke had the grace to look sheepish.
“Please do come in, Egan,” he invited.
“Thank you. I would be delighted.”
Iselle shook her head. Men.
No matter the circumstances, or the underlying worry of the man outside by her car, she was pleased to meet Balke’s family. She wanted to know everything about him. Who better to pump for information than his twin?
She had a smile on her face as she led them inside.
Chapter 15
Standing guard with his twin brother Egan outside his mate’s apartment building in the middle of the night was familiar territory to Balke. He had guarded his brother’s mate on a cool autumn night just a few months prior, and from an equally sinister human threat.
Iselle was inside, but she wasn’t sleeping. She was curled up with a mug of tea and her sketchpad.
Ives Toussand approached, tapping out a message on his phone.
“I’m glad you did not bring young Brax,” Egan said to Ives.
Balke raised his eyebrows. It hadn’t occurred to him that Ives was on trainer duty for the week with Brax.
“Where is Brax?” Balke asked.
“He is taking a girl to the movies.” The tone of Ives’ voice discouraged any comments or questions, but Balke was curious in spite of himself.
“Who? What vulfen father would allow his daughter to walk out with Brax, even to a movie?”
Balke couldn’t imagine it, himself, and he had no daughters to consider.
Ives sighed. “Not vulfen,” he said. “Sidhe.”
Egan shook his head. “What the hell? Presumably even Sidhe girls have fathers,” Egan said, echoing Balke’s thoughts as he so often did.
Ives sighed and rubbed the spot between his eyes as if it pained him.
Balke saw the telltale gesture and sympathized. He, too, had tried to train the eager, too exuberant Brax and found himself exhausted. Egan had even taken over for Balke on one memorable occasion, when Brax had bared his fangs in front of humans and chased away a criminal he should have detained. The young man had no idea how close to death he had come that night when he had left Egan’s young mate at risk.
“Brax has been warned,” Kuhr said, walking up beside him. He gestured to Ives with his phone, then slid the device into his pocket.
Apparently, Ives had been on patrol with Kuhr.
Balke reached out a friendly hand and Kuhr shook in the manner of humans. He was glad to have Kuhr’s help in assessing the danger of the human neighborhood and planning the strategy to guard his new mate.
Kuhr Valcov was a superior wa
rrior and had been a member of the Vulfen Cadre since his teen years as well. A mere few months behind him in joining the Cadre, Balke had fought beside Kuhr numerous times. And when Valeri, one of the Alpha’s seconds, had been missing, Kuhr had been tireless in the search for his fallen comrade. Balke trusted him all the way to the wall.
“And with the Sidhe,” Ives added, “from what I have seen, the girls can take care of themselves. Most of them still have the power of illusion that made them such dangerous adversaries. Brax will need to keep his wits about him.”
Egan snorted. “Then he is already lost.”
Balke felt his twin’s judgment of Brax was harsh, but he could not argue the point. Perhaps in another few years Brax would have learned to think first, but it was only through the nightly efforts of the Cadre that he had the luxury of growing up slowly. The Reitn brothers hadn’t had such a luxury. They had all been full Cadre members, with duties and heavy responsibilities to their people while still in their teen years. Their old Alpha and his Queen had been murdered, and the young heir Rylek had taken over leadership in his teens. The Reitn brothers had stood by his side all the way and helped to reunite the three Russian Clans after more than a century of discord.
Brax was twenty, and though he had the strength and endurance that was necessary to belong to the Cadre, he did not have the necessary maturity to deal with the requirements of being a protector for his people. Balke would stand back-to-back with any other Cadre member in a fight, but he wouldn’t have Brax at his back. It was as simple and as emotion-driven as that.
“Does your new mate know of us?” Kuhr asked.
“Some,” Balke allowed. “I have not had time to fully explain to her. I showed her what I am. There is no way she could deny the evidence of her own eyes. I mated her. And she is strong. It may come to pass that she is favored and will hunt as one of us.”
Kuhr frowned. “You must tell her, educate her before that day comes. If, as most humans, she knew nothing of our people, she will be steering without landmarks. It is not fair to her.”
Balke did not take offense. “I know what needs to be done, Kuhr. I cannot explain it. I know my duty as well as any warrior.”
“Better than some,” was Kuhr’s comment.
“Before I mated, I could never have foreseen this. My mate is beautiful. Sometimes, she says nothing at all, but one soft glance from her eye makes my body betray my intentions. On two occasions, I have begun to tell her what she needs to know and suddenly we are in bed. Or on the hard floor. She distracts me.”
Kuhr slapped him on the shoulder. “No doubt she does. I think it is the female’s purpose in life, though it gives a warrior much grief.”
Balke laughed at Kuhr’s take on mating.
“Is young Brax any closer to his dream of qualifying for the Cadre?” Kuhr asked quietly, his train of thought parallel to Balke’s.
Balke shook his head in the negative.
“Even if he qualifies physically, it may not happen.”
Kuhr grunted. “Physically he is strong and coordinated, but I heard of his actions in letting the attacker of Egan’s mate escape without giving chase. The Alpha took a very dim view of it.”
Balke winced. He had heard some of Rylek’s comments on that subject.
“Yes.”
“There are other youngsters who may have a better natural disposition for the job. Matsij and I have been including two younger Sidarov cousins in some of our sparring sessions,” Kuhr said surprisingly. “They are still in their midteens, fresh from the First Change, but they are strong and keen to learn. They come back day after day. The Sidarov line runs true. And there is another boy also, a young cousin of mine, who has completed the First Change and is eager to join us. Lonn is strong, but I have seen that he is also kind to his younger siblings, and protective of them. He is quiet and watchful. In another year or two, it would be a good fit.”
Balke hadn’t heard of the new young trainees. Perhaps there was hope for his people.
He shook his head. That was unkind, and perhaps unjust. He was almost ashamed of himself for doubting, but when he fought on a nightly basis, he felt he had the right to judge his companions in battle. And up to this moment, he had thought that if Brax was their best choice, the vulfen people were in serious trouble.
“I am glad to hear it, Kuhr,” Balke said. “I would be happy to take a hand in their training, also.”
Kuhr bowed deeply.
“It would be an honor for the boys to work with the warriors of the Reitn family. Your young nephew Adam will be a strong warrior someday soon. His reflexes are astonishing already.”
Balke grinned at the thought of his eldest brother Miros and the young boy he had adopted when Miros mated the boy’s mother. She had been human, but so perfectly compatible with the vulfen people that she had already given birth to a fully vulfen child. And Adam was strong, perhaps Alpha strong.
“He is a handful,” Balke said proudly and Kuhr smiled.
“So I have seen. His looks favor his mother, but he follows Miros like a small shadow.”
“Miros loves it,” Balke said, and it was only the truth. Miros loved his adopted son. He took his responsibilities seriously, but he truly loved the little boy, and Adam was growing in strength and intellect under Miros’ careful teaching. “Lia is ready and they are trying for another child, but it has not happened as yet.”
“I had not heard,” Kuhr said. “Luck to them.”
It was a fact of life for the vulfen people that their children were few and precious. Kuhr would understand that as well as anyone.
Kuhr stiffened and Balke looked across the street.
Chapter 16
At first, Balke saw nothing, but then movement caught his predator’s eye. The dark figure of a man unfolded out of a car at the end of the street car. Balke let out a subvocal growl. The car had been rigged so that opening the door did not turn on the inside lights.
Instantly Balke was in hunting mode.
Balke and Kuhr moved at the same moment and were down the street in two long bounds. In just those few seconds, the man was gone.
And when they split off to follow the scents, Balke circled the block before coming back to prowl through Iselle’s yard.
He thought he had caught the scent of the intruder again, when he heard a sound from inside.
“I’m sure I heard something,” Emma’s voice said and the back porch light flashed full in his eyes, blinding him momentarily. He almost groaned aloud at the piercing pain of light stabbing into his night adjusted vision.
The outdoor light flipped off again, but it was another full minute before he could see more than dark blurred shapes.
The scent of his prey burned in his nostrils, lured him toward the temptation of the wolf’s form, but Kuhr signaled with a low whistle and Balke looked down the block.
A figure in the suspect car was driving away quickly, too quickly for a residential neighborhood.
Balke leaped forward, but a rough hand caught his arm.
“Chasing cars is a hard habit to break,” Ives said drily, and Balke snarled in his face.
“I have his imprint,” Balke said. “It insults my wolf to stand here while I have his scent.”
Egan straightened from a crouch where he had been examining a partial footprint around the side of the house.
“As have I, brother.”
“Questions first, blood second.” Ives advised. “Kuhr is following the vehicle. In any case, think how you would feel if your mate saw you first as a killer?”
“The safety of my mate is first above all. I will remove the threat to her in the quickest way I can, and if anyone has any objection to my methods, they can—”
“Even if the objections come from your mate?” Ives voiced the question that had been in the back of Balke’s mind and he grimaced.
There were males he would challenge on the spot for saying it, but Ives had been too good a friend for too long. He was only saying what needed
to be said, and Balke respected that even as he hated it.
“I hear your words,” he said formally. He need hardly add that he hated the thought. Ives would hear what he was unwilling to say. It was both the upside and the downside of having such good friends. They understood even what you did not want to acknowledge.
He didn’t know what Iselle’s reaction would be. They were connected on a level that defied explanation, but he knew very little about her life and her experiences. How could he say for certain what would or would not make her turn from him?
She had done well for herself on her own. What did she need a mate for, need him for? It was a question that struck an uncomfortable spike of fear into his heart.
“We don’t know for certain if the man was watching your mate or someone in one of the nearby houses,” Ives said reasonably.
“He was watching Iselle,” Balke said, and Egan nodded.
Ives looked from one to the other.
“Are you saying that you recognized his scent?”
“No,” Balke said. “But I know. My instinct insists there is danger to my mate. There is no doubt.”
Chapter 17
After another gorgeous day of painting at the waterfront, Iselle looked out her window just at twilight and saw Xander St. John and another man walking on the other side of the street. She started to the door with the vague idea of confronting him then stopped. What could she say?
He had been arrested for breaking and entering, but he had also been released on bond. He was allowed to walk down the public street with a friend the same as anyone else while everything got sorted out by the legal system.
She felt that he would and should go to jail eventually and the sooner the better in her opinion, but as much as it rankled, until the court decided, she would try to live and let live.
But she didn’t like him being out there. It gave her a sick feeling in her stomach to know that he was lurking outside, and no doubt Balke would have some objections, but she didn’t want to be the one to start an altercation.