As though she’s waking from a dream, Shavone shakes her head, attempts to step back. I loosen my arms just a touch, but keep her near.
“What is it Antonio?” I murmur, my eyes never leaving her face.
“Um.” His brows pull together. “Can’t find the waitresses.” He narrows his eyes at Shavone. “Customers are getting rowdy.”
“We’ll be right there.”
He backs out slowly, but leaves the door wide open. I smirk. It’s for the best. We’ll leave it here for now.
My wolf doesn’t want to retreat, though. He nuzzles her throat.
Mine.
chapter thirty-five
CRUZ LIFTS HIS head to look at me. No. Not Cruz. His wolf. My wolf. The wolf who saved me. Those dark, familiar eyes — the more I look into them, the more I recognize them.
My lungs won’t work. The nightmare is true. The hunters, the chase, the icy water. I shiver.
He pulls me closer. “You stopped breathing again.”
We’re on the muddy bank, in the dark, the cold rain unrelenting. The scenes flash through my mind like a movie. I can’t stop them. The knife. The howl of pain. The wolf’s blood. This wolf’s blood.
“Breathe, Niña, please,” he mumbles.
I suck in a giant gasp of air.
His brow pulls down. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think through what my revelation” — he sighs in frustration, holding my head to his chest and rubbing my back.
The admission is life altering, soul shifting. Hunters almost killed me.
We stand like that for long moments. Every few seconds, he reminds me to take a breath.
The music in the lounge abruptly stops. Shouts and wolven roars echo down the hall, waking me from the paralyzing memories. I lift my head and take a step back.
“Will you be alright?” He tenderly strokes my cheek with his knuckles.
I nod.
“Are you sure?”
A thud rocks the wall bordering the lounge. Glimmers of darker black trace the edges of his already dark eyes. A snarl lifts the left corner of his mouth. A doll races past the office, screaming, toward the employee exit.
“Yes.” I turn to the door.
“Oh, no.” He holds me back. “You’re not going out there.”
“I’m a waitress. Apparently the patrons want their drinks.”
“They aren’t patrons.”
They’re not?
“They’re wolves here for a fight.” He grins, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.
“Stay here until I come back.” He slips out and locks the door behind him.
This is unreal.
I don’t know what’s louder, the din in the lounge or the thoughts in my head. Heart in my stomach, I lean on the desk, bumping my elbow on the computer screen.
Oh, Garret’s thumb drive. It’s still in Cruz’s computer. The corridor was empty after I had changed. I took advantage of the lull, darting in here to install the spyware. As I reach to unplug the tiny device and stash it in the bra of the babydoll, the doorknob rattles and shakes.
“Shavone!” It’s Nash.
Shit. Those are French wolves here for a fight.
The jam cracks and the door slams flat to the floor. Nash stands there, radiating the hottest rage that I’ve ever felt — rivaling the knife wielding hunter in my nightmare. Nash’s gaze rakes over my clothes — or lack thereof.
“What the fucking hell do you think you’re doing here?” His booming voice vibrates through my lungs.
“Working. Call off your hounds and go home. We can discuss this there, okay? My shift is over in fifteen minutes.”
I move to dart around him. His hand snakes out and grips my upper arm.
“Your shift is over now,” he growls, his nostrils so flared that it looks painful.
“Nash. Stop.” I attempt to take my arm back.
With a growl, he hoists me over his shoulder and hauls me outside to the employee parking lot.
“Put me down!” I scream.
“I’d listen to the woman, Detective LaFontaine,” Cruz says, oh so politely, but oh so ominously.
Nash stops in his tracks and sets me down behind him. Muscles bunched, he’s poised to pounce.
In front of us, Cruz adjusts the cuffs on his suit jacket seemingly unconcerned. The flash in his dark eyes tell another story.
“We have rules at the Dollhouse against carrying our girls outside against their will.”
“I have rules about Shavone being half naked in your club.”
“She works here by her own volition. No one forces her.” Cruz turns to me. “Tell me, Miss Gentil. Are you leaving by free will?”
“No.” I shake my head and move to get my arm free.
Nash grip around my upper arm doesn’t loosen. “You’re going to get in your car, Shav, and go home.”
“Let go,” I say it slowly and calmly, trying not to antagonize either alpha.
“LaFontaine.” Cruz saunters closer to us, his voice deadly venomous. “Take your hand off her.”
“This is none of your business.” Nash twists my body so that I’m pointed to my car. He lets go of my arm and gives me a gentle shove in that direction.
“Oh, but it is.” Cruz comes closer still, his wolven eyes dark as night and sparkling with rage.
Instead of my car, I head for the employee entrance.
“So help me fucking god, Shavone! Get in the car or I’ll turn you over my knee and blister your fucking backside!” Nash grips my arm again, extremely tight this time and directly on the spot that is already sore. I wince.
With the grace of a gazelle and the speed of a cheetah, Cruz grabs Nash by the shirt and throws him against the brick wall. “Harm one hair on her head and I’ll rip your lungs out — one at a time.”
Nash’s fangs drop. So do Cruz’s. Before I can react, both have semi-shifted — their hands are claws, their faces snouts, snarling warnings to the other. Worse. Nash takes a swipe at Cruz. Moving extraordinarily fast, Cruz dodges the lethal claw. Nash rears back preparing to attack again.
I hurry to put myself between them. “Nash, stop it!”
Antonio bursts out of the door. He stops at the scene of two alphas on the verge of battle.
“You’re in public.” Antonio murmurs to both beasts.
Coming from inside and around the side of the building, more wolves, Native, French, even a few mountain Norse, form a wall shielding the scene from prying eyes at the diner and passersby.
The Native alpha circles around me to position himself on the other side of Nash.
“Please, Mr. Cruz,” I beg. “Don’t fight him.”
His steely gaze turns from Nash to me. In the dark pools, I see the young wolf from my nightmare — the one who pulled me from an icy creek, who took the sharp stab of a knife meant for my heart. I’m mesmerized by those eyes and the promise in them.
“I asked you to call me Enrique.”
“Please Enrique,” I whisper.
“As you wish, little witch.” With a softening expression, Cruz steps back and with a blink, turns fully human, again.
I cannot look away from him, from the poignant message in his expression. He’ll never leave me. No matter how dark a situation may be, he will stay by my side. I know it in my bones. That night was just the start of his commitment.
That’s ridiculous.
I shake my head to clear it.
Nash morphs back to human.
“I am going inside to change and get my purse,” I mumble, disoriented.
“Someone else can get your purse,” Nash murmurs, watching me carefully.
“I want to change.” I step out of the wall of wolves.
A man comes out of the diner and brazenly whistles on the way to his vehicle. “Thanks for the preview, boys. I’ll definitely be in to catch her show.”
Nash glares at the man. Shrugging out of his jacket, Cruz — Enrique drapes it over my shoulders. He gives me an encouraging smile — as though he’s proud of me. So odd. He
steps aside to let me pass.
“Go. We’ll wait here for you,” he murmurs.
Antonio clears the way to the door for me, his expression somewhere between empathy and blame.
“You have five minutes, Shav. At six, my wolf is coming in for you,” Nash threatens.
All activity inside has ceased. The staff and customers who didn’t run outside stare at me.
Tanya puts an arm around me. “Come on, sugar.” She leads me toward the dressing rooms. “One thing I can’t stand is manhandling. Who the hell does Detective LaFontaine think he is?” Tanya lifts her chin, indignant on my behalf. She opens the door to my dressing room
“You know who Nash is?”
She snorts. “I know of him. Rumors, you know.”
No, I don’t. What rumors?
“And of course your sister talked about him a lot, too.”
With an open mouth, I spin to face Tanya. “You know Val?” My heart hammers in my chest.
“Of course.”
“Was she here?” I grab Tanya’s shoulders. “Did you see her recently?”
“Not recently, no. It’s been months.” Tanya glances at her watch. “Girl, you better get a move on before the French alpha gets himself killed for you.”
“Okay, okay.” She’s right. “You talk while I change.”
“Alright.” Tanya plants herself in a chair.
“So how do you know Val?” I ask taking off the babydoll, careful to palm the device from my bra.
“She and my daughter were dorm mates at Colorado School of Mines last year.”
“Wow. Your daughter is Whitney? It is such a small world.” I put on my bra. “But she’s a witch. I didn’t sense you — as a witch, I mean.” It could be that she’s cloaked, too. I pull on my tank top.
“I’m not. I’m as basic human as one can get. Whitney got the heritage, and the fever for the craft, from my husband’s family.”
“How is Whitney?” I put on my jeans, attempting to keep it conversational. Whit is one friend I didn’t think to call.
“She’s doing fine. Getting ready for the fall. I was really hoping they’d room together again. Shame that Val won’t be back in time.”
Val’s been in touch with Whitney. I have to talk to Whit. I bunch my hair in a ponytail and secure it.
“I was so happy that she and your sister were paired together. So much safer for young witches.” Tanya clucks her tongue.
“Isn’t that the truth.” I reach for the makeup remover on the counter.
Tanya glances at her watch. She gets up. “You don’t have time to wash.” She takes the jar from me and pitches it into my makeup bag.
“Will you give Whit my number? Have her call me?” I sling the bag and my purse over my shoulder.
“No problem. Let’s go. We can’t afford any more trouble here from Denver PD or the French Nation.”
I follow her rapid footsteps out of the dressing room and down the hall.
“I’ll come in early tomorrow. We can talk more then?” I ask her, hopeful. “About Val?”
She halts in her tracks. “You’re coming back?”
“Of course I am.”
Especially since you and several customers I spoke to tonight are potential leads.
“Do you think that’s wise? Your jealous wolf can make a lot of trouble for us and for you.”
“He’s not my wolf nor does he tell me what to do.” I open the exterior door. It’s dead silence outside and not one wolf has moved an inch. Nash and Enrique are still in a stare down — one not trusting the other, their respective hounds surrounding the two.
Standing on the threshold, I pause. “Oh, I didn’t get my tips, or Paige’s.”
“They will be set aside for you both.” Enrique looks at Tanya who nods.
“Your jacket, Enrique. I hung it up in my dressing room.”
He moves, the ring of wolves on his side opens to let him out. “I’d like to see you safely home.” He opens the passenger door to a little orange car.
Nash snarls.
“That won’t be necessary.” I walk to my Saturn. “But thank you for the offer.”
Enrique’s dark eyes narrow. “Tell the truth, Shavone. Do you feel safe with him?” He indicates Nash.
“You son of a bitch.” Nash puffs up his chest.
“Yes. Nash may be angry with me, but he’d never physically harm me.”
Enrique sends Nash a warning glance. “He better not.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” I throw my things in my car.
“Like hell you will.” Nash grumbles, backing away.
“I mean what I say, LaFontaine. One hair on her head, you’re a dead wolf.” Enrique calls after us.
Keeping his eyes on the other wolves, Nash watches me get in. Once I shut the door, he walks briskly to his truck parked behind me. The other French wolves disperse as well — into vehicles or by simply walking away.
I start my engine.
Through the windshield, Enrique’s eyes meet mine. The expression on his face is strangely beseeching. I have no idea what he’s asking of me. With a barely there movement he nods and a small smile plays at his lips.
Nash lays on the horn of his truck, honking for me to move. Oh, what-the-fuck-ever. I throw the car in gear and press hard on the accelerator, racing out of the parking lot toward the interstate. Once I’m there, I go about ten miles under the speed limit. I expect Nash the speed-demon to whiz out around me. He doesn’t. That’s his choice. I need time to analyze and sort through everything I learned tonight before he rips into me.
Tanya knows Val and has heard of Nash. I wonder what Val said about Nash. I’m sure it wasn’t kind. Those two have never quite seen eye to eye.
Whitney says that Val won’t be back in time for her fall semester at School of Mines. That means they’ve been in contact with one another pretty recently. Why won’t my sister contact me?
Tomas was run off by Nash earlier in the week and by Enrique tonight. Neither alpha wants me to talk to the Suave heir-apparent. That’s interesting and all the more reason I should talk to him. I met several wolves tonight who are friends with Francisco. Find him and I’ll most likely find Val. And through everything that happened tonight, the only thing I’m absolutely certain and clear about is Enrique.
That my search for my sister would bring me face to face with the wolf who saved me as a child — I shake my head at the serendipity. I shiver, again, at the knowledge that the recurring dream is an actual memory, and not just fears and fantasy.
The spiral pendant warms. I touch it.
Finding Val is important, of course, but perhaps information about my birth family can be a bonus of this mission. Does Enrique know them? Or was he out for wolf playtime and stumbled upon the attack? At the very least, he could probably tell me which creek it was.
I veer off the interstate, taking the University Boulevard exit for Cherry Hills. Never more than a few yards off my bumper, Nash follows me all the way home.
Shit. My anxiety grows.
Through the roundabout and idling at the mansion gate, up the drive and into the garage, Nash is right behind me.
I pull into my bay of the garage. Ben isn’t home yet. Nash pulls into the bay beside me. Not waiting for him, I stomp to the door and into the house.
“Go home, Nash.”
He slams his truck door. “I am home.”
chapter thirty-six
SHAVONE WIGGLES HER little ass up the stairs to her apartment while I put in the alarm code.
I could not believe my eyes when I first saw Shavone at the Dollhouse dressed in fucking lingerie. Son of a bitch, it took every ounce of control I had not to take out every bastard in the place. Outside the club, my wolf almost did lose it — out in the open on a busy Denver street.
The anger I felt was nothing, nothing, compared to the devastation of watching Shavone connect to Cruz’s wolf and him to her. No one who saw it could deny that they have some type of bond. I don’t know how or wh
at, but it was so damn strong.
I take the stairs two at a time and catch the door before she slams it in my face.
“What the fuck are you thinking, Shavone?”
She sticks her nose in the air to give me the cold shoulder treatment while she turns off the motion sensors in her apartment.
“Answer me!”
“I’m thinking I’ll wash my face since I didn’t have a chance to do so before leaving work.”
“You know what I mean. Working there? You don’t belong in that kind of place!”
She sets her purse down. Crossing her arms, she turns to finally look at me in her nasty makeup.
“You know what I was doing there. Don’t you be stupid,” she murmurs low.
Looking for Val. My mistake socks me in the gut. I should have told her the truth about Val. Had I done that, Shavone never would have went to the Dollhouse, never would have met Cruz, never would have connected to his wolf.
Roaring, my fangs drop. The beast explodes through every barrier I’ve erected since childhood. Punch after punch, he smashes the hell out of the wall beside the door, putting a five foot hole in it clear to the other side.
Her eyes huge, Shav moves to the other side of the room.
I’m scaring her. I don’t want to scare her.
“Fuck, Shavone.” I drop to the couch, hold my head until my wolf calms down. “Jesus. What are you doing to me? Why do you want to drive me crazy?” After a moment, I raise my head to look at her. “Why?”
Warily, she walks over to me. “I don’t want to drive you crazy, Nash.” She kneels in front of me. “I swear.”
I cup her sweet face in my hands. “Do you have any idea how precious you are?”
Try, my wolf insists.
Like a starving man at a buffet, I take her mouth wanting so much to make her mine. “Shav. Jesus Christ. I fucking love you and if anything ever, ever …” I stop talking and kiss her again. Sliding down on the floor, I pull her onto my lap and hold her tight, my mouth hard on hers.
She was fine with the first kiss, but not this one. She pushes at my chest and turns her head away.
No, my beast whimpers.
“Shavone! Shavone!” Ben’s voice carries up the stairs.
Soft Shatter (Wolven Moon Book 1) Page 28