by Michelle Fox
“I don’t know any Mitch and I don’t know anything about any drugs.” Axel flicked the ash from his cigarette to the ground.
“We’ll be running lab tests on the beer and the roofies. They’ll match. You and I both know that. This isn’t over, Axel. Far from it.” Talon stared, unblinking, at the stray.
Axel continued to smoke as if he had not a care in the world. “Is that all, sheriff? Are you done ruining my fun?”
“Not yet. I’m also formally advising you that you may not collect any debts owed by the Halbmond family.”
Axel frowned. “That’s none of your business.”
Talon gestured at Axel with his gun. “You’re a stray, I’m your sheriff. Everything you do is my business. Hank Halbmond isn’t competent to gamble. You hassle him or his pack anymore and I’ll have you bound.”
“Bound?” Gretchen looked at her alpha. “What’s that?”
Her alpha shook his head. “Not now.”
Axel appeared properly impressed by the word. He went still and then sucked hard on his cigarette. “Damn, sheriff, that’s low. Why don’t you just cut off my balls while you’re at it?”
“It was always your choice, Axel. No one made you run a gambling ring or drug people to make sure they lose. You didn’t have to beat up Hank Halbmond either. You pulled the same shit in your pack, which is why you’re a stray in the first place. You only have yourself to blame.”
“Fuck you.” Axel’s snarl was so full of malice, Gretchen felt the hackles on the back of her neck rise. Axel kicked at the dirt. “You and your stupid rules and laws, and Pack Council this and Pack Council that. There are no rules, sheriff. There’s only who lives and who dies.” With that, he leaped, his form morphing in a blurry shimmer as he shifted into his animal, a lion with dirty, unkempt hair and ribs poking through his skin.
Talon didn’t hesitate and quickly shot the shifter with a quick succession of bullets. From what Gretchen saw, none of them missed but Axel didn’t seem to feel them. When he got close enough, Talon switched to clubbing Axel in the head with his fists, but the stray was possessed with an anger stronger than any injury. He clamped his jaws around Talon’s thigh.
The sheriff yelled and then cast off his human form to meet Axel on equal footing. His wolf was an impressive beast with sleek gray hair and intelligent dark eyes that gleamed yellow in the light. Axel looked like a homeless cat in comparison, one trying to be the first feline with dreadlocks, but as bad as he looked, he was desperate and not willing to lose. He fought Talon with a ferocity that made Gretchen wring her hands.
“We’ve got to help him,” she said, looking about for a weapon.
“Stay out of it,” her alpha warned. “This isn’t pack business. It’s between them and the Pack Council. He’ll be fine.”
She remained in place, barely managing to not run to help Talon. The urge to go to him was so strong, it took her breath away. Her wolf whined in her head and paced back and forth.
“And I just remembered something,” Cal said, frowning.
“What?”
“Mueller was with me at the Moon Tap.”
She turned to look at him. “You’re saying they got him, too?” No wonder Talon hadn’t heard from anyone in her pack. They’d all been drugged by Axel and whatever strays he had working for him.
“I think so. My memory is a little fuzzy, but I do seem to recall we were there together. He was probably wanting to talk to me about what happened to Hank.” Cal rubbed his forehead. “Did you see him here tonight?”
She shook her head. “No. I don’t think he was here.”
Cal pulled out his cell phone. “Let’s see if we can reach him.” He made one call and when no one picked up he tried another number. “Have you seen Mueller?” There was a response that Gretchen couldn’t quite make out on the other end and then her alpha said, “Okay. Thanks. I’ll be in touch.”
“Did you find him?”
“No answer on his phone. His wife hasn’t seen him since yesterday.”
“If he wasn’t here, where is he?”
“Maybe in trouble.” Cal’s eyes focused on the tree line in the horizon and he moved his weight from one foot to the other, ready to be gone. “I’ve got to go find him.”
“Yes, of course,” she said just as anxious as her alpha. “I hope he’s okay.”
“Me too. If not, there will be hell to pay,” Cal said with a growl. “Will you be okay here?”
“Yes. I think Sheriff Garde has things pretty well under control here.” She took a second to verify that was true, pleased to see Talon had the upper hand in the fight. Blood spotted Axel’s coat and his breathing was uneven. “Go take care of Huntsville. I don’t want these strays to hurt anyone else in our pack.”
Cal nodded. “Damn straight. I’ll see you back home then.”
“Be safe, alpha.” Gretchen said, watching as Talon danced around Axel, forcing the big cat to spin in circles to protect his haunches or crouch and roll to keep the sheriff from his throat. From the power in Talon’s movements and the fact that he wasn’t even breathing hard, she guessed he was trying to tire the stray out and force him to surrender.
Cal returned the ledger to her. “You take this. The Pack Council will want to see it.” Then he strode off, disappearing into the night.
“Thanks,” Gretchen called after him.
Talon and Axel continued to dance around each other. Axel’s legs quivered and his head hung low. At some point, Talon had ripped off a piece of the stray’s ear, leaving a large, bloody notch behind. “That’s going to take a while to grow back,” Gretchen said to herself, wincing in sympathy despite the aversion she felt for the stray. Shifters healed faster than humans, but missing pieces always took forever to return. Sometimes they even stayed missing.
Finally, Talon seemed to tire of playing cat-and-mouse and he lunged in, jaws snapping around Axel’s throat before the stray knew what had hit him. Talon gave the shifter a good shake, causing Axel’s head to slam into the ground.
Axel yelped and then went blurry as he shifted back into his human form. Panting, he raised his arms in surrender. “You got me. I don’t want to lose, but I don’t want to die more.”
Talon shifted back as well, his sculpted physique emerging from the dark shadow of his wolf. “Good,” he growled. He crouched down by Axel, and without any warning, he clobbered the stray in the temple. Axel instantly went limp, his pale skin gleaming in the night.
“What was that for?” Gretchen asked alarmed by the sudden violence.
“The only Axel I trust is a dead one, and since I don’t want to kill him, I’ll settle for dead-to-the-world.” Looking to Gretchen he said, “There’s a pair of handcuffs in my pants, what’s left of them anyway. Can you hand them to me? I don’t want to take my eyes off him just yet.”
Gretchen nodded and quickly scouted the area for the bits and pieces of his clothing. Shifting tended to scatter things in a pretty wide circle, so she spiraled out from the spot where he’d let his beast break free. Locating the remnants of Talon’s jeans she went through the back pockets and fished out the handcuffs. “Here they are.”
He took them from her. “Thanks.” Rolling Axel over, he secured the man’s hands behind his back. Talon stood, then and stretched his arms overhead, revealing the full glory of his naked form.
Gretchen couldn’t help but stare. Nudity wasn’t a big deal among shifters, but staring was still considered a challenge, or alternatively, an invitation. She wasn’t interested in either, but the supple muscles of Talon’s body made her breath catch in her throat and her brain freeze for a second. She’d known he had a good figure, she’d felt the flex of those muscles under her hands and the hardness of him pressing into her curves, but to see it, to have the visual of that male perfection…well, it made her want him. Her body quickened with desire, her heart stuttering in her chest, her breasts aching to be touched as a scorching heat ignited in her belly.
Deep breaths, girlfriend. You’re jus
t reacting to all the testosterone in the air. It’s been a hell of a night, don’t lose your cool now. She forced herself to look away and took in several deep cleansing breaths, trying to clear her head.
While she was working on her breathing, Talon stepped closer to her, filling her senses with his scent and the masculine weight of his presence.
“What are you doing?” she asked, taking a step back. Her fingers twitched, wanting to reach for the broad expanse of his chest, and she tucked them behind her back.
“You owe me a kiss.” Talon crowded her even more. They were just inches apart, so close they breathed the same air.
“N-n-now?” Her voice came out in a squeak.
“Yes, now.” His hands wrapped around her and pulled her into the heat of his body. She kept her arms at her sides, keenly aware of his nudity, of the hard cock pressing into her stomach.
“I-I-I don’t think—” She never got to finish what she was going to say as his mouth covered hers. His lips were gentle, but insistent and he cradled the back of her head with one hand. The other went to cup her ass.
She thought about protesting the intimacy, but her body had a mind of its own. She dropped the ledger as her hands went to skim his back of their own accord and came to rest on his shoulder blades. Her mouth moved with Talon’s now, too, the contact feeling luscious and decadent. Talon tasted as good as he looked. Damn but he was handsome.
His teeth scraped her bottom lip and he growled softly as the kiss became rough and feral, all animal and no human. Gretchen growled right back at him and none-too-gently sank her teeth into the fullness of his bottom lip. That seemed to herald the point of no return because Talon’s hands were pulling at her shirt, insistently tugging it up and over her head. He didn’t even bother to remove her bra, just yanked the cups down until her breasts spilled free. The night air rushed over Gretchen’s skin, its soft caress contrasting with Talon’s wild touch.
Talon abandoned her mouth for her breasts, sucking a nipple as he fought with the buckle of her belt. The snap of a twig and the rustling of brush caused Gretchen to freeze and her brain kicked back on, finally functioning at a level above primal desire.
“What was that?” She pushed at Talon’s shoulders, trying to get him to pay attention.
“Huh? What was what?” He mumbled the words into her breast and then swallowed more of her nipple, his tongue going back and forth over the tip.
“Talon,” she said, fighting not to succumb to the delicious sensations Talon had stirred in her body.
“Yeah, say that again,” he said, his voice thick with lust. He’d given up on her belt and was now trying to cram his hand down her pants.
An animal chuffed in the dark, the sound as derisive as a human snort. The hair on the back of Gretchen’s neck stood up and a shiver crept up her spine. There was no mistaking that sound. A shifter was out there, watching them and thinking it was funny.
“Come on, sheriff.” Not knowing what else to do, Gretchen whacked Talon on the head.
He winced and ducked. “Ow. Why do you keep hitting me?”
“Because when there’s no blood in your brain, it stops working. I’m just giving you a little kick-start, so pay attention. Please.”
He blinked at her, looking as confused as an owl caught in a sunrise as he tried to shift gears. “What is it?”
Gretchen leaned down and whispered in his ear, “Someone’s out there. Didn’t you hear them?”
That got his attention. With a long, lingering glance at her breasts, he pulled away and retrieved his gun, which had been cast aside when he’d taken his wolf form. “What direction did it come from?”
She pointed behind him and then pulled her bra back up to cover her breasts. “Over there.” Reaching for her shirt, she put it on and then picked up the ledger.
Talon peered over his shoulder, then gave a decisive nod as if he’d made up his mind about something. “All right. I guess we should get out of here.” He bent down and scooped up what remained of his clothing. Sifting through the ragged shreds, he found his car keys and wallet and tossed them to Gretchen.
“Will you hold those for me while I deal with Axel?”
She nodded and averted her eyes as he picked up the unconscious stray, his ass and legs flexing with power. “Yeah, sure.”
At the car, Talon dropped Axel to the ground, took the keys from Gretchen and popped the trunk. Rummaging through it, he came up with a stack of clothing that turned out to be a shirt and jeans. “I always keep an extra outfit on hand for situations just like this.”
Gretchen pretended to study the stars in the sky as he quickly pulled on his clothes, trying not to focus too much on how the man stirred her blood. “Umm, how many times did you go home naked before deciding it would be smart to keep a spare set of clothes on hand?”
He tucked the car keys into his pocket and laughed. “Not too many times. I got some tips from the other sheriffs that helped me avoid some of the bigger rookie mistakes.” He turned and picked Axel up with one big heave, dumping the man, facedown, in the trunk. Pulling a length of chain out from the corner of the trunk, he wrapped it around Axel’s hands.
“What is that? Silver?”
“Yep. Don’t want him waking up and shifting on me.”
“It doesn’t burn your hands?” Silver not only burned shifters it also kept their animals caged inside their human forms. Convenient for law enforcement, she guessed, but sinister all the same. As much as Axel deserved what he was getting, Gretchen hated to see any shifter brought so low. It seemed so cruel. But then, it’s not like he gave two shits about Dad or my pack so…
“A little. I go fast and I’m used to it by now.” He finished up by wrapping the chain around Axel’s torso a few times and then slammed the trunk shut with a satisfied smile. “Life ain’t perfect, but at least this shifter isn’t going to be a problem anymore.”
Chapter Twelve
~Gretchen~
As Talon drove them back to the bar, Gretchen watched out the window, silent and not knowing what to say. He’d kissed her and she’d not only liked it, but had allowed him to rip off her clothes like she was a hussy in heat. What was wrong with her? Aside from her wolf being utterly smitten, she hadn’t felt any of that when he’d kissed her before. What had changed?
“You’re thinking so hard, your ears are going to start steaming soon,” Talon said. “Do you want to talk?”
She frowned at him. “What are you going to do with Axel?”
“Make sure he can’t cause trouble anytime soon.”
“You mean, you’re going to kill him?”
Talon shook his head. “No, that would take an order from the Pack Council. I have other ways to deal with bad boy shifters.”
“Such as,” she prompted.
He shrugged and pretended to zip his lips. “Professional secret. Need-to-know kind of stuff.”
“Is it that bound thing you mentioned?” she asked, unwilling to be brushed off.
Talon just shrugged again. “Let’s talk about that kiss.”
“Let’s not.” She stared out the window, trying to avoid Talon and his lips. The sheriff made her stomach swirl, like she was falling and didn’t know where she would land. “How did you get your job? Are you a stray, too?” There. That should keep him busy. Not to mention she was curious. If he was a stray, what had he done?
“Me? A stray?” Talon chuckled. “No. I’m a sheriff. Strays in this region are just my assignment.”
“Why don’t you work for your pack?” She crossed her arms and risked a quick glance at him.
“Because there wasn’t any work.” He held up his hand, making a big fat zero with his fingers and thumb. “I signed up for the Pack Council’s Law Enforcement program. They trained me and sent me a few different places before I ended up here.”
“Oh,” she said, deflated. She’d kind of hoped he had some horrible criminal past she could use to feed her dislike of him. Maybe her wolf would finally give up, too. At that h
er wolf chuffed at her, unimpressed.
“I didn’t get kicked out of my pack or anything, if that’s what you’re wondering. Although, truth be told, with my parents gone, I don’t have much reason to go back.”
“Your parents passed away?” she asked, trying to ignore the pang of sympathy she felt.
“Yep. Happened a long time ago,” he said, his words clipped as if he didn’t want to talk about it, which just made her feel even more sympathetic. Damn it.
He paused for a moment, focusing on turning left at an intersection with a yellow blinker light. “That is also need-to-know, Halbmond. Now, you can pretend that kiss didn’t happen all you want, but we both know it did. So, let’s clear the air and be done with it.”
She threw her hands up in the air, giving in. “Okay, fine. Let’s talk about that kiss.”
“You liked it.” He flashed a smile at her.
She crossed her arms again, ignoring both him and the eager look in her wolf’s eyes. “So what? We’re still not mates.”
He waved a hand. “Forget the mates thing, would you at least agree to see me?”
She refused to look at him for a long moment. Whenever she thought of their kiss, an involuntary shiver went through her followed by a flush of heat. It was disturbing. “You mean like date?”
“Yeah, I mean like date,” he said, his voice dipping into a lower register. Gretchen couldn’t tell if it was sarcasm or exasperation. “Obviously there’s something between us, don’t you want to find out what it is?”
“No, I don’t,” she said without hesitation. “I’m not looking for a relationship, Talon, no matter how good the kisses are.”
“What are you looking for?”
“To keep my dad safe.”
“That’s it? What about your life? What do you want?” He smoothly navigated a steep curve.
She held onto the handle of the car door, he hadn’t slowed down a lick on the curve and the gravitational pull threatened to throw her into his lap. “I’m more of a career girl.”
“And that’s it?”
She nodded. “Yep.”
“You don’t want pups of your own? A mate?”