by Celia Kyle
Finally, Reid stood and looked at him, his wolf’s eyes shining. “If you wouldn’t mind shifting, Enforcer. Ty is waiting for your call.”
He didn’t sense a threat from the male. He didn’t get the feeling this whole situation was a setup to kill him once he was in his human skin, so he did as asked. The bear reluctantly gave up control, allowing his fur to recede. Unlike Morgan, his shift back took a mere second, leaving him standing nude and strong before the wolf Alpha.
“Alpha.” He tipped his head slightly and the wolf did the same.
“Enforcer. Your Itan will give you his apologies for keeping you in the dark, but I will as well.” Reid’s hard-eyed gaze centered on the prone Morgan. “I knew he wanted to be Alpha, and was undermining our peace, but that’s typical for stronger wolves. It doesn’t mean they can, but they crave the power. This one,” Reid nudged the nude man with his boot, “couldn’t hold the position for more than a day even if he wanted to.”
A low growl came from the ground and this time, Reid really did kick the man. “What he is, is devious. Sneaky. Fanatically so. He’s a planner, always working one step ahead of the rest. Except for me.” Reid’s gaze centered on him once again and Van saw something darker peer out from behind the wolf’s eyes. “What he doesn’t understand is I’m the embodiment of the beast. I can’t go feral, because I was born that way. That’s the trick. Wolves are brutal, evil, constantly fighting to be on top. But me,” Reid grinned, exposing his white canines, “I am the top.”
“So you knew…?”
“I’ve always known,” Reid shrugged. “And while my wolf wants to gorge on the blood of those weaker than him, my human half does have a conscience, albeit a small one. Check your phone when you get to your car. The locations of the missing families can be found there.”
“I killed them.” Morgan shoved the words past his lips and Reid snarled at the man.
“You left the job to others.” The Alpha squatted. “And what you forget is they owe their lives and their loyalty to me.” He fisted Morgan’s hair and then turned his attention to Van. “It might be a good idea to leave now. Besides, your mate needs you.”
“My—” He glared at the wolf struggling in Reid’s grip. “What’d he do?”
“It was what he put into motion, who he became involved with. But from all reports, your female is feisty.” The feral, lascivious grin that came his way had his bear’s hackles rising and a growl forming in his throat. The Alpha waved him away. “I don’t want yours. Go take care of your mate while I have a little fun with this one. I’ll send you a piece or two once it’s done.”
Van wanted to assure the Alpha that “a piece or two” of Morgan wasn’t necessary, but the Alpha was no longer paying attention to him. No, the male was fully focused on Morgan.
His bear whined, reminding him of their need to get to Lauren. He didn’t not trust the wolf Alpha, but he wouldn’t be at peace until he held her in his arms.
Ignoring the whimpers coming from Morgan, Van gathered his clothing and shoved his legs into his jeans. Fuck putting on the rest, he had to get to Lauren.
“And, Enforcer? Tell the Itan he has a lovely, thoroughly insane gift at the station.” Van raised a single brow in question and the Alpha flashed him a purely evil, sadistic grin. “The mayor and I had an enjoyable, claw-tipped conversation.”
Van gave the Alpha a jerky nod, but didn’t stick around any longer. He carried his clothing in his arms, dumping it on the floorboard as soon as he climbed in. He dug out his keys and started the SUV with ease. The moment he hit the highway, he yanked out his cell phone, giving the piece of equipment verbal instructions to call Ty.
His brother answered on the first ring. “She’s fine.”
Chapter Nineteen
Lauren wondered if she’d spend the rest of her life alternating between hurt and bored with sex sprinkled in between.
At the moment, it seemed so.
No, that wasn’t even true. She wasn’t really bored. She was waiting. For Van. For hours.
Or fifteen minutes, but who was counting.
The point was, she was left to her own devices for the first time in weeks and all she wanted to do was curl up in Van’s lap and snuggle. He’d somehow turned her into a lap cat.
Bastard.
Though, when he called her a lap cat, she did remind him how easy it’d be to turn him into a bearskin rug.
That argument ended in several hours of sexytimes.
She called that a win.
Which contrasted with right now because she was alone and considered it a great big loss.
Lauren glanced at the mantel clock and huffed. She still had another five minutes before he got home. She looked down at her outfit, making sure she wore what he’d requested. He was surprising her with something he promised would be amazing, so the least she could do was dress as he’d asked. Besides, he wanted her in shorts, a tank top, and flip-flops. She wasn’t going to argue about comfy-wear.
He’d even told her a bra and panties were optional. Lauren snorted. She was not letting the girls swing free. They were too big for all that.
She released another long sigh that slowly morphed into a groan. She hated waiting. And yes, she knew she acted like a two year old with her mental whining, but that didn’t change her mind. She still hated waiting.
The familiar, deep rumble of a truck reached her and she gasped. He hadn’t, had he? She bolted for the front door and yanked it open, spilling onto the porch.
Yup, he had, there was Van driving her big assed, ugly as hell truck Betsy. Another bear, Ash, drove Van’s SUV and pulled in behind her mate. Lauren only had eyes for her pickup.
“You brought her back!” She smiled wide and bounced down the steps.
Van just rolled his eyes. He shoved the driver’s door open and stepped from her baby. “Yeah, yeah. Michael at the shop finally fixed her.”
She glared at him, knowing he was lying. They’d been playing this game for weeks. Her begging for her truck and him, repeating over and over that the shop was “waiting for parts.”
They were damned brake lines. Not gold-plated spark plugs or a solid platinum ashtray. She figured it was because he wanted to cart her around, make sure she got to her destination safe and sound. Secretly, she liked that.
“So,” she grinned and held out her hand palm up. She wiggled her fingers. “Is this my surprise? Hand ’em over. Momma hasn’t driven her in a while.”
A nearby snort reminded her they weren’t alone and she turned her glare on Ash. She’d made friends-ish with the man, but she was reconsidering that decision. She opened her mouth to tell him where to stuff his laugh, but Van took care of it for her. He growled.
It was wrong that she found it so sexy. He was being a big, bad bear and she was getting wet. Sad state of affairs.
“Sorry, Enforcer.” Ash gave Van a little half salute. “I’ll see you guys later.”
With that, he jogged toward the tree line, his lope carrying him farther away. She’d grown used to things like that. The men wouldn’t head to the main clan house. They’d simply run into the forest and get furry, using four feet instead of two to get where they needed to be.
The second he disappeared, she remembered she still had her empty hand held out toward Van. She wiggled her fingers once again. “My surprise. Can I have her keys now?”
Van grinned at her, the one that said sexy-fun-times were on the horizon.
Not until she got her surprise, damn it. She’d let him score later.
“What will ya give me?”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “That’s not how surprises work. You give them for the joy of giving.”
“And I’m hoping you’ll be so overjoyed,” he stepped toward her, keys dangling from his fingers and clanking as he walked, “you’ll give me a little more ‘joy.’”
More joy? He was obviously talking about sex. The man couldn’t keep his hands to himself. “Oh god, you’re as big a cornnut as your brother.”
“Huh?”
“It killed my boner and told me you’re spending too much time with Mia.”
Lauren rolled her eyes. “Parker’s young and has little ears and—”
“I know.” He sighed. “So no extra ‘joy’?”
“No. Is the truck my surprise or is there something else?”
He actually pouted and poked out his lower lip. “Are you sure there’s no extra ‘joy?’ Even if there’s something else.”
“Bribery? Really?” She shook her head. “Then there is no extra ‘joy.’”
“Yeah, yeah. C’mon and get in. We’re taking a drive.”
Lauren perked up. “And I get to drive? I haven’t been behind Betsy’s wheel—”
“No. Just… no.” The massive bear shifter sounded so scared and he actually shuddered.
Lauren glared really, really hard. Clip a guard rail one time…
Van took a step forward and snared a belt loop on her shorts, tugging her toward him. She went easily, falling against him and letting him take her weight. All those muscles reminded her of all the times she’d seen them naked and then they’d done magical naked things and…
“Hey, missed you.”
She pushed to her tiptoes and rubbed her nose against his. “Missed you, too.”
“Yeah?”
She nodded, accepting his slow, gentle kiss. His tongue skated over her lips and she opened for him, granting him access while gently slipping into him as well. His heated flavors slid over her taste buds and she had to admit it was like coming home. Right there, right then, Van was her home. Tomorrow, if he left the toilet seat up, he was very, very anti-home. The antithesis of home. If home were chocolate cake, he’d be dry, fresh broccoli with no ranch dressing in sight.
Van eased the kiss, slowly pulling his lips from hers and she whimpered.
And he laughed.
Way too sexy werebear.
He reached around her and patted her ass. “C’mon, baby. We’re gonna be late.”
“Late?” Arousal and need still clouded her mind. “Where are we going?”
“That is the surprise.” He nudged her away from him and he turned toward the driver’s side of her truck once again.
“You’re driving?” She shook her head, trying to get rid of the sensual fog he’d thrown over her.
“Yup. I know you missed her, but I need you to keep your eyes shut. The least I can do is let you ride in her. So, get your sexy ass in this truck before I drag you into the house and fuck you stupid.”
She squeaked. “Stupid? I have never been—”
“You couldn’t talk for three hours the other morning.”
Oh, he was not getting sex for a super long time. “I was hoarse. It had nothing to do with you fucking me until I couldn’t speak.”
He grinned and winked at her so she growled and snapped her teeth at him.
“You know that makes my dick hard.” He jerked his head toward the truck. “Get in already or I really will toss you over my shoulder and drag you inside.”
She wasn’t seeing a downside to his threat, but she knew he’d gone to a lot of trouble to organize whatever he was about to show her. He’d been whispering with Ty for days and reminding her over and over that she needed to be available today.
Lauren snorted. “Okay, lemme lock up the house—”
“The house is fine.”
“But someone—”
“Baby,” she focused on him, her mate, the man with a bear inside him who currently peeked out behind Van’s human orbs, “no one is going to go near our house. No man or bear has balls that big.”
“But…”
“Lauren?” He held his hand out for her and she went to him, readily walking into his arms.
“Mmm hmm?”
“I’m gonna tell you something and you have to promise not to be afraid of me.”
She rolled her eyes. “Van, I’d never—”
“Promise.”
The dark gaze, the intent seriousness that filled her features, had the next joke on her lips fleeing. “I promise.”
He stared at her, no hint of emotions coursing through him, but she knew… His pulse raced, the rapid throb of the vein in his temple telling her of his unease. She pressed her palm to his chest and felt the heavy, speedy thump of his heart.
“I promise, Van. Nothing you could say or do would ever scare me.”
Van remained quiet for a moment, his gaze turning inward and she imagined him rolling through the different ways he could get the words out. That was her Van. Sometimes he spoke before he thought and other times he’d take ten minutes to order a danged cheeseburger.
“Reid took care of Morgan.”
Lauren nodded. She knew that. Morgan had conspired against the Alpha and intentionally endangered—tried to kill—another shifter’s mate. Then there was the fact he tried to organize Ty’s death while framing the Alpha. Reid dispensed a wolf’s justice and Morgan had become a “non-issue.”
“Davies is in an institution.”
Another nod. Reid introduced Bryson to werewolves and a little bit of claw and fang hospitality. Mostly bruises, a few cuts, they told the man would turn him into a werewolf, and a whole lotta terror. The end result was a mentally broken Bryson Davies, ex-mayor of Grayslake and current resident at Whitely Cross Psychiatric Institution. He’d be there for a long, long, forever kind of time.
“And Brubaker…”
Ah, the heart of the matter. “Van,” she shook her head. “You don’t have to tell me anything.”
“I do. At least a little. Some of the bears in the clan might act… differently toward you.”
She suppressed her snort. The day after Bru suffered from an unfortunate “bear mauling” they began acting differently. This was not news. “I know.”
“No, I—”
“Van,” she pushed against his hold and stepped out of the circle of his arms. “Your job is dangerous and bloody and your bear has to be mean sometimes. I get it. So, you telling me that you ripped Bru to shreds and scared the hockey sticks out of the clan, is not a surprise.”
He grinned at her, the darkness in his gaze fleeing. “Hockey sticks?”
“The Itana has been all over my ass about cursing. It’s demeaning. How’s the deliver guy at the diner supposed to take me seriously when I no longer speak fluent fuckyou-ish?” She huffed and propped her hands on her hips.
“Fuckyou-ish?”
“The English dialect of the ancient language ‘fuckyou.’ Very old. Dignified even.” She nodded to punctuate her statement.
“You don’t care?”
“I don’t care.” She shook her head. “I love you, why would I care?”
Shit. There it was. Out there in the world and floating between them. The silence stretched, growing longer and larger with every passing second.
“What kind of love?” Hope shone in his eyes, but he held himself back. They’d never said another word about love after that one time he laid out his feelings.
I’m cautiously, certainly, in love with you.
Lauren licked her lips, nerves taking flight in her stomach and stomping her intestines. Okay, ew, she was thinking about professing her love and… intestines. Gross. She was spending way too much time in the company of little boys.
“I’m,” she took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “not-so-cautiously, certainly in love with you.”
“Yeah?” His smile blossomed, mouth spreading, reaching all the way to his black-hued eyes.
“Yeah.” She mirrored his expression.
Van dug into his pocket and tugged his cell phone free. He tossed it to her and she fumbled as she caught the thing. “Call Ty.”
“Huh, why am I calling Ty? Aren’t we—” Lauren squeaked, her position going from solidly on two feet to tossed over Van’s shoulder in a blink.
“Because you need to tell him we’re not coming.”
“What?” She wi
ggled her ass and he spanked her. She hated that she liked it. “What about my surprise?”
“I have a surprise in my pants for you.”
“You did not… You just… Does it vibrate? Because if it doesn’t, I don’t want it!” At some point they’d made it inside the house and Van lowered her feet to the ground so she could stand once again. “I mean it!”
“Lauren?”
She narrowed her eyes. He was not getting out of giving her the surprise. “What?”
“I certainly, certainly love you.”
Okay, maybe he was.
“We’re so lame.” Lauren grinned, replaying their oddball declarations.
“I’m a big, bad werebear.” He growled, playing along. “I’m never lame.”
She backed away from him, tossing the cell phone onto a nearby chair. “You’re all growl and no bite, mister.”
Van raised single brow. “I thought it was roar?”
“Nah, I like it better when you growl.” She teased him, running her hands over her hips and near the juncture of her thighs. “When you press your mouth against me and those vibrations…”
Then he did growl.
He leapt for her, stretching out, and she darted away. Laughing, she skirted the couch, sliding across the repaired, polished floor and on to the other side of the room.
The cell phone rang, vibrating and bouncing on the chair, but she only had eyes for Van. Whoever it was could wait.
Except Van, still smiling at her, reached down and snagged the hunk of cock-blocking-plastic. “Hello?” All hints of his smile fled, and suddenly he was stern and serious, no hint of their playfulness remaining. “I see… yes, I understand. I was a little busy…”
Van moved toward the end table where they kept pens and paper. Lauren was right there, heart hammering in her chest as she dug through a drawer and hunted what he’d need. God, what happened now? Things were so calm. Smooth sailing, steady sails, and every other idiom that meant crap was not blowing up on them.
There’d been more than one occasion he’d been called out for one bear matter or another and each one worried her. Right now, the seriousness in his expression scared her. She hadn’t seen him this way before, this intense as he stared at her while speaking.