Tentatively, she accepted the square box which was surprisingly heavy. “Matt…”
“Hurry and open it.”
With a puckered brow, she set the box down and opened it, and nearly fell on her ass as a dark blonde wolf jumped out. The heavily kohled eyes, sleek snout and trim body designated the beast as female. The wolf shook hard, as if ridding itself of debris. When it turned to look at her, Tess swore its lips curved in an approving smile. The animal trotted off at an easy gait, straight toward a chocolate brown male wolf that waited for her at the edge of the clearing. They rubbed their cheeks together in an affectionate greeting, and then they were gone.
“Now where's mine?”
On her haunches, Tess looked up at her former boyfriend. “Matt, I don't have anything for you.”
His features twisted in anger. “You were supposed to give me one. None of the other bitches did and I'm tired of waiting.”
Ever so slowly, Tess rose and balanced on the balls of her feet. Before she could tell Matt where he could take his comment, her name was called. A very familiar voice that carried a hint of the mid-west.
Raising one hand to cup the large, warm one gently squeezing her shoulder, she turned.
Blinking, Tess woke from her strange dream to find Caleb sitting on the edge of her bed. “Caleb?”
He smiled, his tired eyes lighting with pleasure. “Good morning.”
She looked around her bedroom with a sense of déjà vu. “What are you doing here?”
He raised a cocky brow. “Can't I come by and tell my mate hello?”
She felt her cheeks warm and automatically reached up to touch the mark he'd placed last night on her shoulder. The area wasn't sore and she couldn't feel any lingering wounds. If she hadn't lived through it, and even argued with him about it afterwards, she might think it all a crazy dream. Remembering that he'd sunk his fangs into her flesh right as she'd climaxed made her face flame all the more. “Umm.”
His second brow rose in mock surprise. . “Nothing to say? Guess I need to wake you up more often.” He leaned over and brushed a gentle kiss over her lips, one hand cupping her head so his thumb was free to stroke over her temple. “I love you.”
Her heart twisted in her chest and she glanced away from the powerful emotion shining in his eyes.
Fear? Happiness? What was that emotion that made her eyes burn, her throat thicken with tears? Everything seemed to happen so fast. Too fast.
Caleb covered her mouth with a firm hand. “Don't want to hear any rebuttal, rebuke or your opinion on what I feel. I know it must seem unreal to you, given the circumstances, but my heart doesn't give a damn. I love you, I've marked you and I want to be with you for the rest of our lives. Unfortunately, that's not why I'm here.” He straightened and drew his hand away.
She narrowed her eyes in suspicion. “Well there'll be no hanky-panky going on.”
“I know.”
“What do you mean you know?”
He touched the side of his nose.
God! Was nothing about her body private anymore? She punched him in the shoulder. “I meant because my mom's here.” Though she sounded peevish, she was secretly delighted he hadn't so much as twitched under the force of her jab. The man was solid muscle.
Caleb laughed. “As is Dolen.”
“Dolen's still here?” She sat up and leaned on the headboard.
“Yep. And making breakfast as we speak.”
She took in a deep breath. Under Caleb's sexy scent she could detect frying potatoes and onions. Her tummy rumbled in appreciation. “Guess I could eat.”
“Before we go down I need to tell you something.”
The grim set of his mouth made her nervous. “What?”
“I roused Frank early this morning.”
“And,” she prodded, when he paused.
His eyes went flat and hard. Cop eyes. “Once he found out his oldest son deserted him, and after a few physical…mishaps, he spilled his guts. First off, he's the one who instigated the wolf gathering last night. He was hoping that with enough wolves, you - and anyone helping you, aka me - wouldn't be able to keep Kyle from getting a hold of you.” His voice became low and dangerous, the raspy warning of how close he was to full-on fury. “The bastard wanted Kyle to get you with child.”
She shuddered, knowing how close that ugly possibility had come. If Caleb hadn't arrived when he did… She shuddered again. “Nice, but I figured that one out myself. Did he have anything to do with Dave's death?”
With obvious difficulty, Caleb reigned himself back in. “Apparently, Kyle received an anonymous tip that Collins would be in the woods on that particular night at that particular time because the kid was canvassing the area for prime lumber.”
She blinked at him owlishly. “Uh?”
He sighed. “Sorry. You weren't privy to all of this. Collins took a job with a competitor of the Kolter Lumber Company. According to Frank, the kid planned on tagging some of the prime trees on Kolter's land to be harvested and hauled away by his new employer.”
She thrust her chin up, a frown marring her brow. “That's ridiculous. There's no way a team could sneak into the woods with the kind of equipment to take down those trees, and make that kind of noise, without someone noticing. Not to mention the removal factor. It's not logical.”
Caleb nodded. “I agree. It's lame. Especially since Brent Hawkins, the owner of said competitor, denies ever meeting Dave Collins. Not only are they not hiring, they are in fact going through another round of layoffs.”
“I take it you believe him?” At his nod she nibbled on her lower lip in thought, and noticed Caleb's gaze follow the movement with intense focus. Now the tingles became prickles of awareness. At least she didn't have to worry that the physical attraction between them was only due to the mating heat.
She cleared her throat. “So Frank went out to confront Dave and killed him?”
Caleb's eyes flitted back to hers. “Actually, no. Kyle went out to confront Dave and killed him.”
“Kyle? He doesn't care about his father's company.”
“Yes, well.” He rubbed a tired hand over his neck. “This is when it gets weird. Frank evidently has been experimenting with various chemicals and ‘herbs’ in order to mask his scent and avoid detection by smell. The man had turned a secondary bedroom into a damn lab. Anyway, Kyle found out about his father's extracurricular activities about a month ago and helped himself, repeatedly and often. When Frank confronted him about it, supposedly Kyle just sneered and said he didn't need his old man's failed attempts as he'd created something that actually worked. And until we find Kyle, we won't know what that is or how much it's affected his thinking.”
“Great. Kyle's not only a killer shifter, he's crazy to boot.” Tess remembered the odd scent that Frank carried the night he'd come over. “Makes you wonder what Kolter senior planned on doing that he needed to mask his scent.”
Caleb shrugged. “Who knows? The guy's not all there. I can't see him robbing a bank and he sure as hell wouldn't dirty himself by spilling another's blood. He didn't even try and defend himself against Dean when our alpha challenged him for the position. The only thing he wants is money and women. Of course he can't ge—”
Tess grabbed his arm and squeezed hard. “Oh my God, Caleb. Women.”
At Caleb's confused look she shook him. “Think. If I'd been Kaylie, a human female here alone, I wouldn't have stood a chance against a shifter's strength. One hit and I'd be out cold, long enough for Frank to do anything to me he wanted and clean up afterwards. You'd only have my word against his, if I even lived through it. Granted, anyone would take a snake's word over Frank's, but that's beside the point. He could never go to a human jail as he's a shifter. Maybe he'd be banished from the pack, but without evidence, without his scent, he'd get off scot free and could do it again and again.”
She braced herself for the storm infusing his eyes with violent rage. One fisted hand slammed into the palm of his other, shaking the bed. �
��I'll kill them both.,” he said in a hard, gritty tone.
“Yes, possibly, but I think there's more. I think I might know who tipped Kyle off.” At Caleb's incredulous look she added, “It's a stretch, but just answer me this. Whose house got ransacked last night?”
“West's.” His brows shot up. “You think Matt made the call? Why? I thought you said Matt hated shifters. Why would he try and help one?”
“Like I told you a couple of days ago, I think he's Frank's illegitimate son.”
Caleb jumped up off the bed. “That's still supposition.”
Tess crawled to her knees and faced him. “Yes, I know. But,” she pointed a finger at him when he opened his mouth, “between what I've heard over the last couple of days and what I already know, it makes sense.” She told him about Gina's reference to Frank's ”shifter sons” and Frank's own muttered comment about letting the boy have his way. “When I found out Matt was cheating on me, he specifically told me I wasn't doing it for him and he had to try other females to make it happen.”
A nasty snarl rumbled in his chest. “So he's an asshole.”
“Agreed. The thing is, a shifter raised in a shifter family or pack understands at what age the males change. Puberty, yes?”
“Sure. Anywhere between eleven and sixteen.”
Her eyes fell back to his chest to follow the play of muscles at his shrug. Nice, tight muscles that only last night she'd marred with her nails. A primordial feeling of female smugness almost made her smile, until she gave herself a mental head slap and refocused on his face. “And you told me that shifters recognize their own kind.”
“Yes.” His eyes narrowed as he tried to follow her thinking. “The scent is unmistakable.”
“Right. What if Matt found out who his father was and, being a naive teenager, went to him to find out how to shift into a wolf? ? He's dating me at the time, right?” She raised a hand, palm up, her voice warming with excitement. “On one hand I have a cruel alpha, a.k.a. Frank, who enjoys messing with humans. If shifters can scent their own, then Frank will know immediately that Matt doesn't have the ability, probably because his mother didn't have the compatible DNA to carry cubs, since only a small percentage of women do. Added to that is the fact that Frank despised my father because of the way he ran the pack. She raised her other hand, mirroring the first. “So what does a manipulative jerk say to the eager and impressionable kid who is dating the daughter of the aforementioned hated alpha?”
Understanding filled his eyes. “Are you saying that Frank told Matt that the only way to bring on his wolf was by screwing with every female he could? To hurt you? That makes no sense.”
She shook her head. “It does if you don't have a clue. Most of the humans here don't know when the shifting ability hits. It's like a person of one religion not knowing all about the inner workings of another religion. Unless you actually experience it firsthand, any beliefs are generally based on the most basic of ideas. They don't see the cubs and it's not like you all have bar mitzvahs or whatever when it happens. Most of the town knows that some of their neighbors turn furry once a month, but they don't understand all the science and sociology behind shifters. Now with Moon Haven built and housing shifters on the full moon, there's not a sudden and odd wolf population increase one night a month to draw unwanted attention from the tourists.”
“True. We had to do something to maintain some sort of secrecy or the pack would have to leave and none of us want to do that. Woodcliff is our home. But back to Frank.”
“Yes.” She raised a shoulder in a half shrug.. “Frank is a known womanizer. As a kid I remember the rumors of other women. Since you weren't here at the time, you wouldn't know about that. Who knows how many illegitimate children he might have from willing or unwilling women? As alpha, he was considered untouchable and undeniable. Needless to say it was a very unpleasant time for the shifter race.”
At his continued frown her shoulders slumped. “I told you it was a stretch. If nothing else, why would Matt's house be ransacked by a wolf two days after Dave's murder? There's got to be a connection there. Maybe Matt is the one who called Kyle to rat out Dave. If Kyle did kill Dave, as Frank said he did, maybe Kyle is now after Matt for sticking him in the position of a killer.”
“It's all very circumstantial. I still don't understand why Matt would make the phone call to begin with.”
“Retribution. Frank not only lied, he denied claiming Matt as his son because he can't shift. What better way to get back at an arrogant shifter than to set his eldest son - who can shift - up to take a fall?” He still looked unconvinced. “Fine. Answer me this then. Does Matt's place carry the same scent as the spot Dave was killed?” At the tightening of his lips she nodded and began to tick ideas off her fingers. “With Matt missing and the violence left at his house, you can gain access to his home and cell phone records. You can do the same at the Kolter Lumber Yard because of Frank's imprisonment and his claim that Kyle killed Dave.”
Caleb's eyes were flat in cop mode and he only grunted at her words. Undaunted, Tess continued. “When you talk to his mother again, you can bring up the question of Matt's sire. You can also check with Frank and see if he ever had any sexual relations with her. As a trained investigator with an extra-sensitive nose, you'll be able to tell if Frank is lying about knowing Mrs. West in a carnal sense and if Matt ever came to him claiming Frank was his father.”
His eyes narrowed in suspicions, Caleb asked, “Just what did you go to college for? Not modeling?”
Tess laughed. “Of course not! That was a total fluke in my senior year. I was going for an accounting degree, with criminal justice as my minor. I'm not an idiot, you know.”
“I know you're not an idiot, m'lupa, but why accounting?”
Her smile was more than a little sheepish. “I've always gotten along better with numbers than people. Numbers don't lie.”
“And the criminal justice?”
She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “Forensic accounting appealed to me. What can I say?”
Caleb reached for her and kissed her with a thoroughness that left her breathless. “I can say you're brainy as well as beautiful and you can say that you love me.”
“I know,” she whispered, her heart swelling with love while her tummy fluttered with nerves. “I'm working up to it.”
Chapter Twenty
With a murderer on the loose, one man missing and presumed dead and the owner of the largest employer of Woodcliff in jail, the communities – both shifter and non-shifter – were more than a little uneasy.
On Wednesday afternoon, Tess stepped out the back door of Dolen's Café after ending her shift to see Caleb leaning against her truck. As it did every time she saw him, her heart gave a mighty leap and then fell back down in her chest to purr in pleasure. Not only did she love him, she was in love with him, and every passing day the feeling grew..
It went deeper than biology or chemistry. She loved his brain, his strength, his determination, his openness. She adored the way the corners of his eyes crinkled when he smiled. And most of all, she loved the way he loved her.
Tell him. A little voice whispered in her head.
Unnerved, she nearly faltered in her steps. I will. I just need a few more days to get used to the feeling. This is a big step for me.
The voice snorted at the lame excuse. A week ago you were ready to take giant leaps in your life and now you're faltering? Coward. Besides, if he never hears the words, you'll hurt him. Every day for the rest of his life, you'll hurt him. How would you feel if the situation was reversed?
Knowing how true that statement was, Tess plodded through the thin layer of snow with a sense of determination. She was not going to give in to her fears any longer. Caleb loved her and she loved him. That emotion was real, undeniable and needed to be said. Everything else would, hopefully, fall into place..
As she stood in front of Caleb, she opened her mouth to tell him she loved him, but didn't have a chance.
�
��New boots?” he asked.
She automatically glanced down at the hiking boots. “Yep. I'm re-adjusting to life in the mountains.”
He grinned and reached out to clasp her hands, drawing her close. His lips brushed hers. “And you do it beautifully.” He wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her tight until they were chest to chest and groin to groin. She slipped her arms around his neck and wiggled against his erection. A frustrated growl rumbled in his throat. “Witch.”
Her laugh transformed into a happy sigh when he dropped his head to nuzzle her neck, specifically where his mark lay. “I miss you,” he said between urgent open-mouthed kisses along her skin. “I want you.”
He pulled far enough back that his hot, hungry gaze bored into hers. “I love you,” he whispered against her lips a second before he slanted his mouth over hers. She opened automatically, craving his taste.
One hand cupped her bottom, pressing her tight as he rocked his hips, his rigid cock rubbing at the notch between her thighs.
She felt herself begin a downward slide into a pool of hungry fire, the greedy flames already licking at her, sucking her in. She was eager to be taken, swallowed whole and devoured. With a small whimper she clung to him, matching his ravenous kiss, thrusting her tongue in deep, mimicking the way she wanted him to thrust into her.
“Ahem.” The voice was low, but so close and authoritative that she jerked like a naughty child caught with her hand in the cookie jar. Caleb grinned sheepishly over her shoulder. “Sorry, Dean. I got carried away.” He looked back at Tess and pressed a hard kiss to her lips. “I love getting carried away.”
Embarrassed at being caught necking in the parking lot, Tess shimmied until Caleb finally let her free with a chuckle. She spun around…and just as quickly stepped back towards Caleb.
This was Dean? The pack's alpha? And her little sister's lust interest?
I don't think so.
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