by Cecilia Lane
“So who is she to you?” Dash asked at his side.
Seth frowned at his brother. “No one. Just a job.”
“Sure, sure,” Dash said, grinning wildly. At Seth’s raised eyebrow, he spread his hands wide. “As much as I enjoy giving Trent shit, it makes my balls disappear to think about going up against him for real. You may as well have whipped out your dick and claimed your territory with that little exchange.”
Seth stiffened. “I don’t have a mate. I told you what I am.”
“You still have shifter blood, man. So you don’t have the fur and fangs. Who gives a shit?” He tapped his hand over his heart. “Knowing she’s yours, that comes from here.”
Hope jumped to life before he could get a rein on himself. A single image flashed through his head, and his body picked up the response. Lilah bent over that kitchen table, his hands on her. Fuck, he could practically feel heat growing between them.
Seth yanked back on the wicked thought and let the brief flare of hope wither on the vine. A gnawing ache filled his stomach, like he’d been starved for years and years.
She couldn’t be his mate. Even if he’d somehow tapped into that side of himself after all the years of being utterly shiftless, even if he wasn’t desperately reaching for straws, Lilah wasn’t for him.
“She hates shifters.”
Dash threw his head back with a laugh. “You sure managed to get yourself into a kettle of fuckfish, didn’t you?”
Chapter 9
Holy crap. What fresh hell had Seth dragged her into? All his promises and nice words about keeping her safe flew out the freaking window when he offered her up to Jasper Crowley’s kin. She’d done some research after the supernatural population went public. What she’d learned then had been the same as her experience as a teenager. Their families—clans, packs, whatever they wanted to call themselves—stuck together. Outsiders like herself weren’t welcome.
Not to mention, this was his room. With his people. In Bearden, of all places!
The flashes in his eyes surged back into focus. He claimed he wasn’t a shifter, but why the hell was he living amongst them?
Lilah turned to face her firing squad. Four pairs of eyes met hers, but none showed her open hostility. Mostly there was curiosity and a little pity, neither of which she expected from those connected to the man who wanted her dead.
They didn’t look like killers. Then again, no one really looked like a killer. That darkness lived inside a person and didn’t seep through as a warning to the rest of the world. The women in front of her could have been plucked off the street or strolled past her in the grocery store. Four different shades of hair ranging from light blonde to black, blue eyes and green and grey and brown. All utterly normal. Entirely human.
Then again, Lorne’s family had appeared the same until they showed their true selves.
Lilah shivered at the thought. Fear dumped into her veins. She’d been attacked, just like before. Jasper and his people wanted her dead, just like before. Only this time, the ones coming for her didn’t seem to care who saw or got in the way. She was powerless against that sort of force, just as she was powerless against their claws and fangs.
And she stood in the same small room with relatives.
The awkward silence lasted for a beat more before Hailey stepped forward with a wide smile. “I’m Hailey, which I think Trent mentioned back there. This one is Sage. Your name sibling, Kyla.” Hailey huffed a tiny laugh and rounded out the introductions with a final point. “And that’s Colette.”
Lilah darted a look around the small room. She needed an escape plan if they tried anything, but she’d been cornered. The only door was the one they’d entered through and unless she had some hidden superpowers, she doubted she could jump through the window above the bed.
Hailey brushed past her and into the bathroom, leaving her alone with the others. Lilah tried to give them polite smiles as the other woman rummaged for something, which they returned with increasing concern.
Don’t run, she urged herself. Don’t scream. No sudden movements. Act like they aren’t capable of changing into giant lionesses ready to rip a person limb from limb.
Seth trusted them. He’d also left out the teeny, tiny little detail of their connection.
“Here we go,” Hailey announced. A second later, she reappeared in the doorway with a white box in her hands. “You’re a bit bigger and far less furry than my typical patients, but I think I can manage some scraped knees.”
“I can do it myself,” Lilah insisted. “You don’t need to stick around.”
“Nonsense. We’re here, and I’m sure you have questions. The same as us,” she added in a softer voice. She took a step forward. “We saw what happened on the news and heard what Seth told Dash. It’s true, then? Jasper escaped?”
“You’re not going to hand me over to him, are you?” Lilah blurted.
Shocked silence gripped the room. “Of course not! And if you managed to throw a wrench into any of his plans, you’re at the very top of my Christmas shopping list next year.”
“I’m the only one that saw him escape. The only one still alive, anyway. Or not trying to cover it up.”
Colette frowned. “Well, that’s just stupid. What’s he going to do when the news gets out? Go after everyone who watched the broadcast?”
Hailey shrugged. “Yeah, but this is Jasper we’re talking about. He’s not exactly working with the whole box of crayons. He still thinks he can go back to separating human and shifter lives. The asshole tried to kill me because Trent thought I was pretty. Of course he won’t let Lilah here off the hook for daring to survive.”
Lilah took a seat on the edge of the bed. “Jasper tried to kill you?”
"Welcome to the club! We meet Wednesdays and discuss our revenge fantasies. I'm considering taking up cross-stitch to send him delightful messages from the home front like 'eat shit and die mad' or 'live, laugh, rot in hell'. It's a long game, but I'm hoping he can pick out the thread and eventually make a noose for himself. Trent says it's the baby making me bloodthirsty, but I think that's because he doesn't want to admit I'm better at holding a grudge. Besides, what's a sub-four week fetus going to really influence?"
“Personally, I don’t care if they live or die,” Kyla popped in. “I’m just focused on living my best life.”
Hailey gave her an exasperated look. “This isn’t the interview portion of a beauty pageant, Kyla. Wishing for world peace isn’t going to score you any points.”
Kyla rolled her eyes and waved a hand through the air, but that was all. No snapped response, no launching into an attack. They acted more like close friends giving each other shit than the monsters she’d built up in her head.
Hailey set the first aid kit next to Lilah and crouched down at her feet. All traces of joking left her face. “Trent might be Jasper’s nephew, but blood doesn’t make family. Jasper is most assuredly not family to any of us.”
“Neither are the Levines,” Kyla added. “We have two of them here.”
Sage nodded in silent agreement.
“Let me guess,” Lilah said, turning to Colette, “you’re Ira Jacobson’s younger sister?”
Colette barked a laugh. “Oh, no, I’m just a bear from next door who got roped into this crazy pride, same as you. You couldn’t ask for a better group of people, though. They’ve been there when I needed them the most.”
“It’s true,” Sage said, speaking for the first time. She touched her fingers to her throat with a tiny wince. “They’ll do anything for each other, even if it’s stupid.”
“Especially if it’s stupid,” Colette laughed again.
“Seth, too?” Lilah asked in a measured tone. “He really lives here?”
The mood from the others changed from in-jokes to a careful study of her. She’d felt those looks before, mostly from the sisters of the few men she’d dated. They inspected her, judged her intentions. Whatever they saw didn’t send them running for help.
“S
eth has been here for a few months,” Colette said, “but I can’t imagine the place without him. He fits in like family.”
But he shouldn’t have been family. Not as a human. Not unless he mated into things, from what she understood.
Oh, there were secrets here. Secrets hurt her before. She didn’t want them to hurt her again.
Lilah reconsidered them from under her lashes. Tall and short alike, they showed her a kindness by giving her space from the growly posturing of Seth and the other guys. And really, if they intended her harm, why play nice at all? They could have simply shoved her inside and thrown away the key.
One advantage shifters had over regular humans was their ability to pick out lies like a dog trained to sniff out bombs. She wished, for just a moment, she had that ability. It sounded far better than losing her damn mind with fear riding roughshod over her until she regained control and worked through what was right in front of her.
They shared enemies. Seth had brought her to the place he called home. The man had fought her attackers and shaken off her feeble attempt to run for the hills in a panic.
Seth trusted them but, despite his aid, she wasn’t sure she could trust him.
The door swung open and Lilah’s attention shot to the man who stopped at the entry of the cramped quarters. Something about him sucked all the air from the room and left her weak in the knees.
Oh, who the hell was she kidding? His entire presence, from the confident stance to the stubble on his cheeks, filled her stomach with butterflies. Or maybe hornets. Dangerous, buzzing, ready to sting her for going gooey for her bodyguard when she had no idea who he even was, hornets.
Hailey was the first to react. “We’ll leave you two alone,” she murmured. One look gathered the others, and they squeezed past Seth.
He stopped Hailey before she slipped through the door. “Do you think you can find some clothes to loan Lilah?”
The woman swept a look over her. “This is all you have? You poor thing. You look like you came straight from the office. Don’t worry, we’ll find you something to change into.”
“Thank you,” she said softly.
“Don’t mention it. You need something, I’m here to make sure you get it.” With that, she disappeared through the door and let it fall shut behind her.
Quiet filled the room. Like at the diner, Lilah flicked a glance at the man and caught him shifting his eyes away.
Seth cleared his throat. “They didn’t scare you, did they?”
Lilah shook her head. “They were perfectly nice. Even tried to tend my knees.”
“I should have thought of that.” Seth’s mouth pulled down in a frown.
The silence stretched again, slowly expanding and filling the room until there was hardly any room to breathe.
“I—” she started.
“You—” he said at the same time.
They paused again. He gave her a tight smile. “Go ahead.”
Lilah ducked her face. "I'd like to request a redo. On everything. You had more than enough reason to wash your hands of me, and instead, you brought me into your home. I'm sorry for being a pain in your ass."
“Like I said before, you don’t need to apologize. You’ve been through a lot.”
“Yeah, but that was before I spiked your tea with sleeping pills.” Lilah winced. Saying the words out loud was even more embarrassing than thinking about her actions. Shameful, shameful shit. “I think that restarts the apology clock.”
Seth closed the space between them and lifted a hand to cup her cheek. The touch soothed her tripping pulse, then kicked the beat even higher. She resisted leaning into his touch for a solid two seconds before she gave in to her weakness.
“You’re safe. That’s what matters.”
A slow, simmering smile spread across his face. The hornets hummed louder than ever. Wait, no, that purring noise came from Seth.
His expression snapped closed, and he took a step back. “There’s nothing to forgive.”
Right. Very right. He was her bodyguard, not her pool boy. They needed to stay professional.
And also, what the fuck? Purring? She liked vocal men, but she’d never heard one purr before.
Purring, Lilah. The man purred. His eyes changed. If it quacks like a duck, it could probably shift into one.
“So, this is your place?” Lilah said too loud. She covered herself with a gesture to the general room. “Obvious predicament. There’s only one bed.”
Heat flashed through his eyes as he darted a look between her and the bed. “Don’t worry about it. I won’t be sleeping much tonight, anyway.”
“You’ve been up for hours. You need to sleep at some point.” Not with her, of course. Not even if the images dried her tongue.
“I’m first up for patrol. I just wanted to check in before I left.” He threw her a smile. “Didn’t want to make you deal with those harpies for long.”
Lilah snapped straight, ready to defend her fellow women before she caught the teasing in his voice. Ah. They were his people. He trusted them. Of course he could joke with them. They'd probably slice open his liver and roast it over an open fire if he ever truly bothered them, then cross-stitch something to hang over his gravestone. "But that won't take all night, will it?"
“No. Long enough for fight night to start up.”
Her brows drew together. “What’s fight night?”
“I forget you’re not part of this world.” Another smile, but there wasn’t any teasing to it, just polite understanding. “Ring fights. Have some drinks, maybe make a wager. If you’re brave enough, throw your name down for a brawl. It’s a way to blow off steam, not to mention a hub for some unsavory characters.”
“If you’re not a shifter, shouldn’t you avoid going there?” Lilah held her breath. There was a lie somewhere, she was sure of it. She just didn’t know exactly where.
Seth stiffened, then slashed his eyes away from her. “Don’t worry about me,” he said gruffly. “I’ll be fine. Looking forward to it, actually.”
Lilah stared at the door after he left. She was finally alone, but there wasn’t any comfort in it. She wasn’t safe. She didn’t feel protected. If anything, she had more questions than ever before.
Who the hell was Seth Foster, and what was he hiding from her?
Chapter 10
Lilah woke for the third day in a row unsure of where she was and groggy beyond all belief. The first, at least, she had some excuse. A handful of hours after nearly being killed didn’t exactly contribute to a complete sleep cycle. The second, too, she had a little leeway for her confusion. Waking in a strange barn, in the bed of a strange man, and still fearing for her life made sleep hard to find between the tossing and turning.
The third night, and second on the ranch, that was her fear whispering in the darkness.
Strange place? Strange people? Of course her mind ran a thousand miles a minute. That was even before the added dash of, say, her life being in the hands of a man she barely knew.
And yet, they’d been nothing but polite to her. The women had delivered her a stack of clothes that, even if they weren’t her size, fit well enough. They’d opened their doors when they were home, and offered to give her a ride if she needed. Seth rejected the offer with a growl and warning for her to stay on the ranch, but the intention was still nice even if she was grounded.
Lilah showered and dressed just in time for the morning circus to begin with a rumble of truck engines and yelling.
“Colette, baby, love of my life, queen of my world, it pains me to say you’re being selfish,” Dash teased.
“Oh, fuck off,” Colette laughed. “I’m not doing your work. I have my own job to get to.”
“Then why are you still here?” Lindley muttered loud enough to be heard.
“Mostly to annoy you,” she snarked back. “Is it working?”
Lilah stepped through the door before the argument broke out over whether Lindley had had enough coffee that morning, or if enough even existe
d in the world to deal with the dual force of Dash and Colette. She didn’t hear Trent yet, which meant they could easily descend into a full, fist- and fur-flying brawl like the one that left her wide-eyed and heart racing the previous afternoon.
Seth dropped down from the hayloft above the stalls as the door closed behind her. The fresh bruises on his face made her want to wince. They were for her, she supposed, but that felt worse than him getting into fights for the hell of it. Those, at least, wouldn't have been laid at her feet.
“Morning, everyone,” Lilah greeted with a tiny wave of her fingers.
Two days, and she still wasn’t sure the right protocol. The whole situation gave her flashbacks to starting a new job and the pre-shift water cooler mingling. She didn’t know them, they didn’t know her, and everyone was trying to sniff out how the newbie fit into the company culture. Only they were actual big cats sniffing at her and the culture was like a family reunion with the most vicious jokesters in the world.
At least they didn’t hold it against her. With murmured greetings of their own, they turned to argue over who gave the orders and why Dash would never listen to Lindley.
Lilah turned to Seth. She lifted her hand before she could stop herself, then pointed with her arm stretched halfway between them. “You have hay in your hair.”
He ran a hand through his messy bedhead to shake out the stalks. “Thanks.”
“You don’t need to sleep up there. I’m taking up your room. I’m sure I could bunk with one of the others and—”
“Not happening,” he denied with a growl.
Lilah took a step back. Not the first time she’d heard the burr on his tongue. Not even the second, third, fourth. Each one surprised her a little less, but the shock was still there. The noise wasn’t a human sound and Seth still clung to his designation as a human.
Regret flashed in Seth’s eyes before he shut them. They stayed closed for two slow breaths, then opened on her again with an intensity that made her shiver.