Change in the Light_Shapeshifter Romance

by Tami Lund

  “I’m sure that’ll change now. If I didn’t know better, I’d swear Pantera is setting this whole thing up, this shifters-versus-humans mentality. All the way down to Rachel being in my life.”

  Matt snorted. “If you’re looking to me to convince you it isn’t true, you’re barking up the wrong tree, cuz. Don’t forget I’m convinced he killed your parents.”

  Josh was halfway across the room before he realized the mini fridge where he kept a stash of ice cold Le’Tigre was no longer in the library. He’d moved it upstairs to his suite, to encourage Rachel to stay put, instead of wandering around the house, potentially provoking questions—or worse—from the members of his pack. He felt like an ass for essentially keeping her prisoner in his bedroom, but until he figured out how to convince his pack to accept her as their leader’s mate, it was the wisest choice for all involved.

  “Even though that human was arrested, are you going to keep investigating Pantera?” Matt asked, oblivious to Josh’s inner torment.

  “Hell, yes. That bastard needs to be stopped. I’m not nearly the conspiracy theorist you are, but I am one hundred percent convinced he deliberately set that fire at the Bears’ home. The question is why.”

  “Because he wants to be pack master.”

  Josh ground his teeth and squeezed his fists before striding to the sideboard and splashing bourbon into two lowball glasses. His cousin was right. He knew it all the way to the marrow in his bones. And it was time to put a stop to Pantera’s underhanded ways. The shifter needed to be punished for his attempts to hurt others within the pack. It’d been going on too long. Josh had turned a blind eye, a stupid attempt to try to maintain peace within the pack, to ensure everyone was happy, even those he didn’t necessarily like.

  But a real leader, a good pack master, didn’t make decisions based upon a vain attempt to please everyone. He made decisions based upon what was best for the majority of the pack. It was time for Josh to start acting like the pack master he was supposed to be.

  Before he could open his mouth to issue commands to his beta, there was a rap of knuckles on the door. Matt leaped to his feet to answer. Jeanine, the housekeeper, stood on the threshold, looking slightly nervous, with an undertone of disapproval.

  “There’s a hum—a woman here to see you. Her name is Violet Buchannan.”

  “Send her in,” Josh commanded, ignoring the questioning look in the other woman’s eye. Jeanine scurried away, and a few minutes later, the fire inspector walked into the room and cocked her eyebrows when she saw the glass in Josh’s hand. He gave her an imperious look.

  “It’s been a trying week,” he commented as he deliberately lifted the glass to his lips. “I’m entitled to have a drink before five.” Matt smothered a chuckle by taking a sip of his own drink.

  Violet shrugged one shoulder. “To each his own. Unfortunately, I have some sobering news.” She paused and then said, “Billy Guido is dead.”

  Matt slowly lowered the crystal from his lips as both men stared at her.

  She nodded grimly. “According to the police, he was about to make a sworn confession that would point the finger at his employer. Claimed his employer told him what to do, right down to the length of the wiring and exactly which socket. He swore he was getting paid a great deal more than what a simple electrician apprentice would. The balance in his checkbook seems to corroborate that story.”

  Josh sucked in a breath. Did they have proof against Pantera?

  “Unfortunately, this was all spoken word, none of it recorded or written down. Apparently, he started confessing while he was in his jail cell, shouting through the bars. By the time they investigated, verified the bank balance, and prepared to take him to an interrogation room so he could write it all down, he was dead. One minute, he was clutching the bars, begging the guard to let him out and he would confess everything, the next, he was lying in a pool of his own blood.”

  “How?”

  The fire inspector hesitated. “They wouldn’t give me details, officially. But one of the guys on the force is a buddy of mine. We’re kind of on again, off again, if you know what I mean.”

  Matt smirked. Josh nodded, eager to hear what she knew of Billy Guido’s death.

  “Anyway, he said it looked like a wild animal attacked the guy. His neck—” she cupped her own neck, “—was torn to shreds. But there was no sign of entry, the guards saw nothing, and so far, it looks like all the blood on the scene is Guido’s. Really strange.” She shook her head and eyed the lowball glass in Josh’s hand, as if she wouldn’t mind having a drink before five herself.

  Josh had heard enough. He knew exactly what—or who—had murdered Billy Guido. Glancing at the grim look on Matt’s face, he knew he had enough information to bring Pantera to heel. It was time to mete justice, shifter style. He abruptly shoved his glass into Violet’s hand. She swallowed the contents before continuing her story.

  “I did a little investigating on my own. My job is essentially done, since we’ve determined the cause of the fire. But the police are going to get involved now. I just wanted you to know, Mr. Tigre. I gave them what I found.”

  “Which is?”

  “I know Kent Pantera’s company had an exclusive contract to provide electrical wiring for a residential development that went up some ten years ago. Quite the lucrative contract. Significantly larger than anything he’d ever done before. In fact, if he were a wise investor, he probably could have retired off the profits from that contract.”

  Josh had been in his early twenties when Pantera had secured that contract. He remembered Pantera bragging about fleecing the humans and his plans to do a shoddy job because they wouldn’t know any better. Even then, Josh hadn’t approved of the us and them attitude that had permeated his pack.

  “And that there were a rash of house fires in that development, and Pantera had been under investigation, and then... he wasn’t. Everything just sort of went away.”

  Josh remembered that, too. He recalled his father calling Pantera onto the carpet, and Pantera insisting he’d done nothing wrong, his oily voice oozing with fake submission to his pack master.

  “The reporter who did an interesting editorial on the situation, in which it was suggested Pantera was greasing certain hands to avoid paying restitution to the families who lost their homes, died in a freak accident, shortly after the article was published.”

  Oh shit. “What sort of accident?” Josh heard Matt’s sharp intake of breath. This was right up his cousin’s alley. Matt should have been a tracker. He was forever analyzing accidents and strange happenings, theorizing that they might have been deliberate instead of accidental.

  “She was mauled by a bear. In her own backyard.”

  Fuck. To a human, that would seem like a freak accident. But to a shifter...

  “I dug deeper than that, even,” the fire inspector continued. “It took a lot of work, but if you’re tenacious enough, you can find out practically anything via the World Wide Web. I learned that Kent Pantera has been suspected of more than one possible murder.”

  “What are you implying, Ms. Buchanan?”

  “It’s Violet,” she said, and her gaze lingered briefly on Matt, before she blinked and focused on Josh once more. “And I’m not implying anything. I just gave the police the information I dug up. Something about that man makes me... uncomfortable,” she admitted with a suppressed shudder.

  “Yeah,” Matt said. “We feel the same way. While you’re at it, mention a fatal car accident to the police as well. About a year and a half ago. February. James and Wendy Tigre.”

  Violet’s eyes widened. “Relation to you, Mr. Tigre?”

  Josh shot Matt a disgusted look. “My parents. And the accident was just that. Pantera didn’t have anything to do with it.” He couldn’t have. If he had... The implications were staggering. Josh’s father had been pack master when he died. Deliberately killing a pack master was about the most heinous crime known to the shifter world.

  His buddy Ta
nner Lyons’ beta, Finn Hennigan, had killed a pack master when he’d killed Tanner’s father, but Quentin Lyons had been trying to kill Tanner’s mate at the time. Not to mention, the man had been fucking insane. That killing, in the shifter world, had been justified. Josh’s parents, on the other hand, had been well loved, respected; his father had been a solid pack master. If it came to light that the accident that took his life was deliberate, the pack would expect an eye for an eye. There would be no middle ground, no gray area. No mercy.

  After seeing the fire inspector out, Josh and Matt retreated once again to Josh’s office. “Summon Jeremy, Brendon, and Cal,” Josh instructed. “We’re going to do a little investigating of our own. I want Pantera watched, twenty-four-seven. I want to know everything he does. Everything. And I want his office searched. Anything remotely suspicious, I want a copy of it. And I know I don’t have to say this, but this stays between us. Not a word. Understood?”

  Matt nodded curtly. “Of course.”

  After he left, Josh sank into the chair behind his desk, dropped his head against the back, and scrubbed his hands over his face. All he wanted was to go to Rachel, to wrap his arms around her, to hold her, to couple with her, to be with her and forget about the outside world, just for a little while.

  But he knew that was the last thing he could do right now. He had to focus on bringing down Kent Pantera first. Then he could focus on figuring out how to introduce Rachel into his pack. As his mate.

  *

  Rachel debated whether to work her weekend shifts at the hotel, or to quit without notice. Josh didn’t know she worked there, and, frankly, she wasn’t sure she wanted him to. If everything worked out and she somehow managed to get out from under Pantera’s thumb, she could legitimately quit, because she would no longer have to worry about paying rent and the upkeep on her ancient, rundown car. She knew Josh would take care of her. Not that she planned to be a kept woman, but being his girlfriend would certainly open doors that had until now remained firmly closed and locked with deadbolts.

  She could go to college. Nonprofit administration. While her job as a receptionist paid peanuts, there were plenty of other jobs in nonprofit that paid a living wage. But they all required a college degree. She loved the idea of going to work every day and helping people, so earning a degree in that field would be perfect. And if she lived with Josh, let him take care of her like he kept insisting he wanted to, she might actually be able to do it.

  But just in case life did not come up roses and sunshine—it never had in her past—she figured she shouldn’t bank on it until it actually happened. So far, Pantera was still walking free. Josh had told her the fire inspector paid him a visit, and while he hadn’t given her a great deal of detail, she drew her own conclusion that the smart woman had taken her anonymous tip to heart and the information had been enough to spur an investigation.

  These things took time. Rachel knew that, better than most. Every time they had sent her back to her junky mother, it had taken weeks longer than it should have to pull her out of a bad situation again. The last time she’d lived with her mother, she had been left alone for four days before social services came knocking, retrieved her, and sent her to yet another foster home that was only marginally better than practically living on her own when she had been far too young to do so.

  It was easy to slip away on Saturday morning. Josh had rolled out of bed shortly after six, apologizing as he told her he had to tend to “association business.” He still hadn’t returned by the time she stuffed her maid’s uniform into a bag, slung it over her shoulder, and headed out of the suite to her second job.

  Her apartment wasn’t too far from the hotel, so she stopped there to change into her work clothes. Josh had promised to have someone move her stuff into his mansion, but he hadn’t yet done so, no doubt because he was so busy dealing with association business on top of his job managing the hotel. Hell, she was living with the man at this point and they hardly saw each other, except at night, when, more often than not, he ravished her like she was a spectacular buffet and he was a man who hadn’t eaten in days. If nothing else, her sex life was certainly the best it had ever been.

  Out of habit, she headed to the bedroom to exchange her street clothes for her maid’s uniform, and after stuffing her shirt and shorts into her bag, she returned to the living room—only to discover she wasn’t alone in her apartment.

  “Goddamn it, you are the sneakiest son of a bitch I have ever met,” she said, clutching at her chest over her racing heart, and trying to regain her lost breath.

  Kent Pantera stood in the middle of the room, hands stuffed casually in the front pockets of his black slacks, hair slicked away from his face, salt-and-pepper beard perfectly manicured, the look on his face impassive. It occurred to her yet again how attractive he could be, if he weren’t such a raging asshole.

  Did he know she knew his name? Would her chances of survival decrease if he did? She decided not to tell him, just in case.

  “Like a cat,” he said, cracking a smile, as if that was somehow funny.

  “Cat burglar,” she muttered. “One of these days, I’m going to call the cops and report a break-in.”

  He shrugged one shoulder and inspected his impeccably manicured nails. “Go right ahead. They won’t find any evidence of a break in, and I haven’t stolen anything.” He looked around with a disdainful look on his face. “There is nothing here worth stealing anyway.”

  Rachel lifted her chin a notch, insulted, even if it was true. She had one pair of two hundred dollar boots to her name. Those were worth stealing, weren’t they?

  “What do you want?” she asked. She wanted him out of her apartment. She hated the reminder that her relationship with Josh was built on a lie. Not to mention the man scared the crap out of her. Every time she was alone with him, she was afraid for her life, and felt a ridiculous sense of relief when she survived the encounter.

  Pantera placed his palm flat on the dinette table separating the tiny kitchenette from the tiny living area. “Joshua Tigre is having me followed.”

  “Oh?” That was news to her. Did Josh suspect something? If so—what? Did he suspect there was a connection between her and Pantera? Oh God, she hoped not. Their precious relationship would unravel at the seams if he did.

  “So he hasn’t confided in you? All those times you’ve fucked or blown his brains out and he has not once said anything to you?”

  She winced. He made what they did sound so... dirty. Impure. But it wasn’t. They had something special, something wonderful. He had told her he loved her, not even a week ago. After they had sex doggy-style. Incredible, unbelievable, fantastic doggy-style sex. Her thighs warmed just thinking about it, and she had to struggle against squirming.

  Unfortunately, Pantera had the right of it—sort of. What she had with Josh was impure. She’d slept with him because Pantera had threatened to kill her if she didn’t. And she’d believed him. Only now, she was emotionally attached to Josh, just as he was to her. She had to break whatever connection she had to Pantera, before she could fully give herself to Josh. For the first time in her life, she had a chance at true happiness. But she had to get rid of Pantera first. Pulling on every ounce of acting skill she’d ever possessed, she gave him a cool look.

  “He doesn’t tell me anything. He moved me into his mansion so he could fuck me on demand. I give him whatever he wants, just as you instructed. Are you implying it isn’t working?” Her tone turned snide. Fear for her life aside, it was so damn hard not to be snarky with the prick. She was not the submissive type, never had been.

  A tick in his jaw twitched as he clamped his teeth together and glared at her. His hand flexed against the smooth wood of the table. Her eyes were playing tricks on her, because she could have sworn his hand shimmered, shifting from the shape of a normal hand into something... furry and with long, sharp claws. She blinked again and the image was gone.

  “Something happened to cause him to begin investigating me,” P
antera replied. “I want to know what it was. Until now, I’ve been making great inroads with pushing him off his fucking throne.”

  “Maybe setting that house on fire did it,” she taunted, losing all patience with trying to keep her cool around this son of a bitch. She was tired of being afraid, tired of him sneaking into her apartment, spying on her. She wanted to live her goddamn life, even if it was a life he had inadvertently given to her. “The fire inspector is pretty damn brilliant. She’s putting two and two together. She knows you own the company that did the electric in that house. She’s going to sic the cops on you.”

  In the blink of an eye, her back was pressed against the wall, her feet dangling a foot off the ground, Pantera’s hand wrapped around her throat, cutting off air to her lungs. She struggled, her legs kicking blindly as she scrabbled with her hands, trying to loosen his grip around her neck. Her face burned, her head felt as though it was swelling like a balloon and her lungs were on fire. Losing her cool was going to get her killed, after all.

  “Do not fuck with me, human,” he growled as he glared at her with evil black eyes. “I want to be leader of this pack, and I will be. I am sick and tired of waiting for what is rightfully mine. And if you do not do your part to ensure it happens, I will kill you. It will be a slow, painful death. You will beg for it in the end.”

  He leaned closer, his breath tickling her ear. “I don’t care what you have to do. Fuck him twice as hard. Chain him to the goddamned bed. Just keep him away from my business. Or die. Your choice.”

  He released his hold and Rachel crumpled to the ground, gasping for breath as she wrapped her hands around her swelling throat. When her eyes were able to focus again, she was alone in the apartment. And she was frightened out of her mind.

  * * * *

  “What’s wrong, baby?” Josh crooned after she collapsed into his arms. “Tell me. Rachel, talk to me.”

  Once her legs stopped shaking and she was able to stand, Rachel had rushed out of her apartment and straight to Josh’s house. She hadn’t even changed out of her maid’s uniform. All she had been able to think about was getting to him. He would make her feel safe again. Only Josh. It was irrational, of course, but she wasn’t exactly in a rational state of mind at the moment.