by Elle Thorne
Chapter Three
Astra shivered from the brisk weather. She and Doc had moved away after her mother died, only returning to Doc’s old stomping grounds, and the place where Astra’s mother had died a few months ago.
But in no time, Astra was eager to move away again, to a better climate. Florida, Texas, California, anywhere but up here in the mountains. She’d have left already if it weren’t for Doc. Sure, her mother had told Doc to take care of Astra. But Astra took care of Doc, too. He needed someone to keep up with his daily needs.
How could a man make it through medical school, but forget to eat breakfast and lunch on many days? And how could he forget simple stuff like paying his bills on time? Astra shook her head. She could hear Grant laughing on the other side of the door. Maybe that was why they hadn’t answered her knock; they couldn’t hear it.
She held the pot against her body with one hand and knocked again with the other. Except, his time she pounded on the door, and was tempted to kick it with her hiking boots so they’d open up.
On the other side of the door, the sounds of merriment died abruptly.
The door swung open, and Grant greeted her with a wide smile.
Chelsea pushed in front of him to take the pot and at the same time give Astra a warm hug, wrapping her in her arms, her body warm from the room’s heat.
Mae cut in, giving Astra an exuberant hug, too.
What gives? So much excitement to see her? Had they been lying when they said Chelsea wasn’t pregnant? Why else would they be acting weird like this?
Astra stepped around Mae and Chelsea and ran into a solid wall of man-chest.
It wasn’t Grant.
She raised her gaze slowly, her eyes rising from the broad expanse of glorious man-chest covered in a faded flannel shirt over a T-shirt. The next thing that came into view was a strong jaw, a chin that had just enough of a cleft to be sexy, but not obscenely movie-star-ish, and a stubble that made thoughts run through her mind... dirty thoughts.
Damn, what the hell.
She hadn’t even looked in his eyes yet, and she was already reacting as if she were in heat. She wasn’t, dammit, and she wasn’t interested in meeting a man. She didn’t have time for a man.
She raised her gaze over sculpted cheekbones to his eyes. Holy hell. The intensity of his scrutiny seared straight through her.
Then it hit her, and instinct caused her to raise her hand to hit someone—something.
He’s a shifter.
Fury burned through Astra with a fierceness that cut her to the core. Grant knew how she felt about shifters.
Averting her eyes from the gorgeous, mountain-sized man in front of her, she turned a burning look toward Grant. “You knew—you know how I feel about this—”
Astra spun toward Mae, tears clouding her vision. She closed her eyes to hide the tears, but the starburst explosions behind her lids didn’t help. She felt dizzy. She couldn’t breathe.
Seeing a shifter brought back one memory: the memory of her mother fighting shifters to keep them away from Astra until Doc arrived on the scene, saving Astra’s life, but too late to save her mother’s life. Her mother, bloody, bleeding, soaked in crimson, her flesh shredded, holding on to life by a thread after saving her daughter from death. Breathing her last breath in Doc’s arms. Astra hadn’t talked for months after that.
If her father had been around, if she’d had a father or even some distant relatives, she’d have been sent to live with them. But all she had was Doc. Doc, who was a shifter, one of the kind she hated for killing her mother.
Doc, became her salvation, her parent, her guardian, even her best friend. Doc’s friend Grant, who in turn became her friend, despite how Astra felt about shifters. Now they’d betrayed her and put yet another shifter in her life.
Damn them! If she had the means, she’d end all shifters’ lives.
Fearful that she’d falter, even fall, Astra put a hand out to steady herself. Too late. She stumbled, and her eyes flew open. All she could see was the black-eyed gaze of the striking shifter in front of her.
Breathe, she told herself. Breathe.
She couldn’t.
Why didn’t her lungs want to work?
Chapter Four
Kane stared at the ashen-haired, curvaceous beauty in front of him. His bear could hear her erratic heartbeat and feel her pulse through his senses. This was the Astra they had talked about.
The Astra who hates shifters.
Kane had no doubt of that. Once she had realized who... what... he was, her fury and hatred were palpable. He smelled her interest, even arousal, though it was faint and only in the early stages—until she’d figured out that he was a shifter. Then she’d done a complete one-eighty.
It was odd that she’d known it immediately, without his saying a word or doing a single thing. Like she had some sort of sense about it.
Astra closed her eyes, tilted, and began to fall.
Kane reached out, holding her, resting her body against his own. After that, he froze. What was he supposed to do? How could he help her when she held such vehemence toward him?
The other thing that paralyzed him was the ferocity with which his bear was reacting to her. It was as if the bear knew something about her that Kane hadn’t put together yet. Sure, Kane was attracted to her. What red-blooded man wouldn’t be? She had all the right curves, in all the right places. A set of tits made for handling. An ass that a man would love to have on display while taking her from behind.
Not to mention her scent—damn, the woman’s scent was driving his bear crazy, which was making his cock strain in his pants, even in the middle of this drama. He pushed her hair off her face, tucked it back.
Her eyes flew open. They were a light green color, clearer than the clearest water he’d ever seen, and he was drawn in, unable to look elsewhere, unable to think of anything else. There was a fire behind those light green eyes that appealed to the man in him. A spirit, an intelligence and an openness he wanted to know more about.
Well, her eyes had all of that until she focused on his face, and put together the fact that he was keeping her from falling.
And then all hell broke loose.
She pushed off of him aggressively. Shoving his chest, she stumbled backward, then righted herself, standing tall, her body ramrod straight, as if a steel rod had replaced her spine.
“Don’t touch me.” Her voice was full of the same steel as the rod she seemed to have in her back. “Don’t ever touch me,” she hissed.
Kane looked at Mae, then back at the ashen-haired, green-eyed Astra. “I’m sorry.”
Even to his own ears his apology didn’t sound sincere. He wasn’t sorry. Hell, no. He’d done nothing to merit her vitriol. If anything, he’d tried to help her. What was her deal with shifters, anyway? And Grant was a shifter, so her anger made no sense.
Chelsea stared at them, open-mouthed.
Grant’s arms were by his sides, as if he too were confounded by the display.
Mae stepped between Astra and Kane. “Kane, this is Astra. Astra, Kane.” Mae put her hand on Astra’s shoulder, as if she wanted to steady her—or keep her from running away.
Mae put her other hand on Kane’s shoulder.
Kane nodded his greeting, acknowledging the introduction. He wasn’t interested in doing more. This woman hated him. Here she was in her hiking boots, jeans that flared out over a pair of hips he’d like to...
Okay, what the fuck. He reined the bear’s libido in. It had to be the bear. It couldn’t be him. No. it couldn’t be. He was impervious to women.
Mae squeezed his shoulder, her grip unforgiving. She gave a small nod, indicating Astra.
Fine, fine. He’d make nice. “Kane Ortiz.” He stuck his hand out.
Astra left him hanging, his hand outstretched.
Casually, to keep from being noticed, Kane pulled his hand back, acting nonchalant, as if it wasn’t a big deal. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Astra.” He kept his Texas drawl und
er control. No easy feat when you’d spent as much time in Texas as he had in the last century.
Astra glared at him. Didn’t say a word. Just glared.
Well, was Mae going to squeeze her shoulder too? Or what? Was he the only one who was to be treated like a child? He gave Mae a dirty look for giving Astra a pass.
Talk about a room with palpable tension. Kane refrained from shaking his head at all of it. So much drama. He’d have been better off not coming north, if he’d only known he’d have to deal with temperamental women. Even if they were hot.
Grant cleared his throat.
Chelsea emitted a nervous giggle. “Why don’t we eat before everything gets cold?”
Kane’s stomach growled a response. It was his stomach. Though he knew deep inside, his bear was still responding to the woman in Astra.
Chapter Five
Astra tugged on Grant’s sleeve. “Can I see you for a moment before we eat?” She tugged again.
Grant looked at Chelsea, as if to verify it was okay.
Chelsea gave him a nod and said, “We’ll set the table while you talk.”
“Mae, you too,” Astra added.
“Kane, give me a hand?” Chelsea took Kane’s arm and let him escort her to the kitchen with a backward glance at Grant.
When the coast was clear, and she was alone with Mae and Grant, Astra whirled on them.
“Why am I here?” She fought, and failed, to keep her hostility from her voice.
“Because Doc’s not available.” Grant’s expression was stern, but there was an underlying note of concern there. He knew what this all meant to her.
“You know I don’t treat shifters.” The only thing she wanted to treat shifters to was the business end of a shotgun.
“You’ve treated me more than once.” Grant shoved his hands in his pockets.
“That’s different. I care for you.” Astra couldn’t believe he was pulling that card.
“As a personal favor?” Grant used his ‘favorite uncle’ voice. “Please?”
She harrumphed and blew her hair out of her face. “What do you have to say about this?” Astra turned toward Mae.
Mae put her hand on Astra’s cheek. “I’m sorry. If this could have been avoided... He’s a nephew.”
“You and your nephews. His kind killed my mother.” Astra gritted her teeth, her jaw clenched to the point of giving her pain.
“Astra, you could say the same thing about me,” Grant pointed out.
“You. Are. Different.” Why didn’t they get it? “You’re family.”
“Kane’s different too,” Mae said.
“Oh, really? Let’s see. So tell me why I’m here if he’s different? I don’t see anything wrong with him other than a few bruises and abrasions on his face. So why am I here?”
At least Grant had the dignity to look embarrassed, because Astra was pretty sure why she was there. For real, why else would she be?
“He was bitten,” Mae said.
So they weren’t going to come out and say it, were they? She wasn’t going to play twenty questions, and she knew it wasn’t a dog bite or a cat bite that had forced them to call.
“Bitten by a shifter.” She spat it out, since they wouldn’t.
Mae and Grant nodded slowly, simultaneously.
Mae spoke first. “Please, just check. Make sure he’s not infected.”
“Doc knows more about this stuff than I do.” Astra crossed her hands over her chest and planted her boots firmly on the thick carpeting, shoulder-width apart. “And you know I don’t give a damn about other shifters.”
Liar, liar, pants on fire, a voice in her head said.
Fine. She didn’t want to admit it, not even to herself, but there was something about this man Kane that drew her in. It more than drew her in, but she didn’t want to qualify or quantify it. She felt a crazy attraction for him, deep, deep inside, an attraction she was so adamant in denying that she’d reacted vehemently and unapologetically.
And she was pissed at herself. She had no business being attracted to a shifter. Look where it had gotten her mother: dead, a bloody mess who’d died in front of the ones who loved her and left behind a motherless daughter.
Astra drew in a deep breath. Between the hectic week’s fatigue and this new shifter, she was sounding irrational.
“I won’t have more territorial fights. I won’t see the only shifters I love killed. That shifter needs to leave.”
Grant looked at Mae pointedly.
“What?” Astra glanced between them. “What? What?”
“He’s staying in the cabin at Northpoint End.”
“What—!” She shut her mouth, containing the rest of her screech. “You invited him to stay?” she hissed.
“A short stay,” Mae appended.
Astra smacked her forehead with her palm.
Did her friends and family have a death wish? She’d have to convince that damned shifter to get the hell out of the area before more trouble showed up.
“Fine. I’ll check him.” She rubbed her hands on the tops of her thighs to get rid of the sweat that was building up.
Sweat because she had other intentions for that damned shifter. He had to go. Period.
Now she had to come up with a plan. All she had was the time it would take to eat dinner to come up with something.
Chapter Six
Kane followed Chelsea into the kitchen. She was a cute thing, but nothing like the firebrand in the other room. That one would spit fire darts at him if she could.
He bet she’d be some kind of fun in bed, with that inner fire of hers. Probably some kind of fun out of bed too, if she didn’t hate him so damned much.
“Where do you come from?” Chelsea asked, indicating the sink so he could wash up.
Kane turned the water on, squirted some soap on his hands, lathered, and rinsed.
“I’ve been in Texas more than any place else for the last few years.”
He didn’t want to say decades. Some people, even those who had bonded with shifters, were creeped out by their longevity. It wasn’t all that hard to imagine someone living for centuries, or at least he didn’t think it should be so hard to swallow. Hell, churchgoers and anyone else who’d read the Bible knew that the people in the Bible had lived for centuries. Why was it so hard to wrap their minds around shifters living for a hell of a long time?
“So where are you going?”
“You don’t beat around the bush much, do you?” She sure got straight to the point. “I’m not sure yet. I’m in transition.”
Transition. That was a good way to say ‘hiding from a bunch of ruthless mercenary shifters that want to see me dead.’
Kane took the casserole dish from Chelsea and walked it to the oversized, picnic-style pine table. “How long have you and Grant been together?”
“About a month. We’re making it official in a few weeks.” A blush rose from her neck to her cheeks. Kind of cute, if you liked blushing women.
He reminded himself he liked all women, but for some reason, a woman with ash-blonde hair and light green eyes and a fierceness that rivaled his bear’s ferocity kept coming to his mind.
What the hell is wrong with him? The bear. He blamed the damned bear.
Unlike many shifters who had fairly peaceful relationships with their bears, Kane found himself occasionally mentally duking it out with his damned ursine other half.
“Congratulations. I’m sure you’ll be happy together.”
Chelsea’s smile beamed from her pretty face. She handed him some flatware to set on the table, a bunch of napkins and a trivet. “Do you have someone you’re happy with?”
“Someone I’m happy with?” I’ve had plenty of someones I’ve been happy with. “Not the way you and Grant are.” Safe enough answer. Kane set the table for her.
A look of pity crossed Chelsea’s face. “You’ll find someone when the time is right. You don’t seem to be a complete stranger to setting a table; that’s a bonus.” She gave him a
conspiratorial wink.
Maybe not so safe an answer judging from her reaction. She looked like she wanted everyone to be in the same boat she and Grant were in.
Kane didn’t want to correct her. He wasn’t looking for someone. He let that romantic notion of hers sit. What he was looking for was simple: to stay out of sight until he wasn’t hunted anymore. Self-fucking-preservation. Screw love and all that happily-ever-after shit. He knew better.
“I’m sure when the time’s right I’ll find the right woman.” Or dozens of right women, the smartass in him wanted to say. Except he didn’t want to say that, not at all, because still imprinted firmly in his mind was that spirited hottie in the other room. Damn her. She’d gotten under his skin.
Maybe I should fuck her so I can get her out of my system.
Hell, now he was really thinking crazy. That kind of thinking would get him kicked out of the cabin. He couldn’t do that shit. It wouldn’t sit well with Grant.
The best thing he could do would be to stay the hell away from that hottie.
Chapter Seven
Game on.
Astra smiled her prettiest smile—at least, she hoped it was her prettiest smile, since trying to be flirty wasn’t something she normally did. She sucked at flirting. She was awkward at that whole ‘charming men’ thing. It wasn’t like she was a virgin or anything; she just didn’t get all the social niceties that she was supposed to be able to handle.
She took a seat where Chelsea indicated, which was next to Kane, the hunk of a shifter Astra had to get out of Bear Canyon Valley. Quickly.
She wanted no other shifters around. Shifters killed stranger shifters and their loved ones, and there was no way she was going to let Kane embroil Grant and Doc in a shifter territorial battle.
She’d kill to prevent that, or die trying.
She sat on the bench next to the large shifter man and cursed the picnic table setup that Grant’s kitchen had. Why couldn’t he have regular chairs and a table like the rest of the world?