Reno stood up and threaded his fingers through my hair, studying the roots. “You should grow out all this shit. I’d like to see the real you. I bet you’re a knockout.” He straightened the brown T-shirt that Lexi had lent me.
“Are you saying I’m not a knockout?” I grinned wryly and Reno struggled for words. “I’m just teasing. But feel free to remove your foot from your mouth anytime.”
Reno bent forward and wrapped his strong arms around my waist. I draped mine over his neck as he lifted me up and walked into the room. “Got everything?”
I sniffed out a short laugh. “I don’t think I came in here with anything.”
“Yeah, you forgot something,” he said with a smile in his voice. Reno set me down and picked up a package of cookies he had bought from the vending machine. “For the ride,” he said, putting them in my hand. “I’ll get the nurse and tell her you’re ready.”
After I signed the papers and was wheeled out front, Reno lifted me out of the chair and carried me to the passenger side of his blue truck. The crutches were tossed in the back.
“Where’s Trevor?”
“Trevor isn’t taking you anywhere. You’re coming home with me,” he said in a thick, leathery voice.
“No, Reno.”
“This is temporary until I get a hold of Sanchez and knock his lights out. You’re not safe anywhere else.”
The engine rumbled angrily when he turned the ignition.
“We can’t leave without Trevor.”
“He’s not coming.”
“Whose decision was that?”
“His.”
I tugged at the plastic bracelet on my wrist that had my name on it.
“He blames himself. Admitted he shouldn’t have left you alone, and he was right.”
“It wasn’t his fault,” I argued.
The timbre in his voice grew harsh and punctuated his aggravation. “Someone used a tire iron to beat the hell out of him with you in mind. Trevor knew damn well that it wasn’t safe to leave you alone last night.”
“It was only going to be for fifteen minutes.”
Reno leaned over and cupped my neck, tapping his forehead against my cheek. “Yeah. Fifteen minutes and I almost lost you.”
He was tugging at my heartstrings. A man who owned a motorcycle and a gun bowed his head, melting me with his kindness. The more time I spent with Reno, the harder it was going to be to leave. How could I have fallen so fast for a man who led such a dangerous life?
“I’ll stay until Sanchez is caught, but then I have to leave.”
A horn honked behind us and Reno pinched my jaw, studying my face. “I wish you’d let me in.”
When we arrived on the property, my nerves were rattled. Lexi had forgiven me, but I didn’t want to face Wheeler and wasn’t sure how Austin really felt about me staying with them.
The October sky was overcast and drizzle smeared across the dirty windshield. Reno draped his jacket across my lap and turned the heater on. The soft leather felt nice against my skin and it smelled like him. I thought about our bike ride that day and smiled.
The truck bumped around on the dirt road as we eased up their long driveway. When I saw a group of people waiting for us out front, butterflies waged war in my stomach and I unbuckled my seatbelt.
Lynn and Maizy were on the porch steps. Maizy blew a few bubbles from a yellow wand, but the tiny sprinkles of rain were popping them before they could take off. She wore a red raincoat with a wide hood, a striking image that stood out in all the dreariness of mud and fog. Lexi and Ivy weren’t far behind us in her car.
When Reno exited the vehicle, I tilted the visor down and glanced in the mirror. I hadn’t brushed my hair or teeth, or put on a speck of makeup. I had a small cut on my cheek, but no bruises. Reno spoke privately to Denver, Wheeler, Ben, and Jericho a few feet ahead. They simultaneously looked up at me and Wheeler pivoted around, walking to my side of the truck.
Oh crap.
I tensed when he yanked my door open. My heart raced, and I kept my hands crossed around my waist as he leaned in and tossed Reno’s jacket to the floor.
Before I knew what was happening, Wheeler hooked his right arm beneath my knees, his left behind my back, and lifted me out of the truck. He glared at me with a black eye and I looked at him, dumbfounded, too afraid to ask him why he was being so helpful.
Reno reached for the crutches and a small bag in the back and walked toward Lexi’s car when she turned up the driveway. The drizzle tapered off, replaced by a gentle breeze.
I rested my head on Wheeler’s shoulder and drew in a deep breath. “You smell like beef jerky.”
His arms tightened when we reached the steps and Lynn patted my arm. “Anything you need, hon, just let me know and I’ll get it for you. I’m cooking up some beef stew for dinner. You just get some rest.”
Wheeler proceeded up the steps and a few bubbles from Maizy’s bottle floated around us. One popped on Wheeler’s nose and he sniffed, shaking his head.
“Do you hate me?” I asked him. “I wouldn’t blame you.”
“That what you think?” he said in a curt voice, moving up the stairs.
Wheeler’s looks were brutal compared to Ben’s, but they were both strikingly handsome in different ways. His jaw was strong and he had sharp cheekbones. A shadow ran down both sides of his face from his carved bone structure, but all that seemed less pronounced because of the circle-beard goatee. He had squinty eyes, but in a good way.
“Reno almost died because of me.”
“Reno makes his own decisions. If you’re asking if I hate you, then no. But I’ll be honest—I sure as hell don’t trust you all the way. That’s something you have to earn, and when you stole that money, it proved you were more concerned about saving your own ass than the consequences of your actions. What if you couldn’t get that money back? What if that was just enough to get Lexi in trouble with paying her bills?”
“I can’t take it back, Wheeler. I’m sorry I ever did it, more than you know. It’s a mistake I’ll have to live with. I’m not trying to get you to accept me; just don’t take it out on Reno. I’m only staying here until Sanchez is caught and turned in.”
He laughed and leaned down, opening a door. “Sanchez isn’t going to jail.”
“Why not?” I lifted my head and he looked down at me with pale brown eyes that were as bright as amber but warm like honey.
“Because he’s going into the ground.”
Wheeler leaned forward and deposited me on the bed.
“Whose room is this?”
“Yours.”
When I looked to my right and saw a giant poster of Billy Joel, a laugh burst out. “Oh. My. God.”
“I think ‘what the fuck’ was my choice of words, but yeah. Reno’s had the room closed up for the past couple of days, bringing stuff in.”
I sat on a lavender bedspread with tiny black designs, and the same mirrors we’d bought for my trailer decorated the walls. “Can I see that?”
Wheeler lifted a small snow globe from the dresser and handed it to me. It wasn’t one of mine, and my eyes glittered with tears when I thought about what I’d lost. It was the sentimental stuff like this—pieces of my father that I’d never have back. I shook it and snow swirled around a small cottage surrounded by fir trees.
“What did Reno say to you when we drove up?”
Wheeler averted his eyes. “He said you saved his wolf. Is that true?”
I nodded.
“Maybe that’s why I trust you a little bit more than I did before. If he had tried to shift with a screwdriver lodged in his flesh, it might have killed him. I don’t take that shit lightly. We’re Shifters, and saving one of our brothers means something. If you’re his woman, then we have to respect that choice because he’s family. And we don’t turn our back on family.”
I handed the trinket back to Wheeler when Reno appeared in the doorway.
They didn’t say anything to each other. Wheeler swaggered out of th
e room, but not before Reno gave him an appreciative pat on the shoulder.
“Is this okay?” Reno asked.
He bent over and elevated my legs onto the bed, forcing me to turn around. I propped a pillow behind my head and he stuffed one underneath my right calf.
Lynn breezed in and set a glass of red juice on the table with a plate of cheese, crackers, and grapes. “You need anything, hon?” she asked smoothly, looking at me with faded blue eyes. “I’m so sorry to hear about your home, but we’re glad you’re okay and that’s all that matters.”
“Thanks, Lynn. I just need some rest.” The reality hit me like a ton of bricks that I didn’t have a home.
“Come on, Reno. Out,” she snapped.
“Lynn, with all due respect, you’ll need a fucking bulldozer to get me out of here.”
She sighed impatiently and looked at me in a motherly way. “What this girl needs is sleep, and don’t let her move that foot around. April, when you need to take a shower or do anything, just call.” Then she glared at Reno. “I don’t care what you two have going on—if she needs to use the toilet or shower, that’s where I draw the line. You let the women help out with that.”
He smirked hard and walked around to the right side of the bed as she closed the door. Reno kicked off his boots and unlatched his belt. I giggled a little when I heard it hit the floor.
“What’s so funny?” he asked, not expecting an answer as he scooted next to me on my right.
“I can’t believe you put that poster on the wall. Why did you decorate this room? Was your secret plan to kidnap me and hold me captive?”
He leaned back and situated himself so that his left arm slipped beneath my neck while his right hand stroked my stomach. “I wanted you to feel at home when you came to stay the night here. You wouldn’t like my room.”
“Why not?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It’s plain.”
“So is vanilla ice cream, but it’s my favorite flavor.”
Reno deepened his voice. “Why did Sanchez call you Vanilla in that note?”
I bit my lip. “He was inside the store asking for vanilla candy and that’s how it started.”
His eyes became brutally sharp. “Austin hooked up surveillance outside the building months ago. Tell me what day and time he came in, and I’ll get the footage. I want to know what that animal looks like.”
“I have his phone number. You can always call him.”
“Maybe I don’t want him expecting company,” Reno suggested in a way that sent a shiver up my spine. He stroked my stomach possessively. “I’m not going to sugarcoat it for you, April. Sanchez is mine. He put his hands on you, and he tried to set you on fire. That officially earned him top billing on my hit list. Do you want to tell me what he looks like or what kind of car he drives?”
Reno’s touch was soft, but his face was granite. He looked down at me with cold eyes and a tight mouth. Those bullwhips of electricity were snapping in the room again.
“I think he drives a silver BMW. He’s got black hair that’s spiky, and one of those chin patches,” I said, pointing below my lip. “He’s a little taller than me, but not much.”
“Any tattoos or scars?”
“A teardrop by his eye and a scorpion tattoo on his… I can’t talk about this right now. I’m sorry—I’m still shaken up.”
I relished the feel of Reno’s powerful body, the sound of his breath, and the smell of his skin. It felt comforting to lie next to a man like him. Safe. I stroked his stubbly chin and he kissed my fingertips as we listened to the rain falling outside.
“Is there anything you lost that can’t be replaced?” he finally asked.
Hope? It’s what I wanted to say. Reno’s family might have brought me in, but I’d never felt so lost. “Just the snow globes and my fish, Hermie. The snow globes were sentimental, you know? I love what you gave me, don’t get me wrong, but it’s not the same.”
“Why not?”
“Because my dad gave them to me. They were special because he chose each one for a reason, and he actually made them himself.”
“Talented.”
“He was. Are your parents still alive?”
Reno’s mouth pressed against my temple, and then he resumed staring at the ceiling. “They move around a lot. Last I heard, they found a pack up in South Dakota that might take them in. It’s harder the older you get to be taken in by a Packmaster. They carefully consider every candidate’s worth and what they can offer the pack. Most will turn down an aging couple. But our parents have wisdom and experience that would be an asset to any damn pack.”
“Why is it so important for you to have packs instead of living alone?”
“There’s safety in numbers for wolves—we have family to look after. It’s instinctual; I don’t know how to explain it. Some of our animal traits bleed into our human ones, I guess.”
“How come you guys don’t let them live with you?”
“It’s not our way. The parents can’t live under the same roof if the Packmaster is their son. I’ve only seen it happen once and the entire pack was dismantled. When our children become adults and go through the change, they have to leave the pack. They’re not allowed to mate within the pack and stay.”
“Why not?”
“More than one male might have feelings for a female and if she chooses one over another, it becomes problematic. It’s also how new blood is maintained so that inbreeding never occurs. The men want to go out and find their own family, just as the women do.”
“Do your parents visit?”
I felt his smile stretch across my temple. “Are you asking to meet my parents?”
“No,” I blurted out.
Kind of lying. Kind of not.
He turned on his side and his voice softened around the edges. “Sounds like you are. You sure you don’t want to meet my mom? You’d love her. She can shoot a bow and arrow and cook a mean chili. I can call her to fly down on a moment’s notice.”
“Don’t you dare,” I whispered, looking up at his amused eyes.
“You’re right. I don’t know what she’d think about her son dating a woman with a poster of another man at the foot of her bed.”
A laugh pealed out of me and Reno perched up on his elbow, smiling wide. A rumbling laugh rolled through his chest and he looked at me in a way that gave me second thoughts about decisions that were rattling around in my head.
Then his hand smoothed down the cotton sweats Ivy had lent me, and I released a shallow breath.
“Is your foot bothering you?” he asked, lightly stroking his finger between my legs.
“Not anymore.”
Chapter 22
Over the course of the next month, Reno’s visits to the house had become more infrequent. He’d moved to their second home so he could focus on hunting down Sanchez. That’s how long I’d been living in the Weston house. Weston was the name of Lexi’s brother who’d died years ago, someone she had never spoken of before, but Lexi opened up to me about her life during my stay. Since she wanted to spend more time with me, she offered the part-timers at the store a few extra shifts, which they eagerly accepted.
Lexi began pursuing her vision for Sweet Treats and Austin loaned her the money to expand. I told her I didn’t feel right going back after what I’d done, but she adamantly refused to let me go. I helped her review inventory to determine what wasn’t moving, and we reevaluated her strategy as a business owner.
“So here’s what I’m thinking,” Lexi began, propping her feet on an ottoman while fishing around in a bag of Doritos. “Austin wants me to move my business to the Breed side of town, but I’m concerned about the risk. We have regular customers and the store is in a prime location. What if we relocate and nothing sells? I’m going to scout the area and check out some of our competition to see what’s going on. Seventy percent of our sales come from children, and not all Breeds can have children. I’m just not sure if there will be enough to keep the business afloat.”
I reached down and scratched the bandage on my foot. After the last X-ray, the doctor had said it was healing remarkably well and told me to keep using the crutches.
“So your plan is to check out the local businesses?” I asked from the beanbag chair. I’d grown to love the cozy feel and ambiance of hanging out in the game room.
She crunched on another chip. “I’m going to open up a bakery.”
I clapped. “Woo-hoo! It’s about time.”
“I want you to run the candy store and I’m going to run the bakery.”
My jaw dropped. “Wait, what did you just say?”
“You know that store inside out, April. I want to give it over to you. Charlie left me the business and money, but maybe it was just because I’d been there the longest.”
“You can’t do that.”
She laughed and crunched on another chip, licking the orange dust from her finger. “Oh, can’t I? Look, I’m the one taking the risk with the bakery. I have no idea if these immortals are going to want cookies, and I plan to keep it open twenty-four hours a day, which means I’ll have to hire someone who can bake. I’m thinking about a Vampire because they don’t need to sleep. Austin says ‘hell no,’ but he’s not the boss of me.”
A throat cleared in the doorway and Austin leaned against the doorjamb. I caught Lexi biting her lip as he gave her a loaded glance.
“No Vampires,” he said firmly.
“Austin, I need someone I can depend on who doesn’t have a family to go home to, who can work all hours and—”
“Ladybug, I’m not having my woman working in the middle of the night with a Vampire. They may not require blood to survive, but it’s too much temptation for them to work in close proximity to someone as tasty as you,” he said with a dark laugh.
There was that chemistry, quietly zinging back and forth between those two like Ping-Pong balls.
“Who’s up for horseshoes?” Denver yelled out from the hall.
Austin moved aside when Denver appeared in the doorway and reached for the top of the doorframe while cocking his eyebrow. His dark blond hair looked messy, like he’d just woken up. He gripped the frame and it punctuated the muscles in his biceps.
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