She snorted while shaking her head. Unbelievable. Was it so wrong to claw another person’s eyes out? Maybe LeAnn wasn’t pack, but that was her decision to make. It was tempting to accept the scent-match just to put this witch in her place. Then again, accepting the scent-match meant being in the pack with her.
This was supposed to be a friendly question-and-answer session regarding the least awkward piece of clothing her brother had snagged. It wasn’t going to be. LeAnn pulled the lab coat from her purse and tossed it on the doctor’s desk. She’d grabbed it and the business card on the way out the door.
“My lab coat?” Alanna stared at it with a puzzled frown. “How the hell did you get that?”
“I didn’t. My brother did. I want to know how and why.”
Alanna wrapped her thick dark hair into a twist while considering it. “Well, it would have been easy to grab it from me here—though I’ll certainly be more careful with my things. It’s not smart to let anything with your scent go…missing.” And she smirked.
LeAnn clenched her fist at her side. Oh, her things hadn’t gone missing. They’d been taken…by this hag. “That was my favorite sweater,” LeAnn said through gritted teeth.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” the liar said.
LeAnn was two seconds from tossing her purse to the side while yelling, “Oh, it is on!” and tackling this chick. “So, why did he have it?”
“I heard he’d stolen some clothing from various pack members to confuse Travis and Jordan into thinking that one of us had killed Colby. Though I’m sure Travis never even considered me a suspect.”
LeAnn sucked in a hissed breath. Okay, she shouldn’t even be allowed to say his name. LeAnn’s fingers itched from the urge to scratch her eyes out. “Because you’re not cunning enough?”
“No. Because if I’d killed Colby no one would have found the body.”
Nice. Real nice. What a touching public image. Alanna is so damn smart, we’d never know if she started putting down humans. Why couldn’t Ross have killed her?
Speaking of which…
“Was my brother a murderer?” She suspected Alanna might lie about a lot of things, but she’d relish telling the truth this time.
“And a traitor to his kind. He turned the names of all of Glacier Peak in to the poachers to kill.”
So there it was. That was her answer. Not just a murderer, but a traitor. She’d just needed to hear it one more time before she could let it go. Damn. It was easier to hear it this time, at least. She’d been ready. LeAnn swallowed and shelved away her feelings for later. Since Alanna was such a font of knowledge, might as well get all of her questions out of the way. “Are you going to the challenge today?”
“Tonight? Of course. All of the pack is.”
The truth again. Travis had called her pack, but she wasn’t allowed to go to the challenge. “Who is going to win?” Hopefully, her honesty wasn’t too brutal on this. She had to say Travis…she had to.
“Well, physically, they’re evenly matched, but Travis is a lot smarter than most outside and inside the pack give him credit for, so he’ll be better at strategy. Troy wants to be Alpha more—and sometimes passion outweighs intelligence. I suspect Travis will win, but either way, it’s probably good to have a doctor there to dispose of the body.”
“Body?” LeAnn’s stomach tightened, and her mouth went dry. If the good doctor had gut-punched her, it would have surprised her less. The body?
Alanna smiled. She’d shocked LeAnn, and it gave her an edge. “Never been to a challenge before? They’re quite bloody, and the losing party forfeits his life.”
Why hadn’t Travis warned her? He was going to be risking his life tonight, but he didn’t want her around. He’d even said that scent-matching to her had moved this challenge up. It was partly her fault—well, the scent-match’s fault. She’d come here to find her brother, but found a murderer and got herself scent-matched. And that might cost Travis his life.
“So Travis will kill him?” It couldn’t end the other way. She refused to even consider it.
The vet shrugged. And damn she looked beautiful and elegant while she did it. Seriously, if this woman ended up in a freezer, she’d deserve it.
“I can’t see Travis going for the throat—though it’d be his right. There’s also banishment, and if it weren’t an honor challenge, but a hierarchy challenge, then the losing Lycan would most likely become Beta…or Omega in some packs. But it is an honor challenge, so it’s either banishment or death. Troy will kill him if he wins. He’s mentioned it before. If Travis does win, maybe he’ll finally pick an Alpha.”
“He picked me.” He’d said as much, so that wasn’t a lie.
“You haven’t accepted the scent-match and, well, you don’t see me bowing my head. Obviously the position of Alpha has not yet been filled. Perhaps for either gender, but I guess we’ll know after tonight.”
Perhaps for either gender, my ass. Travis is mine. The position has been filled.
Clicking her tongue, Alanna shook her head. “How is it you know so little about pack rules?”
“I’m not a Lycan. Hell, do you think everyone knows about your little cult rituals? Seriously…a battle to the death? Who does that?”
The other woman inhaled deeply and narrowed her eyes. “I don’t know what game you’re playing, but you’re not going to trick me into believing something that stupid.”
“Whatever.” LeAnn went to the door and yanked it open. “Stay away from Travis or the claws come out.” Travis could be with any other woman, except this one. Well, he could be with any other woman after she left. If she left. While she was here, Travis was hers.
“Watch your back, bitch,” Alanna said.
Okay, that was it. She’d found one of her brother’s hunting knives earlier. She pulled it out of her pocket and stared hard at Alanna. “That’s funny…coming from you.” If anyone was going to be tossing around the word “bitch,” well…it shouldn’t have been the Lycan. “Watch yours or you’ll find this buried between your shoulder blades.” And she walked out without looking back.
…
It was stupid, but Travis was going to have an empty in-box before he went to the challenge—in case the worst happened. He was industriously working his way through all the damn paperwork when her scent hit him, and he looked up to see LeAnn stalking through the small police station toward him after stopping briefly at Betty’s desk. He smiled…he shouldn’t have—she was in a fury.
Betty stared after her with wide eyes.
He tried to look reassuring, but the scent of LeAnn’s arousal was hitting his Lycan side, and he wanted to meet her halfway and drag her onto one of the nearby desks. Instead, he shrugged as LeAnn passed and shut the door behind her.
“So…”
LeAnn narrowed her eyes and pointed an angry finger at him. “That…vet…Alanna Sampson. Did you sleep with her?”
He blinked stupidly. He never quite knew what to expect out of her mouth. Finally, he cleared his throat and said, “This office isn’t soundproof, even if no one here is a Lycan.” He’d been a professional up until she’d arrived in town. His people had respected him. Now they were avoiding his gaze or watching avidly. Great.
Her face fell, and she blinked furiously and turned away from him.
“Wait…what’s wrong?”
“No wonder she was so damn catty. I’m surprised she didn’t throw that in my face.”
He grabbed her shoulders, but she shook him off. Of all the times to have a window-enclosed office. The blinds were down on some of them, but he could still feel the eyes of everyone in the office staring at them. Luckily most of his people were out on business, even though January was generally a slow month. “LeAnn, I haven’t slept with her. I haven’t slept with anyone in the pack.”
She didn’t turn back around. She just wrapped her arms around herself.
He desperately wanted to hold her, and it felt like a losing battle to stop the inclination.
“So, you went to see her?”
LeAnn shrugged, still facing away from him.
“Why?” Jordan’s words about LeAnn facing a challenge fight were on replay in his head. Nothing could happen to LeAnn. She was his. Mine.
“My brother had her lab coat, and I wanted to know why. I also wanted to tell her to stay the hell away from…uhh…me…though I’m not sure she got that part of it.”
“Your brother collected clothing from members of the pack to lay a false trail to…”
“Yeah, I know—to send you and someone else on a wild-goose chase so that he could try to wipe out all of Glacier pack due to some psychotic vendetta. Apparently you all think it’s funny to steal people’s clothes. That was my favorite sweater. My favorite one.”
“I’m sorry someone did that to you. Do you know who it was?” She seemed better at tracking than him…which might be a blow to his ego if she realized she was, and if she recognized that she was a Lycan.
“It’s none of your business.”
“Actually, it is. They’re my pack, and…”
“And I’m not,” she said, swinging to face him. She wasn’t crying, but her eyes were shiny like she was seconds away from it.
He took a deep breath, shoving down the Alpha inside him. He still should know who was harassing her, but it might need to keep for later—if there was a later. “LeAnn, you are. I’ve claimed you as my mate. I’ve told everyone you’re pack.”
“She said I wasn’t…that I didn’t feel like it…”
“Alanna?”
LeAnn shook her head, though he couldn’t tell if she was answering his question or telling him it was none of his business.
Oh, screw everyone watching. He took a step forward and put his arms around her. He heard Betty gasp and one of his deputies snicker. “You won’t feel like pack until you claim the scent-match and attend our meetings and…”
She pulled back to look at him. “Meetings like this challenge?”
“You’re not coming to the challenge.” The words were sharp and barked like a command, but dammit, she had no idea. She’d never want anything to do with the pack if she saw that, and it wasn’t safe for her to attend. This was one thing he could control—one thing he could determine and plan for. If it took his last dying breath, he was going to keep her safe.
“Why don’t you want me coming?” She raised her chin and continued to make eye contact.
What the hell had Alanna told her? His first act after the challenge might be to have a serious talk with Alanna about her treatment of LeAnn. He’d said not to antagonize her, and if this wasn’t an antagonized LeAnn… Though he couldn’t rule out that LeAnn had started it. Alanna seemed too cold and collected to start up a no-holds-barred girl fight.
“You’re not coming. I don’t want you there, and that’s final.” He couldn’t tell her they might go after her if he lost. She already thought they were all insane. Even if he did win, she’d never accept the scent-match after she saw a challenge fight.
She hissed out a breath.
Oh, right, he’d forgotten he was talking to the only person less likely than Troy to recognize his authority.
She pulled out of his arms and glared at him. It was unfortunate that passion was passion when it came to her scent, and he wanted to sweep everything off his desk and give everyone in the place something to remember. And hell, he might be dead later, so why the hell not?
Then she started blinking faster. When the first tear fell, his heart clenched tightly, and he felt short of breath. Feisty, tough LeAnn and he’d reduced her to this. He’d never felt less like having sex in his life. He tugged her back into his arms, and she didn’t resist. “LeAnn, I need to be able to concentrate and…”
“That’s not why you don’t want me there.” She sniffed. “I don’t even know why I’m still here. My brother is a homicidal bastard, and I’ve now threatened two people with knives since I’ve been here…”
His eyes widened, and he huffed out a breath. “Wait, did you pull a knife on Alanna?”
“Oh, she deserved it more than you did.”
That wasn’t a huge leap…he’d been sleeping when she’d done it to him. It’d be difficult to be sheriff if she did that all the time. It was unfortunate that hiding knives from her had proven to be so ineffective. “You can’t run around threatening people with knives.”
“Now you’re defending her?” Her voice implied her knife was about to make a third appearance.
“No.” There was only one right answer there.
She sniffed again and wiped her face against his shirt.
He winced and tried to be okay with that—though he did glance at the tissues on his desk.
“I should just leave.”
It would be safer for her if he let her. Instead, he whispered, “Stay,” and kissed her temple.
“Do you like tall women?”
Alanna was six feet tall. “No, hate them.”
“I’m a normal height. Five five is normal.”
He held her tighter. She felt so good in his arms. So perfect. “You’re the perfect height. I can put my chin right on top of your head.” It was a ludicrous thing to say, but half their conversations hadn’t made any sense in retrospect. Maybe he’d end up telling everyone he wasn’t a Lycan either.
She turned her head and pressed her face into his neck while wrapping her arms around his waist. His shirt felt wet where her face had been pressed. It was okay—only because it was her.
“You need a better safe. That one was too easy to get into.”
He blinked. Wait. What? Why did he always feel like he was two steps behind LeAnn? He couldn’t seem to predict her. She was like chaos theory in action. “You got into my safe? At my house?” He’d left before her, but he’d assumed the worst she’d do was rehide all the knives again. She probably had. Other than whatever knife she had on her.
She nodded.
“Okay.” There wasn’t much of interest in his safe. Mostly legal documents. Maybe some petty cash. Nothing that she couldn’t see. She was his mate, after all. She was a part of his life. Hopefully.
“Your middle name is Dex?”
“Yes. It’s tradition to name male children after an Alpha. Not everyone does, but my parents did…so I got the middle name Dex.”
“Oh.”
“You closed my safe after you were done with it, right?” He couldn’t get around the fact that she’d managed to get into his safe.
“Of course I did.”
Of course she did. He should really find out what Seamus had dug up about her past. At the very least, he’d likely found a few B&Es. Hopefully she wasn’t a wanted felon. If she was, he’d be aiding and abetting a felon…and hopefully eventually having children with her and lots of sex.
“LeAnn, tonight, when I get home, we’ll talk about all this.”
“You mean after the challenge?”
“Yes.”
“The challenge I’m not allowed to go to?”
He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “You can’t be there. Trust me on this.” It was as good as over between them if she saw that side of the pack.
Chapter Six
Oh, she’d be at that challenge.
It would be horrible to be waiting somewhere for him while he was fighting for his life. Nobody might even think to tell her if he did die. Hours would pass, and she’d just be waiting. Or maybe he would win, and she’d still have to wait to hear he wasn’t bleeding out somewhere. No. She was going.
After they’d gotten back from lunch, he’d kissed her at her car and asked, “You’ll be at my place tonight?”
She’d grabbed him by the neck and kissed him again rather than answer him. How was she supposed to respond to that?
That nice lady who picked up the phones had been leaving for her lunch at the time.
Which was why she’d upped the rating and slammed him against her car while pushing herself against him.
It was worth it to hear the wo
man say, “Oh my.”
Actually, it was flat-out worth it. As far as good-bye kisses went, hopefully it wasn’t their last for whatever reason, but they both broke away, out of breath and nearly cross-eyed. Travis clenched one of his fists before shaking it out and she saw that predatory look in his eye—that scalding-hot look that was part wolf. She might have gone too far, because he leaned forward, still meeting her gaze, and said, “If you’re not at my place, I’ll come find you and drag you back there.”
“Kicking and screaming?”
He almost smiled, but he was still trying to tame that wolf look from his eyes. “Maybe some screaming.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Tease.”
“Stubborn fool.”
“Jackass.”
“Gorgeous.” He dropped one last kiss on her mouth before going back in.
Alanna had said the challenge was “tonight” so she had some hours to kill, and the nervous energy was going to eat her alive if she didn’t find something to do. Well, first she needed to find out what time “tonight” was, but that was easy enough, and anyone who’d broken into her brother’s place deserved to have her do the same. She drew the line at peeing on his porch, though. Because normal human beings didn’t do that.
Troy hadn’t even bothered covering his tracks back to his place, and he wasn’t home. He also didn’t have any of her clothing or Travis’s. So that left an unknown person who’d somehow masked their scent…or Alanna. At the very least, Alanna knew something about it. Not that LeAnn was going to tell Travis. She could fight her own battles—especially with that skanky troll Alanna.
Troy was a real freak. His internet search history would make a less jaded person want to impale themselves.
Preferably in the head.
In the eye region.
She did learn what was up with the couch and video equipment at Merilee’s. Which was less disgusting than the rest of what he had on his computer.
Invitations to something as primitive as a battle to the death were issued by email? Damn, she could have hacked into Travis’s computer.
Seven p.m.
Putting everything back the way she found it, well, most everything, she slipped out of his house. Troy’d be able to tell she’d been here, but she didn’t care. Travis would probably freak out if he knew what she’d done.
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