She stood up abruptly, shaking her head. “Ty, I would be costing you so much. I never knew that your being with me would cost you everything. Your property, your rightful place as the leader of your own pack. I’d be stealing your future.” Pain rippled across her face, shining in her luminous blue eyes.
Why wouldn’t she let him in? He knew she wanted him as much as he wanted her. “I just told you. You wouldn’t be costing me anything that I actually want.”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.” She had backed up to the doorway.
Frustration boiled up inside him. Every time he got close to her, he felt her pull away. “Why do you keep running away from me, Karen?”
“Um, I don’t know, because you’re scary?” She took another step back and she was in the hallway now.
“Karen Padfoot.” His voice came out in a growl.
“What?” She’d been turning away, but the command in his voice pulled her back.
“I meant what I said the other day. Now that I’ve finally got you, I will never let you go.”
Chapter Fourteen
“I hope you consider our offer to come work with us,” Vince said as he laid a contract on top of the stack in Karen’s inbox. She was in a spacious office in the back of his building. She had a big oak desk and a wall full of law books, and it smelled of fresh wood and pine potpourri. “You’re a natural at this.”
“Thanks, Vince. I appreciate the offer,” Karen said gratefully. The Battle family had every reason to hold a grudge against her, and the fact that they would consider giving her a job like that was a testament to their generosity and also their ability to have an open mind.
“The contract I just gave you concerns my son Max’s acquisition of his new pack’s property. I’d like you to review that one first, please.”
She hesitated, then looked up at him. “So, if Ty were with me, you know, permanently, he would lose all the property that he would have inherited?”
Vince nodded. “It’s true. He couldn’t lead his own pack. Currently, the only Alphas in this area are myself and my son, and we each have our territory carved out. Ty could have inherited and started his own pack, but it appears his intentions are otherwise now.”
“Does that bother you?”
“No, not at all. He’s his own man. If he felt called on to start his own pack, he would most definitely do so. It’s not for everyone. There’s plenty of Alphas out there who go into other areas of leadership. My nephew Steele, for instance. The sheriff job suits him perfectly, and it takes up too much of his time for him to be running his own pack.”
“I see.” She nodded.
“Ty’s a changed man since you’ve come to stay with him, Karen,” Vince said.
Her cheeks flooded with color, and she murmured “Thank you,” as he left the room.
Before she could start on the contract, her phone rang.
“That son of a bitch gave me a speeding ticket for going five miles over!” Isadora yelled into the phone.
“Hello, best friend and bane of my existence. Let me guess. Dash?”
“Yes, he who will from now on be known as Dash-hole. I swear to God, I wanted to take that night stick of his and –“
“Are you sure it was only five miles over? Because I’ve driven with you before,” Karen interrupted her quickly, before Isadora could burn that visual into her brain.
“It was definitely five, or some multiple of five. Whatever. It’s like he was laying in wait for me. Bastard. I was on my way for a lunch date with Pierce. He made me late.”
“You know, I’m going to suggest something that you’re not going to want to hear. I actually think you and Dash would be a good couple.”
“Excuse me, I think we have a problem with our connection,” Isadora squawked in disbelief. “Hello, I’m Isadora. Have you met me before? Me, date a cop? I have only ever dated guys with tattoos and a bad attitude.”
Karen would not be dissuaded. She was raising two adolescents; she was used to dealing with stubborn dumbasses. “I think Dash, on some level at least, probably a level which he isn’t even admitting to himself, is attracted to you, which is why he always manages to be around when you’re here. And I think you like him too. I’ve never heard you bitch about a guy as much as this before. I also think that you’re refusing to acknowledge it because – wait for it – your parents would actually approve of him.”
“Keep up that talk, and I will have a new lynx-skin rug in front of my fireplace, woman. I am hanging up now. You go wash your mouth out with soap.” Isadora cut the connection off.
Karen snickered to herself. Ha. She quickly texted “Isadora and Dash, sittin’ in a tree” to Isadora, then started in on her contracts. She turned off her phone so she could ignore the stream of obscenities that Isadora texted back, along with the picture of a lynx skin rug.
It took a couple of hours before she finally made her way to the contract that made her heart seize up in her chest.
It was a contract for Ty to open a new nightclub in North Dakota.
He’d start there next month.
She sat there, staring at it. Obviously he hadn’t meant for her to see this particular contract, right? Or perhaps he had. Perhaps this was his way of saying that she was too much work, and if he had to work that hard to pursue her, then he was throwing in the towel.
Just a few days earlier, he’d said that he would never let her go. They hadn’t discussed it since. They’d spent passionate nights together. Yes, she’d still gone back to her room afterwards, but…had he given up on her already?
Most likely, she thought, this particular contract was intended to go to the lawyer who they had on retainer. It didn’t really matter whether he’d meant for her to see it or not, though. The end of their relationship was sitting there staring her in the face.
She sat there, staring at the paperwork. Tears filled her eyes and before she could stop them, she was horrified to feel hot tears running down her face. They gushed faster and faster, dripping onto the desk. She frantically mopped them up with tissues from the box that sat in front of her.
Sorrow washed over her, and she sat and buried her face in her hands and sobbed for several full minutes straight, shoulders heaving.
She should have known all along, shouldn’t she? Why would someone want to take on her and her messed up family? She’d just been an itch he needed to scratch, a conquest he could finally cross off his “to do” list.
Up until this moment, she hadn’t realized how much she wanted to stay here with him. She wanted to come home to him every night, to lie in his arms, to feel his caresses and his warm mouth and strong hands moving over her body. More than that, she just loved to spend time with him. She loved talking to him, loved their banter and his quick wit.
Well, people didn’t always get what they wanted in life, she told herself. She didn’t have the luxury of curling up in a ball and hiding out from the world just because her heart was broken. She had a job to do, and a family to support.
She got up and went and washed her face, and carefully redid her makeup. She put on foundation. She patted on eyeshadow. She drew on eyeliner. She stroked on mascara.
Then she went back to work. Work was something she could control. It was like school. She could do her best, put in an effort, and she would be rewarded. Her actions produced predictable results – unlike in life.
Several hours later, she was finished with all of the contracts except Ty’s. Screw him, he could get someone else to finalize the details of his break-up note to her. She left it sitting in her inbox.
Chapter Fifteen
Ty was not a stupid shifter. The second he laid eyes on Karen, he could tell something was wrong and he was somehow the cause of it.
He’d driven up to the camp, after hearing that Karen had made a surprise visit to her brother and sister. She wanted to drop by and make sure that nobody was bullying them any more.
He’d expected her to light up when she saw him, t
he way she always did. It made him feel warm all over, like the rays of the sun were beaming down on him.
Instead, as he walked towards her, she looked away immediately and bit her lip.
She was sitting on a picnic table bench with Isadora, who was letting Leah braid daisies into her hair. Her brother Riley was sitting on the table talking to a shifter named Kimberly, their heads bent in close.
He walked over, and she pretended to suddenly be very involved in texting someone on her cell phone. “Hi,” she muttered.
“Hey, I just came to pick you up for dinner,” he said.
“Actually, Leah and Riley wanted me to stay here and do a cookout with them,” she informed him coolly. “I’ll be back later. Much later. You probably shouldn’t wait up.”
He could tell from Leah and Riley’s started glances that she’d lied about the cookout. This was the first they’d heard about it.
Isadora also shot her a strange look, but didn’t say anything. Neither did Virginia or Kimberly. Of course, all the girls were sticking together.
What the heck? He was baffled. They hadn’t gotten in an argument. When she’d left the house that morning to head over to his uncle’s office, she’d been all sweetness and light.
“Is everything all right?” he asked.
“Everything is fine. I read the contracts, wrote down my suggestions, and gave them back to your uncle for review,” Karen said stonily. She certainly didn’t sound as if everything was fine.
“Did my uncle mention that he likes the idea of you coming to work for us?”
“Yes.” She didn’t comment further.
“All right. I’ll go pick up some barbecue sauce for the cookout.”
“No need,” Karen shook her head. Her face was a mask. He couldn’t read it.
“I’ll be back in a little while,” he said, exasperated.
He walked off without waiting for her reply.
He drove up to his uncle’s house to get the barbecue sauce. His aunt Jade was famous for her sauce, and she always had extra jars in the pantry.
As he pulled up, he saw that his cousin Max, his new wife Josephine, and Steele were standing out front nursing frosty bottles of beer.
“Hello, Ty!” Josephine waved at him. “Good lord, so many Alphas in one spot. I do declare.” She pretended to fan herself like a Southern belle. Max saluted Ty with his beer, but at the same time, he tightened his arm around his wife’s ample waistline. Josephine was a pretty, full figured girl and Max was known to be very territorial around her.
“I’ll say,” Ty agreed. “I’ll be out of here fast, don’t worry.” He was probably good for at least a few hours, but Alphas could only remain in each other’s presence for so long without getting irritable, and then snappish, and then stupid fights would happen. It was a chemical reaction, a fog of hormones that would start to cloud the brain at a certain point.
It didn’t start to kick in until an Alpha was fully mature, usually in his early to mid-twenties, but he and his cousins were all in that age range.
“Anything new with the disappearances?” he asked Steele.
“Yes, actually,” Steele said. “It came as a result of you handing out all those flyers at your club, so I thank you for that. We’ve discovered that there are missing female and male shifters from different species, not just wolves. It’s happened throughout the midwest. We’ve contacted the police departments and Alphas and pride leaders from different states, and we’re trying to organize a task force. We need something like humans have – a central agency that reports back on issues that affect shifters of all species, in every state. Right now, it’s far too easy for crimes that could be of a serial nature to slip through the cracks.”
“Interesting,” Ty nodded. “Let me know if you need help with that.”
“I will. By the way, anything wrong? You look…I don’t know. You’re not your usual cocky self.” Steele said.
“It’s probably nothing. Apparently, I just don’t understand women as well as I thought I did. Hey, what’s so damned funny?”
Steele and Max were both laughing.
“Forget you two,” Ty said, annoyed.
He turned to Josephine. “This morning, Karen was happy and everything was fine between us. I just went to pick her up for dinner, and she looked at me like I’d murdered a puppy, but she’s denying that anything is wrong. Any female insight that you can share with me?”
Josephine pondered this for a minute. “Uh…you’re a guy, so I’m sure that somehow it’s all your fault?” she suggested.
“Really? That’s the best that you’ve got?”
“Give it a little time, give her a little space, let her know you’re ready to listen when she’s ready to talk.”
“Thanks. I guess that’s all that I can do.” He shot a dark look at Max and Steele. “Screw you guys.”
He grabbed a couple of bottles of barbecue sauce and headed back to the campgrounds. Unfortunately, Karen was still upset about whatever it was that was bothering her, and she barely spoke to him the rest of the day. When he spoke to her, she answered in monosyllables.
At least Riley, Leah and the rest of the campers finally seemed to be getting along well.
That night, when they went back to his house, she headed straight for her own bedroom.
“Karen!” he yelled after her, as she stalked stiff-legged down the hall.
She turned to look at him, her expression unreadable.
“Whenever you want to talk about what’s bothering you, I’m here,” he said. He was starting to get pissed off now.
She shook her head, a look of sorrow washing over her features. “No, that’s the thing. You really aren’t,” she said, and slammed her door shut.
Ty went to bed, baffled and frustrated. What had he done? Why was she being like this? Had someone told her something bad about him, made up lies? Evangeline maybe? He couldn’t imagine her listening to Evangline.
He headed out that morning without speaking to her. He was angry and frustrated with her sudden coldness, and he didn’t want to get in an argument with her.
He went straight to The Zoo. His handymen were there doing some painting, and he dove right in with them, glad to have something to distract him.
He’d been there for a few hours when his cell phone rang. His heart leapt, and then he saw that it was Max’s number. He was amazed to realize how disappointed he was, how much he wanted it to be Karen.
“What’s up?” he said, trying not to sound irritable.
“Trouble in paradise. You need to go to the camp right now. Something to do with Karen’s brother.”
Cursing, he headed straight for the summer camp. He tore along the winding roads so fast, his wheels left the asphalt several times.
When he arrived at the summer camp, he parked quickly, his wheels sending up a spray of gravel as he jammed on the brakes. Looking across the parking lot, he saw a group of campers standing outside the boy’s cabin, along with Warren and two security guards who worked for him. They had Riley in handcuffs. Karen was there too, screaming furiously at Warren.
As he climbed out of his truck, he saw that Evangeline was in the parking lot. She was standing by her car, as if she’d been waiting for him to get there. She rushed over to him, blocking his path as he hurried towards Karen.
“Ty, I’m so sorry,” she said, her voice full of fake sympathy. “I know how hard you tried to help those people, and look how they repay you.”
“What the hell have you done?” he demanded suspiciously.
An expression of hurt crossed her face. “How can you talk to me that way? I haven’t done anything; I just came to offer my support. I told you he was a thief, and I was right. Listen, once they leave you’ll be able to think straight again, and you and I-”
“There is no you and I.” He stalked past her, breaking into a run.
Virginia was standing with Karen, shouting at Warren. There were half a dozen camp counselors standing behind her, and they were all
clearly furious. Warren had two of his pack mates with him, towering over Riley, who glared up at him defiantly.
Leah stood next to Kimberly, her fists balled up.
Riley’s face was flushed and angry. His hands were cuffed behind his back, his lip bleeding. His hair was ruffled and there were twigs tangled in it.
One of the security guards had five bleeding scratches on his face, and he was glaring at Karen and growling. Karen’s claws were extended, the fur rippling on her arms and hands.
Ty whirled on him. “Back the fuck off and stop growling at her if you want to live past the next sixty seconds,” he snarled. The security guard blanched, let out a low whimper, and took several steps backward, hanging his head in submission.
Warren, however, tightened his grip on Riley and glowered at Ty defiantly.
“Let go of my brother before I chew your face off!” Karen yelled at him.
Rage boiled up inside Ty. He went half wolf, his snout shooting out, his clothes exploding off him, and lunged at Warren. He knocked Warren off his feet, and grabbed the handcuff keys from him. Shifting back to human form, he quickly uncuffed Riley.
“You have no authority to interfere!” Warren snarled. “I work for your uncle, not you, and this is his land. I’m here to protect his interests.”
“Get over yourself, you lameass rent-a-cop,” Karen hissed. “Protect Vince from a fourteen year old? I’ll claw your eyes out if you touch my brother again.”
“What did you do to this boy?” Ty’s voice came out in a growl. “His lip is bleeding, you son of a bitch!”
“He ran from us!” one of Warren’s other packmates whined defensively.
“I’d run too, if I was him and I saw you three assholes coming at me.” Ty shot the man a death stare, and the man hunched his shoulders and hung his head.
“We searched his room and found this underneath his bed in the cabin,” Warren said. He held up Riley’s knapsack, and dumped it out. Along with Riley’s clothing, a dozen hand tooled leather wallets fell out. “When we came out of the cabin, he saw us holding his knapsack and tried to run for it.”
Purr For The Alpha (A Paranormal Romance) (Timber Valley Pack) Page 10