by Jana Downs
He looked up…and up some more. Dear lord, when had Logan gotten so tall? Logan knelt on the ground beside him. “Oh wow. You are the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever seen,” Logan said, reaching out. “I have no idea what you are, but damn you are adorable.”
Instincts took over, and he leaned forward to sniff Logan’s outstretched fingers. Mine. Mate. He made a purring sound in the back of his throat and lapped at his hand. Logan’s form shimmered, and then a red fox sat in front of him. He was still quite a bit bigger than Jude, but he seemed much more reasonable in this size. He wasn’t sure what he was either, but he knew he had four legs and could hear and smell everything.
He leaned up and licked Logan’s muzzle. Logan let out a playful bark and leaned down to lick Jude’s whole head. Jude huffed and made an unhappy sound at the bath. He backed off, and Logan stalked forward. He stopped. Logan stopped. He walked back. Logan walked back. He caught the game and gave an animal smile as he bolted for the far fence. Logan streaked after him, catching up to him and tackling him to the ground.
He yelped, barrel rolling with the larger mammal. They wrestled for a minute before Jude crawled off, exhausted. He was done playing. Logan shifted back to human form, sweat-slicked and grinning. “That was fun. Shift back, sweet. We have to get ready for work.”
He was reluctant to change, but he knew logically he ought to. He comforted himself with the knowledge he could do it as soon as he got off. Hell he might shift at lunch and show the guys. They’d probably like to see. How could anyone hate this? This was awesome! Jude gave a happy bark and forced himself to calm down long enough to close his eyes.
The shaking started, and then he was in his human body once more. “Holy cow. That’s amazing,” he panted, grinning like a fool.
Relief flickered over Logan’s expression. “You’re not freaked out?”
“Hell no. That was awesome.”
Logan laughed and pulled him over for another kiss. “You amaze me every day, Jude.”
Jude clung to him, loving the feeling of Logan against him. The feeling of certainty that he’d had throughout their courtship seemed to settle into his skin. Logan was his mate, and they were on the fast track to forever. He smiled. Everything was how it was meant to be.
Chapter Five
Jude was whistling a happy freaking tune all day at work. Collin and Evan had been equal parts excited and happy for him about his official mating, though they were admittedly a bit jealous as well. He had the feeling that they would be finding their own mates soon enough. sHarmony seemed to have their shit together on the romance front.
He called a security company and had them schedule the installation of cameras around the building after Logan texted him from his job site and reminded him to do so. Logan was paranoid after what had happened at his place, and Jude understood to a certain extent. However, he was finding it difficult to worry when he was feeling so high on life.
The project he was working on was a little hard to concentrate on at the moment. He had finished his design of the online candy company within the first three hours of work this morning, so he’d been forced to move on to the considerably less colorful engineering firm’s website. Grays and tans were not his friends in his current mood. Their chosen color palette did not make him a happy camper.
Collin and Evan strolled into his office, Evan with a laptop in hand. “Fennec fox,” Evan announced, looking proud of himself.
Jude blinked. “Uh, what? Did I miss something?”
“Your animal, goofball,” Collin said, grinning. “We’ve been working an hour trying to figure it out. You’re officially a fennec-fox-shifter. Isn’t that cool?”
“How did you guys figure it out?”
Evan beamed. “Well, since you showed us this morning, we’ve been wondering about it. I thought you were an African wild dog or something but nope. We sent a picture to Dr. Workright at school.” Their old biology professor had been a really cool guy. “He came back with fennec fox, and we have been Googling ever since.”
He turned the laptop around, and Jude found himself staring at a mirror image of himself in his other shape. Collin had picked him up and held him to the mirror in the bathroom so he could see, but it was weird to see a picture on the Internet. Soft golden fur covered a slight canine body with huge ears and big golden eyes. He looked like a much smaller version of a red fox like Logan. He thought he’d be disappointed because he wasn’t something badass like a tiger or wolf, but like the red fox had fit Logan, the fennec fox suited Jude.
“Thanks for the info, guys,” he said, scanning the Wiki overview on his animal. “You want to go out to lunch? I need to stretch my feet.” Truth be told, he was restless again. He wanted to be outside and walking to burn off some of this impossible energy.
His friends glanced at one another. “Sure,” Collin said. “I’ll flip the closed sign, and we can head out.”
“Let me finish up this line of code, and I’ll be ready,” Evan added. He took his laptop from Jude’s fingers. “Finish up with whatever you’re doing, Jude.”
Jude took the time to lock his computer. Another text message came through on his phone, and he smiled as he saw who it was from. Logan was texting him more than usual during his workday. How are you? Logan texted.
Heading to lunch with the guys. Can I see you tonight?
The idea of not seeing his mate for the entire night made his animal growl in protest.
You want to come over after work? I’ll be late, but you can keep Orion company until I get home. Are the security guys there?
I don’t mind hanging out with Orion. I’ll come over after I get off. Yes the security company is installing the cameras now. ;) Paranoid.
I won’t take chances with you. Love you.
Love you, too. See you tonight.
He tucked his phone into his pocket and slid back from his work desk. Evan closed his laptop before setting it on Jude’s filing cabinet. “Ready?”
“Yep.”
They moved en masse toward the back exit and the employee parking lot in back. It was a sharp relief to feel the breeze, even though the temperature today had soared into the mideighties. Just being outside helped his restlessness. “Do you think we might be able to do a small add-on for my office?” he asked as they passed the work truck for the security company.
“I don’t see why not. Why do you ask?”
“I’m a little restless being all cooped up. It’s the animal, I think. If I could be semi-outside, I think I’d be able to concentrate more. I know the front of the shop has lots of windows, which is great for clients, but I would really like the same feel.”
Collin shrugged. “I don’t see why not. The mud room on the side is just used for storage right now. We have enough profits to convert it into an office and install outlets for your workstation. It’s roughly the same size. Plus you’ll be connected to the game room we made. Would you mind us walking through before we go home?”
“Not at all.” They were always in one another’s offices. As close at they were, it really didn’t bother him if Collin and Evan went through all his stuff.
“Cool. I’ll call around Monday to set up consultations for the work.”
“Hmmm, I’ll ask Logan if he can recommend someone. He’s in the business after all.” It wouldn’t be a lot of work, but if he could throw some work toward someone deserving, he was more than willing to.
Evan came to abrupt halt ahead of them, and Jude nearly plowed into his back. “What is it?” Jude asked, swiveling his head to look over his shoulder. The blood drained from his face as he saw what was scrawled across his Optima. Shifter Fuckers Go To HELL. He swallowed. “Well, that’s fucking fantastic.”
Collin retrieved his cell phone from his pocket and dialed. Jude assumed it was the police. He looked over where the guys were installing video cameras on the side of the building. “Hey, did you see something about that?” he asked, pointing toward his car. He was trying not to get too upset. It was just
a paint job, but it still seemed like such a violation. His skin crawled at the thought of someone hating him enough to spray the hateful words in orange all over his car.
The bigger guy looked down from the ladder, sympathy evident in his expression. “I thought that was why you called us to be honest. It was like that when we got here.”
Jude nodded. “Thanks.” Whoever had done it had to have wrecked his vehicle shortly after he’d gotten here. The knowledge that they probably watched him walk inside made him a little sick to his stomach.
“You need to call sHarmony,” Evan said, wrapping a comforting arm around his shoulders. “They need to know that someone hacked their system. If Nick told any of the hatemongers he’s hanging out with, this could get ugly.”
“You’re right. I didn’t even think of that.” He started to shake. He wanted Logan. He wanted his mate, and he wanted his day to go back to being all rainbows and sunshine. It wasn’t fair that someone could come in and rip his world down in one stupid move.
The cops arrived a few minutes later, and Jude told them everything, including his ex’s threatening phone call from the day before. They promised to add the incident to the file and do further investigating, but Jude was still disturbed.
“We can promise to do some more patrols in and around the area during the day,” Officer Caldwell said, scribbling in his little black notebook. “I know this can be very frustrating, but you’re making the right moves with getting security for the building and filing reports. There have been other incidents in town that we believe may be related.”
“Thanks,” Jude said. He glanced over at Evan, who was on the phone with sHarmony’s internal security systems guy. They were no doubt talking about the network security. At least none of the social security numbers or home addresses were filed in the system. He could be grateful for that at least.
The cops said they’d be in touch and left them standing in the parking lot. A split second after they pulled off property, Evan hung up the phone. “They want to talk to you.”
Jude nodded and took the phone. “Hello?”
“Hi, Mr. Lawson. This is Malcolm Danielson, the owner of the south end sHarmony division.”
“Hi, Mr. Danielson. What can I do for you?”
There was a slight pause on the other end of the phone before the guy started talking again. “I wanted to offer you an apology for starters. I know this must be very stressful for you and your mate. Your friend told me that you’re pretty unnerved by this whole thing.”
“Well, it’s not every day I have graffiti splashed over my car,” Jude said dryly. “Though I appreciate the apology. It’s not all your fault.”
“I’m going to have my security team get on this right away and pin down the IP addresses of the people who hacked our systems. Mr. Cartwright volunteered his services as well. If we can do anything else to help track down the people who are doing this, you just let me know. I’ll e-mail you my personal contacts.”
“Thank you.” He really wanted Logan. “Your services are great by the way. I found my mate right off the bat.”
Mr. Danielson laughed. “Well, that is always the goal. Congratulations. I wish you both the best.”
“We’ll be fine as soon as all this mess is cleared up,” Jude reassured, some of his confidence returning. There were plenty of people who respected him and his relationship. He was not going to let some angry asshole with a can of paint win.
“Good luck to you. Just call if you need anything.”
“Will do.”
They hung up.
Collin wandered over. “Your tires are toast, man. You need us to give you a ride home?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to go home by myself. I want to go to Logan’s.” He needed his mate. The repetitive thought just wouldn’t leave him. “I’m going to call him for a pick up. He’s going to be pissed about the car. Collin, could you have it towed for me?”
Collin nodded. “Absolutely. Evan, you headed to sHarmony?”
Evan jangled his car keys. “Yep. I’m heading down now. I’ll show these people how to really run a system.”
“I love you guys,” Jude said, grateful for his friends’ support. It meant a lot to him. He wasn’t close with his other family, but they were family by choice.
“Anytime, brother. You’d do the same for us,” Evan said. He pointed back toward their building. “Why don’t you guys go back inside and wait for Logan to get here? It’ll probably be safer, and that way you can watch the monitors. We really need to hire someone to do that during the day.”
“Agreed,” Collin seconded.
Jude sighed. “Add it to the list of shit we have to do.” He dialed Logan’s phone as he walked back toward their shop. Surprisingly he picked up on the second ring.
“Hey, babe. What’s up?”
“Um, stuff. What’s up with you? I thought I’d have to leave a voice mail.” Most of the time on a job site, Logan didn’t hear his phone.
“I had to go pick up Orion from school. He was suspended for three days.”
“Good lord, why?”
“He decided to punch another kid in the face for calling him a half-breed.” Logan sighed. “I’m not endorsing the behavior, but I don’t blame the kid. I would’ve done the same thing. So why are you calling? I thought you were going out to lunch?”
“Someone vandalized my car like they did yours.” Dead silence met Jude’s declaration. “I called the cops and everything, filed a report. The sHarmony guy called me and is having them try to dig up the IP address of the ‘friend’ who helped Nick hack the system. So everything is fine. I’m just a little shaken up. Do you think you could come pick me up? My tires are toast.”
The low growl on the other end of the phone let him know Logan wasn’t happy. “Son of a bitch! I swear if I ever find out who did this, they’re in for one hell of an ass whuppin’.”
“I’ll help!” Orion declared from somewhere in the background.
“Hush, you,” Logan rumbled. “You’re grounded for fighting at school.” The answering grumble from Orion didn’t sound happy. “You want me to come get you now, Jude?”
“That would be great.”
“Okay. I’ll see you in ten.”
Jude swiped his finger across the screen to end the call just as he climbed up the steps to the back door, Collin right on his heels. “You okay?”
“I’ll be fine. Let’s just play some Xbox and wait for Logan.” He needed to take his mind off of things.
He swung into the break room from the mudroom and froze. “What are you doing here, Nick?”
Nick was as handsome and cruel-looking as he always was, broad shouldered, dark haired, and a mean set to his jaw. “I came to talk to you. The stuff that’s happening to you is only going to get worse.”
“You know who did this?” Jude snapped. He had a strong suspicion, but he hadn’t wanted to believe it was Nick. His skin crawled at the thought that the two of them had dated.
Nick inclined his head. “You’ve got to know that what you’re doing is wrong, Jude, and I’m the only one who cares enough about you to do it. They have therapy at the organization I belong to for people like you. It’s not too late.”
“Fuck off, asshole,” Collin said, pointing toward the door. “Get the hell off our property. I’m sure the police will be thrilled to know that you and your merry band of asshats are the ones harassing Jude and Logan.”
“Shut up,” Nick growled, the left side of his lip curling in disgust. “I always knew you were a bad influence on him.” He took three strides forward and grabbed Jude’s bicep. “Come on. They’re waiting for us out front. We’re not going to hurt you or anything. We just want to explain to you how those half-breeds have corrupted you.”
“Let go of me,” Jude shouted, jerking his arm back. His animal snarled, the inhuman noise erupting from his mouth before he could filter it.
Nick’s eyes shot wide. “What the hell? You let one of those disgusting t
hings turn you?”
“Get off of him!” Collin yelled, pushing Nick back.
Jude bared his teeth as Nick’s grip tightened. “My mate is going to stomp your fucking ass if you don’t let go this second.” He winced as the clutch grew painful.
“I’m calling 911,” Collin threatened, holding his cell phone. Jude picked up the sound of the phone ringing. Nick reached out and grabbed the phone, chucking it against the wall in one violent motion.
“This is none of your business, Collin,” he said, his voice eerily calm. “This is between me and Jude.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Logan’s voice rang out above the pounding of the heartbeat in his head. Thank God. He turned his head to see Logan and Orion standing in the doorway.
“None of your business, freak,” Nick spat, hauling Jude in front of him.
Logan moved faster than Jude thought possible. In an instant he was standing in front of them. “You might want to use a bigger shield next time, you stupid fuck,” he rumbled, pulling his fist back before slamming it forward to crack Nick in the jaw. The grip on Jude’s arm fell away, and he scrambled to get out of the way. Collin pulled him away from the two men as they started to scrap. Jude somehow managed to get the phone from his pocket and dial the emergency number as Nick threw his ex into his desk, sending paper and Prisma markers flying.
Collin took the phone from his shaking hands and talked hurriedly into the mike. A streak of golden fur pounced into the conflict and it took Jude a second to register that Orion had shifted. Logan’s cheetah brother sank his teeth into Nick’s calf muscle and shook his head. Nick screamed then, going limp in Logan’s hold.
“Orion, off!” Logan shouted, twisting Nick’s hands behind his back and holding him there.
The teenager shifted back, and Collin’s eyes widened. “Holy shit!”