Julian loosened his hold on her and turned to look at the stranger, keeping one arm around her waist. “Yes, but not the way you think.” He nodded toward the stranger, but she could tell Julian was uneasy around him. “This is Micah Boyd, Alpha of the Marietta Pack.” Julian tugged on the end of his braid. “He’s here to hunt down his Outcast father.”
She absolutely hated it when Julian lied to her. “Sure he is.”
“His father, Dennis, is the one who Outcast Tabby. One of Micah’s first acts as the new Alpha was to Outcast him. He’s been gone from Marietta for two years now. He also wants to reinstate Tabby’s position in her birth Pack.”
Tabby had told her a long time ago that Outcasting was a huge deal to Packs and Prides. She remembered Tabby’s constant skittishness, her fear that Max would drive her from Halle without any warning, simply because he could. An Outcast had no one they could rely on, nowhere they could turn to for help. Outcasting was supposed to be used for those who committed a crime against Pack or Pride, but Alpha Boyd had used it to hurt a little teenaged girl who’d never done anything wrong other than dare to be different. Tabby still carried the emotional scars of having lived her life in her Wolf form for eight years. Only now that she’d been accepted into both the Halle Pride and the Poconos Pack did she finally feel she had a safe harbor. “You think your father is capable of seeking revenge?”
“I wouldn’t put it past him.” Micah was staring at them, looking utterly confused. “Can someone please tell me what the hell is going on?”
“Someone’s been trying to kill us.” Cyn didn’t see any reason to beat around the bush. If it really was his father doing these things, Micah deserved a shot at him. “One of Max’s Pumas has already died.” She still felt guilty as hell over losing Marie, even though there was nothing she could have done to save her. It was stupid, but that didn’t stop her from wanting a do-over. If she hadn’t gone to give Marie the earring, perhaps Marie would have survived.
“Why would my father be trying to kill you? If he was going to go after anyone I’d think it would be Tabby.”
“¿Está loco en la cabeza?” Both men were looking at her like she was the one who was loco. She shrugged. “He’s one wave short of a shipwreck.”
“Tabby and Alex are still in the mountains?” Julian was still tugging on his braid, his gaze glued to the front door.
“I think so, yes. Why?” She blinked. “Shit. If it really is Alpha Boyd, and he’s after Tabby—”
“—and Tabby isn’t here—” Julian darted a quick, horrified glance at her before plucking his phone from his pocket.
Cyn pulled her cell phone out and quickly dialed. Gabe answered on the first ring. “Cyn, my guys just radioed me. Who the hell just ran in there with Julian?”
“Tell them to stay calm. Alpha Micah Boyd is with us out of Marietta. He thinks his father is the one who’s been targeting us.” She began to pace, her Bear restless and ready to tear someone apart. “Dennis Boyd is the one who Outcast Tabby all those years ago, and now he’s been Outcast for his crimes. We think he’s going after her.”
“Calm down. They aren’t alone. I’ll warn my men to keep a lookout. You three need to sit tight. If Dennis Boyd is in town, he might decide to take out his son instead of running after Tabby. Stay there where you’re being watched over, got it?”
“Will do,” Julian said loudly, replacing his phone in his pocket. “Rick is aware of who we think the shooter is. He’s going to take Tabby and Alex on a little hiking trip to see if she can catch his scent. Hopefully they won’t find anything.”
She growled at him. “We need to protect Tabby.”
Julian’s silver eyes glittered. His Bear was close to the surface. “No. We stay put, like Gabe told us to.”
She opened her mouth, ready to argue, but closed it when she saw the way he was still shaking. “What happened? What has you so scared?” Hell, the way he was reacting, her Bear was trying to scramble its way out. She’d seen him silly, scared, upset, even angry. But this was the first time she’d ever seen him terrified.
His lips compressed, his jaw clenching so hard she could feel the pain of it.
“Jules? Just tell me. I’ll find out anyway.”
He sighed and leaned against the counter, his arms folded over his chest. He refused to look at her. “I had a vision.”
“A bad one, I’m guessing.” Whatever had scared her mate so badly would be dealt with. She didn’t even realize her claws had extended until they dug into her palms.
“I need you to stay safe.” He finally looked at her, those bright, beautiful eyes of his dull with pain. “I can’t…” He bit his lip and turned away again.
Shit. This was worse than she thought. She barely noticed Micah watching the two of them closely, her attention centered solely on Julian. “Tell me about the vision.”
He ignored her, staring out the front window at the dark street. He was so tense she thought he might shatter with a breath.
She took a step toward him, needing to soothe him. “Julian, tell me so I can deal with whatever—”
“No!”
She gasped as his power rolled over her, the strength in him stunning her. She hadn’t realized how strong he was until her Bear bowed her head in submission, accepting Julian’s right to rule her actions. She would’ve been pissed as hell if his fear hadn’t been steamrolling over her, nearly dragging her to her knees.
“I cannot lose you.” He was practically panting, his eyes wild with fear.
She had to force herself to walk toward him. It was like being thigh high in the ocean, trying to force herself to move forward while the waves of fright kept pushing her back. She could barely keep her balance, both emotionally and physically. “You aren’t going to lose me.”
“I can’t.” Her beautiful lover began to cry, and Cyn knew she wasn’t going anywhere. Not when his vision was affecting him this badly. “I waited so long for you. I can’t lose you now.”
“Shh.” She reached up and brushed away a crystal tear, the heavy weight of his fear receding at the touch of his skin under her fingertips. “I’m not going anywhere. Not without you.” She hugged him tight, almost crying herself as he shook in her arms. His tears were wet against her neck. “You need to tell me about this vision of yours, okay? So we can both be safe.”
Julian took a deep, shuddering breath, and nodded.
She stroked his hair, undoing his braid so she could finger comb the long strands. There was still far too much silver in the black for her comfort. “So how long exactly did you wait for me?” Her voice was shaky, but at least she’d managed a light tone. She had a pretty good idea what he must have seen, but she was more scared for him than she was for herself. She had to find out exactly what he’d seen, but first she had to get him to calm down.
“Since the first moment I saw you.”
She pulled back and stared up at him. Julian had met her almost a year ago. Alex had been right. Julian had been suffering before they mated. “Was I worth it?”
His thumb stroked over her cheekbone as he smiled down at her. “You’re worth everything.”
“Y’all are so cute together. You should be a Hallmark card.”
Cyn and Julian turned as one to glare at Micah.
“Sorry.” He gave them a sheepish grin. “I haven’t found my mate yet. I’m not sure whether I should be jealous or vomit from the sugar overload.”
Julian patted her on the behind, still a little teary. “Well, my sugar needs to get her ass behind some nice, thick walls.” He eyed the plate glass window with disfavor. “Seriously thick walls. Maybe underground.”
Cyn rolled her eyes and hid her grin. “I’m a Bear, not a mole.”
Julian wiped his eyes dry with the heels of his hands. His answering smile was shaky. “Because weremoles are just silly.”
“Um. What?” Micah’s brows rose. “What the hell are y’all talking about?”
Cyn giggled as Julian began counting on his fingers.
“There are no weremoles, werevoles, wererats, weremice…” Her Jules was sounding more like himself and less like the half-crazed maniac that had run into her shop a few minutes before. She would get to the bottom of his vision, one way or another. But for now, she was content that he was safe.
“…but we’re still not certain about weredolphins and wereorcas. What do you think?”
Julian knew he’d scared the hell out of Cyn, but it was all just too much. First Glory was shot, then Marie, but the vision of Cyn lying dead in his arms had been the final straw. He just couldn’t contain his fear.
Hell. If Ryan and Alex found out he’d cried he’d be forced to turn in his man card. He’d be getting Judy Garland movies every Christmas for the rest of his life.
“Are you serious?” Micah’s jaw seemed to be permanently unhinged if the way his mouth remained open was any indication.
Julian barely heard the shattering of glass, the cracking sound of the gunshot. All that registered was the sudden flaring pain radiating from Micah. The Marietta Alpha staggered and grabbed his bleeding shoulder. Without thought Julian extended his power toward the wounded man, beginning the process of healing. It was a through-and-through, thank the ancestors. The only concern would be infection.
“Down!” Cyn grabbed him and tossed herself on top of him, breaking his connection to the healing path. Micah fell to the ground as outside the shop the world erupted, cops shouting for the shooter to show himself. All the cops surrounding Cyn were Pumas; Julian didn’t think he’d be getting away.
“Jesus. You weren’t kidding when you said someone was trying to kill you.” Micah crawled toward them, his expression a mask of pain.
“No shit.” Julian pushed Cyn off of him. Where the hell did she get off covering him? It was his job to protect her, not the other way around. “We need to get out of here.” He began crawling on his belly toward the back of the shop, heading for the employee area and the back door.
“Aren’t you the one who said ‘sit tight’?” Cyn was following him closely even as she questioned him.
“The shooter has to be out front still. No way can he get past the Pumas guarding you. But in front of those windows he can take more shots at us.”
“He’s right. My dad was always one hell of a hunter. Don’t trust that he’ll stay put, either. He’ll be running for the hills, hoping to get another shot at you on a different day.”
Julian pushed aside the curtain and made his way into the break room. “Do you think he’ll go after Tabby?”
“If he figures out she’s not in town? Yes.” Micah held the curtain open for Cyn, dropping it when she was safely inside.
“Rick can keep her safe. Ben and Ted won’t allow anyone to touch her, especially since she’s a Pack mate.” Julian listened, waiting for the cops to come in the shop. Eventually they’d have to tell them whether or not they’d caught the son of a bitch.
“Who are Ben and Ted?” Micah stood and brushed his jeans off.
Julian followed suit but held his hand out to assist Cyn to her feet. “Ben is the Poconos Pack Marshall and Ted is his Second.”
Micah’s hand froze on his knee. “She’s joined another Pack, then.”
“And a Pride,” Julian added.
Micah stared at him, astonished. “A Pride? How the hell did a Wolf wind up in a Pride?”
Cyn shrugged, her gaze darting around the break room as if the shooter were hiding in the cupboards. “Max likes her.”
“And she proved herself to him. He had no problems accepting her, and neither did Rick.”
Cyn grinned. “They share her.”
Micah looked horrified. “How do their mates feel about that?”
Cyn and Julian gaped at him. He could not mean what Julian thought he did. “Are you nuts? Emma and Belle would eviscerate anyone who touched Max or Rick.”
“They share her as a Pack mate, not a fuck toy.” Cyn snarled. “What kind of Pack do you run, anyway?”
Micah had the grace to look sheepish. “Sorry. It’s just…some of the things my dad forced us to do were horrible. Sharing a female, whether mated or not, wasn’t uncommon.”
Forcing someone to have sex with a person who wasn’t their mate wasn’t possible for a male, and tantamount to rape for a female, once the bond was established. The old Alpha had to be one sick son of a bitch to do that. “Your father wasn’t mated to your mother, was he?”
“How did you know?”
“Lucky guess.” Julian flinched at the sound of another gunshot. “Shit. They have to catch this asshole.”
“At least this isn’t a residential area. Even the restaurants close down by six.” Cyn rolled her eyes at him as she stepped around him. She peeked around the curtain, pulling back as another shot was fired. “Yeah. I think we need to stay in here.”
They hunkered down in the break room, keeping out of sight. At least Julian was certain Cyn was safe. She was whistling and tapping her fingers, restless as she never was. She was hating the fact that they were pinned down, helpless to stop the man who’d shot Glory.
Micah frowned curiously at Cyn. “Why are you whistling the Hawaii Five-O theme?”
Cyn blinked and stopped whistling, but her fingers continued to twitch restlessly. “No reason.”
After a few minutes, Micah held up his hand. “Shh. Hear that?”
Julian cocked his head, trying to hear what had Micah quivering with tension.
“No sound.” Cyn closed her eyes and tilted her head. “I can’t hear anything.”
Julian slipped out of the break room. Something was very wrong. “Stay put.”
Cyn took a step toward him. “No.”
“Cyn.” He pressed a hard kiss to her lips before shoving her back into the break room. “You have to stay safe.”
“Ditto.”
He glared at her. No way was she leaving the protection of the break room. “Don’t make me use the voice.”
She blew her bangs out of her eyes and glared back. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t follow your ass.”
“Because I don’t want to watch you die.”
Chapter Twenty
She watched Julian stalk out of the break room and out through the curtain at the front of the shop. “What is he doing?”
“Checking things out, I’d assume.” Micah leaned back against the break table and sighed. “Look, as much as I’d like to get my hands on my dad and kick his ass again, if he’s somewhere with a rifle we won’t get to him before he can take us out. Let me guess. You’ve been playing bait?”
“Yup.” She leaned against the doorjamb. She might not go chasing after her mate, but hell if she was going to cower in the room. “Do you have any idea why your dad would go after Glory and I? If he’s after Tabby, why not just shoot at her?”
“He’s a vindictive son of a bitch. To tell you the truth, I’ve been waiting for him to come after me all this time.” Micah shrugged. “How close are you to Tabby?”
“We’re family.” Cyn shot him a glance. “You’re kidding me. That’s why?”
Micah nodded. “He’ll want her to hurt before he kills her.”
She stared at him, appalled. “He’s done this before.”
“And I found out, took his Pack from him, and Outcast him for it.”
“Why didn’t anyone stop him?”
His answering grin was sour. “He was Alpha. No one was strong enough to stop him. Hell, I’m not sure his Beta wasn’t in on it, but without proof I couldn’t Outcast him. I constantly have to watch him, make sure he isn’t stirring up shit. The Omega was kept constantly drugged, and is just now getting over it with intensive therapy. He’ll never be who he was before he became my dad’s Omega. They broke him. The only thing I can do for him is keep the old Beta away from him, just in case. And the Marshall was a sadistic son of a bitch who died shortly after I Outcast my dad. He challenged me for the Pack and lost.”
“Wow. Makes me glad I’m not a Wolf.”
“Sometimes I
wish I wasn’t. Being a Tiger sounds really good some days. No Pack politics, just big-ass teeth and a pissy attitude.” He stood and made his way to the door. “He’s been gone a long time.”
“The front of the shop isn’t that big.”
His brows rose. “Want to check things out?”
“Hell yes.” Cyn pulled aside the curtain and stepped into the main part of the shop. “Julian?”
Julian turned from the front door where he was speaking to one of the cops. “Get back in the break room, Cyn.”
“Did they get him?”
Julian shook his head. “No. They’re following his trail now.” He gestured toward the curtain. “Now get your ass back there, okay?”
“Fine.”
“Yes, it is. It’s a very fine ass. Now keep it behind the curtain.”
Micah snorted a laugh as he followed Cyn back into the break room. “Is he always like that?”
“Nope. He’s having an off day. Usually he’s much worse.” Cyn stared around the break room, restless to be doing something, anything. Fuck, she’d inventory stock if it meant she got to move. “I’m heading in the back for a bit. Let Jules know where I am.” There were no windows back there so Super Bear couldn’t get upset over it.
“Are you sure it’s safe?”
Great. Just what I need. Another over-protective Alpha male. She was the Kodiak. She should be the one out front risking her hide, not Jules. “I think so. There are no windows, and the back door is locked.”
“Maybe I should go back with you.”
Cyn stared at the stubborn set of Micah’s jaw. Nothing she said would dissuade him. “Follow me.” She shook her finger at him as she led him into the stock room. “But I’m putting your ass to work.”
“Fine by me. I’m feeling a little antsy anyway.” He lifted a box off the nearest shelf and peered inside. “I hate sitting and waiting. I’d rather be out and doing.”
“Ditto. I’m supposed to be a sitting duck, but sometimes I wish I was the one duck hunting.”
Micah chuckled. “I know what you mean.” He placed the box back on the shelf and followed Cyn further into the back room. “Do you mind if I ask you something?”
Cynful hs-2 Page 20