She was my mate. I had to at least try.
Genevieve just looked confused, not that I could blame her.
“Talon, right?” she asked, extending her dainty hand toward me.
I nodded, taking her hand in mine.
“I’m Agent Genevieve Mendoza, but you can call me Gen, at least when I’m off the clock.”
Her skin was as smooth as silk. I held onto her hand a little too long for comfort before she pulled back and stuffed her hands into her jeans pockets. Neither of us seemed to know what to say next, and the tension between us mounted.
“Did you still need help with your case? Or did you find out what you were looking for?” I finally asked.
“Oh, uh, not really, but I don’t want to talk business right now. I’m off the clock, and I try to keep those parts of my life separate when I can. But you can buy me a drink, and I wouldn’t object.”
And just like that, it was as though hitting Justin had never happened. Was she really that unphased by violence?
“All right, what are you drinking? Tequila sunrise? Daiquiri? Martini?” I asked, naming off as many girly drinks as I could think of.
“Really? You don’t buy many girls drinks do you?”
“You have seen this town, right? There’s not too much selection in the female department, and any eligible woman is more like family than ma-marriage material,” I corrected quickly, hoping she hadn’t noticed the near slip up.
“Ahh, that makes sense actually. I’m easy though. I’ll take a beer.”
I paused for a second, wondering if she’d realized her own words. It must have been my amused expression, but Genevieve’s eyes went round and her mouth popped open.
“Not like that! That’s not what I meant. I just meant that I’m not one of those high maintenance girls who need a ten-dollar drink to reaffirm my womanhood. I’d love a cold beer. Simple and classic.”
“Any specific brand?”
“Surprise me,” she replied.
I stood there staring at her for a good minute while she was busy taking in the bar. Agent Mendoza wasn’t dressed up, but she wasn’t slumming it either. She looked comfortable in her own skin. Her jeans weren’t so tight that they appeared painted on, but they hugged in all the right places, putting her luscious curves on display. She wore a blue hoodie with her hair twisted into a loose braid that trailed over her shoulder. It was so casual and comfortable, yet she made it look like something straight off a Paris fashion week runway.
She turned her face toward me, her brows knitting together slightly, which brought me back to the task I was supposed to be doing…beer. Giving her a quick wink, I slunk between people and strode for the bar. The eagle was still on edge, not understanding why I couldn’t claim her as mine for the whole world to see. I wanted to though there was still the small detail that she had no idea shifters existed at all, let alone that the fates had deemed she was to be mine.
Even as a shifter, I had a hard time reconciling the blind acceptance of such things. If it wasn’t for the tender place she’d already carved out in my heart, I wouldn’t have believed it. A part of me wished I’d had more say in the matter. The other part was grateful because fate had picked the perfect woman for me; I just had to convince Genevieve of that. It weighed heavily on my mind; how was I going to tackle revealing my secret and proving to her that we were made for each other?
The bartender stopped in front of me once he saw me waiting.
“Don’t see you come in too often. What’s the special occasion?” Jared, the bartender, asked.
“No special occasion. Just having a drink with a friend,” I replied.
“Fair enough. What can I get you?”
“Two bottles of Coors Light,” I answered, sliding a ten-dollar bill across the bar top.
Jared pushed the beer toward me.
“You here with the new girl?” he asked, tipping his chin toward Genevieve, who had her hands stuffed in her pockets while she waited for my return.
Her eyes locked with mine when I glanced in the direction he’d indicated.
“Yep,” I said, grabbing the beer and making a quick exit before he could pry any more than he already had.
I moved quickly, reaching Gen in five strides. Maybe it was something subconscious I was giving off or just being smart; either way, patrons parted for me without needing to say even a simple excuse me.
“One cold beer,” I remarked, handing her a cold, dark bottle.
“Thanks,” she said sweetly.
“You’re welcome.”
Agent Mendoza was looking around the room, seeming to take it all in, when she motioned to the furthest corner of the room.
“Looks like that busted lip was a bit of a turn off for his date,” she noted, taking a swig of her beer.
Following her stare, I spied Justin in the corner alone, his mystery date nowhere to be found. I grunted, conflicted on how I should feel. As his best friend and knowing his past, I was sorry things didn’t work out. On the other hand, he’d overstepped boundaries, and I couldn’t blame any woman for ditching him after the stunt he’d pulled with getting flirty and offering to buy Gen a drink. Any self-respecting woman would’ve walked out on him.
“Should one of us go talk to him?” she asked, sympathetically.
“Probably. I’ll go. He’s my best friend, and I was the one who might have ruined his date for him.”
She nodded and took another sip from her beer.
I took a step in his direction before thinking better of it. Pausing, I glanced back at her about to ask permission. Women tended to get angry over the weirdest reasons, and I wasn’t going to risk her saying I just abandoned her without a word. Thankfully, she caught on quickly and assuaged my concerns.
“Go ahead. I’ll be here.”
Justin was staring at the bottom third of his pint of beer, ignoring the rest of the world around him. His lip had swelled up as he toyed with the cut with his tongue.
“Care if I join your pity party?” I jibed, settling myself onto the stool across the table from him.
“The more the merrier,” he snarked.
“Don’t be such a pussy. I didn’t even hit you as hard as I wanted to,”
“Nah, it’s not even that, but please remind me to never get on your bad side if you were holding back. I’m not sure I’d survive your wrath when you’re really pissed. You’ve got to tell me though. Why such an extreme reaction to something as harmless as buying the girl a drink?” Justin asked, taking another swig of his own.
I sighed, scanning the room. The bar was slowly clearing out, and no one was within earshot of hearing my explanation. Checking over my shoulder, I saw that Genevieve had found herself a small high-top table along the wall and was scrolling through something on her phone while she nursed her beer.
“It’s complicated. People…like me…can get unpredictable for the period after finding their mate. Until the mating is complete and the mate is claimed, emotions run high, tempers are short, and aggression is pretty normal. It’s not personal, and you know this isn’t the sort of thing I’d do, but it was just too much at the time. I kept picturing you being with her, fathering children who should be mine, growing old with my mate, making her smile…I snapped.”
Justin waved to a waitress as she was leaving another table.
“What can I get you JW?” Ashley, our former classmate turned waitress, asked.
“Two more please, gorgeous.”
Ashley nodded and disappeared behind the bar.
“You know I’d never do something like that to you right? Ever. I didn’t know things got so intense. If you want, I can give you guys some time and space until things get a little more settled,” he offered.
I shook my head. “No, man. You’re my best friend, and if I’m going to make a go of it with her, I need to get to a place where I’m okay with both of you being in the same vicinity. She doesn’t really know anyone around here, and I’d like it if the two of you could be friends.
”
Justin opened his mouth to respond right as Ashley appeared with our drinks in tow.
“That’ll be six dollars,” she chirped.
I handed her cash while Justin was pulling his wallet out of his back pocket.
“Can I get you guys anything else?” she asked.
I shook my head but thought better of it. “Actually, you could do me a favor. Do you see that woman standing over there with the blue hoodie?” I asked, pointing to where Agent Mendoza leaned casually against her table.
Ashley nodded.
“Can you get her another beer and ask her to head this way?”
Ashley nodded, and I handed her another five-dollar bill before she strutted away.
“Your date disappeared, and I’ve already made enough of an ass of myself for one evening. So, this is where y’all lose me,” I said, draining the contents of the icy bottle.
“What? Where are you going? What about Gen?”
“Who do you think she’d rather spend her time with right now? Someone whose head’s a mess or someone who can make her laugh and relax?”
“Come on, man. This is a bad idea. It’s not like I’m any better company than you are. Plus, you almost broke your fist on my face when I offered to buy her a beer, and now you’re asking me to hang out with her. What gives?”
“Answer a question for me real quick. Do you have any intention of sleeping with Gen?”
Justin shook his head.
“Well, there’s your answer. Put in a good word for me, and apologize for me running out, but I need to get him under control before I scare her off. This is casual for her, but to me, she’s already mine, and I need to give her some space if I’m going to mount a decent attempt at winning her over. I need to strategize.”
“What the hell am I supposed to tell her? Pulling a disappearing act isn’t the best impression in the world, and from what I can tell, you’re already on thin ice.”
“You’ll figure something out. I don’t know. Tell her I had an emergency call and had to take off.”
Genevieve was heading in our direction. Giving her a cordial nod, I made a bee line for the exit. I tried not to notice the confused irritation on her face as I slipped out of the Moose Jaw, leaving her and Justin. She didn’t understand. Hell, I wasn’t sure I even understood what was going on with me. Suddenly, I cared what she thought, not just about me but of this town, too.
This was wrong. The whole thing. As soon as the cold mountain air hit my face, I froze. She was in there, willing to talk to me, willing to get on better terms than we’d started on. Justin was right. Gen was probably writing me off while I was busy standing in the middle of the parking lot, debating my actions with myself. As if on cue, the eagle was itching to go back to her, the one with the warm eyes. I knew without a doubt that the look of disappointment in my mate’s eyes was something I couldn’t handle, and without giving it further thought, I turned on my heels and marched straight back into the Moose Jaw.
Gen’s back was to me as I approached. Justin saw me making my way toward them. His brows knit together in confusion before he quickly covered his reaction.
“Damn T! That was a short phone call,” he remarked as I stepped up to the table.
Gen pivoted, turning toward me when she realized my return.
“Yeah, false alarm,” I replied.
“Justin here was just telling me about you guys working together. I don’t mean to be rude or offend anyone, but you don’t strike me as the do-gooder sort of person.”
That stung though I couldn’t fault her for her observation.
“None taken. I’m just not much of a people person. It’s not that I don’t like people, but I prefer my own space and don’t see much point in the faux niceties of dealing with the rest of the town if I don’t absolutely have to. They don’t take well to outsiders, in case you hadn’t noticed.”
“I did, actually. However, I wasn’t aware that you were an outsider. Justin mentioned you growing up together…”
“Yeah, I grew up here, but I’ve never fit in. My mom was from around here, but my dad was passing through when they met. The town never took to him, nor myself for that matter. Just the same, that’s the way I like it.”
It wasn’t a lie. Aside from Justin, and now Gen, I’d never cared for others’ company. The townspeople were too cliquey for my liking anyway.
“Do your parents still live around these parts? Maybe I spoke with them while making my rounds?”
It had been a long time since I’d needed to explain my parents’ absence from my life and I wasn’t prepared for her question. I kept forgetting that Agent Mendoza worked for the FBI. She asked the tough questions for a living and committed small facts to memory. Luckily, Justin came to my rescue while I was floundering with trying to figure out how to answer.
“Talon’s parents passed away when we were younger.”
Thankfully, Agent Mendoza didn’t dig further into it. She let the topic go and began to ask about the town and the people, even asking to tell her about the land and the mountains surrounding the area.
“This town has some characters; that’s for sure,” Justin joked.
He wasn’t wrong. Elk Springs had some weird ones, but didn’t every town?
“What’s your take on Fred, the sheriff’s deputy?” she asked, unable to mask the clear dislike of the man.
“Judging by your tone in asking, you already met him and can surmise our feelings on the man,” I added.
Fred Donaldson was a waste of oxygen and the single vilest human being I’d ever had the displeasure to know. Racist, sexist, whatever other ‘-ists’ you label a person, he was it.
“So it’s not just me then,” she added.
Justin and I shook our heads in tandem.
“Is there anyone else I should be on the lookout for while I’m in town? Or is everyone pretty much harmless?”
“I wouldn’t call them harmless, but they’re not the worst either. I would say, however that you shouldn’t let your guard down around most. This is a small town, and gossip is practically a sport no one is spared from,” I replied.
We chatted easily the rest of the night until Genevieve called it a night before returning to her motel. Justin and I stayed behind.
“So she’s it for you, huh?” Justin asked, staring at the door she’d just left through.
“Without a single doubt. Yes. She’s my mate,” I answered.
“You’re going to have your hands full with that one.”
Yes. Yes, I was, but I was more than up for the challenge.
The hunt was on.
Chapter 4
Gen
Shoving the refrigerator door shut, I plopped down on the bed. Every bit of food I’d brought with me was gone. This assignment was taking longer than I’d anticipated. The town hadn’t warmed to me any, and for the most part, I tried not to bother anyone too much. I didn’t want to give them a reason to hate me more than they already did, but some interaction was necessary. Grocery shopping was going to be one of those necessities.
I knew exactly what I was walking into. The eyes of every person I passed would be glued to me; whispers about me would be the hot topic of conversation for gossipy women. It was all too familiar to me. While I’d never been to Elk Springs before, I’d lived in a few different towns just like this one growing up. They were all the same where everyone is so bored with their own lives that they have to know everything about the shiny new toy. I heaved a deep sigh and pushed myself up from the bed.
I pulled the refrigerator door open again, hoping something appetizing would magically appear before me so I didn’t actually have to go out. Alas, I had no such luck. Letting it fall shut, I crossed to the door and stuffed my feet into my sneakers. I snatched up my wallet and keys before slipping out the door.
The sky was grey and overcast, not that it had changed or been any different since my arrival. I sure hoped, for everyone’s sanity, that the summers were full of glorious sunny day
s because if I had to live somewhere that was always dull and grey, then I’d pull a Jack Nicholson in The Shining.
The man running the front office stood beside the building, a cloud of smoke billowing around him. This was Colorado, so I didn’t know why I was so surprised to see someone smoking the skunky herb like he was so openly.
The grocery store was tiny, no supermarket by any means. There were three cars parked out in front of the small brick building. Pulling into one of the only remaining spots, I parked my truck and hopped down.
“That’s a whole lot of truck for a little lady like you don’t you think? You need a man who’s used to handling such a big tool to help you out with that,” a middle aged man remarked from his seat on the storefront bench.
“George, isn’t it?” I asked, remembering the drunk’s very forward personality from when I’d initially made my rounds.
“You remembered. Well, I’ll be damned. Good thing you remembered too. I’d hate to hear a pretty little thing like you be callin’ out the wrong name when you can’t handle it.”
My skin was practically crawling as I tried to swallow my near gag.
“Do you have any suggestions where I might find a man who can handle a big tool? I don’t see anyone around here who looks to be up to the task.” I shrugged as I strode through the store’s entrance before he could muster a reply.
Christ, had dropping babies on their heads been a trend in this town about the time Fred and half these punks were infants?
A bell dinged overhead, announcing my arrival to any within earshot. The heat in the building was almost non-existent, and the lighting was dim though I didn’t think that was originally the case. Most of the fixtures were missing bulbs altogether, and the ones with them seemed to be on their last legs. I grabbed a basket from the short stack by the register.
“Welcome to Stoney’s,” a small, welcoming woman answered from where she stood behind the register.
She reminded me so much of the warm grandmother from the fairy tales I’d grown up reading.
“Oh. Hi,” I replied, giving her a warm, if not awkward, smile as I headed toward the produce corner.
Fly Me Home (Rescue Squad Shifters Book 1) Page 4