by Kate Douglas
“That was Luc’s feeling as well, for what it’s worth. I should have said something before now. There really wasn’t a choice. You are your mother’s daughter. You’re my daughter. You are Chanku. I was wrong and I’m sorry. This day was coming, no matter how much I tried to delay it.” Ulrich sighed deeply, then smiled. “Tianna, I think it’s time for you to meet the rest of the pack.”
Overwhelmed with the questions she wanted to ask, Tia meekly followed her father. Her dress brushed across her thighs, reminding her that she’d skipped underwear to tantalize Luc, not to attract complete strangers.
She never would have dressed so provocatively if she’d known what waited for her inside her father’s house. Four absolutely gorgeous men stood as she entered. Each one tall, athletic, dark haired, all with piercing amber eyes.
In some ways, each might have been Luc’s brother, though every man had something to set him apart from the others. The one thing they all appeared to have in common was their blatant sensuality and obvious sexual interest—interest directed entirely at Tia.
She turned to Luc when she felt his body stiffen beside her. His jaw had set in a grim line and possessiveness radiated from every pore. She almost laughed aloud. The balance of power appeared to have shifted, and Luc obviously didn’t like it one bit. Tia straightened her shoulders and sucked in her tummy, aware of the rapt attention she received from four sets of amber eyes.
Such sustained interest of four powerful males was intoxicating, undeniably arousing. Tia’s nipples pebbled beneath her dress, beading up against the tight bodice. Once more she felt moisture gathering between her legs. Was it knowing Luc was jealous of the other men, or her body reacting to something else, something dark and exciting?
Would they scent her arousal, know exactly how her body responded to their presence? She couldn’t shake another subtle thought insinuating itself into her mind, something dark and arousing. Luc and these men had known one another intimately. What would it be like to join them, to be one female among five desirable men?
To be the object of their combined desire? The target for all that male attention?
The thought barely registered, but somehow Luc must have sensed her interest. Tia felt his displeasure in the tightness of his arm around her waist, the rigid stance of his body beside hers.
She turned and smiled sweetly at him, savoring his discomfort. It was the least he deserved.
Luc returned her smile with a knowing frown. He knew exactly what she was up to. Tia licked her lips and looked toward her father.
Ulrich stood beside the four men like a proud father introducing his children. He showed no sign that he was aware each man must be contemplating how to get between his daughter’s legs, but Tia was certain Ulrich knew exactly what was going on in the minds of every one of them.
Once again Tia was struck by the close relationship between her father and the men he worked with. The family bond seemed stronger among them than the one he felt for his own flesh and blood.
It had to be the bond of nature, the fact that these six men were all Chanku.
Would Tia know this bond when she finally became Chanku?
Her father stepped forward. “Gentlemen, I want you to meet my daughter, Tianna. She will be, but is not yet, one of us. Luc will lead Tia through the change. Is that understood?”
Tia felt Luc relax beside her, though his arm never left her waist. It rested firmly, possessively, around her hips.
Her father smiled at her and then turned proudly to his men. “Sweetie, this big guy is AJ, the one next to him is Jake, here’s Mik, and we call this moose Tinker. He’s the baby.”
All the men nodded in welcome, but Tinker, a gorgeous mountain of a man standing over six and a half feet tall, the only one in the room with skin darker than Tia’s, stepped forward and took her hand. Tia’s fingers disappeared completely within his. As they shook hands, Tia felt Luc’s arm tighten around her waist once more, but he didn’t say anything.
Tinker’s voice was soft and low, not at all what Tia would have expected, considering his size. He grinned over his shoulder at her father. “Not anymore, Boss. Looks like Tia’s the new baby in the bunch, and about damned time. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Tia. Luc, you need any help getting Tia through her first shift, you let me know, okay?”
Tinker winked. Luc growled. The sound was low and menacing and hard to hear, but not one of the men missed it. Tinker stepped quickly back, his demeanor immediately deferential, almost submissive, even though he had at least two inches and eighty pounds on Luc.
Tia’s breath caught as all the bits and pieces began to fall into place. The dynamics of the group followed that of a wolf pack in the wild. Her father was the leader, Luc an alpha among the younger men, yet he still deferred to Ulrich.
Which led to another question. What the hell was Pack Dynamics? Tia turned to her father and caught his attention. “Dad, everyone here works for you, right? It’s not just the shared genetics…. Explain Pack Dynamics. What is it?”
“A detective agency.” Ulrich’s answer came a bit too quickly.
“Let’s try a little of that honesty you were talking about, okay? As far as the general public is concerned, I’ll accept your answer. As your daughter and a potential member of your pack, what is it, really?”
“We occasionally do some work for the government.” Luc’s answer led to more questions. Tia turned to ask for a better explanation, when her father motioned them all into the dining room for dinner.
Tia leaned over and whispered in Luc’s ear. “Saved by the bell?”
He merely grinned, bumped her hip with his, and guided her into the next room.
Conversation at the table was more relaxed, but it never returned to Pack Dynamics. Tia learned how each of the men had met her father. Mik, or Miguel, was the only Hispanic of the pack. He and AJ had come directly out of prison to work for Pack Dynamics, which made Tia think of Ulrich rescuing dogs from the pound. Their lives had not been easy, from the stories they told.
Both men obviously worshipped Ulrich, but he’d given them the first real home they’d known. Tinker, like Luc, had been in the military and served in Afghanistan, while Jake, a quiet, contemplative man, was a paramedic in his younger years. Each man had admitted to feeling separate from society before Ulrich recognized the Chanku nature hidden beneath troubled spirits.
Finally, as Mik and AJ cleared away the dishes, Tia turned to Luc. “You’ve never said how you and Dad met. How did he know you were Chanku?”
Luc’s head snapped around at her question. He opened his mouth, paused, and then took a deep breath. “I was a cop on the San Francisco force. We met during an investigation.”
“Oh.” Tia watched Luc as he handed his dish to AJ and wondered what he was hiding. Why did she feel as though Luc offered more secrets than answers?
Ulrich got up and walked around the table to stand beside Tia. He held a small jar filled with plain brown capsules the size of vitamin pills. “I want you to take one of these every day, without fail. Stay close to Luc. After a few days, you’ll be aware of perceptual changes, a stronger sense of smell, sharper hearing, even a difference in your physical strength. I want you to tell Luc anything you feel, anything that is at all different. Here, take one now.” He placed the bottle in Tia’s outstretched hand. She stared down at the innocuous-looking pills and then back at her father.
So many questions. Before they overwhelmed her, Tia flipped open the bottle, took a capsule, and popped it into her mouth. She chased it with a swallow of wine, wondering once more what she was getting into.
A phone rang. Ulrich shared a quick glance with Luc and then went into his office to answer it. A moment later, he returned.
“Gentlemen, we have an emergency.”
AJ and Mik stepped out of the kitchen. Mik had a towel wrapped around his waist and a dish in his hand. For some reason, Tia found herself concentrating on the normalcy of the scene, the absolute domesticity.
“
There’s been a kidnapping, a member of the President’s cabinet. Secretary of Homeland Security, Milton Bosworth, I believe. The pack is to meet with our contact at 0700 hours. Luc, I’m sorry, but you, AJ, Mik, and Jake—you’re on this one. The jet’s being readied now. Tinker, I want you to remain behind and keep an eye on my daughter.”
“I’m a grown-up, Dad. I can take care of myself.”
“No. There’ll be no argument, especially since you’ve already started on the supplement. That goes for you as well, Luc.”
Tia glanced at Luc, saw the anger in his eyes and the way he concentrated on Tinker. There obviously was a major conversation going on between them that Tia wasn’t privy to.
She turned back to her father. He snapped his attention away from Luc and Tinker. “There’s too much you don’t know, Tia, and it’s my fault, but there’s no time to fill you in now. You can trust Tinker. When this job is done I’ll answer any of your questions.”
From the emotions swirling about her, Tia knew Ulrich’s last statement was as much for Luc’s benefit as her own.
“What about these?” She held up the bottle of capsules.
“Luc will be gone only a week. You should be fine, so continue taking them. Tinker can answer your questions. He went through his first shift just a little more than a year ago, so it’s all going to be very fresh in his mind. I’ll be available for emergencies, though as control, my time will be tied up until the mission is completed.”
Ulrich stepped around the table as Tia stood up. He hugged her tightly against him and then turned away, toward his office. “Tinker, will you please take my daughter home? Contact me later, after she’s settled.”
Jake, AJ, and Mik followed Ulrich into the office. Tinker left the room and Tia suddenly was alone with Luc. Her heart pounded in her chest when he looked at her. There was a silent intensity about him as frightening as it was arousing.
“Tinker will keep you safe. He knows his boundaries and you can trust him. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Hopefully this won’t take more than a few days. We have a lot to discuss.”
Tia opened her mouth to say something, anything, but Luc covered her lips with his own. He dragged her body up against his and she felt him, hard and heavy against her belly, his cock a reminder of the orgasm he’d given and the satisfaction he’d not yet found.
Her head ached and then Luc was there, in her mind, a part of her thoughts.
One word. She heard just one word, not with her ears but with her mind, whispered in his voice, harsh with need, it raced along her spine, leaving shivers in its wake.
Mine.
Ulrich called Luc from the other room. Luc swept his tongue across Tia’s mouth, as if taking one last taste for the road.
She looked into his amber eyes, her decision made without hesitation, and tried to project her thought in a single, powerful word.
Yours.
Luc blinked, then smiled. He nodded. Kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose. Then he turned, tossed his car keys to Tinker, who had reentered the room, and walked away with a confident, almost cocky step to join his packmates in Ulrich’s office.
Tinker quietly took Tia’s arm and led her from the house.
She hadn’t realized the depth of her exhaustion until Tinker settled Tia into the front seat of Luc’s Mercedes and helped her fasten the seat belt. She yawned, kicked her shoes off, and settled back into the soft leather seat. The little jar of pills was safely stashed in her handbag, but she was too tired to think of the implications of their use.
Tinker handled the heavy traffic and Luc’s high-powered car with skill and confidence. Tia relaxed and let her eyes drift shut.
She didn’t realize she’d fallen asleep until Tinker tapped her lightly on the shoulder. “I think this is your place, isn’t it?”
Groggy, Tia scooted up in the seat and looked out the window. Her little apartment already felt like home. She nodded and gathered up her purse and shoes. Tinker opened her door, gave her a hand out, and then guided her up the steps to her front door.
Tia dug her keys out of her purse, but the moment she stuck the key in the lock, the door swung open on its hinges.
Tia glanced at the large man beside her. “I know it was locked when we left. Luc checked it.”
“Stay here.” Where he’d holstered the gun, Tia had no idea, but now it was firmly grasped in his huge right hand when Tinker slipped through the open doorway. He was gone a couple of minutes before he returned and slipped the pistol into a holster under his shirt, low on his back. “The place is all clear, but I’m staying here with you tonight. Come on in. I want you to call your landlord and let him know we’re installing new locks on the doors and windows in the morning.”
Tia nodded and followed Tinker into her home.
Chapter 7
Tinker checked the doors and windows once again and then met Tia in the kitchen. “Luc’s gonna kill me for this, but there’s something I need to do.”
Tia looked up from the bottle of wine she was opening. Thank goodness the landlord had stocked the refrigerator before she arrived. “What?”
“Tia, I don’t want to frighten you, but I need to shift. I can sense things as a wolf that I totally miss when I’m human. Do you mind?”
Mind? He had to be kidding! Tia shook her head, laughing. “Go ahead. I’ve been hearing about this all evening long and have yet to see it happen.”
“Thanks.” Tinker kicked off his shoes, shrugged out of his shirt, and unzipped his pants. Tia blinked. She hadn’t really thought about where the clothes went when someone shifted.
Obviously they went right in the middle of her kitchen floor. Lucien Stone might be the one who held her interest, but there was no denying that the young man undressing in front of her had the body of a god.
A very large god.
She realized she was staring at Tinker’s white boxer shorts and the way they contrasted with his dark chocolate skin, when he suddenly looped his thumbs beneath the elastic waist and shoved them down over his lean hips.
Tia gasped. She hadn’t intended to make a sound, but the body Tinker uncovered was the most impressive she’d ever seen. She glanced up, literally tearing her eyes away from his partially tumescent cock rising from a nest of thick, dark hair.
Her gaze settled on his smile, which suddenly seemed to waver in front of her. His mouth and nose stretched forward at the same time his upper body seemed to turn in on itself and drop lower.
The shift happened in a heartbeat. Tia might have been frightened, but she realized as she witnessed the impossible that she’d seen this in her dreams, had lived with this knowledge buried somewhere deep in her genetic code.
Tinker sat on muscular haunches in front of her, a huge black wolf with golden highlights shining in his thick coat. He licked his muzzle with a long, pink tongue, and Tia thought of the dream that had haunted her for so many nights.
It wasn’t Tinker she’d dreamed of…. No, her wolf was sleeker, not so muscular, not quite as tall.
Her wolf was definitely Lucien Stone.
Tinker stood up and shook like a big dog climbing out of a lake, then he came close enough to sniff Tia’s hand.
“You’re absolutely beautiful.” She knew her voice sounded as if she’d run a mile, but it was all she could do to get sound past a throat constricted with awe.
Tinker opened his mouth wide, took another long sniff of her legs, and then whirled around and began to search the house once again. He raced from room to room, standing on his hind legs to check the casings around windows and the shelves and cabinets where an intruder might have touched.
Mesmerized, Tia watched while Tinker searched. After a few minutes it actually felt almost normal to have a large black wolf racing around her home. Shaking her head and grinning at what she was accepting so easily, Tia called her landlord, the school principal, to let him know she’d arrived and to ask if he’d been inside her apartment at all.
He said he’d stopped by the day b
efore to stock the refrigerator and cupboards as a welcome gift from the school, but that was all. Tia made plans to meet with him the following day, then slowly hung up the phone.
So who the hell had been snooping through her apartment?
Lost in thought, Tia picked up Tinker’s clothing and held the items against her chest. She ran the process of Tinker’s shift through her mind once again, and smiled at the thought of his nude body morphing into the huge wolf now scouring her small apartment for clues. Damn. He was as beautiful a wolf as he was a man. Totally gorgeous.
And she was totally not aroused. Tia blinked, surprised at her own lack of interest. She’d admired his muscles, the long, strong length of him, even the extraordinary size of his cock and the heavy balls hanging beneath, but she’d looked on him out of curiosity, not desire.
If that had been Luc standing naked in front of her…Shivers ran along Tia’s spine, imagining how she’d react, how he’d look. Not as big as Tinker, not as tall or muscular, but lean and strong, his shoulders broad, the muscles on his abdomen and chest neatly defined.
When he shifted, Luc would be black as night, his thick coat glistening, his teeth sharp, his beautiful amber eyes focused on Tia.
She held that image in her mind, even when, after a few more minutes, Tinker returned to the kitchen. Tia watched him shift back to human form. She tried to pick the exact moment when wolf became man, but it happened too quickly and so smoothly. Within seconds, Luc’s packmate stood tall and naked in front of Tia.
She handed him his boxer shorts. He took them from her with a big grin and quickly stepped into them.
Tia smiled back at him. “That was absolutely amazing.” She handed Tinker the rest of his clothes and then jumped up to sit on the kitchen counter while he finished dressing. “I grew up on stories of the Chanku, but until tonight I always thought my mother made them up. I had no idea. The fact that you—we—are real absolutely blows my mind. Did you find out anything?”