Runaway (Fox Ridge Shifters Book 1)

by Marianne Hull

  Luke shrugged, letting his gaze drift around the room, his cheeks warm with embarrassment. Caught. “I couldn’t sleep. Decided it’s been too long since anyone checked the boundary magic.”

  “Liar. This time of year, your bear hardly lets you out of the house. What’s really—oh. It’s that time. Still, Luke?”

  Luke leaned forward, his forearms on his knees, remembering the war that heated up during the weeks of mid-autumn, five hundred and sixty-one years ago. The attack on the Schmitt’s village. The attack on the Baumanns’. He couldn’t meet Neal’s eyes. He felt a shallow sadness, as if it were the memory of the emotion rather than the real thing. “I don’t exactly miss her. I stopped being able to remember her face years ago. I think...I miss the idea of her. I don’t know if it would be better or worse if we’d had any real time together.”

  If she’d let him turn her into a shifter, would she have escaped their fathers’ war? He still thought she might have. If she’d shifted into something small and fast. After all this time, he still berated himself for not trying harder to convince her.

  “If Fate allows me another mate, I swear I’m going to turn her whether she wants it or not.”

  Neal sat up straighter. “You’re willing to accept someone else now?”

  “I think I have been for a while.” Luke rubbed his temples with the thumb and forefinger of one hand. Pack politics always gave him a headache.

  “Thank God. You spend too much time alone. When was the last time you even got laid?”

  “We bears are solitary creatures,” he said with a defensive lift of his chin, fooling Neal not at all.

  “But the human is not.”

  Luke didn’t answer. Over the past centuries, the ache of loneliness might have settled more heavily over his heart, but he would never say so out loud. “She’ll come to me when the time is right.”

  “She’ll never come to this isolated farmhouse. You have to get out there.”

  “I know.”

  “Come to Bobby’s with me this evening to watch the Niners game. We’ll bring Hugh or Connie. You never know. You might at least find some female company. You always do if you try even a little.”

  “Ja, sure.” He didn’t want female company of the fast and easy kind. He never did. Sometimes a quick encounter satisfied his needs for the short term, and a couple of times he kept a human lover for few months. Even they no longer appealed. It may seem unfaithful to Eva, but Luke had secretly wanted a new mate for centuries.

  Neal added, “Bobby says his new bartender is really hot.”

  Luke remained silent.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Crissy wore a contented smile as she watched the happy people in the wood-paneled barroom. A football game would start in half an hour, and already Bobby’s Place rocked with noisy Niners fans hunched around the circular tables or at the bar. They watched the pre-game show on the big screen TV, ate bar food, and consumed a lot of beer. It would be a beer night. Football parties always were. She grabbed a glass and filled it at the tap, expertly getting the right amount of foam.

  “Hey, Susie,” she said to the waitress as she placed the glass on her tray. “I need to get more ice out of the back.”

  “Sure. I’ll keep an eye on things. While you’re back there, ask Bobby if he’ll help out. Gonna be crazy tonight.” She rolled her eyes and walked off with the raised tray in hand, her blond pig tails bobbing.

  Crissy walked to the swinging kitchen door with a spring in her step she hadn’t had for several months. “The grace period,” she called this time. Sean never found her in less than three months. Once it was over a year, a good run. She’d made a lot of money to tide her over through the next flight.

  She’d needed only three weeks to find this place in Northern California, this job, so she had plenty of time to relax and live like a normal person. That morning, she also secured a part-time job at a nursery. She would make good money this time around and maybe even live to enjoy it.

  The thought of her imminent death stopped her in the doorway. She pushed on, her steps a little less lively. “Don’t think about that,” she whispered.

  Bobby, her boss, stood in the steaming kitchen, directing the busy cooks. “I need more pasta cooked,” he called out to the head cook. “We’re getting spaghetti orders up the wazoo.”

  Bobby was one of those shifters. A small, transparent beast hovered above and behind his head. She had yet to identify it, though it was obviously mammalian. Crissy had been able to see shifters’ beasts all her life. They were rare. After the first time, when three-year-old Crissy pointed and laughed, her father angrily told her to keep quiet. It made an impression—her father had rarely lost his temper with her—and she obeyed.

  Shifters were very private, her father had said. They didn’t want people to know what they were. It was one of her earliest memories, the first time she’d realized she wasn’t like other people. Others couldn’t see the shifters’ beasts, the colorful cords that sometimes stretched from the heart of one person to the heart of another, or the shimmering veils indicating a magical spell. Her father had told her to keep quiet about those things, too.

  So she hadn’t let on to Bobby she knew exactly what he was.

  “Bobby, Susie says we’ll need help out there tonight.”

  “You guys need help all over tonight,” he said gruffly but then smiled, his teeth a white crescent against his dark skin. “Be sure to take your break when the time comes, Crissy. Don’t forget again. I’ll cover for you.”

  “Sure thing.” She filled the ice tub at their big industrial ice machine and went back to the restaurant to face their growing army of patrons.

  ###

  As he stepped out of Neal’s Mercedes, Luke sniffed the breeze. He sampled a medley of usual scents—humans and fried bar food, the scent of coming rain, car exhaust and straw from a farm truck passing—but a new scent drifted in the cold evening air. Human and female, sweeter than anything he ever imagined. His bear surged to the surface, elation hitting him in a dizzying tide, and he gripped the truck door to steady himself.

  “You smell that?” He heard the awe in his own voice and added, calmer, “I smell someone new.”

  Neal drew up alongside him and inhaled. “New bartender, maybe?”

  “A couple of someones in that Prius over there are about to get laid,” Hugh said as he got out of the car. “It’s rocking. Can you imagine doing it in a Prius?” He shoved his cowboy hat atop his head and moved forward. “Come on. I don’t want to miss the kickoff.”

  As Luke crossed the threshold, just like before when he’d first met Eva, the best parts of his life flashed into his mind. The cool, thick taste of whipped cream. Walking out of the barn after a good day’s work. Sunlight-warmed fur. Romping through the woods after small prey he had no intention of catching. His favorite novels. Dozens of images and tastes and smells, until he recalled curling up in his warm bed as his mother sang him to sleep.

  He drifted in a happy sea of remembrances until he came to himself with Neal and Hugh bracing him from either side.

  “You okay?” Neal asked. “You seemed kind of woozy there for a second.”

  “She’s here,” Luke whispered, frantically scanning the room. Most of the patrons were men. Of the few women present, none were the small, shy blonde he’d been expecting. None looked like Eva.

  “Who’s here?” Hugh asked.

  “His mate,” Neal said softly with a touch of wonder. “His mate.”

  “Where?” Hugh asked.

  “I don’t see her,” Luke said.

  “Stop looking for Eva,” Neal told him.

  A door opened on the far wall. A leggy brunette stepped out, lugging a tub full of ice. Nothing like the petite Eva, she was tall and slender. She wore jeans and a maroon Henley tee, the long sleeves pushed up her forearms, with a dark green apron over it all. Her long dark hair fell down her back in a simple, practical braid.

  It wouldn’t have mattered if she wore a ball gown
or a house coat. His mate was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

  The woman hovered in the doorway, head lowered, then glanced around the room. Her gaze brushed across Luke and the other shifters, pausing for several long seconds during which he forgot to breathe. Her eyes narrowed slightly, confusion flashing across her face. A moment later, her features smoothed. She turned and carried her tub behind the bar. With efficient motions she dumped the ice into a freezer.

  Luke surged forward, but Neal and Hugh each grabbed him by an upper arm and dragged him outside into the misty rain.

  “What—?” Luke struggled against them, trying to throw them off. “She’s my mate.”

  “Wait,” Neal ordered. “Stop for a second. Think.”

  “I’ve waited over five hundred years for this. You can’t stop me,” he said a little too loudly. Neal glanced around, nodded at Hugh, and the two of them forced Luke around the corner of the building. They pushed him up against a wall. Luke struggled and growled at them.

  “Let me go! I have to see her.”

  “Slow down. She’s human. Think about it,” Neal said.

  Hugh tilted his head. “Some humans think shifters are a myth.”

  “But she felt something. You saw it,” Luke protested.

  “And for all we know, she has no idea what she was feeling.” Neal’s voice took on the authority he exercised as chief of their clan. “You can’t charge in there and declare your everlasting love. You did that before, and look how it turned out.”

  “I wasn’t going to do that,” Luke said. Realizing he sounded awfully childish, he lifted his chin and stood straighter. “I wasn’t,” he said again.

  Hugh laughed. “Yes, you were. Hopeless romantic.”

  Neal continued, “She felt something, but right now it’ll be weak, and she’ll have no idea what it is. You need to give it time before you spring it on her.”

  Hugh shook his head. “For such an old guy, you sure act like a green kid when it comes to women.”

  “I do not.” The bear rumbled inside him, wanting what had evaded him for so long. Luke frowned at his best friends, resenting their presence a little bit. “The bear needs to be near her.”

  “Let’s just go in there,” Neal said. “Watch her and see what she’s like. Maybe introduce ourselves if we get the chance. That’s all.”

  Ready to press the issue, keyed up and irritated, Luke opened his mouth to speak, but the concern on their faces made him hesitate. They were good friends and wanted the best for him. He pushed himself from the wall while at the same time soothing his bear. Soon. “Okay. You’re right.”

  As they approached the door, he said, “You saw her, though. Isn’t she beautiful?”

  “Yes,” Neal said indulgently. “She’s very nice to look at. I’m sure you’re very lucky.”

  “He’s lucky to have his mate. Even if she’s ugly,” Hugh said.

  “She’s not ugly!”

  Hugh paused and let out a whoop. His grin lit the night as he said, “He found her.”

  Neal laughed and hugged Luke around the shoulders. “Congratulations, old man.”

  When they entered the bar, Luke surveyed the room and took in the fact that Susie worked the tables while his mate manned the bar, and so he steered Neal and Hugh in her direction.

  “We normally get a booth,” Hugh said with wry humor. “The seats are more comfortable.”

  “Shut it.”

  They settled on vinyl-topped stools, his friends to either side of him, probably to keep him from bolting over the bar to talk to her.

  While he waited for her to approach, he had an opportunity to observe the woman destined to be by his side forever. At least, that’s the way he thought of her.

  Long slender hands moved among the glasses and bottles, clearing the bar with an economy of motion he liked to watch. She made a fruity umbrella drink while hardly watching, as if she’d done it a thousand times. Maybe he could sit and watch her, appreciating her lithe body and lovely face. No, maybe not. The urge to move in her direction had him leaning to his left until Hugh elbowed him in the ribs.

  When she spoke to a patron, she kept it brief and soft, with perfunctory smiles that didn’t reach her eyes. And those hazel eyes constantly scanned across the crowd, occasionally taking in the room with a cool, patient expression. Her pretty face gave away nothing of what she thought of the things she saw.

  Guarded. That’s what she was. The bear stirred uneasily. Always the more perceptive of the two of them, he sensed something wrong with their new mate. Only some kind of wounding left a woman so wary.

  She moved down the bar to the end where they sat.

  “Sorry about the wait. We’re really busy tonight.”

  Before he could do something stupid, like ask her name, Hugh spoke up. “You’re new here.”

  “How could you tell?” she asked, the corners of her mouth turning up a little for the briefest moment. “Everybody seems to know everybody else in this town.”

  “They do. I’m Hugh. This is Luke here, and Neal.”

  She paused and said, “I’m Cristabel.” The same perfunctory smile came and went. “Call me Crissy. What can I get you?”

  “India pale ale,” Neal said.

  “Glass?”

  “Nah.”

  She looked at Luke straight on. “You?”

  His mouth dried as he tried to swallow. “Sam Adams.”

  “Lager or ale?”

  His mind blanked. “Um...”

  “Ale,” Neal said for him. “No glasses for either of us.”

  Eyebrows raised a little, she turned to Hugh.

  “And what does the man-mountain want?” This she said with a genuine smile, lighting her face and showing off a pair of sweet, irresistible dimples. Hugh laughed. He was huge, after all.

  “Guinness.”

  “Coming right up.”

  When she stepped out of hearing, Luke whispered, “Hazel eyes.”

  “Good grief,” Hugh said. “It’s going to be like this, isn’t it?”

  For the next hour, Neal and Hugh watched the game while Luke sat in a mesmerized haze and watched Crissy. Around him people cheered or moaned with each play on the television, but he had no idea what happened during the game. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her. Tongue-tied, he simply stared when she came to replace their bottles with fresh ones. She must have sensed either his presence as her mate or his rapt attention, as she gave him frequent brief frowns.

  Placing fresh beers on the bar before them, she folded her arms. “Look, guy. What’s your deal? You’ve been ogling me for the last hour.”

  “You’re the prettiest woman I ever saw.”

  Hugh snorted. Neal elbowed him in the upper arm. “Stupid,” he whispered low enough for only Luke to hear.

  “I mean...”

  Instead of blushing or smiling, as many women would have done, her lips quirked into an angry twist. “Look, no offense, but I have rules. I don’t flirt with customers. I don’t date customers. You can say what you want, but nothing will change that.” She pushed a bowl of pretzels their way. “Here. Eat something. Low blood sugar must be messing with your mind.”

  Another customer called her name and she stepped away, shaking her head. Luke stared down at the shiny bar-top, feeling the heat of embarrassment in his cheeks, but soon looked up at Crissy again.

  “Now you’ve done it,” Hugh said when she was out of ear-shot.

  “Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Neal said. “You just made your job much harder. You’ll have to woo her as well as give her time to get used to what’s happening to her feelings.”

  “A pretty woman like that probably gets randos picking up on her all the time,” Hugh said. “Probably hates it.”

  “Like you would know,” Luke said.

  “Hey, women pick up on me.”

  “And you love it.”

  “It’s different for women, you dolt.”

  Luke tore his gaze away from Crissy to study the beer b
ottle in his hands. “Mein Gott. I’m being an idiot. You’re right, Hugh. Green as a boy.”

  “Maybe we should leave,” Neal said. “We can watch the game at home.”

  “No!” He sighed. “Please. I’ve waited so long.”

  They remained at the bar, and Luke couldn’t prevent himself from stealing glances at Crissy. She seemed to sense his attention, but she mostly avoided him.

  At half-time, a group of four men at the nearest table began to hassle the lone man sitting to their left.

  “Hey, Ralph, when are we getting raises?”

  Luke guessed they were workers from the cement plant.

  Ralph hunched his shoulders a little. “It’s not up to me.” He never took his eyes from the half-time show.

  “Come on. You must know something.”

  “I just write the paychecks. I don’t make those decisions.”

  The men continued to needle him, with Ralph never raising his voice or acknowledging them. If he were a member of a clan of wolves, Luke knew he would be the lowest wolf.

  He turned his attention back to Crissy. She frowned, her eyes flicking between Ralph and his hecklers. Her expression smoothed and she called out, “Hey, Jonah. Who should I bet on for the Super Bowl? I hear you called it the last four years.”

  The man who’d been bothering Ralph the most shifted his attention to her, preening a little. “I most certainly did. It’s too soon to know for sure, but I might help a pretty lady with the betting pool.”

  At first Crissy made no response except for a small tic at the corner of her mouth. Luke only saw because he watched her so intently. At last she smiled and said, “I’ll be over in a little bit.” Ralph wore a grateful expression as she continued to talk football with the other men.

  Luke realized both he and his bear were growling when Neal placed a hand on his upper arm. “It’s okay. She’s only doing it to help Ralph.”

  “I know, but it doesn’t mean I like it.”

  “Women talk to strange men these days. I know you’re pretty hide-bound, but even you should have realized that by now.”

  He shook off the hand on his arm. “She’s mine. I won’t have my mate flirting with every man in town.”