"We really need some information," added Svein, also in a whisper, glancing nervously at the swinging door that led to the kitchen.
Catrina had found them both on the obnoxious side so far, but she still felt sorry for them, since they apparently hadn't chosen to leave WSS. They probably just wanted some news, maybe to ask about wives or girlfriends they'd been forced to leave behind.
Besides, she didn't intend to go any further with them than Rafe's porch.
"Sure," she said and followed them out of the house, where sharp shapeshifter ears couldn't overhear them.
* * *
Brett, Rafe, and Drake, standing at the long granite kitchen counter, listened to Catrina and the two wolves get up from the table.
"You're not going out there?" Rafe asked softly.
Brett shook his head, denying his bear’s sudden irrational jealousy at Catrina's willingness to associate with Leif and Svein.
"I want to wait and see what they talk about. Hal and I weren't able to catch her in a lie this afternoon, but my gut tells me that she hasn't told us everything we need to know," he whispered back.
"I like her," Drake said unexpectedly. "I really hope she isn't a spy…"
Rafe nodded his agreement, as did Brett.
He liked Catrina, too…maybe a little too much for someone he'd just met. He didn't want to be forced to kill her. The weight of his new responsibility settled on his shoulders like a lead cape.
But Brett had seen Catrina's reaction to meeting Liam Joyce, and that had coalesced his nebulous suspicions. Liam had left WSS at least a decade before Catrina had joined the organization…so how had she recognized him?
Brett didn't like the conclusions he was coming up with.
He listened to the sound of Catrina and the others leaving the dining room, heading in the direction of the living room.
Then, unexpectedly, he heard the front door open and close.
Leif and Svein had succeeded in luring her outside. That couldn't be good.
"Damn it," Brett snarled under his breath but forced himself to move stealthily down the hall after them.
With any luck, he'd be able to hear what was being said outside if he stood in the foyer.
He tried to ignore the sick feeling in his stomach. He hoped that Catrina's conversation with the two wolf shifters was innocent, but all the evidence pointed against it.
He had to prepare himself to do whatever it took to keep his friends Shannon and Liam—and everyone else in Elysia—safe from WSS.
* * *
As soon as they put on their shoes and left the shelter of the porch to stand in the garden, out of earshot of the house, the two wolf shifters rounded on her.
"You're here for Dr. Donlon, aren't you?" accused Leif.
Catrina shook her head, trying to push down the cold dread summoned by his words.
"I was serious about requesting sanctuary," she said, carefully skirting the truth. "Because I found out that Perry messed with my head. I'm not going to keep working for someone like that."
"Then why come here?" demanded Svein.
Think fast, Catrina!
"I—I knew Wolf Team had disappeared somewhere around here. I was thinking you guys had help in leaving WSS." That was truthful, as far as it went. "And the trail led here."
And that was also the truth.
"You think we wanted to leave WSS?" Svein asked angrily.
"I'm sorry," Catrina told them, spreading her hands in a conciliatory gesture. "I didn't know the full story. And I'm sorry you're stranded here…but I can't help you."
"I don't believe you," Svein growled. "Tell us your exfil location!"
Catrina took a cautious step back from him. Gravel crunched under her soles.
"There's no exfil location," she said truthfully.
From the very beginning, the plan had been for her to conduct reconnaissance on the ground, then contact Captain Marin for Jaguar Team backup once she'd located Dr. Donlon.
"You're lying," Leif said, moving in. "I don't know how you're doing it, but you are!"
Porch light gleamed in his eyes, making him look more than a little crazy.
"Tell us! Or we'll make you." Svein's smile was predatory.
Catrina's heart began pounding. She fought the urge to look over her shoulder at the house standing behind her. So close, and yet still too far to run with the two wolves standing so close to her.
And while taking on two ordinary human men wouldn't faze her, wolf and jaguar shifters were fairly evenly matched in strength if not quickness…and she was outnumbered here, two-to-one.
"Don't try anything," she warned.
"Or what?" Leif sneered. "Those bears don't trust you any more than we do, kitty-cat."
Should she even bother shouting for help? For all she knew, this was another one of Hal Sigurdsson's tests.
And even if it wasn't, would any of the bear shifters actually come to her aid?
Yummy Cowboy, polite as he was, had made it pretty clear he didn't trust her. He had offered to serve as judge, jury, and executioner, after all.
Nope, I'm on my own. She remembered why she hated solo missions. No one to watch your back.
Svein chuckled, a creepy, menacing sound. "Yeah, let's make her tell us. We're due a little fun."
Shit. Two Beast Warriors moving in on her, and if she tried shapeshifting now, she'd be helpless for just long enough to lose this fight for sure.
Svein rushed her, his arms outstretched to grab her.
Underestimating her because of her gender, just as Yummy Cowboy had, earlier today.
Just as she had during her sparring match with Brett, Catrina sidestepped Svein's lunge, grabbed his arm, and used his momentum to throw him over her hip.
The big wolf shifter landed on the ground with a heavy thud.
She didn't have a chance to follow up with a disabling punch to the ribs or kick to the kidneys, because Leif was on her, swinging hard.
She ducked under his blow and kneed him in the stomach. When he doubled over, she pulled him forward and flipped him over her leg.
Catrina got in one hard kick to Leif's head, then Svein, who had regained his feet, yanked her away with a hard jerk that sent her stumbling.
Before she could recover her balance, he threw his arms around her, immobilizing her while Leif rolled back up his feet in a lightning-fast recovery.
She cursed and struggled, but Svein lifted her off the ground while Leif grabbed her ankles, preventing her from kicking out or backwards.
"Going to teach you a lesson now," Leif panted.
He released one of her legs and hooked his fingers under the waistband of her sweats.
She clocked him on the side of the face with her knee, but not hard enough to do any real damage.
He responded with a vicious punch to her stomach that drove all the air out of her lungs.
"Put her down," he said to Svein, as she gasped and struggled to breathe.
And then the front door opened. With a deafening roar, a bear shifter in Beast Warrior form fell upon them.
Everyone froze at the terrifying sight.
An instant later, a blow from a huge paw sent Leif flying.
Svein immediately released his hold on Catrina and scrambled back, trying to put distance between himself and the enraged monster.
Catrina hit the ground and rolled away. Then she got to her feet and stood frozen, both horrified and fascinated by the huge, monstrous meld of man and bear as he scooped up Svein and held him several feet off the ground.
The wolf shifter cursed and struggled futilely against the long, curving claws that tore through his shirt and sank into the flesh underneath.
She had never actually seen a bear shifter in action before—Hal had taken his men and left WSS long before she joined.
All Beast Warriors had three shapes: fully human, fully beast, and a warrior form that was halfway between the two, meant to terrify and overwhelm a foe.
A bear shifter in warrior
form was bipedal, eight feet tall, and covered with thick, shaggy fur. He towered above her. In the dim light, she saw his face, the mouth elongated to a muzzle filled with long fangs but still grotesquely recognizable as human.
Don't run. Don't act like prey, she told herself, though her knees felt rubbery and her heartbeat was pounding in her ears.
Rafe and Drake came running out into the yard.
"Stand down, Brett!" ordered Rafe. "Don't kill them!"
"Even if they deserve it," muttered Drake, as he bent over Leif's crumpled body. Catrina saw his hands pat down the wolf shifter, looking for injuries. "Hey, Leif's alive, but I think he's got some broken bones."
Good, thought Catrina, uncharitably. And then, God, that was so stupid, letting these guys lure me out here.
She wouldn’t make the mistake again of feeling sorry for those sons-of-bitches.
The monstrous bear-man dropped Svein. Then, in a series of sickening pops and crunching bone, the huge shape dwindled down into the shadowy figure of a naked, broad-shouldered man.
"Catrina, are you all right?" asked Brett, panting in the aftermath of two rapid shifts in a row.
She nodded. "Your timing is excellent, Cowboy," she managed, her voice shakier than she liked.
Brett turned to where Svein was scrambling to his feet, blood soaking his torn shirt.
"You two," he growled. "Are no longer welcome here. Leave before I tear you limb-from-limb."
"But that crazy bitch attacked us!" spluttered Svein. "We didn't do anything—just asked her a few questions!"
Brett's growl this time was pure enraged ursine. He looked like he was preparing to shift again, but Rafe grabbed his arm.
"Don't kill them," he said once again. "Even if they're lying wolf bastards. Hal said we need every warrior we can get, alive and in fighting shape."
"I'll heal Leif," Shannon said coldly, from the doorway of the house. "And then you can send them on their way."
"Don't you touch him, you witch!" Svein blustered.
But he didn't make any move to intervene, just glared at the petite Irish healer.
She ignored him and went to kneel at Drake's side.
"Fractured left humerus, broken collarbone, looks like a couple of cracked ribs," Drake told her. "And maybe a hairline skull fracture—he's out cold, so definitely a concussion."
Shannon closed her eyes and gently placed her hand over Leif's left bicep. Catrina saw a white glow seeping from beneath Shannon's palm.
Leif groaned and stiffened convulsively, then tried to roll away from the light and pressure. Drake held the injured man down as Shannon continued to work, moving her hands and applying the glow to every place Drake had mentioned.
After a few minutes, she sat back on her heels. Leif groaned and stirred.
"He'll be fit to travel now," she said coolly.
"Good," said Brett. "We'll escort you two to the bunkhouse and watch while you pack up your things. I want you gone."
"But Hal said that Rafe had to—" Svein protested.
"You attacked one of my guests on my property," Rafe said, his voice cold as an Arctic wind. "Count yourselves damned lucky that we stopped Brett from tearing you both limb-from-limb. Get your things and never set foot on Grizzly Peak Ranch again."
"When Erik hears about this—"
"If you have a complaint," Brett interrupted, his usually good-humored voice hard as granite now, "go ahead and take it up with Erik. Hell, take it up with Hal, if you dare. Tell them how the two of you lured my vassal out here and attacked her. With your reputations, see if you can actually get him to believe it was her fault."
Svein scowled but turned away without further protest. He helped a woozy Leif to his feet, then the two wolves walked away, towards one of the outbuildings, with Rafe and Drake following close behind.
"I'll wait for you inside," Shannon said and went back into the house.
Catrina watched the four men go, feeling shaky and hollow in the aftermath of the adrenaline surge that had accompanied the fight.
Brett moved closer, and she felt his hand on her shoulder. "Catrina, are you all right?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. That was incredibly stupid of me," she said, and then the shaking really started.
Stop it! she thought angrily but knew from experience that it wouldn't do any good.
In combat situations, she had always done what needed to be done to survive and win. But there was always a price to pay afterwards.
She took a deep, shuddering breath and found herself wrapped in strong arms, surrounded by the scent of bear shifter, his bare skin warm and smooth against her cheek.
And her shaking only got worse.
It wasn't as if something like this hadn't happened before. She had spent the first few months of her service with the Beast Warriors fighting off unwelcome advances and attempts to put her in her place via sexual intimidation.
Everyone who joined an existing Beast Warrior team was hazed mercilessly, but her hazing had been harsher than usual. It had lasted until her first mission, when her fellow jaguar warriors had finally accepted her as one of their own.
But while she was being hazed, no one had ever come to her aid.
To receive help now, on the heels of what had already been a tumultuous day, was really what shattered her defenses.
She found herself clinging to Brett. His embrace felt strong and comforting, and she inhaled his scent, clean and a little musky. Strength and wildness, all rolled up into one devastatingly attractive man.
She wanted him. Badly. And she couldn't recall ever feeling this way so quickly about anyone before. In her experience, attraction took time to build. It blossomed slowly, over drinks and conversation.
It didn't hit you like a Subaru station wagon doing sixty down a highway.
She pulled back, and he loosened his hold on her with evident reluctance.
Catrina had faced men in battle, had raided and spied and assassinated on Colonel Perry's behalf. But it took all the courage she possessed to look up and meet Brett's gaze.
The porch light shone on his handsome features, now fully human once more, and she saw that his own eyes were filled with something hot and hungry.
Hesitantly, as if reaching for a hot coal, she laid her hand against his cheek.
"Thank you," she whispered.
With a soft growl, he pulled her against him. His hand tangled in her hair, tilting her head back. Then his mouth came down on hers, hard and hot and ravenous.
Brett's kiss was fierce and urgent…as was her body's response. Throbbing, aching heat gathered between her legs as she devoured his mouth with the same hunger that she sensed in him.
She pressed her body eagerly against his, feeling satisfaction at the hard bulge that pressed into her belly. He wanted her just as much as she wanted him.
She slid her hands around his torso and felt taut muscle under her hands. He was fire and heat and hard strength, and for once in her life, Catrina felt safe enough to lower her defenses and just feel.
Finally, after a long time that was still not nearly long enough, Brett gentled his kiss. He drew away with lingering reluctance.
"I've wanted to do that since I first laid eyes on you," he said, his voice husky.
She chuckled shakily, need pulsing between her thighs in time with every heavy beat of her heart. It was difficult to think—all her thoughts revolved around kissing him again…but with both of them naked this time.
Her jaguar stirred. It liked that idea a lot.
It liked Brett a lot and wanted to rub itself all over him, marking him as hers.
Catrina thought that might be fun, then sternly told herself, Down, girl! Bad kitty!
"I started thinking of you as the Yummy Cowboy right after we met," she confessed. "Even before I knew you were one of the bear shifters."
He gave her a sweet smile that melted her heart…and her panties. "So…you like cowboys?"
"Just the yummy ones." Catrina raised her right hand again and
traced the line of his cheekbone with her fingertips.
He turned his head and kissed her palm, sending a tingling wave of heat up her arm.
Then she saw the moment he remembered where they were and that he didn't really trust her. He froze.
"This is a bad idea," he said, his voice raw with a need that echoed her own. "After what just happened, I don't want to—"
Catrina went up on tiptoes and shut him up with another kiss. A jolt of hot pleasure moved through the pit of her belly when he returned the kiss, nipping her lower lip with his teeth.
Brett's mouth moved down to her throat, kissing and nipping, and she made a soft sound of pleasure. His hands stroked her back and her sides, tugging up the hem of her borrowed sweatshirt.
Yes! She couldn't wait to feel his hands against her bare skin. She imagined what else he might to do her with his teeth…and knew she'd enjoy it. A lot.
Then a vehicle roared by, momentarily blinding her with its headlights.
She instinctively pushed away from Brett and turned her head to watch the taillights of a battered Nissan pickup receding down the long graveled driveway that led to the highway.
"Good riddance," Brett said in a low voice. "I feel sorry for whoever gets stuck next with those two."
He put his arm around her, and his scent curled around her like a caress. Catrina slid her arm around his bare waist, resting her fingers on the hard bone of his hip, and marveled at how right it felt to touch him.
"We're not interrupting anything are we?" Rafe said with a smirk as he walked up to the house, tailed by Drake.
Brett kept his arm firmly around her shoulders. "Nope," he drawled, sounding thoroughly American despite his faint Scandinavian accent.
"Good. Now that our problem wolves have been banished, let's go inside and have our dessert," said Rafe.
Every nerve tingling and craving more of his touch, Catrina let Brett escort her back into the house.
She saw Rafe's teasing smile and found herself resenting the two other bear shifters for the interruption.
Yummy cowboy or not, I've only known Brett for half a day, she reminded herself. Less than twelve hours.
Chapter 6 – Tempted
Hunter: A Werebear + BBW Paranormal Romance (Beast Warriors Book 2) Page 8