“No, it means they have more respect for him than you do.”
“Either way,” he said with a full-out laugh now. He shrugged. “Mother.”
The suave woman stopped before them. She had dropped her arms at Liam’s announcement and Tieran found she instantly liked Caelan’s mother. By all rights, the woman could have touched her any way she liked. Whether it meant a welcome-to-the-family hug or a you’re-not-good-enough-for-my-son slap to the face.
Looking at the petite woman, Tieran wondered how she had given birth to the more than six-foot giants her sons now were. Judith, she remembered Liam calling her, winked at her.
“I’ll save my touchy-feely for later.” She turned and addressed Caelan. “She is beautiful, Son. Many congratulations to you too, Tieran. If you have any questions about what’s happening, you can come to me. I know what you’re going through.”
She turned again and, reaching up, slapped Caelan on the back of his head. “You and I will talk later on how crudely you just introduced your mate. Shame on you.”
Tieran laughed at the contrite look on Caelan’s face. Apparently it wasn’t only his father who had the ability to make his ears go red.
“Caelan, we must meet.”
Tieran started at the voice spoken close to her ear. She hadn’t even known the man was there. On closer inspection, it was the man who’d originally made the announcement she was pregnant. Must have made him feel important somehow. He was beaming at her like he’d won a million dollars.
Beside her, Caelan shifted his weight and sighed so heavily, she stumbled. He caught her with a quick jerk on the hand he still held, bringing her back to his side.
“Perhaps my mother would like to show you around. If I don’t get this meeting out of the way, they’ll hound me all afternoon.”
He was going to leave her here alone? Cripes. Everyone was still looking at her. And then they weren’t. Tieran did a double take. Caelan strode away with the elder, she guessed, and his mother laughed.
“It doesn’t take them long to corral the Prime. You’ll get used to it, my dear.”
Oh God. She sounded just like her gramama. Warm and inviting. Like someone Tieran could snuggle up next to and tell her innermost secrets, just as she did with Gramama.
“I’m just going to go over there and get us some drinks before we start the tour, dear. Wait here?”
Tieran nodded without really thinking about what she was agreeing to. Her mind was a complete whirlwind. At least her heart was settling into a more agreeable pattern. Talk about being put on the spot.
She tensed. Eli was heading her way, weaving his way through the crowd, a determined smirk on his face. Her heart hammered again and sweat broke out on her upper lip. She’d been hoping to avoid him today if for nothing else than to not have to lie to his or Caelan’s face.
She was not a good liar.
“You never were, Tulla, and you shouldn’t be lying now. Bring it up, see what happens.”
“Why don’t you bring it up?”
Tieran cringed at her shortness. It wasn’t her gramama’s fault she was in this predicament. Well, wait a minute, yes it was her fault. She’d arranged the meeting between the two werewolves and Tieran. The older gentleman who’d carted Caelan off a minute ago waylaid Eli on his way across the room.
Time to make a getaway. She slunk down the wall to the opposite corner and was almost at the door when a nearly gentle hand clamped down on her forearm.
“Don’t you know by now, we can smell you no matter where you hide?”
“I’m not hiding,” she said, peeved, and twisted her arm out of his grip. The thunder of her heart would give her away no doubt. She felt the color drain from her cheeks.
Eli grinned at her obvious flustered look. “Caelan said you might try to run.” He crossed his arms over his chest exactly like Caelan did when he was annoyed with her. “I never figured you for a coward.”
“I’m not a coward,” she said bringing her chin up and facing him head-on. Not that you could tell that by the way she’d hid behind Caelan’s back earlier. “I was…looking for your mother. She’s supposed to show me around.”
He smiled. “Right. I believe my father intercepted her. Perhaps I could take you.”
Her breath slammed into her throat, nearly choking her. Not on your life.
“What woman has the black hair and green eyes?” she blurted and cringed, mortified that had actually come out of her mouth.
Eli’s eyes widened, then narrowed sharply. “What do you know about her?” he hissed softly, swinging his gaze from side to side. Who, or what, was he looking for?
“Did you see her? Tell me,” he commanded when she didn’t speak quickly enough. He shook her, making her teeth rattle. If she’d been a little girl, the look on his face might have been enough to make her pee in her pants. She was pretty sure she might anyway.
His lips flattened into a thin line and he stared at her arm where his fingers dug into her skin.
“Fuck.” Eli slowly released her, caressing the red flesh as he did so. “I’m sorry, Tieran. I didn’t mean to—”
“It’s good, Eli.” Not. It was downright spooky. Not to mention it made him look even guiltier than hell in her mind. “I’m just going to go out and get some fresh air.” And maybe run a few miles.
She backed away from him and searched the crowd. One of his parents had to be out there somewhere. She felt safe with them. Damned if she knew why though. Caelan. He stood with two other men, gesturing to an open door on the opposite side of the room. If she could get his attention…
Tieran darted across the room, mindful to politely dodge the well-wishers every few feet or so. She thought she even smiled to several of them.
When she glanced back, Eli was gone. No, there he was, walking to the front door. His features were a mixture of emotion. Anger? She couldn’t tell from this distance. He stopped at the doorway and faced her.
Gasping, she tapped Caelan on the arm. “I’m going to go out…” and what? What exactly was she going to go out and do? She didn’t even know where she was. Then she remembered what she’d seen driving up. “…to look at the horses.” She stumbled over the words in her rush to get away.
Caelan glanced over her shoulder and nodded. By the time she turned around no one was there. “Be careful, my own. The ground is pretty rough out there.”
“Yes, uh-huh. Careful. Gotcha.” Tieran backpedaled. Another one of his I’m-just-doing-what’s-good-for-you moments she guessed. Whatever. She needed the space. Suddenly the confinement and noise of the entryway was too claustrophobic. Besides, she needed time to assimilate what had happened with Eli.
If anyone thought she was running, so be it. Hell, they would be right.
Chapter Nine
Tieran jerked with a gasp at the fingers touching her arm from behind and her eye made a barely conceivable twitch. Odd. Normally it went crazy.
She shivered in the heat, a tingly feeling swarming her where his fingers made contact.
Whoever he was, the man’s shields were thicker than the CDC’s highest-level containment facilities. Not a scrap of emotion out of him. Because she didn’t want to offend someone who Caelan might regard with respect, she slowly pulled out of his loose grasp. Her heart rate returned to normal as she turned to face him.
He didn’t look familiar to her, but then there’d been a lot of people in the house. She would have remembered him though. Tall and dark-headed, he was very similar to Caelan and Eli. If she hadn’t known there was just the two of them, she might have thought this man was another brother.
“Sorry.” He chuckled insincerely. “You looked a little lost. I wondered if, perhaps, I might escort you back.”
Tieran found the sophistication in his voice fake and wondered why he felt the need to hide his true personality. A warning trickled down her spine. She glanced back at the house. Fifteen minutes ago—God had it only been that short a time?—she’d wandered out here to try and escape the mob i
nside.
No, that wasn’t entirely true. She had hated being looked at like a bug under the microscope by the multitude of bodies in the house, but mostly she’d come to get away from Eli. No way did she want another run-in with him.
There. She said it. She’d come out here to escape Eli so she wouldn’t have to explain to him and Caelan why she just couldn’t be around him.
Besides, it was peaceful out here, or had been until now, and she thoroughly enjoyed the view of the horses grazing in the paddock.
And now she knew what they felt like being watched the way she was watching them. The sudden interruption of her newfound solitude rankled.
“There’s nothing between the house and here.” She raised an eyebrow to punctuate her next statement. “How could I possibly be lost?”
She swore the man growled, but then a grin split his lips. “Well then I guess when I say lost, I mean lost in thought, not in actual direction.”
Now that was about as clever and cool a comeback as you could get. Tieran didn’t believe him for a minute. His touch might not have given anything away but there was definitely something off about him.
He reminded her of the tow-truck driver who’d spit tobacco on her car. Not in looks, because this man was classy, or nicely dressed anyway. The classiness came across forced. No, it was the attitude. She got the impression he felt he was better than everybody else and therefore also knew what was best for her so there was no need to let her make a decision. Of course, Caelan had been doing the same thing since meeting her, but she liked him. Okay, more than liked. She admitted it freely.
The man leaned in, invading her personal space and causing her to take a step back when she wanted to stand him down. He sniffed the air around her.
“Do you mind?” she asked, swatting toward his nose like he was one of the pesky flies the horses were constantly flicking with their tails.
“You’ve already conceived the Prime’s whelp,” he condemned, obviously trying to hide his complete disdain for her.
“I prefer to think of it as a baby, thank you,” she sneered, surprising herself with the admission. At what point had she decided there really was one?
Now, when this disgusting man called her child a whelp.
The word itself made her cringe and the idea of him defiling what should be beautiful made her want to slap the smarmy look off his face. She’d been right to think she hadn’t seen him inside. No one there could have missed the elder’s announcement that she was with child.
His cheeks flushed and his eyes flashed. Looking down, she saw his hands fisting and unfisting. Apparently she’d ticked him off. Good, because he sure the hell was doing a good job of pissing her off. His hands opened one last time and relaxed while she stared at them. The renewed casual air drew her gaze back to his face.
“Of course,” he said, smiling. His whole demeanor shifted one hundred and eighty degrees. “Humans do call them babies. Forgive me, please.”
Tieran breathed a little easier. His apology sounded sincere and he had only asked to escort her to the house. Maybe she’d imagined how much of a jerk he was?
“No, I don’t think you did, Tulla. Don’t let your guard down yet.”
“I haven’t even introduced myself, have I? The Prime would kill me for being so rude.”
She snorted softly. Killing him would be a wee bit of an exaggeration.
“Michael Hayward,” he said, offering his hand. “Detective Michael Hayward.”
Tieran couldn’t bring herself to shake the proffered hand. She hadn’t gotten anything from his first touch, but he seemed slimy somehow. Knowing he was a cop made him that much slimier. She half-expected him to pull out a set of handcuffs and charge her with being a human. Something she was sure he found despicable. Strange when he stood before her now as a human himself. Why the attitude about humans when you played at being one most of the day?
Most of their lives, actually. Caelan had only shifted one time since she’d met him. She didn’t get the feeling he did it very often either.
She was glad when Caelan’s voice gave her the distraction she needed.
“Tieran.” Caelan stepped between her and the detective. He took her chin in his own, a furious wave of energy radiating off him. “I wondered where you’d gotten off too, my own.” Despite his anger, his lips were soft against hers.
Something was wrong. Caelan knew exactly where she was. She bit her lip to keep from blurting that out.
She coughed. “Just admiring the horses, my dumpling,” she murmured, playing along. His smile confirmed her suspicions.
“I was asking your mate if she would like an escort back to the house, Prime. With things the way they are right now, I wouldn’t think you’d want her to be alone.”
Oh, he was smooth, but why did he keep referring to Caelan as the Prime? She hadn’t heard anyone else call him that today. Not even the elders. She could imagine him preening like a peacock behind Caelan who blocked her sight of him. Her initial dislike of him grew despite the redemption he’d made a few seconds ago with his apology.
Tieran’s eyes widened at the barely perceptible snarl emanating from Caelan. He turned and acknowledged the detective for the first time.
“She’s never been alone.” Caelan pointed to a small stand of trees about fifty feet from them. “Eli’s been watching her and so have I.” Eli waved and Tieran gasped. She hadn’t known he was there.
“How is the search going for the killer, Michael?” Caelan continued, ignoring the man’s stunned look.
His face blanched then reddened. In anger?
He was quick to recover. “She knows then?”
“Of course,” Caelan answered, grabbing her hand and holding it at the small of his back. “I don’t keep things from my mate. Neither does she from me.” His fingers tightened on hers. “Do we, my own?”
* * *
Night had fallen by the time everyone left the ranch. Tieran was tucked away doing kitchen duties with his mother. Caelan smiled. He’d bet money she wouldn’t do it at her own house. At least, not until the dishes were piled high enough to fill the sink.
“What’s the smile for, Bro?”
“Just picturing Tieran doing the housewife thing.” Caelan stood up from his chair on the porch and listened to the cicadas calling each other. A wolf howled in the distance. Jacob Christoff by the sound of it. Another half-blood who lived just a few miles down the road.
Today had been a total bust. No one had seemed to spark anything in Tieran’s mind. Damn it. He’d been counting on something, no matter how small.
“Michael seemed his usual condescending bastard self today. What the hell has crawled up his ass anyway?”
Caelan shrugged. “Wouldn’t you be if you couldn’t catch a killer on either of your own turfs? As a shifter or as a human cop?”
“I guess.” Eli swiped a hand across the back of his neck. A gesture Caelan noticed more often when his twin was wound up about something.
Treading carefully, he asked, “You got somethin’ you want to talk about?”
“No.”
“How ‘bout some pool later tonight.” Shooting pool was a sure-fire way to open his brother up.
“Nah, I got something I gotta do.” Eli pushed away from the railing where he’d settled his hips moments ago. “Besides, I rescheduled that meeting with Dane Christian again tonight.”
“Any more indication what he wants?”
Eli shook his head. “Not really. Says he has a job I’d be perfect for.”
Caelan raised a brow. “How does he know you’ll be perfect for it? I thought you said a friend recommended you.”
“Don’t know, that’s why I’m meeting him,” Eli growled as if perturbed by the direction of their conversation.
Caelan cursed silently. What the hell was wrong with his twin? They’d never kept anything from each other. Maybe if he changed the subject back to a more familiar turf. Like their hunt. Whatever was eating him would all come out sooner or
later. “You know anybody who’s got a scar like yours, E?”
Eli’s head snapped to Caelan. “No. What the fuck is this all about, Cael? First your girlfriend and now you? Why you all of a sudden so interested in a scar that’s been there for years?”
Caelan held his hands up. “Back off, E. Tieran said the wolf had a scar and seeing yours the other night had her wanting me to take everyone’s shirt off today.”
“She thinks I did this?” Eli laughed incredulously. “That’s just great. Accused by the Prime’s new mate of murder. As if I didn’t have enough to think about.”
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, ignoring the dig on Tieran. “You’ve been preoccupied for several weeks, E. What the fuck’s going on?”
“Nothing. You’re just not the only one with problems.” Again with the neck rub. “I gotta get going. I’ll call tomorrow with the details.”
Before Caelan could respond, Eli was gone. A chill raced up his spine. Why had his brother gotten so defensive over the scar issue? Christ, maybe… No! No. Absolutely not, no way in a hundred million years.
A lightning bolt lit up the sky, the charge sending another set of wicked sensations skittering across his nerves. A low rumble of thunder followed quickly thereafter. He hadn’t known it was going to storm tonight. When a second bolt fanned out through ominous-looking clouds, Caelan decided he didn’t want to drive the hour back to Tieran’s house in a storm.
His mother and Tieran were laughing about something when he entered the kitchen through the back door.
“Ladies.”
Judith shrieked, Tieran gasped and both swung around to face him. Red streaked Tieran’s face and her eyes were watering as she tried to contain her laughter. Her cheeks puffed out until finally she spit it out.
Caelan cocked an eyebrow.
“Son,” his mother said somewhat short of breath. “Hoo. Sorry.”
Yeah. He could tell how sorry she was when she swiped a hand over her own watery eyes and sniffed.
“We were just talking about…things.” She turned to Tieran and both of them burst out laughing again.
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