by Vivian Arend
He was just about to take the stairs up to Cooper’s office when Grandpa Giles and Alex appeared, walking toward him.
“There you are.”
James debated disappearing through the emergency exit, but he hadn’t run from his grandpa since he was eight years old and had broken a window in the old man’s study.
He shoved his hands in his pockets. “Here I am.”
Grandpa bore down on him eagerly. Alex followed, walking at a slower pace. There was amusement in his eyes, but he shook his head slightly as if sympathetic for the coming storm.
“So?” Grandpa Giles demanded.
James met his gaze straight on. How exactly should he torment the old man?
Simple. Kaylee had given him the perfect idea.
“As requested, I fulfilled my part of the bargain and did not avoid the mating fever.” He turned from his grandpa and spoke to Alex. “Can we meet about the security for the Canada Day event? I have a couple questions about the sound system and backstage access—”
He was interrupted by a small coughing fit. Probably Grandpa Giles choking on all the things he wanted to say but couldn’t.
Alex somehow kept a straight face and patted the old man on the back. “I’ll be done with Gramps in about twenty minutes. We can meet then.”
“Sounds great—”
“You didn’t answer my question, boy.” Grandpa Giles glared at him. “And I didn’t demand anything. Just pointed out that responsible young men in most families would be happy to do their duty and—”
“—mate on command? Breed?” James offered helpfully.
This time, Alex had to cough to hide his amusement.
Grandpa Giles was still simmering. “Don’t you get too big for your britches, young man,” he said as he shook his finger in James’s face.
“Believe me, I speak for myself, Alex, and Cooper when I tell you the last thing we want you worrying about are our britches. You’ve made your point. Now don’t expect us to allow you to meddle any further in our lives.” While Grandpa sputtered, James took the opportunity to offer a hidden wink to his brother. “See you in half an hour.”
Then he pushed through the door at his back and headed up the stairs, already planning how he was going to share the recap with Kaylee for her amusement.
He found a pile of work stacked on his desk but managed to get through most of it before Alex joined him.
His brother placed a cup of coffee in front of each of them before settling in the comfy chair James had deliberately purchased for kicking back in. “Obviously you’re feeling chipper.”
“Feeling something,” James agreed. He raised his cup and took a deep sip of the hot liquid, humming contentedly as it went down. He glanced across at Alex who was drinking quietly and eyeing him, a whole lot of questions visible in his expression.
“You’re showing amazing restraint,” James said drily.
“I’m torn between admiration and terror,” Alex confessed. “So. Mating fever. And…Kaylee?”
Well, that was getting to the point. James spoke slowly. “Kaylee. Which is perfect, except for the fact that she’s not feeling the mating connection yet and I am.”
Alex’s lazy laid-back attitude vanished. He perched at the front of his chair, staring at James in horror. “What? How? I mean, why not? She’s been crazy about you for years.”
James picked his jaw off the floor. “Get out. We’ve only been friends.”
Alex rolled his eyes as only an older brother could. “Yeah. Friends who had the hots for each other. God, sometimes it would drive me crazy to be stuck in the same room with you guys. You were made for each other.”
“Exactly what I thought. Which is why when Grandpa decided to pull his Machiavelli trick, I decided to move proactively. I always liked spending time with Kaylee. Now we’ve gone and had this week, and it was incredible and wonderful, and…” He took a deep breath before spitting it out. “At the risk of sounding like an idiot, what if she doesn’t want me? She said she did, and she promised to do whatever it takes to trigger the mating bond, but obviously, something’s missing.”
His brother’s expression grew more concentrated. “You set this up? You wanted to end up mated with Kaylee?”
“Of course. I figured with everything else we had going for us, we had a good shot.”
“Interesting.” Alex looked thoughtful. Then he shook his head and focused on James again. “You’ve got a couple choices. One, you wait. Maybe it takes a while for the connection to kick in on her end. You sure you feel it?”
James nodded. He laid a hand over his chest and that hot swirl of possibility pounded hard enough it shook his very soul. “It’s there, I swear it is.”
“Maybe she’s not aware of what it feels like at her end.”
Also possible.
“Well, until she feels it, she can hardly accept it.” Which was what made this all so frustrating. James waved a hand in the air. “Change of topic—give me the details for the Canada Day project. I may as well distract myself until Kaylee is free.”
“Cooper wanted to get together,” Alex told him as he adjusted position to reach the security diagrams scattered on the table. “He’s been worried about you. We both were. Drinks after work?”
Perfect. If they happened to accidentally run into Kaylee as she met with her friends, the more the merrier.
“Don’t worry about me,” James said. “Whatever it takes to make this happen, I swear I’ll get it done.”
14
K aylee spent most of her morning doing menial tasks as reality snuck in far too quickly.
Between the mess of business emails she had to deal with and the private portraits she’d been hired to shoot, it was noon before she actually got to slow down long enough to let her brain catch up with everything else that had gone on.
It was a good thing the only work she’d had on the calendar during the past week had been for Borealis Gems, and all things considered, they’d probably understand why she’d rescheduled. Even though she’d only been gone a week, her apartment seemed colder and lonelier than ever.
Her email pinged, and she glanced over to discover a message from her parents.
Oh joy, oh bliss.
She debated deleting it unread, but because it had been six months since they’d last contacted her, and because she was a glutton for punishment, she clicked it open.
Hello, darling. I trust that all is well.
* * *
I deposited more money into the joint account in case you need it. Don’t worry. We don’t expect you to pay us back.
* * *
We have wonderful news. We’ve been asked to join a brand-new research project in the Romanian mountains. We’ll be here for at least another six months.
* * *
Unfortunately, that means we won’t be home next week, and I’d arranged delivery of a number of packages to the house. Some of it is delicate equipment that needs to be put into the shop immediately. I’ll forward the message when I get word it’s arrived.
* * *
Relying on you to make sure this gets taken care of.
* * *
Will update ASAP.
M&F
Kaylee let out an exasperated sigh. “Hi. Sure, everything is just peachy over here. I’m potentially going to end up mated to my best friend, if I can ever get my shit together enough to figure out what’s wrong with me. But of course I want to hear about your world travels in spite of the fact that you can’t bother to write me except when there’s something you need. Oh, but I’m sure if you throw money at the situation, that will make everything better.”
She stared at the computer screen, anger rising inside.
Inside, her cat snarled, furious and pissed off to the extreme, and that alone was enough to trigger action.
It took one deliberate click to send the email to print. Kaylee snatched the paper out of the tray the instant it was done so she could take it with her as she marched into the kitchen.
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The entire time she rambled out loud as if having a reasonable conversation. “Of course, I won’t have anything to do between now and then, so I’m happy to drop everything in order to deal with your delicate items that were probably broken in transit. And when you do eventually open them, you’re going to blame anything that is broken on me.”
She grabbed a pair of scissors and laid them on the counter.
Then she took the piece of paper and shook it hard. “And that’s not to mention that the fact you won’t be here means you’re going to miss my birthday. Again.”
She took the paper and crumpled it into a tiny ball. Then she opened it up and crumpled it again.
She dropped the ball on the floor and stomped on it with her heels until the crinkled wad was a flat mess.
Then she opened it up, carefully folded it into a thin strip the best she could considering how crinkled the material was now. Strange how immensely satisfying it was to cut the mutilated origami into dozens of tiny strips.
She grabbed the mess, threw it in the sink, then put a lighter to it. The paper slowly caught fire, red crinkling along the edge before the entire bundle flashed upward.
As she stared at the flames burning in her kitchen sink, Kaylee straightened and let all of her annoyance pour out.
“You’re not allowed to do this to me anymore,” she said. “You’re not allowed to make me feel inferior or worthless because what I expect and what you give are two separate things. I have had enough.”
She folded her arms over her chest, feeling a little like a superhero as smoke billowed up from the paper.
“You know what? Those packages can sit on the damn porch and get rained on. Animals can come and sniff them and bite them and piss on them for all I care. I will no longer jump when you ask. Because James would never expect me to do something like that. If he wouldn’t expect me to, then it’s probably not on the have to do list.”
A tremble started inside. A sense that she had just offered fate a challenge, and even though there was no way her parents could possibly know what she’d shouted, a shiver ran up her spine.
The fire alarm wailed.
Kaylee gasped in horror and reached for the faucet. Only, when she turned it on to try and put out the fire, the spray nozzle was pointed in the wrong direction and water hit her square in the face.
Suddenly, she was soaking wet.
She twisted the spray in the proper direction. Abandoning the nozzle in the sink, she climbed on a chair and reached up to open the fire alarm and remove the battery to stop it from breaking her eardrums.
Kaylee got the fire in the sink extinguished, then stood there, water dripping off the end of her nose as her ears rang, laughter bubbling up from deep inside.
Okay. That had been an exercise in how not to throw a hissy fit.
She washed the smoke smell out of her hair, packed a bag and threw it in the back of the truck. Then she headed across town to the Diamond Tavern, the bar that James owned with his brothers.
They’d opened for business about a year before taking on extra duties with the family gem business, and now it was one of the happening places in town. Bears did love to party, and so did the rest of the humans and shifters in the north.
The local wolves, the Orion pack, owned their own place to howl on the north edge of town. Sirius Trouble tended to draw an even wilder crew than Diamond saw most nights.
James had said he wanted something between a casual place to kick back and a destination for food and entertainment. With most of the clientele being shifters, everything was big, bright, and easy to replace.
Just because the Diamond had a less volatile caliber of guests than the Sirius, it didn’t mean fights weren’t an everyday occurrence.
Amber was already at the back bar, sitting with a woman whose silvery white hair was partially hidden under a black beanie.
Kaylee slid onto the bench seat next to her friend, accepting the hug she was offered gratefully. “I thought we’d have a few minutes alone,” she whispered.
The beautiful woman across from them held out her hand. “Sorry about that. I got here early and didn’t think sitting in the parking lot was a good idea. With my luck, someone would think I was casing the joint.” The shifter winked then introduced herself. “I’m Lara. And remember, I have really good hearing. If you guys need to talk privately, I’ll go to the washroom.”
Kaylee eyed her, wondering what Lara was talking about.
One sniff later and the hackles rose on her inner cat—well, not literally, but still the truth was crystal clear. Lara was a wolf. While most shifters had better senses than the average human, wolf hearing was legendary.
Kaylee dipped her head. “Thanks for the warning, but it’s okay. I’ve had quite a week, but Amber and I can get caught up later. I’m looking forward to getting to know you.”
“Me too. You guys…” Lara looked down into her glass and swirled her ice for a moment. “I don’t have a lot of girlfriends to chat with. This is kind of special.”
Under the table, Amber laid her hand on Kaylee’s leg and gave it a tight squeeze.
Kaylee glanced down to find a small piece of folded paper in her hand. Awkwardly, Kaylee waited until Amber and Lara were discussing appetizer options so she could glance stealthily at the message.
It was a series of three short sentences.
Youngest in family.
Sister Alpha of Orion wolf pack.
Security department, Midnight Inc.
Which was pretty much what Kaylee had figured out on her own.
Lara not only worked there, but was part of the family who owned Midnight Inc., Borealis Gems’s biggest competitor.
“You ladies decide what you want?” The question came from the waiter who stood beside their table. He wore a flirtatious grin as he openly admired them. At least until his gaze landed on Lara.
His eyes widened.
Lara lifted a brow but didn’t say anything.
He opened and closed his mouth a few times, glancing over his shoulder as if looking for backup.
Amber cleared her throat to get his attention. She glared sternly. “You have a problem?”
It was entertaining to watch the guy, who had to be six foot two and outweighed Amber by at least one hundred pounds, straighten as if he’d been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
He shook his head vigorously then took their order, stealing away rapidly as if he were worried Lara would jump up from the far side of the table and shake him.
Or worse, Amber.
Lara tugged her hat down a little further and slumped in her seat. “Sorry about this, guys. We should’ve picked somewhere a little more neutral to meet.”
“There’s no rule that says you’re not allowed here,” Amber said quickly.
Kaylee backed her up. “I agree. And honestly, I don’t think you could’ve got us to meet you anywhere else, because Diamond serves the best chicken wings in town.”
A soft smile curled across Lara’s face, and she sat up a little straighter. “Thanks. I appreciate it. More than you know.”
She picked up her drink and held it in the air before making eye contact with Kaylee and Amber in turn. “To making new friends.”
Kaylee clinked their glasses together. “To not truly knowing what we’re doing but moving forward anyway.”
A soft laugh escaped from Lara, and she raised her glass again. “Yeah. There’s a lot of that going on, as well.”
The music was loud, and there was enough action on the dance floor that pretty soon it became clear no one was taking that much of an interest in the fact that Lara had entered untypical territory.
The three of them spoke quietly about the secret issue Kaylee had uncovered. Lara shared what she could but had to shake her head when asked specific questions about the rumoured takeover.
“I haven’t been back in town for long enough to dig into details. After years in Toronto, coming back and resettling into the pack is taking some tim
e, but I’ll get there.” Lara glanced between them. “I thought it would be good to meet you two and try to establish a link in case I need to act quickly.”
“It was a good idea,” Amber agreed before eyeing Lara closely. “I’m glad you’re willing to talk with us, but I’m a little confused about why. Don’t you want your family to be number one?”
A sad expression drifted over Lara’s face. “You know how people say blood is thicker than water?”
The two of them nodded.
“You ever actually read that quote in its entirety?” Lara asked bluntly. “The real meaning is a doozy, and a good philosophy. I love my sister, as annoying as she is, but trust is more important than whose family I was born into. I don’t blindly support anyone if they’re wrong-minded. Which means if my sister is cheating, lying or otherwise screwing around with peoples’ lives, I want to know so I can make it right.”
Amber caught Lara’s hand and squeezed her fingers. “I’m sorry.”
“Me too. I’m not one hundred percent sure, though. Hopefully this is all a rumour and I find out all the whispers are completely legal and aboveboard.”
“We’ll help how we can, but we’re also glad to get to know you. Outside of intrigue and that kind of thing,”
The woman smoothed her silver-white braid for a moment before firmly lifting her gaze to meet theirs. “That makes me happy. I meant it earlier—I’m looking forward to having new friends.”
Impulsively, Kaylee reached across the table and squeezed Lara’s hand. “If you ever need to talk, call.”
“Me too,” Amber insisted. “Although if it’s about shifter stuff, I’m good with a search engine, and not much else.”
“I don’t know. You’re pretty decent for a human,” Kaylee teased.
Amber stuck out her tongue.
Lara was the one who brought up the unmentionable topic, turning to Kaylee with a smile. “So, did you end up mated with your bear?”
“How did you hear about that?” Kaylee asked.