Cam swallowed roughly, thinking of Davide’s great-grandfather. “Because he resisted their mark, but they were still tied to him.”
“There’s a little more to it than that, and to be fair to him, I don’t think anyone told him he could release them, because he was human and therefore suspect. But yes.”
“You think he would have?” Davide asked.
“No one gave him the chance, so we’ll never know. Most shifters are so focused on what the need to mate does to them that they don’t think about what it does to their other half. Particularly if that other half is human. First comes the shared feelings. Then the dreams. The lust, always, but also secrets you barely remember yourselves. Your fears and hers, which are more dangerous right now, in my opinion.”
“What do you mean?” Cam was confused, but Davide grabbed his hand.
“She’s been feeling everything we have?”
“Not everything.” Stax tapped his walking stick on the floor with a frown. “You really know nothing about this? At least you have an excuse, pack full of orphans, but someone should have educated you. Generations of ignorance,” he muttered. “This is why I turned the others away.”
“What others? What the hell are you talking about?”
Stax sat down on the wide couch with a sigh. “We have a lot to cover, Alpha Locke. And not a lot of time.”
Alpha Locke again. His grandfather had been given that title before he left his people rudderless. “That’s not who I am.”
“It’s who you were supposed to be before you were born,” Stax said argumentatively. “Indulge me for Bailey’s sake. She’s going to need you soon, and she’ll need you ready.”
Cam sat down in the easy chair across from Stax while Davide perched on the armrest, both of them on alert. “She’ll need us? Is she in danger?”
“That’s always her question. Why do you think she clings to her plans? Loves her garden? Makes sure everyone is happy in her world?”
“She doesn’t feel safe?” Davide sounded as if the realization had come as a physical blow.
“It’s a bit out of our way, but…she was sixteen when she showed up in Sedona.” Stax leaned forward, elbows on his knees and walking stick across his lap as he told them the basics about a girl who’d walked into town with less than nothing.
Cam ached as he listened. It didn’t matter that he’d struggled himself in the beginning, before Davide and the others. She deserved better. This dazzling spirit who made time for everyone else had asked for nothing but a roof, and she’d made it into her home. He thought about the night they met, when she’d been on her own, working up the nerve to fall because no one was there to catch her.
I’m it. Me, myself and I. And Slugger.
“She can’t see how important she is,” Stax finished. “Even with Dani, Kaya and half the town at her side. But she’s vital to more threads than I can count. It’s like Dani’s favorite holiday movie,” he said suddenly. “The one where the man wishes he wasn’t born.”
“It’s a Wonderful Life?” Davide suggested.
“That’s the one. She even has the same name.” Stax chuckled. “Maybe that’s why I thought of it, but it doesn’t change my point. Without her, no one offers Dani an under-the-table job so she can get away from her would-be murderer and spend an unforgettable night with me.” His smiled turned slightly wicked at that. “Which would be sad for everyone, whether they’ll admit it or not. Without her, Kaya has no social life, works her fingers and powers to the bone out of guilt and loses her chance for happiness. And for that, her grandfather would probably blame yours truly. There’s more, but I believe you see where I’m going with this.”
“What about Bailey?” Cam asked. “She’s vital to other people’s happiness, other people’s stories, but doesn’t she deserve some of her own?”
Stax scowled. “What do you think I’m doing here? And she was fine until you two lovebirds came swooping in looking for… What were you expecting to find here? You saw an old picture and thought it was a clue leading you to a written confession? An apology from Calvin for being a deadbeat? A magical medallion of leadership he neglected to pass on to you?”
“Are you a seer?” Cam asked harshly. Shifters with the sight were rare, but they existed. “How do you know about my grandfather? How do you know why I came here?”
It seemed like fate, the day he’d stumbled on that photograph. There’d been a pile of potential property files with a specific list of criteria on his desk, and that picture had fallen out of one of them, as if by magic.
That was all he had to go on. A crumbling photo from the nineteen-forties. Two women blurred but obviously laughing on the barely recognizable porch of the recently opened inn. And in the foreground, sharp and clear, was his grandfather. Calvin Locke. He’d been smiling at the women as if he didn’t have a care in the world. As if he were happy and hadn’t left his wife and children, or his newborn grandson, behind.
“He felt it, like you do,” Stax said quietly. “The pull to make this place his own. He fell for a woman, like you have. But there were differences that couldn’t be denied. Things about his past,” he added meaningfully, “that led me to believe he wasn’t worthy of the responsibility. He wasn’t the one I needed, so I sent him on his way.”
“You did?”
“Don’t get distracted.” His gaze was quelling. “And yes. I did. It was unfortunate though, since I was fond of his mate and her sister.”
Tension corded Cam’s shoulders. “He abandoned his pack, left his family without protection. Now you’re telling me this place still welcomed him? He found a mate here?”
“Yes, well…” Stax grimaced. “His abilities were impressive, but his actions didn’t serve him well in the end.”
In the end. “He’s dead then.”
“He is.”
Cam was almost relieved. At least he had one answer. “And the sisters from the inn. From the picture. The stories say they were murdered. Was he responsible for that?”
“Not murdered.” Stax got to his feet and started to pace. “And that’s a story for another time. Today we’re discussing your mating with Bailey.”
“Are we?” Cam tried to contain his anger. “Fine. Then get to the part where this has anything to do with Bailey and whether we can be with her or not. Because to be honest, so far all I’m hearing about are failed matings and reasons why it’s still a bad idea.”
Stax spun toward him, hair whipping around his shoulders like black rain. “This has to do with you, Alpha Locke. This is what you came here for. The chapter you felt compelled to close. To prove to yourself once and for all that, despite your instincts and unspoken desires, you were right to dismiss your heritage and drag your pack around the world and back again just to avoid it.”
Cam got to his feet, his anger threatening to boil over. “My heritage? Every person I care about has been abandoned, abused, or excommunicated for who they are. That’s pack heritage. Aaron was nearly dead when we found him. Mohammad and Davide were starving. Bunny didn’t trust anyone and she may never tell us why. That is how my heritage treats the vulnerable and different. Their young.”
He held up his hand when Stax opened his mouth. “My grandfather thought he was better than a small pack in the middle of nowhere. Then he came here, to one of the most powerful places I’ve ever experienced, and according to you, was still incapable of being what everyone proclaimed him to be. Alpha. Leader. Is that what runs through my veins? What I could look forward to if I took up that mantle? I would never leave behind the people who needed me. I would never put my ego before my family. I am a better wolf, a better man because I am nothing like Alpha Locke.”
“I know,” Stax said simply, looking oddly pleased with himself. “That’s why you’re here.”
That made no sense to him, but the steadiness of the man’s gaze brought Cam’s temper back under control. How did he do that?
“Cam?” David touched his back, offering support. “Are you good?�
�
“He’s fine. The sooner he accepts who he is, the sooner you can have your mate.”
“Was that all it took?” Cam asked sarcastically, rubbing the stiffness from the back of his neck and feeling weary. “Even if it’s possible for us to mark her without it ending in tragedy, even if we wanted to stay and let Bailey work her magic on this town, the pack laws would deny us and put us all in constant danger. Put her in danger.”
Because shifter packs rarely intermingled. Wolf, cat and rabbit shifters, for example. And certain anomalies, like Aaron, who had the capacity to be more than one thing? He wouldn’t be allowed anywhere at all.
“You’re right,” Stax said, surprising him again. “About all of it. And it’s time, I think. Some rules will have to change. You can help me with that.”
“Help you? Because you can do that?” Cam thought he might know what Stax was now, but he didn’t come right out and ask. It didn’t seem like a good idea to push after his outburst.
“We can do that. I’m owed a few favors of my own, Alpha Locke. And once they know who you are, you’ll have a seat at the table. Everyone you care about will be protected.”
Stax started to speak again, then hesitated, concern transforming his features. “I do know what you need to do to successfully join with Bailey, Cameron. It is possible. But we might need to wait on that conversation.”
A sense of foreboding skittered up Cam’s spine. “Why?”
“She was on her way here, I was expecting her, but now she’s turned around. I knew she was overwhelmed by the link and had the wrong idea about your feelings for her, but I was sure she would still…” He shook his head. “You should go.”
Cam was already running toward the door, Davide right behind him. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
“Weren’t you listening? I just did.”
Chapter Eleven
Bailey tried to get her hands to stop shaking enough to start the truck. How the hell did she shut this crazy telepathy shit off?
She’d been halfway up the hill on her way to their place when the first wave of desire had torn through her body, strong enough to make her swerve onto the shoulder. She’d barely gotten the truck parked in the shadow of a vacant house before she was hit with another blast of it, along with an image of Cam and Davide having sex in their kitchen.
She’d felt everything they did. Every caress. Every thrust. She’d had three orgasms before she’d been able to come up for air. It was the most intense sexual fantasy of her life. Too intense. Cam’s thoughts and Davide’s were clear in her mind, and so different from her own that it reminded her of what Liam told her about Stax being in Dani’s head.
What had the coyote said to her again? “Being safe isn’t enough anymore, so be brave. And no matter what you see, don’t forget to listen.”
He was the only magical creature she knew other than the spider, and that one wasn’t talking. Was he doing this? Why give her a glimpse of Cam and Davide’s most intimate moments? Why let them see her in return? Was it some kind of game to him?
Don’t forget to listen.
She wasn’t sure what possessed her or what she expected to happen, but she closed her eyes and opened her mind. She wasn’t Kaya. She wasn’t even the Divine Darla. But if she was connected to them the way Kaya had claimed, then maybe…
Don’t make me choose. I can’t lose him.
The thought stabbed at her like a knife, pinning her to her seat. The barrage of images that followed left her sobbing.
Thirty years. Thirty years of love and fights and passion. How could they have been together for that long? Longer than she’d been alive. How old were they? And how had she seen so much of their life together in less than a few heartbeats?
She’d thought they were just rich and bored—too beautiful to be called average, but still human. Human, bisexual, fancy-booted real estate tycoons. That would have been wild enough for her.
But they weren’t human. Not even close. They could turn into animals on command. Holy shit.
“This isn’t real,” she told herself, fighting the urge to panic.
She’d go to their place right now and find them fully dressed and surrounded by their entourage. They’d be surprised to see her and they wouldn’t have a clue she’d just been masturbating in her truck down the road, because they weren’t psychically connected. That would be all the proof she’d need that this was all in her head. What a relief it would be to only need therapy.
She finally started her truck and was about to put it in gear when her phone rang. “Shit.” She wanted to ignore it, but the ringtone told her it was coming from her inn. “Damn it.”
She sucked in a trembling breath as her numb fingers fumbled with the phone. “Cyndy? Now’s not the best time.”
“This is Ava. And you don’t sound so good, Bailey. Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” Her voice cracked and she leaned her forehead against the steering wheel. “Where’s Cyndy? She said she could stay for a few more hours. Did something happen?”
“She’s here.” Ava’s hesitation made her stomach knot. “We’ve had some excitement that I thought you might be interested in.”
Meaning Cyndy hadn’t agreed. “Lay it on me.”
“Well, I was prepping for dinner when Dani showed up with an older gentleman she said was Kaya’s grandfather,” she started.
Will was at her inn? The grandfather who’d literally walked away from the reservation and appeared at Kaya’s house back when Dani needed help with her Liam situation? “Why?”
And why was Dani with him instead of Kaya?
“The ghosts, dear.” Ava sounded utterly unfazed, as if she were still discussing her evening menu. “She says he’s got a talent for talking to them. Unfortunately, a few of the guests heard her mention what he was planning and decided to join him in the attic.”
“What?” She was losing her mind. First pornographic delusions of shifters, and now this? “Who is in the attic? Don’t answer that, I already know. How did Mr. Olyphant even get up there without stairs? I know he didn’t use the ladder from the shed.”
“That last part was going to be your surprise, Bailey. Alwin—you know him. He’s got a thing for my roast beef, so I told him about our missing ladder problem and he got right on it. It was installed before Dani arrived.”
“The cooking carpenter, Alwin?” He’d worked at the resort with Jace and Liam before starting his own carpentry business this year. At least she remembered that. It was a good sign that some part of her brain was still working. “He installed a new ladder in the attic?”
“That’s right,” Ava said cheerfully. “It’s very sturdy, and it even has a handrail. I was impressed. And he says there’s no charge as long as he’s invited over for dinner every once in a while.”
Bailey dug her throbbing forehead deeper into the wheel. “He’s got an open invitation.” She was still going to pay him. He was a good guy, but that wasn’t up for negotiation. “So, we have a ladder and two old men in our attic as we speak?”
“Oh, they aren’t alone. Ms. Littleton went up there with them.”
Son of a… “I’m on my way.”
“Was I right to call you about this?” She sounded uncertain for the first time since Bailey picked up the phone.
“You did exactly the right thing, Ava.” Bailey shook her head, turning the car around and heading back down the hill. “Please tell Cyndy to go home now and we’ll discuss the dangers of allowing senior citizens to wander through hundred-year-old attics another day. When I’m not having a heart attack.”
“I’m on it. And don’t worry. I’m keeping an eye on them while Dani goes to get help in case one of them falls.”
Which she wouldn’t have had to do if she hadn’t brought the old man over in the first place. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
Bailey hung up and grimly navigated the curving road despite her swollen, bloodshot eyes. Her guests were in physical danger on her watch. That was more impor
tant than mental breakdowns and emotional angst. That was all she needed to focus on. One problem at a time.
Ghosts and spiders and shifters. So many things she would have sworn were fiction a few days ago were real, and Cam’s emotions and Davide’s were mingling and merging with her own, confusing the hell out of her. It was too much. Her head felt like it was exploding. Her heart was breaking. She was—
Running through the desert on four legs. Fast. Strong. With Davide beside me.
We have to get to her. Have to stop her. Mate.
“What the fuck?” She gripped the steering wheel for dear life and shook her head as if clearing cobwebs, frantic to dismiss the images. She couldn’t run on four legs and drive at the same time. What the hell were they doing to her?
Almost there. Stop, Bailey. Pull over. Now.
She slammed on her brakes as a wolf came out of the brush. And it was a wolf, not a stray dog or a bear, even if it was the size of one. There were houses right behind her and a crowded town mere blocks away, but she’d managed to stop on this isolated curve of the hill just in time to witness his arrival.
This wasn’t the same wolf she’d seen with Stax. That one had been dark gray and seemed strangely apologetic in his body language. This wolf was pure white. Bigger than the gray, and proud of what he was.
Cam?
As he sat there on the side of the road, a spotted mountain cat sauntered out of the brush behind him, its golden eyes staring right at her.
Lynx.
Davide, she realized, as they studied her in silence. Waiting for her reaction. This was Cam and Davide?
Bailey put her truck in park, opened her door and stepped onto the road. “This isn’t happening,” she informed them matter-of-factly. “This is me, losing my mind.”
She walked around the hood to get a closer look at them. They were just as beautiful in this form as they were in the other. So beautiful that, for a moment, everything else was forgotten. “How is this possible?”
Bailey.
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