by Amy Green
Simply put, he missed her.
He wasn’t used to missing people. And he was going to miss her forever.
He scrubbed a hand over his face and turned the corner to his street. He stopped.
There was a familiar SUV in his driveway.
Nadine.
He came closer, and he could scent her. Every nerve in his body awoke, and his wolf went crazy. She was here somewhere—in his house. He stepped up to his front door, which was unlocked, and walked in.
She was standing in the kitchen, looking around. She turned when he came through the door. He vaguely recalled that the place would look different from the last time she saw it, because it was finished now. He’d finished it.
“Devon,” she said. “Sorry. I picked your lock.”
He stood staring at her. She wore a dress—a dress. It had short sleeves and a low square neck and a tailored waist and came down to her knees. It was a deep shade of blue that was so pretty it made his eyes hurt. He’d never seen Nadine in a dress. Her dark hair was down around her shoulders and she had bare feet because she’d taken her shoes off. She looked natural and feminine and completely herself. He’d never seen anything so beautiful in his life.
“I thought you were in the Caribbean,” he managed.
She shifted her weight, like she was nervous, but she kept her gaze on him. “I told everyone I was going to the Caribbean,” she said, “so no one would know I’m here.”
“You’re here,” he said. He felt stupid. He was stupid. She was standing in his house, and after all these months he realized why he’d been working on it every night. He’d been finishing it for her. And now she was standing in it, and she looked perfect.
“I lost my job,” she said. She rubbed her palms together, and he smelled the nervousness on her, and excitement, and the happiness he sometimes sensed from her when she looked at him. “I’m not sheriff anymore. I guess you heard.”
“It’s my fault,” he told her. “I’m sorry.”
She smiled at that—actually smiled. “It that what you think?”
Why was she smiling? She’d lost the job that meant everything to her. He couldn’t think at all when she was smiling. “Of course it’s my fault.”
“No. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time—days. It isn’t your fault. I think…” She paused, took a step toward him. His blood pumped hard in his veins. “I think that some of the fault is mine. But what bothers me the most is how I treated you. It wasn’t right.”
“Nadine,” he said.
“It wasn’t.” She was adamant. “All I can say for myself is that I wanted to do the right thing. I was trying. And I couldn’t figure out why nothing I was doing felt right. I would have been fired anyway—if not over this, then over something else. And deep down, I knew it. So I should have just told everyone to stuff it, but I didn’t. Because I had a case to solve.” She was talking faster now, the words tumbling out. “I did my best to solve it, and I still got fired. So after I left the job I just thought for a while. And I asked myself, what do I want to do? And the answer was that I wanted to come here. So I came.” Her gaze flicked to the side, and he saw two big suitcases against the wall, and a few other bags. His stomach did a quick flip.
“You came to stay?” he asked her.
“It’s presumptuous, but—” She was blushing now, her cheeks and neck going red. “I know it’s been two months. But I thought maybe—the things you said—” She put her palm to her cheek, as if feeling how hot it was. “I want to stay for a while. It’s okay if—What are you doing?”
He strode toward her. He bent, threw her over his shoulder, and headed for the stairs.
Nadine whooped as he swung her. “Where are we going?” she cried.
That answer was easy. “To bed,” he said.
24
He looked good. So good. His hair and beard were trimmed and he looked leaner, as if he had lost weight. It just made him more beautiful. He was wearing worn jeans and a simple dark t-shirt, and she saw the flames on his arm and his wrist and his neck, and she wanted to pull every piece of clothing off him and put her hands on him and never let go.
And the house. It was amazing. Even the parts she could barely see because she was flung over his shoulder, her hair dangling, her gaze fixed on the fascination of his back beneath the t-shirt and his gorgeous butt in his jeans. Then she forgot everything, because he tossed her down on his bed and crawled on top of her and kissed the hell out of her.
She dug her hands into his hair and kissed him back. He was fierce and gentle, demanding and submitting at the same time. He had her pinned with his big body, but when she hooked her knees around his hips he slid a hand down behind her, cupped her bottom, and pressed her up like she weighed nothing, making delicious friction as he kissed her harder. She moaned into his mouth.
He pulled back and his big hand came beneath her skirt, hooking into her panties. “You left me for two months,” he growled, pulling them down, “and then you came back in this pretty dress.”
His gaze was dark, his wolf out in full, and it made her shiver. “Do you like it?” she panted.
He tossed her underwear away. “I like it so much I’ll try not to wreck it,” he said, and reached for his belt.
He knew what she wanted—he always knew what she wanted—and he delivered it. He took her quickly, fiercely, without any more words, claiming her as his. And still she fell over the edge into an orgasm, her hands twisting in the sheets.
When they were done he pulled both of their clothes off—he was, as promised, careful with the dress—and pulled the sheet over them, winding his big body around hers, his legs tangling with hers, ending with her in his arms, his lips brushing the back of her neck. They caught their breath.
She ran her fingers over his forearm, his hand, his knuckles where he had hooked his arm around her waist. “How does it work?” she asked, as he body still spun on a high from the orgasm. “Becoming your mate?”
“Mating is forever,” Devon said, kissing her shoulder.
“I know. Heath explained that part to me.” She thought he’d be annoyed that she’d mentioned his brother, but he didn’t even flinch. “Not all of it, though. Not how it happens. Everyone says that’s secret.”
“It is,” Devon said. “And if you don’t want to do it, you don’t have to.”
“You’re not listening,” she said, rolling over and facing him, tracing his jaw with her fingers. His beard was surprisingly soft. “I’m telling you I want to. I choose it.”
He was still for a moment, searching her face. “Are you sure?”
She stroked his beard again, taking in the beautiful lines of his cheekbones. “Are you still my wolf?”
“I’m always your wolf.”
“Then yes, I’m sure.”
“You want to stay here?” he asked. “In Shifter Falls?”
“Hell yes,” Nadine said. “I do.”
He smiled, and then he rolled her over onto her back, leaning over her. “It’s only sort of painful,” he said.
She felt her eyes go wide. “Painful?”
He kissed her collarbones, her shoulder. “I bite you,” he said. “The back of your neck.”
She thought about this. “Okay.”
“While I’m inside you.”
Her body woke up again at that, very interested. “Okay. That’s all?”
She felt his smile against her skin, the breath of his soft laugh. “That’s all. Roll over, Nadine Walker. You’re about to become an alpha werewolf’s mate.”
She thought they’d get right to it, but she should have known better. He got her ready first—so ready that by the time he finally slid into her, she was nearly begging. Then he went slow, torturing her, taking his time, until she was close, so close.
And when he bit her, it hurt, but the hurt mixed with the pleasure, and this time when the orgasm arched her body she thought it would tear her apart. But it didn’t, because an alpha werewolf’s mate—Devon Donovan
’s mate—was strong and unbreakable. Powerful. An alpha werewolf’s mate could withstand anything.
That was what she was now. She understood it at last. Not half of something, but herself, strong and whole. A woman bold enough to claim a werewolf who wanted her until the day he died. A woman, and a Donovan. She was pack.
Hours later, as they fell into an exhausted sleep—her wolf had a lot of stamina—she realized that for the first time in as long as she could remember, she was excited about waking up tomorrow.
It was time for her real life to begin.
25
“Hey,” Nadine said to the grizzly bear. “Wake up.”
It didn’t move.
She looked nervously up at the sky, which was rolling with thunder and threatening rain. She did not want to be out here when it started to pour. “Wake up,” she said again.
“His name’s Crandall,” Quinn Tucker said. “He lives on the south side of town with his mother. He must have been out drinking last night.”
The grizzly bear was massive, terrifying, and—it had to be said—wretchedly smelly. It was also in the middle of Shifter Falls’ only park, a grotty square in the middle of town that had mostly been used for drug and hooker deals until recently. The Donovans had tried to clean it up, and had put in a few slides and monkey bars for kids to play on. Quinn and Nadine had gotten a call that the bear was scaring the kids away.
The thing was, it—Crandall—was sound asleep. His massive bulk was curled in on itself, and he actually had one deadly, huge-clawed paw pressed over his nose. He was breathing deep and steady, unmoving.
“I don’t have to touch him, do I?” Nadine asked. “He stinks.”
“Maybe,” Quinn said. “You’re the chief of police, after all.”
“That isn’t fair,” Nadine shot back. “So are you. And you’re a bear. So I say you have to touch him.”
“Humans,” Quinn muttered, stepping forward.
This was how it worked now: Shifter Falls had two chiefs of police, one human and one shifter. It sounded like something that should be against the rules, but as Brody Donovan pointed out, he made the rules. And since Brody wanted Nadine on the force, and Quinn liked the idea, and his brothers all agreed, Brody had made it so. Nadine and Quinn were both chief of police, with equal powers and equal say—and the directive to get along. Or, as Brody had so eloquently put it, “You two fight and you’re both fucking fired.” At least with Brody you always knew where you stood.
But it was working. Nadine was happy to be a cop again, and Quinn had a natural talent for it and was easy to teach. With the human and shifter populations mixing in the Falls, it made things easier, and more peaceful, when each side was represented in the police. Nadine was better with the humans they came across, and Quinn was better with the shifters. Which was why Nadine stepped back and motioned for Quinn to deal with the sleeping bear.
Quinn grabbed Crandall’s big paw and jerked it off his nose. “Hey,” he said, rapping the bear on his snout and making him snort. “Get up. You’re scaring everyone.”
It was a weird sight, seeing a man—at least, someone in man form—poking a grizzly like he was trying to kill himself, but it barely struck Nadine at all. “He’s really hung over,” she commented.
Quinn put his palms on either side of Crandall’s nose and shook it. “Bears shouldn’t drink,” he said.
“That’s funny. I hear you got this job after you got drunk and got into a fight with your brother that destroyed half of Howell Street.”
Crandall finally opened his eyes, and Quinn shook him again, muttering something that sounded like “you hear too much.”
“I’m not sure I get it,” she went on, trying not to show amusement. “You get drunk and destroy property, and instead of being sent to jail you got made chief of police.”
The bear lifted his head, and Quinn stood back. “Yeah, well,” he said, “if I was in jail right now, I’d probably be having a nap. Instead I’m out here in the rain, trying to move this damn bear.” He looked at her. “Which do you think is the punishment?”
Nadine laughed. “Fine. I’ll leave you to it. I’m going to go find Devon.” Devon had been at a pack council meeting, but he should be finished now, which meant she got her werewolf back. Maybe she could convince him to have some X-rated fun for an hour. Their house wasn’t too far from here. He was usually easy to convince. She had ways.
“Don’t make out with him in our cruiser,” Quinn called after her, like he was reading her mind. It wasn’t very hard to read, she was sure. “I have to drive that thing, too. So just do not.”
She waved back at him over her shoulder. “I already made out with him in our office after hours,” she lied.
“That’s damn disgusting,” Quinn said. “Crandall, for God’s sake, get up and go home to your mother.”
Thunder rolled again, and Nadine drove quickly to City Hall, where she parked in the uneven lot. City Hall was a low, squat building, built sometime in the 1930s, when Shifter Falls—then Schaffer Falls—still had a mayor. The town hadn’t had a mayor in decades, since the Donovan clan alpha had made the mayor obsolete, but the building was still used from time to time, usually when the alpha wanted a large meeting that couldn’t be managed from a booth in the Four Spot.
The meeting was finished, and shifters were leaving the building, most of them nodding politely at Nadine. She was starting to recognize faces, names, remember which shifter was which animal. Wolves were the dominant animal in town, of course, followed by the bears, who mostly kept to themselves since bears weren’t really pack animals. But there were foxes, a handful of eagles, and a few owls, too. They all recognized Nadine as both chief of police and Devon Donovan’s mate, and the greetings they gave her were both respectful and friendly.
She spotted Anna, Ian’s mate, and Tessa, Heath’s mate, standing in the hallway, chatting. She had gotten to know the two women over the time she’d been in the Falls, and she liked them. On the surface, she didn’t have much in common with either—Anna was a brainy scholar, and Tessa was a beautiful blonde who ran a bar. But they were the only two people in the world who understood exactly what it meant to be a Donovan mate, and Nadine found that was enough. She liked and trusted both of them.
“They done?” she asked Anna and Tessa as the hallway emptied out.
Tessa nodded toward the closest door. “They’re in there,” she said. “Finishing up. Probably arguing while everyone else leaves.”
“A good bet,” Anna agreed. “It’s how they get things done.”
“How did the meeting go?” Nadine asked. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be there, but Quinn and I had a call.”
Anna and Tessa exchanged looks. “Let Devon tell you,” Anna said.
Nadine blinked. “Is it bad?”
Tessa shrugged, and Nadine knew she wouldn’t get anything else out of them. Whatever was going on, she needed to talk to Devon.
Brody came out of the room first. He looked serious—he always looked serious—but he tugged the bill of his cap at them in greeting. “Anna. Tessa. Nadine.” He kept walking, strolling off down the hall with his thumbs hooked in his pockets.
Tessa watched him go. “That man needs a mate,” she commented.
“I don’t know,” Anna said. “He seems to like being alone.”
“He lives in that big house in the woods outside of town,” Tessa said. “One man, all alone in that place year after year. It’s odd, don’t you think?”
“He hates company,” Nadine said. “I think he just sits alone in that house and broods.”
Tessa shook her head. “He needs Alison Masterson to go out there and show him what’s what. And have his babies.”
Anna and Nadine both laughed, but the word babies gave Nadine a jolt. She hadn’t thought about it until lately, but she was thirty-one, nearly thirty-two, and she had Devon. So she’d been thinking about it. She wondered if he had.
He was younger than her. And they were still new together. But if s
he brought it up… she wondered what he would say.
Heath came out next, running a hand through his dirty blond hair. He smiled easily when he saw the three women. “You’re all beautiful,” he commented, “but I pick this one.” He held out his hand for Tessa, and she took it. He slid his arm around her waist as they walked away. “Bye,” Tessa called to them over her shoulder.
Ian was next. He glanced politely at Nadine, but his gaze fixed on Anna. “Thank God that’s over,” he said to her as she walked to him, hooked an arm around his handsome neck, and kissed his cheek. “Nice,” he commented, his voice gruff but obviously pleased. “Let’s get out of here.”
They left, and Nadine turned to the doorway. Devon was standing there, leaning against the doorframe, watching her. He held a folded-up square of newspaper in one hand.
“Did they tell you?” he asked.
This was probably bad, but she still felt the shiver of happy excitement she got every time she looked at him. “They said you would tell me,” she replied. “I guess I should have come to this meeting.”
“We didn’t solve anything,” Devon said. “Not yet.” He pushed off the doorframe and came toward her, holding out the newspaper.
She unfolded it, and her stomach dropped.
It was yesterday’s issue of the Pierce Point Gazette, which still had an actual paper version every day. The headline read: Sheriff MacKenzie vows to keep the city safe from shifters. “Their days of terrorizing us are over!”
“This is crazy,” she murmured.
“Keep reading,” Devon said.
She scanned through the article. In recent weeks, shifters had been blamed for everything—missing pets, broken windows, strange noises in the woods. Any strange men seen in town were pulled aside as suspects. “I lived there for years,” Nadine said. “I was the sheriff. People weren’t like this.”