She turned to find Titan studying her with an intense look. The hairs on her arms stood. He sure seemed much more than a normal animal. Perhaps it was because he was a wolf, an undiluted predator. She shook off the feeling and rushed for the stairs. Conner’s concern made her antsy and she wanted to be moving to burn off the excess nervous tension.
Chapter Nine
“Cammie? It’s Conner. Come let me in, darlin’.” She stood just inside the kitchen, breathing hard. She’d heard the vehicle coming down her driveway minutes before, and had watched Titan become more and more agitated. He’d stalked from the door to her repeatedly, growling deep in his chest. The noise put her nerves on edge and made her wish she didn’t live so far out in the woods.
As soon as the truck came into view she’d let her breath out, relief flooding her system. She knew Conner’s vehicle from watching him drive by her office window. She’d tried to calm Titan but he was still wired and snarling.
“Give me a minute,” she called. She squatted and looked into the wild eyes of her wolf. She whispered and stroked his head. “I know you aren’t going to be happy, but I’m closing you in the kitchen so you don’t attack Conner.”
She stood quickly and pulled the kitchen door shut. The surprised look that crossed his face was comical. He immediately started growling through the door and she was glad she got it shut before he’d pushed into the laundry room with her. She walked the couple of steps to the door and opened it, pasting the best smile she could on her lips.
“Hey, Conner. Thanks for coming out. Why don’t we sit out here?” She ushered the sheriff to one of the chairs on her porch. He was dusting off his uniform pants with his hat as she opened the door. His dark eyes took in her injuries with an intensity she didn’t like having directed at her. “Do you want something to drink?”
“No, that’s fine. Don’t take this the wrong way, but you look like you’ve gone through a meat grinder.” He quirked a brow in question and sniffed. A scowl scrunched his brows and he tipped his head enough to see around her into the house. He looked like he wanted to ask something, but turned and headed to the proffered chair. “I didn’t know you had a dog.”
She trailed him and took the chair next to him. Her hands clenched in her lap as she struggled to sit still while he stared at her with a mixture of concern and pity. She really didn’t want to explain everything had happened. Why had she called him? Should she tell him about Titan? Would he try to take the wolf from her when he left? Maybe she should have called Margie to come sit with her while she talked to Conner. If he was friends with Ron then she was sitting outside with someone who could hurt her. Or worse, take her to him.
A slight touch on her knee jerked her from her thoughts. “All right, Cam. I can see you’ve been through a lot recently. Want to tell me about it?” With a practiced move he removed a small notebook from his front pocket and unclipped a pen from his shirt. She watched him flip through pages of notes until he reached a blank sheet.
She took a deep breath and looked out over the small yard, focusing on one of the large maples that bordered it. She tried to still the shaking of her hands by clasping them together in her lap. Starting at the beginning was going to be painful, but she owed it to herself to get it all out. A deep sigh fortified her nerves enough to open her mouth and let the first sentences tumble out of her numb lips.
She explained Ron’s courtship of her, how he treated her so well in the beginning. She tried not to pay attention to the scratching of the pen on the paper as he scribbled notes as she talked. Cammie relived the first attack, the one brought on by her purchase of lite beer instead of the regular. She felt the impact of his palm on her cheek and the sound of it cracking through the silence in his kitchen.
Her cackle completely lacked humor. “The ass had the audacity to tell me that he wouldn’t have hit me, but he wanted to set an example for something small so I understood my place. What the hell was I thinking staying with him after that?”
“Hon, you know that I don’t blame you, so you shouldn’t blame yourself. He is trouble. Ron has been a problem for years, and it just sounds like you were the last in the long line of women he found who would put up with his shit.”
She knew that in her head, but her heart wasn’t so forgiving. She’d allowed a man not only to demean her more than once but she’d let him strike and bruise her. What the hell was wrong with her that she’d permit something like that? She was the first one to scoff at women who repeatedly went back to an abuser. Now, she found herself sitting with the sheriff, talking through her inability to act appropriately during multiple instances of abuse. Her head dropped into her hands and she almost reveled in the slight pain from her black eye and bruised face as she pressed it into her palms.
“Cammie. Keep going. What happened today?” She glanced over at Connor and cringed at the pure pity shining in his eyes.
She looked away and stared out into the trees again. She didn’t need his pity. She felt bad enough for everyone. “Last night I drove to Ron’s house. We were going to just hang out, or that’s what he told me. When I got there he was already drunk off his ass. He started yelling about nothing particular, ranting and raving. When he came at me with a miniature bat I panicked. I grabbed the first thing I could, which happened to be a broom. In the fight I got hit a few times. I whacked him over the head with the broomstick, and, well, knocked him out.”
The memory of the drive home, getting hit by Titan, and the struggle to get the poor baby into her car brought a tired smile to her lips. She shook her head. It was pretty sad that something so traumatic was almost a nice memory. “I knew that wouldn’t be the end of it, but I didn’t expect him to show up here and try to kill me. He came in and chased me around the house. When we made it into the kitchen he threw me around, and if Titan wasn’t here I’d probably be dead.”
“Who’s Titan?”
She’d forgotten she was telling her story to Connor. The memories had been so vivid that she was stuck living them again, wincing with the phantom feel of hard flesh striking her. She turned to the sheriff slowly, letting the images bleed from her mind before meeting his eyes. “The wolf inside my house is Titan. He hit my car last night while I was driving home from Ron’s. If he hadn’t come in and attacked Ron in my kitchen I’d be gone. I saw it in his eyes. Ron was going to beat me until I wasn’t breathing anymore.”
She’d tried so hard to keep her voice level throughout the story, but a sob escaped when she uttered the last sentence.
“All right. Just stay calm. He can’t hurt you now.” Connor moved in the chair and reached toward her, but her jerking away from his hand made him stop. Slowly the hand dropped back into his lap. A look close to rage crossed his face. “Cammie, you’re going to press charges, right? You aren’t just telling me this story to warn me or some other horse shit.”
“I don’t know what I was thinking, actually. I know that he is pissed. He threatened to come back and kill Titan. The problem is that I will eventually be alone again. Once I find Titan’s owner I’ll be out here by myself. I can’t carry my gun with me everywhere.” She sighed. “I’m scared, but I don’t know what I can do about it.”
“Let’s chat about this wolf for a minute. Tell me that story, because honestly, hon, I find it hard to believe that you found a wolf and he not only hit your car, but then protected you in your house. You don’t think he might just be someone’s dog, do you?”
“No. I had Margie out here last night and she confirmed it. He was wearing a bandana, so I know someone owns him. He ran into my car enough to leave the dent you see on the passenger side door,” she said, pointing to the sizable dent in her car. “I got him in the back of my car and drove him here. Even in horrible pain he never lashed out at either of us.”
“And you trusted him to stay in your house? Cammie. Shit. You’re lucky he didn’t attack you or something.”
“I trust him. He even slept upstairs last night, and I felt safer with him in the room wi
th me.” She watched shock and a mix of humor and wariness cross his face.
“You let him sleep upstairs with you? Really?” Connor craned his neck around and grinned while looking through the front window into the house. She thought she heard a growl from inside. “Did you make him sleep in the hall?”
“Well, honestly I tried, but he ended up sleeping in my room on the floor.” She chuckled, remembering how she woke this morning with her wolf on her bed.
“Can I meet him? I love dogs and I haven’t seen a pet wolf in a long time.” There was something with his voice, but she couldn’t put her finger on it.
“Sure. Hang on and I’ll bring him out.” She rose to let Titan out, hoping he behaved and didn’t attack the sheriff. He’d probably shoot the animal if that happened and, no matter, what she didn’t want to see the wolf harmed. He’d helped her both emotionally and physically more in the last twenty-four hours than anyone had in years. She knew she was becoming attached to him, but who wouldn’t when he was the only living thing that had defended her in spite of his own injuries?
Chapter Ten
Ian was pissed. His wolf was beside himself. Being shut inside the house while Cammie chatted with the coyote was almost too much for him. The urge to burst through her window and corner the scavenger pushed against his will. He tried to keep the growls from erupting from his chest, but a few made it through his tightened throat. He could feel his control slipping while he paced behind the window, each sentence she uttered brought him closer to giving into his animal. Hackles were raised, teeth bared, and ears pressed against his skull.
“Titan? Baby where are you? Come out and meet my friend.”
Cammie’s voice did what nothing else seemed to do. Ian finally could feel the grip of anger release its talons from his chest. He pulled a deep breath into his large lungs, trotting into the kitchen. He was trying to keep his animal’s response to smelling another shifter on her from overwhelming the tenuous hold he had on his control.
The anger that had so recently loosened its grip on his muscles started to build again. Another male had touched her hand and his scent wafted off of her, teasing his nose. Mine. That thought stopped him and cooled his anger. What the hell was his animal thinking? She wasn’t his, and couldn’t be his without some shifting and talking. She still had no idea that she was helping a sentient being instead of a plain old wolf. Until he could shift back to his human skin he couldn’t do anything but act as her protector.
He shook his head and tried to push his thoughts through to his animal side. The wolf wanted nothing to do with it. The possessiveness that the animal was feeling was deeply seated already.
He rounded the corner and almost yipped with happiness. Cammie stood, smiling, in the doorway. Sunlight wrapped around her like an aura of glowing peace. No wonder his wolf had it in his head that she was theirs. She was prefect and drew him so strongly in both forms that he had a tough time keeping from wanting her as his mate.
“Come on. Come out and meet a friend of mine. You better be a good boy and not bite him, though. He isn’t like Ron.” While she spoke she’d been walking slowly backward. Ian would have laughed if he was in his human skin. She was drawing him to her with her voice and didn’t even realize what she was doing. She crooned to him in a voice he wanted to hear her use while they had mind-blowing sex. “Come out here with me, Titan. What a good boy you are.”
The moment Ian caught sight of Connor every instinct fired at once. He found himself growling, teeth bared, between the scavenger and his female. His hackles were raised so far they felt almost painful. Each breath in and out of his lungs rumbled low in his chest. A snarl erupted fiercely between his lips when the other male moved suddenly on the chair. A small, feminine hand wound through his fur. Even with anger and rage coursing through his body he recognized Cammie. Her presence at his side calmed him slightly and he could finally concentrate on what she was saying.
“Shh, Titan, stop it. He isn’t going to hurt me. You need to back down before Connor shoots you or something.” She tugged lightly on his fur and he took a step back from the male. “Please, baby. Stop growling like that. You’re starting to scare me.”
That last statement was the piece that gave him control. There was no way he wanted her to fear him, and if he didn’t get a grip over the wolf, her fear would cause her to stop trusting him. He forced his lips back down over his teeth and he took another step back from the coyote. A few deep breaths helped calm his wolf. The other male wasn’t exuding any signs of fear or lust after Cammie.
“Good boy.” She bent and whispered into his ear. Her words tickled the hairs along his neck. He took the moment to quickly turn his head and swipe his tongue along her jaw. She shoved him away, giggling. The sound of her laughter loosened his anger a little further. He wanted her happy, and if that meant backing off from the other shifter then he would do so.
“Well, he is a fierce one, huh? Cam, you really think it’s wise to keep him in the house with you? I mean, really… Look at him.” Connor’s tenor brushed against Ian’s mind like fingernails on a chalkboard. From the look the other male was giving him, the coyote knew Ian was a shifter in his animal form. Fucker was trying to talk Cammie out of keeping him around. A growl rolled from his chest.
“He’s only acting this way because Ron nearly killed me. Titan is a good boy and saved my life. There is no way I’m making him sleep outside.” Calming strokes of her hand through his fur brought a silent snarl to his lips. See, you ass, she’s mine and she wants me around.
“Cammie, do you mind if I have a glass of water or something? All this talking has made me dry.”
“Sure. I’ll be right back.” She squatted and spoke into Ian’s fuzzy ear. “You be good.” Both males watched her walk into the house. The moment she was out of earshot the sheriff bent forward and growled. “What the fuck are you doing here, dog?”
Ian couldn’t help it. He pulled back his lips and snarled.
“Can you shift?”
Ian shook his shaggy head.
“Was Ron really going to kill her?”
A nod.
“Are you getting attached to Cammie, here?”
Another nod.
“Good. She needs someone to watch out for her, even if it is you. When you can shift again, which shouldn’t be too long, you will call me and discuss this whole thing with me.”
Ian nodded once more, just as Cammie came through the door. She looked between them with a comical expression on her face. He could just imagine how it looked. Connor was bent over, whispering to a wolf, who was sitting with his head cocked to the side as if he was listening. Without knowledge of shifters, it definitely would look interesting. He chuffed and caught the answering grin from the coyote.
“Well, I see you guys have made up.” She handed a glass of iced tea to Connor. “What should I be doing now? Do I need to file some sort of restraining order, or something?”
Ian watched the other male and felt a sense of relief when a flash of anger crossed his face. Even if he was born a scavenger, this male seemed to feel the same sense of outrage at Cammie’s injuries. That would make him a good ally. Maybe.
* * * * *
Cammie shook her head. She’d walked out of the house and found the sheriff staring at her wolfy friend as if they were conversing. They’d been intent on each other enough to not respond immediately to her presence.
Nothing about this place had ever seemed normal. This wasn’t the first time she’d seen someone chatting with an animal. The first instance happened the first day she arrived in town. She’d stopped at the gas station to fill her car and found the attendant chatting away to a very wild looking dog. He’d mumbled something about humans invading and then had yelped when the dog nipped his leg.
If she was the fanciful type it would have looked like the animal was admonishing the man for saying something rude. But she wasn’t into imagining anything silly like that. Yes, she liked reading about shifters and werewolves, but
in reality everyone was just quirky and strange. Since then she’d seen more than one person chatting with an animal. Mostly they talked with dogs that looked remarkably like coyotes. There must be something on this mountain about having wild animals as pets. She shrugged and brought her thoughts back to the present.
“So, what do I do?” She needed to get this thing with Ron behind her, but his determination scared her.
“I’d suggest moving in with someone else for a few days, but from the scowl you’re aiming at me I guess you won’t listen to that. If you won’t leave your house, then keep the wolf close. I’m hoping Ron isn’t stupid enough to come back, but he seems more fixated on you than the other women he’s hooked up with. It’s probably because you fought back.” She watched him run nervous hands through his hair before he focused an intense gaze on her face. “I’m going over there to talk to him, and I’m hoping he’ll attack me so I can throw him in jail for the night. I’m opening an investigation, and will definitely take him into custody as soon as I have enough evidence to hold him. The problem will be that it’s your word against his, and, well, from the sounds of it you’ve given him enough injuries that I’d have to take both of you in until it was figured out.”
A sickening thought crossed her mind. “He could file charges against me, couldn’t he?”
“I’m sorry, Cam, but yeah. If he wants to he could try to get you in trouble. I really would like another human around you for a while in case he comes back. Then you can have someone else to testify against him.”
“I can’t do that. I’m finally getting settled here. Who am I going to inconvenience with this shit, huh? You? Margie? That isn’t fair to anyone I know.” She could feel the helplessness swamping her. She needed to get the sheriff out of her hair so she could curl up and cry. “For now I’m going to stay here and keep the gun handy. I’m not letting him hurt me again, Connor. I just can’t. If he attacks me I’m shooting his ass.”
Accidentally Yours (Coyote Bluff Series Book 1) Page 8