Joshua_The Whitfield Rancher_Erotic Tiger Shapeshifter Romance

by Kathi S. Barton

  “Any shifters?” Carter told him that was their next big game. “I don’t think so. I’m going to ask my brother to call the police. Do you know where Moody is?”

  “No. I can find him, but I don’t have him as yet.” Josh looked at Carter when she said his name. “He knows that you own a half-done house, and he’s going to take advantage of that and burn you out. That’s what he was going to do today, but was lost for some time before stumbling across the pack.”

  “Mother fuck.”

  He went to the deck and spoke to Evan. The house needed to be done now, not in a few weeks from now. Evan said he’d call in some favors and get it done. Carter stayed where she was, and that was when it occurred to him that she was holding the man somehow. He made his way back to her. “Are you hurting him? Please don’t. The police will need to talk to him, and I’d rather he was in jail then have to explain his death to them. Besides, the paperwork is hard to get filled out.”

  “He’ll be right here until they come for him.” Dylan asked her how she was doing that. “He believes himself to be chained there and cannot move. While we know better, he sees the chains wrapped around his arms and legs as if they are there. No matter what he does, he cannot break them to move.”

  Josh laughed. It really wasn’t all that funny, but Carter wasn’t doing anything other than fucking with the man’s mind. He asked her if she’d gotten her information from him, and could she make him tell the police the truth.

  “He will.”

  When she walked to the front of the house, he started to follow her when Grandda beat him to it. He knew that they were close and that Grandda really liked her, but he wasn’t sure what to do now. She was his mate, yes, but she was stronger than anything he’d ever encountered.

  Adrian moved close to him to speak quietly. “Josh, she knew he was coming and warned us. Then she made him think he was in trouble and couldn’t move. That’s one hell of a mind that she has there.” He nodded, still trying to wrap his mind around the fact that she’d lifted a truck like it was nothing at all. “Can you imagine what someone could do with her if she fell into the wrong hands? We need to keep her safe, and Rachel too. I have a feeling that if Rachel were hurt, all bets would be off on Carter using everything that she has.”

  The police arrived about five minutes later. No sooner than they walked toward the man, he was telling them why he’d been in the woods, what his plan had been about Josh’s house, and that he’d had a gun, but a wolf had taken it.

  Josh went to find Carter. She was sitting on the porch steps. Grandda was in the rocker, and when he saw him, Grandda waved at him, telling him he was going to clean up for dinner, and left them there. Sitting next to her but far enough away so that he’d not brush against her just yet, he looked to where she was looking and saw the two wolves standing there, as if on guard.

  “My parents are coming here. They’re going to take...they were going to take Rachel to try and bring me in line to go with them. They’ve sold me to somebody at a lab that wants to study me. But there are others too. A man in the Army wants me for himself to use as a weapon.” He asked her if she knew names. “I do. They don’t know about the other. My parents have sold me to three different people for just over three million dollars. However, they’re broke.”

  “You said that they were going to take your sister. I’m assuming that something has changed, and they no longer take her.” She said it was him. “I save her? Or my family does?”

  “They take you, I think. Their names are Lee and Hazel Compton. They’ll be responsible for several deaths before getting here. I can’t stop them from killing them. I’ve learned that if I intercede, the person dies anyway. The only thing I can do is give the victims information that they can heed or not. Most of the time, in my experience, they don’t. I’m going to kill them, both my parents, I hope. Before they get to anyone here.” He asked her if she could see her own future. “No, and not yours either. I can see my sister’s now, and they no longer take her. I’m assuming, and probably correctly so, that they’ll take you, as I said. I can see the rest of your family, but not ours. I can’t be your mate, Josh. You have to know that I’m not right.”

  “You keep saying that, but I don’t understand it any more than I did the first time you said it. Perhaps you can tell me why you can do this. Did someone do this to you, or were you born with these abilities? And I know that you were in prison, but I’m thinking that you could have left at any time you wished.”

  “I did, several times, but I always came back. I needed to protect my sister, and sometimes I’d have to be there to do so.” He nodded, sure that there was more to it than her just helping her sister. “I was born this way. When I was just a kid, I would bring myself food and some for Rachel. She never knew, of course, but I tried very hard to keep us from being hurt too much by our parents. Then when she moved out, I thought she’d be safe for a while, that I could move out as well. But Mom caught me moving something, and after that, it wasn’t an easy life for me. They had me helping them on all manner of things. Stealing things like food when they wanted it. The newspapers too. Never anything big, because they didn’t have any idea how strong I’d gotten. In prison, I practiced until I was where I am now. I was in prison because of them. They robbed the bank. I had nothing to do with it, you have to believe me on that. I’d been celebrating my birthday when I was arrested. And when they disappeared, I was blamed for the entire thing, even though I hadn’t been near the bank.”

  “Then why did they think that you did this?” She lifted her hand up, and he watched as things, shapes he couldn’t make out, danced there. When he saw her parents in what he assumed was the bank, they were dropping hair from a brush and leaving behind some of her clothing. “So they made it look as if you had robbed the bank by doing that. Your parents are bastards; you know this, don’t you?”

  “Yes.” She stood up and so did he. While she walked around, looking at the yard, he tried to think of what he could do to help her. Nothing, came to his mind. She was just what the Army wanted her for, a weapon. “You can understand now, can’t you? Why this won’t work for us.”

  “No, I don’t. We’ll have some things to work out between us. Like this no touching rule that you have.” He was going for humor, but he thought it was lost on her. “I’m a very patient man, Carter. And I’m going to do everything I can to help you with this. I might not have wanted a mate right now, but you’re here, and I’m going to help you in any way that I can so that you don’t get hurt either.”

  “I could kill you.” He said that she could and asked her if she wanted to. “No. You have a good heart, and nothing untoward in your head. You’re sick of your job, but you’ve taken care that you can have some time to yourself. If we come together, and I’m not saying that we should, you’ll have to make adjustments to your life. And I know that you aren’t that easy to have change in your life.”

  “No, not usually. But this is important. To us both.” She turned and looked at him. “I would like nothing more than to touch you. Your skin looks to be so soft and inviting. But I don’t want to hurt you in anyway. I’m not even sure why you don’t want someone to touch you.”

  “I can get all that you have in your mind. Things that you more than likely don’t want me to know.” He touched his fingers to her cheek and she closed her eyes. “It’s been so long since anyone touched me. I’ve missed it more than I thought I would. I kept telling myself I was better off, but this, this feels like heaven to me. I beg of you, don’t let me go just yet, please?”

  “I won’t.” Josh wanted to kiss her, but he didn’t. His cat seemed to be content with just touching her this way as well. And when she looked at him, Josh pulled her into his arms and held her against his body. It was the best sensation that he’d ever had. “You’re very warm. Warmer than I thought for this time of year. And you’re too thin. I would imagine that I’d be as well had I only prison food to eat.”

  He was babbling, but didn’t care.
He was holding her, and that made him and his cat content for now. She was wounded, their mate, and they both knew that anything that they did or said right now would set the tone for their relationship. When she pulled back and looked up at him, he stared into her clear blue eyes and saw her fear mirrored back at him. He was afraid for her, not of her.

  “No one will hurt you.” She nodded, but didn’t say anything as he continued. “I might get hurt, but it’ll be to try and keep you safe. And your sister. Though I think she’s a good deal stronger than she lets on. And you’re very strong. But I’ll be there for both of you, forever now.”

  “If you do, then you’ll die.” He nodded, and started to tell her so long as she was safe it mattered little to him. But Evan came around the corner of the house and asked if they were hungry.

  “We’re coming. Thanks.” He didn’t let her go just yet but did ask her if she was sure about that. That he would die if they stayed together. She told him that she wasn’t sure of anything concerning him. “Then we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Until then, I’ll try to learn that you’re stronger than me, and more than likely able to take on someone that I’d not be able to handle. As a tiger, that’s the best I can give you for now. We’re a manly sort of being, and I’m not sure how good I’ll be at stepping out of your way. But I will try. For you.”

  Josh held her hand as they made their way back to the dining room. He was also glad to see that someone had adjusted the plates and chairs around so that she could sit next to him. Nothing was clear to him yet, what was happening, what else she could do, but he knew one thing for sure—he was thrilled to death to have her there. Despite what he had said to his brother.

  Everyone spoke more quietly than they normally did. There was still a lot of shouting and talking over each other, but she ate, and that was important too. Josh knew that he had his work cut out for him with her. And then there was the added problems of Langley coming, as well as Carter’s parents. But one day at a time, one issue at a time too. He just hoped that he got his house finished before anyone else came around to burn it down. Otherwise the two of them would be spending the rest of their lives in the camper that his parents had loaned him.

  Chapter 3

  Waldo Moody, otherwise known as Sheppard to the people of the town he’d been about to buy out, wasn’t happy with the way things were going. First of all, two of his hunters had backed out of the last hunt and had demanded their money back. He’d not forked it over, of course. All deals were final, he told them. And now they were threatening him with exposure. Like that was going to bother him. No one knew anything about him, and that’s the way he liked it.

  “Bloom has been arrested. And from what I’ve heard, he’s telling them whatever they want to know. Even things that I’m sure that they don’t ask. I’ve tried to get in to see him, but that’s a no go. He admitted to trying to burn out the other property you wanted, and now they’ll be all over that.” Waldo asked Tommy where he was. “Your favorite little town. Apparently, he’d been caught snooping around some of that property that you wanted and got caught. I’m not sure how they managed it, but he’s now sitting in their jail, and has lawyered up with some public defender.”

  “He has to go. Take care of that.” Tommy told him that he had a man on it now. “Good. Any more news on that land out there with the house on it? I’m telling you, that’s is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Flat enough that they can see the prey, and there are enough trees on it so that the little bastards can hide out too. Perfect. When did that guy buy it up?”

  “He didn’t. The land belongs to his parents, who gifted it to him about a year ago. He’s been working on the house since then. It’s state of the art too, from what I could find out about it. He’s living in a camper next to the house until he can move in.” Waldo asked him what he was going to do about that. “Again, I have someone on it. You should know that the Whitfields are a big name around these parts. Just to hear someone talk about them, you’d swear that they must walk on water. And they’re very rich.”

  “How rich? As a whole, just what am I up against here? And what’s it going to take to get him off my land?” He told him the figure that he’d been able to get. “Christ, that’s a fucking ton of money. And you said something about one of them that carries a weapon. Do you know why she is? I mean, is she a dyke or something?”

  “No, not that I’ve heard. She is married to one of the Whitfields. They have a couple of kids. Teenagers that I couldn’t get to even if I wanted.” Waldo asked him why not. “They’re guarded better than anyone that I’ve been up against. And they don’t any of them have a set schedule either. It’s like they know that we’re trying to get to them and are being covert. I’d say someone had training in that, but none of the men have served in any armed forces. This woman has something to do with it, but I’ve not been able to find out much about her other than she’s a rule breaker. Not the kind of person that I like to go up against without plenty of fire power.”

  “Adrian Whitfield—I saw some posters about him running for office. Do we think he could use some extra votes that we can provide for him? Give him an edge that the other man doesn’t have?” Tommy told him what he knew. “That’s not possible. You mean to tell me that he’s running unopposed, because he’s doing such a good job that no one wants to run against him?”

  “That’s what I heard. He’s really this nice sap. Helped get the schools back in order when the last mayor hadn’t. He and his family run all kinds of things in town, own most of it as well. The one you want, Joshua? He just took a leave of absence from his job to get his home in order. They’re clean, not a single skeleton in any of their closets.” Waldo asked about the women. “Sunshine Whitfield. She’s a big-time reporter that does some of that exposé shit that you hate. Where she goes in and gets dirt on the person running a less than legal operation. Then she goes to the newspaper and runs this tell all. It runs in more than the local too—she’s international. An independent that gets her man, so they say. And on her last job she exposed all kinds of shit going down that was supposed to have gotten her nearly killed. They bounce back better than a fucking cat would.”

  “What about the other one; what can you tell me about her? Other than she’s this woman that carries and you’re afraid of her.” He said nothing. “There has to be something. Does she work? Is there any bad credit on her record?”

  “I don’t know. I kid you not, Waldo, she’s just gone off the rails or something. If I’d have not seen her, I’d swear that she wasn’t a real person. There was a report about her from a while back, how she was this war hero or something like that. Then nothing. Not anything about having those kids or what she’s doing. There isn’t a record of her ever having a driver’s license, a bank account, or even a fucking library card. She doesn’t exist, as far as I can find out.”

  “What is it about this family that makes it so damned difficult to get one of them to deal with me? I tried to be nice about this, and they didn’t want that. What is it about them that makes them untouchable?” Tommy said he was still digging, but so far nothing. “If you can’t find anything, then make it up. I can run a smear campaign as easily as I can anything else. And this might hurt their boy running for office so much that they’ll know I mean business.”

  “I’ll get on that.” Tommy was headed out the door when he called him back. When he was seated again, Waldo asked him about the next hunting trip. “We’ve had those two back out, and they’re making a stink, so you know. But this morning when I checked the reservations, two more have quit us. Neither of them gave a reason, and neither of them asked for a refund. I have a feeling this is going to get worse before it gets better. You might not need the land if this keeps up.”

  When he left, Waldo pulled out the map of the area that he’d had printed at the bursar’s office. He wished now that he’d paid the extra money to get the one with the names on them. It would have made things slightly better for him in looking them up.
He looked at the land that he had a pending sale on and was just thinking about the small ten-acre plot when his phone rang. Picking it up, he just said hello but nothing more.

  “The bid that you have on the land out on Forty has been declined.” Waldo asked him what had happened. “Well, you knew it was going to the highest bidder—we needed it off the books. So that’s what we did, took the highest bidder. You weren’t even in the same ball park.”

  “Can you tell me who won the bid? Perhaps I can persuade them to sell it to me for a profit.” The man told him he doubted that the winner would sell. “And why not? Who doesn’t like to make a little extra in a deal like this?”

  “The Whitfields purchased it because it butted up against their land. They own quite a bit of it too. I’m thinking that they’ll not sell it because of that. You can try, but I’m telling you right now, they probably won’t take you up on your offer.” Waldo asked which one bought it. “They all did. That’s how they do business. They buy it as a family, then when one of them wants it or they have to build on it, whoever needs it just gets it given to them. They’re a good family. Not just to each other, but to everyone they encounter. Until you piss them off—then all bets are off with them. You’ll likely never know what hit you when they come after you.”

  They were quickly becoming a pain in his ass was what they were. When he hung up with the man, he sat there in his chair thinking about the shit that was going on right now. The fact that he was losing hunters didn’t bother him overly much. He could keep the money, and did, but they’d never be able to hunt with him again. But there was too much going on right now to not think that something was going on behind the scenes. Just what, he had no idea. But he’d find out, and soon too.