Taking It Off for the Coyote

by Serenity Snow

  “Where is she now? Still in witness protection?”

  “Our deaths were faked. We are dead for all intents and purposes,” she murmured. “My grandmother was killed two years ago, but it wasn’t anything related to our past.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that,” she said. “What about other relatives?”

  “Oh, I’ve seen my cousin a few times.” Cambrie smiled. “Turn up here.”

  Sydney took the turn.

  “I’m in the duplex,” she said. Her cousin had helped her get the place since she didn’t have any references and the lady renting it out had insisted on knowing something more about her than her name. “What about your family?”

  “I’m an orphan too,” Sydney answered quietly and pulled into the driveway. The wide porch was a shared one with a couple of Adirondack chairs and a small weather worn table between them.

  Sydney cut the engine and she rolled the pain lacing the words over in mind. Sydney knew what it was like to lose and to ache for the love and common ties shared between family members. Cousins and grandmothers were great, but they weren’t the parents who shared her DNA and some of her quirks.

  “How old were you?” She released her seatbelt and faced Sydney.

  “I was a teen like you, and my uncle here took me in.” Sydney met her gaze.

  “Snowbury seems like a nice town,” Cambrie said softly. “I’ve been thinking of sticking around.”

  “You’re nomadic?”

  “Sort of.” She shrugged. “My grandmother’s loss was hard on me.” Patty had killed her grandmother to ensure Patty alone had Cambrie’s attention. She didn’t think Sydney would ever be that cruelly possessive.

  “So you just travel around to avoid dealing with the pain? How’s that working out for you?”

  Cambrie turned her head looking out to the porch. She’d had no choice once she’d escaped Patty. And she’d spent many nights alone and angry. She wanted nothing more than to make a stand here in the state where her life had begun.

  Cambrie knew she had the ability to defend herself against a small pack, but not one as large as Patty’s.

  “It’s had its moments,” she said and a ghost of a smile flirted with her lips. “But I’m not hiding from pain, Sydney.” No. She’d dealt with that and the self-recriminations long ago. “What are you hiding from?”

  “I’m not,” she said in a steely tone.

  Cambrie leaned toward her. “Only part of you is afraid of me then? The other part loves flirting with me because you want me more than you want to run from me, right?” she murmured.

  “Cambrie,” Sydney said in warning.

  “You do want me? At least tell me that. I’ll know whether to keep pursuing you or walk away.”

  Sydney looked away and indecision ran through her. If the woman had to think about it, there was her answer.

  Cambrie climbed from the truck and headed up to her door. Removing her key, she heard the vehicle door close and unlocked her door. Cambrie stepped inside quickly but left the door ajar so Sydney could leave her bag without fear of having to speak to her again tonight.

  Cambrie turned on the lights casting a white glow around the small living area casually outfitted with a loveseat and two chairs. They’d come with the place, but the slipcover in purple and the throw pillows were her additions. She traveled light, but dreamed of having a home again and a woman who loved her to share it with.

  “Do you always ask questions you don’t want answers to?” Sydney asked from behind her.

  Cambrie faced her standing in the middle of the room now. The short cut accentuated the high cheekbones and full lips that drew her eyes and made her long to feel those lips against hers. Sydney’s eyes were almost the brown of melted chocolate, and her jaw was strong and angular. The russet shade of her skin was more copper as if kissed by the sun.

  Sydney was so damned beautiful and she didn’t even seem to know it or care. But there was something beneath the beauty that drew her. Not the animal, though she loved the seductive feel of its energy when Sydney looked her.

  Maybe it was the bad girl image that turned her on. “Not normally, but you didn’t seem inclined to answer.” She shrugged, drinking in Sydney’s gorgeous eyes. There was just a hint of vulnerability in them that told her Sydney was just as afraid of getting hurt. “Thanks for the ride. Calling for a cab would have been a pain.”

  Sydney dropped the bag next to the door. “I’m not like the women you’ve known, Cambrie,” she said as she advanced.

  “I hope not,” she murmured, looking up. Sydney was all of five-foot-eleven inches with enough curves emphasize her femininity.

  “Going out with me could be more than you bargained for,” Sydney said softly and it sounded more like a challenge that Cambrie couldn’t resist.

  Cambrie smiled. “Same here.” She was a freak, and she knew it. But the psychic power was her norm, and she longed for a woman who could accept her without despising or fearing her for it. Sydney could be that woman. She knew what it was like to be different. “But it’s a date not a lifetime commitment.”

  Sydney reached out, cupping her jaw. “You don’t know how wrong you could turn out to be.”

  There was worry in Sydney’s eyes and maybe it was there because Sydney knew someone was after. She was more worried about that than them becoming mates.

  Mates?

  Yes, it did make sense that they could be makes and the connection had already formed between them. That would explain why she needed to be with Sydney, couldn’t take no for an answer when Sydney was clearly hesitant about getting involve with her.

  “I’m not afraid,” she murmured leaning closer to Sydney. Cambrie brushed her lips over Sydney’s but made no attempt to take it further. She savored the feel of soft skin on soft skin, and Sydney’s slightly calloused hand on her face.

  The soft kiss took her breath away and butterflies fluttered in her stomach even as Sydney’s lips left hers moving along her jaw to the side of her neck. Sharp teeth grazed her while firm hands glided over her arms to rest on her waist.

  “What are you doing for breakfast tomorrow?” Sydney asked in her ear.

  Cambrie opened her eyes to look into Sydney’s dark ones. Passion and heat raged in her depths despite the calm of her tone. “Sleeping, baby, but lunch would be good. Twelve?”

  Sydney shrugged. “I’ll pick you up then.” Her fingers drifted slowly down Cambrie’s jaw to the side of her neck. Electricity sparked on her skin from the caress, tightening her stomach and stealing her breath.

  “See that wasn’t so hard was it?” Cambrie asked breathlessly.

  Sydney chuckled and withdrew her hand. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  “I can’t wait.” Cambrie grinned and followed Sydney to the door. “Why don’t you stay for a drink?”

  Sydney shook her head. “I can’t. Why don’t we do it tomorrow?”

  She nodded and she understood. They’d have so much more than drinks. “That works.”

  Sydney pulled open the door. “Good night, Cambrie.”

  “Night.” She closed the door and leaned against it grinning. “Mine.”

  Chapter Eight

  Sydney stepped outside of Cambrie’s apartment and tilted her head back to draw in the air. Tonight’s attack on her had been too damned strange for her liking. Nothing she’d found on Cambrie indicated she was anything other than a wanderer. So why had she been attacked?

  Connie was a regular at the club, and she’d never done anything so stupid. As she headed to her truck Sydney tugged her phone from the pocket of her khaki pants and tapped in the number of a packmate.

  “What’s up with Connie?”

  “She’s at home. Do you want me to watch on her all night?”

  “Just for another three or four hours.” She closed the door to her truck.

  “Don’t you think you’re overreacting?” Brynn asked. “She grabbed the girl—”

  “She jerked her off the stage,” Sydney snarled. Her
coyote was still furious over the wolf’s attack and wanted the blood it had a right to. “Then she slashed Cambrie with her claws putting us all at risk of exposure not to mention putting the club in danger of being sued.”

  “How is she?” Brynn asked evenly.

  They all took the dancers safety seriously because a single accident could bring the shifter community into the harsh light of human eyes. That was something none of them wanted.

  “She seems fine. Anyway, this doesn’t feel right, so keep your eyes peeled.”

  “Why would anyone attack her? How could you have missed any problems in her background after what just happened?” Brynn demanded.

  “I didn’t miss anything,” Sydney snarled and ended the call.

  She hadn’t missed anything in Sam’s mate’s background. Adalyn had been very meticulous and careful which had made her even more careful in vetting all dancers who’d come after Adalyn.

  She hadn’t missed anything that was there to find, and Cambrie had been open when they’d talked tonight. She’d check out what she’d told her and watch the situation to see what came next.

  ****

  The next morning Patty sat in the small dining room with coffee and croissants. The morning paper spread out before her, and her mind drifting to the scheduled meetings for today. She wanted to take over Gray Tail soon so she could begin her next move on Snow Fur.

  Everything she did now depended on the event before it, but she wasn’t going to quit even if one phase had to be reinvented or aborted. She’d come too far now to change her mind. Once Patty was done here, she’d destroy the pack that disowned her after her parents’ failure.

  She would have healed in the pack’s care, but they’d savaged both her and her heart. She wasn’t the woman she would have been, even without her parents, had the pack’s new alpha not ordered her death.

  “Good morning, alpha,” Sorrento said in a respectful tone.

  “Last night?” she asked not bothering to look up from the paper.

  “The right-hand, his wife, and son are dead,” Sorrento told her. “I had Oaklyn kill the wife as a show of good faith.”

  She smiled approvingly. “Well done. What about Spring’s lover?”

  “She’s still alive,” he said. “Spring and the other bouncer moved faster than expected. And the girl was healed completely by their healer.”

  “Then, make sure she dies soon,” Patty told him coldly.

  “I propose we eliminate Connie as well. We can’t truly trust her to stay silent and the wolves will be all over the coyotes,” Sorrento said. “Have Darden take care of it,” she said. She didn’t need distractions or loose ends.

  “Darden won’t be happy.”

  “He’ll live,” Patty muttered. “If I let him. In the meantime, where are the deeds and other papers I asked for?”

  He shook his head. “Gone. Oaklyn said the woman met with her cousin—she’s been looking for her. She wanted to bring her back into the fold since the girl’s all that’s left of the family.”

  “Have Darden’s people take care of her as well,” she ordered. “He needs to earn his reward.”

  “I agree,” Sorrento murmured.

  “You’ll be moving onto the land immediately, but I’ll remain here for another few days.”

  “I’ve arranged to eliminate the resisters two days from now,” he told her.

  “Good. See me after the meeting tonight.”

  ****

  “We’re wasting resources on Connie,” Mallory muttered the next morning from behind her desk. She leaned back in her chair with her eyes on Sydney who suppressed a growl. “We’re moving on unless you’ve got a reason not to.”

  The alpha had called her as well as Sam in for a meeting this morning. She normally wasn’t involved in Mallory and Sam’s meetings. They took that time to shoot the shit she supposed as only two alpha bitches did.

  Sydney shrugged aware that Sam was watching intently. She couldn’t know she wanted to be with Cambrie right now instead of here or that she wanted to kill Connie for daring to put a single claw on Cambrie’s soft flesh.

  “I just think the whole thing was out of character. We need to talk to Connie or at the least have her alpha talk to her.”

  “I talked to Jen last night,” Sam told them.

  Jenner was head of the local PD’s detective unit. He was also a wolf and was the unofficial liaison between their two packs.

  “He said she’d be sanctioned, but she does live outside the pack lands,” Sam said evenly. “So she’ll be forced back to den for the duration of the punishment. That will be hard on her since she’s a bit of a lone wolf and prefers to live on her own.”

  “I’m probably just being paranoid,” Sydney said. “But the attack merely wasn’t like her.”

  “I’m going over with Jen to pick her up,” Sam said. “I told him if I couldn’t have a word with her, then we’d file charges against her. He agreed.”

  “Get back to me after that,” Mallory said. “In the meantime, I need to get to the club. The truck didn’t come in yesterday, and we’re running low on alcohol.”

  “Let me know if it turns into a problem,” Sam said with a frown. “I’ll help find a new supplier.”

  “Then, get started. I’m not relying on this going smoothly.”

  “Okay,” Sam agreed. “Sorrento might have decided to fuck with our supplier, so I’ll see who else I can find.”

  Sydney got to her feet as the two exchanged a few more words about a new supplier. “I better get to work,” she said. She had a meeting with the man who’d replace Sam as head of den security. She didn’t really think he was right for the job, but he had seniority and had proved himself capable.

  “How are things coming with Dean?” Mallory asked.

  “He seems capable, but he’s a little chauvinistic.”

  “Let me know if it’s a problem,” Mallory said. “I won’t have him undermining my authority.”

  “Sure. I’ll be in the den until eleven,” she said. After her lunch with Cambrie—maybe she should just skip it. The woman was pure distraction and that was something she didn’t need right now.

  She could just fuck her and be done with it. Sex would work Cambrie out of her system faster than a meal. She didn’t need any liabilities.

  Sydney exited the office and Sam fell into step next to her. She glanced at her questioningly.

  “What’s got you riled?” Sam asked. “Did you see or hear something at the club last night that roused your suspicion of Connie?”

  “No.” She shook her head. “Someone was watching me at the bar where I met my source the other night. I danced with Cambrie and then she’s attacked. Maybe Sorrento went after her to get to me. He can’t get to Adalyn and Mallory doesn’t have a lover.”

  “A distraction?”

  “Or something,” Sydney murmured.

  “I’ll see what Connie knows,” Sam promised her. “Is there something going on between you and Cambrie that we need to know about?”

  “Not yet.” But there was going to be before long. She wouldn’t be able to continue to fight her self-imposed rule when the animal hungered for Cambrie with a strength she’d known. The lure of her was just too powerful to resist. It was as if Cambrie was her—she couldn’t be.

  “We’ll talk after my meeting with Connie,” Sam said.

  “Yeah.”

  Chapter Nine

  Cambrie was still sore the next morning so she settled for a brief yoga routine before heading out to the store to pick up a few things for her lunch date with Sydney. She’d decided it would be nicer to stay in.

  She wanted Sydney all to herself and things just seemed to happen out in the public these days that distracted Sydney. She wanted all of her attention. She might even dance for her if Sydney was a good girl.

  Cambrie spent the rest of the morning filing her nails and putting a fresh coat of black polish on her toes and fingernails. Then, she pulled together a light meal they could have
at the small table in the alcove off her kitchen that had been an office.

  She used it as a dining room. Getting a cheap café style table and two chairs hadn’t been that costly and the light in the room was good though she didn’t really like the carpet.

  She set the table with the cloth she’d bought while she was out picking up groceries and she trimmed the stems of the carnations before placing them in a teacup.

  Lemon pasta and shrimp with crusty French loaf and chocolate mousse made up the meal. She was able to put it together before heading to her bedroom, a surprisingly spacious spot with a window seat. She’d added her own sheets to the full-size bed with black curtains to the windows to keep out morning sun.

  In the mid-size bathroom, which was an odd mixture of dated and modern with marble floor and track lighting over the vanity, Cambrie stripped for a shower. The round stall was separate from the claw-foot tub.

  She used her favorite bodywash and climbed out to moisturize with the same scent lotion before pulling on a lacy red bra and matching panties she knew Sydney would like. Then, she pulled on sheer stockings and secured them before getting into the simple dress. She just finished putting her hair up in a loose knot and leave a tendril to trail at the back of her neck when the doorbell rang.

  Cambrie hurried to the door hoping Sydney didn’t mind staying in. A look out the peephole confirmed it was her guest. With a smile, she opened the door considering it an opening to new opportunity with Sydney.

  “Hi.” She took in the smoky gray button-down, top two buttons left open revealing the sweet of Sydney’s graceful neck and the silver chain. She’d paired that with navy paints cinched with a silver belt.

  Sydney’s brown eyes slid slowly over her and a spark of approval lit them drawing a smile to Cambrie’s lips as butterflies fluttered in her stomach.

  “Come in.”

  “This is for you.” Sydney held out the bottle of wine and Cambrie chuckled as Sydney stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

  “We can drink it tonight when you get off shift.” She watched Sydney’s eyes and saw a flicker of humor that delighted her, but she was under no illusions—yet. Sydney wanted her, but she wasn’t about to commit to anything other than the moment. “I guess that means we’re still having that drink tonight?” she asked teasingly.