Chapter 11
Raucous female laughter crashed into Mark’s ears as he got out of his truck.
The first thing he did was extend his senses throughout the cabin property.
He scented Julie, Becca, and Tonya, but also the dozens of other people who had milled about the property this morning.
The lingering scent of those wrong things felt like an itch under his skin, and he bared his teeth at its presence so near Julie.
But he kept his grizzly under wraps. For one thing, Carl had arrived a few minutes ago and was watching him closely from the front porch.
For another, he didn’t want to freak out Julie any more than she already was.
His nostrils twitched as another grizzly-shifter rounded the corner.
It was one of the Gladwins, set to patrol the property.
Carl signaled that guard duty was over. At least for the young bear.
Mark would cover protection duty for the rest of the night.
Him plus all the high-end electronics he’d had installed this afternoon.
That was one of the advantages of being filthy rich and not having more than a few months to spend it.
He could pay an exorbitant amount to have the surveillance equipment installed immediately.
Especially since he wasn’t opposed to a bit of bribery.
Another fit of giggles filled the air, and Mark raised an eyebrow at Carl.
Was that Becca who’d just brayed like a donkey?
Carl shrugged, his expression saying that he thought the sound adorable.
Mark could relate. He was pretty sure he heard a few of Julie’s indelicate snorts and couldn’t help but grin.
He’d been worried that she’d gone close to catatonic at the revelation of magic in the world.
Instead, she handled it in a healthier manner. She’d gotten drunk with friends.
Then he heard Tonya hoot with laughter, the sound high pitched and girly. Lord, if she knew they were outside listening in, she’d shoot them for sure. That was not a sound the tough-as-nails Officer Kappes would ever make. Not sober, at least.
Mark stopped on the front porch, using his smart phone to check in on the electronics. Everything appeared quiet. Carl joined him soon afterward, his eyes narrowed as he scanned the phone.
“She’d still be safer at your place.”
Maybe, but she’d never go. Not if this morning’s freak-out was any indication.
And more important, she wouldn’t be safe.
Not from him. Not if she wandered through his den, setting her body and her scent in the most intimate place of his life.
No, then he’d bolt the doors and drag her caveman-style to his bed.
It had been hard enough going into his kitchen and smelling her there.
No way was he going to torture himself by having her in his living area.
Meanwhile, Carl took Mark’s silence as the denial it was. He sighed and gestured to the road. “The cops are going to drive over once around midnight and again at five. They won’t knock unless they see something wrong. Ron and Joe will be patrolling as grizzlies until—”
“I got it. It’s covered. And I’ll be here watching the monitors. Besides, I don’t think there can be more of those things around anyway.”
Carl’s face tightened. “Except for the one that got away. You think it was the Crazy Cat Lady?”
Mark’s bared his teeth. He couldn’t stop himself when thinking about the bitch who’d abducted young shifters and who had certainly been part of the attackers this morning.
If only he’d kept it together, he could have chased the bitch and ended this whole nightmare right then and there.
Instead, the mating imperative had taken over.
His grizzly brain had decided to stake his claim on Julie while simultaneously warning Carl away.
In reality, he’d scared the shit out of her, chased her up a tree, and let the cat bitch escape. Not his finest moment.
“You saved her life today. Mine, too, so don’t get caught up in your head.”
“Better than trapped in my grizzly.” The sentence came out more as a snarled growl, but at least they were words.
Carl didn’t have a comeback to that, so he simply squeezed Mark’s arm. “Stay human, okay?”
“Yes, Mother Hen,” he said. But in his mind, he was repeating the words, Stay human, stay sane.
The motto might as well be tattooed on the back of his eyelids.
Mark had barely made it back from this morning’s shift.
He probably wouldn’t be able to the next time.
So any hope of extra time with Julie meant staying human.
Not that she wanted to hang out with him either way, but a guy could hope. And these days, hope was all he had.
They were just about to knock on the front door when a haunting alto voice filled the air. It was Tonya, singing a lullaby in rich notes that startled both men.
“Did you know she could sing?” Mark whispered.
Carl shook his head while they both listened to words that they’d never heard before.
It was “Hush Little Baby” done differently.
Instead of buying the child a mockingbird, Mama got him a ruby-throated loon, a silver spoon, a quick-fingered witch, then blood and a kiss.
It was the oddest list of items he’d ever heard—especially in a child’s lullaby—but folk songs were not something he’d ever paid any attention to.
The song ended and the ladies clapped enthusiastically.
Mark would have, too, except that he was sure it would embarrass Tonya.
And then someone—probably Tonya—let out a loud burp, causing gales of laughter.
God, it was beautiful to hear that. Joy.
Silly conversation. Women in friendship.
All things he missed when he was a grizzly.
This moment of eavesdropping became startlingly precious to him simply because he wouldn’t be able to appreciate it for much longer.
And he was both awed by the beauty of it and pissed off because he was outside of it.
Like God was busy shoving him out the door of humanity just when he really began to see how special it was.
Angered by that, he slammed his fist against the door. The sound was loud, the impact enough to make his hand burn. And even worse, the laughter stopped as abruptly as a TV turning off. What a child he was, destroying the fun when he couldn’t be a part of it.
Tonya opened the door, her face was flushed red, but her hand was steady where it gripped the pistol at her hip. Mark was surprised, but Carl stiffened in fury.
“You are not drunk and carrying a loaded pistol,” he snapped.
She bit her lip, slowly pulling her hands into view. “Not carrying anything,” she said.
Carl wasn’t having any of it. He grabbed the weapon out of her belt with all the authority of an alpha. He double -checked the safety—on, thank God—and glared at his beta.
“We’ve got enough problems without you being stupid.”
Tonya flushed and canted her gaze away. And then she jerked her short hair back as she extended the motion, baring her neck to Carl. “You’re right,” she said. “I hadn’t expected to drink this much.”
“At all, Tonya. Only an idiot carries a weapon and drinks.”
She nodded, her throat still exposed. Behind her, Becca came forward clearly unsteady on her feet. “She only had one,” Becca said. “I might have had four.”
Mark suppressed a chuckle. With Becca’s petite frame, four would make her totally sloshed.
“And I split the difference with two and a half,” added Julie as she raised her glass. But once it came into view, she tipped it back to her mouth. A moment later, it was empty. “Three,” she said with a satisfied smack of her lips.
Good lord, she was beautiful. Flushed cheeks, bright red lips, sparkling eyes, and a body that seemed to sway mesmerizingly before him. He’d gotten used to having the lust slam into him at the sight of her, but this time it was lust tinged with laughter. Hunger sweetened with delight.
“You better sit down,” Mark said as he crossed to Julie’s side, his nostrils flaring as he came close. Spicy citrus scent filled his mind, and he remembered just where she smelled juiciest. Without even willing it, he stroked her arm and drew her tight against him.
But instead of melting into him like he’d expected, she stiffened, pulling away with a sniff.
She opened her mouth to say something, her hand coming up with a single finger extended toward him.
He steeled his spine, waiting to hear her condemn him.
Filthy animal. Ugly bear. Murdering monster.
All of those words vibrated in his brain.
All that remained was for her to pick which ones.
But she didn’t say anything. She just pointed at him and held still. Then abruptly, she walked back over to the couch and dropped down hard enough to make the feet skid on the wood floor.
Becca chuckled. “That’s telling him!”
Tonya nodded. “Very succinct.”
Julie just rolled her eyes at them, which produced a choked-off laugh from Becca and a breathy exhale from Tonya.
“I think that’s my cue to leave,” Becca added, still chuckling.
Carl grabbed Tonya’s arm with one hand and Becca’s shoulder with the other. “Neither of you is driving.”
“Well, duh,” Becca said as she reached up on tiptoe to press a kiss to his jaw. “That’s why you’re here.”
Carl blew out a breath. That was, in fact, why he was here. Meanwhile, Tonya pulled out her cell phone, clearly looking for messages. “Any news?” Her voice was as crisp as usual. And given how fast a shifter could metabolize alcohol, it was likely she was close to sober.
“Nothing new,” Mark answered. Then he glanced at Julie, wondering exactly how much she’d been told or had guessed about this morning’s attack.
He was about to ask when Tonya thunked him on the back of the head.
He whipped around to glare at her—or worse—only to be met with another pointed finger, this one Becca’s.
“She’s not stupid, and we like her.”