FavoriteObsession, page 4
He slid his hand along her neck and savored the way her pulse kicked up under his palm. “We need our own sneaky lawyer.”
“Shifter Affairs is helping. They’re not reporting her whereabouts to the Council and neither have we. At the moment, the Council only suspects we have her. She should be safe.” Mira’s exploration reached his chin. She brushed her fingertip over the cleft there. “But the Council has the right to visit any pride. Kade doesn’t want to give them a reason to come to ours and accidently see Molly.”
He cursed inwardly. Molly’s early shift would normally be an automatic death sentence for single-shifters but Molly was different. Mira’s explanation explained why and he agreed with Kade. The five-year-old child trapped in her lion’s body should be protected. He just fucking hated that doing so screwed Mira.
She held up a single finger. “And before you say it, I don’t think hiding Molly will matter. The Council gave an order. Going back on it now would make them look weak and they want to punish our pride for messing up their plans. I’m just a convenient way to do it.”
Another string of curses whipped through his mind. He swallowed the expletives. They wouldn’t help. Logic would. “Tell me exactly what the Council’s orders for you were.”
She stilled her wandering fingers. “I have a month to pick a male from my pride to mate or they’ll pick one for me.”
His breathing quickened. “Is that the exact wording?”
She nodded. “They said it’s in consideration of the short notice. I don’t believe it. The Council doesn’t care about my feelings. They’re probably hoping—”
He cupped her face and kissed the tip of her nose, stopping her words. It didn’t matter what the Council wanted. They’d screwed themselves.
“Perfect, baby.” Her bemused expression made him smile. “I’m—”
The door banged open and they jumped apart like naughty teenagers who’d been caught necking. Devin’s full-feline eyes leveled on him. “Time to go, Mira. Josh is all settled.”
She followed her brother out without so much as a glance in Josh’s direction. Josh clenched his jaw to hold back the demand she return to him. He didn’t have the right…yet.
“Call if you need anything,” Devin yelled as he walked to the car.
Josh didn’t bother answering. He leaned against the doorjamb and watched them drive away.
“Sure thing, Devin. I’ll let you know exactly what I need. And this time, I’ll get it.”
First, though, he needed to deal with Zeb. Then, he’d teach the shifters not to screw with Mira’s life.
Chapter Four
As soon as Kade pulled away, Josh had jogged up the stairs to change. Dressed in jeans and a long-sleeve shirt, he pulled the tarp off the twenty-year-old Harley he’d won in a poker game.
He revved it and the bike gave a loud growl. The familiar rumble soothed him and the vibrations of the bike between his thighs offered him something mindless to focus on while he drove to Zeb’s house. Josh needed that. The less he thought about what had happened the better. Every time he did, the itch crawled over his skin and memories he refused to acknowledge returned.
Josh drove up the road to Zeb’s run-down home and breathed a sigh. His rusted pickup sat in the driveway. Josh hadn’t misjudged the loser he’d known all his life. Too damn bad his instincts had been wrong about Zeb’s sister. He parked his bike behind the piece-of-crap vehicle and hurried to the front door. Not bothering to knock, he turned the handle and walked into the musty, darkened living room.
Zeb slept in one of the recliners, his mouth open and drool dribbling from the corner. He’d changed his clothes and wore sweats and a shirt advertising the local strip club. An empty bottle of homebrewed wine sat on the floor next to him.
Josh slammed the door. Zeb jumped from the chair. He rammed his knee off the coffee table and squealed. Josh chuckled. “Hey, buddy, be careful there. No need to get startled. It’s just your old pal.” Or old enemy. Tit for tat where Zeb was concerned. He never exactly valued his friends, not that Josh had ever considered Zeb one. In a small town, they were often one and the same, though.
Zeb blinked. He plopped back onto the chair and gripped the armrests. “J-Josh?”
“In the flesh.”
“Wh-what? H-how?”
Josh frowned. “You okay, Zeb? Have you been drinking again?” He pointedly glanced at the rounded bottle. “No wonder you look a little blurry-eyed. That stuff your pap makes will eat the lining of your stomach off. Did you drink the whole thing?”
Zeb scrubbed at his beard with the back of his trembling hand. “I…I thought I’d killed you. I was waitin’ for the cops to show.”
Josh forced a chuckle that sound bitter and a little crazed even to his own ears. Part of him had thought the same thing but that was impossible. “Do I look dead?”
“No.” Zeb leaned forward. He frowned so hard deep creases formed on his pale freckled face. “The knife. It was covered in blood up to the hilt.” He shook his head. “I had to have cut you up pretty bad.”
“Nah. You sliced a good flap of skin, though.” Josh gingerly touched his belly. It no longer hurt. “They had to use those butterfly strips.” Damn, the lies kept piling up.
Zeb glanced from Josh’s stomach to the kitchen. “I did more than that. I know I did.”
Josh strode across the room, ignoring how his boots stuck to the hardwood floor, and entered the kitchen. Bloody fingerprints coated the edges of the counter. In the sink, the knife he’d felt rip him open lay on the bottom. His gut rolled. Blood caked the blade and hilt. He forced himself to turn the water on and rinse the evidence of the attack away.
“Whatcha ya’ doing?” Zeb asked.
“Saving your ass. It’s bad enough Ella’s got the gun you decided to play with.”
Zeb cursed. “God, I’m screwed.”
“I told you, I’m making sure you don’t go to jail.” And hoping to convince you to keep your nose out of my business.
“Why?”
Zeb’s suspicious tone tensed Josh’s muscles. “Because things got carried away. It isn’t worth getting the cops involved.”
Silence stretched. Finally, Zeb cleared his throat. “What do you want?”
Josh finished wiping down the counters. He slipped the knife in his boot and faced Zeb. He considered just walking out but couldn’t pass up the opportunity to deal with another potential problem. “Get yourself back in rehab and talk to Abby.”
Zeb frowned. “What about?”
Dear god. Josh resisted the urge to smack his forehead. “About Abby’s insistence that we’re an item. It’s not true.”
Zeb shook his head. “No way. I ain’t callin’ my baby sister a liar.”
“You don’t need to. Set her up with someone else. Convince her she can do better than me.”
“That all?”
Josh nodded. “That’s all.”
A long moment passed where Zeb stared at the floor. Finally, he grunted. “Fine. I’ll talk to her.”
“Great.” Josh walked to the back door. He wanted to get out of here. The smells lingering in the house churned his gut.
“I know you’re lyin’.”
Josh stopped with his hand on the doorknob. He looked over his shoulder and leveled a glare on Zeb. “You don’t know anything.”
“You think I’m slow. I ain’t, ya’ know.”
Zeb was slow, but he wasn’t dumb. Josh ground his teeth. “So what am I lying about?”
“Tonight. You don’t really care if I get arrested or not.”
“You’re right about that, but I do care about your folks. Your mama shouldn’t have to watch you go to prison again. It’ll break her heart.” Course, Zeb still might, but it was out of Josh’s hands. All he cared about at the moment was the knife in his boot. He didn’t need the cops running any DNA tests on it.
“I don’t buy it, but I’m gunna find out the truth ’bout why ya wanna keep the fight quiet. I promise ya that.”
“You don’t want the cops involved any more than I do, Zeb. Let it alone and we’ll both be happy.”
A considering look replaced the confused one on Zeb’s face. “Are ya’ into somethin’ illegal?” Zeb grinned as if he’d just figured out the solution to world peace. “Sellin’ drugs in the backroom of the bar again?”
Josh was halfway across the kitchen before he stopped himself. He clenched his fists and fought the urge to pummel Zeb’s zit-pocked face. “I didn’t even own the bar then. My dad did and he didn’t know what was going on.”
Zeb held up his hands but the cocky smile never left his lips. “Hey, I ain’t blamin’ your old man. Shit happens and people make mistakes. Besides, it’s been what? Six years?”
“Five.” Five years, eleven months and thirteen days to be exact. Hell, it was about time for his baby sister to come home for her yearly visit. Maybe he’d succeed in convincing her to stay this time.
“Plenty of time to forgive and forget.”
Josh closed the distance between them until he towered over the shorter man. Zeb craned his head to meet his gaze. Josh had to give him points for holding his own, but since Zeb’s back pressed into the wall, he didn’t have a choice.
“Never. You understand?” Josh waited until Zeb nodded. “You better pray your buddy Vince never gets out of jail. Those bars are the only thing keeping him alive.”
God, he should’ve killed the fucker then. He pushed hard against the memory, shoving it back in the box, and turned his anger on the little prick in front of him who’d stood by and watched while people died.
Josh grabbed Zeb by the shoulders and tossed him into the living room. Josh ignored the curses and walked out before he committed murder. With his damn luck, he’d end up in the same cell as the man who’d destroyed his sister’s life.
* * * * *
Mira, in her jaguar form, pressed her chest to the soft soil behind the human’s house. Josh stormed out the back door. He looked fiercer than she’d ever seen him. While the predatory vibe he gave off appealed to her, she wanted to know what had occurred inside the home to put the murderous glower on Josh’s handsome face.
As soon as Devin had dropped her off at her place, she’d jumped in her car and driven to Josh’s home only to find it empty. She suspected he’d come out here so she’d followed. Apparently, she’d arrived too late to find out why he’d gotten into a fight.
The bike roared to life. He tore out of the driveway and faded into the distance. She waited until she could no longer hear the engine before advancing in a slinking crouch toward the back porch.
Coming out here alone posed a risk. All the shifters in Kade’s pride and Xander’s pack had been warned not to roam around in their animal forms on other people’s properties. The humans in this area enjoyed hunting. She accepted the danger if it meant ensuring Josh remained safe.
The heavy curtains on the widows prevented her from seeing inside. It didn’t block the human’s voice or his stale, musty scent from feeding her the information she required. The tart edge to his signature suggested he’d recently used illegal drugs but she couldn’t distinguish between the various types the way Kade or Rafe could.
She filed the information away to consider later and stepped as gently as she could through the soggy, overgrown flower beds. An expletive involving Josh rang out. She froze with her front paw on the deck.
“He’s hidin’ somethin’. He has to be.” Zeb, the human who’d hurt Josh, grunted. “I don’t know what. You think he’s really gunna tell me?”
She crawled across the uneven deck. The high window which probably sat above the sink only had a valence over it. She wanted to get a good look at the male so her cats could judge him. A foot from her destination the board under her paw gave way.
The human’s curses carried over his heavy footsteps as he ran toward the back door. She pulled her leg out of the hole, ignoring the mud between her toes, and fled for the safety of the tree line. The sound of a rifle being cocked echoed through the night. In her jaguar’s body, she leapt for the nearest tree and quickly climbed into the limbs.
“Where’d it go?” Heavy clunks of the human’s boots resonated over the deck. “Fuckin’ wolves broke my porch.”
Something wooden crashed then the thumps faded. A door slammed.
Mira waited a few more minutes to ensure the human stayed indoors. The lights inside went out and she slunk away before the predator became prey.
Chapter Five
“Tell me about the shifted cub that was seen in your bar.”
Josh blanked his face and glanced at the man who spoke. The guy on the opposite side of the bar stared at him with unblinking brown eyes—contacts probably. They looked too normal to belong to a shifter. Even those with ordinary-colored irises couldn’t hide what they were, at least not from those humans who knew what to look for.
Shifter eyes were multifaceted, like a gemstone. In the dim bar, they should’ve had an otherworldly glow. His plain orbs didn’t. The only reason Josh knew the man’s secret was the cat fangs he’d let show when he’d ordered his drink.
He wasn’t from the pride but the shifter had to be a blood relation of Kade and Rafe. His rough-cut features were too similar. The knowledge didn’t ease Josh’s anxiety.
Josh leaned a hip against the corner of the bar and returned the glare. As much as he wanted to match the shifter’s focused glare, he had to blink—he was only human—but he refused to look away. No way in hell would he acknowledge this newcomer as his alpha by lowering his head. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
One corner of the shifter’s mouth lifted. Another hint of fang showed. “Hasn’t your owner taught you any manners? When your better asks a question, you should give a truthful answer.”
The guy’s calm voice came off as if he were explaining the rules of life to a child. It only pissed Josh off. He matched his cocky grin. “If I ever meet one, I will.”
A full smile spread over the man’s face. Instead of warming it, he looked colder, more of a predator than any of the other felines Josh had met, even Zach. Old. That was the vibe Josh got from him. Too bad the added years hadn’t taught him manners.
“That answered one question for me, human. Now answer the other.”
“Unless you’re suffering from memory loss, you only asked one.” Josh leaned closer. “And hell will have to freeze over before I ever tell you shit.”
A rumble of laughter shook the shifter’s chest. He stretched his hand out to the side and wiggled his fingers. From the corner of his eye, Josh watched as two women started shoving each other to reach that extended hand.
“Don’t fight ladies. One at a time.”
A brunette with boobs swaying freely under her t-shirt slid her fingers along the guy’s palm. In one smooth move, he yanked her in front of him. With his gaze still on Josh, he kissed her before closing his eyes to eat at the woman’s mouth. It was a tactic Josh had witnessed other shifters use against each other when they refused to concede a dominance battle but didn’t want to fight.
The stranger tugged the woman onto his lap. He slipped his hand up her skirt. Josh sighed and turned away. He didn’t need to be reminded of sex, not now. He took two steps before the shifter’s voice trailed after him.
“You walk away. I win.”
Fuck that.
Josh pivoted, leveling a hard glare on the newcomer. “I’ve got better things to do then watch you make your way through my customers.”
The guy whispered something in the woman’s ear, smacked her on the ass and watched her walk away. The crowd swallowed her. He faced Josh wearing a look he would’ve labeled as respectful if it weren’t for the condescending laugh trickling out of his mouth.
“I like you, human. It’s no wonder why you’ve been claimed as a pet.”
Josh tensed, fists clenched at his sides. He took a step forward. The shifter’s raised hand stopped him.
“I’m sorry. I forget myself. The politically correct term is ‘beloved human’ and one I’ve always found amusing. Humans aren’t worthy of our love, let alone our protection.”
Josh leaned across the bar, fists clenched so he didn’t strangle the arrogant bastard. “You, cat, are pissing me the fuck off. Let’s get a couple of things straight. First, you need to lower your voice. I’m the only one here who knows what you are. No need to draw attention to your uniqueness or your stupidity. Second, I’m no one’s pet. And finally,” he paused, waiting until the guy raised a brow before adding, “you have five minutes to finish your beer before I throw your ass out.”
Josh straightened, slid the bowl of pretzels his way and grinned. “Drink’s on the house.”
The shifter scooped a handful of the little twists and shoved them in his mouth. A long moment passed while he chewed and they resumed their staring contest. In a blur of movement, the guy fisted Josh’s shirt and yanked him close.
“That scar on your face and the scent oozing from your pores is the only reason you’re still breathing, human. To kill you would bring the wrath of half the country’s shifters down on my head, not to mention my own damn family. It won’t, however, protect you from getting your ass beat.” He sat back and grabbed another scoop of pretzels with his free hand. “Now, tell me about the female cub that was seen in your bar.”
Josh stared at the hand still clenched in his shirt until the shifter released him. “If you want to know about the cats living here then go to them with your questions.” He smirked. “I don’t have any answers. I’m just the beloved human and am not privy to their inside issues.”
“My cousin would only lie to me, pulling the pride leader card, which is why I came here first.”
“Look, asshole, enough with the games. I’m not sure what you think you’ll learn from me but I’m not sharing anything about the Alexanders or their friends with you.”
