Accidentally Wolf (50 page)

“Thanks, Chief.” Jennings gave me a weak smile, and I could tell they appreciated my understanding. He joined up with the lab guys and started outlining what we needed.

“Do you smell that?” I thought my eyes might pop out of my head when I realized something. I glanced over to Harris, who nodded with a wide smile. “Panther.”

“So either Bob didn
’
t know the guy had a protective detail and the surprise made him lose his focus so he didn
’
t cover his scent.” Harris swallowed loudly, staring right at me. “Or he
’
s taunting you.”

“I hope it
’
s the second,” I sighed, rolling my eyes when they all stared at me as if I
’
d grown a second head. “It means he
’
s not done in Chicago. He leaves the area and we might never find him. If he
’
s staying to play with me, he
’
s still
staying
.”

“Either very brave of you or you
’
re just nuts, Chief.” Cooper shook his head as he walked away. I kind of felt the same way, but I wanted this bastard caught. Not just because he was giving paranormals bad press and I was one of them now. Because zealots who thought killing could be explained away made him too dangerous to be on the streets.

We did our jobs at the scene, but it was a good hour before I could get back to Tristan. I felt bad for that since it couldn
’
t be fun just standing around while people stared at him, wondering who he was.

“I talked with Vlad,” he said quietly in a worried tone. “Noah and a few of his best should already be at the house. He didn
’
t know specifics though as to what was going on.” I nodded that I heard him but kept quiet until we were in my car and out of anyone
’
s hearing range. “What could be so bad that you agreed to have protection?”

“Honestly, if it was just me I wouldn
’
t have,” I admitted as I pulled away from the curb and headed home. “But you and Riley live with me now. This guy has no problem killing the people he sees as associating with the bad guys. And right now, I
’
m a bad guy to him.”

“Well this isn
’
t the first time I was in danger because of who my master was.” I knew he was trying to lighten the mood but instead it made the small knot of guilt in my stomach turn into a big one. “Hey, Sera, I was just playing around.”

“But I am putting you guys in danger,” I whispered, blinking back tears. I signed on for a dangerous job. Not Riley and Tristan. This wasn
’
t fair to them though I hadn
’
t done it intentionally. It was still my fault they needed to be protected now.

“Don
’
t do this to yourself.” He slid his hand in
to
my free one and raised it to his lips. “We’re paranormals. There’s always a threat of danger, okay? It’s not an easy life we live, but Riley and I aren’t weak. And we believe in you and what you do. So we’re both on board.”

“But it wasn’t your choice.”

“No, but we choose it now. Neither of us having a problem with it is the same as having known what we were getting into in advance and still agreeing to be with you. Guilt won
’
t help you catch the panther. And Riley and I don
’
t want you to have any. So trust us that we can make our own choices and let this go.”

“Thank you.” I did as he said, taking some deep breaths and pushing away those thoughts. By the time we pulled into our driveway, they weren
’
t completely gone. But then again… When do those evil thoughts in the back of my mind ever really go away?

There were cars on the street, Noahs I recognized from helping us move yesterday. Harris and Cooper pulled in behind us. Damn. I needed to get my head back in the game. I’d been so distracted and lost in my thoughts that I hadn’t even seen them.

We got to the front door, which Riley stepped out of with Noah and a few guys, while everyone stared at me. Technically I was just Sera now, no longer Chief Thomas. I mean I was but not really since this was affecting my personal life and Vlad’s people were involved and—fuck it. It was complicated.

“Vlad called me and told me to say I was sick and get home early,” Riley hedged as we got closer. Just then, Jennings and Davis pulled up with Remington right behind them. “What’s going on, Sera?”

“It’s complicated, but let
’
s get everyone inside and I
’
ll fill you guys
in
all at once.” He nodded and we waited for everyone to join us. We went into the house and everyone took a seat in the living room. The guys with Noah
—
Remus, Jake, and Casey
—
were three of the guys who helped us move. They were all big guys who looked like they
’
d be on security.

“Chief Monroe said we should all be staying together
,
safety in numbers
,
since Bob could have seen us with you out in the field.” Davis broke the ice as I just kind of stared off into space. I nodded and filled everyone in on what was going on.

“That explains why Vlad made sure we had gold bullets,” Noah drawled, pulling several boxes of ammo out of his bag. “We
’
ll take shifts tonight, but we need to know if there
’
s anyone who can
’
t handle a weapon.”

“I
’
ve used a hunting rifle a few times but that
’
s it.” Riley shrugged, not seeming bothered by it. I was impressed. Most men I knew would have had issue with having to admit they weren
’
t good or didn
’
t know how to do something. Riley was too confident for that.

Davis, Jennings, and Remington all admitted to never even having fired a gun. Right, after the situation with Bob was over, that would be first on my list. My people needed to get qualified and comfortable with weapons.

“Okay, well until the shit hits the fan, I say we have some fun,” Harris announced a half hour later after we
’
d traded out our normal bullets for gold ones. Noah had been prepared, bringing them in all types. Gold star for him. “Who wants pizza?”

“Good idea,” I agreed. I was trying to snap out of my funk. My job had always been a major part of my life, normally invading all aspects of it but never my home. The fact that this nut job could come gunning for me at my own house was what was throwing me off my game.

Harris gave me a sympathetic smile as if knowing what was going on in my head and then started taking down what everyone wanted.

“And on the fun note,” Noah drawled and pulled out a box that had been behind his bag that I hadn
’
t even seen. “Here
’
s a real housewarming present for all you guys. I saw you didn
’
t have one.”

I looked down at the box he placed on my lap and burst out laughing. Noah had gotten us a
n
Xbox 360 with Kinect. “You are too much.”

“I
’
ve heard that before
,
” he snickered and handed Tristan some games. “I thought it might be good for us to loosen up a bit. The guy won
’
t approach the house if he hears a ruckus going on. Or a party.”

“Then he might leave Chicago if he
’
s just staying to get to me.” I stood and shook my head. “That
’
s a bad plan, Noah.”

“Not if our main goal is keeping you safe,” he growled, getting in my face. “I want him caught and stopped. But
n
o
t
enough to risk you or try and use you as bait.”

“I agree, Chief,” Harris said gently. “The guy hasn
’
t just killed other nut jobs and some poor college kid. He killed two Federal agents. Everyone will be gunning for him. That picture Riley took has had some time to circulate now, and we
’
ve got a good chance of finding him if he tries to leave the city. Let
’
s not give up hope yet or do anything stupid like risk your life.”

“Besides, one of us is going to be walking a wide perimeter while the fun
’
s going on to see if anyone even tries to approach the house.” Remus gave me a wide, fangy smile.

“Okay.” I nodded and sat back down. I was outnumbered and they had a plan so I was good with it. “But no one engages this guy alone. You even
think
you see something or smell nothing, since he can mask his scent, you call the rest of us in. Deal?”

After everyone swore to my terms, Harris put in the largest pizza order that I
’
d ever had delivered while Jennings and Noah set up the Xbox. I
’
m sure we made such a conflicting picture to anyone who might have seen us from the outside. We were ordering pizza and about to play video games… All while wearing every loaded weapon we could in our holsters, armed to the nines.

Yeah, odd.

And I couldn
’
t help but feel it was just the calm before the tsunami. Negative much? Me? Nahhhh.

Chapter 20

“No pushing!” I shouted after Tristan hip checked me
again
! “You
’
re cheating.”

“You
’
ll lose your turn and place in line
,
” Riley informed him so seriously Tristan and I burst out laughing. We were playing some sports game and, since with Kinect we were
really
the controllers, Tristan kept screwing me up. It was downhill skiing, just the two of us racing, so when he pushed me, I kept crashing into stuff!

“No sex either,” I grunted as he passed me up in the game while my person got back on their feet.

“Like you
’
d have sex with a houseful of people.” He gave a snort and missed a jump, giving me time to catch up.

“Yeah, well I had sex with a roomful of people at someone
else
’
s
house. So I wouldn
’
t be too quick to assume I wouldn
’
t be up for loud hot sex while others were here to listen in and wish they could join in.”

“Seriously?” He turned to me, his eyes glazed over, completely forgetting about the game… And then I slid over the finish line. I threw my hands up in the air and did a little dance. “You cheated! And
by
holding sex out in front of me!”

“Hey, you cheat your way and I
’
ll cheat mine,” I taunted, sticking out my tongue at him before bumping fists with Davis and Riley. We
’
d broken off into teams for the games, even tallying up scores on paper. On my team it was Davis, Riley, Noah, Remus, and Remington. Everyone else was on Tristan
’
s team. And we were having a blast.

Just so Tristan wasn
’
t a sore loser, I threw my arms around his neck and pulled his head down for a heated kiss. We got several catcalls but it was all fun. Then we were in the way for the next game so we moved off
to
the side and grabbed some pizza.

Riley was playing against Harris next in tennis, and I couldn
’
t take my eyes off my man. I know some people thought medical scrubs were unflattering but on Riley… They were
totally
hot. Every move he made the cotton molded to his muscles and I wanted to take a bite off his firm butt. Not in the wolf way, but in a very female way before begging him to take me.

When he
’
d won, he excused himself to go to the bathroom and my gaze trailed after him.

“Go ahead but then we
’
re having fun tonight in bed,” Tristan whispered in my ear as he licked my lobe. I nodded my agreement, not wanting him to feel as if he wasn
’
t desired. Right then Riley was more on edge than Tristan, and I knew a perfect way to get him to relax given the situation. Hot wolf sex. Always a good time to be had by all.

I waited a moment and trailed after Riley to the downstairs bathroom. The moment he was done and stepped out into the hall I pushed him right back inside and closed the door behind us.

“We haven
’
t christened this room,” I mumbled before mashing my mouth onto his. Riley was
very
into the idea from the way his hands seemed to be everywhere all at once. We were naked in seconds and he pushed me over the counter, my face inches from the mirror. I could feel his excitement as he took me hard and fast. Riley liked that we could watch ourselves in the mirror.