Cat's Howl: A Macconwood Pack Novel (The Macconwood Pack Series Book 2) (7 page)

“What? Hell no! I’m a goddamn police officer Rafe, I don’t
need a friggin’ bodyguard!”

Cat’s emotions were all over the place. Anger, annoyance,
outrage, insecurity, disbelief, fear, then back to anger. Still she never
looked her Alpha in the eyes and never made a move to challenge him. She had
too much respect for her brother to act that way. Besides it was a contest she
would never win.

“Language please,” Charley’s sing song voice interrupted
Cat’s tirade.

Cat tried to control her temper, but even her Wolf was
miffed. Her feelings were always clearer to Cat when the full moon was close.

She counted to ten in her head. She needed to be calm to get
anywhere with her brother. Otherwise he would just dig his heels in. And she had
no wish to fight, but come on!

“Look, we’ve picked up some good intel here and it’s
possible you’re being targeted as a means to get to me.”

“So friggin’ what? I can handle it, Rafe!”

“You’re my sister Cat,” he sighed heavily and wiped his face
with his enormous hands. Geez, he was big, at least three of her width wise.
Almost twice the size of the rest of the men in the Pack.

“Yeah, I’m your sister. You taught me well. I can take care
of
myself
!”

“BUT you are also my Wolf. I am the Alpha, you will obey me,
Catriona!,” the command in his voice made her waver where she stood. It didn’t
hurt exactly, but it was strong and it held her still when she wanted to turn
away. She whined in her throat and averted her gaze.
Damn Alpha!

“Yes, sir!,” she said with clenched teeth.

“You will have a shadow everywhere you go. Now, I worked it
out with Matt Larentia, you will take the next month off.”

“Lt. Larentia? But-”

“No buts, Cat. You’ll do this my way.”

“Fine.”

Cat stormed out of the office and slammed the door. She didn’t
have to use her supernatural senses to guess the expression on Rafe’s face.

No doubt Charley was holding him down with nothing more than
a sweet word or smile. Bless her!

Cat knew she overstepped, but she couldn’t help herself. She
stalked across the house to her room and made her way to the shower.

The hot spray hit her body and Cat sighed. She was tense.
Even after her workout. She scrubbed her body with the vanilla-tangerine
scented body wash Charley had purchased for her.

It reminded Cat of flavored frozen custard on the Boardwalk.
She closed her eyes and exhaled. Memories played through her mind. Games,
rides, frozen custard, and cotton candy. She used to sneak off and follow Rafe
and his buddies when she was just a kid.

Man that was fun! She wished it were summer now. She could
use a funnel cake after the bomb Rafe just dropped on her.
A bodyguard!
Really?

She didn’t flinch when the bathroom door swung open. Nudity
was sort of acceptable for Wolves. Not that she paraded around naked, but there
were times during the full moon when she or other Wolves were nude before and
after the Change.
Hey, it happened.

“Liam is that you?,” she knew it wasn’t the youngest Wolf of
the house the second she inhaled.
Oh crap!
She fought the urge to duck
and cover.

She was grateful steam from the shower fogged the glass
enough to hide her blush from probing eyes. Lack eyes to be exact.

“Does Liam often come into your bathroom when you’re
showering?”

“What? No!
Ew
, no way! Why the heck are
you
in
here?”

“Rafe ordered me to act as your guard for the foreseeable
future.”

“Oh bullshit! I don’t need a bodyguard!”

“Well, you got one.”

“That’s just great, sunshine! But I’m pretty sure I can
handle things in here!”

“That’s a shame, I’m an excellent backwasher. But if you’re really
sure, I’ll wait outside. And, uh, tell Liam to stay the hell out of your
bathroom.”

Cat flinched when he left the room, slamming the door. Was Rafe
out of his mind assigning Tate Nighthawk to her? Her brother could be a real
butthole sometimes.
Ugh.

She took her time in the bathroom. There was no need to rush.
Besides she was in no hurry to confront her new bodyguard.

Cat thought about it. She didn’t have any work for the next
few weeks. Well, since that was the case, she was going to make the most of her
time off. Even if she did have Tate hanging around.

“Seriously? 45 minutes in the shower? What were you doing in
there?”

“Hey, you don’t need to stick around for me!”

“Um, yeah, I do actually. It’s my job.”

Cat rolled her icy blue eyes and tossed her wet bond hair
out of her face. She had pulled on a pair of black leggings and a long fluffy
sweater.

On anyone else it would have fallen to the knew, but on her
it stopped mid-thigh. The sleeves were oversized and the neck was large enough
to reveal one lean shoulder. She didn’t bother with a bra. Her breasts were
smallish and high enough on their own.

She wasn’t into fashion, but she was something of a clothes
horse. Whatever body issues she had, she always could put just about anything
on and it sort of fell into place.

She knew she looked okay, but she stopped being concerned
with how she looked in front of Tate a long time ago. This outfit was just
plain comfy. She was still tugging on a pair of knee high weatherproof boots when
she started walking down the hall.

“Where to?,” Tate’s voice was deep and clear. She had to
work hard to mask the effect it had on her.

“I was told you were going to shadow me, not badger me to
death with inane questions.”

“Suit yourself,” Tate’s face betrayed no emotion. Still Cat
knew she was being rude. Too bad for him. She didn’t ask for his company and she
wanted that to be as clear as crystal.

She headed towards her little convertible and stopped when
Tate turned her around with a hand on her shoulder.

“What?”

“If we’re going out, it’s best we take the box.”

Cat rolled her eyes and followed him to the huge suped up
SUV parked alongside the driveway. The windows were tinted bulletproof glass,
there was a custom satellite hands free phone system, GPS, and a trunk chock
full of state of the art weapons for killing enemies of both the supernatural
and normal kind.

He had dubbed it “the box” because of the bulky square shape
of the vehicle. Rafe ordered a dozen more of them based on Tate’s review. But
Tate kept the original. His opinion was important to Rafe.

Cat had never driven one of these babies before and she
wasn’t about to pass up the opportunity. She hopped into the driver’s seat before
Tate had a chance to blink.

He set his jaw and she knew what was coming, but she wasn’t
going to budge. The corner of her mouth tilted up and she raised a blonde
eyebrow as she met his dark eyes. She felt for the keys around the ignition,
but came up empty.

“It’s keyless. You need to be added to the database first.
Here, let me scan my thumb, then you just push the button. Tate leaned over
Cat, his wintergreen scent filled her nostrils. She felt warm in places she
shouldn’t and she held her breath to stop breathing him in.

If only she could stop the furious pounding of her heart. His
face was close to hers for one fraction of a second too long. She wondered if he
was doing it on purpose.

Their breath mingled and she could have sworn she saw desire
in his eyes. She swallowed. Her eyes felt heavy as she stared at his full lower
lip. It looked so tempting.

She wanted desperately to taste it, but just like that he was
gone. He walked around the car and sat in his seat, eyes forward as if nothing
had happened. The roar of the engine snapped her back to attention and Cat put
the SUV in gear.

“Where are we headed?”

“I need some things from town since I’m not allowed to
work.”

“What things?”

“I don’t know,
things
, you know, like shampoo, conditioner,
deodorant, tampons, batteries for my feminine massager.”

“Really?”

“Hey, you asked, buddy!”

“Can’t you get a real man to do that for you?”

“Yes I’m sure I could, but no thank you! Real men smell.”

“Wolves don’t.”

“Oh, yes they do! Especially when it rains! Then there’s all
those pesky emotions. Werewolves can not handle emotions at all!”

“What?!” Tate was stunned. He couldn’t believe his ears.

“Listen, Tate, I do not need to deal with anymore cry baby
men who want a commitment! Werewolves are the worst, It’s all like, you’re my
territory, yadda yadda, boo hoo.
Ugh.
Let me tell you, I’m fine with Mr.
Vroom Vroom!”

Tate laughed aloud at her outrageous commentary surprising
them both. Cat couldn’t help but smile. He did not laugh often.

She continued with her quips the entire twenty-minute drive
to town. It didn’t matter if half of what she said was an outright lie or not.

Tate was feeling refreshed and jovial in a way he hadn’t for
a very long time by the time Cat put the SUV into park in the almost full lot
of the local grocery store.

“Geez, it looks like they’re having a sale. What is everyone
in Maccon City here?”

“It’s worse than a sale.”

“Huh?”

“Blizzard warning.”

“Oooh. Yeah, everyone’s buying their bread, milk, and eggs. Like
that ever stopped the snow. But anyway, come on! Those forecasts are never even
accurate.”

“Alright let’s just hurry up. I smell ice.”

“No duh, Tate, it’s winter. Who are you, Queen Elsa or
something?”

Tate didn’t reply. He stood behind her stone faced and
unmoving as she grabbed a shopping cart and muttered to herself about ice and Werewolves
who thought they were the next Storm Jackson! She didn’t see his amused smirk.

True to her nature Cat was in out of the store in record
time. Tate paused, raising a perfect black eyebrow when she did in fact
purchase a twelve pack of double AA batteries. She rolled her eyes and kept
shopping.

“Guess you were serious about Mr. Vroom Vroom?”

“You know, men always do have their minds in the gutter! Not
surprising you’d remember that bit of our conversation!”

“You do know you were the one to bring that up, not me.”

“Oh please, like you can talk to a woman without bringing up
sex or hitting on her?”

“Um actually, I can. I talk to you all the time.”

Ouch that stung. Cat had no intention of letting him see her
squirm. She grabbed some snacks and headed to the check out line.

“Everywhere I go men are always coming on to the women
around them.”

“Men and women can be just friends.”

“No way. It’s almost impossible for them to work together
let alone be friends.”

“That’s simply not true.”

“Oh yeah, I went for a coffee run with the new rookie, Johnny
Dominguez and in five minutes he was all over me.”

“What do you mean? What did he do?,” Tate narrowed his eyes,
but Cat was already in front of him and didn’t catch the sudden shift in his
posture.

“I mean what a creep! He’s good looking and all, that wasn’t
the problem. Tall, built, wavy brown hair, tan skin, dark eyes, but he’s a
cocky jerk. Two seconds we’re waiting for coffee and he’s like grabbing my ass
and trying to stick his tongue down my throat and I’m like oh heck no! I don’t
even know you.”

“What!,” Tate growled low and menacingly. Cat was so
surprised she stopped short and turned around. He almost walked right into her
amped up as he was.

“What’s eating you? Like I can’t take are of myself?
Please
!
Look, I had his arm behind his back and his face down on the counter in less
than five seconds” Still, she thought. What was that guy’s problem? No was no.

Tate shook his head. He needed to keep his attention on what
was around them, not in Cat’s office romances. He placed a hand on the small of
Cat’s back just as she swiped her card and punched in the four-digit security
code.

“They should rename this the $100 store, no matter what I
come in here for, it costs me a $100.”

“Let’s go.”

Uh oh,
play time’s over
, she thought to
herself. She hurried put the door with her bags in one hand. She was already
reaching for the gun she kept in the small of her back when Tate pulled out his
own nine millimeter.

“I smell it too,” Cat threw her bags in the back and jumped
into the passenger seat when the first shot rang out.

Tate was fast. Unlike anything she had ever seen. He
returned fire within a second of the first bullet and took down one of the perps.

He fired up the engine and they peeled out of the parking
lot. Another few seconds and they were gone.

“Are you okay? You hit?”

“No, no I’m fine. But what the hell was that?”

“I’m not sure, but we better call Rafe,” Tate pushed the
button for the sat phone and within seconds they were connected.

“Wassup?,” Liam was always clowning around.

“This is Tate. An attempt was made. I got one of them.”

“For real? Damn! Alright, you know what to do! I’ll alert
the others.”

“Copy that.”

“What was that? Tate?”

“Listen, you know how Rafe operates. He’s had his ear to the
ground ever since that business Christmas Eve with Skoll. From what we’ve
uncovered you are central to a plot to force Rafe’s hand.”

“What the heck? Why didn’t you guys tell me this?”

“It doesn’t matter now does it? We have to go somewhere safe
for a few days.”

“Why not back to the Manor? The place is a fortress.”

“No, the place
is
a fortress and as of two minutes
ago it has been completely locked down. No one in or out, including us.”

Cat paused for a moment and let that sink in. Her home was
off limits and she was being hunted. Her Wolf snarled in her mind’s eye, unused
to being prey. Cat refocused.