Dangerously Attracted [Werewolves of Hanson Mall 3] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (11 page)

She smiled at him in a way that made his heart beat faster and his cock stand up again. “That sounds lovely. Like a little cabin in the woods. Our very own rooftop hideaway.”

“Is that a yes? You will move in with us?” asked Andreas.

“I will share your bed and your house, yes. But I know you wolves. You’re into this forever commitment thing with no turning back. I’m not agreeing to anything like that.”

“Why not?” Lewis loved her and knew he’d never love anyone the way he loved Dakota. He was ready to accept Andreas, a man he called his friend, as well. No man could have a better friend than the burly blond fitness center manager. But perhaps it was a more difficult decision for a woman.

“I like you both very much. I enjoy your companionship and friendship and the orgasms have been outstanding. But I’m not ready to sign up for my entire life yet.”

“You do know we would never try to force you to do anything you didn’t want to do, don’t you?” asked Andreas.

“I understand that, and I like you both. Just leave it there for now.”

Lewis knew that she wouldn’t change her mind if they argued. It wasn’t what he’d wanted to hear, but at least she was agreeing to spend her time with them and sleep with them. He liked the idea of going to bed beside her and waking up the next morning with her still there. He’d been alone so much and he needed that silence and space. But he also needed the warmth and companionship of a few special people. Andreas and Dakota.

“Your shift changes today doesn’t it?” Lewis asked her.

“Yes. I’m on from midnight to eight, which means I need to get home and get organized. I have to bring my own snacks and drinks because the stores are shut and I need to make sure all my laundry is up to date and a lot of other boring things.”

Lewis wondered when he’d see her next. She would see Andreas after he opened the fitness center at six because it was part of the round she walked on duty. Maybe he’d go to the fitness center then, too, although it was usually full of very dedicated wolves exercising before their workday started. But he could sit at the reception desk with Andreas and stay out of everyone’s way.
At least then I’ll see her. I’ll do that.

* * * *

Dakota quite enjoyed the midnight to eight shift. It tended to be very quiet, and there was usually time to stand in the parking lot admiring the city lights or to sit on a chair in the food court and just rest and look around. Occasionally there was trouble, usually with kids, like the Dumpster that had been overturned a little while ago. That sort of thing happened, but not very often. Usually there were just the last few patrons leaving from the cinema and restaurants. Maybe someone whose car wouldn’t start and who had to call a tow truck. Then there were hours of peace and silence until the first of the early birds arrived to exercise at the gym.

The keen gym goers arrived at about a quarter to six and were lining up at the fourth-floor parking lot entry waiting for the door to be opened and the gym to let them in. Dakota had gotten to know most of these people and she recognized their cars pulling into the parking lot. Quite a few wolves exercised then, too, some driving in from the apartment building in town, and others who lived in the professional suites.

Dakota was surprised when Maelor Powell was waiting for her when she made her way from the staff parking lot down to the ground-floor entry where the shifts always changed over. “I thought I was working with Cory this shift?”

“He was coughing and sneezing all over everywhere. I told him I didn’t want the entire team off work with flu and to go home.”

“Good decision. I haven’t got time to get ill this week.”

Even though the people on the earlier shift had said there was no trouble in any of the parking lots, Maelor decided they’d check them all first. Dakota hid her smile and walked with him. He was a big man and bossy, but an excellent security guard who never missed anything. After they’d paced around every level of the parking lot, they did an external walk around of the entire mall checking staff exits were locked and everything was silent and secure. Only then did they finally go inside and begin checking all the internal doors and shutters.

There was a good reason to do things in this order. Had there been an unlocked staff door it was much more likely there’d be intruders inside. With all the exits locked up tight, the inside was more likely to be safe.

Some of the guards chattered constantly as they patrolled. Maelor tended to be silent and that suited Dakota as well. She didn’t have the acute wolf hearing of the men. Late at night little sounds carried on the still air, so if there were people anywhere she was more likely to hear them if she wasn’t holding up her end of a conversation.

All the cleaning crews had finished and gone home already. Sometimes one or more of them didn’t finish until after midnight, but tonight they’d evidently had trouble-free shifts and they were gone. All the stores were locked up nice and tightly and the restaurants were in the process of closing down, the patrons mostly gone already and the staff leaving now as their cleanup was completed.

They stopped and spoke to Taliesin, the manager of the cinema, who was waiting for his last few staff to finish up so he could lock up the theater for the night. Everything was very quiet, safe, normal. Dakota thought it was going to be a rather boring night. But she had plenty to think about. Two delicious men who wanted her to move in with them.

As she and Maelor walked from level to level, checking all the storefronts and doors, remembering to look up along the roof line as well as down into any cubbyholes, and behind the huge potted plants scattered around the mall, Dakota’s body worked on autopilot as she thought about living with Lewis and Andreas. Logically, she was most unlikely ever to find two men who suited her as well as they did, let alone another two men who even wanted her. She was a very ordinary woman, not especially beautiful, and with no great wealth or intelligence to attract people to her either. Normal, she supposed she was. But happy to be ordinary and normal. Happy to have a job that suited her and that she enjoyed. Content to be sharing an apartment with other women who were her good friends. And very interested in spending time with and getting to know her two wolves better.

So why was she balking at moving in with them permanently? Was it her own version of a trial marriage? Yes, in a way. She needed to spend more time with them to prove to herself they were the men she thought they were. And to demonstrate to herself that she was ready for commitment. Andreas worked very long hours and her hours, being shift work, were constantly changing. Both those things would put a strain on any relationship, not just on a ménage between two wolves and a human. She really did need to carve herself some space to be certain they were who they seemed to be.

Or was she just making up excuses? They’d never shown the least sign of deceit, either of them. Perhaps she was just commitment shy and blaming the men for her own failings. Well, it’d take a few months before Lewis’s house was built, and then only a few months after that the weather would be getting too cold for them to be outside on the roof anyway. Within four or five months she should have made a decision and that was more than enough time for anyone to make up their mind.

Halfway though their shift Maelor said, “It’s time for a break. Let’s get some coffee.”

The mall didn’t have a break room as such, but the wolves on late night security duty tended to use the “Mothers and Babies” room on the fourth level which had free instant tea and coffee.

“Sure. It’s not the world’s greatest coffee, but at almost four in the morning, who cares?” said Dakota.

All the restrooms were in the northeast corner of the mall, tucked against the outside wall. Dakota followed Maelor up the moving walkway, which was switched off so they had to walk up it, from the second level, where they were, to the fourth.

They’d almost reached the top of the walkway when there was a faint clanging noise from outside the building. Dakota stopped and held her breath trying to hear better, but Maelor turned around so fast he nearly knocked into her, and raced down the walkway. She ran after him knowing as a wolf his hearing was better than hers, and agreeing with the general direction he was heading in.

Maelor ran all the way down to the lowest level and then the full length of the mall to the southern parking lot exit. Dakota was fit but she was a human female, so he was well ahead of her when he came to the doors and stopped, looking outside, before he swiped it open. By this time Dakota had caught up to him and followed him outside, staying clear of his body and to the left, so if anyone was shooting they wouldn’t hit them both. Her left hand was in her pocket holding her cell phone, ready to make a call if needed.

The area around the doorway looked exactly the same as normal, and Maelor swiped the door closed behind them then began walking around the building to the right. Instead of walking at his side, Dakota stayed a pace behind and a pace to the left, guarding his back. His very broad and solid back. He was so big if she’d stood right behind him she’d have been completely hidden, but where she was she had a clear line of sight in front of them, behind them, and to her left.

They turned the corner of the building and there was the answer. Two Dumpsters had been overturned and rubbish was spilled over the sidewalk and the road. Bits of it had even spread into some of the parking spaces.

“Ah fuck! Damn fucking kids!” said Maelor.

Dakota walked from behind him and stood in front of the Dumpsters, pulling out her cell phone. “Do you want me to send a picture to the captain of the cleaning crew so he can get a team here first thing this morning to clean it up?”

“It should really be fixed straightaway, but there’s not much wind so it shouldn’t blow everywhere. Yes, give him the bad news.”

Dakota clicked off a couple of photographs and sent them to Rob. “That’s one sure way to ruin his morning,” she said. She stood very still staring for a few moments, before walking closer to the Dumpster. “Maelor, look here.”

“What?”

She pointed to scratches on the heavy metal handle of the trash bin.

The other handle had matching scratch marks. “The rotten little shits. They actually used their truck to pull the trash over. They weren’t just being stupid. They did it to deliberately make a mess.”

“But why?” asked Dakota and the answer came to her as soon as she asked the question. “To get us out here instead of us being on patrol somewhere else.”

“Fucking Hamilton and the professional suites.”

Dakota raced by Maelor’s side back to the entry door and checked it was locked behind them, rattling it twice.

“He knows you. Stay here and call Cadfael. Tell him to make sure Willow and Hawthorne are guarded properly. I’m on my way.”

Dakota felt his panic underneath his sensible words. He and Dylan had mated Hawthorne, and Cadfael and Rhion were mated to Willow. The women had come to the mall to escape Bailey Hamilton, Jackson’s brother, and now it seemed Jackson was here to catch them, and probably Lewis as well. Dakota tapped in Cadfael’s number as she walked briskly to the glass-walled elevator. She didn’t want to run while talking but riding the elevator was almost as fast.

“Hanson.”

“It’s Dakota, Cadfael. I’m sorry to disturb you, sir, but there have been a couple of Dumpsters overturned by someone using chains and probably a truck, and Maelor thinks it’s a diversion for an attack on the professional suites.”

“Rhion will guard Willow. I’ll tell Dylan to guard Hawthorne. I’ll warn Lewis as well. Andreas can stay with him.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Keep me informed. I’ll wake up some of the other managers as well to be on hand if Maelor wants to direct them. Tell him to coordinate his actions through me.”

“Yes, sir.”

The elevator had brought her to the fourth level but instead of jumping out and running to the professional suites Dakota stood and listened as hard as she could. There were no discernible noises, but that didn’t mean anything much. Dakota squatted down and looked out the door to the right and the left. The concourse was completely empty. She kept watching, waiting for a flicker of movement or a shadow in the wrong place, but everything was exactly at it should be. Nevertheless she walked forward instead of running, looking from side to side and flicking glances back over her shoulder as well to ensure no one was creeping up behind her, but nothing moved anywhere.

Something sparkled on the floor near the entrance to the professional suites. Walking faster, but maintaining her alertness, Dakota approached the professional suite doors. The double glass doors were firmly locked, but one of the panels had been smashed. Those panels were toughened glass. No booted foot had kicked it in. Only a concerted, planned effort would have smashed that glass. Hamilton was here. But who was he after? Hawthorne? Willow? Lewis? Or all three of them? And how many people had he brought with him to help him capture his target?

Andreas had been wide awake at three in the morning, and lying in bed didn’t make him any more likely to go back to sleep, so he’d picked up a clean uniform, put on his gym clothes, and gone to the fitness center. He hadn’t seen anyone in the elevator or on the fourth level, but that wasn’t a surprise. It was too late for partygoers to still be out, and too early for runners and his regular clients to be out of bed. He’d locked the doors of the fitness center behind him and walked through the reception area without turning on any lights, heading straight out into the boxing room. He’d dropped his clothing on a chair and spent the next half hour punching the hell out of the bag.

He was so totally in the zone it took him a while to realize his cell phone was ringing. Andreas jerked back from the punching bag, almost letting it hit him, until he was sufficiently back in the present to take the half dozen steps to the chair and pick up his phone.

“Hanson Mall Fitness Center.”

“Andreas?”

“Speaking.” Andreas recognized Cadfael’s voice. The only reason he would be making a call in the middle of the night had to be bad news. He took a breath to steady his heartbeat, pulled off his boxing glove with his teeth, let it drop to the floor, and asked, “What’s gone wrong?”