Mate Marked: Shifters of Silver Peak (7 page)

“But I’ll be lonely. And I had a terrible cubhood. You should pity me.”

“Oh, now you want to talk about your past?”

He flashed her a big, white-toothed grin. “If it gets me the pleasure of your company, I do.”

“Nice. You’ve got a PhD in flirting, I’ll give you that.” She laughed but made no move to head outside.

“I’m being one hundred percent sincere. It’s a beautiful night. Come out and shift and go for a run with me?”

“Aren’t you afraid I’ll outrun you and take off?”

He threw his head back and roared with laughter. Then he laughed even harder at her indignant expression.

“Oh, you were serious! Oh, that’s good. That’s really, really good.”

“I can run plenty fast,” she said irritably. “Are you saying that just because I’m a larger girl you think I’m slow?”

“No, sweetheart, I’m saying I’m the fastest thing on two legs or four. Except in certain areas. There are certain things I like to take my time with.”

He moved close to her and saw her eyes spark with arousal, and he felt heat flare through his body. He began stripping his clothes off.

“Let’s go for a run. If you get away from me, then you get to go home early.”

“Deal!” She began stripping too, and he felt all the blood leave his brain and rush south.

They tore through the woods and he chased her, letting her get just ahead of him, again and again, then catching up and nipping at her heels.

The cool night breeze ruffled their fur as they ran. Chelsea leaped over fallen logs, tore through scrubby underbrush, and wove between the tall pine trees. All to no avail. He was always right on her tail, barking happily. If he were in human form he’d be laughing at her.

Chelsea didn’t mind. The rush of air delighted her senses. She drew the air in through her nostrils, the scent of moss and pine and loamy earth. In wolf form, she could hear the creak of every cricket and the rustle of every leaf.

Up ahead, she saw the campground. He was steering her back towards the camp.

Distracted for a moment, she tripped over a fallen branch and went sprawling.

Instantly, he was on top of her, straddling her and panting. His long pink tongue hung out and he had a huge, happy grin stretching his black lips.

Then he shifted to human form and he was kneeling over her on all forms.

She shifted to human form too, her fur melting back into her skin, her ears shrinking, her tail vanishing. Her bones shifted and rearranged themselves. And there they were, panting, naked, tangled up on the soft, mossy forest floor.

Chelsea looked up into his golden eyes and knew she was lost. She’d never wanted a man so much in her life. He was terrible for her—he was terrible in general—and he was leaving. And she wanted him.

Roman stared into her eyes for a long moment and then cradled her face in his hands, surprisingly gentle, and leaned down to kiss her. And the world fell away. There was nothing but Roman, his hard body against her, his thick erection pressing into her stomach. It was for her. He wanted her.

He kissed her deeply, his tongue sweeping through her mouth, probing. She let out a low moan of pleasure and kissed back, hungrily. She imagined him plunging inside her, his thick cock thrusting in…

And suddenly he jerked away.

“What?” she said, dazed. “Did I do something wrong?”

She was suddenly terribly self-conscious about her nudity. She moved her arms to hide herself, rolling to the side and bringing up her knee to cover her soft stomach.

“Of course not. You do everything right. Well, except trying to arrest me.” He scrambled up off her and she realized they were right near his tent. “And don’t hide your body—it’s incredibly beautiful.”

“Then what is it?”

“You can’t scent them? Some of the pack are back from the bar already.”

“No, I didn’t smell them.” She climbed to her feet and followed him into his tent, where she accepted a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants as he quickly dressed.

“Really? We’re downwind.”

She shrugged. “I’m a wolf who can’t smell. It’s a genetic anomaly.”

“Ahh, gotcha.” He didn’t seem too put off by it…but he was getting dressed, covering his magnificent body.

He looked at her with great regret. “Well, I guess that’s that.”

She bit her lip and nodded. He wasn’t going to try to seduce her anymore? Well, it was for the best. She tried to tell herself that, anyway.

He let out a sigh. “You’re too good for me, and I’m no good for you. I’m no good for anybody,” he said in a tone of deep regret, and walked away.

* * * * *

Was that Erika’s voice that Chelsea heard? Chelsea had spent a sleepless night tossing and turning in Roman’s bed, with him sitting outside the tent guarding it. Or so he said. Apparently he didn’t want to be anywhere near her anymore. Maybe he didn’t want his pack to think he liked her in that way.

That was fine, she thought, ignoring the tight ball of pain that had settled deep inside her. She was there to do a job, not get seduced.

She got up and walked out of the tent. She’d fallen asleep only two hours before, and she was exhausted.

Erika was lying on the ground underneath Leland’s car, Leland squatting next to her, handing her tools.

“Almost got it!” Erika called.

Chelsea walked over and waited for Erika to finish. She finally slid out and handed a wrench to Leland. “Oh, hey, good morning!” she said to Chelsea as she climbed to her feet. She had smudges of grease on her face.

“What are you doing with that car?” Chelsea asked.

Erika responded with something that sounded like, “The thinginator was making a vermilacious exponater noise,” and Chelsea remembered that she couldn’t speak car.

“Anyway, she fixed it,” Leland said happily. “Very nice! Sure you don’t want to join our pack of outlaws?”

“Oh, I can’t go travelling.” Erika laughed. “I have to work at my dad’s garage, or at least hang out there in case a customer ever shows up. But thanks anyway.”

Erika turned to Chelsea. “I came to give you a ride home. The pack already towed your pickup truck back to town.”

Chelsea looked around. Roman was nowhere in sight. She felt a sharp twist of disappointment.

“Let’s go,” she said abruptly, and she saw Erika suddenly look very uncomfortable. Leland frowned and walked away.

She’d been taking her medication, so if she was letting her mood affect them, she must be feeling it really strongly.

She paused for a second and made a strong, conscious effort to banish the dark cloud that was wrapping around her emotions.

My new pack bringing me home-made soap that smells like roses. The scent of fresh bread in the oven. Pepper curled up in my lap while I watch a rom-com and eat ice cream.

Her mood lightened, and Leland gave them a jaunty wave as they walked to Erika’s car.

“You know, I was fixing his car and thinking about how everyone there would know I’m not ladylike, and then I remembered I don’t care anymore because I’m going to die single anyway,” Erika said, sounding cheerful. “It’s great to be able to relax. I even burped, and nobody gave me a dirty look.”

“You do realize Leland has the hots for you, right?” Chelsea said, looking out the window and trying not to think about what it had felt like to have Roman’s mouth on hers.

“Me?” Erika let out a loud, braying laugh. “Ha! As if. I’m embarrassing and I sit like a trucker. Remember?”

“OK, Erika. You’re my pal, but seriously, for a smart girl you’re kind of a stupid-head,” Chelsea said, and leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes.

It was mid-morning by the time Chelsea made it in to her office. Lorena and Susan were waiting for her as she walked up the steps. Lorena had an apple pie and Susan had a jar of preserves. “You’ve got a visitor,” Lorena rushed to tell her.

Oh, thank heavens. He’s regained his senses, is turning himself in on the warrant—

She saw Susan nod at the Juniper Police Department car parked nearby. So it wasn’t Roman.

Chelsea swallowed her disappointment and accepted the pie and the preserves, thanking them both. “I would invite you in, but I’m assuming he’s here in an official capacity to discuss law-enforcement issues.”

Susan nodded. “We took down the wanted posters of Roman, including the one in your office,” she said. “No sense letting the humans know our business.”

“Good thinking.” Also, that meant she wouldn’t have to sit there and look at Roman’s face staring at her with that sexy scowl.

“Come by the store later and tell me all the gossip,” Lorena said.

“I’ll tell you what I can,” Chelsea said. She stifled a yawn as she went up to her office. She hadn’t slept well at the outlaws’ camp the night before. She’d gone home for a quick shower, and Erika was still taking care of Pepper, so she’d just dressed quickly and headed in to work. Maybe she’d have time for a nap later.

Chief Tomlinson was sitting in her office, and on her desk was a large wicker basket full of sausages, jams and jellies.

“Well, thanks,” she said, surprised.

“That’s from Mitch Rodgers, actually. It’s kind of an apology, after I read him the riot act,” Chief Tomlinson said.

“Kind of?” She sat down behind her desk.

He sighed. “He still insists that someone from your pack is behind all this,” he said. “But he recognizes that his treatment of you when you brought back his lamb was inappropriate.”

“Big of him. What did your investigation turn up?” Somebody had come into her office and started fresh coffee, Chelsea saw. Probably Susan and Lorena. It was that kind of town.

As the chief spoke, she went over and poured herself them each a cup.

“Well, like last time, we had an investigator fly in from the shifter council. A guy with bloodhound genes. He scented pure wolves, not shifters. He also scented the Dudley boys, but they already said they were there. He didn’t scent them on the dead sheep, just in the general area. He scented Mitch Rodgers and a couple of the ranch hands from Rodgers ranch, but since they’re his sheep, any of them could have handled the sheep recently.”

He frowned, pausing to take a sip of coffee, and looked as if he were considering what to say next. “There were a few things that were off at the scene. Some blotchy areas in the mud that looked as if someone had deliberately dragged tree branches over footprints. And Rodgers asked me several times how well we’d searched the scene. And he asked me if my men were there watching the shifter investigator the entire time he was there. ”

Chelsea Raised an eyebrow. “Did he say why?”

“No, he just said that he’s sure shifters always cover for each other. But my men were there the entire time, and the investigator didn’t alter or hide any evidence.”

“It’s odd that wolves would keep attacking Rodgers’ sheep,” Chelsea mused. “Game is plentiful in the area. I don’t know what to think at this point. I’ve asked around, and I’m not aware of any potential suspects in town.”

“We’re setting out traps for the wolves, and increasing patrols, and Mitch is hiring a few more guys. He’s also starting to talk about how he may have to close up his ranch operations if this keeps up, which is stirring up some ugly sentiment in town, just letting you know. He’s one of the major employers, and if he closes down the ranch it will really hurt the town. He’s going around getting people to sign a petition that will allow him to annex that shifter land he’s been after.”

“He might need to close up because he lost a few sheep?” Chelsea raised a skeptical eyebrow.

“He claims he’s also worried about the safety of his ranch hands, but yeah, it seems a little over the top to me too.” He frowned. “Another odd thing. Someone has been building new sections of fence along the boundary between his property and the Dudleys’. He denies having built it. Joyce Dudley thought it was him doing it, and she was surprised when I told her it wasn’t. Apparently there have been some other repairs made on their property, and all along she thought it was Rodgers, because he’s kind of sweet on her, but he’s saying it’s not.”

“That is odd. Okay, here’s something else strange, not that it necessarily means anything. Do you know who might have been visiting him from California, driving a Porsche?” Chelsea asked him. “There was a little red Porsche there the day I dropped by, and he accused me of spying on him and got really defensive.” She recited the license plate number to him.

“I’ll run the plates,” he said. “Couldn’t hurt. Makes sense to check out anything that’s out of the ordinary. I understand that there’s a newer pack camping out on Silver Peak property, kind of near the Dudley ranch?”

She hesitated. She wasn’t surprised that he was just now finding out about Roman’s pack. She personally didn’t like revealing information about shifters to a human law enforcement officer, but she had to give at least a little bit. He was here trying to cooperate, and he seemed like he was actually a good guy. He wasn’t letting Mitch railroad the local shifters or swing the investigation.

“There is. They’re working for Mr. Purcell right now. They’ve already been here a few months without causing any trouble.” Well, that was mostly true. At least, they hadn’t been causing any trouble for the humans, that she knew of. “They make good money, and I don’t have any reason to think they might be involved.”

Chief Tomlinson nodded. “I’ll go talk to them. If they’ve been here a few months…that is around the time that sheep started disappearing.”

She nodded unhappily. “I understand.”

* * * * *

Shawn and Ryan crept through the underbrush. “We shouldn’t be here,” Ryan said nervously.

Shawn scowled at him. Yes, they did so have to be there. They had to be on the lookout.

“You didn’t have to come,” he said to his brother. “Go back now if you’re scared.”

“I’m not scared. Joyce told us not to come,” Ryan said indignantly, keeping his voice low and looking around. They were right near the fence line that ran between their property and Mr. Rodgers’. “Joyce is not the boss of me,” Shawn said, puffing out his narrow chest and trying to pretend that he’d say that if Joyce was standing right there.

Ryan gave a small snort of scorn. “Yes, she is.”

“Then go back already,” Shawn said irritably. “Go tattle. Or be quiet and help me. We need to see if they’ve come back.”

“There.” Ryan pointed ahead, his hand shaking.

More sheep, with their throats torn out. Right on the property line between their land and Mitch’s land. And there was more.

Shreds of cloth, scattered around the bodies. And wolf pawprints and human footprints. Like before.

He had to erase them, quick, before the police got there.

“Go back, Ryan,” he said urgently. “Go get help.
Now.
”

For once, to his enormous relief, Ryan did what he was told. He turned and ran back towards the house.

Shawn bent down to snatch up the shreds of cloth, and stuffed them in his pocket.

As he turned to go, he heard the click of a rifle.

It was pointed right at his head. “I knew it was you little bastards.”

He heard bushes rustling and then Ryan, the little fool, came flying out, screaming “Get away from my brother!”