Page 22

Chapter 21

Finest

LENNOX

I ’m brought to abrupt alertness by the unblinking stare of a child, his intent gaze on my face. I wonder how long he’s been standing there. My instincts would have woken me as soon as he entered the room, but my wolf knows he’s not a threat. Allowing reality to intrude, I sit up and face him, the blanket covering my lower half.

Luke is standing next to his mother’s bed in a pair of blue pajamas with airplanes on them, his arms crossed over his chest, his lips pressed into a serious line. He points at the door and jerks his head, indicating I should follow him as he makes his way out.

He closes the door behind him, which preserves some of my dignity as I slip from the bed. I look around the room helplessly. My clothes are in a sodden pile on a rooftop several blocks away.

“You can use a pair of Ramón’s old sweats.” Charlie’s sleepy voice comes from the bed. “Bottom drawer.” She rolls over and hugs a pillow to her, her eyes drifting shut. She has no intention of helping me out with her guard dog of a son.

“None,” she mutters, sinking back into sleep.

I open the bottom drawer of her heavy wooden dresser and dig through neatly folded men’s clothes until I find the sweatpants she mentioned. They’re too short on me, but when I wear them low on my hips, they sort of fit. I borrow a T-shirt too and find that Ramón and I share a similar shoulder span.

Rather than the jealousy I previously felt toward Charlie’s husband, I now find myself sharing a sense of kinship with the man. He was here before me and got to bask in Charlie’s regard, the same as I do now. We’re part of the lucky few; the Charlie fan club.

I recognize the privilege she’s sharing with me and I won’t fuck it up with unnecessary jealousy.

Luke is waiting for me in the living room where he’s laid out what looks like a city made of Lego on the coffee table. He follows my gaze. “I’m allowed to spread my toys into the living room on the weekends as long as I clean up before Monday,” he says defensively.

I nod. “It’s good you listen to your mom.”

“What are you doing here?” he demands, then anxiously adds, “Did something happen to my mom again?”

It takes me a moment to realize he’s referring to the incident with her truck when she found Catherine Grant’s body. “No, your mother is fine. We got back late last night and she invited me to stay over.”

“In her bed?” he asks skeptically. “She doesn’t even let me sleep in her bed. Not unless I’m sick. Are you sick?”

I briefly consider lying, but I don’t think Charlie would approve and she trusts me to spend time alone with her child. I don’t want to breach that trust. “No, I’m not sick.”

“Then why?”

I sort through the possible explanations in my head, wanting to give him as close to the truth as possible without discussing the details of my night spent in Charlie’s bed. I’m stumped.

I decide redirection is my best bet, and ask, “What do you eat for breakfast?”

“Waffles with whipped cream and strawberries,” he says instantly, then asks, “Are you going to stay over in my mom’s bed every night?”

“No, I’m not.”

My wolf barks his disagreement so sharply my head rings.

“Why?” he asks, then, “Are you going to make waffles?”

How hard can they be? “Sure, I can do that.”

He grins and sinks onto the floor next to his Lego city, lifting a helicopter above the buildings and making whirring sounds. After a moment, he looks at me, and says, “I don’t mind if you sleep over again. It’s not so bad sharing her with a shifter.”

I can’t help the grin that stretches my lips as I leave him alone, heading into the kitchen. The grin falls away several minutes later as I’m contemplating a counter strewn with flour, sugar and half an egg. The other half is in the bowl where I’m trying to stir the waffle mix with one hand while juggling my phone, which has the recipe, with the other.

“What on earth are you doing?” Charlie’s sleepily amused voice comes from the kitchen entryway.

“Trying to make waffles.” I’d succeeded with the dino nuggets and fries, which has made me overconfident about my skills in the kitchen.

“That’s gonna be hard since I don’t have a waffle iron.”

What’s a waffle iron? “You don’t?” Was I scammed by a seven-year-old?

She shakes her head, then says, “Clean up in here and we’ll go out for waffles.” She pops her head into the living room, “You hear that, Luke? We’re going out for breakfast. Go get ready.”

As he races toward his bedroom, he shouts, “Is Lennox coming to the zoo with us?”

“Do you want him to?” she shoots back.

His voice comes from behind his half-closed bedroom door, “Yeah, I want him to come. I want to see what the wolves do when they see him.”

Charlie looks at me questioningly. “What happens when you come face-to-face with a real wolf?”

“I am a real wolf.”

“You know what I mean. Answer the question.”

“You’d make a good police interrogator.”

“You’re still not answering the question.”

I give her what she wants. “Non-shifter animals are often fearful or at least uncomfortable around shifters. Wolves are no different. Our scent confuses them and, unless backed into a corner, they’ll usually run off.”

“Huh,” she says, then frowns. “What would have happened if I’d owned a cat? Or a hamster?”

I give her a sharp-toothed grin, showing her my incisors, and she fake punches me in the stomach. I grip her wrist, pulling her closer, telling myself it’s just for now. Once the case is solved, we’ll walk away from each other. Or at least she’ll walk away from me. I’m too far gone to ever leave her vicinity.

“Do you want to come to the zoo with us?” Her wide brown velvety eyes have me in their thrall as she stares hopefully at me.

Someone has to be the voice of reason. “I shouldn’t.” It’s the best I can manage and we both know it’s far from a denial.

She steps closer, pushing her soft breasts against me. “Please.”

A shudder goes through me as her lips shape the word.

“Just for today, let’s pretend our problems don’t exist. We’re just two people with insane chemistry taking a kid out for a fun day. Tomorrow we’ll let reality intrude.”

Helpless against her spell, I nod. “I’m in.”

She flashes me a smile and quickly steps away, evading my seeking hands. “Great! I’ll go get dressed.” She stops and eyes me. “As much as I’m enjoying those tight sweatpants on you, I think we should stop by your place so you can change.”

An hour later, the three of us are tucking into plates full of waffles piled high with strawberries and whipped cream. A plate of bacon and sausages sits in the middle of the table for sharing.

“These are amazing,” I say, looking around the restaurant. “I’ve never been here before.”

Both Charlie and Luke stare at me from across the table like I’ve lost all reason. “I’m sorry, but did you just tell me that a 700-hundred-year-old man has never eaten at the International House of Pancakes?”

“Is that bad?” I ask, wolfing another huge forkful into my mouth. “This is heaven.”

Not as heavenly as last night . Her thought interrupts my fork halfway to my mouth and our eyes meet, sparks flying between us. She giggles and breaks eye contact first.

I shift in my seat, reminding myself that her son is present. She will pay for that later.

Will I? How? I’ve always wanted to try a spanking . Her quick grin tells me she’s playing with me again.

My mouth goes dry and I snatch up my water, gulping it.

“You can sure eat a lot,” Luke says, eyeing my leftover waffles.

I stab one with my knife and transfer it to his empty plate. “A growing human child needs sustenance,” I say, smiling my pride at caring for the small human as he digs in.

BLAM! Charlie’s voice echoes in my mind and I look at her. She laughs and silently says, My ovaries just exploded. Keep being sweet to my kid and you’ll have a sex slave for life.

I want nothing more than to fling Charlie over my shoulder and run with her to the nearest private location where I can explore this exploding ovaries situation, but we have her child in tow.

Now you understand how these creatures are the ultimate cock-blockers. Don’t have kids if you like having sex . She snickers as she thinks it, shoving a bite of waffle into her mouth.

I realize I’m smiling. Just smiling. Not at anything in particular, but at everything. Spending time with Charlie and Luke is one of the most enjoyable things I’ve ever done. Before this, I don’t think I’ve spent more than five minutes in the presence of a child. Of any species. But Luke is different. Like his mother, he fascinates me. I admire his strength and determination, despite his fragility.

The zoo is another new experience for me. Not a pleasant one at first, as all the smells hit me at once. I wrinkle my nose and Charlie looks at me sympathetically as we pass the main gates where we purchased our tickets.

“My sense of smell is a lot closer to a wolf’s, even in human form,” I explain. “I’ll get used to it.” I hope.

It’s not just the smell, but the signals those smells are sending to my brain. Some of the scents are warning me that predators are near while the rest are setting off my prey drive, which I have to ruthlessly suppress lest I shock the zoo patrons by leaping into the gazelle exhibit and chowing down.

“Look, the wolves!” Luke races toward a large, fenced exhibit filled with trees.

Curious, I follow him while Charlie calls out, telling him to stop running. Without looking back, he slows to a trot.

Luke stares up at me as we approach. “What do you think?” There’s curiosity and pride in his voice. He genuinely wants me to meet the wolves and I’m touched by his eagerness.

I look down at the only visible timber wolf; a grey-coated female. The breeze carries my scent to her and she swiftly seeks me out with her gaze. She stands stiffly, and shuffles toward the trees, letting out a huff of fear. A large, black-coated male swiftly steps out from the trees, placing himself in front of her.

He stares at me but doesn’t bare his teeth. Instead, he takes my measure, sizing me up as a potential threat. He huffs and turns to the female, nudging her into the safety of the trees where they disappear together. I don’t blame them, better to be safe than sorry when a superior predator is in the area.

“Are you superior?” Charlie asks, her eyes scanning the enclosure.

“I can run faster, jump farther, and I outweigh them by over a hundred pounds. In their minds, I am the superior predator.”

“Cool!” Luke says excitedly, then grips my hand and pulls. “Let’s go see what the giraffes do when they see you.”

I allow myself to be dragged from exhibit to exhibit, listening to Luke’s excited chatter as almost all the animals turn away from me. Only the Grizzly bears don’t seem too worried about my presence.

“That’s because they could kick your butt in a fair fight,” Charlie laughs, dancing out of reach when I try to grab her.

“I’d win a fight with a bear any day of the week.”

“Aww, did I hurt you in the pride?” Charlie and Luke are laughing, but Charlie’s phone rings before I can set her straight.

“No caller ID.” She answers, using her professional designation ‘Investigator Lopez’. She listens for a moment, then says, “Of course, we’ll come over right away.” Hanging up, she says, “That was Duncan Sharptooth. He needs to see us.”

“What’s going on?”

She glances around and satisfying herself that Luke is distracted by the bears, says, “Another one of his spies has gone missing.”