Page 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
L eah took Lindsay not to the living room but opened the door behind the paneling in the hall that hid a staircase going down. Lindsay’s uneasiness increased as they descended.
The staircase ended in a small space where another concealed door opened into a comfortable sitting area with a kitchenette. A large television, soft furniture, and lots of shelving with books and nicknacks made the place cozy.
Lindsay had spent much time in this basement when they’d first arrived in this Shiftertown, comforting herself with things she’d grown up with. Few of the other Shifters would believe that the outgoing and wild Lindsay had once been very shy.
Lindsay’s father rose from a sofa, setting aside his coffee and newspaper.
“Sorry I didn’t call,” Lindsay said. She hadn’t felt so nervous under her parents’ gazes since she’d been in her Transition and worried them sick. “It was a spur-of-the-moment thing.”
Martin shook his head. “Lindsay, you’re a grown Shifter and can come and go as you please. We knew you were with Xavier, and safe.”
Bewilderment entered Lindsay’s apprehension. “Then what’s the problem? Why are we down here where no other Shifter will hear us?”
Leah slid her arm around her daughter. “Eric came to see us this morning.”
Panic joined Lindsay’s mix of emotions. “What happened? Is Cassidy okay? Is it the cub?”
“No, no, nothing like that.” Leah squeezed Lindsay’s waist, her touch instantly soothing. “Cassidy is fine and well, as are all of Eric’s family. The subject was your mating.”
Lindsay abruptly pulled away from her mother. “Seriously? Why is it anyone’s business, especially Eric’s? I have plenty of time to choose a mate, right? And no, I’m not picking one of Graham’s annoying wolves.”
The Lupines who’d been forcibly moved here from Graham’s Shiftertown in northern Nevada had been clamoring for the single women of this Shiftertown to mate with them. The ladies had mostly refused.
Shifter Bureau had truly fucked over Graham and his Lupines, but that didn’t mean Lindsay and every other unmated female would sacrifice themselves for them.
“Of course it’s your choice,” Martin said patiently. “But a couple of the Lupines are talking about Challenging Xavier for you. Eric came to warn us.”
Lindsay’s agitation sprang high again. “They can’t Challenge him. Xav has never made a mate-claim. What are they talking about?”
A Challenge was basically trial by combat when another male Shifter wanted the female in question. It was usually only issued once a mate-claim had been formally made in the presence of witnesses.
“They believe the claim will come soon,” Leah said. “You staying with Xav last night will convince them they’re right. They’re trying to get rid of a rival before he’s too entrenched. Eric says Graham’s Lupines did such things when they lived in their former Shiftertown.”
“Well, they don’t live there now.” Lindsay’s heart banged, and she felt ill. Xav was no pushover, but a Challenge was traditionally to the death, and any human would lose in a direct fight with a Shifter. Plus, Graham’s Lupines fought dirty.
“Graham is trying to make them see reason,” Martin said. “He and Eric are on top of it—Eric doesn’t want to see Xavier hurt either.”
“What does Diego say about it?” Lindsay demanded.
Leah and Martin exchanged a glance. “Diego doesn’t know,” Martin said. “Eric wants to settle this quietly.”
“Eric means he doesn’t want Diego to go tase the Lupines until they puke,” Lindsay said heatedly. “He doesn’t want Graham to retaliate on Diego or Xav, which will put Eric at war with Graham. Shit. ”
Lindsay turned and started for the door. Her wildcat wanted to scream, to bounce off walls and claw everyone who got in her way.
“Where are you going, Linds?” Her mother’s gentle voice came behind her. “Do you need the cage?”
An hour banging around the room they’d constructed with padded walls and ledges they could leap between might help, but it wouldn’t solve the bigger issue.
“I’m going to see Graham,” Lindsay announced.
“No, Linds,” Martin tried. “Leave it to Eric and Graham. They’ll sort this out.”
True, it was Eric’s and Graham’s jobs as leaders to cool their Shifters down and make sure no one got hurt.
The trouble was, Xav wasn’t a Shifter. Would Graham really put himself out to keep Xav from harm? It was in Graham’s best interest for his Lupines to respect him, and defending a human against them wouldn’t win Graham any points.
Lindsay headed out of the room, and her parents didn’t stop her. She sensed them standing close together as she stormed up the stairs and into the main house again.
Once outside, Lindsay breathed a little easier, the cool winter breeze welcome.
Of course, all of Shiftertown would know that she’d spent the night with Xav. He’d kissed her pretty hard in the car outside her house and then they’d driven away together.
Every Shifter within viewing, hearing, and scenting distance would understand that Lindsay and Xav had gone to indulge in some mating heat. She’d been ready to be with Xav, had loved every second of what they’d done last night.
It had never occurred to her that she’d be putting him in danger.
Fucking wolves.
Lindsay strode toward the large two-story house Graham had commandeered for himself when he’d moved here. Eric hadn’t opposed his choice, because he’d preferred to smooth the transition rather than fight Graham on every point. Eric was good at choosing his battles.
Lindsay just wanted to battle.
She marched onto the porch and banged on the front door. “Graham,” she yelled. “Come out here.”
The door was yanked open by a very small person who peered up at her with solemn gray eyes. “Hi, Lindsay. Are you okay?”
Lindsay rapidly dialed back her anger. “Hello, Matt. Is Graham at home?”
Many Shifters couldn’t tell Matt from Kyle, his twin, but to Lindsay, the two cubs were very different. Lynxes were particularly good at scent, and the two little wolves, while remarkably similar, were each unique.
“He’s here,” Matt answered. “You’re upset at him for endangering your mate, aren’t you?”
Sheesh, did everyone in Shiftertown know about this? “He isn’t my mate.” Lindsay’s eyes stung. “He might never be. Where is Graham?”
“I’m right here.” Graham’s rumbling voice came to them, followed by the bulk of the Lupine filling the entrance hall. “Matt, what did I tell you about throwing open the door before I’m downstairs?”
“I knew it was Lindsay,” Matt said. “Lindsay’s nice.”
A yipping sound accompanied this statement as Kyle, in his wolf-cub form, gamboled down the stairs and joined his brother. Kyle danced around Lindsay’s ankles, tail moving rapidly.
Even the adorable cubs couldn’t dampen Lindsay’s outrage for long. “Graham?—”
“Did Eric send you?” Graham interrupted in his usual window-rattling voice. “Asshole was only supposed to tell you and your human to lie low.”
Lindsay drew a breath, trying to make herself speak rationally. “First, I haven’t seen Eric. Second, it’s your Lupines who are trying to cause trouble.” She folded her arms. “Third, Xav isn’t my human. We’re not together.” She rapidly went over the past day and a half in her head and all the confusing emotions the hours had wrought. “I don’t think.”
“Bull crap. It’s obvious you had sex with him last night.” Graham scowled. “I’m trying to keep my Lupines calm, but they’re furious with you, a fair-game female, for choosing a human. Especially that human.”
To hell with being rational. “Why? Because Xav knows how to take care of himself? Because he’s smarter than any Lupine I know?” Lindsay glared at Graham to include him in this category.
“Because Xav’s brother is mated to Eric’s second,” Graham all but shouted. “They don’t want Eric gaining any more power. If Eric has family ties to every Feline Shifter in this town, the Lupines lose.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard.” Lindsay said in exasperation.
“We’d have been fine if they hadn’t tried to shove two Shiftertowns together. It’s a fucking mess, and I work every day to keep it untangled. You mating with one of Eric’s Shifters is one thing. You mating with someone deeply connected with him is another.”
“It’s none of their business!” Lindsay pressed her palms to her chest. “ I choose my mate, not your stupid Lupines. Even if Xav was connected to the head of Shifter Bureau himself, it’s still my choice. I don’t give a shit if some effed-up Lupines don’t like it.”
“Don’t even joke about Shifter Bureau, especially not at my front door,” Graham commanded. “Everyone on the street heard you.”
“Like you’re not yelling at the top of your lungs. Why should I care?”
“Listen to me.” Graham quieted, and the authority that made him an undisputed leader cut through Lindsay’s blustering. “I’m doing what I can, but these are pissed-off, half-wild Shifters whose chances at mating were cut in a big way when they were shoved into this Shiftertown. If you and Xav mate—officially, under sun and moon—they’ll have to back off, whether they like it or not, and they know it. But the way things are now, they see Xav as an obstacle between them and you, one to be eliminated.”
Graham took a step closer, and Lindsay’s wildcat’s heart pounded with instinctive fear. Graham continued, “Either you and Xav mate, Linds, and do it fast, or you give him up entirely and make sure everyone knows it. Any other choice, and they’ll try to Challenge. Or maybe even not bother with the Challenge and go for the kill.”
The cubs stared up at Graham, wide-eyed, and Lindsay swallowed. “Diego will never stand for that,” she declared. “He’s a dangerous enemy to make.”
“No kidding. But half a dozen Lupines in mating frenzy won’t think of anything but eradicating Xav until it’s too late.” Graham softened his tone until he sounded almost sympathetic. “You can’t ignore this, Lindsay. You don’t like it—and I don’t blame you—but it’s the situation. You say it’s your choice? Then make one.”
“You mean for the good of Shiftertown?” Lindsay tried to regain her resolve. “Well, for the good of Shiftertown, you should keep your wolves in line.”
“She’s right,” a light voice came from inside. Lindsay peered past Graham and saw Misty, his mate, at the foot of the staircase, listening to every word. “The pressure shouldn’t be on Lindsay.”
“ I know that.” Graham’s frustrated roar returned. “I’m doing the best I can. But this on-again, off-again thing with Xav is driving everyone wild. Is Lindsay fair game or not? Is Xav a threat or a friend? We’re Shifters. Our emotions are pretty basic.”
That was true. While humans might find compromises, Shifters would battle it out. Living in Shiftertowns had forced them to work things out more peacefully than they had in the past, but a beast hovered just below every Shifter’s facade, danger waiting to explode.
There was danger inside Lindsay too, she hoped they all realized.
“I understand,” she made herself say. “I’ll give this some thought.”
“What I mean is shit or get off the pot,” Graham stated. “All right?”
“Nice metaphor, Graham.” Lindsay looked him up and down. “I remember when you couldn’t figure out what to do with your hots for Misty.”
Graham flushed. “And I made the decision, didn’t I? Call Xav. Work it out. Now, I have things to do.”
Behind Graham, Misty rolled her eyes. She came down the stairs and out of the house before Graham could close the door, and caught Lindsay in a hug.
Misty was a small woman, and holding her was like embracing a fragile figurine, but Misty had a strength very few suspected.
“Don’t let him get under your skin,” Misty murmured into Lindsay’s ear. “I think you know, deep down inside, what you need to do.”
Lindsay found herself trembling. She returned the hug, wondering if the rest of the Shifters understood how wise Misty was.
“Thank you,” Lindsay whispered.
Misty released her, and Lindsay wiped her eyes, wondering why she was suddenly crying.
Graham glowered from the doorway while Misty patted Lindsay’s shoulders and gave her an encouraging smile. “Take care, sweetie.”
“I will. See you, Graham.” Lindsay turned her back, something she’d never, ever do to Eric, and walked away.
But Graham wasn’t her leader, was he? Even so, it was difficult to make the defiant gesture—telling Graham plainly he wasn’t the boss of her—to someone so seriously alpha.
One reason Lindsay had been attracted to Xav from the start was that while he was strong, and very alpha himself, he wasn’t an asshole. Graham’s wolves needed to learn that.
Lindsay paused at the end of Graham’s front walk, wondering whether to go home or out for a run. The cat inside her wanted to dash around until she was exhausted and then curl up and go to sleep. Things always looked brighter after a good nap.
Or, she could call Xav right now, explain the danger of him coming to Shiftertown ever again, and end it with him.
Not that she’d accept any mate-claims from annoying Lupines, but Graham was right. Until his frenzied Shifters knew whether Lindsay was mating with Xav or not, they wouldn’t settle down to be their usual irritating selves. She was aware that Eric’s unmated Shifters, though less demonstrative, wanted that answer as well.
The thought of telling Xav to stay away for good ripped a hole in her heart and flooded her eyes with more tears.
Lindsay started walking. She didn’t know where she was going, and she didn’t care. She strode down the street, heading for open country.
A breeze touched her ankles. Lindsay glanced down to see, through her blurred vision, two wolf cubs running in circles around her. They emitted baby howls when they felt her attention on them, tails wagging hard.
Matt and Kyle had come to protect her, she realized. To walk with her and keep her safe.
Lindsay became abruptly aware of watchers—from porches, from front windows, from shadows of thick mesquites that dotted the way. Hostile watchers, she sensed, likely the Lupines who’d threatened Xav or those who sympathized with them.
Some Shifters would welcome any excuse to start a war between Graham’s Shifters and Eric’s.
All because Lindsay didn’t know what was going on in her relationship with Xav. So unfair.
She understood, though, that most Shifters would blame her if Graham’s Lupines caused trouble. Eric and Cassidy would not, but they’d have to deal with the mess.
“Shit!” Lindsay shouted to the air.
The cubs yipped in sympathy, their circles around her more enthusiastic.
She realized, after she’d gone another block, that the two were herding her back toward her own house.
“I’ll be all right, guys, really,” she tried to argue. “I’m more worried about you .”
Kyle started to howl, a high-pitched, piercing noise. Matt’s yipping increased.
Misty had once told Lindsay that the wolf cubs, in spite of their cuteness, were quite powerful Shifters, descended from hyper-strong Lupines of the past. They had abilities that Graham couldn’t explain and probably more that nobody knew about yet.
But in Lindsay’s eyes, they were still cubs. If one of the watching Lupines decided to attack her, he’d kick aside the little wolves without remorse.
“I’ll go home,” she assured them. “But only if you two go back to Graham and Misty. They need you.”
The cubs utterly ignored her. Tails going like mad, they continued their enthusiastic circling, guiding her inexorably along her street and to her house. Lindsay sensed the watchers retreat, turning away to other things as though understanding they’d lost this round.
Matt and Kyle stuck to Lindsay until she reached her back door. When she leaned down to stroke their fur in thanks, they went wild, licking her face and yipping in joy.
They waited until Lindsay had gone all the way inside before they tore across the backyards, heading once more for Graham’s house.
Lindsay watched them go with regret. The cubs were not only protective, they were good at distracting her from despair.
She knew that once she’d retreated into the solitude of her own room, she’d have to face some hard truths, ones that might end in profound pain.
* * *
Xav and Neal spent the morning tracking the helicopter, picking up its path from chance videos posted by campers and hikers, air traffic reports Neal hacked his way into, and a few calls to radio stations from those insisting they’d seen a UFO near Area 51.
Xav plotted the sightings, and they came up with a rough map of the helicopter’s movements.
Brody supplied coffee and went on a donut run as Xav and Neal worked.
“You two about done?” Brody asked after they’d gone through half the box of donuts. “This is like watching paint dry.”
“Not quite.” Xav rolled back from the computer in resignation. Neal, who let nothing faze him, lounged in a kitchen chair munching on a chocolate-covered donut with multicolored sprinkles. “We have a direction the helicopter went, but not its final destination. We’ll have to drive around looking for possible landing sites.”
“Good,” Brody rumbled. “Tracking, I can do. This computer stuff, not so much.”
“You’ll need Shifters,” Neal said as he licked chocolate icing from his fingers. “More than the two of us, I mean, and more than Lindsay with her super-scenting abilities.”
“Lindsay’s out of this.” Xav had decided that once Emma had given her report. “She’ll argue, but I’m hoping we can find the guy and be done before she works up a head of steam.”
Brody grinned. “I can think of ways you two can release some of that pressure.”
Xav tried to stop his blushing, but by Brody’s widening smile and Neal’s quiet amusement, he failed.
“Lindsay’s right,” Xav observed dryly. “Shifters can’t mind their own business.”
“Hey, a mating is a celebration for us all.” Brody sat his bulk on a chair that was not made for grizzlies and grabbed—what else?—a bear claw. “Congratulations.”
“I don’t know if it’s heading anywhere beyond last night.” Xav wondered why he felt so hollow admitting this. “Lindsay and I aren’t exactly going steady.”
“Going steady.” Brody chuckled. “Do the kids still say that? I think she’s settled on you, my friend.”
Xav shook his head. “We’re on-again, off-again. On never lasts long.”
“Do you go out with other women when it’s off?” Neal asked in curiosity.
Xav shrugged. “Sometimes. Nothing serious.”
Neal spread his hands, one holding another donut, as if to say, There you go.
“I tried to break up with her the other day,” Xav said. “For her own good, I told myself. But I couldn’t stay away from her.” He sighed. “I’m not sure if that’s my fault or hers. Both, I guess.”
Brody rolled his eyes as he finished off the bear claw and wiped glaze from his lips. “Humans. So fucked up. Just grab her and mate-claim her. She’ll go from prickly to purring in no time.”
“Shifters,” Xav returned. “You think everything is so simple. What about Martin and Leah? Are they going to be thrilled if a human mate-claims their daughter? I get along fine with them, but that’s because I’m only a friend with benefits right now. Nothing too momentous.”
“What Eric will think is more important,” Neal pointed out. “As leader, he has to make sure nothing rocks the Shiftertown boat.”
“Even more complicated.” Xav made a noise of exasperation. “I disagree that Eric’s opinion is more important than Lindsay’s family’s, but as Brody has made clear, I’m not Shifter. All the Shifters respect Diego, but he’s always been a commander. I’m the fun-loving little bro he has to keep out of trouble. I don’t want to be in a situation where Diego has to fight my battles for me. He’s saved my butt too many times in the past.”
If Lindsay had been a human woman, Xav would have long ago suggested she move in with him, or he with her, if she preferred.
But then, if Lindsay wasn’t exactly who she was, Xav might not have stuck around with her. He’d dated several women in the past who’d have been amenable to a long-term relationship, even marriage, and he hadn’t pursued it.
After he’d met Lindsay, that had been it.
Last night, with her warm and sexy on top of him, had clinched the matter. There was no other woman for him but her.
Xav’s cell phone pealed. When he saw the caller’s name, he immediately grabbed the phone and left the room. The two Shifters craned to watch him all the way.
“Hey, Lindsay,” Xav answered, unable to quench the delight in his voice. “What’s up?”
“Hey, Xav.” Lindsay’s tone held sadness, and Xav’s excitement diminished. “I’m going to say the four words you probably least want to hear. We need to talk .”