Accidentally Yours (Coyote Bluff Series Book 1) (13 page)

“So, what do you think?” Cammie couldn’t keep quiet any longer. She’d walked into the kitchen and watched Margie storm around for long enough. The questions were bubbling too quickly in her head and she needed to start talking or her brain would explode. “Do you believe it? I mean I know what we’ve just seen. I just can’t believe Skip is a wolf, too. And then to have Titan turn out to be the guy from my dreams, and to know what he’s seen, and what we did in my head at night, and—”

“Enough. Geez, Cam. I don’t want to rehash all the sordid details of your sex life, be it real or in dreamland.”

“Sorry. Sorry. I just can’t seem to wrap my head around the idea that the animal I’ve had living here, sleeping in my room, watching me dress is really a guy. A really sexy guy, I mean really, really sex—”

“God. Cam. Shut up. I get it. Titan is one hunk of burning love when in dream-human skin. We need to get past that and start figuring out who else in town is a shifter.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean,
‘why?’ Because. Don’t you want to know who sports fur on occasion?”

“I don’t really care. I mean, yeah, I guess if they want to tell me that’s cool, but it won’t make any difference.”

“Maybe not to you, but how many of them have I treated over at one of the ranches or at Skip’s property? How many of the ‘pet’ wild animals that I’ve patched up were really shifters?”

A thought struck Cammie and she voiced her question on a whisper. “You never put any of them to sleep, did you?”

“No. Geez, what do you think I am? Anyway, I bet a bunch of them were shifters. How cool is that? I’m not only the town vet but sort of the doctor, too, right?”

“You are way too excited about this, Marg. Really, you are. They’re just people.”

“Yeah, people that can turn into animals. Maybe they have all kinds of supernatural powers. Do you think they’re psychic or something?”

“How much caffeine have you had today? Sit down and relax.”

“I can’t. You don’t understand how long this puzzle has been driving me nuts. I’ve had my suspicions for almost a year, but I couldn’t ever get proof. And tonight, not only did I see and touch one shifter, but found out that a man I’ve known for that entire time is one too.”

“And you won’t share a single piece of that information.”

A gruff voice preceded Skip into the kitchen. Cammie jumped but then shook her head. She shouldn’t be surprised by anything anymore. The man was as big as her car, but moved like a ghost. Of course he did. She watched Margie square off against the male and decided it was time to end the posturing.

“Of course we aren’t going to tell anyone anything. Margie and I are both trustworthy women. We promise not to talk to anyone about anything.” She peeked behind Skip, wanting to see Titan, er
rr… Ian. Neither man nor wolf stood behind the other male. “Where’s Ian, Titan…? You know who I mean.”

“The wolf didn’t come back with me. He asked me to tell you that he was heading home and would see you later.”

“Later, like tonight, or later like when we run into each other?”

“Don’t know.” He scowled at Margie. “Now. I want to thank you the right way now that you know about us. Thanks for tending my people when we’ve been injured, even when you thought it was just a wild animal.”

Margie was quiet for a moment and a slight blush crept over her skin. Cammie tried not to grin at her friend’s discomfort. “Um, you’re welcome.”

He grunted and swung around, heading to the door. Cammie scrambled to get out the chair. “Wait. That’s it? Don’t tell anyone and you’re going to walk out?”

Squinted anger took her breath away when he turned back. “What do you want? I can’t tell you anything else. You aren’t a shifter, and you aren’t a true mate yet. Once one of those things changes I will gladly fill you in.”

She reached out to stop him once more, a pressing question tumbled from her lips. “Is Ron a shifter? I really just need to know that.”

“No. He’s just a human asshole. Oh, and if you see coyotes in your woods, don’t shoot us. We’re being petitioned for help guarding you, and I don’t want to have my people injured.”

“You’re what? I don’t understand.”

“Ask your wolf. He can decide whether to fill you in more. I need to go. Be safe. I sort of like you two and don’t want to see you hurt.”

After he left
Cammie and Margie just sat, dumbstruck. She opened her mouth and found not a single thing to say.
Holy freaking horse shit on a cracker
. She took stock of the information she’d learned over the last hour. Shifters existed. One had been living with her the last couple of days in animal form. He’d invaded her dreams. The town had more than just one, and the guy who owned the hunting farm not far from her was in charge of some of them.
Wow
. Who needed books when life handed you a horribly, crazy mind-fuck?

“Holy crap, Cammie. Did all that just happen?”

“I think so.”

“Wow.”

“Yep.”

“So, who do you think is a shifter in town?”

Cammie had known it wouldn’t take long for the other woman to overcome the information. If anyone could take in life-changing stuff and bounce right back it was Margie.

“I don’t know. When I had Titan, I mean Ian, with me in town he growled at a lot of people. Mostly men. Do you think they’re all shifters? Are we the only humans in town?”

“I don’t know, but I doubt we’re the only ones.”

Before Cammie could throw her guesses out there the phone rang. She jumped and then chuckled nervously. “Hello?”

“Hey Cammie. It’s Conner. Do you have a minute to meet with me? I have some more questions about Ron.”

“Sure. Come on over. I’ll be here.”

“Okay, see you in a few minutes.” Cammie replaced the handset on the wall and stood staring at the phone. “What about Conner? Do you think he’s one?”

“Maybe. He’s big and muscular. But I don’t know if that is just the stereotypical body shape that romance writers use. Mrs. Beatler, with her potbelly and thunder thighs
, could be a bear or something.”

Cammie couldn’t help it. She burst out laughing. Mrs. Beatler was the town gossip and as big as, well, as a bear. She was rotund and rolled herself down the street every
day to take up residence at the same table in the diner. Her beady eyes took in everything, and what she couldn’t glean from customers she made up. Cammie was wiping tears from her eyes when the phone rang again. “Hey Conner, what did you forget?”

“Who the fuck is Conner? You fucking around on me already?”

Cammie’s blood froze. “Ron? What the hell are you calling me for?”

“You can’t get away from me so easily. You’re mine, and now I owe you for two beatings. You should have just let me punish you earlier, but now, now I owe you for your actions and the actions of that fucking mutt that attacked me.”

“Leave me alone, Ron. I don’t want anything to do with you. You’ve been drinking again, I can hear it in your voice. Go sleep it off.”

“I’m coming for you Camile. I’m going to get you and make you understand that you’re mine.” His words were slurring at the end, but the malice was thick.

A feminine hand snaked over her shoulder and pressed the button to disconnect the call. Margie tugged the handset from Cammie’s numb hand and replaced it on the wall. “I’m calling Conner and you are going to sit. Then, I’m packing you up and taking you home with me.”

Margie’s calm words helped Cammie get her emotions under control. Abject terror wasn’t going to help her think or react. Ron was just a guy, drunk and angry. He wasn’t the devil, couldn’t materialize in her kitchen. She nodded.

“Conner, hey, it’s Margie. I’m taking Cammie home with me. Ron just called and she looks like death. I’m imagining he threatened her.” There was a pause as something was said on the other end of the call. “Yeah, that’s my guess too. We’ll see you at my house then.”

After hanging up her friend turned to Cam with a look of sympathy and concern.
“Come on, girlie. Up you go. Let’s go pack you a bag.”

Margie marched Cammie up the stairs, steering her by the shoulder. They worked together throwing clothes into a duffle bag. Both women stared repeatedly at the open bedroom door.

“I have to leave a note for Ian. What if he comes and I’m not here?”

“Fine. But don’t put on there where we’re going. I don’t need Ron finding you at my house.”

Cammie rushed down the stairs and wrote out a cryptic note about leaving and staying with her ‘visitor’, hoping he’d understand. She had the urge to find him and crawl into his embrace. Adrenaline was still surging through her body and every noise spiked her panic. Strong, warm arms would chase away her fear.

“So, you want tea or I can make some coffee?”

Cammie looked up from her hands. She’d sat at Margie’s table and lost herself in dread again. What had she gotten herself into? She needed to snap out of it though. “Sure, tea would be great.” She watched the other woman move around the kitchen, methodically collecting items. She knew Margie was trying to give her time to get her mind around Ron and the stupid phone call. “Sorry I’m being all depressed and stuff.”

“No worries. I’d be freaked out too if my ex-boyfriend called and threatened to do bodily harm to me. Especially when said asshole had already broken into my house and tried to bean me with cleaning instruments.”

“I guess. I just feel like my brain has disconnected. It’s too much, you know. Shifters and homicidal drunks. And I thought my life was exciting before.” They both chuckled, even if it was painful sounding and laced with enough hysteria to be scary. Margie set a cup of steaming tea in front of Cammie. She wrapped her hand around it and the warmth helped dispel the last of the icy fear. They sat in companionable silence for a few moments, sipping their beverages and contemplating their night.

Margie’s cell phone rang quietly in her purse. “Oh, it’s Conner. Hey Conner. Yeah, okay. We’re here. See you in a minute.” Cammie quirked an eye brow at her friend before Margie closed her phone. “He didn’t want to scare us by
just showing up. He’ll be pulling up in a few minutes.”

They both stared at each other for a moment. Margie asked the question they were both thinking. “Do you think he’s one?”

Cammie didn’t even have to put brain cells to work on that one. “Yep.”

Margie nodded sagely before opening the door. “Figured.”

Both women stood at the door, looking out into the evening. The silence felt calming to Cammie. She drew it into her lungs and let it pool in her body, cool and stable. No matter what happened, the world would keep turning, the night would come after the day. She could rely on those facts when the rest of her life seemed to be on a rollercoaster.

Connor parked and climbed out of his SUV. She watched the way he moved and noticed for the first time the fluid way he walked, like a predator. She felt like having a V-8 moment, but her face hurt enough as it was. Face-palming her forehead didn’t sound like the best idea.

“Hello Officer Manning. How are you this evening?” Margie’s southern twang was thick as she eyed the man with furrowed brow. “Would you like to come in? We were just sitting down to a cup of tea.”

Conner reacted as all good southern men did. He removed his hat and gave the universal answer. “Yes, ma’am, I’d love a cup of tea
, if you don’t mind me coming in your house with my boots on.”

“Not at all. Come on in and sit.” Cammie stifled the chuckle that threatened to leave her chest. Margie was amazingly cunning. They all trooped into the dining room and sat, staring at each other. She waited a few moments, letting the silence settle, before opening up the conversation. “So, why did you want to meet with me?”

Conner’s dark gaze swept around the room. “Where’s the wolf?”

“He left.”

“Run off? Or did you make him leave?”

Cammie looked away from the steady gaze and caught Margie’s attention. The other woman nodded slightly in affirmation. A deep breath to fortify her nerves was all Cammie gave herself before plunging in. “Neither. He left to go home, but I’m hoping he’ll call me later.”

Silence settled heavy in the room. As the clock on the wall kept time, Cammie knew, without a doubt, that the man knew about shifters. Which made sense in the scheme of things. If there was a town running rampant with wild creatures who were also human-shaped, the police would need to know. The stunned look on his face told her all she needed to know about other humans having that knowledge, though. “We know. Skip came to my house and visited with Titan, I mean Ian.”

Again only blankness from the male. She wanted to laugh, but decided against it when he grunted and nodded.

“You are one, aren’t you?”

“Yes. Now, tell me about the call from Ron.”

“Um, okay. Wow.” She gathered her thoughts. “He called right after I hung up with you. He threatened to come get me, spouting all kinds of crap about me being his and being punished. He was drunk, and not just a little drunk. He was slurring his words and everything. Trust me when I say it takes a lot of liquor to get him to that point.”

Conner jotting things in his handy-dandy notebook before looking up. “Anything else you can remember? Sounds in the background of the call? Did he sound like he was in his car or a bar?”

Cammie went through the call in her mind but couldn’t remember any details like that. She’d been concentrating on the hatred pouring through the lines. “No. I’m sorry. Next time he calls I’ll pay more attention. Your turn. Why did you want to talk to me?”

“Someone ransacked your office. I’m guessing Ron did it, but we’ve been unable to find him. He hasn’t been home and we searched every place we could think of.” She groaned and dropped her head in
to her hands. “Do Becca and Tim know? Were their offices touched?”

“Nope, just yours. That’s why we’re assuming Ron. Can you think of someplace he would go to hide out? A friend, family member?”

“No. He was usually home drinking. I know he plays poker with a few guys, but I don’t know who.”

“I would suggest you stay here tonight. Don’t go home without having someone with you. We obviously are going to do everything we can to find him, but it’s always best to be careful.”

“Wait.” Margie’s voice sounded loud after Conner’s low growl. “You’re going to walk in here, admit to being a shifter and leave? Really? Come on Conner, give us some info. Something. Skip wouldn’t fill us in, and now we, mere humans, have to wait for Ian, or Titan, or whatever the wolf’s name is to tell Cammie stuff. I’m dying here. Give me something.”

Conner actually laughed. Not a chuckle or the normal grunt that worked as his reaction to something amusing. Chest-shaking, knee-slapping laughter rolled out of him. Cammie watched Margie blush a deep pink before she grabbed a dish towel and threw it at his head. “Shut up, Conner Manning.”

“Oh, Margarete Barrie. You are nothing if not entertaining. You ‘mere human’ women know more than most people in our town. I’m not allowed to tell you anything. Sorry. But, I can tell you that we aren’t wolves, well, except for Cammie’s. I’m a coyote.”

Cammie’s mind grabbed that thought and ran backward a few nights. Coyote song floating on the night, Titan laying on the side of the road bleeding. “You weren’t one of the ones chasing Ian the other night were you?”

“No. What do you mean chasing Ian?”

“I found him after he ran into my car, but there were coyotes around and headed toward us. He was cut up all over and not from taking on my car with his head.”

Anger darkened the man’s face. “No, and I didn’t know anyone had been chased.”

“Well, I’m just guessing. You could ask Skip. He supposedly talked to Ian earlier, but I don’t know if it was telepathically or what.”

“Telepathically? Shit, Cam, where do you come up with this stuff?” Margie laughed and was joined quickly by Conner.

“You two shut up. How am I supposed to know? Ian left in wolf form. How else was he going to talk to Skip?”

“Ladies, it’s been interesting, but I’ve got to be on my way.” He held up a hand to stop them both from talking. “No, I can’t answer any questions. Stay inside, lock the doors and I’ll call if anything comes up. Cammie, I want you to promise me that you won’t even drive to work without someone knowing where you’re going.”

“Okay.”

“Good. Have a good night.” Conner left quickly and gave a wave out his window as he drove out onto the road.

Silence hung thick in the air for a few moments as the women stared at the closed door. Margie broke the silence first. “Well, that was interesting.”

“Works for me. Thanks again, for taking me in.”

“No problem, hon. You can stay as long as you need.” She patted Cammie’s hand. “Now, take yourself up to my guest room and go to bed. Nothing is going to come for you tonight.”

Cammie did as she was instructed even though she flounced from the room with a flick of her middle finger and a waggle of her tongue. She wondered briefly where Ian was, and if he was out there running around in the woods, keeping her safe. She wanted to see him, but the feelings that coursed through her as she pictured him was the reminder she needed about what exactly she’d been doing with him in her last dream. Her very real, very sexy dream. She sighed once she climbed into bed. It felt strange to be in someone else’s house, but she wasn’t stupid. She needed protection even if it chafed against her independent streak.

Coyotes yipping and howling outside the house sent her off to sleep.