Behind the Eight Ball (22 page)

“But—”

“Nope! Now come here and sit back down. All that pacing makes me dizzy.” Heller flopped down on my lap, and I wrapped him up so he’d stay where I wanted him. “Babe, I never said I wouldn’t move in.”

“You never said you would,” Heller griped, refusing to look at me.

“I got three words out, and you were off on a tear. No, no… just stay your cute ass here.” Heller was straining to get up. “Would you just give me a second to respond before reacting, please? That’s how we ended up here in the first place—you didn’t listen. You made an assumption, and off you went.”

Well, now, that was a pout if I ever saw one.

“First off I’m fine with moving in with you. I think living with Marshell is out too. You two in the same house is just a no-go. Why would we even consider that when you have such a beautiful home?”

“So you
will
move in here?”

“Yes.”

Heller huffed. “Well, why didn’t you just say so?”

I squeezed him good, earning myself a grunt. “I’m going to hide your favorite ball.”

Heller reached down through my legs and squeezed my balls. “Good thing I know where to look, huh?”

“Smartass. Tell you what, why don’t we take both trucks and head on over there? I really don’t have much. What do you want to do with my bedroom furniture?”

“We can put your stuff in the fourth bedroom. I have my office in there, but it doesn’t take up much space.”

“You sure? I hate to take up your office space.”

“I’m sure. This will be your home, and I want you to feel like you belong.” Heller stood. “By the way, before we go, I need to move my clothes out of one of the walk-in closets for you.”

I followed him to the bedroom. “Where are you going to put them?”

“Your closet had my offseason clothes.” Heller opened the other walk-in. “I’ll use the closet in the fourth bedroom for those.”

My mouth fell open. I’d seen inside the other closet, and I knew it was full, but I hadn’t expected this one to be also. “Good God, man.”

Heller looked at me. “What?”

“Did you hold up the men’s department store? I’ve never seen so many clothes. These are just your out-of-season clothes?”

Heller shrugged. “I like to shop, what can I say?”

I stepped into the closet and looked around. I saw several high-end name brands. “Jesus, I’d hate to see your credit card bill.”

“I only have one, and it has a zero balance.” Heller stepped in the closet too and grabbed an armful of hangers. “I pay it off each month. My credit score is actually very good.”

I grabbed the back of his belt buckle and pulled him to me. “Why, look at you, Mr. Responsible.”

Chuckling, he glanced over his shoulder at me. “That’s not a name often applied to me.”

I patted his ass. “You got them all fooled, don’t you?”

He shifted the piles of clothes he held. “You could say that.”

“But
I
see you.”

Heller stared at me for a moment, and then a shy smiled appeared. “Yeah, I think you just might. Grab some clothes and let’s get going. These are getting heavy.”

“Uh-huh.” I grabbed an armful and followed him, not saying anything about the fact he was a shifter and could probably lift
me
over his head. A pile of clothes shouldn’t be too much for him. Besides, I saw the blush he sported.

Under all the layers was a man who was vulnerable and very sweet. It took two hours, several trips to the other bedroom, and some rearranging of Heller’s closet, but we finally cleared mine out.

We spent the rest of the weekend getting Heller’s house ready for me to move in. Heller had close to three dozen pairs of shoes stored in mine that had to go into his new closet, so we decided to stop by one of the big-box stores and get some shelving Monday.

AFTER A
quick lunch on Monday, we headed to town. It was midafternoon and I wanted to drop in on Marshell before getting the shelving unit. I wasn’t sure if Janelle was there. Not that I didn’t doubt Marshell couldn’t handle being there by himself. Mondays weren’t busy for us. We weren’t there long.

Luckily we had some boxes in the back that I had for packing. We planned to stop by Remi’s and see if he had any spare boxes. Marshell ran me out after a lot of eye-rolling and huffing that he was perfectly able to handle the shop alone, that he didn’t need a babysitter, and that he was grown and his balls had indeed dropped.

Heller just barely managed to turn his snort into a cough. Turned out Janelle was moving in with Sam over the weekend too. That reminded me. I needed to ask when she and Sam were having their joining ceremony.

After that interesting conversation, we left. A quick trip by Remi’s, and I had a few more boxes. Then we swung by Lowe’s to get the shelving unit. We dropped it off at Heller’s house, and then we took both of our trucks to my old house.

We walked in and I immediately started laughing. I could tell Janelle had been there. The couch, loveseat, and end tables were gone, but Marshell’s overstuffed leather recliner was still there, as was his sixty-inch TV. She left several lamps and a few pictures he bought too.

“Man, I wonder if he knows she took most of the den stuff.” Heller cackled. “What time does he get home? Can we stay until then? I’d love to see his face.”

“You vindictive cat, you.” I cracked up at the look of glee on Heller’s face. No doubt about it, Heller hadn’t forgiven Marshell for how he acted yet.

“And?”

“And as much as I’d love to see that too…. All that stuff was Janelle’s. He’s hated that couch and loveseat from the day she brought it home, so any screaming you might hear would be that of joy.”

“Damn.” Heller sighed. “Ah, well, it was nice while it lasted.”

“Hey, there’s still the kitchen.” I nudged Heller. “Marshell bought one of those high-end fucking outrageously expensive coffeemakers. Janelle always claimed it was hers since she drinks more coffee than Marshell. It might be gone.”

A positively evil grin crossed Heller’s face. “Let’s go see.”

Laughing, I followed him.

“Hot damn, I don’t see it!”

Huh. Cats held grudges. Who knew? I joined him in the kitchen. He was staring at an empty place on the counter.

“Yup, she took it,” I said.

“Yes!” Heller high-fived me.

I just shook my head. Heller was enjoying this way too much. “Want to see a grown man cry? Well, if we’re still here, you will. You’re getting way too much enjoyment out of this.”

“I sure am.” Heller looked around the kitchen. “Actually it seems like she took all the smaller appliances.”

“She likes to cook.”

“You didn’t buy any of this?” Heller waved around the house, then frowned.

“Well, remember they’re both older than me, and they had way more time to save money. I did buy some stuff around here, but not much. Okay, why are you frowning?”

“I….” Heller sniffed, and his frown deepened. “I didn’t notice it before, but there’s something… a scent…. What the hell
is
that smell?”

“Huh.” I glanced around the kitchen. “Yeah, I do smell something, but I’m not sure what.”

A low growl sounded from Heller as he moved around the area, sniffing. “It’s almost gone, whatever it is. Very vague and….” Heller’s nose twitched. “I
know
that smell, dammit, I just can’t….”

“What do you think it is?”

“I can’t quite get a handle on it, but I think it’s a paranormal scent. I don’t like this.” Heller pushed me behind him. “Stay behind me.”

The action irritated me a little, but I wasn’t stupid. If there was a paranormal running around here, intent on causing trouble, Heller would be able to handle him better than I could. After he moved me behind him, we left the kitchen.

“Paranormal? It’s probably Marshell or Janelle.”

Heller shook his head, still frowning. “Nope, that’s not it. Anyway, I know their scents.”

Now I was beginning to get concerned. Heller was really worried. “Do you think anyone’s here?”

Heller sniffed again. “I… I don’t think so. The scent is too faint now.”

That was good enough for me. “Then let’s stop worrying. Marshell probably brought one of his hookups here last night. He does that all the time. Come on.”

I walked down the hall to my bedroom.

“Maybe. It’s just that scent is familiar,” Heller said as he followed me. “I wish it were stronger because I know I’ve smelled it before.”

“Stop stressing, babe.” I stopped at my room. “Now that’s really odd. Wonder why they closed my bedroom door?”

I reached for the handle. Before I could touch the thing, Heller, grabbed me, hissing madly. Wow, I knew he was strong, but I’d never felt his full strength before now. He pushed me across the hall, away from my bedroom door, his constant hissing echoing in my ear.

He hadn’t hurt me, but I didn’t appreciate the manhandling. “What the fuck, Heller?”

“That scent I smelled earlier is stronger here. I recognized it now. It’s werewolf.”

Chills ran over my body. Werewolf? Why was there a werewolf scent in my room? Was it the one from the backyard?

“Let’s go!” Whispering, I tugged at Heller’s arm. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”

Instead of leaving like any sane person, my mate plastered his ear against the door. I seriously thought about kicking him in the shins.

“
What
are you doing?” I demanded.

“Listening.”

Listening. Oh my God, I was going to snatch him bald. He wasn’t listening to
me
, the one person he should be. I tried to tug him away from the door. If Heller could scent the werewolf, then I was pretty sure it could scent us. “Are you insane?”

“Would you be quiet? I’m listening to see if there’s anyone in your room.”

Yup, insane. There was no other explanation. “How about listening to me? We need to get out of here.”

Heller stepped back, and his posture was more relaxed than it had been. “There’s no one in there. It’s safe.”

Since I knew he wouldn’t let me enter if there was danger, I opened my bedroom door. And promptly screamed bloody blue murder. My room looked like a tornado hit it. All the drawers had been pulled out of the dresser and upended.

Strewn around the room were my sweats, underwear, and boxers. Mixed in with that were my sheets and bedspread. My mattress rested half-on, half-off the box spring and had four long grooves in it. Springs and stuffing from the mattress had been thrown about.

My poor dresser sat at a funny angle, and it too had deep claw grooves. The frames of a few pictures I’d hung on the wall were smashed and on the floor. My headboard had a hole in it where it looked like a fist had hit it and gone straight through the wood.

The end table next to the bed looked like it had been kicked or thrown across the room; it lay in two pieces. The little cheap desk I owned was nothing more than kindling now, broken to pieces. I glanced at the floor and noticed some of my jeans, a few dress shirts, and a pair of slacks scattered over the floor. Those looked like clothes from my….

“Motherfucking son of a bitch!”

I scrambled across the mounds of stuff on the floor to my closet and threw it open. Nothing remained except for the naked hangers. Someone had dumped everything I owned on the floor.

Then the smell of urine hit me.

I was going to be sick. “Oh fuck. No, please, no!”

I grabbed a white dress shirt off the floor and held it up. It kept getting worse. Not only were my clothes damp, they were shredded. Throwing the shirt to the side, I picked up something else, my hands shaking. It too was clawed to pieces.

“Oh my God, what the
fuck
is this?” I yelled, throwing the article of clothing aside and grabbing something else.

My body flushed and sweat popped out on my forehead. Most everything I owned had either been sliced up or pissed on. Or both. I couldn’t wrap my head around this kind of destruction. I swayed on my feet.

“Hey, hey, easy, Lawson. Why don’t we get out of here? It reeks of werewolf.” Heller wrapped his arms around me and backed me out of the room. “Kitchen. Let’s go to the kitchen.”

I followed him blindly. I didn’t know what to say or do. I didn’t have much, but what I did have was mine, dammit. Now I had nothing. My stomach roiled and my body trembled. Saliva flooded my mouth and I shoved away from Heller. I barely got my head over the sink before breakfast reappeared.

Clutching the counter, I groaned as my stomach heaved. “Aw, shit.”

I heaved again. God, it felt like my stomach was turning itself inside out. As far as I was concerned, there was nothing worse than throwing up. I shuddered when a cool cloth slid over the back of my neck. That felt good.

The sweet gesture from Heller helped steady me. Taking a deep breath, I straightened up. Since I was pretty sure I was finished throwing up, I turned on the faucet and rinsed the sink. Ugh, that was just disgusting.

I cupped my hands under the water and washed my mouth out. I washed the cold sweat off my face and then rinsed the cloth out. I held it against my throat. I wanted to go lie down somewhere and pull the covers over my head. Since that wasn’t going to happen, I faced Heller. He pulled me back into his arms and I rested my head on his shoulder.

“Thank you.” I buried my face in his neck.

“Wish I could do more. I’m so sorry. Gods, Lawson, I’m so very sorry.”

So was I. As he held me, the anger that flooded me earlier faded as cold reality butted in. A werewolf had somehow gotten in the house and destroyed my room. Everyone knew werewolves were not a species you wanted to mess with.

They were aggressive at best, and flat-out insane at worst. What the hell had I done to attract the attention of such a paranormal? The rage that drove the destruction of my personal things was scary.

“I need to call Janelle, and then Marshell. They need to know what happened.”

Heller ran his hands up and down my back, the motion steadying me. “Yeah. This is the second time you’ve been targeted. We have to do something because this is getting out of hand. This was more personal. Scaring the crap out of you is one thing. This were just took it up another notch. That worries me.”