Behind the Eight Ball (7 page)

“I take it that’s Heller?” I nodded at the cat on the retaining wall.

“Oh yeah,” Marshell snipped.

Ahhhh. Now I understood why they were the only two having a discussion. It was hard to have an argument when one of the combatants was a cat. The longhaired black cat was larger than normal house cats.

This one was the size of a Savannah. Big, big cat. His coat was very fine and glossy. The moon came out long enough for me to see it wasn’t a pure black. There were shades of dark brown in his coat just like in his hair. It almost looked he had a mane that was threaded through with that deep brown. There were touches of brown around his nose and mouth too.

Looking away from the cat staring a hole through me, I crossed my arms over my chest and looked at Marshell. “I swear, I take my eyes off you for a minute, and what do you do?”

“Hey, it wasn’t me.” Marshell jerked his head at the cat.

The cat hissed in response.

Well, now, that sounded threatening, so I kept an eye on the cat. “Everything okay here, Marshell?”

Marshell rolled his eyes. “For the most part.”

“Um, alrighty, then.” I needed to give Sam a heads up on what was about to happen. I turned to face him. “Look, your name is Sam, right? Well, Sam, a very lovely and bossy black woman is going to show up here shortly looking for her twin brother. Her name’s Janelle Foles.”

Sam looked at Dolf.

I caught the look. “I’d highly suggest you bring her back here. Trust me, you
don’t
want her looking for Marshell or me on her own.”

I looked at Heller again. So far he was just sitting there watching us.

Sam threw his hands up. “Jeez! I’m supposed to be conducting an interview with someone who just happens to be human, so I can’t explain this, but hey, no problem.”

Marshell bared his fangs at Sam. “
I
was minding my own business until your buddy over there latched on to me, so deal with it, man.”

“Marshell, chill out,” I said. Jesus, this was going downhill fast. “Sam, I’m going to call Janelle and tell her to ask for you. You’ll be glad you took care of this. Janelle isn’t someone to mess with.”

Marshell snorted.

Sam didn’t look convinced, but I had other worries. He had no idea, he really didn’t, and he didn’t want to know either, which was why I sent him to wait on Janelle. The males of their species could be vicious, but the females? God. They could be straight up sadistic.

Mumbling, Sam left.

That settled, I shot another glance at Heller, then turned back to Marshell. “Could maybe someone tell me what’s going on here?”

Dolf stuck out his hand. “As I said earlier, my name is Dolf. Well, Dolfoon Hoyer is my full name, but I go by Dolf. I’m the heir apparent and head beta to the West Falls clowder.”

“Ah, yeah. Um, I’m Lawson Dupre.” I shook his hand, but glanced at Marshell. “I’m a little unsure what heir apparent means.”

“He’s the next Alpha of their clowder. A clowder is a group of cats,” Marshell answered. “Think wolf pack, but felines instead.”

Dolf winced. “Well, we’re not
exactly
like the wolves.”

I didn’t know that that meant, and didn’t care for now. “Ah, right. I’ve heard of Alphas. But what has that got to do with this?” I asked, rubbing my hands up and down my arms. Even with a jacket, I was chilled. It was quickly getting uncomfortable out here.

Dolf picked up the clothes on the ground and put them on a small table near us. “It seems Heller smelled your scent on Marshell and reacted. Since you’re not scared of your friend, I’m going to assume you know about paranormals.”

I nodded. “Yeah, for about ten years now.”

“That makes this so much easier, then,” Dolf said.

“Yeah?” Marshell cut his eyes over at the big cat watching us. “Tell your beta over there that.”

I looked at Heller too. I really wished he’d change back.

“Oh, he’s aware,” Dolf said, setting Heller’s shoes next to the clothes. “That’s why he acted like—”

“
Marshell
?
Lawson
? Look, they better be out here, or I’m going to—”

I smirked at Marshell. “Hurricane Janelle has arrived.”

“Gods.” Marshell pinched the bridge of his nose. “All I wanted was a damn slab of meat. Seriously. Is that too much to ask?”

I bit my lip to keep from responding, but it was a near thing. Man, what I could do with an opening like that.

“Funny, Heller said the same thing,” Dolf said.

Heller hissed again.

I shuddered. Damn, that sounded mean. Then what Dolf said hit me. Was Dolf trying to say the two had something in common? From what I could see, all they had in common was the fact they disliked each other.

“Please calm down. They’re both fine. I promise.” Sam’s voice drifted to us.

Dolf frowned in the direction the voices came from. Even I heard the worry in Sam’s voice, but the worry wasn’t for himself, and oddly enough he didn’t sound afraid of her. Did he know Janelle? He couldn’t. If he did, he’d know Marshell, and for that matter, me.

Janelle swept onto the little patio. She had one hand twisted up in the middle of Sam’s shirt. Not letting go, she hurried to Marshell, dragging Sam with her. “Are you okay? Lawson called and said to get here, and when I get here I find this pretty kitty—”

Sam huffed.

Marshell raised an eyebrow. “I’m fine.”

I couldn’t help it; I laughed aloud.

“And you!” Janelle swung toward me.

“Me?” I squeaked, laughter gone.

Heller hissed again.

“Are you fine too?” she demanded, ignoring the angry cat.

“Absolutely.” I nodded like a bobblehead doll in an effort to show her how fine I really was.

“Un-huh.” Janelle then narrowed her eyes at all of us. “So let me get this straight. I ran out of a nail appointment, hauled ass to get here, met my mate, and then got here only to find you both are perfectly
fine
? Someone better do some explaining, fast.” Janelle waved her other hand in our faces, the nails stripped bare of any color. “See that? I’m half-done here and
not
happy, so—”

No one wanted an unhappy Janelle. Grimacing, I spoke quickly in a hope to head off an explosion. “I’m sorry, Janelle. I couldn’t find Marshell, started asking about him, and then Sam showed up, and—”

“Wait!” Marshell yelled, interrupting me. He stared at Janelle, who still had a death grip on Sam’s shirt. “Just wait!
What
did you say?”

Janelle just smirked.

I glanced around at the group. Dolf was smiling. Why? I went through Janelle’s little speech, and then my mouth fell open. “Holy crap! Did you say
mate
? You met your mate? Holy crap, Janelle!”

Dolf looked from Janelle to Sam. “Sam?”

Sam ran a hand through his dark hair. “Yeah, she is. Her scent just about knocked me down.”

“Holy crap, Janelle!” I said again and started to hug her, but a sudden hiss stopped me. Sam shot me a look, but the hiss had come from Heller who, somehow, I’d forgotten about.

“Lawson, paranormals don’t like others touching their mates, especially if that mate is unclaimed.” Marshell shot a look up at Heller, who was still sitting on the retaining wall. “Isn’t that right?”

Heller stood, stuck his tail up in the air, and took off into the darkness.

Okay, that still stung as much as the last time he did that. Sighing, I looked at the assembled company and noticed the awkward looks coming back at me. This was unbelievable. The damn man had run off on me
again
. How could I speak to him if I couldn’t get him to stay in one spot for longer than a few minutes? Did I need some catnip?

“There he goes again. What
is
his problem?”

Sam shrugged. “With Heller? Who knows.” He turned to Janelle. “Will you please stay for a while? We need to talk, but I left a human in my office. He’s interviewing for a job, and I really need to get back to him.”

“I’ll be here. Go do what you need to do, and then we’ll talk.” She glanced at the crowd around them. “Privately.”

Sam left, but Janelle stayed outside with us.

“So….” I looked at Dolf. If anyone had ideas about Heller, it would be him. “His problem?”

“Outside of being a dick, that is,” Marshell added.

“Oh, for….” Janelle rolled her eyes. “Shut it, baby brother.”

Dolf stared out into the night, his features tight, but finally he turned to me. “I apologize for Heller’s actions. He can be impulsive, somewhat high maintenance, and he doesn’t always think before he opens his mouth. But I swear to you, he’s a good man, really, but he’s… well….”

“Scared,” I finished for Dolf. “You both have told me he’s my mate, but this is twice he’s run from me. Now I know what a mate is since I know Janelle and Marshell. But guys, that”—I waved in the direction Heller ran off in—“isn’t a man who wants a mate.”

Marshell shook his head. “It’s not that he doesn’t want a mate, Lawson. It’s that he doesn’t want a
human
mate. Your mate doesn’t think humans are good enough—that you’re good enough.”

Dolf tightened his lips. “Heller’s certainly flawed. From how he’s acting now, I’m willing to bet a human hurt him, and badly. I’m not making excuses for him, Marshell, but I do have to wonder why you continue with the snide comments to Lawson about his mate. You must know that’s painful for him.”

“Heller rejected him,” Marshell said. “I say Lawson should cut his losses now and move on.”

An ache uncurled around my heart, which surprised me. Well, hell. Thinking of giving up hurt me. I don’t know what I was expecting, but that wasn’t it. Where was this hurt coming from?
Mate bond
, whispered through my mind. Jesus, I didn’t think it could happen this fast or to a human.

“So that’s it?” Dolf snapped. “Make a mistake and that’s the end of that? I had no idea you were so perfect. What must it be like to never screw up, I wonder?”

“That’s enough, both of you!” I snapped, and both men turned to me, twin looks of surprise on their faces. Good. I managed to shut them both up.
I’ve met this guy twice, and look how he’s crawled under my skin.
I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but I knew I wasn’t willing to walk away.

“Marshell, stop being an ass,” Janelle said. “The guy apparently panicked and screwed up. Shit happens. Just wait until you find your mate. Hormones raging out of control aren’t conducive to clear thinking. Trust me. It’s all I can do to keep my nature under wraps and not to drag Sam off somewhere.”

“Oh God, TMI.” I was tempted to stick my fingers in my ears. “So back to why. I need answers if I’m going to fix this. If this can be fixed. He’s been clear about his feelings. So give me a reason to keep trying, Dolf. Why does Heller feel this way?”

“No one really knows for sure,” Dolf said. “Recently he hinted something happened involving a human, but he refused to tell me what. I do know it was bad. I’ve known Heller my whole life, and somehow I’ve missed this. Don’t give up on him. He
is
a good guy. You just have to get through some of the other layers first.”

“What a mess.” I was still hungry to boot. “What do I do?” My stomach growled, and then I shivered. “Inside. Whatever I’m going to do, it’s going to be done inside. I’m cold.”

Dolf left Heller’s clothes on the table and opened the patio door for us. “Why don’t we all reorder? May I join you? I can tell you a little about myself and Heller while we wait.”

I looked at Marshell. “That’s fine by me.”

Marshell shrugged.

Janelle glanced down at her hand and sighed. “Well, I’m certainly not leaving any time soon, so why not?”

Dolf’s table was more secluded, so we sat there. After reordering, Dolf sat back. “So a little about us. We number about forty members, and most of us live in and around West Falls. We own close to a hundred acres right outside the city line and that backs up to the Crowley’s Mountains State Park. My dad is the current leader, and I’ll take up the reins when he retires.”

“And Heller? I heard what Marshell called him outside.” I meant Marshell called Heller a beta. I hated how carefully we had to speak about things, but since we were in public, we didn’t have a choice.

“He’s part of the second-ranking individuals within the dominance hierarchy. He’s one of them. The others are Aidric LeClair, Brier Fendon, and Remi Ginn. I’ve known all of them since birth.”

“I get that. I also know how some of you feel about my, um, kind,” I said. Oh yeah, I was well aware how many paranormals felt about humans.

Paranormals had laws, a government, and punishments suited to their kind. In each territory they voted for which elected Alpha was on the ballot. The winner led that territory and their title was territory leader. They were like human governors.

There were five territories in the US: Eastern, Central, Mountain, Island, and Western Zones. Those five territory leaders joined with other territory leaders from around the world to make up the Alliance of Paranormals, which had over a hundred members. They had the power to change laws voted on by territory leaders. It was a lot like the human Supreme Court.

Dolf nodded. “It’s no secret, true. But you’re friends with Janelle and Marshell, so you aren’t totally unaware of the issues. I also want you to know I have two mates, Tal and Kirk. Kirk was like you.”

Meaning Kirk
was
human. Could he shift like Dolf and Heller? It looked like I was going to be studying up on werecats.

“Huh,” Janelle said. “Odd, but threesomes aren’t unheard of.”

“No, they’re not. It
was
a shock, though. Tal and I had been together for a long time when we found Kirk. I have to tell you, his assimilation wasn’t without… problems.”

Marshell cocked his head. “In what way? Considering what your position is, I’d think there would be a minimum of problems.”

Dolf grimaced. “There’s no way to pretty this up, so I’ll be blunt. An ex member—and yes, an ex-lover—tried to kill Kirk. Part of it had to do with who Kirk was before we mated him, but it also had to do with my position. This person didn’t feel I was worthy to lead with Kirk as a mate.”