Enemy Mine (9 page)

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Chapter 1

Jayce Kazan parked his Harley in front of December McIntyre’s house. The feisty pregnant redhead wouldn’t be there because she now lived on the Armstrong ranch with her mate and the rest of the lupine shifter pack who made their home in Fontana, North Carolina.

But Kat would be home.

Or she should be. Even after December moved, Kat had stayed there instead of moving to the ranch. After her brutal attack by the radical Antiparanormal League (APL) group a month ago and subsequent near-death experience, she’d been turned into a lupine shifter out of necessity. Just like him. The only difference between them was he’d been born that way almost five hundred years ago. Well, maybe not the only difference. He was a crass, roughneck enforcer who’d killed more beings than he could ever hope to count and she was . . . fucking perfection.

At least to him.

Right now she wasn’t returning his calls. Not that he blamed her. He hadn’t been there for her when she’d needed him most, and he wanted to rip his own heart out because of it. At least then maybe he’d be able to assuage some of his guilt. One of the Armstrong pack members had bitten and turned her into a shifter instead of letting her die. She’d only had a one percent chance of surviving the change, and even though Jayce was grateful that Aiden had saved her, a dark part of him hated that bastard.

He hated the fact that he hadn’t been the one to save her. That someone else had had the honor of taking what was his. His human side knew he’d never planned to change Kat—it would have turned her into a walking target overnight if anyone discovered how deep his feelings for her ran—but his animal side didn’t give a shit. No one should have ever touched what was his.

Though she really wasn’t his, was she? Not anymore, anyway. Hadn’t been for almost a year. At one time she had been. He’d kissed and teased every inch of her naked body, and she’d done the same to him. Things had never been particularly
easy
between them—not with their strong personalities. But with the exception of his MIA brother, she was the only person on the planet he’d ever let his guard down around. She brought out the best in him. Hell, she also brought out his worst, protective side. For over a month he’d exercised all his restraint staying away from her while working for the Council.

After getting only an hour of sleep the previous night, he was edgy and ready to rip someone’s head off. Maybe it hadn’t been the smartest idea to roll up to see her the moment he’d gotten back in town, but he didn’t care. He needed to see her.

Craved it so bad his canines ached at the thought. She could slam the door on him for all he cared. He just needed to
see
her face.

As he swung his leg over the bike and straightened up, he glanced over when he saw Ryan get out of his truck from across the street. Though he didn’t want to be patient or polite, he waited while the other shifter strode toward him.

Ryan wore a thick down jacket and jeans, and even though Jayce couldn’t see an outline he knew the guy was packing a few weapons. The chilly January weather wouldn’t have affected Ryan like it would humans so he knew the main reason the shifter was wearing a jacket was to hide guns and blades. “Hey, Jayce. What are you doing here?”

Jayce raised an eyebrow at the question. Why the hell wouldn’t he be here?

Ryan’s lips pulled into a thin line. “I didn’t mean it like that. I didn’t know you’d be back so early. Thought you were still on Council business or something.”

He shrugged. As the enforcer for the North American Council of lupine shifters, Jayce didn’t answer to anyone. Not Ryan. Not even Connor Armstrong, leader of the Armstrong pack and also Ryan’s Alpha.
No one.
While he might work for the Council he sure as hell didn’t answer to
them
either. They needed him and he made damn sure they never forgot it. So even if he didn’t have to answer the wolf in front of him, or that wolf’s boss, he knew projecting his own bad mood wouldn’t win him any friends. And right now he needed all the fucking friends he could get. “Caught an early flight and headed over here. Haven’t called Connor to let him know I’m in town though so . . .”

Ryan nodded. “I’ll let you call him.”

He cleared his throat. “Thanks.” The word felt foreign on his lips. He should have called Connor the moment he arrived in town out of respect, but he had a lot to discuss with him and some of it needed to be done in person. He’d received information that someone was trafficking vampire blood in the next county. After settling in, he intended to search out some former contacts. Not to mention he still planned to ferret out any possible dangerous APL members still in the area. That problem hadn’t gone away and he knew it wasn’t likely to anytime soon. More than anything, he just wanted to see Kat, and everything else took a backseat. “When did she get home?” Jayce didn’t need to specify whom he referred to.

Ryan shrugged. “Few hours ago. She was at the ranch with, uh . . . Aiden,
training,
but she still won’t move there to live with the pack. Which is why we’re still watching her in shifts.”

Jayce already knew that. After her attack from those APL fuckers nearly killed her she’d been fairly defiant in her demand that she live away from what was now her pack. Connor had jurisdiction over her since she technically lived in his territory, but considering she’d been turned into a shifter without the proper introduction to pack life and rules, Connor was giving her some leeway. He was a fair Alpha, so Jayce wasn’t exactly surprised. Even if he did hate the fact that Connor wouldn’t force her to live on the ranch where she’d be protected at all times.

“You have a key to the house?” Jayce asked, though he was already fairly certain of the answer. Connor wouldn’t have left anyone to watch the house without a way to get inside if necessary. Of course they could break in, but cleaning up a mess was a hassle Jayce knew the Alpha wouldn’t want to deal with.

Ryan paused, but nodded. “Yeah, but she’s gonna be pissed if you just walk in there.”

“I know.” He held out his hand, not asking for it, but silently demanding.

Sighing, the other wolf dug a single key out of his pocket and handed it over. As he headed back to his vehicle, Ryan muttered something under his breath about Jayce taking his life into his own hands.

If he’d had more sleep or was in a better mood he might have smiled at the statement. A pissed off Kat was a sight to see. And he’d only seen her truly angry when she’d been human. He could only imagine her attitude as a shifter.

One of the last times he’d seen her as a lupine shifter had been directly after her transformation. She’d been healed after the change but covered in her own blood. And another wolf had been holding her.

Protecting her.

Comforting her.

Jayce still didn’t know the details of what had happened to her during her hours of torture—she refused to tell anyone about it—but according to December she still had nightmares.

And no one was there to ease her pain. Jayce’s hands balled into fists as he turned and headed up the stone walkway. Ever since they’d found Kat in that broken down barn, he’d been living in a state of hell. It was the feeling of helplessness that nearly undid him every time he thought of Kat. Which was practically every second of every day. The tall, gorgeous woman invaded his dreams when he was sleeping. He should have been there to save her. If he had, he’d have been the one to change her into a shifter.

The second he stepped into the house, he knew Kat wasn’t there. Her scent was there, but he couldn’t hear a heartbeat. She’d been gone maybe twenty minutes if he had to guess from her fading scent. Had ducked her guard just like he feared she’d do since Connor had let her live apart from the pack.

Jayce knew it wasn’t the first time she’d done this either. December had become an unlikely source of information, since she was worried about her friend and often called him with updates on Kat.

This kind of shit was going to stop as far as he was concerned. If she didn’t care about her own safety, she needed to at least be concerned about the rest of the pack. And according to December, over the past week Kat had been disappearing for hours at a time. She wouldn’t tell anyone what she was doing, either. Since Jayce had heard she’d been having difficulty controlling her change from human to wolf, that could be a very dangerous thing for all the local shifters.

Worry and possessiveness rose up inside him. His need to protect Kat was deep-seated and something he still didn’t understand completely. He’d felt it the moment he’d met her and it jarred him every time he was near her. Or thought about her.

Inhaling, he followed the trail of her scent out the back door, through December’s backyard, and on to the next street over. The distinctive scent of roses was so blatantly Kat. Every time he smelled the damn flower he thought of her. But it was slightly different than the actual rose. The classic smell intermixed with something sweeter, purer, and all Kat. He’d recognize it anywhere.

She hadn’t been gone long so he hurried back to his bike and headed out. He didn’t bother telling Ryan that Kat was gone either. No one was going after her except him. If anyone tried to interfere tonight, they’d probably get hurt. Including any shifters.

On his motorcycle it was easy to trail her in his human form. Hell, as an enforcer he preferred his human form. He was much older than most shifters and once he let his animal take over, it was always a struggle for control with his wolf. Right now he needed to exert as much restraint as possible. Where Kat was concerned, it was important—if not necessary.

A short ride later he pulled in to the parking lot of Kelly’s Place, a local Irish bar in the middle of downtown Fontana. The mountain town in North Carolina saw a lot of tourists in the winter months and judging the amount of cars in the parking lot, the place was packed tonight.

He rolled his shoulders as he stepped off his bike. Being around too many people—humans or supernatural beings—always put him on edge. All those scents were overwhelming. He much rather preferred to be outdoors, far from civilization.

As he stepped inside, Kat’s scent grew stronger. Even among the stench of perfumes, booze, and other body odors, her sweet rose aroma tickled his nose and wrapped around him. Embracing him like a gentle caress.

“Would you like to be seated in our dining area or would you prefer to find a seat at the bar?” A bubbly blond female wearing black pants and a black T-shirt held a menu in her hand as she looked at him.

“Bar’s fine,” he said as he brushed past her.

A burst of annoyance rolled off the human, but right now all he cared about was tracking down Kat. After a quick lap around the place, he followed her trail out a side exit door.

Once outside in the crisp night air, the strong scent of roses entwined around him. She was close. Frowning, he looked around the gravelly area of the back of the restaurant. A Dumpster was to his left, which gave him cover as he scanned the small area. There were a few cars on the makeshift gravel parking lot. Employee vehicles, he guessed.

And that’s when he spotted Kat.

She leaned against the passenger side of an extended cab truck with her back to him. Tall, lean, drop dead gorgeous. Her long, dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail that hung halfway down her back. She wore form fitting jeans and a skintight long-sleeved black T-shirt. If she’d still been human she’d have needed a coat, but thanks to her transformation from human to shifter she had a higher body temperature.

Sticking to the shadows, he moved behind the Dumpster and slid along the wall of the restaurant until he was at the edge of the building and twenty yards away from where Kat stood talking to some human male.

A growl rose inside him but he tamped it back down and listened to their conversation. As the human talked about heading back to his place to “party,” Jayce nearly lost control of his beast. His inner wolf clawed at him with razor sharp aggression, tearing and stripping away his insides, begging for freedom.

When the human opened the passenger door for Kat and she actually got inside, Jayce’s claws extended and dug into his palms. The tearing of his flesh accompanied with the slight discomfort, jerked him back to reality. Ducking back behind the Dumpster, he somehow managed to keep himself under control as the vehicle pulled out of the parking lot.

Just barely.

As they pulled around the left side of the restaurant, Jayce raced back around the right side and headed straight for his bike in the front.

Whatever Kat thought she was doing with that guy tonight, she’d better think again.

* * *

Kat glanced over at the dark haired guy with the buzz cut next to her. He shot her a quick look and winked as he steered his truck out of the parking lot of Kelly’s Bar and Grill. She wasn’t sure what she was doing with him and was tempted to tell him to stop, but something held her back.

He was one of the bartenders at Kelly’s and had been getting off work right as she’d walked in. From the moment she’d sat down he’d started flirting with her and buying her drinks. Too bad the alcohol couldn’t numb the pain inside her.

Nothing could do that. For the past month it had festered inside her, growing like an out of control vine. It twisted and expanded with no regard for anything in its wake, least of all her heart or emotions. If she dwelled on the ways she’d been tortured a month ago she tensed up and her inner wolf wanted out.

Aiden, her friend and the wolf who’d changed her into a shifter, had explained it was a protective thing. Her inner wolf didn’t want her to suffer so it tried to take over whether she wanted it to or not. Some kind of coping mechanism.

Taking a deep breath, she forced those thoughts from her mind. Tonight she was taking control of her life again. Maybe sleeping with a stranger wasn’t the smartest way to go about it, but she needed to be in charge of
something
. It’s not as if the guy next to her could hurt her. He was human, and sure, he had a sexy edge to him, but she was still a hundred times stronger. He couldn’t hurt her physically or sexually.