Grayslake: Never Kiss a Wolf (Kindle Worlds Novella)

B
ook Description
:

F
ollowing
a lead south to find a missing female shifter, Greer and Calder land in the middle of bear country. Grayslake, Georgia to be exact. Everything there seems innocent enough until their questions begin to ruffle fur and their oddball waitress at the local diner has a meltdown. Leaving Greer covered in an order of chili cheese fries and obsessed with one curvy, but clearly unstable woman.

L
ily Hale moved
to the small southern town to get as far away from her bleak, Alaskan backwoods family as she could. All she wants is a little color in her life and a taste of freedom. Getting involved with a wolf shifter seems like the last thing she should do.

E
xcept she kissed
him and now he won’t go away. She also can’t shake the feeling her life is about to implode. Is Greer the kind of man who’d stand up to her family of savage werebears and protect her? Of maybe she should become the kind of woman who does the standing all on her own.

L
ily Hale stood
in the middle of the diner on a Saturday night, surveying her various customers lingering over their meal. It still felt surreal to her that she lived here now instead of in the wilds of Alaska with her narrow minded family as far away from the real world as possible.

Her whole life she dreamed of a place like this and the possibilities that came with it. It was like moving from a black and white world to a full on in living color scenario. And this place came with as many quirky characters one could imagine, making it a lot easier for her to fit in.

She choked back a laugh at the picture she'd made when she first arrived. No money, no clothes other than the ones on her back, and no where else to go. Fortunately for her, Mia, the Itana of Grayslake took pity on her and convinced her husband, the Itan, to let her stay. From there things changed quickly.

The diner needed another waitress asap and since she had sort of had experience, they gave her a trial run. Thank God all those years of waiting on her family hand and foot paid off. The job turned permanent and recently she'd moved into her very own apartment. Maybe compared to the rest of the town the place was a dump, but if they could see where she'd come from...

This was a huge improvement.

"Order up!" the chef yelled, pulling her out of her wandering thoughts.

Lily walked over to the counter, grabbed the plates and strode over to table four to deliver them. Two older women from town were seated there, their heads bent and deep in discussion.

"Did you see both of them?" one asked.

"Of course I did, Doris. Hard to miss two strapping young men come waltzing into town."

Lily smiled. These two always came in on Saturday night to catch up on their gossip. It was cute and a good way for her to keep up with the goings on around here.

"I hear they are here looking for a missing woman. Such a sad thing when someone up and disappears like that, don't you think?"

Lily's heart froze. Literally skipped a beat as the words she overhead sank in.

A missing woman
.

Oh God no.

By the time her heart started again, the two women were looking at her with quizzical looks.

"You okay, dear? You turned white as a sheet standing there."

She blinked her eyes several times and tried to focus on the women in front of her. It didn't work. The room spun and it didn't want to stop.

"Doris, she looks ready to faint."

Doris jumped to her feet. "Here, let me take these. You need to sit for a minute." The older woman removed the plates from her hand and set them down on the table. She then nudged Lily until she dropped into the booth.

"Are you sick?"

“When was the last time you ate?”

“Oh my God. Do you have food poisoning?”

Lily stared at the women peppering her with questions. She could no longer remember her name.

Missing woman
.

The two words kept replaying in her head over and over as sweat broke out across her skin. Air sawed in and out of her lungs but she couldn't catch her breath.

"What in the world? She's hyperventilating."

"Do you need to put your head between your knees?" Doris asked.

She nodded, still unable to string words together or do more than gasp.

"Oh you poor thing."

She felt a hand at her back pushing her forward and Lily dropped her head obediently.

"There's been a rash of people getting sick lately," the other woman said. "There must be something going around."

Lily pressed her hands to her temples and willed her racing heart to calm. This didn't exactly have anything to do with some case of the flu. This was her worst nightmare. So stupid.

She'd gone clear across the country, covering her tracks as she went. Making sure there was no way her family could hunt her. For several weeks after that she'd jumped at every sound and every voice, waiting for someone to catch her. As time passed she'd settled in and grown comfortable. Complacent.

She even allowed herself to believe she'd gotten away. The last few weeks had been the best of her life and now it was about to come crashing down on her head. Apparently her new life was about as secure as a house of cards.

"What about water, dear? I could get you some."

Lily shook her head. These women were already doing more than enough by letting her take their seats and interrupt their dinner. What kind of person acted like this on the job?

A scared out of her mind one, that’s who.

That thought made her want to throw up all over again. After spending most of her life being afraid of her own shadow the last thing she wanted to do was go back. She was an independent woman now. And she had a new clan willing to accept her.

Oh no. Her head shot up. They would all be in danger if her family was in town. They would allow nothing or no one to stop them from getting to her. It was their way. They followed no one’s laws but their own.

Growing up she'd heard the stories. The few people who'd dared to run away had all been tracked down. Some came back and spent years making up for their betrayal and others never came back and not because they got to keep their freedom.

The family didn't take kindly to their kin abandoning the clan.

This would start a war.

"Oh look, Doris. There they are. The two hunky men looking for their missing female. It looks like they are headed this way."

Lily's stomach cramped. This couldn't be happening. There had to be another way. She jumped from the booth and bolted for the kitchen door. Yes, she was a scared jackrabbit, but at least they were smart enough to run from danger instead of toward it.

Steam and heat from the kitchen slammed into her already overheated body and she grabbed the edge of the nearest counter to steady herself.

"Lily, what are you doing back here again? Do you need something?" Edward, the cook and co owner of the diner with his wife Nellie, stood several feet away with his hands wrapped around a spatula and a worried look on his face.

She shook her head. The only thing she needed right now was an escape route. Except it was too late for that. By now they would have picked up her scent that led them right to her.

"Then why are you standing there? We've got a bunch of customers waiting on their food." He pointed at the plates that were stacking up on the metal shelf of the servers window.

She sighed. Considering she was the only waitress on duty tonight it was her job to take care of them.

"I don't feel so great," she whispered.

"Oh my God. Please tell me you are not pregnant." Nellie, Edward's wife emerged from the office and threw her hands up in the air. "Ed, honey, I don't think I can take another one so soon. Is there something in the water around here? It's one right after the other these days." She pressed her hands to her head and changed direction back to the office. "Where's the Excedrin? I'm pretty sure I feel a migraine coming on."

"Not pregnant," she choked out.

Nellie swung back. "You sure?"

Lily nodded. Oh yeah, she was sure. It had been so long since anyone visited down there, there were probably cobwebs forming. And there sure as hell wasn't anything happening on the horizon. The men around here seemed to have a strict hands-off policy when it came to her.

Not that any of that mattered anymore with her family waiting in the dining area for her to emerge. For a half a second she considered the back door before counting that out. They would be prepared for that.

"Then please, honey, get your strange butt out there and serve this food before we have a riot on our hands. I can't deal with crazy tonight."

Lily groaned. She could either face the music and hope some magical plan of escape struck her, or she could make another run for it and leave everything here behind. Including this job that she really did like, including Nellie and Edward who'd been nothing but kind to her.

Yes, everyone else seemed to be wary of her half the time. But as their waitress at the only diner in town, they tolerated her and she hoped to grow on some of them eventually.

And of course it would be nearly impossible to outrun two bear shifters who had her in their sight. The only reason she got away the first time was due to the element of surprise and the fact she slipped out in the middle of the night. It gave her hours and plenty of time to hop a train to anywhere. She knew a thing or two about covering her tracks, but there were no guarantees in life and apparently she missed something.

With Edward looking at her with an obvious plea for help, she couldn't say no. Freedom was important for sure, but not at the expense of those she cared for. She could not, would not, put them in any more danger.

With that in mind, she straightened to her full height of five feet eleven, sucked in her flabby stomach and marched over to the meals ready to serve.

Fine.

If it had to go down this way then the least she could do was face it with some dignity.

G
reer took
a seat at one of the empty booths and slid sideways so the wall was at his back. Either from habit or for security reasons, he never let anyone have a chance to sneak up on him from behind. After a fruitless search thus far, he and Calder had decided on a food run. Which led them to the only diner in town.

Not that he had a problem with small towns. His own was even smaller and had its fair share of charm if you looked past the fact most of the residents were forced into the area after being exiled from their clans. His people had strict rules to live by and as so far as he'd seen in Grayslake, these bears were no different. The local sheriff, also the Itan of the bears, had given them free reign for twelve hours at which time if they wanted to stay longer they'd have to come back and discuss it with him.

He glanced down at his watch. They were going on six hours and had nothing to show for it.

"I hope they have cake here. It's way past time for my afternoon snack."

Greer looked up at Calder and shook his head. "Your obsession with sweets is crazy, my friend. I'm more interested in what kind of burger I can get. A real man needs protein to keep his day going."

A deep rumble rolled from Calder. "I'm going to assume you didn't just imply that a mangy wolf is more of a real man than a bear."

Greer smiled at his strange friend. It had taken some time to get used to him, but now he was not only part of the team, he was part of the family. "Assume away."

"You do remember we're in bear country right? Probably half the people in here are shifters."

He glanced over Calder's shoulder and surveyed the crowd. More than a few gave them furtive glances, but for the most part they appeared uninterested. Word had probably spread about them and why they were here. Since they weren't looking for a bear they likely didn't care. Not that any of that mattered.

They'd be gone soon enough. He looked at the clock on the wall, ticking away the minutes. In about eight hours to be exact. Not a lot of time, but enough.

A woman walking out of the swinging kitchen door snagged Greer's attention as he spoke. "Hard to forget exactly where we are. The scent of bear is overpowering my senses. But so far I haven't picked up even a hint of our missing cougar."

"Me either..."

Calder kept talking but Greer's attention zeroed in on the woman dashing madly around the modest room handing out plates. In fact his wolf perked up too and he had no idea why. He forced himself to look past the too bright and mismatched clothing to the woman underneath. Although it wasn't easy since the hot pink pants she wore were starting to give him a headache.

She was tall, probably not more than a few inches shorter than him. Long legs, thicker thighs and curvy hips that probably narrowed to a smaller waist. Although it was difficult to tell in the equally bright, and baggy orange sweater. To top off the strange ensemble, she wore electric blue converse sneakers on her feet that had seen much better days.

Were bears color blind? He'd never noticed Calder have an issue. Not that he paid that close attention and until this trip his pack mate was the only bear shifter he'd ever encountered. Although apparently Georgia was crawling with them. Greer shuddered at the thought.

"Are bears colorblind? he asked.

"What? What the hell, dude? Were you even listening to me? I’ve been talking strategy to you for five minutes."

Greer ignored the question and tilted his head in the direction of the frazzled waitress. Calder turned to follow his line of sight.

"Holy crap. I sure hope that one is." Laughter immediately rumbled in Calder's chest and something about that unsettled Greer. The wolf growled in his head and the familiar bristle of fur coating his arms and legs had him pushing back at his beast.

Now was not the time to shift. There were humans here in Grayslake and according to the Itan they generally did not know about the existence of shifters and it was imperative they do nothing to change that. An order Greer was all too familiar with.

Humans and shifters rarely mixed. Sometimes there were matings between species, but those were special cases. Beyond that, their secrets were best left secrets. Fear mongering among different shifter species was bad enough, humans would only make that worse.

Greer pushed back at his wolf again, making sure he remained in control. However, his focus remained on the woman now headed their way. As she drew closer, the scent of fear and determination floated over him. Determination he understood, but what did she fear?

He examined her closer. Beyond the clothes lay untapped beauty waiting to be noticed. He didn't need scent when he could see it in her eyes. A strong desire for something she didn't know how to get. Maybe most were distracted by the disheveled appearance and crazy clothes, but not him.

He was gifted with a knack of quiet observance. And a healthy dose of his own crazy. Like had just met like and he felt it clear through to his bones. But what did she desire and what could he do about it? It wasn't sexual and it certainly had little to do with the food she served.

Before he could hypothesize other possibilities, she handed them menus and took their drink order. If not for the slight tremble in her right hand and the barest quiver of her bottom lip when she took a deep breath, she appeared cool and efficient.

Yet something still frightened her.

He stared at her back as she retreated into the kitchen. He had the sudden feeling that a ticking time bomb had just passed into his life.

"What are you doing?"

Greer jerked his head to Calder. "What does it look like I'm doing?" He looked down at the menu she'd given him and tried to read the words in front of him. "I'm trying to decide what I am going to order."

"Bullshit," the bear bellowed, drawing attention from a few of the other diners.

"Cool it, bear. We're supposed to be blending in."

"Yeah, look around. That's not happening no matter what we do. We stick out almost as much as that crazy waitress does."

His wolf was back at it again. Pushing for attention. They both were anxiously awaiting the female to return. Speaking of the devil...

The door pushed open and she carried a tray of drinks. He watched her approach again, this time opening all of his senses to drink her in. Something about her scent made his world tilt a little off axis and he didn't know how to describe it. It was like the opposite of a hothouse flower. Something cool, but not frigid. Soothing like an icy peppermint drop on a brisk fall day.

His head dropped to his hands. Jesus. What the hell was happening to him?

His wolf made it clear then, pushing at his skin and urging him to do something about it. The stupid beast wanted her.

She dropped the drinks on their table, eyeing them both with a hefty dose of suspicion. Not that he blamed her. Shifters were an untrusting sort. Came with the territory. He wanted to talk to her but instead let her take their orders and quickly walk away. For some reason she had no desire to linger at their table and he'd apparently grown tongue-tied.

"She seems skittish," Calder said. "Wonder what that's about?"

"I'm not sure, but I'd sure like to find out."

Calder's gaze narrowed on him at that. He didn't say anything more, but he didn't have to. Greer was pretty certain the turmoil churning in his gut was written on his face plain as day. They waited in silence, both lost in their miscellaneous thoughts. The dull roar of diners eating and chattering with their companions filled the quiet as did the pitter patter of a steady spring rain on the tin roof.

It wasn't until the waitress came back with their food that either of them paid any attention to the other. The nervous frown on the woman's face troubled him more than ever. Whatever it was or whoever it was that made her like this, he wanted to eliminate. He was on the verge of making the offer to make her smile when he blurted out an entirely different question like an idiot.

"What's your name?" he asked.

The dishes in her hand faltered for a second, teetering on her palms.

"What?" She looked at him with genuine confusion stamped across her beautiful face.

Greer cleared his throat and tried again for a more even keel. "Your name."

"What he means is...” Calder turned on that famous bear charm with a Tennessee drawl. “Well, we're looking for someone last seen around here and we are hoping you can help. A place like this, you must see everyone in town at one time or another."

Calder leaned forward and touched her arm. An event that made the wolf growl loudly. A sound that made both of them turn to him in a flash. His lips peeled back from his teeth as the growl grew louder. His friend got the message and released his hold on her. She in turn jerked free and lost her balance. Plates flew through the air as she tumbled to the ground. Greer jumped from the booth, catching her arm before her head slammed into the tile floor.

Relief ripped a smile from him a second before the plates rained down on him, chili cheese fries and all. Dishes clattered to the floor and shattered into hundreds of little pieces. Greer slumped against the plastic vinyl of his seat with a hard thump as cheese dripped down his cheek and piping hot chili soaked through his shirt.

The woman whose name he still did not know started thrashing around and wrenched free from his slippery hold. Black fur sprouted on her arms as she sprang to her feet and ran for the door. By the time she cleared the threshold he heard the distinct sound of her bones popping and a harsh scream rent through the air.

Holy crust on a cracker. What had he gotten himself into this time?