Nothing to Do With Pride (2 page)

“Do you think she’d go to your parents?” KC asked, breaking into Dennis’ bittersweet trip down memory lane.

Dennis gave a broken laugh. “Since they not only kicked me out for being gay, but made her give up her kid, let’s just say their relationship has never been the best.”

“Ahh.” KC nodded. “I guess we can rule them out, then. I’ll keep following up on coyote stories. So far that’s our best lead. I’m tracking her credit cards, but all I can find is one listed and she hasn’t used it. Besides, I doubt she had it with her when she was in the facility.”

Dennis wished he could think of some reason to stick around, but KC probably had better things to do than entertain an unemployed coyote with no prospects.

“Hey, you used to work construction, right?” A bright blush crossed the fox shifter’s face as he asked the question.

Curiosity kept Dennis from rising from the chair. “Yeah, I did. I worked with Payce. He did the floors while I did walls and more general construction jobs.” He suppressed the pang of pain at their lost friendship as he tried to figure out what the fox wanted.

“So you’d know how to shore up a wall?” The hope in KC’s face caused another flare of arousal to jolt through Dennis’ body.

KC’s nose twitch told him the man had noticed. Luckily, Dennis didn’t blush. If he did, he knew he’d be as bright red as KC’s hair.

“Yeah, sure. Why—you’ve got something you need help with?”
Please let him need help
.

Dennis was so bored he’d agree to hang paintings in KC’s house if it would get him away from the pride compound. He knew the lions tried to be welcoming, but since they also knew
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he’d betrayed a friend, most of them kept their distance. No matter what the reason—once a betrayer, always a betrayer in the shifter world. Add in the fact that coyotes were among the least trusted of the animal shifters and he’d sealed his fate.

KC clicked a few things on his computer that didn’t appear to make a lot of difference on the screen. Maybe he wasn’t the only one who was nervous. Dennis placed his hand over KC’s to get his attention and quickly jerked it back as electricity zapped through his system and went straight to his cock.

“Whoa.” Dennis stood up and scurried back to the other side of the reception counter.

“Wow. I haven’t felt that kind of attraction…ever.” KC stared at Dennis with wide eyes, the pupils blown. He licked his lips, drawing Dennis’ gaze to the wet streak he left behind.

Damn, he wanted to taste that.

“Y-you wanted help with something?” He stuttered over the words as his mind strayed to all the things he wanted to help the fox shifter with—projects that involved the two of them naked in the location of KC’s choice.

“Oh yeah, I definitely want help with something.” The lust in KC’s eyes told Dennis it had nothing to do with whatever the redhead had thought of before and everything to do with the look in Dennis’ eyes.

“A construction project,” he guessed. Gossips around town said the sheriff watched over the fox man like a mama bear guarded her cub. Dennis didn’t need a warning. He knew he wasn’t good enough for the stunning man. He’d betrayed a friend and hadn’t been there when his sister needed him. Dennis figured if Candice trusted him to help, she would’ve already contacted him. Her silence told him louder than words that either she didn’t think he could help or—even worse—it never occurred to her to call him.

“Um, yeah.” KC shook his head as if to clear it. “I’d like you to look at my house and make sure it’s structurally sound. I keep adding to it and want to verify I didn’t make it unstable.”

Dennis shrugged. “I’m not an architect, but I can give it a look. I should probably be able to see if there are any obvious issues.”

“Great.” A bright smile crossed KC’s face making Dennis forget all his worries for a moment. “Are you available tonight?”
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He was so available it hurt. Right now, he just hoped to finish the conversation and leave the sheriff’s station without embarrassing himself. “What time?”

The fox bit his lip. Dennis barely resisted the urge to leap across the counter and lick at the poor reddened bit of flesh to make it feel better. “How about five? I can finish up here and take you out to dinner as a sort of pre-thank you for looking at stuff for me.”

“Sure.” Dennis wondered if this counted as a date. Looking at the gorgeous fox, he was torn. If he could turn back the clock to a few months ago, he’d jump at the opportunity to go out with KC. However, with his past, he didn’t want to cause any problems. “The sheriff isn’t going to mind?”

“Lou doesn’t control who I see,” KC said in a firm tone. “He has his own man.”

The way the fox said that made Dennis wonder if KC had once hoped for something different. “All right—if you’re sure it won’t cause any problems. I’ll meet you here at five.”

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Chapter Two

Sheriff Arktos entered the station, took one look at KC and frowned. “What did you do?”

“What makes you think I did anything?” KC tried to deflect the sheriff’s questioning, even though he knew it was a lost cause. For a bear, the sheriff wasn’t the laid-back, honey-eating type. He was more of the rampaging, destroy-the-forest kind.

“You look entirely too proud of yourself.” The sheriff looked around. “Where’s the coyote?”

“His name is Dennis, and he’s off doing whatever. I don’t know where he is. We’re not joined at the hip.” He’d love to be joined together other places but he didn’t share that information with the sheriff.

“Eww.”

“What?”

“You’re attracted to that mutt.”

“He’s not a mutt. Besides, how are things going with your kitty cat?”

If the sheriff’s smile got any wider, his face would crack. “He’s wonderful,” he sighed.

“Eww.” KC mimicked, though it was hard to sound disdainful while smiling himself. It was good to see the sheriff happy. When they’d first met, KC had sensed Lou was a lonely bear. Now that he had James, it was as though the man had a new lease on life. Nothing bothered him for long, and the days he came into the station happy far outnumbered the rare bouts of grumpiness.

“You’re changing the subject,” Lou reminded him.

Damn.

“I’ve located a few sightings of a particularly aggressive coyote that appears to be heading east. Dennis said she has a boy in Albany,” KC said.

“Huh. I might need to work with Dennis and hunt her down online. If she isn’t in her right mind, she might unwittingly harm someone. We need to get her the appropriate care and make sure she can’t harm others. If you’re right, we need to stop her before she gets to
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her child.” The sheriff frowned as he obviously tried to think of the right path to take. KC

knew it was a quandary. Did they try to save her, or put her down like a rabid animal?

KC shrugged. He didn’t know how concerned parents responded when they thought their child was in trouble. KC’s parents would’ve thrown a party. After all, he was the abomination who loved men.

“Do you have any problems travelling with Dennis? I have no doubt he’s going to want to go along.”

“Why would I?”

The sheriff gave him a long look. “Some think he’s untrustworthy since he betrayed Payce.”

“Some people should think about what they’d do if one of
their
loved ones was captured,” he said in a biting tone. Remembering the sad expression in the coyote’s eyes had him losing sympathy for others.

“True.” Louis nodded. His smug expression told KC he’d just fallen into one of the sheriff’s traps.

“Ugh.” KC rolled his eyes.

The door opened again revealing Dennis, who cast a nervous glance at the large bear shifter.

KC looked between the sheriff and Dennis. “I’m supposed to have dinner with Dennis tonight. Did you need me to stay?” He didn’t like the look in Lou’s eyes as he looked the coyote over.

“It’s okay. I haven’t mauled anyone for a couple of days. I think I have it under control.” Lou gave Dennis a smirk, but his eyes didn’t hold any hint of welcome.

Dennis gave him a weak smile even as the stench of fear filled the room.

The sheriff rolled his eyes at KC. “Go have dinner. I’ll wrap things up here before I lock up for the night.”

“Thanks.” KC jumped at the chance. Dennis looked as though he was going to have a heart attack if he spent another minute in the sheriff’s company.

KC shut down his computer then headed for the door. “Come on, Dennis. We have reservations at Marks.” The only steakhouse in town, Marks had opened four years ago to the delight of the shifter population. However, because of the size of the restaurant, shifters
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generally had to make reservations months in advance…and after a memorable visit from Talan’s lion pride, they now had to mention what type of shifter they were.

“How did you get reservations there? I thought you needed to reserve months in advance?”

Obviously Dennis knew of the restaurant’s reputation. KC shrugged. “I helped them with a problem once and they said I could come by anytime.”

He wasn’t going to tell Dennis he’d broken into the restaurant owner’s ex-accountant’s bank account and taken back all the money he’d embezzled from the restaurant. It was next to impossible for shifters to get justice for their problems. Although there were shifter courts, politics between species often made true justice impossible when tried by a jury of mixed-species shifter peers. KC had cut through all the red tape and, as a result, had the unswerving devotion of the family of hawks. He’d never eaten at their restaurant before, but when he’d called, they assured him they would find a table.

The receptionist’s warm greeting helped set the tone for the evening.

“Mr Fields—we’re so happy you could join us and bring a friend.” KC recognised her as one of the owner’s nieces. Almost all of the hawk family worked at the restaurant. The entire flock were Harris Hawks—a particularly social type of bird.

The table they were shown to was by a big window overlooking the valley.

“Will this do?” The girl shifted nervously on her feet as she watched him look out the window.

“Yeah, this is great.”

“Good, and the meal is on us,” a deep voice spoke behind him.

KC spun around to see the restaurant’s owner—Garret Halcon. The man’s reddish brown hair gleamed like a mink’s coat beneath the subtle lights and was cut to show off the man’s bold features. KC had always thought of Garret as a handsome man, but too arrogant to be truly attractive.

“You don’t have to pay for my meal,” KC protested.

Garret’s reddish brown eyes flared with determination. “It is the least I can do for all you’ve done for us. If it weren’t for you, we wouldn’t have had the money to pay our bills. I would give you a hundred meals if I thought you’d accept them.” He held his hand out to Dennis. “Garret Halcon, nice to meet you.”
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Dennis looked the owner up and down carefully before holding out his hand. “Dennis Wills.”

They shook hands but KC could tell the two men wouldn’t be best buds anytime soon.

After an uncomfortable moment, Garret flashed his bright smile at KC before patting him on the back. “Have a good meal, KC, and don’t hesitate to come back here whenever you’d like.” With a final glare at Dennis, Garret left.

Dennis resisted the urge to hunt down the bastard smiling at his man and rip out his throat. His coyote growled close to the surface, even as his human half was shocked by his odd possessiveness. Dennis didn’t get possessive. Men were a dime a dozen—at least in the city—and as soon as he returned there, he could easily coax one into his bed.

Maybe it was the lack of censure in KC’s eyes that made him so attractive. The fox shifter didn’t have anything against Dennis and was in fact trying to help him out. Dennis didn’t like the predatory gaze that hawk bastard was giving his new friend. That was all it was. Satisfied with his answer, he looked up into the amused gaze of KC.

“What?”

“Did you work it all out in your head?”

“Work out what?” For a panicky moment he wondered if the other man could read minds.

KC shrugged. “I don’t know, but it looked like you were working out much bigger problems than the size of your steak.”

Dennis smiled. “Are you kidding? With Garret paying, I’m getting the biggest steak I can.”

The fox shifter threw back his head and laughed. Dennis couldn’t help noticing the other diners in the restaurant had their eyes on him, too. He resisted the urge to growl at them, but it was a close thing.

It had been a while since he’d had someone look at him like he was important. Payce saved all his adoring looks for Kevin now. And Dennis couldn’t help wanting someone to care about him like James cared about the sheriff.

“You still didn’t answer my question.” KC had set his menu aside and was watching Dennis as if he were the most important thing KC had to pay attention to that day.
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“I didn’t like how Garret watched you.”

KC rolled his eyes. “He asked me out once. I said no.”

“Why?” Not that Dennis wanted the pretty fox to date the other man, but he wondered how a charming, handsome man who owned a restaurant fell short of KC’s ideal.

“He’s too arrogant,” KC admitted. “He’s nice enough but I don’t like really arrogant men. It would bother me over the long run, so I didn’t want to get into dating him when I knew we’d never last.”

Dennis laughed as relief cut through him like a knife. “Nothing like seeing the ending on the horizon to prevent the start of a relationship.”

KC gave him a wry grin. “I guess it does sound ridiculous, but I hate to waste energy on something when I know it will fail.”

“There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you want.” Dennis knew what he wanted, but he doubted the smiling, beautiful man before him would want a battered, ethically dubious construction worker. Hell, even his former best friend could barely look him in the eyes.

“Hello, I’m Markus. I’ll be your waiter this evening.” A tall, attractive hawk shifter approached and gazed at KC with adoring eyes.

“I’m Dennis. I want the biggest steak you have and for you to stop staring at my boyfriend.”

Shit
.