Pack Justice (Nature of the Beast Book 1) (6 page)

“You’ve been out here for three hours,” Idette scolded.

My cheetah jumped off my lap, hissed at my wife, and bolted down the steps, his ears flattened and teeth bared. Manners dictated I should have at least made the effort to face her, but the way my spirit beast bristled kept my attention. “Did you need me for something?”

“Are we still going to walk along the lake?”

“Yes. I packed your hiking boots in your bag.”

“I found them.”

“I’ll get changed and we can go now if you want.” I got to my feet and turned.

Idette stood in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest, watching me with narrowed eyes. “What’s your deal, anyway?”

There were so many things I wanted to say, including parroting her question right back at her, but determined to make the weekend nice for at least one of us, I said, “After such a long trial, I wanted a change of pace.”

“I guess the other lawyer won, huh?”

I snorted, easing my way by her to get into the cabin. “Something like that.”

In a way, Andrea had won. I hated myself for being the cause of her scowl. Without the heat of the moment influencing me, without Marcello around to remind me why losing the case wasn’t an option, I loathed my victory despite having convicted a rapist and a cop killer.

I wanted Roberts to stay gone, imprisoned for the rest of his life for his crimes, but facing Andrea each day had given me a reason to get out of bed. If the past was any indication, it’d be months—maybe a year—before I had a chance to see the defense attorney again.

Her firm didn’t send her to the courthouses in my division often.

“Want to talk about it?”

“What, you weren’t watching the news?” I laughed and hunted down my bag, digging for my hiking boots. I shouldn’t have worn a suit, but old habits died hard. Changing wouldn’t accomplish much of anything, and suits could be cleaned, so I didn’t bother.

Wearing boots instead of oxfords was enough.

“The case was on the news?”

At the dismay in her voice, I looked up from shoving my feet in my boots. “Yes.”

“Why?”

“Three-time rapist who killed a cop. It was a long trial, so the media gobbled it up. Reporters love the violent ones.” I tied my laces and stood. “Instead of an easy ride, I got a multi-month monstrosity. High profile, and the defense was determined to make me work for it.”

“You won?”

The surprise in Idette’s voice angered a yowl out of my cheetah, and his rage heated my blood and made me lust for the hunt. Instead of acting on my spirit beast’s desire for violence, I checked my pockets to make sure I had my cell, my wallet, and keys. “It does happen from time to time.”

Maybe if she paid a little more attention to what I did, she’d know I liked winning and did so as often as possible. It wouldn’t surprise me if Idette had scheduled Douglass Roberts’s transfers so he could appear in court. While the nuances of her job within the prison system eluded me, I was aware she had been assigned to scheduling several months ago.

I shoved my hands in my pockets and stepped outside, again easing by my wife. “Shall we?”

“It was really a high profile case? Was that why that woman picked up your phone?”

“Yes. I left my phone with Captain Ramirez. It was one of her cops who had been murdered. There were a few things dealing with the criminal the police wanted to talk to me about, and it took longer than I expected. Sorry about that.”

“She’s really a police captain?”

“You can check the LAPD website for her if you’d like. She’s the real deal. Pretty smart woman, and not someone I’d want arresting me. She doesn’t take bullshit from anyone, especially not some upstart district attorney.” Mindful of the fact Idette tended to fly off the handle at the thought of other women in my life, I made a point of shuddering, shaking my head as I walked down the steps to join my spirit beast. “She’s tougher than nails. She might chew them up and spit bullets for all I know.”

“Do you like her?”

I certainly liked her vodka, although I was still feeling remnants of the hangover from my stupidity in her office. “That’s like asking a mouse if he likes a cat. Of course I like the cat, as flattery might prevent me from getting eaten for a little while.”

I earned glares from my wife and my cheetah.

“So you’re not a fan, I take it?”

Even in court, I hated lying. I liked Captain Ramirez on many levels, and she was the type of woman I’d want at my back—and investigating cases for me. “She’s a fantastic detective, but I don’t know her on a personal level. As far as former detectives go, she’s stellar. I can’t tell if the force made a mistake or not by promoting her to captain, because she had a great eye for detail.”

“Detail is pretty important to you.”

“Typically, it is for a prosecuting attorney.” I headed for the water, halting where it lapped at the beach. The sun dipped beneath the horizon; despite being a quick drive to the highway, the area surrounding the lake was dark. “I hope this is remote enough?”

“Far better than I was expecting,” my wife admitted. “Let’s take the kayaks out and find a more private place along the shore.”

While some cats hated the water, my spirit beast viewed it with elegant disdain and tolerated it on my behalf. I enjoyed swimming as a feline; the way my cheetah’s body moved through the water had a wild feel to it, which let me disconnect from reality for a little while. Instead of answering Idette, I headed for the kayaks. Feeling her gaze on my back, I hauled them both to the water.

“Have you ever done this before?” She regarded me and my suit with a raised brow.

“I’m sure I can figure it out.” To prove I wasn’t completely incompetent, I shoved my kayak into the water and hopped in, coasting out to deeper water with a few shoves of my paddle. I rowed to the end of the dock so my cheetah could hop on without getting wet.

It never ceased to amaze me how I perceived the feline’s weight, but physical objects, including my kayak, didn’t react to his presence. He decided to ride with his hindquarters resting on my shins while his front paws stretched over the bow.

He purred, and I suspected he was happy Idette couldn’t share the kayak with us.

“Since when have you been kayaking?” Idette demanded as she pulled up alongside me.

While her question was reasonable, I hated the way she spoke. At least I had a good excuse for my experience. “Remember three years ago when I had to go to a convention in Grand Rapids? Kayaking is a bit of a thing there, and I got roped into going with a bunch of fellow lawyers. Disgracing myself in front of my colleagues was not an option.”

“Oh. I remember. You had seemed a bit cranky about the trip.”

“Kayaking in the rain is not my idea of fun.”

In truth, all I had really wanted was a chance to run with my cheetah, but as happened all too often, I had been thwarted at every turn. My spirit beast sighed his agreement.

“Let’s go over there,” my wife said, pointing her paddle towards the other end of the lake.

“Sure.”

Idette was a better kayaker than I was, and she deftly glided over the water, leaving me to follow in her wake. The thought of competing with her annoyed me, so I took advantage of her facing away from me to stroke my cheetah’s back.

I wondered when she had gone kayaking, but I decided it didn’t really matter. In a week, I wouldn’t be under any obligation to care what she did, had done, or would do, and the knowledge soothed me even more than my spirit beast’s contented purrs.

The spot Idette picked was so remote the only signs of life were a few lights on the other side of the lake. She hauled her kayak onto shore, and I followed after her, glad my hiking boots provided some protection from the chilly water. When I was satisfied my kayak wouldn’t float off, I tossed my paddle into it and stretched.

My back creaked and my muscles were sore, but the exercise had done me good. I was in better shape than the lawyers who didn’t go to the gym, but my cheetah was responsible for that.

Maybe he was incorporeal, but I was convinced he kept my body lean no matter what I ate. Magic worked in mysterious ways; I didn’t exactly have anyone I could ask about how—and why—I had a ghostly feline haunting me all the time, or what sort of things he did to me as a result of his presence. At least the runs we took kept me fit enough.

Idette smiled, and the tenderness of her expression reminded me of the woman I had fallen in love with so many years ago. “It’s quiet out here.”

“I tried to find somewhere you’d like.”

“What do you think is in the woods?” She spun around, staring into the dark trees. If we wanted to go into the forest, we’d have to break a trail. My cheetah purred at the idea, striding to the tree line to wait.

“I suppose we’ll have to find out,” I replied. A blast of warmth from my spirit beast filled my chest, strong enough I was torn between wincing from the discomfort and smiling at his enthusiasm.

“You’re not scared?” Idette smirked at me before heading for the trees.

“Should I be?”

“There might be wolves,” she taunted.

 
“In a resort area? I really doubt it, Idette.”

“If we meet one, you’ll have an interesting story to tell your lawyer friends.”

“True.” The last thing I wanted was an interesting story to tell anyone once I returned to Los Angeles. With a stalker waiting for me at home and a divorce looming on the horizon, dull and boring meant safe; I doubted I’d be able to enjoy the illusion of security anytime soon.

To pretend I was a normal human, I had to fumble around in the dark despite my cheetah granting me good night vision. I didn’t need to take his shape, either. As long as I had at least a little light, as long as he remained near me, I had no trouble making out the detail of the few leaves still clinging to their branches, the rocks half-buried under decaying foliage, and the skittering of small animals fleeing our presence in their woods.

Idette slid through the trees and brush, leaving no evidence of her passage. Growling his discontent, my cheetah bumped against my legs, his fur standing on end. I soothed him with a few strokes of my hand, and narrowing my eyes, I followed after my wife.

A hunting feline’s instinct was to prowl in silence, stalking after prey. My cheetah wanted to rid us both of Idette, and his desire for violence stirred my blood, tempting me to free myself in a very permanent way.

He encouraged me to act, and in his urgings, I was aware of something else, a promise of freedom in the wild. Once we were released from Idette, we could run and avoid the human world, leaving it behind for the hunt.

His body wouldn’t age, and he would share with me until no one remembered Sean Scott had ever existed. The idea of becoming an unsolved mystery intrigued me.

It would solve so many things for everyone, especially for me. Cats didn’t care about the world of men; they were above it, outside of it, and flitted in and out of it at their discretion, and my cheetah offered it all to me.

I couldn’t sense any hesitation from my spirit beast, only the hope of remaining with me until the end of days.

“Sean?” Idette called, and I was so focused on my cheetah’s wishes, I hadn’t realized I had come to a halt.

“Coming. You’re quite a bit better at this than me.” While I lied, it was also the truth; as long as I pretended to be human, she would always be better at skulking through the woods at night.

 
“Don’t fall behind!” Her voice sounded farther away, and her mocking laughter filled the quiet forest.

My cheetah growled, and I echoed him. Together, we hunted Idette. The beast in me wanted to end the chase in bloodshed.

The human in me didn’t care, and that worried me most of all.

The full moon rose, and a wolf stalked me through the trees. The animal made no noise; it was only due to my cheetah’s heightened senses I noticed it at all. While my cheetah wanted me to assume his form, I didn’t dare, not with Idette somewhere in the forest with me. After her final, taunting call, she had vanished into the darkness, leaving no trace of her passage.

My wife’s disappearance infuriated my spirit beast, as did the wolf who dared to consider us prey. As a human, I was prey, but if Idette found out about my cheetah, being prey would be the least of our problems.