Shifter In Ascent (Louisiana Shifters) (11 page)

with Jasper.”
“And how long will that be, exactly?” Tessa asked skeptically. Jace didn’t like the
insinuation that his skills as a protector might be imperfect, and he scowled at her. “No idea. Are you in a hurry to go somewhere?” he asked, his tone bordering on rude. “No. Well, sort of, yes. I have some things to settle, and I can’t do them from here,” she said,
twisting her hands in her lap and glancing away. Here was Jace’s chance to find out what was
really going on with Tessa.
“Such as getting back to… what was it, Byron?” Jace asked silkily, baring his teeth on the
man’s name.
Tessa’s gaze snapped up to his, startled.
“Where did you hear that name?” she asked, her face going pale. The reaction only served to
spur Jace on.
“He’s posted a sizeable reward in return for information about your current location, Tessa.
My guess is he’s probably panicked that he’s misplaced a couple of heiresses. Am I right?” Jace
asked coldly.
Tessa’s jaw dropped, but she snapped it back up and scowled right back at him, he face
flushing.
“It’s none of your business, now is it?” she snapped.
“It could be. How do I know that you didn’t do something horrible to him? Maybe you stole
all his money and left him at the altar or something,” Jace said, raising a brow critically. “That is
not
… I would never… ugh! That isn’t what happened at all!” she said, her voice
rising with pique. Just as before at the safe house, Jace found her anger quite arousing. “So what did happen? He’s not a relative, so that leaves very few options.” “If you must know, he’s… he
was
my legal guardian. He was a friend of my parents’, and
after they died he took over managing their estate and checking in on Camilla and myself,” she
said tensely.
“Why run from him, then?” Jace asked, his question half accusation.
“He’s a bad man. He pretends to be a kindly uncle type, but really he’s awful. He must have
had my parents completely snowed, because he was only ever interested in our money. And he’d
do pretty much anything to get it,” Tessa ground out.
“Such as?”
“Such as try to seduce both me and Camilla before we’d even turned eighteen. He was
looking for a quick marriage with whichever one of us was stupid enough to give him access to
our money.”
“And he wasn’t handsome enough or charming enough for either of you?” Jace asked
pointedly.
Tessa’s face went red as a beet and she looked mad enough to spit. Jace actually worried that
she might have some kind of apoplexy if he didn’t stop prodding her.
“He was over fifty, and we were just girls! It was disgusting! And rather than give up, he’s
just continued to push at it for most of a decade. Now, if you don’t mind, I’d rather not relive the
past,” she hissed. Damn, Jace had definitely gone too far. If her story was true, the bastard
deserved a lot worse than a vanishing act.
Jace raised his hands as a white flag, and gave Tessa a casual shrug. As if she were the one
overreacting and he was just a captive audience.
“My fault, I shouldn’t have assumed. He’s running all over the place telling anyone that will “My fault, I shouldn’t have assumed. He’s running all over the place telling anyone that will

listen that you basically left him standing at the altar,” Jace said nonchalantly. “He has some kind of nerve. I agreed to let him tell people what he wanted about me if he’d
leave Camilla out of it,” Tessa said, heaving a frustrated sigh.
“If you’re here, where’s your sister now?” Jace asked.
“You know, I think we’ve talked enough about me and my bad decisions for one day, don’t
you think?” she snapped, still aggravated.
“Whatever. I have some things I need to do today anyway. You’ll be safe from Jasper while
you’re at the Den but I haven’t exactly told everyone that I’ve brought an Ascendant female
here. I need you to stay here while I handle some business.”
“You’re just going to leave me here? I’m supposed to be in mortal danger!” she protested. “I’ve asked Declan to keep an eye on my property, so no one will make it as far as the house.
You’re shedding Ascendant scent like crazy, and he’s the only one I trust not to come in and…
let’s just say he’s promised to keep his distance.”
Jace stood up and stacked their plates, then placed them in the sink.
“I don’t have a TV but there are plenty books if you’re interested. Just don’t leave the house
unless it’s on fire,” Jace said.
Tessa rolled her eyes and went over to the couch, flopping down dramatically. “Tessa, I mean it,” he said, staring her down until she flapped a hand in agreement.
Damn
.
Jace really hated to leave her here, but if he didn’t go over to Maddie’s house, his sister
would come over here. That couldn’t happen until he’d figured out what to do with Tessa. Jace hustled himself to the shower, turning the heat up all the way and practically scrubbing
his skin off in order to remove all traces of Tessa’s scent. He thought he might even shift and roll
in some leaves on the way over to mask the human scent completely.
The girl had only been in his life a couple of days and already things were getting
complicated, Jace realized. This couldn’t go on for much longer.
All he had to do was snow his very clever sister for the time being, and find Tessa a mate
that met with his approval.
It couldn’t be that hard, right? First Maddie, then the mate thing. Someone decent for Tessa. It’d have to be Rhett. Tessa would like Declan, but the idea of her touching his closest rival
sickened Jace. Jace would talk to Rhett, make him understand. Jace needed to see this through
and make sure Tessa would be protected and accepted.
Jace tried out the idea of Tessa scowling at Rhett. Rhett giving her orders, telling her to
behave. Tessa lying in Rhett’s bed, making those noises she tended to make.
THUNK.
Jace looked down to the floor next to his foot, where a fist-sized chunk of the marble
countertop now rested. Jace sighed and brushed off his now dusty right hand.
Maybe finding Tessa a mate was going to be harder than he thought.
NINE

She waited until Jace had dressed and left the house, and then scrounged around in his closet. She dug up a box labeled “Maddie”, which was full of youthful women’s clothing. Obviously Jace kept some of his sister’s stuff around, for which Tessa was thankful.

Most of it was Tessa’s size, but it was definitely from the Juniors department. Tessa ended up in a very short pleated black skirt and a snug gray tee that said “HBIC”.
I’ll take what I can get,
she thought.
Slipping on the ballet flats she’d worn the day before, Tessa checked herself out in the bathroom mirror.
It was very un-Tessa, but it didn’t look awful. Mostly it made Tessa look like a college sorority girl. That was all right, because Tessa aimed to make some friends today. If her guess was correct, the buildings she’d seen the day before housed more Shifters.
While she was in the shower, a revelation had struck Tessa. What the Legion claimed to really want was information. The more Tessa found out, the more she had to bargain with when the Legion reeled her back in. Yes, she’d have to tell them all the Shifters’ secrets, but she might be able to avoid directly betraying the pack. At the very least, she could get away with claiming that Jace had got away from her.
After running her hands through her hair to revive her curls, Tessa was ready to go. She stepped out of the house, stopping dead on the porch. When Jace had brought her to the house yesterday, they’d simply followed a dirt path straight here.
Today, in contrast, there was a short gravel driveway leading from the front of the house and dead-ending at the edge of the yard. Where the path ended it met a dense thicket of trees that rimmed the clearing around the house with perfect symmetry. It was unnerving.
What had Jace said earlier? The Den was sentient, it provided you with what you needed.
Clearing her throat timidly and feeling quiet sheepish, Tessa stepped out into the yard and spoke.
“Um… I’d like to go to the main area of the compound, please?” she asked hesitantly. A breeze rippled through the leaves of the trees, and then the trees began to peel back, beginning to reform. Even though she’d been expecting just such a thing, Tessa nearly jumped out of her skin.
The trees rearranged themselves, opening an arched pathway with an attractive gravel road. Tessa tiptoed over to it, testing the road with her right foot before quickly drawing it back. When the road proved not to be quicksand, Tessa stepped out onto it fully, feeling increasingly silly.
That was about when Tessa realized she was being watched.
Just act like you belong here, and show no fear.
Tessa took off at a brisk pace, her nerves causing her to practically powerwalk down the road. She just had to hope it was friend out there and not foe. She walked along for about a quarter of a mile before coming to a larger main road. Tessa looked left for a moment and decided that the camp must be the other direction.
Turning, she ran into a warm, solid wall. The wall laughed as she bounced off, and the laugh was sexy as hell. Tessa stepped back and craned her neck up at one of the most gorgeous men she’d ever seen.
“Err.. hello,” she said awkwardly.
The man laughed again. He was enormous, maybe 6’7. Jace would probably tower over most people, but this guy might have him beat by a couple of inches. He had olive-complected skin and dark hair clipped close to the scalp. His smile was so huge and perfect that it seemed like he had too many teeth, but the smile paired with the aqua eyes were a killer combination.
“Ah. So you’re what Jace has been hiding out here. I should have known he was up to something. And an Ascendant mate, that’s a big something,” said the man in a deep voice inflected with a thick Irish lilt.
Tessa immediately felt like there was a string attached to the center of her chest, and it was dragging her towards the man in front of her. She moved closer instinctively.
He offered Tessa his hand.
“Declan O’Riley, damned pleased to meet you.”
“Tessa Anderson. Nice to meet you too, Declan,” she replied. “And I’m not Jace’s mate. It’s a long story.”
“Ah, now the truth is revealed. He’s hiding you because you’re Ascendant, pretty, and single. Horrible friend, that Jace.”
Tessa blushed and laughed, then waved a hand toward the road.
“I was just heading out to check out the rest of the Den. Would you mind giving me the tour?”
“I am almost entirely certain that this is going to get me in trouble, but I couldn’t say no to that,” Declan teased. Offering her his arm, which she accepted, he led her toward the main area and as they walked they chatted amicably about the places from which they each hailed. When they reached the cluster of buildings, Declan gave her the tour.
“This big area of grass in the middle we just call the Grass. We’re imaginative folk. There’s the big mess hall in the middle, the apartment-style residences for Shifters who prefer to live close to one another. There’s the infirmary on the right, and the gym. There’s the armory in the far back, and the rest are all communal buildings as well.”
Tessa nodded as he talked, admiring the large ivy-covered beige brick buildings that were scattered around the Grass. It reminded her of some small private college set back in the woods.
“Where is everyone?” she asked.
“The question of the hour. I do believe that there is a Game happening somewhere, my dear Tessa. The pitch will have popped up somewhere out past the Armory, I should think.”
Tessa raised a quizzical eyebrow but simply nodded and followed his lead. Declan walked her to the right of the Grass and behind several buildings before coming to a stop by a footballsized field. The field had no lines or markings, but it did have a soccer goal at each end. Two dozen people were spread out over the pitch, and by Tessa’s estimation they were playing something between soccer and rugby.
“What’s are they playing?” she asked Declan.
“We just call it the Game, capitalized G. There aren’t many rules except that you have to be strong enough to play.”
Declan cut across the field, giving all the players a wide berth. The men and women they passed spared Tessa a look here and there, but otherwise were entirely occupied with the movement at the other end. Tessa couldn’t really understand why they were so alert when the action was so far away.
Suddenly there was a loud POOMF and the figures around her blurred into motion. “SECOND BALL IN PLAY. MIND THE GAWKERS!” shouted a woman’s voice from just “SECOND BALL IN PLAY. MIND THE GAWKERS!” shouted a woman’s voice from just

Declan slipped his arm around her waist and halfway carried Tessa the last ten yards to the sideline, freeing her when they reached a large group of sparsely occupied picnic tables.
“Watch the field,” he gestured, and Tessa complied as they sat down.
“Don’t worry about what everyone is doing. The only things you need to remember are that if they make it in either end it’s a goal, and don’t ever turn your back on the field,” he said, already absorbed with what was happening in the game.
“Got it,” Tessa affirmed.
The two balls were now close to one of the goals, and it seemed as if there was a fist fight happening across the field by the other goal. Hopefully it was all in fun, although it looked pretty serious from here.
SMACK!
Tessa winced as two of the players smashed into each other, and one went down hard. The blond man didn’t seem to be getting back up, but the redheaded man just kept moving.
“Nasty check, there,” commented Declan.
“That’s Cord there on the ground. He’s more of a surfer than a ball player, innit? The one that bashed him’s Rhett. Big guy, always plays an aggressive forward.”
Big guy? Coming from Declan, that phrase really meant something. He wasn’t wrong, though; the man was huge and so solidly built that the other players almost looked fragile next to him.
“The bloke there on the other end breaking up the fight is Shaw. He’s the pack alpha. Bit of a temper so mind that,” Declan pointed to an angry-looking dark-haired man way across the field.
Tessa stared at Shaw for a long minute, shaking her head. He looked familiar somehow, but that was impossible. She was sure she’d never met anyone named Shaw before. Still, the sensation was hard to shake.
The man Declan had identified as Rhett put the rugby ball through one of the goals and Declan shot to his feet, cheering and clapping.
There was a thunk as black-haired giant came up to their table and dropped a massive ice chest next to Tessa. The man turned to examine Tessa. He had a thin scar running from his left temple through his eye and down to his chin, and somber brown eyes. His gaze was so intense and direct that Tessa frowned and fought off a shiver. Without warning the man whipped his shirt off while still staring at Tessa.
“Go on then, Jesse,” Declan said to the man.
Jesse looked at Declan, then back at Tessa. She honestly didn’t know what the man was thinking; she hoped he didn’t see her as a threat.
“Jess. There’s ball to be played, mate.”
Jesse gave Tessa a final once-over before turning and trotting off toward the field. As soon as he stepped within the white lines, he immediately clotheslined the man closest to him. Then he tripped a tall blonde woman that was sprinting past him toward the ball.
“JESSE IN PLAY!” shouted the same short brunette who had been giving game updates before. She seemed to be both a player and referee, somehow. Declan caught Tessa’s line of sight and nodded to the woman in question.
“That’s Kat, there. Bit of a witch. Stay away from her when she’s in a foul mood,” Declan intoned.
Tessa looked over at Declan and smiled. Funny, exotic accent, and crazy hot? She definitely Tessa looked over at Declan and smiled. Funny, exotic accent, and crazy hot? She definitely