Silver Mine (14 page)

He sighed. This part made him a touch insane. “Arghh, avast ye maties.”

Shelley laughed. “No. Long John Silver?”

“Never said they weren’t a creative lot up here.”

She matched his speed. “They’re good people, aren’t they? On the whole?”

“They are. Misunderstood, kicked around. Some of them are out of touch with reality, but whether that’s from being in the bush or what drove them into the wilderness in the first place, I’m not sure.”

“Why’d you end up here? If you don’t mind me asking.”

He shrugged. “Told you I can’t control the shift. Which group is going to welcome me in? The wolves or the cats?”

She sighed. “Yeah. Shifters aren’t always the most forgiving of differences.”

It was the perfect opportunity, again, and this time he couldn’t allow the chance to slip past. “What’s your story? You live in Whitehorse but you aren’t a part of the pack? That’s not wolf.”

“That’s the type of wolf you know up here.” She said it with a bit of attitude, as if daring him to prove her unsuitable for his part of the world.

He wasn’t about to fight her. “You do fit in up here. More than I expected. But that doesn’t answer my question. Why did you not know the Alpha?”

“Just moved.” She paused. “Well, that’s not the entire truth. I did just move back, but I left Whitehorse years ago almost as much of an outcast as you would be.”

He waited. Didn’t need to fill the air with noise when she obviously had more to say.

“Funny how some thoughts drag you back to being twelve years old again and sad that people don’t like you.” Shelley took a deep breath. “I promised myself I wouldn’t complain anymore, so just the facts. I can’t shift. Not sure why.”

Impossibly, Chase felt his cheeks heat. “You ever try to trigger your wolf?”

She coughed. “Yes. Didn’t work.”

His tongue tangled in his mouth. He wanted to say something meaningful like
Damn shame
. Or,
Sorry to hear that
, but the only thing his thick skull fixated on was if she’d tried to trigger her wolf, she was most definitely not a virgin. Suddenly the nice firm mattress waiting in his cabin was more important to reach quickly than before.

“Chase?”

“Yeah?”

He slowed his step and she stared at him as they walked. He was sure she was going to ask him if they were going to have sex.

“How…I mean…do you think? If it’s not any trouble…”

Trouble? His dick woke up and paid attention. “What, Shell?”

She grabbed him by the arm and pulled him to a full stop. “Can you show me how you changed just a part of you like that?”

He snorted. Then laughed. And as her face brightened at his response, he laughed even harder.

Oh, Chase, this is what you get for having sex on the brain
. The woman didn’t want in his pants, she wanted to further her education.

He forced his lustful thoughts into line and gestured her down the path. “I don’t mind.”

“How is your shoulder? Any better? Worse?”

Her tone indicated the doctor was in the house. Chase had to stop from imaging her in a short little white skirt wearing nothing up top but a stethoscope. He rotated his arm thoughtfully. “About the same. A little hot, a little achy. Just not getting any better.”

“I have an idea I want to try when we get to your cabin.”

“Sure.”

“And I want to see you change only partway.”

Bossy thing. He liked it. “Yeah.”

Shelley looked up at him. “One other request, if you don’t mind.”

“What?”

“Next time you plan on us hitting a dangerous situation, warn me ahead of time. I don’t mind thinking on my feet, but I’d prefer a little head’s up.”

She was right; he’d been a jerk. “Sorry. And I will.”

They topped the hill that overlooked his cabin. He watched her face instead of glancing over the familiar panorama he’d witnessed a million times. For some reason he felt a deep need to see her response. To have her excited about the place he’d built for himself in the bush. He tried to explain away the longing as the normal anticipation of bringing a stranger home, but the desire was more than that.

She was getting under his skin in a way that wasn’t very smart.

Her eyes lit up then a crease folded her brow. “Chase? Is that your place?”

“Yeah.”

She turned those mesmerizing dark eyes to meet his. “Why are there dozens of people gathered on the front porch?”

He snapped around to look. There was no denying it. His usually tranquil home was swarming with men. Pouring in and out the door, some sitting on the front clearing he liked to call a lawn. Some were pitching tents.

He’d been invaded.

Chapter Eleven

Caroline turned over another set of records and forced herself to concentrate. Her least favourite part of the job. Paperwork sucked, but she refused to let herself get behind when it looked as if the hotel would be overrun in the next couple weeks once the full contingent of bears arrived in town.

Enigma wrapped himself around her ankles, and she scooped him up mindlessly, the soft fur ball an amazing balm to her tight nerves. She flipped one-handed through pages as he settled in her lap. Stroking her fingers through his soft fur again and again was like playing with a worry stone. Relaxation rose.

He seemed to enjoy her attention as well. By the time she made it to the bottom of the pile, the kitten was purring like a train.

“How can a little thing like you make so much noise?”

His ears twitched, but other than that, he didn’t move.

Behind her the door opened and closed. “Caro? You here?”

“In the office.”

Evan’s footfalls came closer. “I need the contact numbers for the Miles Canyon—
achoo. Achoo.”
He stopped in front of her desk, wrinkling his nose. “Don’t tell me. Let me guess. That furry thing is in—”

He sneezed toward his elbow another couple times before groaning in frustration.

She rose to her feet, tucking a protesting Enigma against her body. “I’m so sorry. When I promised Shelley I’d babysit her cat, I had no idea you were allergic.”

Evan grabbed a handful of tissues from the box on the desk then backed toward the window. “No reason for—
achoo
—you to expect this.”

He propped the window open, stepped in front of the fresh breeze that rushed in and breathed deeply.

“I can find someone else to look after him.” Caroline felt horrible, but couldn’t stop a small smile from escaping.

Evan’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

“Nothing.” She straightened up and wiped her expression clean of all amusement.

He stepped forward menacingly then stopped as Enigma meowed. “Tell me what’s got you smirking, or I will get revenge.”

Caroline snickered. “Fine. I never expected such a great and mighty Alpha to be floored by a teeny little thing like this.”

He sneezed again.

And again.

She giggled.

“It’s not—
achoo
—funny.”

Caroline tried to stop, she really did, but by now just the thought of giggling made her laugh. Add in Evan’s terrified expression as Enigma escaped from her arms to land on the desk and stalk toward him.

She was dying.

Evan tossed her a dirty look as he stripped off his shirt. “I will get you later.”

“Me and my little dog too? I mean kitten?” Caroline squeezed out the words. “So, you need contact numbers. I can do that. Well, sort of do. I still haven’t been able to figure out who the current leader is over there.”

Evan tossed his shirt on the desktop, and the kitten dropped to a crouch. His tail twitched as he stalked forward to pounce on Evan’s shirt and bury himself in the fabric. “How can an entire pack keep their Alpha undercover? It’s just not very typical wolf behavior.”

“Because most packs like to brag on their leader?” Caroline watched in fascination as he continued to strip. “Is there a reason you’re getting naked in the middle of the afternoon? Not that I’m complaining, not really.”

Evan finished a sneezing jaunt before being able to speak. “Experimentation. I want to see if I react to the fur ball in my wolf. In the meantime, find the file on the Miles Canyon pack and read me the parts about any activity they’ve had in the city over the past ten years. Oh, and that information you found about the last bear territorial settlement. If we’re about to be—
achoo
—invaded I want to know possible troubles to be ready for.”

He shifted in the middle of sneeze, the human
achoo
changing to a wolfish one, and Caroline had to grab a tissue to wipe her eyes.

He sat on the floor, a simply enormous black wolf with streaks of grey starting to show on his muzzle and ears. As a human who had grown up with half-sibling wolves, the entire family regularly visiting the local packhouse, Caroline had pretty much been around people who popped to wolf form her entire life.

It still gave her goose bumps to witness.

“Gathering information. Make yourself comfortable. Let me grab a coffee. If I’m going to be talking at you for the next hour.”

She scooted out of the room, returning in time to witness the moment Enigma discovered he wasn’t the only beast in the room.

Evan wasn’t sneezing anymore, which Caroline figured was a good sign. He’d placed his paws up on the desktop and took an experimental sniff of the moving pile of fabric. Enigma was still playing happily in Evan’s shirt.

The pile stopped moving, and the tiny black head popped out a bit at a time. The little pink nose wiggled furiously. Then the muzzle, and the rest of the creature appeared as he crawled out the neckline of Evan’s shirt.

Evan sniffed.

Enigma meowed.

The kitten pounced, his tiny body landing on top of Evan’s forehead, legs wrapping around the wolf’s muzzle. For a moment Caroline thought Evan was going to toss his head to throw the offending creature into the air, but the big bad Alpha remained absolutely still and allowed the tiny thing to scramble to a more solid perch.

Directly on top of his head.

If a wolf could sigh with exasperation? That was the noise Evan made as he cautiously made his way to the couch and crawled onto it without disturbing his passenger. Caroline grabbed the files she needed and sat in the easy chair to the side, going through the information Evan had requested. All the while he was pinned in place by Enigma, who found a spot of sunshine on Evan’s neck, curled up and promptly fell asleep.

Caroline focused on the task at hand to stop from losing control again. One thing she had to admit, though.

Living with shifters was never boring.

Chase eyed the mass of humanity that surrounded his homestead with disgust, concern and more than a little trepidation. He was a leader to these people, but there was only one of him, and dropping into a volatile situation with Shelley in tow? This was more than either of them had signed up for.

He sorted through and discarded solutions rapidly.

“Chase?” Shelley nodded toward his cabin. “You obviously didn’t expect this.”

“Normally it’s me and the birds. Maybe a visitor or two, but that’s it.”
Hell
. “You’re here too, so let’s see what you think. Give me ideas.”

“Head back to the highway?”

“Nope. Retreat is a sign of weakness. They have to know we’re coming by now. I bet at least one of our cabin mates from last night ran ahead in shifted form to let them know.”

She was probably unaware she stepped closer to him. “You think this gathering is trouble?”

“It’s not normal, that’s for sure.” Chase tried to spot familiar figures, but at this distance, individuals were mere blobs.

Her breath passed his ear as she leaned in even closer. “You said they aren’t bad people. What if we assume they’re here for a good reason?”

He rolled through possibilities and couldn’t think of one that would make the outcasts willingly gather in one place. “Men who crave privacy don’t give it up on a whim. It’s not a carnival or something like that, if that’s what you mean.”

“No, I’m not suggesting anything that frivolous, but they also wouldn’t come together to do something…bad. If they safeguard their solitude?”

Bingo
. “Probably not. They take their mischief the same way they like their pleasures—alone.”

Even the word
pleasures
couldn’t cross his lips without him thinking a whole lot harder about touching her and feeling her body’s response.

Concentrate
. He turned her to face him. “I will protect you.”

She nodded. “I know you will. But I’m not defenseless.”

She pulled out a switchblade. Fancy one, looked like an out the front with the instant pop-up. Illegal in Canada, and extremely dangerous.

“You know how to use it?” He wasn’t trying to be insulting, but there was nothing worse than a knife being pulled during a fight by a person who was afraid to draw blood.