Six Months (33 page)

“Maddox, I want you to draw up a contract with our agreement. Laugh all you want, but that’s nonnegotiable. You guys may hide from the human world, but I’ll drag you into a court of law if you breach the contract, and I know for a fact that would put you in some serious hot water with your own Breed laws. I’m at the Western Lodge Inn. Have you heard of it?”

“I got a guy who can be there in five minutes. Wait out by the lobby and he’ll pick you up.”

Maddox ended the call and as I walked by the bathroom door, I leaned forward and kissed it.

“Bye, Trev,” I whispered.

***

“Mom, you need to go lie down.” Lexi was clearly frustrated. “You heard what the doctor said.”

Lynn stood in the lounge room with a bandage on her head after getting a bunch of stitches in the emergency room. Reno felt sick about the whole thing. “I want to know what happened to April. Hon, I can’t go upstairs and sleep after everything. I need a drink.”

“You don’t drink, Mom.”

“I still need a drink.”

“Lynn,” Austin said.

She cleared her throat. “I told you not to call me that.”

Austin scratched his jaw and a smile ghosted his lips. “Mom, you need to take it easy. We’ll sort everything out down here and fill you in tomorrow morning.” He glared at Reno. “Lexi’ll cook breakfast and bring it up to you.”

“That’s right, Mom. French toast and bacon—your favorite.”

Reno hadn’t spoken a word since they had walked in the door. He just sat back in his favorite brown chair with a beer in one hand and his good-luck charm in the other, wondering what the hell he’d done to drive April away. Reno knew nothing about human women outside of what he’d seen on television, but it sure as hell didn’t feel right letting her walk away. What could he do? He had tried to get her to talk to him, but he didn’t want to risk pushing her further away with an aggressive pursuit.

Denver dragged his bare feet across the living room floor, wearing his favorite sweats and no shirt. After reading
Peter Pan
with Maizy and putting her to bed, he’d gone into the kitchen to forage. “Maybe next time we should all take
real
guns. That would have been kickass,” he said, eating soup right out of the can.

“Your aim is so bad you can’t even hit the toilet,” Lynn blurted out.

Jericho barked out a laugh and grabbed his smokes off the table. “I’m heading upstairs,” he said, still laughing. “She got you good, brother. I’m sleeping in tomorrow, so don’t come knocking.” Jericho left the room and the stairs creaked as he disappeared out of sight.

Denver ignored them, eating another giant spoonful of chicken and rice. “Would’ve been easier to take down the asshole who grabbed Maizy if I’d been armed like Reno was. Just sayin’.”

“I don’t like guns.” Lynn glared at Reno.

Months ago after Lynn had been kidnapped by her ex-husband, she’d remained in a state of denial, still excusing the man’s actions. Then one day, reality had hit her like a runaway freight train, and she’d smashed every plate in the kitchen. She’d finally come to terms with the fact that a man she’d loved had almost killed both of her daughters and was indirectly responsible for the death of her son.

After that, Lexi bought a bag of paper plates, and they ate on those for a few weeks until Lynn sought counseling. Lexi went with her for support but also found it helpful to talk out her own feelings even though she couldn’t disclose details about Shifters or her father’s death. Humans didn’t cope as well as Breed did when it came to traumatic shit. Part of it was having lived long enough to learn how to shut off pain, but it also had to do with the spirit and strength of their animal.

Pain sliced through his gut when he thought of April looking at him over her shoulder when she walked off the porch. She’d stumbled clumsily, but April didn’t have a clue that he thought she was adorable as hell. He didn’t make a big deal of it when she bumped into things. In fact, it made her even more fascinating to him. She was different on so many levels from Shifter women. April was like one of those Rubik’s Cubes that no matter how many times you twisted it around, you couldn’t figure it out.

“Where’s April?” Austin asked for the umpteenth time.

Reno tightened his jaw.

“Guess she didn’t want to be your bitch,” Denver muttered matter-of-factly.

Reno was out of his chair in a heartbeat. The soup splattered on the floor and he seized Denver’s throat.

“Cut it out!” Austin shouted, wedging between them. “Dammit, Reno, you know he didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”

“Maybe not,” Reno bit out, giving Denver a hostile glare, “but you ever call her a bitch again, no Packmaster will be able to stop what I’m going to do to you.”

Denver wiped the soup off his arm and shook some of it off his foot. “When the hell did
bitch
become a bad word in this pack? Maybe you need to lighten up, big brother. Humans don’t like all that serious Terminator shit. Someone tracking our ass down is just another day in the life of the Cole family. But April goes out for laser tag and finds herself in the middle of a showdown. That’s some heavy shit. And why don’t you explain how you helped her cope when you got home? Did you give her a beer? Watch a little TV? Yeah, we all saw the panties by the door.” Denver waved his hand and walked away. “I’m outta here.”

“I need everyone upstairs except Reno,” Austin said in an authoritative voice. That was the tone he used as an alpha, the one that every Shifter wolf heeded whether in human or wolf form. There was power in his words when he summoned it, and without an argument, everyone drifted upstairs and left them alone.

After Lexi shut the door, Austin folded his arms. “Talk.”

Reno pinched his chin and slanted his eyes away. He didn’t want to talk, but Austin was the only one in the house he could confide in. “While you guys were still cleaning up the mess with Sanchez, Trevor came by and took April away. She’s gone. For good.”

It took a second before Austin decided what to say. “And you’re okay with that?”

Reno’s eyes slid up. “Do I look okay with it?”

Austin sat across from him and touched the small cleft in his chin. Reno noticed a few spatters of blood on his dark green shirt. “I can think of at least four Shifter women who’ve had their eye on mating with you. Good women from respectable packs. All I’m saying is that you want someone who’s going to age at the same speed. I get the fascination; we’ve all had crushes on a human at one time or another. They’re the forbidden fruit and incomparable to our women. But you don’t want to get your emotions mixed up with one of them. They don’t understand our ways—they don’t mate for life. Men leave their families and some want nothing to do with their own children.” He shook his head. “And that’s another thing. Shifters and humans can’t have children together. Think about what you’d be giving up. She did you a favor.”

Reno stretched his legs and laced his fingers together on his lap. “Did our dad ever tell you about Faye?”

Austin shook his head and Reno continued.

“This was long before you were born. Faye was a good bitch from a respectable pack, and we had a thing. A good thing. She was a tough woman with black hair and blue eyes—all the men had their sights on her, but she was mine. We knew right away we had a connection, and it got serious.”

“How serious?”

“Serious enough that I was going to ask her to be my life mate. Turns out I couldn’t give her what she wanted.”

“And what was that?” Austin knitted his brows.

“Children.” Reno took a deep and painful breath. “I’m sterile.”

Austin sat back, staring pensively to the right. “Sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Yeah, that’s not something I want to share with the others, if you catch my meaning. It’s better that you were born the alpha. Maybe that’s why the gene skipped me, little brother. Faye didn’t stick around; she found herself a man who could give her what I couldn’t. So that bullshit about wolves mating for life is only a standard we hold ourselves to. Maybe we honor it more than humans do, but it doesn’t make us any better than them. I don’t believe in destiny. I believe in finding something good and making it work.”

It had taken years for Reno to get over losing Faye. He didn’t reveal to Austin how her rejection broke him in ways he couldn’t have imagined. That he’d pursued her hard, even after she chose another man. He’d loved that woman and the last time he saw her, she slapped him in the face and told him he was a disgrace to his own kind—that no woman would ever choose to mate with him. Faye wanted children more than love. Reno would have built a pyramid for her. And yet Faye didn’t hold a candle to a human who had stolen his heart with her whimsical smile and unyielding acceptance.

Austin leaned forward, his icy blue eyes pinning Reno to the chair. “Don’t be so quick to knock the idea of destiny. I’ve always felt a connection with Lexi. It’s not something I can explain—it’s a pull in my gut that tells me she’s the one. When she’s in trouble, I can sense it. There’s something about the way we fit that doesn’t always make sense, but we’re like two puzzle pieces coming together. I wouldn’t be a complete man without her, and that’s as good as destiny for me. We’ve all heard the stories about soul mates and the bond between two Shifters who were born for each other. I believe it because I have that with Lexi. It’s an inherent attraction that brings us together like magnets. Just give it some time and you’ll find it with a Shifter. You can’t have that kind of bond with a human.”

Reno shifted in his chair. All the things Austin had just listed off were exactly how he felt about April. “So you’re saying if Lexi had turned out to be a human and not one of us, you would have let her go?”

Austin flexed his jaw and sat back, the lamp beside him shining on his tatted shoulder. Cold weather didn’t faze Austin; he ran hot and often wore T-shirts or tank tops in winter. “Lexi would have still been in our pack if she chose—that’s a given. Not all humans can accept that people like us exist. I don’t know if I could love someone that hard and let them slip through my hands because they have a shorter expiration date. But I don’t have that choice to make, you do. April is a smart girl and she lived with us long enough to see this was the wrong life for her. Lynn still struggles with it, and she’s been talking about sending Maizy away to live with her grandparents or shipping her to boarding school when she’s older. She’s worried we’re a bad influence on her even though she’s found a home with our pack. Lynn doesn’t want to start over on her own, and she has a place in our family. Humans don’t think the way we do. They don’t get our lifestyle. They don’t cope well in a crowded house full of people who aren’t even related. She doesn’t like having to hustle downstairs whenever I want to get frisky with my woman. I don’t understand how anyone could ship their kid off, but humans do it all the time. They leave them in day care and send them to summer camp.” He shook his head and ruffled up his hair. “They don’t raise a family the same way
we
do—that’s part of the disconnect. Maybe April wants a family and that’s something she can’t have with a Shifter. We live in a dangerous world, Reno. Do you think it’s fair to ask a human to give up family and normalcy to live with Breed?”

Reno released a heavy sigh and rubbed his face. April was adamant about not wanting kids, but she was only twenty-three. Does a person really know what they want at that age?

Then it hit him like a sledgehammer.

She didn’t want to commit, plain and simple. A female Shifter her age wouldn’t hesitate to settle down with a good man, because Shifters were tenacious and decisive. Humans were uncertain about their feelings and always changing their minds. She didn’t want to live in his world, but she also didn’t want to force him into making a choice between love and family. And she was right. It would have torn him apart. April could have taken advantage of his hospitality, but in the end, she’d walked away with nothing. Maybe it was for the better. She would have never found happiness if she’d felt indebted to him.

That night, Reno let go of hope that two star-crossed lovers from different worlds could make it work.

Several weeks had crawled by after I left my old life behind and moved in with Maddox.
He lived in a quaint house compared to Reno’s—a five bedroom, two bath. The kitchen was outdated and I stood taller than his fridge. My favorite place was the tranquil patio in the back with a tin awning. It wasn’t so tranquil on rainy nights when the water hammered against the tin roof, but the house was nestled deep in the woods on a large stretch of private property. Lantana bushes ran along the side of the house, and a covered hot tub sat out back. Maddox said he only enjoyed running it in the summertime.

True to his word, Maddox set me up in my own room and didn’t make any sexual advances. Per my request, he had drawn up a contract. The first week, I was timid about our arrangement and kept to myself. I cried in my bed late at night until one morning, he took me out to the back patio and we had a long talk about how Shifters lived. Having human pets wasn’t the norm, but it wasn’t a deviant lifestyle either. Many humans were willing because they were fascinated with their world, and for a Shifter, it often showed status since most were wealthy and respected. Maddox craved companionship and I needed to get my life in order. I became optimistic about my future for the first time in a long while. Maddox supported my desire to go back to school and said if I wanted anything else, that he’d pay and it wouldn’t be included with my debt. I had a feeling his reward program was merely an incentive to stay with him longer. I began to see that Maddox was just a lonely guy.

I never went back to Sweet Treats. I couldn’t face Lexi after her mother was attacked and sister grabbed, not to mention I didn’t want to run into any of the Cole brothers. I was certain they were relieved to have normalcy in their lives again.

Fall was in full swing. The tips of the leaves on the trees appeared to be dipped in gold, as if the sun had frosted them with its light. On Thanksgiving, we had a simple meal of deep-fried turkey, cornbread dressing, green beans, salad, and a bottle of wine. Maddox wasn’t big on holidays, but he surprised me by cooking the turkey because he knew it was a big deal to humans. Little did he know my last Thanksgiving meal had been a frozen TV dinner.

Maddox didn’t beat around the bush with his expectations. When he wanted me to keep him company, I joined him. Most of the time he worked jigsaw puzzles at the table and I’d conceal my frustration by separating the pieces by color while he assembled them into a picture. I never saw his animal and didn’t want to. No one shady ever came around, and he did most of his business over the phone or away from the house.

Then he’d come back, kick off his dirty boots, hang up his hat, and sit on the back patio with a tin can and a bag of sunflower seeds.

“How long are you going to stare at that book?” he asked, slumped down in the tattered chair in the living room next to the sliding glass door. “I never saw a woman read so much.”

“You should try it sometime,” I suggested from the green sofa.

He dismissively blew out a breath of air. “Books are a waste of time when you can live the real thing.”

“Not everyone’s life is an epic fantasy,” I said, touching the choker around my neck.

Maddox had given me the necklace on day one of my arrival. It was a black cloth choker with his name in silver. The material was thick, and he was right—it had a trendy appeal, something any young girl might be wearing to the mall or a club. Except in the world of Shifters, it was a declaration of status.

I discovered this the first time he took me out in public. We went to a Shifter bar on the Breed side of town where humans weren’t allowed inside. Quite a few men approached me, but when I turned to look at them, they abandoned ship. Some laughed and shook their heads, while others gave me a look of disgust.

I wondered if they kept pets because of their history. Maddox told me Shifters had only recently acquired their freedom. Before that, they were treated as slaves and sold to other Breeds for manual labor. Sometimes if their animal was trainable, they’d work as guards to protect property for the wealthy and powerful. The women weren’t so fortunate in how they were treated. Wolves eventually formed rogue packs and gained power in numbers. Shifters had fought for their independence and the right to own land. Slavery was still fresh on their minds since they lived a long time and many had once been slaves themselves. Maybe some collected human pets to erase the submissive chip on their shoulder—so they could feel superior to someone since they were still treated as lower-class citizens.

It was a world I understood little about, even though I was smack-dab in the middle of it.

“You know, I can pay for a salon,” Maddox offered, staring at my roots. My hair had grown out a couple of inches and the platinum dye was fading. Now my natural color of fresh blond was taking over—a color I hadn’t seen in years. Still light, just not white.

“I’m growing it out,” I told him. “It’s time for a change.”

“Speaking of change, why don’t you put on something dressy tonight? I have a business meeting at one of the Shifter bars and I want you to come. We need to look a little social, so wear something fun.”

Jeez, like I had a choice.

***

“Maddox Cane, in the flesh.” A man greeted us with an insincere smile, his voice as rusty as nails.

“How’s life treating you, Randall?” Maddox scoured the man with his gaze. Randall looked like Mr. Clean without the bushy eyebrows. I wondered if he oiled down his head because the light glistened against his smooth scalp.

He smiled invitingly as we approached the cluster of wooden tables in the Breed bar. I knocked a chair over and heard a few chuckles when I bent down to pick it up.

Randall’s eyes narrowed on the choker around my neck. “Well, Maddox. I see you’ve been busy. She’s a pretty one. How old?”

“April, go to the bar and order a whiskey neat for me and something fit for a pussy. What’s your drink of choice, Randall?” Maddox antagonized his friend in a way that led me to believe he was daring him to insult me.

Randall smiled, but not in a pleasant way. “Martini,” he said, taking a seat in his chair.

If these two were frenemies, then Maddox had brought me along to make him look good.

“Get whatever you want,” Maddox said with an invisible smile buried beneath his scruffy beard.

I cut through a crowd of Shifters and tried not to make eye contact. Breed bars made me uneasy—the men didn’t hang back and do all the flirty stuff from across the bar like humans. They’d come right up to me and say whatever lascivious thing was on their minds.

Until they saw the choker.

To avoid any awkward situations, I pinned my hair back with a few long strands hanging loose. Amid the crowd of women wearing painted-on dresses, do-me heels, and bustier tops, I must have looked like a joke in a pair of jeans, a white knit top that fell off one shoulder, and a pair of simple black heels. In my book, the right kind of heels could class up any casual style.

Men were eagerly eyeing the pool table where a few women looked as if they were debating whether to play. Only in recent weeks had I realized my mistake of playing pool at Austin’s house. In retrospect, I must have looked as if I were inviting every man in that room to mount me.

“Well, well. Color me dazzled,” Denver said from behind the bar. I looked up and expected to see a boyish grin on his face but was met with a persecuting gaze.

Crap. He
worked
here.

Denver leaned on his forearms, which made his biceps firm up. Black sleeveless shirts seemed to be the dress code in this bar for all employees. The logo on the breast was a wolf howling inside a moon with the bar name “Howlers” written below it.

“I need a whiskey neat, a martini, and something
strong
.”

“I just bet,” he said, eyes sliding to the table where my party sat.

“Are you going to be a dick or give me a drink?”

“How about both?”

“What’s between Reno and me is between Reno and me.”

“Doesn’t seem to be much between you two these days but distance. Now why is that?”

My heart began to race with anger. “Fine,” I said softly. “I get it. I’m obviously not up to your standards, being that I’m just a human trespassing in your world. Reno’s better off without me.”

“So you can be owned by that asshole?” He pointed to the table. “You seriously want to stand here and pretend like I’m not offended that you left a man like Reno for a douchebag who takes in pets? You’d rather be another man’s pet than date my brother,” he said through clenched teeth.

I grabbed his finger and pushed his hand on the table. “Don’t point your finger at him. You have no idea how dangerous that man is.”

Denver drew in a sharp breath as he stood up straight and went to fix my drinks.

My thoughts drifted back to Trevor. We’d exchanged e-mails over the past few weeks, but he was upset with me, and the replies were always short. Since he didn’t want to admit he was a Shifter, I didn’t divulge the details of my living situation. But I had a feeling he might have figured it out.

To my knowledge, Reno knew nothing about Maddox. We hadn’t spoken since the night I left, and I’d never forget the look on his face as I walked out the door. I tried to erase it from my memory, but it burned in my heart like a brand, marking me. I had no doubt Reno had moved on with his life—a man like him could have any girl he wanted. He’d never gotten over that woman who left him for another man, and that’s what hardened his heart. It sure toughened mine when my ex made it clear that I wasn’t enough of a woman for him.

“Here you are,” Denver said. “Whiskey, martini, and a Devil’s Eye.”

I warily looked at the red liquid. “Devil’s Eye? What’s in it?”

“Sin.”

I quickly downed the shot and immediately shivered. A rush of heat moved through my body and suddenly, everything became sharp and vivid.

“You’re a bag of nuts,” he said. “Better make that your only drink tonight. Most people barely survive one, and I’ve never given it to a human before.”

“Super.” I smiled and gathered up the two drinks, then sauntered back to the table.

Yeah. I
sauntered.
Suddenly it felt good to loosen up and enjoy myself. I was a young woman who had spent too many years trying to be the responsible one. I avoided having fun because I didn’t feel like I deserved it. Who thinks that way at twenty-three?

“Here you are, boys.” I slid the drinks on the table and plopped down in my chair. My face felt like warm cinnamon and my tongue tasted cherries. Whatever was in that drink was like nothing I’d ever experienced.

“Honey, you okay?” Maddox whispered, eyes brimming with concern.

Randall grinned wolfishly and reached for his glass. “Looks like that one’s had her first taste of Devil’s Eye. You can always tell by the red rim around the irises. Better keep an eye on her; they don’t call it Devil’s Eye for nothing. I’ve seen a few bar fights break out because of it. Last Thursday, a Packmaster got a little too frisky in the back room with a woman who wasn’t his mate, not to mention his Breed,” he said with a hard laugh. “That shit is
bad
news.”

Maddox swung his attention back to Randall and leaned in privately. “Have you heard of a man named Delgado? He’s been a thorn in my side for the last ten years.”

“Breed?”

“No. Human. He’s cutting in on my action and not running his deals smoothly. There was an incident a month ago where one of his men went rogue.”

“What business did you have with him before?”

“None,” Maddox said coolly, and I listened out of vague curiosity. “He’s expanded and now I hear he’s dealing drugs and bought a few strip clubs.”

“So? Not my problem.”

“
Breed
strip clubs.”

Randall leaned in, his head shining beneath the lamp. “We don’t sell to humans.”

“Someone got paid a shitload of money and skipped town. That now makes Delgado
our
problem.”

“Is that why I’m here?” Randall sipped his martini and looked at his watch. “Or did you just miss my handsome face?”

“No,” Maddox said, leaning back and putting his hat on the table. “That’s a sidebar. I got a Shifter who’s been asking questions about me and sticking his nose in my personal affairs. He’s a wolf, and you know I don’t like to get tangled up with packs. He laid out a
not so subtle
threat and wants information on one of my old clients. Since you’re my partner, this involves you too.”