Witch's Bounty (26 page)

“Damn. On both counts. Thank God for shifter DNA. It’s always made human mates healthier and live longer in the past, so it should help with this also.”

“I sure as shit hope so. I won’t be able to stand watching her be in pain.”

Anna moaned and curled into her hands beneath one cheek. A second later she grimaced and opened one eye. It blinked several times at them, as if trying to decide if she really saw two men standing in front of her or had double vision.

“Am I in prison?”

Colton threw his head back and laughed while Marc joined him again in his kneeling position.

Anna reared backward. “I really don’t see anything funny with going to jail.” Her eyebrows lowered and swiped a hand across her forehead. “Where am I, how long have I been here, and why do I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck? And why is there cotton on my tongue?” Pushing her tongue in and out, trying to moisten it, she made a move to sit up, and both Colton and Marc took an arm to help her.

“At the Grundy County police station, a couple hours, and probably because you conked your head on the floor. There’s a pretty good goose egg there now. As for the cotton, that’s most likely due to whatever the medic gave you for pain. Apparently you were pretty vocal after you fell off your chair.”

She blinked again when Marc finished. “Who are you?”

“Marc Newberry.” He offered his hand when he would have much rather pulled her into his arms and kissed her senseless. If he didn’t think she’d take immediate offense, he would have.

Her gaze lasered into him for a moment and then shifted to Colton. “And you, Detective Albatross, what are
you
doing here?”

Colton growled, which had Anna backing up again and sucking in a breath. “A: my name is Montross. Colton
Montross
. B: this is my station, the one I’m assigned to, and C: I’m here because Officer Jackson called me when you mentioned my name to him.”

Anna frowned. “I did not… Hmm…” Her top teeth came out to bite into her lower lip. “Okay, so maybe I did say something to the effect that you stole my house.”

“I didn’t steal anything.” Colton’s wolf was close to coming out; Marc could tell by the way the other alpha’s eyes started to glow.

“Says you.” Anna’s voice rose as did she. At least she tried, but her knees buckled before she could stand all the way, and she flopped back on the couch.

“Anna.” Marc determined now was the best time to step in to avoid either Colton losing control to his wolf or one of them deciding to bite into her delectable little neck and marking her for all to see. Neither seemed a good idea at this particular moment in time.

“We had no idea there were two people who owned the house when we bought it. If we had, we most certainly would have had all parties sign the paperwork or not taken it.” He stood, towering over her.

She crossed her arms, and honest to God, pouted. And his cock hardened. Damn. She was going to have them wrapped around her little fingers in no time.

“By the way, I teach at Bravo Elementary too, so…welcome.”

Anna scrunched her nose. “If I don’t find someplace to live, I won’t be teaching there at all.” Her imploring gaze lifted to search both of their faces. “I was supposed to start over in that house. He just gave me his key on Friday, said, ‘here, have the house. We don’t need it.’ And I was going to bleach away all traces of Candy Apple and live there for good, not just on the weekends, and I came to plant a tree Peter always said I couldn’t put there, and then I find you there, living in
my
house with your barbecue pit on my deck, and my apartment’s lease is up in less than a week, and I just got this job, and now I have no place to live and no tree in the yard of my perfect house with my perfect windows looking out over the perfect lake.”

She gave a girly squeal of a sob, fell sideways onto the arm of the couch, and Marc shared an identical what-the-hell-are-we-supposed-to-do-with-that look with Colton, because never in all his thirty-three years had he ever had to deal with this kind of problem.

And the small, pale woman with blonde hair spilling over her reddened, puffy, crying face with fathomless blue eyes made ever brighter by the tears, was all theirs.

To have and to hold until death do them part in eighty or ninety years, God willing.

What the hell else could he do?

He bent over, took her face in his palms, and kissed her.

Brett settled into her chair on board the shuttle. In a few short hours, they’d be at their new home. Her father arrived on planet a month earlier to take up his new position as ambassador from Earth to New Commonwealth. Soon she’d be at his side handling her duties.

The rising hum of the shuttle’s engines and the slight jar as the docking clamps released told her they were off. For a moment, they hung in free space, floating. Her stomach dropped, but she only smiled. She loved this part, the docking and undocking. After the excitement of her years in the United Space Marines, training in the dropships, where the craft screamed through the planet’s outer atmosphere, Brett found the rest of space travel predictable and boring.

“Another year, another planet,” she muttered. This would be her third rotation serving with her father in her late mother’s place.

A man in a uniform pushing a cart of refreshments stopped next to her. “Milady, may I offer you a cup of tea?”

“No, thank you.” She eyed the cart’s selection of tea, nutritional drinks, and coffee.

“I’d kill for a cold beer.” The steward gasped, stared at her, then cleared his throat.

“Yes, milady.” He reached into the cart and pulled out a bottle, opened it, and handed it to her with a small napkin.

She didn’t wait for him to place the small glass in front of her, but put the bottle to her lips and drank. The cold liquid slid down her throat, and she savored the flavor.

He moved on with only an odd look back at her.

Again, she’d shocked another man. Her father’s hopes of her finding a husband sank lower than ever. Poor man. She hated disappointing him, always, even as a child.

Brett sighed, took another sip of the beer, and hoped James, her father’s longtime batman, stocked the refrigerators at the new house. Her father’s scotch, several cases of her favorite beer, and a nice assortment of their family’s wine label was sent months ago with him.

Brett snorted as she looked down at the dress she wore. If her sergeant could see her now, he’d laugh so hard he’d spit. She could just hear him, “Butler, what the hell have you gotten into now?”

Social Secretary to the Ambassador from Earth. Long dresses for day wear. Hosting parties for the elite. And here on New Commonwealth, rubbing elbows with the aristocracy. Like something from an old storybook. Kings and queens. Lords and ladies.

The men and women of her old marine outfit would ride her unmercifully. She smiled at the thought of their jokes. She missed them. Good soldiers, all of them.

But she didn’t miss her old life. It was her secret, at least from her father.

Here on New Commonwealth, things were going to have to be very different, and perhaps fitting in on this planet would be Brett’s most challenging job yet.

Women here were treated like delicate flowers, to be protected, nurtured, and kept in their hothouses. Did they never let their branches spread beyond their containers or everyone’s expectations? She sighed and rested her chin in her hand. I can adapt. I can be a plant.

But can I be a flower?

She struggled to think of herself as a flower. Well, maybe a cactus blossom, like the ones which bloomed each spring on their ranch in Nuevo Texas. All you needed to do was get past the thorns and tough skin. She laughed at the image as she keyed in the code on the vid monitor for the residence, and James appeared on the screen.

“Welcome, Miss Butler.” He smiled at her, and she gave him a salute.

“I’m just a few hours out, James. Let the general know.”

“Yes, miss.” He nodded. “Will you need a car?”

“No, I’m riding with the shipping truck to get Black settled at the stables. Once I’m done there, I’ll call for the car.”

“Very well.” His face gave nothing away. “How is the big black monster?” One brow rose.

“The usual.”

“Too bad. I’d hoped for everyone’s sake he’d mellowed.”

“No chance, James.” She grinned. “It’ll be good to see you again. And Dad.”

“Indeed. Call when you need the car.”

“I will. Butler out.”

The transmission cut off, and the screen went dark.

She played with the folds of her dress, straightening them. The light wool material swirling around her ankles bothered her. It tickled her legs, and the occasional rush of air blowing against the soft skin of her thighs and sending little shocks over her body. She felt totally unsupported. She was much more comfortable in trousers and boots. She even walked differently in the dresses. It was hard to stride confidently and with purpose while four yards of pink taffeta swirled around your ankles, threatening to trip you.

The shock of the shuttle hitting the planet’s atmosphere jarred her as it used its rear heat shield for reentry. The belt around her shoulder jerked tighter, forcing her back against her seat. The shuttle shook and vibrated against the outer reaches of the atmosphere.

She let the rush fill her, but she missed the whoops of her men and women as they rejoiced in the thrill. Here in the shuttle, people gripped their seats, gasped, and looked as if they were going to throw up.

Civilians.

She worried about Black down in the hold, and wished she could have been there with him, but the rules didn’t allow it. She should have gone down there anyway, damn the rules. Her fingers gripped the armrest, keeping her in her seat, instead of bolting for the hatch to see to Black.

Then the resistance was gone, and they were through. She exhaled, sad the small memory of her previous life was over. The shuttle rotated to point its nose at the planet-side port just outside of New London, capitol city of New Commonwealth.

Less than an hour until they landed.

She gazed out the window at the planet below as they circled lower. She could clearly see blue oceans, green land, a few snow-crested mountains. How very much like home. Lush forests, fertile fields, flat plains. No deserts, though. The climate was temperate, like a perpetual spring with a gentle winter in between.

Great weather to ride in. Black will like it.

This wasn’t where she’d pictured herself two years ago, before her mother’s death. She’d pictured herself out of the military and running the family ranch, and for once in her life doing what she wanted to do, not what everyone else expected her to do.

One out of two wasn’t bad. She’d left the military, but never made it back to the ranch, at least not to stay. All those hopes and dreams vanished with her mother’s sudden death on a distant planet.

Now as the ambassador’s social secretary, it was her job to understand this planet. She’d always been good at what she did, no matter what duty called her to do or be. Whether she liked it or not.

As the only child of Ambassador Jonathan Butler, formerly General Butler of the United Space Marines and decorated hero of the Jihad Space Wars, it'd been expected she would follow in his boot steps. And she done it her entire life.

No one told her she’d have to take her mother’s place at her father’s side.

His boots were easy to fill, and she’d risen rapidly through the ranks of the military police.

It was the size seven high heels of her mother, Elaine Wallace Butler, Brett knew she could never fill.

“Ta-da!” Katie Walker waved the glittering engagement ring under her friend’s nose.

Gina looked at her, clearly unimpressed. “Engaged, huh? Why aren’t you out celebrating?”

“Rick’s gone to tell his mom. We’re going out tomorrow night.”

“Are you sure?”

“That he’s gone to see his mom? Of course I am.”

Gina laughed. “Smart aleck! You know very well what I mean…him. This is all a bit sudden, isn’t it? Don’t you find it worrying, ’cause as your best pal, I do? I mean, think about it, Katie. You’ve been seeing him, what, a couple of months and you’re engaged! I find it odd. He could have read about your win in the paper.” She studied her nails.

“Rubbish. It was twelve months ago. No one ever remembers old news.”

Gina rolled her eyes. “You can be so naïve sometimes, Katie. Have you never asked yourself how he just ‘happened’ to bump into you at the animal shelter? There’d been coverage of it in the paper all week, so how convenient that as you were handing over your generous gift, he turned up. And another thing, I hate how he keeps telling you to lose weight. It’s not right when a guy tries to bring a woman down by forever commenting on her size. I’d give my eyeteeth for your figure. You could, you know,” she added, “do far better than that man.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“I might be on the wrong side of thirty and still single, but jealous that you have Rick, I am not!”

Katie sank onto the sofa and grinned. “You know I didn’t mean it.”

“Mm, but I did. I’m ordering some takeout. Thai or Indian?”

“Thai, please.” Katie leaned back and watched Gina as she ordered. They’d been friends for years, trusted each other’s judgment in so many matters, and Gina’s words had touched a raw nerve, caused a tiny element of doubt to wiggle into Katie’s mind.

She turned to gaze out the window. Recently she’d noticed when Rick and she were talking—or rather, when she was talking—there’d be a glazed expression on his face, as if he’d rather be looking at anything other than her.

“Twenty minutes.” Gina put the phone away. “I’ll open a bottle of wine.”

•●•