Grayslake: Furrever Yours (Kindle Worlds Novella) (6 page)

Knox pulled back slowly, gently, and the feel of the cool air against the sore, throbbing, wet flesh of her pussy was another layer of sensual touch.

She looked down at Knox, who still kneeled at her feet, gazing up at her with a possessive, self-satisfied expression that told her more certainly than his words ever could that she was
his
. His mouth and chin were shiny with her juices, his pupils dark and dilated in those whisky eyes, more intoxicating than any liquor. She fought to get her hectic breathing under control as her pattering heart slowed to a fierce, steady
thud thud
.

She disentangled herself from him, unwinding her leg from over his shoulder, and tottered slightly, wobbly from the power of her climaxes – he’d literally made her weak in the knees.

Knox rose from his kneeling position in one smooth, powerful movement, and scooped her into his arms before her shaking legs could give out on her.

“You did it,” Amelia said the minute she saw Heather at the beginning of their shift the next night.

“Did what?”

“Oh, please,” Amelia scoffed. “You totally did it with Knox. You have that I’ve-just-been-fucked look on your face, you’re turning redder than a rutabaga right now…”

Heather took a step back, blushing furiously. She glanced around to make sure nobody was listening.

“Well, just for the sake of argument, what makes you think it was Knox?”

“Because you wouldn’t have done it with anyone else. He’s the one.” Amelia gave a smug grin. “So, finally! Did he say why it took him so long to make a move?”

“How do you know he was the one who made the first move?”

“Because I know you,” Amelia said, rolling her eyes. “You’d never make a move. When are you guys seeing each other again?”

Heather was moving from room to room, checking all the cabinets to make sure they were fully stocked. Amelia stuck to her heels like Krazy Glue.

“Hey, the ETOH is getting a little excited – you should go help,” Heather said, nodding her head across the hall. “ETOH” was an abbreviation for ethyl alcohol; in the emergency room, it meant an alcoholic patient, frequently suffering from the D.T.s.

“Nice try, but Allen has it. So spill the beans, sister.” Allen was a bear shifter; Knox had told her that.

Heather narrowed her eyes at her. “Nosy pants.”

“Nosy pants? That’s the best you got? I think I rate at least an interfering bitch, thank you very much,” Amelia said with mock offense.

It sucked that she couldn’t tell Amelia everything, but there were very compelling reasons why she couldn’t. “Okay, Knox had been getting over a very bad relationship, and as for when I’m seeing him again, tomorrow morning. Uh, someone broke into my house, so I’m going to be staying on his family’s property.”

“You’ve moved in with that hottie already? Jackpot!” Amelia gasped. “I knew he totally loved you. Wait, what? Somebody broke into your house? Has Knox arrested them yet?”

“No, not yet. It’s, uh, under investigation.”

“You should have called me,” Amelia protested. “Were you home when it happened? Did they take anything?”

“Cleanup on aisle eleven!” Allen bellowed. The drunk had just puked all over.

“Wow, it hit the walls too. Impressive,” Amelia observed.

“Oh, I gotta go,” Heather said, running towards Allen. She’d never been so glad to see projectile vomit in her entire life.

The next few hours were, as usual, one catastrophe after another, until around 3 a.m., when things finally slowed down.

Finally, Heather caught a break. She was exhausted, and she needed the sweet magic of caffeine or she was going to be very, very cranky soon. She glanced around. She didn’t see any of the people Knox had identified as shifters to help her out, and they were out of coffee in the break room.

The Koffee Klatsch was only half a block away.

She hurried out the front door, looking around her. No scary people in the parking lot. She should be okay.

She bought a steaming-hot, extra-large cup of coffee with milk and four sugars.

As she was returning, a man rushed out from a narrow alleyway and moved into her path. She let out a shriek.

“Whoa, whoa, settle down,” he snapped, looking offended. He shoved a photograph at her. “I’m looking for this girl. She’s my daughter.”

Disgust bubbled up inside her. This was the bastard who’d driven one daughter to suicide and tried to sell another to an abuser.

“You’re blocking my path,” she said angrily. She tried to step around him, and he moved to block her again. “I just need you to look at this picture.” He waved a picture of Margaret in her face.

“You need to step out of my way,” she said loudly, feeling panic rise in her. The man smelled faintly of booze, in that way that hardcore alcoholics did. It leaked from their pores and tainted the air. He had deep frown lines carved into his forehead and an air of suppressed rage bubbling just under the surface.

“Not until you tell me if you’ve seen her,” he growled. “You have, haven’t you? I can tell from the look on your face.”

He took a step closer to her. The smell of alcohol and sweat made her queasy.

“You’re drunk, and that girl had been beaten up pretty badly,” she said angrily.

He snorted. “She’s always been a trouble-maker,” he growled at her. “She gets into street fights. She probably picked a fight with the wrong person and got her ass kicked. Serves her right. Now tell me where she is, or—”

Heather made a quick decision; she grabbed her cup of scalding-hot coffee and hurled it right in his face, dodged around him, and ran.

He let out a scream of rage and pain and lunged at her, groping blindly.

She dodged around him and ran towards the hospital, and heard a shout of anger – coming from Knox, who was dashing down the sidewalk towards her.

He jumped between her and the angry drunk.

“Aloysius, you better get the fuck out of my territory and never let me see you here again,” Knox snarled.

“You can’t talk to me like that! I’m an Alpha!” Aloysius’s eyes glowed a frightening gold color.

“You’re an Alpha in my territory, and you’re weaker than me. Do you want a challenge?”

“No, Alpha,” Aloysius muttered, hanging his head. He looked at Heather with resentment and hatred. “It’s just that she knows where my daughter is,” he whined. “My precious little daughter, and I just got carried away because I’m so worried-”

“First of all, you’re a lying sack of shit. The only thing you’re worried about is your daughter’s dowry. Secondly, this woman is mine, and if you even look at her again, if you even think about her, I will end you and your entire line. Do you understand me?” Knox’s hand shot out and grabbed the man’s throat. His face turned red and his eyes bulged and he nodded frantically.

“And thirdly, you just said that you were an Alpha in front her, and she’s human. I will report this both to the Southeast Alpha and the Northeast Alpha, because it affects all of us.”

“But you said she’s with you, and so she must know—”

“You didn’t know that when you said it. Now get the hell out of here, and don’t let me see your face again,” he snarled, and let go of the other wolf’s throat.

Aloysius, gasping and wheezing, face bright red, turned and ran as fast as he could.

Knox scowled at Heather.

“Damn it. Why didn’t you call me, or have someone walk you to the coffee shop?”

“You’re right, you’re right, I was an idiot.” She was trembling from the adrenaline rushing through her veins.

“It was not one of your smarter moves,” Knox agreed, scowling after Aloysius, who was running down the sidewalk in an unsteady, staggering gait.

“I will not do it again,” she said. “I thought I’d be safe walking that short distance. I didn’t see anyone around.” She looked sadly at her spilled cup of coffee. “My magic nectar. Running down the drain.”

“I’ll walk with you to get another one,” he said. “You don’t want to end up being one of those TSTL heroines in the horror movies, do you?”

“Oh, you shut up now,” she grumbled. “I shouldn’t have told you about that.”

“You nearly died for a cup of coffee. I’d say it qualifies as TSTL. I mean, I know they make good coffee there, but it’s not worth dying for.”

“Hah. That’s where you’re wrong. I work the overnight shift in the E.R.,” she scoffed. “If the caffeine level in my blood falls below fifty percent, it’s a health crisis.”

They walked back to the Koffee Klatsch, and this time Knox bought half a dozen coffees and a bag of donuts, so she could hand them out when she got back to the E.R.

“So, from what Margaret told me, she’s supposed to be married to the Northeast Alpha’s son, right?” she said. “Isn’t the Northeast Alpha kind of your boss?”

“No, that would be the Southeast Alpha. Eugene is the Northeast Alpha. He is what is called a Territorial Alpha, which means he rules over all the packs in the Northeast. But he does basically outrank me in werewolf hierarchy.”

“Well, doesn’t that mean that if he decided he was going to take Margaret and give her to his son, you’d have to do what he said no matter what?” she asked.

Knox stopped outside the emergency room door and handed her the bag of donuts and the tray of coffee cups. “I mean…I don’t know what would happen. I’ve never been in this circumstance before.”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not telling you where Margaret is until I have an absolute guarantee that she won’t be handed over to them. If you tell me that she won’t be handed to them, I will trust you, but you need to mean it.”

Knox nodded. “I want you to be mine, Heather. I won’t lie to you. Which means that right now, I can’t make any promises.”

* * * * *

Knox sat in his patrol car in the emergency room parking lot, resisting the temptation to crush his cell phone in his bare hand.

“Listen, Knox, I’m sorry, but I’m hearing one thing third-hand from you, and I’m hearing a completely different story from the Northeast Alpha, and also from the girl’s father,” Fenris, the Southeast Alpha said, his voice crackly and far away. He was calling from Florida, and their connection wasn’t great.

“I know for a fact that the girl’s father is a liar. I could smell the lies rolling off of him,” Knox said. “And what I’m hearing from the Northeast Alpha doesn’t entirely add up either. This girl was beaten unconscious when she arrived at the emergency room. And she’s a shifter. Think how hard she must have been beaten to end up in that state.”

“I understand,” Fenris said. “But if I were you, I’d be very careful about calling the Northeast Alpha a liar. That’s the kind of talk that starts wars. I think a lot of you, or we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. I’d be ordering you to make the human talk.”

Knox felt his wolf snarling inside him, longing to tear flesh. He pushed down a growl and forced himself to sound civil. “The human’s name is Heather, and she’s my mate.”

“So you’ve claimed her?”

“Not yet. But I will. And she’ll be a great asset to us,” Knox said. “She works in the emergency room in an area with a high shifter population. She can help us keep our existence a secret. And since she’s human, if the humans started talking about shifters, she would hear about it and she could report back to us.”

“That’s true,” Fenris acknowledged. “But keep a lid on things. And keep me updated on what’s happening. This has the potential to blow up in a big way. So far, until I see proof otherwise, this girl accepted a cash payment to marry Kevin, and so did her father. And she blew through all the money and then ran off. As far as I’m concerned, the girl is obligated to go through with the marriage.”

Knox felt frustration and anger boil up in him, but he kept a lid on it.

“Yes, Alpha,” he ground out, and hung up the phone.

Heather, Olive and Clarence climbed out of Clarence’s pickup truck. They were parked in front of Jerry’s Gas Station; they’d come on Olive’s recommendation, to talk to one of the clerks in the store.

“Her name is Trista. Maybe she can help you,” Olive said. “She’s part hyena shifter, and she’s an absolute whiz when it comes to the law. She knows all about the laws governing shifters.”

Knox had to work, so he’d ordered that Clarence be with Heather at all times to keep her safe, if he couldn’t be with her.

When they walked in, Olive gave Trista a big hug.

“Everything will work out for you, dear,” she said warmly.

Trista managed a faint smile. “Thanks, Olive, I hope you’re right.” She had dark circles under her eyes.

“Are you all right?” Heather asked her with sympathy.

“I’ll be fine,” Trista said wearily. “Working two jobs.”

“I hate to bother you, but any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated, and might help save a girl from an abusive relationship.”

Heather explained the situation, telling her everything she knew about it, and also all the false claims that were being made against Margaret.

When she was done, Trista shook her head and frowned. “Unfortunately, it can be hard to go up against an Alpha’s law. If he beat her up, it may be seen as his word against hers, and he’s the one with the wealthy, connected, extremely powerful father. That’s the way it is with shifters. Trust me, I know from painful experience.”

Heather sighed. “That’s frequently the way it is with humans too, unfortunately. I’ve seen abusers get away with things, and it chaps my hide. I can’t let this happen to Margaret; I promised her. Are you saying there’s nothing that can be done?”

“No. It’s difficult, but not necessarily impossible. I’ve used the laws to find loopholes to let me stay here in town.” At Heather’s questioning look, she added, “The hyenas here kidnapped the son of the local bear leader, and they attacked and permanently scarred his brother by using poison-tipped claws. All of the hyenas are being ordered out of this area.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. It’s a shame to see all of you tarred with the same brush.”

Trista gave a weary, resigned shrug. “Well, I guess in fairness, a lot of the local hyenas were a trouble-making bunch. Anyway, if you’re with Knox, he’ll have access to the documents that spell out shifter laws. You need to study chapter twenty-three, regarding Alpha matings, from beginning to end. Look for any possible loophole.”

“Thank you. I’ll go home and start doing that immediately.”

Olive slapped down a hundred-dollar bill on the counter for Trista. When Trista tried to argue, Olive shook her head.

“You’re one of the few good ones in your pack, and you’re getting a raw deal,” she said to her. “And I was sorry to hear about your mother going missing. I hope you find her soon. Good luck with everything.”

They hurried out the back door.

“The shifter world sounds like there’s a lot of unfairness and favoring of the rich and powerful,” Heather grumbled as they climbed into Clarence’s car.

“Is it really any different than the human world, though?” Olive asked.

“No, I’m afraid it’s not.”

“There is a lot of unfairness, but there’s also lot of good, and loyalty, and kindness, and love,” Olive said. “Most shifters are extremely loyal to their mates, for example. My Mortimer and I were married for seventy years, God rest his soul. That’s the kind of happiness I know you and Knox have in your future.” She patted Heather’s leg with her withered hand.

“Well, thank you, Olive, that’s very kind of you. I hope that you’re right,” Heather said, touched.

She leaned back in her seat and glanced over at Clarence.

Later that day, Olive was going to go out to the cave where Margaret was hiding out. Everybody was watching Heather, but Olive could come and go as she pleased. She’d take her food, clean clothes, and a disposable cell phone.

Sometime next week, Heather had decided, she’d find a way to sneak Margaret out of Georgia.

* * * * *

“I feel like I’ve discovered a whole new world,” Heather said to Knox the next afternoon. He’d taken her out for lunch in downtown Sugar Creek. They were sitting at an outdoor table of a little café called the Sugar Shack.

“Are there shifters all over the country?” she asked him, glancing around cautiously to make sure that there was nobody listening to them.

“Yes, in every state. They’re mostly in more rural areas, so that they can have a big plot of land where their pack or clan or pride can have privacy, and so they can regularly shift,” he said.

“How many people in this town are shifters?”

“About five percent. The family that owns this café, and all the people who work here, are shifters, so it’s popular with our crowd. So at this café, at any time, it might be twenty percent shifters.”

“Wow.” Her eyes were wide with amazement.

He took her hand. “Let’s talk about you and me. You have no idea how good this feels, Heather. To be able to talk to you and plan a future with you. I’ve dreamed of this moment, but I never thought it would happen.”

He ran his thumb across her palm, and she shivered as she felt arousal rushing through her body.

He gave her a slow, lazy grin. “I like seeing how much I turn you on.”

“Well, aren’t you full of yourself?” she said, but she was smiling.

“Maybe, but am I wrong?”

“You’re not wrong,” she murmured. “Last night, you could have…”

“I wanted to, but I’m waiting until I claim you. Which will be very soon.”

He brought her hand to his mouth and kissed her palm, and she moaned.

“Stop torturing me,” she chided him.

“Sorry. Kind of sorry. Okay, not that sorry.” His eyes gleamed. “Tonight, I want to make you come again. With my mouth.”

“Oh,” she said, blushing. “That could be arranged. I think I have some free time in my schedule.”

“And let’s talk about cubs.” At her surprised look, he said, with a trace of worry in his voice, “You do want cubs, don’t you? I mean children?”

“Yes. Oh, yes, I adore children. It’s just surprising to hear a man move so fast towards commitment and starting a family.”

“That’s just how werewolves are,” he said. “We’re family-oriented, and when we find our fated mate, we move fast.”

“In a way it’s not too fast,” she said. “For the past year I’ve been imagining you and me together, even though I tried really hard not to.”

“I’m truly sorry for any pain that I caused you,” he said earnestly. “I was trying to protect you.” Then he got a wicked look in his eye. “But I promise to make it up to you, every night for the rest of our lives.”

“You’re making me blush again. So, let’s talk about our children. They’d be able to shift, even though I’m human?”

“Yes. When an Alpha is with his fated mate, even if she’s human, then their children are shifters.”

“They’d always have a big, extended family that loved them and would die to protect them,” she mused. “That sounds wonderful.”

She glanced up at him. “Tell me about Sasha. Why did she hate me the second she saw me?”

He grimaced. “Before I met you, I’d been having kind of a thing with her. I always told her it wouldn’t be serious. I flat out told her she wasn’t my fated mate. She said she was fine with it, and she only wanted a casual fling, but she was lying. She saw herself as the Alpha’s mate, and her family wanted that too. When I met you, I broke things off with her, and she kept trying to get me to change my mind. She did things like literally walking into my room naked.”

Heather narrowed her eyes in anger. The thought of another woman naked in the same vicinity as Knox made her wish she could shift.

“Finally when I woke up one night and she was sliding into bed with me with no clothes on, I banned her from the main house for a week, and she’s been bitter ever since.” Knox grimaced at the memory.

Then she saw Knox furtively glance at a café across the street.

“What is it?” she said without looking.

“Don’t look, but there’s a few members of Kevin’s pack, and also Margaret’s father is there with a couple of his buddies. They’re watching us through the restaurant window.”

Knox’s cell phone rang. He grabbed it. “Hey, Reid,” he said. “Yeah, they’re already here, actually – thanks for letting me know. Don’t worry about it, I’m fine.”

He hung up. “Alpha of the Redby Pack,” he said. “He was just letting me know that one of Eugene’s pack members stopped by the hospital to look for you. They’re staying with the Redby Pack, being an enormous pain in the ass. Unfortunately, doesn’t look like they’re leaving until they find her.”

“So the people who are currently down here looking for her…”

“Her father Aloysius, the douchetard who accosted you outside the hospital. Her intended husband, Kevin, who came down here with a few of his pack members and some of his father’s as well. There’s a good chance that Eugene, Kevin’s father, will come here pretty soon if Margaret isn’t found.” He looked at her sharply. “So please be careful.”

She nodded. “Careful is my middle name,” she assured him.

He shook his head. “No, Heather, ‘caring’ is your middle name, which is why I’m worried about you.”