Carnal Secrets

CHAPTER TWELVE

Shaya had always been good at defusing situations and calming tempers, which was ironic considering her own temper was pretty bad. However, defusing any arguments that occurred between Taryn and Amber took a great deal of effort—something Shaya had quickly come to learn over the last four weeks. As such, she was tapping her foot impatiently while she stood between the two females in the living area who ranted at each other, pointing fingers and scowling. Meeting her mate’s gaze, who was sitting on the sofa looking both amused and exasperated, Shaya struggled not to laugh at the insults being exchanged.

Amber had done exactly as Derren had said she would—she’d tried extremely hard to become close friends with Shaya. But when that hadn’t worked, she had instead taken to trying to provoke Shaya with sugar-coated insults and backhanded compliments that had been so cleverly delivered they sounded totally innocent to most people. Taryn, however, knew exactly what Amber was doing. Whereas Shaya’s response to Amber had been to act sickly sweet rather than snap—which would have made her seem unnecessarily bitchy and hostile toward Amber—Taryn was much too direct to cope with her shit. And now the bitch had done what she knew would piss Taryn the hell off: She’d touched her mate.

Amber threw her hands up in the air. “All I did was touch him with my fingertip—I was trying to heal the cut on his hand!”

Taryn sniggered. “Well thanks, E.T., but I can heal him myself! Touch him again, and—”

“Girls, girls,” intervened Shaya, sighing. She kept her tone even and calm as she spoke. “You’ve both made your point. The solution here is clear: Amber, it would be extremely smart if you didn’t touch Trey again.”

“It was just his hand!”

Taryn pointed hard at her. “That’s not the point, and you know it. Don’t think I don’t see you for the cunning little bitch that you are.”

“I just wanted to heal him.” Oh, Amber’s innocent act was good. “Nick, surely you’re not going to let Taryn speak to me this way!”

Nick simply shrugged. “I’m not your Alpha anymore, Amber. Your problems are yours to deal with.”

Right answer, thought Shaya.

“But I just wanted to heal him! It’s part of who I am.”

Playing along to end the whole thing by being impartial, Shaya nodded. “And kind though it was, it truly wasn’t necessary—Trey’s paper cut was certainly not fatal, and Taryn was right beside him in any case, so she could have healed him if necessary. Plus, touching a mated male when you’re not mated yourself isn’t totally wise.”

Amber planted a hand on her hip. “Dominic touches you all the time. What’s the difference?”

“Maybe you haven’t noticed that the pervert is covered in nettle stings after I threw him in the bush for kissing Shaya,” said Nick, not even bothering to stifle his smile. Annoyingly, Dominic found the whole thing funny too. To Nick’s surprise, he’d actually come to like the pervert over the last month. The guy was pretty smart, very observational, and extremely loyal to his pack…but he just couldn’t resist provoking Nick from time to time.

“Now I think it would be wise if both of you stayed out of each other’s way until you’re both calm,” said Shaya. They looked about to protest, but then they gave each other one last scowl and waltzed away in opposite directions. Blowing out a heavy breath, Shaya went to stand between Nick’s legs. His hands immediately landed on her hips, his thumbs tracing her hipbones. “I think it’s safe to say that those two will never get along.”

Tugging her down so that she was straddling him, Nick kissed her lightly. “You’re really good at that.” At her questioning look, he explained, “Easing tension and stopping arguments.” So good that not only had she managed to calm two dominant females, but they had listened to her—not bristling at a submissive wolf interfering. Also, she had managed to remain impartial despite that she’d known how badly Amber was in the wrong and despite that she truly disliked her.

“I guess so,” she agreed a little breathlessly as his tongue licked at a mark he’d recently left on her throat. “Still, I can’t guarantee Taryn won’t one day launch herself at Amber and scratch her eyes out.” The thought was pretty appealing. The bitch was always lingering, uninvited. Not that Amber was the only one, to be fair. As Derren went wherever Nick went, the only time Derren wasn’t around was when he was sleeping in the motor home—it was empty other than for Bruce, as Nick now stayed with Shaya.

Although the Phoenix wolves all stayed in the shifter motel like Nick’s family, some of them visited at least once a day. Roni hung around a lot too, though she mostly remained outside. Not only that, Jesse, Bracken, and Zander patrolled the perimeter of the house “on guard”—and totally of their own accord. They returned home to bathe and change when they needed to, but that was pretty much it; they had apparently decided to attach themselves to Nick, though it was hardly surprising to her. As Derren had said, Nick drew people to him and inspired them—he just didn’t see it. Expectedly, having all these people around annoyed the shit out of Nick.

“You know,” began Nick, “I’m actually surprised that Amber was ballsy enough to touch Trey. The Alpha female isn’t someone anyone should go out of their way to aggravate. In fact, I’m equally surprised Taryn didn’t draw blood.”

“Personally, I think Amber was hoping that Taryn would try to attack her so you would fly to Amber’s rescue—after all, it’d be pretty instinctive for you, considering she was once under your protection.” That would then have resulted in Shaya going ballistic at Nick for siding with Amber, as Shaya’s loyalty lay with Taryn.

Recalling how Amber had turned to him for support, Nick thought Shaya might just be right. “Well, if she honestly thinks I’ll jump to her defense, she’s very mistaken.”

“The woman’s getting on my last nerve, trailing after you all the time. And her playing the ‘close friend’ card is annoying too.” Shaya cringed at how every word had dripped with jealousy.

“I don’t have friends, you know that.”

“Yes, you do. You just don’t realize it.” When utter confusion flashed across his face, she rolled her eyes. “Derren doesn’t stick with you just because he wants to guard you. He does it because you’re his friend. And what about all those friends who helped you track me down?”

“Contacts. They are contacts.”

“I suppose these people who repeatedly call you and Derren, asking if you need backup against the humans, aren’t your friends either,” she said dryly.

Nick shrugged. “I don’t bond.”

Shaya shook her head, sighing. “You’re a hopeless case, Nick Axton.”

“And you’re being jealous for no good reason,” he assured her gently as he collared her throat and then tipped her head backward. “I only want you.” He ran his tongue along her collarbone, loving the taste and smell of her. “When you’re finally ready to trust me totally, I’ll prove that by claiming you. Until then, I’m going to spend my time kissing you and biting you and fucking you ’til you accept that you’re mine.”

She didn’t say what she was thinking, that she had already accepted that she was his, and that the problem was she couldn’t fully accept and trust that he would always be hers. It was becoming less and less about the fact that he had once left her, and more and more about her own insecurities. How could she not worry that he would one day look at her and find her lacking because she didn’t match him in strength on every level? If he had been merely a dominant male, it wouldn’t be so much of an issue. But he was a born alpha. How could she not worry that he might one day resent her for being the reason he had left his pack and couldn’t hold an Alpha position anywhere? It would torture and stifle Nick’s wolf to obey someone else when he was a natural-born leader.

It was fair to say that he hadn’t given her any reason to believe that these insecurities were rational. In fact, over the past month he had made her feel nothing but cherished. Not with soppy words or actions, but by the way he gave her his total and utter attention—an unwavering focus that both ate her up and comforted her. When he thought she needed or wanted something, she suddenly had it. When he believed there was a problem, he took care of it.

She’d been right to think he wasn’t a guy who could ever be “managed”—his iron will wouldn’t allow it—but he didn’t try to manage her either. He didn’t try to walk all over her as other dominant males had done, and he was quick to snap if he thought anyone else tried to do it. He made her happy. But could she make him happy? Could she really hold someone like Nick? Could a mating bond ever truly be enough if it might mean he and his wolf were forced to live packless and with no territory to call their own? When it would mean that any children they had would be also be forced to live that life?

“You’re thinking too hard.” Nick lifted her head and bit her lip. “Stop.”

“Like it’s that simple.”

“If it’s a distraction you need,” he began with a devilish smile, grinding her against him, “I can happily help you out with it.” Taking her upstairs, he did just that.

A few hours later, Shaya was sitting on her sofa drinking coffee and watching with a smile as Roni lay protectively where Kye was playing with his toys on the carpet with Dominic and Taryn. Although Kye wouldn’t be able to use his gift of healing psychological scars until he was much older, he still oozed a feeling of safety that attracted anyone with such scars. It was safe to say that Roni had some.

As was often the case, the living area was pretty crowded. Shaya, Derren, and Trey were on the sofa. Greta and Kathy had each taken an armchair. And Tao and Amber had each dragged in one of the dining chairs. Amber had also brought in a spare chair, and Shaya was pretty sure it was supposed to be for Nick—who was currently in the kitchen speaking with Eli on his cell phone. Shaya had to give it to her, the bitch was certainly persistent.

She supposed that in Amber’s eyes, it was Shaya who was the one interfering. Amber had most likely viewed Nick as hers for a very long time and may have even convinced herself they had a chance of imprinting one day. Having felt the sting of rejection, Shaya would have sympathized with Amber—okay, she might have sympathized with her—if Nick hadn’t made it clear to his entire pack that he didn’t intend to mate with anyone but his true mate. If Amber had convinced herself otherwise, it was her problem.

“This is bad, isn’t it?” asked Kathy, referring to the news report that was practically dedicated to making shifters seem like a species that needed to be completely eradicated. “The extremists might just win this fight and have the laws put in place.”

“They won’t win the bigger fight,” stated Derren. “No shifter is going to allow themselves to be chipped or confined somewhere. All this is about control. It’s in our nature to want freedom—we need it.”

“You think a war will break out between us and the humans?” asked Dominic.

Derren raised a brow at him. “Would you be prepared to let them take away your freedom like that?”

“Hell no.”

“Then there’s your answer.”

“But the humans have to know how bad things could get,” said Tao. “They can’t be so stupid as to pass laws that will lead to a war.”

“Why not?” Derren snorted. “They battle among themselves often enough—much more so than shifters do. And they’re arrogant enough to believe they’ll win because they know there’s a higher population of them than us. What they don’t know is that not all shifter packs have come out of the closet. There’s a lot more of us than humans can even imagine, and many different species of shifter.”

Trey exhaled a heavy breath. “The problem is, though, that although we’re stronger than them, it won’t mean shit in a full-scale war. They have all kinds of fancy weapons. We fight with tooth and claw. There’s likely to be more damage done to us than them.”

“You’re right there,” said Greta with a sigh. “But spending our time grumbling about it isn’t doing us any good. I say we find something to take our minds off it instead of watching this garbage.”

“Like what?” asked Tao.

“I don’t know…something constructive and fun.”

Taryn smiled cheerily. “Great, I’ll help you pack.”

Greta narrowed her eyes at Taryn, who simply shot her another cheery smile.

At that moment, Nick entered the room, and Shaya’s wolf lolled onto her side, happy. As always, his presence demanded attention. It certainly got Amber’s attention, who flashed him a huge smile and patted the chair beside her. But it was Shaya he went to. He carefully lifted her and then took her seat before placing her on his lap. Content, she lounged against him, enabling him to nuzzle her neck.

“How’s Eli doing?” Derren asked Nick.

“Wishing he could be up here, part of the action,” replied Nick. It was typical of his brother—the guy feared nothing and loved any kind of action. “Other than that, he’s fine.” Nick couldn’t resist licking over the fresh bite he’d delivered to the soft flesh of Shaya’s neck earlier. She shuddered, satisfying both him and his wolf.

“When are you going back to work, Shaya?” asked Amber pleasantly, most likely looking forward to Shaya and Nick being separated during the daytime so she could get him alone. Tramp.

“Not until the place is fixed up,” replied Shaya just as pleasantly. The insurance company was dragging its heels, which was infuriating Kent.

Unlike with Amber, Kathy’s friendly tone was authentic. “Have you thought of applying for another job?”

“That’s already covered.”

At her mate’s shocking words, Shaya slowly turned her head to look at him. “Already covered?”

“Yes. You’ve already applied for another job.”

“What does that mean? And did it occur to you that I might want to keep the job I have?” She couldn’t help feeling slightly affronted.

Nick merely shrugged. “If you don’t want the other job, you don’t have to take it. It’s simply an option for you to consider.”

“What job?” asked Taryn, curious.

“I’m not prepared to say anything until I’m absolutely positive that the interview process isn’t already over.”

Shaya frowned. “So it’s an interview? Not a guaranteed position?”

Nick cupped her chin. “I know you, and I know that if you want this job, you’ll want to have it because you were the best person for the job—not because of contacts I have. Besides, you don’t need my interference. I have every confidence in you.”

That made things a little different, and hearing he had such faith in her warmed her. “Thank you.” Right then, all she wanted was to straddle him again and kiss him hard in gratitude…but as usual, they didn’t have much privacy, and Shaya wasn’t an exhibitionist. “I have an idea.”

“If it involves getting naked, I’m game.”

She rolled her eyes, despite that her thoughts hadn’t been far away from his. The guy could so easily have her pining for him, even if it had only been a matter of hours since he had last been inside her. “Let’s go out somewhere—just you and me.” Of course she understood that Derren would still tag along, but he’d be polite enough to keep a fair distance away and pretend he couldn’t hear their conversations.

Nick grinned. “I like that idea.”

She whispered low enough for only him to hear. “I can take the butt plug out before we leave, though, right?”

He laughed. “How can I say no when you were such a good girl for me earlier?” They had gone from using fingers to butt plugs and slowly increasing them in size. Some would say it wasn’t necessary since, as his mate, she was made to take him everywhere and he’d automatically fit snugly there. Still, he didn’t want her in even the slightest bit of pain when he finally took her.

Not so long later, they were sitting in an ice-cream parlor, sharing a caramel sundae. Mostly, though, he just watched—totally enraptured—as Shaya licked and swirled her tongue around the ice cream, wearing a teasing smile, knowing exactly what she was doing to him and exactly how jealous he was of that sundae right then.

After that, they went shopping and—no surprise—Shaya bought a pair of stilettos. No more than twenty minutes later, she’d bought another two pairs. Not that Nick was complaining, since she looked sexy as hell in them. And she’d known just how much she was tantalizing him by modeling them for him in the store. In fact, she’d drawn several male gazes, and naturally, Nick had snarled at every one of those males.

Hours later, they were at a Mexican restaurant, and Shaya was driving him insane by picking at her food like a bird rather than eating it properly. When she’d ignored his insistence that she eat more, he’d given her a look that swore repercussions. Then, figuring she deserved it, he’d teasingly nibbled and licked at her fingers and hand, whispering the things he fully intended to do to her when they were finally home. Flushed and horny, she’d turned a little cranky until she saw just how hard he was. Realizing she wasn’t alone in her desperate state and realizing just how well her teasing had worked, she’d gone from cranky to smug.

The time alone had been just what they needed, in Nick’s opinion—and not just because he disliked company unless it was Shaya. It was kind of hard to spend time trying to win her complete trust and faith when people were hanging around, depriving them of privacy. He understood why the Phoenix wolves did it; they wanted to be nearby in case they were needed. And, naturally, they’d all missed Shaya since she left their pack, just as Kathy and Roni had missed him. Taryn in particular spent a lot of time with them, and he knew it was because she was deliberately trying to make things hard as hell for him. He could understand it, but it still made him pissed, because not having her best friend’s total support was hurting Shaya.

Whether Taryn realized it or not, Nick had never worked as hard for anything as he had for Shaya…because nothing had meant as much to him as she did. Sure his mom, Roni, and Eli were important to him, but he needed Shaya. Even with his family around him, he’d always felt alone somehow. Always felt slightly apart from them. Maybe he’d created that distance himself because he felt to blame for how damaged Roni was and for how they had all felt the need to leave their original pack after what had happened. On the other hand, the emotional distance could just be a result of his inability to truly bond—he didn’t know.

With Shaya, it was different because he didn’t want any distance. How could he? She understood and accepted him in a way that no one had done before, not even Derren with his ability to relate to Nick due to their past in juvie. She saw his faults, knew his mistakes, was aware of what he was capable of, yet she didn’t judge or fear him. She stood up to him, she kept him on his toes, and she was a living, breathing challenge—Nick had always loved a challenge. She gave him hope that it might be different this time, that for once in his life, he might truly be able to bond with another person. But that all depended on her, on whether she was willing to accept his claim on her, because a bond required both of them.

Having finished their meal, they both left the restaurant hand in hand. They had only taken a few steps into the parking lot when it happened—a knowing hit him, a feeling of foreboding, an itch at the back of his neck. Slowing his steps, he stretched out his senses and discovered that there were people lurking…but not just in front of him; they were also lurking behind and on either side of him. “Shit.” He dug his cell out of his pocket and pressed the speed dial for Derren’s phone. Quietly, he said, “We have some visitors. Be careful.”

“What’s going on?” asked Shaya in a low voice.

He kissed her temple. “Humans. Don’t worry, we’ll—” That was when four humans began to gather a short distance ahead of them. Another two were then on either side of Nick and Shaya while three more came up behind them. The humans were keeping a fair distance away, but they were also trapping Nick and Shaya. He recognized a few of them as extremists, and though Logan wasn’t present, Nick would bet he was behind the whole thing. He and Shaya were standing back-to-back and being circled by eleven humans.

Any other time, Nick would’ve felt nothing but bored. He’d handled humans before, and he could handle them again. He didn’t relish the idea of harming anybody, but he’d defend himself and his mate in an attack. But this wasn’t just an attack. It was a trap—an attempt at provoking Nick into violence. What male, human or shifter, wouldn’t turn aggressive at the thought of his female being attacked? But humans wary of shifters wouldn’t look at it that way, because it wouldn’t suit them to do so.

He knew how Logan’s mind worked: The bastard would no doubt produce photographs of his fellow extremists—clawed and bitten and wounded badly—to reporters or the court and spin a nice story to accompany those photographs. As such, when Nick fought these extremists off, something he fully intended to do in order to protect Shaya, he would be playing right into Logan’s hands. But there was no other choice, because the very idea of Shaya being hurt wasn’t at all acceptable to him or his wolf. The animal was currently growling and flexing his claws, honing his senses on the humans.

Nick was aware that Derren wasn’t far away, and he would imagine that the humans would be aware of that too, as they knew Derren accompanied Nick everywhere. He would bet they wouldn’t be fazed by that at all—the more shifters involved in the attack, the better for them.

“You should have listened to Logan in the beginning. You should have left town long ago,” the human directly in front of Nick said. Hatred swirled in his blue eyes, twisting his thin face into a scowl. “And you really shouldn’t have pissed off Logan the way you did. So you could say that you brought this on yourself…that it’ll be your fault your girlfriend’s about to be very badly hurt. Don’t worry—she might just enjoy what we have in mind for her.”

Barely restraining himself from bloodying the prick, Nick realized just how good a trap Logan had set. Logan knew Nick’s past, knew what had gotten him sent to juvie. He’d be hoping that if they threatened to do to Shaya exactly what was done to his sister that day, Nick would for sure react. A cunning plan. And it had every chance of working.

Sensing Nick’s control quickly splintering, Shaya brushed her hand against the back of his thigh. She kept her gaze trained on the humans in her vision, registering every move they made, fully prepared to defend herself if any one of them took a single step toward her. So far, they had done nothing but glare at her, clenching their fists in an attempt to intimidate her, but that could quickly change.

“I still can’t work out whether she’s a shifter or not,” continued the human. “But if she’s going to fuck one, the slut might as well be.”

A growl poured out of Nick. Reflexively, he moved to rip the asshole’s limbs off, but then there was the sound of the only thing that could have gotten through to him—Shaya’s voice.

“Don’t, Nick,” she said, low enough for only him to hear. She spoke in the same calming tone she used with Taryn and Amber. “He wants you to charge at him so that I’m standing here alone. He’s trying to separate us.”

She was right, Nick realized as the red haze blurring his thoughts began to disperse. “He called you a slut,” he gritted out quietly.

“What’s the big deal? I’m your slut.” Her voice held a tint of amusement.

“You know, coming forward and announcing your existence had to be the dumbest thing your species ever could have done,” said the human. “What made you think you would ever be accepted? You’re exactly what those religious fanatics say you are—abominations. And you need to be destroyed.”

Like Nick hadn’t heard this spiel before.

Clearly bugged that Nick wasn’t reacting, the human snickered. “Not so brave and cocky now that you’re surrounded like this, are you?”

“Don’t mistake my silence for fear,” Nick told him, vibrating with anger. “I can spot a trap when I see one. I know exactly what you hope to do. Don’t worry—you’ll get the response from me that you’re aiming for. But if you think you’ll all get out of this alive, you’re very much mistaken.”

There was a slight unease in the air that made Shaya smile inwardly. There was no doubting that Nick meant every word. The scent of fear surrounded them, pleasing her wolf, who—though not a fan of confrontation—had every intention of standing by her mate.

“If you know anything about shifters,” continued Nick, “you’ll know how vigorously we protect females and children. You’re threatening my female, you intend to cause her physical harm, and I can’t allow that. So if you have it in your head that all that will happen is some of you will go home wounded, you’re very wrong. I’ve killed a human before to defend someone, and I won’t hesitate to do it again. If I turn my attention to you, know it means you’re about to die. Those who value your life over Logan’s plans…you might want to step back.”

Fear wafted from the human, and it was clear that his snigger was forced. “You’re no threat against all of us.”

“There may be strength in numbers, but not against a shifter protecting his female. That has a way of amplifying a man’s strength. I’d tear apart anyone who tried to hurt her. And she’s not exactly an easy target—you should be aware of that before you think of cowardly targeting her rather than me.”

In spite of the situation, Shaya found herself smiling. He had never once disregarded her strength and her capability of taking care of herself, had never once treated her as anything but his equal. Even now, while she was in clear danger, he wasn’t treating her like a damsel in distress.

“Well, well, well, look what we have here.”

At the sound of Derren’s voice, Shaya’s head whipped to the right, and her brows rose in surprise. There he was, slightly outside the circle, smiling in amusement…and recording the whole thing with his smartphone.

“Eleven humans boxing in and intimidating a shifter and his girlfriend—two people who had been minding their own business. Not just humans, but human extremists.” Derren shook his head in reprimand. “What will the world think when they see this on YouTube, I wonder.”

Three things suddenly happened at once: One of the humans lunged at Derren, making a grab for the cell phone. Nick snatched Shaya’s hand and pulled her to the ground, yelling “Down!” as two bullets whizzed past. And the humans all scrambled away into the dark night. All but one, Shaya quickly realized, as she saw that Derren was not only still in possession of his phone, but he also had an extremist by the scruff of his neck.

Derren tipped his head at the human. “I’m thinking he can answer some questions for us.”

Shaya didn’t enjoy seeing anyone in pain, she really, really didn’t. But as she watched with Taryn and Trey as Nick and Derren circled the human tied to a chair in her spare bedroom, she didn’t feel in the least bit disturbed to know he would soon be in bad shape.

For one thing, the guy—Lee-Roy was his name, according to his driver’s license—was pure evil. He’d spent the past half hour boasting about how many shifters he’d beaten up in his time and about how easy it was breaking into the salon and how much fun he’d had smashing it up. Then there was the little detail that he kept calling her a slut and condemning to hell any “spawn of the devil” she was impregnated with. And why would he be so bold? He was convinced that Nick wouldn’t hurt him for fear of repercussions. Also, he was too crazy to be smart enough to be scared.

“It’s a shame Dante’s not here,” said Taryn. The Beta’s skills as an interrogator were well known. “He could have this guy singing like a canary in no time.”

“We don’t need Dante,” Trey told her. “A male whose mate has been threatened is a force like no other. That son of a bitch over there would have happily hurt Shaya. Nick will easily have him talking. And he won’t let him live long, either.”

As Derren studied the gun he held in his hand that he’d found in Lee-Roy’s pocket, the human smiled evilly. “If you’re thinking that watching you play with it will make me nervous, you’re wrong. You won’t kill me.”

Nick cocked his head at him. “Why would we use your gun when we have these?” The human jerked in surprise as Nick’s claws shot out. He barely refrained from slitting the man’s throat right then and there. The need for information was the only thing that had kept the human alive to that point.

Still, Lee-Roy shook his head, repeating, “You won’t kill me.”

Nick crouched in front of him. “I noticed the ring on your finger. Do you love your wife, Lee-Roy?”

The human’s eyes bulged. “If you hurt her—”

“That thing you’re feeling right there, that clump of emotion…Nothing comes close to it, does it? Fear, fury, and desperation all tangled together. That’s exactly what I felt when you and your friends threatened to hurt Shaya.” Nick’s face hardened, and his voice turned guttural. “So don’t think for one minute that your life means anything to me. I’ll cut your throat without a care in the fucking world, believe me.”

Lee-Roy gulped audibly. “The others will know I’m missing, and they’ll know you have me. They’ll come for me.”

Derren smiled, amused. “You really think so? I wouldn’t be too sure of that. At this moment in time, you and your friends are all very famous. Yes, that’s right. The little video of what happened earlier is on YouTube as we speak. No shifter is going to like that. Every one of your friends now has a big, fat target on their back. They’ll do the smart thing and go into hiding from shifters and the police. If your friends can’t contact you, they’ll assume it’s because you’re hiding just as they are.”

Lee-Roy was silent for a moment, but then he snickered. “My wife won’t accept that I’m gone.”

Derren tsked. “Not if she receives some text messages from your cell phone to say that you’ll be hiding for a while. She’s part of your group, isn’t she? She’s hardly going to go to the police and announce that you’re missing in case they link you with the incident on YouTube. In other words, Lee-Roy, it would be quite simple for you to disappear.”

“And considering my mate was shot at,” rumbled Nick, “I’d like nothing more than for you to disappear.” In fact, Nick was looking forward to it. He knew he wouldn’t regret it either.

Looking slightly nervous, Lee-Roy said, “It wasn’t me who shot at her.”

Nick snorted and got to his feet, beginning to once more circle the human. “Had you been the male who shot at Shaya, you’d be nothing more than a bad smell right now. Trust me on that. I’m curious: Were you planning to attack us before you shot us, or had the plan been to just take us out with a bullet all along?”

“Logan told us to take the guns in case you went too wild or we were disturbed.”

“And he wanted you to shoot Shaya too, right?”

“Our order was to shoot her if you didn’t react.” He jumped at Nick’s growl.

“Tell us about the game preserve,” ordered Nick.

Eyes wide, Lee-Roy gawked. After a moment, he finally spoke. “I don’t know what you’re—”

“Don’t play with me, Lee-Roy,” growled Nick. “I really don’t know how much longer I can stay calm. Answer me.”

“I don’t know where it is—we’re blindfolded the whole way there.” He sounded smug that he didn’t have the answer.

“So you’ve been there?” Derren’s question dripped with anger.

Lee-Roy smiled at Derren. “You really shouldn’t knock something until you’ve tried it. It’s surprisingly addictive. The shifters are drugged at first—something that stops them from shifting for a little while. Then they’re dumped in the middle of nowhere. When they wake up and are finally on the move, a group of us begin to hunt. Slowly at first, not letting them know we’re there. Then we amp it up. Guns, knives, whips, sledgehammers—you name it, we use it. They always beg in the end.”

Oh, the sick bastard. As if he’d sensed Shaya’s impulse to slap the asshole, Nick shook his head slightly at her. She knew why: He didn’t want Lee-Roy’s flow to be interrupted.

“And then they scream,” continued Lee-Roy. “God, how they scream. Especially the females. It’s one of the perks of working for Logan.”

“Youmotherfuckingtwistedpieceofmonkeyshit!” snapped Taryn. Only Trey’s hold on her arm held her back.

Shaking with rage, Nick gritted out, “So Logan is the one behind it?” The crazy bastard laughed. “Something funny?”

“Here you are judging me, calling me twisted, when the person who created the preserve is one of your own.”

There was a boom of shocked silence.

Finally, Nick spoke. “Repeat that.”

“Oh, I was shocked too.” Lee-Roy shook his head, incredulous. “I was just as shocked that Logan would associate with any shifter. But this guy doesn’t consider himself a shifter—hates the race as much as we do, and he’s promised to stand with us against you all.”

“Bullshit,” bit out Shaya.

Lee-Roy laughed again. “Want to know what’s even funnier?” he asked Nick. “You know him.” His smile was cruel and taunting.

“Nick, if you don’t kill him,” rumbled Trey, “I will.”

“That won’t be necessary. This one’s mine.” Then Nick sliced open the human’s throat with his claw. The bastard deserved much worse than a quick, merciful death, but Nick had already traumatized his sister by unleashing his temper in vengeance. He wouldn’t do that to Shaya too. She had a huge heart, and he wanted only to protect it. Worried that even this swift execution had been too much for her, Nick looked at her. There was no revulsion on her face, only concern. For him, he realized. She was concerned that he wasn’t calming.

Knowing and hating that Nick expected her to judge him, Shaya went to her mate and curled her arms around his waist. “He deserved worse.”

Accepting the paper towel Derren handed him, Nick wiped the blood from his claw and then retracted it. Wrapping an arm around Shaya, Nick breathed her in, using her to center him. “I think the bastard was insane.”

“But not a liar,” said Trey. “When he said the preserve was being run by a shifter, he was telling the truth. And he wasn’t kidding when he said you knew him.”

Nick nodded, aware that Trey was right. “That doesn’t exactly narrow it down. I know a lot of people.”

Shaya looked up at Nick. “But if the shifter’s closely allied with Logan, it makes sense that he’s local. At the very least, I’d say we can narrow it down to male shifters in Arizona.”

“Then we need to get a list of the male shifters residing in Arizona,” said Derren.

Nick turned to Derren. “Call Donovan, he’ll be able to get that info for us.”

“Let me guess,” drawled Shaya. “One of your contacts—not your friends.” Derren chuckled while Nick frowned down at her.

“The question bugging me is,” began Taryn, “why would a shifter hate his own kind?”

Puffing out a breath, Derren shook his head. “I’m pretty sure said shifter wouldn’t be dumb enough to let other shifters know about it.”

“If we’re going with the theory that he’s someone local,” said Taryn, “you do realize that places Jesse, Bracken, and Zander under suspicion, don’t you? I mean, think about it: They’ve been supposedly standing guard, but they could just be here to keep watch over us. It also means Hadley’s a suspect. After all, most of the shifters going missing are from his pack, and he’s got a reputation for being a ruthless bastard. Plus, he’s got people supposedly guarding you too, people who are just as capable of reporting back to him.”

Nick nodded, rubbing a hand up and down Shaya’s arm. “When I get the list of names, we can go through them. Until then, we’ll be extra careful about what we allow the rebels and Hadley’s guards to see.”