Mate Claimed

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Iona noticed a change in the Shifters when she returned to Eric’s house, and not just the smirks that told her that everyone knew how much sex she and Eric had enjoyed last night. The Shifters seemed to know, without being told, that she’d agreed to be Eric’s mate.

Shane, who’d entered the kitchen to talk to Diego, snapped his head around to look at Iona as she and Eric came in the front door. Then Shane took a deliberate step back, as though acknowledging he should stay away from her.

Cassidy rushed to Iona and hugged her hard, kissing her on the cheek. “Welcome to the clan,” she said.

Jace’s embrace, coming a second later, was as warm and heartfelt. “Thanks, Iona,” he said in her ear. “Dad needs you.”

Diego laughed and grabbed Iona for another hug, this one Diego-and-Cassidy scented. “It’s not so bad here once you get used to it,” he said, with a slow wink at Cassidy. “Eric, you need to build on to your house. You can’t stuff Iona into that shoebox-sized room of yours.”

“I’ll vacate my room and sleep downstairs,” Jace said, sounding unworried. “I’d rather, with all the mating that will be going on up here. I’ll need the quiet. The babies can have Dad’s room, until they get big enough to start screaming for their own space.”

“You’re very thoughtful, Son,” Eric said, deadpan.

“He just wants the man cave to himself,” Cassidy said. “Diego and I might have to join him down there if Eric gets too loud. He is clan leader, after all.” She laughed and then slid her hand to her abdomen. “Ooh, she’s ready to fight her way out soon.”

“You don’t know it’s a she, chiquita.” Diego leaned to Cassidy’s ear and licked it. “We’ve never had an ultrasound.”

Cassidy shrugged. “I just know.”

Iona believed her. Shifters knew things, especially about cubs, just as Iona had scented that her sister was pregnant before Nicole even acknowledged the possibility.

Eric put his hands on Iona’s shoulders. “Don’t scare her, and get her whatever she needs, all right?”

“Sure, boss,” Shane said. “You ever feel like booting him out, Iona, you know where I live.” He sent Eric an evil grin and departed out the back door, already yelling the news to his brother and mom.

“What do I do now?” Iona asked. “I feel like I’m supposed to do something, but I don’t know what.”

“Nothing.” Eric kissed the top of her head, lips gentle. “You’re part of the family now. We’ll have the full sun ceremony as soon as I bring in someone to do it, and then the full moon as soon as there’s a full moon. A few nights from now, I think.”

“Who? A priest or priestess?” Iona was still a bit fuzzy on Shifter religion. So much to learn.

“A clan leader or Shiftertown leader,” Eric said. “I’m both, but I can’t mate bless myself. Graham’s the equivalent rank for now, but I don’t want him doing it, so I’ll have to bring in outside help. For now…” Eric kissed her again and released her. “Do whatever, but stay near Cass, Diego, Jace, or Nell. They’ll protect you when I’m not here. I hate to leave, but I need to see Graham and talk to some of the wolves that were abducted.”

Yes, he needed to figure out what had happened. Eric was leader, which meant, despite his statements last night that he would rather mate with Iona than anything else, he had plenty to take care of.

“Do whatever,” Cassidy repeated, shaking her head at her brother. “You’re such a male, Eric. Iona has tons to do. We need to move her in here, bring stuff from her house, move Jace’s stuff downstairs, redecorate Jace’s room, and introduce her to all the other females in Shiftertown, since she’ll be their alpha now—”

“Wait, what?” Iona stared at her. “Why will I be their alpha? You’re Eric’s sister—his second-in-command, right?”

“Second in the clan, but you’re top female, and all the other females will respect that,” Cassidy said. “Don’t worry, you’ll catch on.”

Iona hoped so. It was difficult though—she was surprised how difficult it was—to kiss Eric good-bye and watch him walk away between the houses in his nonchalant stroll to return to the business of being leader.

Eric spent his morning talking to the Shifters who’d been abducted. Graham insisted on accompanying him to every interview, stating that the wolves wouldn’t let a strange Feline ask the questions, Shiftertown leader or no. Eric knew the truth of this, so he let Graham precede him and introduce him.

The new Shifters lived in houses vacated by Felines, Lupines, and bears of this Shiftertown as late as yesterday. Most of the new wolves didn’t want Eric inside their homes, indicating with body language, scowls, or outright declarations to Graham that they’d talk to Eric—maybe—but only outside.

The wolves who’d been abducted could tell Eric very little, but one female whose son was in his teenage years did remember some of it.

“The bus pulled off the highway,” the woman said, while her lanky son stood behind her, hands on her shoulders. “It was very late, and most of us were asleep, but I looked out the window, thinking we’d stopped for gas or at a rest area. I was hoping I’d be able to get out and stretch my legs.

“But some men got on the bus—humans. They walked down the row, stopping at every seat. I wasn’t sure at first what they were doing, then I realized they were sticking needles into every Shifter, tranquilizing them. Most of them were already groggy—I think they put something in the water bottles they provided, but I hadn’t drunk from mine. I tried to fight when they came for me—I screamed, but they jabbed my son, and then they got the needle into my neck.”

Her son rubbed her shoulders, his distress scent nearly overwhelming hers. Graham put a hand on the boy’s and nodded for the woman to go on.

“They must not have gotten enough into me, because I came to when they were taking me out of a cage in a hospital room or clinic somewhere,” she said. “They strapped me down to a bed, and I was too weak and sleepy to fight them.

“Then some doctors came. At least, they wore white coats, surgical masks, and sterile caps. I almost peed myself, I was so scared they were going to kill me, but all they did was draw a little blood and scrape some skin into a tube. Then they left me alone. I thought they were prepping me for something, but I was too exhausted to stay awake. I passed out again, and when I woke up, we were on another bus, and he was there.” She pointed at Eric. “But my son was back with me, and everything was fine. Well, as fine as it could be.”

Her son leaned down to embrace her, shutting out Eric and even Graham, his worry and emotion pouring from him.

“They were human, these doctors?” Eric asked.

The woman nodded around her son’s shoulder. “They all smelled human. No Shifter or half Fae or…” She shrugged. “Nothing but human.”

“Dead humans if I find them,” Graham rumbled.

Eric didn’t disagree. He touched both the female and her son on their shoulders. “Thank you,” he said. “We’ll let you rest now.” He gentled his voice as he said a Goddess blessing, and the two Lupines looked startled but grateful.

“We know Kellerman hired the bus to take the Shifters out there,” Eric said to Graham as they left the house. Across the street, the Shiftertown fence had come down, and surveyors were marking the ground with stakes for the new houses. The bus driver had gotten it out of his boss that Kellerman had asked for the bus. The boss had almost bragged that someone so prominent in town had wanted their services.

“But we don’t know why,” Graham said. “I really, really want to find out.”

“We’ve already put Kellerman on the defensive. But I’m thinking someone else on the Shifter council might be easier to crack. Kellerman is the only one not afraid of us. The others are scared witless.”

Graham twined his fingers together and stretched his arms, knuckles cracking. “Let me do it.”

Eric eyed him. “All right.”

“What?” Graham looked surprised. “Just like that? No I can do it better because I’m the badass Shiftertown leader?”

“I think you’ll scare the piss out of them, which is exactly what we need. Just don’t kill anyone.”

“How about maiming? I’m in the mood for a good maiming.”

“Only if it doesn’t show,” Eric said.

Graham laughed. “You have balls, Warden. For a Feline. I also know you’re sending me in your place because you don’t want to leave your mate. Yeah, I heard she caved and agreed to your new mate-claim, poor woman.”

“About that.” Eric lowered his voice, one eye on the humans working across the street. “Keep your Shifters from spilling that she’s Shifter for now.” He held Graham’s gaze. “I’m asking you as one leader to another.”

Graham looked offended. “You think I’d tell on her and let the humans torture her? I don’t give up Shifters to humans, Warden, and neither do my wolves.”

His outrage that Eric would think so was so strong that Eric believed him. “Good.”

“Now, you, I’d like to see run away whimpering with your tail between your legs. But I won’t betray your mate. Coax her away from you, sure, beat your face in for the fun of it, yeah, but tell humans our secrets? I don’t do that shit.”

On that last word, Graham turned his back on Eric and walked away. The back-turning was another insult, but Eric felt a twinge of relief. Graham’s Shifters wouldn’t disobey him. Iona would be safe.

Graham did like scaring the piss out of humans. The two he faced over a table at the county courthouse later that morning stank of fear.

They were the weakest on the council, he’d figured from their former meetings, and asked to meet with them. He implied that Kellerman would be there, knowing they’d never come alone, and he also implied that they were being asked because Kellerman trusted them the most. Humans so easily fell for flattery. When they arrived, he fed them the bull that Kellerman had been delayed but knew these two could handle the meeting alone.

They had no idea, Graham thought as he eyed the two humans—a thin man in his fifties and a woman ten years younger in a coal black business suit—how easily Graham could kill them. They thought that because he had a Collar and they were in a public building, within shouting distance of a security guard, they were fine.

They were wrong. And some instinct inside them knew it, because their fear smell had Graham nearly gagging.

“When you took my wolves to your facility in the desert,” Graham said, as though the adventure was common knowledge, “did you remember to immunize your humans? If they were messing with Shifter blood, Goddess knows what they might catch.”

The man and woman exchanged an uneasy glance.

“Everything was sterile,” the man said. “Checked. No harm to the Shifters or the human staff.”

God and Goddess, they believed him. Their correct response should have been: What facility? Shifter blood? We have no idea what you’re talking about.

“You’d better double-check,” Graham said. “One of my wolves said she saw a bunch of test tubes just sitting around. Hope they didn’t leave them out there.”

“No, no,” the woman said. “The samples were transferred to the lab, all properly. Wait, how do you know all this?”

Graham gave her an easy smile, making sure he showed a lot of teeth. “Kellerman told me. I wanted to check, for your sake. I hope the tests are a success.”

The woman pressed her lips together as if deciding, belatedly, to clam up.

The man didn’t look as worried. “You’ll know the results in due time. Shifters will have to participate eventually.”

In what? But both council members looked prim and their fear smell receded a little.

They’d been afraid, he realized, that Graham knew the entire truth, and Graham had somehow just revealed he didn’t. The secret, he understood now, was not that the Shifters had been taken, but what would be done with the blood and tissue samples.

Damn it.

But at least he’d gotten that much out of them. He stood up. “Kiss Kellerman for me,” he said. “Or tell him he’s a dickhead. Your choice.”

The woman actually smiled, probably having wanted to tell Kellerman that for years. Her fear came back, though, when Graham winked at her.

He walked out before the two could rise and leave, striding back through the courthouse to the garage where he’d left his bike.

“Oh, hey, Shifter.”

Graham looked around as he came out of the garage stairwell and saw the young woman he’d met at the Shifter bar waiting for the elevator to go down. She wore a fairly plain dress today with low-heeled shoes, had combed her hair into a straight ponytail, and wasn’t wearing much makeup. A far cry from her sexy look the other night—tight shimmering dress and spike heels—but her smile was still the same.

“Remember me?” she said. “I’m Misty. From the bar the other night?”

“Yeah.” Graham leaned against the stone wall next to her. “Yeah, I remember you.”

He looked her up and down, and she glanced self-consciously at her dress. “I have a meeting. Best I look like a Plain Jane for it. In legal-land, girls who wear anything cute are considered trashy.”

“You a lawyer?”

Misty laughed. “No. I run a flower shop. There, it’s good to wear cute clothes. And knowing a lot about flowers doesn’t hurt either. Which I do.”

She liked to jabber. Graham had never admired that in a woman, but in Misty, it seemed…sweet.

“You recover from the fight?” she asked, moving her brown-eyed gaze to his shoulder.

“Shifters heal fast,” he said.

“Lucky you. That’s probably why it didn’t hurt you to have all those tatts. You made me start thinking about getting one, though. What do you think I should do?”

A flower, was his instant thought. A little red rose, on her buttocks. And a heart right at the small of her back, something he could lick when he got behind her…

Shit. What was he thinking? She was human.

“A flower,” he said. “You know, because you have a flower shop.” Graham pushed himself from the wall, took her hand, and turned it palm up. “Right here on your wrist. A rosebud.”

He skimmed his fingertips over her skin. She shivered, and the scent that came to him was one of arousal. Graham felt himself growing hard in response, and he lifted his hand away.

Misty traced her wrist where Graham had touched her. Her scent, her caressing fingers, that smoky voice…

Time to go.

He didn’t move.

“A rosebud,” she said. “What a great idea. Maybe when I work up the courage, you could go with me?”

Yes. “Thought you didn’t like Shifters.”

“For some reason I thought Shifters would be like in the movies. You know. Half man, half beast, bad breath. I’m glad I found out wrong.”

“That’s because you’ve never met my uncle.”

She laughed, which made her eyes flash and her voice go sultry. “You’re funny too. I didn’t know Shifters would have a sense of humor. I’m glad I met you, Graham. Slapped my ideas right in the face.”

The elevator doors opened. Misty pressed the call button so it would stay there, but she didn’t get on. “Guess I’d better go. If I’m late to that meeting—well, let’s just say it won’t be good.”

“You decide to get the tatt, come to Shiftertown and ask for me. I’ll have my friend do yours.”

“Is he another Shifter?”

“He’s a wolf. Best tatt artist I’ve ever met.”

“Huh. I’ll have to think about that. See you, Graham.”

Graham lifted his hand in a silent good-bye. Misty smiled at him, a warm, genuine smile, no fear in her eyes, and stepped onto the elevator. She waved at him as the doors closed, and then she was gone.

Graham stared at the closed doors of the elevator for a long time, unnerving feelings stirring inside him, before he finally turned away and sought his Harley.

“Melissa Granger?”

Misty pulled herself out of the daze her second encounter with the Shifter called Graham had sent her into, and looked at the man speaking to her.

He had a balding head and wore a business suit, one that must have cost him a lot of money. A lawyer of some kind. Probably a prosecutor with that expensive suit. Defenders were notoriously underpaid.

She stopped her walk across the courthouse lobby. “Yes?”

He stuck out a well-cared-for hand. “My name’s Kellerman. Frank Kellerman. Are you a friend of Mr. McNeil?”

“Of who?” She’d never heard of Kellerman, or McNeil. Nothing to do with her.

“The Shifter you were talking to in the garage. Graham McNeil.”

He’d seen them? They’d been on the top floor of the parking garage, and Misty could have sworn no one else had been up there. Creepy.

“Oh, him,” she said. “I barely know him. Met him once or twice, that’s all.”

Kellerman smiled. He put an arm around Misty’s shoulders and started walking her toward a quiet corner. Very creepy.

“How would you like to do something for me?” Kellerman asked. “Something worth your while?”

Misty pulled away. “This might be a courthouse, but I’m not a prostitute on my way to a hearing. I’ve come to meet with my brother’s lawyers.”

“I know who you are, Ms. Granger.” Kellerman laughed a little, like she’d made a good joke. “What I’d like you to do is not illegal. I want you to get to know Mr. McNeil—Graham—a little better. And then tell me everything about him.”

Misty took a step back. “Make friends with him to spy on him? Why would I do that?”

“McNeil is a Shifter, and not a trustworthy one. He’s new around here, and I want to find out all about him.”

“Then ask him yourself.”

“I don’t think you quite understand, Ms. Granger.” Kellerman put his arm around her again, this time sinking his grip into her shoulder so she couldn’t pull away. “I know about your brother. I know about what he’s going through in prison. And I know members of the parole board, with whom I have much influence.”

Misty stopped, icy fingers touching her heart. “That’s…” She looked up into his cold face. “You’re evil.”

“Your brother committed a crime, for which he needs to pay,” Kellerman said in a matter-of-fact voice. “McNeil is dangerous and needs to be watched. You be my eyes and ears, and your brother might be released early. He can come home where he won’t be beat up every day.”

Misty found it difficult to breathe. She knew enough of the ways of the world to know she couldn’t readily trust him. If she said yes, if she helped this Kellerman, there was no guarantee he’d do what he promised for her little brother.

Kellerman was too slick, too sure of himself. He’d not bend over backward for a young man who’d made one stupid mistake at eighteen and was paying for it with an unfairly long sentence. She and Paul hadn’t been able to afford a good lawyer.

On the other hand, if Misty said no, a guy like Kellerman might make sure that Paul never got out of prison again. He’d have to stay in that place where gangs beat up on him every day, and no one did anything about it.

“Fine,” she snapped, ducking out from under his hand. “I’ll do it. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go.”

Kellerman took a thin card from his inside breast pocket. “Here’s my number. Call me when you have something to tell me. Make it soon.”

Misty snatched the card from his hand, jammed it into her purse, and clicked her way down the hall to the room at the end. She thought about Graham, the tall biker-looking Shifter, she thought about her gentle little brother Paul, and her heart hammered until she thought she’d be sick.