Triple Dog Dare

Chapter Twelve

The next morning, Elain, Lina, and Carla were already up and cooking breakfast when Mai emerged from the bedroom. Micah and Jim protectively hovered close behind her. She’d donned a T-shirt under the bathrobe. She felt a little self-conscious at first, considering how her cover had been blown, and what had happened immediately after, but everyone warmly welcomed her.

Jim and Micah made her sit and insisted on fixing a plate of food for her.

Lina laughed. “Guys, I’ve got news for you. I know she’s your mate, and that you don’t want to let her out of your sight, but Elain, Mom, and I are taking her shopping after breakfast.”

Micah frowned. “We’ll go with you.”

Lina pointed the spatula in her hand at him. “No, you won’t. Don’t give me wolf ’tude, buddy. I’m used to dealing with dragons, need I remind you. The girl needs some downtime and some girl time and some clothes. You can have her back tonight.”

“I wouldn’t argue with her, Micah,” Jan said as he walked into the kitchen. He gave Lina a peck on the cheek before going to pour himself a cup of coffee. “She’s feisty. Especially since she’s hormonal.”

Mai didn’t want to argue either, but the truth of the matter still stood. “I don’t have any money,” she softly said. “I don’t even have my driver’s license or anything anymore.” She didn’t want to break down crying. Not now, not in front of everyone.

“I’ll give you my credit card,” Micah said.

Elain shook her head. “Your money’s no good, boys. We want to do this for her.” She walked over and hugged Mai from behind. “Our treat. No ifs, ands, or buts. Ain will get with our attorney today and find out what to do about getting you a new ID. She’s a shifter, too, so no worries there. You’re family now.”

That finished Mai off. She squeezed Elain’s arm as her tears freely flowed. “Thank you. I don’t know how to thank you all for saving me. I wish I could just tell Paul Abernathy to go fuck himself.”

The kitchen went silent. Mai sensed she’d said something incredibly wrong. “What’s the matter?”

“You’re talking the Abernathy Clan?” Micah asked.

“Yeah.”

Lina chimed in. “As in his grandfather is Rodolfo Abernathy?”

“Great-grandfather,” Mai said.

Lina squeezed her eyes shut. “Shit.”

“What,” Micah snarked. “You didn’t see that?”

“Bite me, wolf boy,” Lina shot back. She squeezed Mai’s hand. “The great-grandson of Rodolfo Abernathy is your baby’s biological father?”

Mai nodded. “Why?”

Elain sighed. “It’s a long story. Let it suffice to say we’re already on Abernathy’s shit list.”

“I’m sorry,” Mai nervously said.

“No, don’t worry about it,” Elain reassured her. “Seriously.” She smiled at her. “Lina’s going to fry the creep’s balls as soon as she can anyway.”

“What?” Ain asked with a frown.

Elain smiled and blew him a kiss. “I’ll fill you in later.”

His face darkened, but he didn’t challenge her.

They plied Mai with breakfast until she thought she’d pop. Then, after she grabbed a shower, alone, and dressed in some of Lina’s clothes, which were about a size too big for her, the women piled into Elain’s car and headed out with Lina sitting in front next to Elain and Carla in back with Mai.

“Where are we going?” Mai asked. Jim had given her his cell phone until they could get her one of her own, which Micah said they would do that afternoon.

“To Port Charlotte,” Elain said. “It’s a little bit of a hike, but they have a mall there.”

Lina smiled. “I have credit cards, and I’m not afraid to use them.”

“Amen, sistah!” Elain said with a laugh. They bumped fists.

They all laughed. During the drive, Mai realized how at ease she felt with the women, and it made her miss her own mom even more. As they pulled into a parking space at the mall, Mai spoke up. “I just want to say again how much I appreciate this. This is the first time in a couple of years I haven’t felt alone or worried what would happen next.”

Carla hugged her. “It’s all right. We’re all here for you.”

Lina giggled. “Yeah, and since my incendiary skills aren’t as random as they once were, I’ll have your back, sister.”

Mai wasn’t sure what that meant, exactly. Still, she appreciated the sentiment nonetheless.

Micah anxiously watched Elain’s car drive away. Ain walked up behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. “They’ll be okay. Trust me, buddy. You don’t want to get in their way.”

“What if that guy shows up looking for Elain? Or if Paul Abernathy comes after Mai? We’re already on the Abernathys’ shit list as it is.”

Brodey snorted. “Dude, seriously? Lina’s with them.”

Zack outright laughed. “She’s hormonal and in a mood to shop. I pity the fool who tries to mess with her right now. He’ll be picking his flash-frozen balls up from the floor.”

“Yeah,” Rick agreed. “Unless she roasts him in his shoes. All we need now is Callie, and those women would be an unstoppable force to be reckoned with.”

“Besides,” Ain said, “we have other business to attend to. Mai gave me her information so we can work on getting her replacement identification. Liam, you and Jim and I need to run over to the attorney’s office and see what we can do. She can fit us in this morning. Maybe she’s got some contacts and can get us fake IDs for Mai and Liam with different names so they can’t be tracked through the system. That guy’s family is connected. It wouldn’t take a PI long to track Mai with legitimate ID.”

“Well,” Brodey said to Micah, “it seems this is why the Goddess put you and Jim together.”

“That’s what I was thinking. Still, it doesn’t make sense. Jim is my mate. Why did I pick her, too? Have you ever heard of anything like this ever happening before?”

Cail shrugged. “No. But are you really going to question it?”

“No,” Micah and Jim said together. Then they smiled at each other.

“One little problem,” Ain said. “You can’t take her back up to Maine. Not while that guy is after her. I’m going to need to call Jocko and talk to him about all of this. See how we should handle it. He’s probably going to be upset with me for the way Elain dashed in and out.”

“Simple,” Micah said. “We just won’t go to Maine.”

“No, not that simple,” Ain said. “You haven’t even gotten up there with Jim. You can’t just blow off Clan protocol like that.”

Micah frowned. “Sure I can.” His voice turned into a low growl. “Watch me.”

Brodey chimed in to defuse the situation. “Don’t go circling the wagons before Ain even talks to Jocko. They might tell you it’s fine, given the circumstances.”

“I won’t risk their safety,” Micah said.

“Yeah, and if we all go to Maine and leave you here alone, you’re just as vulnerable,” Ain said. “Anyway, let’s handle one thing at a time. Everyone go get dressed so we can head to town.”

After an hour of shopping in the first department store, Mai had the beginnings of a wardrobe. The women refused to let her balk when she looked at price tags. They took the first load of purchases out to the car and loaded them in the trunk before heading to their next stop.

Mai didn’t miss that no one left the sight of the others, that they all stayed together.

When they took a break in the food court a little later, Mai said something about it. “Y’all are worried about Paul finding me, aren’t you?”

Lina patted her hand. “I’m not going to lie and say everything is hunky-dory. Let’s just say we’re already on the Abernathys’ radar and don’t want to take any chances. I haven’t seen all the details yet. Unfortunately, my Whack-O-Vision doesn’t work on demand. But no, the trouble isn’t over.” She smiled brightly. “Don’t worry. If the asshat does show up, I’ll blast him. No one should fuck with us today, at least. So let’s enjoy our shopping.”

Mai rubbed her hand over her belly. “I’m scared,” she admitted. “I haven’t even been to the doctor yet.”

“We’ll talk to Ain when we get back,” Elain said. “We’ll see if there’s a doctor we can take you to. Please don’t worry. You’re family now.”

“Yeah,” Lina echoed. “And if there isn’t one around here, we’ll get you in to see my doctor. She’s a cougar shifter up in Tampa. I’m sure she’d be happy to take you on as a patient.”

Marston sat off in the distance and glanced over his newspaper occasionally to make sure the women still sat there.

Dammit.

That dragon woman was with them. She was dangerous, and she could identify him. He had to be careful, but this was his first chance to grab Elain Pardie without her men around. If he could just figure out a way to get her alone, even for a couple of minutes, he had a chance.

He watched and carefully set off after them when they departed the food court. More shopping on the agenda, apparently. They headed into another department store where it would be easy for him to discreetly keep an eye on them from a safe distance.

Elain’s nerves were on edge. Not that it was a new sensation to her, considering all that had recently happened, but this felt different.

Like they were being watched.

Lina noticed. “What’s wrong?” she quietly asked her.

Elain looked around and shook her head. “Paranoid, I guess.”

He didn’t have a chance to get close to them, or get the Pardie bitch alone. He knew time was growing short.

He’d already ignored three of Rodolfo’s phone calls.

Then the texts started.

Where the hell are you?

He texted him back. I have the Pardie woman in sight, but she’s with the dragon woman and two others. Including a pregnant coyote. He hated coyotes. The very stink of them made his skin crawl.

What? Send me a picture!

Puzzled, Marston studied the text for a moment. With a sigh he waited until the women were close enough he could take a picture of them from a distance and fit them into the same shot. He sent it to Rodolfo.

Within a minute, Rodolfo texted him back. Go somewhere and call me. Now.

Frustrated, Marston replied. But I might lose my chance to get the Pardie woman alone.

I don’t care about that. I need to speak with you. Now!

Marston read the text a second time. Fine. If he wants me to lose her, he can’t harass me for it. Marston returned to his car and placed the call.

“You realize I can’t do my job if you pull me away like this?”

Rodolfo actually sounded pleased. “I don’t care about that right now. How long has that coyote been with them?”

“Today is the first day I’ve seen her. They all returned from wherever they’d gone last night. Their cars were back when I started watching the house this morning. She was with them, so she must have come with them. I’ve never seen her before.”

“Excellent. You can stop following them for now.”

“What? Have you lost your mind?”

“Do not argue with me. I have calls to make. I might not be able to obtain the Pardie woman the way I wanted, but this serves me better. I can use their own Council to force them to hand over her, as well as the coyote.”

“Why do you want the coyote?”

“None of your business!” Rudolfo roared through the phone, forcing Marston to pull it away from his ear. “Go and sit in your hotel room and await my further instructions.” He hung up.

“Bloody bastard,” Marston swore as he tossed his cell phone into the passenger seat. “Who the hell does he think he is?”