the baddies out there. Look, if I have to, I’ll start carrying the knife like I used to.”
“It might be for the best, for now.” Janelle cocked her head, and then seconds later the back door flew open.
“ Lawson! ”
“Marshell’s here.” Janelle winked at me.
“So I heard.”
“Dammit to hell and back, Lawson, a werewolf?” Marshell stomped over to the table, jerked me out of the chair, and hugged me tightly. Then I was subjected to a thorough going over.
“I’m fine. Stop checking for wounds or whatever you’re doing.” I poked Marshell in the ribs to get him to back up some.
“Stop that crap!” Marshell squeaked like a little girl. That certainly lightened my mood.
Sam rejoined us, we all sat back down, and I went through the whole thing again.
“So what did you get when you checked the area out?” Marshell asked Janelle.
“We haven’t gone out there yet. We were waiting on you.”
Marshell jumped up from the table. “ What? Are you serious? Janelle, it’s misting outside, and from the looks of it, it has been for a while now.”
“Oh shit.” Janelle scrambled up too. “Oh no, Marshell. I thought it would be better if we waited on you. I had no idea it was misting. It wasn’t when we got here. Oh no . Your sense of smell is better than mine, so I thought—”
“Maybe we should take a look before the rain washes away any scent whatsoever,” Sam said.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit.” Marshell pointed at me, his eyes slowly changing as his fangs dropped. “We’ll be right back. Don’t you dare step foot out that door until we know for sure it’s safe.”
“I’m going to hit you between the eyes with this coffee mug if you don’t stop acting like I’m stupid. I expect the three of you to come back in one piece too.”
Marshell blew out a long breath. “I… man. I’m sorry, Lawson. I’m just a little stressed at the moment.”
“I got that. But that doesn’t give you a free pass to be an ass,” I said. “Now be careful out there.”
Chapter Eight
Heller
MY CELL rang, startling me. I’d been sitting here trying to talk myself into calling Lawson. I’d driven by his shop but his vehicle was already gone. Wondering who could be calling me this late, I pulled it out of my jean pocket. I didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyhow. “Hello?”
“Is Heller there?”
“Yeah, you got him.”
“Oh, good. Heller, it’s Sam. I hope you don’t mind that I asked Dolf for your number, but, um…. well, Janelle and I are over at their house. Lawson called Janelle earlier and told her a werewolf showed up here and… it stalked him and—”
“Wait, wait… what ?”My heart stopped. Did Sam say “werewolf”?
“Hey, now. He’s fine,” Sam hurriedly reassured me. “It didn’t hurt him. Scared the crap out of him, yeah, but it didn’t hurt him.”
I grabbed the back of the couch to steady myself. What happened to all the oxygen in the room? “Are you sure? Absolutely sure?”
“Yeah, not a scratch on him. Look, I ducked out to call you while he and Janelle were talking, and I heard him tell Janelle he let the werewolf know he was aware of what it was too.”
“Just… wait a minute. Goddess.” I clutched the cell. “That doesn’t make sense. Paranormals don’t just randomly show their shifted selves off to humans. We don’t do stuff like that… jeez. Unless—”
“Unless we were challenging another paranormal. It’s the only reason I can think for a shifter to do this.”
“But Lawson’s human.”
“True, but he does live with two paranormals. Maybe it’s related to that. I don’t know exactly what prompted this, but something did, obviously,” Sam said. “It basically got in Lawson’s face and made a statement.”
“There’s no denying that. But that doesn’t make sense either. If it were challenging Lawson, then… for what reason? It can’t be for me. Only a few shifters know Lawson and I are mates.
“It might be for the best, for now.” Janelle cocked her head, and then seconds later the back door flew open.
“ Lawson! ”
“Marshell’s here.” Janelle winked at me.
“So I heard.”
“Dammit to hell and back, Lawson, a werewolf?” Marshell stomped over to the table, jerked me out of the chair, and hugged me tightly. Then I was subjected to a thorough going over.
“I’m fine. Stop checking for wounds or whatever you’re doing.” I poked Marshell in the ribs to get him to back up some.
“Stop that crap!” Marshell squeaked like a little girl. That certainly lightened my mood.
Sam rejoined us, we all sat back down, and I went through the whole thing again.
“So what did you get when you checked the area out?” Marshell asked Janelle.
“We haven’t gone out there yet. We were waiting on you.”
Marshell jumped up from the table. “ What? Are you serious? Janelle, it’s misting outside, and from the looks of it, it has been for a while now.”
“Oh shit.” Janelle scrambled up too. “Oh no, Marshell. I thought it would be better if we waited on you. I had no idea it was misting. It wasn’t when we got here. Oh no . Your sense of smell is better than mine, so I thought—”
“Maybe we should take a look before the rain washes away any scent whatsoever,” Sam said.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit.” Marshell pointed at me, his eyes slowly changing as his fangs dropped. “We’ll be right back. Don’t you dare step foot out that door until we know for sure it’s safe.”
“I’m going to hit you between the eyes with this coffee mug if you don’t stop acting like I’m stupid. I expect the three of you to come back in one piece too.”
Marshell blew out a long breath. “I… man. I’m sorry, Lawson. I’m just a little stressed at the moment.”
“I got that. But that doesn’t give you a free pass to be an ass,” I said. “Now be careful out there.”
Chapter Eight
Heller
MY CELL rang, startling me. I’d been sitting here trying to talk myself into calling Lawson. I’d driven by his shop but his vehicle was already gone. Wondering who could be calling me this late, I pulled it out of my jean pocket. I didn’t recognize the number but answered it anyhow. “Hello?”
“Is Heller there?”
“Yeah, you got him.”
“Oh, good. Heller, it’s Sam. I hope you don’t mind that I asked Dolf for your number, but, um…. well, Janelle and I are over at their house. Lawson called Janelle earlier and told her a werewolf showed up here and… it stalked him and—”
“Wait, wait… what ?”My heart stopped. Did Sam say “werewolf”?
“Hey, now. He’s fine,” Sam hurriedly reassured me. “It didn’t hurt him. Scared the crap out of him, yeah, but it didn’t hurt him.”
I grabbed the back of the couch to steady myself. What happened to all the oxygen in the room? “Are you sure? Absolutely sure?”
“Yeah, not a scratch on him. Look, I ducked out to call you while he and Janelle were talking, and I heard him tell Janelle he let the werewolf know he was aware of what it was too.”
“Just… wait a minute. Goddess.” I clutched the cell. “That doesn’t make sense. Paranormals don’t just randomly show their shifted selves off to humans. We don’t do stuff like that… jeez. Unless—”
“Unless we were challenging another paranormal. It’s the only reason I can think for a shifter to do this.”
“But Lawson’s human.”
“True, but he does live with two paranormals. Maybe it’s related to that. I don’t know exactly what prompted this, but something did, obviously,” Sam said. “It basically got in Lawson’s face and made a statement.”
“There’s no denying that. But that doesn’t make sense either. If it were challenging Lawson, then… for what reason? It can’t be for me. Only a few shifters know Lawson and I are mates.
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