Chapter Three
Boone took a deep breath and ordered himself to back up toward the door.
Just one more second, his inner wolf breathed.
He didn’t need a second. He needed to get the hell out before his wolf got any bad ideas — like memorizing the soft lines of her face and the gentle curves of her body. Like sniffing her closely and inhaling her heavenly scent. The scent that screamed at him, Mate, mate!
He backed away slowly, shaking his head. Maybe he’d gone too long without a woman’s company. Maybe his wolf was just totally fucked up. There was no way this human could be his mate.
She’s beautiful, his wolf murmured, watching her sleep.
He tried tearing his eyes away. Yes, she was beautiful, even in her disheveled state. Not runway-model-beautiful, but genuine, hometown, girl-next-door beautiful. The kind who didn’t need makeup or fancy clothes to stand out in a crowd. The kind who shone from the inside out.
He slammed on his mental brakes. Okay, okay. So she was pretty. So what?
She’s in danger. She needs our help, his wolf insisted.
His heart pounded harder at the thought of the bump on her head. Someone had tried to kill her. But why? Who?
His wolf rumbled in anger. Someone we will find and tear to pieces very, very soon.
Boone shook his head. He wasn’t going to get involved. He was getting the hell out of his cottage before she opened her eyes and saw him in the state he was in. His eyes were glowing — he could feel the heat behind them — and his fangs were ready to extend. His inner wolf was close to the surface, angry and aroused. Absolutely sure this woman was the one.
Mate. She is my destined mate, his wolf chanted, again and again.
Boone shook his head bitterly. That’s what you said about Tammy.
This is different, his wolf insisted.
It did feel different. His heart had never skipped so hard or fast, and his stomach was full of butterflies. Tammy had made him laugh — and cry — but the reaction was never as visceral, as intense.
This time I’m sure, his wolf said.
He snorted. I’ll take that as proof of how wrong you are.
His wolf had been sure about Tammy, once upon a time. His human side, too. He’d never met anyone who moved him to such levels of passion — or pain.
I love you, too, Boone. I’ll wait for you as long as it takes, Tammy had said. And yet she’d broken every heartfelt promise she’d made when he deployed.
Boone clenched his jaw. Tammy had broken his heart — make that, smashed it to bits with a wrecking ball. Which meant that the whole notion of destined mates was nonsense. Old-timers still believed in the legends, but no self-respecting wolf shifter believed in fate any more. Not these days.
He shook his head. He’d learned that lesson the hard way, and he wasn’t about to lose his heart — or head — again.
Except, shit. This mystery woman called to his soul, and he’d just tucked her into his bed. Worse, he’d promised her everything would be okay. Years ago, he’d sworn off promising anything to anyone, except maybe promising his brothers-in-arms that he’d guard their backs the way they guarded his. How the hell was he going to make sure she was okay without getting involved?
He glanced back one more time — bad idea, because a wisp of brown hair had fallen over her face, and he longed to smooth it out of the way — then dragged himself out the back in a rush. He shut the door behind him and leaned against it as if there were a wolf on the inside trying to get out instead of a wolf in his inside begging to rush back in. When he glanced up, his eyes landed on the curving line of a constellation. Scorpio. If that wasn’t a sign for him to tread carefully, what was?
Forget about Scorpio. The ancient Hawaiians called it Maui’s hook, his wolf huffed. The hook the god used to haul these islands out of the sea.
Yeah, well. He was still going to watch out for trouble. Now that he’d gone and promised, he’d see that vow through. He cast a glance over his shoulder at his own weather-beaten bungalow. A second later, he winced. Here he was, a full-grown man, still living in what was little more than a shack on the beach. He barely had three digits in his bank account. Even if the beautiful stranger was his mate, what did he have to offer other than a couple of surfboards and the battered treasures he’d found on the beach?
We do have the best view on Maui, his wolf tried, not quite getting the point.
Boone sighed, watching the moonlight dance over the sea. Great. He had a view and not much to show for three decades of existence except for a lot of scars — inside and out.
“Heya,” a low voice called.
Boone whipped around then relaxed. It was Hunter, the sole bear in their band of shifter-soldiers doing their best to live quiet, honest lives on Maui’s untamed northwest shores.
“She okay?” the grizzly asked, jerking his head toward the bungalow.
Boone nodded. “For now, I guess.”
Hunter tilted his head, paused for an eternity — bears took forever to put their thoughts into words — and finally spoke. “What about you?”
Boone wanted to laugh and say something like, Of course. Why wouldn’t I be okay? But damn, his pulse was still racing, his skin still tingling from the woman’s touch.
Nina. Her name is Nina, his wolf said.
He wanted to jam his hands over his ears, but what good would that do? His wolf was a goner. He had to rely on his more rational human half if he was going to resist the inexplicable pull to the woman in his bed.
“I’m fine. Perfect.”
Hunter let that one slide. “Silas is back. You gotta tell him, you know.”
Boone went perfectly still for a moment, then told himself to relax. Okay, so Silas was back from whatever black-tie event he’d been at. No problem, right?
Still, he took a deep breath and kicked the dirt before looking up toward the mansion built into the hill like an eagle’s nest. They were all equals here — he and the other shifters who’d settled on Koa Point. He was the only wolf; Hunter, the sole bear; and Cruz, the only tiger in a ragtag bunch that had been whipped into an elite military corps through a lot of blood, sweat, and tears. Despite their differences, they’d bonded into a band of brothers through many trials by fire. Every man had his strengths and a few carefully concealed weaknesses, and no one stood out above the rest.
Except Silas, the dragon shifter he had to face right now. Silas had been the leader of their top-secret Special Forces unit, and under him, a gang of stubborn individuals had become the perfect team, all dedicated to serving their country in covert overseas ops. Now that they were civilians again, Silas wasn’t anyone’s superior — technically speaking, at least. But old habits died hard, and everyone still treated the dragon as top dog. Silas was also the one who’d reunited the men a few months after they’d left the military and gone their separate ways — months in which every one of them had struggled for orientation until Silas invited them to this idyllic Hawaiian hideaway.
Here’s the plan, Silas had said. I got us the caretaker’s contract at an amazing estate. We’ll form an exclusive private investigator/bodyguard agency. We’ll pick and choose the cases we take. Earn good money. Live the good life. Maybe even watch the sun set from time to time — or whatever it is that civilians do.
They’d all laughed at that, even though that had been the crux of the problem with their transition to civilian life. What exactly would they all do next? Few of them had families or packs to return to. None really had a plan beyond retiring from wars that had stolen far too many innocent lives.
Silas had the plan, the connections, and clients lined up from the word go, and they’d all signed on. The work provided just enough of that feeling of living on the edge that they all missed. On the whole, though, life was easy — maybe too easy, Boone reflected — and everyone had his own space while they still had each other. A band of brothers who understood one another better than any outsider ever could.
His mind jumped to Nina, and his wolf gave a baleful cry. Nina was an outsider, too.
He shook his head and turned to Hunter. “You busy tonight?”
Hunter shrugged. Like all bears, the big guy spoke as much with gestures as with words.
“Keep an eye on my place, will you?” Boone said.
Lucky for him it was Hunter and not one of the other guys, all of whom would have launched into an interrogation about why Boone was so concerned for a woman he barely knew.
Because she could be my mate, that’s why. The thought shot through his mind. A good thing it didn’t slip off his tongue.
Hunter nodded, leaving Boone no choice but to head to Silas’s place. Koa Point Estate extended gradually uphill from the private beach where he’d found Nina, past the meeting house, to a craggy cliff a quarter of a mile inland. Earlier, he’d barely noticed the incline, even with Nina in his arms. But now, his steps were heavy and dull. The little stream beside the footpath bubbled as cheerfully as it always did, as if nothing in the world was wrong. The slope steepened, and the path folded into a series of stone steps that carried him toward the cleft in the cliffs. His inner wolf stirred, begging for some climb-and-play time. He loved bounding over those rocks in his free time.
Not now, buddy, he whispered to his inner beast. Not now.
Accent lights lay nestled beside the steps, lighting the path as it rose higher toward the estate owner’s house. A human might have nicknamed the bold structure The Eagle’s Nest or The Outlook, but Boone knew what it really was. A dragon’s lair. And even though he and the others trusted Silas with their lives, stepping onto Silas’s turf always made Boone straighten his shoulders and take a deep breath. The whole place screamed of power and authority even a wolf shifter wouldn’t want to mess with. A damn good thing Silas was one of the good guys.
Boone stepped onto the lowest terrace of the sprawling, multistory building and cleared this throat.
A dark, brooding form stood at the end of the terrace, looking out toward the sea. Even with Silas in human form and wearing a tailored suit, it didn’t take much imagination to picture a dragon puffing fire then gliding away on huge, leathery wings. That, or spinning and spitting fire at Boone when he heard the news.
“What’s this about a woman?” Silas asked without turning. His voice was low and steady. Impossible to read, as always.
Boone shifted his weight from foot to foot. “She washed up on the beach, barely conscious. Says someone tried to kill her by throwing her off a boat.”
When Silas turned, the patio light threw his facial features into sharp relief. Even with his bow tie undone, he looked on guard, totally alert. “Someone tried to kill her,” he echoed in a flat tone.
Yeah, it did sound crazy. But Boone had seen the fear in Nina’s eyes and the bump on her head. “She looked half dead, that’s for sure.”
Silas studied him so intently, Boone had to remind himself not to squirm.
“Who is she?” Silas asked at last.
Boone bit his lip. She doesn’t remember sounded pretty lame, but it was true. He’d seen her face go blank as she searched her memories, and he’d seen her eyes well up when she realized she didn’t know.
“She only remembers her first name. Nina.”
His wolf purred, replaying her name. Nina. Nina. Nina.
Silas arched an eyebrow. “She doesn’t remember?”
God, he hated it when Silas boomeranged words back at him. He shrugged. “I believe her.”
Silas scowled. “She could be making it up.”
“Why would she make something like that up?”
“You never know,” Silas said with a note of bitterness in his voice.
Boone didn’t comment. They’d both been betrayed in the past, but unlike Silas, he didn’t hold a grudge against every woman on earth. Still, he kept his mouth shut.
“Where is she now?” Silas asked after a long pause.
“She’s asleep.”
“Where?” Silas growled.
Boone made damn sure to keep his voice steady as he spoke. “At my place.”
Safe and sound, in my bed, his inner wolf hummed.
Silas’s thin, arched eyebrows jumped, and he scowled deeply.
Boone bristled and stood his ground. Back when Silas had invited Boone and the others to join his PI/bodyguard crew in Hawaii, they’d agree to a no-humans rule and specified that women were to be entertained elsewhere.
It’s not like that, he wanted to assure Silas, but he held his tongue because the words acquired the bitter taste of a lie.
It could be like that, his wolf growled. I want that.
Boone clenched his fists so hard that his nails bit into his palms. It’s definitely not like that.
Silas shook his head. “She can’t stay here. No humans. We agreed. You agreed.”
That was before I met Nina, Boone wanted to say.
“Whatever trouble she’s in, we need to stay clear of,” Silas muttered.
Boone figured Silas would say as much. Hiring out to wealthy clients was one thing. Getting personally involved with outsiders was taboo, as it was for all shifters. The less mixing with humans, the better for all concerned. Shifters had to protect the secret of their existence.
“Are you saying I should have kicked her out?” Boone shot back.
Briefly, Silas’s expression said, Why not? But Silas was a good man at heart — just a little jaded. He made a face and flapped a hand impatiently.
“Bring her to the cops in the morning. Let them handle it.”
Warning bells started clanging wildly in Boone’s mind, and his wolf reared up.
She’s in danger. Can’t trust anyone. His wolf shook its head. Not even the cops.
It was a hunch he had no rational basis for. Hell, he had no rational explanation for the fierce wave of protective instincts that hammered him every time he thought of Nina.
Why can we protect rich clients but not protect Nina? his wolf went on.
He forced himself to stay calm and count to five. Clients were clients. Easy come, easy go.
We can’t let Nina go! his wolf cried.
He shook his head. There was no arguing with his wolf — or with Silas.
“I have to catch an early flight tomorrow, so it’s up to you to take care of it,” Silas continued.
Boone’s wolf hummed. I’ll take care of her, all right.
But the flight part? His confusion must have showed because Silas drilled him with a hard look. “To Phoenix. Remember?”
Boone covered up quickly. When his mind wasn’t obsessed with Nina, yes, he remembered. Silas was heading to Arizona, where he would rendezvous with Kai and Tessa. Kai, a dragon, was the fifth member of their all-shifter group, and Tessa was Kai’s mate. Together with Silas, they hoped to track down the treasure stolen years earlier by their archenemy, Damien Morgan, and to investigate Morgan’s ties to Drax, a powerful dragon lord. Boone had been itching to accompany the mission himself — until now.
“Maybe Nina will wake up and remember everything,” Boone tried.
“Maybe. Either way, let the cops handle it. First thing in the morning.”
Silas’s words were a final verdict, a gavel slamming on Nina’s case — and a dismissal. Boone turned to the stairs, following his cue.
“And Boone?” The note of warning in Silas’s voice stopped him short.
He turned around slowly. “Yeah?”
“Remember. We’re not getting involved.”
He jerked his head into a nod. Sure. Not getting involved.
But the words sounded hollow, even in his mind.