Chapter Two
Melissa’s first week at the sheriff’s office was eventful. Magnus did have a strong dislike for the two park rangers who had been in and out of the office. Melissa wasn’t sure whether the rangers were involved in the recent hike in illegal hunting, but if not, then they weren’t taking the threat seriously.
Magnus had stated he wasn’t surprised, since they were human.
She didn’t know if Magnus didn’t trust all humans, or only the ones he dealt with. So far, he’d treated Melissa with respect, often asking her opinion on important matters. The other new deputy’s arrival had been postponed for another couple of days, so she was still working mainly with Deputy Wilson.
This was the first time Melissa had been invited out with her co-workers. Logan’s girlfriend worked at the bar on the edge of town. Melissa hadn’t met her yet, but Logan brought her up often. Melissa hoped she’d find a friend in Annabelle. Not only did Melissa not know anyone in town other than the men she worked with, but it was turning out to be hard to connect with the residents of Brookside. Magnus had told her to give it time.
Apparently, the citizens of her new town found it hard to trust people.
Melissa understood—she did—but it was getting lonely.
In LA, when most of her fellow officers had started giving her the cold shoulder, she’d still had friends outside the police force. Being in a new place equaled starting over. Which was what she’d wanted, but Melissa would have preferred to be liked here.
She followed Carl Wilson inside the bar named The Den.
It was as she’d expected to find in a small California town out in the middle of nowhere. The place was pretty busy for a Friday night. The music wasn’t too loud, though.
At a corner table sat Magnus, Logan and the two junior agents with the Coalition, Fredrick and Fabian. Melissa had liked the twins as soon as she’d met them. Fabian was loud, flirty and fun. He was also dating Carl. Fredrick, more serious than Fabian, was smart and nice. He’d even casually mentioned them getting dinner some time. Although Melissa wasn’t ready to date and didn’t want to mix her personal relationships with work, it was nice to be noticed.
The pretty woman behind the bar waved at them before pointing to the table with their co-workers.
Must be Annabelle.
She was supposed to be a feline shifter. Melissa tried to see if she could pick up any signs the young woman was a shifter.
She moved with grace, but that could have been from years of experience waiting tables. There was nothing screaming shifter to Melissa.
“Glad you could join us,” Magnus said as she and Carl reached the table.
Fabian pulled Carl down next to him.
“Thank you for inviting me,” Melissa replied. She sat in the empty chair between Magnus and Logan. That gave her the opportunity to see the entire bar, including the entrance.
“I brought beers.” The woman from behind the bar walked to the table holding a tray of bottles. “Anyone want something different?”
Everyone around the table shook their heads, including Melissa.
“Good. I’m on a break now.” She passed around the drinks. When she set one in front of Melissa, she smiled. “I’m Annabelle.”
“Hi, I’m Melissa.”
“I know,” Annabelle said. “I’ve wanted to come meet you, but Logan wouldn’t let me visit the station.” Annabelle nudged her boyfriend.
Logan wrapped his arm around Annabelle’s waist, then pulled her onto his lap. “Because I wouldn’t get any work done with you around.” He kissed her neck.
Annabelle laughed while smacking his hand. She turned to Melissa. “How’re you settling in?”
“Good,” Melissa replied. “It’s a big change from Los Angeles, but for the better, I think.”
“I could never live in a big city,” Annabelle said. “I love my town too much.”
“You’d never leave the bar unless it was to climb your tree, if you didn’t have to,” Logan said.
Annabelle shrugged at his teasing. “True.”
“I was born and raised in LA,” Melissa told her. “I didn’t think towns like this actually existed.”
“Well, I’m glad they do,” Logan stated. “It’s nice.”
“You’d live in a cave if Annabelle wanted,” Magnus remarked.
Logan flipped Magnus off. “You’re one to talk. You don’t leave Brookside, either.”
Melissa enjoyed the teasing between co-workers. She’d had that once. Hopefully, she would again.
“There is no reason to leave here, ever,” Magnus stated. “No one should.”
She’d noticed the people she met seemed to have an unusual attachment to this town. Melissa wasn’t certain if that was a shifter thing or not. Brookside wasn’t picturesque. The buildings were rundown, the streets needed repairs and, with only two hundred residents, businesses weren’t exactly booming. Still, there was something about the place that called to her. It seemed she wasn’t the only one.
“You’re staying in the old Windham place, right?” Annabelle asked.
“I am,” Melissa said. “It is a beautiful house and it came furnished.”
“Mary Windham moved to Colorado with her daughter after her husband died.” Magnus picked up his bottle and drank. “She was a good woman.”
“She took good care of the place. I’ve always lived in an apartment. I was kind of worried that I wouldn’t be able to manage a place so big, but I like it. Last night, I drank a glass of wine, sitting on the back porch. It was so peaceful.”
Annabelle picked up the bottle she’d brought Logan. She tipped it to Melissa. “It is peaceful here. Have you gone into the state park yet?”
“I found a running trail not far from my house,” Melissa told her. “It takes me about two miles into the park.”
“Oh! I know the trail,” Annabelle said.
“I’m hoping to explore a little more. I printed out some maps of the area.”
“If you need a guide, just let me know,” Annabelle said. “I probably know every inch of the forest.”
Leaning back in her chair, Melissa sipped at her beer. “That would be great.” See, I can make friends. Annabelle seemed to be nice and Melissa had a good feeling about her.
It might not have been what she’d had in LA, but Melissa didn’t think she’d ever be ready for relationships like that again. After Melissa had started to look into cases where shifters were being treated unfairly by the LAPD, her so-called friends had turned their backs on her.
The pain of betrayal remained with her even to this day.
“What are you doing Sunday?” Annabelle asked.
“Uh, no plans.”
“So?”
Melissa cocked her head. “So?”
“Do you want to go hiking Sunday?”
“That might not be a good idea,” Logan said. “We haven’t had any trouble for about a week, but that doesn’t mean it’s safe.”
Annabelle huffed. “We’ll go hiking on only marked trails. In the morning. There won’t be hunters out.”
Logan shook his head. “One stray bullet…”
“I’m not going to stop visiting my trees because people suck,” Annabelle argued.
For the first time since she’d begun working at the Brookside Sheriff Department, Melissa understood why Magnus seemed obsessed with keeping the state park safe. It was the people of Brookside who were suffering. Annabelle couldn’t go for a run because she might get shot at. Logan must live in constant fear for her safety. It wasn’t as simple as handing out tickets for illegal hunting. The threat was real. People, good people, could be killed.
“Be careful,” Logan told Annabelle.
Annabelle grinned before turning to Melissa. “You in?”
“Yes!” Melissa said. Excitement built as she thought about navigating around her new home.
“Great. So, is there a man living in that big house with you?” Annabelle asked.
Melissa didn’t miss the way the question drew the attention of the entire table. She looked around. “Uh, no man right now,” she admitted.
“So, you left a poor broken-hearted guy back in LA?” Fabian questioned.
“Nothing like that,” Melissa said. She avoided looking at Magnus. Ever since she’d let the only man she’d ever loved slip through her fingers, Melissa hadn’t given any thought to her love life. It just didn’t seem important—she needed to make amends for what she’d done first.
“Don’t worry—we can gossip on Sunday,” Annabelle said. “Without all these men listening in.”
Melissa laughed. It felt good to have a friend again.
“There’s Trent!” Annabelle said. “Trent!” She waved.
Melissa glanced up and almost dropped her beer bottle. Oh, God! It can’t be. After years and years of searching, there was no way. But it was. He had the same swagger as he sauntered across the bar floor.
He looked up and their gazes locked. Trent froze.
She’d know those clear blue eyes anywhere.
“What’s the matter with him?” Annabelle asked. She rose, but Trent wasn’t looking at her. No, he hadn’t taken his eyes off Melissa.
Melissa stood. “Trent.”
In a flash, he’d turned on his heel and was storming through an open doorway, back further into the bar.
“What the—?” Annabelle said.
But Melissa didn’t stop to think about her actions or what the others thought. She rushed after Trent, not even pausing to look over her shoulder as Magnus called her name.
Melissa skidded around the corner and almost crashed into a big biker guy.
“Hey, there,” he said, grasping her upper arms to catch her from falling. “Slow down.”
She jerked out of his hold. “Sorry, sorry.” Melissa tried to go around him.
“I’m sorry, Miss, but customers can’t be back here,” he told her.
“Please.” Melissa looked up at the big guy. “I have to get to him.”
The man frowned. “Who?”
“Trent,” she answered. “I need to catch him before he takes off.”
“Trent.” He looked behind him. It appeared he was trying to decide whether he’d let her through.
“You don’t know me,” she said. “I understand. But I need to talk to him.”
“I don’t think that’s wise. Trent didn’t look like he wanted company.”
“He probably doesn’t.” Melissa blew the hair out of her face. “But I still need to talk to him.”
The man peered at her as if he could see the secrets she was trying to hide. Melissa was so desperate to catch up to Trent she didn’t care. “He went out of the back door. Just go through the kitchen. If he went into the forest, you won’t find him,” he said.
“I have to try,” she responded.
“My name’s Mac. Trent works for me. He’s also a friend.”
“Okay.”
“I don’t want to see him hurt.”
Melissa met the biker’s gaze. “I’m hoping to fix some of the hurt he’s already been given.”
With great reluctance, Mac stepped aside. “You better hurry.”
She didn’t waste time. Melissa high-tailed it down the hall and through the large kitchen. The woman cutting vegetables didn’t even look up at her.
“Please,” she whispered. Melissa banged open the back door and ran through. She skidded to a stop when she saw him.
Trent was pacing back and forth on the other side of a picnic table that separated them.
“No.” He shook his head. “No.”
“Trent.” She held up her hands. “I want to talk to you.”
“Why are you here?” he yelled. The pain lacing his voice hurt Melissa. “This is my place. My family! You’re not supposed to be here.”
“I’m sorry.” God, she was sorry. Melissa had gone over what she’d say to Trent if she ever saw him again, but all the words had left having to face him in reality. He seemed so much the same, but different.
Instead of the brilliant smile he’d always given her, his jaw was set and his lips pressed together. His light-brown hair was longer than she’d ever seen it. And his body… Dear God, he’d bulked up. In a pair of faded jeans and a tight black T-shirt, he looked fantastic.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded.
“I didn’t know you were here.” She stepped forward, but he shuffled back several feet. “I swear I didn’t know you were here.”
“And you just happened to show up where I live?” he asked. “I don’t fucking believe you.”
Melissa had picked up enough talk at the office to know The Den was not only a bar but housed several shifters from the area. The way Magnus and Logan often stopped talking when she walked into a room had made her suspicious that more was going on than she was aware of. Anytime The Den was mentioned, Magnus and Logan exchanged looks.
“Answer me!” he shouted.
“I didn’t know you were here,” Melissa said. “I joined the Brookside Sheriff Department a week ago. I was only having a beer with my co-workers when you walked in.”
“You’re the new deputy?” Trent went pale.
“I didn’t know!” Melissa would beg for him to believe her.
“You work for a town full of shifters,” Trent said. “Is this a fucking joke?”
“No.” Melissa tried again to get closer. Trent seemed so lost in thought he didn’t react this time. “I’ve changed.”
“You changed,” Trent barked.
“I—”
He pointed a finger at her. “Stay the fuck away from me.” Then he turned and stomped off into the forest.
Melissa thought about following him but knew that if Trent wasn’t ready to talk, there wasn’t anything she could do about it. But now she knew where he was. Melissa dropped down on the bench of the picnic table.
Trent. Here.
How in the hell had she gotten so lucky?
When he’d first taken off out of LA, Melissa had been relieved. God help her, but she had been glad the stress and drama from Adam’s murder would end. Since she’d first started dating Trent, she’d become fast friends with Adam. Her and Trent and Adam and his wife often double-dated.
She’d lost Adam the night he’d been killed, but she’d lost Trent as well.
Trent had gone nuts when the Medical Examiner had pronounced Adam dead on scene. It had taken eight officers to get Trent down and under control.
Later that night, when Trent had gone to her apartment looking for comfort, was when she’d made the biggest mistake of her life. The things she’d said to Trent still made her sick. It didn’t matter she’d been afraid, having received threats earlier that day. She’d turned her back on him when Trent had needed her the most.
What Melissa had done still haunted her.
She rose and, instead of going back into the bar, headed around the building. She couldn’t face anyone at the moment. These were Trent’s friends. No, he had called them his family. While she’d been trying to take on the entire LAPD, he’d been only hours away, hiding in Brookside.
Melissa couldn’t get over the pain she’d seen in Trent’s eyes the moment he’d spotted her.
Just seeing her again had hurt him.
She’d screwed up.
Her hand shook as she pulled her car keys from her pocket. All she could do was think of her next step. Melissa didn’t know if she should even remain in Brookside. Trent didn’t want her there.
But if she could explain?
Prove to Trent she wasn’t the same person who’d betrayed his love?
They might never get back together. Hell, for all she knew, Trent could be married by now. But, in order to sleep at night, she needed to at least say she was sorry, and when he was listening. Not being freaked out after seeing her again.
Melissa yanked open her car door.
She had no clue where to go from here.
* * * *
Trent walked for an hour before making his way back toward the bar. He spotted the tree Annabelle had climbed the night three hunters had been shooting at her. He dropped down on a fallen log and hung his head. That was as good a place as any to try to figure out what the hell was going on.
Melissa Bishop. In my town.
He felt as though he’d fallen down a rabbit hole. And damn, Melissa looks good. Just like he remembered, all the nights she came to him in his dreams.
“Oh, God.” He managed to choke back the sob trying to force its way out. He wouldn’t give her or anyone from his old life the satisfaction of ever breaking down again.
“I thought I might find you here.”
Trent jolted. He hadn’t heard Annabelle approach. No one ever snuck up on him. But with his mind on Melissa, he hadn’t been keeping track of his surroundings. That was dangerous. “What are you doing out here?” He was glad his voice was even.
“Checking on you,” she replied. “You have a lot of people worried.”
“I’m fine,” he snapped. Trent didn’t want anyone to worry about him. He wasn’t a victim. Trent wouldn’t ever be a victim again.
Instead of leaving like he hoped, she came around and peered down. He wanted to growl and demand she leave him alone, but he couldn’t. Not to Annabelle. She was like his little sister.
“Trent,” she said softly.
“I can’t,” he whispered. He couldn’t talk about Melissa right then. Not with her surprising arrival so fresh.
“You don’t have to.” Annabelle came forward before dropping down between his legs. She laid her head on his leg. “I just want to sit with you.”
Trent ran his fingers through Annabelle’s silky hair. She was the first person who’d ever seen him as anything more than some unhinged shifter. She also had never been afraid of him. Even though she was the size of a house cat in her shifted form, she still didn’t react negatively to his hyena.
Annabelle also didn’t know anything about his past. She knew he was an ex-cop, but not from here. Trent didn’t like to talk about Adam or what had happened with the LAPD and she hadn’t pressed. That meant the world to him.
“I didn’t think I’d ever see her again,” Trent murmured.
Annabelle didn’t reply.
“But fuck, she looked good, didn’t see?”
Still nothing.
Trent smiled. “I bet you’re dying to know what’s going on.”
She turned her cheek on his knee and looked up at him. “Don’t leave us.”
“What?” Trent frowned.
“If you run, I’ll never see you again.”
“You think I’ll take off on you?” he asked. Not that she was wrong. He’d been thinking that while he’d walked. He could be out of this town in an hour.
After he’d left LA, he’d traveled around quite a lot. The first year, he’d been unsettled and angry. It hadn’t mattered where he’d gone or how much trouble he found. Trent couldn’t let go of the injustice of Adam’s killing and cover-up.
He’d been headed back to LA to take out every single officer who’d refused to come to Adam’s aid that night. A stop for a drink at The Den had changed his life. Mac had seen the pain Trent had been in. When Mac wanted to make someone part of his family, it was almost impossible to resist.
A bed for the night had turned into another, then another.
When Trent had been ready to walk out of the door, a case had come in. Trent hadn’t had any idea about the underground network Mac ran from the bar. But seeing the young teenage boy shaking in fear from the humans who had been threatening him had stopped Trent in his tracks.
He’d had a decision to make. Go forward with his plan on revenge or help someone who needed him. Trent had chosen to stay with Mac. He’d been there ever since.
Now he was considering leaving his home because of a woman.
A woman he’d once thought he’d spend the rest of his life with once.
Annabelle had her eyes closed, but he knew she wasn’t asleep. If he even so much as twitched, she’d respond. “Did you love her?” she asked.
“Yes.” He didn’t have it in him to deny what Melissa had meant to him.
“But she hurt you?”
“Yes,” he said again.
“Then I hate her.”
Trent chuckled. “I don’t want you to hate her.”
“Too late.”
“She’s not a bad person,” Trent said. “And it was a long time ago.”
“Doesn’t matter. I hate her and will never talk to her again.”
Trent pulled on a strand of her hair. She was a brat and he loved her for it.
“No one gets to hurt you,” Annabelle declared. She opened her eyes. “I saw your face when you spotted her.”
“I wasn’t expecting it,” Trent confessed. “I never thought I’d see her again.”
“But she works here now. With Magnus. Logan says she’s dedicated to helping with the hunting issues,” Annabelle said.
Trent snorted. Melissa helping shifters? Melissa despises shifters.
“Do you think she followed you here?” Annabelle asked. “I’ll have Magnus arrest her. Or Logan. He’ll put her in federal custody.”
He had to smile. Annabelle would be a pain in the ass to Magnus or Logan if they didn’t do what she wanted. “They have no reason to arrest her.”
“They could make one up.”
“She works for Magnus. I don’t think he’d lock up his own deputy because you told him to.”
“Then he’ll fire her, make her go away.”
No one defended him like Annabelle. He wished she’d been in LA. Or no, he didn’t. Annabelle belonged in Brookside, safe and protected. “I don’t want her fired.” Or at least not until he did some recon for himself. “And I don’t want you to hate her, so be nice.”
She blew out a breath. “Fine.”
“I bet you know where she lives, though,” he said.
Annabelle beamed. “Can I go with you?”
“No.”
“Oh, come on!” Annabelle whined. “I want to see, too.”
“Not this time,” he told her.
Annabelle huffed. “She’s renting the Windham place.”
Well, shit. Melissa was less than a fifteen-minute walk from him. “Okay.” He motioned for her to move.
“You promise you’re coming back?” she asked.
“Yes.” Trent helped her to her feet. “I promise.”
“If you don’t, I’ll have Magnus or Logan arrest you,” she threatened.
“Okay.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be back later. Tell everyone else I’m fine.”
“And to leave you alone?” she asked.
Trent nudged her toward the bar. “You better get back before Logan starts to worry.”
She dragged her feet but started forward. “One more question.”
“Just one,” he said.
“Why did you come here?” She pointed toward the tree.
“To remind me why I’m still here in town.”
“Okay.” Annabelle walked away and Logan watched until she was out of sight. Yeah, she was the sister he’d never had. It would be hard to leave her. But if Melissa was there to stay, how could he?
Trent pulled off his clothes and wedged them under the log. He set his boots on top to hold them down. Then he crouched, so he could call forth his hyena form.
The transformation was instant.
One minute, he had toes and fingers, and the next, his body was covered in fur.
As a spotted hyena, Trent had often been mistaken for a dog in the past. But around these parts, with other shifters, most knew what he was. He had never gotten respect growing up because of what he could shift into. Here in Brookside, for the first time, he could transform without the worry of being attacked.
He didn’t shift often, still not comfortable after years of being bullied, but every once in a while, he let his hyena free.
Trent knew where the house Melissa was staying was located.
He trotted along, not following the path. He knew a shortcut that would take him to the back fence of the Windham house. It felt good to stretch his legs and put on some speed. He didn’t get the same thrill as Annabelle did from running in this forest, but he still enjoyed it. Trent’s favorite part of letting his hyena free was the solace he found in the quiet trees surrounding him, as though the branches and trees protected him.
Trent slowed as he reached the first house in the neighborhood. Melissa’s place was four houses down the street, or alley, like he was strolling down. It was still early enough in the night that there was a chance he’d run into someone. Mitzi Phelps lived next to Melissa. Mitzi had been one of Trent’s one-night stands. On the other side of the street was the Johnson family. Their oldest had been visiting last Christmas and Trent had spent an evening keeping her warm.
The interactions he’d had with the women in the area might be an issue, at least for Melissa. Trent didn’t have any regrets. She’d been the one who’d left him, after all.
Trent liked this part of town.
The houses were two stories and well taken care of, the yards big with plenty of room for kids or shifters to play in. There was also a good deal of space between the residences, so even with shifter hearing, there should be privacy allocated to the home owners.
Trent slowed, passing Mitzi’s house until he was right at the edge of Melissa’s property. He stopped before lying on his stomach. Melissa sat on the back steps with a glass of wine. She wiped her face with the back of her hand. She was crying.
An ache grew in his chest.
Even after how they’d ended things, he didn’t want her upset. He thought he’d at least have fallen out of love with her, Melissa’s betrayal had cut so deep. But watching her, Trent had to wonder if his feelings would ever go away.
She was still so beautiful. Melissa used to wear her dark-brown hair pulled back most of the time. It was only at night, when they were wrapped in each other’s arms that he could play with her long strands. Now, she sported a cute short bob.
Melissa’s hair had been down the night everything had fallen apart, when he’d gone to her apartment with Adam’s blood still coating his clothes. He could still see her fresh from the shower wearing a robe and her hair still wet.
“What are you doing here, Trent?” Melissa had asked.
“I needed to make sure you’re okay.” Trent had tried to take her in his arms, but Melissa had side-stepped out of the way.
“You shouldn’t be here,” Melissa had stated.
“Adam…”
“I know about Adam,” she’d said. Tears had gathered in her eyes. “Everyone knows about Adam.”
“They let him die,” Trent had yelled.
“Did they?” she’d shouted. “Or did you?”
He’d felt like he’d been slapped. “What?”
“You knew how everyone felt,” she’d screamed. “And you still let him be your partner. You did this!”
“No!” he’d howled. She couldn’t think that about him. Melissa wasn’t like all the others. “I loved Adam like a brother.”
“Well, now your brother’s dead!”
He’d staggered. He couldn’t have been more surprised if he’d been shot. A year and a half. They’d been together for a year and a half. In all that time, it had only been in the last three months that anyone had known he was a shifter. Trent had been one of the first to come out to the LAPD as being a shifter. He’d figured with the public support, the men and women he’d worked with would accept him.
And his naivety had cost his best friend his life.
Now, not only was Adam gone, but Melissa had looked at him with hate in her eyes. Trent barely managed to keep a howl of rage from escaping. He shook his head to clear away the memory. He’d left Melissa’s apartment and she hadn’t tried to stop him. Out of everything he’d lost that night, Melissa’s face as she’d screamed Adam’s death was his fault had stuck with him.
He backed away. He needed to return to his family. There was a lot of thinking he had to do. This time Trent raced from Melissa, but he wasn’t letting the despair and anger lead him. No, he had people who cared about him. They might be shifters, monsters to the LAPD, but they were his family. He fit with them.
Trent made it back to the log in record time. He skidded to a stop in front of Mac, who held his clothes.
“That didn’t take long,” Mac said.
Trent shook his entire body.
“Annabelle told me where you were going. She also said you wanted to be left alone.”
Trent began his transformation. It wasn’t like he could respond to Mac as an animal. “This is you giving me space?”
“No, this is me checking to make sure you come back.”
“I promised Annabelle I would,” Trent snapped.
“And I know you wouldn’t break your word to her,” Mac said. “It doesn’t mean I don’t worry, about both of you. Annabelle needs to be able to trust your word. If you hadn’t been able to keep that promise, I needed to know so I could protect her and make her understand you weren’t abandoning her.”
“Doesn’t it get tiresome always watching over us?” Trent asked. He’d often wondered but had never dared question Mac. He needed Mac to push him and be his friend.
“No, it’s what I need to do.”
Well, that makes sense. Mac’s need to control the environment his family was in stemmed from the death of his sister.
“Do you want to talk about it?” Mac offered.
“And say what? The woman I wanted to marry and who blames me for my best friend’s death just showed up in town and I’m okay with it? Because I’m not.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to be.”
Trent grabbed his clothes from Mac and pulled them on. He sat on the log to get his boots on but stopped and sighed. “I thought I was done with that part of my life.”
“I know you did,” Mac said.
“It’s not fair.”
“No, but life is rarely fair. We both know that,” Mac replied. “Magnus had no idea. He knew she was from LAPD, but not that you were.”
“I know,” Trent said. “It’s not his fault.”
“So, what are you going to do?”
Trent peered around the forest. Could he find another home like this one? He doubted it. He sighed. “I have no idea. No fucking clue.”