Chapter Seven
“I still don’t get why I wasn’t invited to dinner,” Cruz grumbled the next morning.
Hunter stirred his oatmeal without saying a word. It was seven a.m. — a ridiculously early hour for a bear shifter to be up, and yet, for the first time in weeks, he felt ready to face a new day. Optimistic, almost. Which was dangerous — he shouldn’t get his hopes up about Dawn.
“You weren’t invited because you’d scare our guests,” Kai told Cruz.
Hunter had the feeling nothing could scare Lily. And though he knew Dawn didn’t scare easily, she would have been that much more tense if yet another shifter had been around.
Keiki, the calico kitten, had jumped up onto the table, and he gently pushed her to the side. She made a beeline for Cruz, who scooped her up and nuzzled her with his chin.
“At least someone appreciates me,” he muttered.
Hunter hid a grin. Cruz was nowhere near as hard and cold as he pretended to be.
“I wasn’t invited either,” Silas growled over his coffee.
Tessa snorted. “Because you’re scary, Silas, all right? We wanted to make a good impression on Dawn. I mean — on our guests.”
Hunter took a sip of coffee. So it had been a setup.
“I am not scary,” Silas insisted. His eyes glowed red, and his face drew into a deep scowl.
Tessa rolled her eyes. “Sure. Not scary. Just a little intense.”
Nina poured him a coffee, and Silas sighed. He snapped the newspaper open and turned his ire on the politics and natural disasters of the world. A minute later, he just about spat out his coffee. “Look at this.”
Hunter leaned closer, as did the others, following Silas’s finger to an article on the back page.
Cruz snorted at the picture of Regina Vanderpelt. “We know the little brat is getting married.”
Silas pointed to the sidebar of the piece. “No, this part.” He started reading from the sidebar. “A security detail will accompany the delivery of Miss Vanderpelt’s diamond wedding ring at an undisclosed time…”
“Look at the size of that thing,” Tessa murmured.
“Thirty carats, with a value of…” Kai trailed off with a whistle.
Hunter narrowed his eyes on the grainy photo of Regina modeling the ring at a fancy New York jeweler’s. “Is it just an ordinary diamond or…”
“That’s the question,” Silas said. “What if it’s a Spirit Stone?”
Everyone went silent except Keiki, who purred in Cruz’s arms.
“Could be any diamond.” Hunter kept his voice even, but his fingers tightened around his spoon.
Most humans were unaware of the existence of Spirit Stones, but shifters — especially dragons — coveted the jewels for their supernatural powers. Another one of the stones showing up on Maui was trouble, guaranteed.
Silas looked from Tessa to Nina. “We know the stones call to each other, and now that two have awakened…”
Tessa had arrived on Maui a few months ago and inadvertently set off a battle for an emerald known as the Lifestone. Then Nina had nearly been killed when shifter mercenaries attempted to kidnap her — along with the Firestone she’d inherited.
Hunter put his spoon down. Shit, all he needed was a few dragons to swoop down over Maui in search of a Spirit Stone. That would scare Dawn off for good.
“Which of the Spirit Stones is the diamond?” Tessa asked.
“The Windstone,” Silas murmured into the depths of his mug.
“We can’t be sure it’s a Spirit Stone,” Kai tried.
“No, we can’t,” Silas agreed. He pointed at Hunter then at Cruz. “But you two are going to keep your eyes open and tell me the second you can confirm if that diamond is anything other than a fancy stone. You, too, Kai.”
Cruz groaned. “I have a better idea. You go deal with Regina and her entourage. Keiki and I will hold down the fort here.”
Silas shook his head and stood quickly. “I need to get in touch with some contacts and find out more about that diamond.”
“I’ll watch Keiki,” Tessa offered.
“Great. Thanks.” Cruz scowled until he caught Kai’s growl. A growl of warning that said, You watch how you talk to my mate.
Cruz sighed and handed the kitten to Tessa. “Sorry. Here. I mean, thanks.”
Cruz muttered all the way to the resort, though Hunter barely noticed. His mind was on Dawn and the complication the diamond posed. Danger seemed to accompany those Spirit Stones wherever they appeared.
His hands were tight around the wheel, his brow heavy with concern. The security guards at the gate skittered out of the way and hastily waved him through. But the second he parked the Jeep at the resort and spotted Dawn, his mind went blissfully blank. Her silky black hair hung over the white shirt of her police uniform, and her barely concealed curves teased him.
Mate, his bear hummed happily. There’s our mate.
“Good morning,” he managed once he regained enough motor control to lumber over her way.
Two plain, ordinary words when what he really wanted to do was run over, hug her, and spin around a few times. His heart leaped every time he saw Dawn, and his world brightened the way some people felt when they first stepped foot on Maui — breathing the fragrant air, tipping their chins up to the sun, smiling from the beauty of it all. Today more than ever because maybe, just maybe, she’d slowly come around. She’d kissed him the previous night, and his inner bear was still giddy about it.
She loves me! She loves me!
“Morning,” Dawn replied, cool as a cucumber except for the tiny quiver in her lip.
His mouth moved, too, because there was so much more he wanted to say. To ask. To explain. But he forced himself to take a deep breath and get back to work without further ado. One kiss might not mean that much to her, even if it meant the world to him.
“Beautiful day,” she murmured, walking at his side.
It is now that you’re here, he wanted to say.
No staring at her, no matter how beautiful she is, he ordered his bear. No growling at other men. No bared teeth.
In other words, pretend I don’t exist? his bear mourned.
All the ghosts of his past reared up at once, moaning and rattling their chains. As a child, he’d been told to bury his inner bear and never, ever let the beast free. It had taken years to work himself free of those scars. Now, he was right back where he’d started — denying his bear side.
And God, did that feeling cut to the bone. But even so, his bear suffered in silence. She was worth it.
“Beautiful day,” he murmured.
“I wanted to go over the arrangements for—” Dawn started when a screech sounded in the distance.
Everyone winced and turned their heads.
“Coming, Regina,” Veronica, the personal assistant, said, hurrying out the front door of the hotel.
“Ah, the bride is up and raring to go,” Dawn muttered.
Cruz shook his head and shot Hunter a private remark. I can’t believe Silas forced me to come back here. Don’t you think he’s grasping at straws?
Hard to tell. Hunter sniffed the air, searching for trouble or the faint scent of shifter he’d caught the day before. But the dewy morning air didn’t reveal much, so he followed Dawn into the room set up as security headquarters.
“Why, hello, honey,” the asshole at the door purred at Dawn. A towering, barrel-chested guy — the type who’d served a year or two in the Marines then spent the next thirty years hiring out to security firms. His eyes roved over Dawn.
A good thing Cruz was there to keep Hunter from flinging that asshole against the nearest wall. Instead, he growled, and the man shrank back.
Dawn’s eyes flashed at both of them. Call me Officer Meli, they blazed at the asshole, and I can handle this myself to Hunter.
“I beg your pardon?” she demanded, not the least fazed.
“I mean, good morning, Officer.”
Dawn sniffed and walked on while Hunter pinned the man with a killer glare. Check out her ass, and I will teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.
The man cleared his throat, hastily tidied some papers, and rapped his knuckles on the table. “All right, people. Settle down.” He thumped a big hand on his own chest, introducing himself. “Ken Thomas of Armor Security.”
Hunter heaved an inner sigh. It figured this guy would be head of security.
Cruz rolled his eyes. We have to work with this arrogant ass?
Hunter shrugged. No problem. We’ll do the usual.
Cruz grinned back. The usual meant quickly establishing alpha superiority and then doing their jobs as they saw fit. Any fool could call himself the head of security. Hunter and Cruz were the warriors who got the job done.
The morning briefing covered all the usual things — ID checks at the main entrances, patrols of the fenced grounds, and details of possible weak points.
“The weather report forecasts a massive swell set to hit Maui in a few days,” the head of security said.
“God, no,” someone groaned. “We’ll never hear the end of it if the little bitch — I mean, Miss Vanderpelt — doesn’t get the sunny beach wedding of her dreams.”
“You mean no one passed her orders on to Mother Nature?” another man cracked.
Hunter glanced out the window to the bustling resort grounds, sensing a different kind of storm building.
Ken Thomas went on with his brief. “The storm won’t reach us, but the swell might. And if it does, that complicates things.”
“Complicates, how?” someone asked.
“Thirty-foot waves kind of complicated,” he replied. “But that’s more a matter for the wedding planners than security. On the plus side, surf like that will help keep anyone from trying to sneak in from the beach side. Our main concern is the press. The reporters are already all over this event, and they’ll do anything to get pictures of this circus.”
Hunter winced at the thought of exploding flashes and shouted questions. A damn good thing he wasn’t a celebrity.
“There’s also the possibility of sabotage,” the security chief went on. “The Vanderpelt oil business has created its share of enemies.”
Hunter wrinkled his nose, wondering if the Vanderpelts had a hand in the Alaskan pipeline that had forced him from home. His mother had steadfastly refused to give in to pressure to sell, and one day, a gang had torched his home. She’d died defending it — and defending Hunter, who’d been too young to fight. He closed his eyes and clenched his fists, reminding himself it was all so long ago.
“What about the diamond?” Dawn asked.
Hunter’s eyes snapped open. Dawn knew about the diamond?
When she caught his surprised look, she rolled her eyes, and he cursed himself. Of course, Dawn knew. The diamond had been in the news, and the police would have been informed, too.
“We will be briefing everyone about delivery arrangements when the time comes,” Ken Thomas said.
“This wedding is already putting a strain on police resources. Refusing to inform us of the delivery date makes it difficult to provide the level of protection required,” she said, staring down the head of security, a man twice her size.
“We will be briefing everyone at the appropriate time,” he repeated in a monotone.
Dawn ground her teeth, and Hunter did his best to glare at the man without bristling too obviously. Dawn could hold her own, and he had to respect that. But shit, it was hard when all he wanted to do was stalk over to the bastard and shake him until his silver fillings came loose.
A phone rang, giving the asshole an easy out. He snapped his fingers. “To work, everybody.”
Hunter filed out the door with everyone else, jostling shoulders with Cruz until they parted ways on the porch. Cruz veered off to the left to check the perimeter of the huge property — a task that suited the reclusive tiger perfectly. Hunter, meanwhile, covered the main grounds.
“What do you think?” Dawn asked, looking over the beehive of activity on the lawn.
His bear sighed. I think I can’t live without you.
He forced his mind into work mode and waved at the truck grinding down the delivery road. “It’s damn near impossible to check every supplier in an event of this size. There are too many cracks to guarantee no one slips through.”
She nodded. “And too little information. Too little planning ahead. I don’t like it one bit. Like the diamond ring. The secrecy around it is ridiculous. I have to wonder how the woman is ever going to wear the thing if it’s so damn valuable.”
Hunter frowned. If only Dawn knew how valuable that diamond might be. More valuable than any human might suspect. And, shit. Wasn’t that important information for the police liaison to have? He scuffed the ground. God, did he feel low and dirty, keeping secrets from Dawn.
He was about to murmur some response when the breeze carried a new scent to him, and his head snapped to the right. The scent of shifter — a shifter he didn’t know.
He sniffed deeply then caught himself. If Dawn caught him acting like a wild animal, she’d flip.
“Sorry, I have to check on the construction crew over there,” he said, turning away so she couldn’t see his nostrils flaring on the wind.
“I have to oversee the main entrance,” she sighed.
When she stepped away, Hunter felt pulled in two directions. His heart wanted to follow Dawn, but his nose ordered him to explore that unknown scent. So he forced himself away from her and set off, following his nose.
That was a shifter, for sure, and it was nearby. A canine of some kind, but not a wolf. A fox? He stared at one face after another as caterers, construction workers, and florists hustled around, all intent on their work. Then he followed his keen nose to the raised platform where a crew was setting up speakers and wires for a band. He ticked one human after another off his mental list until his eyes narrowed on a stooped man who cracked a joke and cackled loudly. That was him — the shifter. The intruder. Hunter’s claws pressed against his fingernails, eager to burst out.
The man froze and turned slowly then locked eyes with Hunter. His mouth tightened, and his eyes hit the ground in a sign of submission. A moment later, he faked a casual smile. “Heya.”
Heya, my ass, Hunter wanted to say. He jerked his head to the side, ordering the shifter to step toward the trees where they would be out of earshot of the humans. Hunter followed, cracking his knuckles, trying to place the scent. Stooped shoulders. Cackling laugh. A strangely elongated neck. What the hell kind of shifter was that?
It hit him a moment later. Hyena. What the hell was a hyena doing on Maui?
He resisted the urge to throw the smaller man against a tree trunk, crossing his arms instead. “Show me your ID. Now.”
The man grinned and held out a photo ID that said Rupert Hayes. “Hey, man. Don’t get all worked up.”
Hunter glowered. Maui was his turf. He’d get worked up if he wanted, especially with a wheedling hyena like this.
“What are you doing here?”
“I’m with the band, man. Just trying to earn an honest living, like you.” The word honest slid off his tongue far too smoothly.
Hunter sniffed for the telltale hint of a lie, but the hyena was good at masking his emotions.
“Listen,” the hyena said. “I swear, I’m not here to make trouble. You can check me out with the company.”
Hunter fully intended to, but he still wasn’t satisfied. On the other hand, he couldn’t exactly toss a man off the premises with no firm grounds.
“I will,” he growled. “And I’ll be watching you.”
The man shrank back when Hunter squared his shoulders. Then he rattled out another cackling laugh and sidestepped, making his way back to work. “It’s always good to be vigilant, but believe me, I’m just here to work. And then I’ll be on my way to the next job, and the next. You know how it goes.” He scurried away.
Hunter growled, watching the man go until a shrill voice made him wince.
“That’s all wrong!” Regina cried.
Hunter turned to see the bride gesturing at the ice sculpture. The gesture nearly launched the pink straw and tiny umbrella out of her coconut shell cocktail glass.
“You want a what?” The sculptor blanched.
Hunter ignored them, turning back to the hyena. But the crafty creature had already slipped out of sight. Hunter scanned the foliage, then the crowd.
“You heard me.” Regina stamped her foot at the sculptor, and Hunter swore the ground shook a little bit. “I want a swan. To match the cake. Wait — did we get the cake fixed?” She turned to Veronica.
Hunter caught a glimpse of the hyena shifter disappearing into an equipment truck. Whoever that shifter was, Hunter would keep his eye on the beast.
“The last change to the cake was back to bride and groom figures,” Veronica said as Hunter edged by.
Regina turned red. “No! Not a bride and groom. I want a swan! And the ice sculpture has to match.”
Veronica tapped into her device. “No problem.”
The sculptor’s look said, Big problem, but he kept his lips sealed.
Luckily, that wasn’t an issue Hunter had to resolve. And anyway, he had enough on his hands. He sighed and counted the mounting issues. A diamond that might or might not be a Spirit Stone. A woman he couldn’t get his mind off. An unknown shifter who might or might not be plotting something.
And if so, what?
Hunter shook his head. Wherever this Rupert guy came from, he was a complication Hunter really didn’t need.