“What in the hell is going on here?” Daisy said as she pulled to a stop in the driveway.
“It looks like Calder has some people over,” Gerri smiled as she took in the scene. Several people mulled around with plates in their hands. Others with drinks. Kids laughed as they chased each other back and forth across the lawn.
“A few people over! Ha! It looks like the whole freaking pack is here,” Daisy laughed. “Leave it to Calder to pull this together at a moment’s notice.”
“I love a man filled with spontaneity. They tend to make life so much more interesting,” Gerri said with a mischievous grin.
“You’re right, they do!” Daisy agreed with her friend. “My life has been far more interesting since meeting Calder, and I owe it all to you.”
“It was my pleasure, dear. Trust me. I know when two souls are meant to be together. It’s what I do. Guiding two people together is what I’ve always done. It just drives me freaking insane when someone tries to fight their fate.”
Gerri glanced back at Bailey, who appeared to be lost in thought, just like Gerri had hoped she would be. By the look on Bailey’s face, Gerri surmised her friend was thinking about the hottie she’d bumped into in town. “That’s right, sweetie. You just keep your mind on that hottie!” Gerri thought to herself, knowing damn well where the girl’s mind had wandered off to.
“Are you still with us back there?” Gerri asked the distracted Bailey.
“Yeah. Sorry. I’m—I mean, I wish I didn’t look like a total freaking disaster.” Bailey really didn’t want to step out of the SUV caked in mud, looking like a circus sideshow act. She had enough problems with self-esteem as it was. Being around an entire pack of skinny-ass wolf bitches wasn’t going to help one single bit.
Daisy turned to look at Bailey. “Well, let’s get you in and cleaned up then you can meet everyone.”
“Great!” Bailey tried and failed miserably at keeping the sarcasm out of her voice. Her bear, on the other hand, was delighted at the prospect of meeting other shifters, even if they weren’t her own species.
Bailey trudged directly to the house, trying to avoid being seen by the growing crowd. She bee-lined it straight for the shower, knowing nothing would feel quite as good as standing under a steaming stream of hot water. Chilled to the bone, Bailey practically raced to strip out of her mud-caked clothes.
“You wouldn’t have had to stay in those soaked clothes if you would have let me take control for once. I could have gotten us back here just as easily,” Bailey’s bear complained.
“I’m sure you could have, but I’m a little leery about shifting in front of all these wolves. Gerri and Daisy seem to be cool with us, but I don’t know how the others will react. You know just as well as I do how some wolves act around bears. Like we’re gonna eat their scrawny asses or something.”
“Blech! I prefer a nice fat salmon over a mangy mutt any day.”
Bailey could just picture her bear turning up her nose in disgust at the thought of eating a wolf.
“I like it here,” her animal whispered.
“As far as small towns go, it’s not terrible. But don’t get used to it. We’re going home on Sunday! We need to get back to our life.”
“What life? Working in a cubicle all day? Never seeing the stars at night, or gagging on exhaust fumes from all the city traffic? Oh, I know. All the freaking noise.”
Bailey chewed on her bottom lip as the hot water continued to splash over her. She knew her bear hated the city, but she liked it… or, at least, she thought she did.
Her bear left her to her thoughts after their brief conversation, allowing her to concentrate on making sure she was squeaky clean and mud free.
Bailey’s mind wandered back to her encounter with Gavin. Sensing her thoughts about the hunky stranger roused her bear once again. Maybe it was the sheer size of the man that triggered her beast’s interest. Maybe it was his good looks? Who knew? But either way, for once, Bailey and her bear were finally on the same page when it came to the hotness of the human in question.
Bailey had no idea where the naughty thoughts flying through her mind had come from, but she decided to go with it. It had been a long… long time since any male had sparked her interest, and this one had her full attention.
Blissful heat pooled in her belly as she thought about being in Gavin’s arms. Good Goddess, her body wanted that man. She licked her lips, imagining what it would be like to kiss those plump lips of his. Would he taste as good as he looked? Mmmm—she desperately wanted to find out.
***
Gavin sat back on his heels, high on a bluff above the lake, watching the three black bears make complete and total asses of themselves. They were young, and apparently pretty fucking stupid. He could see why Calder wanted them out of the area.
His blood boiled as he watched the young bears kill needlessly. Slaughtering any wildlife they could catch, leaving countless corpses strewn across the small valley. If they stayed for any length of time, they’d decimate not only the wildlife in the immediate area, but the vegetation as well.
A low, deep, rumbling growl was the only warning he gave the younger bears before shifting and charging them. Gavin had seen enough to know those bears needed to go and find their own territory far away from any civilized social animals.
The trio of bears gained points for bravery and lost even more for stupidity. Though he was outnumbered three to one, Gavin knew the young bears would be no match for him, even on his worst day.
More than double his opponent’s size, Gavin knew he could easily kill each of the idiots with nothing more than a single backhand. Lord knows he wanted to teach them a lesson. A lesson they’d never forget, but killing them wasn’t the answer. Somewhere along the way he had developed a conscience.
Gavin shifted to his human form and demanded they do the same. Out of their bear form, each of the men looked no older than nineteen or twenty human years. Clearly old enough that they should know better, especially when it came to respecting the environment around them.
“I don’t know what the hell you think you’re doing here, but it needs to stop.”
“What the fuck do you care? It’s our land. We’ll do what we want, when we want,” the largest of the three punks in the little group spoke up, acting like a hard ass who had something to prove.
“Look here, you little shit. You know just as well as I do this is not your land. This land belongs to the Twisted Tail Pack.” It took Gavin every ounce of willpower he possessed not to rip the little fuck’s throat out. Sucking in a deep breath, then another, Gavin willed himself to calm the fuck down. He’d promised Calder that he’d try to use his best diplomatic approach when it came to dealing with the bears. Ending their lives on the spot would break that promise. Something Gavin really didn’t want to do.
“Why the fuck do you care? Are you fucking one of those hot-ass wolf bitches, or what?”
“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, I’m not. I’ve sat here and watched the three of you destroy everything you touched for the last hour and I’ve had enough. You need to move along before you find yourselves in a world of trouble with the pack. I came here to warn you off before the pack attacks.”
“You think we’re afraid of the scrawny flee bags we’ve seen running around in the area?”
“You’ve not seen a tenth of the pack or their capabilities. Y’all are dumber than you look if you’re not concerned about getting your asses handed to you.” Gavin laughed at their idiocy. “Look, I’ll say it once. Be gone by sunset or there will be hell to pay.”
Gavin watched as the three men huddled together, discussing their options before quickly breaking apart again. “Fine. Who needs this dump anyway?”
“Smart decision.”