Claiming Her (Keeping Her Series) (3 page)

Becca spoke, her eyes
on Isabella.  “So, he arrived on the island and carried you off to your cabin
and had his way with you within a few hours? You met up, found a bed and did
the deed?  You?  That quickly?  Did you miss something when you briefed us on
your knowledge of Lucas Gibbs?”

Isabella snorted, and
looked at her friend and alpha.  “Excuse me?  How long did you say you were on
the island before you and Jacob did the nasty on the floor of . . .?”

Becca held up a hand,
interrupting her.  “Touché, my friend, Touché.”

Both Jacob and Jax
laughed, Jacob giving his mate a sexy wink at the same time.  Then Jax sidled a
little farther over her desk, getting in her space as usual.  “So, all this
time I thought maybe you were into pussy because you kept turning me down. 
Turns out . . . I was right.”

Exasperated, Isabella
raised her hand and pushed him back.  “It could just be that I find you vulgar
and unattractive.  Did you consider that?”

Jax leaned into her
hands. “Me?”  His smile turned wicked.  “Not possible.”

“Oh, please.”

“Begging – I like it.”

Unfortunately, because
the universe was set on raining trouble down on her head as usual, a deep
familiar
pissed
voice from the doorway interrupted her before she could
order Jax gone.

“You know that moment
in a man’s life when he is close to a painful fucked up death and has one
chance to make the right choice?” Lucas growled this oh so subtle statement
from the doorway, his gold lion eyes all for Jax.  And everyone in the room
could feel the angry lion vibes saturate the room.  “This is that moment for
you, puppy.”

Jax looked at the
doorway and then away fast, lest the furious lion in the room see it as a
challenge.  He cleared his throat.  “Bye . . .,” very carefully moving away
from Isabella’s desk and clear to the other side of the room.  “Bye Isabella,
who I have never touched.
In my life
.”

Isabella clunked her
head back to her desk.  At least she could be grateful Lucas had found his
clothes before coming after her.  Though Lucas Gibbs in faded jeans and a tight
navy blue t-shirt with no shoes was still smoking hot, and freakin’ scary. 
Naked would have just been embarrassing.

Becca must have walked
over to her while her head was down, because the next second she was bending
over Isabella and patting her back.  “I completely get it now,” she whispered, “No
need to explain further.”

And Lord knows this
situation is embarrassing enough with everybody dressed.

“Miley,” Lucas’ voice
was deeper still, he looked at her ignoring every other body in the room, “a word.”

She looked up to see
him prowling closer, only to have Jacob step between him and her desk.  Becca
was at her back with her hand on her shoulder.  Isabella recognized they were
willing to take on the crazy lion for her and it made her love her friends even
more than she did already.  Of course, she couldn’t let them do that.  Jacob
was ripped and stood over six feet tall, plus she had seen him move, the man
was fast, but standing next to Lucas Gibbs, he looked downright minuscule.  And
let’s face it; with the SEAL training Lucas had, Jacob would be roadkill fast. 
No way would it be a fair fight, and she didn’t want Lucas hurt any more than
Jacob.  “It’s alright guys.  I’ll talk to him.  He won’t hurt me.”

“Maybe so,” Jacob said,
“but there is such a thing as good manners, and Griffin is gonna want a word
before he allows a visiting alpha to roam around our island.”

Lucas finally looked
away from Isabella, who held her breath while he focused those cat eyes on Jacob. 
She watched as he seemed to get a hold of himself and his eyes bled to cerulean
blue. 

“Of course.”  He moved
away from the door, controlling himself with an effort.  Sweeping his hand
before him, he gestured, “Lead the way.”  Then he turned and speared Isabella
with his eyes.  “I have a few things to discuss with your alpha as well, Enforcer.”

Of course Lucas knew
who Jacob was; he always knew everything about a situation before any of his
men arrived at a job.  He waited while Jacob kissed a distracted Becca, and
then with one last warning, glared at Jax, who Isabella noticed was doing his best
impression of wallpaper, as Lucas followed Jacob out the door.

Isabella sighed a
breath of relief, and dropped her chin down to rest on her hand, her elbow
braced on her desk.  Becca patted her back again, “And I thought three alpha
wolves were a handful.”

“You have no idea.”

“I see that.”

“What the hell was
that?” Jax asked, making sure to keep his distance across the room.  “And why
did he call you Miley?”

“From the way he was
looking at our Isabella,” Becca said.  “I would say that’s her mate.  And you,
my friend, better lay off the flirting.”

Isabella was grateful
Becca did not share with Jax that Miley was her real name.  She had come clean
with the alpha and her mates when she had heard Lucas Gibbs was coming to the island,
but it was not something she wanted to be common knowledge.  She still had
secrets to keep, even if she knew Lucas Gibbs enough to know he was going to do
his best to lay bare all of them.

“No shit,” Jax said
succinctly.  He turned to Isabella, “No offense, Izzy B, you’re hot and all,
but if you could stay far away from me that would be excellent.”  He was
already heading for the door and taking the long way around at that.  “I’m just
too damn pretty to be mauled by a jealous lion.”

Isabella narrowed her
eyes at the jerk as he peeked out to make sure the coast was clear.

“Who’s the pussy now?!”
she yelled after him just as he was making his escape.  Becca started to laugh
and the door closed with a heavy thunk.

***

Lucas did not like
surprises; he especially did not like surprises when he woke up after claiming
his mate to find she had slipped through his fingers, and he had no idea how
the little minx had managed it.  He was exhausted from days of wondering and
worrying about Miley, but still.  He could see from the bathroom that she had
even showered and changed before leaving, so not exactly a stealthy escape. 

However, Miley had done
it, she had left her bed, still warm, with him in it. Without a good-bye or
even a note of explanation, it reeked of a coyote ugly morning escape and he
did not care for it.  At all.   Especially when he had slept through it like a
fucking full human on a bender.

As soon as he had
ascertained she had indeed given him the slip, he roared his displeasure and
went after her.  By the time he stopped where he hid his clothes, and then
sniffed her out, he was ready to give her the benefit of the doubt.  Maybe she wasn’t
running away from him.  Maybe she just wanted to get to work.  She’d always
been a very conscientious employee.  Of course, he hated with a fiery passion
that her loyalties were claimed elsewhere, but he probably had no right to
complain.  He had fired her. 

Lucas followed her
scent through the luxury resort, doing his best not to growl at every wolf he
passed until he found her.  Seeing that flirty dog leaning over her had sent
him right into a killing rage, the likes of which he had rarely felt.

Now he was in a
position of owing an explanation to the alpha wolf of the island, who was, essentially,
a client that deserved his respect.  But really, all he wanted to do was go
back to Miley and take her ass up over her desk until she agreed wholeheartedly
to do what he said and stay where he put her.  

Is that asking too
much?

Leaving his mate behind
to follow the young enforcer, Lucas was not in the best of moods when he preceded
him into the main office.  Nor was he willing to play dominance games if that
was what the wolves had in mind. 

Griffin Hale was a big
man.  Even sitting behind a massive desk in a large office, his back to the
picture window that looked out onto a tropical garden, he was the first thing
you noticed.  He wore casual business attire, much as Lucas would have when he
was working in the office.  A pair of trousers and a button up shirt that had
to have been custom made for his wide shoulders.

When he stood up to
come around the desk, Lucas discovered he was one of the few men he’d ever met
that came close to him in size and breadth.  Hale had long black hair tied back
in a band that gave his severe features an added harshness, and his brown eyes
bled slowly to wolf gold.  Not an unheard of reaction to an alpha wolf sensing
a lion in his territory, so Lucas ignored it, looking around the room while the
alpha got his territorial nature under control.

There was another desk
in the office just across the room.  He knew from the pictures that the man
sitting there in the khaki shorts and the resort t-shirt was Linc Callahan, the
other Enforcer, also the third male who shared the alpha female, Rebecca
Stacy.  The pretty woman who had been hovering over Miley.   An interesting
story that one, finding an alpha female among the humans and bonding her to
them in the old ways. 

Of course, right at
this moment he could care fuck all about that.  The longer he was away from his
mate the more restless his lion was getting.

“I’m going to give you
fair warning,” Lucas said, his voice a gruff edged snarl by this point, “since I
know enough about you and your pack to respect what you have accomplished
here.  Miley is my mate.  Claimed and bedded within the fucking hour and I do
not have my usual patience to deal with useless fucking wolf pack etiquette.”

Hale had managed to
control his wolf instincts enough that his eyes were once again a dark piercing
brown, but at the hostile words, he bit back a snarl of his own.  “If you had
come directly to this office when you arrived
eight hours early
you
would have already finished with the ‘useless fucking wolf etiquette.’  
Isabella
is a member of my pack, from what she told me you fired her two years ago.” 
Griffin crossed his arms over his chest, clearly not at all intimidated by the
raging lion male at his door.  “Want to explain to me how she could possibly be
your mate when you canned her ass and left her swinging in the wind?”

Lucas could feel his lion
trying to get out and rip apart the impudent wolf — mostly because he was not
wrong in his accusations.  Lucas had left her alone, whatever his good intentions
at the time, and she had paid the price if she had to go so far as to fake her
own death and assume another identity.  He gnashed his teeth and sought
patience.  He started to speak but the wolf interrupted.

“And before you tell me
to mind my own fucking business, keep in mind that Miley is a well-respected
and loved member of this pack. 
We
will not be leaving her to face
anything alone.”

Lucas weighed his
choices, looking at the three men that essentially barred his way.  He was in
their territory and the strategic move here would have been to gain their trust
before going after Miley, but he had not exactly been thinking with his brain,
or at all, since he found out she was alive.  His need to claim her superseded
every other thought.  Now he was paying the price for his impatience. 

“Fuck it.  Two years
ago I assessed the situation and my growing feelings for Miley.  For her safety,
I canned her ass, arranging for her to get another job offer immediately.  Then
I walked away, because in my life no one is safe.”

“What changed?”

“She died.”  The fury
in that one word said it all.

After Hale studied him
for a good while, he nodded, “So you took the job with us with the intention of
claiming Isabella.”

Lucas chuffed out his
annoyance.  “I took this job with the intention of making a lot of money.  I
found out about Isabella when we were doing the standard employee sweeps.”  He
looked from man to man.  “I still intend to do my job, and I will be taking
Miley with me when I go.”

“Well then,” the alpha smiled,
without the humor reaching his eyes, “you’ve got more than one job ahead of
you, because I expect your full concentration on our security until the job is
done.  If you can’t give it, we are going to have words, you and I.” Then he
shrugged his massive shoulders, “The other?  That’s up to Isabella.”

Lucas snapped his jaws
closed at the inflammatory words he wanted to spew.  “I will need an office at
my disposal and rooms for my people coming within the next few days.”

“You’ll have it.  We
have arranged a suite for you and your men, you have an office there as well,
and Linc,” he motioned to the man who had stood so quietly during their talk, “will
see you get everything you need.”

“I want Miley.”

This time it was Jacob
who spoke with an edge of humor from where he was standing inside the door.  “We
don’t supply bed partners.  You have to handle that on your own.”