She paused, close to the room, if not in it, and Kanon had to force himself not to turn his head. Instead, he inhaled a quiet breath, keeping it slow and easy as he tried to catch her scent. Definitely female, but beyond that, he wasn’t sure. There was no wind to go in his favor and Tegan’s stupid air freshener let out a blast of cinnamon so strong it burned his nose. Another victim fell dead on the TV in front of him.
“You know I’m here,” the woman said.
“Honey, I knew you were there the moment you stepped on my porch. Just figured I’d wait and see what you were gonna do.” He didn’t look, though damn he wanted to. Instead he waited for her to decide; let her figure out her next move. She sounded sultry. Like the kind of woman that could lure a man to his grave just by the sound of her voice. Like a siren in the middle of the damned ocean.
She’d made it this far. What was she going to do now? Bail and run or keep on coming? A wave of want flooded through him at that last thought. Please keep on coming. Maybe he was a little lonely tonight after all.
“Kanon Reyes?”
Tension eased into a knot between his shoulders. “That depends doesn’t it?”
Carefully, he set the bowl on the carpet and slid to a sit, turning to get a good look at the woman in his living room. Damn. She had dirt caked over her pants up to her knees, and her skin-toned tank top clung to every curve of her body. Her combat boots looked worn and comfortable, wrapped lovingly around strong legs. She also had the reddest hair he’d ever seen.
But she wasn’t a lioness.
Kanon’s gaze drifted to the gun holster and the ugly butt of gun he’d bet was packing silver.
His nostrils flared as he sucked her scent down deep.
Canine. Kanon cringed.
Hound
. Fuck.
“Who are you?”
“Lennox Donnelly.” He saw the glint of silver cuffs jutting out from her back pocket as she took a step forward, confirming his suspicions. Shifter Town Enforcement. If they’d sent a dog after him, it’d be a ridgeback.
Probably a whole damned pack.
“Kanon Reyes...”
“Save it.”
There was a creak on the front porch again, faint. Heavier. Male this time. Damn.
So they had sent a pack.
She reached a hand around and tugged out her badge.
The steps headed straight for them. Confident, quick. Her attention flicked to the door, her body going tense as she reached to pull her gun. Not a Hound then. He was on his feet before he heard the key slip into the lock, moving to block her shot. He reached out towards her with one hand, the word coming on a low growl, “Don’t.”
Her gaze locked with his. She didn’t give a rat’s ass what he wanted and Kanon stepped towards her, violence entrenching itself deep in his gut. Her eyes turned hard as she leveled the gun on him, but at least it wasn’t at Tegan.
The door swung open and his partner stepped in, black hair shaggy around his face. Tegan froze. His growl was instantaneous as he glanced from one to the other, before turning to face off squarely with the woman pointing a gun at Kanon. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Lennox Donnelly,” Kanon said before she could spit it out. “And she was just about to explain what she thinks she’s arresting me for.”
But he knew. He just wanted to hear it from her. Hear one of Shifter Town Enforcement’s many little lies. She stiffened, shoulders tensing, and he could almost picture her hackles rising all the way down her spine. Kanon swallowed.
Hellfire. She was something different all right. Not exactly beautiful, but more of a drop dead gorgeous appeal. The gun, the rough and rugged edge to her, the fierce blaze of confidence in her eyes as she flicked her attention between them—calculating the risks. Drop dead was stamped all over her pretty little face, right along with the dust smears and the rust hair, a few loose strands hanging around her face, bringing out the green in her eyes. Green that wouldn’t carry true to her dog.
Even with her pointing a gun at him, he wanted her. His tongue made a wet line across his lower lip. He was every bit as stupid as the idiots in the movie screaming behind him. Worse probably, the ladies in the film never got the hots for Michael Myers when he came after them with an axe.
“You attacked a Hound.”
No he hadn’t. The son of a bitch had sucker punched him. Kanon had just made damn sure he’d finished the fight. If the Hound hadn’t wanted to play with a lion, he shouldn’t have started it.
“That was your dog’s fault, not Kanon’s.”
Tegan took a step closer and Lennox stiffened, her gaze slipping between them. She couldn’t shoot them both. With a slight baring of teeth, she holstered her weapon, briefly lifting both hands in a no-harm gesture. Confidence clung to her, as she braced herself to stare them both down. She never once looked away. Never once backed down.
“Look, I’m not here to argue or negotiate. I have a warrant for your partner’s arrest. That’s it. If you have an issue with it...”
“I have an issue with it, sweetheart,” Kanon drawled.
The look she shot him was every bit as fiery as her copper red hair.
“Then take it up with the courts.”
“No. I’m taking it up with you. We both know in a court case between a Hound and a lion, I don’t have a chance. You all supposed to do whatever you’re bid...”
“And you don’t have an obedient bone in your body.”
Kanon closed the distance between them in a single stride. She radiated heat, warmth, but he could see now the slightest tremor in her hands. Scared. But a cornered dog fought back. Women were like that too. She wouldn’t go down without a fight.
“I didn’t start that fight and the moment you lock me up, I’m a dead man.”
He’d had issues with Hounds in the past and a lion with a troubled history only met with one end. The muscle in his jaw ticked as his teeth ground together. He wouldn’t get a jail cell; he’d get a holding cell before his execution. Better dead than alive was Shifter Town Enforcement’s motto.
Tegan grabbed his shoulder and squeezed, the tension zinging between them. Wild, restless. One look at Lennox, the calm professionalism stamped over her face, and certainty settled in his gut.
They were going to have to kill a Hound. Her.
Spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders for something Kanon hadn’t even started. Goddamn it. He should have killed that stupid dog when he’d had the chance.
“Then you shouldn’t have assaulted a Hound.”
She reached for her cuffs when Tegan caught her wrist. “You are not taking my partner. Not for something he didn’t do.”
The threat hung in the air.
Lennox stiffened. “I could have you charged for obstructing justice. You’re not helping yourself, Mr. Sharpe.”
“Tegan,” he said, and Kanon watched as Tegan gently took the cuffs from her hand, wincing at the touch of silver against his fingertips before he tossed them aside. They hit the hardwood with a soft clunk, but she didn’t move to follow them.
The pulse in her neck jumped.
Her lips thinned. Kanon watched as a subtle readiness settled in her muscles. Here came that fight.
“Lennox,” Tegan said, imploring, but she bared her teeth at the sound of her name coming from him.
Tegan gave her a grim smile.
“
Lennox,”
he repeated, drawing it out, “Kanon did not attack your Hound. I have witnesses who could prove it. Your man swung first.”
“So, what, you punched him back?”
Kanon gave a quiet huff. The edge of a smile curling his lips. “Yeah. I did. Then he kept on hitting and I thought,
Fine, we’ll play
.”
He watched her lips thin, the corners lifting in a slight grimace.
“I don’t start fights with Hounds. Tends to get me a bullet right here.” He poked his forehead. “Be kind of stupid don’t you think?”
“Lions don’t tend to think.” There was a sour note to her voice as she glanced away, staring back towards the dining room and the open window she’d climbed through. Kanon waited, watching as she ran down her options. She had to know. Sexy as she was to him right now, Kanon wasn’t going peacefully. Maybe if a cop had asked him to go downtown, sure. But a Hound? Downtown for them meant:
Hey, come see the electric chair
. He’d pass.
A sigh slid out of her, a sharp blast of breath as she took one last look at freedom and turned back to them with a nod. “And you got witnesses to prove this?”
“Yeah,” Kanon said.
“Then let’s hear what happened.”
***
Tegan closed his eyes in relief.
Yes
. He didn’t know what he’d do if...
“Thank you,” he whispered.
“Don’t thank me. Just open that handsome little mouth of yours and start talking.”
Tegan grinned. Handsome? One glance at Kanon, and Tegan could see his partner was half smitten with the Hound already. Not that Tegan blamed him. She was big and she was bad, but Lennox Donnelly also had a heart. A fair streak and he was going to run with that for all it was worth.
“Anyone in that bar that night would vouch for Kanon. We’re regulars, never had an issue there before. Hell, the owners will vouch for that.” He didn’t add that Tristan and Carolyn Hale were also friends of theirs. Still, every bar regular and wait staff in that bar knew the two of them by sight, and they’d never once given anyone an issue there that hadn’t deserved it.
The Hound had deserved it, but he didn’t say that part either. Not when she was beginning to sway. And sway she was, those sharp eyes considering his words and Tegan pounced on that weakness. “I’ll take you there myself. Kanon doesn’t start fights.”
Normally. Lennox’s raised eyebrow told him she expected there was a ‘but’ to that, but she didn’t insist. “Fine, but I’m driving.”
That was a bit too neat for Tegan’s taste. He shook his head, but outmanned as she was, Lennox wasn’t about to back down. “I’m not going to have Kanon bailing.
You
can drive separately, he can’t.”
“You’re not exactly in a position to be bargaining,” Kanon said but Tegan waved him off.
“Fine. Your word though, you’ll see this through. You’ll give us a shot to prove Kanon’s clear.”
It was her eyes that gave her away. Soft, and they glanced down at the question, almost submissive, but Tegan wasn’t foolish enough to think this Hound had a submissive bone in her body.
“Hounds don’t bargain with lions,” she whispered, only to drag her bottom lip between her teeth as she stared up at him. Her chin dipped in the faintest nod. “Fine. I swear to you, I’ll give you the chance to prove to me your partner is innocent. I’ll go to the bar; I’ll meet your witnesses.
“But I make the final call. If I don’t deem their statements accurate or if what they say contradicts you, I’ll tote both of your asses off to Enforcement. Got it?”
A smile touched his lips. “Got it.”
“Then where are we going?”
Tegan couldn’t help it then. He let his gaze drift down over her dirt layered pants, the tank top that was damn near the color of her skin. She wasn’t thin. At least not the wiry lean he was used to seeing in Hound females, where they could probably wear a bikini beautifully, but a sharp eye wouldn’t miss the jut of a hip bone beneath the skin.
No, she was thicker. Still slender, but with muscle and weight to her. A solidity he was more used to seeing in lionesses. Dirt smeared her cheeks, and her hair was a tousled mess, strands of the reddest rust he’d ever seen. Several strands had fallen loose from the tight knot she kept it in, and they dangled just out of reach. He itched to reach out and touch it, to test the silk of it against his fingertips.
Shit. Now, he was every bit as smitten with her as Kanon.
She’d agreed to let them prove it and now he was thinking about running his hand through that long, long hair. Yeah. She’d just as soon break his hand than let him do that.
Tegan caught Kanon’s eye, his partner giving him an impish grin and Tegan couldn’t help but smile back. At least they liked to share and sharing Lennox would be something neither of them would forget for a long time.
Probably because she’d kill them.
Lennox’s eyes narrowed.
Tegan covered his smile with a small cough. One handed, he gestured towards her dirt stained outfit. “You can’t wear that where we’re going.”
“Bullshit I can’t.”
The muscle in her jaw flexed, tense and he could see the warpath opening up between them. Damn, the woman would do battle with just about anything if a man riled her right. Kanon snatched a strand of that hair and Tegan’s eyes jumped to his, knowing instantly the texture of her hair by the hooded expression on his partner’s face.
Hell, Metro would let just about anyone in, as long as they were wearing clothes, but Tegan ached to see her without the dirt and with all that hair loosely draped over her shoulders.
She caught Kanon’s hand, so ready to fight when Tegan gave a low chuckle, stepping closer. Trapping her, between them and the dining room. She could run, but she’d have to back down for that. Lennox Donnelly looked like she’d rather shoot them both first.