Hunted (21 page)

God, running sounded so good just then. It would be so easy to say I needed to go for a run just to burn off some of the emotion churning inside of me. All I’d have to do was take some cash with me and Matt, bless him, had insisted on giving me some just that morning. A jog to get me outside the neighborhood and then I could hitch a ride downtown with someone. From there I could hop a bus somewhere, anywhere just so long as it took me away from Matt and the others. I had to keep them safe.

Except I didn’t think it would. Not in the long run. Jennings had proven he had a long memory and that he held onto grudges even longer. He’d come after Matt simply because Matt had gotten in his way. If I ran, there’d be nothing I could do to help when trouble came. It would mean dealing with Jennings sooner, rather than later, but I’d been running long enough.

Hadn’t I?

“Talk to me, Finn. What can I do?”

Matt rested his hands on my shoulders, just enough to let me know he was there and he cared. How could I explain to him I was scared, not only for myself but for him, for his sister and everyone else he cared for?

“Matt, I’m scared.” I turned and wrapped my arms around him. He held me close, his cheek resting against the top of my head. No passion now, just safety. “Until today, I’d known intellectually what Jennings wanted. I knew he was obsessed. Hell, as far as I’m concerned, he’s more than a touch insane. But today brought it home. This is the first time I’ve realized just how far he’s willing to go to get his hands on me and that scares the hell out of me.”

“Finn, I won’t let him near you. I promise. He’ll never again lay a finger on you.”

I shook my head. He didn’t understand.

“Matt, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t scared for myself because I am. I’m terrified. God, I want to open the door and run. Just run. Get as far away from here as I can.” I paused, trying to find the right words. “But that’s because I want to protect you and yours. Jennings is going to come after you now. I know it just as surely as we both know he isn’t going to stop coming after me until one of us is dead.”

I swallowed hard. I’d never said that aloud. Hell, I’d never even thought it, at least not more than in passing. But I would not let him take me alive and especially not now, when I had a pretty good idea what he planned once he had me.

“Finn, I’m no fool. I knew when you called him that I was painting a great big target on my back. I knew it and I accepted it.” He tilted my face up so I’d look at him. “I would have done it no matter what. No man should treat a woman the way Jennings has treated you. He’s the sort of man my daddy taught me ought to be taken out and hung from the nearest tree. The fact I’m clan leader means I can’t let him act as he has without taking action. He violated my territory and put my people in danger of discovery through the action of his trackers.

“That’s enough to make me want to deal with Jennings. The man shouldn’t be in any position of authority. He’s a danger not only to those who look to him for leadership and protection but to all of our kind.

“Then there’s you.” Now he held me away from him, his expression serious. “When I realized what was going on in that parking garage, I knew I had to help you. It didn’t matter who you were or who those men were. All that mattered was I knew you were in trouble. Then, when I knew you were all right, that they hadn’t hurt you as badly as I’d feared, it was like the world stopped. I’d never thought to find a mate. Sure, I planned on finding a woman to spend my life with, maybe raise a family with. I know how rare it is to find a life mate. But there you were, on your knees before me, offering me everything I’d thought I’d never have.”

I reached up and cupped his face in my hands. Fortune had smiled on me that day in the parking garage. But I didn’t like knowing it had also put him on a collision course with Jennings, even if it seemed like he was looking forward to it.

“Matt, I don’t want you doing anything foolish.”

“Then you understand how I feel.” His hand lightly caressed my cheek. “You have to promise me no running, no anything without discussing it first with me.”

“I promise if you do.” I smiled, relief filling me, when he nodded. “There is one thing I want to do today if possible.”

He cocked his head to one side and looked at me. “What?”

“Nothing serious, I promise.” Now I grinned. In for an inch, in for a mile. “Will you call CJ and see if she can bring her kit over tonight. There’s something I want her to do.”

“All right.” Now he relaxed and pulled me into a quick hug. “Danny will be coming by later as well.”

I tensed again and then relaxed when I realized Matt didn’t seem too concerned.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart. He just wants to brief us on what happened after we left.”

“And we have some things to discuss as well,” my grandmother said from the doorway. How long she’d been standing there, I didn’t know but it was a pretty good bet from the expression she wore that she’d heard at least some of our conversation.

“Go on. I’ll call CJ and then I have to take care of some stuff for work,” Matt said and gave me a quick kiss. “And remember, neither of us is going to do anything stupid.” Now he pinned me with a look I understood and was more than happy to turn back on him.

“You keep that in mind as well,” I said. “Matt, I mean it. I’d never forgive myself if anything happened to you because of me.”

“We’ll both be careful. Now go see what your grandmother wants.” He gave my butt a light swat.

Grinning, feeling a little better, I did as he said, doing my best to ignore the nagging voice at the back of my brain telling me it would still be better to run.

*     *     *

“So, when are you going to come to work for me?” CJ asked as she laid out her tools.

We were in the bedroom. I’d stripped down to the waist and now lay on my stomach at the edge of the bed. Hearing her question, the corners of my mouth twitched up in a smile. For the first time in my life, someone was offering to pay me for doing something I liked. I’d never become a tattoo artist, at least I didn’t think I would, but just being asked to design artwork for her sent a thrill through me.

“When I’m sure you’re asking because you really think I can help and not because Matt prompted you or you’re doing it because I’m his mate and an alpha.”

“I didn’t say a word to her!” he protested from the door.

“Out!”

“But I want to watch.” He grinned and winked.

“You just like seeing me half naked.”

“True.” His grin widened and I felt myself blush as I remembered we weren’t alone. “But I’m curious to see what you’re having CJ do.”

“You’ll see soon enough. In the meantime, judging by how fast I hear your sister going to answer the door, I think Danny’s here.” The chiming of the doorbell seemed to confirm my guess.

“What?” Matt’s brow furrowed and CJ burst out laughing.

“Matt, you make a great clan leader but you are blind where your little sister’s concerned,” she said.

“Are they? Are you saying?” He looked from us to the front of the house even though he wouldn’t be able to see the front door and back.

“Has he always been this dense, CJ?” I asked as she began prepping the skin over my left clavicle for the tattoo I’d designed earlier.

“Only where Sharon’s concerned.”

He growled and turned to leave. Then he paused and looked back at us. “I still want to watch but I think I’ll leave before you two completely destroy my sense of dignity.” At least he grinned so I knew he wasn’t mad.

“That will keep him occupied for a few minutes,” CJ commented. She swabbed disinfectant over my skin and then waited for it to dry. “And I’m impressed you picked up on it. Sharon and Danny have been fooling just about everyone, themselves included, for almost a year now.”

“That’s pretty much what I thought when it dawned on me earlier.” At least CJ seemed to approve. That was good because I liked Sharon and was beginning to think Danny and I might become friends. If they could be happy together, I’d do whatever I could to help them, even if it meant running interference with Matt in big brother mode.

“And you still haven’t answered my question, Finn. When are you going to come to work for me?”

“You sure you really want me to?”

“Look, I can’t pay you a lot, but we can work something out. I’d like you to update my book of sketches, maybe add some new ones. If you’re interested, that is.”

“I am. Let’s talk about it next week.”

“Sounds good. Now let me get this placed. Then you can see what you think. If you like it, we’ll get started. This is going to take awhile.”

A while was an understatement. Four and a half hours later, CJ sat back and sighed wearily. Then, as she stretched, lifting her arms over her head, she grinned. She clearly approved of her work. Hopefully, I’d be as happy with it as I was with the other tattoo she’d done for me. Otherwise, I’d voluntarily sat through a zillion bee-like stings as she worked for nothing. Being a shape-changer might mean I healed faster than a normal, but I still felt pain. I also didn’t like pain, so if I’d sat through all this only to hate what CJ had done. . . ..

CJ helped me up and watched as I moved into the bathroom. Standing before the mirror, I twisted so I could see the new ink. After so long of never even thinking about getting a tattoo, I’d gotten more ink in the last few days than most folks would ever consider having in their lifetimes. The newest blended beautifully into what CJ had done earlier. The scene continued, transitioning to show a bear, a coyote and an eagle. The bear and coyote were among the animals some of my ancestors had changed into. They also had special meaning to the Cherokee. Now my original design felt complete.

“CJ, it’s perfect. Thanks.” I turned from the mirror and grinned in appreciation. “What do I owe you?”

“Not a thing.” She shook her head. Her grin now matched mine. “Finn, I’m not doing this out of the goodness of my heart and, before you ask, Matt hasn’t paid me for it. No, I’m being very selfish here. I’m going to use you as a walking billboard for me
and
I’m going to insist you do new art for me whenever you want.”

For a moment, I considered her offer. Then I nodded. It was a good trade-off. “You’ve got yourself a deal.” I moved to stand before her and extended my hand, waiting until she took it.  “Now I’m going to find something to put on so we can join the others.”

“After I put some ointment on it and cover it,” she corrected and motioned for me to sit on the edge of the bed. “And then I have a date. I’ll leave clan politics to you and Matt.”

“Thanks,” I said without humor. Unfortunately, she was right. I needed to join the others and see what I’d missed.

When I entered the den a few minutes later,
properly
attired in jeans and tank top, I smiled to see Danny and Sharon sitting side by side on the sofa. Matt lounged in his favorite chair. Before I could ask about my grandmother, there came sounds from the kitchen. She was either cleaning up or cooking. My hope was that she was baking. Some of my favorite memories as a child were of the cakes she’d bake whenever I’d visit.

“Well?” Matt asked as he stood and hurried to my side.

“Well what?” I knew perfectly well what he meant, but he didn’t need to know that.

“When do we get to see the new ink?”

“Oh, I don’t know. CJ said it needs to be covered for awhile.”

“Don’t be mean, Finn,” Sharon laughed from across the room.

“Well,” I drawled and then danced out of the way when Matt made a grab for me. “If you’re good, you’ll get to see it later tonight. Everyone else can wait until the weekend.”

He growled and then grinned. I smiled and took his hand, “So, what have you guys been talking about?” I slid to sit on the floor in front of Matt’s chair. When I leaned back and rested my head against his thigh, his hand stroked my hair.

“We were just confirming the arrangements for this weekend,” Danny said. “It looks like almost every clan will be represented.”

“Your grandmother and I spoke with the leaders of the nearest clans. They’ll be here and will bring support with them. It seems they have been thinking along the same lines as Irene and my big brother,” Sharon put in.

“Oh?”

“Yeah. They agree we need to figure out a way to have the clans more interconnected. We can’t continue to isolate ourselves if we want to survive,” Matt said. “So, after we introduce you as my mate and the female alpha for our clan, we’ll meet with the other clan leaders to see what we can start hammering out.”

“You have been busy.”

I shook my head. Regret washed over me for a moment as memory of a snatch of conversation between my parents popped up in my head. It had been late and I was supposed to have been in bed. I’d gotten up for some reason, probably because I was curious about what they were talking about after a clan meeting. I’d crouched at the top of the stairs, hiding in the shadows, and listened. They’d been worried because a member of one of the local packs had lost control and shifted during the day. He’d been young and had experienced his first shift just a few months earlier. So he hadn’t learned how to control the urge to shift when emotions ran high. Everyone had been lucky that day because the only normals around had been family members who knew about our kind. But it could have gone so wrong.

That night my parents talked about how that had been a prime example of why the clans needed to work closer together. Each clan had members with different specialties and resources. Surely there was a way to share those resources to protect our kind. Unfortunately, there were still too many who felt isolation, not only from the normals but from other clans, was the best way to protect our kind.

“You’re awfully quiet,” Matt commented.

“Sorry. I was remembering my folks talking about how the clans needed to start working together.”

"I'm not surprised they felt that way," Danny said. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Your mother was probably the first alpha I ever heard say we needed to quit hiding our heads in the sand and realize the world was changing around us. We needed to adapt before we were discovered." He paused and I had a feeling he had something else to say.