Once Upon a Shifter (38 page)

Chuffing loudly, he turned to look at the pictures again. "How many men have shown interest in becoming your second in command?"

I waited for him to look at me and, when he didn't, my eyes narrowed. What was he really asking? "I think there are eight, but I was told I had until the next full moon to make a choice—"

His head whipped around on his shoulders so fast I thought he was trying to imitate Linda Blair in
The Exorcist
. "Eight!" Phoenix shouted, and his hands came up to rub his face in obvious frustration.

I blinked in confusion. What the hell didn't I know? "There may be less, but it's possible there are more. I honestly don't know, Phoenix. I haven't had a chance to sit down and have tea with the pack of werewolves to discuss anything about them, their history or even how long I am expected to live, now that I'm a wolf. Why is it so important to you?"

The burst of laughter that escaped his mouth stunned me even further than his irritation about how many men—Men! That was it! He was jealous!

I almost laughed myself as I watched him bray, his hand clutched at his side as if he had a stitch in it from laughing so hard.

I rolled my eyes, but couldn't keep from smiling. He was so damn cute when he laughed. "Honestly, what is so funny?"

He stood upright, red-faced and out of breath from the heavy laughter, and walked toward me, his features calming as he came. "You are, Mena." He stopped directly in front of me, and his right hand came up to caress my neck with the tips of his fingers, sending shivers throughout my body. "You never stop surprising me."

Those amused eyes of his bore down into mine and I melted. I had been waiting three days to be this close to him again. My wolf snarled, but I ignored her.

He leaned down and brushed his lips lightly over mine, lingering until a soft moan escaped through my parted lips and I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him back.

"Mena, are you ready to—"

I pushed away from Phoenix at the sound of Daryn's voice, and I turned swiftly to see him standing in my open doorway with wide eyes and a slack jaw.

"—go?" he finished.

Chapter 3

Phoenix

Phoenix crossed his arms over his chest and studied the young werewolf—Daryn, he thought Mena had called him. The poor guy appeared to be nervous, and that only made Phoenix want to intimidate him even more than his presence in the room was already doing. He hoped the guy wasn't in the running to be Mena's second; there was no room at the top for the weak. Then again, Phoenix didn't want her to choose a big, attractive, head-strong male, either, so maybe he should encourage her to pick this little twerp.
Well, he isn't exactly little
, Phoenix thought as he sized him up,
but he is young—young as a human and young as a wolf
.

Phoenix cleared his throat, but Daryn's focus was at the top of the stairs, anxiously waiting for Mena to appear. "How long is this meeting going to last?"

Daryn shifted his weight from one foot to the other, but didn't answer or even acknowledge that Phoenix was in the room with him. After nearly a half an hour alone together, he was surprised and entertained that the wolf cub hadn't bolted from the room already.

The edge of Phoenix's mouth twitched in amusement. "How long have you been a member of Montgomery's pack?" Phoenix said, and took a deliberate step toward Daryn, letting his hands fall lax by his sides.

Daryn straightened up and pushed away from the wall as his eyes darted to Phoenix's body, but not his eyes, no—they never would look him in the eyes. If they wanted to believe vampires had some sort of mind-manipulating power over people by looking them in the eyes, he would just let them believe it. It wasn't hurting anything.

"Mena wants us to be friends, you know? Are you in the running to be her second? I doubt she would pick anyone for that position who didn't agree with the changes she intends to make."

Daryn hesitated for a moment. "Do you agree with her plans?"

Phoenix let the smile on his face creep into the tone of his voice, since the boy still wasn't looking at him. "Of course I do."

"Okay," Mena said as she quickly descended the stairs, "I'm ready. Sorry to keep you waiting, Daryn."

Phoenix noted the way the guy's face lit up, and he pressed his lips together to keep from saying anything about it in front of Mena. He, however, would have words at a later time with Daryn—in private. He forced himself to relax. It was only a crush. Even if the guy pursued what was clearly going through his head, Phoenix was quite certain that Mena would shoot him down. He imagined Daryn wasn't the first to be infatuated with the woman—hell, even he was affected by her addicting looks and personality—but Phoenix knew neither of them would be the last to grovel at her feet. That's what irritated him most.

Daryn stiffened as Phoenix took her hand and bowed to kiss her knuckles. "Mena, you look simply ravishing."

He got the response he was hoping for. Even through the make-up she had decided to wear, her cheeks flamed a deep ruby.
Strikingly beautiful and delightfully mouthwatering
, he thought.

"We're going to be late if we don't leave now," Daryn said shortly, and Phoenix sighed heavily before standing upright and turning his full attention to one of Mena's puppies.

"Mena is the pack leader, Daryn. The meeting will start when she says it should start."

"I'm coming, Daryn. Could you wait in the car for me? I'll just be one more minute."

The muscles around Daryn's jaw flexed a few times as he stared hard at Phoenix, but he finally huffed and glanced back at Mena. "Sure," he said, and then turned and left through the front door.

Phoenix chuckled lightly and closed the distance between their bodies. "Now, where were we before we were so rudely interrupted?" His hand came up to cup her chin, but she took a step back. His eyes flickered surprise, but he quickly smiled to keep her from seeing how much that had disappointed him. Her lips were a craving like none he had ever experienced.

Mena sighed and avoided eye contact. "Phoenix, you have to stop kissing me."

What? That was a big hell no!
He let his arm drop away from her. "Do you not enjoy it?"

"I do, too much maybe. You cloud my thoughts, and I terribly need to focus on my pack right now. Daryn almost caused me a lot of problems today, but thankfully my wolf knew how to handle it."

Phoenix looked through the window to the vehicle parked in the drive. Daryn was sitting behind the wheel, shooting daggers through Phoenix with his eyes. "How did he cause you problems, Mena?"

"He almost did, and it's not important—"

"It is important to me. Tell me what he did."

Mena growled in frustration. "Fine. Alex Rhodes, the homicide detective working Marc's case, came up to offer his condolences, but Daryn thought he was interrogating me or hitting on me, so he came up and put his arm around me, insinuating to the detective and everyone else at the funeral that we were dating. He didn't realize that his actions made it look to everyone like I was having an affair, or, rather, he didn't see it being a problem for me. I had to tell Alex that Daryn was just an overprotective cousin who probably thought he was making a pass at me. I have to make a statement in the morning to the press about what happened to Marc, and tell them that the police are doing everything in their power to catch the killer. They will eat me alive if they think I'm dating so soon after Marc's death. Whatever this is between us… it has to stop now. I can't afford to risk everything that's on the line for a few kisses from Adonis."

Phoenix's brow furrowed as he blinked. "Adonis?"

Mena snickered. "Greek mythology. I'll let you look it up."

"Is this… Adonis… as attractive as I am?" he said with a wicked grin.

She smiled at him as she backed out the door. "Almost."

V''''V

Phoenix

It took every last bit of willpower Phoenix had in him not to follow Mena and her pet. A sigh escaped his pouty lips as he watched the brake lights of the Camry disappear around a corner. She had made him promise before she left him, standing on her front lawn, that he wouldn't interfere with pack business, at least not tonight. He had negotiated.

What the hell am I supposed to do now?
He had planned to spend the entire evening wooing Mena, but with a pack meeting screwing up his plans, he was left all alone and brooding. That was new.

And what is this shit about not kissing her anymore? That was not going to happen. She was absurd to even suggest such a ridiculous thing.
He wanted that woman, and when Phoenix wanted something, he didn't politely ask for it; he took it. A growl rumbled up his throat. He didn't want to have to take it, not from her. The woman was definitely different than any other he had met.

She needs time.
He shook his head and began to pace, another huff expelling from his mouth to the cold air in a puff of white vapor.
Why do women always need time?
He grunted.

As he pondered ways to make her realize that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her, a thought came to him, and he stopped flattening Mena's sod with his boots. She would need help with her new pack. He had been a leader for over a century, so he was certain he had advice and tips to offer her. He would make her need him first, and then the want would follow.

The image of Mena in his arms, with desire filling those intoxicating pale green eyes, made his head spin. He had been two seconds away from untying that blasted robe belt and having his way with her, right there on the Persian rug. They may have eventually made it to the bed, but he had imagined Mena's dark hair splayed out on the carpeting and a sheen of sweat glistening off her bare body from the light of the nearly full moon through the window, from the moment he walked through the door and saw it.

It had been tough to have a normal conversation with her after that. He knew she had been nervous, and that was probably all that had saved him. The girl did not pay attention to detail when she was nervous. That was good for him, but bad for leadership. That was one thing he could help her with, that was if he could concentrate himself. She was right about him clouding her mind. He found it difficult to concentrate on anything except getting her clothes off whenever she was near him.

"Foolish man," Phoenix whispered into the night, and looked up at the stars, seeking the answers to his problem. There was nothing.

The cell phone in his pocket chimed, and he pulled it out to see he had received a text from Jaxon.

At the club. Lots of blue lights. We've got trouble.

Phoenix cursed under his breath, and ran to his electric blue
Corvette Z06
without responding to the message.

Chapter 4

Mena

"This may not be what you're used to," Daryn said as he took the keys out of the ignition. "I know you knew the part of Marc that was a big-shot lawyer, but he was actually comfortable here." Daryn seemed uncomfortable, or maybe he was ashamed or embarrassed to show me the wolves' den.

I opened the door and stepped out. The wind had died down since that morning, but the air was still biting as I let my eyes take in the scene before me. Cars, trucks and sport utility vehicles had been parked, in no apparent order, beside the trees and bushes of the dense forest, and there were two lit torches on either side of a hole in the side of the mountain: a cave.

I beamed at Daryn as he rounded to my side of the car, and my expression seemed to surprise him. "I love it!"

His lips parted over his teeth, and he smiled back at me in relief. "Good."

I took his outstretched hand, and he led me inside.

"How do you keep people from stumbling across this?" I said in a whisper. Torches lined the stone path he had taken me down, but it was still dim, and voices were always louder in the dark.

"Well, it's private property—now your private property—but we take everything with us when we leave, so there really isn't anything for anyone to find besides a big empty cave."

"Oh."

There was an opening about ten yards ahead, and two men stepped into view, carrying torches. One was older and tall. The silver of his hair glinted from the light of the torch in his hand. The other was about my age and average height. His build was stocky, and his skin was tanned by the sun. I imagined him to be some sort of construction worker.

"Any news of her whereabouts?" Daryn asked the approaching men, and my focus moved to him.

"Not yet," the older man replied.

"Damn it," Daryn swore.

"Who?" I said.

Daryn pursed his lips and gave the two men long looks before answering me. "Jess has been missing since last night."

With so many names and faces of my new pack to remember, I was having a difficult time pinpointing who Jess was. "Do you think she is hurt?"

Daryn shook his head. "No, but I do think you're in danger. I suggest that you appoint four of us as bodyguards until she is found, two for the day shift and two for the night."

"Wait," I said as Daryn began leading me forward. "Why would I do that? Who is Jess?"

Without stopping, Daryn said, "Jessica was Chris's mate, and now she wants revenge."

I vaguely remembered a pretty girl with long, dark, curly hair staring me down at Chris's funeral. I was just about to speak, when the older man spoke.

"There are still a few who don't like the idea of you becoming our leader, but we all agree that Jess as a leader would be even worse."