Once Upon a Shifter (49 page)

Phoenix

The roar of the Corvette's engine was the only noise heard as Phoenix drove home.

Nervous couldn't come close to explaining how he was feeling. Mena's wolf was still in full control of Mena's body for the moment, but that was only because he couldn't protect the blows that would surely come from Mena and drive, too.

A million different scenarios had already gone through his mind about what he would say to her once he got her home, but none of them seemed to end in his favor. There was no amount of talking that would help her understand that he was only trying to keep her safe and get this Jessica bitch caught and destroyed.

Pulling out his phone, he sent Roel and Jaxon a short text. He had a plan. It wasn't one he looked forward to, but depending on the situation, sometimes the enemy of your enemy was your ally, even if that ally was
also
your enemy.

He smiled a little when he saw Mena's body jerk and then settle back against the seat in obvious discomfort. At least he wasn't the only one in deep shit; he was guessing Mena hadn't stopped threatening her wolf since she had taken over. He didn't have a clue how Mena would be able to punish her wolf, but she was Mena; she would find a way if there was one.

"I am going to call a meeting tomorrow night with my clan…" Phoenix paused a moment, contemplating his next words. "I would like your cooperation to ensure she attends. Joining my clan and the werewolf pack together is something she is passionate about. I assume since you haven't forced her to shift yet that the pact between us is something you also want to happen. I would very much like my clan to meet her…" he cleared his throat, "...and you."

Phoenix had absolutely no delusions that Mena's wolf liked him, even though she was helping make things a bit easier on his part, at least for the time being, anyway.

"I'll make sure she shows up. It's up to you what mood she is in when she gets there. I would appreciate it very much if you would get her off my case for a while. I'm getting a migraine."

He frowned, but nodded. "We're almost there."

"I know where the compound is located. I was there the first time you kissed Mena, remember?"

He did remember, and the fact that Mena had been present when her wolf kissed Rhodes did a quick replay in his mind. But asking the wolf what Mena thought about it wasn't going to happen. Ever.

"Unfortunately, I do. Though, at the time, I thought we were alone."

She snickered, and the sound sounded so much like Mena that he couldn't help but look at her. "I know you're dying to know what she thought of the kiss with Alex," she said, amusement thick in her voice.

He rolled his eyes in annoyance as he looked back to the road. "Am I that easy to read?"

"I can smell your jealousy, Vampire. The aroma is enticing and sweet on my tongue. I wonder if the flavor will get stronger once I have taken the handsome detective to my bed—"

His knuckles, white with tension, curled even tighter around the steering wheel. "Stop talking," he warned her in a low voice.

She smacked her lips together and hummed against the back of her lips as if she'd consumed something so delicious only sounds of pleasure could explain it. "Mmm… so tasty—"

"Stop!" he roared, and slammed on the brakes as he whipped the car to the shoulder of the road. His chest heaving as he glared at her, he pointed a finger in her face. She smirked. "You may have the upper hand right now, but don't you dare forget that you need me just as much as I need you. Do not test me, bitch, or I'll make sure you never see the detective again."

"You are mistaken. I've never needed your help. You are only here because I want you to be here. When I no longer care if Mena is happy, you'll be the one gone. I'll see Alex whenever I like."

After forcing calm over his emotions, Phoenix pulled back onto the road. The way she talked about there being a time when she would no longer value Mena's happiness made him a bit anxious.
When,
she had said. As much as he tried, he couldn't keep the words held back. "It'll be kind of hard to see him if he's buried under six feet of dirt."

"Thinking of signing your death warrant so soon, are you? You know the deal, as does Mena, and we both know you won't kill her to kill me. I won't lose a bit of sleep after seeing your dead eyes staring blankly up at me. We are a package deal, Mena and me. You can't have one without the other, Phoenix. Are you sure she is worth it?"

He didn't bother looking at her or replying. Until he could figure out a way to defeat her and put her firmly under his command, there was no use in letting her get under his skin. She did that a little too well. Sometimes he regretted not taking Jaxon's advice and having her linked to him before she accepted the moon. All of this could have been prevented. Of course, doing that would have meant tying himself to one person for all eternity—a decision of epic proportions. At the time, that seemed like an inescapable prison, but now? He wasn't sure it was love, because he had never allowed himself to get so close to anyone like that, but Mena was like a magnet to him; where she moved, so did he; when she felt emotional pain, he wanted to comfort her; when she was in danger, he wanted to protect her. Was that love? Would he do anything—would he give up everything, just to be hers, just for her to be his?

Phoenix sighed, refusing to answer his own thoughts. He couldn't love her. Infatuated with her or obsessed with her came a lot closer to the mark. Surely it was just a silly crush that would end soon, but just the thought of it being over made his stomach clench into a knot and his chest tighten as if someone had a hold of his heart, squeezing the muscle and trying with all their might to make it burst.

He could feel Mena's eyes on him, full of confusion as he struggled to hold his shit together.

Luckily they had arrived at the massive iron gates of his compound. Phoenix lowered his window, letting in a rush of cold night air to punch in the code that would allow him entrance. The breeze was exactly what he needed, and he welcomed the sting of the frigid winter winds on his skin as he tapped in the code, each finger moving unsteadily over the buttons.

It took him three tries before the sequence of numbers matched up correctly, but finally access was granted and the gates swung inward.

He hated looking incapable of completing such a simple task as getting into his own damn home in front of Mena, but it was even worse to look unintelligent or clumsy in front of the wolf.

He waited for the banter to come. It never did.

Reaching up to the rearview mirror, Phoenix tapped the garage release and the third door began to slowly rise. It felt like ages before the thing was high enough so he could pull inside and shut off the engine, but after he did, he was out of the car and putting as much distance between himself and the wolf as possible.

"Wait for me at the door while I get your bag. I'm not the only vampire who lives here, and I would hate to have to kill one of my clan members for harming Mena's body in any way. If it were just you…" he let the sentence hang.

He smiled when her eyes narrowed to thin slits. Catching her off guard, he tossed the heavy luggage at her chest and chuckled when she lost her balance and fell back against the wall of the garage.

She snarled, but didn't give him the satisfaction of starting another argument. What a disappointment that was; he was just beginning to get his wits back.

Phoenix walked through the door and froze as the delectable smell of human blood hit his nostrils and caused his incisors to poke his bottom lip. He moved forward quickly, anger taking full control at the thought that one of his clan had disobeyed a direct order not to ever bring humans into the compound, but a soft grunting sound from the living room had him fighting back the urge to kill.

Not knowing what he would find once he reached the living room, he held up a finger to stop Mena's wolf from following him as he crept through the dark foyer. The light footfalls behind him proved she either hadn't noticed or she didn't care that he wanted her to wait. He was guessing the latter, and huffed in irritation.

A hard exhale filled the silence as if someone had lifted something heavy and had finally gotten to their destination of rest. Whoever it was, they didn't strike Phoenix as threatening.

Rounding the wall barrier separating the foyer from the living quarters of the house, Phoenix stopped dead in his tracks and stared wide-eyed at Jaxon, with a bloody, overweight Caucasian male slung over his right shoulder.

"Jaxon?" At the sound of his name, Jaxon's head shot up in alarm. "What is the meaning of this?" Phoenix shouted, with rage distinct in his tone and radiating from his rigid limbs. His hands trembled at his sides and his fingers itched to wrap around Jaxon's throat until his face turned blue.

He knew better than this, Phoenix thought, and just when he was about to make good on his plan and turn Jaxon into a vampire pretzel, Mena's hand lightly touched his forearm.

"Wait, Phoenix. Let him explain," she said.

Phoenix glared at Jaxon. "You have five seconds. One…"

Jaxon's mouth fell open and he stuttered through a string of words that Phoenix either couldn't understand or the blood pounding in his ears was too loud to make them clear enough to hear properly. "Two… Three," Phoenix said, and his fangs extended to their full length.

Jaxon threw out his arms, sending the blood-covered body to the hardwood floor. "Wait, Master—"

"Four…"

"Lea—Santino—her brother, he—"

"Five." Phoenix broke into a run, heading straight for Jaxon, and just before he got within reach, a wrecking ball in the form of a five-foot-six-inch-tall-brunette-beauty plowed into him, knocking his body hard against the living room wall. A twenty-thousand dollar painting was jarred off its nail and fell atop his shoulders as he tried to sit up. He groaned when he heard the canvas rip.

"Jaxon," Mena said quietly, "is there a good explanation for why there is a dead human body in Phoenix's living room?"

Phoenix's head shot up at the question.
Mena?
It was Mena who had struck him, not her wolf.

"Ye-yes, ma'am," Jaxon stuttered. "He broke into the compound to find Lea, and Santino ripped his throat out." Jaxon was panicked as he looked over at Phoenix. "It's not all Santino's fault, Master. This guy beat on the door until Santino opened it, and then Santino said he just went crazy, that he was pushing him and demanding to know where Lea was. Santino thought he was some lunatic that Lea must have dated before becoming your assistant, so Santino did what any of us would have done if a nosy intruder found his way into your compound."

Phoenix sighed heavily as he got to his feet. "Find a place to dispose of the body where the cops won't find him. We have enough of the Heat breathing down our necks as it is."

Jaxon took a step forward and held out his hand to stop Phoenix as he turned to go. "Wait…"

Phoenix shifted on his feet, so he was looking at Jaxon as he stretched the muscles in his back to release the kink Mena had put there with a wall. "What?"

Jaxon's face fell as he glanced down at the body. "He is Lea's brother."

Chapter 21

Mena

"Where is she?" I asked Jaxon.

Phoenix's mouth was agape and his eyes were wide as he stared down at the body. He'd obviously forgotten how to speak, and possibly even think. He didn't need to be the first to talk to Lea anyway. The girl would need someone to cling to, someone who understood what it felt like to lose a loved one. I could be that person, because I could offer her comfort, and I had lost more people that were dear to me in a week than I had in my entire life.

"She's in my room," Jaxon said. "It's downstairs, first door after Phoenix's chambers, on the left."

I turned to go, but Phoenix reached out and gently brushed my arm with his fingers. I thought he was going to try to settle our dispute here, in front of Jaxon, with everything that was going on with Lea, but I was surprised by him once again.

Sympathetic eyes roamed over my face and finally settled on my eyes. "Thank you," was all he said, and then his hand fell away, leaving my skin on fire where his touch had once been.
How the hell does he do that to me?

Fighting the need to close the distance between us and kiss him, I nodded once and left in search of the door that led downstairs.

From the outside, one would think Phoenix's home to be about the size of a three-thousand square feet house, excluding the three car garage, but I was probably one of the few special outsiders who knew differently.

Even I hadn't seen all the rooms and hallways that were located downstairs. The main house was just a decoy to fool the neighbors and, more importantly, the city's werewolf pack; not anymore, thanks to me. I supposed Lea lived in that part of the house and kept everything tidy.

I had noticed upon arriving that the landscape was nicely tended, with the lawn cut and the shrubbery pruned, and I wondered if Lea was the keeper of that detail, too, or if they allowed other humans on the premises.

Opening a door that looked familiar, I flipped a switch on the wall right inside the door to reveal the staircase Phoenix led me up right before kissing me the first time. Memories flooded my mind and I welcomed the warm thoughts, because I would be a lot better at consoling Lea if I didn't have murder on my mind.

I quickly descended the staircase and walked at a brisk pace down the long corridor, passing the weapons' room and the room I awoke in after Marc bit me and turned me into half beast. I finally reached Phoenix's chambers, the room where I had felt so awkward around a man who was so beautiful. He'd told me his secret there, and mine, that he was a master vampire and I was a werewolf pack leader, and that we were born enemies. I had changed that. I hoped.