His truck was parked in front of the entrance and she climbed into the passenger seat. Alex opened the driver’s door and took his seat. He started the vehicle and drove off once she had her seatbelt fastened.
The drive to the Alpha compound took thirty minutes. Shawn lived deeper in the canyon. If they’d taken the horses, it would have only been ten minutes.
Not all of the pack lived inside the canyon. Most had houses and businesses in town. Only the oldest families had claim to any canyon land.
As he drove, Alex talked about the horses and his upcoming plans for the ranch. Cassie had heard it all before, so she was able to tune him out and respond with some sounds.
By the time they arrived at the large Alpha cabin, she’d almost fallen asleep. She’d barely slept at all the previous night and was bone-tired. The winding roads that led to the house had just about put her down for the night.
Her brother stopped the truck and patted her knee. “Let’s get this over with, then you can get some real sleep. I can tell you didn’t get a wink.”
“Yeah, okay,” she agreed and pushed her door open.
There were other vehicles parked nearby, but that wasn’t a surprise. She’d never been to Alpha Shawn’s when the house didn’t have several guests. All those Pack members around would drive her crazy. She couldn’t stand to have people constantly around. It was one of the reasons she lived in the guesthouse instead of the main home. Alex worked from home, and Cassie couldn’t handle all the people who came in and out to do business with Alex.
The door opened before they reached it and her Alpha stepped out. Shawn Mathewson stood on the porch and opened his arms. He was an attractive man, dark skin and hair, his eyes and smile dazzling her. The power that rolled off him could be quite intimidating, but he was truly a good man. A great leader.
She grinned and walked up the stairs where her Alpha engulfed her. He held her tightly then patted her shoulder.
Taking a step back, she peered up at the impressive man in front of her. Just being in his presence helped calm the wolf inside her which had been agitated since she’d found the break-in.
“Let’s go inside,” he said, placing his arm around her shoulder.
They entered his home and traveled through the entry to the living room. Cassie saw the Beta of the pack, Chase Lawson. She inclined her head toward him in respect.
“Hey, sweetie,” he greeted. “You doing okay?”
Cassie nodded. “As well as can be expected.”
“We’ll find out who did this.”
A promise that she knew Chase would do his best to keep. The Lawson family had been part of the Pack as long as hers had. Chase owned the local diner and was one of the best cooks in the area. She made a point of stopping by for some home-cooked meals as often as possible.
He always greeted her with a smile and a kind word. He was Alex’s age and the two had grown up together as the best of friends since they’d started school.
Chase welcomed Alex with a hug and a manly slap on the back while Alpha Shawn moved Cassie to the couch, taking a seat with her. Alex sat across from her in one of the chairs and, after making four mugs of coffee, Chase passed them around before he joined them.
Cassie placed both hands on the large cup as she settled back in the corner of the couch. She felt protected and secure with the three men. If she closed her eyes, she had no doubt she would be fine.
Their voices flowed over her as they discussed who could have been responsible and why. Cassie just couldn’t imagine anyone who would have wanted to destroy her work. Even with the shifter controversy, she was only an artist.
“We’re just guessing here,” Alpha Shawn’s words drew her out of her thoughts. “And until we get to the bottom of this, the entire Pack will be on high alert. I don’t want anyone alone. I’ll double the guards around town and here.”
“Cassie can stay at the main house,” Alex added.
“Wait!” She sat up straight. “I’m not moving out of my house.”
Three sets of eyes turned to her.
“No.” She shook her head. “I have to work hard to make up for the canvases that I lost.”
“It’s just temporary,” Alex assured her.
“I’ll set the alarm. I’m sorry I forget. And we have the cameras.”
“Cass.” Alex leaned forward and braced his forearms on his knees. “It’s more than that. We don’t know who or why someone did this. Luckily, you weren’t home but…”
Cassie saw the struggle on his face. He was concerned about her.
She set her mug down and spoke directly to him. “But if I just move to the main house, then they win.”
“This isn’t about winning! This is about keeping you safe!”
Cassie ignored the rise of Alex’s voice. “I’m not giving up my house.”
“Yes, you are!”
“Hold on!” Alpha Shawn tried to interrupt.
“No, I’m not. I’m a big girl and I can take care of myself.”
Alex rose and towered over her. “You…are…staying in the main house.” Each word was clipped.
She seldom argued with him. But she just couldn’t give in this time. She’d worked hard to gain her independence after their parent’s death. She was thirty years old and refused to be treated like she was five.
“No.”
Alex stepped forward, but Chase stood and got between them. “How about a compromise?”
Both she and Alex turned to him.
Chase motioned Alex back down and waited until he had settled again before taking his own seat.
“What’s your idea?” Alpha Shawn asked.
“Well, you know Max is back. He’s working in the diner right now, but we can use him as Cassie’s personal security.”
Max Lawson
, Cassie mused. She hadn’t seen Chase’s elder brother in a long time. He was older than both Alex and Chase so Cassie had never really been around him much growing up. By the time Max had left the Pack at seventeen to join the Navy, she was only seven. She knew about him because he was the Pack’s only non-shifter.
Max was a shifter. He carried the DNA that made them different from humans. However, Max was unable to shift into his animal. Cassie didn’t know much about non-shifters, but Alpha Shawn had never allowed Max to be treated any differently.
There were rumors about Max being part of one of the elite Navy Seal teams in the military, but she wasn’t even sure that it wasn’t all talk.
Alpha Shawn was smiling. “I like that idea.”
Cassie wasn’t so sure. “I don’t really think I need personal security. I hardly even leave the property.” She just didn’t feel right about having someone follow her around all the time. Yes, the situation was scary, but assigning a bodyguard? It was just a little too much.
“I disagree,” her Alpha said. “The break-in was at your residence. Max would be able to keep an eye on you and look into who might have been responsible.”
She knew the expression on his face. Alpha Shawn had made up his mind.
“I’ll spend most of my time in the studio anyway,” she argued. “He’ll be in my way.”
Chase chuckled. “I promise he won’t.”
Knowing she was coming up against a wall, she sighed. “This is stupid.”
Alpha Shawn reached over and patted her knee. “Then just humor me. I want you safe.”
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes. She would make the best of the situation, she always did. Besides, how bad could it be? Chase was a good guy, so she doubted that Max was much different.
Chapter Two
Max Lawson pulled the skillets off the stove then dropped them into the sink full of soapy water. He stretched his arms over his head and rolled his neck. He liked working at the Canyon Café with his brother, even if it was dissimilar from what he had always done before. The most important thing was that he had something to do. He could concentrate on a task and not have to think or remember.
Not having enough to do worried him, made him nervous, so he was glad for the hard work.
“Hey, Max!”
He glanced over his shoulder and saw his brother in the doorway. “Hey, bro.”
His brother had been summoned to the Alpha house earlier that morning so Max had been handling the breakfast rush for him.
“Got a minute?” Chase tilted his head indicating that Max join him out front.
“Sure.” Max turned and followed him out of the kitchen into the dining area.
The rush was over. Only a few customers were still eating. Sue Ellen was manning the patrons, so Max didn’t have to worry about them. He always liked being in the back more than waiting tables.
He’d only been home about six months, so when the Pack members saw him, they always wanted to know about his time away. And Max honestly couldn’t talk about it. Too much of what he’d done was still classified.
Chase took a seat on one of the chairs in front of the counter next to another man. Max followed but remained back where the scarred countertop separated them. He still didn’t like to be too close to people.
Once he reached the two, he recognized Alex Wilson. Chase and Alex still remained tight even as the years had passed and they’d found different interests. Max grinned at Alex and offered his hand. “Nice to see you again, Alex.”
They shook and Alex smiled.
“You too. Glad you made it back safe.”
Max nodded but didn’t say anything. Yes, he had returned safely, but… No, he couldn’t think about that now. Instead, he noticed his brother’s obvious worry.
The Wilson family was one of the oldest members of the Pack. Alex, of course, was closer to them living as a Pack, but Max still had a connection with the family. He’d been out of the country when he’d received word that both of the Wilson parents had been killed in an accident.
Chase was devastated and had told him how hard it had been on the kids. It seemed Alex had stepped up and done a good job getting his siblings through the grief process.
“Coffee?” Max picked up the pot from under the counter.
Chase and Alex nodded.
He poured three cups then slid the first two across to them. “So what’s going on?”
They exchanged a look that stood the hair up on the back of Max’s neck. “What?”
“We need your help,” Alex said.
“Of course,” he offered. He would do whatever he could to help any of the Pack members. Even though he hadn’t quite fit in with the kids growing up, they had never been mean to him. Their Alpha would not have allowed it.
Max didn’t understand why he was different from everyone else. What had gone wrong to make him unable to shift? But it was what it was and there was nothing he could do about it.
“Good.” Chase drew his attention. “Do you remember Cassandra?”
“Your younger sister?” he asked Alex. He could picture the freckled-face girl with skinned knees, running around in shorts. She had always been tagging behind Alex and Chase as the boys had grown up. “Sort of.”
Alex nodded. “We need security for her.”
“Why?”
As Alex and Chase filled him in on what was going on, Max found himself growing angry. He knew he had to get a handle on his reaction, though. After his last mission, he had gone through a debriefing and had been shown several techniques to control himself. The military did not want him to go off on civilians.
But the thought of anyone threatening a member of his Pack made his blood boil. He listened intently as Alex explained the entire situation.
“What do you need from me?” he asked when the man was finished.
“Cassie won’t agree to move into the main house. She wants to stay in her residence and studio. I’m not comfortable with her being alone.”
“You want me to watch over her?” he asked, surprised. He wasn’t a guard. He didn’t actually have a position with the Pack. His brother was the Alpha’s second, his Beta, but after Max had left for the Navy, he’d given up any rank within the Pack.
“Yes,” Chase answered. “Alpha Shawn agreed. We are doubling all security for the Pack, but we want Cassie to have someone with her full time.”
Max owed his Alpha a lot for always supporting him. Hell, he owed his brother too. Chase had welcomed him back with open arms. His brother let Max stay in his house and had given him a job. “Okay, when do you want me to start?”
Alex sighed heavily and dropped his head. “Thank you.”
Max wasn’t a touchy-feely kind of guy. Normally he did everything he could to avoid contact with others, but he found himself reaching over and patting Alex’s shoulder. “Sure, I’m glad to help.”
“I knew you would,” Chase said proudly.
Max warmed to his brother’s praise.
“Chase can go over everything with you.” Alex stood. “I need to get back to the house. Cassie is with Jacob right now, but he has to work today.”
Max nodded and waited until Alex was out the door before turning to his brother. “What else?”
Chase rubbed his hands roughly over his face. “Alpha Shawn is concerned with the publicity the gallery is getting. Several of the artists, Cassie in particular, have gotten a lot of attention. Last week we received a threat that if we didn’t cancel the upcoming show, we would regret it. It was from the Church for Humanity, the people the wolves have had problems with ever since we went public. Our Pack didn’t go public, and Shawn isn’t sure how much longer he can hide us if the church has targeted us.”
“Is that really a big concern? From what I’ve seen, there have only been a few issues since the shifters announced their presence.”
“It’s a concern,” Chase told him. “The Coalition between all the shifter species is brand new. We’re hoping that will protect all shifters, but until we know for sure, we still want to remain secret. Some of the human lawmakers are talking about forcing shifters to register.”
“Register?”
“Yeah, so they can have a database on all of us.”
“That’s not right,” Max said in disgust.
“I know. Shawn is talking with the council on what we can do, but he’s worried.”
“Well, I’ll do what I can,” Max promised.
“Good. How are you doing?”
He knew his brother was concerned. Chase might not know everything that had gone down with his last mission, but his brother knew him well. Chase had also witnessed some of his nightmares.
“I’m fine.”
Chase didn’t look like he believed him but didn’t push. “Scott’s coming in. I thought we could grab your stuff, then I’ll follow you over to the Wilson ranch.”