Since he was already in deep shit with her, he decided doing one more stupid thing couldn’t hurt his cause. After finding the key she kept hidden in a potted plant—the one he’d told her was stupid to keep outside—he headed inside.
Her scent was so much stronger and he found he missed it more than he wanted to admit to even himself. She might be pissed he’d broken in but at least he wouldn’t have to worry about convincing her to let him over her threshold. Once their fight was over—because he knew there would be one—they’d be that much closer to the bedroom once the dust settled. More than anything he just wanted her to listen to what he had to say so they could start things fresh in their relationship.
Sighing, he stretched out on her couch and closed his eyes. His body still ached from the poisoning but something intangible in his chest hurt worse than anything. Like that silver knife had embedded deep in his heart instead of his stomach and was twisting with each breath he took. He was terrified of the thought of living without Talia. Or worse, having to see her all the time and not being able to claim her as his own.
Chapter Six
Talia shifted in the passenger seat and tried to quell the nerves humming through her. She risked a quick glance at her date, Rex Serrano. An interesting name for the tall man with light blond hair, perfectly manicured hands—even though nothing about his hands screamed girly—and extremely muscular arms. He didn’t have that animalistic quality that Grant had—gah! She had to stop comparing him to Grant. Well, Rex didn’t have
that
quality but there was something else about him that put her on edge.
Power.
That’s what it was. The broad-shouldered man with the perfect skin screamed power. He put off an aura that seemed to captivate everyone around them, including their waitress tonight. To give him credit, he hadn’t looked at another woman the entire time he’d been with Talia but the females had sure been looking at him. Hungrily.
“I’d like to take you out again,” Rex said quietly as he pulled into her driveway.
Nervously, she fingered the seatbelt. “Um, I…” She knew she should say no. The man might be good looking—and that was an understatement—but he wasn’t what she wanted. Unfortunately what she wanted wasn’t available. She started to tell him no when she noticed a familiar looking truck parked in front of her house. Alarm jumped inside her. It looked like Max’s truck but she couldn’t imagine why he’d be at her home.
“What is it?” Rex asked, concern in his deep, almost melodic voice.
Looking back at him, she shook her head and forced a smile. “Nothing. I had a great time tonight but I don’t think there’s going to be a second date. It’s not you, believe me. I just don’t think I’m ready to start dating again.” She snapped her mouth shut when she realized she was about to start rambling.
His eyebrows rose slightly, almost in amusement before he let out a quiet sigh. “Let me walk you to your door then.”
“Oh, uh, you don’t have to.”
“Simply because you have rejected me does not mean I won’t treat you like a lady.” He was out of his seat and opening her door before she had time to unhook her seatbelt.
All night he’d had a strange way of phrasing things but she found she liked his formality. She let him take her hand as she slid out and was once again floored by the chilliness of his grasp. It wasn’t exactly ice cold but it was cold enough to make her take notice.
The moment they made it to her front door, she turned to him to tell him thanks again, but a blur of wind and movement had her falling back as Grant flew through the front door and slammed into her date.
As the two men started rolling around on her lawn, she could only stare in astonishment. “Grant! What the hell are you doing?”
Completely ignoring her, he drew his hand back as if to punch Rex but froze mid-strike. Rex’s face was drawn in a snarl, but he paused when Grant did.
“Grant?” Her date shoved Grant off him with surprising force before he jumped to his feet with an almost supernatural grace.
Grant looked at Rex, glared at her, then back at Rex again. “What the fuck are you doing in town?”
Rex cleared his throat and shrugged. “Hunting some rogue youth.”
Grant’s gaze narrowed. “You’re a little late. Two of your kind tried to kill me the other night and my pack took care of the rest. Except one. We’re still looking for him.”
Talia stared in shock at Grant, feeling as if he spoke a different language. Someone had tried to kill Grant? And what did Rex mean he was hunting? “Would someone like to tell me what the hell is going on? Why were you in my freaking house, Grant? Actually, how did you even get in? And why did you attack my date? How do you two know each other? What does pack mean?”
Grant finally looked back at her and his expression softened. But only slightly. She guessed he was pissed she’d been out on a date. “What the hell are you doing out with this guy?”
“None of your damn business! You fall off the face of the earth and expect me to wait around for you? I wasn’t kidding when I said I was tired of the way things are between us. I’m not waiting around for you anymore. And you still haven’t answered my questions.”
He gritted his teeth. “I was in your house waiting for you to apologize and explain why I’ve been out of touch. I got in by using that key you keep hidden. I attacked Rex because I thought he was someone else. It doesn’t matter how we know each other because Rex is
leaving
. And pack…there are some things I need to explain to you tonight. If you’ll listen.”
Before she could respond, Rex chuckled. “You haven’t told her what you are? My God, man, you’re a fool. If I had a female like this I would have locked her down ages ago and never let her leave the bedroom.”
Talia’s temper flared. “Excuse me? I’m right here!”
Grant ignored her as he continued to glare at her date. “It’s complicated.”
“Yes, so complicated she was out on a date with me. If you cannot keep your woman satisfied,
someone
else will.” There was no doubt who he thought that someone would be. His deep voice held a deadly edge to it that reminded her of Grant when he got territorial.
“I keep her satisfied and if you so much as look her way again, I’ll kill you.” An animalistic rumble rattled around in Grant’s chest but she was too angry to worry about it.
Maybe she should be scared because Grant had just threatened to kill Rex—and sounded serious about it—but she was too wound up to worry about that. Especially since she knew Grant would never hurt her. “I’m getting sick of you two morons talking about me like I’m some piece of meat. I can hear everything you’re saying and I want some answers!”
This time they both looked at her. Rex raked her over with a purely sexual gaze. Grant’s expression confused her. He looked incredibly turned on but he also looked scared of something. Not Rex, that was for sure.
Rex covered the distance between them before she could blink and gently took one of her hands in his cold grip. “If you ever get tired of this inconsiderate asshole, call me. I promise I know how to satisfy a woman.” Something dark and sensual lurked in the depths of his eyes that told her he certainly did. Even though she wasn’t attracted to him, a shudder snaked through her regardless. Yes, this man would know a thousand ways to keep a woman sexually happy.
Grant growled and moved between them, shoving Rex away. “Get the hell out of here, Rex.”
Smiling, Rex nodded once at her and strode back to his Mercedes. Before he’d pulled out of the drive, Grant turned back to her and glared.
She bristled. “Don’t you even think about giving me any sort of dirty look. I’ll date whoever I please and go out with whoever I want. You have no claim on me.”
Without responding, he turned and stalked toward her house. With no recourse but to follow, she headed inside and shut the door behind her. She found him pacing the length of her living room so she sat on her leather loveseat and stared at him. “I’m waiting.”
He abruptly stopped and faced her. For the first time since she’d met him, she had no doubt that she wasn’t losing her mind. His eyes had changed color. No longer were they dark brown. Nope. The eyes staring back at her were a fiery amber and
definitely
not human. The odd coloring and change made her shudder. Instinctively she slid back on the couch, trying to put some distance between them.
The moment she did, his eyes switched back. “What you just saw is my inner wolf.”
“What?”
Sighing, Grant sat on the longer couch, thankfully keeping some distance between them. Her heart pounded mercilessly as she tried to comprehend what the heck he’d just said and what she’d just seen. “I don’t know an easy way to tell you this so I’m going to lay it all out. I’m a shifter, or what humans like to think of as werewolves. But I don’t look like those ridiculous monsters from the movies, more like a bigger version of a regular timber wolf. The man from earlier tonight, Rex, he’s not human either. He’s a vampire. A bounty hunter, actually, but I’ll explain more about that later.”
She gasped at his words, wondering if Grant had lost his mind, but he continued.
“I’ve wanted to tell you what I am for a long time but couldn’t figure out the best way to. I finally realized there is no good way to tell you so I’m taking a huge risk here. I’m alpha of the pack in Gulf Shores and basically most of southern Alabama. It’s why I’m so busy all the time. Almost everyone who works for me is a shifter and the very select few who aren’t know what we are…except you.”
Except her?
She blinked, still not sure if Grant was crazy or high or maybe both. His words were insane but it would explain some things she’d seen over the past year. Still, it sounded too crazy. “You expect me to believe you turn into a wolf? Like what, a full moon comes out and you change and howl and stuff?”
His lips quirked up in amusement. But instead of answering, he started stripping.
She sputtered as he finally shucked his jeans but before she found her voice, he changed before her eyes.
Literally.
Her throat seized in panic as she watched the man she loved—her freaking lover for the past month—change shape. The sound of his bones breaking and him grunting in pain made her cringe as she watched him change from a human into a wolf.
A very large gray wolf that now stood in the middle of her living room.
Her eyes widened and her mouth gaped open but she couldn’t make a sound. Not one little peep would escape even though she desperately tried to find her voice. The animal—Grant—took a couple steps toward her then got on his belly. When he turned over and revealed his underside to her, she wasn’t sure how she knew, but she guessed he was making himself vulnerable to her. Showing her he wasn’t a threat.
How could this be possible?
Even though her brain screamed at her to run she forced herself to kneel on the throw rug covering the hardwood floor and tentatively reached out for him. When she petted the side of his face, he licked her hand then nuzzled it.
Whatever fear she’d felt dissipated. Well, almost. This was too weird. Drawing her hand back, she sat on the couch once again. As Grant shifted back to his human form she couldn’t think of anything semi-intelligent to say.
When he was back and standing naked in front of her, his dark eyes searched hers. “Are you okay? I’m sure you must have a lot of questions.”
Uh, no she wasn’t okay. She didn’t know what she was. But she did have questions. A lot of them. All she knew right now was this wasn’t fake. It was real. She couldn’t refute the evidence. And she didn’t know how she felt about that.
Swallowing, she found her voice. “You said someone tried to kill you the other night?”
A pause stretched between them but he finally nodded. “Two vampires caught me off guard after I dropped you off. I killed them both but one stabbed me. There was poison on the blade and it knocked me unconscious until a few hours ago.”
Her annoyance with him immediately faded to be replaced by concern. She wanted to be angry but if he’d been unconscious, he couldn’t have contacted her. “But you’re okay?” The thought of him dying sent a shiver of fear rolling through her. Try as she might, it was hard to imagine a world without Grant. Or her life without him for that matter.
“I’m fine. I promise.” His voice had softened a few notches.
“So everyone I work with is a…shifter? Even Sarah?”
He nodded.
Her heart rate picked up. Holy shit. All this time and she hadn’t had a clue. “Why’d you hire me then if I’m not one of you?”
His smile was grim as he tugged his jeans back on. She knew it was crazy but she was a little sad when he covered all that exposed flesh. “I couldn’t
not
. The second you walked into the bar looking for work I told Max to hire you and give you any shifts you wanted. I don’t know what it was, but I was instantly pulled to you.”
“Oh.” She chewed on that for a moment but thought of another question. “So, are you really old or something? I always thought vampires and werewolves were immortal—not that I actually believed in them until now, but according to the movies…”
Suddenly he looked uncomfortable as he sat down. “I’m almost two hundred years old but I’m not immortal. If I don’t get killed beforehand, I’ll likely live to be about a thousand. Maybe longer. It’s not an exact science.”