Werebeasties (9 page)

She took her cell phone and dialled Mike’s number. A sleepy voice answered her on the third ring.

“Yo.”

“Sam here. Mike, do you know where Jared is?”

Mike sounded surprised. “Hey, Sammy. What’s shakin’?”

“Do you know where Jared is? My lawyer needs him to sign some papers.”

“What papers?”

“The settlement papers. If he wants his money, he has to sign it fast,” Sam lied. Jared and Mike were close. If Jared was about to be blessed with a boatload of cash, Mike would like to know. The two were crackheads and barely had a brain to split between them.

“Oh.” Mike sounded excited. “He went to Colorado, man. Couple days ago.”

“What for?” Sam played along.

“I dunno. He didn’t say.”

“Do you know where he’s staying?”

A pause. “I think he said something about Willwood or something. I ain’t sure. He just got some dough from his grandma and he said he wanted to splurge. Why don’t you call his cell?”

Dough from his grandma, my ass.
“I did. But he didn’t answer.”

“Tough luck, man. Were the papers important?”

“Duh. I wouldn’t call you if it wasn’t important.”

“Is it about the money?”

“Yes, it’s about the money.”

“Then, maybe,” Mike paused “I could sign it and hold onto the money since Jared’s busy?”

Sam snorted. Everybody in Jared’s family was like a vulture when it came to money. “You’re not the one who’s getting divorced from me, Mike. Sober up.” She disconnected.

So, Jared was staying in Willwood. Sam searched on Google maps for a location of a Willwood hotel. It turned out to be Willwood Lodge. She wrote the address on a piece of paper.

Her heart beat fast. She’d made up her mind. Tonight, she would sneak into his room for the tape. She knew her ex’s habits. Jared wouldn’t come to his room until at least twelve o’clock. He had to have his beers between dinner time and midnight. That meant he would be in a bar somewhere. Probably spending the seventy-five-thousand dollar cheque David had written for him.

That fucking bastard.

She could go to Willwood after dinner. She had told Adam she had her period. She assumed the men wouldn’t want to sleep with her until it was over. She could tell Adam she’d forgotten to pick up a couple of items from Walgreens. Adam might let her drive the Mercedes again. But first, she needed to give the keys back to him.

Sam inspected her clothes in the mirror. She was decent. No makeup. She didn’t feel like putting it on right now. She slipped into her canvas shoes and went looking for Adam.

She glided downstairs to the kitchen. Nigel told her Adam was in his office. She trotted back upstairs to the end of the hall.

She knocked. Nobody answered. The room was unlocked. Sam decided to put the key on his desk. She pushed the door and stepped in.

What she saw made her want to scream. She dropped the keys to the floor with a loud clank.

A big panther lounged on Adam’s leather sofa. The beast was sleeping, but it woke up and zeroed its eyes on her. Sam couldn’t breathe. Panic slammed in like a hurricane.

Run. Run now…

Before she could break the spell that the beast had cast on her, someone put a hand on her shoulder. Sam jumped, turning to flee. But her knees weakened. Adam caught her before she collapsed on the floor.

“Adam…” Sam gulped hard. Her gaze darted to the panther again. The beast had risen and was sitting on the sofa with its full attention on her. “There’s a…” She couldn’t finish her sentence.

“We need to talk, Sam.”

David emerged through the door. He saw the panther. His expression changed. “Oh, shit.”

Chapter Six

He was tired and he’d needed a nap. A long nap. He had been prowling through the bushes and hills all night looking for small animals to hunt. He had caught a hare and had a midnight snack. It wasn’t bad. Wasn’t great, either. His human didn’t like raw meat—his human preferred his meat cooked by the fire. Well, too bad. When He took over, He was in charge. So, Calvin could shut up and be a good boy.

His human awakened. Usually, Calvin would want to take over as soon as he woke. This time, he didn’t. He eyed the female in the room with interest.

Lush,
Calvin said.

He agreed. The woman had a healthy figure like a female should. Perfect to mount and bear many cubs. He knew Calvin had mated with the female and couldn’t get enough of her. He also sensed Calvin was in distress about her. Something involving Him and it scared the female. She didn’t know Calvin shared the body with Him. Sometimes, He liked to be free and roam the streets. Sometimes, He needed to hunt and kill, even it if was only small animals. He and Calvin didn’t hunt big animals like they used to. But He was okay with that. As long as Calvin let Him have occasional pleasure.

David urged the female to sit, while Adam got her something to drink. She kept watching Him. She was scared of Him, but she was also curious. She listened attentively as David talked. David’s tiger was docile. And so was Adam’s lion. They were fond of the female and didn’t want to do anything to scare her.

He didn’t want to scare the female either. But He was too curious. There was so much to discover about her. He could smell blood on her, one of those times that human females couldn’t perform a mating. Her skin and hair smelt refreshing, like fruit. Her clothes were damp and smelt like fruit too. He studied her with interest. He wanted to scent her. From up close. Intimately. But Adam sensed his intention and told him to sit.

Adam and David talked some more to the female. She looked disbelieving. Her gaze went back and forth between David and Him. Her hand trembled. A strong sense of distress permeated from her every pore. He wanted to go and lick her to dispel the stress. Calvin didn’t like the idea. His human wanted to console the female in person.

Move
, Calvin demanded. He shoved Him around to gain control.

He growled. He wanted to lick the female.

Calvin shoved harder. He had no choice but to concede. It was Calvin’s time to take back control anyway. He had had His fun all night.

His bones creaked. His flesh twisted and rearranged. His black glossy fur vanished, replaced by human skin. He became mellow as Calvin took complete possession.

The female’s eyes bulged as she watched the transformation. Her mouth formed a frozen O.

He retreated to His corner.

Calvin emerged from the shell. “Hello, Sam.”

* * * *

Samantha lay in her bed, eyes wide and her heart racing faster than a Japanese bullet train. The revelation had completely blown her mind. The truth about her parents. And the truth about Adam, David and Calvin. Sweet God. If she hadn’t witnessed Calvin shift with her own eyes, she wouldn’t have believed them. But it had happened.

Shape-shifters existed.

She ran her hands through her hair. Unbelievable. They weren’t completely human. Her employers were feline shifters. Adam said his beast was a lion. David was a tiger. And Calvin had revealed himself as a panther. The very panther she thought she’d seen a few days earlier.

She had been freaked out, but she was also awed. It wasn’t every day she got to meet half-supernatural beings. Things that went bump in the night were real.

And the reason Adam had hired her in the first place…

She hadn’t known she was adopted. That she was the last of the bloodline of Kurt Jacoby, a man who’d existed more than a century ago, who had wronged Adam, David and Calvin and forced them to make a pact with the devil, turning them into what they were. Her biological mother was a school teacher who’d had an affair with a travelling salesman, who’d happened to be Jacoby’s descendant. They had both died years ago. Her biological mother had remarried and died in childbirth. In some way, that explained why she had never seen her baby pictures. The earliest family photo she’d seen of herself and her parents was when she was on a tricycle with her mother in tow. She’d been two years old.

Now, the three men had found her to atone for sins of the past. She belonged to them. As a warden of their beasts. To be protected and cherished.

Everything started to make sense.

A sliver of a thrill crept at the base of her spine. She didn’t need to leave them when her contract was over. She would see them every day, her every waking moment. The three of them. Her men. Hers.

Sam hauled herself up to sit and slide down from the bed. Still. The revelation didn’t solve her problems with Jared. If anything, it complicated it. If she went to the men and told them about the blackmail, she’d bet they would help her in a heartbeat. Would that make their opinion of her lessen? She still had her pride. She wanted them to think of her as more than a pest. They had doled out the money Jared demanded without question and put up with her ex’s crap.

What would they think about her if they knew she had a sex tape?

The damned thing would embarrass them if it ever leaked onto the internet…

God.

Why did this kind of shit keep happening to her? When things were looking up, Jared had always ruined it for her. Always…

She had to do something. Go on with her original plan. Recover the tape.

Sam looked at her wristwatch. It was almost dinner time. She would go on with the plan after dinner. This time, she couldn’t borrow Adam’s car to go to town. That would be too obvious. The men might think she wanted to run away after the revelation. Adam had repeatedly asked her to stay and accept what they were. She wasn’t afraid of them and she didn’t want to split. She just wanted to take care of some unfinished business.

She planned her break-in…

* * * *

Samantha was missing.

Adam had gone to her bedroom to check if she was okay and found the room was empty. She’d looked a bit distraught during dinner. She was quiet and tense. Maybe because they had told her the secret. She obviously couldn’t accept them for what they were and so had run. He shouldn’t have been surprised with her reaction. But it still hurt. He thought they had a connection. Because of her, his beast was under control.

Adam strode to the living room to find David and Calvin. They were watching TV.

David turned to him as soon as Adam walked past the door.

“She’s gone.”

Calvin frowned. “Samantha?”

“Yeah. She’s gone. Her room was empty and she’s nowhere to be found.”

David got off from the sofa. “Did she take her clothes too?”

“No. Her clothes and bags are still in her room.”

“Her purse?”

“She took her purse with her.”

“Maybe she just wanted to take a walk?” Calvin offered.

“Why didn’t she tell us? Sam always asks, even if it’s only to get a glass of water from the fridge.”

“Shit.” David massaged his temple. “You don’t think she freaked out, do you?”

Adam crossed his arms in front of his chest. “That’s what I’m afraid of…”

“She can’t go.” Calvin jumped from his seat. “She’s ours. We need to track her.”

“Does she carry her cell phone with her? Maybe we should call her first.”

Adam slapped his forehead. “Why didn’t I think about that?” He fished his cell from his pocked and flipped it open. He dialled Sam’s number. One ring. Two. Three. His call went to her voicemail. Adam wanted to throw his phone against the wall.

“We’ll track her,” David decided.

“She can’t be far. When was the last time you saw her?” Calvin asked Adam.

“After dinner. That was two hours ago. I thought she was tired and went to bed early.”

David looked at his watch. “Did she take a car?”

“Let me check. She might have taken Morgan’s.”

David turned to Calvin. “Want to do this the old-fashioned way?”

Calvin had already shape-shifted into his beastly form, his clothes in tatters on the floor. A piece of white fabric dangled from his feline ear.

The panther bounded out from the room before Adam could step out of the room.

Something struck Adam’s mind. “I hope Calvin won’t freak her out again if he’s going like that.”

David’s jaw twitched. “Let’s focus on one thing at the time. We must find her first.”

* * * *

The concierge behind the desk didn’t even look at her when he gave her Jared’s room key. Didn’t even bother to check on the computer if she was a guest in the lodge either. Sam had thought the sneaking part would be a whole lot more complicated than this. All she’d told the clerk was she was Mrs Knight, saying she had lost her key, showed him her ID and the clerk had produced the spare key without a blink. Keeping her face straight, Sam had snatched the keycard and stalked into the elevator.

Jared was staying in room one-o-four. She had no idea what floor it was on, so she experimented by going to the next floor. After a few turns in the labyrinthine corridors, she found his room. It was easy. Sam slid the keycard and pushed open the door.