The Mane Squeeze

  “Uh-huh,” Lock muttered, his gaze stuck on Gwen’s face. She was so pale. He was glad he’d decided to stay and—

  “Excuse me?”

  Lock glanced over at the double doors leading in and out of the recovery room. He scowled. “You must be kidding.”

  The polar grinned and motioned to the hallway with a twitch of his head before disappearing outside. Lock looked back at Gwen, brushed stray hairs off her cheek and out of her eyes before he sighed and followed.

  Lock knew the polar. Everyone called him “Toots.” He’d been born and raised in Macon River Falls, New Jersey, and like everyone else in his family, he’d stayed on to become one of the Macon River Falls Rangers. Part peace officer, part animal-park ranger.

  Stopping in front of him, Lock crossed his arms over his chest. “That big-haired bastard called the cops?”

  “You didn’t expect him to take you on himself, did you?”

  “Yeah, he might crack a claw.”

  Toots laughed. Like most polars, he had a healthy sense of humor and white-brown hair. He was also a good eight inches taller than Lock and quite a bit wider, since the polars had a tendency to stay closer to their bear size in human form than the grizzlies did, which was one of the reasons more polars were found in smaller, out-of-the-way towns like Macon River than in big cities like New York or Boston, where they would receive more attention than they wanted.

  “Personally, I’m thinking that hot little She-wolf stepped in to prevent it.”

  Hot, huh? “Her feet are as big as yours.”

  “The bigger the feet, the bigger the tits.”

  Never a big fan of “guy talk,” Lock shook his head and said, “I promised her I’d stay.”

  “The She-wolf?”

  “No.” He motioned to the recovery room. “The tigon.”

  “Wow. Got a tigon in there and a wolfdog out there. Two hybrids in one weekend—that’s gotta be a record for us.”

  “I’m not leaving.”

  “Yeah, ya are. Or I can arrest your dumb ass and you can enjoy some time in our lovely jail.”

  “I haven’t done anything wrong.”

  “Part of my job is preventing anything from happening as much as it is to fix things when they do happen. You don’t leave, that cat goes postal, you slap him around, the She-wolf calls her itty-bitty friends and, like the dogs they are, they come running. You’ll slap them around. At that point, I’m back out here because the doc’s called me to get you off the property. Or, you can leave with me now and everybody’s happy and breathing.”

  “Everybody’s happy but me.”

  “Sacrifices have to be made, and we know that lion ain’t makin’ any if he can help it.” Toots winked at him, motioned to the exit door. “Come on, shorty. Let’s go. You can seethe all the way back to Van Holtz territory.”

  “Gee, thanks.”

  How did he let this happen? He’d promised Mitch he’d take care of Gwen. One weekend out, and she’d been assaulted by interloping wolves and mooned over by that imbecile bear.

  Talk about dropping the ball.

  Blayne stormed back into the waiting room. At five-eleven, she was a good three inches taller than Gwen, but both hybrids were still pretty small as human compared to most of the breeds they were mixed with.

  “You called the cops?” Blayne accused and Brendon could only stare at her.

  “What?”

  “You called the cops on the bear! I was standing out front and I saw them driving away in the Ranger’s SUV.”

  Not sure what she was talking about, but not in the mood to get into a fight with a woman who would happily have a verbal argument with lint, Bren could only shrug. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “It was me,” Ronnie cut in and they both looked at her.

  “I’m sorry, darlin’,” Ronnie said simply, “but he needed to go.”

  “Why?” Blayne demanded, looking surprisingly angry over a bear she didn’t even know.

  “Because he didn’t need to be here.” Ronnie’s voice was calm and very controlled, which Bren knew was not a good thing. Happy and sunny equaled good. Calm and controlled equaled wolfdog without her head.

  “I don’t think that was your decision to make,” Blayne practically snarled.

  “And I think you should suck my—”

  “Why don’t you check on Gwen,” Bren quickly cut in, grabbing Ronnie’s hand and intertwining their fingers before she could finish that particular sentence. “She’ll be waking up soon.”

  With a loud and rather dramatic sigh, the wolfdog stormed off, and Bren kissed the back of Ronnie’s knuckles. “Thanks.”

  Ronnie’s bubbling anger slipped away and she smiled at Bren. “Gwen will be okay.”

  “Yeah, but—”

  “And there’s no need to call Mitch about this.”

  He winced. “Are you sure?”

  “You wanna see that little mixed-breed feline really mad at you, Brendon Shaw? You just call her brother back here over something like this. Take it from a ‘baby sister’ who knows. You leave that boy right where he is and let us take care of Gwenie.”

  He nodded and pulled Ronnie over until she sat on his lap. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  She kissed his cheek and put her arms around his shoulders. “I’m glad, too. Did you see the claws on that bear? And he was aiming right for your pretty face, too!”

  Gwen opened her eyes and snorted. Figures.

  “What?” Blayne asked, staring down at her.

  Blayne was staring down at her. Not a handsome bear. But Blayne. She loved Blayne…but Blayne wasn’t the bear. The bear who’d made a promise. Gave his word!

  See? She couldn’t rely on anyone but herself, her family, and Blayne. Crazy, never-knew-when-she-would-snap, anger-management-classes-are-her-friend Blayne. Anyone else—not to be trusted.

  “Nothing’s wrong,” Gwen lied.

  “You sure?”

  “Yeah. I’m sure. So can I leave?”

  “Brendon’s signing you out now. You can’t walk on that leg for at least four hours, so he’s going to have to carry you. Or Smitty.” Blayne’s lips pursed. “The Pack’s here, too.”

  Gwen didn’t ask why the Smith Pack was here because she already knew. Ronnie Lee called one of them and said in that annoying country twang, “No, no. I don’t need nothin’. I’ll be fine. Y’all don’t worry ’bout me none.” And the dogs ran over like Ronnie was being locked into an Animal Control van.

  “Whatever,” Gwen sighed. Because really…would it have killed the bear to have stuck around at least until she woke up? At least until he knew she wasn’t about to become another victim of body-part theft? Apparently it would have, because he wasn’t here. Like he’d promised!

  As Gwen always suspected, male bears were no different from any of the other breeds. All males were born liars. Every last one of them. And why the hell did she care so much that he hadn’t stayed and she felt moments from pouting?

  It must be the medication. That was the only thing that made sense. All those stupid meds flowing through her body were making her an emotional wreck.

  Brendon walked in. “All right. Let’s get out of here.”

  Blayne slipped her arm under Gwen’s shoulders to help her sit up.

  “I’ve got her.” Brendon waited until Blayne stepped aside and then easily scooped Gwen up in his arms.

  “You don’t need to carry me like I’m an infant.”

  And proving how much like Mitch Shaw he really was, Brendon cried out dramatically, “Would it kill you to let me help you?”

  Blowing out a sigh, Gwen looked at Blayne and Blayne looked down at the floor, her shoulders shaking from laughter.

  “No, Bren. That’s fine.”

  He smiled, happy he’d gotten his way. “Thank you.”

  Ulrich Van Holtz continued to read the latest tome on world economics, pretending to be bored, but in truth absolutely fascinated!

  He loved weekends l
ike this. Weekends without his father, Alder, or brother in attendance because if there was one thing that pair knew how to do really well was ruin a relaxing weekend among family.

  But instead of enduring the presence of those two, Ric was instead getting a few days of downtime with his favorite cousins, a few hours on his own to read a dry, detailed exploration on failing economics, and a chance to watch his best friend storm into the house, slam the door behind him, and make all Ric’s lounging cousins disappear in the face of that grizzly boar-rage.

  Awesome.

  Lock MacRyrie stalked by the living room entryway wearing hospital scrubs, a scowl, and a series of fresh bruises on his face and neck.

  “Lock?”

  The grizzly walked back and stood in the archway. “What?”

  “Should I ask what happened to your face?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” he growled before storming off again.

  Placing his book on the table, Ric followed his friend. When the grizzly started to head out a back door, Ric caught his arm and led him toward the kitchen.

  Adelle Van Holtz, his father’s first cousin but mature enough that Ric always referred to her as Aunt Adelle, glanced up from whatever she was mixing for tonight’s dessert. Her mouth dropped open in shock when she saw Lock.

  “Lachlan!” She put down her mixing bowl and rushed to him. “My poor baby. What happened to you?”

  “I really don’t want to talk about it,” he muttered and Adelle pulled him toward one of the stools by the breakfast bar that separated the kitchen from one of the smaller dining areas.

  “You sit right down here,” she said, amusing Ric, who sat next to him. It fascinated him the way the older She-wolves pampered Lock like a giant teddy bear, while all the older males hated and feared him.

  “You going to tell me what happened?” Ric asked, reaching for one of the berries from the massive bowl Adelle placed in front of Lock, but quickly snatching his hand back when she slapped it.

  “I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “You’ll feel better.”

  “No, I won’t.”

  “Did you end up on the wrong side of a buck again?”

  “No. Wolves.” When Ric and Adelle passed glances, both wondering who in their Pack would be stupid enough to go up against any bear, much less Lock, he shook his head. “Not your Pack. Some other flea-bitten Pack.”

  “Excuse me, but we haven’t had an outbreak of fleas in years. And what other Pack?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Adelle cleared her throat, her face concerned. “I know some of the Smiths are staying out at Shaw’s place this weekend. But I can’t imagine Bobby Ray would—”

  “These weren’t Smiths. I’ve dealt with Smiths before, and met a few of the New York Pack at Jess’s wedding. It wasn’t them.”

  “Okay. Then who do you think—”

  “She’s going to think I deserted her,” Lock blurted out.

  Her? Lock didn’t have a “her” in his life. He’d had a few “you remember, what’s-her-names” over the past couple of years, but they’d come and gone quickly with little thought. The only females in his life that Ric knew Lock thought about on a regular basis were his mother and sister. Otherwise, Lock kept primarily to himself.

  “And who would this she be exactly?”

  “I said I don’t want to talk about it.”

  “But I’m sure we can go to wherever she is and—”

  “Forget it. It doesn’t matter.” Lock picked up his bowl of berries and walked out of the kitchen.

  After they heard his bedroom door slam shut, Adelle asked, “Do you think his ‘she’ is a wolf?”

  “He smelled like he’d been around a feline, but what kind, I’m not sure.”

  “A feline? For my Lock?” Adelle scrunched up her nose. “I’m not sure some feline’s going to be good enough for him.”

  If Lock really liked her, whoever she may be, Ric wouldn’t care. His friend had not had an easy life, so a little feline canoodling couldn’t hurt.

  Ric slid off the stool. “Let me see what I can find out.”

  “Good.”

  “Did you say Brendon Shaw was in town?” he asked, always wanting to get information up front before he threw himself into things.

  “Yes. Brought out a bunch of people, too, including Smitty’s Pack and Jess’s.”

  Ahh. Sweet Jess. Ric had always liked her, and was not happy he couldn’t make her wedding. But he should have known that a sudden demand for an important business trip would rise up out of nowhere as soon as Ric’s father had found out he hadn’t been invited to the wedding but Ric had.

  “I’ll let you know what I find out,” he promised, heading to the back door and pulling out his cell phone.

  CHAPTER 5

  One small kitchen fire later and Jess Ward-Smith was racing across territorial lines and right into Ulrich Van Holtz’s open arms.

  Oh, and it was a small, controlled burn. Nothing to worry about. Simply a way to distract one overprotective hillbilly wolf and his hillbilly wolf kin while she illicitly met up with one of the coolest-named guys ever.

  “I’m so glad to see you!” she said, hugging the wolf tight.

  He hugged her back and kissed her on the cheek. “Me, too.” He placed her down and studied her carefully. “You look astoundingly beautiful,” he said easily. He had to be the only man she knew who made those kinds of compliments sound as if he was stating the obvious rather than merely trying to flatter her. “And very happy.”

  Jess Ward-Smith knew she was blushing now, but she couldn’t help it. “Yeah, okay,” she admitted. “I am.”

  Ric laughed and gave her another hug.

  Like all the Van Holtz males, Ric was tall, well-built with a slightly overdeveloped diver’s body, and handsome. Yet handsome was only the first stop on the beauty train for Ric, who managed to head all the way into the station for The Land of Gorgeous. With his sculpted cheekbones, Grecian nose, square jaw, and that always freshly tousled dark blond hair, it still surprised her he’d never done any modeling.

  “And pregnant, too,” he teased. “My, those Smith males move quite fast.”

  “Don’t start.” Jess stepped away from him, but kept a grip on his hand.

  Knowing she was short on time once Smitty realized she’d sneaked out—would she have to endure his Smith protective streak through every damn pregnancy?—Jess asked, “I got your text, handsome, what’s up?”

  “Lachlan MacRyrie went out for salmon and a nap, but came back covered in bruises and in full boar-rage. Any idea why?”

  Jess briefly covered her mouth with her hand, a small gasp escaping before she said, “Oh, my God! That was Lock?” When Bren had muttered something to Smitty about an “annoying, fat-ass, stubby-tailed bear,” she’d assumed it was one of the local bears. Not her Lock! And the last thing that man had was a fat ass, but that was a treacherous un-mate-like thought for another day. “Is he okay?”

  “Physically he’s fine. But he’s rarely this pissed off. I’d love to know why, so I can avoid any maulings this evening.”

  “Well, the men aren’t telling me anything, so I brought Blayne along to fill in the holes. She was there with Bren’s sister, Gwen. Right, Blayne?” Jess looked around, wondering where the wolfdog she’d dragged along with her had gone off to. “Blayne?”

  Ric picked up a pair of shorts from off the ground. “She’s disappeared.”

  No. She hadn’t. But she had found a squirrel. Jess and Ric watched as a shifted Blayne chased the squirrel, caught the squirrel, toyed with the squirrel, let the squirrel go, only to go chasing after it again. Until she was distracted by the crow that she tried to catch in her mouth.

  “So…when are you due?”

  Jess winced at Ric’s question as Blayne ran into a tree, backed up, and went after the bird again. “Mid-March.”

  “And you’re having a—”

  “Yes. Yes, I’m having a wolfdog.”

&nbsp
; “Huh.”

  Blayne was turning in circles now, trying to catch her tail.

  “Blayne,” Jess called out. “Blayne!”

  The wolfdog immediately stopped and started to walk over to Jess and Ric. Too bad the dizziness got the best of her, though, because she stumbled sideways into another tree and slid down, panting.

  Picking up Blayne’s clothes, Jess walked over to her. Blayne had an interesting look to her as wolfdog. Built like a wolf, with a heavy coat and muscular body, she still had the giant ears and tiny paws of the wild dog along with the coloring that included big splotches of white, brown, blond, black, and red all over her shaggy coat. Not surprisingly, Blayne dyed her human hair one solid color, like most wild dogs. They were the only shifters forced to do so if they hoped to fit in among full-humans.

  “I don’t have all day,” Jess said, wondering how hard it would be to raise the one wolfdog she was currently pregnant with, much less the seven girls Smitty believed they were going to eventually have because his “prem’nitions” told him so.

  “Sorry,” Blayne said after shifting. She stood and quickly pulled her clothes on. “Got distracted.”

  Jess didn’t mention that Blayne seemed to get distracted often.

  “Blayne, this is Ric. Ric, Blayne.”

  They shook hands and then Ric asked, “So what happened?”

  “Well—”

  “Don’t ramble,” Jess said quickly, which got her a harsh glare. In answer, Jess tapped her wrist, where her favorite watch usually was, but it had been taken by Smitty and hidden for the weekend. “I’m on a tight schedule here, sweetie.”

  “More like a tight leash with a hillbilly at the other end of it.”

  Jess gasped in outrage and Ric quickly placed his hand on Jess’s shoulder. “So what happened?” he asked Blayne again.

  “It was a hate crime.”

  Jess looked at Ric and back at Blayne. “You mean they attacked you because you’re bl—”

  “A hybrid. Exactly!”

  “Oh.” Jess rubbed her forehead. “All right then.”