Wild About You

mended, his hair grew back, and he regained the younger, more virile appearance that shifters normally enjoyed for centuries. But he never returned to Alaska where he had been banned. Until now.

Shanna wondered what had changed. She leaned against the back of the easy chair as she scrolled through the list of contacts on her cell phone to call Angus.

“Did you call yet?”

She nearly dropped her phone. Her son had suddenly materialized by the coffee table. “Tino, you startled me. I thought you were upstairs packing.”

“I was.” He climbed onto the easy chair, kneeling so he was facing her. “Did you call Uncle Angus? Is Howard coming back? Will he live with us at the school?”

“I suppose he will.”

“Then why don’t we pack some of his stuff?” Tino asked. “We could get a room ready for him.”

Shanna glanced toward the hallway that led to Howard’s rooms. Since she and Roman shared a large, windowless suite in the basement, they had let Howard use the master bedroom and office on the ground floor. As a were-bear, Howard was very territorial, so they had allowed him to treat that part of the house as his private domain. She’d seen his office a few times, but she’d never ventured into his bedroom.

She shook her head. “He wouldn’t like us rummaging around in his room. Besides, he’s been on vacation for over a month. He must have plenty of clothes with him.”

“But he won’t have his games.” Tino bounced on the seat cushion. “We can’t play without his games.”

Shanna bit her lip. Howard might not mind her going into his room to fetch a few games.

“And he’ll want his secret DVDs.”

She turned toward Tino. “His what?”

“His DVDs. He has a box of them hidden under his bed. He watches them when he’s not working.”

“They don’t sound very secret if you know where they are.”

Tino shrugged. “I just call them secret ’cause he won’t let me watch them. He said they’re for older people.”

Adult only? Shanna swallowed hard. Was there a side to Howard no one knew about? No, she couldn’t believe it. Sweet Howard, who always had a smile on his face and a donut in hand? Surely he wasn’t . . . “Did he say anything else about these DVDs?”

Tino tilted his head, considering. “There’s a girl and two guys. The guys are called Big Al and The Hammer —”

“Okay.” Shanna tried to keep any alarm from showing on her face. Good Lord, she’d trusted her children with Howard. Forget privacy issues. As a responsible parent, she had to investigate. “I . . . think I could look in his room for a few board games.”

“Cool! Can I come with you?”

“No!” Shanna softened her voice to continue. “Why don’t you be a sweetie and help Grandma bring your sister’s suitcases down?”

Tino frowned. “All right. But remember to get the chess set, too. Howard promised he would teach me.”

“I will.” She waited for her son to teleport upstairs, then hurried down the hallway.

She glanced inside the office Howard used as his security headquarters. One wall was covered with monitors. A few screens normally showed the outside perimeter of the house in White Plains, while others were linked to surveillance cameras in Roman’s townhouse on the Upper East Side. The monitors were all dark now, since no one was living at either place.

Her gaze wandered across the room. A file cabinet topped with a few trophies and awards Howard had earned during his football career, a plain wooden chair, a pair of hand weights on the floor. Fifty pounds each? Good Lord. Howard would be formidable if ever crossed. It was a good thing he was so sweet-natured. Or was he? How well did she really know him? She eyed the handcuffs on his desk.

Howard loves games. Tino’s words slipped back into her mind with a new and disturbing meaning. No, this was easily explainable. Howard was their security guard. He needed silver handcuffs to prevent bad vampires from teleporting away. But what about the adult-only DVDs under his bed?

The door to his bedroom was locked, but that didn’t present a problem with her new vampire strength. Mental note: repair the splintered doorframe and broken doorknob before the house goes on sale.

She flipped on the light as she entered the bedroom, then stopped with a small jolt of surprise. This was how Howard had furnished his room? She’d visited his hunting cabin on several occasions when Connor had hidden the Draganesti family there in dangerous times. The cabin was exactly what you would expect from an Alaskan were- bear. Lots of wood, leather, Indian blankets in shades of earth and sky, and a few animal heads mounted on the walls.

There was nothing rustic about this bedroom. Sleek, sophisticated, and modern, it didn’t seem to match Howard. Was there a secret side to him that no one knew about?

The king-sized bed was covered with a black-and-white striped comforter and bright red pillows. The bedside tables were chrome and glass. Across from the bed, a shiny black dresser was topped with a wide-screen TV. A black leather recliner rested in the corner next to a glass and chrome bookcase. She spotted the games Tino wanted on the bottom shelf.

But what about the secret DVDs? As she approached the bed, the unusual headboard drew her attention. Tin ceiling tiles?

She ran her fingers over the embossed tin. How interesting. The tiles were mounted on a piece of plywood to make a headboard. Had Howard made this himself? Apparently, there was a lot about Howard that she didn’t know. With an uneasy feeling, she dropped to her knees and peered underneath the bed.

There it was. A black alligator-skin box. She pulled it out, then took a deep breath and opened it.

Homemade DVDs. She rummaged through the stack, reading the labels Howard had written and attached to the plastic cases. Elsa in London. Elsa in Amsterdam. Elsa in Berlin. This Elsa certainly got around. Elsa in Pittsburgh. Elsa in Cincinnati. Was this like Debbie Does Dallas?

Shanna inserted the first disc in the DVD player on Howard’s television, then lowered the volume in case she happened across a scene with loud moaning.

A collage of stately old homes rolled across the screen, then the title of the show appeared. International Home Wreckers. A map of the U.K. and the Union Jack flashed by, followed by the photo of a well-dressed man. Alastair Whitfield aka Big Al. The outline of Germany and its flag, followed by another photo. Oskar Mannheim aka The Hammer. And finally, the map and flag of Sweden, followed by the photo of a beautiful blond woman, dressed in cut-off jeans, a plaid shirt tied beneath her breasts, a pair of work boots, and a utility belt resting on her hips. Elsa Bjornberg aka Amazon Ellie. A commercial began for the network, HGRS. Home and Garden Renovation Station.

“Oh my gosh,” Shanna breathed. “I love this channel.” She glanced back at the tin-tiled headboard. Howard was into home décor?

As the show began, the two male stars were gutting a Victorian townhouse in London that had fallen into disrepair. Alastair, dressed in an expensive designer suit, was selecting new wallpaper for the parlor. Oskar, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, was ripping up a hideous orange shag carpet to expose a wooden floor underneath.

“It’s extremely important to preserve a site’s proper heritage,” Alastair explained in a crisp British accent. “But at the same time, we must be sensitive to the needs of the family who will be calling this home. They have their hearts set on a more modern, open concept, so we have agreed to take down part of the wall separating this parlor from the room behind it. Fortunately, we have the perfect person for busting down a wall. Elsa!”

Shanna sucked in a breath as Elsa Bjornberg strode into the room. Good Lord, she had to be over six feet tall. Either that or her costars were a little short. She wore a pair of white overalls splotched with paint and a short- sleeved T-shirt, also white, that contrasted nicely with her golden, tanned skin. Her long blond hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and the upper part of her face was covered with an enormous pair of safety goggles. In her gloved hands she carried a large sledgehammer.

She wasted no time, just hauled off and slammed her hammer right through the wall.

Shanna watched, amazed. No wonder they called her Amazon Ellie. She was a big woman. Big bones, big