crashed into a set of decorative tables at the edge of the room.
“Shifters. Stay safe—I’ll meet you later.” The call ended, and Tyler was so stunned he almost forgot to duck, snapping his head to the side at the last moment as a vase flew past him.
She’d hung up without asking any further questions regarding the time change. Obviously, she did know shifters.
He tucked away his phone and waded forward to help bring order back. “Ten minutes left, you think?”
“Yeah, about the right timing.” Justin slammed a fist into a shifter’s face, and the man teetered on his feet before folding to the floor.
“I’ll take care of these, you make sure the rest of the line gets to the voting booth before it closes.” Tyler didn’t wait for his friend to acknowledge him. Justin would obey. At times like this, the situation wasn’t about protocol and prestige, it was doing the job you were trained to do.
Tyler might look pretty in a suit, but he had a whole lot more to him than a head full of numbers.
He caught one fighter under the ribs with a jab, hard enough to bend the man over and make it simple to grab him by the hair and toss him to one side. An elbow to a chest, a strategically placed foot followed by a sharp uppercut. In only seconds, the troublemakers who’d snuck in to disrupt the final votes were either groaning on the floor or backing away from Tyler, far more wary than they’d arrived.
A shifter stepped down from the opposite side of the room, his expensive business suit perfectly in position as he avoided participating in any of the fighting. Threads of grey in his hair, a sneer on his face, Todd Ainsworth looked as if he’d smelt something foul. “Tyler. Once again your low-bred roots come to the foreground at the most inopportune moments.”
“Ainsworth. You pay these men to come get their asses kicked?”
The bastard shrugged. “Riffraff. Never sure what they’ll get up to next.” He kicked one of the fallen aside. The man groaned and crawled out of reach of the perfectly polished black leather shoes.
Ainsworth stopped directly in front of Tyler, his smaller body made up for with his arrogance.
Tyler held his fists with great difficulty. “Did you get a chance to cast your ballot yet, Ainsworth? The boxes will be closing soon, and I’d hate for you to lose out so soon.”
“I, and my wife, cast our votes this afternoon.” Ainsworth made a big deal out of motioning across the room to someone. Tyler refused to take his eyes off the shifter—he couldn’t trust him to not pull a knife or something equally stupid.
And yes, there he went with the wife thing again. Playing up every advantage possible. Tyler looked forward to rubbing Ainsworth’s nose in his change of situation. “The ladies do enjoy these little get-togethers, don’t they?”
Ainsworth snorted. “Bachelor bears—what would you know of the joys of caring for the tender sex?”
Someone stood behind Tyler, probably someone Ainsworth was attempting to impress with his syrupy gag-worthy bullshit. While the taunting was ignorable, the chance to make an impression wasn’t to be lost. Tyler couldn’t afford to let any opportunity pass him by. “My personal relationship isn’t something I flaunt in public. Unlike some.”
The person behind him cleared his throat, and Tyler twisted, feigning surprise at the appearance of the head of Clan Nakusp.
The elderly shifter nodded politely. “Sounds as if you’ve got a woman hidden somewhere, sir. Why did I not know this?”
Ainsworth narrowed his eyes. “You’ll be bringing a woman to the event tonight, then, will you?”
Both feet forward, all barrels loaded. “Of course.” He turned to Nakusp, ignoring Ainsworth as if he were nothing more than a cub squalling on the floor. “Caroline will be delighted to meet you. And your wife.”
From pounding knuckles into rowdy bears to polite diplomacy in under two minutes. Bear politics were weird to the extreme. Even Tyler thought so as Justin rejoined him, and the two of them made their way back over the bodies struggling to find their feet.
“No one called the RCMP on us?”
“Head of the local division is sitting over there.” Justin pointed at one of the men holding an icepack to his head, a couple of his clan pulling him back to vertical.
Ahh, politics. The sweet scent of chaos couldn’t be finer.
Tyler tucked the black book under Justin’s arm. His friend looked at him questioningly, and Tyler smiled. “I won’t need it any longer. I’m meeting Caroline at the shop in an hour.”
The real thing would be so much better than any slicked-up, shiny magazine images.
He could hardly wait.
Caroline stared at the closet in front of her. There was a suitcase on the floor she should be filling as she debated her options, but she couldn’t seem to make herself move.
“You waiting for something to jump out and attack you?” Evan strolled in and tossed himself on the bed, all long lean limbs and relaxed shifter as he folded his hands behind his head. “Whatever you wear will be fine.”
“I wish I had more of a clue what’s happening tonight.” She pulled out a business suit, pausing as a furrow appeared between Evan’s brows. “What?”
“Not that. That’s a nice outfit for bailing the boys out when they get arrested. It’s not a ‘take notice, I am a woman with balls’ outfit.”
Caroline tossed it on the bed. “And I’m a woman with balls, am I? You make me sound so appealing.”
Evan stared her down. “Don’t go fishing for compliments. You know damn well you’re an attractive woman physically. Your power in the shifter world, though, is your fuck-it-all attitude. Don’t downplay it, or I’ll tell your new beau you need a spanking.”
That suggestion shouldn’t have caused a shiver to race along her spine. “Nasty boy.”
Evan winked. “You have your phone with you, right?”
“Of course.”
He sat up, paying far more attention than his seemingly off-the-cuff self would suggest. “I’ve assigned a wolf to follow you. He’ll stay out of sight—”
“No way.” Caroline ignored the dress clutched in her hands as her fists ended on her hips. “You are not babysitting me.”
“This isn’t up for discussion, Caro. You’re still pack as far as I’m concerned, and someone will be on hand if you need help. Argue if you’d like, it’s your breath you’re wasting.”
She glared, but she understood too well what he was saying. A huge sigh escaped. “Okay, I won’t argue, but what are you going to tell my watcher about us? Because you know damn well if your spy spots another man acting…solicitous toward me, there will be hell to pay.”
Evan nodded slowly. “Tonight, it’s Shaun, so there’s no explanation needed.”
Lordy. “This is one for the diary. I’ve got the pack Beta acting as a mother hen.”
“Be nice, or I’ll make him stick to your side like a burr. Which could make Tyler acting…
Asshole. Caroline stuck her tongue out at him. Then she ignored him and got dressed.
The limo was waiting as promised, and Evan handed her into the back with far more grace than she expected. “Hey—whatever is up tonight, remember what I said. Trust your gut. You’ve got a way with people. Don’t ignore your first reaction. And don’t hesitate to call if you feel uncomfortable.”
She settled into the plush leather and waved as Evan closed the door. It wasn’t her usual tumbled-down jeep, that’s for sure. She relaxed, enjoying the contrast.
She could get to like this kind of lifestyle far too easily.
“Where are we headed?”
The driver tilted his head a touch. “To the central mall. Mr. Harrison will meet you there.”
Strange.
Distances being as small as they were in Whitehorse, it was only moments later they pulled to a stop in front of the building. The area wasn’t one Caroline usually frequented, and she glanced around with curiosity. The
