“I guess I have a lot to learn about what you are.”
“Don’t worry. No one is going to test you on it,” Grady said with a crooked grin.
“Good.”
“Now let’s go tell everyone that you’re okay with us and that you’re feeling better.”
Grady stood and put Sage down on her feet. She put her arm around his waist as he wrapped his along her shoulders, tucking her up against his side. She was sure she’d have a ton of questions but right at that moment, all she cared about was the fact he was hers and would never leave her. Facing a life with no family scared her more than him being able to shift into a cougar.
It was three weeks after her sister had died and Grady had revealed what he was to Sage. She was back on the job, but only temporarily. She’d given her two-week notice and would no longer be a cop after that. Raising Josh was more important and she wanted to be the kind of aunt slash mother Macy would have wanted for her son. Her sister had planned to be a stay-at-home mom, so Sage would be as well. And it wasn’t as if she needed to work. Her mate had more than enough money to support the three of them.
After going through her sister’s belongs and getting the house on the market, Sage had then focused on selling her own as well. She and Josh had moved into Grady’s family home. The baby even had his own room right next to hers and Grady’s. It’d been a guestroom, which Olivia had turned into a nursery. She’d even slipped in a few stuffed cougars instead of teddy bears.
This was the last day Sage would be on duty. It was an afternoon shift, but she didn’t worry about Josh. The rest of her family was always there whenever she needed them to watch him. That was one thing she really liked about cougar shifter family groups. They always looked after one of their own.
Sage had also learned about Caleb, the guy who’d jumped Grady the night she’d met him. Once back at work she’d been using her police resources to see if she could get any leads on Caleb’s whereabouts. Her methods were legal, unlike Draven’s. She’d turned a blind eye to whatever he did.
It was getting close to the end of her shift. Sage decided she’d do a drive-by of Caleb’s house. Grady, Jase and his cousins Taylor and Blaise took turns watching the place in case their suspicions about Caleb wanting to torch it turned out to be correct. So far nothing had happened there.
She pulled the cruiser over to the curb and scanned the front of the large house. There were no lights on anywhere inside or outside. With another pass, Sage caught something that looked like a person-shaped shadow darker than the rest heading around a corner toward the backyard. Not wanting to take any chances, she shut off the car’s engine, then got out with her flashlight in hand. She headed in the direction she’d seen the shape go.
There was a full moon that night, and its light reflected off the snow. Sage turned on her flashlight once she neared the corner of the house. Since no one had shoveled in a while, the snow was deep. And she saw footprints in it that looked fresh. She followed them, keeping an eye out for the person who’d made them.
It didn’t take her long to find him. He had his back to her, bent over, working on something. She heard the distinctive rasping sound of a lighter being used, but the wind must have blown it out. It didn’t work in his favor either since it blew in their direction right into their faces.
“What are you doing?” she asked loudly.
The man shot around and Sage aimed the light she held in his eyes. The first thing she noticed was it was Caleb who stood a short distance in front of her. She’d seen pictures of him. And the second, he held in one hand a glass bottle that had a rag hanging out of the top, which couldn’t be anything but a Molotov cocktail, and in the other a lighter. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what he was going to do with them.
“Everything is fine, Officer,” Caleb said. “This is my house. I locked my keys inside and was going to look for the spare one I have hidden in the yard.”
“Really,” she said. “And you were going to use that homemade bomb to light the way for you?”
“It isn’t what you think it is.”
“Drop what you’re holding and walk toward me, keeping your hands in sight.”
“You’re overreacting. As I said before, this is my house. I’m not breaking any laws.”
“You will do as I say or I’ll force you to comply.”
Caleb walked toward her, but made no move to drop what he held. “What’s your name, Officer? I’m going to go to your superior and tell him how you harassed me for no reason.”
Once he was close enough, Sage said, “You can try, Caleb, but since this is my last night on the job, I don’t think it matters.”
He stopped and stiffened. “How do you know my name?”
Sage put one hand behind her back as she pulled out the cougar head pendant she wore under her uniform shirt with the other after she pocketed her flashlight. Caleb’s eyes widened, then he sniffed the air and a look of fury passed over his face.
“You’re Grady’s,” he said with a snarl. “Did he send a woman after me?”
“No. I decided to come here by myself since I have more experience taking in scumbags like you.”
“Do you think that you, a mere human, can best me enough to subdue me? I’m a cougar shifter. I’m faster and stronger than you.”
As if to prove his words, Caleb let loose with a cat’s growl and launched himself at her. Too bad for him, Sage had been all prepared for that. She pulled the hand she had at her back to her front and aimed her Taser gun right at him. She fired and the two small electrodes hit him in the thigh. He went down like a ton of bricks, no longer able to move as his muscles involuntarily contracted.
Sage closed the distance between them and looked down at him. She kept the electricity flowing from the gun to Caleb. “Yeah, you might be faster and stronger, but you’re no match for a Taser gun just like every other criminal out there. Now be a good boy and shift to your cougar form.”
She turned off the juice and waited to see if Caleb would do as she’d ordered. Of course he didn’t. Once he’d recovered enough to be able to move again, he growled threateningly and tried to have another go at her. Sage jolted him a second time, rendering him immobile.
“Go to hell, bitch,” he said through clenched teeth.
“Wrong answer.” She squatted in front of him. “If a human gets zapped too many times, it can kill them. As for a cougar shifter, who can heal a lot quicker, I’m not sure how many jolts you can take, but I’m willing to find out. Either you shift so I can put zip ties on you or you get the juice for however long it takes Grady and whoever else in his family wants to come collect you to bring you to face our family group leader. It’s your choice.”
To show she meant business, Sage turned off the electricity before she zapped Caleb again. It didn’t take him long before he complied. It was then she found out a cougar shifter could take on his cat form while being tased. Obviously, the magic inside them wasn’t affected.
After the change was complete, she quickly zip-tied his front legs together and then his back, and for good measure, she tied the front and back together as well. Satisfied he wouldn’t be going anywhere, Sage turned off the juice and pulled the electrodes out of Caleb’s leg. He snarled, showing off his sharp teeth. She chuckled.
Sage straightened and pulled her cell phone from the inside pocket of her uniform jacket and called Grady. After she explained the situation, he assured her that he, Jase, Taylor and Blaise would be over to collect Caleb as quickly as possible.
Since Caleb’s place wasn’t in the same general area of her new home and Taylor and Blaise’s, it took the men about twenty minutes to arrive. They came running toward her. Once Grady reached her, he tugged her close and kissed her almost senseless.
“I can’t believe you caught Caleb after all the months we’ve been trying,” Grady said once he released her.
“It was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. Plus, I had some help from something none of you have.” Sage help up her Taser gun. “It would seem cougar shifters aren’t immune to being tased.”
Taylor laughed. “Did you get him after he shifted?”
“No, I hit him before that.”
“Then how did you get him to shift and lie still long enough for you to tie him up so well?”
“I told him he either shifted, allowing me to zip-tie him, or I’d keep the juice going to him until you guys showed up. He chose the first option.”
“Remind me never to piss your mate off, Grady,” Blaise said with a laugh. “I think she’s too friendly with that
