Cynful

Cyn clenched her fists. “Tabby, did you scent Cheetah again?”

“No. It was…strange. Not human, I know that.” She rubbed her nose. “It’s really weird. I’d swear I smelled deer.”

Cyn’s brows rose in surprise. “There are deer shifters?”

“No. That’s what’s so strange about it. I could scent deer and charcoal and wool, but nothing else.”

“Was that the scent that you couldn’t describe?” Glory was playing with her hair, twisting the curls around her fingers over and over again. She was scared, and desperately trying not to show it.

“No. Maybe it was the explosive I smelled.” Tabby groaned as a familiar motorcycle pulled up in front of them. “I didn’t do anything.”

The smile in Alex’s face was easy-going, but his dark brown bear’s eyes betrayed his uneasiness. “Tell me my mate wasn’t threatened again.”

Gabe sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “It’s going to be a long day, isn’t it?”

Alex spun on his heel and marched toward the tattoo shop. Tabby raced after him and latched onto his arm. “No, Alex!”

“Come back here so I can explain everything to you.” Gabe grabbed hold of Alex’s other arm. “Look over there. My deputies are starting to clear out the businesses around the tattoo shop. You can’t go over there right now.”

Alex growled but allowed himself to be led away. By the time they were done telling him everything that had happened Alex was sitting on the seat of his motorcycle, Tabby firmly on his lap. Dark five-inch claws had sprouted from his fingertips and drummed restlessly over her stomach. Tabby had her hands over his, trying to hide them as the sidewalk filled with humans. “This is getting ridiculous.”

“I agree. But hopefully this time they royally screwed up.” Gabe nodded toward the street. “Here comes the bomb squad. Maybe now we’ll have some answers.”

Cyn was shaking by the time the heavily padded men came back from around the shop. Between them was a black box, one she assumed held the pipe bomb.

“With any luck those idiots left fingerprints behind.” Gabe’s grin was feral; the Hunter in him had come to the fore. “I’ll call you as soon as I have some news.”

“Since when does Halle have a bomb squad?” Glory tugged hard enough on her curls to wince. “Now what?”

Cyn started across the street. “Now we go back to work.” She ignored Glory’s grumbling. How long would it be before whoever was after them decided to go to their homes? So far they only targeted the shop, but Cyn knew that couldn’t last. At some point or another the bad guys would figure out that the three of them were too well guarded there.

It was time to try and lure them into the open. But how? She couldn’t endanger Tabby or Glory, and if Julian found out she’d turned herself into bait he’d have a cow. Against a human attacker she had every confidence in herself, but she was facing shifters.

She paused, her hand on the knob, the door halfway open. The sound of the bell was still ringing in her ears.

Perhaps it was time she really went out for a bite.

“Bite me.”

Julian stared at his mate and tried to hold back his frustrated groan. He should have guessed the moment she pulled him into the back room that she’d be demanding he change her. He’d seen how pale she was the moment he’d stepped through the door. When he’d gotten news of the pipe bomb he’d raced out of work like his ass was on fire. But instead of trembling and allowing Ryan to calm her like Glory or cuddling with her mate like Tabby, she’d demanded he mate her.

This was not the way he’d wanted to mark her. He’d planned on candlelight, decadent food and a full-on seduction. Instead he was in a dusty back room full of tattoo ink and needles, with nary a soft surface in sight so he could sink into her properly.

She snapped her fingers in his face. “Now, Julian. Let’s get this over with. I have work to do.”

She had to be shitting him. “Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Make with the fang.” She pointed at her neck. “Do I need to mark the spot or something?”

He crossed his arms over his chest and prepared himself for a battle. “No.”

She echoed his movement and almost distracted him. He couldn’t help it if his eyes were drawn to the bounty her arms now hid. “What happened to wanting a taste?”

He hoped his expression told her exactly how he felt about her request, because if he opened his mouth right then he’d say something he’d regret. He had a pretty good idea why she was doing this, which was not a mark in her favor.

Cyn sighed wearily. “I’m not saying we’re going to stop dating. I’m asking for safety.” She waved her arms toward the curtains that hid them from the rest of the shop. “Tabby’s pregnant and Glory is…Glory.” Her eyes pled with him. “Please, Julian. Give me what I need to take care of them.”

Fuck. She was pulling out the big guns. That stubborn determination to protect what was hers was part of her appeal, but it could get her seriously hurt if he didn’t rein her in. “I can’t.” He held up his hand to stifle her immediate protest. “Look, there are things I haven’t told you yet. Becoming like me is different from becoming a Wolf or a Puma, or even another Bear. It isn’t just a bite.”

“Let me guess. It’s a Kermode thing and I wouldn’t understand.”

“Oh, you’ll understand. Trust me. But if I’m going to bite you, it has to be done correctly.” Not in a dusty back room. Not when she was this angry and afraid. If she thought she was hiding her fear from him, she was sadly mistaken. He could smell it pouring from her skin.

“Fine. What do we need to do?”

“I’ll come to your place tonight. I give you my word I’ll explain everything then.” He stroked her cheek, unable to stop himself from touching her. He was tired of seeing her hurt; it had been bad enough when one of Gary’s goons had clocked her, but seeing her broken jaw had driven home how much worse it could have been if Tabby hadn’t been there. “Trust me.”

“You say that a lot.” But she pressed her cheek into his palm, reassuring him he was doing the right thing. Throwing her to Bear without some preparation would earn him a lot more grief than asking her to wait a few hours. “Fine. But I expect to be fuzzy by morning, got it?”

“It doesn’t work quite that way. It will be a few days before your first shift.”

She eyed him dubiously. “Will I sprout fur in the middle of the Save-A-Lot?”

“You could.” He shrugged. “I was born this way, so I’m not sure. My parents knew it was coming and kept me isolated until after the change struck. I do remember it was sudden. Nothing like watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island and popping fur in the middle of one of Ginger’s scenes.”

From the look on her face she wasn’t touching that statement with a ten-foot pole. Darn it. “Then maybe I’ll pay Emma a visit. Max changed her, so she might have a better idea of what to expect.”

“Not a bad idea. While you’re at it you can tell the Pride that there’s going to be a new Bear in town.”

Her brows rose. “Me?”

“Me. I’m applying for citizenship as soon as I’m allowed to.” It would be two long years before he could apply for a green card, but it would be worth it.

The quickly hidden pleasure made the wait worthwhile. “You’re staying?”

“Aren’t you?”

That earned him a smile, and a proud lift of that stubborn chin. “Good.” She took hold of his shoulders and turned him around. “If I’m not getting what I want then you need to get going.”

He sighed dramatically, though inside he was ecstatic. She’d accepted his terms, and they’d both get what they wanted. “You only want me for my fangs.”

“Yup. I harbor a secret vampire fetish. Didn’t I tell you?”

“Vampires aren’t real,” he scoffed.

“Neither are shifters.” With that she pushed him the rest of the way out of the back room. “Go rest!”

Rest. Right. Not happening, not if he was introducing his mate to Bear that night. Julian nodded to Alex and