Not with that slightly feral thing he had going on. Reminded her of the valkyrie’s male counterpart, the berserker, which was exactly who she would have been paired with in an arranged marriage if not for the extra two years of service that she’d taken on.
Berserkers were wild warrior men with an unmatched fierceness. All the shifters seemed to have that same look about them, some more than others.
Titus had it in spades, especially when he was passionate about something. Like the race. Or his job. He’d probably look that way about his mate too. Although she hadn’t known him to date since his breakup.
She could only imagine what it would be like to be the focus of that feral energy.
She blew out a breath at the sudden rush of heat that went through her. She really shouldn’t be thinking about him like that. Not when he was two feet behind her and smelled like the forest after a hard rain.
Which was a much better smell than the stink of rotten eggs filling this place.
“You okay? You’re not feeling lightheaded, are you?”
She glanced over her shoulder. “I’m fine.”
He shrugged. “Well, the way you exhaled, I thought the fumes were getting to you.”
She narrowed her eyes before turning her head back around. “I’m a valkyrie, wolf. I’m not affected by such things.”
“That’s probably because your sense of smell isn’t as keen as mine.”
She snorted as her feet hit the basement floor. She twisted to face him. He was still a couple of stairs up. “Right. Also, keen? Really?”
“‘Keen’ is a perfectly good word.” He joined her and held the meter out, scanning the basement.
She watched him, maybe admiring the muscles in his forearms just a little. “You sound like my sister. And she’s a librarian.”
“You have something against librarians?”
“Nothing at all. But those kinds of words coming out of a fire chief?”
“Would you prefer I growl my words? Maybe grunt a little?”
She laughed, not meaning to.
He smiled.
And her insides clenched. She inhaled, suddenly needing the air. There was something magical about that smile. Which was stupid. Because smiles were just the muscles of the face contracting. Nothing more.
He shook his head. “You’ve been working for my brother for too long.”
“Maybe.” She needed to get back on track. “What’s your meter say?”
“That there’s no gas leak down—”
Something thunked on the floor above them. Well above them. The sound was followed by what had to be footsteps.
“Crap,” she whispered. “The attic. There’s a set of pulldown steps in the garage, but I didn’t check up there.”
“Come on,” he said. “I’ll be your backup. You lead. You’ve got the gun, after all.”
Just like that, they were back to the task at hand. That’s how it was with them. Being a first responder meant the job took priority. But Jenna kind of enjoyed how easily they went from banter to business.
With a nod, she took out her weapon and went back upstairs. Titus stayed close behind.
She nudged the basement door open and assessed the room beyond. “All clear,” she said softly.
She went toward the garage, cautiously, clearing each room as they went through until they got to the door at the end of the hall that led out. She stopped there, taking up position as she prepared to go through. “Stay behind me.”
She expected a thousand different smart remarks, but he just nodded.
She breached the door, her gun leading the way. The garage, like the rest of the house, was empty. She flipped on the light. The access was right above where a car would have been parked. It was closed, just like it had been earlier. But the cord that hung down to open the panel swung slightly.
She glanced at Titus and put a finger to her ear, then pointed up.
He listened for a moment, then shook his head. “You?”
She shook her head as well. She hadn’t heard a sound, but it was stranger that Titus wasn’t picking up anything. Werewolves had sensitive enough hearing that, at this range, he should be able to home in on a heartbeat.
Had whoever’d been in the attic fled?
He leaned in, putting him so close she could feel his body heat. Wolves ran warm, she reminded herself. Like that fact was going to distract her from his sudden proximity. “I’ll pull down the steps. You keep the opening in your sights.”
“Okay. On my signal.” She went through the door, training her gun on the attic access as she moved into position below.
He followed and grabbed the cord but kept his eyes on her. They were across from each other, separated by a few feet. She nodded, and he yanked the panel down.
The stairs stayed folded up against the panel, and the hinge creaked with disuse. How had neither of them heard the creaking before? The space above was dark, and there was no sign of movement.
She stood there, gun aimed, body tensed for action. “Nocturne Falls Sheriff’s Department. Show yourself now.”
Nothing. No movement, no sound. With her eyes still on the space, she spoke to Titus. “Can you get the light on up there?”
He tried a few switches. The third one did the trick. Light blazed from the rectangle in the ceiling, and she could clearly see the trusses holding up the roof. No signs of life, though.
“Stairs?” he asked.
She nodded and moved so she was at a forty-five-degree angle from the opening.
He was tall enough to reach the bottom rung easily and pull down the steps.
Once he secured them, she moved forward. “I’m going up.”
“Are you sure?”
She frowned at him. “It’s my job.”
“Right.”
But she wasn’t just going to climb those steps and make herself a target. Instead, she put both hands on her weapon to secure it, then jumped, landing neatly
