She twisted on the spot and looked up.
And up.
And up a bit more.
Jeez, he was big.
Mandy swallowed her fears and forced every bit of authority possible into her voice. "Excuse me? Did I ask you to take care of me?"
A whole lot of oh shit, what did I just do? hit his expression, and Justin backpedaled rapidly. "Um, no, but I thought that-"
Mandy slapped up a hand to gesture for him to stop.
She liked him, she really did, but if this was going to work, he had to figure this out now, and not a moment later. "And did you ask if you could take care of me?"
He, and the entire room of wolves-who were watching breathlessly as if this was the best live soap opera ever-all shook their heads. It was like being surrounded by a room of bobbleheads, and she bit her lip so she didn't burst out laughing and ruin everything.
Instead, she drew herself up as regally as possible. "Then, I'd suggest you try again-some other time. Tonight Kent is taking me to my new home."
She turned on her heel and walked away without looking back.
Chapter Two
Justin stared at the solid wood door as it swung closed behind her.
Something inside him went dark, and he damn near bit his tongue in two to keep from letting loose a roar of frustration.
The simultaneous desires hit. He needed to a) chase after Mandy and b) put the young pup Kent into a shallow grave.
The only thing that kept him from bolting for the door to complete both tasks was the iron grip Evan had on his elbow. Justin could break the hold, but he'd probably break most of the pack house at the same time.
Instead he waited until the entire room exploded back to high-volume. The instant Evan's hold loosened, Justin was outside so fast the relative quiet made his ears ring.
He was in time to see one of the pack cars pull out from the parking lot behind the house. Kent wiggled his fingers tauntingly before turning into the traffic and heading east.
Justin looked forward to dismembering the bastard. Slowly, one piece at a time. Possibly with his bare hands.
It was cool outside, edging toward freezing, although snow hadn't yet arrived, but he was more than warm enough. Not only his shifter blood, but anger and frustration gave him the ability to ignore the weather and march double-quick after the car.
Unfortunately, he had to slow his furious pace to get past a group of young people, and by the time he'd reached the main street, the vehicle was nowhere in sight.
Continue to track her, or use his resources?
Both. He hauled out his phone and hit the number for the Takhini Alpha even as he kept walking toward downtown.
Evan answered with laughter in his voice. "I have to say, that was pretty impressive. I didn't realize you bears could move that quickly."
The man had spoken teasingly, but Justin wasn't in the mood. "Where's he taking her?" he demanded.
At the other end of the line, the head honcho for the wolves clicked his tongue in disapproval as if speaking to a two-year-old. "Really? Of all people, I never thought I'd have to give you lessons in diplomacy. That's what you're going to open with? In that tone of voice?"
"Don't mistake the fact I've been polite for two months to mean I'm weak," Justin snapped. "Tell me where the hell you've hidden her or else."
Even as he spoke he realized he should have held his tongue, but it was too late. The speaker on his phone shrieked as a full-out roar of chastisement was followed by more animalistic babbling.
Dammit. Wolves were so freaking emotional. Justin waited impatiently for Evan stop swearing in wolf.
It took a while.
When he finally did calm down enough to speak, Evan was still pretty growly. "I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that. I'm going to pretend that you're feeling a little testy because the woman you've been mooning over ever since I met you just slapped your fingers away from the cookie jar. And because I understand what kind of hell that can do to a man, I'm going to be magnanimous and erase your last comments from my memory before we start a war over a woman who made it very clear what she wanted."
Justin pulled to a stop outside one of the closed shops, forcing himself to get his own temper under control. The last thing he wanted to cause was an inter-species incident.
To top it off, the bastard was right.
Didn't mean Justin had to like it. "Message received," he said grudgingly.
"Good evening, my fine ursine friend. What can I do for you?" Evan might have as fine a hair-trigger as Justin, but his sense of humour was definitely more wolf than bear. Quick to anger, quick to move on. "Oh, and I think I'm going to call you Flash from now on," Evan informed him.
Peachy keen. A nickname from the wolves. He was never going to live that down.
Justin forced ultimate politeness into his question. "I was wondering if you knew where Mandy might have gone tonight?"
"Yes."
Justin waited.
Silence on the other end.
Bastard. "Would you mind telling me where Mandy has gone for the evening?" Justin enunciated each word as if he were about to choke on them.
" … no, I don't think I can do that. Talk to you later, Flash."
The connection went dead, and Justin stepped into the nearest alleyway to finally let his roar of frustration escape, the bearlike sounds ripping from his human throat and leaving it raw, which matched the sensation inside him.
He punched in Amy's number.
"You are one brave son of a bitch," Amy announced in greeting. "Last time I saw Evan that mad, someone ended up dead."
"Pissing your mate off was never my intention."
"I'd hate to see what would happen if you tried to be annoying. Honestly, save your breath. I already know what you're going to ask, and if you make one wrong move, I'll warn you now Evan is the least of your worries."
Justin leaned an arm against the nearest brick wall and counted to ten so he could respond softly. "I'll remind you she's not one of your pack."
"And I'll remind you there's pack, there's family and there's friends. I consider Mandy all three, so you watch your p's and q's, buster. I've always wanted a bearskin rug in front of my fireplace."
She cut the call short and left him with dead air.
Justin spent a few minutes cursing creatively before the small voice in his head that had been trying to get his attention the entire time finally wiggled past all the testosterone.
Why not call Mandy?
Flipping genius.
He took a quick walk around the block first, to practice saying hello. He got some strange looks from people who scurried out of his way, but it wasn't his fault he towered over most of them by nearly a foot. Their wide-eyed retreats helped him realize snapping, growling or otherwise greeting Mandy any way other than with the iron grip of control he'd maintained for the past two months would only get him in more trouble.
Evan didn't really scare him.
Amy? He was a smart enough man to fear womanly wrath.
But Mandy hanging up on him would gut him.
He sat on a park bench, crossed his fingers and made the call.
"Hello?" Pure innocence and just a hint of curiosity in her tone.
Only … Mandy had call display. Justin had installed it on her phone himself so she'd never have to worry about her ex-husband trying to get in touch. She knew it was him, but if she wanted to play the game this way, he'd play along.
"Good evening, Mandy. I hope Kent got you settled for the evening." He wished nothing of the kind. Even thinking of the young pup near her made him grind his teeth hard enough his jaw ached.
"I'm quite comfortable, thank you. And you?" she asked. "I hope I wasn't too rude earlier."
"You know I was the one out of line," he admitted. "I'm sorry."
"Thank you."
Then she waited in silence until he remembered he'd been the one to call her. "I was wondering if you'd like some company."
Say yes. Say yes. Say yes.
"I think I'll settle in for the night." She dashed his hopes before offering a breadcrumb. "Would you like to get together for breakfast? I was thinking about tea and muffins at Midnight Sun around eight o'clock, if you're interested-"
"Yes," he got out before she could even finish issuing the invitation. "I'd like that very much."
"Then I'll see you there?"
"With bells on," he promised.
Soft laughter drifted over the line. "That won't be necessary. Just casual. Two friends meeting to start their day."
They said goodbye, but the whole time the two friends business kept ringing through his brain.
Friends? Not bloody likely. Maybe that's where he'd have to start, but that was not where they were going to finish.
Mandy pulled on a light jacket and left the apartment, taking the stairs instead of the elevator. The coffee shop wasn't very far away, and she needed to burn off a little energy before facing the big bruin who could make her legs quiver and turn her insides to jelly with a single lazy smile.
The sidewalk was firm underfoot, and she strode easily toward her destination, pleased she'd completed her first night of true independence.
No, scratch that-