Unfortunately, when it was just the two of them, his old school chum didn't always show the proper respect. If he hadn't liked the guy so much, Arik would have torn open his stomach, spilled his guts, and fed him to the sewer rats.
Stupid friend, first ruining his naptime and now starving the local rodent population.
"It was shaping up to be a great afternoon until it was interrupted by incompetence."
"Which is why I'm here in person to offer my apologies. My guys majorly fucked up, and they got an earful about it."
"So what happened?" Arik asked, somewhat mollified by the apology.
"The lone wolf we're hunting isn't just willfully ignoring the Lycan laws. He's also wilier than we gave him credit for. Given what we knew of his behavior, we expected someone erratic, easy to spot and corner. I mean, a guy dumb enough to think he can come into our-"
"Our?"
"Your city," Jeoff corrected without pause, "and threaten violence, especially against a woman, has to be working with a few loose screws."
"You expected a rabid?"
A rabid being a shapeshifter who'd let their animal consume their humanity. Perhaps they'd spent too much time in fur, or their psyche wasn't strong enough to control the beast within. Whatever the reason, their thinking was often irrational-to a human-unexpected, and violent.
"Even if he were a rabid, that doesn't explain how he evaded your men. I paid you guys to be on the lookout for him."
"And they were. However, he didn't smell like a wolf. The bastard doused himself in body spray. Add in a shaved head so he didn't look like his pictures, and the fact he carried grocery bags. My boys didn't clue in. It wasn't until they noticed he stopped at the corner of the building and took a big whiff that they realized who he might be. But by then it was already too late. He dropped the groceries and took off running. The guy is fucking fast. He lost us on the subway platform. He mixed into the crowd, and with all the various scents muddying the trail, we couldn't find him."
Much like Kira had lost him in the market the day they met. For the first time, he could see the benefits of living more remotely, where the human trails were few and a lion could hunt his prey.
"So he knows we're on to him." Not exactly the best news. Gregory would either fade into the background and leave Arik with no one to punish, or his next move would prove more subtle and difficult to detect. Arik needed to draw his attention before the coward went after someone more fragile and human, like Kira's family. Once he and Kira mated, their safety became his responsibility.
"You're keeping men posted on her apartment?" Even though Gregory probably wouldn't return, Arik preferred to keep the bases covered.
"Yes, and my guys are also closely watching her family and their places of work. If he surfaces, we'll nab him."
"You'd better."
"You seem awfully concerned about this guy," Jeoff stated. "More than a disobedient lone wolf merits. Has he hurt someone in the pride?"
"In a sense. He threatens my mate."
That was one way to stun an opponent.
"You? Mated? You have my condolences."
Arik frowned. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's always sad when a man gets shackled to a ball and chain. Next thing you know, you'll be taking ballroom fucking dancing, calling everything ‘ours', losing your closet to shoes, and having to watch romantic comedies instead of going to the bar with the boys."
"I'll also be having incredible sex multiple times a day."
"You could have had that without having her shackle you."
"I'm the one who claimed her."
"Why? Why would you do that?" Jeoff shook his head. "Don't come crying to me when she makes you wear an ugly sweater at Christmas."
"I won't cry because I'll make sure you and I have matching ones, given to you publicly, so you can't refuse. I'll have Hayder take a picture, and I'll post it on every social media site I find."
"You're an evil king, Arik."
"Thank you." He couldn't help a smug smile.
Jeoff laughed. "On another note, I need a favor."
Arik arched a brow. "A favor? It must be important if you're actually begging me for something?"
"It leaves me with a bad taste in my mouth too."
"Are you sure it's not the brand of dog food you eat?"
"Ha. Ha. King of the jungle, but definitely not of comedy. Seriously, though, this favor is important. I need a safe place for my sister. She's leaving her current pack, but not without difficulty. They've promised retaliation if she dares."
"They can't hold her if she wants to go." The current laws prohibited it. So long as another pack promised to take them in, a shifter could move. It hadn't always been that way. In older times, the only way to escape was by marriage, a complicated treaty, or death.
"These guys are a rough bunch. But her mate died, and now that he's gone, she doesn't feel safe."
"Why not protect her yourself?"
"Because I can't afford to start a war. The last alpha of this region, as you well know, decimated the pack with his petty squabbles. I don't have the numbers to stand against these guys. But my sister needs to leave. I figure if she's here, surrounded by your family and under your protection, they won't dare to attack."
And if they did, they'd regret it. A lion's pride was sacrosanct and so were those adopted into it.
"I'll give your sister safety. However, I will expect progress on this wolf running about my city."
"Done."
They shook to seal the deal, and then they exchanged a few more pleasantries, which only served to heighten Arik's impatience to return to Kira.
Jeoff finally took his leave, but Arik wasn't so lucky. A pair of feuding twins arrived, spitting and meowing at each other, and demanded he settle a dispute-Krista had borrowed her car and left a scratch. But Korey borrowed her favorite blouse and stained it.
Ridiculous squabble. They both got dish duty for the week in the kitchens. No dishwasher allowed. Hand wash only.
That would teach them to waste his time.
But they weren't the only ones.
Each item only served to delay his return to Kira.
Sweet Kira. He wondered what she did in his absence.
Chapter Sixteen
As soon as the door to the condo shut behind Arik, Kira sprang into action.
How right Arik was to suspect she seemed too biddable. As if she wouldn't try to escape as soon as the opportunity presented itself. Kira wasn't one to sit back and let a man dictate.
Did she feel bad about lying? A little, although she hadn't fibbed when she told him she appreciated the perks of being with him.
As a lover, Arik proved amazing. The man oozed sex appeal and didn't disappoint. She had a happy body to attest to that.
However, great sex, sizzling chemistry, and an unfathomable like for the guy didn't mean she'd just bow down and turn into someone she wasn't, uttering, "Yes, master, anything you say, master."
It seemed they shared one trait in common, stubbornness. Kira also possessed a strong sense of responsibility that meant she wasn't one to let others solve her problems.
She'd heard enough of his conversation at the door to know Gregory hadn't left town or given up on his vendetta. From the sounds of it, Arik's security detail had scared him off from her apartment, but what about the barbershop? Her aunt's pizzeria? Her uncle's fish store?
It occurred to her to call and check on her family. However, she didn't see a phone in the bedroom. Arik did, however, have a touch screen inset in the wall, which, when tapped, told her in a dulcet female voice, "Unrecognized facial pattern and fingerprint. Main menu entry denied."
Wouldn't it figure the jerk would have the most innovative technology? How she missed the days of corded phones, and, of course, the cell phone she dug from her purse was dead. Again. She really hated how the darned things required constant charging.
Foiled when it came to contacting anyone, Kira spun on her heel and headed to the bathroom, tossing the towel to the side on the way.
She wanted out of here, but first things first; she needed clothes. The pile she'd folded on the vanity before the nap was still there if somewhat humid from the steamy shower. She didn't care. She dressed quickly in her things, cringing only a little at pulling on the underwear. They were still fairly fresh since she'd worn them only briefly that morning.
Peering in the mirror, she grimaced at the unsightly mess she presented. A rummage of the vanity drawer netted her a hairbrush, and from within her purse, she scrounged up an elastic. It took only a moment to bun her wet hair, a necessity because she couldn't bring herself to face the world with scraggly wet strands hanging in her face.