Scent Of A Mate: League Of Gallize Shifters Page 12

  “But we had not discussed you going with me at that point.” Scarlett struggled to keep from yelling at him.

  He shrugged. “Was not important. I know I go with you when I talk to her.”

  She grabbed her head, ready to pull it off just for some relief. “Dammit, Gan. You scared her off!”

  “I did nothing. I was nice. Save her from building.” He crossed his arms. “How am I wrong?”

  “She would have waited on me if you had not told her you were going with us, too. She left because she doesn’t know you. That woman has been on the run a long time and stayed alive because she isn’t an idiot.”

  He glowered at her. “Not my fault.”

  She deserved this for convincing the Guardian to allow him to go with her. “You ... I ... never mind. Let’s go.”

  She set a faster pace this time. Gan had no trouble keeping up, but neither could he talk. She sped up every time he tried. She expected Jaz to track the scent back to where Scarlett and Vic had parked their vehicles.

  She hadn’t expected to be robbed.

  “She took my damn truck!” Scarlett stomped around, cursing and ready to strangle Jaz. When she stopped, she swung her acidic temper at Gan. “If you’d kept your mouth shut none of this would be happening.”

  He lifted his hands. “Not my fault you have bad friend. You say so.”

  “Arghhh! You are making me nuts.”

  “I did nothing.” He turned to the other vehicle. “You should not leave key.”

  She couldn’t believe he was criticizing her. “I didn’t leave my key out in the open. I always hide it, but that year truck is easy to hotwire.”

  “What is hotwire?”

  She slapped a hand over her eyes. This was all her fault for wanting to spend more time with Gan and thinking he could be her backup.

  She got what she’d asked for.

  Gan pointed out, “She did not take both. We have ride. All good.”

  Most men would know when to stop talking and making things worse. Not Gan.

  “No. We are not all good.” Scarlett stepped over to him. “Starting now, no more confusion. There are rules for coming with me. You do not tell anyone anything I haven’t approved. You do as I say and don’t make my life any more difficult. I need to get someone important to safety. Once that happens, I am delivering you back to the Guardian. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.” He said a lot with one unhappy word.

  But yet again, he hadn’t really agreed, just acknowledged what she’d said.

  Giving up, she headed for Vic’s Expedition that had none of her stuff in it, plus she’d have to call and ask the Guardian to borrow the vehicle. That would mean coming up with a believable reason she couldn’t use her truck.

  This got deeper by the minute.

  She reluctantly walked over to the black sport utility.

  Gan opened the rear hatch where multiple bags had been dropped inside. He pulled out a set of stretch pants and a T-shirt he handed her.

  She grudgingly took them and mumbled her thanks.

  Then he opened the driver’s door, which surprised her since she thought he had never driven a vehicle. He leaned down, sticking his arm under the seat and came back with the keys he placed on her open palm. “I watch Vic hide keys.”

  “Thanks.” The word could have come out nicer, but she’d at least said it.

  She asked, “Can you drive?”

  “No.” He went to the passenger side.

  When they were both seated, she cranked the engine and backed around, working to calm herself before she tackled driving out of here.

  In an innocent voice men had when they wanted to win points, Gan said, “See? I am helpful.”

  “Right,” she snapped, unwilling to give him strokes for the keys. She wouldn’t have needed them if Jaz had waited.

  Jaz would have waited if he hadn’t scared her off.

  “Why are you angry?”

  He’d finally figured that out?

  Had it been that hard to figure out? “I’ll tell you why I’m angry, Gan. Having you with me complicates an already difficult situation with someone close to me in danger. Then you say too much when you should have said nothing and now I have to track down Jazlyn ... with you, which isn’t going to go over well. She’ll expect me to have figured out why she left and have the good sense to show up alone. When she finds out I brought you, she’ll ... let’s just say she’ll be very disappointed.”

  “Life not easy. Everyone has disappointment.”

  “You’re not helping, Gan.”

  The seatbelt warning light flashed in the dash. He opened his door.

  “Whoa. Where are you going?”

  “I am too much problem. I leave.”

  She put her head down on the steering wheel. This was why she spent her life alone. She was no better at being with people some days than Gan.

  The door closed.

  Crap. She put the transmission in park and jumped out, hurrying around the truck. “Gan!”

  He kept walking.

  She ran after him. “Stop. Please.”

  He stopped. Good to know that please worked.

  When he didn’t turn around, she circled him until she stood in his path. Now what to say?

  She should apologize, but that galled her considering he’d created this problem.

  “Move, Scarlett. I want to go.”

  It hurt to hear those words. She’d been trying to send him back, but now he wanted to walk away. She didn’t want him to do that, which made no sense, but she didn’t have the time or energy to analyze her reaction.

  Putting a hand on his chest, she said, “No, let’s go back to the truck. Please.”

  He leaned his face down to hers. “No. Everyone tell me what to do, where to go, what to think. I am not animal. I was prisoner, but human for long time. I never have choice. I know what is best for me. I want no leash, not even invisible one.” He swallowed hard. “I care for you. I want you safe. I try to help, but make you angry. I want to go where I can live like person. I want you happy. I will go.”

  Stepping around her, he kept moving.

  She stood there, stunned at all he’d said. He hadn’t caused this trouble intentionally, only by trying to help her.

  Not just that.

  He said he cared for her and wanted her happy. No man had ever cared if she was happy. In fact, a couple of them had done all they could to make her life hell.

  Gan plodded along through the dense forest, but he was making headway.

  She took off and caught up to him, putting her arms on his waist.

  That stopped him faster than the word please.

  Energy zinged under her fingers.

  The skin over his taut waist was smooth and warm.

  He grabbed her hands with his and pulled her closer against his back. She smiled. He might not always do as she asked, but his actions were as sincere as his words.

  She moved her cheek over his back, inhaling as she did. Gan had a natural scent of a large jungle cat and something uniquely his that reminded her of early mornings when she let Chica run through the forest.

  His fingers threaded through hers, pressing her hands against rock-hard abs.

  She felt bad about crabbing at him.

  He had a point. From the moment a Siberian tiger had been called out of him, Gan had been forced to figure his own way through all of this. Add that to the fact that he’d been captive his entire life before that and had not been born in this country so English was not even his first language.

  She got the Shit Award for taking her frustration out on him.

  She swallowed hard.

  Maybe even a shit could change.

  Her eyes and throat burned. She forced out the words. “I’m sorry, Gan.”

  “I forgive. I am sorry I did not understand Jaz upset. I am learning. I do better.”

  For someone wronged so many times in his life, Gan forgave easily. She might be undeserving, but she took his words
and held them close.

  He gave her fingers a squeeze then pulled her around by one arm.

  She put both hands on his broad chest to catch her balance and smiled, prepared to tell him she really was happy about him going with her.

  She wanted to make up for the argument.

  Gan had his own makeup plan.

  He cupped her under the arms and lifted her to kiss the daylights out of her. Her legs wrapped around him as if they’d only been waiting for an invitation. He might not know the language or how this world worked sometimes, but he nailed kissing.

  She hadn’t been kissed in a long time.

  Not like this even back then.

  His mouth sent shivers over her skin and heat searing between her legs.

  Hell, she hadn’t been with anyone who turned her on like this with just a kiss.

  She grabbed his hair and clung to him, dragging him closer for more. He put a hand under her bottom, lifting her up. Perfect. She wrapped her arms around him and sent her tongue in to meet his. Hello there, handsome.

  His other hand slipped under her T-shirt and located breasts excited to be found.

  She nipped his lip.

  He nipped hers back and growled at her, then smothered her laugh with his lips.

  Kissing him each time just got better. She put everything into it and his lips lifted with a smile at her clearly taking control. Yes, she had a bad habit of that and it had sent other men running.

  Not Gan. She doubted anything she did would intimidate him.

  His big fingers played with her nipples and her body clenched. It had been too long and never anything that felt this good. His tongue slid into her mouth, tasting her, and leaving a hot path everywhere it went.

  He kept playing with one breast then the other, as if undecided over which one was his favorite.

  Please let him get stuck, unable to decide.

  It might kill her to be teased nonstop, but she’d accept the risk.

  “We need better place,” Gan murmured, kissing her cheek then her neck.

  “What place?” Her mind couldn’t function with his hands on her.

  “For take clothes off.”

  Clothes? She blinked when the word registered and lifted her head. “Wait, we’re not doing that here.”

  “That is what I said. Need better place.”

  She dropped her head back and spoke to the sky. “I’m an idiot.” Then she looked at Gan again. “I have to go save my friend. I can’t be doing ... this.”

  “Not now.” He said that as a statement, one meant to clarify that the only thing in question was the timing.

  She was not starting a new discussion. “Not now.”

  “Okay.” He swung around, walking back to the truck.

  “Put me down.”

  “Why?”

  “So I can walk.”

  He didn’t slow down. “No.” He fought a smile then finally said, “This is what I decide. It cause no problem. You should be happy.”

  Well, damn, he had a point.

  She held on, taking in everything about him this close up. He deserved an award for stopping if he was half as worked up as her. He deposited her on the driver’s seat.

  When he stepped back, she had a front row view of one major boner.

  Yep. Give that man a gold star for stopping. That did not look comfortable.

  She hadn’t meant to leave him that way, but he’d started it after all. In fact, this made twice in one day he’d rattled her hormones, making them think getting up close and hot with Gan would be a regular occurrence, when she should know better.

  With Gan back riding shotgun, she maneuvered the Expedition through the woods. Just before pulling out onto the paved highway, she stopped to plug in the address on her phone GPS. With that set, she couldn’t avoid dealing with what had just happened.

  They needed ground rules, which would be awkward now that she’d almost gotten naked with him. She didn’t want to spend the whole time snapping at him like a shrew.

  His voice held all sorts of gloating when he said, “I smell you are happy. I help again. You should keep list.”

  And just like that, he screwed up her good mood.

  She had to pull that ego back down from outer space. “That got out of hand, Gan. We need to keep a professional relationship. We’re only going to be together maybe two or three days.”

  When he said nothing, she looked over to find his elbow leaned against the door and his head propped on his hand, staring at her.

  She didn’t trust that content look. “What?”

  “We can do many times in two days.”

  Her jaw dropped. “Did you not hear what I said? I can’t be playing around with you. It’s not professional and there is no future in it. Let’s just cut it out right now. I’m not blaming you. My fault for letting it get out of control. Do you get what I’m saying?”

  “Yes. You want me. Place not good. Is okay. We find better place and I give you what you want.”

  She stared at him.

  Don’t kill the tiger shifter.

  While it would be easy to pick a spot in the nearby woods to hide the body, she didn’t have her truck with the shovel.

  He spoke with authority. “You thank me in two days. Maybe in one day if you drive now.”

  On second thought, she had claws.

  She didn’t need a shovel.

  Chapter 15

  Having delivered the female shifters to the shelter, Adrian followed Vic and the team into the Gallize Spartanburg headquarters to debrief the Guardian.

  From what he’d been told during his stay in Wyoming, the Guardian felt they needed a place of operations with so much Black River pack shifter activity going on in the southeast.

  Based on what happened today, they had more than the Black River pack to take down.

  Adrian had waited until the bus emptied out with Shawn escorting the women into the shelter while Landon flushed the titanium from his wound. It would have been easier on him to wait until they reached headquarters where a medic had better instruments than what they used in the field.

  But he chose to suffer through it to keep Mad Red from breaking loose and destroying anything in its path.

  That treatment and his wolf’s reaction to the pain had been hell for almost two full minutes, but it would have been worse if Scarlett had not cleaned out most of the metal.

  When Adrian’s claws shot out and his head warped halfway from human to wolf, the guys understood. Excruciating pain loosened the tether on any shifter’s hold.

  He knew the real truth.

  He’d been fighting his wolf the whole drive and allowed the pain to batter his animal into compliance. Shifting would have been easier on both of them, but he was too beat down to hope for any control.

  Those women had been through hell.

  They didn’t need to even see Mad Red.

  Walking through the two-story brick building that had stood probably as long as Spartanburg, any indiscriminate snarling and growling would get him shipped back to Wyoming.

  The sign outside had identified the location with three letters. GSH, which stood for Gallize Shifter Headquarters, though no definition of those letters existed. The solid black front door remained closed, opening only when someone activated the electronic lock.

  Shawn waited at the elevator for Adrian to enter. They rode down beneath the building and exited the car.

  “Hey, Adrian. Good to see you.” Justin stepped from an office and into his path.

  Shawn walked on.

  Forcing his voice to sound light, Adrian gave the bear shifter a bro hug and said, “Good to be back.”

  Justin cocked his head in a curious motion.

  To fix the lie he’d tried to pass off, Adrian frowned. “Let’s say it will be good at some point.”

  “Got it. No worries. You on the way to see the boss?”

  Glancing at Shawn who had taken a right into a room down the hall, Adrian said, “Yes. Just got back from a
field op with Scarlett and Gan.”

  “Where’s the tiger?”

  “That’s a long story. Let me get through debriefing with the Guardian and I’ll fill you in.”

  “Over beers. My treat. Cole might be back by then, too.”

  “Sounds good, man.”

  Adrian moved forward, condemning himself for being a walking lie. He shouldn’t be out of Wyoming.

  He shouldn’t be breathing.

  His Gallize brothers—Justin, Cole, and Rory—fought against the Guardian putting down Mad Red.

  Adrian had asked his boss to do it, but ...

  The letter in his pocket wouldn’t let him take the coward’s way out or keep hiding. Not when he had to step up for a past brother in arms who died stepping up for Adrian. He only had to manage Mad Red long enough to make good on a promise.

  For now, his wolf slept from exhaustion.

  When he entered one of the meeting rooms on the floor two levels down, he paused to grab the lay of the land. Vic sat in the cushy office chair on wheels. Landon took a spot at the table two chairs down from Vic and Shawn sat on the opposite side from Landon.

  Adrian spotted another padded chair like Vic’s and eased down into it. He flinched halfway there.

  Vic looked over. “I don’t smell titanium. Did you already flush that wound?”

  “Landon did,” Adrian muttered back.

  The Guardian came in quickly, paused to look at Adrian, then addressed Vic. “Are you up to giving a report?”

  “Yes, sir.” He started to rise.

  “Please sit ... everyone.” The Guardian stepped past Landon and took a seat at the table. “Are you doing better, Adrian?”

  “Yes, sir. Wound is clean. I’m healing.”

  Vic recounted everything that had happened, including how the Pagan Nomads had set a trap. “They knew we were coming. They wanted to get Scarlett.”

  Landon asked, “Why?”

  Adrian groaned when he shifted his position. “Best I could tell, she’s been interfering with their operations. Sounds like their boss gave an order to grab her. This had to take a while to coordinate, which would mean burning some of her contacts.”

  “You don’t think they’ve just been waiting for her to show up at one of their operations?” Shawn asked.

  “No.” Adrian had thought about what happened on the way back. “This was topnotch. They’d have to arrange all of that every time they were at any location. It’s not logical.”