Accidentally Wolf (45 page)

“I know. I
’
m sorry I yelled. But now you know the right way to handle things if trouble ever pops up when you
’
re around, right?”

“Yeah, maybe I should have Agent Harris
’
s number in my phone or something just in case.”

“That
’
s a great idea,” I agreed. “I
’
m going to need your phone so I can get that picture printed.”

“I
’
ll text it to you.” Gotta love technology sometimes! I gave him a quick kiss before pulling out my own phone and calling my go-to man.

“Hey, Chief. We
’
ve got most of the reports in but no name or picture—”

“I have a picture now. Riley took it when the guy showed up in the parking lot of my apartment complex.” My voice was evening out, the lingering adrenaline wearing off.

“Holy fuck! Are you guys okay?”

“Yeah, I shot him at least once. I
’
m pretty sure I got him twice before he ran off. Get a crime lab team down here to see if they can find blood to match up for our case.”

“You got it, Chief. You coming in with a picture?”

“Yeah, I
’
ll be heading right over. I want copies of what we got so I can bring it home to look them over. Then I want an APB sent out with the picture we have to every law enforcement branch we have.”

“Right, I got it. Glad you
’
re okay.”

“Me, too,” I admitted as I hung up, looking at a shaken Riley. He might be a wolf and a pretty tough one at that to have fought his way up the pack. But that was different than what I was used to, and it
’
s never easy to walk in to a situation where someone you care about, even a little, is in danger. I just hoped he could handle what my job entailed.

Because there was no way in hell I was ever giving it up.

Chapter 17

The next few days we learned as much as we could about Bob, as I continued to call him. I
’
m sorry, but Black Vengeance was just too cheesy. The blood trail the crime lab guys got from my parking lot matched what they had pulled off the gold sword that the last victim had been holding. And we were finally able to ID the first vic. It ended up the guy was house-sitting for some rightwing, religious nut.

So on top of everything else, Bob, in his whole crusade against the bad guys, killed the wrong man. Yeah, he was some misunderstood solider of a secret war my ass.

The rest of the week flew by in a flurry of meetings, sharing information with other agencies and the Shifter Council. Chief Monroe handled most of that, but I did have to talk with some evasive lackeys because I wasn
’
t important enough to talk to anyone who mattered it seemed.

Either way, we weren
’
t getting anywhere trying to find Bob yet. I wanted him found and thrown in prison because he wasn
’
t the only case I had going on, but, while he was still out there, everything else was pushed to the side.

On the bright side, Alena had helped me, when I had free time, learn how to control my siren. It wasn
’
t going to be easy having her around, but she worked with me to lay down some ground rules and we both made concessions. One of the main ones being that I would have lots of sex, especially around the full moon, and not limit myself to Riley and Tristan and she wouldn
’
t make anyone else my minion.

Fucking. Great.

I was actually sad to see Alena and Zeno go. But I had their number, and she promised up and down if I needed anything to give her a call and she was just a short plane ride away. Okay, if her idea of a short flight was from Greece to Chicago… What the hell was a long one?

Things with Tristan were still a little strained, but he was really good at groveling. I wasn
’
t much in to getting flowers, but I had to admit he had great taste. He sent a huge, gorgeous bouquet of rainbow colored roses to work. And I swear every time I walked through the door or was leaving he had my favorite foods made, waiting for me or bagged for my lunch.

I was lying in bed Saturday morning, barely registering movement in the apartment, trying to ignore the sounds, when someone slipped in to bed behind me.

“So you decided that you
’
re done sleeping on the couch?” I mumbled in my pillow, not even opening my eyes when I smelled vampire and not wolf. Plus, Riley ran warm like I did whereas Tristan tended to be a few degrees colder than a human.

“I didn
’
t realize you
’
d be so welcoming if I joined you in bed,” he whispered in my ear. I pushed back against him as he slid his hand down my side and under my bed shorts. His other hand was tangled in my hair as he kissed my neck. “Tell me you want this as badly as I do.”

“Uh-huh.” The moment a man played with my hair I turned in to mono-syllabic goo.

“Thank fuck,” he groaned as his hand moved off my ass and up under my shirt to cup my breast. Funny, either Tristan
’
s hand had gotten bigger over the past week or I had remembered them smaller. “I
’
ve been dreaming of you, Sera. One taste wasn
’
t enough.”

That was still trying to get past my lust
-
filled fog. Tristan and I had sex way more than once. What was I missing here?

The door to my room opened. “Sera, the guys I got to help move us—” Tristan froze in the doorway, shock written all over his face. I stared at him a moment as the man touching me stilled.

“Who
’
s behind me?” I asked him as what was really going on started to register.

“Noah,” both men answered together.

“Get out of my bed,” I snarled, elbowing him hard in the chest. Suddenly I was very awake.

“You said you wanted me,” he grunted, removing his hands from my body. The moment he moved, I sat up, holding the covers against my chest to make sure I was shielded.

“I
thought
you were Tristan!” I exclaimed. “Why do you think I asked if you were tired of the couch?”

“Yeah, I didn
’
t get what that meant.” Noah was pouting as he sat facing me on the edge of the bed. “How could you not tell it was me?”

“I smelled vampire. We
’
re in my house. I was sleeping. Really? It
’
s that hard to fathom that I assumed it was
my
vampire crawling in to bed with me? And why the hell are you in my bedroom?”

“Tristan said you were still sleeping and I was going to come in and wake you up in some joking way,” he answered, giving me a one shoulder shrug. “But then you looked so gorgeous and joining you was just too inviting.”

“Okay, no more sneaking in to my bed or I
’
m going to rip your nuts off,” I ordered with a growl, pointing to the door. He nodded, acting like a kid who
’
d gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He marched over to where Tristan was and scooted by him and out the door.

“You thought it was me and were willing to let me back into your bed?” he asked quietly when we were alone. “Does that mean I
’
m forgiven?”

“Yes, I
’
ve already forgiven you. You know that. You must ask me seven times a day if you
’
re forgiven. But that doesn
’
t mean I
’
m forgetting just yet how quickly you turned on me,” I answered with a sigh. I dropped the covers and scooted out of bed. “I don
’
t want to be mad at you anymore, Tristan. But that
’
s not the same as trusting you fully again. You
’
ve been groveling all week, and I believe you
’
re sorry and want to make up for what happened. Time will only tell if you
’
re really on my side or not.”

“Thank you,” he whispered as he hugged me from behind, burying his face in my neck. “Thank you, Sera. It was killing me that you were so upset with me. I never meant to hurt you.”

“I know.” I exhaled peacefully and gave myself in to the comfort of his embrace, letting my weight rest against him. I hated being on the outs with people I cared about, and it was so much worse when I lived with him. “What were you coming in here to tell me? That our movers are here?”

“Yeah. Though I didn
’
t think one would hop in to bed with you,” he answered dryly. “Noah does move fast.”

“Okay, so what
’
s the plan?” I asked as I pulled out of his arms. Reaching in to the bag I
’
d packed, I yanked out grubby jeans and a shirt. They were clothes that I didn
’
t care if they got dirty or not. I threw some stuff in there when Tristan and Riley were finishing boxing everything so I didn
’
t end up having to search for clothes.

“They
’
ve got my stuff in the truck from Vlad
’
s already. They
’
re loading up everything from here and then we go to Riley
’
s. We
’
ll get everything in the truck from his place while you take back the keys for the apartment and we
’
ll meet you at the new house.”

“Sounds good.” I changed out of my pajamas and in to my jeans. I could feel Tristan
’
s gaze on me, and, while the idea of staying naked with him right then was appealing, I wasn
’
t going to have sex when we had people loading up my stuff. It was tempting though. “Thank you for handling all of this, Tristan. I know I
’
ve not been much help, and I really appreciate you picking up the slack so we could move today.”

“You wouldn
’
t be in this position if not for me, so it was only fair that I facilitate the move with as little inconvenience to you as possible.” And I knew he really meant that. That was when I decided to not only forgive but forget his slip at Vlad
’
s house. I could either hold onto his mistakes and let my hurt blind me at his one slip. Or I could focus on all the help he was giving and the ways he showed me he cared.

“I still appreciate you and how you
’
ve helped me,” I said tenderly as I stood on my toes and kissed him. His eyes went wide with shock, which I saw when I pulled back. Before I could get far, he yanked me against his body and gave me a kiss that had my toes curling in the cheap carpeting.

“I
’
ve missed you, missed this,” he whispered against my lips.

“Me, too,” I admitted with a smile, a warm feeling spreading throughout my body. “Now let
’
s get out of here so we can move in to our new place.”

“Sounds good.” He chuckled as I stepped away.

His admitting he missed me along with all that he
’
d done to make my life easier made me realize something else. I
’
d overreacted. He made one slip up and I turned on him just as fast as I thought he
’
d turned on me. I was just as wrong for all of this.

“I
’
m sorry, Tristan.” I reached up to cup his cheek. He stared at me a moment before covering my hand with his.

“For what, Sera?”

“I shouldn
’
t have gotten so angry or punished you like I
’
ve been doing.” I sighed, hating that I
’
d inadvertently caused more drama. “I didn
’
t ask you to grovel, but I didn
’
t stop you either and I did push you away. The punishment didn
’
t fit the crime and I basically did the same to you by keeping my distance. I have no excuse and I
’
m sorry.”

“But you have reason.” He moved my hand over his lips and kissed my palm. “You
’
re scared. Too many things have been hitting you all at once and you
’
re not sure who you can trust. You felt that instead of me throwing you a life jacket, I tied an anchor to your foot.” I nodded, thinking it was an accurate analogy. “I didn
’
t think you overreacted. Maybe if we
’
d been together for years and you knew me better I would have seen it that way. But no matter how much has happened we don
’
t know each other that well.”

“You
’
re right.” Then I had an idea. “Let
’
s change that. How about a date tomorrow? We can do something fun and unstressed. We could go to the movies or the zoo and have an actual sit-down dinner.”