FavoriteObsession (3 page)

“For the love of god, Mira. Go back to him and tell him you’re
sorry.”

Mira stopped her restless steps and glanced at her new
sister. It still amazed her the tiny female had been able to heal her brother’s
broken mind. For three centuries Mira had lived with the guilt of her actions.
She’d never once regretted killing her mate. The remorse she carried was for
allowing Devin to take her punishment.

She should’ve stopped him before he left their familial home
to go to the torture chambers, but her heart and body hurt too much. Her
weakness, her shame. And Devin suffered for it. Not anymore. He’d found his
one
and could finally live.

Mira dropped her gaze to the floor. “No, it’s better this
way.” If she kept repeating that maybe she’d believe it.

“You love him, don’t you?”

Did it matter? Mira shook her head, refusing to give life to
her emotions. “Honestly, I don’t know. I crave him. That’s not the same thing.”

“You’re as stubborn as your twin.”

Mira crossed her arms. “I do not—”

“Whatever, Mira.” Lena leveled a hard glare on her worthy of
any alpha shifter. “I’m not going to argue about the L-word with you but I will
say this—if you let Josh go, you’re a fool.”

“Then I’m a fool because—”

The ringing phone stopped her words. With a sigh, she
grabbed the house line. “Hello?”

“Mira? It’s Sara. I’m…I’m one of the waitresses at Josh’s
bar.” Her voice sounded high and panicked.

Mira tensed. “Yes, I know who are. What’s wrong?”

“Josh’s parents are out of town and,” she choked back a sob,
“I didn’t know who else to call.”

“Sara, calm down and tell me what’s wrong.”

“I forgot my wallet at the bar so I came back and found Josh
bleeding. There was a gun on the ground and I couldn’t find a pulse. I
thought—”

Mira’s heart skipped a beat. “Dead. He’s dead?”

“No! I was wrong. He started groaning. I called an
ambulance. They’re on their way.”

She tightened her grip on the phone. “How badly is he hurt?”

“I don’t know. He’s on his stomach. I’m afraid to move him.”

“I’m coming.” She dropped the phone and ran for the front
door. Kade and Devin turned at her sudden appearance. “Josh has been hurt.”

Devin cursed and glanced toward his mate.

“Go, go. I’ll stay with Molly,” Lena called out.

Mira hopped into the backseat of Kade’s Barracuda while the
males took the front. They pulled out, tires squealing in their wake. She
listened to the engine’s rumble, ignored Devin’s demands to know what had
happened and prayed they weren’t too late. She wanted to get to Josh’s side
before the humans did. He was hers to protect and cherish. She’d made sure of
it when she claimed him as her beloved human.

Once she knew he was safe, she’d hunt down the human who’d
attacked him and make the bastard pay for his crime, slowly and painfully until
he begged for mercy.

No one harmed what belonged to her. No one, not even her.

Josh sat on the edge of the ambulance’s open door. The
paramedics had wanted him to get on a stretcher. He’d refused. Seeing the
rolling table had brought back a memory he hadn’t wanted to recall—his baby
sister restrained on one with blood all over her swollen belly. He’d slammed
the door on the thoughts before all the other ones he kept locked away escaped.

The medic had still insisted on treating him, so Josh had
dropped his ass on the hard metal. While the guy cleaned the excess blood from
his stomach, Josh studied the exposed skin. He cursed inwardly. The cut curved from
his rib cage to his hipbone. When he’d first regained consciousness, it had
been fairly deep. Now it looked like a nasty scratch.

The middle-aged man finished taping the dressing. “If you
hadn’t jumped out of the way, he could’ve done some major damage.”

The lie he’d come up with while waiting on the ambulance
wouldn’t hold up in court, especially if the cops found Zeb’s knife, but he had
to explain away his lack of an injury. No way did he want to admit his
miraculous recovery was from his involvement with the shifters.

He’d consumed a hell of a lot of their blood during the
weeks he’d been participating in their popular brawls. The fights gave the
shifters an excuse to beat on one another. For Josh, it allowed him to hone his
body and distract himself from obsessing over Mira, not that he’d succeeded in
the latter. Still, it gave him something else to focus on for a few hours a
week. Plus, they were fun.

Many of the shifters enjoyed taking him on in the fights,
but more often than not Josh had needed a little intervention to ensure he
could walk away. He’d always felt stronger, more powerful and well just…better
in the days after he’d taken their blood. He hadn’t even fallen victim to the
case of food poisoning that had sickened many of the employees in his bar the
last time they’d had Chinese.

He had to assume the lingering effect of his last donation
of shifter blood was the reason he’d recovered so well today. It was the only
explanation he could come up with that sounded logical. The other, a memory of
pain, apple pie and Mira’s eyes, made no sense whatsoever.

He shoved the crazy image in the locked box with the ones of
finding his brother Tony mutilated and his beautiful sister tortured and in
labor. The damn door was going to burst soon. He’d experienced too many horrors
in his life.

He counted backward from a hundred. His racing heart slowed.
The memories faded away. He breathed a sigh.

The older medic pushed to his feet and patted him on the
shoulder. “You’re a lucky man, Mr. Conway.”

“I suppose.”

He held out his hand for the phone Josh held. “Are you done
with that or do you need to make another call?”

He passed the cell over. “Nope. I’m good.”

He’d gotten the info he’d needed when Zeb had answered his
phone with a slurred, incoherent greeting. He’d reacted exactly the way Josh
had expected. Zeb had gone home and gotten shit-faced drunk—his MO. It gave
Josh time to deal with the mess he was currently in before averting another.

The medic collected Josh’s bloody shirt and the remaining
dressings and tossed them in a Haz-waste bag. “You really should come to the
hospital to get some blood tests. You bled an awful lot for such a small
wound.”

“I’ll call my doctor in the morning.”
Or not.
Josh
cleared his throat. “Are you all done?”

“If you won’t take the pain meds, then I am. Do you have
somebody to stay with you overnight?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Josh lied. Truth was he didn’t want anyone
around him. He didn’t feel quite…right. Company wouldn’t be welcome tonight,
not when his skin crawled and his gut rolled. It took every ounce of
self-control he had not to scratch madly at his arms and legs.

The medic stepped away and small pair of booted feet took
his place in front of him. Josh sighed and glanced into Ella’s concerned face.
Five-foot-two, one-hundred-and-ten pounds and a no-bullshit attitude made his
little cousin the best damn cop in the county. He knew she still struggled with
the sexist attitudes of many of the other police officers, but Ella never let
it bother her. She just worked harder and better than everyone else to prove
herself.

“Officer Rodrick.”

“Who did this?”

“I got in a fight with Zeb. He nicked me. I must’ve hit my
head and blacked out. Last thing I remember is tripping and falling.”
Along
with the scent of apples and the feeling of burning alive.
He rubbed at the
back of his neck where tingles skipped along his skin. “I woke up when Sara was
talking on the phone.”

Ella narrowed her eyes. She pointedly looked from the
blood-soaked gravel to the bandage on his stomach. “And you bled that much from
a little nick?”

“Must have something wrong with my blood. I don’t know why
it didn’t clot sooner.” He shrugged. “I’ll call Doc tomorrow.”

Another long glare and she huffed. “What were you fighting
about?”

“It doesn’t matter. I’m not pressing charges.”

She widened her stance more. “You don’t get to decide. Zeb
shot at you. That’s not something I can let go. He’s on probation.”

“You do what you have to but don’t expect my involvement.
Just do me a favor.” He leaned forward and turned pleading eyes on his stubborn
cousin.

“Don’t pull the ‘I’m family’ card, Josh. You know I hate
that.”

Yeah, he knew, but he couldn’t let anyone find the knife
that had nearly gutted him. People would start asking questions. “Please, Ella,
just hear me out. I called him. He’s home and was minutes from passing out.
He’s not going anywhere. Give me tonight to talk to him. We had a disagreement.
I want to clear it up.”

“What kind of disagreement?”

The black muscle car pulling into the lot stopped his answer.
Josh stepped around his cousin and strode toward Kade’s ’Cuda. Mira jumped out
before it came to a complete stop and ran straight to him. Josh opened his arms
and enveloped her in his embrace. The scent of spring rain chased away the
lingering clover and cinnamon in his nose. He buried his face in her hair and
inhaled more of her comforting fragrance.

“Are you okay?”

The concern in her voice slowed the churning in his gut.
Another deep breath and the itch lessened. “I am now.”

“Sara said you were bleeding and unconscious.” Mira pulled
back and ran her hands over his bare sides. She fingered the tape holding the
large bandage. “Gods, what happened?”

“I got in a fight. The guy nicked me but it was a long cut.
Needed a big Band-Aid.” He grinned, hoping to ease some of the worry in her
eyes. “You can kiss it later and make it better.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth he tensed,
expecting Devin or Kade to say something. They didn’t. Both shifters stood with
their backs to them, talking to Ella’s deputy.

He jerked his chin in their direction. “Have your bodyguards
decided to stop giving us a hard time?”

She gently skimmed her fingertips around the white dressing.
“Not in this lifetime but they want to know who hurt you so we can return the
favor.”

“No.” He focused on her and let her see his determination.
“I don’t want them or you involved.”

Jesus, that’d be a disaster. After what had happened
tonight, he had to corner Zeb and convince him he hadn’t nearly gutted him. Zeb
might be slow in a lot of things, but Josh couldn’t take the chance he’d put
two and two together and start looking too closely into the affairs of his new
friends.

Josh might only be an honorary member of the pride, but it
didn’t mean he wouldn’t protect them at all costs the same way the full-blooded
shifters would.

“You’re a member of our family. We protect our own.”

Damn if he didn’t love the fire in her eyes. He brushed his
knuckles over her cheek. “I know but this isn’t something that needs their
interference or yours. It was a little fight. That’s it. I’ll handle it.” She
opened her mouth. He pressed a finger to her plump lips to stop her argument.
“I won’t allow anyone to fight my battles and this one simply got out of hand.
Okay?”

She held his gaze for a long moment. Finally, she breathed a
sigh and his tension eased. “Yes, okay, but if this
person
,” she choked
on the word, “hurts you again, all bets are off.”

“This person was human,” he whispered, conscious of the
people around them. “He’s also not accepting of anything different. Leave him
be.”

She pressed her forehead to his chest and he rubbed her back
in long soothing strokes along the length of her spine. She’d talked to him one
night about her fears for the future. He shared them too, which was why he
couldn’t let Zeb get any crazy ideas in his head.

Shifters were known by nearly every government in the world.
In most modernized countries, they were accepted as citizens with special
provisions taken to hide their age and others to legalize certain instinctual
customs, including their devotion to their beloved humans.

Those who were entrusted with the knowledge of shifters’
existence understood the danger to the world if the general populace learned
about the nonhumans living among them. It didn’t take much to picture the
scenarios of what would happen, none of them good. As much as he loved his
fellow neighbor, he knew the peaceful acceptance of another species wouldn’t
happen. Hate ran deep in human culture.

The only problem was, it wouldn’t last. Josh felt as though
they were riding the peaceful waves before the storm. One of these days, the
shit would hit the fan. He refused to be the reason it did.

Devin approached and cleared his throat. Josh loosened the
tight circle of his arms. “Yeah?”

Devin glanced from Josh’s linked hands at Mira’s waist to
his face. Although his expression remained blank, displeasure rolled off him.
“Mira wanted the honors, but
I’m
going to pay Zeb a visit. They’ll take
you home.”

Josh set Mira off to the side and took a step forward. “I
already discussed this with Mira. I’m the only one who’ll be paying him a visit
and,” he motioned behind him, “my car is right there. I can drive myself.”

“Absolutely not.” Devin whipped his head to peer at Mira.
After a moment, while they no doubt engaged in a telepathic argument, he
snapped his teeth together. “I don’t like it.”

“I agreed. The discussion is over.” She reached out and
stroked her fingertips over Josh’s bicep. “Let’s take Josh home.”

He grasped her wrist. “I don’t—”

She looked over her shoulder. “You shouldn’t drive if you
hit your head hard enough to black out.”

Josh took in the stubbornness and worry stamped on her face
and sighed. The sooner he assured her he was well, the quicker he could deal
with Zeb and make sure she was safe. “Fine, let’s roll.”

They climbed into the ’Cuda. The short drive to the house
Josh had moved into last week passed in silence after he refused to answer
Devin’s pointed questions about the injury he’d suffered. Josh didn’t need
anyone else’s doubts on top of his own. As soon as he’d gotten into the car
with the other shifters, the crawling sensation had returned.

Kade parked in front of Josh’s fixer-upper farmhouse and motioned
toward the door. “I called Zach to come stay with you tonight. He’ll be out
within the hour.”

“No way. I don’t need a babysitter.”

Kade narrowed his eyes. “Mira won’t be content until she
knows you’re well and I sure as hell won’t allow her to stay here tonight. Deal
with it or you can come room with me.”

Josh ground his teeth. Instead of wasting time arguing, he
bit out, “Fine.”

“Good.” Kade motioned toward his house. “You need help
getting settled?”

Mira grabbed his hand before he could answer. “I’ll help
him.”

“Don’t take too long and remember the rules,” Devin warned.

She opened the door, pulling him along with her. “Sure, okay.”

They hurried up the steps and slipped inside. With the door
shut behind them, Josh crowded her against the hardwood surface. He leaned in
to kiss her, but she bent her head so his lips brushed over her forehead
instead.

She splayed her hands over his chest and gave him a slight
push, not enough to break his hold, more of a ‘hold on’ move.

He clamped down on his disappointment.

“So I guess you didn’t come in here so I could ravish you.”
Not that he had time to indulge in her but he hated losing any moment with
Mira.

She wrapped her hands around his waist and snuggled close, her
cheek over his heart. “Please, Josh, just stop. I’d like nothing more than to go
upstairs with you. It can’t happen.”

He shoved away before he swept her into his arms and did
exactly that. “Go home then. I’ll be fine until my babysitter shows up.”

She twisted her fingers together. He turned his back on the
sight. Clipped steps took him into his living room.

Moving boxes filled the otherwise empty room. He opened one
and started unpacking the stacks of movies, anything to distract him from what
he wanted to do with the woman standing behind him.

Dusty VHS tapes took up most of the space inside the crate.
Why had he brought them? He didn’t even own a player anymore. With them piled
off to the side, he pulled out the discs he could use.

Mira grasped his wrist, stopping him from reaching for the
next movie. “Ignoring this won’t make it go away.”

He yanked his hand free. “What do you want me to do? I’ve
made it clear that I want you. You said no and I’m in no mood to fight tonight.”

Silence stretched while he continued to unpack. He felt her
eyes on his back no matter where he moved in the room.

Finally, she sighed. “No matter who I end up mating, I don’t
want to lose you.”

He slammed a disc down. “You can’t lose what you don’t have,
Mira. And this,” he brushed his fingertips over his scarred cheek that carried
her scent, “doesn’t give you any rights to me.”