One Last Prowl: BBW Were Mountain Lion Shapeshifter Mail Order Bride Romance (Shifter Grove Brides Book 6) (3 page)

Deacon shrugged, sipping his beer. He finished it off and stood up, offering his hand over the bar. Austin took it, standing up himself and shaking it. Their grips were strong and sure, just like the men themselves.

“Thank you for the hospitality, Austin. And if you need to talk to someone, let me know. I don’t know what you’ve been through, but I lost my love once as well. I found her again, but I know what it feels like to be without it. Or if you want to go and, hell, I don’t know, run around the mountains a little, then I’m your guy too.”

“Will do, Deacon.”

With a grin, Deacon put on his hat and withdrew into the darkness outside the doors of Austin’s Texas. Chuckling to himself, Austin hit the light switch that killed the lamps outside and started cleaning up, all the while thinking of one particular response he’d gotten a few days ago and never dared respond to.

Maybe I should give this a shot. New town, new rules, new start, right?
 

CHAPTER THREE

Dahlia

Marcus was laughing and as far as Dahlia could recall, this was the first time he’d even cracked a smile in what seemed like months. She smiled slightly as Marcus and Slate bantered amongst themselves in the cockpit, Slate having allowed the boy to come sit up with him in the co-pilot’s seat.

“Naw, man, don’t touch that. We’ll end up airdropping your stuff or something and I bet I would not enjoy an afterlife with your mother coming after me,” Slate joked, throwing a wink at Dahlia. 

She chuckled to herself, shaking her head a little. She was dressed in simple black slacks and a white cardigan with one of those wide, looping necklines that she loved. Her coat was still on and she was wearing earmuffs as the little airplane wobbled in for a landing. Dahlia had been entirely unsurprised to learn that there was essentially one way to get to Shifter Grove as soon as the weather started going bad, and of course it had to be in a shabby little airplane.

At least the pilot’s a hoot. And it’s so nice to hear Marcus laugh,
she thought, looking out of the window at the snow-capped mountains and the colorful woods, the leaves a myriad of yellows and reds.

Her heart beat heavily in her chest and she rechecked her phone, though they were still too high up for there to be any signal. It had taken about a month of back and forth between Austin and her to land on the decision that she and Marcus should come down to see him. Despite feeling entirely silly about the fact that she’d written to him at all, Dahlia had found that she and Austin had more in common than they wanted to admit. She wasn’t outright looking for love quite so brazenly, but as snippets of conversations turned into whole evenings of chatting, she couldn’t deny that there might be something there, especially when she started daydreaming about him and he kept popping up in her dreams.

At one point, it was getting pretty impossible to ignore the fact that she wanted to meet this mountain of a man and either get over her little infatuation or figure out what to do with it next. Austin had promised to come and meet them at the airport, and a small, irrational voice inside of Dahlia said that he wouldn’t show up, that it was going to be just another disappointment in a long row of them and she’d have to deal with it all.

But as soon as the airplane touched down and slowed, Slate was peeking over his shoulder, grinning like he knew far too much. Hell, knowing this town, he probably did!

“I see someone’s waiting for you two!” he said with a wink, pointing at a big red pickup truck parked at the end of the runway.

Dahlia tried to acknowledge him, but all that came out was a little strangled sound that could have been mistaken for a drowning kitten. She nodded, though Slate had already whipped around again and was making final checks before bounding out of his seat.

“C’mon, Marcus, let’s get this bird grounded,” he hollered, as Marcus scrambled to catch up with the big man.

Snickering under her breath at the shifter’s antics—and she could tell Slate was a shifter; there was something about a shapeshifter and how they carried themselves that made it immediately obvious to Dahlia ever since watching her husband for all those years—she undid her seat belt and rose up as well. By the time she made it to the back of the tiny plane, the hatch was already open and the stairs were lowered, Marcus practically bouncing down them and onto the tarmac.

“After you,” Slate said, offering his hand so she could take the first step.

“Thank you, Mr. Morenkov,” she said, only to be corrected by Slate almost immediately.

“It’s Slate! Mr. Morenkov is my father and trust me, you don’t want anything to do with him,” he chuckled.

Dahlia was about to say something back, though what she would never know, because another strong hand took hold of hers and helped her down the rest of the steps.

“Oh. Hi…” Dahlia stammered, looking up at the face of the man she had been daydreaming about for far too much time now.

“Hello, Dahlia,” Austin said, grinning.

He pulled her into a warm but gentle embrace and Dahlia met it eagerly, slipping her hands around his big body and feeling the warmth of him permeating her senses. He smelled musky and delicious, like a night out by the fire, and he was so tall that she felt like she was a tiny little speck in his arms. For a moment, she forgot all about the fact that her son was standing right by them, his arms crossed over his chest and that face that meant trouble plastered over his expression.

“And this must be Marcus. I’m Austin. You and your mom will be staying with me for a while,” Austin said, letting go of Dahlia and thrusting out his hand at Marcus for a shake.

The boy, already tall and somewhat gangly in shape, like the puppy of a big dog, scowled at the outreached hand and shook his head. Austin considered the reaction and Dahlia was absolutely mortified.

“Marcus! Mind your manners,” she said, blushing already.

She knew there was no point in getting upset with him; it rarely ever did anything other than make matters worse with children, but the change from laughing and joking with Slate and outright glaring at Austin was so severe that she found herself being taken aback. Reluctantly, Marcus shook Austin’s hand, but let go as soon as he could. Dahlia felt like her breath got stuck in her throat.

“That’s all right. I’m sure we’ll figure one another out soon enough,” Austin murmured in that sexy growl of his, taking Dahlia’s suitcase from Slate and handing Marcus’s to him.

“I can take my own bag,” Marcus snorted.

And there went any hope Dahlia might have held onto in the hopes of her only child being able to enjoy this trip even a little. She sighed, making a note of it to talk to Marcus as soon as they had a moment alone. Not that it had done any good so far, but she’d have to keep trying. She knew there was a sweet boy in there somewhere; it was getting harder and harder with each day to really see where he was.

“I’ll see you later, Slate. I think I have an order coming on Thursday from Boise, so I’ll be here to meet you. And thank you for getting my precious cargo here,” Austin called to Slate, who was climbing around the underbelly of the airplane like a worried mama cat, checking on its young.

“No problem, Austin! Just have a beer with my name on it when I come around!” he hollered, waving at them and grinning at Marcus in particular.

Austin ushered all three of them toward his truck, the little wheels on Marcus’s suitcase squabbling along the pavement. Her words were strictly stuck in her throat and Marcus obviously wasn’t in the mood to talk. Little tingles still ran over her skin from the hug, even though they’d barely touched each other because of the thick coats they had on. But she was here, in Idaho, meeting this sweet man that had been on her mind for days and weeks. It felt unreal.

“I figured we could go straight on over to my place and get you two settled in. Then, we can see about dinner,” Austin said, coolly taking control of the situation.

“That sounds good,” Dahlia said, a little awkwardly.

Oh God, he’s even hotter than the pictures showed. Why did I come here? Marcus obviously hates it already and it’s not like this has any kind of future… Our life is in New York City!

Well, the last one might have been a bit of a stretch. Hopping into the car after Austin opened the door for her, Dahlia made a valiant effort to ignore the fact that she had gotten her final check the day before the flight. She’d missed so much work, talking to various administrative aids, teachers, and principals in the area, that she couldn’t even excuse herself anymore. And the kicker was that she hadn’t even found a school yet that would take him.

But every day that Marcus had been spending home, the situation looked more dire. Like digging her way out of it would be impossible if she continued, keeping him in the same surroundings. So when Austin had offered to have her come out to visit him and bring Marcus, she’d said yes before she’d even thought about it.

Austin had offered to pay for the whole trip, but she insisted on doing it herself. Based on the low rates she had found, she still got the feeling that the debonair Texan might have had something to do with it, though.

Marcus got into the back seat and Austin climbed into the driver’s seat.

“Everyone set? Shifter Grove, here we come,” he said, the low timber of his voice making her insides purr.

She hadn’t been in the company of a man who wasn’t a plumber or an IT technician or an annoyed parent in so long that she felt like a damn teenager. Her mind was working on overdrive, trying to find topics to discuss so she wouldn’t seem entirely dull, and her hands were fidgeting in her lap. Marcus had rolled down the window and was looking out at the scenery going by, breathing in the fresh, clean air by the lungful. Glancing at him, Dahlia thought she spied a small smile, but Marcus quickly wiped that off his face as soon as he saw her looking at him.

Curious,
she thought, turning around.

“So how do you two know each other, anyway?” Marcus asked, not bothering to look at either Dahlia or Austin.

Dahlia shared a quick moment with Austin, where Austin was looking at her questioningly and she was frankly panicking a little. Obviously, she hadn’t told her teenage son that she was coming to meet a shapeshifter, who just happened to be a mountain lion like his dad had been, and that she answered a mail-order bride ad on a damn dating site originally! She’d managed to skirt around the topic so far by saying that he was an old friend she’d known when she was younger and they were going to see him because she had time off from work—another lie!. Frankly, Dahlia wasn’t feeling too great about how she’d handled things so far.

“Oh, your mom and I just have some shared experiences and we figured it was about time you two come see some real wilderness. Ain’t right for a boy to be cooped up in that concrete jungle at that age, y’know?” Austin said with a cheerful note to his voice, winking at Dahlia. “Your mom figured you might enjoy the nature and I think she’s right on the money about that.”

“Whatever,” came a muttered reply and Marcus popped in his headphones, turning up the music on his phone so loud that even Dahlia could make out the words.

She knew well that he was practically out of reach now, the music blaring in his ears drowning out any other noises.

“Thank you,” Dahlia murmured, looking at Austin as he expertly drove the heavy truck through the winding roads, farther and farther from the kind of civilization Dahlia knew.

“Don’t you mention it, little lady.”

“’Little lady?’ I don’t think anyone’s called me that since I was a teenager,” Dahlia giggled, unzipping her coat and relaxing into the warm, heated seat.

“Well, you can get used to all sorts of things I imagine you haven’t been experiencing in a while around me, hmm? Don’t worry. We’ll figure things out. New town, new rules, new start, that’s what I always say,” Austin chuckled.

Dahlia couldn’t really go along with his good-natured self-assurance, but she wasn’t going to outright argue either. For a moment, she caught herself staring at that tall, handsome man sitting beside her and wondering how she’d gotten so lucky to steal a second out of her life like this to truly enjoy something so different from her sometimes dreary everyday life.

“I hope so,” she said noncommittally.

Coming here was entirely insane. Why the hell did you think this was a good idea?
 
 

CHAPTER FOUR

Austin

“You need a hand?” Austin called, watching Marcus struggle a bit with a steep incline.

“I’m fine,” he grumbled, finally skittering up with a burst of power that seemed to surprise even himself.

“That’s it. If you can’t get it being good, you gotta get it being angry,” Austin noted mildly, pulling Dahlia up with him as well.

He grinned to her, squeezing her hand hard for a minute as Marcus rushed forward like someone was on his tail, ready to pounce.

“That kid of yours has some strength,” he said, enjoying the stolen moment he found with Dahlia.

He hadn’t expected to fly her over and immediately sweep her off her feet, and that had turned out to be fair. She obviously felt a little awkward around him, and Austin couldn’t claim to be completely himself either. He was a seasoned flirt, sure, but this woman had ignited feelings in him that he hadn’t felt in… well, a very long time. It made him stop and question himself every once in a while, hesitating when he should have probably been taking the reins.

“You’d think so. His father was a shifter, after all,” Dahlia said with a sigh, Marcus already far ahead of them on the well-worn hiking trail through the mountains and forests around Shifter Grove.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you talk about him,” Austin said, falling into step with Dahlia.

He kept her hand in his, not letting it go. He understood the need to break things softly to the child, especially one who had lost his father, but he would be damned if he’d let Dahlia think he wasn’t interested because of it. If anything, the fact that she had a kid and had lost a loved one, just like Austin himself had, showed that she had character. She had scars and she had wounds, but she’d still come through it all with her head held high, providing for both herself and her son.