Polar Bears are Forever: Book One Supernatural Enforcers Agency (4 page)

With a strangled yelp, she was dragged to the floor, and the young wolf shifter was upon her, his strong hands wrapped around her neck.  She tried clawing and scratching at his arms; she tried kicking her legs, but it was all to no avail.  He was too strong.  This was it; she was going to die at the hands of an adolescent wolf on her first day of work. 
Vaguely, she wondered whether Gunner would come to her funeral.

But, no, wait, she was saved!

A huge roar shook the entire frame of the McMansion.  The boy trying to squeeze the life out of her howled and leaped away from her.  She coughed and spluttered as she tried to suck air into her deprived lungs.

Her vision swam as an angel appeared before her.  He had pale blonde hair, startling pale blue eyes and the most ruggedly handsome face she ever saw. 
Why was the angel yelling at her?

“Erin!  For fucks sake!”

Oh, her angel was Gunner. 
And boy did he look pissed.

Carefully, he pulled her body up and propped her against a muscled arm.  She coughed and buried her face in his shoulder.  Yes, this was nice, this felt right.  Oh, she could just fall asleep right here in the arms of this gorgeous man.

No, her conscience screamed, what about Hilda? 

Erin snapped her eyes open to see the fury and concern marring Gunner’s handsome features.  “That boy,” she croaked, “he killed Hilda.”

Gunner stiffened and flicked his eyes in the direction that the wolf had disappeared.  He was torn between staying with her and going after him.  She made the choice easy when she rasped at him to go.

“Stay here,” he ordered and stormed through the house, raising his gun.

Like she had a choice. 
Ooh, look, Gunner remembered to bring his gun.

Erin dozed with her head lolling against a kitchen cabinet. 
Ugh, so tired
.  Her eyes lifted as she heard the startling crunch of metal followed by screams and shouts.  At that point, she gave up and fainted.

Chapter Four

Beep… beep… Paging Doctor Smyth to the obstetrics ward… beep… beep…

Erin blinked awake and then immediately regretted it.  Her head hurt like a bitch. 
What the heck?

Sterile white walls, crisp, itchy linen, disgusting bleach smell –
oh she was in a hospital
.  She had to get out of there, pronto.

She sat up and tried to will her sluggish limbs to move. 
Why was everything so hard?
  She needed to get out of there; she didn’t want to spend another second in a hospital.  She swung her legs off the bed, and they immediately crumpled beneath her.  Instead of hitting the ground, she found herself gripped by two, warm, comforting arms. 
Oh, no…

“Just take it easy,” murmured Gunner.

“You take it easy,” she grumbled.

She looked up to see surprise on his face; he wasn’t expecting that –
admittedly lame
– sass.  She couldn’t tell whether it was amusement or annoyance twitching at his lips.

“For my sake, take it easy.”

He lifted her back on the bed as if she weighed nothing more than a bag of potato chips. 
And she knew she weighed substantially more than that.

Erin patted her hands over her clothes.  At least she’d been allowed to keep them.  No embarrassing opportunities to flash her sizable rear in an unflattering, backless hospital gown.

Gingerly she rubbed her raw neck. 
Darn wolf shifter
.  Gunner’s eyes were hooded, and he folded his huge arms over his chest. 
Damn, sexy polar bear
.

“What happened?” she asked uncertainly, trying to distract the more libidinous portion of her brain. 
Fat chance…

“Where was your gun, Erin?”

She frowned as he avoided her question.  “It was in my purse, which I left in the car…”

She leaped a foot in the air as he smashed a fist into the wall.  “Fuck!”

A nurse burst through the door; her face was ablaze with fury, which dimmed the moment she saw him.  “Agent Christiansen, please refrain from destroying our walls, I don’t think they’ll stand up to an assault by you.”

“Sorry.”

The nurse nodded and giggled before backing out of the room again.  Erin scowled as she felt a wave of jealousy. 
The woman was old enough to be his mother for hell’s sake.

His contrite attitude vanished the moment he looked at Erin again.  He strode over to her and leaned down, his seething face inches from hers.  “You could have been hurt.”  He pushed away from her and scrubbed his hands down his face.  “Why do you even want to be a field agent?”

“To help people…” she said lamely. 
Okay, so she didn’t exactly follow procedure…

“Is what you did today helpful?  That wolf shifter, Billy Samuelson, said you accused him of murdering Hilda and when he tried to leave you attacked him.”

“What?  I… well… I… that’s not true at all!  He murdered Hilda.”

Gunner glared at her.  “You know that for a fact?”

“Well, a ghost told me,” she admitted lamely.  “Or, at least, she told me about his watch…”

The polar bear shifter looked like he was about to explode; his eyes shimmered to the dark brown of his beast.  “A watch?  A fucking watch?”

Erin crossed her arms, thoroughly annoyed at where this conversation was going.  “I know it’s him.  Hilda told me that her attacker had a diver’s watch just like the one Billy wears.  When I was talking to Billy, I thought that something was wrong, so I tried to leave and that’s when he attacked me.  I didn’t accuse him of anything and I certainly didn’t try to jump him.  I’m a puny human, remember?  One not good enough to be on your team.  I certainly wouldn’t have done something crazy like try to take on a wolf shifter.  In spite of what you may think of me, I’m not actually suicidal.”

His nostrils flared, and his lips were set in a grim line. 
Had she gone too far?

Moving on…
  “What happened after you left the kitchen?”

Gunner exhaled deeply.  “I ran after the boy; he jumped in his father’s Porsche and was about to get away, except he backed into his mother’s car.  Guess he didn’t realize it was in reverse.  He’s in hospital here, too.”

Erin gulped and fingered her neck.  “Not near me though, right?” 

Gunner looked affronted.  “No, other side of the hospital, and he’s being watched by Cutter and Avery.”

Phew, no way did she want to repeat their earlier meeting.

“His parents are threatening to sue us.  The Director’s going mental.”

Erin felt tears welling in her eyes. 
Embarrassing, unprofessional tears
.  “I’m sorry, but I’m sure it’s him.  I bet if we searched his room we’d find…”

“
We
won’t be doing anything.  Once the doctor clears you, you’ll be going home to get some rest.”

“But…”

“No buts, Erin,” he snapped.  “What happened today was a mess.  Forget the fact that we’re about to get sued by one of the most powerful Alphas in Los Lobos, you could have been seriously hurt, and all because you forgot your fucking gun.  How could you have been so reckless?”

She opened her mouth to retort but thought better of it.  “I’m sorry, what do you want me to do?”

Gunner stared at her, hard for a few beats.  “If you’re well enough, I just want you to go home.  Wayne will drive you.”

Yes, he wanted her home, out of the way, where she can’t do any damage.

“Okay,” she said quietly.

“Good.”

He stalked to the door but stopped when he got there.  He turned back and gave her a pained look.  She held her breath, her silly, twittering heart, hoping that he’d give her something, any sweet word, but he said nothing.  He shook his head and left.

Crud
.

*

Erin stared at her apartment dejectedly.  It wasn’t a great place, but it was decent enough, and it came furnished.

The hospital had wanted her to stay overnight, but after a lot of cajoling, whining and outright complaining, the irritated doctor gave in and allowed her to sign a release form.  If she died at home, it was completely her fault. 
She was fine with that
.  At her lowest ebb, she wondered about how many people actually would care if she died.  Her sister, maybe, but would anyone else? 
Would Gunner?

She had to stop thinking about him.  Clearly, she was just an inconvenience to him. 
An embarrassing one at that.

Wayne had diligently driven her home.  He didn’t talk much, thank heavens, but at least she hadn’t noted the abject anger and disapproval evident in Gunner’s demeanor.  When they arrived, he actually asked her if she needed anything.  No, she just wanted to curl up and cry. 
She didn’t need anything to do that.

She replayed the events of the day over and over, and surely Gunner was overreacting.  Okay, she’d forgotten her gun, and that was a big no-no, but it wasn’t her fault that the wolf shifter attacked her.  She really hadn’t tried to incite him.  Gunner was acting like she’d committed a grievous offense in getting attacked – like she had a choice in the matter!

Erin walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out a piece of cheese to nibble on.  Unbidden, she had a vision of the refrigerator being installed.  The landlord was shouting at the deliverymen about how they were trying to rip him off.

Great, it was going to be one of those nights
.  Sometimes, she had the most random and pointless visions.  Just little pockets of memories that served no other purpose than to drive her absolutely bananas.

She really didn’t want this, not that night.  She was tired, and she wanted a shower, so she resorted to the only way she knew how to dull the visions.  She grabbed a beer and tripped off to the shower. 
Yep, a soothing shower and a beer, worked every time.

*

The banging wouldn’t stop. 

Reluctantly, Erin dragged herself to her feet and shuffled over to the door.  She’d downed two beers and was thankfully starting to feel a little numb but also a little braver than usual.

Ugh, it was probably her pervy landlord come to get the rent.  She’d met him twice and both times he’d openly leered at her.  She imagined he did the same to all his female tenants, and she’d bet her head that he came by late to catch her in her pajamas.

Well, he was in for a treat, because she was currently decked out in a pair of baby blue pajamas with polar bears all over them.  A birthday present from her parents who had no idea about her likes and dislikes. 
Although, she couldn’t deny the fact that polar bears were suddenly more appealing.

She flung the door open, ready to bawl out her landlord for coming by so late.  Instead, she almost fainted at the sight before her. 
Gunner
.

Erin opened her mouth to say something witty, something charming, hell, something at all, but no sound came out.

“Can I come in?” he asked quietly, since it was obvious she wasn’t capable of more than a fish impression at that moment.

She nodded and instead of sidling past her, he walked straight toward her, forcing her to back up.  He shut the door behind him and made a show of locking and bolting the door.

His eyes were immediately drawn to her neck, and a hard look flitted over his features. 
That tiny change was chilling
.  Thankfully, he relaxed a little as he looked her up and down before raising an eyebrow at her pajamas.  She felt the heat rushing to her cheeks. 
Oh, kill me now.

“You don’t have a peephole,” he said thoughtfully running a hand up and down her door. 
Lucky door she thought facetiously.

“Umm, no.”

“You should always ask who’s at the door before answering,” he rebuked her lightly.

“To be fair, flimsy doors like that wouldn’t keep out most shifters.”  She said it jokingly but he just nodded in agreement.

“You should really live in a building where you have to buzz your guests in.  It’s not much, but at least it would stop just anyone wandering up and down your halls.”

But it would have stopped you getting in
.  “Did you come all the way over here to discuss my terrible security?  Or was there another reason?”

“You’ve been crying,” he said accusingly.

She couldn’t deny it.  She’d cried over the dead woman, she’d cried over the fact that she might have made a mistake about the boy, and she’d cried pathetically over what a mess she had made on her first day of work. 
Pity party – table for one!

“I’m worried that you might be right, about the boy.  I’m worried that I was wrong…”

“You weren’t wrong,” he declared curtly.

“What?”

He sucked in a deep breath.  “When we searched his room, we found pictures of women he’d clearly been stalking, and three of those women included the ones who were attacked.  We found his roll of duct tape; it had some splashes of the third victim’s blood on from when he hit her.  It was him.  When we questioned him, he finally admitted it.  The first three victims were girls who rejected him.  But he broke down about Hilda; apparently he’d loved her for years, but fearing that she’d never love him back, he killed her.”

Erin let out a sob, and she felt her legs give way.  In a flash, she was encircled by strong, warm arms and was soon deposited on the couch.  He didn’t move away like she expected, no, he hovered over her, concern evident on his handsome face.

“Do you want me to get you a glass of water?”

“No!  No, thank you, just don’t leave me… I just need a few moments.”

How could she say, I like having you so close to me? How could she articulate feelings that even she didn’t understand?

Gunner seemed satisfied with her answer and settled into the couch next to her, shoulder to shoulder. 
Or rather shoulder to bicep
.  He really was big.  The drunken part of her mind wondered whether he was in proportion,
you know
, in all areas, but Erin quickly scolded herself. 
Now was not the time!
  Would there be another time?

“Getting this guy so quickly was a real boon, Erin.  It’s a good job you were there.”

She felt pleasure at his words blossom within her. 
Actual praise!

“But, the way you went about it today…”  He exhaled deeply.  “Things could have been a lot worse.  We got lucky finding that blood on the duct tape.  If we hadn’t, he could have argued that everything was circumstantial.  And worst of all, you could have been seriously hurt.  No, you could have been killed.”

“I’m sorry,” she whimpered.

“Please, stop apologizing,” he groaned.

“I’m…”  She caught herself before she said it again.

“Look, I came over here to say well done but also to bawl you out on the whole gun thing.  So considered yourself officially told off.”