The Wolf and the Bobcat: (7 page)

His wolf huffed at him. Wouldn’t he do the same thing if it were his bobcat?
He’d do anything for just a glimpse of her.

Casey coughed to change the subject. “Yeah, maybe I’ll go talk to the bobcat tomorrow.”

Jimmy looked at him thoughtfully. “So, I guess you’re not interested in Jess anymore then?”

“Up until ten minutes ago I thought her name was Lisa, or Laura, so no, not interested. I’m still kinda pissed that she kissed me at Risty’s party, the bobcat saw it, and I think she got the wrong idea.”

Hunter absently picked at the label on his beer bottle. “Yeah, seeing a puma attached to your mouth will do that. Women overreact about those kinds of things.”

Jimmy said he would go and cheer up Jess, who looked a little lonely. A miserable looking Hunter mumbled something about an early start in the morning, and took off.

Casey was feeling nervously elated, and his wolf was almost peaceful. He ordered a soda and sipped on it, while eagerly looking to the door every time it opened. It was never his bobcat, but that was okay. He was going to find her; he knew it.
He was almost positive.
He just had to be patient.
He prayed it happened soon
.

*

Casey quietly pushed open the back door of his parent’s house. He pricked up his ears, and heard scuffling, and giggling coming from the kitchen.

He groaned and pushed the door open to find his parents canoodling in front of the open fridge.
Not a new sight for him.

His parents met when they were both 19, and nine months later Casey arrived. He was unplanned but not unwanted;
his mom told him that over and over
. His mom was a wolf shifter, and had lived in Rose her whole life, while his dad was a puma who was visiting the town. But after they met, he never left. His dad took an apprenticeship with a wolf shifter and trained to be a carpenter, and his mom worked as a receptionist at the Sheriff’s station.

For years, they scrimped and saved, and lived at his grandma’s house while his dad worked up his business, until finally, they were comfortable.
That was when his parents decided to start breeding their own basketball team.
He had three sisters, all under 10, and his mom was pregnant again. He would bet anything that is was going to be another girl.
Probably for the best
. All his sisters were little angels, he, on the other hand, had been a hellion when he was young.
He still kind of was
.

His grandma, Jeanette, told him he took after his mom, she was apparently pretty wild in her teenage years.
Well, he certainly took after her when it came to his wolf
. They were making bets on whether his sisters would be wolves or pumas. They were guessing pumas, given how well behaved they were.

Casey sighed as his dad kissed his mom’s neck;
they knew he was there
. “Aww, come on, you guys. People eat in here.”

Kristy Shaw smiled indulgently at her son, as she pulled out a pint of ice-cream from the fridge. “Hey, honey, what brings you by so late?”

It was 11pm, but Kristy couldn’t remember a time before tonight when she wasn’t in bed by 10.30.
She was usually exhausted.

“I was on my way home, thought I’d drop by and pick up a casserole grandma made for me.”

Casey lived in a small cabin, not too far from his parents’ house. It gave him a little freedom but also meant he was close-by for babysitting, and so he could pop in whenever he wanted.
He actually got a little homesick more often than he cared to admit.

When Casey moved out, his grandma, Jeannette, moved into his room. In true grandma fashion, she was convinced he wasn’t eating properly.
It was true he wasn’t, he lived on pizza, cake and beer
.

“You don’t mind me dropping in, do you?”

Kristy ran over to him and gave him a hug. “Of course not, honey. This is your home; you’re welcome here anytime. You know, if you’re not happy living alone, you can always move back here, we have plenty of room.”

Casey knew that wasn’t true, but didn’t like to say so, her bottom lip was already wobbling. His mom cried the day he moved out, and would love for him to come home. She missed him and wasted no opportunity to tell him. Kristy had always lived with her family, and didn’t like the idea of her baby being on his own.

James Shaw gave his mate a disapproving pout, as he ladled some ice-cream into a bowl. “Kristy, leave the boy alone.”

She turned and stuck her tongue out at him; he in turn blew her a kiss. Casey rolled his eyes. His parents had always been crazy about one another,
something that hadn’t diminished with age
.

Casey put his hands on her shoulders. “How are you feeling, Mom?”

Kristy grinned. “Great, honey. I’m just hungry all the time. Speaking of…”

She eagerly grabbed the bowl and started wolfing down her ice-cream.

“Yikes, Mom, don’t forget to breathe.”

Kristy swallowed and let out a monstrous yawn.

“Baby, go on up to bed, I’ll be up in a minute.” James gently led his mate to the stairs and patted her rump, which she wiggled in response.
Casey pretended not to notice.

Kristy pecked her son on the cheek. “Will we see you tomorrow night, at the pack gathering? It’s a full moon.”

“Sure, you won’t be hunting will you?”

“No, can’t because of the baby, but grandma will. See you then, honey.”

“Night, Mom.”

James looked his son up and down. “You want a drink? I’ll grudgingly let you have a beer.”

He didn’t exactly approve of his son drinking while he was still underage, but he knew Casey did drink. James had when he was underage too; it was just different when it came to his own son.

“Nah, I’m kind of tired.”

James’ eyebrows shot up his head.
He’d never known his son to say no to beer
. “You okay?”

Casey shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”

James chuckled. “You guess? You sure you don’t want a beer?”

“I, umm, I think I’ve found my true mate.” Casey looked at his dad sheepishly.

His dad blinked. “Wow… that’s wonderful Casey; I’m so happy.” He gave his son a quick, back-slapping hug.

“Yeah…”

“You don’t sound so sure. Is there a problem with her?”

Casey’s wolf roared. “No! No, she’s perfect.”

His dad chuckled at his tetchy son. “Then, what’s wrong? You don’t seem as happy as you should be. I mean I know you’re young, and the idea of settling down, and mating is kind of daunting…”

“It’s not that, I just… I’m not sure who she is.”

James’ eyes narrowed to slits, and Casey held his breath.
He was 20, and he still got the same tingles he always did when his dad was about to berate him.

His dad pulled out two chairs from the table, and motioned for Casey to sit. “To save me from guessing about what’s going on, why don’t you just tell me?”

Casey was about to argue, but a look from his dad quelled him. He resigned himself and related the story, trying to gloss over the more intimate details. His dad listened wordlessly.

At the end of the story, James let out a long breath. He’d had numerous conversations with his son regarding women over the years, about behaving responsibly and treating them respectfully, but nothing seemed to sink in. He knew his son wasn’t cruel to any of the women he’d dated, but before now, Casey could never have been considered considerate or loving, and James often despaired at his behavior. Not that Casey was any worse than the other young wolves; they were all horny shifters, ruled by their libidos, as far as James was concerned. He, perhaps, couldn’t understand Casey’s behavior as well as he could if he were a wolf shifter. Pumas were different animals altogether.

But, seeing his son looking a little forlorn melted his heart. He squeezed his son’s shoulder reassuringly. “It’s gonna be okay. You’ll find her, son.”

He was still a little doubtful. “How can you be so sure?”

“I have faith in you, champ.”

Casey smiled, immediately feeling reassured. “Thanks, dad.”

James stood up and stretched. “I better go to bed; your mom’s either asleep or about to come and find me.”

Casey smirked. “I’m guessing asleep, I think I can hear her snoring. The window frames are almost shaking.”

His dad playfully slapped his head and headed out. He stopped at the door and looked back at his son. “Look, when you do find her, my advice is that you actually slow down, and talk to her before you jump into bed again… figuratively speaking.”

Casey felt his cheeks flush and nodded as his dad said goodnight. He found his grandma’s casserole and set off for his cabin.

He shook his head, and decided to stop worrying over what had previously happened with his mate. Yes, thing could have gone better, yes, he could have acted more like a gentleman,
in particular he winced about forgetting birth control the last time they were together
, but that was in the past. All that mattered was the future. He just needed to find his mate, and then he was sure that everything would fall into place.

She must be feeling the mating pull too, and by the time they met again, like him, she would be so excited to see him that nothing else would matter. His wolf yapped excitedly.
Yep, things could only get better.

Chapter Eight

16
th
January

Deanna tapped her pencil against her desk.
Nothing was happening
. Nothing much ever did happen in the small town. Oh, they had their moments, now and then, but on a day-to-day basis, the most exciting thing to happen was when an elderly bull shifter would run around naked, or when the Tanner boys would find some way to start raising hell.

The Tanner boys were the most mischievous wolves in the whole Grey pack,
and given how much competition they had, that was really saying something
. Most recently the three youngest Tanner boys were suspected of breaking into the houses on the fancy-pants, rich housing estate and taking swims in their pools. Usually, all that was left behind was a pile of wet towels. At one house, one of the perpetrators had actually made themselves a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but they left a note, and enough money to cover the ingredients they used.
Thoughtful criminals
.

Then there was the Mayor’s house…
The Mayor hadn’t considered the situation serious, until they broke into his house. One of the perpetrators left a Baby Ruth bar in the bottom of his pool.
Apparently they had been watching Caddyshack recently
. The Mayor was hopping mad. Deanna wished she had seen his face when he found it; she had a hard time not hooting with laughter when he was around. The only thing that quelled her was a stern glare from Alec; he didn’t find the situation funny at all.

God, she wished she had something to do. Even all her paperwork was up to date. She needed something to take her mind off the two major problems in her life.
Her mom and her mystery wolf
. Not that they were problems, really. The situation with her mom was just business as usual, and her wolf wasn’t a problem, more like a distraction… to the point where she couldn’t get to sleep at night, because images of him were flashing before her eyes. She licked her lips, remembering his divine taste. It was spicy, yet homey, like warm pumpkin pie.
Lord, what she wouldn’t give for a nice, big slice of pumpkin pie, or maybe just a piece of her wolf… damnit!

In irritation, she got up and went to get a cup of coffee. She passed Gabe North, a fellow Deputy and wolf shifter, who was currently trying to build a playing card pyramid, a sure sign he was bored too.

She had to think about the situation logically. There had to be a good reason why she was obsessing over the wolf so much.

On New Year’s Eve she was a little drunk, not so much that she had completely lost her inhibitions, but enough so that she might be tempted to do something she wouldn’t when sober. Coupled with the fact that she hadn’t had sex in a while…
alright, a year!
And, not to mention, she was frustrated from having to listen to her brother and sister-in-law, getting it on every night. All those things put together easily explained why she was so quick just to jump into bed with the wolf.
More like jump into the handicapped bathroom, she couldn’t even wait to get him home.

That was all there was to it, a combination of those factors. Her bobcat yowled in unhappiness. Deanna ignored her and made her way back to her desk.

There was nothing more to it than that. She was sure of it.
Wasn’t she?
Just because he was funny, handsome, charming, and he appealed to both her and her bobcat on every level, that didn’t mean anything, did it?
Just because she thought she might be falling in love with him…

Deanna gasped; Gabe eyed her curiously but soon went back to his playing cards. What if it was more than that? He invaded her thoughts, her bobcat whined to be with him, and she couldn’t help the feelings bubbling inside her. Maybe there was more to him than just a casual fling,
maybe they were meant to be together…

Nervous excitement swelled within her. Was he her true mate? Oh my god! What if he was?
Oh crap, what if he was?
Was he disappointed in her? Did he not want to take on the responsibility of her family? Is that why he had stayed away from her? The questions darted through her mind, making her bobcat whimper in doubt about her handsome wolf.

Deanna pulled herself together.
Yeesh, anyone would think she was a love-struck teenager
, she hadn’t been this needy and silly over a guy since... actually she’d never been this way over a guy, even when she was a teenager. Sure, she’d had crushes, and she had dated, occasionally, but she’d always been practical about it, and never allowed herself to be in a position where her heart was on the line. She never wanted to have her heart broken, and she never wanted to turn out like her mom… Wow, this really was the first time she had felt any kindling of love for someone,
and it scared the freaking hell out of her.

If she was feeling this way, then surely the wolf was too. So, if he was, why wasn’t he beating a path to her door? Her bobcat snapped her jaws in disapproval. Well, he didn’t actually have her number, she thought guiltily. But, come on, wolves were lusty creatures, if he felt such a strong desire for her, wouldn’t he be doing everything in his power to find her? Wouldn’t he be searching for her? A wave of disappointment assaulted her, maybe he didn’t feel as strongly as she did.

Deanna sighed and sipped at her coffee, wincing at the bitter flavor.
Wolves sure did take their coffee strong.

Maybe it was wrong to get her hopes up about the wolf; maybe it was all in her imagination. She’d been alone for so long, and before that she hadn’t exactly had relationships of the fairytale kind, more like special friendships with perfunctory sex. The wolf was so lovely, maybe she’d imagined it to be more, because that’s what she wanted, and needed.

She inwardly groaned. Her feelings were so confused, and her snarling bobcat was no help. What she wouldn’t give for a little distraction. Her mind wandered back to her mom, no, not that kind of distraction;
that was an area of her life best ignored
.

The front door of the station tinkled, and Deanna hoped it would be someone needing help, but she took in the familiar scent, and settled back into her chair.
Although, maybe he could help…

Jake Foreman, another Deputy and wolf shifter, strolled into the station. Deanne looked up in expectation and…
nothing
. Since meeting him, Deanna had a teeny weeny,
yet somewhat massive
, crush on the tall, dark wolf shifter. He was so serious, yet when he smiled, he lit up the whole room. Yep, he had featured in numerous raunchy fantasies before now.
Well, come on, it had been a long year!
But now, he did nothing for her. When she looked at him, all she could think was that he wasn’t her wolf.
Yikes, she had to stop thinking of him as hers.

“Dee,” rumbled Jake, “those twin bear shifters were outside again, I chased them away.”

Deanna snickered and thanked him. Jake displayed a highly protective streak when it came to women, but she hardly thought it was necessary when it came to those two boys. Although, she had noticed a few of her panties had been going missing recently. She previously put it down to their washer-dryer mangling them; it was second-hand and crappy, but she was starting to suspect someone was pinching them from the washing line.

Jake nodded to Gabe, before sitting down and pulling out a newspaper. Deanna looked between the two wolves and chewed on her cheek. Her animal mewled in encouragement.

Well, it was worth a try.
“So…”

The two wolves looked up.

“Umm, if I wanted to find someone, a wolf shifter… how would I go about doing it?”

Jake smiled at her while Gabe went back to his cards. “Depends, you could put out a bulletin, send it out to nearby Sheriff stations.”

Deanna shook her head. “No, it’s, uh, not for work.”

Gabe looked up in interest, and Jake raised his eyebrows. Gabe grinned. “You got a boyfriend, Dee?”

“No!” she denied, heatedly.

Gabe chuckled. “Ah, well, can’t help you then.”

Jake rolled his eyes in disapproval at the younger wolf. “Do you have a name?”

Red dusted her cheeks. Why the hell hadn’t she asked him his name? She let him have sex with her twice, but didn’t even stop to ask.
Let him? Who was she kidding? She was ready to beg him to take her.

“No… it umm, it’s a funny story.”

Gabe’s eyes danced in mirth, seeing the buttoned up bobcat squirm about a guy was hilarious. “We’re all ears.”

On seeing Deanna’s unease, Jake clucked his tongue at Gabe. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?”

“Nope, besides, I’m helping.”

Jake growled at him, but it did no good. Jake noticed that as soon as shifters mated, they were a hell of a lot more cocky and very quick to make fun of their single friends’ love lives.
He definitely wasn’t planning on mating again.

Deanna fidgeted for a few seconds, before deciding to do the only thing she could
– lie
. “I was sort of at O’Neill’s, that bar in Darlington, the other night, and I met this guy…”

Gabe wolf-whistled and Jake hurled a stapler at his head. He ducked, but Jake snickered as it knocked over the pyramid of cards.

She chose to ignore them. “And, I took his details, but I lost the bit of paper, so now, I don’t know how to find him.”

“What’s his name?” asked Jake.

Deanna rubbed her lips together. “I don’t know… I forgot… I’d had a few beers…”
Well, it was a half-truth… kind of.

Jake let out a breath. “Does he live in Darlington?”

“I don’t know.”

Gabe rapped his fingers on the desk. “Is he part of a pack?”

“I don’t know.”

Jake looked at her thoughtfully. “What does he look like? Does he have any distinguishing features?”

“I don’t know… no, I’m kidding!” She let out a shy giggle, trying to make light of the situation. “He’s about six foot two, light brown hair and hazel eyes. He’s in his early twenties, and he’s quite… umm… you know… well-built.”

Gabe’s shoulders shook. “That sounds like a pretty average wolf…”

“He’s not average, he’s so much more than that!” blurted Deanna, eliciting a significant look between the two wolf Deputies. She looked at her desk, suddenly very interested in the wood grain.

Jake folded his newspaper. “I’m sorry Dee, it doesn’t ring any bells, but then that’s a pretty vague description, for all we know he might be part of our pack. We could ask around for you if you want?”

She was struck by panic. “No, don’t worry about it, I was just wondering, that’s all.”

Jake frowned. “Are you sure?”

Deanna nodded fervently. “Absolutely, please, don’t give it another thought.”

The last thing she wanted was the wolves going around town, asking if anyone had hooked up with her. She didn’t want anyone to think she was easy, or to know that she had actually had sex with someone without bothering to learn his name,
or give him hers…

Liv poked her head around the door; despite her mate's growling disapproval, she insisted that she continue working as the station receptionist. She said she would be bored stiff at home, but Alec had a problem with her working while she was pregnant, and honestly, he wouldn’t be that keen when she wasn’t. He was a pretty old-fashioned wolf. He was currently trying to find a replacement, and find a way to tell Liv she couldn’t work there without upsetting her, or starting a fight.

“Hey, guys, we got a call to say Hans is about to kill someone outside the pizza parlor. Can someone go and calm him down, please?”

Deanna leapt to her feet. “I’ll go!”

Liv winked. “Thanks, Dee.”

Jake stood up. “I’ll come too. If Hans is on the warpath, it might not be a pretty sight…”

Deanna was already out the door, and Jake had to run to catch her.
Damn, she was eager
. Jake liked the little bobcat; she was keen, smart and quick to pick things up. She was still just learning, but she’d make a great Deputy. He reflected it was a shame that she didn’t want to move to the city; with training, she’d make a good detective, better than most of the guys he worked with before he moved to Rose, back when he worked for the Council of Supernaturals. But, he knew she needed to be near her family, and some people preferred being a small-town cop. He did, but that was only after ten years of working as an Enforcer for the Council. When he was Dee’s age, he couldn’t think of anything worse than being stuck in the small town pack he grew up in,
how times had changed
.

*

Casey raced round the grocery store. He'd been all prepared to make his way to the Sheriff’s station, and ask for any help he could get from the bobcat Deputy, when his mom rang. His sisters were sick with a bug, and she needed a few things. His dad was working, and his grandma was volunteering at the senior center. He could hardly say no to his pregnant mother,
no matter how impatient he was to find his mate.