Moon's Law (New Moon Wolves 2 ~ Bite of the Moon ~ BBW Romance) (11 page)

Kane rubbed his forehead. "I didn’t even think of that. I’m sure she’s called Mrs. Harris back, and who knows who’s been told what outside of those two." He looked at her, eyes wide with panic. "What are we going to do?"

"Stick to the original plan. I’ll be the gold digging bitch from Hell, and it’ll all be over soon." She patted him on the knee and then drew her hand back like she’d been bitten by a rattlesnake. After the whole spoon thing, she really should keep her distance. Blinking, she refocused on her ice cream and shoveled in scoop after scoop almost robotically, covering the battle she fought on the inside. Her wolf growled through her mind, not satisfied with sugar when there was a hunk of man meat to be had.

Charlotte closed her eyes and swallowed a big glob of ice cream. Maybe the cold would numb her lust. The reality was, no matter how hot Kane was or how much of a werewolf he was, he’d practically slept his way through the entire county. His reputation was such that even great-grandmas talked about him, often with a speculative look in their rheumatic eyes.
I’m not his type,. so this isn’t going to happen. We’re just friends.

"You smell nice," Kane said. "I like it."

His words hit Charlotte like a slap. She opened her mouth then closed it, deciding she had no idea what to say. The way he was looking at her didn't help. His gaze smoldered as if
she
was the ice cream he wanted to lick. It was too much, and, flustered, she bolted out of the swing and headed toward the house.

"Charlotte? You okay?" He bounded up next to her, his long legs easily catching up with her. "I said you smell nice. Did you hear me?"

"Yeah," she said, plastering a smile on her face. "It’s just late, you know? I should be getting home."

His eyes narrowed, and he frowned at her for a second before saying, "All right." He moved in front and reached the sliding door handle first. "I’ll pick you up tomorrow around six, okay?"

She nodded and he opened the door. Stepping through, she hurried to leave him behind. Dropping her dishes off at the sink, she said her good-nights and left, eager to be alone. Too much was happening, and she needed space to process it all.

Chapter Fourteen

You smell nice? Since when was that a great pick-up line?
Kane watched Charlotte run to get away from him, his stomach sinking. His wolf instincts were not helping him in the lady department.

But he hadn’t been trying to pick her up. It had just slipped out, like his wolf had taken over his tongue for a fraction of a second, just long enough to jam his whole damn leg into his mouth. And Charlotte had bolted like a frightened rabbit.

Maybe he was losing his touch.

Maybe being a werewolf was a turnoff.

Kane ran a hand through his hair and took a chair in the corner of Audrey’s dining room. The rest of the pack talked amongst themselves as they finished their ice cream, with one or two peeling off at regular intervals to say their good-byes and leave. He should go, too. Work started at six a.m. the next day, but at the moment, he found comfort in the presence of his pack mates. He wasn’t quite ready to be alone with himself, not yet.

"You okay?" Audrey asked as she sank into a chair across from him, a heaping bowl of ice cream in her hand.

Kane nodded. "Yeah, it’s just been a crazy day."

"I know. And tomorrow will be nuts too." At his confused look, she said, "Charlotte told me about the thing with your parents. You really think that’s a good idea?"

He shook his head. "Probably not, but it sure will shut up Mrs. Harris and the gossip brigade."

Audrey raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips, considering his words. Finally, she nodded. "That’s actually a good point. The gossip in Glen Vine is insane. Some places are just too small for privacy." She pointed at him with her spoon. "But did you ever consider that maybe you and Charlotte shouldn’t burn any bridges?"

He frowned at her, confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, she blushes every time she talks about you. I caught her making goo-goo eyes at you when you weren’t looking. And then I saw
you
making goo-goo eyes at her just now. Are you sure you want to set it up that you hate each other, when it’s not true?"

"She's made it clear she's not interested, no matter how 'goo-gooey' her eyes are. So it doesn't matter what people think." Kane winced as he recalled how fast Charlotte had moved to get away from him in the backyard.

Audrey tapped her lips with her spoon, thinking. "Oh, I think she's interested all right."

"You do?" Kane felt his cheeks burn at how eager he sounded.

Audrey chuckled. "Yeah, I do. But," she held up a finger, "she's not in a good place when it comes to men right now."

"You mean her ex?" He slumped back in his seat.

"As bad break-ups go, hers has to be the worst one in history." She shook her head. "Can you imagine? Getting dumped like that, and then being left to be attacked by a werewolf? I would swear off men forever."

"Do you think that's what Charlotte is doing?" Kane frowned. While he was somewhat comforted by the idea that Charlotte's reaction to him had more to do with her own relationship demons than anything he'd done wrong, he was still confused about how to handle it. Should he leave her alone? Run after her? Why didn't women come with decoder rings so men had a fighting chance?

Audrey waved her spoon at him. "No, because she's letting you get close. This thing with your parents is how she makes you safe to be with."

"Maybe I should call the whole thing off," Kane said. "This is getting complicated, and I'm not sure it's a good idea."

She shrugged. "It's up to you, but if you like Charlotte, you might want to go through with it."

"Wait, I thought you said we shouldn't do it." Kane rubbed his forehead, thoroughly confused. Hadn't he agreed with Audrey and come around to her way of thinking?

"Yeah, I know, but if you do go through with it, she might learn to trust you and you guys can stop playing games." Audrey beamed at him, very satisfied with herself. "See? It all works out in the end."

Kane couldn't figure out how to respond to that and was relieved when Tao interrupted them. He lumbered over to stand next to Audrey's chair. "How did things go at the police station today?"

"Fine. I told them exactly what you told me to." It helped that no one believed in werewolves. People were happy to look for logical and human explanations for the smashed in windows on his cruiser. "What are we going to do about this hunter?" Kane asked.

"Set a trap and herd him into it." Tao cocked his head toward Kai. "Then Kai will do his thing and send him on his way."

"Just like before," Audrey said, her voice soft.

"Yeah, just like that." Tao gave her a crooked smile and reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "We’ve got this, baby. We’ve done it before. This hunter isn’t going to get his prey. We’re way ahead of him."

Audrey leaned into her mate with a little sigh. "Good. I hope you’re right. I miss the days when staying safe meant locking my doors, not going after people to get them before they get us." She tilted her head back and looked up at Tao. "Is this how all werewolves live?"

"Not usually," Tao said. "Most packs have established their pack lands and have been there. We’re new, which makes it harder for us."

Kane watched as the pair looked into each other’s eyes and tried not to be jealous. Tao and Audrey were a tight couple, always seeming to know what the other needed. He’d witnessed the way they synced together many times and had begun to wonder if he would ever have a relationship like that.

As if reading his mind, Audrey’s gaze flickered over to him. "Don’t forget what I said Sheriff."

"About what?" Tao gave Kane a curious look.

She waved her mate off with a hand. "Nothing, just something we were talking about."

Kane took that as his cue to make a quick exit. Standing up he gave a little bow to Audrey. "Thanks for hosting us all again." Turning to Tao, he offered his hand. "Let me know if you need me."

Tao shook the sheriff’s hand. "My brothers and I will be running patrols around the clock. If you want a shift, it’s yours."

Kane nodded. "I can take one, but not tomorrow. I have to work and..." He glanced at Audrey and decided not to say anything about the dinner with his mom. It was bad enough to have the alpha’s mate butting into his love life, he didn’t want to invite the alpha too. "I’ll be off the next day and can take a full day shift. That would give you guys a break."

"That would be great. I would ask the others, but they don’t have the experience you do." Tao walked with Kane to the front door of the small ranch home he shared with Audrey. "We need folks who either know how to wolf or know how to handle people like a hunter. You’re the only one we’ve got."

"Don’t forget Danielle," Kane said.

Tao rubbed his chin, considering Kane’s suggestion."When was the last time she worked in the field?"

"A while, but she has the training."

Tao lifted one big shoulder in a shrug. "I’ll talk to her, but I don’t think a desk job at the station gives her the same instincts you have. And the others are not ready for what needs to be done right now. They don’t know what to look for or how to deal with it."

"Maybe with time…" Kane started.

Tao finished for him. "Oh yeah, people are going to learn. Especially as they get used to their wolf. The problem now is they don’t understand they aren’t the same and never will be.  They’re still fighting the shift, still thinking they can control their destinies." Tao shook his head. "My brother did more than turn you all into wolves, he changed your whole lives."

"That he did," Kane said, his stomach clenching as he remembered his run-in with the wolf, Nick. He was glad Tao and his brothers had thrown the crazed wolf off the giant sand cliff looming over Lake Michigan. It might be too late for him and the others, but at least Nick wouldn’t bite anyone else ever again. He took great satisfaction in that fact…and then felt a little guilty about it. Nick had been Tao, Leo and Kai’s brother. They’d had to kill their own blood. Hell, he couldn't even manage his mother and her obsession with grandbabies, let alone kill anyone he loved. It must've torn them apart to do it.

Although they never spoke of it, Kane was certain it had to hurt to look at the motley crew of newly made shifters that Nick had left behind. They would be cleaning up their brother’s mess for the rest of their lives, a daily, painful reminder they were too good to turn their backs on. He admired their strength of character. "Thanks for sticking with us here. I’m sure none of this was what you wanted. You left your pack and everything to help us. I can’t imagine what you had to give up."

Tao was quiet for a moment before finally saying, "The only thing we lost was our brother. Our pack never wanted us. We can’t go back, even if we wanted to. Not after what Nick did."  He paused and took a deep breath, the mention of his brother clearly troubling him.

"Sorry," Kane said. "I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories." He moved toward the door, thinking to leave, but Tao clamped a hand on his shoulder and held him back.

"The truth is, Kane, you guys are our home now. The home we didn’t know we needed. We aren’t like other shifters. We have powers and we’re big, which makes us outcasts in a lot of places."

"Nick did bad things, but the good that came out of it balances that," Kai said joining them.

"We have a community now that needs us. No one ever wanted us before," added Leo.

"I would still prefer to not have been bitten in the first place," Kane said, his voice stiff.

"And I wish my home pack would have wanted us. Maybe then Nick wouldn’t have done what he did." Kai held Kane’s gaze with his, steady and sure. "We don’t get what we want in this world, Sheriff.  We only get what we make of what is given to us. To think we control anything beyond that is lunacy."

"Maybe so, but it still sucks." Kane rubbed his neck as his wolf undulated up and down his spine. "I’m fighting myself
and
crime these days. It’s tiring."

"That’s what the ice cream is for," Kai said with a wry smile. "We have to take what respite we can."

"What about your powers?" Kane asked. "How do those work?"

Kai shrugged. "No one knows."

Kane frowned. "Where do they come from?"

"There are several different ideas about that, but nothing has been proven," Kai said.

"Some say shifters are aliens and our powers are recessive genes of some kind. Others think we hold the magic of the first shifters, the pure power of the moon," Tao said.

"Why would they make you an outcast then?" Kane frowned.

"Because we’re stronger than them." Tao flexed his arm, showing off his impressive bicep, which was big as some men's thighs. "All of them and they’re afraid of that. They would rather ignore us or see us dead than tolerate our strength."

Kane started to speak, but Kai cut him off with a curt movement of his hand. "Jealousy isn’t rational, Sheriff. The packs are dwindling and they are afraid that we are the beginning of the end…for them, at least. To their way of thinking, we’re not an asset, we’re a threat."