Once Upon a Shifter (43 page)

Heath popped open a beer. "I'm still broke from the last time I played you two months ago. Tracy will kill me if I lose my check again, then the cop here will have to lock her up for murder. I can't have my kids grow up without a mother. I'm sure you understand."

"Below the belt, asshole. Get me a beer for that and I won't punch you in the nuts." Roel turned, and the stick pointed to Katie. He groaned when she smiled. "Go easy on me, shark. I'm sensitive."

"Horseshit! I'm breaking." She took hold of the end of the pool stick and jerked it away from him. "Get your wallet out. No ones this time, tightwad."

V''''V

Alex could barely hear the whispered argument between Mena and Daryn outside the billiards room. The music was just loud enough so he couldn't really make out what was being said, but the others in the room with him kept giving each other nervous glances, so he sensed that they knew more about what was going on between Mena and her cousin than he did.

He stood from the stool and crossed to the other side of the room, so he couldn't be accused of eavesdropping. That was family business, and the business was none of his.

"Ha, ha! Three in a row, sucka!" Katie said as she grabbed the folded pair of fives on the edge of the pool table.

Alex smiled. "You're really good."

She turned and gave him an appreciative grin. "Oh, yeah? Would you like to play? I'll let you win."

Brad snorted. "He doesn't want to play for clothes, Katie. You can keep yours on—"

"Jerk!" She slapped him in the back of the head, but was still smiling as she turned back to Alex, holding out a pool stick at arm's length. "C'mon, it's easy. Roel is just really bad at it."

Alex glanced at the stick momentarily, and then gave a huff as he stood and took it from her.

"Hell yeah! I finally get to legally beat a cop's ass."

Smirking as he ran blue chalk over the tip, Alex said, "I thought you looked familiar."

"He shouldn't have pointed that stick at me if he didn't want the opportunity to use it." She shrugged. "I wasn't about to pass up a good time."

Alex chuckled. "No, I can't imagine a girl like you wouldn't. You want to break or would you like me to?"

She slapped a five down on the side of the pool table. "Let's see your green first, cop."

Alex reached in his pocket and pulled out his wallet. After opening it, he frowned. "Anybody have change for a hundred?"

Heads shook all around the room, but Katie only smiled and tossed a hundred dollar bill on top of the five. "You aren't chicken, are you?"

Alex's eyes grew wide in shock. "That's a steep bet!"

She shrugged. "I like to keep it interesting. I'll leave the five there and, if you win, you can keep that as a tip."

"I don't know—"

"Katie—" Heath started, but she shot him a dirty look.

"Let the cop bail his own ass out of this. If he can't handle a game of pool, he damn sure can't handle Mena," she spat.

Alex tossed two one-hundred dollar bills by hers. "If you win, you can keep it as a tip."

"Holy shit!" Brad said, and spilt his beer.

Katie looked at the money and a grin crept across her face. "You're on."

Chapter 12

The Wolf

"You can't be serious, Mena! What do you plan to do with him? Keep him as a pet? He's human!"

"Lower your voice," she snapped, and grabbed his arm, jerking him hard into another room so they wouldn't be overheard by Alex. After shutting the door of the study, she turned silver eyes on Daryn.

He took a step back. "Mena, please. I'm sorry—"

"I don't think you are, Daryn. It seems you think I am too incompetent to make my own decisions, so you take it upon yourself to try to make them for me or argue with me in the hope that I will see things your way. Allow me to inform you of something, wolf cub, I'm neither incompetent nor vague about the choices I make. I am a big girl and fully capable of handling problems that arise on my own. If I want to keep Alex as a
pet
," she said, putting heavy emphasis on the t, "or bite him and make him my second in command, I will do so without asking permission from you first. I am pack leader, am I not? If you don't agree, I'm up for the challenge whenever you get ready."

He dropped to his knees, his gaze immediately falling to the floor to keep her from seeing the horror and shock in his eyes. "I would never dream of challenging you, Mena. The pack will be stronger with you as our leader than it has ever been before. I won't question you again. I beg your forgiveness."

She glared down at him another moment. Her eyes returned to pale green then she turned and left the room, leaving him there, kneeling on the carpet.

V''''V

Alex

With the exception of Alex, everyone in the room held their breath as the cue ball cracked against the eight ball, sending it soaring into the called pocket.

There was a stunned moment of silence, and then laughter and shouts echoed off the walls.

Roel pointed at Katie. "Oh, buuurn! You just tried to hustle a hustler and got spanked, trick!"

"That's not fair," Katie argued. "I didn't even get a shot!" She turned swiftly to stare at Alex, her expression growing more irritated when she caught a glimpse of his gloating smile. "You lied!"

He shook his head. "I didn't lie. I said I don't play much anymore, not that I wasn't any good at the game. You assumed that all by yourself—and I let you."

Katie huffed and slapped two one-hundred dollar bills on top of the pile of money. "I'm breaking this time."

"Katie," Heath groaned. "He's better than you; just face it. Take your bruised ego and go sit down while your dignity is still intact."

"No! I want to play again. The guy may as well have been playing himself, because he sure as shit didn't give me a chance to play against him!" She turned back around and gave Alex a solid look. "Match the bet."

"Here, dude," Heath said as he handed Alex a beer. "You earned that one, but I think you're going to need something a lot harder now that you beat her—like a bat or a tire iron. She's never going to leave you alone until you've been defeated."

Alex took the beer and popped the top, ignoring the hole Katie was drilling in the side of his head with her eyes. He wanted to smile again, but knew better. He held up the beer to Heath. "Thank you. Any of you have a bat handy?" he said, and couldn't stop the smile from pulling his lips upward when everyone except Katie laughed.

"You're really not going to give me a rematch?"

Alex snatched up his winnings from the edge of the pool table and tucked them in his wallet. "Yes, but not today." Before she could argue with him, he glanced around the room at the others. "Are you… all Mena's cousins?"

"Yes—" Katie said, and at the same time, Heath popped in with a "No."

Heath opened another beer and pointed at Alex. "Sorry. That was my drunkenness talking. I'm not driving later—just so you know. No, I mean, yes—yes, we are all her cousins."

Katie sighed and covered her eyes with a hand. "Jesus Christ, Mena should have prepared us for this."

"For what?" Alex retorted. "Mena told me yesterday that Daryn was her cousin, and when you all blocked me in the driveway, she said she thought her family wanted to meet me—"

"Daryn isn't my cousin, Alex, and neither is anyone else present," Mena said as she walked into the room. "I'm sorry for lying to you yesterday. Daryn was a bit of an overachiever when he noticed you talking to me, and he took his actions too far. It was the only thing I could think of to tell you. If anyone caught wind that I was possibly having an affair, the press would have had a field day with me this morning."

"Speaking of Daryn, where is the suck-up?" Roel said as he linked his fingers behind his head and lounged against the corner of the sofa. Kicking his sneakers off, he stretched his long legs down the length of the cushions, making himself comfortable. "Did you eat him?" he said with a smirk.

Mena raised an eyebrow. "Thought about it, but no. However, he
is
licking his wounds and should be along shortly."

Brad sucked in air through his teeth and grimaced. "The boy is never going to learn."

"Learn what?" Alex said, still clearly confused and wanting answers.

"I think you should explain this one, Mena," Katie said, and plopped down in a chair beside the sofa. "We don't know how much you want him to know."

"Know about what?" Alex exclaimed.

"Marc was the leader of a secret group—um, sort of like a secret society. When he died, I took over as leader. We don't think his death was accidental or a coincidence of him being in the wrong place at the wrong time; we believe he was murdered intentionally."

Alex's eyes widened and he looked around the room, meeting the blank stares of each of the others. Daryn's tall form filled the doorway.

Without turning, Mena said, "Join us, Daryn, and sit down."

Daryn walked in and sat in the first chair he came to. Alex studied him for a moment, but the guy kept his head bowed, so no one could see his eyes.

Alex sighed and ran his fingers over his head, removing his toboggan. "What—like a cult?"

Katie laughed. "More like
Hell's Angels
."

Mena took Alex's hand, and he glanced down at the feminine fingers against his big, rough ones. Their hands were so different, but seemed to fit together perfectly. Then it dawned on him, and his head shot back up so he could see her eyes. "They are your bodyguards, aren't they?"

"Ding, ding, ding!" Roel chimed in from the sofa. "Somebody get this man a beer, and get me another while you're at it."

"Get your own beer," Katie countered.

"Enough," Mena said, barely above a whisper, but the room fell silent.

Alex noticed.

"Are you in trouble? Is someone after you, Mena? I can get you protection—"

Brad snorted. "We've got that covered, cop."

"Hell yeah, we do," Heath said, and bumped fists with Brad.

"Well, what do you know?" Alex said.

Mena shook her head. "Nothing."

He frowned. "And if you did know something…"

"I couldn't tell you. I'm sorry, Alex."

Huffing as he stood, he released her hand and put his knit hat back on. It was clear that she wasn't going to say any more about the secret club, at least not in front of her friends. Maybe another power session at the gym or a good night's rest would clear his thoughts and he could come up with better questions. What bothered him most was the killer was still on the loose and now after Mena.

"I've got a few things to check into at the station."

"You can't stay for supper?" Mena said. "It's the least I can do after you gave me a ride home."

"I wish I could. A girl was stabbed at Hellhound last night, and the murder weapon went missing. The medical examiner said he got mugged when he stopped the van. Sure seems funny that my evidence is the only thing the bastards took. The camera man got some good close-ups of it, but I really wanted the lab to dust it for prints." He looked at her hopeful. "Can I get a rain check on that meal?"

Mena smiled. "How about lunch tomorrow? My treat."

"Sounds good." Alex smiled. "All except the last part. You are not paying for my meal. It will be my treat. My mama did raise me with manners, and would slap me in the back of the head for even considering letting a lady pay."

Mena snickered. "I know I would lose if I put up a fight, so I will admit defeat now and let you buy my lunch tomorrow."

"Thank you—"

The doorbell chimed, echoing throughout the house, and Mena's head shot around to look at the dark window. "Crap!" she said, and started toward the door, with all five bodyguards hot on her heels.

Mena looked through the peephole and groaned, then jerked the door open.

Alex walked up beside her, his brow rising in interest as he stared at Phoenix Mahoney, owner of Hellhound.
What the hell is he doing here?
If he didn't know any better, he'd think Mena was running a brothel, with all the men that came and went. He did know better, right? His brow furrowed. "Is he in your secret club, too?" And who had
secret clubs
besides eleven-year-olds? Something was definitely off here, and he would make a point to find out what that something was.

Mena frowned. "No, he is most certainly
not
in my secret club."

Chapter 13

Mena

Alex all of a sudden didn't seem so eager to leave anymore, not now that Phoenix was standing in my foyer.

Phoenix offered his hand first, and Alex shook it with a smile. "Rhodes. It's good to see you again. Since you're here, I hope this means you have good news to offer Mena about her husband's case. Any suspects?"

Do they know each other?
I strained against my captivity.
"Let me out! You said I could have my body back when Phoenix is around!"

"I will give it back when Alex leaves. Be patient, Mena. I already know your thoughts, and you are not prepared to deal with both men."

I imagined my arms crossing over my chest. I knew it was childish to pout, but what were my other options? A wolf had stolen my damn body!

Alex shook his head. "Not any more than I have about the case of the girl who was killed last night at your club."

"What? Hellhound is Phoenix's club? And the dead girl Alex was talking about earlier was murdered there last night?"
I narrowed my nonliteral eyes at my wolf.
"That's what he was trying to tell me last night before you tried to attack him!"