Once Upon a Shifter (44 page)

She didn't respond.

Phoenix pursed his lips. "That's too bad. What about that
dagger
?" he said, and glanced briefly at me. "Did the lab find any prints on it?"

The dagger?
I gasped.
Surely he wasn't talking about the one I used to kill Chris! Oh, God, no!

Alex shook his head. "The evidence went missing after the coroner got to the morgue. He claimed he was mugged, but all they took was the knife."

Phoenix didn't move an inch, but I could see relief fill his eyes. I hoped the detective wasn't as observant as I was, though my new and improved senses allowed me to notice much more than a human would.

That confirmed what I was dreading. It
was
the dagger he had given me, and his, as well as my prints would be on it.
Shit!
Well, at least it was missing, but, with the dagger being used to murder a girl at Phoenix's club, that meant that somebody was trying to frame me or Phoenix for her murder. Possibly both of us. I was almost positive that, if the murder weapon ever turned up, the lab would find traces of Chris's blood on it, too.
Double shit!

"Get rid of Alex. Please. I—we—need to talk with Phoenix. I'm sure you are in agreement with me that we can't go to jail."

She didn't answer me in my mind, but she did look at Alex. I could feel her emotions swell, and I knew they were genuine. She really did like him, but, this early in the game, she would lose if she didn't play her cards right. "Thank you for bringing me home, Alex. Where would you like to meet for lunch tomorrow?" she said, and hooked her arm through his, turning them toward the door.

I couldn't see Phoenix's expression, but the snicker that came from Roel led me to believe Phoenix didn't at all enjoy seeing me this close to the detective or planning a lunch date with him.

The wolf and I walked Alex to his Jeep, and Katie ran out to move my car, so he could get out of the driveway.

"I'm going to make a quick run to the store, Mena," Katie shouted as she opened the driver's door of the Audi. "I have a serious need for chocolate. I need something to make me feel better until Alex gives me a rematch." She was in the car and backing out before I had the chance to tell her to get me a Snickers.
Damn!

Alex chuckled as he waved at the others over his shoulder and then brought those hazel eyes back to focus on me. "They seem nice, but are you sure you will be safe here, Mena? I hate leaving you and knowing that you could be in danger. You are welcome to stay at my apartment. I'll sleep on the couch—"

"That's some protective custody, Alex. Do you offer that to all the girls you meet who are in trouble?"

At his Jeep, he turned to face me, and the hard glint in his eyes made me wince. "You know I don't. But I don't like this." He waved his hands around vaguely at my house and pack members. "I want to protect you. I know I can protect you myself and I don't trust they can." His voice was low and rumbly and I suddenly understood why my wolf liked him so much. This domineering side was a little sexy.

My wolf and I nodded. "I will be fine with them. There will be at least three with me at all times."

He rubbed his eyes, and grunted. "That's what I mean, Mena. You're only confirming that there's more to this than you're telling me." Grasping my shoulders he lowered his face to mine. "That scares the shit out of me." He squeezed once, then released me before taking a step back. He nodded toward the house and Phoenix who was leaning against the doorjamb, staring at us. "How do you know him? He doesn't seem like the type to hang out with a lawyer and his wife."

"Neither do you, but you are here, right?"

He pulled his eyes away from Phoenix's ice-blue glare and looked back at me. He looked like he wanted to ask me if I was interested in or already dating Phoenix, but instead, he closed his mouth and only nodded as he turned and sat behind the wheel of his Jeep. "I'll see you at noon tomorrow at Barley's Bar and Grill."

My wolf smiled. "I'll be there."

V''''V

I watched as Alex drove away and realized that I was back in control of my body.

A sigh of relief passed through my parted lips and I turned and speed-walked back to the house. "We need to talk," I said to Phoenix as I past him. "My bedroom. Now."

"You aren't going to try and eat me again, are you?" he said, and I assumed he didn't think I would or that he could handle me if I tried, because I could hear his footfalls close behind me.

"Mena—" Daryn started.

"I'm fine. I need to talk with Phoenix alone," I said without looking at any of my pack members.

"It isn't you we are worried about. The vamp may need our help." Roel snickered.

"I can handle myself just fine, pup," Phoenix retorted.

"Didn't look like you were doing a very good job of that last night," Daryn said.

Phoenix's jaw flexed, and he turned back around to say something else, but I took his arm and practically threw him into my bedroom.

"Easy there, Superwoman! This is a new shirt."

I had to smile as he checked to make sure I hadn't ripped the material. Leave it to him to worry over a hundred-dollar shirt when both our asses were on the line. I sighed and walked to a lounge chair to sit. "I'm sorry about last night. My wolf thought you were going to kiss me again. She, um… she wants me—no, actually,
she
wants to be with someone else. That was all her last night. She took over my body, and she just now gave me back control when Alex left."

Phoenix's perfectly arched eyebrows raised and he puckered his lips as he averted his gaze from me. "So… which of your wolves does she want?"

I knew he had been expecting something like this since I told him I had to pick a Beta by the next full moon. I never had intentions of mating with a wolf just because I had to pick a second. Marc hadn't. But I supposed all the men, including Phoenix, thought that's what I would need to do because they didn't think a woman would be an efficient leader. That was bullshit if I'd ever heard it.

Instead of getting mad, I fixed my eyes on him and smiled cunningly. "She doesn't want a wolf."

Those eyebrows drew together as he looked back at me. "I'm sorry. I don't think I understand. She doesn't want you to be with me and she doesn't want a wolf from your pack—but you said—"

"She wants Alex Rhodes, Phoenix."

He gasped and stumbled back against the mattress on the bed. He went ahead and sat on it before his knees gave way and he ended up on the floor. "No, Mena!" His expression turned enraged, his eyes filling with fury as he stared back at me, obviously hoping I was playing a cruel joke on him. "It's impossible!"

I could feel my wolf stirring beneath my skin, and I knew she wasn't happy with Phoenix's reaction or the fact that he thought getting something she wanted was an impossible task. She only saw that as a challenge.
"Don't you dare. We had a deal, wolf."

"She doesn't see it that way and there is nothing you, I or anyone else can do to stop her or she will take over my body and Mena will be no more. I had to negotiate," I said, and let my head fall, so I could look at my hands instead of the anger radiating out of him in waves. I had never seen him like this before. It scared me. I didn't want him mad at me, but I honestly couldn't do anything about what my wolf did.

He sighed, and I could feel the tension in the room deflate a little. "When he finds out what you are and that you were the killer of both cases he is work—"

I nodded in understanding. "I know," I said, and my voiced cracked a little. I didn't want to look at him; my eyes were filling with hot tears and I didn't want him to see me cry. I growled in frustration as I quickly wiped away the moisture with my palms.

"You said you had to negotiate. What were the terms?"

I shook my head.

"Mena…" I heard him stand from the bed and start walking toward me. I began blinking rapidly, but a few tears fell and landed on my hand, and that was all it took to open up the dam so more could follow.

Phoenix wrapped his arms around me and I fell apart in his loving embrace, breathing in the sweet smell of him. Maybe it was just me, but he smelled a little like cotton candy. It was strangely comforting. I had no idea how to fix this and make everyone happy. Being a werewolf was the worst thing ever! I had no control if my wolf didn't agree with something I chose to do. She could take over at any time; she'd said so herself. How did the others cope with this? I'd have to talk about it more with Katie. She would help me understand. Somehow I knew even she wouldn't be able to help me figure out a solution to my problem with Alex and Phoenix. Two men couldn't have one girl. That had never worked before; I was no exception to the invisible rule. It was impossible. Being with Phoenix was what was impossible.

I had to tell him to go away—permanently.

Facing that fact was hard, but I didn't even want to imagine how difficult it would be to see him dead, knowing that it would be my hands that his blood spilt upon.

"Tell me."

"You need to stay away from me, Phoenix. This can only end badly for you."

He chuckled. "For me?" He pushed me to arm's length, his face falling once he caught sight of my tear-streaked face. "I told you that I would be here for you no matter what you had to go through. I wasn't lying, Mena. I'm not going anywhere. Whatever you are going through with your wolf, I will be here to help get you through it. I don't care if she likes me or not."

"Promise me something then."

"Anything."

"If my wolf tries to attack you, kill me."

He blinked a few times and removed his hands from my arms then backed away, putting some space between us before he spoke. "Anything except that."

"Then you have to stay away from me, because if you get in her way of getting what she wants, she is going to kill you. There will be nothing I can do to stop her and I can't have the image of your dead body waiting for me every time I close my eyes. She is strong, Phoenix, and she will win if you refuse to kill me when she makes the decision to take your life."

"Fucking Catch-22." His hands came up to rest on his hips as he sighed in defeat. "What if I don't get in her way? What if we let her have Alex? I don't like it—at all—but if that's the only way I can have you… I can do that—for you."

I stared at him in stunned silence. He was willing to share me with another man. This man was centuries old and he could probably have any woman he wanted, but he wanted me, my problems and everything. I was speechless.

"Say something. Do you want me, because I would do just about anything to be able to call you mine, and that includes risking my life and… and sharing you with another man."

"You're a stronger person than I am. I doubt I would be able to tell you the same if our roles were reversed. I could put my life on the line for you, but I don't think I could share you with another woman. I couldn't do that for Marc."

"If I had to actually share
you
with Alex, my view on it would definitely be different, but I know I would have you and Alex would have her… that is, unless you fancy the detective, too—"

"No!" I shouted, and then laughed a little as I stood and walked to him. "No, Phoenix. Alex is very attractive, but I'm not interested in him in that way."

He tilted his head back and looked down at me as I placed my hands on his waist and slid them around to his back, feeling the firm muscles in his back tense before I linked my fingers together loosely and pulled him closer to me. The smell of Colgate was noticeable when he opened his mouth to speak. I kept my eyes on those lips, wishing he would stop torturing me with words and kiss me already. "And… you are interested in me in that way? Is that what you mean?"

I smiled. "It sure sounded like that's what I meant."

One corner of his lips twitched. "And your wolf is okay with that?"

"I told you that I had to negotiate with her. She gets to have Alex, but only if I get to have you."

His lips spread into a broad grin. "I like a woman who knows what she wants."

His hands came up to frame my face, and then he brought his mouth down on mine.

Chapter 14

Mena

I couldn't remember wanting anything more. Well, I could think of
one
other thing that might top kissing Phoenix, and I wasn't about to tell him 'no' if he suggested we head toward the bed.

There was so much passion and desire in this man when he kissed me, like he had been practicing for centuries, so that whenever I came along, it would be perfect. And perfect it was.

His mouth brushed over mine greedily, his tongue teasing my lips and seeking entrance. I gave it to him without delay and kissed him back feverishly.

Phoenix broke away from my lips, his breathing labored and his eyes drifting shut as he let his forehead rest against mine. "Mena, have you ever felt something you can't explain with words? Have you ever wanted something so badly and wondered why it never existed before you found it? That is what you are to me. You are everything I never knew I wanted."

I grinned. "I bet you say that to all the girls."

His expression turned solemn as those hypnotizing eyes opened and bore into mine. "I have never wasted my breath to tell any woman such words. You are the only person that has ever mattered to me before now, Mena. Believe that."

It should have been difficult for me to believe anything anybody said after what I'd been through with Marc, but for some reason I believed Phoenix. Maybe it was because he had lived up to his every word since we had met; I didn't know, but I did know I trusted him. "I do, Phoenix."

He smiled. "Where have you been all my life?"

I laughed. "Not alive, for the most part—"

A deafening explosion went off and the windows shattered inward, sending a hot gust of wind, glass and other debris into my bedroom. I wasn't sure if the blast knocked me to the floor or if it had been Phoenix, because he was covering every exposed part of my body with his when I looked up.