Shadow Walker (8 page)

She shifted, moaning in her sleep. Her hand slid across his chest and his body reacted in an instant. Closing his eyes, Dean trailed his fingertips down her bare back. The next thing he knew, she skimmed over him, crushing her mouth to his. She took his breath away.

Giggling, Amber pulled back, shifting the hair from her face. “Good morning?”

“I’ll say.” With a grin, he rolled her over.

Though she squirmed playfully beneath him, he knew just how strong she was. It didn’t matter he was almost a foot and a half taller and outweighed her by over a hundred pounds. With a smile, he kissed her. Amber’s hands slithered up his chest and cradled his face. The raw outpour of pure emotion he felt from her was staggering. He gasped and pulled back, looking in her eyes.

“No, don’t read me,” she breathed, struggling to prevent the tears that welled in her eyes from falling. “Not now. Just love me.”

Dean felt the painful vise that gripped her heart. Stroking her cheek, he gave her another gentle kiss. “I promise you, I’ll be here when you return. I’m not going anywhere.”

She frowned and traced a finger down his jaw. “I asked you not to read me.”

He smirked and shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t help it. I feel everyone’s emotions, not only the ones I’m intimate with.” Shifting against her, he felt more than heard the soft hiss escape her lips. Dean trailed tender kisses from her shoulder to her jaw and whispered, “I’m going to love you anyway. Literally and figuratively.”

* * * *

Amber’s heart raced at his statement. Closing her eyes, she pulled him closer. In a few short days he’d shown her what she’d been missing out on in life.

Passion
. Not just sex, but being passionate
about
something,
someone
.

Dean had shown her a side of herself she’d never known existed. She’d merely allowed herself to be stuck in the same monotonous same old same old. There were differences, when Braedyn had certain jobs for her to do. Other than that, her days consisted of working with Aquene, making homemade herbal medicines and trying to prove a tiger was as good as a wolf. Nursing the plants and herbs they used in their medicines while she kept an eye on the elderly woman whom she’d come to love more than anyone she’d ever known. Aquene was more than her mentor. Even though she was Braedyn’s mother, Amber had come to love her as if she were her own.

Then Dean came into her life and showed her there was much more to her life as a were-tiger than she’d thought. Shown her a future with dreams instead of the dreary existence she’d attempted to meander her way through.

She pulled him closer and closed her eyes to the pleasure he brought. Dean mended her heart and soul with each moment they spent together. Amber only hoped the time they spent apart wouldn’t undo what he’d managed to patch up.

* * * *

“It’ll be day after tomorrow Dori,” Casey made a few notes on a pad on the table. “Yes, a friend is coming with me.” She laughed and shook her head. “I really did get married. No, I’m not pregnant. Yes, it will be my last shoot.”

Amber grinned when her friend made a strangling gesture at the phone while answering the barrage of questions being fired at her. Casey was getting her assistant to set everything up. But in order to give the client time to set up, they had a two-day leeway. Which also gave her friend time to get through the rest of her heat cycle.

“If we’re done playing twenty questions…” Casey sighed. “No, Dori…I just, I can’t do it anymore. I want to get back to doing what I enjoy. Call me with the flight information, and I’ll see you in two days.”

“You like her,” Amber mused when she set the phone down.

“I do. She’s been the best assistant I’ve ever had. Bright, fun, capable. I’m really going to miss her.”

Narrowing her eyes, Amber cocked her head. “She was your friend, too.”

A smile played around the edge of Casey’s mouth. “Dori was one of the very few, but the closest I had before you. There were still many things I kept from her.”

“So, tell me about her. I don’t have much practice being around humans.”

“Well, the main thing to remember is you can’t kick everyone’s ass. It could land you in jail. But Dori is really easy to be around if you can handle someone who is upbeat all the time.”

Amber groaned and rubbed her temple. “She’s one of
those
kinds of people?”

“Yes, but in a fun way. I attribute my sanity over the last three years to her.” Picking up her mug of coffee the blonde shook her head, her expression tense. “I just…I don’t want to go back to that again. I came very close to having a violent outburst with a client. Destroyed some equipment and stormed out. Before the sun was completely up that morning I was on a plane back here.”

Unable to see her very calm, laid-back friend having a violent outburst of emotion, with a frown, she listened.

“There was so much stress…and to see that these people have been held in such high esteem. I got to see the real side of them and how fake everything was. How it was skewed and then served to the public. If the legions of adoring fans could see who these people really were, things would be different. I didn’t go into photography to do that. Not to tell lies.” Casey laughed and turned to look back at Braedyn talking with a few of the trackers. “It was a picture of Braedyn in wolf form that landed me the job ten years ago.”

Tension rent the air, both the Silver Wolf and the Tigress shifted uneasily. Neither were happy with the Alpha’s decision. They had both spent the morning trying to argue their case with Braedyn and Dean to no avail. Even Peyton was of no help.

Pouring two mugs of coffee, Amber made herself and Dean a cup. It was shocking how simple it had been to fit him into her life.

“Are you all right?”

Amber cleared her throat and brushed away a hot tear that coursed down her cheek. “Damn you Maynards.” She sniffed. “I love you both dammit, I just wish my emotions weren’t being dragged all over the carpet like this.”

“I am sorry. You don’t want to leave here anymore than I do, and on top of it all, we have the full moon to worry about. I’m terrified without Braedyn to help me through.”

She blew out a breath and nodded. “Yeah, I’d thought of that. Soon as you hear from Dori about where we’re going I will do some research of the surrounding areas and see what I can come up with.” Picking up her mug, she took a swig of the hot brew and smiled.

“Y-you’re not worried?”

“Not at all,” she scoffed. “I’ve got the chance to run with the Silver Wolf, I’m looking forward to it.” Placing a reassuring hand on Casey’s shoulder, she smiled. “You have absolutely nothing to worry about and you know it. We’ll just roust up a couple of raccoons and piss ’em off.”

“Thank you.” Braedyn left the group of men and made his way back over. “So how long did Dori say?”

“It’s going to take her at least a day to get things set up. It is very short notice, but at least this one particular agent is really looking to revamp a young elitist’s career.” Casey rolled her eyes. “If anyone can pull it off, Dori can. But either way, Amber and I leave day after tomorrow.”

“That’s not soon enough.”

Casey frowned and fisted a hand in his flannel shirt, tugging him near. “I am in
heat
and I
refuse
to leave while in this condition. You’re damn lucky I even allowed you out of bed this morning,” she growled.

Braedyn gave a short laugh and scooped her into his arms. “Then we must make the best of it.” Casting a wink over his shoulder, he proceeded to carry her to their bedroom.

Amber shook her head when Dean walked back in.

He frowned when he glanced around seeing they were alone. “Where’d they head off too?”

“The bedroom. Casey still has two more days of her heat to go through.”

Dean wrinkled his nose. “That’s my sister,” he choked.

She laughed, ushering him toward the door. “Let’s leave them alone.” There was less than forty-eight hours left for her to be with him. The seconds felt like they were rushing away. The palms of her hands grew damp when she climbed into her vehicle.

He cast a frown at her while buckling his belt. “What’s wrong?”

Heaving a sigh, she looked up at him. “There’s not enough time.”

“We’ll make the most of what time we have. There will be plenty of time once Elan is caught.”

“I can’t believe you are siding with Braedyn on making me leave. I am not a coward.”

“Come on, don’t be angry. We’re doing it because we care.” Leaning over he placed a hand on her thigh.

Her tummy fluttered. “H-how did the talk go with the guys?” There were things she needed to know but felt like she was being shut out because they were making her leave. It wasn’t fair.

“About as well as you can imagine. Relations between the Were community and the Guardians are tenuous at best. Laveaux called and talked at length with Braedyn this morning. They’ve reached an understanding and since he is on board
and
is the Alpha, it made breaking the news to the pack a little easier. I have faith it will all work out.” His fingers stroked along the top of her thigh.

Swallowing a moan, she ground her teeth. “Why did your father accept us, Braedyn and Casey so easily?”

“When Dad and I went searching for Casey, we expected to find her dead. Trapped in a blizzard for six days, alone. We arrived and found her healthy, whole, glowing, and madly in love. We figured it out when he said he was from Walker’s Run. It’s one of the known Sanctuaries we are familiar with, though no one knew exactly where it was located.”

Amber laughed. “Seriously? You’ve got to be kidding me, right?”

Dean’s brows furrowed and his roaming hand stopped mid stroke. “About what?”

“Walker’s Run is no secret amongst the Weres, Dean. You said you have Weres within the Guardians, correct?”

“Yes, we do. Laveaux is a black panther—”

She grinned and shook her head. “Then they didn’t want to reveal it. It’s a secret from humans, but not from Weres. If that alone doesn’t show the faith they have in Braedyn as an Alpha and a leader in the Were community, I don’t know what does.” Pulling the SUV behind Aquene’s shop, Amber switched off the engine.

“We have more than a few Weres that work with us. Like I said before, we deal with various types of things: paranormal, supernatural, and preternatural beings. It serves us well to have as many on board who understand what it is we are trying to do, which is to ultimately protect mankind
and
these other beings. Cover-ups are for the best. The world is
not
ready to accept the full scope of things. There would be mass hysteria. We’re far more understanding than you can imagine because we’re all working together. There’s no…” Dean’s hand floundered while he struggled to find just the right word. “…prejudices, if you will. There are lots of stories about us. Nearly as many as there are about Weres. You just have to take the good with the bad and weigh out the truth.”

Amber took a deep breath, trying to calm her nerves. She hated flying and this time of year the only way to leave Walker’s Run was by helicopter. The goodbyes had been painful. She never wanted to feel like her heart had been ripped from her chest again.

She made sure to stay close to Casey but couldn’t help warily eyeing the heavy throng of people around them. “So this is the famous LAX?”

Casey laughed and nodded. “Yes. Welcome to hell.”

Grinding her teeth, they made their way down to the baggage claim. She hated having to push through the crowd, despised people touching her. Strangers.

Panic began to grip her. Sounds that were too loud began to fade, and she could hear her breathing grow erratic…her heart beat faster…

“Easy, Amber. Calm down,” her friend said, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Closing her eyes, she took a few deep breaths. “I’m sorry, there are just a lot more people than I had bargained for. I’ll be all right.”

Casey grabbed their bags. She had a smaller one as most of her clothes were still at her condo. Amber’s bag was the larger of the two.

When they stepped outside, the rush of traffic, taxi’s, and people, Amber felt overwhelmed. Taking control of the situation, Casey flagged down a taxi and secured it for them.

She began to calm during the ride to the condo. “I am so sorry. I guess I’ve lived in the Run for too long. I don’t even know how to act in large groups of people. I grew up in Vegas! Right on the strip.”

“That’s one of the things I didn’t like about this place myself. Too many people, not enough forest.” Casey gave her a smile. “God I’d missed being home.”

“I bet. How long before we make it to your condo?”

“About an hour in this traffic.”

Amber growled. “I wish I could sleep.”

“We’ll just have to do it all over again tomorrow to get to the shoot.”

She growled again and tried to meditate to calm herself.

Casey’s cell phone rang. “Hey girl, we’re on our way to my place now. Well, all I see is a virtual parking lot out here. How do the roads look? Yeah?
Great
. We’ll see you in the morning.” She hung up the phone. “Dori stopped by the store and stocked my fridge with the essentials for the morning. Fresh milk, coffee, and some bagels.” With a deep breath, she leaned back and rubbed her temples.

“What’s the matter?”

“This is the last place I want to be right now. I don’t want the old stresses to creep back up on me.”

“It’s the last one, it won’t be forever,” Amber stated, trying to reassure her friend.

After what seemed like forever in the swarm of traffic, blaring horns, and muffled curses from the cab driver, they finally arrived at their desired destination.

“Wow…you
live
here?” Amber craned her neck to stare up at the gargantuan condominium structure.

Casey nodded while they took their bags from the trunk of the cab and she paid the driver.

“How many people live here?”

Swiping her card so they could gain access, Casey shrugged. “I have no idea. With the hours I worked, I don’t know any of my neighbors. I lived more in my studio than I ever did here.” She pressed the button for the elevator. “I’m up on the fifth floor.”