Adrian’s growl slipped out. “He took a chunk of her shoulder?”
Max nodded. “It’s why the scarring is pretty bad there. Even the Magic Puma Potion couldn’t heal it.”
Adrian snorted a laugh, his eyes returning to their normal dark brown. “Magic Puma Potion?”
“Becky’s words, not mine.”
“She would know.” Adrian started to pace. “Okay, he tried to rape her, she managed to get away before he changed her, and he’s been chasing her ever since. That about sum it up?”
Max nodded slowly.
“What are you leaving out?”
“She got away intact because she left before the abuse got too bad. She knows how dangerous he is now, though, and if he finds out the two of you are mates he’ll do everything he can to take you down.”
“I can handle him.”
Max shook his head. “He won’t come at you alone. He’ll use his Pack, and Puma versus a Wolf Pack…”
“Puma loses.” Adrian stopped pacing and stared blankly at the wall, his mind racing. “We need to keep the Pride around us, then.”
“Sheri won’t be alone; Simon’s been detailed to watch over her when she’s out and about. Belinda, Becky and Emma will stick with her whenever possible.”
“And I’ll be with her at night.”
“If you can convince her of that.”
“You doubt me?” Adrian grinned at Max, confident in his ability to seduce his mate.
“She’ll try to push you away in order to protect you. To be honest, I was surprised when she finally contacted us again and asked to join our Pride. The invitation’s been open since I bit her.”
“Which means things are probably worse than she’s telling,” Adrian muttered, every protective instinct flaring to life. The urge to go to her, pick her pretty ass up and cart her home to his den where she’d be safe was nearly overwhelming.
“Yup.”
“You okay with Emma doing guard duty?”
Max’s grin was feral, and his eyes flashed to gold. “That son of a bitch touches my mate—hell, breathes on her wrong—I’ll force-feed him his balls.”
Adrian nodded, muscles tensed as Max’s power rolled through the room. The need to protect was even stronger in the face of his Alpha’s unconscious call. “If Emma doesn’t do it first?”
Max’s grin relaxed, and Adrian relaxed with him. “She broke a man’s nose once.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“Yeah, the whole town knew.”
Max blinked. “So why didn’t I know?”
Adrian shrugged. “Why would you? You weren’t in town when it happened, and no one knew she’d turn out to be your mate.”
Max blew out a breath. “The argument I had with that woman to get the story out of her… Okay. Never mind,” he snarled as Adrian grinned. “You see if you can get Sheri to spill the rest of the story.”
“No problem.” Adrian turned to leave the office and saw one of the wedding gown pictures Emma had pinned to the bulletin board. He stopped with a grin. “By the way, can you pass on a message to Emma?”
“Sure, what is it?”
The curiosity in Max’s voice nearly caused him to laugh. “Can you tell her that there aren’t enough swimsuit pictures in here? If you guys are going to the Caribbean for your honeymoon, she’ll need to pick out a bikini.”
“Are you trying to get me maimed?”
“Can you get pictures of her modeling them? That would be cool.”
“Out! Asshole.”
Adrian left the office with a laugh. It was time to go claim his mate.
Chapter Four
Sheri very carefully lifted the sun-catcher out of the box Simon had packed it in. The big artist stood over her, watching her every move like a hawk. She made sure she was extra careful with the delicate piece.
She’d been working at Wallflowers for two days now, and she hadn’t been left alone for a moment. If Becky and Emma were absent, some other member of the Pride “just stopped by to do some shopping”.
As if even a woman like Marie Howard could shop in one store for three hours . Thank God for Belinda. At least she made no pretense of why she was there, and the two women had become fast friends. And maybe if Rudy was gone from her life she’d be able to help Belinda get her dream off the ground.
“Please don’t break it.”
“I’m being careful,” she replied, starting to get pissed off.
“No offense, but you’re taking forever to do that.”
“Would you like to do this?”
“Nah, looks like you’ve got it covered.” He began to pace, moving restlessly around the delicate furniture like a caged…well, mountain lion. “Becky’s officially moving in with me this week.”
“I know. I’m helping her pack.” She gently laid the sun-catcher in the white gift box bearing the store’s name and logo printed in gold lettering. “She said I should be able to move in by the end of the week since she’s not taking any of the furniture.” Which was pretty fast work considering it was only Tuesday.
“So she’s already taken you up and shown you around?”
“Yeah, I know the layout and everything.”
“Cool. Not that you’ll live there for very long if Adrian has anything to say about it.”
“Simon?”
“Yeah?”
“Tell me about Adrian.” She could have bitten off her tongue for letting the words slip out, but curiosity was eating away at her like mad.
“He’s the same age as me, so a year younger than Max. He went to school locally, his parents still live here and have been happily mated for nearly thirty years. He’s born, not made. He has a sister and a brother, both younger, both still in college, both out of town. He owns his own home and car, shares a practice with Max, and has never been in trouble with the law.”
“Women?”
“None serious.”
“As bad as you?”
Simon growled. “I wasn’t that bad.”
“No, of course not. Revolving doors belong in everyone’s bedroom.”
“Pain in my ass,” he grumbled.
Sheri grinned. “So he’s a player?”
“Not so much. He didn’t date very seriously, but Sheri? He told me you’re his mate, which means now he doesn’t date at all.”
“He’s mistaken,” she lied.
“So when he approaches you about it, you treat him right, okay? He’s one of my best friends.”
“I’ll bang him on the head with a baseball bat if he tries,” she replied calmly.
“He’s a good man, and he’ll take good care of you.”
“I can take care of myself, thank you very much.”
“His mother’s going to love you.”
“She’s never going to meet me.”
“She’s Pride, she already has, and knock it the hell off.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she sniffed as she finished tying a pretty gold bow to the box.
Her hands were lifted away from the bow. She looked up into Simon’s dark eyes. “You’re mates. Trust me, there’s no denying it. I fought my pull towards Becky for six months…hell, if I’m honest it was probably longer than that, and it was pure agony.”
“So?”
“So if you fight it, the dreams will start. Hot, sweaty dreams. The kind that leave you aching. And it gets worse. You’ll feel no desire for anyone else, because if your body can’t have the real thing it’ll take the dreams. There is no denying your mate .”
She pulled her dark glasses down and tried not to squint in the light. She allowed her eyes to flash red.
“Rudy will kill him. If my denying him protects him—”
“Bullshit.”
Sheri winced; she hadn’t noticed the bell over the door jingling. She pushed her glasses back up her nose and pulled back into herself. “Hello, Dr. Giordano.”