A Pack of Two. Jacky Russell
for the shadowy beard on his chin. The stubble tickled my fingers, his lips parting as I leaned closer.
His fingers brushed my jaw as he tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. “You are so beautiful,” he whispered.
His eyes were like pools of chocolate and I was drowning. It was a good way to die.
Our booth shook. We had company. Damn.
“Bre, why didn’t you answer your phone? Who the hell are you?” Aaron growled at Lucas.
Lucas’s eyes went silver.
“Aaron Miller, this is Lucas Benelli.” I hoped a neutral tone would rattle them out of their eyeball battle. It didn’t. “What do you want, Aaron?”
He ignored me and continued the staring contest with Lucas. The scent and feel of the air was changing. The humans felt the disturbance and turned to look. Not good.
“Lieutenant Miller, what is your business here? And don’t play the selective deafness card because I know you heard me.”
Lucas leaned back from the table and wrapped my hand in his. He was giving Aaron a chance to back out of this stupid dominance game all the werewolves played. Aaron didn’t take the hint. He leaned forward.
“Aaron. Stop. Now.”
There was a slight tremor in his eyes but he would not disengage. Lucas, the more dominant, let out a breath before turning to me. His eyes were almost completely silver.
Lucas ground his teeth while staring into my eyes. I was eyeball-to-eyeball with his wolf.
“Thank you,” I said.
Lucas dipped his head and closed his eyes. The air around us calmed as he took both my hands in his. The power coursing through him was incredible. Rage, dominance, strength.
“Hey, Bre!” Ordy shouted over the milling humans. He strolled over and stopped abruptly beside Aaron. “Take it down a notch, Miller. You don’t want none of him.” Ordy nodded toward Lucas while waving a hand in front in Aaron.
Aaron’s eyes flitted to me. Lucas eased forward. The air was stuffy again, dominance flowing freely.
“Lucas?” I squeezed his fingers.
A muscle ticked in his jaw. I glanced at Ordy and inclined my head to Aaron. “Ordy, can you take him out and find a fire hydrant to keep him entertained?”
Ordy gave me a sly grin before grabbing Aaron by the arm. Aaron tried to snatch away but there was no getting away from Ordy’s meat hooks. “We’re supposed to bring you back to base, Bre. DuChard recalled us from the run. Something about a new sighting we have to check out.”
Damn. Damn. Damn.
Ordy yanked Aaron from the bench. “We’ll wait outside.”
“Thanks, Ordy. I’ll be out in a minute.”
Lucas squeezed my fingers again, bowed his head, and closed his eyes. After several moments, he looked up, his eyes mostly brown, a crooked smile on his face. “Sorry about that.” His cheeks flushed an adorable shade of pink. “My wolf really likes you.”
His wolf liked me? What the hell did that mean?
Aaron tapped on the window and pointed to his watch. I rolled my eyes and motioned for him to go away.
“I gotta go before they start peeing on the light poles.”
Lucas smiled and shook his head. I wanted to grab him by the ears and kiss the breath out of him.
Aaron rapped on the window again and Ordy grabbed him. Three more werewolves from my unit came inside and waved for me. Damn it.
“It might be best if you wait here until I get them away.”
Lucas glared at the pacing wolves and then back to me. His face softened. “May I call you?”
My hands shook as we exchanged numbers. I didn’t want to leave, but this time there was no choice. I had to go or there would be a dogfight, literally.
His shoulders heaved as he slid off the bench. “Be careful,” he said without releasing my hand.
“You too.”
He pressed his lips to the back of my hand and my knees jellified. “Good night, my angel.”
Chapter 8
Lucas
“Trist, I’m telling you, she’s amazing. I’ve never met anybody like her.”
The phone conversation with my best friend of over twenty years had gone on for almost half an hour as he listened to me go on about Breanna.
“Did she say what kind of witch she was?”
“An earth witch.”
“Bet your wolf liked her.”
I swallowed hard, remembering the way my wolf had reacted to her. “Yeah, he did.” It should be a great thing, my wolf liking her, but it scared the shit out of me. My wolf didn’t like anybody.
“Luc? You there, buddy?”
“Call her, Lucas. Call her tonight,” a woman called from the background.
Tristyn laughed. “You hear that? My witch wants you to get your own witch so we can double date.”
When we were agents for the Divine Council, before Tristyn met his mate, we would often double date with human girls. Truthfully, I went along because he felt bad about leaving me at home alone. “Wolves need companionship,” he would say before always adding, “and I promised this girl you would go out with her friend.”
“So, when are you going to tell your dad?” Tristyn asked.
“Not now.”
“No, but it’s only a matter of time and you’ll be head over heels in love with her.”
In love with her? My chest was so tight I could barely breathe.
“Luc? Are you all right?”
“I don’t know. I’ll deal with him when I have to. Do you think Alex could help me with some info on earth witches?”
Tristyn’s mate, Alexandria, was a powerful white witch and the Witch Representative to the Divine Council. She took her job very seriously, especially considering the negative attitude the supernatural world had against her kind. Most supernaturals, werewolves included, didn’t bother to find out if witches were peaceful or evil. They killed them all, usually without repercussion.
In the background Tristyn spoke to his mate before returning to the phone. “Alex said she’d have to make a few inquiries and see what she could find out for you.”
We hung up a few moments later and I headed back to the office to renew my battle with the fax machine. The sidewalks were busy but I did my best to avoid the crowds. I glanced around, hoping Breanna might appear from the darkness, but no such luck. She was gone.
I entered the office building without bothering with the lights. The carpet crunched softly under my shoes as I approached the open door to my office. A surge of adrenaline shot through me, my body tensing at the knowledge someone had been here. There was no strange musk, no vibration of vampire, but there was something different.
Strawberries.
I clicked the light, my heart hammering at the idea Breanna might be here, in my office. The strawberry scent lingered strongest near my nemesis, the fax machine. When I left, the fax machine had demanded paper and had been strangling on the jam I couldn’t reach. Now it was calm and quiet, all red lights off and the paper tray fully loaded. Three incoming faxes waited patiently in the stacker.
I had to see her again. I grabbed my coat on the way out the door.
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Ten