Figure of Speech

“We need to call Barney, Ryan and Gabe.” He put his bag down with a pained grunt, greeting George with a few pats. “Seems we have a new player in the game.”

She bit her lip as Jim walked past her. He was hurt, and there was little she could do about it. Unlike her brother or her cousin, she couldn’t heal his wounds or ease his pain.

But she could dial the damn phone. She plucked her cell from her pocket and dialed Ryan first.

“Road Kill Café, you kill ’em, we grill ’em. Chef Billy Beau Bubba speaking.”

She didn’t even blink at her brother’s weirdness. “Ryan, someone attacked Jim.”

“Where is he?” All of the humor had left Ryan’s voice. He was all Hunter now.

There was a pause as Ryan spoke softly to someone else, probably his mate. “I’m on my way. Bunny’s coming too.”

She sighed in relief. “Can you get hold of Gabe and Barney? Jim wants them here as well.”

“Will do.” He hung up, and Chloe turned to follow her mate.

She found him in the living room, talking to a worried Spencer. Poor Spencer looked bad, his face pale and his hands shaking. “So he just swung at you?”

“Yeah.” Jim sat on the sofa with a wince. “I saw his shadow, so I was able to block the blow, but he got a few good ones in before the cops arrived.”

Chloe ran to the kitchen and bagged some ice, wrapping it in a dish towel. She took it back to the living room and handed it to Jim to put on his jaw. “Did he say why he attacked?”

Jim nodded. “He called me a rogue, but he also told me he’s not a Hunter.”

“I don’t understand.” Why would a non-Hunter be after rogues? That didn’t make any sense. Of course, the fact that Jim wasn’t rogue, but was still being hunted as one, also didn’t make much sense.

“Maybe Barney can shed a little light on it, but it sounded to me like the Senate sent this guy out to bring me back to them.” Jim grabbed hold of her arm as she swayed, forcing her to sit in his lap. “Careful, Chloe. I won’t let them take me anywhere, I swear.”

Spencer, his expression grim, wheeled away without a word.

“Shit.” Jim watched his brother leave but continued to stroke Chloe’s arm. “He’s lost so much. If he loses me too I don’t know what will happen to him.”

“Shh.” She kissed Jim softly. “Neither of us will lose you.”

He glanced at her, startled, his expression softening. She must look as scared as she felt, because suddenly he was hugging her so tight she could barely breathe. “Of course not.”

She whimpered, aware the sound was far more canine than human. Her vision shifted, the warm tones of Jim’s home cooling. She could almost feel her furry tail tucking between her legs and her ears lying flat against her head. She burrowed against her mate, sticking her nose in the crook of his neck. Not even his scent could calm her.

Her Fox was terrified that Jim would be taken from them.

“Do you need to change?” Jim’s question was barely a whisper, as if he was afraid that if he spoke any louder she’d spook.

She nodded. Maybe if she let her Fox out she’d be calmer. The knowledge that she could more easily protect her mate and their den in her Fox form had her yipping.

“All right.” Jim helped her stand. “Spence? Stay in the other room until I call for you, all right?”

“Okay, but if you’re getting funky in there I want that sofa shampooed before I sit on it again.”

Chloe, against all odds, giggled.

Within moments she was naked, the heat in Jim’s gaze almost making her change her mind. What was a little sofa cleaning compared to having her mate buried deep inside her?

But her Fox wanted out. It wanted to sniff their den, mark it somehow as theirs. While males were more prone to scent-marking their dens, females were also known to do so. And Chloe was feeling not only territorial, but threatened, and her Fox was demanding that she do something to warn others away.

Chloe allowed the change to flow over her.

“Wow.” Jim’s gasp of awe had her wagging her tail. She’d watched her cousins change often enough to know exactly what he was seeing. It wasn’t like the things you saw in the movies. No horrific crunchy bones and pain, but not sparkly jumping in the air and BAM! Foxy time.

Nope. It was more like watching water flow through the person, moving them, bending them, blending them with their animal in a liquid haze of a dream until the man was gone and only the animal remained. If Jim touched her during her shift all he would have felt was warmth flowing through his fingers, like holding out your hand to a comforting fire. The sensation was tingling and airy, and Chloe had been fascinated by it from the first moment she saw her father change into a Bear. It was both sensual and innocent in a way a non-shifter could never understand.

“You’re beautiful.” Jim knelt in front of her and rubbed behind her ears, laughing when her leg began to thump on the carpet. “And cute as hell.”

She stuck her tongue out at him.

“Is that…?”

Chloe turned to find Spencer staring at her, fascinated. He wheeled closer at Jim’s nod, holding out a shaking hand.

Chloe bounded forward, got up in his lap, licked his face twice then jumped down and went back to her mate.

Jim was growling, but Spencer was smiling like a little kid, wide-eyed and just as happy as could be. He looked over at Jim and sighed. “I want one.”

Chloe began sniffing around the house, her senses on full alert. The strong odor of her mate and his brother filled her, soothing her. Even the scent of their puppy calmed her, because George now smelled like home. So far, no strangers had been in her den for the last week or two. While she caught the stray scent of Irene, Jim’s partner, she also caught the scent of Val, mingled so strongly with Irene’s that it was obvious the two were longtime lovers.

She checked upstairs, where Jim’s scent dominated. Her Fox couldn’t detect any scents other than hers, Jim’s and Spencer’s, and Jim’s was strongest.

He’d been telling her the truth about not dating, then. Either that or he hadn’t brought a woman into his home in a long time, long enough for the scents to fade completely.

With a happy yip she headed back downstairs and pawed at the back door. She needed to do a sweep of the outside of the house.