Mating Fever by Susan Hayes
Jack
Fucking Trixi. The woman had been a pain in his ass since his first day here. What she lacked in education she made up in street smarts and cunning. She’d taken one look at him and decided he was her way out of this backwater town. He felt sorry for the girl she’d been once, but that was it. He couldn’t save her, he sure as hell didn’t trust her… and now he had to stop her.
All that raced through his mind as he leaped to his feet. “Stay here. Call your backup. Shoot anyone that comes through that door that isn’t me.”
“Got it,” was all she said.
He felt a surge of gratitude that the universe had sent him a woman as sensible and brave as she was sexy. That was his last thought before he let the change take him. Between one step and the next, he shifted and everything changed.
His senses sharpened as his viewpoint changed. He was lower to the ground, four legs driving him forward at speeds he could never manage in human form. Trixi’s cheap perfume was easy to follow, the reek of it so strong it stung his nose.
His room was on the motel’s second floor which meant she had to take the stairs. Those heels she wore were going to slow her down. Good thing, too, because he needed to stop her before she called Snarl and tipped him off. The whole club would scatter like cockroaches if that happened and hunting them down again would take time and resources.
The part of his mind that was still human had questions. Why the fuck was she here? How much had she heard? And how the hell had she gotten a key to his room?
Trixi had only made part way down the steps when he caught up to her. He launched himself at her back with enough force to send her crashing to the landing with him on top of her.
Her scream of surprise cut off as her head hit the metal deck and all the air left her lungs in a long whoosh.
Someone yelled, “Trixi! What the fuck? Since when does Rod have a dog?”
Well shit. Freak was here, too. Fucking fantastic.
At least Trixi wasn’t going to be a problem for a while. She’d smacked her head hard enough to knock herself out cold. His nose told him she was still alive, just out of action. One problem down. One to go.
Then the shooting started.
Normally, staying in one place while getting shot at was a bad idea. In this case, it would have been the smart move because it turned out Freak was as bad at shooting as he was at everything else.
The third shot caught him in the shoulder, and he uttered an undignified yelp of pain. I hope Trina didn’t hear that.
He struggled to his feet as best he could on three legs. He was bleeding, in pain, and seriously pissed off. He needed to put an end to this before someone else got hurt. The motel wasn’t filled with the cream of society, but most of them were just folks trying to get by and didn’t deserve to get shot.
“Trixi? You okay?” Freak called out. Gravel crunched under his feet as he moved closer.
“Hey, asshole. That’s far enough.” Trina called from somewhere above him. Dammit, what was she doing?
“Yeah? You really think you have the balls to shoot me, Lily. I bet not.”
Jack limped forward just enough to get eyes on Freak. He was standing not twenty feet away, his gun held Hollywood gangster-style—one handed and with the grip parallel to the ground. He wasn’t even aiming it at anyone. Idiot.
“Bad bet.” A single shot fired and the gravel at Freak’s feet exploded upwards.
Freak shrieked as the rocks and debris hit him. Any other person would have taken the hint and surrendered. Freak just screamed in incoherent fury and opened fire without even trying to aim first.
Jack snarled and threw himself down the stairs, determined to take down Freak before he hurt Trina. He had to protect his mate.
He shouldn’t have worried. Freak was dead before Jack hit the ground. Trina was a hell of a shot.
One more thing he needed to do before the pain made him do something regrettable, like pass out. He shifted back to his human form and tried not to whimper when the change forced the bullet out of his wound. Fucking ouch.
The world went away for a little while, and when it came back again Trina was crouched beside him, pressing down on his injured shoulder to try to slow the bleeding. She was naked, streaked in his blood, and her expression was somewhere between worry and irritation. Damn, she looked good.
“You with me?” she asked.
“Yeah. Nice shooting.”
“Remember that the next time you tell me to take cover and hide, asshole.”
“Noted.” He eased himself to a sitting position, which at least meant he wasn’t lying on a bed of gravel anymore. “Trixi?”
“Found your cuffs in the beside table. I don’t want to know why they were there, but she’s cuffed to the railing. She’s not going anywhere.”
“They’re just for emergencies.” He gestured around them. “Like this.”
“Good. Though later maybe we can find another use for them.” She eyed his shoulder. “After you heal up.”
“I’ll be fine in a few hours. I heal fast. Did you call for backup?”
“My people are on their way.” She handed him his phone. “You should call yours.”
“Yeah. Then you and I are going to get dressed.”
She snorted. “That’s your biggest worry right now?”
“Well, yeah. No one gets to see your sexy ass naked but me.”
“Too late for that. Take a look around.”
Well, fuck. Doors were open all over the motel now and there were faces in a lot of windows. The braver ones were already gathering around them, including the motel manager.
Jack pointed to him. “You. Did you give that black-haired psycho a key to my room?”
The man gaped at him, mouth opening and closing like a goldfish.
“Answer the question, asshole.”
“Who the fuck are you? You’re not a guest here,” the manager spluttered.
“I’m Special Agent Trina Thorn, ATF. Now, answer the damned question.”
“Yeah. Uh. She said she was your girlfriend and uh… she thought you were cheating on her. Wanted to catch you in the act.” The big man shrugged. “I thought I was doing her a favor.”
“You nearly got two law enforcement agents killed. Good job,” Trina said, her voice as chilly as a meat locker.
“Uh. Sorry?”
“Want to make it up to us? Find us some blankets. I can’t leave the scene and neither of us are enjoying being on display.”
Jack winked at her. “You’re sexy when you get all bossy.”
She rolled her eyes, but her smile widened. “Glad you think so. This is my default mode. Lily the meek and sweet has left the building.”
He was good with that. Lifting his head, he scowled at the bystanders. “You’re all standing in the middle of an active crime scene. If you don’t get back to your rooms in the next thirty seconds, you’re going to spend the rest of the night talking to law enforcement.”
Ten seconds later they were alone.
“They’re all potential witnesses. They’re going to be answering questions for hours whether they’re in their rooms or not,” Trina pointed out in hushed tones.
“Yeah, but now they’re not fucking up the crime scene or trying to take selfies with the damned body.”
Sirens wailed in the distance. Both of them glanced up and then exhaled. Help was on its way. Of course first they’d probably end up cuffed and detained as potential suspects. Neither of them had badges or any ID in their real names.
It was going to be a long night.
