Marie Harte - Foxy Lady

When she moaned under him, his heart nearly stopped. Hope made him lightheaded. “Julia?”

“Ty?” she whimpered.

“Shift back for me, baby. Please. You need to turn. I know it hurts, but you’ll stop bleeding when you do.”

She groaned. Tears filled her eyes and she whined with the pain, but slowly, her fur receded, her eyes changed back, and her claws and fangs retracted. A woman’s flesh trembled under his hands.

“Thank God.” He cradled her to his chest, shaking with relief. “Hell, Julia, don’t do that to me ever again.” He stroked her over and over as he whispered how much he loved her. How much he needed her.

“Ty?” she asked in a scratchy voice.

He kissed her forehead and met her pain-filled gaze.

“Yeah?”

“I love you too.” She smiled and closed her eyes.

Later in the early a.m., back in Cougar Falls, Julia lay in Ty’s bed, in his house, under the supervision of an Ac-taw nurse Ty insisted remain close by. He sat in the living room with Gabby and the others. His friends stood around, quietly discussing the repercussions of the night’s events.

Monty passed by him on his way to the kitchen, most likely to replace the empty beer bottle he carried. “Hey, Ty. The Order’s got it covered.”

Ty nodded. The gray wolves had contacts in the government and local law enforcement. Instances like these normally went through the wolves. By tomorrow, no one would know anything about the Hunters they’d encountered, living or dead. He didn’t want to know how they handled the situation, only that they did. He now thought he had a better appreciation of why the council tolerated the Order’s animalistic chaos. Wolves were good for something, after all.

“Thanks, Monty.”

Monty nodded and left for the kitchen.

Grady sat down next to Ty, a huge smile on his face. “So you and Julia, huh? I never thought the vixen could fight as well as she did. She really tore into those guys.”

“She sure did,” Ty said with pride. She and Gabby had held their own, and he couldn’t be prouder of either one of them.

“Yeah, I always liked Julia.”

Ty growled. “If you value your health, don’t like her so much.”

Grady chuckled. “Don’t worry. She’s all yours. I’m holding out for a cat.” He glanced at Gabby, full of wonder. “She is so hot. Holy Christ, when I saw her animal, I nearly had a coronary. I thought Gabby was a fox. I mean, a literal one. Not just a hot piece of ass.”

Gabby turned and glared at him. Then she sniffed and turned back to Sean, who had the nerve to wiggle his brows at Grady, taunting him.

“The Easton women seem to have that effect on men.” Ty knew it wasn’t his place to divulge Gabby’s secret, but the time had obviously come to tell one and all. Though he and his friends had remained quiet about just what they’d seen this night, the truth would come out sooner than later. For his own part, he didn’t want his own child to grow up ashamed of any part of his or herself. He’d be damned if he’d let assholes like Lynn and Harry Easton oppress Julia and her sisters any longer.

Grady continued to stare at Gabby while he spoke to Ty. “Still, it must be nice, finding a woman all your own.”

“It is. I just have to figure out a way to keep her. Julia’s a little different than what the silver foxes are used to. I’m not sure we’re going to stay with the clan.”

Grady finally looked at him. “No shit? Well, you know you’re welcome to live with us. Most of the councils in the other clans seem to be filled with pricks, sorry to say. Hell, except for us cats, and that’s because there are so few of us, every clan in town seems to have issues. The raptors are undergoing a major change after half their leadership fucked their way around rules. You silver foxes are stuck on yourselves, with all that heritage crap. The bears are growing so distant from the rest of us I wouldn’t be surprised if they started their own town, and don’t get me started on the wolves. Aside from Monty, the gray wolves annoy the shit out of me.”

“Yeah, well, they’re good at that.”

“You should come stay with us. You know Burke sure as hell won’t care, especially now that you have Julia. He’s pretty possessive about Rachel, not that I blame him. She’s so good for him, you know? It’s nice to have a female cat around the house. She doesn’t tolerate his attitude.” Grady grinned. “We could use more women at the ranch. I like Julia. You I could tolerate if I had to.”

“Keep it up, kitty.” Ty laughed at the finger Grady shot him. “Seriously, though, Grady. Thanks.”

Gabby took that moment to join them. Her limp was more than noticeable. The nurse had seen Gabby’s leg and proclaimed it already on the mend. The bullet had passed clean through and Gabby had shifted from cat to human and back again a few times to speed her healing. What would normally take weeks would likely take days to get better.

“Should you be walking on that so soon?” Grady frowned.

She ignored him. “Ty, I’m so glad you found Meghan and Jason. They’re bruised, but they’ll heal, thank God. Meghan’s sleeping soundly now, but when she wakes up, she’s going to want to be with Jason again.”

They’d called Jason’s mother, anonymously, and given her his whereabouts after dropping Jason at an after-hours clinic. They left him after being assured he’d make a full recovery. At worst, he had some bruising and a few cuts that needed healing. Much like Meghan, who currently was sleeping off her ordeal in Ty’s spare bedroom thanks to a prescribed sedative.

“I’m so glad Meghan’s okay. What they could have done to her…” Gabby trailed off, and her eyes filled again.

Grady stood and gently led her away, offering her comfort in his arms. When he turned, Ty noticed the bloodstains on his shirt.

“Grady, make sure you get that looked at.”

Grady nodded and tried, unsuccessfully, to avoid Gabby’s interest in his wound. When the woman started chastising him for not caring for his own injuries and called for the nurse, she reminded Ty of Julia. Always trying to take charge.

He winced when he stretched out his left leg. Talk about taking care of injuries…

Sean loomed over him, shaking his head.

“What now?” Ty grumbled. “You know, as much as I appreciate all your help tonight, honesty compels me to tell the truth. You birds are a real pain in the ass. The hawk inside caring for Julia nearly snapped my head off when I asked her to stay a while.”

“You mean when you told her to stay. And yeah, Nurse McKane snapped, because she’s been trying to see to your leg but you won’t let her.” Sean stared down at him, too quiet.

“Hell. I’ll deal with my leg once the rest of you are—”

Sean and Monty hauled him to his feet and dragged him down the hallway toward the bedroom.

“Moron.” Sean stood a head taller than Ty and had a broader back and bigger arms. The bird probably watched himself lift weights and flexed at all hours of the day. The thought made Ty grin.

“The rest of us are fine,” Sean said. “Well, Monty and I are. We have a few cuts that have already started to heal. I think Grady’s knife wound is deeper than he’s let on.”

“I heard that,” Gabby snarled from the other room. “Grady Chastell, what the hell is wrong with you?”

“With me?” Ty heard Grady answer. “Darlin’, I’m just fine. I—”

Then Monty kicked Ty’s calf and streaks of pain shot through his leg to his brain, shorting out all thought.

“Yep. Bullet’s still in there.”

“Asshole,” Ty wheezed. “You could have just asked.”

Monty smiled, showing sharp white teeth. “Now, Sheriff. As a concerned citizen of Cougar Falls, I feel it’s my duty to see to it that our most senior lawman is taken care of.”