Anna Keaton - Falke’s Renegade

Javier Montero .

“Nice to meet you, Javier.” Even his name was beautiful. “I’m Heidi.”

How many brothers do you have ? Javier asked while Heidi worked on removing his cast. He wanted to know how outnumbered he would be whenever the confrontation occurred—and it would. His pretty, petite vet might be naïve enough to think her brothers would let him get this close and not react, but he was under no such delusions. She was rare, and this town was their home. The men in her family would respond the same way he would if some stranger encroached on his territory.

“Six.”

Mierda .

She met his scowl with a frown. “I take it by the volume, that’s a curse. You don’t have to worry. I can handle my brothers. It’s the pesky reporter we have to worry about.”

She was wrong, but he didn’t argue the point. As soon as he was strong enough, he’d find his car and get the hell out of here. His fight was not with her family.

She continued to work on his cast. “So, where are you from?”

Nowhere .

“What brings you here to Washington?”

Nothing .

“Is your name really Javier Montero?”

He didn’t respond at all to that snarky question.

Her frown deepened. “You don’t want to talk? Fine, keep your secrets, but just so we’re clear on one thing—this is my home.” Her tone lost all hint of hospitality and sharpened to a razor’s edge. Brash and bold.

Extraordinary.

“I will protect it because I have a lot more at stake than you do.”

He snorted at that, which only riled her further.

Her volume increased with her temper. “I refuse to uproot from the only place I’ve ever called home just because you were stupid enough to get your ass shot by an idiot with a rifle.”

Her touch was not nearly as gentle as before, and a sharp pain in his leg made him flinch and hiss when she pulled the cast apart.

Her furious gaze collided with his, and he snarled.

“I’ve dealt with a half dozen arrogant, overbearing pumas all my life. One stubborn jaguar isn’t going to intimidate me, so knock it off.”

Her fire impressed the hell out of him, but she was still a threat, or rather her brothers were. He needed to get away from her, this cage-“Knock it off, knock it off, squawk .”

Better yet, put as much distance as possible between him, that damn bird and this whole fucking area. He didn’t need this complication. He had to find Durchenko—find him and kill him.

“I’m all you’ve got,” she said around the bird’s annoying chatter. “The sooner you realize that, the better. So if you want to get out of here without your hide on a wall, you best find some way to trust me, ’cause if you can’t, how do you expect me to trust you?”

He released a huff.

Finishing with the cast, she got up, turned her back on him—a risk she took to make a point, he assumed.

Foolish .

At the door to his cage, she turned back and met his gaze once more. “Am I?” She shut the cage’s door. “You didn’t attack.”

I ... What could he say? She was right. He hadn’t even tried. My leg is broken .

“Yes,” she agreed, “and we both know what a normal jaguar would’ve done, given the opportunity, regardless of his injury. But you aren’t a wild animal, at least not all the time. You’re a man. I trusted you this once. You’ll have to earn it from here on out.” She locked the cage door. “I’ll be back with your food. You’ll need to eat to have the energy to shift. And don’t try to stand on that leg. It hasn’t healed enough yet to support your weight without a cast.”

Despite her warning, he still climbed to his feet on three paws and tested his ability to put weight on the leg. The pain alone was enough to prove her case, but he had to know for sure.

He was stretched out on his side again by the time she returned with a carton of milk and a plate piled high with scrambled eggs, buttery biscuits and several thick slices of honeyed ham. Over her arm were some clothes, a pair of sweatpants and a cotton T-shirt, and under her arm was a pair of men’s sandals, which she dropped onto the floor.

“Options were limited at the store. Beth had to guess your size, so these may not fit, but she opted for larger being better.” Heidi stopped outside the cage door and stared at him. “You want to share something?”

He knew what she wanted—some sign of trust on his part. He could lie. She’d have no way of knowing whether he told the truth, but he decided to give her a morsel of honesty.

I am from Mexico .

“An illegal alien? Or tourist just passing through?”

He’d crossed the border legally, but whether he was passing through depended on Durchenko’s next destination. And Javier wasn’t exactly on vacation. I have a stamped passport ... in my car .

“And your car is...”

I am not sure . Last I recall , I was behind the wheel ... headed for Seattle .

“What kind of car is it? I could check with a friend at the police station, see if anyone reported finding an abandoned vehicle.”

He stared at her for a long pause before answering. A Jaguar XK ... black convertible .

Her lips twitched, and he could tell she was trying not to laugh. She nodded, then lost her fight and snickered. “Really? Why am I not surprised?”

He heaved a sigh and let her have a laugh at his expense. The car hadn’t belonged to him. It had been Isabela’s until two years ago, but he wasn’t about to explain that to the nosy vet.

“Sorry.” Her expression turned serious once more. “They’re nice cars. I’ll see what I can do to help you find it.” She opened the cage door and set the food down, tossing the clothes near him. “Eat up, then change. I’ll wait just outside that door. There’s a new pair of boxer briefs stuffed inside the pants.

Put those on, but hold off on the pants until after.”

After what ?

“I need to look at your wounds, check the stitches and make sure there are no signs of infection.

And I need to recast your leg. Hopefully the pants are loose enough to fit over the cast. If not, we can cut ’em into shorts. You want to chop ’em off anyway? It is summer after all.”

I am used to warmer climates .

“Right. I’ll bring the scissors just in case.” With that, she shut the cage door, leaving the padlock off this time, and stepped through one of the other doors to afford him some privacy.

He made short work of the meal, enjoying the flavor of the honeyed ham the most, and then focused on shifting. The familiar tingle slithered along his spine, and his vision began to blur. Then the pain hit. He set loose a roar that stuttered into a deep base scream as he completed the transformation.

Zapped of energy, he collapsed on the cold, concrete floor, unable to garner enough strength to dress.

Outside the door, Heidi had just returned with the scissors, fresh bandages and casting materials when she heard him scream.

“Heidi?” Beth came running down the hall, but Heidi stopped her.

“I’m fine. Go check the windows while I check on him.” Beth had told her Shirley had gone, but that didn’t mean the woman wasn’t staked out nearby, and Heidi wasn’t sure how soundproof her garage was. When Beth hesitated, she added, “Go. The last thing we need is for someone to come charging in here to see what the noise is all about, or worse, call 9-1-1.”

Beth nodded and headed for the lobby.

Maneuvering her supplies in her arms, Heidi managed to open the door and head in to check on Javier only to find him still nude and collapsed on the floor.