Lia Davis: Winter Eve

“Good morning, Dani.” The alpha jaguar was dressed in his usual dress pants and button-up shirt underneath his black, unbuttoned wool jacket. Jared was very handsome with his sun-lightened brown hair and golden-brown eyes. He was the Packs’ legal advisor; a lawyer by human definition. He aided Keegan and Luna—the wolf’s Alpha female—in any, and all, legal issues that concerned the citizens of Ashwood Falls. He would be the perfect mate. But, Danica couldn’t find the spark. Her cat wanted nothing to do with him.

“Who’s your friend?”

Danica winced at the sharp undertone of his question. Please, don’t let him cause a scene. Not in front of the children. Taking a breath, she linked the fingers of her scarred hand with Nevan’s. “This is Nevan. Nevan, Jared.”

Squeezing her hand slightly, Nevan nodded. “Nice to meet you.” He held out his free hand to the cat.

Ignoring the offer, Jared met her stare. “I take it you’re on your way to see Keegan.”

“Yes. Blaine and Shay invited us over for a late lunch.”

Jared narrowed his eyes, and his nostril flared a fraction. “I see.”

A rain of snowballs assailed them, followed by children’s laughter. Jared’s face reddened with irritation, only making the twins, and leaders of the assault, increase the number of projectiles flying toward the well-dressed lawyer.

“Kyle! Cole!”

Danica turned to see Jasmine Russell, the twins’ guardian and older sister, running at them, horror and fury in her expression.

“So sorry, Jared.” She stopped between the boys and grabbed them by the upper arms.

Jared didn’t comment. He just stormed off without a word.

Jasmine frowned. “Sorry. These two are always causing some kind of trouble.” She held out her hand to Nevan. “Hi. Welcome to Ashwood Falls. I’m Jasmine.”

Nevan shook her hand and smiled. “Thanks.”

Jasmine excused herself and moved to march the boys home. Danica placed a hand on her arm, making her peer at her. “Don’t be too hard on them. I found it very amusing.”

Jasmine offered a weak smile and turned to leave.

“Come on. We should get going.”

They walked down the sidewalk in silence. Nevan’s scent was heavy with anxiety. And, she was going to feed him to the leopards. She wondered what was going through his mind. He had to have a thousand questions. He was a psychiatrist, trained to read and understand human behaviors. Had he picked up on Jared’s animal-like presence?

“Look, I’m sorry about Jared. He’s usually not so rude.”

“He was jealous.”

She stopped and faced him. “Really?”

He chuckled. “It’s a human emotion everyone has. He obviously likes you and didn’t like it that we were together. I’m a stranger, and he feels threatened.”

Raising a brow, she studied him. “You’re that good at reading people?”

He leaned into her and whispered, “I’m empathic.”

Her breath hitched. How was that possible? She’d never heard of humans with the ability. Did he have shifter blood in his veins?

“There you two are.”

Shay’s chipper voice broke her from the swirl of questions in her mind.

The tigress continued her rapid speech in her carefree way. “Blaine has been running a groove in the floor. You know how he gets, Dani.” She smiled at Nevan. “Morning! You’re even cuter in natural light.”

Danica released a growl before she could stop it. Shay peered at her, shocked and amused. “Sorry, my dear friend and sister.” Shay looped her arms with Danica’s and laid her head on her shoulder.

“He’s not for me. ”

Smiling at the telepathic acknowledgment, Danica relaxed. A little. What unnerved her was the reaction she had because Shay gave Nevan a compliment. Damn. She was in so much trouble.

It had been the strangest twenty-four hours in Nevan’s life. Well, at least stranger than it had been in the last five years. Growing up with four mountain lion-shifters would be pretty strange to the normal human.

However, the residents of this small town didn’t seem too human. Then again, it could have been his imagination running wild. His hormones sure were on overdrive since he’d met Danica. Watching her smile at Shayna made him want to touch her, to see if her skin really was as creamy as it looked.

Shaking off the inappropriate thoughts, he followed the women into the house.

The large man from the night before was the first to greet them. The sense of familiarity settled over him again. He’d seen him somewhere before but could not place the where or when.

“Blaine. Relax.”

Nevan cut his eyes toward the commanding voice. An older, larger man who looked a lot like Blaine entered the living room. His dark brown hair back in a loose ponytail, and his brown eyes darkened as he locked gazes with Nevan.

Danica linked her fingers with his and tugged him farther in the large living room. They stopped a couple of feet from the man. The only way Nevan thought to describe him was an alpha male. The energy flowing off him was similar to his oldest brother. Sarah had said his brother could be alpha of his own pack one day.

“I’m Keegan.” He narrowed his dark brown eyes at Nevan and motioned to the couch. “Please have a seat. Lunch will be ready soon.”

He felt like a hormonal teen meeting his date’s father, but he fell into step with Danica as she led the way to the sofa. Even Danica seemed tense.

Keegan sat in a recliner across from them while Shay perched on the couch arm beside Danica and Blaine held the wall in place behind his father. “Blaine failed to get your last name.”

Was he for real? The only thing Nevan wanted was to call Sarah and let her know he was at least alive and maybe put a call out to the supernatural police or something. Because there was definitely something preternatural going on.

“My name is Nevan Mathews.”

One of the alpha male’s dark brows rose and amusement brightened his features. “Was your father Walt Mathews?”

Nevan cut his eyes to Blaine, who pushed away from the wall and studied him closer. Like a bug under a microscope… “Yes,” he answered Keegan, meeting his gaze once more.

A frown wrinkled his forehead, and he tossed a cordless phone to Nevan. “Call Sarah and tell her I send my best.” He stood, motioned to his son, and they left the room.

Confused, Nevan glanced at Danica. A wash of relief, happiness, and worry flowed from her. “I’ll give you some privacy.” She moved to stand, but he covered her hand.

“Stay.”

She gave a short nod and sat back. Shay smiled at him and picked up Danica’s right arm to gently massage her fingers and palm. Stopping the questions from tumbling out of his mouth, he dialed Sarah’s number and wasn’t surprised she answered after the first ring.

“Nev?”

“Yes, Ma. I’m fine.”

“What happened? Where the hell are you?”

Closing his eyes, he took deep breaths to hold the buried pain in check. Hearing his stepmother’s voice brought a flood of memories. Memories of his father and the family they’d once been. “I had an accident, but I’m not hurt.”

“Where are you?”

“Ashwood Falls.”

Silence filled the line for several seconds before she responded. “Are they…Have you met Keegan?”

He counted to three in his mind. She knew these people, knew of this town, yet, she’d never once mentioned it to him. Nor had his brothers ever spoken of it. All his life she’d taught him about the shifter way of life and the importance of secrecy. Was that it? She didn’t trust him to keep the mountain town a secret?