“The votes are coming back from the Senate now,” the newscaster said. “In a landslide decision, the Senate has passed the Shifter Protection Act. With such an overwhelming number of senators voting in favor of this bill, what is the prospect of the bill passing in the House, Charlie?”
“It looks good. In early poling, numbers are roughly what we saw in the Senate. I have no doubt that in the coming weeks, we will have a working law that protects all shifters and guarantees them equal rights.”
“That’s good news for the shifters of this country. These are citizens who have lived here with their families for generations.”
“I agree, Monica. It’s a good day for justice in this country. I hope that the laws will bring an end to the protests we’ve seen popping up around the world and particularly in our country. It’s an example of old world superstition that we should be past in this day and age.”
“I totally agree with you, Charlie. We’ve progressed past the days of burning witches. It’s time for this country to live in peace with our neighbors.”
She clicked off the TV just as the phone rang. It was Chance. “Hi,” she said, happy to hear his voice.
“Hi, Summer. I’ve just gotten the environmental oversight report. Want to come down to the sheriff’s department so we can read it over together?”
“Yes. I’ll be right there.”
She gathered her things and hurried out to her car. Inside the sheriff's station, she found Chance in his office, sitting behind his desk. She’d never been to his office before and immediately noticed the framed degrees on the wall behind him. She hadn’t realized he’d graduated from college.
“Where did you go to school?” she asked, sitting on the side of the desk opposite Chance.
“I studied forestry and animal management at University of Montana. I graduated top of my class.”
“Oh,” she said, taken aback. She really had him all wrong, didn’t she?
“Now, let’s look at this report together. I’ve read it over, but I wanted to give you the chance to read it on your own without me interpreting it for you,” he said, sliding the stack of paper across the desk to her.
She gathered the report and began reading. With every page she read, she became more irritated. There was absolutely nothing in here that indicated the mine wasn’t one hundred percent compliant. Finally, she threw the paper back down on the desk with a scowl. “You can’t possibly believe this,” she demanded.
“I don’t see any reason why I shouldn’t.”
“And what about the layoffs? Have you heard anything back about the shifter employees?”
“As a matter of fact, I have. It turns out that the shifters who were laid off had a long history of showing up late, coming to work drunk, and absenteeism. They’d both been given ample warnings to clean up their act. After the final warning, according to company policy, they were let go.”
“And you buy that?”
“Well, I actually know the men in question, and yes, I do believe it. Just because a person is a shifter doesn’t make him a good employee. Both those men were notorious troublemakers. I’m surprised the mine employed them in the first place.”
“Well, I think this report is a cover up.”
“Summer. I know you want to believe the mine is at fault, but there is absolutely no evidence that the poisonings are in any way related to the mine.”
“They used arsenic!” she said, standing.
“Well, sure, arsenic is used in copper smelting, but that doesn’t mean that the mine was directly responsible for the death of that man or the poisoning of Tim’s family. We need to find other leads.”
“I think you’re delusional,” she said. “Corporate mining is a hazard.”
“Summer, please. There’s a killer out there, and we need to find him.”
“Are we done here?” she asked, anger rising in her face and sinking in her belly.
He looked confused, but she didn’t care. She knew the mine was responsible. There was no other explanation. It was the whole reason she’d been in the woods in the first place. Her heartbeat throbbed in her brain as she backed away.
“Yes. I’ll talk to you later,” he muttered, crossing his arms.
Damn him. Why didn’t he see what was right in front of his face? She’d believed she was starting to have feelings for him, but he would never understand the environmental impact these corporations had on the planet. She hurried out of the sheriff’s station and got behind the wheel of her car, staring into the hazy sky.
She smacked the steering wheel and growled angrily. How could she stop the polluters if they were able to just buy off the government oversight committees? It was impossible. A tear slid down her face, and she started her car.
Summer sped through town and drove up into the mountains to look down at the green valleys below. She vowed that she would protect nature with every last breath in her body, and she didn’t intend to let some crooked corporation poison the earth and its people. If Chance didn’t want to help her, she’d have to do it on her own.
As night fell, she was still so angry she didn’t want to go back to the hotel. She pulled up in front of a bar and went inside. Loud country music lilted over the sound of animated conversation. The smell of cigarette smoke stung her nose, but she headed to the bar anyway.
A middle-aged woman with heavy eye makeup and a sleeveless flannel shirt tied up at the waist wiped the bar in front of her and asked Summer what she wanted to drink. “Whiskey,” she said. The bartender poured her a shot, and Summer threw it back. “Another,” she said. The woman poured her another shot and gave her a look that told Summer she should slow down in a place like this. Summer didn’t really care at that moment. She was too upset to care.
“Keep them coming, and a beer, please,” she said. The bartender poured her several more shots and gave her a bottle of beer. Summer drank the shots quickly and was feeling pretty good when she took her first sip of beer.
People danced in a line by the jukebox and hollered with joy to the music. It made Summer smile to see people having a good time, so she walked around the bar and watched the dancers from a better vantage point. She was smiling broadly and bobbing to the music when a man came over and sat at the bar beside her.
She glanced at him and looked back at the dancers. She vaguely recognized him, but wasn’t in a place to think too much about it.
“Hey,” he said.
She didn’t respond.
“Hey,” he said again. She looked over to find a lanky man with wrinkled, tan skin staring at her. That’s when she remembered where she’d seen him before. He’d been harassing the shifter at the mine in the breakroom when she’d been there with Chance.
“You’re that woman who’s been poking around with that shifter game warden, aren’t you?”
“And what if I am?” she asked, tipping her beer toward the man and winking.
“You’re awfully cute for an uptight city woman,” he said.
She frowned at him and began to walk away when he caught her arm.
“Don’t go poking around in things that are none of your business,” he said.
She yanked her arm away and put her beer down on the counter. She’d had quite enough of this and was done for the night. Hurrying out of the bar, she got to the parking lot and realized she’d probably had too much to drink to drive. Shit.
She shoved her keys into her purse and started walking back to the hotel. Even in a small town like this, she refused to drive drunk. It was the principle, and she’d already been dumb enough for one evening. The cool air blew over her face, waking her up. She heard a crash behind her, like a bottle breaking on concrete.
Turning around, she spotted the man from the bar following her down the dark sidewalk. Summer picked up the pace, but he still gained on her. In the darkness of an alley, he caught up with her and spun her around.
“You should be more careful. A young woman, alone at night, anything could happen.”
&
nbsp; “Let me go,” she growled, trying to pull free. But the man’s grip on her arm was too tight. Panic rose in her gut, and her heart pounded in her ears. He began to pull her into a dark alley when a truck shrieked to a stop.
Chance came running toward them, his eyes blazing with anger. All of the sudden his clothes ripped and fur replaced skin. A giant bear growled at the man who went running into the darkness. Summer slumped against a wall and began crying.
Chance’s arms were around her a moment later, smooth, strong arms that smelled of his scent. “Chance,” she said between sobs.
“Come on,” he said, leading her to the truck. He opened the door for her and she climbed inside.
“What happened?” he asked, starting the car.
“He followed me from the bar.” Tears were falling like rain down her cheeks.
He stopped in front of her hotel and helped her upstairs with a blanket from the back seat of his truck wrapped around his waist. She sat on her bed and stared at the wall.
“Are you going to be all right?” he asked her.
“I don’t want to be alone,” she whispered.
He sat beside her and rubbed her back. All her feelings for him suddenly spilled over, and she leaned toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He tilted his head over hers and whispered in her ear that everything was going to be all right. With a sob, she looked up at him. The sincerity in his eyes made her feel like maybe it would be all right, as long as he was there for her.
She leaned forward and kissed him hard. The taste of his lips and the warmth of his breath sent a tingle through her core, and she knew she needed him. He growled low in his throat and put his arms around her, pulling her up onto his lap.
His erection pressed against her under the thin fabric of the blanket. Chance’s hands roved over her body, dipping under her shirt and inside her bra as their mouths danced and tasted each other. The tears were all but forgotten now, and all that was left was hot lust for the man who’d been so patient with her.
She kicked off her shoes and turned to straddle his lap, grinding against his thick hardness. It pressed her need, making her gasp for more. He unbuttoned her pants and ran his hand over her ass, squeezing hard on her curvy flesh.
“Summer. I need you so bad. You have no idea,” he growled in her ear.
“Take me, Chance,” she said as his hands hooked into her shirt and pulled it up over her head. He kissed her breasts and unhooked her bra from behind. It fell away, and he cupped her breasts in his hands, sliding over them until his fingers pinched her nipples. She moaned and threw her head back, holding onto his shoulders for support.
He made a harsh, growly sound and turned her over so that her back rested on the bed. Her body sang and gushed, wetting her panties with desire as he hooked his hands in her pants and pulled them down. He kissed her belly and ran his tongue up the slit between her legs, tasting her cream.
“You taste like honey,” he said, licking and sucking at her pink flesh. She groaned, arching her back. His blanket fell away, revealing his thick, hard cock. It was so gorgeous she wanted to taste it, too.
Leaning up, she pushed him away and wrapped her hands around the thick base. He looked down at her and drew a sharp breath through his teeth as she opened her mouth. “Oh, God, Summer,” he growled.
Her lips sank over his shaft, enveloping his thickness in her wet mouth. Chance threaded his fingers through her hair, holding her steady as he moved in and out of her mouth, careful not to choke her but still taking her for his own desire. She was so wet with need she couldn’t take it anymore.
She leaned back and spread her legs, inviting him in. He climbed over her, pressing his head against her opening. “Do you have a condom?” he asked her.
“Shit,” she moaned, throwing her head back.
“I’m sorry, baby.” He started to move away.
“No,” she growled, wrapping her legs around him. She was so hot for him, she didn’t care. She pulled him to her, and he relented.
“Summer. Baby. You don’t know what you mean to me,” he said, pushing into her.
Her mouth dropped open as she instantly came hard on his shaft. Her body throbbed, clenching him with her release. “Oh, Summer,” he growled. “Your pussy feels so good on my cock. I can’t hold back.”
“Take me, Chance.”
With that, he growled and pulled out. Summer moaned at the loss of him, but he turned her over on all fours and sank back inside her again. Both of them sighed as he pushed himself deep into her. He gripped her hips and slowly started to pump into her in an agonizingly slow rhythm. Summer thought she’d lose her mind with need until he started to move faster and harder.
As he thrust, holding her curvy hips tight in his hands to position her just right, she started to come and didn’t stop. Over and over, he pounded into her, and over and over she came, mewling and moaning like a wild thing.
He panted behind her, growling, his fingertips digging into her flesh. “I’m going to come inside you,” he growled. “I’m going to fill you up. You’re mine, baby. You’ll always be mine.”
Summer’s body responded in a way her mind couldn’t understand. She wanted his come inside her. She wanted him to fill her up and claim her as his own. With three more thrusts, he growled and came hard. Hot and wet, he filled her with his seed. She felt her body suck it in and take it deep, welcoming whatever he planted inside her.
She was beyond mind, functioning on pure instinct. At that moment, she knew that she and Chance belonged together. Chance fell down on the bed and gathered her in his arms. It felt so good to be adored as Chance seemed to adore her. Maybe, just maybe, she could let herself accept it. It would be so easy to just give in to what her body wanted, and let Chance love her.
Chapter Eleven
Chance woke the next morning next to Summer’s sleeping form. He turned to her and wrapped his arm around her waist, sinking his nose into her neck. The smell of her skin invigorated his senses. She’d wanted him the night before. She’d wanted all of him. Could he tell her she was his mate? Would she accept him?
Summer began to stir and turned to him. She smiled, her eyes still closed. He rained kisses down on her forehead and cheeks. Feeling himself grow hard, just from the sight of her smile. “Good morning,” he whispered in her ear.
“Morning,” she said, stretching. She opened her eyes, and looked into his. It sent a thrill through him to see the light in her caramel-colored eyes. Summer was unbelievably beautiful. Everything about her made his heart sing. If he could, he would ask her to be his wife, right here and now. But he knew that it wouldn’t be appropriate to move so fast with a human. She didn’t know what it was like for shifters, knowing exactly who you belonged with by instinct.
“Want to go out for breakfast?” he asked her.
“Maybe some coffee,” she said, blinking. She sat up and looked around. “That man, last night. He was one of the miners who were fighting the first day we went here. I was kind of tipsy last night. God. Did we have sex without protection?”
“Yes. You wanted…”
She rubbed her forehead. “I know. It was my idea. I’ll deal with it later. Anyway. That man. I’m beginning to think that maybe he had something to do with the poisonings. He was so threatening to me. What do you think?”
“What did he say to you?”
“He told me to stop poking around where I didn’t belong. Then he tried to drag me into an alley.”
“I know that man. Randy Wade.”
“He was harassing a shifter in the breakroom the first time we went to the mine. Remember?”
“I do remember. I’m going to make a few calls. We need more evidence, but I think this is a good lead.”
Summer stood and went to the shower while Chance made some phone calls to the sheriff’s department and to the mine. He learned more about Randy Wade. Chance needed to bring him in and close this case. No more shifter families would be poisoned on his watch.
When Summ
er came out of the shower, she looked fresh and clean, but her face was drawn into a frown. “Chance, I need to go back to Missoula,” she said.
“What?” he said, standing abruptly. His heart sank, and he felt he could barely breathe. Finally, he had a decent lead on this case, Summer had returned his affection, and now she was going to leave.
“I got a call from my department head. I have to get back to the university. Environmental oversight found that the mine is clean, and I’m running out of money. I’ve been wrong all this time about the mine. That drunk jerk from last night is probably behind all the poisoning. He worked at the mine. He would have had access to arsenic. I feel like an idiot, but I do have to get back to my job.”
“But you’re a consultant on the case,” he protested.
“Sure. About the mine. But the sheriff’s department isn’t paying me. My job is done. I’ve got to go home.”
“Summer…” He wanted to tell her that she was his one true mate. He wanted to tell her how much he loved and adored her. But all that came out was, “Please stay.”
She walked toward him and lifted up on her tiptoes, planting a soft, sad kiss on his cheek. “I can’t, Chance. I wish things could be different. I’ve developed…feelings for you. But we’re from different worlds. I work three hundred miles away from here. You could never live in the city. We can’t do some long distance thing. It wouldn’t work for either of us. Best just to cut it off and try to forget it ever happened.”
“You can stay,” he said, reaching out to take her hand. “I’m sure there’s something you could do here.”
“No. There’s no work for an environmental biologist in this town. I have to go home. I’m sorry. There’s no other way. I could never be happy if I didn’t have my work.”
She began packing her things as tears slid down her face. Chance couldn’t stand the sight of her sadness. It only accentuated his own. He couldn’t lose her. Life without her would be an empty shell.
But he had to go put a stop to Randy’s murdering hatred of shifters. No more kids would be harmed because of him. Chance stood at the door, not wanting to walk away, but he knew he had to go do his job. He gripped the knob and gave her one last look. Torn between love and duty, Chance felt his heart breaking in two. A tear welled in the corner of his eye as he opened the door and walked out.