Mate's Appeal

Chapter 3

He stood at the corner of his cabin and watched as the two ladies walked away. Well, there were two ladies, but he only truly watched one walk away, the one who had captured his tiger’s attention at the bonfire last night without even actually meeting her. As he stood there, his tiger pawed within, growling and snapping as it wanted nothing more than to race after the sandy-haired woman and claim her in the middle of the road, just like—well, just like an animal.

Arlin tamped down on the raging desire that burned within him and stepped back onto the porch. Damn the curse and its mate call.

He got a call from Nathan that morning, telling Arlin that he had arrived in Brighton Cove safely, and then his parents got on the phone and Arlin lost an hour of his morning. He kept the news of his tiger’s sudden desires to himself.

Once he freed himself of the million questions why he had to leave Draven Falls, he grabbed a book and a bottle of water and headed for the front porch once more. He plopped down in one of the Adirondack chairs his brother had set out on the porch, already debating the wisdom of his choice as the heat threatened to suck the breath from his lungs. How did people live down here all year long? Sweat already beaded on his brow and he had done nothing except walk outside. His prison sentence needed to end quickly.

He thought about calling Jed to see if things were quieting down back home, but it had only been two days. There was no way Rupert and Parker had forgotten the shame to their packs. Not that Arlin cared, of course. Not at all. No. The only reason he even agreed to leave Draven Falls was because of Jed. Arlin would do nothing to bring trouble to the panther Alpha’s doorstep. He would just have to sweat it out a little longer. Literally.

He hated sweating, though.

He glanced back down the roadway where the sandy-haired woman disappeared. I wonder what her name is. He set the book in his lap as he twisted the cap off his bottle of water and took a long swig, his thoughts simmering once more as visions of the petite woman filled his mind. How could he even think about returning to Draven Falls knowing his destined mate was here, whether or not she knew that’s what she was? Even if he didn’t know her name? There was no way his tiger would allow him to drive off again now.

Putting the cap back on the bottle, he set it on the porch beside his chair and opened his book.

However, he didn’t even get to glance at the page when sirens broke the silent afternoon, drawing his attention away. He felt his brows pinch together as he spotted the sheriff’s car bumping down the gravel road and then make a left.

Now, I bet that’s unusual for around here. Setting his book on the arm of the chair, he pushed himself to his feet, deciding to check it out and see what made up a nine-one-one call around such an isolated community. While Bull Creek appeared to be predominantly a shifter population, there was a spattering of humans mixed in, and someone could have taken things a little too far and gotten themselves hurt.

As he turned down the same street the sheriff’s car turned down—as well as the two ladies walking, he remembered—blue and red lights bounced off the giant oaks and pines that filled the wooded area around the cabins. He followed their beckoning guidance to where a sheriff’s car parked in a dirt driveway a little way down the road, worry now for the one his tiger scented last night filling him. With the way they walked yesterday, one of them probably walked right out in front of a passing car. He gave another shake of his head as he picked up his pace to see how bad it was.

He was pleased—surprised, but pleased—to see that neither of the women he spotted earlier had wound up being struck by a passing motorist. However, what he did find in what he assumed was such a peaceful community shocked him.

The flashing lights of the sheriff’s car ricocheted off a cabin someone had vandalized severely. Arlin could see windows smashed in, plants destroyed and scattered everywhere, and in dark red paint over the front of the cabin were the words, “No escape”.

With a tilt of his head, he stared at the words, wondering, escape from what? Nathan had obviously left out the dramatic aspects of his home away from home at Bull Creek. The place wasn’t so peaceful, after all. Then he wondered to which of the ladies the cabin belonged.

Arlin glanced around at those gathered in front of the cabin, and his nose twitched at the mixture of shifter scents he sensed mixed in with humans, and… he took another deep breath… witches and vampires. All right, not so heavily shifter populated. He gave an appreciative nod. Jed did tell him the place was a diversity of paranormal personalities. Arlin just didn’t expect it to be a complete melting pot.

Next to the sheriff’s car stood a portly elderly man in uniform along with a female deputy and a muscular man with shaggy, tawny hair, his arms crossed over his chest as he listened to the sheriff speaking. Near the front of the porch, stood three women. Two of them were the ladies he saw on the road earlier, and the third was a smaller woman with dark hair and a powerful stance. The shortest of the three, the sandy-haired lady he couldn’t get out of his mind, attempted to get past the other two ladies and into the cabin, but they blocked her every time. Must be her cabin. I’d want inside as well to see what else the asshole who did this destroyed. Probably some teens thinking they found an easy score out here in no-man’s-land.

Walking over to where the deputies stood with the other man, Arlin slid his hands in his back pockets to make himself appear less of a threat. With the damage to the cabin and him being a stranger, he didn’t want any misunderstandings that would cause his tiger to bust loose and get him in trouble again. He had avoided filling out police reports back in Draven Falls; he didn’t need to fill them out here.

The man not in uniform turned his attention to Arlin as he approached, an eyebrow arched over narrowed eyes as he watched the newcomer.

Arlin just nodded once, doing his best to appear charming and not threatening. He cleared his throat, gaining the sheriff’s attention, and all conversation stopped. “Pardon the intrusion,” Arlin said. “I heard the sirens and noticed the lights down the street. I noticed the ladies walking just a bit ago, and worried something had happened. When I passed them yesterday, they weren’t really paying attention to where they were walking, so I wanted to make sure they were safe. I’m glad to see they’re all right.” He pulled a hand from his back pocket and gestured to the cabin. “Although this is far from all right, I know.”

Arlin thought for sure the sheriff would be the one to speak first, but instead, the civilian took the lead. “And you are?” He crossed his arms over his chest, definitely doing his best to appear intimidating.

Arlin slid his hand back into his pocket, leaving himself open, remaining as calm as possible. He was the stranger after all, suddenly here during a crisis. “Arlin Landry. My brother, Nathan, owns the cabin around the corner. I’m staying here for a bit of a vacation.”

The tawny-headed man nodded, uncrossing his arms and letting his hands discover his own pockets. “Jed Hawkins told me you were coming.” He pulled a hand back out of his pocket, reaching out to shake Arlin’s. “I’m Dimitri Everest, Alpha of Bull Creek. Sorry, I haven’t had a chance to come over and say hello. Welcome you to the neighborhood, so to speak.” He then gestured to the other two. “This is Sheriff Chet Einstein, and my sister, Deputy Lainie Everest.”

“You didn’t happen to see anyone else on the road today, did you?” the sheriff asked.

Arlin shook his head. “No, just the two ladies. As I said, they were so lost in whatever they were talking about that they didn’t even notice me driving behind them yesterday. I could tell by the way they meandered over the road as they walked, and I worried the same thing happened today. Probably used to the roads being empty out here.”

“I don’t meander.”

Arlin turned and noticed the other three women approaching. The shorter one with the sandy hair practically snarling at him.

“And for the record, I did notice you. I just didn’t care. I would assume if you had a license, then you knew how to avoid people walking on the side of the road.”

Arlin arched an eyebrow at the small woman, small but apparently formidable. His tiger growled within as well, wanting to pounce the little spitfire in front of him, and Arlin felt his c**k twitch inside his pants, stirring to life. His heart beat faster as his breath caught in his throat, and not for the first time, he wondered why he had made Bull Creek his escape. “Since I was the one behind you, I’m pretty sure I know how you were walking,” Arlin said, trying his best to keep his tiger in check. “You were meandering.” Then he shrugged. “I didn’t say it was a bad thing. Why would you be worried about cars running you over in this area, after all? I mean, you were only walking in the middle of the road.”

“The middle...” The woman took a step forward, her hand dropping to the hilt of the knife at her waist. Arlin’s tiger purred inside, instead of growling, and Arlin knew he was in even more trouble than he first thought. “I was walking on the side of the road, thank you very much, and that heap you were driving wasn’t exactly quiet, you know. I’m sure they heard you in St. Cloud with that clunker.”

“Clunker?” Arlin slid his hands out of his back pockets and crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the looks the others gave him. While the sheriff had a confused expression, the others just stood there grinning. The shifters would have scented his rise in pheromones, knowing the struggle that raged within him. Then he detected the scent of the witch next to the robust redhead. Yet she grinned as well. All of them knew what his tiger had detected last night, all of them except the short, sandy-haired piece of sass in front of him, that is. He did not come to Bull Creek to find his mate, but it appeared his mate had just found him. So much for a vacation of peace and quiet. “My car is not a clunker, thank you. It’s a classic.”

The short woman laughed. “Classic? That’s what they call something that’s old and worn out, right? Something that has a musty odor? I bet the music you listened to as a child is a classic as well, being played on one of those oldie stations with a DJ born while 8-tracks were popular. Who the hell are you again, and why are you even here?”

Arlin sighed. It looks like I’m here to find out who trashed your cabin, my vivacious vixen. Yet, he knew now was not the time to bring that up, not with the first impression he had just made. His tiger growled, wanting to claim the lady in front of him right there and now and didn’t care if he did it in front of everyone else, and the awkward part was that at least four of the others knew it as well. Me and my big mouth.