A Shift in the Water (33 page)

“What happened to him? The wolf,” Jen asked once Mara had settled on the couch across from her. Jen’s voice softened. “You loved that animal. I saw it in your eyes on Thanksgiving. Did you call Fish and Wildlife?”

“No. I didn’t.”

“Oh shit, Mara. Did he die? Adam said he was half-dead when you found him. I’m so sorry.” Jen leaned forward, reaching across the short distance to touch Mara’s arm.

A tiny smile played on Mara’s lips. “He didn’t die.”

“What? So where is he then?” Jen asked.

The guest room door opened and shut again. Cade walked calmly to Mara’s side, dropped down next to her, and slid an arm around her shoulders. “The wolf healed enough to go. He’s not coming back.” He extended his free hand. “I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Cade.”

“You. You’re still here.” Jen’s voice hardened and she jabbed a finger towards Cade, refusing to shake his hand. “I
knew
that story was bullshit. You
were
fucking him.”

“Jen! Goddess.” Mara’s cheeks burned. “I was not
fucking
him when you came over the other day.”
But I am now
, she thought, squirming in the warmth of Cade’s embrace.

Sharp blue eyes searched Mara’s face. Jen clucked her tongue in disapproval. “You’re too sick—”

“She’s not. Not anymore,” Cade insisted.

Jen sputtered and Mara held up her hand. “He’s right. I think. Something happened to me and I’m okay now. My doctor confirmed it. My numbers are normal. I feel good. I’ve felt good for days. Good enough to”—she looked at Cade, drawing strength from the smirk on his face and the alpha wolf staring at her from behind his eyes—“to start uh, a relationship with Cade.”

“A relationship?” Jen repeated, her gaze flicking from Cade to Mara and back to Cade again.

“Yes. Cade and I are together.”

A low rumble in Cade’s chest, appreciative and possessive, stirred Mara’s insides and created warmth in her belly.

“Together?”

“Will you stop repeating everything I say?”

“Only when you give me something besides these half-ass answers.”

“This isn’t a half-ass answer. It’s the truth. I wasn’t with him when you came over the other day. He was here, and no, he wasn’t naked in my house because of a gas leak. But we’re together now. There’s a lot I can’t explain and I need you to trust me.” Cade’s rough fingers grasped Mara’s. She enjoyed the feel of his skin, the warmth that permeated every inch of him. 

Jen glared at Cade. “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Cade straightened. “I’d never hurt her. I couldn’t. If you’re worried about her health, don’t. I’d do anything to protect her.”

Silence filled the house, stifling and oppressive. Mara could almost taste it and the tips of her fingers prickled—her element rising to the surface. She needed her best friend to accept Cade’s presence in her life as much as she needed Cade’s presence in the first place.

“Where do you live?” Jen asked, her quiet voice resigned with only a hint of disapproval. “How did you meet?”

Cade tightened his fingers around Mara’s hand. He hadn’t thought this through. Of course Mara’s best friend would have questions. Questions he couldn’t answer. His stomach clenched.
Die, dog!
He heard Katerina’s voice in his head and shuddered.

Cool fingers encircled his wrist and traced patterns on the back of his hand, anchoring him in the here and now. Katerina wasn’t here. She didn’t know about Mara’s role in saving his life. He was safe, here with his mate. She looked up at him now, a shy smile on her lips. “We met the last time I was on Orcas. He needed a place to stay—in Seattle. I offered.”

“So you’ve moved in? Isn’t this way too fast, Mara? What? You were on Orcas three weeks ago? Two?”

“You’ve known me a long time, sweetie. You know my history. Roger. Tim. Phil. Hell, you nursed me through all those breakups—even when I was the one to initiate them. I’ve never found someone who felt like my other half. It’s never
worked
. Well, it’s working now. Cade hasn’t moved in. He’s staying over. Long-term. We’re going to give this a chance and see where it goes. I told you I couldn’t explain everything.” Mara’s voice dropped. “Be happy, okay? I’m not likely to die in the next few months and I’ve found someone I care for who cares about me.”

Jen fixed them both with a hard stare. Mara shifted closer to Cade and he relished the contact. He wanted to drag her back to her bedroom and make love to her until they were both too spent to move. Shit. He wasn’t going to be able to keep his hands off of her much longer. The mating call sang through his blood, while his cock shouted its desires directly at his brain.

“Okay,” Jen said.

“Okay?”

“Yes. You look happy. You look like you’re healthy. I love you, Mar. You’re hiding things from me, I can tell. But I’m so happy you’re not dying that I don’t care.”

Mara rose and wrapped her best friend in her arms. Jen’s tears dripped onto Mara’s shoulder. Cade looked away, giving them their private moment. He wondered if he should go hide in the bedroom for a while.

When Jen sniffled and wiped her nose on her sleeve, Mara released her. “When are you going to tell Adam and Lil?”

“Aunt Lil already knows. She met Cade yesterday. It was her friend—Eleanor—who helped me understand how this sudden recovery happened. Aunt Lil gave him the third degree. You know her. If there was something to worry about, she never would have let him stay.”

Cade chuffed and ran a hand through his shaggy hair. He really needed to trim it. And shave. “I think she did more than give me the third degree. She practically threatened my life if I ever hurt you.”

A smile tugged at Mara’s lips. “She liked you.”

Pride and relief washed over Cade. Mara’s scent reached him from several feet away. Even across the room, perched on the arm of Jen’s chair, he could smell her.

Mara looked down at Jen. “I don’t want to deal with Adam right now. I go back to the doctor tomorrow. Once I have another good blood test, then I’ll tell him. If I told him now, he’d demand answers I don’t have yet. Plus, he and Lisa are up at Snoqualmie for the weekend. They get so little time alone since her parents won’t take the kids too often. Keep my—our secret for a little longer?”

“For a while. But you’d better tell him soon. I’m going to the salon with Lisa next Friday. Tell him by then?” Jen took Mara’s hand and squeezed.

“I will.”

“What do you do, Cade?” Jen asked.

Cade cleared his throat and looked at Mara for help. She trusted Jen, but he didn’t know this woman at all. Mara nodded encouragingly. “I had a woodworking shop up in Bellingham. Toys, art, furniture. I’d like to do that again.” His hands itched to work. He missed the feel of the sawdust between his fingers, the scent of it in his hair. 

Muffled voices permeated his thoughts. He shook his head. Jen was asking him something.

“So are you?”

“What?” He was dazed, lost in what had been taken from him. He’d missed the first part of her question.

“Are you the guy who did the installation at the Gates Foundation? Because he died. At least that’s what the press has been saying.” Jen narrowed her eyes. “His photo was all over the papers for a week after he died. Bill Gates went to his funeral. You look kinda like him. Skinnier. Scruffier. But . . .”

Panic gripped him. She’d put his name, face, and profession together; would she tell anyone?

Mara joined him on the couch, held up her hand to stop Jen from saying anything else, and cupped his cheek. “Look at me,” she whispered.

He turned his gaze to his mate’s reassuring emerald eyes.

“She won’t tell. Trust her. Trust
me
.”

Jen was frowning. She hadn’t made up her mind about him yet. Either he took a chance and trusted that Mara knew her best friend well enough or he’d have to run away. He took a deep breath. He wouldn’t run. He wouldn’t leave Mara.

“Yes. That’s me.”

“Why does everyone think you’re dead?”

Mara answered for him. “It’s a really long story. Like my recovery.” 

Cade sank back against the couch cushions. “Because the person who set the fire at my apartment is still after me.”

“What?”

Mara’s head snapped around. “What are you doing?” she hissed.

He stood, grabbed Mara’s hand, and pulled her to her feet. “Give us a minute, please,” he said to Jen. He led Mara into her bedroom, and shut the door.

“What are you doing?” Mara asked.

“Trying to get my life back.”

“You wanted to stay dead yesterday.”

He pulled her against him and dug his fingers into her ass. “Yesterday, my pack was dead. Yesterday, you thought you were still sick. We hadn’t . . . I didn’t think I could stay with you. A lot can change in a day. I’m not suggesting we go to the
Seattle Times
and announce my triumphant return to the world of the living. But tell your best friend. I’m not leaving you, Mara. It’ll be easier if she knows the truth now.”

Mara stared at him for a long time. Too long. He could barely resist stripping her naked and taking her. He dipped his head and nipped at her lower lip. A tiny purr of pleasure escaped her throat. Her body melted into his. God, he wanted her.

She slammed her hands into his chest and forced a few inches of space between them. “Not now,” she gasped. “Not with Jen right outside.”

Cade growled in frustration and released his mate. “Soon. Very soon.”

Mara shivered and grinned. “Promise?”

“Promise. Now go.” Cade stared at her swaying ass as she left the bedroom.

Cade paced Mara’s living room as he told his story—minus the werewolf parts. His hands balled into fists at his side and he told Jen that his father had killed a woman once by accident and that woman’s daughter wanted revenge. He kept the story light on the details, hiding the horrors of his time as a caged animal, the endless nights of pain and loneliness, the hopelessness that had permeated his life until Mara. “I was trapped on Orcas for a while. I didn’t have a way off the island. She took my ID, money, everything. Mara saved me.”

After he’d finished his story, Jen asked Mara for an Irish coffee. Mara busied herself in the kitchen and Jen led Cade to the couch with her lips pursed and her jaw clenched. When she took a deep breath, Cade braced himself for the worst.

“Is Mara in danger?” Jen’s voice was only a whisper.

“I don’t know. But I do know that my family’s on their way. We’re tighter than any family you’ve ever seen. And none of us will let anything happen to Mara. You won’t believe me, and that’s okay, but I’d die for her.”

Jen stared him down. The alpha wolf in him bristled at the challenge, but he knew this was a dance that he had to do and he wouldn’t look away. Mara came back to the living room and passed Jen the coffee.

“What are you two talking about?” she asked.

Jen looked away from Cade and smiled at Mara. “Today, the role of Mara’s father will be played by Jen Larsen.” She turned back to Cade. “I’ve got a shotgun and I know how to use it.” Her face was sober, but a moment later she burst into laughter. “I don’t really.”

Mara stifled a giggle. “Give him a break, okay. What’s been going on with you since Thanksgiving? Are you on break next week? I can’t make any definite plans yet, but maybe dinner next Friday? If I can work up the courage to tell Adam about Cade by then, he could meet everyone.”

Cade relaxed with Mara at his side. They fell into easy conversation, chatting about the holidays, Jen’s job as a grammar school teacher, Mara’s hopes that she could return to work after the first of the year. Cade didn’t have a lot to contribute, but he made the occasional joke, tried to get to know the petite raven-haired woman who was his mate’s best friend. When his stomach rumbled, close to noon, Jen glanced down at her watch.

“I should get going. I told my mom I’d help her set up her tree today. Cade, walk me out?”

The women embraced and Cade trailed behind Jen as she slipped out the front door. He let the door close behind him, but not before sparing his mate a quick, reassuring smile.

“Give me your worst,” he said, his voice resigned and sober.

Jen’s lips quirked into a small smile. “So where’s the wolf?”