Pack Hunter (2 page)

Too aroused to think straight, she couldn’t have come back with a witty comment if her life depended on it.

He patted the counter before turning and carrying his coffee to a table by the window. He dropped what looked like mail onto the table top and took his seat.

His back was to her now. He stretched his long legs out under the table, and Sara actually had to grip the counter to stop from offering to drop between those powerful thighs.

Cecil came up beside her and hip-checked her. “You keep staring at him like that and we’re all likely to catch on fire,” he teased in a low tone.

She smacked his back and moved away to start to clean up a little, taking advantage of the lack of customers. Cecil had gone back over to wipe down the espresso machine, so Sara began clearing used cups and pastry wrappers from empty tables.

As she glanced around, she saw that in addition to Clint, there were two women giggling at one table, a group of five college kids in the couch and chairs and two business men in suits.

Business was good and for that she was thankful.

It had been a big chance opening her own business, but she had saved her money knowing what she wanted.

She had a love for coffee and books. A perfect day for her would be to curl up in a comfortable chair with a hot cup of rich coffee and the newest mystery book.

She was a book geek, enjoyed her quiet, small-town life and never wanted for more. That was, until a handsome stranger had first stopped in for his morning cup.

Now she often fantasised about more.

Not that she wanted her life to change. She was really happy, but meeting Clint had reminded her of an element she hadn’t realised she was missing.

She’d had plenty of relationships in the past, even a semi-serious one while attending college, but no attraction had ever been as strong as how she was drawn to Clint.

Remaining far enough from him where she could admire him without the threat of being discovered, she continued to watch him. He’d arrived in town a short time ago with Kurt. The town gossip had placed him at the shifter place several miles up the road, so she had to assume that he was one of the shifters. She didn’t actually know much about what that meant, though.

She’d grown up in the small town. Her dad still worked as the sheriff. Her mom, before she’d passed, had volunteered at the local library.

When the news about shifters being real and not mythical creatures had come out, it was only then that the town had learned that the large property close by was not just owned by a rich family but actually housed a small group of shifters. She wasn’t even sure what type of animals. She’d read some news stories and several articles, but since the residents of the big house just outside of town had rarely visited, no one knew much about the local group.

It was only recently that the shifters had started to appear in town regularly. Most of the younger ones, like Clint, stopped by the coffeehouse, went shopping and even grabbed a bite to eat at one of the restaurants on occasion.

Unless you knew what they were, you would never know they were different.

Her dad had come clean with her after the shifters went public. He had known and had been committed to keeping the shifter existence quiet.

When she’d asked why he’d agreed to keep their secret, he’d explained to her that having the shifters there meant they would always have protection. Plus, he had informed her, it had always been that way. Even back when her great-grandfather had settled in town, the shifters had already been there. The humans had moved in and a truce had been reached.

The humans brought in businesses that were much needed to make the town look normal, while the shifters in Lovington vowed to protect everyone, shifter and human.

She could understand the logic, and really it didn’t make much of a difference to her. She was intrigued, but until she’d met Clint, she had never given shifters much thought.

Movement drew her eye back to the man she had been thinking about. He turned and tilted his head to her with a frown on his face.

She hoped that he hadn’t been bothered by her attention. He had never seemed to mind before.

He didn’t look back at her as he rose, then pulled open the door and disappeared onto the street. The two men in business suits from the table next to him scrambled up and quickly followed after him. She called out a farewell to them, but they didn’t even acknowledge her. Clint’s abrupt departure bothered her more than it probably should have. He normally smiled or waved when he left.

Sara scurried back around the counter where Cecil was almost done with cleaning. She glanced at her watch and saw it was almost time to start on the books.

She enjoyed working the counter for the morning rush, talking with her regulars and hearing the latest gossip. But once it started to slow down, Cecil could handle the rest of the shift.

“I’m going into the office,” she told her employee.

Cecil nodded. “Don’t worry about me,” he told her. “I’ve got this.”

She smiled and headed into the back where her office was located, the blond-haired, brown-eyed man still foremost in her thoughts.

Chapter Two

Clint continued down First Street, keeping his senses open. He pretended to window shop before he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and pressed the speed dial number for Kurt.

His friend picked up on the second ring. “Don’t tell me, you’ve finally decided to stay in town and take that pretty coffee shop owner up on her unspoken offer to go into the back office,” Kurt said, laughing.

Clint growled. Kurt had been giving him a hard time about his daily visits to the coffee shop, asking why Clint didn’t just skip the coffee and take the woman.

“I’m being followed,” Clint told him instead.

“What? Where?” Kurt was immediately serious.

“There were two men at the coffee shop. Blue business suits. They didn’t say one word to one another the entire time I was inside. But they had their eye on me without trying to be obvious about it,” Clint explained.

“Which only made it more obvious?” Kurt guessed.

“Yeah,” Clint confirmed. “As soon as I left, they followed, although they are still keeping a pretty good distance.”

“I’m already on my way,” Kurt told him. “Try to act like you haven’t seen them.”

“No problem,” Clint responded. He stopped in front of the candle shop and leaned closer like he was looking at the display.

In the reflection, he could still see the two men across the street watching.

“Where are you?” Kurt asked and Clint could hear Kurt’s tyre squeal over the line.

“Still on First Street,” Clint answered.

“Good. Head down to the park. It should be almost empty this early. I’ll be there shortly. Don’t kill anyone.”

Clint snorted and pocketed his phone before starting to slowly stroll to the park at the end of the block.

It wasn’t like he just went around and killed people.
Well, people who didn’t deserve it
, he amended. And he couldn’t cause trouble in the middle of town anyway.

Clint actually liked the area. Loved the park.

He’d always felt comfortable coming into town. His dad had spent years working with the Alpha Council while Clint was young. His mom, brother and Clint had officially stayed in their birth Pack but came to visit often. He didn’t know how his parents managed such a strong marriage with his dad being away so much, but his mom and dad were happily married and still very much in love, in his opinion.

The small park was open to the public but was mainly used for festivals. It did have a well-kept playground, several benches to sit on and even a large, open space where some of the residents played football, Frisbee and other games.

He sat on one of the benches close to the street. The two men had fallen back even more, but they were still within his sight.

Clint stretched his legs out and massaged his calf, acting like it was bothering him.

The two men started to get closer and he prepared himself.

They were speaking in low tones, and Clint cursed that he couldn’t make out the words. He waited until they were a few feet away before standing and facing them.

“Can I help you gentlemen?” Clint asked in his most menacing tone.

They jerked back but didn’t say anything.

“You’ve been following me for some time,” Clint said directly. “What can I do for you?”

The younger one, with black hair and a sneer on his face, straightened his shoulders. “Are we supposed to be afraid of you, evil creature?” he replied, turning up his lip.

Clint leapt over the bench and immediately grasped him by the throat, lifting him off the ground. The man struggled in his hold. His partner took a step towards Clint, but Clint just growled. He froze and Clint heard Kurt’s truck skid to a stop.

His friend was beside him in seconds. “What seems to be the problem here?”

Clint shook the guy he still had a hold of. “We’re evil creatures,” he shared with Kurt.

Kurt shrugged. “Okay?”

The older man started to sputter. “You…you p-put him down right now.”

Clint scoffed, “I don’t think so.”

“Talk and talk fast before my friend here loses his temper,” Kurt ordered.

“We just want a meeting!” he cried.

Clint lowered the younger guy but didn’t release his hold. “So you insult me?”

The man shook his head. “No, no…he didn’t mean it.”

Clint snorted and glanced at Kurt. Kurt crossed his massive arms over his chest. “Meeting with who?”

“Your boss. We have an associate that would like to have a word with the Alpha,” he said, still clearly upset.

Clint and Kurt exchanged glances. There was no Alpha there. That was not how the Council worked. So at least these two men didn’t know about the Council Alphas. That was a relief.

“And how do you know one of us isn’t the Alpha?” Kurt asked with a smirk.

“The Alpha never leaves. No one has ever seen him. You two have been around town and only in the last month,” the man replied smugly.

Kurt narrowed his eyes. It was obvious they had been under surveillance. “We’ll pass along the message,” Kurt stated.

“No, that’s not good enough,” the man argued. “We must present this to your Alpha ourselves. We demand you take us to him.”

Clint snorted. “You have no idea who the Alpha is, and you think we’ll just take you to meet him? Either you two are the biggest dumbasses I’ve ever met or you think we are.” He lifted the man higher then launched him several feet, making sure both strangers understood just how strong they were.

The young man flew into the street where he landed hard. He groaned and rolled into a ball.

“Your card?” Kurt asked, holding out his hand.

The older man scrambled to pull out his wallet and slapped a card into Kurt’s hand then hurried over to his partner.

Kurt motioned his head to his truck and he and Kurt climbed inside. Clint kept his eye on the two humans until Kurt had driven them out of sight.

Once he couldn’t see the strangers any longer, he sat back in his seat and grinned at Kurt. “Man, that was fun.”

Kurt chuckled. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. If you don’t get to choke someone every few weeks you seem to get cranky.”

Clint flipped his friend off but was still smiling. “So what was that really about?”

Kurt shook his head. “They had to know that we would never have taken them into the compound. Maybe it was just their way to let us know we’re being watched?”

Clint chewed on his bottom lip. They had tracked him down at the coffee shop. That meant they knew his schedule. He didn’t like that one bit. He didn’t want to put Sara in any danger.

That thought worried him above all else.

“So how’d it go with your girl? Did you actually talk to her this time or did you just grunt at her like you normally do?” Kurt asked, eyeing him with amusement.

Clint slumped in his seat. “I don’t grunt at her,” he argued.

Kurt laughed. “Sure, man, you don’t grunt at her.”

Clint ignored his friend. He was pretty sure that Sara didn’t think he just grunted at her. The two strangers’ eyes weren’t the only ones that had been on him. While Sara had been cleaning, she had also been checking Clint out. Of course, that didn’t cause the same unsettled and aggressive feelings that the two men had. No, when Sara watched him it was different. His cock perked up and his blood pumped in his veins.

For ten years he had followed every order and given every second of his time to protect what he believed in. Now, as he moved out of that responsibility to another phase in his life, he wanted someone to share it with.

He didn’t know if Sara was the one he was meant to settle down with, but she sure was who he wanted. But he couldn’t exactly say that to Kurt.

Kurt had given up his first love, had only recently seen her again, and he’d had to watch her with another man.

Clint didn’t believe that Kurt still loved Becca. He thought it was more that Kurt had reached the point where he was looking back on his life and seeing his mistakes.

They reached the gates and the same two guards as earlier waved them through.

Kurt stopped the truck in front of them. “We ran across some trouble in town. Make sure you keep an eye out. No one gets through without one of the Council’s approval.”

Both men nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Clint grinned at the eagerness of the two guards. They had been scared shitless of Kurt and Clint when they’d first arrived. Now it had turned mostly to awe.

“Stuff it. They’re just kids,” Kurt grumbled as he drove towards the house.

“Yes, sir,” Clint said as seriously as he could.

Kurt ignored his cheekiness. “I’m going to take this card to the Council. You wanna come?”

Clint trusted the guards but he wanted to check out the property himself. Plus shifting would help calm him after the spike of adrenaline from the encounter with the two humans.

“I think I’ll check around the property. Make sure everything is secure,” Clint replied.

Kurt pulled the truck up to the compound and stopped. “Sounds good. I’ll let them know you’ll be available if they have any more questions.”