There's Something About Werewolves: Seven Brides for Seven Shifters, Book 1 (6 page)

She flipped through the overstuffed photo album lying in front of her. Pausing she flipped back a few pages before she found what she wanted. Gran turned the book to show them and tapped the corner of a sepia-tone image with her index finger. In it a family of three, with dark sienna skin and wavy hair, plus two men and women of varying nationalities posed on the steps of Averdeen Manor. Lennox knew this photograph well. Every time Gran felt sentimental she brought out the family photo album. Afterward nostalgia and pride always overcame Lennox. Not a bad thing at all. They’d come a long way.

When she spoke, Gran’s watery voice touched Lennox. She settled in to listen to the story the same as Nox, who was hearing it for the first time.

“For some mystical reason three immigrants moved into LuPines between 1915 and 1919. They settled here for various reasons. One had seen pictures, another thought to find kin, the third had walked from New York. Whatever the reasons this caused a stir.”

“I’m guessing the town was a lot more insular then,” Garrett said.

“I’d go with small minded,” Gran shrugged, “but you’re kinder than me.”

Lennox giggled. Garrett smiled. Whether Lennox’s giggle had brought it out or Gran had delighted him. Who knew? A sexy smile didn’t care who caused it.

“Folks in town gave those three a hard time. They could barely find a place to eat or a room to rent.” Gran put her arms around Nox. “Maybe those accents scared the town. I’m not sure. But the Deen family, who lived right here, understood what they were going through.”

“Why?” Nox asked, leaning into her.

“Well, the Deens had an ancestor who’d been a slave. With slavery not over for more than sixty years and them being a mixed family, you can imagine how well that went over at parties.”

“I don’t understand that whole thing,” Nox said.

Gran shook her head. “It’s not something we can explain to you tonight.” She kissed his forehead. “But I’ve got some books you can read.”

“Can you send them to my eReader?”

“Hell no.” Gran patted his cheek. “You better get enough gumption to turn the pages of a book.”

They stuck out their tongues at each other. Garrett chuffed and reached over to check Lennox’s temperature. She almost let him but pushed his hand away at the last second.

“Cutting a long story down to size, our three immigrants ended up helping to transform one peach tree into an orchard. Gradually, and through sticking together against the bullies of this town, Mr. and Mrs. Deen, their daughter Savannah, Yash from India, Ayla from Turkey, and Jarek from Poland, became one family.” Gran rested her cheek against the top of Nox’s head and continued. “They all changed their names to Averdeen. Aver means ‘we’ll see’ or ‘now’ in Spanish. So they all became ‘now Deens’ and eventually marriages and children and time blended us together. That’s how the Averdeens made this house and this town home.”

“Wow,” Nox said. “That’s a good one.”

Score a point for Grandma. Lennox gave herself a secret point too. She’d wanted Nox to hear that story when she wrote “home” on her index card. She hoped he’d understand you’re not always born into a home. Sometimes you find one.

“My turn.” Nox stirred the index cards around a bit more. He chose and read out his word. “Chicken.”

Lennox grumbled. “You’re hilarious, Garrett.”

Chicken, especially the frozen kind, made her blush every time. If Nox could find the right picture, he’d definitely earn a point. Sure enough he pulled up an image of her and Garrett eating chicken tenders. A series of red blotches covered her face and hands in the picture.

“Dad, can you tell this one?”

“Without a doubt.” Garrett ran a thumb across his lips. Apparently he thought he could erase his cheese-eating grin by rubbing it away. “It’s a favorite of mine,” he said, puffing-up-politician-at-the-podium style. “Lennox and I shared a house in college. One day I stepped out of the shower and heard
kabloosh
followed by a loud hiss. I thought a giant anaconda had slithered into the kitchen.”

He paused. The funniest expression Lennox had ever seen him wear crossed his face. “So I ran in there to save Lennox—” Garrett doubled over. His shoulders shook violently. He didn’t make a sound but if he didn’t stop laughing soon, Lennox would pelt him with a marker.

“Are you serious right now?” she asked. “Tell the damn story already.”

Garrett swallowed and straightened. “It turned out the kitchen needed saving from Lennox.”

“What happened?” Nox leaned in. He probably hadn’t known such a funny story went with such a harmless picture.

“Well, son, our friend Lennox had ignored the laws of basic science. She’d thrown a frozen chicken breast into the deep fryer and…” Garrett mimed a mushroom cloud in the air. “
Kabloom!
Her face and hands looked like she’d been splattered with red ink for a week.”

Unable to control himself, Mr. Storyteller threw himself across the bed and rolled onto his back laughing. A hoot cut through Garrett’s guffaws. Gran tried her best to hold it in, but she knew Lennox too well. She could probably envision the whole scene vividly. After shaking for ten seconds she hooted again and didn’t stop.

Nox made a face. He looked at Lennox and said, “I don’t get it.”

She smiled. “I know, hon, and I’m too ashamed to explain it to you right now. Maybe in the morning.”

He seemed satisfied with that. Gran and his dad kept laughing. Every few minutes Gran yelled, “Frozen chicken.” Afterward Garrett nodded and pounded the bed. “In the deep fryer.” During one of these exchanges he said, “Good thing she didn’t let it get hot enough or I’d have had to mummify her in bandages and aloe vera.”

Lennox threw the orange marker at his head. He caught it and went on with his enjoyment. Nox’s lips thinned. He didn’t like being left out of the joke. “Lennox,” he said, “was this before you and dad met my mom?”

“Yeah, right before we met her. She was working in the school infirmary. She’s the one who fixed me up,” Lennox said.

Her godson crawled up the bed and snuggled in beside her. “She liked you a lot. Dad has this letter where she said you and him could make a box of matches funny. She said you kept her laughing and you knew how to listen.”

Lennox hid the bulk of her pain from Nox. He didn’t need to see it, but her lips trembled against her will. “Oh, Nox, I liked her a lot too.” Ignoring the twinge in her neck and the ache in her temple, she hugged her godson. “I loved her. Her laugh. Her patience. Her kindness. The food she made. She amazed me.”

Nox settled in closer to her, laying his head on her chest. “Leni?”

“Yeah?”

“Will you be my godmother for real?”

“I already am.”

He tilted up to meet her eyes. She noticed how still the room had gone. Both Garrett and Gran watched them.

“I mean will you be my second mother? You know, like a second chance?”

Lennox yanked him into her arms. “Of course. Every day. All day,” she said.

Garrett’s harsh voice startled them. “Nox, go to bed.”

“But—” Nox began.

“Just go. Gran set you up with a room. Right?” After he received a nod in response Garrett went on. “I’ll come in and stay with you in a few.”

Her chest hurt as she watched her godson leave. What had gotten into Garrett this time? He answered her. “Let’s not go there, Lennox,” he said, through gritted teeth.

He strode out of the room, leaving Gran gaping and Lennox fuming. Such a freaking hypocrite. One minute he didn’t want her to abandon Nox. The next he didn’t want her to step up. She hadn’t been good enough to be the mother of his children and now she wasn’t good enough to be a second mom.

“Gran, if I say something childish, will you forgive me?” Lennox banged her fists against her thighs. Her grandmother got up, walked around the bed, and stroked her hair.

“Go right ahead,” Gran said.

Lennox leaned back into the pillows Garrett had so carefully fluffed for her. She closed her eyes, hoping to forget, but his face floated behind her lids. “I hate him, Gran. I really do.” She sighed, breathing out her frustration.

Soft fingers threaded through her hair. “You don’t
hate
him, Leni. That’s what makes him so hard to deal with.”

Chapter Six

Garrett woke up pissed off. Taking a moment to examine his state of mind, he came up with several reasons for it.

1. He ’d overreacted with Nox and Lennox last night. Their closeness scared him. Lennox had walked out on him before. When Tina died he hadn’t had anyone to lean on. He couldn’t let that happened to his son.

2. He wanted Lennox to be a part of their lives, but it wasn’t going to happen. Not only could Nox get hurt, what if his own loneliness confused him and he slipped up? He couldn’t risk it. He’d stay away from her despite yearning for her presence.

3. Her laughter had been floating through the halls for a good fifteen minutes now. And Ian Somers took the credit for her enjoyment.

Two of those factors propelled Garret out of bed. He didn’t bother putting on a shirt. Let Lennox see his bare chest. Then they’d put an end to all this mirth first thing in the morning.

Garrett sauntered into Lennox’s bedroom. “You two need to keep it down.” He flexed his pecks. “Nox is still asleep.”

Yeah, he felt like an idiot. So what? Ian and Lennox turned from their conversation. She rolled her eyes. Ian apologized and paused. “Holy shit, dude, that’s a spectacular set of pectoral muscles. Do you work out? I mean, you gotta. I count one, two, three, four.” Ian mockingly fanned himself. “Yup, that’s a genuine eight pack.”

To her credit Lennox averted her gaze so she wouldn’t embarrass Garrett. She didn’t look directly at him but ended up giggling anyway. He almost covered his nipples out of shame, but he’d pierce both of them with thorns before he let Ian out alpha him. Garrett didn’t come into the room to be ridiculed. He came to do the ridiculing. He’d been named one of the Top Ten Most Influential People In Hollywood. Directors, producers, and actors fought for appointments on his schedule.
GQ Magazine
created a feature called The Westlake Look to chart his sense of style. Plus, he actually did have a pretty damn dazzling set of chest muscles and the abs to match.

“Close your eyes, Ian,” Garrett said. “Stare at me any longer and you’ll get confused about what makes an alpha male.”

Ian started to respond but aborted. He stood up from the edge of Lennox’s bed. “I’ve got to get back to the vineyards, Leni.” He kissed her forehead. “Take better care of yourself. You don’t want me to have to move in to look after you. Do you?”

Ian shot a pointed glance at Garrett.
Funny guy.
He ought to keep his lips to himself. Garrett wondered how much Lennox would protest if he threw her funny friend out the window…without opening it.

“Hey, Ian. Have you ever heard of defenestration?”

“Garrett,” Lennox said.

He didn’t miss the cautioning note in her voice. He guessed she would mind if he defenestrated Ian straight through the windowpane and onto the back porch. Who knew?

Oblivious to having narrowly missed a set of broken bones, Ian walked halfway to the door. He stopped, looked at Garrett, and turned left. After disappearing into Lennox’s walk-in closet he reappeared with a yellow cardigan.

Suspicious, Garrett took a few more steps into the room.

Ian went back to Lennox’s bedside. “Lean forward a bit, Leni,” he said.

She did and he wrapped the cardigan around her shoulders. Afterward Ian pulled the sheet covering her lower half down. Garrett started across the room but didn’t reach in time to stop
Chuckles
from lifting Lennox into his arms. Ian whispered to her, “I know where you want to be. Come on, kitty.”

Mr. Chuckles shouldered past Garrett on his way out of the bedroom door. Lennox wrapped her arms around Chuckles’s neck. If not for the precious cargo Ian carried, he’d have gotten a lamp to the skull.

Lennox looked pretty this morning with her caramel curls piled high. Garrett rubbed his now fully grown-in beard. He thought about it for a second then followed her and Ian down the stairs. They’d had enough time alone already this morning.

The pair walked past the kitchen, through the sunroom, and, after Lennox opened the door, out onto the back porch. Garrett trailed closely behind.

Ian sat her down in the porch swing. She hugged him, murmuring thanks into his ear. The other man’s face lit up. Ian brushed the pad of his thumb over Lennox’s eyebrow and Garrett saw it clearly. This guy loved her. Garrett turned away. He walked to the banister and leaned over it.

Why did the realization piss him off? Lennox deserved someone who cherished her. Ian made a great match. Garrett had looked into it. Ian owned a lucrative vineyard, earned millions a year. He made her laugh. And he loved her. There wasn’t anything to object to. But Garrett didn’t like it. He just didn’t. No amount of talking to himself would change his mind.

Chuckles said his goodbyes and headed out through the house. Garrett kept quiet for a while, listening to Lennox breathe deep and sigh. He glanced over his shoulder. Contentment softened her features as she looked out at her yard.

The scent of peaches made the air taste good. June bugs buzzed. Sunlight lit his closest friend’s face and… Garrett took another sniff of the air. Anger exploded in his chest. He called it anger because jealousy wasn’t possible.

“Why haven’t you chosen a man yet, Elle?”

“What?” She glanced at him, but her gaze wandered back to the yard.

Garrett exhaled, hard. “Why haven’t you chosen a man yet? You’re sitting here hornier than a hound dog at a bitch convention. I can smell it. You need a man.”

Her eyes flashed. Slowly and deliberately she said, “What the hell are you talking about, Garrett? I don’t need shit.”

He crossed the porch and knelt in front of her. “Yes, you do. Get it together.”

Lennox grabbed him by the chin. If he didn’t know her, he’d swear she meant to strangle him. “My problem isn’t picking someone, Garrett. My problem is having that man pick me.”

He jerked free from her grasp. “You take a grudge too far, Elle.”

“What did you want me to do? Huh?” she said. “I couldn’t stay at school while my father was sick. I needed to come home.”

Garrett gripped the swing on either side of her. “You could have said something. Goodbye would’ve been a start. But leaving without a word? Unacceptable.”

“I tried to tell you.” She gritted out the words. “But when I went looking for reassurance from you, the person who I thought would be there for me no matter what…” She looked away.

“What?” He pulled the swing closer.

“When I came to tell you my father was ill and I had to leave school. When I came to you looking for a shoulder to lean on…” She focused on the yard as if it would disappear if she didn’t watch it. Her voice cracked. “I walked into your and Tina’s impromptu reception. You know, the one you had after your spur-of-the-moment courthouse wedding.” She covered her eyes with clenched fists. “You got married without a word to me. You blindsided me. How could you do that, Garrett?”

He rose and paced the porch. “That’s what spur-of-the-moment means. We didn’t know we were going to get married. We just decided to one minute and did it the next.”

She dropped her fists, banging them on the swing. “But you always told me everything. You never did anything without me. And when I needed you to hold me you weren’t there. You were holding her instead.”

Garrett studied her. What did she want from him? He crouched in front of the swing and opened his mouth to tell her how wrong she was. She put a finger to his lips, cutting off his words before they started.

“Yes, Garrett, I carry a grudge. You never think about how someone else might feel. You always do whatever you want.”

Anger roiled in the pit of his stomach. Her words stung. “Was I supposed to put my life on hold because of your one-sided love?”

She gasped. He didn’t stop. “I loved Tina. Still love Tina. From that first moment our eyes met, I saw only her. I wasn’t going to ignore that for anyone. Not even to keep you from getting your feelings hurt. Did you expect me to?”

Lennox waved a hand between them. “No,” she said. “You have the right to chose your own life. But you didn’t bother to think about how finding out that way might hurt me. The same with Nox.”

Garrett tensed. She wanted to be careful with whatever she said next. Lennox didn’t see the danger sign flashing in his expression. “You’re keeping some part of his heritage from him. Is that for his benefit or for your ease?”

His growl made her go still. He whirled away. “You don’t know anything about that, Lennox. You’ve never been hunted or had to hide. You’ve never watched someone you love bleed out in your arms.” Garrett gripped the banister and felt the wood crack beneath his palms. “And you’re not a parent. Being a sudden godmother doesn’t qualify. So don’t judge me.”

When he looked at her the widening of her eyes told him amber flickered in his. He told himself to stop, to shut up and leave it alone. He didn’t want to hurt her. Not again. Lennox meant so much more to him than he knew how to say but, instead of telling her that, he bit into her with words. “You want to be pissed off because I chose my wife over you? Fine. But don’t question what I do to protect my son.”

When she spoke, Lennox’s voice took on a sharp edge. “Everyone dies. You’re not the only one who’s lost someone you love.” Her volume rose when her fire-filled eyes met his. “My father died in my arms, Garrett. He was so thin I could pick him up by myself and cradle him.” She pushed up out of her rocking chair. “The center of my universe wasted away and left me.” She stared at him. “You hurt?”

“Yeah,” he growled back. His claws slid out of his nail beds and he curled his fingers into fists. Sharp ticks of pain sliced his palms.

“Me too,” Lennox said, lowering her head.

A blast of the hurt she’d mentioned, along with rage and more guilt than he knew what to do with shot Garrett in the chest. Without another word, he leaped over the porch and into the yard. He needed to run, to rip off these clothes and be free. Be wolfen with the grass beneath his paws, scents thick in his nose, wind rough in his fur. Be wolf. Forget and own the woods.

His gray lupine body tore through his jeans as soon as he reached the cover of the trees. He hadn’t allowed his animal side to run in so long. Garrett faded and his wolf roamed the woods for hours.

The smell of smoke brought him back to himself. He followed the burn on the breeze. Panic shot through his veins in shards of ice. Fast. Faster. Averdeen Manor burned. Everything he loved might burn too. His son. His Elle. Save them or die trying.

Garrett broke the back door down in human form. Sniffing the air, he separated smoke from scent. There. He bounded into the kitchen. His son whipped a box of baking soda over the fire consuming most of the wall. Nothing could be done. The blaze leapt, the heat nearly unbearable. Garrett grabbed Nox by the waist. Tucking his son under an arm, he ran to the front of the house.

Gran screamed his name. He nearly tossed Nox out the front door and ran toward the cracked sound of her voice. Smoke burned his throat and eyes. He pushed through and found the Averdeens on the stairs. Lennox leaned heavily on Gran. The older Averdeen’s frail body bowed with the weight. He leaped up to them, scooped them up in his arms, and jumped down a full flight of steps.

They escaped into the sunlight. Garrett breathed for the first time since he’d smelled smoke. He hugged Nox, Lennox, and Gran close. He didn’t know how many kisses he rained down on them. He didn’t care. All those who belonged to him were safe.

Gran wailed. Lennox crumpled against him. Garrett tightened his grip. He had everything that mattered in the circle of his arms. They’d be okay but Averdeen Manor burned.