Panther's Passion Read online

  He’d built this agency from the ground up, and now it was his, and he wasn’t about to abandon it just because he was bored with the paperwork.

  But the agency was now big enough that as the top man, he did nothing but paperwork. He’d hired enough good people that there were plenty of younger specialists to put into the field, deal with the nitty-gritty on-the-ground problems. And meanwhile, there was no one else up at his level, with the experience and understanding to handle the staff- and legal- and administrative-level stuff.

  Well, except Connie. She’d been his assistant from day one. Maybe he could retire and just leave the entire business to her.

  But he didn’t even want to be retired. What would he do all day? No, that wasn’t the solution.

  So he pulled himself together and plowed through all the paperwork. It was his job, and he’d committed to doing it, and he had a whole agency of people depending on him to do it.

  He’d been in the Marines, after all. He knew all about doing tedious work because he’d committed to something larger than himself.

  When all the forms were done, it was time for emails. Emails could be more fun than forms, because there were actual people on the other end. Inevitably, there’d still be some tedium, but it was at least a step up.

  And today, there was even something totally unexpected in his inbox—an email from Ken Turner, one of his old platoon buddies from the Marines.

  He’d been keeping in better touch with the guys since they’d all met up at their old Gunnery Sergeant’s wedding. Cal worked as a park ranger at Glacier National Park, which Nate had to admit was one of the most beautiful places he’d ever been. Ken must have agreed with him on that, at least, because Nate had heard through the grapevine that Ken had moved out there recently.

  It was a move that made sense for Ken, because the man worked as an environmental science researcher. Nate himself would never want to be all alone, away from any human civilization, in the forest for days on end.

  Even his panther didn’t quite like that idea. Run through the forest, was his panther’s response to that. Then meet up with pack.

  We don’t have a pack, Nate reminded his panther absently. We’ve got friends. We make new friends a lot.

  New lady friends, his panther pointed out.

  Nate frowned to himself. Lately, there’d been more and more rumbles of dissatisfaction while Nate was out on dates with women. He’d always dated around, and his panther had always seemed happy to seek out company and physical gratification. But these days, his panther was just as likely to see a woman and ask, Is she for our pack?

  Or, more often, look her over and decide, She’s not pack.

  It was definitely making dating less fun, that was for sure.

  But when Nate opened the email from Ken, his panther sat up and took notice. He’s pack, came the pleased rumble.

  He was pack, Nate corrected. Back when they’d been in the Service together, that had been the closest thing to pack that Nate had ever experienced.

  He missed it sometimes. Although he didn’t miss active duty. He’d been proud to serve his country, but he was definitely too old to be crouched behind a Humvee taking fire.

  The content of Ken’s email drove thoughts of the past clean out of his mind, though.

  Ken’s new mate, the one he’d moved to Glacier Park for, had a sister. And the sister’s ex-boyfriend was stalking her.

  We could use your expertise, Ken wrote. We scared off his pack a couple months ago, and they haven’t been back, but this guy just won’t leave off. He hasn’t done anything illegal, so we can’t call the police, and if we shift and give him a scare, he just runs away and then finds Stella sometime when we aren’t around. It’s frustrating as hell, thinking that I can’t protect my family, but neither Lynn nor I can be around Stella twenty-four-seven—she wouldn’t allow it even if we offered to take time off work.

  Plus, Stella has a seventeen-year-old daughter, and we’re all a little worried for her safety in this, too. Could you come give your professional assessment of the situation, maybe assign Stella some protection until it dies down? I’ll pay you for your time, no problem.

  Nate frowned at the screen, and immediately opened up a reply.

  I’ll be there ASAP. You better have the nicest guest suite available for me. I’ll be kind and forget that you offered me payment. If I remembered that a fellow platoon member had done that, I’d have to be mortally insulted.

  He sent the email, rose from his desk, and went out to see Connie with a new energy and determination in his step.

  “Guess what.”

  Connie regarded him. “From the expression on your face, I’m guessing there’s some kind of security crisis out there that’s requiring you to leap into the field immediately.”

  “Got it in one. An old friend needs my help.” His incipient grin faded as he thought about what the problem actually was. “His sister-in-law’s being stalked by her ex-boyfriend. It sounds like she’s having a hard time going about her life. And she has a daughter who might be in danger, too.”

  All humor faded from Connie’s expression. “Then get out there,” she said.

  Nate nodded firmly. “You’ll hold down the fort for me?”

  “I always do.”

  Of course she would. He’d rely on Connie to carry the agency through any crisis at all, in his absence. “Can’t say when I’ll be back.”

  “Take as long as you need to get rid of that asshole,” she said.

  “I surely will.” Nate turned for the door, his mind already racing ahead to Glacier Park.

  No innocent woman was going to be harassed and frightened on his watch.

  ***

  Stella

  The Park was just as beautiful in the evening as it was in the early morning. Stella surveyed the gorgeous peaks and smiled to herself. Sometimes it was hard to remember why she'd ever wanted to leave this place.

  Of course, when she was in town, surrounded by the same people she'd known all her life, going to the same stores and driving the same roads, the reasons came back to her.

  “Mom, let's go!” Eva was twenty yards ahead, looking around, bouncing a little in place.

  Stella smiled to herself. Eva had gone through a phase, when she was fifteen or so, where she didn't want to shift at all, just stay inside with the TV and the computer. Stella had been utterly bewildered—why wouldn't a person want to take advantage of the ability to run through the forest as a lynx? It just didn't make sense.

  Of course, she'd done a lot of things that didn't make sense when she was a teenager.

  But now that Eva was almost eighteen, she seemed to be coming out of her little Internet hole and remembering that the outdoors existed. Lynn had suggested that Stella show Eva around the Park, because the last time they'd lived this close to Glacier, Eva had been little.

  “Okay, race you to the tree line!” Stella told her daughter, and shifted and took off.

  “Hey!” Eva's laughing protest caught up with her as she ran. But it didn't take long for Eva's smaller lynx form to catch up with her, and pretty soon they were running together, caught up in the joy of pushing their shifter bodes to their very impressive limit.

  Stella loved using her body to its best abilities. Shifting and running felt like the very pinnacle of existence, sometimes, like there was nothing more to strive for than the burn of exertion, the panting of breath, the sharp quality of the air around them. It felt transcendent.

  And doing it with her daughter beside her was even better.

  They reached the tree line in a panting rush, and flopped down on the rocks together to catch their breath. Then Eva wanted to explore.

  Stella smiled to herself and settled in for a wonderful evening.

  ***

  It was hours later, the sun below the horizon and the stars beginning to come out, when they got back to the edge of the Park. Eva had shifted to human a ways back, because she wanted to talk about all the things they'd seen.
/>
  “And the smells, Mom—it's so weird how the smells are totally different when you're shifted, isn't it? I don't even have words to talk about what things smell like as a lynx. I wonder if anyone's written any of this stuff down. Hey Mom, do you know if anyone's written any—”

  “Stella.”

  Eva stopped talking with a little gasp. They were almost at the house; Stella could see it now, about half a mile off. And coming out of the trees right next to them was Todd.

  “I told you to stop this,” Stella said, as steadily as she could. She kept walking. It wasn't like Todd didn't know where they lived, and the closer she could get to the house, the more comfortable she'd be.

  “I can't, Stella,” Todd said, almost sadly. “I just can't.”

  Stella hadn't expected any other answer. It had been over a month now, and Todd hadn't listened anytime she'd told him to get the hell away. He didn't seem capable of listening to anything that came out of her mouth. She'd been expecting him to show up at the house for a while now, and she'd been dreading it.

  Yesterday, she'd even swallowed her pride and told Lynn that it was probably time to call up Ken's friend with the security agency. Any consideration of pride and independence had run out. She just wanted it to stop.

  Eva had sidled up next to Stella's side, eyeing Todd suspiciously. “Stop what?” she asked. “Have you been bothering my mom?”

  The hint of protectiveness in Eva's voice made Stella's chest hurt. Eva shouldn't be protective of her. “It's not a problem, honey,” she told Eva. “He's just been a little annoying, that's all.”

  “Annoying?” Todd came towards them, anger starting to show through.

  Maybe that had been a mistake.

  “After what we had, you're calling me annoying? I love you, and that's annoying?” His voice rose. “What sort of heartless—”

  “Stop this, Todd!” Stella said sharply, speeding up and tugging Eva after her. “I told you to leave!”

  “I'm not leaving.” He was staring at Stella with a disturbing intensity. “You chase me off, I'll just come back.” He came closer.

  Stella didn't want to run, because she was sure that he'd just chase them, and she didn't want to take the chance that he might be faster. She sped up, but stayed at a walk, keeping herself between Todd and Eva. “Please just go.”

  “The lady told you to go.”

  There was a frozen moment as everyone processed the sound of a new voice.

  A man stepped out from the darkened forest. He was tall and broad, and moved with a casual grace that suggested he was either an athlete or a shifter. Or both. His features were strong and his expression was grim.

  “Um,” Stella said. “Hello.”

  He turned to her and gave a serious look. “Are you all right, miss?”

  He had a Southern accent. No one around here had a Southern accent—they were practically at the Canadian border.

  “Yes. Thank you,” Stella said faintly.

  The man had turned back to Todd, and his voice hardened again. “I won't tell you again. The lady told you to go, so it's time for you to go.”

  Todd backed up a couple of steps. “This won't stop me,” he said to Stella. “I know you have all these people around telling you lies about me, telling you I'm a bad influence, that you shouldn't take me back. But I'm going to prove that they're wrong about me, you'll see.” He turned, without looking at the other man, and shifted into his wolf form, loping away into the trees.

  Stella let out a shaky breath. Then she turned to the newcomer. “Thank you,” she repeated.

  It was almost hard to force the words out. Because on the one hand, she was grateful that he’d made Todd leave—especially since Eva was with her.

  But on the other hand, why could some random man drive him away, when Stella’s own words had no effect at all? It was so incredibly frustrating.

  “Believe me, it was my pleasure,” said the man grimly. “You’re all right? You’re both all right?” His eyes flicked back and forth from Stella to Eva.

  “We’re fine,” Stella insisted. “He didn’t do anything but took.”

  The man exhaled audibly. “Sounds like that was enough.” He took a step forward. “Excuse my manners—I’m Nate.” He held out his hand.

  “Stella.” She shook, and had to hold back a sudden inhale at the spark she felt when they touched. His hand was warm, roughly calloused, and big, with long fingers, and the way it enveloped hers was—what was she thinking? She motioned to her daughter. “This is Eva.”

  He turned to Eva, and Stella let out a silent breath of relief. This was not the time to be fixating on a new man.

  Eva shook his hand shyly. She was close enough to Stella that their shoulders were bumping. Stella reached out and tugged her even closer, an arm around her shoulders. “You okay, baby?”

  “I’m fine.” But her voice was quiet, not her usual strident tone.

  “Hello, Eva,” their new defender said in a friendly voice, “I’m a friend of Ken’s. I run a company that works to keep people safe when they’re in situations like this, where someone won’t leave them alone.”

  Oh. So this was Ken’s old Marine buddy. Stella gave him a longer look.

  “I have a lot of experience at this. I’m going to make sure this goes away, and that this guy won’t bother you or your mom anymore. Okay?”

  “Okay.” Eva was almost silent now. Stella was suddenly and deeply furious at Todd for making her daughter sound like that.

  Nate looked back at her. “Okay?”

  Stella nodded once. “Can’t happen fast enough.”

  Nate’s mouth quirked in a smile. “I absolutely concur. How about we get back to the house?”

  So they all walked back together, Eva sticking close, Nate a few steps ahead. Stella wondered if he was doing that on purpose, to act as a guard. But then what if Todd came up behind them?

  She shook that idea off. Todd hadn’t done anything violent, hadn’t even threatened to. The only thing they’d called Nate in for was to keep him from hanging around and being creepy. If he had been violent, then they could have gone to the police. So there was nothing to worry about.

  Hopefully.

  When they reached the house, Stella pushed Eva forward, sending her through the door ahead of her, and then followed. Nate had hung back, she realized, doing the same thing she had done for Eva: making sure they were safe before he was.

  She wasn’t sure how she felt about that. Normally Stella chafed at the idea of restriction, of anyone tracking her movements or telling her what to do. It was what had made her relationship with Lynn so difficult over the years, and what made it so frustrating to work as a waitress.

  But there was also a kind of warmth in knowing that someone was going to be there if something happened.

  And it was only temporary, of course. Once Todd was taken care of, life would go back to normal.

  Lynn and Ken were out, so Stella led Nate into the living room. “Would you like anything? Coffee, water, beer...” She tried to remember what they had in the fridge. None of them were the greatest at keeping the kitchen stocked. Stella was too forgetful, Lynn was too used to stockpiling one person’s worth of ready-to-eat food, and Ken was away too often.

  But Nate shook his head. “Nothing for me, thanks. I’d like to sit down with you and talk through the situation, if you have some time.”

  Stella nodded. “Of course. I’m sorry no one was here to meet you...”

  Nate waved that off. “I just grabbed the first flight there was. Didn’t want anyone to rearrange their schedules for me. Do you want me to give Ken a call, confirm that I am who I say I am?” He held up his phone, his eyes serious.

  “Oh, I didn’t even think,” Stella said blankly. “Who would try to impersonate...? No, there’s no need for that.”

  Eva was frowning at him. “On TV, people always say that when they are trying to impersonate someone. So that everyone will think they’re on the level.”

  N
ate grinned, his eyes sparkling. They were a warm brown color—everything about him was warm, almost honey-colored: his eyes, his tanned skin, his blond-streaked hair. “Good, a suspicious mind. That’ll keep you safe. Here, I’m calling now.” He dialed, hitting speakerphone so that they could all hear.

  A second later, Ken’s voice was unmistakable. “Are you in town already?”

  “Sure am,” Nate drawled. “At the house with your sister-in-law and her daughter right now. Already frightened the target off outside.”

  The target. It sounded intimidatingly...military. Although he had been a Marine with Ken, so that made sense.

  Ken was so lighthearted, funny and charming, that Stella tended to forget he’d ever been a military man. She had the sense that with Nate, it would be harder to forget.

  “Damn,” Ken said. “Glad I called you in. I’m in town right now, I’ll be home soon, and you can let me know what I can do for support.”

  “Will do.” Nate ended the call and looked at Eva. “Now you can be confident that I am who I say I am, and good on you for making me prove it.”

  Eva was still giving him a suspicious look. But Stella suspected it was the more normal teenage look of I can’t tell if you’re talking down to me, rather than you might be an intruder. Finally, she looked over at Stella. “I’m going to head upstairs, if you don’t need me for anything.”

  Stella glanced at Nate. “I don’t think we do. Tonight was the first time you’d seen Todd around here since this all started.”

  “Then there’s no need for any debriefing,” Nate confirmed. “I’ll just sit down with your mom and talk the situation over. But if you have any questions about anything, or if you’re worried about something happening, I’m happy to talk things over.”

  “Sure.” With that promising monosyllable, Eva disappeared up the stairs.

  Stella sighed, looking after her. “She’s usually friendlier. I think she’s freaked out.”

  “Not surprising. I would be, in her place.”

  Surprised at his warm tone, Stella glanced up at him. In her experience, men weren’t that tolerant of sullen teenagers. But Nate smiled at her and said kindly, “I hope we can make sure that she doesn’t have to be freaked out any longer. And neither do you.”