Chapter 2

Chloe still wasn’t sure how she’d gotten roped into bringing lunch to Emma, Becky and Sheri, but here she was, trudging through the stifling heat with a bag of sandwiches from Frank’s Diner. Emma had just returned to work from maternity leave, but since Emma co-owned Wallflowers with her business partner and BFF Becky, she was able to bring the baby with her. Chloe had stopped in to see the newest member of the kitty family and had been commandeered into snagging their takeout.

At least she got free food out of it. They’d called and added a sandwich for Chloe so she could join them for lunch.

Chloe finally made it to the door of Wallflowers, for once glad her long red hair had been chopped off during all those surgeries. The back of her neck felt cool for a change, but she still missed the way her hair felt as it flowed down her back. Maybe she’d let the girls at Cynful put some colors into it, some blues and purples to contrast with the bright copper.

“Chloe?”

She blinked, her Fox yowling in desire at the sound of that deep, masculine voice. “Jim.” She turned, smiling weakly. He’d been gone for a week this time.

Not that she’d been stalking him or anything. Erm.

Maybe a little.

“How are you?” The way he gazed at her, his hazel eyes glittering, his smile warm, had her wondering what the hell he was up to. Jim never looked at her like she was a yummy treat he was dying to lick.

“I’m fine. How are you?” She wasn’t going to throw herself at him. She had that much self-respect.

“Better.” He glanced behind him and grimaced. “Listen, I don’t have time to talk, but—”

“Bye.” Chloe opened the door to Wallflowers, leaving Jim standing there, his mouth hanging open. Sort of like he’d left her hanging for so long.

Score one for the Fox.

Chloe rattled the bag. “Food!” She set the bag on the table and hastily backed away.

But unlike Cynful, where a hungry group of hyenas would descend on the bag like a ravaging horde of Vikings confronted by naked, nubile women after a year at sea, the ladies at Wallflowers simply walked out of the back room like, well, normal people.

Of course, they were the farthest from normal she’d ever met in her life.

And that was saying something, considering her family.

“Thank you, Chloe.” Emma Cannon, the Curana of the Halle Puma Pride and new mother, settled down on the sofa next to a blue-checkered car seat. She transferred the sleeping babe from her arms to the car seat. “God, I’m starving. I could eat a rhino.”

“No you wouldn’t.” Sheri grimaced. “They’re an endangered species.”

“Besides, they’re way too chewy.” Becky glanced around when everyone went silent. “What?”

Emma shook her head. “I swear, Becks, you never cease to amaze me.” “It was a joke.” Becky rolled her eyes.

“Uh-huh.” Emma’s expression turned sly. “Sort of like the time you bought Simon a corset and stockings?”

Chloe blinked, trying to picture the very masculine glass artist dressed as

someone from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. She started laughing as she pictured fem-Simon singing “Sweet Transvestite”.

“I never understood why he didn’t find that funny.” Becky sat next to Emma, cooing down at the blue-wrapped bundle of baby shifter before turning to the bag. “Did you want something to drink, Chloe? You can go in the back and get anything you want.”

“Thanks.” Chloe shifted past Sheri, who’d sat in one of the chairs across from the cream Victorian sofa, her seeing-eye dog waiting patiently next to her. Jerry was a Golden Retriever and had been with Sheri for years. “Can I bag anything for anyone else?”

“Pepsi, please. I needs caffeine, my Precious.” Emma gave her puppy dog eyes, no mean feat for the queen of the kitties.

“Would you bring me some water?” Becky pulled an apple out of the bag and sighed. “I still can’t eat these. Too many bad memories of eyeballs and evil bitches.”

“Huh?” Chloe had no idea what Becky was talking about.

Emma and Becky exchanged a quick glance before Emma replied, “Someone drugged Becky. She wound up having hallucinations and landed in the hospital. That person…is no longer a member of the Pride.”

“I’ll take it.” Sheri held out her pale hand. “And could you bring me some water as well, Chloe?”

“No problem.” Chloe, who’d been a waitress before the attack, could easily remember the drinks they’d asked for. It was carrying them that was the problem, but she solved that by putting them in a plastic bag she found in the back and carrying it with her good hand.

When she returned from the back room, she could see Jim outside, speaking to a man in a wheelchair and gesturing toward the entrance of Wallflowers. “Huh. Wonder what that’s about.”

“What what?” Emma looked up from her sandwich toward the plate glass window of her shop. “Hey, Jimmy’s back!”

“Yeah.” Chloe was determined to ignore her wayward mate, instead focusing on the new addition to the Pride. She might not be a Puma, but she lived in Halle, and the Pride had accepted her as one of their own. As far as she was concerned, she was an honorary Puma. “How’s Felix?”

“Demonic,” Emma grumbled, biting viciously into her sandwich. Becky cupped her hand over her mouth, laughing silently.

Sheri shook her head. “I still can’t believe you named him Felix.”

Emma shrugged. “Garfield was too obvious.” The fact that she said it like it made perfect sense was all Emma. “And Heathcliff was too tragic.”

“I think you should have gone with Nermal. I mean, look at him.” Becky smiled down at her godson with a besotted expression.

Emma just stared at her. “He looks like Winston Churchill and Lady Gaga had a drunken one-night stand.”

Chloe almost sprayed capicola and salami all over the table. “Emma!” “What?”

The bell over the door jangled, announcing they had a customer. Chloe turned to find Jim and the wheelchair man coming into the store. Jim held the door open for the man, who quietly thanked him. “Geez. You didn’t say it was like estrogen central in here, Jimbo.”

Jim rolled his eyes, but Chloe could see the nervousness in his expression. “They’re going to love you, bro.”

Emma started. “Um.” Her brows rose as she stared at Spencer. “Bro?”

Jim nodded, smiling shyly. It was oddly endearing. “Yes. This is Spencer, my half brother.”

“Yo.” Spencer waved. He then hitched his thumb toward Jim. “This is my brother from another mother.”

Jim totally face-palmed at his brother’s irreverent words. “Wait a sec.” Emma held up her hand. “You’re serious?”

Jim nodded, lifting his head from his palms. “Dad had an affair with a woman in Chicago about twenty-five years ago. Twenty-four years ago this weirdo was spawned.”

“We didn’t find out about each other until about a year ago. Seems Daddy wanted nothing to do with me when Mom died. Lucky for me, this big galoot found out about me and came for a visit.”

The sour expression on Spencer’s face was not echoed by Jim, who patted his brother’s shoulder. “I’m glad I did, or I would never have met you.” Jim’s gaze darted toward Chloe. “We need to talk.”

“Hallelujah,” Emma muttered.

“About damn time.” Becky glared at Jim.

“Hmph.” Sheri crossed her arms over her chest and sniffed.

Chloe ignored them all. She continued to eat her sandwich, studiously avoiding making eye contact with either Jim or his brother.

Jim sighed. “There’s a lot more going on than you know.”

“You said that fast time.” Chloe caught a glimpse of the confusion on Spencer’s face. Jim must not have told him about her paraphasia.

Jim sighed. “And we were attacked, remember? I never got to tell you what you…no, what I needed to.”

Chloe refused to feel sorry for the son of a bitch. Being changed against your will, being bitten by a shifter who wasn’t your mate, was an extremely painful way to be turned. But if he’d just accepted their mating none of that would have happened to him. He would have been a Fox instead of a Wolf, mated to her before the attack.

“Chloe? Are you ever going to speak to me again?” His tone was soft and disappointed.

As if he had the right to be anything but on his knees, begging for forgiveness. She sniffed. “I’m tinkling about it.”

Spencer held up his hand. “Can I explain?”

Before Jim could reply his phone rang. Unable to stop herself, she glanced at his expression long enough to see him wince. “You’ll have to.”

“Uh-oh. I know that tone, bro. Is that who I think it is?” Spencer frowned, holding his hand toward Jim.

“Yeah. I’ll be right outside if you need me.”

Spencer watched his brother leave the shop, then turned with a determined look and wheeled himself until he was next to Chloe. “Let me tell you about the birds, the bees, and a little thing called CIDP…”

Jim held the phone to his ear and listened to his mother rant and rave. Inside Wallflowers he could see Chloe leaning toward Spencer, listening intently to his words. The horror and sympathy that flashed across the faces of all three women made up at least a little for the raving lunatic his mother had become.

“I cannot believe you brought your father’s bastard home with you, James.” Wanda Woods was practically snarling in fury. “That son of a bitch has done nothing but hurt this family.”

“Spencer hasn’t done a thing wrong, Mom.” Jim watched Chloe as the familiar argument rolled over him. “That was all Dad.”

“He exists. That’s enough for me.”

Jim sighed. “Blame Dad, not Spencer.” Spencer was the only bright spot in his fucked-up family.

“What did I tell you? Leave that skanky ho’s brat alone! Why couldn’t you just leave him in Chicago?” As usual, his mother wasn’t listening to him. Ever since she’d discovered that not only had his father cheated on her, but had a child with the other woman, she’d lost her damn mind. The

ongoing divorce proceedings were vicious on both sides as each one of his parents tried to get the upper hand over the other.

He might have felt more sympathy for his mother if he hadn’t been on the receiving end of her rages. This wasn’t the first time she’d called him to bitch him out over something he had little control over. “It’s not my fault Dad cheated, and it’s not Spencer’s fault either.”

“But it’s your fault for shoving it in my face!”

“I can’t ignore him, Mom.” He doubted he’d be able to get through to her, but he tried. God knew, he tried. “He’s my brother.”

“And I’m your mother.” The chill that came into her voice made him sigh. “By bringing him to Halle you’ve told everyone you side with your father.”

“I’m not siding with anyone, and you know it.” His parents’ divorce was going to be the death of him. “I love you both equally.”

“If you did you would have left Spencer where you found him. Not even Arthur wants him in Halle.”

That, at least, was true. Jim’s dad wanted less to do with Spencer than his mother did. The man couldn’t even be bothered to call Jim to bitch about it. The silence from Arthur Woods was as hurtful as the shrill diatribes Wanda shot his way.

The family he’d known and loved was gone, burned away in betrayal and rage, and Jim was left to deal with the shattered lives left behind. An only child, he’d been forced to listen to both of his parents disparage the other as their marriage disintegrated. He’d had to act as not only their therapist but their mediator as each dumped their accusations and misery on his shoulders.

When Jim found out about Spencer it had only gotten worse. If he hadn’t listened to his father’s drunken rants about Spence he might never have

found his half brother, never have known the strong spirit of the man who’d grown up without a father in his life. While Jim bitterly mourned the loss of his parents, he couldn’t help but be grateful for finding Spencer when he had. Spencer was the only one who seemed to give a shit about what Jim was going through. Even his friends told him to suck it up, that he was an adult. Just because Jim was an adult didn’t mean he didn’t need his parents, didn’t wish things hadn’t become what they were.

But nothing could bring back the bright, loving parents he’d thought he once had. Maybe once the divorce was finalized they’d realize what they’d done to him, but Jim wasn’t about to hold his breath. No child should have to go through what Jim was, no matter what their age.

So he fought the only battle he could, knowing he wouldn’t win no matter which way he went. “Spencer is my family, Mother, and that’s the end of it.”

He should have been surprised when she hung up on him, but sadly it was an all-too-common occurrence these days. Both of them expected him to pick sides. When he tried to be fair, to treat each of them equally, he got crap like this in return.

Some days he wished he could bring himself to ignore the ringing phone, or stop wishing that it was his father instead of his mother. Just once, he wished they’d tell him that everything would be all right rather than leaving him to deal with all of this shit on his own.

At least Spencer seemed to be getting through to Chloe. His brother was holding Chloe’s hand, and she was nodding sympathetically.

Perhaps, just perhaps, instead of trying to cling to the old, he needed to get started on the new. It was time to make his own damn family, and to hell with his parents. Let them deal with their own shit-storm. He was going to concentrate on Chloe and Spencer and the rest of the people he loved.

They’d be the family he’d been missing for so long.

Jim stepped into Wallflowers, fully expecting to be greeted with smiles.

What he got was—

“Oof.” Jim laughed as Emma practically jumped him. “Hey, pretty girl.” A pissed-off yip came from the couch.

“You are such a good boy, Jimbo.” Emma pinched his cheeks. “Yes you are. Oh, yes you are.”

Jim laughed and shoved her off of him. “Knock it off.”

Becky shook her head at them while Sheri simply smiled serenely, well used to Emma’s madness by now.

Their reactions weren’t the ones that interested him, though. It was Chloe, who still sat holding on to Spencer, whose opinion truly mattered. “Chloe?”

“Tell me.” She stared at him, her eyes reddish-brown, her tone clipped.

He maneuvered past Emma, kneeling next to Chloe’s chair until they were eye-to-eye. Her Fox was close to the surface, driving his Wolf to respond. His vision blurred, Chloe’s brilliant red hair becoming a muted yellowish-brown. He’d known that canines were unable to see reds or greens, but until his eyes first changed he hadn’t realized how it could impact his world.

He loved Chloe’s red hair.

“Spencer filled you in on what’s wrong with him?”

She nodded. “And I’m sorry about that, but I’m not sure what this has to do with you and me.”

He ran his fingers nervously through his hair. Here was the rough part, the part where he worried she wouldn’t be able to forgive him. “We thought he was dying.”

“And?” Her eyes went wide. “Oh. This happened right around the time

—”

“When you were in the hospital, yes.” Even worse, at the time he’d still believed her not only too young for him, but pining for another man. That was a discussion for another day, though. “I’d just found him, and we thought he was dying. Everything I heard was that you were here, you were unconscious but stable, and the best of the best was working on you.”

“While I had no one.” Spencer’s tone was soft, but even now he didn’t sound sorry for himself. Spencer was far too comfortable in his skin to ever display sorrow over his situation. “Jim stepped in when no one else wanted anything to do with me, including my sperm donor.”

Jim smiled wryly. “I hate to say it but I’m beginning to think of him that way too.”

The brothers shared a sympathetic glance before Jim gave his attention once more to Chloe. “So. Once my parents figured out I was helping Spencer, they both freaked and demanded I stay away from him.”

“Yeah, the sperm donor even went so far as to call and threaten me. Said he’d cut Jim off if I didn’t drive him away.”

Jim glared at Spencer. “You didn’t tell me that.”

Spencer shrugged. “It didn’t matter.” That cheeky, lovable grin crossed his face. “Besides, you would have ignored me if I’d tried.”

“True.”

“Worse, it happened.” Spencer tightened his grip on Chloe’s hand when she tried to pull away. “His father stopped speaking to him months ago, and his mother? She’s kind of…well…”

Jim shrugged fatalistically. “Rage-tastic?” “Status Dramaticus?”

He frowned as he tried to come up with another one. It was a game they played, both of them enjoying the play on words. “E-vil-gelical?

Spencer tapped his finger on his chin. “She likes to go mid-evil on your ass.”

Jim rolled his eyes at that one. “That was bad.” “I try.”

“Next time she calls you’ll just have to grim and bear it.” Chloe blinked innocently. Whether the misspoken word was meant or not, Jim chose to believe it was. She was playing their game.

Spencer sighed happily. “I like her. Can we keep her?”

“Do I get a say in it?” Chloe tried to pull free once more, but Spencer was like a dog with a bone when he wanted something, and he wanted Chloe for Jim.

His poor mate didn’t stand a chance.

“Nope.” Jim stood, holding out his hand. “So, take a walk with me?”

“Wait. Hold up there.” Spencer let go of Chloe. “You’re leaving me in estrogen central?”

“Why do guys keep calling it that?” Emma tilted her head, her ponytail brushing her shoulder.

“I don’t get it,” Becky added.

Sheri chuckled. “I do, but I’m not telling.”

Jim ignored the playful banter between the three women and pulled Chloe to her feet. Like Emma Cannon didn’t know exactly what men thought when they entered Wallflowers for the first time. “Come on. I promise you won’t regret it.”

Chloe glared at him but took his hand. “I mill haven’t decided if I forbid you yet.”

“I know. But are you willing to give me the chance to earn your forgiveness?” He didn’t know what he’d do if she said no. Probably become some sort of creepy stalker she’d need a restraining order and some

wolfsbane pepper spray to get rid of.

She nodded slowly, her expression almost reluctant. “I can try.” “Good.” He lifted her hand to his lips, kissing her knuckles.

The color that flooded her cheeks made him grin. He loved that she blushed so easily. He had so much to learn about his mate, so much that he’d let slide by him. Now that Spencer was home, he could concentrate on fixing the mistakes he’d made with Chloe, starting now.

And if she wouldn’t let him, well…

Wolves were very good at stalking their prey.