The Bull Creek Chronicles: Panther Hunted (Book 2)

Lainie Everest couldn’t believe her brother was thinking of having a bonfire in one hundred degree weather. “They’ll come out to see you hauled to the loony bin,” she said with a small laugh. “I think you’re crazy, but then, that’s never stopped you from carrying out one of your crazy schemes, yet.” She took a sip of her coffee as she sat on the edge of her bed—Josh’s bed, really—listening to how her brother intended to bring the backwater community of Bull Creek together against Bane Kastner.

“I just love the confidence and support I hear,” Dimitri said with a chuckle. She could imagine her brother shaking his shaggy blond head. “I’ll let you know how it goes. Just hurry up and get your ass down here.”

They hung up, Lainie shaking her head. Her brothers were both in odd situations. Fitzgerald, the eldest of the Everest siblings, was in a marriage—mated even, from what she heard—with someone who was not his destined mate thanks to their father, a father who only wanted his children to marry spouses with connections that could further his business goals, something that became quite apparent as they left high school and headed for college or careers of their own. Dimitri, the middle of their parents’ children, escaped that particular fate by taking the alpha position down in Florida in a small paranormal community called Bull Creek. One brother was miserable; the other seemed to be having the time of his life, even if he risked that life by taking on a pack of coyotes by himself. Lainie, on the other hand, was just biding her time until she joined her brother in Bull Creek, distancing herself from her father’s schemes. The next week couldn’t go fast enough.

Pushing herself off the bed, she set her coffee on Josh’s dresser and then finished slipping into her sheriff’s uniform. Once her father kicked her out of her family home, Josh Rayburn gave her use of his apartment since he joined Dimitri in Bull Creek. The place had been a quiet change except for some twenty-somethings who couldn’t turn the party off after last call. However, a quick flash of her badge, and the apartment complex became quiet once more.

Once she finished dressing, she pulled her hair into a tight ponytail and headed out the door, Deputy Lainie Everest, now on duty. However, she hadn’t made it two steps before noticing her father oozing out of his gray sedan. She stopped in her tracks and stared as she took a deep breath. She should have known that walking away from the family treasure wouldn’t be enough to get him out of her life.

“There you are,” Daniel Everest said as he straightened his dark gray suit jacket. “I hope these past few days have given you a chance to think over your silliness. I’ve smoothed things over with Lars Hemingway. I can call him and set up a dinner for tonight, so we can start over with our arrangements.”

Lainie let out a low growl as she started toward her car, rolling her eyes. “You just never give up, do you? I told you, I’m not marrying Miles Hemingway. I’m not even dating him. Not once. Period.”

Her father moved to block her path. “Don’t you dare talk to me that way, young lady.” He gripped her arm, stopping her in her tracks as she tried to shove past him. “I’ve taken care of you for your entire life, and I’ll be damned if I’ll allow you to disrespect me this way.”

She yanked her arm out of his grasp as she spun on him. “It’s not disrespecting you to stop you from choosing my mate,” she snarled. “However, if you touch me again like that, I’ll be more than happy to haul you in for assaulting a deputy. That might be construed as disrespect.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” he said, his eyes narrow slits as he studied her. “I’m your father, alpha of this family, and I’ll decide what’s best for you. Marriages have been arranged in our tribe since before the curse. It’s how we’ve remained strong, and I will not tolerate your insubordination nor permit it to weaken our family.”

She gave a soft laugh of disbelief. “Insubordination? Are you even listening to yourself speak? I’m your daughter, not your employee. We’re supposed to be a family, not a military unit… I don’t care how they did it before; I will not allow you to do it to me. I’m not marrying Miles.”

Her father stood straighter, stiffening his posture as he stared at her. “Your mother and I had an arranged marriage.”

“And see what she wound up stuck with?” Lainie shook her head. “I’m not being shackled to Miles or anyone else I don’t love. I may never find my destined mate, but I’ll at least find the man who makes my heart beat so hard in my chest it drowns out all other noises. I will not settle for anything else.” She sighed as she stood there, hands on her hips. “I’m sorry, Dad, but I deserve to be happy. I’m not a bargaining chip.”

“You are my daughter,” he said, still not getting what she tried to say. Or, more than likely, not caring.

“Then you should start treating me like one and not like livestock.” She gazed off into the distance, trying to calm herself. When she turned back to face him, she could tell her father still didn’t get it. “I have to get to work. Enjoy your dinner. I won’t be there. Please don’t say hi to Miles for me.” She turned and walked to her car, not daring to look back.

Her father called out to her, but she ignored him and kept walking. As soon as she reached her car, she slid behind the wheel and headed to the sheriff’s department, leaving her father in her rearview mirror.

Draven Falls was a small community in North Carolina, settled in the late 1600s after the Salem witch trials. Paranormals were being hunted and needed a safe place to live without persecution. The vampire, Talquin, along with several founding families came together to create the community as a safe haven for supernaturals, and shortly thereafter, paranormals from all over the world started to migrate there, creating a home for themselves and their future families. For a while, they lived as their true selves, but as the world grew, humans began to move there as well, and soon the paranormals began to slip into the background again to keep themselves safe. The founders then formed the Paranormal Council to help govern the supernatural community and keep everyone safe from discovery. Of course, it didn’t always work, and they had to take steps to keep the secrets of the special residents who dwelt there, but for the past three hundred years they lived in relative peace for the most part.

And Lainie Everest was a part of that peace, a part of keeping that peace.

At least, she was for now. She was serving out her final week before joining her brother and Josh in Bull Creek, and then, it would be her job to keep the peace there. A new home. A new sheriff. A new beginning. However, the goal would be the same, and she would help her brother protect people who had a hard time protecting themselves. That was something right up her alley.

She pulled into the parking lot behind the sheriff’s department, which was attached to the town hall building. Sheriff Pearlman told her he hated to see her go, but he understood. He even called the sheriff down in the Bull Creek area, a Sheriff Chet Einstein, and told the man how lucky he was to be gaining her as a deputy. Of course, Quinton Pearlman had begged her to change her mind and remain on his force, but after Lainie thought about it even more, the thought of being a sheriff in a heavily forested area where her panther could run free made her decision for her. Quinton didn’t know she was a shifter, but she hoped she could make that little fact known with the next sheriff. There were just too many dangers in Draven Falls for people to know her true nature. It would upset the sensitivities of those who weren’t in the know. The Paranormal Council would not be pleased.

Lainie slid out of her car and into the humid morning, tossing her keys into her purse as she stood. She had just over a week before she could join her brother. She glanced around the area, taking in the old brick buildings of the surrounding businesses, the town center park around the roundabout that made up the center of town, the friendly faces that smiled at her as they waved, walking on about their business. She would miss Draven Falls and the people here, but she grew excited to start her new adventure. She walked toward the sheriff’s department, a little bounce in her step and a future she was eager to start.