Shielding Her Read online

  He stopped and looked at her. That was not what he had expected. "You could have donated money yourself."

  "I did that too. But my funds were tied up in family things except for the monthly stipend, and that never went as far as you think it might in a shelter."

  "Doesn't sound like much fun," he said walking on.

  "The meaningful things rarely are much fun," she said following him. "Doesn’t make them less worthwhile.”

  Eli heard both the sadness and the yearning in her voice. And had to look at her again. But then he had to look at her a lot. There was just something about catching her real emotions on that pretty face that drew his eyes too often. "You miss it?"

  She smiled a little and the sad was right there. "I do. It was one of the few things I did in my life that felt like mine, and necessary."

  "Shoveling shit made you feel necessary?"

  She sniffed daintily at him and he had turn and see the look of haughty dismissal on that incredible face. "You sound like Stephen, but I will tell you the same thing I told him. Someone had to do it. There is no reason in the world that someone should not be me."

  Eli grimaced but had to say that haughty face of hers was not remotely a turn off, and it made him wonder as he turned back around to continue walking if her husband had felt the mix of need to both cuddle and fuck her that she engendered in Eli. He somehow doubted it. "I wasn't asking to criticize. And I think we have already established your ex was a fucking dickhead. No need to lump me in with that twat."

  He heard an unexpected laugh and had to force himself not to turn back around. At this rate he would spend the day just looking at the woman and never get anywhere. But fuck, he wanted to look, especially when her voice turned teasing.

  "My, you do have a colorful vocabulary Mr. Ramsey."

  He could ignore the sexy voice, but the name he could not. But he didn't turn around, and called that a win. Especially when they made it through the last of the jungle and the private beach and ocean spread out before him. "Call me Eli," he grumbled. His eyes going to the glorious sight before him. He could see why the dogs got top price for the private coves and cabins they had scattered around the backside of the island. It was breathtaking. "Mr. Ramsey makes me feel old."

  "Old?" she asked with that same teasing in her voice that was fucking sexy. "Or grown up?"

  Eli snorted. "Same thing."

  She laughed at that, and then it was abruptly cut off when she came to a stop beside him and her eyes finally took in what he was seeing. Her breathless "Oh." Made him growl just a little before he could stop himself.

  It was like something out of a postcard, Margaret thought. Taking in the turquoise of the water, the almost painfully blue sky and a sandy beach that looked like it was formed of powdered brown sugar instead of sand. And beyond the majestic beauty of the endless horizon was the beach with its jungle surround of tropical wild flowers and palm fronds as big as her head. Nestled within that paradise was what looked like a small modern hut of roof and glass, and she got the feeling that if you were inside it you would still have 360 degrees of stunning vistas. The glare of the sun was such that she could not see inside the windows, but she would not be surprised if they had the type of glass that gave an uninterrupted view of everything.

  Then a dog that would have looked less out of place in a snow-covered forest came romping into view from the other side of the small beach cabin. Margaret gasped in surprise taking in the primal beauty of the animal. Until he came closer and she realized that he was not someone's dog but a wolf of inordinate size. Who looked seriously displeased.

  She heard Eli curse beside her just as she was edging back and fighting the need to run, knowing that it was never a good idea with a wild predator, then the wolf ...changed, and from one lope to the next there was a man standing before them. One that had to be nearly seven feet tall, scarred, tattooed, angry and very, very naked.

  This time the "Oh" she made was more towards the terror filled side of the shocked and awed spectrum.

  CHAPTER SIX

  It was not until Eli saw Demon in his shifted wolf form that he realized how much of a mistake it might have been to bring a full human along with him. Silly him, he had assumed the man would be frolicking as a human in the hot tropics, not an over furred timber wolf, but maybe he had just reacted even worse than Eli assumed he would to the disruption of his honey moon.

  "Fuck do you want?" The growl in the deep hard voice was apparently no more reassuring than the sight of a giant who could shift into a wolf because Eli felt Margaret start to take another step back before he grabbed her arm and pulled her into his side and locked her in place. Her breathing was erratic, her pulse kicking into high gear, but she was not screaming yet, so that was a good sign. Right?

  "Oh, you know, taking a stroll around the island and thought we'd say hey." Eli smiled with a lot of teeth. "Don't think you have met the lovely Margaret Whitney, have you? You'll have to excuse her look of abject fear. She is a full human and until this moment when a dumbass wolf decided to scamper across the beach and shift naked in front of her, she had no idea there were shifters in the world. Or that she had landed on an island full of them."

  "Well," Demon said. Looking a little less angry and more chagrined. He opened his mouth to say something but the sound of running steps had them all turning to see his mate moving fast across the sand in a bathing suit and sarong, carrying what looked like a beach towel in her hands. When she got to them she glared at Demon stepping between them she blocked their view while she threw the towel at him. "You are naked," she whispered loud something they were all aware of before she turned around and forced a smile.

  "Hey Eli." Then she caught sight of the look on Margaret’s face and her smile fell away to be replaced by concern. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I know he must have scared you out of your wits, but he really is harmless. The small gurgling sound that came out of Margaret’s throat attested to the ridiculousness of that statement even before she was able to peal her eyes off Demon and blink owlishly at Clytie.

  "He was a wolf," Margaret gasped out and then clamped her mouth shut as if she was afraid she would be immediately censured for saying such a ridiculous thing.

  With dawning understanding Clytie looked from Margaret’s face to Eli's and he nodded his head to the question in her eyes. Clytie blinked back at the woman and asked hesitantly. "You haven't seen any of the shifters in their animal form before?"

  Margaret's eyes flew wide and back to Clytie’s. "There are more of them?" The screech in her voice made both men wince, but Clytie growled and then slapped her husband on the hard chest.

  Then shook out her throbbing hand as she glared at him. "Have you lost your senses?"

  Demon turned his head to glare at Eli. Eli supposed he could take some responsibility for this, but still.

  "Why the fuck would you bring a full human to our private beach if she knew fuck all about shifters?” Demon growled in his usual blunt way.”

  Eli shrugged. "Didn't think you were dumb enough to shift in front of someone you had never met, who you could tell just by her scent was full human.”

  "Come on," Clytie said softly. Ignoring both men in favor of Margaret. "I know what it's like to suddenly realize the world is different than you thought." Clytie took her arm gently and pulled, leading her towards the beach and the cabin there. "Come up to the house and we can talk. I'm a full human and Demon's wife so I can answer all the questions that are going to occur to you as soon as your adrenaline stops screaming at you to run." She turned to glare at both men. "You two can make yourselves scarce for a while. We'll call when we want company."

  "What are we supposed to do?" Demon called after her, looking displeased and sounding on the whiny side. It made Eli wonder what they had been up to that he had been pissed enough to shift to wolf to come at them. Hmm. Should he ask?

  "Go run in the jungle," Clytie said motioning with her free hand and glaring at Demon. "I don't care what you do, just stay off
the beach for a little while."

  Demon growled his displeasure and turned to glare balefully at Eli.

  Eli shrugged. "Soo, how's the honeymoon going?"

  The look Demon gave him had almost as much bite as the overlarge white teeth he snapped his way.

  ***

  Margaret took the tea the woman, Clytie, offered her with shaking hands.

  She was not able to form a thought yet, let alone a question, so she was grateful when the woman just sat across from her and let the silence settle around them.

  She sipped her tea and gradually the shaking cup settled, as did her nerves, at least to the extent they were no longer noticeable on the surface. On the inside? She was a freaked-out mess.

  "Do you prefer Margaret or something else?"

  Margaret huffed out a breath and gave that question more thought than it required. "My mother always insisted on Margaret. The only person who occasionally calls me Maggie is Rebecca." She shrugged and laughed just a little. "She never liked my mother."

  Clytie tilted her head and Margaret could feel the eyes on her without having to look up from her obsessive studying of the cup of dwindling tea in her two-handed grip.

  "Your mother prefers Margaret? What about you? I don't know Becca that well, but she does not seem like the kind of friend who would call you a name you did not like to spite someone else. Especially a mother."

  Margaret lifted her eyes and met the clear green of the other woman’s. Admittedly she had been distracted when they met so it was no surprise she was only now taking in the woman. Voluptuous, in the best possible way, she wore a sarong and bathing suit well. Shorter than Margaret, probably only about five three or so, she exuded comfort. It was the only way Margaret could describe it. Long brown hair, green eyes and smooth skin with a smattering of freckles. Being on her honeymoon she had not even bothered with make-up and the fresh-faced look worked for her. She was pretty, and the first thing Margaret thought of when she looked at Clytie of the sympathetic green eyes was those moms she had occasionally seen who gave hugs out easily to the kids around them, and you could tell just by looking that they meant those hugs and the care affection and comfort behind them was real.

  She also looked nothing like what Margaret would expect from a woman with the man Demon she had just met so...strangely. Even if he had not been a supernatural wolf…thing. A disfiguring scar slashed across half his face. He was probably two feet taller than his wife, looked like a berserker even in his man form, and had tattoos and scars, including one of a howling wolf on his neck. He looked dangerous and reminded Margaret of a junk yard dog even when he was human. This woman? No, not what she would have expected. At all.

  She finally got back to the question Clytie had asked and realized she had never really given it much thought before. Now however it seemed an all-important question she had to get right.

  "I suppose I have gotten used to being Margaret over the years. My mother felt so strongly about it, it never occurred to me to be anything else." And that right there, she thought, was her problem in a nut shell. Margaret firmed her chin and really thought about what she had said. Then she huffed out a breath and a half laugh. "I suppose I am Margaret in most situations, but when I am with friends I would like to be free to be just Maggie." She looked up at those comfortable green eyes and searched them again for reaction. "Does that make sense?"

  Clytie smiled, and Margaret was forced to change her description of the woman from pretty to beautiful and comforting to kind. "It makes perfect sense to me. And since you know my biggest secret, that I am married to a wolf shifter, I hope you feel comfortable enough to be Maggie with me."

  Maggie tilted her head. "Might I say, as scary as he was in wolf form, I can't honestly say that it was his scariest form once I saw him as the man. So, I must ask, how in the world did the two of you end up together? You seem so...nice."

  Clytie laughed. Luckily, she did not seem to take offense to the question. "Demon does not do first impressions well." Clytie seemed to think about that then said instead. "Or any impressions, really. But beneath all that bluster, foul language and," her hands went up and out as if measuring the man. "Inordinately large size, and scary facial expressions, he really is a..." she stalled. "Well, not a teddy bear exactly, but extremely lovable, and the most honestly forthright man I have ever met in my life. With Demon you do not have to worry he is putting on a facade or playing games. What you see is what you get," she shrugged and laughed, eyes bright and cheeks pinking, looking just like a woman on her honey moon. "And what I get from him, I absolutely adore."

  "Well," Margaret said trying to bite back her own envy at the light on the woman's face.

  What would it feel like to love like that? She wondered and then cleared the lump from her throat daintily. "Now I really feel bad I let Eli interrupt you. And I would do the polite thing and excuse myself, so you can get back to your honeymoon, but I do have some...concerns, about the whole werewolf thing."

  Even saying it Margaret felt ridiculous.

  "First," Clytie said seemingly not bothered by the absurdity of their conversation. "They are shifters, not werewolves. They are born not made and you can't become one from a bite or scratch. You have to be born so that's one thing you can stop worrying about."

  Margaret grunted and had to say it had not occurred to her to worry about it yet, but it eventually would have so that was good to know. "And second?"

  "They aren't any different in one form or the other. The wolf is the man, the man is the wolf. They do not shift and suddenly become wild creatures that won't know you. I'm not saying there are not shifters out there that are bad, but they are bad in whatever form they wear, just as the people you have met and will meet in this pack, or in Rebecca's are who they are in both forms." Clytie bit her lip. "Did that make sense?"

  "Same personality in either of their forms?"

  "Exactly!" Clytie exclaimed and beamed at her. "Demon is an overprotective cranky alpha male whether he is in his wolf shape or man. And would protect me with his life in either of those shapes."

  Then something Clytie said had her eyes widening and her cup clanking down on its saucer. "Rebecca's pack?" She looked at Clytie with wide eyes. "Rebecca is ..."

  "Part," Clytie jumped in to say. "She does not shift but she is alpha female of their pack and someone in her family tree had shifter blood, so there is a good chance her baby will be able to shift like her mates."

  "Part..." Margaret said her eyes widening. "Her baby will be a wolf?"

  Clytie shrugged. "Sometimes." She patted her belly, which Clytie only then realized was clearly a pregnant one. "Chances are good that mine will shift as well. I might be a little more worried about it, but I have two adopted kids already at home, and I know what to expect from shifters. Though admittedly Crow has not been with us for very long and is already a freshly turned sixteen, but Roxy is going to be eight soon and she already shifts to wolf, which I’m informed, is not at all usual. Thank goodness. Normally the change happens with puberty, but the point is...I am not as scared as I would be regularly because I have them in my life and help from my cousin Cassandra who is mated to two of Demon's pack and since we all live together, in separate parts of the house," she rushed on to assure Margaret, who was reeling from information overload. "I don't want you to think that the whole pack like, lives together, lives together. Only mates and family of mates do, just like in a normal household." She shrugged again.

  "So, Rebecca is half wolf, and you are full human, and her men are pack, and I am assuming from what I have heard along the way that most of the others here are wolves?"

  "Rebecca's pack yes, pretty much everyone is a wolf, but Lionsgate is...diversified."

  "Diversified?"

  Clytie licked her lips and widened her eyes, nodding. "Most packs are a particular animal, whether wolf, tiger, lion, or so on. It is rare to have a pack with more than one animal form represented."

  "Hold on," Maggie said her eyes wide and her
hand up to stop Clytie. "There are other forms? There are lions and tigers?" In her head she added 'and bears, oh my.' But luckily that little pop culture inanity from the Wizard of Oz, did not make it past her lips.

  "And other forms as well. Lucas, Cleo, Ian and Liam you probably met since they are here on the island are Lions, Logan is a wolf, Xena is a coyote, Mac and Ben, who you haven't met yet, they are back home with my cousin, their mate, watching over the children. They are a wolverine, and a jaguar. Heck, Eli is a black panther."

  Margaret held up her hand again. "Eli..." she thought about the man who had escorted her around the island and all the others Clytie mentioned as if discussing their species was the same as discussing say, ethnicity. She closed her eyes and breathed through the disbelief and niggling panic that had her feet and hands tingling with adrenaline surges. "Just...give me a minute."

  Clytie patted her arm and took her tea cup to refill, looking sympathetic. "Take your time. I know, it's a lot to take in."

  Margaret almost laughed at the understatement, but she had a feeling that if she did it would turn into hysteria, and she was almost positive there would be no coming back once that happened. So, she breathed deep and tried to fit this new world into the one shifting beneath her feet.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Out of the corner of her eyes Maggie glimpsed a movement through the wall of windows and looked over to see Eli, Demon, and surprisingly the younger Gibbs flowing over the sand towards them. Looking at them move, Maggie had to wonder how she had not guessed that they were more than human. Not only were they all in peak physical condition, but they moved like they had no bones. Had they been pretending for her all this time, or had she just been that oblivious.

  Probably a bit of both, she thought. It was not like you saw a beautiful dangerous man and immediately wondered if he had an animal form.