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  Tao was quiet for a moment before finally saying, "The only thing we lost was our brother. Our pack never wanted us. We can’t go back, even if we wanted to. Not after what Nick did." He paused and took a deep breath, the mention of his brother clearly troubling him.

  "Sorry," Kane said. "I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories." He moved toward the door, thinking to leave, but Tao clamped a hand on his shoulder and held him back.

  "The truth is, Kane, you guys are our home now. The home we didn’t know we needed. We aren’t like other shifters. We have powers and we’re big, which makes us outcasts in a lot of places."

  "Nick did bad things, but the good that came out of it balances that," Kai said joining them.

  "We have a community now that needs us. No one ever wanted us before," added Leo.

  "I would still prefer to not have been bitten in the first place," Kane said, his voice stiff.

  "And I wish my home pack would have wanted us. Maybe then Nick wouldn’t have done what he did." Kai held Kane’s gaze with his, steady and sure. "We don’t get what we want in this world, Sheriff. We only get what we make of what is given to us. To think we control anything beyond that is lunacy."

  "Maybe so, but it still sucks." Kane rubbed his neck as his wolf undulated up and down his spine. "I’m fighting myself and crime these days. It’s tiring."

  "That’s what the ice cream is for," Kai said with a wry smile. "We have to take what respite we can."

  "What about your powers?" Kane asked. "How do those work?"

  Kai shrugged. "No one knows."

  Kane frowned. "Where do they come from?"

  "There are several different ideas about that, but nothing has been proven," Kai said.

  "Some say shifters are aliens and our powers are recessive genes of some kind. Others think we hold the magic of the first shifters, the pure power of the moon," Tao said.

  "Why would they make you an outcast then?" Kane frowned.

  "Because we’re stronger than them." Tao flexed his arm, showing off his impressive bicep, which was big as some men's thighs. "All of them and they’re afraid of that. They would rather ignore us or see us dead than tolerate our strength."

  Kane started to speak, but Kai cut him off with a curt movement of his hand. "Jealousy isn’t rational, Sheriff. The packs are dwindling and they are afraid that we are the beginning of the end…for them, at least. To their way of thinking, we’re not an asset, we’re a threat."

  "But all you’ve done is help us. You’re not bad guys," Kane said.

  Kai nodded. "Right. We did the same for our pack. Tao did the things that required strength. Leo helped Tao, and I used my magic for everyone’s benefit. But it didn’t matter. The fear drowned out anything we did."

  "Truth be told, this is the first pack that actually wanted us," said Tao with a heavy sigh.

  "And so we are happy to serve." Kai snapped his heels together and gave a small bow.

  "Well, I’m glad you guys are here. I wouldn’t want to be doing any of this without you," Kane said. "I’ll be in touch tomorrow night to find out when you want me to patrol. Thanks again for having us all over." He opened the front door and stepped out into the night. As he headed down the driveway, Kai called to him.

  "Sheriff?"

  Kane turned back. "Yeah?"

  "Listen to Audrey. She knows what she’s talking about." Kai didn’t wait for a response, just abruptly spun on his heel and went back into the house, shutting the front door firmly behind him.

  "What the hell?" Kane said to himself as he made his way to his car—a beat-up Charger he'd bought on the cheap with the intent of fixing it up. How did everyone know what was going on with him and Charlotte?

  Chapter Fifteen

  Charlotte threw herself into preparing for dinner with Kane’s parents like an actress desperate for an Oscar. Unfortunately, she didn’t normally dress like a low class tramp, and it hadn't been easy to find the perfect outfit. She actually ended up rooting around in her mom’s closet, hoping to find something. Her mom, being shorter, ran smaller than Charlotte, but for some reason she had a spandex minidress in a dark corner of her closet. Even better, it had a cheetah print on a magenta background. Tacky didn’t even begin to describe it.

  Humming, she took a shower, dried her hair and teased it like she was hoping her dark locks would reach heaven. Then she wiggled into the dress and checked the mirror.

  "Oh, that’s atrocious," she said with a delighted smile. The dress hugged her curves to the point of garish exaggeration. Slipping on a pair of black platform heels, she added some chunky gold jewelry and did dark, overdone make-up to match. The final touch was painting her nails gold and topping the polish with press-on rhinestones.

  Growing up in Glen Vine, she’d known Kane and his family almost her whole life. With her Dad having served as mayor of the small town, she could say that about almost anyone. She knew what church people went to and how often, as well as what cars they drove, and how they dressed. Kane’s parents were good people. She would horrify them.

  "Exactly as planned," she said to her reflection in the mirror.

  ***

  Kane arrived promptly at six. Charlotte opened the door, and her heart gave a hard thump at the sight of him. He looked great in tight black jeans and an equally tight navy t-shirt. Even worse, he smelled divine. Like pine and aftershave and things Charlotte’s wolf wanted to bury her nose in.

  "Evening, Sheriff," she said, hoping her voice didn’t sound breathy. She was having a hard time breathing all of a sudden and her nipples had dialed themselves into hard little points inside her bra. Just from looking at the man. Damn.

  He looked her over from head to toe. "You look…" He trailed off, his eyes widening as he struggled to find the right word.

  She took pity on the man and offered some suggestions. "Awful? Like a harlot on her way to church? Like a tramp hoping to make rent?" She put a hand on her hip and vamped for him. "Like the girl no one takes home to her parents?"

  "To me, you look beautiful," he said simply. "And I love your perfume."

  "I’m not…" Now it was her turn to trail off. She wasn’t wearing perfume, but decided it was better not to say anything. With a bright smile, she said, "Shall we go? Just let me get my purse."

  ***

  Kane’s parents lived in a large wood cabin with big windows and a view of Lake Michigan. The sun hung low in the sky as dusk approached, glimmers of light filtering through the trees ringing their property. His parents greeted her with happy smiles and open arms. If her appearance gave them pause, they didn’t show it, although they had to notice the contrast between her dress and their clothing.

  His mom, Wanda, wore a pair of navy slacks and a pink cardigan sweater. Her short grey hair curled around her face, highlighting bright blue eyes. Joe, Kane's dad, wore dark jeans and a turquoise polo shirt. His hair was thin on the top, but the resemblance between him and his son was striking. Kane clearly got all his good looks from his dad.

  "Thanks so much for having us over." Charlotte smiled and pulled the six-pack of Miller Lite she'd stashed in her voluminous purse. It had been tough to decide on the rudest hostess gift ever, but cheap beer had to be a contender for number one. It was either the beer or a bouquet of dusty silk flowers from her mom's craft closet. But the flowers had been a little too low rent, even for the role Charlotte was playing. Extending the six-pack to Wanda, she said, "It's warm, so you might want to put it in the freezer."

  Wanda took the beer with a gracious smile. "We’re so glad you could come," she said. "Come in, have a seat. I dug out Kane’s baby pictures. I thought you might want to see them."

  Charlotte settled on the couch in the living room, snapping the giant wad of gum she’d shoved into her mouth just before they got to the house. "Sure, I guess, but I ain’t with Kane for the baby pics. I need him as a man, you know?" She'd stolen that particular line from a paternity episode of a trashy talk show. The sheer gall of it had stuck with her.
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  Kane's mouth dropped open and he shot Charlotte a horrified look, which she ignored. His mom, she noticed, didn’t even blink, which made her wonder how far she would have to go to make exactly the wrong impression on his parents.

  "There are some appetizers there on the coffee table. Help yourself. I have to check on dinner." Wanda waved to her husband. "Joe, serve the drinks, will you?"

  Joe nodded. "What would you guys like?"

  "I'm driving, so just water for me, Dad," said Kane.

  "And you, Charlotte? Would you like one of your beers?"

  Charlotte waved a hand and scoffed at Joe's offer. "Oh, I don't drink that crap. I'll take an Appletini," she said, purposely picking something different from the Cosmopolitans she'd mentioned earlier.

  Joe frowned. "I’m not sure we have the ingredients for that. Is there something else you’d like?"

  She named a succession of complicated drinks, half of which she was sure Joe had never heard of because she made them up. "Werewolf Tail," she said.

  "Eh, what? There are drinks named after werewolves now?" Joe scratched his head. "I have to say I haven't been to any fancy bars lately. We might be a bit behind on the hot trends."

  Charlotte rolled her eyes. "Great. So you probably don't have Triple Sec for a Werewolf's Nipple, either."

  "Um...Werewolf's Nipple?" Joe looked to his son, who just shrugged.

  "Don't ask me. I don't go to fancy bars either, Dad." Kane forced a smile, while his eyes shot daggers at her. "How about something else?"

  She waved a hand and refused to let Kane get to her. Wasn't this the plan? To make his parents over-the-moon thrilled when she was out of the picture? She was determined to see it through. Kane was going to have to toughen up. "Water with lemon then."

  Joe's brow furrowed. "You sure you don’t want something stronger? I’ve got Scotch. Wine. Gin and tonic. Rum and Coke. Any of those sound good?"

  She rolled her eyes again and flicked her hand in a dismissive gesture. "That’s all you have?" To Kane she said, "I told you we should’ve stopped for drinks before we came."

  Kane’s cheeks flushed as she berated him. "Char," he started, but his dad cut him off.

  "She’s fine, son. We’ll be sure to have something you like next time you come over. I'll have to look up those werewolf drinks. Never heard of 'em." He gave a kind smile that made Charlotte feel bad. "I’ll get your lemon with water, but let me know if you change your mind about the other drinks."

  "Yeah, sure," she said, struggling to infuse her voice with condescending boredom. Being a total bitch didn't come naturally to her. When his dad left them alone to get her drink, she whispered, "I’d forgotten how much I like your parents. Your mom was my favorite substitute teacher in high school. She never yelled at us. And your dad is a total sweetheart. This is harder than I thought it would be."

  "You’d never know from the way you’re acting," Kane said, his voice and posture stiff. "And stop with the werewolf stuff. You're going to get us both into trouble."

  "Kane," she chided, "this was the plan, remember?"

  He looked away. "Yeah, I remember, but this feels awful. I don’t like it."

  "Well, we’re in the thick of it now. If we back out, it’ll be even weirder than this. Think of what Mrs. Harris Sourpuss will say." She sucked the pimento out of an olive and made a point of spitting it out onto the other olives. Then she took a few bites of various carrot sticks, making sure to double dip them in the ranch dip before putting them back on the serving platter, too. It was the rudest thing she could think of.

  "Dinner’s almost ready if you guys want to come to the table," Wanda called from the kitchen.

  Charlotte fought to get her feet under her and rise so she could go to the table, but the couch was very soft and her heels were really too high for doing anything practical. Kane watched her flail for a second before finally offering her a hand.

  "Th—" she started to say just as her shins smacked into the coffee table. Kane had used werewolf strength to pull her up and it was too much. She lost her balance and lurched forward over the table, taking everything on top of it with her as her knees buckled and she skidded across it. The photo albums went flying and hit the floor with a thud, followed by the big plate of appetizers, which managed to flip as it sailed through the air to land right on top of the photos. It happened so fast Kane couldn’t save her.

  Charlotte came down hard, her knee sliding through the ranch dip, which had spilled all over the coffee table. She put out a hand to try and stop her fall, but landed wrong on her wrist. Something snapped in her arm and she yelped as the pain hit her system.

  "Everything okay in there?" Joe asked.

  "No," Charlotte whimpered just as Kane said, "Yes."

  She glared at him as she fought to wrestle the other half of her body over the coffee table. "Real smooth there, Sheriff." Stumbling to her feet, she yanked her dress back down over her ass with the hand that didn’t hurt. Brushing off the celery sticks clinging to her legs, she said, "I think I broke some bones."

  Kane was next to her in an instant. "Where?"

  She offered him her hand, wincing when he took it. Even though he was gentle, it hurt. Pain throbbed in her wrist joint and the area began to swell.

  Kane cradled her hand in his. "You want some ice?"

  "Oh my," Wanda entered the living room and took in the scene as she wiped her hands on her apron. "What happened here?"

  "I-I...I tripped," Charlotte said, her face burning with heat. "I’m so sorry about Kane’s baby pictures, Mrs. Martin." She knew she should be bitchy, but she just couldn't do it. Not when she'd destroyed half of the Martins' best memories. Charlotte didn't have the ovaries to girlfriend-from-hell her way through that.

  Wanda kneeled down and used her apron to blot olive juice and ranch dip off the affected scrapbook. "Don’t worry. It was an accident. It’s fixable. Just so long as you’re okay, dear."

  "I’m fine," Charlotte said, figuring it wasn’t a lie if she would be healed in a couple hours. She grabbed some napkins and wiped the ranch dip off her knee. "But I’ll take some ice, Kane, if you don’t mind."

  He disappeared into the kitchen and returned with a bag of frozen peas.

  "Thanks." She placed the peas over her wrist, wincing as the cold bit into her skin.

  An alarm beeped somewhere in the back of the house, and Wanda dashed off, calling over her shoulder, "That’s the oven."

  Joe held up a glass. "You could probably use a drink after that. This is only water though. Let me know if you want something stronger."

  Charlotte flashed a small smile as she accepted the glass. "Thanks. This is fine."

  Wanda reappeared, a dish-towel on her shoulder, ostensibly to replace the now soiled apron. "It looks like dinner is going to take a bit longer than I thought. Kane, why don't you show Charlotte around the house?"

  Looking to Kane, Charlotte said, "I could use some fresh air. Would you like to give me the backyard tour?" She was desperate to get out of the house and take a deep breath, one that wasn’t constrained by all the lies she’d told in the last twenty minutes.

  Kane’s eyes widened in surprise at the request."Uh, yeah. Sure. This way." He waved for her to follow him. They passed through the kitchen, where Wanda was in the middle of buttering hamburger buns. The kitchen was a wide aisle with old school linoleum counters, wood cabinets, and a soffit decorated in a stenciled apple motif.

  "This is homey," Charlotte said. Then, trying to get back into character, she added, "Like a time warp."

  Wanda gave her a look over her glasses, but refrained from commenting. "Dinner will be ready in a few minutes."

  "It smells heavenly," Charlotte said, and then mentally kicked herself. There she went being nice again. It had to stop, or else she was going to end up having to fake marry Kane, or something equally awful.

  Wanda smiled. "My Cajun bleu burgers are probably too spicy to be called heavenly."

  Charlotte swallowed as her mouth b
egan to water. "I like spicy. Isn’t that right, Kaney baby?" She gave him her best sex pot look, knowing Wanda was looking right at her. Pursing her lips, she blew him a kiss and gave a little ‘rawrrr’ which caused Kane’s face to turn red.

  "The…umm…back…umm…door is over here," Kane said, his voice thick.

  Charlotte frowned at him. "Are you okay?"

  He walked off without responding, and she went after him. Wanda shook her head, and as Charlotte passed by, she said, "There is such a thing as too much spice, you know."

  "Not for me, Mrs. Martin," Charlotte said as she entered a four seasons patio with thin carpeting and ringed with windows. "Kane?" She looked left then right, but other than some wicker furniture, she was alone. A movement flickered in the corner of her eye and she turned to see Kane already outside, walking toward the back of the yard. It was late dusk now, but she could still see him clearly in what little remained of the sun's light.

  Running out the door, she waved her hand over her head, bracing the bag of peas on her injured hand with her stomach. "Kane! Wait up!"

  He looked back at her for a second, and then resumed walking.

  "Dude, come on! I’m wearing heels. Don’t do this to me." Shaking her head, she kicked off her shoes. Clutching her peas tight, she jogged after him as he ducked behind a shed at the very end of his parents’ property. Panting, she rounded the corner and stopped short of running into him. "You okay?"

  "I just needed some air," Kane said. He looked away and then turned back, capturing her gaze with his. Reaching for her, he said, "I can't stop thinking about how good you smell."

  Charlotte edged back. "That has nothing to do with the plan."

  "But I can’t stop smelling you." He clutched his head and squeezed his eyes shut. "It’s like you’re buried in my nose." Opening his eyes, he sighed and let his hands drop. "And you’re being so awful to my parents."

  "Yeah, sorry about that." Charlotte worried her bottom lip and thought for a second. "How about we call it quits here? You can say I dumped you and I’ll wolf it back home." She made to leave.