Page 21 of A Lady's Heart
Chapter Five
Justin wasn’t even through the doors at the pack house when he bumped into Evan racing the other direction.
The Alpha wolf put a hand on his shoulder and turned him forcibly, all but spinning him out the door toward the parking lot.
Justin was in no mood to be tolerant of impulsive wolf behavior. “What the—?”
“We just got a text from Mandy. She needs us.”
That was enough to cause a total change of attitude and plans. In a split second, Justin was charging alongside the wolf even as he slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone to check for messages.
Nothing.
An unwelcome sense of disappointment kicked in along with rising concern, and he hit one of his autodial-preprogrammed texts and sent off a secret message.
“What did she say?” Justin demanded as they ignored their vehicles and ran full speed down the path between the buildings, headed to the apartment faster on foot using shortcuts than driving and parking.
They might have been moving rapidly, but Evan barked out a warning instead of an answer. “Advice for you.”
Justin bit back the growl that wanted to escape.
The wolf Alpha led his boisterous and seemingly borderline-out-of-control ragtag crew, but he did it in a way that meant very few arrests or deaths in the shifter community he cared for, which was a powerful statement in itself.
His advice shouldn’t be tossed aside, no matter how much Justin questioned his timing. “What?”
“You’re ready to roll in there, guns blazing. Or you’re going to do the exact opposite of what your gut is telling you, and you’ll pull your punches and control the beast because you don’t want to scare her.” They were already only a block away from where Justin had left Mandy when Evan laid a hand on his arm, pulling him to a rapid walk from their all-out sprint. “Either one of those would be a mistake. I don’t envy you the balancing act, but learn from my mistake. When Amy and I were dealing with our past, I didn’t take it seriously enough how much she needed me to beme, as well as listen to her concerns.”
“This isn’t the time for a lecture,” Justin snapped, frantic to keep moving.
“We’ll be there in thirty seconds,” Evan promised, “but this isimportant, man. I didn’t get my kick-in-the-ass until I’d already screwed things up, so from one Alpha male to another, listen to what sheneeds, but don’t hold back.”
“Fine.” Justin stored the advice away for later, rushing forward at Evan’s side as they closed in on the tall apartment house at the edge of town.
Evan took a deep breath then snapped a finger toward the trees. “Mandy’s over there, in her bear form. You wanna talk to her while I go check out the apartment?”
Justin nodded at Evan’s retreating back before peering into the darkness, trying to spot the shifted form of the woman who’d sent his heart racing. “Mandy? Hey, pretty lady. Everything’s going to be okay.”
He stepped forward again, following her scent to her hiding place. He paused at the edge of the clearing, offering a reassuring smile when when he finally spotted her in the shadows.
Appreciation rose for her skillful camouflage because she had a more difficult task than most. Justin had known she was unusual, but this was the first time he’d actually seen her animal form.
Her fur was the delicate mixture of white, grey and silver that was often mistaken at first glance for polar bear, but was instead the marker of a member of Kodiak Island. Ghost bears—rare and beautiful.
“I don’t know what spooked you, but I’m very impressed,” he admitted. She’d done a great job hiding. “If Evan hadn’t told me where to start looking, you’d still be hidden, and that can’t be an easy task with your white fur.”
Mandy rose to all fours, coming beside him to lean her shoulder and head against his leg.
She was so small it only made sense to kneel at her side. “Why don’t you stay in that form,” he suggested. “Evan will be back in a minute, and we can figure out what you’d like to do at that point.”
She nodded then dropped her hind quarters to the ground. Her head tilted back, and he followed the line of her gaze to the upper apartment where a light had just come on, the tall form of Evan clear behind the windows.
“He’s in there now.”
While they waited Justin thought hard about the advice the wolf had given him. What he wanted at this moment first and foremost was to grab Mandy and head for the hills. Whatever the hell was going on, he wanted her by his side—but she’d specifically asked for him not to take over.
Which meant he had to get her to change her mind, because he wasn’t changing his. Not if she was in danger.
He put an arm around her shoulders, her fur soft under his hands. He wanted to shift and join her, protecting and comforting her the way his bear itched to do.
