The Wolf and the Bobcat: (15 page)

Chapter Fifteen

21
st
January

Casey tugged on Deanna’s collar as she wrapped her arms around his waist. They were stood outside the Sheriff’s station. They’d spent virtually the whole of previous day, and night, in bed, but now it was time for Deanna to go to work. He’d tried, unsuccessfully, to get her to call in sick. She was tempted, but ultimately, her conscience won. After the pool incident, she was trying to remain on the straight and narrow.
It wasn’t easy…

“Meet me for lunch,” he demanded.

“Hmmm, what’s the magic word?”

His lips twitched. “Abracadabra, but what’s that to do with anything?”

Deanna giggled. Waking up with him again had been blissful. Something she could definitely get used to…

“So, meet you at the Diner?”

Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “Yeah, unless I get a better offer.”

Casey snorted and gestured to his body. “Better than this?”

“I can see there’s only one way to stop your big mouth…” She leaned up and quieted him with a kiss.

He licked his lips. “Ugh, I guess you better go. I can see Alec staring daggers at me through the window.”

Deanna planted one, final kiss on his lips before disappearing into the station. Casey stared after her. He and his wolf couldn’t believe how happy they were. A month ago he couldn’t even imagine settling down with a mate, but now, he couldn’t bear the thought of being without her. She was just so…
Ow!

Casey spun round to see two identical, teenage boys scowling at him. One of them had thrown a rock at him. He sniffed the air and scented bear.
What the hell?

“You better not…” started one.

“Hurt Dee,” finished the other.

Casey’s wolf snarled, and he had to force the beast to calm down.
They were just kids after all.
“What the hell, boys?”

The twin boys huffed and threw some more stones at Casey. “Hey!”

“We said…”

“You better not…”

“Hurt Dee…”

“She’s our friend.”

Casey held up his hands in surrender.
His mate had failed to mention that she had two hellion bodyguards.
“I’m not going to hurt her; she’s my mate.”

The two boys stopped throwing, but they looked disappointed. He approached them slowly. “Are we… are we good?”

They shrugged. “I guess.”

“I wanted her to be my mate…”

“No, she was going to be my mate…”

They started wrestling with each other and Casey pulled them apart. “Come on, guys, calm down. Who are you anyway?”

“I’m Arliss.”

“I’m Aidan.”

Casey let go of them. “Well, that answers everything.”

“We’re friends…”

“With Dee…”

“And if you hurt her…”

“We will find you.”

The boys ran off, with a dumbfounded Casey staring after them.
Yeesh
. He chuckled and shook his head. His wolf grumbled, and Casey told him to pipe down. They were kids; they weren’t a real threat.

Deanna was already theirs, now and forever. He almost had to pinch himself.
Things could only get better.

*

Deanna crept into her house.
She was a little later getting home than she expected
. She closed the door as quietly as she could, wincing as it squeaked.

After her shift, she’d spent the evening at Casey’s. She’d planned to be home earlier, she really had, but it was hard to say no to him. She’d only managed to get away from him now because she’d worn him out, and he’d fallen asleep. For which she was thankful, although he seemed to have awakened her voracious sex drive, she was feeling a teeny bit achy.
A few hours rest really couldn’t hurt.

Darcy poked her head out the kitchen. “Dee, that you?” she whispered.

Deanna felt a flash of guilt and followed Darcy back into the kitchen, and found Dennis sat at the table. Darcy rubbed his shoulders.

“Guys, I’m sorry I haven’t been here…”

Dennis held up his hand. “It’s fine; I just wanted to warn you that mom’s asking for money.”

Deanna raised her eyebrows. “Already?”

“Yep, she asked me this morning, and she asked Grams this afternoon. We said no, of course. But I wanted to give you a heads up.”

She sighed. Her mom had barely landed in town, and she was already on the prowl. “Thanks, I’ll watch out for her. And I am sorry I’ve been gone a lot.”

Darcy smiled. “Don’t be, I imagine we were the same when we first mated.”

Deanna chuckled. “Yeah, you were pretty insufferable for the first few weeks.”

Dennis pulled Darcy into his lap, and Deanna took that as an invitation to leave, quickly.
She really didn’t want to catch the live show.

Deanna wearily dragged her aching limbs to bed, warm thoughts of her mate running through her mind. She was a little concerned about her mom, and she could only imagine what she needed money for this time. Last time, it was for some pyramid scheme her former boyfriend was involved in…

She shook her head. It didn’t matter; things with Casey were great.
Nothing could derail her happiness
.

Chapter Sixteen

22
nd
January

“Di, just pick one toy, sweetie, I’m sure Caitlin will have plenty of toys to play with,” Deanna called.

Darcy had arranged a play-date between Dinah and Casey’s youngest sister, Caitlin.
As usual with their family, they were running late.

She almost groaned as her mom walked through the front door. “Oh! Pumpkin, it’s you; I didn't recognize you. I’ve barely seen you since I got back.”

Her bobcat grumbled.
Wasn’t that the pot calling the kettle black?

“Yeah, I’m sorry, Mom. I’ve been working, and there’s this guy I’m seeing…”

Tess flipped her hair over her shoulder, a sign she was pissed. “You don’t have to explain to me, pumpkin. You’re an adult; it’s about time you got interested in boys. When you were a teenager, I just assumed you were gay, but then the boys didn’t really show much interest, did they?”

Deanna dug her nails into her palms, ignoring her braying beast. Her mom was just trying to get a rise out of her. Well, she wasn’t going to get it. “Di, come on, we’re going to be late.” She looked at her mom. “Di’s got a play-date, are you…”

Tess smiled. “I’m here to get to know Darcy; she is my daughter-in-law after all.”

Lucky Darcy.
“Okay, well, have fun.”

Tess looked at her, thoughtfully. “I’m surprised you have so much time to spend with this boyfriend; I thought you worked long hours.”

“I do, but…”

“I mean, I understood from Dennis that you’re working as many shifts as you can because money’s tight, and yet you don’t seem to be at work that much.”

Deanna scoffed and felt her cheeks redden. Her bobcat was virtually screeching in annoyance. “I work as many as I can get; my boss won’t give me anymore.”

Tess shrugged and walked past her to the kitchen. “Well, if you say so.”

“I do say so!” spat Deanna in disbelief.

Dinah appeared before her and Deanna forced herself to relax. As she drove Dinah to her play-date, she tried to forget about it.

It was just her mom trying to stir the pot. She was trying to insinuate that the reason they didn’t have money to throw around was because they were lazy. Wasn’t it enough for her that they were already trying to work themselves to death to keep the family afloat?!

Maybe she was being selfish,
but wasn’t it time for her mom’s visit to end?

*

Like the night before, Deanna crept into the house. Again, she was a little later getting home than she thought she would be. She tried to close the door even more slowly, but the squeak was, apparently, unavoidable.

The day had pretty much been a repeat of yesterday. She had spent a long day at work fantasizing about Casey, and then they spent an exhausting evening together enacting those fantasies. Things with her mate were very good, but…
she was kind of yearning for a little more
.

She hadn't expected to feel this way so soon, but she was actually getting the itch to bond. Of course, there were things to discuss, such as living arrangements. She wondered whether Casey would want to move in with her family, into her tiny, pink bedroom… But those were just minor issues. The point was that she was ready to bond. Her bobcat was prancing around with glee.

Like the night before, Darcy poked her head out the kitchen. “Dee, that you?” she whispered quietly.

Dee followed her back into the kitchen. She was surprised Dennis wasn’t there, and even more surprised at the pained look on Darcy’s face.

“What’s wrong?”

Darcy traced the pattern of the wood on the table. “It’s your mom…”

Deanna groaned and slumped into a chair. “What did she do?”

Darcy’s eyes looked red from crying. “We were supposed to be getting to know each other, and at first everything seemed fine, but…”

“What happened?” asked Deanna, encouragingly.

The puma’s, usually, pretty face took on a look of abject misery. “I didn’t know how much she knew about my past, so I told her. I have nothing to hide. At first she was really nice, and she said she was pleased that Dennis had found me. Then she started asking me about the kids’ college funds…”

Deanna sighed and rubbed a hand over her forehead. “What did you say?”

“Nothing, I told her the accounts were controlled by you. So then she asked what money I had. I mean, she wasn’t that direct, but I knew what she was driving at. I told the truth, that other than my junker car that’s holed up at the auto shop, I didn’t have anything. I told her I was sorry, but I couldn’t give her any money, and I asked her to stop asking Dennis for money as it was upsetting him. She didn’t like that…”

Deanna sucked in a breath.
No, she imagined her mom wouldn’t have liked that at all.

“Then she said… well, these aren’t her exact words, but she kind of said she felt sorry for Dennis for having such a slutty mate. And that she thought I was a leech for sponging off you guys, while I lazed around at home all day.” The words tumbled out of Darcy in a rush, and her cheeks turned beet red.

“Darcy, I’m so sorry…”

Tears welled in the puma’s eyes. “I mean, I know it’s not true, but sometimes… I… I just…”

“Darcy, my mom can be poisonous when she doesn’t get what she wants,” said Deanna, fiercely. “Ignore her. Dennis loves you; we all adore you, and we don’t think those things at all.”

God knows they had no reason at all to judge Darcy; their own behavior was hardly spotless. She remembered the times Dennis had been picked up for underage drinking.
Of course, it was their mom who had given him the alcohol to begin with…

She sniffled. “Thank you for saying that.”

“It’s the truth.”

Darcy blew her nose. “I haven’t told Dennis this; I didn’t want him to get mad at his mom, or to think that I’d stuck my nose in where it didn’t belong.”

“He wouldn’t think that, I promise,” Deanna reassured her.

“Thanks, I feel a lot better. Should I speak to Dennis?”

Deanna hesitated. “No, let me handle this, I’ll talk to my mom in the morning.”

Chapter Seventeen

23
rd
January

Deanna banged her fist on the door. She was riled up, and determined to say what needed to be said.

A very disheveled and groggy Tess opened the door. “What?”

Deanna had come to the Bed and Breakfast to give Tess an ultimatum. She had waited as long as she could, but her bobcat was urging her on,
and now she couldn’t stop herself even if she wanted.

“Mom, we are not giving you any money. You need to stop asking for it. What little money we have is for the kids.”

Tess blinked at her in surprise.

“Who the fuck is that?” came a muffled voice from inside the room – Gary.

Tess ignored him and stepped out into the hallway, pulling the door closed behind her. “What… what is this about?”

Deanna tapped her foot impatiently. “You already asked both Grams and Dennis for money, and they said no. I don’t appreciate you trying to guilt Darcy into giving you some, okay? We don’t have very much, because everything we earn is spent looking after our family – your family, which you don’t seem to give a crap about.”

Tess looked outraged, but soon managed to snap back to simpering. “But, Dee, pumpkin, I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important, and I’m your family too, I’m your mother.”

“Then why don’t you act like it?” she blurted.

Tess tensed, but her voice remained soft. “I know I won’t win any awards for my parenting skills, but it’s not my fault, I had my children too young, I wasn’t ready.”

Deanna frowned. “Maybe you were too young for me and Dennis, but you were 36 when you had Dinah, you can’t play that card anymore. Truth is, I don’t think you really want us.”

“That’s not true! I love each and every one of my children – even the ungrateful ones!”

She scowled. “Meaning me?”

With an effort, Tess calmed down. “I want to be a better mother, really I do, but I can’t until I get some money. Gary has a few problems, and we just need to get enough money to move to Canada…”

“Canada?!”
What the hell?
She couldn’t have been more surprised if her mom told her she was moving to Jupiter!

Tess nodded and took Deanna’s hands. “When we get settled, we’ll send for you all. But in order to do that, we need money.” Tess brought one of Deanna’s hands up to her face. “Why don’t you sell your ring?”

Deanna ripped her hands away. “No! I’m not funding your getaway to Canada by selling my one piece of jewelry.”

Tess put her hands on her hips; her lips twitched in annoyance. “It’s just a stupid ring; it’s not even that pretty anyway.”

“That’s not the point; it belonged to Dad’s grandma, and it has sentimental value.”

Tess scoffed. “You’re a fool; your dad never even met his grandma, who cares that it’s a dead woman’s ring?”

Deanna jutted her chin. “I care, and I’m not selling it, and we’re not moving to Canada. Ugh! I’m sick of this, and I’m sick of being treated this way. I don’t want anything to do with you anymore! I’ll remain civil with you, for the sake of the kids, but I don’t want you in my life.”

She turned on her heel and started stalking away.

“That’s it, run away! You’re a sniveling coward just like your father!” taunted Tess.

Deanna ignored her; encouraged by her bobcat, she just kept on walking.

*

Tess slapped a bill down on the bar. “Whiskey.”

The bear shifter bartender raised an eyebrow, but wordlessly handed over her drink and change.

She was almost shaking with fury, and it was all Deanna’s fault.

Gary had been livid when Tess told him she couldn’t get any money. She was ashamed; she had assured him she would, and she’d let him down.
No, Deanna had, with her pig-headed selfishness
.

Gary had packed his stuff, and he was gone. Damnit, they needed that money! And now Gary had left her behind. He said the two of them couldn't survive on the little amount they had, so he said goodbye, and that was it.

Well, the joke was on him, because Tess had taken his most treasured possession, and hidden it. She figured he’d be halfway to Canada before he realized he no longer had it.
See how he likes them apples!

Tess downed her drink and motioned to the bartender for another; she told him to leave the bottle. The amber liquid burned a path down to her stomach, and she sighed. It had been far too long.

Screw Gary! And screw Deanna! She didn’t need them; all she needed was a good bottle of whiskey, some attractive company and she was golden.

A smile crept over her lips as she spied three strapping young men in the corner of the bar. Judging by their sizes and builds, she’d guess wolf shifters.
Hmmm, they looked edible.

She grabbed the bottle and sauntered over. One of the boys was on the phone, wrapping up a conversation.

“Yeah, no worries, kitten. I’ll be here, waiting. I’ll see you soon.” He ended the call. “She’s just running late.”

The tallest of the boys made a whipping motion.

“Fuck you,” said the phone guy.

They stilled as she approached them. “Hey guys! I’m Tess.”

Two of the three looked her up and down appreciatively; she was pleased they liked what they saw. The phone guy frowned.

The tallest thrust out a meaty hand. “I’m Hunter, and this is Jimmy,” he motioned to the smallest of the three, but by far the handsomest, before inclining his head to the phone guy. “And that sour ass over there is Casey, ignore him, he’s in love.”

Jimmy returned her hello while Casey grunted.

She gave them her most flirtatious smile. “I have this big bottle of whiskey, and no one to drink it with, would you guys like to share it with me?”

Jimmy and Hunter immediately answered that they would, but Casey wavered, clutching at his soda. The woman was obviously flirting, and he didn’t imagine his little mate would be thrilled about that. She was already insecure enough.

Jimmy slapped him on the back. “Come on, just have a couple of drinks. What could that hurt?”

His wolf growled warningly, but Casey waved the beast away. Jimmy was right;
one or two drinks couldn’t hurt.

*

Tess danced between Hunter and Jimmy. She flirted madly, telling all three men how handsome they were, and complimenting them on their bodies. Fortified with alcohol, they relaxed and enjoyed her company, joining in with her overt flirting and complimenting her back

“Having fun?” asked Deanna icily.

Casey jumped. He blushed furiously at finding his mate standing behind him. He cursed himself for not scenting she was there.
She did not look happy…

He didn’t think he had really done anything wrong. Sure the woman was flirting with him, but he hadn’t really flirted back. Alright, so she’d bought him a few drinks, but he’d only allowed her to because he couldn’t buy his own.

“Dee, I wasn’t expecting…”

“Clearly.” Her tone could melt a thousand icebergs.

“We were just talking to…”

Her face was pinched. “I know who she is. Mom, what are you doing?”

Casey’s stomach flipped.
Oh god, it was his mate’s mother!
His mate already thought he was a horn dog, and now she thought he was trying to pick up her mother! His wolf snarled at him to fix it.

“Deanna, pumpkin!” Tess quit dancing to plant a sloppy kiss on a rigid Deanna.

“Dee I’m…” Casey tried to put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off.

Tess’ eyes lit up. “Oh, pumpkin, is this your boyfriend?”

“No!” cried Deanna at the same time Casey growled. “Yes.”

Deanna, in spite of her bobcat’s protestations, gave Casey an irritated glower, whilst Hunter and Jimmy looked on awkwardly. Damn, she’d never been so furious.

“No, he is no longer my boyfriend. So you know what, Mom? You wanna sleep with him? Have at him! Wouldn’t be the first time you’d thrown yourself at a guy because you thought he liked me more. And god knows, he’s slept with every other loose woman in this freaking town.”

Tess snorted. “Including you, pumpkin? Barman, another round!”

Deanna shook with rage as Casey looked at his feet. Deanna waved at Andy, the bartender, to stop. “No, Mom, you’re done for the night.”

Tess’ expression turned ugly. “No, I’m your mother. You don’t tell me what to do.”

Deanna planted her hands on her hips. “You said you’d quit drinking…”

Tess mirrored her pose and jutted her chin. “I’m an adult; I can do what I want.”

Deanna scowled at her wayward mother and pointedly ignored her mate’s puppy dog eyes. Her bobcat was not happy with her behavior at all, but she would have to wait.

Tess started sniggering nastily. “Awww, look at that ugly, little, sullen face, she was born with that look on her face you know. Eighteen hours of labor and all I get is stretch marks, twenty-two stitches, and an ungrateful bitch for a daughter.”

Deanna felt a surge of fury. “Surprised you were sober enough to even remember my birth, Mom.”

“How dare you?!”

Deanna pursed her lips. How many times did she have to do this with her mother? “Oh, I’m sorry, are we done reminiscing? Don’t you wanna talk about how I was born with fetal alcohol poisoning? That’s a fun story, right, Mom?”

“You little cunt!”

The whole bar quieted and turned to look in horror at Tess and Deanna. Andy hesitated, considering whether he needed to interrupt the argument. It hadn’t turned violent, and he’d never had to throw a woman out of the bar.
Yet.

Deanna breathed in and out, forcing herself to calm. “And that’s my cue to leave. Don’t bother coming to our house in the middle of the night begging for a bed. The kids – your kids – need to get their sleep, and I’m sick of having to deal with you when you’re in a drunken stupor.”

Deanna turned on her heels and stalked out the bar. She heard Casey calling after her, and fought the bobcat’s urges to turn and run to him.

She stomped down the sidewalk, ignorant to the calls of people saying hello. After a few minutes, Casey sidled up in his car, crawling alongside her. He shouted at her to get in the car.

She shook her head; her eyes were an angry yellow. “No! I’m not going anywhere with you.”

Casey pleaded with her. “Please kitten, get in the car.”

“No! And don’t call me kitten you overgrown hairball!”

Casey sighed and pulled ahead. He jumped out and ran to her, scooping her up in his arms. She screeched and struggled against him. Her legs flailed, and she accidentally made contact with his manhood. Casey stilled, paled and emitted a high pitched wail.

With one hand still wrapped around Deanna’s arm, he slumped to the ground. Her bobcat whined disapprovingly. She hadn’t actually meant to kick him there. Honestly, it was the only part of his body she actually liked at that moment.
But in her defense, it was quite a big target area.

Deanna pried his fingers off her arm and quailed a little at seeing the enraged amber tinge of his eyes. Fuck, she was in trouble. Emitting a squeak, she took off running into the woods at full pelt.

She pumped her legs as fast as she could, vaguely aware of the crashing noises following her. Her bobcat yapped in nervous excitement. The silly beast was actually enjoying this! She dared a glance behind her, and was surprised to see that Casey wasn’t actually there. Turning back, she screamed as she crashed into his hard body. The force knocked them to the ground. Casey wrapped his arms round her, and they tumbled on the ground until he had her pinned beneath him.

Casey dragged her arms over her head and rested his legs over hers. He was a little heavy for her, and was a bit concerned that he might be hurting her, but was more worried about the damage she might cause to his tender area.

His wolf roared at the successful chase. There was nothing more arousing to a male wolf shifter than chasing down their mate, and forcing them to submit. His wolf goaded him to sink his manhood and his teeth into the willful bobcat, and make her theirs forever.

Deanna felt a tingle of fear at being at this large wolf’s mercy, but she sneered at him defiantly. “Now what, puppy?”

Casey leaned his head down and inhaled her violet scent. He shuddered as his need for her escalated. His cock turned rock hard with want, and pushed against her mound.

Deanna’s eyes widened as she felt his obvious arousal digging into her. Apparently she didn’t kick him that hard. The look in his lust-darkened face, his obvious desire for her and the fact that he was dominating her, awakened a primal part of her that shamed and excited her in equal measure. She wanted both to slap him and beg him to take her.
Her cat voted for the latter.

“Admit I’m your boyfriend,” Casey demanded menacingly, as his wolf prowled expectantly. His eyes were saturated amber, and his claws and fangs were already drawn.