“It’s all clear. Big brother handled it.”

“I swear, everywhere you go…”

“Oh, shut up!”

Nik returned. He trotted past Angelina, barely glancing in her direction and ungracefully belly-flopped into his pool.

Angie laughed again.

“What?”

“Nothing. Just Tiger-Nik jumped into his pool. Like that goofy fat kid in eighth grade swim class.”

“Well, I read that tigers love water. And they don’t purr.”

“This one purrs.”

“Really,” she could hear Miki “thinking.” “Interesting. Tigers are the one cat that doesn’t…it must be the human in him.”

Shaking her head and smiling, Angie watched the seven-hundred-pound beast splash around like a little kid.

“Look, Angie. Are you sure you’re okay? Really?” Miki’s concern for her bled through the phone connection and it warmed her hard heart.

“I’m doing just fine, Mik. The man took me shopping. I spent twenty thousand dollars of his money, and he didn’t even blink an eye. Nor did he ask for sex.”

“You must have terrified another one.”

I wish. Angie chuckled as she watched Nik pull himself out of his pool.

She froze. He’d shifted back to human. Naked human. He stood up, shaking the water from his hair. The bright midday sun made his skin look like the gods had bronzed it just for her. Every muscle perfectly formed and begging to be touched.

Her breath caught in her throat. Her mind stopped functioning. And her heart felt like it would burst out of her chest. She stared at him. Openly. She couldn’t help herself. She couldn’t turn away. She was mesmerized.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

“Angie? Are you listening?”

Nope. She couldn’t hear a damn thing. Nothing. Everything else, even her best friend, blocked out by this man’s beauty.

Her eyes trailed down his hard body and she saw it. His cock. And like him… it was perfect.

She swallowed.

“Calling Angelina Santiago! Come in, Angie!”

Nik walked toward her, water dripping down every long, wonderful inch of him. With his long legs, it took him no time to reach her chair. He crouched down next to her and gently, with one of those big hands, closed her mouth.

“Catchin’ flies, Sugar?”

His hand slid across her chin and down her neck. Then it kept going. For an ecstatic moment, she thought he would cup her breast. But, instead, his hand petted the puppy she still clutched in her hands.

Nik leaned in close, his hot breath against her ear. Then, softly, so only she could hear, “And, Sugar, if you’re gonna sit out on that balcony at night, half-naked, smellin’ so sweet and sighing like you just had the best fuck of your life, then you might as well put a leash around myneck and call me yours.”

He pulled away, gave her the biggest shit-eatin’ grin she’d ever seen, and went back into his house.

“Angie! Either you answer me or I’m coming out there my goddamn self!”

“Don’t you dare!” Whoa. She didn’t mean to yell that. Or sound so hysterical. But Jesus Christ, who was this guy? She took a calming breath and licked her lips. “I mean. The important thing right now is that Pack baby.”

“Stop calling her that!”

***

Nik pulled his front door open and both of his sisters stormed in, carrying armloads of dresses.

“Where is she?” Reena demanded.

“Angelina?”

“You got some other Yankee livin’ with you at the moment?”

“Bite your tongue. Like I’d have a Yankee in my house. She’s a Texan.”

“Come on,” Kisa motioned to the stairs. “She’s probably in her room.”

The two women dashed up the stairs and Nik shook his head. He didn’t know what his sisters were up to, but he saw no claws, so he wasn’t too worried.

He started to close his front door but Ban and Aleksei walked up.

“Hey, bro!”

He closed the door in their faces and headed back to his office. He still had dead elk in his backyard.

“That’s not funny,” Ban yelled through the thick oak.

“Yes it is,” he barked back.

***

Angie stared at herself in the full-length mirror. She wore two different shoes. Both high heels, both exceptionally hot.

She didn’t even look up when the banging on the door started.

“Fuck off! You said we weren’t leaving ‘til seven.” She debated which shoes to wear. She didn’t want to think about it too much, but she wanted to look nice tonight.

“It’s us.”

She frowned. There was only one “us” in her life and they didn’t sound anything like that.

“Fuck off until seven.”

With no locks on the doors—damn shapeshifters—nothing stopped the two women from rushing into her room.

“I’m sorry. I don’t think I said come in.”

The smaller one stopped and stared down at Angie’s feet. “Oh, Lord, she’s even got cute shoes. We don’t have cute shoes.”

“Who are you?”

“Don’t you remember us? You met us yesterday before you left with Nik.”

Angie shrugged. Very few people held her interest, especially from one day to the next.

The bigger one spoke, “I’m Nik’s cousin. This is his sister.”

“Great. Now I’ve got the whole rootin’, tootin’ clan in here.”