Chapter 1

Waylon didn’t care all that much for being sued. Well, he was counter-suing, so it didn’t really make that much difference to what the outcome was but he was assured by his attorney, his dad, that he was going to win hands down. He wasn’t quite as sure as he was, but that was all right. So long as it was finished, he was glad too of that.

Douglass Brown was suing him because he couldn’t get a house built without using him as a source for the wood and screws. Not to mention all the things in-between. Since he’d not waited on him hand and foot the day he’d come in for a five-cent washer, he decided that he was going to tell each builder that he got to talk to that they could build his home without using Waylon’s hardware store.

“Mr. Dixon, I’ve read over the statement that you gave to your attorney and I think that there must be a typo in this. It says here that Mr. Brown was upset with you because you didn’t go back and find the washer that he needed and bring it up to the counter in the first place. Is this correct?” He told his honor that it was true and also told him that Mr. Brown failed to get his house built because he wouldn’t allow any of the builders to use him as a source. “I see. And is this a new thing? Having the store employees waiting on their customers instead of having them go back and find the item that they want?”

“No, sir. Not that I’m aware of. I did tell him were the washers were and even went so far as to tell him what size he’d need to replace the one that he had on him. But he was upset that I didn’t go and get it for him. I was busy putting away merchandise and didn’t figure that it would really be all that big of a deal.” The judge told him that he didn’t think it would have either. “So he’s been unable to hire a construction crew to build his home because he tells them that they aren’t to use me. I don’t care one way or the other if he uses me or not, but the companies around—I give them a good deal on buying the entire needs of a house at one place, and I even only order things that will be used later down the line until they need them. It’s a win-win for everyone that places the orders, and I make out well, too.”

“So let me get this straight, Mr. Brown. You’ve been blackballing Mr. Dixon here because he didn’t do what you wanted when you showed up at his hardware store.” Mr. Brown said it was more than that. “Then how about you explain to me what the difference is. Because as far as I can see, you’re going to not get your house built because of a penny’s worth of rubber.”

“He wasn’t all that busy that he couldn’t go back on the shelf and get it for me. I told him that a lot was riding on him doing what I wanted.” The judge asked him what the man had been doing. “I haven’t any idea. He had this little dusting feather thing in his hand and was using it like it was going to be giving him some kind of magic. But it’s the principle of the matter. I was going to be spending a great deal of money in his place, and he didn’t seem to care about my money.”

“I doubt very much that for all your blustering that day that it didn’t matter to Mr. Dixon. Now, what is it you’re suing him for, in your own words.” Brown started out by complaining about how he had to park in the rain because he didn’t offer any kind of pick-up and delivery service in the first place. Then he went on to say that since he was the customer who was in need of an item, Dixon should have been more accommodating. “Have you ever been in a hardware store, Mr. Brown? I mean one as large as Mr. Dixon’s. and if you have, did they go and get what you wanted and bring it to you?”

“That’s not the point. You see, I’m a paying customer that was going to spend a great deal of money in his place that he was willing to piss off because he wouldn’t do what I wanted. The customer is always right.” He was told that it was exactly the point, that he was thinking he deserved service that wasn’t offered in any hardware store in the world. “And why not? Let me ask you. When you go into a store, do you want the best kind of service? Having someone cater to your needs? I do, and that’s why I’m suing him. Because he didn’t want to do what I wanted when I wanted it done.”

“You’re wasting my time here.” He banged the gavel down on his dais and said that the case was dismissed. “Mr. Dixon, are you willing to let this go on your end if he tells you just what an idiot he’s been. Not in those words, but close enough.”

“He has been badmouthing me to several local construction companies to the point that they wouldn’t build his home even if he were to use my hardware store. So I guess that’s all right. Unless he tries this again.” The judge looked at Brown and asked him if he was willing to let this go as he wasn’t in the right.

“He bad-mouthed about me too. Telling the other construction companies not to work for me in getting my house built. I can’t get my house built in town because once I put it out there that I didn’t want this panty waste of breath to be any part of my home, they sided with him.” The judge told him to move on. He wasn’t going to be getting anything from him. “Well, that’s not going to work for me. I want my house built.”

“Then find yourself someone that will build it.” Rolling his eyes, the judge looked at him. “I’m finding for the defendant, Mr. Dixon in this case and charging court cost as well as a five thousand dollar fine to Mr. Brown. See the cashier on the way out, gentlemen. Next case.”

Waylon left with his dad who was disappointed in not being able to say a single word about the case. He decided to pay for his dad some lunch in compensation. He asked if he thought that he’d pay up.

“No. I mean, he’ll have to pay at least the court costs, right? Then after that, there will be no money coming to me. I don’t care, so long as he leaves me and mine alone from now on.” They were just getting their lunch when his younger brother Cullen walked in with Logan, the supposed little boy that he’d picked up overseas when he’d been out of the country.

Logan was a magical creature that helped the family with things. Mostly, it was his brother Jayden and his new wife Hazel. They were the people to call when they had children who needed a good home for a temporary situation or even long term. The two of them had already taken in one child, an infant by the name of Allen. The entire family was in love with the little man and was spoiling him already.

“You look different today.” Logan told them that he was fading into an older person, to be about thirty-five, so that he wouldn’t have to hold onto the shape of a fourteen-year-old boy when he was considerably older than even Minx, who created him. It was not so much difficult but taxing for him. “I think that will take some time to get used to if you were to do it all at one time. You’re very smart for doing things this way.”

“Thank you. We’ve come to ask you for a favor. You don’t have to do it, but there is a young woman, I believe that you might have met her, who is in need of a place to stay while she figures out how to get someone off her tail.” He asked if he meant Londyn. “We do, as a matter of fact. She’s a brilliant attorney and is being hounded by her former boss for the checks that were supposed to come to her when her family was killed. It’s a goodly sum of money, too.”

“I didn’t meet her that day, but I did see her. Dallas told me that she was on the run, but she’s also very skittish, too.” Logan smiled. “You’re not telling me something, and I don’t care to be—She’s my mate, isn’t she?”

“She is. Telling you this now will be much better for the two of you in the long run. I’m afraid that if her boss, one of the Davis’s of the Davis and Davis law firm, finds her, he’ll not just take her money from her but kill her in a way that would make it impossible to identify her in any way. I believe that he’s had practice. You do remember hearing about young Donnie Lawson, didn’t you? Well, he suffered greatly for his part in making sure that Londyn got the checks.”

“Grandda said that he could smell that they were there at the house. Shot his mom while she was in bed, then tortured Donnie in a way that—like you said, it was hard to identify him. Why do they want the money from her? I mean, she’s intitled to it, correct? There is no subterfuge on her part, right?”

“Every five years since the family was killed, the firm sends out another set of checks. She is the name on the checks, and they send them out with the banks, knowing that the pervious checks can’t be cashed if the most recent one is being used. Or something like that. I’m not sure on all the details.” It was Cullen who continued to speak. “They’ve been holding onto the checks at the firm until such time as she’s killed. I think they were just waiting on her to be murdered by their hand, I’m assuming, so that they could go in and take the money as her attorney.”

“They’d no doubt claim that they were the ones to be in charge of her estate and the ones that would pay out all the money. Sick bastards.” Logan agreed with him. “So? What do I do with my wealthy mate that anyone else couldn’t have been able to do?”

“You need to claim her so that she’s immortal. The sooner, the better.” He told Cullen that he didn’t care for being blackmailed. “I know you don’t, but you can get to know her better after things hit the fan for her in the next few hours.”

“You’re serious. I need to claim her now, without even meeting her, so that she doesn’t die and we can hang out together. That’s a shitty thing to do to anyone. Much less your brother. What if you’re wrong about her?” Logan said that he wasn’t. “I don’t like this. I’ll do it because I don’t want anyone to die for no reason. I know that ten million is a lot of reasons for her to be alive but I still don’t care for this.”

All he had to do was to say the words that would claim the woman as his mate. As he said, he’d do it, but he wasn’t going to be hanging out with her anytime too soon. He had other things going on that needed his attention more than she might.

Once the words were out of his mouth, him claiming one Londyn Grace Rice as his mate and one true love, he felt a connection to her like a rubber band being snapped on his wrist. Standing up when he felt her pain, he looked at his brother and dad and said that he had to go. Once he was out in the sunshine, he realized that he hadn’t any idea where she was or what was happening to her. Heading to the diner, where he’d first seen her, he stopped when he saw the large black car sliding to a halt near where he was standing. The passenger got out, and Waylon felt his gorilla snarling at the other man.

“You there. We’re looking for that girl we asked you about. Have you seen her around lately?” He asked the man, a burly of a guy, why he’d think that he’d seen her since he asked him the day before yesterday. “We’re not getting shit out of anyone around this town, yet we know this is where she is staying. You’d think that someone would help us somewhat. I’m her dad, and I’ve been looking for her.”

“Father, huh? She must look like her mother if she’s your daughter.” He asked him what he knew about her looks. “You said she had purple eyes. You don’t, so I’m assuming that her mother has them.”

“Oh.” He looked into the car he was still standing beside and spoke to the driver. He wasn’t talking all that loud, but it was just enough for him to hear. He wanted to know if they should question him more someplace private. Unless he wanted a troop of gorillas on his ass, he’d better be rethinking that. He looked at him again, smiling a tight smile. “How about we get you a cup of coffee someplace and sit down and talk about this? I mean, you might have seen her and don’t know it. What do you say about that?”

“I have to go to work.” He said he was sure that his boss wouldn’t mind if he was late. “I would. So no, I’m not going to go anyplace with the two of you.”

When he walked by him, going to the diner again, the man reached out and grabbed him by the arm. All Waylon did was to look at his hand on him, then at the man. Smiling at him, Waylon let just enough of his gorilla go to make sure that man knew he was fucking with the wrong person.

“Remove your hand, or I’ll tear your arm from the socket and beat you to death with it. I’m not kidding you right now.” The man let him go, but not before showing him the gun that he had in his coat. “If you think you can pull that out before I can tear out your throat, then go right on ahead. I’ve got nothing but time on my side if it comes to having to kill you.”

~*~

Londyn watched the exchange between the men just beyond where she was hiding. It occurred to her that this was the same man that had chased her down several days ago when she’d been hiding in the woods. Now that she was staying at the diner, the apartment just above the place, she could look all over the town and not be seen. It was nice, too, that she was nearly worry-free from the men trying to kill her.

There was no doubt in her mind that she’d be dead if they found her. Donnie had already been killed by them, and it didn’t matter to them that his poor mother might not have known shit about what he’d done for her. She was also terrified that once they found her, Donnie’s death would look easy compared to what they’d do to her.

The odd part was she’d not even known about the checks from the insurance company. Handing them over to Mr. Dixon, Dallas, his name was, didn’t bother her so much as knowing that all this time, she could have been in a great deal better shape than she was now. Londyn had been living paycheck to paycheck since her parents had died and she’d been able to get out of college. She’d only had a few weeks left to work for the firm in order to fulfill her obligation for them paying half her college loans. She did wonder now if they’d ever planned to do that and it upset her that she’d worked there for a large pay cut just so they’d keep their end of the bargain. It was going to be difficult for her to trust many people after this was finished, hopefully without her being dead. That was what she was working for right now.

When the younger man moved away from the guy in the black SUV, she knew that some pretty harsh words were exchanged. Looking down at the towel that she’d wrapped her bleeding finger in, she was surprised to see that it looked as if it had stopped bleeding. Almost as soon as she unwrapped it to see if it was still bleeding a great deal, she had to close her eyes. The door to her apartment/hiding place opened she turned to find the man from the street there. Something Dixon.

“It’s not there. The cut isn’t there anymore.” He nodded and moved toward her. Slowly, like he was gaging her temperament. “I nearly cut my finger off when I saw the big car…my finger is all healed up, and I’m not bleeding anymore.”

She put out her hand when he asked her to. There was something so warm and comforting about him being so close. After he tossed the towel into the sink, he looked over her hand just to make sure. Snatching it back when he asked her if she was all right like he was asking her if she was sane, pissed her off. So she told him to leave.

“I was only asking to see if you were still hurting. I’m not sure how the magic works, but I was fearful that you might still have some lingering pain. The pain that I felt that brought me here.” She asked him why he’d know she was hurt. “Yeah, about that. I knew because I claimed you to my dad. Usually, it’s supposed to be to my older brother; he’s the razorback in the troop, but my dad used to be the leader, and now—”

“You’re babbling. What are you going on about?” He sat down after asking her permission. “Tell me straight up what it is you’re talking about. How did you feel my pain? For that matter, how did you know that I’m living up here?” He didn’t look like he was going to answer her so she kicked him in the foot.

“You’re not nice. I knew you were up here because once I spoke to Janie, she told me that you were up here. Hiding out.” So much for keeping her safe, she thought. “She wouldn’t have told me but for the reason that I gave her.”

“And just what reason that a perfectly strange man would be able to say to her that would allow you to come up here?” He told her that they were mates and that he’d claimed her. “What does that mean? I mean, I sort of understand, mates. I know a few shifters. But what does…you said that we’re mates. Since when?”

“Since I don’t know when. The fates made it so? I have no idea.” She asked him what he knew about mates. “I mean, you know a few shifters. I’m a gorilla shift—”

“There isn’t any such thing as gorilla shifters.” He stretched out his neck, and she heard it pop several times as he stared at her. “I would think that someone would have said something about them before.”

“So because no one told you that there are shifter gorillas, it can’t be true?” He snorted. “Get over yourself. There are snake shifters, too. And in the event you didn’t know, there are shifters for all kinds of animals around. Elite shifters also have the ability to shape-shift into things that have no heartbeat, too. I suppose you didn’t know that either?”

“You’re very snarky.” He didn’t bother answering her, and she was glad for that. “Tell me what this means, you claiming me.”

“Just what you think it means. I’ve claimed you so that you didn’t bleed out when you cut yourself. In looking at your hand just now, did you know that you also cut your wrist?” She said that her finger was ready to fall off, and that wouldn’t have made her bleed out. “Oh, so now you’re a doctor too.”

“I don’t like you one bit, just so you know that.” He stood up, and she did as well. “Where are you going? Aren’t you supposed to die without me next to you? That’s all it’s going to be too to by claiming me.” Making his way to the door, he stopped suddenly, and she bumped him from behind. “What the—”

He turned to her quickly. His hand covered her mouth, and he held her tightly to his body. Nearly ready to unman him, she heard the voices, too. Several men were talking to Janie about her. Looking up at the man, she didn’t have any idea what his name was when he told her to hush. As much as she hated to be treated like a child, she also didn’t care to be told to hush like she was a baby.

“Logan is going to take you home.” The man just appeared in the room. Sort of sprinkled in the room like he was some kind of faerie god mo— “Listen to me. He’s going to take you to my house where they won’t be able to find you. For the love of everything, will you stay put until I come for you?”

“Yes.” As suddenly as the man came into her apartment, she was standing in a strange kitchen with boxes everywhere. “Where am I? And who are you?”

“I’m the elite shifter he was telling you about.” She nodded, not sure if she was awake or something. “You’ll be safe here so long as you don’t leave the house for any reason. I’ll return with your things in a few moments.”

“I don’t understand.” He said that Waylon would tell her soon. “I’m assuming that’s the guy who said that I’ve been claimed. Does he have any idea who I’m hiding from? Or why they’re hunting for me? It was my money, and now someone is dead because of it.”

She tried her best not to cry. She’d been doing that a lot lately since getting the checks from her estate is what she decided to call the money. Twice, she’d been tempted to hand the money over to the men, but she had a suspicion that they’d kill her anyway for making them have to find her. She was not sure why that kept coming into her mind. She was scared shitless about any bump in the night she heard too.

“You’re going to be safe here. I swear to you.” She asked about the man, Waylon. “He will be, as well as his family will be. They’re all gorillas—please take my word for it that they’re real. There are many things and many more creatures that exist that you will come to know and understand.”

“I don’t understand any of this now.” He smiled at her and even though he looked to be in his mid to late twenties, she had a feeling that he was much older than he appeared. “Can you really change into a coffee table?”

“Shall I show you?” Shaking her head, she told him that she didn’t want to know that bad. “Suit yourself, Londyn. Now, if you wish, I can have one of the others come to sit with you. I’d like to go back and see to Waylon if you’d not mind. I don’t think that he’ll need my help, but I’m not entirely sure that the men with him will believe him when he tells them that he doesn’t know you.”

“I’ll be fine by myself.” She looked around the room. “Is he moving in or out? It could be about anything from what I’m seeing.”

“This is his temporary home until he finds a home to share with you and your upcoming families.” She said that she didn’t have any family. “The one that you will create with him. I’m sorry, I must go. He does indeed need me there.”

He disappeared, just like when he’d arrived, by sort of sprinkling out. There weren’t words that she could think about that would be enough to explain to her what he was doing. Turning away from the now empty spot, she sat down on the living room chair and then jumped up. She needed to be doing something or her head just might explode.

There was a knock at the door that she ignored. Not even going to the peephole, she was terrified that once someone saw her eye in the little hole, they’d blow her brains out. She was going to have to stop watching those mystery things where someone is killed every episode, or she was going to drive herself insane.

By the time Waylon, using his keys, entered the house, she had tidied up his place and done the dishes that were in the sink. Not that it was all that messy, but she needed something to calm her nerves, and that was all there was for her to do.

“You’re safe for now.” She asked him what had happened. “What sort of person are you about someone giving you the full story? All at once or just a little at a time?”

“Did anyone else die because of me?” He told her that no one had died because of her. “Yeah? Tell that to Donnie and his mother.”

“He knew that he was going to be in trouble when he handed them over to you. Perhaps not dead, nor his mother, but he was taking a chance, and that ended up with him being murdered. However, I will tell you that he’ll be avenged before this is all over.” She asked him how he was so sure. “Because to believe otherwise would be the same as giving up. You’re not giving up, are you?”

“I don’t know if this would be considered giving up but what do you think would happen if I were to just turn over the money to them. The checks, I mean?” he told her that they’d kill her anyway. “You sound so sure about that. It’s not like I’d miss the money. I mean, I’ve been doing without for so long I don’t know how I’d act if I had money for both groceries and my rent at the same time.”

“Your apartment is gone. The entire building has been destroyed.” She sat down hard on the chair again. “Also, your car. It was still in the parking lot when it was torched as well. No one got out.”

“You need to work on your bedside manner.” She stood up then and made her way to the kitchen to…well, she didn’t know, but that’s where she ended up standing. “All those people. They, for the most part, didn’t know me, and now they’ve died because someone decided that me having the inheritance from my family all passing away was a reason to kill them off.” She looked at Waylon. “They’re really out to kill me, aren’t they? For money.”

“People have killed for less.” She glared at him. “You didn’t answer my question about how to be told things, so I’m just not sugarcoating it. How do you want the rest of the information that I have for you?”

“There’s a lot more?” He just stared at her. “Tell me. I have a feeling that getting it this way from you is better than hearing about it in the newspaper. What else is going on that I need to be aware of?”

“The people in the diner are going to be fine; however, you might want to know that they figured out that you were staying there. It’s been burnt out as well.” She felt her eyes fill with tears. “I’ve been told that they’re going to have the money to rebuild but won’t be doing that. The owner, Ms. Janie Scott, is going to retire and move to Florida when she’s out of the hospital. Without Logan and myself there, it might have been a great deal more loss of life than just the two that had died. And since you asked, it was two of the men that had come looking for you that didn’t get out.” She told him good. “I thought you’d say that. They were killed by me as my gorilla. Logan helped to make it look like their bodies were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. So no one will question why they were killed when the roof, your floor, fell atop them.”

“Honestly and rudely, what do you think they would have done to me had they found me there?” He nodded and started to tell her. Putting up her hand, she asked him to stop. “You’re much too blunt for me right now. Just knowing that they’d yank out my teeth one at a time is enough.” She looked out the window again.

“For now, you’re safe. The man, Mr. Davis, isn’t going to let this go, so my family and I are going to talk to him about what’s going on. And why his thugs were in the restaurant in the first place. The third man, the driver, has gotten away—mostly because we allowed him to so that he could go back and tell his boss that you’re untouchable.” She asked him if she was. “As of the moment that I claimed you, you became immortal. You’ll be safe with me.”

“But that didn’t mean he can’t get to me. Correct?” Waylon told her not to borrow trouble when everything else was free for her. “But they’ll get to me. They’ll try and kill me.”

“Yes. But I’ll protect you with my life from now on.” She didn’t know if she was all right with that either. She’d had enough people die because of her.