Her Tiger (Shifted Love 3)

I’d decided to give it one more day before I hunted them down, but that plan was shot to shit when Kace got a call from his father-in-law. He used his alpha gift and sent me a telepathic message to get to his house stat. Calliope was busy drawing some dress designs, so I gave her a quick kiss before running down the street.

“What’s going on?” I asked after flinging open the door and swiftly crossing the living room to stand beside Kace.

He switched the call to speaker and barked, “I’m going to need you to repeat that for Tane.”

“Why? Aren’t you in charge down there?” Link asked.

Kace got along with Larissa’s dad, but from the stories I’d heard while I was out of town, it sounded as though he wasn’t the kind of man who was going to cut his son-in-law much slack, even if he had the ability to shift into a fiercely dominant wolf. I enjoyed listening to him give my friend a hard time…until I heard the reason Kace has asked Link to repeat himself. “Tane isn’t just my third in command, he’s also Calliope’s mate. Her safety is his priority the same way Larissa’s is for me.”

“This is about Calliope?” I growled, my muscles bunching with tension.

“Yeah, word on the street up here is that some bad shit is going down with her parents,” Link explained. “They got mixed up in a deal with an importer whose business isn’t always on the up and up. One of his clients is pissed off they’ve lost container space to Calliope’s parents, and he’s been pressuring them to drop their contract with the importer.”

“Maybe that’s why they’ve been avoiding Calliope,” I muttered.

“If so, it’s the only smart decision they’ve made with this situation,” Link grumbled. “This guy doesn’t fuck around when it comes to getting what he wants, and he has a reputation for playing dirty and going after family members if that’s what it takes to get the job done.”

“Do you think trouble is headed our way?” Kace asked.

“If I had to guess? Yeah, that’s what my gut’s saying,” Link sighed. “We’ve got a handle on things up here, and I’m making sure Calliope’s parents are covered.”

“Calliope is safe in Timber Ridge,” Kace replied.

“Anyone who dares to try to hurt my mate will be dead before they have the chance to lay a finger on her,” I guaranteed.

“Just make sure nobody ever finds the bodies,” Link warned. “I don’t think the authorities will look very hard if he and his underlings turn up missing, and he’s not the kind of guy who shares shit up the hierarchy if it’s going to make him look bad. So if he up and disappears, that’ll probably take care of the problem.”

“No worries there,” Kace assured him. “Tane’s tiger has a hell of an appetite.”

“Tane, the tiger?” Link chuckled. “His parents must have a hell of a sense of humor since it sounds an awful lot like the cereal cartoon mascot.”

I didn’t bother reacting to his joke. It wasn’t the first time I’d heard it, and odds were good it wouldn’t be the last. And I had more important things to worry about at the moment. “Is there anything else I need to know to help keep Calliope safe?”

“I’ll send everything we’ve got on the guy,” Link promised. “Our tech guy is good, so the email will have his picture along with photos of known associates.”

Kace was my alpha, but I didn’t hesitate to bark out a command to him since my mate’s safety was at stake. “Forward whatever Link sends to you right away and give him my email address so I can get that shit direct until this is resolved. Unless there’s anything else urgent that I need to hear now, I’m heading back to my place. I left Calliope there by herself, and I don’t want her alone.”

“Will do,” Kace agreed.

“I don’t have anything else yet,” Link confirmed. “Get back to our girl.”

“My girl,” I corrected as I headed for the door. It didn’t matter that the man had known Calliope since she was five years old and had been the one to alert me to the possible danger; I wasn’t willing to let another man lay even the smallest claim to my mate. Especially not when my protective instincts were at an all-time high.

Rushing back to our house, I called out for her as soon I was through the door. “Calliope!”

“I’m still up here,” she answered with a yell.

I pounded up the stairs and shook my head when I heard her grumble, “You were only gone for like ten minutes tops. Where did you think I would’ve run off to in that little bit of time?”

I heaved a deep sigh of relief when I found her in our room, still curled up on the bed with her tablet in her lap. Logically, I knew nothing could’ve happened to her while I was at Kace’s house, but reason had been tossed out the window when I found out my gorgeous mate might be in danger. Some of the terror and rage I was feeling must have shown on my face because she dropped her tablet on the mattress and sat up. “What’s wrong? Is it Larissa or Allegra? Your parents? Sisters?”