Nothing in Common, Except ...

Chapter 1 The bullet tore through his flank. Brax clenched his jaw, refusing to howl despite the pain. To do so would reveal his presence to the men hunting him. Carefully, he eased deeper into the thicket, praying the slight movement of the branches wouldn’t call attention to where he was. Two more shots rang out. He heard them strike the underbrush a few yards away and figured they were shooting at anything in an attempt to flush him out. The sound of a breaking twig under the foot of one of the hunters let him know they were moving away. Slowly, too slowly—but they did leave the area. Soon their scent was dissipated by the slight breeze stirring the leaves in the trees surrounding him. Finally, knowing it was safe, he turned his head to lick his wound, tasting blood. He knew he’d heal fairly quickly—with sleep—and debated remaining where he was or moving to a possibly safer place. Remaining won. He curled up, closed his eyes, and slept. * * * * Brax woke when sunshine pierced the thicket, dappling the ground around him. He listened, every sense alert for the presence of the humans. Nothing. Cautiously he eased out from under the low-hanging branches and stood, checking where he’d been shot. There was no evidence it had happened other than an almost invisible coating of blood on his black fur. He licked it off, walked a few feet to make certain that he could move without limping, then shifted and with a thought, clothed himself. Now all I have to do is pray they think I made it away from here last night. He didn’t know who they were. From what little he’d overheard when they first appeared the previous evening, they had been told that there was a black wolf in the area. “I want his head stuffed on the wall in my study,” one of the men had said. “That’d be one hell of a trophy,” the other man had replied. “The boss said he’s pure black, except for some gray on his muzzle.” Brax had wondered who the ‘boss’ was that they were talking about. In all the time he’d been coming to this particular part of the preserve to run, he hadn’t seen or sensed any humans while he was around—until last tonight. Nor had he seen any other wolves. He’d caught the scent of some a time or two, although they hadn’t revealed themselves to him. But then Brax wouldn’t do that, either, until he knew if they would be friend or foe. He might be an Alpha, but that did not mean he wanted to get into a territorial dispute with another wolf, shifter or otherwise. Now, he teleported back to where he’d left his car, landing in safe space where he wouldn’t be seen, then walking the few yards to where he’d parked. * * * * “You’re late, O’Hara,” Judd Markham, Brax’s partner in their private investigation agency, said, coming out of his office when Brax walked into the waiting room. “Busy night?” “You could say that,” Brax replied. He knew Judd was pissed. He never used Brax’s last name unless he was upset with him. “Did I blow an appointment?” “Yeah, but I covered for you.” “Thanks.” Brax went into his office, starting his computer to check his email. “Mr. Pence needs me to take a look at his security system…again.” Judd followed him, replying, “I know. He called, too. He’s expecting you in twenty minutes.” “This is getting old,” Brax replied. “Just do it,” Judd muttered. “Aye, aye, captain.” Brax saluted, finally getting a smile from Judd, as small as it was. The two of them had been partners in the agency since they’d received their degrees in criminal justice four years ago. Brax had returned to college after leaving his previous job as a security expert for a company on the east coast. He’d had a good reason for doing that—he wasn’t aging. All shifters faced that problem and had to move on and reinvent themselves from time to time. Brax had done so by going back to school, intending to start his own agency when he finished. He’d met Judd; they’d meshed and joined forces to open Markham and O’Hara Private Investigations. Now, it was finally beginning to pay off. In spite of their friendship—and they were friends even when Judd was in grumpy mode—the one thing Brax had never revealed to him was that he wasn’t quite human. It wasn’t that Brax didn’t trust him—or maybe it was. Judd was married and married men sometimes had problems keeping secrets from their wives, especially when they weren’t their own secrets. The fact that shifters existed was something very few humans were aware of, which probably was best for all concerned. People being people, what was strange or different in their eyes too often caused them to hate, rather than accept, that not everyone fit their ‘ideal’—particularly in the current political climate. So, Brax kept his secrets to himself—both of them. * * * * “We need to find another place to meet,” Brax said as he appeared in Caleb Pence’s office. “We’ve used the excuse that your security system had a glitch one too many times. I think Judd’s beginning to wonder what’s going on.” “That’s understandable. What you set up here is better than most banks’, including the counter-surveillance equipment. If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be meeting here, and you know it. Still, you have a point. Maybe it’s time to consider your place, if you’d break down and install cameras and motion sensors.” Caleb shot Brax a sour look, getting a rather contrite smile in return. “Or mine, now that my divorce is final. If you can fit me into your schedule on Monday, I’ll hire you to set up security at my house and install a safe, since she’s not living there anymore.” “I can. Why the hell you married a human to begin with?” Brax shook his head as he always did when Caleb mentioned his ex. “Love. It’ll screw a guy up every time. Love got me into it. Her jealousy, when she began looking older than me, ended it.” “At least you had sense enough not to tell her why.” Caleb nodded. “It was never an option as far as I was concerned. Any more than it would be one for you, if you found someone. We don’t do that if we want to survive.” “Speaking of surviving, someone was taking potshots at me last night.” “How so? And where?” Caleb’s expression darkened with worry. “I was out running. From what I overheard, they were told that there was a black wolf in the area and one of them had his heart set on hanging its, well, my head on his trophy wall.” “I presume, since you’re here, they missed.” “Nope. But they didn’t do any permanent damage.” Caleb frowned. “You’re sure they were just hunters?” “Sounded like, and they were human.” Brax shrugged. “Anyway, back to why I’m here.” “To fix the security system?” Caleb chuckled when Brax raised his middle finger, and then went to his safe, returning with a folder that he handed to Brax. “A client wants you to pick this up for him.” Brax studied the photo it contained before reading the information. “Nice piece. Not so nice location.” “If it was easy, any common thief could get his hands on it.” “Glad to know I’m not common.” Brax smirked. “Okay, let the client know it could take a week. If he doesn’t like it, he can go elsewhere.” “He’ll deal.” * * * * “Tell me you finally figured out what’s wrong with Pence’s system,” Judd said when Brax returned to the office. “I did. It’s fixed so he can’t mess it up again. I swear the man has no common sense when it comes to technical stuff. Something good came of it, though. He’s decided he wants the same sort of security on his house. I’ll be installing it Monday.” “So he can f**k it up, too?” Judd rolled his eyes. Brax laughed. “Let’s hope not.” Judd took a deep breath and said, “I owe you an apology for bitching at you earlier.” “No problem. I deserved it.” Judd grinned. “True. At least tell me he was worth it.” Laughing, Brax replied, “Enough that I didn’t want to leave his nice, warm bed.” I wish that was the truth. I wish I had someone whose bed I didn’t want to leave. It had been a long time since that had happened. Two years and counting, by Brax’s estimation. Down and dirty s*x? Yes. Even thinking about some sort of commitment? The last time he’d met a man he thought he could care about, the relationship had lasted two months before the guy decided Brax wasn’t what he’d been looking for after all. He’d walked away, leaving Brax questioning what had gone wrong this time. When it came down to it, he had known. It was hard to have a relationship when he had so many secrets he was unwilling to reveal—starting with what he was, and what he did for Caleb. One too many excuses for why he couldn’t see his lover on a particular day or evening, with no explanation other than, “I spent the night following a client’s husband,” or “I was on a stakeout,” followed by, “You know I can’t talk about it. Client confidentiality,” didn’t sit well. Once too often and a lover began to wonder if Brax was two-timing them. Inevitably, they moved on, leaving Brax behind. “Tomorrow’s Saturday. If you’re not planning on warming a bed—” Judd winked “—Jenna said you should come by for dinner. She’s making her world-famous pot roast.” “I have no plans, so tell her I’d love to.” “Bring your friend, if you want. The more the merrier.” Brax harrumphed, lying through his teeth. “My friend was just a one-night stand, I’m afraid. Nice guy but…” He waggled his hand. “Got it. Been there, done that, before I got married.” After that, they got back to what they needed to do to keep the agency in business.