Free Protected Mate (Catamount Lion Shifters #1) by J.H. Croix Page B

sighed. “What the hell are we going to do now?”
    Jake shook his head slowly. “Damn if I know. For the moment, let me keep digging and see what else I find. We need to keep this quiet. I’d like to reach out to Hayden Thorne. He seemed to be on the up and up. I got the sense he was concerned about Callen’s questions. For all we know, he’s aware of whoever these people were that wanted to use shifters for their smuggling operations. In the meantime, we can’t say a word, not even to Shana.”
    Dane nodded. “You’ll get no argument from me there. Do we know if Callen revealed our location to anyone?”
    “Not that I found so far. But all it would take was someone like me on the other side to chase down his digital trail. We can’t sit on this for too long.”
    Dane stood. “I know. Let me know what I can do. Let’s talk again tomorrow. In the meantime, I told Chloe I’d meet her for dinner, so I gotta get going.”
    Jake’s eyes sharpened. “Have you told her anything yet?”
    “Oh right. I haven’t seen you the last few days. Thanks to you telling her to ask me about Shadow Rock, I had to think on my feet, but she handled it. I should seriously thank you. I probably would have kept putting it off because I was afraid she’d run. She still has a lot of questions, but I think it’ll be okay. Now I just have to convince her to stay in Catamount.”
    Jake’s eyes widened. “You’re really serious about her?”
    Dane nodded firmly. “I told you the first time I saw her, I knew she was the one for me. I’m not playing games here. I wish like hell this mess around Callen wasn’t happening because I think she knows something’s up. I’m trying to figure out how to explain without getting into all the details. And now with this new information, we have a lot more to worry about.”
    Jake nodded slowly. “That’s putting it lightly. I’ll call you tomorrow,” he said, swinging his chair back around and immediately clicking onto his computer again.

    ***
    “Who are you talking about?” Dane asked Chloe.
    They were at dinner at The Trailhead, and Chloe was telling him about a man she met at Roxanne’s today. Dane felt his hackles rise for what appeared to be no reason. All he knew was his gut pinged loudly when Chloe mentioned the man.
    She’d just taken a bite of food and held a finger up while she chewed. After a quick sip of water, she glanced up, her mossy green eyes temporarily distracting him. He could look at her all day every day and never tire of it. She was so damn beautiful and completely unaware of how sensual she was. She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I thought he was someone else from Catamount. He said his name was Seth. Honestly, I assumed he was a shifter. Now that I know they’re real, I’ve been paying attention. Like how you, Shana and Jake all have eyes that tip up at the corners. And you move like a cat.”
    Dane choked on his water. “I don’t move like a cat when I’m not in lion form.”
    Chloe wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Yes you do. Anyway, back to this guy. He was asking me how I met you and stuff. I figured he knew you. It’s not crazy I’d think that. Half this damn town asks me nosy questions about you. They’re all protective and stuff. As if I’m somehow a risk to you,” she said huffily. “When seriously, I’m not the one that can shift into a mountain lion. I’m just a plain old person with a bum ankle.”
    Dane grinned at her comment. Catamount wasn’t too small, not anymore, but locals were protective. He knew those close to him weren’t worried about Chloe the way she meant. They were worried the way all shifters worried about humans finding out about their existence. He didn’t expect the dust to settle on that until he and Chloe were a sure thing. Until then, there would be fears she’d reveal them to outsiders. His mind turned to this man Chloe mentioned. He didn’t know anyone named Seth. It made him seriously