Courts and Cabals by G.S. D'Moore (best e reader for academics txt) 📕

he got out of the rental. His leg was still a little sore, but he could walk fine; even in the snow. He was not used to snow and ice. Texas hardly ever got snow, and in NYC, even if it fell, they plowed that shit quick. Here, Becky probably had to do it herself. He spotted the plow attachments on the front of her Jeep to do just that.

Becky’s house was set back into the forest roughly a hundred yards from the road. The road saw maybe one car an hour, so it was as scenic as you could get within a ten-minute drive of Vincent’s Hollow. He wanted to get here before dinner, but the bus had trouble with the snow. It wasn’t too late to be considered rude, but it was getting close.

Even though he was on vacation; his eyes scanned the trees and shadows. After dealing with the vamps, he half expected a kill team to leap out of the trees with silverbane blades. Creatures that lived for a millennium had a tendency to hold grudges, and dealt with them with extreme prejudice, but in this case, he’d done the vamps in power a favor.

Nothing happened from his car to the door. “Calm down,” he paused with his fist raised before knocking. “Don’t be a chicken shit. You like her,” he forced himself to admit.

It wasn’t “I want to get married and raise pups with you” love, but it was different than anything else he’d ever felt for another woman. Of course, the only thing he’d ever felt with other women was gratitude for getting his dick wet, but that was beside the point. He had to see if she felt the same, and that meant taking a risk. He hit the heavy, wooden door three times and took a step back to wait.

He heard feet walking down the hallway, and his heartrate sped up a bit. The door opened, and there she was. Becky Wood was dressed in yoga pants and a comfortable-looking sweatshirt. She had a large glass of wine in her hand, and a smile on her face. It took her a second to comprehend what she was looking at as surprise replaced the smile.

“Becky, who is it?” a definitely masculine voice called from inside.

Vernon’s eyes snapped from Becky’s face, down the hall, to where a man appeared. He was an inch or two shorter than Vernon, but a little wider in the shoulders. The man took one look at Vernon, and Vernon could smell the protectiveness radiating off him.

A growl escaped Vernon’s throat before he could stop himself. The other man let out a deep rumbled in response. Vernon’s fists balled up, and he had to fight back the change that was trying to burst out of him. He wanted to wolf out and tear this fucker a new one. The jealousy he felt was that strong. He knew he could take this little prick. He was Special Agent Vernon fucking Dud.

“Whoa, boys, whoa,” Becky stepped between the two men with her hands extended. Wine sloshed all over the other man, and Vernon grinned at his misfortune. “While I’m sure a girl likes it when two macho men whip it out to have a dick-measuring contest right in front of her. I’m not too thrilled when one of those dicks belongs to my brother.”

It took a moment for Vernon to catch the last bit. He took a deep breath and smelled the feline scent coming off the man. It was different, but had the same undertone as Becky. Vernon’s nose was as good at identifying relations as a DNA test. He turned the growl in his throat into a cough, and had the humility to look embarrassed.

“Connor Wood, meet Vernon Dud,” Becky stepped out from between them, and gestured for them to shake on it.

While Vernon had taken it down a notch, Becky’s brother still reeked of overprotectiveness. “So, this is him,” he rumbled, his voice a little deeper than Vernon’s.

He grasped Vernon’s hand and did his best to grind his bones to dust. Vernon didn’t let him, and the air was thick with tension as they tried to outmuscle each other. Becky rolled her eyes at the primal display, but let them get it out of their systems.

Finally, Connor grimaced and relented. Vernon didn’t quite howl in victory, but his smile said it all. The other man still didn’t smell like he liked Vernon, but being physically bested had some honor attached to it in shifter psyche.

“Now, if you two are finished fucking around?” she looked at them both. “Vernon why don’t you come in. Connor, you were about to head out anyway,” she gave her brother a hard look, and it became clear she was the older sister.

“Fine,” he relented, and gathered his jacket from a peg by the door. It had US Fish and Wildlife Service written on the back with Game Warden below. “I’ll check in tomorrow,” he shot a warning look at Vernon before giving his sister a hug and heading out to his truck.

Becky sighed and shut the door behind him. She turned on Vernon with a smile. “So, that’s my brother Connor. As you might have noticed, he’s a little protective of his big sister.”

“I’m not sure who you need protecting from,” he knew the compliment scored by her smile.

“Good answer,” she waved him into the cozy house and went to grab another glass.

Vernon wasn’t a big wine fan. He was a beer and whiskey man, but he needed a drink after doing the alpha-male dance. The house had a log-cabin feel to it. There was lots of wood paneling, but it looked modern, not from the seventies. It fit the house and its scenic location to a T. A wood-burning stove sat in the corner pumping out heat to fight back the winter chill,