Etienne (The Shifters of Shotgun Row Book 1)(8)

I didn’t like other people in my nest, and neither did the other boys.

The note on the back door was a reminder of the meeting. I hadn’t ever missed one, so I’m not sure why Callum got some kind of micromanaging feather stuck up his ass this time.

Changed into a pair of shorts and a gray T-shirt, I went out for the meeting. I was already a little behind schedule, since I’d sat in my cruiser and at my desk most of the day, reeling over all the shit Tansy had said to me.

Every syllable made me respect the fuck out of her.

Man, she was a beauty all riled up. Made me want to do things to her I had no business doing—or even wanting to do. She was human, and a girl like her would never go for a beast like me.

Except none of it diminished my need to protect her. It was uncomfortable and anxious, the raw need to make sure she was okay. It had to be my oath to her grandmother that made my animal so protective over this woman I’d just met.

I refused to believe anything else.

“What the hell are you growling about, Eti?” Just called across the fire that Callum insisted on having for these meetings. It was fucking a hundred and ten degrees out here, but he wanted to have a fucking kumbaya in front of a fire.

Asshole. He was our acting leader, but my gator wasn’t recognizing him as Alpha—at all.

“Nothin’. Just shit at work. What’s on the agenda other than Justice eatin’ some nasty-ass shit in the woods this morning?”

Justice squared off his shoulders. “Didn’t taste like shit.”

Callum chimed in, throwing more wood to feed the flames, all too happy with his campfire. “I had to turn off my fucking air conditioner because that rotten smell was coming into my bedroom.”

I shrugged. “At least something was coming in your bedroom.”

“Fuck. You. Etienne,” Loic said. He was probably still pissed about me making him get out of town as his gator.

“No thanks. I got a good enough look at your dick today. Not impressed.”

“Enough.” Callum wasn’t amused by our antics. “There’ve been some tourist boats getting a little too close today. All humans. We need to put up some more barriers.”

The rest of us agreed. The tourists on their airboat journeys through the swamp were annoying, and they got too close for comfort. We had to protect ourselves. I didn’t even want to think about what would happen if one of them approached while we were shifting.

“Etienne, can you and Just handle that this week?”

We both nodded. It wouldn’t take much time between my gator and his bear.

“Anything else? Anything anyone wants to tell us about someone who may have just moved into town?”

Callum and Loic had been gossiping.

I sighed. For some reason, telling even my crew about Tansy seemed like peeling off my skin.

“Fine. Her name is Tansy. She is Marie’s granddaughter. And she’s not to be touched.”

Loic laughed. “By us or by you?”

“You especially.”

“Etienne, you know our rules. We have to keep this place sacred.”

“Shut up, Justice. I was here when the rules were made.”

My phone buzzed in my pocket, and I picked it up. “Yeah?”

At the sound of the voice on the other end of the line, every hair on my body stood on end.

“I’m on my way.”

***

I knocked on Tansy’s door, nervous like a kid picking up his first date. I didn’t know why or how she called me, but I didn’t care.

“Come in but quick, or it’s gonna get out!”

“What’s gonna get out?” I stepped in, and she nearly took off my ass shutting the door behind me. Tansy had a broom in one hand and some kind of measuring cup in the other. There were kittens all over her pajamas. Her hair was in a knot on the top of her head, and damn it all if she didn’t look downright adorable.

“Curtis!”

Blood rushed to my face. I hadn’t even thought about this woman already having a male in her life.

“Who is Curtis?” I was looking on the floor like she was. I don’t know why Curtis would’ve been on the floor. Maybe he was a small man.

Fuck, I’m not making any sense at all.

She stopped all movement and shook the measuring cup at me while she spoke. “I somehow ended up buying an alligator lizard at that pet store today. Look at me. I’m franzzled.”

I didn’t know what in the world franzzled was, but it was something between wild cougar and flailing Muppet. At least, that’s what it looked like to me.





Tansy

Meemaw was going to pay. When she made me put her “friend” into the phone in case of “emergency,” which she assured me was even if I just needed someone to pick up aspirin if I was under the weather, I assumed cute little old lady, possibly her flea market friend, but noooooooo...she had to give me Yeti’s number.

When he answered the phone, it was all I could do to not hang up. It wasn’t like I had any other numbers to call. I tried the stupid pet store five times before giving up. It was after store hours, but wasn’t that the kind of business where you were always on call? What if someone needed advice on their stupid new pet? Something like leave the lid on their transportation container while you tried to figure out how to adjust the heat lamp in their new home.