Cougar's Mate by Terry Spear Page B

she wasn’t such a handful, he’d clean up the mess, but his priority had to be keeping an eye on her. He carried her into the living room and set her down on the sofa. “Stay.”
    She scowled at him, then turned away as he pulled out his phone. She was observing the layout of the place, trying to figure out just what she could do to get away, he would guess. But she wasn’t going anywhere. Not when she was handcuffed and in his custody.
    “Dan, are you okay?”
    “Hell… yeah. Doc’s got me in a bed, damn it. I’m on pain meds. What’s the news?”
    Chase smiled at the woman. “I’ve got our woman. I’m at Haverton’s place. She’s made a bit of a mess of his kitchen, but she’s fine. Handcuffed on his couch. Not cooperating.”
    “Resisting arrest?”
    “Hell, yeah, resisting arrest.”
    She jerked her attention to him and scowled.
    He smiled. “But she’s calm now. I’ll bring her into town in a few.”
    “Whatever you do, don’t lose her.”
    “Gotcha there. See you in a little while.” Chase ended the call, then eyed the woman. “Okay, what’s your name and what’s your story?”
    “Ann Osborn is my name.”
    “Try again.”
    Her frown couldn’t have grown any deeper, he didn’t think.
    He called another number. “Hey, Dottie, if Dan didn’t give you word in case he’s too out of it, I’ve got the woman and you can call off the search.”
    “Will do. I’ve heard she’s a real wild cat.”
    “She is definitely that. Call Hal Haverton and let him know I’m in his house with the woman, that she made a mess in the kitchen, and we’ll be out of here in a bit, but I just wanted to forewarn him.”
    “All right. I’ll get right on it.”
    “Thanks. Out here.” He sat on the chair perpendicular to the couch and leaned forward. “So if you’re not wanted for murder, then what? A psycho stalker is after you? You’ve committed some other crime worthy of risking your life over? Stolen millions of dollars from a Mob boss? What?”
    “I’m totally innocent of committing any crimes.”
    He raised his brows.
    “Before you shot me,” she said, scowling at him. “I could have been just on a run through the mountains on a whim. You had no right to shoot me.”
    “You wouldn’t have run away if you hadn’t been feeling guilty about something.”
    “You didn’t know I was a shifter and you shot me!”
    “Okay, I did. But I told you who I was after that and that Dan, the sheriff, was joining us. You ran again, only you conked out from the drug, and we were able to take you in hand or you would have been gone for good. So why did you run from the clinic? You weren’t afraid I was going to press charges. I offered to feed you some of my stew. I apologized for shooting you.” He reached out and patted her knee. “Tell me. We’ll work through this.”
    “You can’t,” she said. “None of you can. Believe me when I say this. The best thing you can do is let me go. Just drop me off in the wilderness, and I’ll go far away from your town and out of your territory, so you never have to deal with me again.”
    He straightened in his chair. “You can’t live out there on your own as a cougar. It wouldn’t be safe. Hunting season begins in less than two weeks from now. If you leave our territory, you’re liable to run into a wolf pack or two, hunters, bear.” He considered how thin she looked. “You don’t appear to be finding enough food to maintain your weight. Stay with us. With me. My offer still stands. I have cabins up near Lake Buchanan. You can have one of them free of charge. I’ll pick up some groceries for you. You can put some meat on your bones, talk with us, get your bearing, and then we’ll see where you want to go from there.”
    “All right. I’ll go with you. Just take off the handcuffs and I’ll behave.”
    He smiled. He didn’t trust her one little bit. “Or, I can dump you in a jail cell and let the sheriff talk to you when he’s no longer seeing