Wyatt jogged around the corner, out of breath. “I’ve been looking all over for you. I need to put a tracking device in your ass.”
“If you insert anything inside me, I’ll shatter your skull.”
He swaggered up, hands in his pockets. “Tell that to the man in your room.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. “What’s Niko doing in my private chamber? If you guys are playing a prank, I’m not up for it.”
“It’s not Niko.”
“Is that so?”
“Niko’s the one who let him in.” Wyatt stretched out his arms before letting them fall to his sides like dead timber. “But since you put my hat on the damn statue, I’m not telling you anything else.” With that, Wyatt whirled around and strutted away.
Blue had quickly learned that living in a houseful of men was like living with adolescent boys. They all had a relentless sense of humor and pranked each other to pass the time. Sometimes Blue and Gem were caught in the cross fire but rarely were they the center of the joke. Keystone men knew better than to target a woman with their juvenile sense of humor. Gem was sensitive and made them feel guilty.
Blue would just make them live to regret it.
“There better not be a bird in there,” she muttered, reaching for the knob.
When Blue opened the door, she was startled to find a man kneeling before her fireplace, lighting the kindling. The lanterns in her room provided sufficient light, and it wasn’t cold enough for a fire. Was Shepherd wearing a long wig, trying to pull a fast one on her?
No, the man was much taller.
His sleeves were loose and tattered, his clothes as brown as the mud on his boots. And his hair! It was as long as Niko’s but messy and unwashed, adorned with a random braid here and there.
Blue tiptoed to the desk on her right and stealthily lifted her tomahawk.
“You can’t sneak up on a Chitah,” he said softly.
The rich timbre of his voice raised the hair on the back of her neck. After he set the screen in front of the fireplace, the man stood and looked over his shoulder at her, a sideways smile inching up his face.
Blue squeezed the handle of her axe, her heart pounding against her chest. It washim—the Chitah who’d helped them in West Virginia. The one who carried her naked and bleeding body back to the cave after the lion attack.
The man she’d kissed to repay a favor Raven owed him.
As he approached her with a purposeful stride, she suddenly began to regret that kiss.
The Chitah folded one arm over his middle and bowed. “Matteo Leone, at your service.”
“I know who you are.”
He straightened his back and locked his golden eyes on hers. Matteo was tall like most Chitahs, but few had his dark hair, and he made no effort to hide it with its long length. Even his beard was long and sparse, bound with a few small elastic bands.
“Forgive the formal introduction, female. I assumed that your memory of me might be hazy.”
“There’s nothing wrong with my memory, but I think there’s something wrong with your head. What are you doing here? And I don’t just mean in Cognito but in my bedroom. Did you change your mind about a cash payment for helping us? I was under the impression that you accepted a guide job at the children’s sanctuary.”
Matteo took a step forward and held her gaze. “When a man reaches a fork in the road, he must choose his path. It’s an honor to help out those children, but I keep glancing at the other road, and I have to know if it’s worth traveling.”
“I don’t understand.”
He suddenly took her free hand and lifted it to his mouth before placing a lingering kiss on her knuckles. “Female, I’m here to court you.”
Chapter 4
Early that morning, I received a text from my father. He asked me to stop by before going to see Ren, but I had no intention of taking him with me. Crush needed to stay uninvolved in dangerous affairs, even if the Shifterswerehis friends.
After putting on ripped jeans and a maroon T-shirt, I stood in front of the latticed window in my bedroom and gazed down at the vast estate behind the mansion. Hunter was running as fast as he could down a grassy hill, holding a spool of string in his hands. Shepherd held the kite over his head. Neither of them looked like they knew what they were doing, but they were having fun. The estate behind the mansion, cleared of most trees except a few here and there, resembled a rectangular carpet that rolled out before us. There were patches of wildflowers, especially near the hill that sloped down. The outer perimeter was surrounded by trees that went on as far as the eye could see. My gaze skated off in the distance toward the far tree line on the right near the pond, and I noticed a man circling a tent. I squinted, but it was too far to make out any details.
