Diamond in the Ruff (Pedigree) Page 3

  Zeek moved past Caleb. "Is she here too?" He looked at each of the three women with Caleb, nose twitching as he scented each one. He turned to Corra. "You must be Corra. Yes, I see the family resemblance. You look a little like my mom." He grinned at her then reached out and pulled her from Darcy's side into an enveloping hug. "It's great to meet a long-lost cousin!"

  She grunted, arms stiff at her sides at the unexpected action.

  A low hiss rose up from Darcy's throat, audible only to the close company.

  Zeek released Corra and stepped back in surprise. "Hey, just greeting a new cousin."

  Bryah was suddenly on Corra's other side. "Hi, Zeek. I'm Bryah, and, yes, this is Corra. Maybe we should have a seat?"

  Darcy wasn't surprised at Bryah's quick intervention to calm a tense situation. He'd seen her do it on multiple occasions.

  Corra looked bewildered by the bold greeting. Darcy could feel the tension rising from her in waves.

  Caleb clapped a hand upon Zeek's shoulder despite the man's towering height, drawing him toward a table by the back room.

  Bryah and Corra followed, leaving Darcy and Katz at the bar.

  Katz's eyes were on him. "It's serious?"

  Darcy shrugged.

  She smiled. "I haven't seen you serious about someone in a very long time."

  He still didn't say anything.

  "I'll do what I can to help with Mummy and Daddy."

  He snorted. "Mom and Dad do what they will, fuck everyone else's wishes."

  It was Katz's turn to shrug.

  "What are you going to do when it's your turn?" Darcy challenged her.

  "Oh, they're already working on my match. They were just settling yours first."

  "And you're going to let them?"

  By answer, she turned her gaze back to the retreating group as she finished her drink. "Good bartender."

  Darcy wasn’t fooled. “He’s not your type.” He said, knowing her gaze was actually on Zeek. He honed in on her distracted expression.

  “Mm,” she said.

  Katz and Zeek?

  He shuddered and took a deep gulp of his own drink. Sweet Isis, he hoped she had better taste than that.

  He sighed. This was not the evening he’d had planned.

  5

  What is happening?

  First she impulsively stepped into Darcy's business, and then a new random cousin just popped into her life.

  Was she dreaming? It didn't feel real all of a sudden. Corra let Bryah usher her toward the back of the pub with a quick glance toward the bar. "Stay with Caleb. I have to see to some customers."

  Corra nodded numbly and took up the chair next to Caleb's as they settled into the more private space. Zeek took up the chair across from her.

  He looked much more like the brawler type than her brother did. Zeek was huge, with a blond rocker vibe to him. He reminded her of an over-developed Kobain with a lot more hair.

  "What do you want?" Caleb growled at Zeek.

  Zeek looked chastised by the reaction to his presence. "Hey, man, I thought you'd be happy to see me. It's been a long time." He genuinely looked hurt.

  Caleb wasn't letting him off the hook. "Sure, I'd normally be happy to see you. Except in the last decade, you only reach out when you need something."

  "That's not true, I—"

  "Yes, Zeek. It is."

  Zeek's eyes slid to Corra. "Just wanted to meet the new cousin. It's a real surprise, y'know?"

  Corra studied her new cousin's features. He wasn't a bad-looking guy, just a little on the rough side. Long blond hair, several days' worth of beard growth, clothes that had seen better days. He didn't smell like an American Staffordshire terrier, like Caleb and herself. Nor could she put a nose to his scent type.

  Zeek's dark eyes assessed her too. "So, what happened? How'd you come about?"

  Corra stiffened, jaw clenched.

  "Zeek," Caleb warned.

  "What? It's a natural question, ain't it?"

  "It's a subject we haven't had much time to talk about yet."

  "How's that, now? Hasn't she been around for a couple of months now?"

  "Not quite, and it's complicated. How do you even know any of this?"

  Zeek shrugged.

  "No, wait, never mind. The family."

  Zeek nodded.

  Caleb blew out a breath.

  "The family?" Corra asked, finally finding her voice.

  "Dammit."

  "They strongly suggested I come and get acquainted. Although I would have come anyway, Caleb. You're my family."

  Caleb's expression hardened at that. His lips compressed and hands curled into fists on his thighs.

  "Really, man," Zeek said, "your dad was good to me, taught me everything I know. And you, well, you're like the brother I never had. So, yeah, when I heard you got a sister, well, I wanted to meet her too. I know things have been weird the last few years, but like I said, we're family."

  Corra listened to the exchange intently. Her eyes kept returning to Darcy, still in conversation with his sister at the bar. Such a weird turn of events in the last five minutes. Darcy stood, half-turned, his own gaze returning to Corra.

  She pulled her attention from Darcy and slid it back to Zeek. This was her family. She'd wanted to know more about them.

  Placing her hand on Caleb's forearm, she said, "Maybe they know something of our parents?"

  Caleb snorted. "I have no doubt they do."

  "So why don't we ask them?"

  "Because they're the kind of people you don't go to with questions—about anything."

  "I don't understand."

  "There's always a cost." His eyes flicked back to their cousin. "Always an opportunity to play out. And in the end, you're somehow indebted for simply asking a question."

  Caleb leaned on the table, hands before him, thumbs rubbing over old scars.

  "You make them sound like they’re some kind of mob family." Zeek huffed.

  "Because they are, Zeek. You never got that. Or at least you chose to ignore it."

  Corra's gut was sinking as she watched Zeek cast her furtive glances.

  "What's their interest in me?"

  "They want to meet you."

  Caleb growled. "Well, you can tell them to just f-"

  "Why?" She cut in.

  "Hey, why are you so angry at me, man?" Zeek's question seemed genuine.

  Corra didn't think she was ready for all this drama yet. What had she gotten herself into? Was she going to regret letting Bryah help her find her family?

  She glanced at Caleb, who was clearly struggling to maintain his calm.

  No. Her instincts told her that knowing Caleb, her brother, was right. It was as it should be. This other stuff that Zeek was bringing to them… this was something that Caleb had grown up with, and it was clearly a big problem for him.

  She wasn't going to leave Caleb to deal with this on his own. Besides, at this point, whatever affected him was going to affect Bryah. And it would be a cold day in hell before she'd let her best friend sink in someone else's bullshit bucket.

  She placed a hand on Caleb's arm again. She looked up at him, catching his eye, then gave his arm a little squeeze.

  It's okay.

  As he looked at her, she could sense his calm returning.

  Turning her attention back to Zeek, she asked, "Why do they want to meet me?"

  He shrugged, looking down at the tabletop, index finger scratching at the grain in the wood. He peeked at Caleb from beneath his thick blond brows. "They don't tell me anything. I just do stuff for them."

  Corra blew out a breath. With her hand still on Caleb's arm, she could feel his tension return. "Do you have any idea what they might want with me?"

  He shook his head but wouldn't meet her eyes.

  "Bullshit," Caleb snarled.

  Zeek stood. "I'm going out for a smoke. It was nice meeting you, Corra."

  Caleb jumped to his feet.

  Corra could feel his anger rippli
ng out in hot waves, making her own hackles rise.

  "You know, Zeek," he ground through his teeth, "that is the problem right there. Right there," he said, stabbing a finger in his cousin's direction. "If you just got your fucking head out of the pot haze long enough, you could see just how fucked up the family is. And that you should get the fuck away from them too."

  Corra's eyes swept the room that had suddenly gone silent. Everyone's attention had turned to the commotion in their corner.

  Darcy approached their table. "Everything all right here?"

  "Everything's good. Great. I'm going for a smoke. Like I said, nice to meet you, cousin," Zeek said to Corra, avoiding Caleb's eyes. He turned and left the building.

  "Caleb?" Darcy said to his friend.

  "I'm good," he said, voice tight.

  Corra watched the door close behind Zeek as she tried to make sense of what had just happened and what her instincts were telling her.

  From behind the bar, Bryah aimed the remote at the television by the front of the building. A hockey game pulled the patrons' attention from them. The buzz in the room returned to normal.

  6

  Darcy rolled over to slap his alarm into submission.

  The sound of running water coming from the bathroom told him Caleb was already up and had probably already run the obstacle course before starting his day.

  The weekend had passed in blinding speed, as it always seemed to.

  Monday morning brought a new week's worth of classes and training.

  His next thoughts slid to Corra.

  Today would be her first official day as a cadet at the Academy, lined up for the start of new classes.

  He hadn't seen her much since Friday night, as occupied with his sister's visit as he was. Last night Caleb had mentioned that Zeek hadn't bothered to come back. Good. He didn't like the idea of the guy sniffing around Corra. Not that it was any of his concern.

  Still, he just didn't like it.

  Because she didn't seem to like it, and neither did Caleb.

  That was all.

  Otherwise, what did he care? Because he didn't. Shut up, brain. He glanced down the length of himself under the sheets. You shut up, too, he told his dick, which was clearly liking the idea of Corra more than his conscious brain was aware of.

  He sat up and turned his thoughts elsewhere, distracting both traitors.

  Coffee and breakfast.

  "Morning," Caleb said, towel over his shoulder as he entered the room from their tiny bathroom.

  Darcy grunted.

  "Meet you in the cafeteria?"

  He nodded and rose to shuffle to the bathroom to get himself righted.

  By the time he made his appearance in the cafeteria, he was his usual, perfectly coiffed self. His gaze slid right past the large cluster of women gathered at the tables near the entrance, most of who smiled in his direction. He found Caleb, and his eyes immediately landed on Corra. He tossed the ladies at the other table one of his good-morning grins as an afterthought and threw a wink in for good measure at the cutest of the group.

  His attention whipped back in Corra's direction.

  He smiled.

  An empty cereal bowl sat discarded before her in favor of a cup of coffee.

  Darcy quickly grabbed food and coffee with little care to what was on his tray and slid onto the empty seat next to Caleb, which was across from Corra.

  "Glorious morning, ladies." He turned his full charm on Corra then acknowledged Bryah as well.

  "Classes start in twenty," Caleb said, prompting Darcy to pay attention to his breakfast.

  "What's on your agenda today?" Darcy asked Corra with a glance at Bryah.

  "Ethics and society to begin with. After that I'm not sure," Corra said, sipping her drink.

  "Sylla Columba?"

  Corra nodded.

  "She's great. On loan from the Avian Soaring Security," Caleb said.

  "I remember her," Bryah cut in. "Counselor that likes to investigate the feely stuff."

  "I don't like feely stuff," Corra mumbled. "She hosted the counseling sessions we had to do after the Len fiasco."

  "She's nice, though," Bryah insisted. "She tried to help me get reacquainted with my shifter side. Emphasized that it was important to survival. It helped when we were captured by Len and you needed me." She shrugged. "It helped. Not to mention she gave me some awesome flying tips."

  Corra didn't say anything else to that.

  Darcy hadn't taken her ethics classes, though he was well acquainted with the yoga sessions she co-instructed on occasion. Those were his favorite classes. All the shapely lady-bottoms in yoga pants. Heaven. "Didn't you visit Professor Columba's yoga class when you two were here before?" he said to Corra.

  Corra nodded. "Yes, that's right. I'd forgotten about that. We've been so busy in the weeks since then."

  Caleb glanced at his watch again. "Just about time, Bryah. I'll walk you out. Darcy, you'll show Corra to Professor Columba's classroom?"

  "Yeah, sure."

  "No, it's fine. You don't need to do that; I'll find it."

  Darcy was already standing, having swept up her empty dishes onto his plate.

  Caleb stared at him, one brow arched. Darcy shrugged at him.

  "Come along, mademoiselle." He grinned at Corra.

  The corner of her mouth twitched at his poor attempt at French as she followed him out of the cafeteria anyway.

  Darcy noticed the stares from the women occupying the table by the door. The table he often spent breakfast at, basking in their attention, charming them and snagging hook-up times later in the day.

  "Ladies." He gave them one of his grins and a slight bow at the waist as he exited the room, pulling their glares from Corra's back and eliciting smiles from them again.

  He'd have to make it up to them at lunchtime.

  In the meantime, he was to play campus guide for Corra.

  Minutes later, he dramatically swept an arm toward the standard steel door of the classroom. Professor Columba glanced up at the movement and smiled in his direction.

  "Good morning, Darcy. Are you joining my class?"

  He was about to answer that he had other things to do when Joe Suricatta, the investigations instructor, popped into view within the class. "This would be a great class for you, Darcy. Good material to review. She's here to share the work she's been developing over at her home campus for the Avian Soaring Security."

  "Hey, Joe, didn't expect to see you in here."

  Joe slung his laptop bag over his shoulder as he moved closer to Professor Columba, who leaned over and kissed his cheek on his way by.

  Darcy did a doubletake. "I didn't know you two were a thing," he said, unable to hide his surprise.

  "She's my very own special piece of ASS," Joe said as he slid past Darcy into the hallway.

  The professor chuckled, turning pink.

  Darcy stared between one and the other. So weird.

  Corra had already taken up a seat by the window. And the next thing Darcy knew, he was seated beside her.

  "What are you doing?" she asked him.

  "Well, if Instructor Suricatta recommends this class, I'll take him up on it."

  "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

  He shook his head, "Nah, I don't have classes till later."

  She blinked at that. "Then why the hell aren't you sleeping in? Isn't that what felines do?"

  "Generally."

  "But?"

  He shrugged, evading the question. He wasn't going to tell her his curiosity about her had prompted his morning adventure. "Got some paper and a pen?"

  She rolled her eyes. "As if you're actually going to take notes."

  "You'll let me borrow yours then?"

  She sighed and tore a sheet from her notebook, and handed him a pen.

  He grinned at her, and she shook her head as though unsure what to think about him.

  Corra cast sidelong glances in Darcy's direction. The large windows to her left illumina
ted the planes of Darcy's face seated next to her. She had to admit he had amazingly smooth sun-kissed skin. And the curls of his hair shone like onyx in the morning sun.

  Turning his head, he grinned, catching her staring at him. His eyes closed to slits, obscuring the luminous color of his irises with thick black lashes.

  He was beautiful.

  She blinked at the thought and quickly turned her attention to the front of the room, locking her gaze on Professor Columba.

  No, Corra. Bad. This is not a guy you take an interest in. He's a player, which isn’t a bad thing generally, but in a confined, close-knit place like this, you don't want to get messy. It's not like a one-nighter or never-see-him-again sort of deal here. Colleagues. Co-workers eventually.

  She'd be damned if she was going to let her hormones get the better of her now. This was day one of a new life.

  She pushed a stray lock of her hair back behind her ear and straightened her posture to better focus.

  Another glance in his direction next to her elicited a chuckle as he leaned a little closer. "Comfortable?"

  "Yup."

  She was trying desperately to resist the urge to inhale the cloud of aftershave mingled with his feline scent, which drifted under her nose with his movement.

  Oh, this was not good. Not good at all.

  She struggled to find mental barriers to stack between them so that she could maintain focus on the class material at hand.

  "We will begin this class with a look at our personal biases," Professor Columba said, placing tablets on the desks. "As Furry United Coalition agents, we work for the people. All kinds of people. So in order to do our jobs effectively, we need to assess our own biases so we can acknowledge what kind of personal lens we interpret the world through." She waited a few moments for everyone to get their devices ready. "This is just a preliminary survey. There will be more in-depth modules for this in your student profiles. Much of our classwork will be online-based, to be done before our time here, where we will be gathering for discussion."

  Corra smothered a groan. Feely stuff. She didn't like feely stuff. Yeah, sure, she talked to Bryah when something was pissing her off. In general, she avoided touchy-feely chit chat as much as possible.

  "You okay? Need an antacid?" Darcy whispered. "I may need three by the end of this class."