“You didn’t have to wreck my tires and truck. It took me hours to get the tires changed out. And the claw marks?”
“You can show them off to a girlfriend who might be impressed that you lived to tell the tale.”
Kendra loved how gruff and no-nonsense Grayson was. She didn’t figure she would have sounded quite so in charge if she had been the one who had chewed Ivan out.
“You got it?”
“Yeah.” Ivan was frowning like crazy, but his heart was still beating out of control, sweat pouring down his brow.
Kendra figured he hadn’t expected to meet up with a male grizzly shifter who could eat him for lunch.
“We can fight as grizzlies if you want me to prove my point. You don’t come around Kendra’s place, mess with her vehicle, mine, or her property. I don’t have any qualms about taking you down a notch like I did the wild grizzly.”
“Over a restaurant order at some random house?”
“Several grizzlies live on the lake. A pack of gray wolves too,” Kendra said, in warning.
“I know. Do you think I would be stupid enough to hit up a shifter house?”
“I think you’re stupid enough to hit up anyone’s house as a shifter, get shot, and out us all!” Grayson said.
Grayson had a point, and Kendra was thinking the same thing. A grizzly bear is killed on a man’s front porch, the homeowner calls the police, and learns the grizzly was just a naked man instead. That would go over big.
“I will be reporting this to the leader of our sleuth,” Kendra said. “Just in case Grayson hasn’t made his point with you.”
“No, I got it. I got it. You don’t have to tell him. Can I go now?”
But she would, and Maximilian would take him to task as well. All of them had to live by certain rules to keep the others safe.
“Go,” Grayson said. “And no more stealing anything anywhere.”
Ivan hurried to get up from the recliner and moved quickly to the door, looking like he was afraid Grayson would change his mind and get physical with him. He left the house, shut the door, and rushed off to his truck.
They watched him through the window, and he was gone.
“Do you think he’ll get a new paint job?” Grayson asked.
“Maybe. He might just want to leave it as you suggested and make up a story about a wild grizzly bear tearing up his truck. Well, two of them since our claw marks will be different from each other.”
15
“Are you ready to retire to bed?” Kendra asked Grayson. “I thought we would go swimming as bears, fish even, but then we had to deal with Ivan so it’s getting late. Besides, I guess we need to let your wounds heal for another day.”
“Yeah, true, and we have a busy day ahead of us tomorrow,” Grayson said.
“Your sister’s birthday party?”
“Yeah. But if you have any cases, or we get a lead on Younger or Billy in the morning before we go, we’ll take care of them.”
“We’re not missing your sister’s birthday party.”
Kendra was so adamant that he suspected it was because her sister would never again be able to have another birthday party, which was really important to her. He didn’t blame her. He understood how Kendra was feeling. He felt the same about his sister and what could have happened to her.
“Nope, we won’t.” Yet before Grayson had met Kendra, he might have done so if the case had been important enough to take care of. Now, he had a new perspective on how precious his family was. Especially after his sister had run afoul of Younger and Billy, and learning that Kendra had lost her own sister to a kidnapper.
“Shower time?” he asked.
“For me. You have to wait longer to take a shower.”
