Double Cougar Trouble
Terry Spear
Double Cougar Trouble
Heart of the Cougar, Book 4
Terry Spear
Terry Spear
Contents
Foreword
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Also by Terry Spear
About the Author
Double Cougar Trouble
Terry Spear
PUBLISHED BY:
Terry Spear
COVER BY:
Terry Spear
Double Cougar Trouble
Copyright © 2016 by Terry Spear
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
Discover more about Terry Spear at:
http://www.terryspear.com/
ISBN: 978-1-63311-016-8
Foreword
Blurb
Trouble doesn’t always come in twos.
Jack Barrington still has an army obligation that takes him away from the woman who had enchanted him when they were both in college, but Dottie Hamilton refuses to marry a man in the military because of the problem of raising cougar shifter cubs in foreign lands and the worry he may be killed while overseas like her cousin was, leaving a wife and three little ones behind. When Jack returns home to see his family and Dottie’s only living relative, her aunt, she convinces Dottie to bring her twins home to see her—and to see him. Jack has two-and-a-half weeks to convince Dottie to wait for him while he finishes his last three months on active duty. And learns the truth. Dottie’s twins are his own flesh and blood.
Dottie has made a lot of mistakes in her life, including providing a father for her children by marrying a man, who turns out to be an arms’ dealer. When Jack returns to her after finishing his army obligation, he’s determined to prove he’s the mate she needs in her life, and he has every intention of being the father to his four-year-old twins. Now the criminal deeds of Dottie’s dead ex-husband have come back to haunt her. And she and Jack and their cougar friends will have to band together to stop the arms’ dealers before they destroy what the cougars hold dear.
This book is dedicated to Elizabeth Gaasenbeek. May your dreams come true in everything you do.
Prologue
5 years earlier, the Ozarks
Jack Barrington and Dottie Hamilton weren’t looking for anything more than a hook-up when he’d met her at an Irish pub off-campus three months ago—a day of carefree fun, sex, and running as cougars through the Ozarks, nothing more. She was a pretty brunette with dark green eyes, a seductive smile, and a quick wit, but he’d just broken up with his fiancée and Dottie had broken up with a guy she’d been dating for two years. So really, they hadn’t wanted to see this as anything more than a rebound.
Yet, that day had turned into several, then weeks, and then months. The more he was with her, the more he wanted to be with her…more. He didn’t have any choice though. He was leaving, and she wasn’t interested in being married to a man in the military.
She sighed as they sat at a picnic table and looked out at the forested trail that would lead them back to the parking lot, the road, and civilization. “So you’ll be in the military, starting exactly…?”
“I graduate tomorrow and I’ll be commissioned. Then I’ll attend officer basic training and I’ll serve at my first assignment. Not sure where I’ll actually be until I’m at my course. What about you?”
“I have another year here before I finish up my degree. Then…” She shrugged. “I’ll probably return to Yuma Town, Colorado where I grew up. All my friends still live there.”
He knew he didn’t have any future with her. Not when he had a five-year military obligation and she was dead set against marrying anyone in the military. She’d been furious with the previous guy she’d been dating for getting a bonus to join up with the navy without even telling her when he planned to just skip out on her. She’d broken up with him right after that.
Jack had even hinted that he would like to see her again when he could take a break. But she hadn’t been interested. If her cousin hadn’t died in Afghanistan, would she have felt any differently?
Still, he had to flat out ask. “I know this is quick, but, do you want to get married?”
She laughed. “No. If you could get a job in Yuma Town?” She sighed. “Want to run?”
“Yeah, let’s do it.” He knew he shouldn’t have asked her to marry him, that she would say no, but he also knew if he hadn’t asked her, he would have been kicking himself over it the whole time he was at the officer’s course. He would just have to find someone who was fine with him being in the military. Someone who wasn’t going to cheat on him. Someone he cared for like he cared for Dottie.
They stripped, stuffed their clothes in a bag and buried it under brush in the woods where they always hid it, shifted, then ran. He’d miss the time he’d spent with Dottie, and running in the wilderness as a cougar. He hoped he could do so wherever he was while he was in the military. Still, it wouldn’t be the same as running with her. Despite knowing he really couldn’t make a go of it with her—which was some of the reason she had said she wanted to be with him, just a flash in the pan fun time—he was feeling a hell of a lot more for her than he knew he should.
They’d run for about a mile, watching their surroundings, and he was watching her, when he saw a cougar move nearby in the woods, just a flash of tan fur, but he knew the male. Hellion Crichton—brother to Jack’s former fiancée. If Hellion was out here in the woods so close to where they were, Jack suspected it wasn’t coincidence. Dottie quickly stopped, watching the other cat, wary like Jack was. The guy didn’t have a name like Hellion for nothing. Gigi was close to her brother, but Jack swore the guy was borderline psycho. As soon as the cougar leapt toward Dottie, Jack pounced on him, tearing into him, having to hurt him before Hellion hurt Dottie.
The two cats snarled, clawing at each other, biting, trying to take each other down. Jack wanted Dottie to return to the safety of his SUV, but she stayed there, watching, not getting involved. Which he was glad for. He bit Hellion hard on the leg, trying to break it to disable him enough to get him to quit fighting Jack. Hellion hissed in retaliation and leapt away before Jack could break a bone. Jack hesitated, thinking that Hellion might be ready to give up.
The cougar lunged again. Jack managed to tear at Hellion’s neck. Hellion whipped around and bit Jack in the shoulder. Still, Jack was relentless, charging in, biting his opponent twice for every bite Hellion got in. Jack bit Hellion’s bad leg again and that seemed to be enough punishment that the cat finally dashed away, his neck bloodied and he was running on three legs. Damn the guy.
Jack must have been a sight too. He was bleeding, though because of their faster healing abilities, he would heal up quickly. Just like Hellion would.
Jack and Dottie loped back to where they’d left their clothes, shifted, and dressed.
“What was that all about?” Dottie growled.
“That was Hellion, my former fiancée’s brother. I don’t know. Maybe Gigi is angry that I ended the relationship, thinking it was because of you.”
�
�Oh, that’s just great.”
“Hell, I broke up with Gigi because she’s been meeting up with three other guys and having sex with them while she was engaged to me! When I broke up with her, she was furious and said she was a free spirit. Free spirt, my ass. Calling off the engagement has nothing to do with you. We didn’t even start dating until several weeks after Gigi and I broke up. Frankly, I didn’t believe Gigi cared.”
“And you’re leaving tomorrow!” Dottie checked over his bite marks on his arms, shoulder, side, and neck. “The claw marks and bite marks aren’t deep. You’ll live. I’m driving, just in case you pass out though.”
The adrenaline flooding his system, Jack felt wired and angry because the cat had gone after Dottie. “I’m not going to pass out.”
Dottie narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re leaving tomorrow! What if this psycho comes after me when you’ve left to join the military?”
She was right. What if Hellion did harass her, being the nutcase he was?
“I’m sorry.” Jack didn’t know what else to say. “I’d eliminate him if I could, just to make sure you’d be safe.”
“Then you’d be a wanted criminal? And me a party to it? No thanks.”
After half an hour of driving in silence, she parked near his apartment that was three doors down from hers, got out, slammed the door, and stalked off.
He couldn’t blame her. Hellion was an ass, but he was also unpredictable. At the same time, Jack hadn’t expected the guy to come after him either—or Dottie. And he had no intention of marrying Gigi if she couldn’t even be faithful during their engagement. He hadn’t been sure how his family would react when he had called it quits with her, but all of them had been glad. When they’d met Dottie, they were hopeful he’d marry her instead. Though he’d told them often enough that she wasn’t interested in being an army wife.
At his apartment, he bandaged himself the best he could, called Gigi to tell her what her brother had done to him, thinking as close as she was to him, she could tell him to back off, but she only laughed. Hell, maybe she’d been the one to send her brother after him and Dottie. The thing of it was, Gigi hadn’t even been broken up over their canceled engagement. Then again, why would she be? She was already seeing other guys. Angry with him? Yes. In tears at what she’d lost with him? No.
He really wondered if she hadn’t cared until she learned he was seeing someone else.
After pelting down a couple of beers to numb the pain of his injuries, Jack tried calling Dottie. No answer. He figured she had to cool down. He really hated leaving the situation between them unresolved though.
He felt like hell, the bite wounds burning like crazy. He walked over to her place and knocked on the door. No answer. Not that he expected her to answer the door. Then he noticed her car was gone. He suspected she’d gone to stay with her Aunt Emily. He loved the woman and she was always trying to sway Dottie to marry him. Didn’t work though. He thought of running over there, but Dottie had made her point clear. No on marriage. He couldn’t get out of his service obligation anyway.
That night when he went to bed, he couldn’t quit thinking of Dottie. He had to sleep. Tomorrow after graduation and the commissioning, the movers were coming. He’d stay with his parents that night, and then he was off to his training post. He shut his eyes and all he could see was Dottie’s angry expression and it made him feel even worse about having to leave her behind.
Dottie packed a bag and headed over to her aunt’s house. Hellion had terrified her and no way could she stay at her place if he came over to attack either Jack or her because she was seeing him. Even if Jack was leaving the next day. It didn’t mean Hellion knew that.
Every time she became involved with a man, it turned out to be a disaster. She fought going over to see Jack though, to bandage him up. It was hard enough saying goodbye to him. She’d been on the verge of tears every time she thought about him leaving for good. She’d even been in denial about his leaving, trying to pretend the time they had together would go on forever.
This business with Hellion was something else. Jack should have told her he was leaving her alone with a nest of vipers!
When she arrived at her aunt’s house, Aunt Emily tsked. “Jack is the best thing that ever happened to you. You love him, even if you choose to hide behind your cousin’s death overseas and your last boyfriend joining the navy without any forewarning.” Emily frowned at her. “Did you tell Jack about your dad?”
“No. Why should I?”
“Because that’s the other reason you’re so adamant about ending this with Jack.”
Dottie let out her breath in a huff. “I never think of my dad. Ever. You should have seen the way Hellion came after me when Jack and I were running as cougars in the Ozarks tonight, and then Jack tore into him. I’ve never seen two cougars fighting. I was in shock. I wanted to leave, but I was afraid Jack might need me. And I was afraid to stay in the event Hellion came after me. I’ve never been so scared in my life. That’s not something anyone ever taught me how to do. Fight, that is.”
“So you’re not going to Jack’s graduation tomorrow?”
Dottie frowned at her aunt. What happened to any sympathy for Hellion coming after them? Her aunt had only one thing in mind. Jack was leaving and Dottie should be going with him.
If Dottie went to Jack’s graduation, she’d want to see only him, and she’d want to kiss him goodbye and it would break her heart. Best to think of this as a fling like they originally had planned. If she could only forget all the good days and nights they’d had.
“I’m not going.” Dottie was ready to move on with her life. Date? No. Just get her degree and return to Yuma Town.
The next afternoon after graduation, Jack was finishing up packing his personal items in his Jeep. The movers had loaded the rest of his furniture and boxed goods when Jack saw Hellion headed his way, murder in his black eyes, his neck and arms bandaged where Jack had bitten him. Jack didn’t need to get into trouble right before he took off for his training. He wanted to call the police. Unless Hellion threatened him, he couldn’t just call them. He had to see what the bastard would say.
Hellion continued to stalk toward him as if no one else existed. The three burly men who were closing up the truck, paused to see what would happen. Jack had his phone out, just in case.
Hellion pulled out a 9mm.
Well, hell.
Jack didn’t have time to call anyone. He dove for Hellion, taking him down to the sidewalk, and yelled at the other men, “Call the police.”
Jack didn’t want to have to kill Hellion, just disable him, but he didn’t want Hellion to kill any of them either.
“Yeah, a guy armed with a gun is threatening Second Lieutenant Barrington!” The mover quickly gave the address.
Between the hand-to-hand combat training Jack had in AROTC and the karate training he’d taken for years, earning a second-degree black belt, he shoved his hand against Hellion’s nose. He heard it crunch just as Hellion fired off a round. The shot went wild and hit Jack’s apartment window. A crack sounded behind Jack. Damn it. He was glad the round didn’t hit him or anyone else though. He threw Hellion to the ground, wrestling with him for the gun. The bastard tried to aim the weapon at Jack.
Jack jumped up and kicked at Hellion’s wrist with enough force with his pointed-toe cowboy boot, he heard a bone break in the man’s wrist. Hellion howled in pain and lost the gun. If Hellion could have killed Jack right then and there, he would have. Putting one of their kind behind bars could be a real problem if Hellion decided to shift in captivity.
Hellion rolled over on his side and stretched out again for the gun. Sirens wailed in the distance, growing closer as they approached. Jack grabbed Hellion’s good arm and flipped him over on his stomach, jerking his arm up against his back to force him to stay or Jack would break his arm.
“Can you kick the gun out of his reach?” Jack shouted to one of the men. He had a damn good hold on Hellion, but he didn’t want to ris
k that the maniac would get loose. God, how he hated that he’d be leaving tomorrow, if he didn’t get stuck going to a trial over this, and Dottie could be more at risk.
As soon as three police cars pulled up, the policemen got out of their vehicles and yelled at Jack to get on the ground, their weapons trained at him.
“He’s the lieutenant,” one of the movers said, motioning between Hellion and the gun. “That’s the guy who had the gun and threatened to kill Lieutenant Barrington. It’s over there. That guy shot the window instead of one of us because of the lieutenant’s quick reaction.”
“Hell, this guy is Hellion Crichton,” one of the police officers said, taking charge of Hellion. “The store a couple of blocks over caught him on tape when he robbed the quick stop.”
That wasn’t good—not for being a cougar. Jack hoped If Hellion was found guilty and sentenced to jail, he never shifted while he was incarcerated.
“Hell of a job, lieutenant,” one of the policemen said, shaking his hand. “I was in the Air Force.”
“Thanks. I’ll be on my way to more training tomorrow.” Jack gave the police his statement. “Thanks for coming so quickly.”
Then the police locked Hellion up in one of the squad cars and took off. Jack imagined the movers had never had so much excitement when moving household goods before. After they wished him luck and headed out, Jack called his apartment manager about the bullet hole in the kitchen window. He was glad Dottie hadn’t been here to witness this.
Before he left the next day, he returned to Dottie’s apartment one last time, just in case he could see her and say goodbye. Her car wasn’t there. He called her aunt. “Oh, my, she said she was going to a friend’s graduation ceremony yesterday. I figured it was your graduation ceremony. She didn’t see you? She’s not here.”
