Chapter One

Heath Halk stood outside his apartment complex building, ignoring everyone around him, and watched his younger sister leave with her new mate. They were heading across the country to her mate’s nest with promises to return in a month or so. An uncomfortable knot twisted in his gut. He didn’t want to think about never seeing Lana again.

“She’ll be fine,” Rock, his younger brother, said.

“Yup.” Heath glanced past Rock at Beel. Both of his brothers needed his strength. Letting Lana go, even if the owl she chose as her mate appeared to be a good male, was incredibly hard to do. She was a grown female though, and accepting she was now part of another nest would be easier if they remained busy and kept their nest strong. “Let’s get busy.”

He led the way into the apartment complex. The four-story building had belonged to his parents and now was the parliament where his brothers, aunts and uncles, as well as a few other nests who’d come along over the years, called home. Lana and her mate had stayed in her apartment for the first year of their mating. Although she’d offered more than once to paint and prepare the apartment for the next nest, Heath knew once all of her things were packed, she would be anxious to settle her feathers in her new nest.

“Are you sure we made the right decision?” Rock followed him down the second-floor hallway until they reached Lana’s door to her apartment.

Or the apartment that used to be her nest. Heath unlocked the door and pushed it open, the empty living room, once filled with his only sister’s possessions and her happy, confident scent.

“It wasn’t our decision to make.” He knew his younger brothers thought him a hard-ass. All of them were grown males, but after their parents passed on, he’d become head of their parliament, owner of this complex, and the backbone to all of the nests he called family. If he broke down, all the owls would fall apart. “You could smell Lana’s happiness. Dover is a good male. She chose wisely in her mate.”

“I’m not sure.” Rock was always the first to argue any point.

“She’ll be fine,” Beel said, cutting Rock off before he could start a tirade of complaints against Lana’s mate. “Is the paint still upstairs? Rock, I know the ladders and drop cloths are in the storage room downstairs.”

“Suddenly you’re the boss?” Rock snapped.

“Fine. I’ll get the ladders and drop cloths and you go get the paint.” Beel shook his head at Heath, his older brother, and left the apartment, leaving the door opened behind him.

“We can’t paint yet anyway. We need to putty first.” Rock looked after his younger brother, who disappeared down the hallway but focused on Heath when they were alone. “It won’t look right otherwise.”

“Go get the paint.” Heath headed into the kitchen, in no mood to argue with his brother. “Dover bought putty and already patched the few small areas where it was needed. Lana didn’t hurt her walls.”

Heath walked through the empty apartment once he was alone. Lana would be missed. He had to believe in her happiness. And it wasn’t a lie how easily it could be smelled on her. Heath hadn’t thought much of Dover when he first met the owl. His beliefs and habits were different, predominantly how he flew with so many different species. But Lana loved him. And she’d been reared in a good nest, taught to fly with the best and hold on to the honor that was woven strong and proud throughout her family.

He glanced inside the room that was once her bedroom, for a moment seeing her lying on her bed, her legs crossed and her innocent face staring up at him. How many times had he come in here to advise, console or argue with his only sister?

Leaving the room before he stunk it up with his own emotions, he opened the door to the smaller bedroom across the hall and glanced at the bathroom. The apartment really was in very good condition. It wouldn’t take more than a day before it was ready for a new tenant.

He snapped his attention to the end of the hallway when quiet footsteps and a scent he knew but didn’t recognize grabbed his attention. Heath straightened and stared at the young female watching him. Her scent ripened the moment they locked gazes. Interesting.

“I didn’t mean to startle you.” Shelly Preston, one of Lana’s friends, stood at the end of the hall in the living room. She shifted from one foot to the other, her soft gray eyes surrounded by way too much makeup. “I take it Lana has already left.”

“Yup.” He approached her and then paused in the middle of the living room when Shelly stepped to the side to allow him to pass. “Why weren’t you here to see her off?”

Shelly was thin, even pretty now that he focused on her. Her nest was trash though. Lana had always liked her and insisted Shelly fly by her side. He wasn’t sure what his youngest sister saw in the female staring at him as if she were undressing him with her eyes. Like mother, like daughter, he thought to himself. Although Shelly would probably be one hell of a hot, wild fuck. Rumor had it that her mother was.

“I had to open the shop this morning.” She had a soft, pleasant-sounding voice and if it weren’t for all that makeup, her soft gray eyes might possibly appear more honest.

“Lana missed seeing you this morning before they left.”

She nodded, not showing remorse. Her calm, relaxed expression didn’t reveal any feelings. “My father was supposed to open the shop but wasn’t home yet.”

It wasn’t a secret in Banff that Porter Preston spent more time with his girlfriend than he did his wife. Shelly didn’t appear in search of sympathy. Her scent actually remained pleasant as she spoke calmly and easily with Heath.

“I did speak with Lana on the phone this morning. She sounded so happy and excited to fly into her adventure and new life.” She dropped her gaze for the first time, her long, thick black lashes fluttering over her eyes. “She offered to let me fly with them. Lana said her mate wouldn’t mind. I don’t think I was wrong to tell her no. I need to find my own path to fly, don’t you think?”

“Yup.” He wasn’t sure what else to say to this female who’d always been at Lana’s side but had never really spoken to him before.

Rock entered the apartment, grunting as he hauled a small stepladder under one arm and several drop cloths rolled up under the other. Beel was behind him with several cans of paint stacked in his arms. The two of them took in Shelly with an appraising stare then each cocked an eyebrow, a question in their eyes as they looked at him.

“What color are you going to paint?” Shelly asked, turning her attention to the walls.

“White. All apartments return to white when a nest moves out.” Heath wasn’t sure why he offered that information. He watched Shelly turn and take in the room. The jeans she wore fit her like a glove. They were tight, although she moved easily enough in them to make them appear comfortable and they showed off her long, thin legs and nicely shaped ass.

She put her hands on her hips, wrapping her slender fingers around her waist. It was narrow and he imagined putting his own hands there. It wouldn’t surprise him if he could make his fingers meet. When she faced him again, her attention still on the room, he took in how her sweater hugged her figure. Shelly wasn’t wearing a bra yet her breasts were full and round. It surprised him he hadn’t noticed before how incredibly hot she was.

“Do you want to stay and help?” Rock quit grunting as he held the stepladder and instead made a show of carrying it across the room.

“Sure,” Beel added, sidling up alongside Shelly. He shifted the cans of paint so he held them in both hands. “We can see who’s got the best strokes,” he added, lowering his voice, and his gaze as he made a blatant show of taking in her breasts.

Heath wanted to clobber both his brothers for suddenly behaving like idiots. They were puffed out worse than fucking peacocks. And the way they both started flirting with her, strutting around her, he swore they might attack each other just to show off in front of Shelly.

“We don’t need her help,” Heath growled, moving between the two of them and taking Shelly by her arm and escorting her out of the apartment. “You two get busy,” he demanded, and marched Shelly down the hallway.

Shelly didn’t say a word when he escorted her down the stairwell. He took that route instead of the elevator so he could keep moving. Something set him off in there and he wasn’t sure what. But standing alone with Shelly and waiting on the elevator would mean he would have to assess his behavior, and at the moment he didn’t want to do that.

“I’m sorry,” she offered when they stepped outside and Heath released her arm. Her nipples puckered through her sweater as she stood facing him in the cold breeze.

Heath watched her tuck a long strand of hair behind her ear. She puckered her lips as if she’d blow a kiss at the ground. Her lips were full and moist, and imagining what she might be able to do with them damn near got him hard.

“Why are you apologizing?” he snapped.

Shelly looked up at him quickly, her gray eyes widening when she stared at him, not blinking. “I’m sorry I went upstairs to Lana’s nest. You didn’t need to drag me out of there. I would have left if you’d told me to,” she said, her tone remaining soft but the dullness in her eyes showed him how defensive she was.

Heath shook his head, blowing out a breath. “You’re not the one who should be apologizing and if I was rough with you just now, forgive me. My brothers were out of line and shouldn’t have treated you like that.”

“You dragged me out of there because you didn’t like how your brothers were treating me?” she asked, her voice dropping to a whisper.

Heath studied her face, watching as her gaze shifted, dropping down his body and then returning to stare him in the eye. Shelly didn’t give any indication if her question indicated her surprise or disgust.

“Did you enjoy how they were treating you?” he asked.

Shelly straightened, closing her mouth as her gaze once again dulled.

“Maybe you enjoy the attention males give you and dress as you do so they’ll flaunt their feathers in front of you.”

“What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?” she demanded. She didn’t answer his question though.

Heath moved closer, catching her scent on the breeze that blew her hair over her shoulder. The thin, silky strands parted around her breast. When she crossed her arms over her chest, they pressed together under her sweater and her nipples hardened even more. It was a view good enough to make his mouth water.

“They treated you like that because they think they can,” he said, fighting to remain calm when he wanted to demand she tell him she didn’t like the way they’d behaved.

“Go to hell, Heath Halk,” Shelly snapped, spinning around fast enough her hair fanned around her shoulders. She strutted away from him, her ass shaking perfectly as she took off down the sidewalk.

If he had half a brain he would let her go. Shelly Preston wasn’t his problem. How she dressed or which male did or didn’t give her attention shouldn’t matter to him. As Heath grabbed her arm and spun her around to face him, a hard wave of determination hit him he wasn’t ready for. He wanted to know Shelly’s mind. He wanted to make her his problem. That realization stung as hard as if she’d just slapped him in the face.

“Why does that upset you?” he asked, his voice amazingly calm, considering a fire suddenly raged through his veins.

“Once, I really believed you were one of the best males in Banff,” she said, and focused on her arm where he held her firmly. She glanced up at him, her gaze hooded with her thick black lashes. “But you’re no better than every other male who thinks with his cock instead of his brain.”

“How dare you!”

“How dare I?” Shelly tried yanking her arm free of his grasp. “You just suggested I enjoy every male flapping his wings around me as if I were nothing more than a slut.”

Heath let go and crossed his arms over his chest, noting her gaze drop to his torso when he breathed in, searching for a calming breath so he wouldn’t haul her inside the complex and straight to his nest. God! He already had images of what he would do to her. She stood there, accusing him of thinking her a slut, and that was exactly where his mind was going. Which made her accusations right. Except there was something else, something drawing from deep inside him he couldn’t identify and didn’t quite understand. Until he did, he wanted to continue talking to her. Because whatever it was, he didn’t think treating her like a slut was exactly where his thoughts were headed.

“I asked if you enjoyed the way my brothers treated you.”

“No. I didn’t. Any more than I enjoyed you hauling me out of Lana’s apartment because you were humiliated to have me there.” Shelly stepped backward and then once again turned away from him, this time walking away a lot slower than before. “But now I know how your feathers lay, Heath Halk.”

Heath watched Shelly Preston walk away from him. “Interesting,” he mused.

There weren’t many times when he’d given Shelly a lot of thought in the past. Lana had always defended her, making it clear to anyone who flapped his or her wings too loud that Shelly was her friend. Although his nest never approved of Lana flying with Shelly, Heath never saw a reason to break it up. Shelly never damaged Lana’s reputation.

The Preston nest was a bad one. Porter Preston and his mate owned and ran the hardware store downtown. It wasn’t a secret when an owl went into Preston’s they ran into a decent chance of feathers flying. Porter and Matilda were always squawking and pecking at each other. They weren’t faithful to each other either. The two of them possessed no honor when it came to being mated.

But as Heath searched his memory he couldn’t recall one time when he’d seen Shelly with different males. Hell, Heath couldn’t recall ever seeing her with a male at all.

He headed down the second-floor hallway and whatever conversation Beel and Rock were having ended as he pushed the door open and entered the apartment.

“Get yourself some?” Beel teased.

“No,” he grumbled, immediately fighting a wave of aggressive energy that ached to come forward.

“You must be slipping.” Rock shook his head, standing on one of the tarps while placing the stepladder on top of it. “Shelly doesn’t turn down any male.”

“You know this for a fact?” Heath didn’t look at either one of them when he walked over to the paint tray and brushes.

“Everyone knows this,” Beel offered.

“Do they now? So the two of you have both enjoyed the female?”

The silence in the room lingered long enough for Heath to finally pick up the brushes and then face his brothers. He caught the two of them shooting each other matching scowls.

“What’s wrong?” Beel asked first.

“I don’t think she’s the slut you two make her out to be.”

“Why?” Rock asked, leaning against the ladder. “Because she turned you down?”

Beel snickered but sobered quickly when Heath glared at him.

“She didn’t turn down anything. Nothing was offered,” he informed them, barely managing to contain the urge to leap at both of them. His urge to attack didn’t make sense. It was almost as if he defended his female, which was most definitely not the case. “You won’t refer to her with that slanderous title again.”

“Where are you going?” Rock demanded.

Heath looked over his shoulder when he reached the door, ignoring the amused expressions on both their faces.

“We need new brushes,” he informed them, and headed out the door.

“He’s headed over to Preston’s Hardware.” Beel sounded puzzled.

“Why would Heath fly after a female like Shelly?” Rock mused.

Heath ignored their comments and hurried down the hallway. He didn’t have answers but intended to find out what it was about Shelly Preston that intrigued him.

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