by Renee Rose
“The things I want to do to you.” The raw hunger in his expression is unnerving.
“You can,” I promise, and I mean it. I want it. “Just not here. Take me home. You don’t have to shift.” I don’t know if it’s my intuition or fear speaking, but there’s an urgency to keeping him sane, preventing whatever he’s wrestling with from happening.
He licks up my throat, my head still immobilized in his iron grasp. His lips drag across my jaw; he nips my mouth. My body responds, hips pushing up against him, the heat of my core seeking something to grind on.
He bites my shoulder so hard, I cry out in pain. It seems to jerk him out of his lust-filled stupor, and he releases me, jumping back as if I’d burned him.
“Fuck, Amber.” His eyes are still silver. He drags a hand through his blond hair, breathing hard. “Fuck. Did I hurt you? Fuck!”
“No. No, you didn’t.” It’s a partial truth. I lean forward, missing him already. My hands want to stay molded to that incredible chest. “It’s okay—” I reach for him. I know what it’s like to feel out of control.
“No.” Fury mars his handsome face. “It can’t happen again. This was a bad idea.” He’s breathing heavily. “I need to stay away.”
“Garrett—”
“I can’t be near you.” He passes a hand over his face. His shoulders hunch. A large pop sounds. “Too close to a full moon. I’ve got to go.” He whirls, striding down the other side of the mountain. Away from the road. Away from me.
“Wait!” Is he just going to leave me here? I can’t drive a freakin’ motorcycle. I scramble after him. “What happens during the full moon?”
His growl echoes off the boulders as he disappears, stopping me in my tracks. “I go hunting.”
~.~
Let the record reflect: The werewolf abandoned his date on A Mountain.
“Thanks for picking me up,” I tell Foxfire as she pulls away from the overlook. The site of a date gone awry. I’d waited a full hour for Garrett to return before accepting I’d have to find my own ride back.
“No problem. Least I could do, after making a fool of myself last night.” She looks a bit wan but steadier than I feel. “Tell me again what happened. You went on a date and, in the middle of it, he up and left?”
“He’s...strange.” Understatement of the year. And hot. And probably a millionaire. And a werewolf.
And a goddamn asshole.
“Wait,” Foxfire says. “I’m putting together the pieces. Is this your neighbor?”
“Yeah.”
“And he was there last night, right?”
“He owns Club Eclipse. And, after I got home, we had a little talk.” And a little spanking, followed by a not-so-little orgasm. And hot dreams all night long.
I press my hands to my cheeks to hide my blush.
“He kinda knocked on my door. I got scared and went out the fire escape. I nearly fell, and he caught me. Brought me to his apartment and told me—” I break off.
“To never set foot in his club again,” Foxfire fills in my awkward pause. “Because of me.”
“No, it’s fine. I think he’d let us back in.” He told me we could use the club for the foster fun night. I hope he meant it. “This morning, he helped me with my car, but then…”
“He took you for a ride on his motorcycle and stranded you in the middle of nowhere.”
“Yes,” I rub my head. My temples throb like another vision is due. Wonderful.
“This guy sounds like bad news. You’re usually not the reckless one.”
“I know.” What was I thinking? “We have this connection.”
“What could you possibly have in common with this guy? He’s in a motorcycle gang. You spend nights working or organizing your pens and ironing your underwear.”
“Gee thanks. Why don’t you just call me boring?”
“You know what I mean, Amber. I love you to bits, but you’re a control freak. That guy is chaos.”
“You don’t get it. I felt like I could open up to him. I told him about the visions.”
“Really?” Foxfire’s eyebrows arch so high they almost disappear under her bangs.
“Yeah. He’s the first person I’ve told in years, other than you.” Foxfire’s grandmother was a medicine woman, so she grew up hearing about the spiritual side of things. It’s one of the reason we’re so close.
“I can’t believe you confided in that jerkoff. He seems likes the big Neanderthal type.”
“He is, but he’s more than that. I had an episode in front of him, and he took care of me.”
“When you told him about the visions, how did he react?”
My head swims at the word vision and I put a hand on the dash to steady myself. “He believed me.”
“What’d you see?” Foxfire asks.
“A wolf.” Something flashes in the desert as I stare out the window. A coyote or some other wild animal? Garrett is out there, running in his other form. For a moment, I taste the hot, dry air, powering past cacti as I run on all fours. I’m a predator, powerful, unafraid. The moon hovers just under the horizon, unseen, but my skin tingles as it calls to me, telling me to shift...
“Did you just say werewolf?” Foxfire’s gasp brings me back into the car.
“No.” I shake my head, dazed. Did I just have a vision? “Um, what’d I just say?”
“You said Garrett is a werewolf. At least I think that’s what you said. You were kinda out of it.”
Damn. “Uh...that’s the name of his motorcycle club, I think. The Werewolves. They have a wolf theme. Club Eclipse. Moon tattoos. It’s a thing.” Please, please, believe me.
“Okay, whatever.”
I stay quiet, just focusing on breathing. Foxfire weaves into traffic as the desert slowly makes way for urban sprawl. I close my eyes, fighting dizziness.
“Does your head hurt?” Foxfire asks.
“A little.”
“You look a little sick, otherwise I’d take you apartment hunting, right now.”
I slide down in my seat. Do I want to leave my apartment? Not have Garrett as a neighbor? No. He fucked up today, but so did I. Was there ever more proof I’m a freak?
“I don’t like this, Amber.” Foxfire’s frown creates furrows alongside her mouth. “Garrett sounds like bad news.”
“It’s okay,” I tell her. “I think he’ll stay away from me from now on.” I ignore the pang in my heart. I barely know the guy. I shouldn’t care if I never see him again.
“Just take me home.” My voice breaks on the word. I can’t lie to myself. Years of foster care, and I’ve never had a safe place to call home. A place I can be myself, a family who accepts me for what I am.
That’s why spending time with Garrett was so special. For a few short hours, I felt like I belonged.
5
Garrett
I made it home, no thanks to you. Just thought you should know.
I read Amber’s text as I enter my apartment building. For a second, I debate texting a reply, but I fire one off to my sister instead.
It’s been almost a day since you checked in. Call me soon.
I pocket my phone before I crush it in my grip. Females. Maybe it’s a good thing my pack is all male.
My wolf surges forward as I pass the spot where Amber’s car was parked. I push him back down. Hours of running, chasing jackrabbits, and I’m still all riled up. One woman is the cause of this. I catch her sweet scent in the stairwell, and I’m ready to rampage.
Mate.
There’s no other reason I should act like this. I’ve never had problems with my wolf before. But, one date with Amber, and I almost lost control. I was ready to rip her clothing from her, throw her down and fuck her senseless. Worse, my canines had elongated, ready to mark her forever with my scent. Claim her as mine so no other wolf would ever think about taking her. The trouble is—she’s human. Mating her would mean relinquishing my position as alpha. An alpha mates an alpha. Humans are about as far from alpha as it gets. Althoug
h a psychic human might be different. If we produced dominant wolf pups with psychic abilities, it would be epic. But the pack isn’t going to wait around to see what our pups look like. If they sense a leader has a weakness, another dominant wolf moves in. Tank. Or Jackson King, the lone wolf who owns the multi-billion dollar tech company SeCure.
No, I need to resist Amber. For her good, and mine. Hell, I could’ve hurt her. I had zero control, was ready to tear her flesh with my teeth to make sure she knew who claimed her.
There’s a word for wolves who lose it like this: moon mad. The wolf takes over, consumed with the desire to mate. The more dominant the wolf, the more dangerous it is.
I’m alpha. I’m the most dominant wolf I know, except maybe my dad. It’s clear my wolf wants Amber. To keep from going mad, I’ll have to either claim her or stay way far away.
I take the stairs. I was out all night, running, trying to tire my wolf out before I had to get close to Amber again. No such luck. My animal goes crazy as I open the door to the hall. Not to mention my libido. My erection presses painfully against my jeans.
Amber’s door opens. Her name leaps to my lips, but out comes a tiny woman with rainbow-colored hair. She shuts the door carefully with one hand, the other steadying a large, floppy purse as she starts down the hall. At the last minute, she looks up when I pass her.
“You!” She stops to put her hands on her hips to glare up at me. “What’s your deal?”
“Excuse me?” My wolf would normally snarl at the challenge to my authority, but this little lady smells like Amber. “Who are you?” I say, just as I recognize her from the club the night before.
“Foxfire. I’m Amber’s friend. I picked her up in the mountains where you stranded her.” Her finger almost pokes me in the chest.
My throat vibrates with a growl. “Sweetheart, you need to back off.”
“You need to stay away from my girl. You and your werewolf gang—”
“What?” I almost roar.
She throws up her hands. “Whatever the name of your gang is. Wolves or Werewolves or whatever. You can call yourself the Dumbass Jackholes for all I care. Just leave Amber alone.” With the final shout, she stomps off, leaving me trembling, my skin crackling with the desire to shift and tear apart the threat to my pack.
Amber let my secret slip. I trusted her, and the first thing she does is tell her spitfire friend, who then shouts it to the world.
“Oh, hell, no.” I march to Amber’s door, clenching my fist tight. She wants to see the big bad wolf? “Amber? Open up.”
If she goes out the fire escape again, she’ll be sorry.
The scent of vanilla and sweet orange.
“Open the door, Amber,”
“What are you going to do?” I hear the patter of her heartbeat even through the wood.
“Open it now. One... two…”
The lock clicks open. Her face is pinched and pale.
“Wise decision.” I push past her into her living room.
She trails behind me.
I stop, clenching my fists as if it will help me keep my wolf in line. I don’t know what the hell to do. I don’t want to threaten her with the old-school consequence of a human knowing our secret—death. I’d take a bullet through the head before I let anyone harm this beautiful human.
“You broke your word to me.”
She stands, shoulders hunched, eyes on the floor.
The submissive pose flips a switch in me. My cock turns hard as stone, despite my disappointment. Genuine anger changes to a lusty desire to paint her ass red. Right before I bend her over and pound her from behind.
“I didn’t mean to tell her,” she whispers. “I slipped into a vision and...it just came out. I told her it was the name of your motorcycle gang.”
Some of the tension in my face eases. I review what Foxfire said, and it fits. Still, I don’t want anyone thinking we’re wolves, whether it’s the name of a gang or the real animal. “Well, we don’t have a gang. What are you going to tell her when she finds out we don’t call ourselves that, even in jest?”
She shrinks down even more. Normally, she wouldn’t be this cowed, but I sense the shame in her scent. She’s truly sorry.
My chest rumbles with my wolf as I prowl around her. “I don’t think you understand. Shifters do not allow humans to know they exist. It is common practice to eliminate any threats to our privacy.”
Amber still hasn’t moved. I’m not sure she’s breathing at all. My wolf loves dominating her, even though the human part of me scrambles to keep control. Images of pinning her delicate hands to the wall and smacking that cute ass flood my brain.
“You were already in danger, Amber. I liked you, so I was willing to go out on a limb and let you live. But now there are two of you who know. You just put your friend into grave danger.”
“Please don’t hurt Foxfire.” A tear streaks down her cheek. The salty scent of it subdues my irritation faster than a tranquilizer dart. Another sign she’s my mate.
I run my fingers through her hair, gripping a handful and slowly drawing her head back, exposing her neck. For a second, my vision goes dark, as I fight the animal growling at me to mark her.
“Naughty, Amber,” I breathe in her ear, catching a note of arousal to her frightened scent.
It spikes my own. I let her feel the weight of my dominance. Let her understand how dangerous a creature I really am. “What am I going to do with you?”
My phone rings, breaking the spell. I step back and yank it from my pocket. I see Sedona’s name on the screen and answer it quickly.
“Why in the hell haven’t I heard from you until now?”
“Uh,” a male voice says. “This is Jason, Sedona’s friend. We’re in San Carlos?”
Ice shoots through my veins. “Yeah?”
“Sedona...well, she kind of disappeared.”
“What do you mean, kind of disappeared? Where is she?”
“We don’t know. She went out for a run on the beach, and she never came back. We’ve looked everywhere. We even tried the cops, but they didn’t seem like they cared that much. We were thinking maybe you could call the embassy or something?”
Sedona. My sister. Gone.
My animal rises in me, clawing to the surface. Amber’s worried face appears in front of me. I focus on her.
“I’m coming,” I growl, my voice half gone to my wolf. “Where?”
The kid gets what I’m asking and promises to text the directions. The thought that I have to wait to know where to go is the only thing that keeps me from crushing my phone.
“What is it?” Amber’s voice shakes. And she should be scared. She woke a big bad predator, and now she’s going to have to deal with the consequences. I stalk forward, and she backs up, like the good prey that she is.
“My sister, Sedona. She’s missing.”
“Oh no.” Her eyes go wide. Her back hits the wall, but she never stops meeting my gaze. “What happened?”
In answer, I press my forearms on either side of her head, caging her in. My body covers hers. One move and my cock will brush against her, and I’ll lose it. My hands fist, fighting for control. I drop my head, inhaling her warm, sweet scent. Amber. Mate. She’s the only thing holding me together right now.
She’s the only one with the power to tear me apart.
“Garrett?” My name on her lips makes me want to forget my failings as a brother and my terror over Sedona’s disappearance. I want to breathe in Amber, and her alone.
Instead, I back up enough she can see the light silver in my eye. “Pack a bag and grab your passport. We’re going to Mexico.”
“What?”
“You’re psychic. You see thing others don’t. You’re coming with me to find her.”
“I’m sorry, Garrett, but I can’t. I have work on Monday—”
“I’m not asking. You broke the rules, little human. I can’t let you run around free, and I have to go, which means you’re coming along. I own you now.”
Amber
I huddle in the backseat of Garrett’s Range Rover, shivering, even though it’s not cold. The doors on either side of me open, and Jared and Trey slide in, sandwiching me between them.
Let the record reflect: I’m not into foursomes or kidnap scenarios. I guess I should have told Garrett that, because this is not my idea of a great second date.
“What’s with the lawyer, boss? She doesn’t look happy to be here.”
“She’s coming with us. Don’t let her escape,” Garrett growls. He climbs into the front seat and peels out of the parking lot. I scramble to click in my seat belt. My two bodyguards—because that’s what they are—don’t bother.
The tattooed one—Jared—sits and watches me, arms braced as Garrett weaves in and out of traffic. “What’s your plan with her?”
“I’m sitting right here,” I mutter.
“We gonna have to kill her?” Trey rumbles.
They’re joking. I’m pretty sure. But not positive. Fuck.
“If he wanted to kill her, she’d already be dead, and we’d be disposing of the body,” Jared says, as I choke on my own breath.
“No killing. She’s gonna help us.” Garrett’s deep rumble stirs me even in this tense moment.
“Oh yeah.” Jared studies me. He has long eyelashes and hazel eyes. “I forgot—she’s psychic.”
“You told them?”
Garrett’s eyes meet mine in the rear view mirror. “I don’t hide anything from my pack.”
Oh, so no reciprocity here? I bite back a retort. Now is not the time for Lawyer Amber to assert her case. Maybe when the energy in the car isn’t thick with tension. I can barely breathe.
“You think you can sense a missing person, psychic lady?” Jared asks. One of his tattoos is a skeleton amorously entangled with a very buxom, half-naked lady. Charming.
“My name is Amber. ” I pull out my snooty voice to bolster myself against fear. “And the answer is no. It’s not a skill I know how to use. It’s more like something that happens to me.”
“Well, I need you to try,” Garrett says from the front seat.