“You like music?” A little flutter of excitement filled me. It was strange. We’d just screwed around. I shouldn’t be nervous. Guys never made me nervous.
“I’m a musician at heart,” he said.
I could actually like this guy.
“What do you play?”
“Guitar’s my favorite,” Zak said. “But how about you? You didn’t tell me, how do you and your sister get—”
Zak froze, his gaze flicking from the ridge ahead to the the treeline his right.
“What is it?” I asked.
“They’re here.”
A giant mass barreled toward us from each direction. I hadn’t seen them until he’d pointed them out. One of the forms was a grizzly. My knees, already weak from the mind-blowing orgasm Zak had just treated me to, felt weaker—this time from nerves. He was a big fucking bear.
As the other form got closer, too, I could see it was Logan. In angry human form. His mouth was in a straight, hard line across his face, and his eyebrows were pulled together.
“You have a death wish, girl?” Logan growled.
Girl?
“Call me girl again, asshole. Just try it.” I had no flippin’ idea what I’d do if he took my dare, but luckily he just kept scowling.
The air around Everett shimmered with an ethereal light, and seconds later, a gorgeous naked man stood in front of me.
Damn. I raised my eyebrows. Even if I’d wanted to look away—and I didn’t—my eyes were glued to his figure. Shoulders like a linebacker, and height to match, Everett was fucking huge. His biceps were as big as my head, his chest a washboard of muscle. The dude had more abs than I thought was possible. My gaze wandered downward, and I enjoyed every inch of bare skin. The fucking huge dude, well, he had a massive cock to match. I nodded in appreciation.
Logan slammed a pile of clothes into Everett’s chest.
“We started our shift, and you weren’t there,” Everett said, pulling on his clothes. Pity. “Guards can’t do their job if you don’t tell us where you’re going.”
“You can’t run away.” Logan turned to Zak, nostrils flaring. “And you? What the fuck do you think—”
“He wasn’t on the clock, you were.” I stepped forward. “He happened to see me during my run, and…”
I trailed off, not sure where to take the story. Shit.
“And what?” Logan asked.
Everett sniffed the air, and his jaw dropped. “No fucking way,” he said.
“What?” Logan snapped. Then his nostrils flared. “You two fucked?”
“So what?” I said. “It’s not a big deal. Just the same, no one is going to speak of this to anyone else,” I said, looking to each of them in turn. I felt like I’d been saying that a lot lately. It was bad enough that everyone on the compound knew. But it wasn’t just my reputation as the wayward daughter of the pack’s alpha that was on the line. Mom and David had enough to worry about without feeling they needed to change their focus to me and my personal life. They needed to focus on what mattered—finding Wren. And to be honest, I was starting to enjoy these guards. It’d suck to get stuck with a whole new batch that might turn out all like Logan.
Zak gave me a kind smile and nodded.
Everett’s eyes narrowed and he opened his mouth, but Logan spoke first.
“You aren’t the one in charge. You’re not footing the bill, little girl.”
“You won’t say a damned thing,” I said. If he called me girl one more time, I was going to lose my shit. “Or I’ll tell David how incompetent you are for losing a little girl. So you’re going to get in line, and fuck off. Get it?”
Something was there in Everett’s eyes, and just as quickly it was gone. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have mistaken it for amusement. “Not a word.”
I turned to Logan.
“You have my silence,” he said. “For now.”
“Good.” It was as much of a promise as I was going to get from Logan. I knew his type—assholes who thought size meant power. But power came in lots of packages. He’d learn to heel, one way or another.
Roman, I liked. Zak, I really liked. Drake, my body liked, even if my brain couldn’t make up its mind. And Everett...well, after seeing him in the nude, I was really looking forward to getting to know him better.
Chapter Five
A couple of days later, I was getting more used to having guards. It sucked, but if it allowed my mom and David to focus on finding Wren, I’d deal.
True to their word, my guards didn’t tattle on me for sneaking out for that run the other night.
I’d mostly behaved around the guys, trying to show that everything was cool. The truth was, nothing was cool about this. I missed Wren more than I’d ever thought possible. My perfect little sister was a perfect pain in the ass and I was jealous of her in more ways than one—but none of that stopped her from being my sister.
The later afternoon air coming through my window was laced with scents from the river. A run would feel awesome, help me get my jitters out before heading to work. I put on my shorts, sports bra, and a loose t-shirt, then stepped out of my cottage. Roman and Drake were stationed at the door, looking alert and scrumptious. Sighing, I walked past them.
“Where are you off to?” Drake asked.
“I’m going for a run. Think you can keep up?”
Instead of answering, he and Roman immediately fell into step beside me. As tempting as it was to sprint and make them work a little harder, I started at a slow jog because it would be embarrassing to pull a muscle and have to limp home.
We looped around the compound, along the river, and then over to where the path led past the pool. Drake and Roman kept pace easily. They weren’t even breathing hard.
At the pool, a welcome sight met my eyes. Everett, the giant bear of a man, was coming out of the pool house. He wore swim trunks and had a towel draped over his shoulders. His short hair glistened, as did his pecs and those delectable abs. I didn’t even try not to stare, and instead slowed and waved at him.
I had a few memories of the pool house, most of them quite pleasant. It was removed from other cottages, meaning it offered a lot of privacy to shifters who lived with roommates and often couldn’t get a cottage to themselves.
“Hey, Sparrow,” Everett said, grinning.
“Hey yourself.” I smiled back.
“Do you think you can help me with something? I wanted to rinse the chlorine off, but the shower’s jammed.”
Roman coughed and it sounded a little like, “Nice excuse.”
Everett scowled at him. “Shut up, dude. You can all come look for yourselves if you want—it’s an outdoor shower.”
Nobody was around except for us. The pack members who weren’t out searching for Wren had found other things to do, and the pool was empty.
“You two, wait right here,” I said to Roman and Drake. Then I followed Everett around the cinder block wall that hid the shower from the pool and the rest of the compound.
I reached for the knob of the shower. “You just have to turn this here.”
“I did that,” Everett said.
“And,” I said, reaching for the nozzle, “this up here.”
Water sprayed down, soaking me. It felt great after my run. Everett watched me with a dark intensity in his brown eyes. I crooked a finger at him.
He stepped forward. “Sparrow…”
“Shhh.” I stood up on tiptoes. I still wasn’t tall enough to kiss him. But thankfully, he bent his head to meet mine. Our lips crashed together, all heat and teeth and tongues. Water soaked us from above, but it wasn’t able to cool the heat growing between us. I reached for his shoulders—those perfect shoulders—and clutched at them. An urgent need filled me, and I moaned. I needed to get these clothes off. His and mine. I tugged at the drawstring on his shorts. In moments, we could be skin on skin, slipping and sliding against each other in the water.
“Sparrow, no,” he said.
I let him go and stepped back. “O
h, shit. I thought you wanted—shit, I’m sorry.”
“I do want it. I want you. Look how hard you made me.” He reached down and grabbed his cock through his swim trunks. Its outline was very visible against the fabric. Damn, he was girthy. “I want you so fucking bad. But this isn’t how I want to do it. I don’t want it rushed, you know?”
Despite my disappointment, I was so relieved that I hadn’t just assaulted one of my guards, I grinned. “So you’re the slow and romantic type?”
He nodded and bent forward, kissing me on the lips again. He pulled back slightly and whispered in my ear, “And if you’re down, when we have time, I want to take my time with you.”
I felt the biggest, dumbest smile growing on my face. I turned and kissed his cheek.
Quickies were hot. I loved fast and frenzied. But something about how sweet Everett was, well, I could wait and slow down.
Everett stayed in the shower, and I came back around the cinder block wall, soaking wet. Drake and Roman’s eyes were locked on me, and I realized my shirt was clinging to my chest. They looked amused, but also a little turned on.
I started jogging back to my cottage, not speaking to them. The warm air felt cold on my wet skin, and my shoes sloshed with each footfall, but I didn’t care. He wanted to take his time with me. No guy had ever said that before, and the thought had me biting my cheeks to hide my grin.
I slowed when we approached the little path to my door.
“That was an...interesting run,” Roman said.
I speared him with a glare. He smirked, but he didn’t say anything more. I went inside to get ready for work.
Club music blared, Avicii’s tracks keeping everyone on the floor. I mixed drinks, thinking about that kiss with Everett. It had been short, but incredible. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, or the way that he wanted to do more with me. His sweetness made my heart speed up just as much as Roman’s humor, Zak’s compassion, and Drake’s aloof disapproval.
It was a Monday, and pretty fucking slow. Mack shut himself in his office, probably to look over his Excel spreadsheets and frown—that’s what he usually did on slow nights, as far as I could tell. Zak and Logan were my guards tonight, but Roman had come along, and he was tearing it up on the floor. Other girls danced close to him, but not so close I felt possessive, and never touching. There was something about the way he held himself that made them keep their distance. That, and the wild way he swung his arms.
I wouldn’t have been afraid of his wildness. If I were dancing just now, I’d be rubbing my whole body against his, pressing against him to absorb his heat and power.
He left the dancing and came over to the bar, a wide grin on his mischievous face. The women in his wake practically wilted in disappointment. “Can I get a beer, Sparrow?” he asked.
I nodded and went to the taps. Conscious of Roman’s eyes on me, and Zak’s and Logan’s, too, I used my arm to push my breasts together a little more, giving my smallish-sized girls some extra cleavage. Roman licked his lips, in full-on flirt mode. Zak and Logan looked on with interest, too, and Zak shifted slightly to the side. Were my tiny boobs giving him a hard-on? Excellent.
This was the first time Logan had looked remotely interested in me. So he wasn’t completely immune to my charm. Interesting. I wasn’t into him, even a little, but I liked the idea of him not hating me.
Sliding the beer across the bar to Roman, I said, “You really like dancing, huh?”
“It’s all right. Great workout, and I like music. I also like being near you.” His brilliant blue eyes flashed.
“Flirt.” I smiled and resisted the temptation to grab hold of that pointed beard and bring him in for a kiss.
“Tease.”
“Rogue.”
“Hellcat.”
I laughed. Hellcat—I didn’t mind that as a nickname. It sounded mischievous and powerful.
“I bet you flirted with all the girls when you were a bouncer at The Freak,” I said. “Dancing outside the door while you manned the rope.”
“Sounds like a sexy euphemism.” He wiggled his brows.
I laughed again.
“And no,” he said, “I kept my rope to myself generally. The kind of women that frequented The Freak...whew. Not my type.”
“And what type is your type?”
“You.”
I couldn’t help my smile, but just then a couple sidled up to the bar. I gave Roman a mock salute and walked over to see what the customers wanted. They ordered two beers, so I returned to the tap. To my disappointment, Roman had drained his pint glass and gone back to the dancing. He’d left a twenty on the bar to cover his bill—way more than the beer and a generous tip. I’d have to give him change later.
The back of my neck prickled. The delicious feeling of a guy’s attention stole over me, and I looked out of the corner of my eye. Sure enough, Zak’s gaze was locked on me. Biting my cheek to keep from smiling, I accidentally-on-purpose dropped Roman’s twenty. It fell to the rubber floor mats, so I slowly bent over at the waist to pick it up.
A strangled groan reached my ears.
I hadn’t known torture could be so fun.
The couple was still waiting on their beers. The automated dispenser was broken on the beer they wanted, so I had to hold the glass in my hand and pull the tap. As the beer swirled into the cup, I watched the amber liquid. My eyes lost focus, and the sounds of the club music dimmed.
Wren. She stood in front of me, her kind green eyes wide with fear. “He’ll betray you,” she said, but her voice sounded like it was underwater, garbled and muted at the same time.
“Who?”
“I can’t say—he’ll tell you—”
Even as I looked at her, her form changed until she grew taller and taller. Her form filled out until she wore the body of a man. A man I had just met.
Everett.
Everett, betray me? After that scorching kiss we’d just shared, where he’d revealed himself to be not only sexy, but sweet and considerate? He’d said he wanted to take his time with me—could the connection I felt, everything that he said—could it all have been a lie?
No.
“Sparrow! Are you okay?”
I came out of the vision abruptly, before I was ready. Zak’s arms were around me, and I was covered in cold, sticky beer. I looked down. I was sitting on the floor next to a broken pint glass.
Mack rushed out of his office. “Shit, what happened?”
“I don’t know,” Zak said. “She just collapsed.”
Logan crouched close, his dark eyes searching mine. “Is there anything I can help you with?” he asked.
I opened my mouth to answer, but I didn’t know what to say. How could I tell them that I’d Seen Everett in a vision? And my sister was warning me that he would betray me? How could I believe that, anyway? I’d felt so safe around him, so protected.
“Let’s get you home,” Zak said, helping me up.
“But the bar—”
“I can take over for you,” Mack said. “You take care of yourself, okay Sparrow?”
He looked at me with such fatherly concern, my eyes pricked with tears. Why was it that kindness always made me want to cry? “Yeah, okay, Mack. Thanks.”
Zak walked at my side, Logan ahead of us as we made our way to the side exit down the dark hallway.
“Did you have a vision?” Logan asked in a low voice.
I looked from him to Zak, and back again. “I Saw my sister.”
“Where is she?” Logan asked, his face intense. “Could you See her location?”
I shook my head.
“What else did you See?” he pressed.
“Dude,” Zak said, “let her recover first.”
Logan shrugged. “Sorry, Sparrow.”
We reached the car. Logan tossed Zak the keys. “I’ll ride in the back with Sparrow.”
Zak looked like he wanted to argue, but instead he brushed the faintest of kisses over my temple and got in the front seat.
Log
an sat in the middle, right next to me. I appreciated his closeness, the reassurance of someone who cared, even though he didn’t make my heart speed up like the others did.
“Do you want to talk about it yet?” he asked.
Zak gave a warning growl from the front seat. “She’s obviously upset, man. Leave her alone.”
“It’s okay.” I caught Zak’s gaze in the rearview mirror and gave him a smile. “There’s not much to talk about.”
“Was it about you?” Logan asked.
“Visions don’t work like that, even for Wren. Oracles can’t see themselves or their own future directly. Even if we could, my visions are so unpredictable, anyway. Basically, I saw Wren, and she tried to tell me something, but I couldn’t hear her very well.”
“Nothing else?” Logan asked.
Nothing that I was willing to say. Apparently, Everett was going to betray me. I couldn’t tell the guys, though, not while my heart felt so raw, and not while I wasn’t entirely sure.
When we got back to the compound, Zak drove us to my parents’ house instead of my little cottage.
“I don’t want to do this,” I said.
“Your parents will want to know you Saw your sister,” Zak said. “I’m sorry it’s going to be hard.”
I nodded. He was right, I knew he was, but hard was an understatement. This was going to be emotionally wrenching.
I stood in between Zak and Logan, and Zak rang the doorbell. Pounding footsteps could be heard from inside, and the door swung open. David stood before us in a pair of pajama pants and t-shirt.
“What is it?” he asked, his hair mussed and his eyes wild.
“I—I had a vision,” I said. “But before you get excited—”
“Do you know where she is?” he asked.
I shook my head and told him everything I’d just told Zak and Logan. I left Everett out completely. It was impossible to lie to shifters, but I’d become an expert at talking around the truth—it was a survival mechanism.
“So she didn’t tell you anything?” David asked.
“She tried,” I said, “but her words were unclear.”
He swore.
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