by Renee Rose
“What’s that?” Diners turn in their seats.
“Oh my goodness,” Lacy says as the army green helicopter hovers over the huge lawn. “Is there some sort of military exercise?”
“Nope. That’s our ride,” Deke announces. “Called in a favor.”
“Is that even legal?” George frowning, looking over his glasses. The helicopter has landed, but the big rotors still turn, ready to lift off at any moment.
“Come on,” Deke holds out his hand. I grab it, and we head out the doors and then run over the lawn, bent over to the chopper.
“I can’t believe this,” I shout. The sound’s immediately whipped away by the roar of the rotors.
The pilot in the front seat is a giant guy with a bushy brown beard. He’s got muscles bigger than Deke, which I didn’t think was possible.
“This is Teddy,” Deke shouts right in my ear, so I can hear him over the sound of the chopper.
“Nice to meet you!” I shout, and Teddy grins at me. Even though it's cold, Teddy isn’t wearing a jacket, just old fatigue pants and an army green t-shirt that shows off his impressive tattoos and biceps. Another bad ass from Deke’s world.
Deke lifts me into the chopper and straps me in tight. My hair’s blown all crazy over my face, and he takes a moment to stroke it back before fastening goggles and a helmet on my head.
“This is incredible!” I shout. “I can’t believe this! Where are we going?” I doubt he can hear me over the roar of the helicopter blades.
Instead of answering, he boops my nose and climbs past me to his own seat. Once he’s strapped in, he gives a signal to Teddy, and the helicopter lifts off the lawn. I grab the sides of my seat. My stomach swoops as we rocket away, over the resort grounds towards the range. And then we’re flying up the face of the mountain and over it, heading north with the Sangre de Cristos spread under us in stunning vista. And ahead, nothing but blue sky, the eagles and us.
I reach over for Deke, and he grabs my hand. We hold tight to each other as Teddy tips us one way, then the other, giving us both an eagle-eye view of the New Mexico landscape below. The buildings and roads look like child toys, tiny pieces lost in the greater wilderness. The roads give way to miles and miles of patchwork color—the pine trees aglow with their shimmery yellow leaves, in between the green-blue of the spruce and pine. The tops of the tallest mountains are streaked with white snow.
It’s so beautiful, I choke up. I squeeze Deke’s hand harder, and he squeezes back. The chopper’s too loud for us to talk, but we don’t need words to share the moment.
Finally, Teddy sets the chopper down on a bare hill top. The grass flattens in a wide circle, and the branches of the surrounding trees wave wildly in the man-made wind.
“This is our stop,” Deke shouts. He grabs a picnic basket I didn’t notice strapped in the back and comes around to help me out of my seat again. The cold gusts through me, but the fresh mountain air is worth the chill. Teddy touches his forehead with two fingers and flicks them in my direction in silent farewell before lifting the chopper and flying off again.
“He’ll be back,” Deke says. He puts down the picnic basket and helps me out of my helmet and goggles before stripping off his own.
“This is crazy!” I burst out. I do a spin with my arms flung out like I’m Maria in Sound of Music. Green grass on the mountain top, birds chirping, trees all around, the scene is pretty enough to be in a movie. “I can’t believe you arranged this!”
Deke lays out the red and white checkered picnic blanket. “Figured the wedding party can’t follow us here.”
“So you just rented a helicopter?” I shake my head as I sit on the blanket. “This is unreal.”
“Teddy’s an old friend. He was into it. He packed all this.” Deke sets a picnic basket worthy of Yogi Bear next to me. It’s full of sandwiches, bottled ice tea and all sorts of goodies like grapes and cashews and a cheese plate.
“Oh, yum.” I get busy setting up our meal while Deke stretches out beside me. “Teddy didn’t want to stay for the picnic?”
“Teddy was gonna stick around. His original idea was to serenade us.”
“Aww, that’s so sweet! You told him no?”
“Teddy plays the bagpipes. I told him fuck, no.”
I cover my face and laugh. “This is incredible. My God, Deke, this is the best thing anyone’s ever done for me. Thank you so much.” I bite my lip. I want to lean down and kiss him, but as soon as our lips touch, I know I’m going to want more. Outdoor sex in October never appealed to me before, but if there was a guarantee that Deke’s friend wouldn’t come back and get an aerial view of me naked, I’d totally do it.
Deke shakes his head as if he knows my thoughts. “You want to thank me, eat some of this.” He hands me the cheese plate. “You barely touched breakfast.”
Warmth spreads through me. He noticed.
Who is this guy? He’s too good to be true.
“Don’t have to tell me twice.” My stomach growls.
“I told Teddy to pack girly shit. I figured you’d like that stuff.”
“What girly shit? Olive tapenade?” I spread the tapenade on a cracker and hold it in front of his mouth. “Open,” I order.
He shakes his head but obeys.
“So is Teddy one of your army buddies?” I ask.
“Something like that.” Deke says, cagey as always when he's talking about his old career.
“So you could tell me, but then you'd have to kill me,” I tease.
His lips quirk. “Something like that.”
“And he threw all this together in what, an hour?”
Deke shrugs. “I may have prepped him.”
“Operation Save Sadie,” I quip, and his cheek curves for a second in a stealth smile.
“What did you do in the military, anyway?” I ask after I’ve devoured most of the cheese plate. I'm fascinated even though I know he's not going to tell me anything.
“I did whatever the Army told me to do.”
I roll my eyes.
“I'll tell you,” he says, scooting closer to me on the picnic blanket. “but you got to give me something in return.”
“I'm not giving you my panties,” I say flatly, and he throws back his head and laughs. The sound warms me from the inside out.
I pop a grape into my mouth and enjoy the rare sight of Happy Deke.
“No,” Deke says when he’s done laughing. “I was thinking more you tell me what's up between you and your dad.”
I bite my lip and look away. “I just never made him happy.”
“Is that your job? Make your dad happy?” Just like Deke to slice to the heart of the matter in as few words as possible.
“He thinks so.” I toy with a few cashews on the plate. “Ever since my mom left me. My mom didn't want to leave me,” I clarify. “She finally got fed up with my dad but didn’t have the money to divorce him. So she moved away. He didn't let her take me. She tried, but she couldn’t afford the lawyers to fight. And I was just a kid. I didn’t get a say. I would’ve gone with her.”
“Sucks, babe,” Deke sums it up in his typical Deke manner.
“Yes. Yes, it does.” I toss the cashews into the woods for a lucky squirrel.
Deke takes my hand and threads his fingers with mine. “This wedding, these people, this is your dad’s sort of scene?”
“Yep. All of it. Jenn and I grew up together. Lacy and George are friends of his.”
“You don’t need to impress these people.”
“I know, I know, but—”
“No. They should be working to impress you.”
I let those words settle over me like another warm blanket.
“I felt braver with you beside me,” I admit. “I’m a nice person, but I can be a doormat. Having my own bodyguard makes it easier to set boundaries.”
Deke’s eyes glint green in the sunlight. He cups the back of my neck and yanks my lips to his. I groan and tug him closer, slanting my head to offer my mouth fully up
to him. Our tongues tangle, heat rising between us. I want to shrug out of my coat and straddle him. Start something and see where we end up.
But Deke’s phone beeps between us. I draw back, feeling dizzy. “You should probably get that.”
Deke checks his phone, looks away and swears under his breath.
“What? Is something wrong?”
“Nope. Nothing to worry about, babe. C’mon. Let’s pack up before Teddy gets back.”
Deke
“What the fuck are you thinking?” The rage in my alpha’s voice sets my teeth on edge. After returning to the resort, I excused myself from Sadie’s side and headed outside to return Rafe’s call. She has no idea how much trouble I’m in. Even if she did, she wouldn’t understand. She’s human, I’m not.
Another reason we don’t belong together.
“We are still trying to sort out the shit that went down in Switzerland, and you decide to take off. I thought you were going for a hunt as a wolf. Burn off that edginess you’ve had since you met that human. I assumed you were alone, doing what you needed to do. Today I get a call from Teddy Medvedev saying he picked up you and the female in a bird in Santa Fe and took you for a ride.”
Fuck. Shoulda known Ted the Med would be in touch with my pack. I didn’t ask him to keep things quiet to keep from raising his suspicion.
I duck around the side of the resort building, heading to the forest where I can speak freely.
“Is it true?” Rafe demands. “Are you with Sadie Diaz right now?”
“Yeah. It’s true.” Frankly, I’m surprised Lance didn’t already rat me out. I expected this call at least twenty-four hours ago.
Rafe cusses so loudly I have to hold the phone away from my ringing ears. “What the fuck, Deke? After all I told you, you do the exact opposite. And now I gotta order you to stay away—”
“It’s a security mission—not a date.” I cut him off before he can finish the order. “She needed a fake date for a wedding to keep Sears off her back. That’s it. And I’m not abandoning her now. I made a promise.”
Silence. My alpha’s so pissed, I can hear his teeth grinding. “This is a bad idea, Adalwulf.”
“I know. Fuck, I know.”
“It won’t end well.”
“I can do it.” I rub my forehead with a thumb, trying to keep a pleading tone out of my voice. I’d fall to my knees and pray if Fate would hear. “I can keep control.”
“You have to. The stakes are too high.”
He’s right. If I lose control, I risk damaging the most precious person on earth. “I’ll be careful.”
“That’s not good enough.” Rafe sighs, but he doesn’t order me home.
“I will keep control,” I repeat and mean it. I’ll do anything—even if I have to drive Sadie away.
“You’d better.” Rafe mutters. “You’re a danger to her. Get out as soon as you can, before it’s too late."
Sadie
How’s it going? the text comes in at 4:45 pm from Adele. “Great,” I type. “Better than great.”
“Is he behaving?”
“Deke or Scott?” I type, feeling cheeky.
BOTH, she texts back.
“Scott’s himself. Deke’s perfect.” Too perfect. Today was unreal. The helicopter ride, the picnic date… but after Teddy dropped us back off at the resort, Deke excused himself, and I haven’t seen him since. “Got shit to do.” I’m disappointed—after our date I was hoping for some alone time with him. Getting to know him, horizontally. In bed.
So much for Operation Seduce Sadie.
He’s a perfect gentleman, I clarify to Adele.
He better be.
I smile and tuck my phone away in my clutch. Tonight is the rehearsal dinner, and I’ve spent the last hour getting dolled up.
Deke appears right as I’m doing a final lipstick check. He takes the bathroom and emerges dressed in very credible rehearsal dinner wear—a dark blazer over his usual black jeans and a black T. It works, even with his beat up motorcycle boots.
“Hey,” I smile at him. “Ready to do this?”
He nods and bends down to kiss my cheek. But he’s sober, shut down. Remote behind his aviator shades.
“What is it?” I ask. “What’s wrong?”
He shakes his head, and with a hand on my back, escorts me out of our room and down to the lobby to meet up with the bridal party. I put on my game face and air kiss all the bridesmaids. Deke remains at my side, a tall, silent shadow. Eventually we head out to run through the ceremony. There’s an air of excitement, and when Jenn, the bride to be, arrives, we all squeal and clap.
“This is it,” I remind myself. “This is why we’re here.” For my friend’s big day.
Everything goes smoothly, but I can’t help turning my head to check on Deke every few minutes. He sits in the audience on the bride’s side, staring off into the distance. Playing the part of bored boyfriend, except he’s not bored. This is Broody Deke. His mood reminds me of how he acted after our kiss in the alley way, when the clam-jamming biker came by.
He stirs a little when Scott escorts me down the aisle, but Scott behaves himself. I’ll bet he senses the unspoken threat from Deke if he doesn’t.
When I take my place, I search Deke out. I can’t see his eyes because he’s still wearing his badass aviator shades, even though the sun’s almost down behind the mountains. I make a note to tease him about wearing his sunglasses at night and give him a smile. Deke lifts his chin in response.
I’m going to figure out what put him in this broody mood. Seductive Sadie is making her debut tonight.
Rehearsal ends, and we all head off to dinner. A few people mention the helicopter, and Deke finds himself briefly the center of attention. I’m able and willing to step in to deflect questions, but Deke handles it. “Teddy’s Helicopter Tours,” he says, handing out business cards. “Check ‘em out.”
“Quite the impression your man is making,” Elana purrs in my ear as I stand by watching Deke talk to the curious crowd about helicopter tours. He is patient and calm, even leaning down to converse with Jenn’s grandma, who’s in a wheelchair. She pats his cheek, smiling up at him.
“He’s a good man,” Elana tells me, her eyes glued to Deke’s ass as he’s bent over. When he rises, he’s a full head taller than everyone.
“Mmm,” I murmur into my champagne.
Elana stops ogling Deke and faces me fully. “Way better than your ex. What did you even see in him?”
“I don’t even know. Thanks. I thought it’d be awkward with you here.”
“On no, hun, I’m just here to make him look good. He made it worth my while, if you know what I mean.” Her eyes twinkle over her vodka tonic. “But I'd never hurt a sister. We’ve got to stick together.”
I clink glasses with her. She looks around swiftly and leans in close to whisper a warning, “Scott wanted to try to ambush you at the hot tub. But the rate he’s going, he’ll pass out tonight. At least, I hope.” Elana wrinkles her nose. “Does he always snore?”
“Yeah. Sorry.”
“It’s fine, I’ve got earplugs.”
Deke turns, looking over the crowd at me.
“Go, get your man,” Elana waves me away.
I cut through the crowd and thread my arm through Deke’s. “Come on, honey,” I say loudly for everyone to hear. “There’s something I need to show you.”
Deke
Sadie grabs my hand and tugs me out of the crowd. I follow willingly, feeling relief as she leads me out of the room.
“Everything okay?” I ask as she pulls me into a side hall. She glances around and pushes me into an alcove before gazing up at me.
“You looked like you needed a break.”
The tension in my spine ebbs away. She’s right. For a moment, I was close to losing it. Too many people around. My wolf was agitated, but just being near Sadie helps.
I let my head drop and press my forehead against hers, breathing her in. She’s my calm in the storm.
> Leaving her is gonna suck. My wolf is already frantic, imagining it.
“I want to thank you,” she whispers.
“Sadie.” I don’t mean to touch her—not after my conversation with Rafe, but I find myself rubbing my thumb along her lower lip. My cock wants in that lush mouth again.
But I can’t. This is so fucked up.
I drop my hand and rub the back of my neck. Rafe’s last words ring in my head. You’re a danger to her. Get out as soon as you can, before it’s too late.
He’s right. I’m a monster. I destroy everything I touch.
My wolf howls in my chest. I groan, pressing a hand to my chest. I feel like I’m having a fucking heart attack. But I’m not. It’s my wolf, grieving like it’s lost its mate.
Could Sadie actually be my mate?
I’m an idiot for not realizing it sooner. I’ve had the urge to mark her every time we get sexual, but I chalked it up to my wolf being nuts.
Wolves don’t usually pick humans for mates, but I do know it happens. Especially with our species’ dwindling numbers, I hear of it more and more often these days.
Sadie’s touch brings me back to her. “What is happening? What’s wrong?”
Even just the thought of her being my mate brings my wolf roaring to the surface, my teeth itching to descend and mark her. “I shouldn’t be here,” I mutter.
“No,” she says. “Don’t say that. You’re here to help me. You’re doing great. I’m sorry I had to drag you into this.”
“Babe.” I let my head drop to her shoulder, into the curve of her neck and breathe in her scent. It helps. My wolf calms. “It’s not that. I’m glad to be here. I’d fight to be by your side.”
She inhales quickly and brings her small hand to cup my neck, holding me against her. “You don't have to fight. I’m right here.”
Fuck. I can’t fight this any longer. I lift my head, cup her cheeks and kiss her, hard.
A loud group of party-goers passes the hall, and I tuck her deeper in the alcove.
They’re right around the corner, anyone could walk down the hall and see us, but Sadie doesn’t seem to care.