“Open the door, Jade,” I growled for what had to be the twentieth time. I was starting to think I’d have to break a window. The top of her head was just visible through the small window in the door as she leaned against it.
“Looks like I’m smarter than you,” she said through hysterical giggles. She must have rolled up on tiptoes then. Instead of seeing just the top of her forehead, her big brown eyes and wide grin peeked through the window.
“Jade, open the damn door!” I shouted again, and banged my fist against the wood.
She jumped back quickly and called, “Don’t think so,” still giggling like a crazy person.
I had always liked to think of myself as a calm man. Patient, caring, rational, but in that moment, all I saw was red. Her scent was stirring something in me that I had never felt before, and her screw you attitude was driving me mad. My inner-wolf clawed in my chest. That part of me, my animal side, had already accepted her. It didn’t care about the rules or the laws or the challenges. It saw her as my equal — my mate.
The image of her wrapped in the thin towel the other day, and the one from this morning in those skimpy little shorts and tank top flooded my mind. My skin heated, burning hot. I wanted her more than I wanted to breathe.
“Jade, you are going to be mine,” I growled without thought. I slammed my palm against the door so hard it shook. “Fighting me will only delay it, but it won’t stop the inevitable. I know you feel it.”
That stopped her laughter abruptly, and I chuckled under my breath. “I’m not a piece of property, you jackass,” she retorted.
“Yeah, you are,” I said, and sighed loudly. You are as much my property as I am yours.
I felt as if I was standing in quicksand, sinking deeper and deeper. What the hell was wrong with me? I hated this feeling of helplessness. I’d been a werewolf all my life. I knew how to control my inner cravings, and the erratic behavior. But Jade … her inner-wolf … the wanting ... I shook my head, pushing the thoughts away.
She let out a strangled laugh. “Yeah, and that’s the way to get me to open the door. Have a good night under the stars or go home.”
I listened to the soft pat of her footsteps as she made her way through the house, and then I heard the whoosh of air as she sat, most likely on the couch.
I had to stop going easy on her. I’d been trying to tame my scent for her. The last thing I wanted was to cripple her under the full force of the alpha power. I wanted her to want me willingly. I wanted to see that lust in her eyes again without forcing it out of her. But I was running out of time. I could see it, her, slipping away. She wasn’t mine yet, I didn’t have to hold back, and maybe I shouldn’t be, at least until she won.
I don’t know how long I stood there staring at the door before I took a seat on the porch steps. I was starting to wonder if alphas were banned from the games not because of the interference issue, but for their own sanity. I felt as if mine was teetering on a cliff, ready to tumble and shatter in the rocky cove below. Watching Jade beat the last two challengers had been amazing. She was amazing. And each time she pinned someone in place, a challenger or not, by just her glare … it sent my inner-wolf crazy with want.
I scrubbed at my face roughly and then raked my hand through my hair. I didn’t need this kind of distraction. Not now. Jeff claimed that he could distract the cougars and give me more time, but I wasn’t so sure. Even now, I could smell them. The cougars were coming closer and closer to town, marking my woods as their own.
And there was just something about Jeff that wasn’t sitting well with me. It turned out that the incident Dominic had been referring to when he had punched him was the moment he had caught Jeff cheating on his wife. That kind of thing happened, I knew that, but after finding out what the women were used for in his pack, and with the way he could hide his scent …
“You’re breaking the laws,” a voice said, yanking me from my tortured thoughts. “You cannot hide her.”
“I’m not breaking any laws, Trisha,” I said, not bothering to look up. I scrubbed at my face. “She’s a new wolf, and with that status, I’m allowed to train her.” Couldn’t I just get five minutes alone? Five minutes with my thoughts. I really didn’t think that was too much to ask for, but it was as if my pack could sense when I wasn’t doing anything.
“You’re interfering in the games,” she said coolly. “We have a right to fight her.”
I would have been lying if I tried to say I wasn’t stunned at the aggression I smelled pulsing from Trisha. I was floored that the woman even wanted a shot at Jade after this morning. A part of me had hoped that the last two standing would drop out now when they saw what she was capable of, and save us all the hassle. But I figured that just would have been too easy. I looked up at her then and said with a chuckle, “I’m not stopping you from challenging her.”
Trisha crouched in front of me, leveling herself to my gaze. She was the oldest challenger, in her mid-forties, I guessed. She was lean and long like a dancer, wearing yoga pants and a long sleeved, bright pink T-shirt. Her blond hair was pulled back in a severe ponytail.
“You’re playing favorites, Aidan,” she said. “You want her. I can smell your desire.” She laughed cruelly, and reached out, running a long fingernail along my chin. “When you’re mine, the first thing I’m going to do is mate her to another. Trevor maybe. She despises him, and it will break her little friend’s heart. Or Jared. He’ll keep her in line.”
Jealousy rushed through me at the idea of anyone else touching Jade. My eyes flashed. “You’re walking on dangerous ground, Trisha,” I snarled. I had never felt jealousy like this before, and it scared the crap out of me. Right then I knew I’d rather be dead than see Jade mated with someone else.
The deadbolt on the door clicked open, and I swiveled to see Jade standing in the doorway. She looked furious. Her nose was scrunched, her cheeks were red, and her body was trembling as she stepped over the threshold and onto the porch.
“Jade, get inside,” I said. Her inner-wolf was on the verge of breaking out. Her skin looked as if it was slithering over her bones and the hair on her arms was coarser, darker. She didn’t have the restraint yet. I didn’t want her to fight again. Not so soon. Not until I worked with her a bit. This morning I had been certain that she would have killed her opponent. If it hadn’t been for Dominic drawing her attention …
“Shut up, Aidan,” she growled, not even glancing my way, and she pointed at Trisha. “You touch him again, and I’ll rip you apart.”
“Oh, is the little puppy coming out to play?” Trisha said with a snicker, as she rose from her crouching position in front of me. She backed up a step and then flicked her hands as if to say Bring it on.
I stood up and stifled a groan. Seriously … all I wanted was five minutes of peace. I turned to Jade and folded my arms over my chest, giving her a look that I hoped would make her turn around and run back into the house. I could feel the warm burn of my alpha imprint, and I let my scent grow and grow.
She didn’t even notice.
“How old are you?” Jade snapped, and moved to the railing, leaning on it. “Like forty? Don’t you think he’s a bit young for you?”
“He’s going to be mine, Jade.” Trisha’s voice was strained, and her face turned paper white. She gave me a leery look, and it looked as if she was struggling to stay on her feet. “Aidan, you can’t interfere like this!”
At least my scent was working on one of them, I thought, before I pulled it back. She was right, even if I didn’t want her to be. My interference could render anything that happened between them void. I moved to the side, leaning up against the railing, and folded my arms.
“I’ll give you a chance,” Jade said, a smirk spreading across her lips. “Submit now and I’ll let you walk away without a scratch.”
Holy shit! Did she really just say that? I almost laughed. She was falling into her new life faster than I would have thought possible. Jade’s eyes flashed and then settled into a gold
en glow. Her scent ramped up and more dark hair sprouted along her neck. My skin felt like it was on fire. It was a fight not to move from my spot. The sweet smell of power was intoxicating, and all I wanted to do was pull her into my arms.
Trisha looked … nervous. She was jittery, hopping from one foot to the other. She sucked in a deep breath. Her knees were starting to shake, and her shoulders were starting to sag. “Submit to a pup?” she asked, her voice quivering. “A big demand for someone so young.” Trisha looked at me, just a quick glance before focusing back on Jade. “Time for you to leave, alpha.”
“Nope,” I said, holding in my laugh. Trisha looked as if she could barely keep Jade’s gaze and yet she still seemed determined to go through with the challenge. Jade’s scent rocketed up another notch, and my heart quickened. “Not going anywhere. I’ve put her under my training.” I shrugged my shoulders, making it clear that there was nothing she could do about my presence. “Besides, you need a witness.”
Jade didn’t wait for me to finish my sentence before she leapt over the rails on the porch and landed on the balls of her feet in front of Trisha. She growled, a lethal sound, and her skin started to shudder. “Last chance, old hag,” she said, snarling the last word. “He’s mine.”
Trisha sucked in a noisy breath. She held Jade’s gaze for half a second before she turned and ran down the driveway as quickly as she could.
“What the hell was that about, Aidan?” Jade asked. She tried to sound tough, but I heard the laughter in her voice as she watched Trisha run down the street.
“I’m yours, am I?” I said, feeling a little cocky. I raised an eyebrow and chuckled.
Jade gave me an adorable dirty look. “Don’t let it go to your head, jackass.”
“Of course not,” I said with mock sincerity. She rolled her eyes dramatically, spun away from me, and marched into the house, leaving the door wide open. Three down, one to go, and then … you’ll be mine, I thought and smiled, as I followed her inside.
CHAPTER 25
~ JADE ~
My veins pulsed from his scent. Its power pressed against my bones and toyed with my muscles as I fought the urge to turn back to him and pull him to me. I had never really believed the stories about alphas or about the imprint that helped channel their scent. Obviously, I should have, but how was I to know that one day an alpha’s scent would have such a powerful effect on me. Why would I care, when joining the pack was the most ridiculous and inane suggestion anyone could ever make to me.
I had heard these stories all my life, but really, I honestly never thought a scent could do this to me. I should have figured it out this morning when I saw that soft glow under his shirt. He was trying to manipulate me then, and by the pressure I felt on my skin now, he was doing it again. And the thing that freaked me out about it was the feeling that he was still holding back, and part of me wanted to feel the full extent of his control.
But according to the stories, this was not the sensation I should have felt. It should have been piercing and shuddering, forcing me to bow to him. Painful even, if I tried to fight it. But Aidan's scent didn't make me feel like that at all. It was a wild feeling. Full of desire and overwhelming confusion. It centered me and tore me apart. It spoke to the beast inside me like a song. Slow and sensual, and then fast and out of control.
I wasn’t sure what was happening to me or what had come over me when I stepped outside. When I’d heard that woman talk to him as if they were lovers, something inside me just snapped. And when I opened the door to see her looking at Aidan as if she wanted to jump him right then and there, I lost it. I had never felt jealous of anyone before. Not like this. I might have felt a bit jealous when Dominic left me for the pack, but that had been like a mosquito bite compared to the blinding anger that had spiked within me when I saw her touching his face.
I was shaking from the inside out and my skin was moving, sliding over my bones in a fast rhythm. My inner-wolf was begging me to let go of my restraint and shift. It felt as if that was the only thing that could give me an ounce of relief from the torture of seeing that woman so close to my alpha, and from his invasive, mouthwatering scent which was demanding that I make him mine. I was changing. I could feel it in my bones. I was no longer the prey, but the predator, and he was what my inner-wolf wanted to hunt.
It’s natural, Trevor’s reassurance played through my thoughts. He’s an unclaimed alpha. But this … this wasn’t natural. I was losing control. A control that I had fought so hard to keep. It was the only thing that kept me safe from the wolves. I had let it slip once with Erika and look at where that got me. But right at that moment, I wanted to let it all go. It was as if something else was taking over. Something deep within me knew, without a doubt, that Aidan was mine. My mate. And I’d kill anyone who stood in my way of getting him.
They are your wolves now, a small voice in my head whispered. My skin heated, burning like wild fire.
My wolves. My pack. My alpha. It scared the hell out of me how possessive I felt of the things that I had spent so long hating. Of the pack that only a few days ago I would have been happy to see vanish from this earth.
I focused on my slow steps, making my way down the airy hallway. The hardwood floors felt cold and unforgiving with each step I took. I could feel him behind me, following me into the house, and I cursed myself silently for not locking the door. I passed by the arched doorway leading to the kitchen, and kept my gaze firmly on the staircase in front of me that would take me to the sanctuary of my bedroom. His scent wrapped around me. It was sexy as hell. It fogged my brain and made my skin buzz.
“You need to shift?” Aidan asked, shutting the door behind him. “We could go for a run. That will take the edge off.”
I took a deep breath, trying to clear my head. It didn’t work. Aidan and his stupid scent worked its way over and through me. I turned slowly, backed up a few steps until my heels hit the staircase, and then I dropped down, taking a hard seat.
I looked at him. His expression was full of humor and he looked way too cocky, as if he knew exactly what he was doing to me. A morsel of my sense came back to me, and I gave him the dirtiest look I could muster up. “That’s the third wolf that wanted to fight me in three days, and she was also the second one that made it clear you were the reason for it.”
He chuckled, still wearing that cocky grin. “Your point?” He stood in the hallway, looking pleased with himself, his grin stretching further, and the corners of his eyes crinkled softly.
“I’m not buying this jackass thing you’re trying to pull,” I said with a groan. I tried to look away from him, but I couldn’t. His laugh and his chocolaty eyes captured me, making my skin grow warmer. “I know you, Aidan. This isn’t you.”
A strong wave of his scent hit me, and his grin faltered for a second. “You’ve known me for two weeks. You have no clue who I am.” There was bitterness and challenge in his voice, coated with authority, that made me want to crawl across the floor to him, and beg at his feet not to be mad at me. My body trembled with a need that I didn’t understand, or maybe it was one that I didn’t want to understand.
“I swear if you don’t tell me what’s going on, I’ll walk away. I’ll leave town without another thought of you or your stupid pack.” I tried to stand up then, to prove a point that I knew I wouldn’t be able to follow through on. I failed miserably, my knees were shaking too much to hold my weight, and I plopped right back down. I was lost to him. Completely and irrevocably lost.
That shook him. His jaw dropped a little, as he looked me over. His nostrils flared as he sucked in deep breaths, searching for what, I didn’t know, but on the fourth one, his smile returned. “Mmmm, I love a challenge,” he said. His voice turned deep and husky. “You’re making this so much more fun, sweetheart. You and I both know you’ll submit to me. You’ll be mine.”
“Excuse me?” I snapped, trying to hide the surge of pleasure that unraveled in my stomach. Submit to him! Be his! My body came alive and my inner-w
olf stirred. But just as quickly as the pleasure came, fiery rage burned it away. “You’re just digging a bigger hole, jackass.”
He chuckled and took a slow, teasing step toward me. “I can smell it, Jade. Your inner-wolf is practically salivating for me. And you’ve had your eye on me since the first day we met.”
“A little full of yourself?” I scoffed, hating how right he was. I managed to stand up and step closer to him. He was only a few feet away, but the distance felt like miles.
“I could put you on trial for your disobedience,” he said. “But I’m feeling a little generous. Submit now and I’ll consider letting you off the hook, and maybe I’ll even pretend I didn’t notice that Dominic and Marcy helped you defy me.”
“You’re threatening me with my friends?” I asked, as the spark of anger from before reignited within me. My muscles stiffened, and my face burned with heat.
“Submit to me or let them fry.” Fire flared in his eyes. It was dangerous and intense, and it suddenly hit me that I knew nothing of the man that stood before me. I was also certain that he meant exactly what he said. I had been right. He had been holding back. He’d been keeping the alpha authority at bay with me, but what I saw in him now, scared me to death. My anger froze. He moved closer, backing me into the wall, and released a trickle of his scent, enough to make me want to throw myself at him and run from him at the same time. “I have them in custody as we speak.”
I said nothing, not wanting to provoke him and knowing that if I opened my mouth, it would only make things worse. His scent was fogging my brain and blurring my vision. I wanted to melt against him and run away as fast as I could. He smiled faintly. It was clear that he knew the effect he had on me. He started to move away, receding toward the door, and as he did, I felt stripped to the core.
Deadly Crush (Deadly Trilogy, Book 1) Page 15