by Hazel Gower
* * * *
Arden knew he had to tell her, he just didn’t want to. Remy had promised she wouldn’t run, but when she learnt what being with a shifter meant, would she break her promise and leave?
Arden hugged her tighter and breathed in her orange and passion fruit scent. “You may not have a choice.”
Remy stiffened against him.
“It all has to do with fate.” He kissed her head. “Everything has changed. A couple of years ago—ah hell, even a year ago—werewolves didn’t really mate humans. We knew about supernatural people, but we never had them living with us like we do now. Faith changed all that. So we don’t know too much about human-werewolf mating, but it seems to be different for everyone. What I do know is that I would never leave you or our child.”
Remy shook her head against him. “You can’t promise that. Eve has been telling me how reckless you’ve been when you go hunting. If something happened to you I couldn’t do it on my own.” She shivered. “I don’t want to get close to someone and they leave me.”
In that moment, he got it. Remy was terrified of falling in love with him, with everyone around her, and them leaving like her parents did or dying on her like her grandmother did. “My little pixie, you will never be alone again, I can promise you that. If something was to happen to me, I have a family who would help. My family is not just my immediate family, I’m talking about my pack, our pack. Remy, they’re your family now too, whether you want them or not. I know right now most of them are angry at you, but they’ll come around, you just have to show them you will stay. You don’t even have to help with the demo—”
“No. I want to help fight the demons. I’m ready now. I’ve had time to think and mentally prepare myself.” She snuggled her arse into him and nuzzled her head back against him. “I promise I won’t run again. I know I have a lot to prove to you, to everyone, but I’ll do it, even if it takes the rest of my life.”
“Okay. I’ll support you and help whenever I can.”
She brought his hand up and kissed his knuckles. “Thank you.”
Arden drew circles with the tip of his finger on her stomach. She sighed and relaxed against him. Arden believed her and hoped she didn’t have to spend the rest of her life making it up to her friends. Arden forgave her, he just wasn’t going to tell her yet. He was still angry that she left him without even a note to say goodbye or explain herself.
Arden hoped after everything that had happened he could love her and she could learn to love him. They had a long way to go, but he was eager to work things out, to make them work. Nothing in life that’s worth having comes easily.
They laid against each other in silence until he felt his cock slip out of her. Remy moaned, and he rolled her over so her head rested against his chest. Her breathing slowed, and he knew she was asleep. Easing away from her, he changed into his wolf form and closed his eyes, letting sleep claim him.
* * * *
Remy had her first nightmare-free night in months. Her body was warm, and she was comfortable, something she hadn’t been in a long time. For a moment she basked in the safe, content feeling. She rubbed her face against the hard, warm pillow. “Mmm, smells good.” She was surrounded by a smell she didn’t remember falling asleep to, the smell of freshly cut grass mixed with a sea breeze.
Her pillow vibrated with a chuckle, and it was such a nice sound, soothing. “I showered, trimmed my hair, and shaved. I’m glad you approve.”
“I do. Much better than last night.”
“I’m glad. I thought we could go out to get some breakfast—well, lunch with what the time is—and then go buy some groceries. We’ll need some garbage bags and cleaning products.” Arden’s fingers stroked her back, and she loved the feel of his touch. “I also thought we could stop by your place and get some things if you like.”
She wondered if she had to live here did she have to sell her house. “Can I keep it?” She eased up and gazed at him, smiling when she saw his big, bushy beard gone and his hair cut. The black in his eyes seemed to have faded slightly too.
“Yes. It’s yours. You can do whatever you want with it.”
“I can? You won’t make me get rid of it because I have to live here with you?”
“You don’t want to live with me?”
“I thought I had to. Isn’t it a part of the mate thing?”
“I want you to live with me, my wolf won’t have it any other way, but I want you to be with me because you want to, not because you have to. I don’t want to push you and have you hate me. I want this to work. I realized something last night as I watched you sleep. You, my little pixie, run when you feel like you’re backed into a corner with no exits. You need at least one way out, even if you don’t leave. I have to give you the choice and hope you don’t take the exit.”
What Arden said was true. She didn’t like to feel trapped. She liked to know there was always a plan B or an exit. “I’m keeping the house. It was my grandmother’s. I said I was your mate and I’d give this a go. I meant it.” She sat up and didn’t bother covering her nudity. Arden’s gaze narrowed in on her breasts and she watched as he licked his lips. Crossing her arms over her breasts, she grinned at him. “Can we go to my house first? I really need to pick up some clothes.”
Arden nodded, but his gaze never left her chest. “Yeah, sure.”
Rolling her eyes, she got off the bed. “I’m going to shower, and then we can go.”
Arden didn’t say a word, he just nodded again, but she noticed his eyes darken and his teeth lengthen, and his body started to change.
She gasped when a beautiful, massive, jet black wolf prowled toward her. “Wow, you’re gorgeous. What a cute doggie.”
Arden snarled and pounced on her, causing her to hit the wall behind her. His wolf tongue swiped her and he nuzzled her, licking her face.
“Er, yuck. Seriously, not cool. Don’t kiss me unless you’re in human form.” She pushed him off and went to the bathroom. She knew that she better be quick or she had a feeling they would be leaving a lot later.
* * * *
They’d been to her place, packed her things, and Remy had changed her clothes. Arden had stayed in wolf form, letting her drive his car. He’d walked around her house, breathing in everything and calming his wolf.
He now sat across from her in human form at a café near where Remy used to work. Arden knew she was a bartender at the local club, or had been before she ran. “What did you do for money while you were on the run? You didn’t use your accounts.”
She shrugged. “I did waitressing and I worked as a bartender. Everywhere I worked I made sure I got paid in cash. So they weren’t always the best paying jobs, but they kept me afloat.”
He narrowed his eyes on her. He didn’t like the fact she’d had barely enough to get by. He hated that she’d put herself in danger by going off and being by herself. His wolf was itching to get out and show her who was boss.
“Actually, when we finish here do we have enough time for me to go in and see everyone at the club? I don’t think they’ll give me my job back, but it’s worth a try.”
“You don’t need a job. I have a job. You’re my responsibility. You can stay home while I work.”
Remy’s eyes flashed and she screeched, “Say what! You so didn’t just tell me I can stay at home while you work. Oh my God, this is the twenty-first century. I’m really not the type to stay at home and wait for you.”
His wolf howled at her defiance and clawed to be free. He fought to keep him caged as he growled, “You said you wouldn’t leave. You’re mine. Mine to protect and care for.”
Remy raised her hands in surrender, and his wolf calmed at her action. “Whoa, I said I wouldn’t leave. But I never said I wouldn’t work. I’m independent. I know you’re all alpha and shit, but I’m a modern woman. I can work and look after myself just fine, thank you very much.” Remy shoved some cake into her mouth and avoided his gaze.
Arden knew his eyes were darkening and were flashing his wolf.
When she swallowed her food, she sighed. “Look, let’s talk about a safer subject. I don’t think the people around us want to see your wolf.”
Gritting his teeth, he fought his wolf for control and nodded. “Okay. What is safe?”
Remy smiled, showing her perfect, white teeth. “What’s your favorite color? Mine is light purple, the color of the sky when dusk is just at the right spot with the sun.”
His favorite color usually was red, but as he looked into Remy’s sparkling blue eyes he knew he had a new favorite color. Reaching across, he stroked her cheek. “Blue. Light blue with flecks of sparkle in it.”
She blushed and looked at her food. “You can be a charmer.”
He trailed his fingers down and rubbed her arm.
She shivered and chewed on her bottom lip. “Umm, ah…next question. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? I’d live on a private tropical island that you could only get to by boat.”
“I like the sound of that. After we have defeated the demons we could do that.” He chuckled as her eyes widened.
“Holy shit, how could you do that? You’re not going to tell me your family has a private island somewhere that we could go.”
Curling his lips up, he winked at her. “Okay, I won’t.”
“Fuck me.”
Arden would happily do as she requested, but he knew she didn’t mean it that way. As she continued to swear people turned to look at her. Remy might look like a little pixie, but she swore worse than anyone he knew, and that was a big statement considering that the army men he worked with had some colorful vocabularies.
“Is this not a good thing?”
Remy stopped her cursing. “No… Yes. Crap, I don’t know. How on earth does your family acquire an island?” She shook her head. “No, don’t tell me.” She stared at him. “Tell me.”
“My family is an old line. We originate from Europe. We have slowly spread out as the need for us has become greater. As we live longer than humans and share our wealth, we acquire quite a few valuable things.”
“Uh-huh, I just fucking bet you do. What else do you wolves have?”
Holding both her hands in his, he gave her a cheshire cat grin. “You’ll just have to wait and see.” He brought her hands up to his mouth and nipped at her knuckles before soothing them with a lick and kiss.
Remy’s eyes widened and fire flashed in them. “Oh, you’re deadly. Let’s go before I make something catch fire.” Her hands heated in his.
Letting her hands go, he stood and gathered her to him and walked out of the café. “Do you still want to go into the club you used to work at?” he whispered to her.
Remy shivered against him. “You’re bad. As much as I want to say no, it’s best I go while we’re so close. Plus, tomorrow I want to see if Faith has cooled down enough to see me. If she still won’t see me, maybe Sara or Kirby will talk to me. I’m hoping if I can break the ice with Sara, Faith might follow.”
He had some military work he had to do tomorrow, but he could move things around to be with Remy. “What time are you going?”
They walked down toward the club where she’d worked. “Around lunch time. I was going to ask after we get the groceries if we can pop back to my house so I can get my car. I’ll drive myself to—”
“No,” he growled. He wasn’t stable enough for her to leave in her car. He needed to know where she was. He needed to be able to be with her.
He’d intended to take her to the barracks tomorrow. Part of him believed she wasn’t going to leave again, but another part wasn’t willing to let her out of his sight. He also knew without her near, his wolf would take over and the feral side would consume him. Right now the only thing that kept the feralness at bay was being with Remy.
“I’ll be going with you. For the moment, I don’t intend to leave your side unless it’s to fight.”
Remy opened her mouth to argue, but he gathered her to him and kissed her, stopping her words.
When he pulled away he cupped her face and brushed her lips with his thumb. “My little pixie, please don’t argue. Give me this. I need you.”
She stared into his eyes, and she must have realized how close he was to the edge, because she nodded. “Okay. For now, I’ll let you be my permanent shadow.” She pulled him into the club. “Come on. I want to say hello to my friends.”
Everyone knew Remy. As soon as they walked in the door staff members called out greetings. They walked into the spacious foyer and were made to sign in. Once they’d done that, they walked past a large poker machine area and then a coffee and cake shop, and further down was a restaurant. To the left was stairs and to the right was a hall with a bar. Remy dragged him down toward a hall that music blared out of, and elderly people danced to the music. At the entrance, Remy let go of him and ran into the embrace of two guys who came out from behind the bar.
His wolf broke free and he growled, storming for the young man who kissed his mate’s cheek. Yanking him away, Arden threw him across the room and turned, snarling, letting his wolf shine through to the older man who now stared at him with a terrified look on his face. The old man shakily pushed Remy behind him, and Arden let himself grow and change.
“Mine,” he snarled as he tore the guy from Remy and threw him.
“Oh shit,” Remy whispered as he gathered her to him.
She patted him, and he took deep gulps in of her scent, shrinking back down. Eager to demonstrate who she belong to, he took her mouth in a kiss that showed possession. Arden rubbed his scent onto her and dragged her away from the threat, turning her so he had his back to the onlookers.
How dare those males touch what was his. How dare they try to take what was his. Mine, mate, take, show whose she is, his mind repeated over and over again. He didn’t calm down or release Remy until he felt her melt into him and succumb to him and his wolf.
Pulling away from her, he growled, “You are mine. Tell me whose you are.”
In a breathless voice Remy said, “I’m yours.”
He grunted, turned, and glared at the people that now surrounded them.
Remy moved to his side. “Hi. I’m so sorry. We will go. He’s not having a good day. He...argh…has, um…PTSD. Please don’t call the cops. I’ll take him home and get his pills.”
Remy held his hands and backed up. He could feel the waves of worry coming off her and knew he’d caused it. As they slowly moved out of the club she stroked his arm, trying to calm him with her touch.
Once they were out front she turned to him. “What the fuck happened in there?”
“They touched what’s mine. The young one is lucky I let him live, his lips touched your skin.”
“You idiot, you can’t attack people who touch me. What if they call the cops?” She sighed and shook her head. “Quick, we need to get out of here.” She grabbed his hand and dragged him toward his car.
He only cared if men touched what was his. He could deal with the police. The shifters had control, and all it would take was one phone call and he’d be out of trouble. “Yes, I can. You’re my mate. I’m not letting you go.”
She gave a frustrated screech and yanked on him harder, picking up her sped, jogging toward where he’d parked his car. He followed her and listened as she mumbled, “Fucking caveman werewolf. The dickwad is already frigging smothering me. Overreacting to such a little hug and kiss on the fucking cheek. Going to end up in fucking jail, and then I’ll have to bail his yummy, tight toned arse out.”
Arden felt a stupid grin spread over his face. She cared for him, and she liked his arse. He was overreacting, but his feral part was close to the edge and he was constantly fighting not to fall off. Since Remy had returned he’d backed away from the jagged edge, but seeing another male touch her had brought him close to the edge again, even if the hug was innocent. Taking deep breaths of her orange and passion fruit smell, he calmed his raging beast and walked close on her heels to his car.
When his car came into view he
pulled his keys out of his pocket and pressed the button on the remote to unlock the doors. She got into the passenger side, and he walked around to the driver’s side and got inside, reaching for his seatbelt and clicking it in place. He put the keys in the ignition and started the car.
“Really. You have nothing to say? For fuck’s sake at least tell me you won’t do that every time someone touches me.”
Easing into traffic, he drove toward the grocery store. “Before you left I wouldn’t have done that.”
Remy flinched at his words.
“I know I’m so close to going feral.” He gripped the steering wheel tight. “On the day you were coming home I was at a meeting where they were talking about putting me down. I’m dangerous. A mated werewolf is usually possessive, as you’ve seen, but a feral mated werewolf is even more possessive and controlling to a scary point.” He pulled into the car park of the grocery store and parked the car. After what had just happened he knew he had to say what he didn’t want to. “If you tell Kane or my parents what happened today, they will give you an option.” He turned so he faced Remy. He wanted her to see his eyes that must look almost black. “To be responsible for me or terminate me. They would ask what color my eyes were and how long have I been human in your presence.”
He had spent a lot of his time—most of last night and some of today—in his wolf form. Werewolves didn’t spend much time in their wolf form unless they needed to, otherwise they were only in wolf form when they fought, or for an hour or two a day.
A tear slid down Remy’s cheek, and she brushed it away. “I did this to you. How?”
Taking the keys out of the ignition, he reached across and held her hand, needing her touch to soothe him and calm his beast. “When I mated you I gave you things. Our souls joined. It is said shifters have only half a soul, and when they find their mate she or he completes it. When I bit you, I gave you extended life, better healing, hearing, and all-around stamina. You help heal my wolf. You give me light where my world is usually dark. Imagine years of fighting and killing and finally being given a gift—someone who shines bright and helps heal you and gives you the strength to fight again with more stamina and eagerness because you want to be able to give them a safe world. That’s what you are to me. I may only be thirty but I’ve seen more death and blood than you can imagine. Before Faith came back we were losing this battle, and not just to demons, minions, and zombies, but to shifters giving up and turning feral.”