“Forget I asked. Remember, I’m a science geek. Anything weird or strange that happens with the body doesn’t scare me. It fascinates me. That’s how we learn.”
“I get it. That’s how I feel with machines. I like to make the impossible possible.”
Finally she smiled. “Me too.”
I dropped her off at Forever Home, but I reached for her arm before she got out of the truck. “If any of them are pregnant, you have to tell Dr. Aldo. We’ve lost enough already.”
SHADOW’S OFFICE WAS campaign central. Those little lawn signs were piled high and he even had posters on the wall. CHANNING FOR SAWTOOTH. I had to admit, it had a nice ring to it. He had a couple younger shifters working for him, making phone calls and stuffing envelopes. It was kind of awesome to see the operation in action, and just thing I needed to stop thinking about what happened at Dr. Aldo’s office. I wasn’t sure what bothered me more—that Chandra was lying to me or what she was lying about.
“When’s the election?” I didn’t bother to hide my amusement.
Shadow was so puffed up he looked more like a peacock than a wolf. “Next month. Are you registered to vote?”
“Whoever said I’d vote for you?” I was a Lowe, after all. “Is my brother going to be your vice-mayor?”
Shadow laughed. “So you’re not registered.”
Nope. “Does it matter? You’re going to change all the rules to suit you anyway.”
“Listen, Dallas is pissed off, too. Ember’s smart enough to use all her resources. Pack business has always stayed in the forest, but she’s dragging it into town. That means we have to play by human rules. If she disappears, people will notice. Shea might have his own bunk at the county jail, but I can’t bail you out for murder.”
Oh, come the fuck on. “You’re playing her game. Make her play ours. Bring it back to the forest. She knows she’s not strong enough to beat us there. That’s why she’s fucking around in town. Where there are witnesses. She’s got a weakness, we just have to find it.”
“We’ll get her out of here,” Shadow insisted. “And in the process we’ll make her life as difficult as possible and take as much money as she’s willing to give. Killing her is easy. Defeating her is not.”
Shadow believed what he wanted. He could kiss babies and shake human hands until the end of time for all I cared. None of it mattered if he was that bitch’s puppet.
If it was easy to kill her, we would’ve done it already. She’d found our weakness. Now was the time to exploit hers.
The structure Dallas worked on had gained a personality in the last few days. It was starting to look like someone’s home, a compliment to the house Baron had built beside it. This is what we had to protect.
“I was hoping I’d see you today.” Dallas walked away from the building, leading me along the path near the river. “It’s the new moon. Everybody’s slacking.”
“Place looks great, though.” Already I knew Dallas was thinking the same thing I was. “Now’s the time to take care of Ember.”
“What’s your plan? Kicking her guards’ asses? It will only make her angrier. There’s nothing legal we can do until we shift, when human law doesn’t apply.”
I groaned. “You’ve been talking to your brother, I take it.”
“More like I’ve been trying not to listen, and coming up with anything I can. I’ve got holding her at gunpoint, burning down her villa, and breaking faces. I want this as bad as you do. No matter what we do, we’re fucked.”
Now I sounded like my brother. A few months back, he’d asked me to build a bomb to take out Cass’ husband. I thought he’d lost his fucking mind. Now I missed that guy, the one who was so hellbent on getting what he wanted he’d use whatever means necessary to make it happen.
“I have a plan.” I stopped and smiled out at the river. A crane flew away, its prize hanging from either side of its beak. I knew exactly how it felt. “You build houses. I build bikes. If we can put them together, we can take them apart.”
Dallas sighed. “Still sounds fucked up.”
“Listen. We tamper with her shit. They’ll never catch us, and it goes along with Shadow and Major’s mantra of hitting her in the wallet. We basically annoy the fuck out of her until she leaves in frustration.”
“What do we do?”
“There’s gotta be a way you can screw with the water and electricity without looking like it was intentional. I can do the same to their cars. We start with the house. While they try to figure out what happened, we hit the cars. And we keep doing it.”
Dallas nodded as he thought it over. “We don’t think as clearly when we stay wolf for too long. That’s what Ryker capitalized on. Fuck, I never thought I’d be thinking like Ryker, but he taught us a pretty valuable lesson. Her infrastructure has to be crumbling, if any of those assholes have a brain in their heads.”
Every male wolf she brought with her looked like a robot in human form. No light behind their eyes. I almost felt bad for them, but they could’ve fought, too. Just like we were. It was their own fucking fault.
“Never thought I’d be fighting on the new moon again.” Dallas shook my hand, sealing the deal.
“Me neither.” We walked back to the Reserve. “Everything good with Lyssie?”
Dallas gave me a puzzled look. “Yeah, why?”
“She’s not sick or anything?” I needed to shut up, but I couldn’t stop myself.
“No.” Dallas stopped. “No one’s fucking with the girls, right? Because if they are, there’s no waiting until we’re wolves. We kill those bastards now.”
Good to know that Dallas still had a backbone buried in there, somewhere. “When they fuck with us, they fuck with everyone. Imagine us having to tell Lyssie you aren’t coming home.” Dallas’ face turned white. “Yeah. Exactly. We start tonight.”
Chapter Nine
CHANDRA
This book was the scariest thing I ever laid eyes on. It was a miracle any of these wolves survived as long as they did. The volume was possibly as old as Dr. Aldo, full of misinformation, outdated technique, and illegible penmanship.
I’d expected a book of magic. In a way, that’s exactly what it was. There were a lot of hopes and prayers that went along with the remedies listed. Things that only worked if you believed in their power. It actually gave me hope—if I believed Kiera would be okay, then I’d find a way to bring her a healthy baby.
I scrambled to hide the book when I heard X in the hallway. He knew I had it, but I’d been stupid to slip about Kiera in front of him. I didn’t want him to ask any more of the questions I could tell were on the tip of his tongue.
X grunted in greeting, stripped off his clothes quickly, and fell into bed. His head fell back, eyes closed, like he forgot he wasn’t alone. He wasn’t here, that was for sure.
I leaned over and kissed him. He jumped as his eyes snapped open.
“Where have you been?” I asked.
He never stayed out like this. He usually came home right after work. I didn’t want to be a nag, but the forest wasn’t exactly at peace. He was obviously upset and I was worried about him.
The corners of his mouth refused to commit to a smile. “Had some business to take care of.”
“Wanna tell me about it?” I propped myself up on my elbow.
He shook his head.
“Something’s bothering you.” I brushed his hair away from his face. He tensed at my touch, but relaxed before my heart had a chance to break. Maybe he’d changed his mind about me. “It’s doesn’t do any good to keep it to yourself.”
X sat up quickly, much more like an animal than a man. His broad shoulders and tight abdomen practically rippled with power. It was contagious, sending a throbbing through my midsection. He put his hand on my shoulder and guided me down to the mattress. His lips brushed lightly over my cheeks and nose, tickling my closed eyelids.
But he didn’t kiss me.
When I opened my eyes, he was still inches away, but he looked so lost.
“Don’t worry about me,” he said softly.
A moan broke through the wall, a common occurrence around here. Too many people lived in this house, and the walls were paper-thin.
“Sounds like Cass to me.” I laughed.
We made a game of it, for who lasted the longest, who was the loudest, and who had sex most often. My money was on Delaney and Shea, and X had Cass and Major.
“Sure does. You owe me. Big.”
Each ‘point’ was a sexual favor.
“You should’ve heard the other two going at it earlier.” I smirked.
“Nope. I didn’t hear it. Doesn’t count.” X ran his hand under my top, landing on my breast and circling my nipple slowly. I wanted to dance under him in time to the movement, but I wasn’t giving in. All joking aside, I was pissed he was keeping something from me. “Or else you could be racking up points you didn’t earn.”
“I’m gonna win.” I pushed his hand away, even though that was the last thing I wanted to do. “And if you had been here, you would’ve heard it.”
X moved off me, pissed. Shit. “You’re not telling me the truth, either.”
I sat up. “Okay. Yes, one of the human girls is pregnant. But I won’t tell you who until I have her blessing. It’s only right. It’s between her and her mate.”
X shook his head. “It’s everyone’s business, because we’re under attack. Once those Montana fuckers get wind of this, they’ll be after her, guns blazing. Or the baby, if it actually survives.”
“Is that where you were tonight?” The need for revenge made X sick. He didn’t move. “You don’t trust me to keep your secret?”
If I could keep Kiera’s secret, he had to know I’d keep his. This hurt, even worse than Cass’ snarky comments. X was my mate, and we should’ve been able to trust each other with everything.
“There comes a point when I can’t listen to anyone else’s opinions. I can’t shoulder any more fear or disapproval. I have to do what’s right for me. Even if it’s the fucked up, crazy thing. It’s the only way I can live with myself.” His eyes were wild.
“You’re scaring me,” I whispered.
“Know this.” He leaned down and kissed me. Our lips melted together, and everything felt normal. For a split second. “I’ll never hurt you, and I’ll do anything to keep you safe.”
“Including keep secrets from me?”
X shook his head, pulling his knees up to his chest and hooking his arms over them. He stared at something I couldn’t see.
“If that’s what it takes,” he finally said.
I sat up, ruffling my fingers through his hair. “I want Ember gone, too. But I’m not sorry she’s here, because if she didn’t attack you, my aunt would’ve never called me. I’d still be waiting in the shadows of the forest without an invite to the party. Change can be a good thing, even if it sucks at first. Beautiful things can grow in the ruins. Let her watch you thrive. That’s how you beat her. Right now, she’s winning, because you can’t move past what she did to you. She’s got you frozen in time.”
X growled, but he put his arm around me and sent me crashing against his body. He kissed the top of my head. “I hate that you’re right.”
“I have an idea.” I didn’t want to say it out loud, because it was crazy. Crazier than whatever X had concocted. “Let me come with you next full moon. I know I—"
“No.” X didn’t care what my reasoning was.
“Listen! Connie and Mrs. Channing have both said that she-wolves fight harder than males. Ember’s unclaimed, so am I. That power has to go somewhere.”
Claiming involved marking each other, usually with a bite on the neck. Mates waited to do it until they had a ceremony. X and I may have committed to each other, but we had yet to put a ring on it.
“No, you’re not unclaimed. And you’ve never run in the forest as a wolf, and you’ve never fought.” X pulled me in tighter. “You can’t cut your teeth on her. She’ll rip you to shreds. And then, without our she-wolves, she wins.”
“When did Sawtooth go into decline?”
“When the contracts began for she-wolves,” X said without hesitation.
“When the females lost their power,” I paraphrased, and his eyes lit up. “Let me take that power back. I was unpromised, and Cass is with her true mate. We’re the things that aren’t supposed to exist. Let’s show the Sawtooth she-wolves that they don’t have to stand by and watch everything they love die. That they can fight for what’s important to them and have a voice in the forest.”
X sighed. “I hate the idea of sending you out there. I said I’d keep you safe, and I mean it. But I don’t want to underestimate you, either.”
He moved toward me, still more wolf than man. The room was dim but his eyes glowed with something I’d longed for my whole life. Desire. Absolute need. I scooted down on the pillow, ready to let him devour me.
“I’ll give you everything I have.” My voice was hoarse. Heat seared my body. He hovered above me, and it took everything I had not to beg him to kiss me. “Together, we make each other stronger.”
“That’s what it means to be true mates.” X’s lips fell to my neck. My pulse throbbed in time to the rhythm of his lips. “You hold a piece of me I’d never find without you.”
There were no more words. Just emotion. I pulled my night shirt over my head, and X dropped down, taking one breast in his mouth, nipping and sucking the hard peak, bringing me to a place where I thought I would explode. I thrashed underneath him, crying out, wondering if we were the only ones who had bets about the other couples in the house. If not, someone could put a checkmark by my name. X’s beard tickled the sensitive skin as he met my gaze, circling my nipple one more time with his tongue before descending down my body.
I arched my back, anticipating his arrival between my legs. X parted my thighs, placing them on his shoulders. He didn’t touch me right away—instead he admired the view. I wasn’t used to this treatment. My ex had liked to get ‘er done as quick as possible then run to the shower. This kind of reverence brought things to a whole new level.
“You’re beautiful,” X said softly, brushing his fingers against my hip. “I think it’s been a while since anyone’s made you believe that.”
My breath caught in my throat as I nodded.
“I’m guilty as fuck. You’ve been here for what, almost two months now? And I’ve let you think that you’re less than a goddess.” X shook his head. “Let me fix that right now.”
X dipped his head, his tongue meeting my clit. I jumped, the sensation shooting liquid dynamite through my veins. I clutched the sheets as he worked, needing to stay grounded as he curled his tongue around the nub. He went slowly at first, much more gently than I anticipated, and I writhed against his mouth, grinding, trying to dictate the rhythm. X was having none of that. He grasped my thighs, stilling me, and he picked up the rhythm, nipping, sucking and swirling. It didn’t matter what I held on to, I was floating through the universe, seeing nothing but stars.
He let go of my leg and I hooked it over his shoulder. I couldn’t risk him falling off this magic carpet. I moaned when he slipped his fingers inside me. Another check in my column. X curled his fingers, hitting the spot that sent me into the stratosphere. He laughed against my clit, but didn’t let go of me.
“You like that?” All I could see was his hair and those devilish eyes. Pure liquid lava.
“I love it.”
X added another finger, thrusting inside me. Giving me a little relief, he sat up, watching me as my hips circled with the movement. His eyes were heavy-lidded, and he bit his lip. This goddess thing was actually working.
He slipped his fingers out of me and dragged them up my body, dipping them in my mouth but taking them away quickly, sinking them between his own lips. He moaned as he slid them out of his mouth, then leaned down to kiss me. The kiss started off much like he had with my clit, slow and a little unsure at first, but it didn’t take long for the intensity to go to a place w
here I wasn’t sure if I could survive without this feeling.
X fumbled with his jeans, and I attempted to help him. Both of us were nearly useless, the pants barely moving down his legs. We didn’t bother taking them off his feet. X knelt, positioning himself to enter me.
I pushed him down on his back. He landed awkwardly at the end of the bed, tangled in denim. X’s mouth fell open as I mounted him, taking his shaft in my hand and sliding down on it. I took him as deep as I could. He felt amazing inside me. Two pieces of the same soul that were finally together. He held my hands as I started moving up and down. X wasn’t the most patient lover, pistoning up to meet me. I fell forward, my face just over his. He was beautiful. I laughed, but it quickly turned to a cry as my orgasm built. My body stilled, but X kept thrusting inside me until his cock swelled and he groaned just as loudly when he came.
I lay on top of him, panting, listening to his heart beat as we caught our breath. “That was amazing,” I said between breaths. “But I still want to know where you were tonight.”
X kissed me, but shook his head. “I’ll tell you, if you promise to forget about facing Ember next full moon.”
I sat back. “I’m a little more like an elephant than a wolf. I never forget.”
He sighed. “You don’t know what you’re messing with, Chandra.”
“The problem is, none of us do.”
Chapter Ten
X
“Ember’s pack is in town, and they’re pissed.” Major stood in the window of the shop, smirking as he drank his coffee.
“Oh yeah?” I stopped at the counter to pick up today’s service agenda. I was finally making some headway into the backlog. And I wasn’t taking his bait.
Major burst out laughing. “You’re the world’s shittiest actor, Xavier. Your girl was beside herself last night when I came home without you. She’s quick to jump to the worst case scenario. It wasn’t easy to calm her down, since you’ve been acting shady as fuck since you shifted back to human. Where were you?”
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