by R. E. Butler
Jason had known which way he wanted his father to go, but he hadn’t dared speak. A complete black out of pack dealings would mean that she wouldn’t know what a pack was really like. What a mating looked like. Or share the full moons with him.
“You’re right, Jake. I hadn’t considered that. If she were older, and we could trust that she wouldn’t tell her father anything, then I’d lift my order. This way is safer for everyone. I’ll let my pack know that they are not to speak to her about being alpha, nor are they to speak of the marks on her neck, or the mating to Jason.”
“I’ll do the same.” Jake had given one long look to Jason and it was the first time that he’d felt someone pity him and it had made him feel worse.
He’d had to follow his father out to the meeting with the pack, and listen as his father talked about his actions like he was an idiotic child and not trying to protect his mate. And then the orders had come down and the pack accepted them. His mother had put her arm around him and kissed the top of his head. That was the most comfort that he’d gotten from anyone. If Cadence had been there, she would have held his hand or given him something she’d made for him. But she wasn’t there, and he didn’t know how long it would be for her to figure out what had happened.
Later that night, when he couldn’t sleep, he’d been outside where he’d marked her and saw the metal clasp of her hair tie glinting on the ground. He sat down, curling up on the grass where he had held her in his arms and smelled her sweet scent mixed with the strawberry lip gloss she loved, and he put it on his wrist. He still had it, as a matter of fact. The black fabric covered tie was wrapped around the handle bar of his Harley.
He never chased her like that again, because the urge to hold her in his arms was so strong that he felt like he would choke on it. And then he'd suddenly been 16 and had started lying full time to her, telling her that she was just a kid and to leave him alone, when all he wanted to do was change into his wolf form and put his head in her lap. He wanted her to comfort him, which was fucking absurd because she was just a kid, but she was his and that’s what mates did. They had a serious connection and he knew she felt it, but she didn't understand it and no one would help her understand it.
When he graduated from high school, she was a freshman. She was hit on so constantly that he had to ask his brother to watch over her, but they'd developed a friendship that had made him so furious with rage that he very nearly killed him on several occasions.
It had taken him years to get his wolf under control. His wolf was such a beast, so full of rage, that he was afraid to be around her and part of him thought that maybe the reason he was so angry was because he wasn't around her, but he couldn't risk it. Couldn't risk hurting her, and by the time he felt even remotely under control she'd developed quite a bad attitude about him. All that love he'd seen in her eyes when they were kids had morphed into hate and despair and he hated himself for it. She'd gone off to college before he knew it, and then he'd taken over for his father after he was injured in a hunting accident. But damn it all to hell, she'd been dating in college and he heard all about it from Callie who hated being his spy but did what he said.
And now here he was, holding a beer bottle that she had licked in defiance and it had turned him on like nothing else. He took a long drink, watching her watch him from behind the bar, tasting her on the bottle and he nearly came right there. Now that would have been embarrassing. He heard her curse under her breath and turn back to the customers. Linus, one of his wolves, barked out a laugh. "You are so fucking screwed right now."
He quickly held up his hands in defense, and it saved him from getting flattened. It was true, though. He had a month to make her remember the mark, admit she was his, and love him again. Sounded simple enough, in theory, but she was complicated on a good day, which meant he was royally screwed.
Chapter 3
Several things went through Cadence’s mind as she slammed the tray down on the counter, the loudest thought being: Why the hell had she licked his beer bottle? It had made her look like a fool. Groaning, she started filling orders, and pressed her tongue in her tooth so hard and often that she thought she'd get a blister by the end of the night.
"Hey gorgeous." Without looking up, she knew the voice belonged to Christian, Jake's oldest son, poised to take over the pack in another few years when Jake stepped down. He was 27, gorgeous, and arrogant.
"Hey Chris. What'll you have?"
"You, on the counter." She looked up at him in surprise; he'd never been so blatantly flirty.
"Oh sure, let me stow my panties under the bar and I'll be right up." She turned her back on him to grab some glasses and he laughed, and then Jake was suddenly there, whispering angrily in his ear.
Chris hissed. "I said I'd wait, I didn't say I'd make it easy for him." To her he said with a velvet voice, "Beautiful, bring up a couple beers for the guys and sing a few with us."
She gave him a smirk and he turned away and wove his way through the crowd that was gathering on the dance floor in anticipation of the house band, lead by Chris, called Shivering Fur. They were great; a little rock, country and blues mixed together and she'd sung with them before. She could hold her own with a mic, and the group was fun, but she couldn't help but think that something had changed since she'd been home last. Chris had always been friendly, because of his parents’ friendship with her mother and she had spent a lot of time with Chris growing up, but there had never been anything there other than, well, nothing.
"Go on and sing a few. For me." Jake said, giving her four beers. She fingered two in each hand, and looked at him.
"Is something going on that I should know about?"
He gave her blank face, which meant he was hiding something. "Nope, darling. I can't help it if you're too cute for your own damn good." He smiled but it was forced. Something was definitely up. She shrugged and ducked under the counter. She could not miss the unhappy looks from Jason's pack as she walked up to the stage and climbed up the handful of steps, kissing the cheeks of the other band members, including Brett, Jake's other son. She handed off the beers and Chris was suddenly behind her, his hand sliding across the expanse of flesh between the waist of her skirt and the bottom of her top as he took the remaining beer from her hand. She heard the unhappy rumbling growl of wolves and knew one of them was Jason.
Chris tensed for a second and then relaxed and said, "I'm glad you're back, kitten. You coming to the bonfire Sunday?"
"Don't I always?" He was so close, almost too close, but if it annoyed Jason then that was okay.
"Save me a dance?"
She turned her head to look up at him. Between Jake's two boys, Chris was the best looking, with light brown hair that fell straight to his shoulders and a constant chin full of stubble. "Shave and I'll think about it." She smiled, patting his cheek and ducking away from him. He laughed and pulled his guitar over his shoulder. She sang three songs, one blues and two rock, and then laughed all the way back to the bar as they launched into a few Hendrix songs. Watching him from the bar while they performed, she thought he wasn't too bad, all things considered. But her heart betrayed her more often than not and only wanted Jason. Damn it.
Cadence heard Callie before she saw her, and she was in distress. She cast her gaze for her best wolf girlfriend and saw that one of Jason's wolves had her wrist in a tight grip and was trying to pull her with him out the back door. She looked afraid. Without hesitation, Cadence grabbed the ball bat under the counter and leapt over the bar with one hand and landed on the balls of her feet while Jake sighed about redecorating. Closing the distance quickly, she saw that Bruce was not taking no for an answer.
She leveled the bat into Bruce's chest and he flew back into a column. "You want to grope my friend in my bar," she dug the end of the bat into his throat and put her foot on his crotch, pressing down until he made a strangled sort of groaning noise. "It's a two drink minimum, you fuck."
Callie came to stand next to her. "Glad you could make
it." Cadence said to her, not taking her eyes off the writhing guy on the ground.
"Me, too." Callie kissed her cheek. "I missed the hell out of you."
"Say you're sorry, Brucie and I'll let your balls survive." She pushed down and he groaned, and then she heard Jason's voice and realized they had a crowd.
"Do it." He growled standing next to Bruce and looking down.
"Sorry." He spat out, rubbing his chest.
She put a little more pressure on him and Jason said her name very sternly. She looked up at him like she was seeing him for the first time and he looked pleased but angry, and maybe a little turned on. Of course she was probably just seeing that last part. She pulled back, and Bruce edged himself up the column and cracked his neck, clearly embarrassed to be put down by a crazy half wolf, but Jason's warning growl shivered through the group and Bruce backed down and slunk away.
The crowd cleared, even Callie backed away, and Jason held his hand out. Cadence looked down at it like it was made of snakes, and he sighed. "Give me the bat, Cadence."
"Afraid I'll go postal?" Her knuckles protested the tight grip.
"No. I don't worry about you losing control. But it's over, so give it to me."
"You're not my alpha, Jason." She spun on her heels and stalked back to the bar, ducking under the counter and giving the bat to Jake. "Thanks for not destroying the place." He huffed, and she caught that little bit of reluctant pride that he tried to keep hidden when she did dangerous things, like attacking a full grown male werewolf with a baseball bat in the middle of a bar full of wolves. Stupid, yes, but necessary. And she’d do it again in a heartbeat too.
Callie sidled up to the bar and held her hands out and Cadence leaned over and hugged her. She made her favorite drink, Sex with an Alligator, and pushed it across the bar, ignoring the money she held out. "What was that all about?" Cadence dropped shot glasses on the counter and filled them with Jack.
Callie took a sip and sighed. "Several things, but mainly, they think I've been single long enough."
"Who exactly are they?" Cadence darted a glance to the booth and could tell by the way that Jason was sitting that he was listening to them. Werewolves had fantastic hearing, even in human form. It was not a trait that she had inherited, and she’d always thought it must be nice to hear so easily like that.
To see if he really was listening, she whispered to Callie in a conspiratorial way, “I think Chris looks fucking hot tonight, don’t you?” Out of the corner of her eye, she watched as Jason’s face contorted with rage and then there was a loud crack as the bottle in his hand shattered.
He grunted, “Fuck,” and all his wolves were grabbing napkins to sop up the beer. She giggled, she couldn’t help it, and Jake leaned over her and put his big paw on the worn counter. “You think it’s funny, but you have to clean it up.”
Peeking up at him, she saw that he was trying to be stern but he clearly also thought it was funny. Teasing the big bad. What a bitch. “I’ll get to it, old man. Obviously I should wait, though, since he’s all red faced and covered in beer.”
Jake snorted, tugged on a lock of her hair fondly, and went back to work.
Callie sighed and picked up the conversation where it had dropped off. Talking while Cadence was working meant stopping and starting conversations a lot. They had been friends for a long time, almost as long as she had known Jason. Callie and Cadence always had each other's backs, and Callie was just about the only female wolf in their age group that didn't hate her. Since Jason had turned his back on her, Callie and Michael had been her only true friends. "The single males." She said finally, answering her question.
"Fuck 'em." Cadence said. "You can screw who you want without a commitment or you can pick a mate. You shouldn't allow yourself to be forced into anything. Especially not by some disgusting prick like Bruce. Ick." Cadence made a face and Callie grinned.
"If you hadn't left me high and dry to go better yourself in college, I might not have gotten stuck in this mess."
"What does me going to college have anything to do with anything?"
"Because if you were with someone, then you could lead by example. I'm always so much better at being a bitch when you're nearby. I don't stand up for myself when I'm alone."
Cadence gave her a hard look. "I'm not your pussy monitor, Cal. And I can hardly lead by example; there isn't a guy in this damn town that wants anything to do with me."
"Not true, you fucking liar." She took a long drink of her brown and green drink and licked her lips. "You could have your pick, if you realized what your choices were."
Before Cadence could ask her what she meant by choices, Michael was suddenly next to her, whispering angrily in her ear, something that made fear wash over her features. She nodded and Michael looked at Cadence and gave her a strange look, smiling stiffly. Callie grabbed her drink and gave Cadence a soft smile and let Michael lead her back to the booth where it looked like Jason was fit to be tied. She sighed inwardly and thought, "Come over and talk to me, Jas. Tell me that when you turned your back on me, that you didn’t mean it. That you’re sorry and you love me as much as I love you."
The rest of the night passed quickly, and Callie stopped to kiss her goodbye and promised to stop by to take her out to lunch, after Cadence made sure she was okay. Cadence kissed Jake goodbye and headed out, Chris and Brett waiting to walk her out to her car. Jake always insisted she had people walk her out, in case there were drunk wolves loitering outside. Even the most timid of them sober could be a real animal when they were drunk and she'd already had her fight for the night.
"Wanna get something to eat?" Chris asked, snagging the keys from her hand and unlocking the door for her.
"I promised Cal lunch, and I'm kinda beat, but thanks for the offer." He dropped the keys in her hand and leaned his arm on top of the door. "Chris, is there something going on?"
He gave a clearly fake confused look. "What are you talking about?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. Seems like everyone's acting strange towards me. Stranger than usual."
He looked like he was thinking, and just for a minute she felt like the real Chris, the one that she had known as a kid who had once helped her when she was hurt, was surfacing. "What are you thinking about?" He asked suddenly, brow raised.
"I was thinking about that time we were playing together behind the bar and I was maybe 5, and I fell and you carried me inside and put a bandage on my knee. And you gave me a popsicle so I'd stop crying. You used to be sweet."
He laughed. "I'm not sweet anymore? Ow, that hurts." He clutched his chest in an exaggerated way.
"Oh come off it, Chris. You're arrogant and you know it."
He sighed, giving her the full weight of his light brown eyes. "Maybe I've decided that it's no fun when everyone thinks you're a prick, especially the people who know you best, or maybe I've decided to reevaluate my priorities. I don't know. You know, Cadence, you can do what you want, you could choose to be with humans or you could choose a pack. You'd be readily accepted, all you'd have to do is pick a mate."
"A mate? Where is this coming from?"
Brett cleared his throat loudly and Chris sighed. "Goodnight, sweetheart. See you tonight. And don't forget about the dance you promised me at the bonfire." He shot back over his shoulder as he and Brett made their way towards their own pickup trucks, Brett giving her a chaste kiss on the cheek.
"I said you had to shave."
He waved over his shoulder and she laughed, sliding into the cool leather seats and starting the V8, Hendrix's Crosstown Traffic blaring.
She passed out after changing into a long t-shirt and climbing into bed. Her whole body ached, from her feet to the top of her head and all parts between, and she fell asleep fast, her last thoughts swirling around Jason and now Chris. Stupid Jason. Strange Chris. Weird, weird life.
The bed tilted and Callie smacked her on the butt. Well, it had better be Callie. "You've slept enough." She declared.
"It be
tter be after twelve." Cadence growled.
"Close. It's 10:30."
"Ah, fuck you, Cal. I didn't get to bed until 5." She jerked the pillow to cover her face.
"So, take a nap later. Come on, come on, I wanna get breakfast while Lonestar's is still serving it." Cadence flipped her off, but got up, showering and pulling on a pair of fashionably ripped jeans, Harley boots, and a dark blue v-neck jersey cotton long sleeved shirt.
While they ate their respective breakfasts in the corner booth at the back of the restaurant, Callie said, “You know what I was thinking about the other day?”
She speared a wedge of French toast and asked what. Callie's fork rested on her plate and she folded her hands together, “I was thinking about the first time that you came to my defense. In school, when we were in second grade.”
Cadence smiled and the scene played through her mind quickly, like an old movie. She had known Callie since preschool, but had not been friends with her. She was still very much an outsider, even at age 7 in second grade. Wandering away from the wall where she was spending recess holding it up with her shoulder, she heard someone crying and went to investigate. She found Callie on her knees with her head down, and three of the bigger wolf girls standing around her, taunting her. Cadence didn’t know what they thought she’d done to be treated so poorly, but protectiveness for her rose up fast and she ran to the biggest girl and shoved her. She stumbled back a few steps and Cadence stood in front of Callie in what she hoped was an aggressive stance like she’d seen some of the wolf boys do, and said, “You leave her alone, Alice!”
The two girls with Alice gave Cadence nasty looks as Alice growled, “Who do you think you are, mutt?”
“You leave her alone!” Cadence said it again, bristling at the term “mutt”.
Alice shoved her hard and because Callie was behind her, she tripped over her and fell onto her back. Renee worked at the school at the time, as a teacher’s aide and lunchroom monitor, and she had appeared suddenly and helped Cadence up. Her tone was all wolf when she said, “What is the matter with you girls?”