She shivered, and I licked a line from her throat to her mouth.
“I can’t do this,” she said, wriggling out of reach.
She scooted across the mattress and got to her feet.
I narrowed my eyes at her then rose and stalked to where she stood.
“You want me.” It wasn’t a question.
“You’re leaving.” It wasn’t an accusation.
Just fact.
Damn.
“Come with me.”
Where the hell had that come from?
“What?” She stared at me like I was crazy. Maybe I was.
“Come with me,” I repeated. “When I leave.” I grabbed her hand. Held it tight. “Let’s see where this goes. Away from here. Together.”
She yanked her hand free. “I can’t go with you. That’s crazy.”
“It’s not crazy. You want me. I want you.” My wolf needs to claim you. “Come with me.”
“East, the clinic.”
“There are clinics everywhere. You’ll get a job.”
“It’s not just a job.” Her voice had hardened. I tried to figure out what I’d said wrong because based on the way she’d just shut down, I’d definitely fucked up. “That clinic belongs to me. I own it.”
I blinked. “I didn’t realize. That’s amazing.”
“It passed to me when my parents died last year. You know, the funeral you never showed up for.”
“Cat, I’m sorry. I didn’t know, or I would have been here. But the clinic...” I tried to get back on even footing. “That’s great.”
“It’s been a mess,” she said, not giving an inch. “They were in a lot of debt.”
“I didn’t realize.”
“You didn’t ask.”
“I . . .”
“You also didn’t ask why I live with a roommate. Or why I chose to sell my parents’ house, the only place that I ever knew as home. In case you’re wondering, I was forced to sell.”
“What? Cat, I—”
“My parents’ car accident was tragic and untimely, but it was also expensive. Between medical bills, burials, and their terrible money management skills, they left me alone. In debt. With a flailing business. And just when I think I’m treading water again, you show up. And I’m drowning.”
When I reached for her, she scooted away, creating a distance between us I felt in my bones.
“You’re right. I’ve been so wrapped up in my personal drama. Coming back here fucked with my head in a lot of ways, and I haven’t been a good friend to you in all this. I haven’t stopped to think about what you’ve been through. All I can ask is that you forgive me.”
She didn’t answer. Instead, she stood and I braced myself for her to walk out.
Fear crept in, and my wolf snarled at me for my stupidity.
If I lost her now, it was my own damn fault.
“Cat.” I looked right at her, uncaring if she saw my fear right now.
“I forgive you.” Her lip trembled and she exhaled. “Of course I forgive you, East. I love you.”
I closed the distance before she could take it back.
My mouth crashed against hers, claiming and taking and—
I broke off, determined to do this right.
“I’ve never stopped thinking about you,” I whispered.
“Me neither,” she admitted.
I held her gaze with mine and slowly lifted my hand to cup her cheek. She leaned into my touch, eyes closing in pleasure. It was all the encouragement I needed.
Gently, I lowered my mouth to hers a second time.
My lips moved over hers, unhurried now as I explored what felt familiar and new at the same time.
She still tasted like peaches.
It was a taste I’d never forgotten, and now it was like she’d ripened in the decade since I’d last sampled her. My arms wrapped around her, gentle and steadying. Her hand ran up and over my chest, her fingers curling into my hair, and I nearly lost my control.
“I want you, Cat.”
“I want you too,” she whispered against my mouth.
I tightened my hold on her waist, lifting her off her feet and carrying her to the bed a second time. Lowering her gently, I eased over her, staring down in appreciation at the woman who’d stolen my heart and never given it back.
Fine by me. I no longer wanted it.
“Last chance,” I said, pressing a kiss to her jawline then to her throat.
God, she tasted good.
“Tell me to stop, and I will,” I whispered against her ear.
She shuddered, clinging harder. Her hips arched to meet mine, and my erection strained against my pants. I slid a hand around her thigh, wrapping her leg around my waist.
“Don’t stop,” she whispered, drawing my mouth down to hers again.
I kissed her like I should have ten years ago.
My wolf finally relaxed, and I lost myself in the pleasure of her body moving against mine. Piece by piece, I removed first her clothing then my own. When she was naked beneath me, I smiled, anticipation and need tugging at me. She was so beautiful, it hurt.
I slid into her, shuddering, and the beast inside me howled its own sort of release.
Mate.
I’d found her.
In a slow, steady rhythm, I claimed her, first as a human.
As a male.
As a lover.
Then, when her head was tipped back in ecstasy, I let my teeth scrape over the soft skin along her throat.
Snarling against my tenuous control, I held back.
When I marked her as mine, it would be because she asked me to. Because she’d agreed to this life. Until then, my wolf would do everything it took to convince her to let me. And my human side would do everything to stop it.
“East,” she said, breathless, pleading. “I’m close.”
“Cat.” Her name was like a plea. A prayer.
Cat moaned against me, her body tensing with the release building.
I grabbed her hair, forcing her head back so she could look up at me.
“Look at me, kitty cat. Look into my eyes when you fall.”
She opened her eyes, her unfocused gaze landing on mine, and we slipped off the edge together.
My phone rang, and I snarled out loud as I ripped the phone free from my pocket. It was too late for a call that meant anything good.
“What?”
“Good evening to you too, Raines.”
I sat up, panic ripping through me. “Angus. Is she okay?”
Angus had been the first call I’d made after my mom was stable. He was the only one I trusted to watch her.
“Relax. Your mom’s fine. How are things on your end?”
I stole a look at the clock on Cat’s bedside table. Beside me, Cat rolled closer, pressing her breast and hip into my ribs. My body warmed.
“Better than expected.”
Angus chuckled darkly. He was also the only one who knew where I was right now. “I didn’t wake you, did I?”
His voice held a note of teasing my sleepy brain did not have time for right now.
“It’s late,” I said, pulling Cat closer.
The humor dried up instantly. He sighed. “Tobias asked me to call. He’d like to talk to you and your pop.”
“Right now? What the hell happened to giving a guy some notice?”
“Tobias thinks catching your dad off guard will go better. Barnett’s gone to round up your old man from whatever bar he is hiding in. You’ve got about an hour to get your ass to the clearing.”
“Fine. I’ll be there.”
I hung up and glanced at Cat, hating the choice I had to make.
“East?” She sat up, pulling the sheet high to cover herself.
I wanted to spend the rest of the night underneath that sheet with her, but apparently that wasn’t going to happen.
“You should go,” she said quietly. “Face your dad. Talk to Tobias.”
“You heard that?”
“I might b
e human, but Angus talks loud.”
I snorted but sobered quickly.
“I can’t leave you alone. Not with Travis still out there.”
“I’m not alone. I have Rudy. Besides, it’s the middle of the night.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips. “Go,” she said again. “Make things right for your mom.”
I hesitated. “I’ll be as quick as I can.”
“Don’t rush for me, East. It’s not . . .”
“Don’t even think about finishing that sentence,” I growled, recognizing that look in her eye.
“Look, this was fun but we can’t . . .”
“You’re mine now, Cat.” I grabbed her chin and forced her to meet my eyes. To see the resolve there. I might not have claimed her with my bite, but I’d made her mine in every way that counted to me as a man. “We’ll figure out the rest.”
She nodded, but hurt flashed as she turned away.
My wolf twisted against my skin, anxious and desperate at her words.
I wanted to argue, but there was no time. Instead, I closed the distance and pressed my mouth to hers in a searing kiss that hopefully spoke louder than words could.
“Lock the door behind me,” I said.
“I will.”
14
Easton
Angus was waiting in the lot when I pulled into Nicole’s Bed & Breakfast and cut the engine. I crossed to where he waited at the edge of the gravel. In the shadows, he looked nearly as dangerous as I felt. After being with Cat, my wolf was stronger than it had been in weeks. I needed to kick someone’s ass—or stop fighting this and just admit that I might be here to stay after all. Where Cat went, I went too.
Even though the idea freaked me out, I couldn’t regret what we’d done. The only thing I regretted was waiting so damn long.
“You ready?” Angus asked, leading the way into the trees. We’d used this path as kids so many times. I wasn’t even surprised to see Angus waiting here. He’d known this is where I’d come to shift. Just like I’d known he wouldn’t let me do it alone.
“Thanks for having my back, man.”
“Always.” When we’d gone far enough from town, he glanced over. “You ready?”
“Let’s do this.”
Together, we shifted.
My wolf burst through faster than it ever had. Blood pumping, my paws hit the ground, and I took off at a run on Angus’s heels. He made a straight path into the deepest parts of the forest, and when we hit the base of the mountain, we began to climb.
Angus didn’t go easy, either. I pushed harder, appreciating the run and the chance to work off some of the rage that had been building since I’d found my mother. The pain in my knee remained a sharp ache as I ran, but I ignored it, pushing harder.
Despite the pain, it felt good to be out here with another wolf. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d run with a partner.
A few miles into the woods, Angus stopped short just before a clearing I’d only visited a few times in my life. Even so, I knew it without a map or directions. But even more than the location, my wolf was drawn to the man inside the circle.
The alpha.
I shook off the pull to go to him, to submit. That’s not what I was here for.
Just outside the clearing, Angus and I shifted back to two legs again, and then he led the way into the gathering space.
“Easton.” Tobias came forward, his broad shoulders moving as he extended a hand toward me. “Good to see you again, son.”
“You too.”
He looked at my wingman. “Angus. Thanks for bringing him in.”
“Is everyone here?” Angus asked, scanning the shadows beyond the firelight. No other pack members had assembled, which surprised me. Tobias was famous for justice and doing things by the book, which meant a public display for trials like these.
But no one else had been summoned except the parties involved.
While Angus searched the space, I’d already spotted him. On the far side of the clearing, beside the sheriff. Sulking.
“Everyone necessary,” Tobias said. “Come. Let’s get started.” He gestured to the sheriff, and he and my father stepped into the light.
I purposely kept my gaze locked on the man who’d raised me. He glanced at me then away again, unwilling to match my stare.
Coward.
Beside him, the sheriff was stiff, arms crossed as if reminding everyone this process was going to be civil.
“We’re here to discuss an incident that happened early this morning involving Bertram Raines and his wife, Trisha,” Tobias began.
I listened as he gave a quick account of my mother’s injuries.
“Shit,” Angus muttered when Tobias finished.
Angus aimed an angry glare at my father. The old man shook his head as if this whole thing were nothing but an inconvenience.
“Bertram, we’ve called you here so that I might act as an intermediary between you and your son,” Tobias said. “And so that we might help prevent something like this from happening again. What do you have to say for yourself?”
“What do I have to say?” my dad repeated, scoffing. “I shouldn’t have to say shit. What goes on in my home is my damn business.”
“When your son calls me to report his mother’s unconscious body, it becomes my business, too,” the sheriff pointed out.
“Trisha ain’t pressin’ charges, so there’s not a damn thing you can do anyway, Zach. This is horse shit.” My father scowled at Tobias. “What happened to protecting our own?”
“We protect our own until they harm others,” Tobias said.
“Especially innocents,” Angus muttered.
“Mind your fucking business,” my dad snapped.
I ground my teeth together to keep from losing it. This was Tobias’s show, not mine.
“Look, it’s all under control,” my father said.
Tobias was unmoved. “You attacked your wife, Bertram. In a town filled with humans who like to gossip.”
“Trisha won’t be a problem,” my father said. “She won’t say anything to anyone about what I am. We’ve been through this before.”
“So I’ve heard.” Tobias glanced at the sheriff. “This makes the fourth report involving a physical altercation. Not to mention the noise complaints from your neighbors over the years.”
“This is slander,” My father huffed, eyes narrowed in fury. He looked from Angus to me then back to Tobias. “Y’all dragging me out here to accuse me of shit, but at the end of the day, the law is what counts.” His mouth curved in the hint of a smile. “And since Trisha ain’t pressin’ charges, I’m free to go.”
I snarled, my wolf surging to the surface. Before I knew it, I’d taken a step forward. Angus grabbed me, hauling me back.
Tobias watched me, his expression set in a hard mask.
“East, you have something to say?”
“Four times on record, but the real number’s more like four hundred.” I pinned my old man with a glare that packed a promise. “Your alpha may or may not punish you for this, but that has nothing to do with you and me. So, you watch your back, old man.”
My father turned to Tobias. “My son’s temper aside, he don’t got a voice here.” He smirked at me. “Gotta be a member of the pack, boy.”
“And I told you all before, if this is the kind of violence the pack condones, I don’t want it.”
Everyone went silent.
All eyes swung to Tobias.
My pulse roared in my ears. Vaguely, I was aware of how close I’d just come to insulting the alpha while his beta stood by and watched. Even Angus hissed at me to shut up.
But I was done anyway.
All I wanted was to finish this. One way or another, my father would never hurt my mother again.
“Bertram’s right,” Tobias said to me. “The law isn’t going to intervene unless your mother stands her ground.”
I shook my head. “This is so fucked up.”
“No one disagrees with you on h
ow wrong this is,” Tobias said. “You know, if you were a member of the pack, this would be easier.”
“No thanks. Like I said, I have a different code.”
Angus tensed, but Tobias didn’t even blink.
“I have a feeling our code is one and the same, East.” His voice was calm, but I could feel the ripple of his alpha energy.
My boiling temper made it impossible to care.
He studied me. “I can sense that you don’t belong to another alpha.”
“I don’t belong to anyone,” I said.
That was a lie. After tonight, I belonged to Cat—bite or no bite. But if Tobias could sense my wolf had chosen its mate, he didn’t let on.
“You belong to the beast inside you as we all do.”
“My beast doesn’t want conditions.”
“No one’s giving any.”
“If I joined your pack, I’d have to ask permission to leave town.”
“Ah.” He nodded in understanding. “You want to be free to go.”
“Like I said, I don’t belong to anyone.”
“And your wolf?” Tobias asked. “What does it want?”
I didn’t answer.
“Without the law to provide justice, I banish your father to the mountain for a term of fourteen days,” Tobias said.
My father growled.
“That’s it?” I demanded.
“As a member of our pack, your voice would carry the weight necessary to make sure he couldn’t hurt another person ever again.”
My eyes narrowed. “I plan to do just that.”
Tobias sighed. “Yes, I had a feeling you’d say that. Look, for better or worse, your father’s one of us. Any violence against him by an outsider will have to be addressed.”
My fists tightened.
He wasn’t saying anything I didn’t already know. Hadn’t I held off so long on confronting my old man for exactly this reason? It’s not like I had a death wish.
This town’s werewolf politics were really starting to piss me off.
“This is bullshit,” I muttered.
“Is that your official statement?” Tobias asked.
“My official statement,” I repeated then bit back a string of curses that I was tempted to offer, “is that my old man is a drunk and a wife-beater. Always has been, always will be. If none of you see anything wrong with that, then this isn’t a pack I want to be part of. Either you see him for the monster he is, or you don’t. But I won’t be forced into anything.”
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