by T. S. Joyce
Marissa growled out, “I told both of your dumbasses on multiple occasions that I didn’t want to be mated to either of you. Fuck, I even moved away from our pack just to escape your attention. I said no, over and over. It’s your own fault for waiting around.”
“Fuck is a bad word,” Thorne muttered as he scribbled on a yellow notepad next to Morgan.
Morgan shook her head. “Yeah, veto. Marissa isn’t going anywhere, and if you’re going to make it a whine-fest because she didn’t choose either one of you idiots, you can let the door hit you where the good Lord split you.”
“That means your butt-crack,” Thorne enlightened them. “Idiot is also a bad word. Rissa stays, or we all get hurt.”
Marissa frowned at Thorne. “What do you mean by that?”
“That’s what the man in my room said.”
The crack of Grey’s knuckles echoed through the room. In a fury-filled voice, he asked, “What man, Thorne?”
The little boy shrugged and kept scribbling. “My friend who comes to see me sometimes.”
Marissa’s eyes were so wide as she looked down at the notepad. “What are you drawing?”
On the pad of paper was a row of trees and stick figures standing between each one. They were smiling and had two sharp teeth each.
“I’m drawing what’s going to happen.”
Morgan’s horror-filled gaze drifted from the drawing to Grey. Whatever they said silently, Levi had no guess.
When Grey looked at Levi, though? Levi knew exactly what he wanted to do.
Kill them.
“Levi, you’ll be branded into my pack tonight,” Grey growled. “This meeting is done. Logan and Jason, thanks for the shittiest suggestions ever.”
“They weren’t shitty,” Logan murmured.
Grey stood and slammed his hand on the table, then jammed a finger at Marissa. “My wolf.” He pointed at Levi. “She’s also his wolf. I thought you would be helpful. It’s why I brought in all packs—”
“Grey,” Dean murmured from where he sat next to Grey. “They’re idiots, but they didn’t mean harm.”
“Don’t you fuckin’ defend them right now, Dean. Marissa is your daughter. She’s the blood of your mate’s heart.”
Rachel wiped a tear from her eye with the back of her knuckle. “This is what they want.”
“What do you mean?” Wade asked her.
“They want to divide us. The more we squabble and fight, the more power they will have.”
“United, we are very powerful,” Morgan agreed with her best friend. “Sending Marissa away will be the beginning of a war we aren’t ready for.”
Logan stood. “Jason and I were only suggesting—”
“Shut the fuck up,” Levi snarled, standing. “Suggest sending Marissa to a stranger’s pack one more time, and I will rip your throat through your colon.”
“Eeee,” Jason said with a grimace.
“I would love to see you try, pup,” Logan ground out.
Levi laughed and cracked his knuckles.
Kill them.
“I can’t kill them,” he told his wolf. “They’re just morons, not a threat.”
Teach them a lesson.
“I have half a mind to hand your ass to Levi right fuckin’ now,” Grey yelled.
“Yeah?” Logon snarled. “Do it. You know how many times I fought this little asshole in our pack? How many hunts we went on where he couldn’t even fucking keep up? I don’t give a shit if he’s put on a few pounds of muscle while he was away at nerd school. I kicked his ass back then, and I’ll kick his ass aga—”
Grey flicked his fingers toward the door. “Levi, teach him.”
“Yes sir,” he said automatically and turned for the door, giving Logan his back. He wouldn’t be taken by surprise. He could sense exactly where Logan was, what he was doing.
Fourteen paces behind us, walking fast, looking to Jason, nervous. Dean is shaking his head. Their pack bonds are humming with uncertainty.
“Oh, my God,” Marissa hummed from where she stood frozen at the table. “Levi, wait.”
“Stay inside if you want to. Everything will be okay.”
For him. Logan was screwed.
Kill him.
Chapter Eleven
Marissa bolted out of the house with the crowd. Didn’t Logan feel him? Didn’t he understand how big Levi was now? Anger had been roiling off him in waves of dark fog. Could not one else see that he was a grenade with the pin pulled?
“Move, please!” She shoved past Brent and Sarah.
“Marissa,” Morgan called. “It’s going to be okay! The boys fight all the time. What’s wrong with you? Levi will be fine!”
“You don’t understand,” she exclaimed, pushing past Jason. “It’s not Levi I’m worried about.”
Jason scoffed. “Okay, that’s a little dramatic—Jesus!”
Jason saw what she did at the exact same moment. On the front lawn was a monstrous fully-Changed gray wolf. It was every bit as big as Grey’s animal. Levi’s face and body were almost black, and his belly and legs faded to a lighter gray. Patches of fur were missing from scars, and his face had crisscross battle wounds. One drove right through his bright blue eye. His lips were curled back and his razor-sharp teeth were on full display.
“I don’t remember Levi’s wolf looking like that,” Logan said.
If this wasn’t so serious, Marissa would’ve laughed at the uncertainty in his voice. Logan was a tough one to shake.
“Was he always that dark?” Wade asked.
“Or big?” Sarah whispered as Levi stalked forward.
The rattling growl in his throat filled the clearing.
Marissa was both awestruck at Levi’s wolf and terrified for Logan. She didn’t like him much, but she didn’t want him dead either. “Grey, do something.”
Grey sat languidly on the bottom stair of the porch, one leg stretched out and one leg bent, his arm draped over his knee. “Well, go on, Logan. I thought you could best him no matter what.”
“Grey,” Morgan murmured, frozen on the porch with Delilah on her hip. “Maybe you should call Levi off.”
“Or maybe everyone here needs to learn about the new Levi.” He looked up at the crowd of them on the front porch. “I’m not going to hear about sending Marissa away again, and I don’t think Levi will put up with that shit either. Got it?”
“Yep,” Jason said, popping the p at the end. “Reading you loud and clear, good buddy.”
“I take it back,” Logan whispered, backing toward Grey as Levi stalked closer to him. His massive paws made footprints bigger than her hand. “Marissa can stay,” Logan said.
“How magnanimous of you to allow her to stay in her own home,” Morgan growled. “It wasn’t ever up to you, dick.”
“Morgan, it’s okay,” Marissa whispered, eyes locked on Levi’s slow approach. “Everything’s okay. We should all just calm down…”
Levi’s eyes narrowed to slits on Logan, and the blue one glowed almost white. With all the scars, he looked like some zombie wolf come to life. Marissa knew who he was. That was her Levi. She knew, but he still scared her. He bunched his muscles to lunge at Logan. She had to stop him.
“Thorne’s right!” Marissa screamed. “I have to stay with the packs or everyone is at risk. Larius made some kind of deal with Aelred.” She ran for Logan, positioned herself between him and Levi. God, his presence filled up the whole clearing. He felt like a dragon instead of a wolf. “Everything is good. These are our friends. Even if the dopey one is a little on the slow side.”
“Heeey,” Logan groused from behind her.
“Dude, shut up,” Brent said. “She’s trying to save your life right now. Levi’s the fucking Godzilla of werewolves. And you’re the little town he wants to stomp on.”
“Look at me,” Marissa urged Levi. His lips were pulled back and his snarl was so deep and loud in his throat, the sound rattled right through her. He didn’t even see her. His eyes were trained over her should
er at stupid Logan. She reached out her hand. Don’t bite me, don’t bite me, don’t bite me. “Levi, it’s me. It’s Marissa.”
His eyes dipped to her and back to Logan. To her. To Logan. His paws stayed where they were, half an inch deep in the mud of last night’s rainstorm.
“I want to have a fun day with you. Date number two, are you ready? I get to pick what we do this time. I want us all to take a day off and have the rest of the pack meeting out at the lake. Four-wheelers, mud, beer, no fighting, just…being okay. I want a happy day.”
His eyes softened, and he perked up his ears. Fuck, he looked scary, even when he wasn’t being aggressive. Terrifying and intimidating, but his wolf was stunning. He was raw power. This close, she could see every color differentiation in his coarse coat.
“Levi, I love every scar. I’m gonna memorize them all.”
He stood taller than her when she was crouched down like this, but he lowered his head and laid his ears back. Then he wagged his tail as he dropped to the ground. The army crawl he did to get to her made Marissa huff out a relieved laugh.
He wouldn’t hurt her. Not her Levi.
She couldn’t even compare the wolf he was now to the young wolf she remembered from years ago.
He slid his massive head under her outstretched fingers, and when she smiled, he lifted up and ran his cheek across the side of her face. With a squawk, she went sprawling backward.
Laughter burst out behind them, and she squeezed her eyes closed as the monstrous wolf licked her makeup right off.
“You heard her,” Grey said. “We need a vacation day.”
“But, Grey,” Morgan murmured. “We have about a dozen shipments to organize today.”
Marissa looked upside down at Grey just in time for him to say, “Morgan, I want to have a fun day with you. Date number two-hundred, are you ready?” he asked, using Marissa’s words.
Morgan laughed and threw Delilah’s shoe at him. “I’ll grab the cooler.”
“I call the side-by-side!” Jason and Brent yelled at the exact same time. “Jinx. Double-jinx!” They punched each other in the arms so hard they both stumbled backward. “Ow!” they both said in perfect synchronization. And then they stared at each other for a second before they both bolted down the stairs and toward the barn where they kept the four-wheelers and side-by-side.
Dean was leaning on the porch railing, staring at his pack members as they sprinted for the barn, pushing each other. “I used to think they would change and mature, but it’s in this moment I realize that will never happen.”
“Nope,” Rachel said from beside him, shaking her head. She was wearing Marissa’s favorite grin. She liked when her adoptive mom was happy.
Today was going to be amazing.
Marissa laid her head on the Big Bad Wolf lying beside her and crossed her bent legs, dangled her ankle lazily. “I feel like we should bring food.”
Dean pushed off the railing as everyone dispersed. “You think? Fastest way to start an actual fight is let a bunch of testy werewolves get hungry. Rachel and I have stuff for sandwiches at our place. We have to grab a few more four-wheelers anyway. We’ll be back in half an hour.”
Grey clapped him on the shoulder as he passed and murmured something in his best friend’s ear. Marissa had to strain her wolf hearing to understand them.
“We keep Marissa close, we keep watch at nights, we stay on the same property until whatever happens happens.”
“That’s what I was thinking, too. Rachel and I will grab some overnight clothes while we’re at home.” Dean clapped him on the back and jogged down the stairs with Rachel. He stooped and roughed up Marissa’s hair, ignoring the growl from Levi. “We’re proud of you, kid.”
Marissa’s cheeks went hotter than a burning coal, and her heart hammered with joy. “Really?”
“Why are you always so surprised at that?” Rachel said with a laugh as she offered her hand to help Marissa up. She pulled Marissa in for a tight hug. “We’ve been waiting for so long for you to figure things out.”
“What things?” Marissa asked Rachel as she and Dean walked toward his black SUV.
“Love things,” she called, tossing Levi a wink over her shoulder.
“Oh, good, everyone knew but me,” she murmured as she waved. With a sigh, she looked at the giant wolf beside her. “Okay, Mr. Monster Wolf. I’ll give you some privacy to Change back—”
Levi Changed in an instant, just blurred from a massive scarred-up wolf to a massive scarred-up man in the span of a breath. He gave her a lopsided grin and cupped his half-mast erection. And naked as the day he was born, Levi leaned in, kissed her quick, and then jogged up the porch stairs, his firm ass the best show she’d seen ever.
Holy. Freakin’. Moly.
That was hers.
A grin stretched her face.
“Marissa!” Morgan called from inside. “Come help me with a fruit salad!”
In the yard, Brent was doing donuts at top speed with the side-by-side, his maniacal laughter echoing through the woods as Jason chased him, spewing a string of curses that would make a sailor blush.
Marissa snorted. Idiots. Morgan would boot them out of her side-by-side so she could drive the kids to the lake. Enjoy it while you can, boys.
She ran inside and threw on a bright blue bikini, a pair of cut off shorts, and a white tank top, flip-flops and a backward baseball cap with a beer logo on it. She put her wild hair in a messy low bun, grabbed a towel, and checked herself in the mirror really quick. Marissa was bolting for the door when she stopped and made her way back to the mirror.
She looked different. Her eyes were brighter, cheeks rosier, and a faint smile lingered on her lips without her forcing it.
“Hottest outfit you’ve ever worn,” Levi murmured.
In her reflection, her smile turned megawatt in a moment before she turned to Levi in the open doorway. She dragged her gaze down his old, worn Red Sox shirt and low-slung jeans with thin spots at the knees. His biceps bulged out of the short sleeves. On a leather necklace hung a bent-up nail shaped into a triangle. She recognized it. A memory scratched right at the edge of her mind. “Where did you get that?”
“Five years ago, I joined Dean’s pack. And after the first week, I didn’t know if I could do it. Logan and Jason and Brent were doing what they do. Being themselves.”
“Razzing you.”
He dipped his chin in a nod. I didn’t know the dynamics yet, and I’d never learned how it was to be in a pack so I just…took it. I was supposed to be branded into his pack, but I was having second thoughts. I was maybe planning on going back to Boston, going lone wolf again. I didn’t feel like I fit in, as always.”
“You were sitting on the steps of Dean’s back porch,” she murmured, remembering. “It was dark out, and the porch light was out, but I could see you. You didn’t even lift your eyes as I walked along the tree line. I was a little afraid of you because I didn’t know you, but you looked defeated. It was familiar to me. I said something.”
“You said, ‘Whatever it is, it’ll be all right.’”
Marissa leaned on the wall near him and reached out, touched the necklace. “I used to bend these nails in Grey’s woodshop when I was first learning to hammer. I bent a nail real bad, got pissed, yanked it out, and slammed the hammer on it again and again. It almost made a triangle.”
“I could tell you were scared of me. I could smell it. I said I wouldn’t ever hurt you, and you came out of the tree line so slow. I wanted you to come all the way up to me, so I got real still, exposed my neck, and didn’t dare to look up because, I knew if I did, you would run. You came up to me and didn’t say anything. Just stood there for a minute, and then you set this little triangle nail on the porch stair beside me and walked away.” A faint smile crooked his lips. “And I felt like maybe I belonged after all.”
“You kept it,” she murmured. Why did that make her feel like she wanted to cry?
“It got me through some rough days with Rush
. I kept it safe for you.” He pulled the leather strip over his head and then tugged off her hat. He settled the necklace over her head and positioned it just so in the cleavage of her breasts. She wrapped her hand around it. The metal was warm.
“Now you’ll never have to question if you belong either.”
Marissa wrapped her arms around him and held him tight. He smelled like soap and fur and Levi. With one play bite to his pec, she swished around him with her towel tossed over her shoulder. “I’m driving.”
“Ha!” he belted out behind her. “First off, what makes you think I even want to ride with you?”
“You get to have your dick pressed against my back all the way to the lake.”
“You can drive,” he muttered immediately.
She cracked up and turned just in time to see him throwing her hat at her. She caught it by the bill and tried to be smooth and flip it around and put it back on her head, but she dropped it.
“That was terrible,” Levi teased her. He nodded toward the end of the hall to Thorne’s room. He placed his finger to his lips and mouthed, Grey is in there.
Marissa made her way to Thorne’s door and peeked inside. Grey was standing in the middle of the room with his back to her.
“You okay?” she asked.
Her alpha inhaled sharply and turned his head. All she could see was his profile covered by his chin-length hair, but she could guess how gold his eyes were right now. “That vampire comes in here and talks to my son, and I’ve never even sensed him.”
The memory of Larius flicking his fingers and drawing a tank top to her this morning in the hotel room drifted across her mind. Levi came up behind her as she told him, “I think they can do a lot of things we didn’t realize.”
“But so can we,” Levi said in a low voice.
Grey nodded once. “Go on, help Morgan in the kitchen. I’ll get the ice for the cooler. Levi?” he asked before they could leave.
“Yes, sir?”
Grey shook his head hard. “Don’t call me sir anymore, you hear?” He slid those golden eyes right to Levi. “Tonight, I’ll be honored to brand you into this pack. I know I’ve been talking to you about it for years, but you should know it means something to me. I know what you’ve done for me and this pack and what you will do for it in the future.”