by Olivia Arran
“Does he always talk like that?” Greg muttered.
“Sometimes. He thinks he’s funny,” I confirmed.
“He isn’t.”
“Hey! Quit whispering.” Jimmy strolled in, as though he didn’t have a care in the world. Let alone a 200 pound plus alpha wolf shifter wanting to rip his head off.
“Watch it, kid.”
We were back to the posturing, the two men barely restraining from snarling at each other. Placing myself between them, and questioning my sanity for the second or third time that night, I gave them my best simmer down look.
Surprisingly, it worked, Jimmy flashed me a sheepish grin and Greg dialed it down to a low thunder.
Turning to Jimmy, I gestured to a chair, directing Greg to one at the far end of the table. Tossing each of them a cloth to clean up with, I elected to stand, folding my arms over my chest as the men slouched in their seats, their muscles bunching and fists coming to rest on the table in a silent truce.
The silence grew, neither man wanting to break the silent showdown.
“Jimmy, why are you here? You said you wouldn’t follow me.”
“That was only if I had another choice.”
Greg cleared his throat, his eyes shooting daggers down the table. “Who is he to you, sweetheart?”
Ah, the endearment was back. Whether it was for my benefit, or Jimmy’s, I decided I didn’t care, relaxing into the warmth of my mate’s attention. Double damn shifter hormones and the need to please our mate. I gritted my teeth, pushing away my desire to win his approval. “Like I said, an old friend.”
“The oldest.”
“Jimmy, you’re not helping matters,” I said, injecting steel into my voice.
“Sorry, Scare Bear.”
“Call her that one more time…”
“Easy, Greg,” I murmured, moving to stand behind him at the top of the table. Smoothing my hands over his shoulders, I circled the tight muscles, digging my thumbs into the knots.
A low rumble sounded in his chest, his head lolling back to rest against my chest. Flashing me a brief smile, he arched a single eyebrow.
Devious son-of-a-bitch! He was playing Jimmy! I was pretty sure I did a crap job of covering my surprise, because when my eyes flashed back to Jimmy, he was giving me one of his best what-the-hell-is-going-on looks.
Digging my thumbs in a little harder than was necessary, I met Greg’s yelp with a sunny smile of my own. Though, to be perfectly honest, I couldn’t blame him. Jimmy and I owed him an explanation.
Dragging my hands from his mighty fine body, I went to sit down. A tug of his hand and I was perched on his lap, his arms curling around me in a gesture that screamed possessive.
Resisting the urge to melt into him, I straightened my spine and tried my best to appear business like, Jimmy’s smirk letting me know I was failing miserably.
“It’s good to see you happy, Scar,” he offered, tracing a deep groove in the table with his finger.
I didn’t correct him; what was going on between Greg and I was none of his business. “What’s changed, why are you here?” The plan had been no contact.
“He suspects.” His simple words sent a chill shooting through my bones.
Greg’s arms tightened around me. “Who? And suspects what?”
I no longer had a choice as to whether or not to tell him, the whole situation was rapidly spiraling out of control. Clearing my throat, I began, “Jimmy is the son of the ruling Alpha of our pack. We’ve known each other since childhood, ever since he could walk, he ran after me, getting himself in all sorts of trouble.”
“Hey! You’re making me sound like a wuss.”
At his mock frown, I flashed him a grin. Jimmy was incapable of getting offended. He was the best kind of friend a girl could have: level headed and easygoing to the point of being nearly horizontal. “Well, you have a point.”
“Back on track, kids.” Greg’s voice sounded light, but underneath I could detect a hint of frustration. If there was one thing my guy didn’t like, it was being out of control, and knowledge was power.
“So our pack decided we’d be a good pairing.”
Greg muttered something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like over my dead body.
Jimmy jumped in, picking up the tale, “We didn’t agree, but since neither of us had found our true mate, it didn’t seem worth the hassle to protest.”
“Especially since Jimmy’s father had his heart set on it.”
“We thought that once one of us found our mate, the pack would see sense.”
Greg nodded, his thumb stroking over my arm as he digested the information. “But they didn’t?” He spoke to Jimmy.
“No.”
“And your parents agreed to this? An arranged mating?”
“Yes. They are the product of an arranged mating, one that turned out perfectly. They think Jimmy is a great guy, so they agreed. Also, Jimmy’s father is usually a fair Alpha, but he’s not someone you want to mess with. Sorry, Jimmy,” I added a grimace to the weak apology.
“No problem. He is what he is, nothing short of a miracle is changing that.” He looked like he’d made his peace with it, but surely not so soon?
“Originally Jimmy’s father wanted us mated as soon as we came of age, but my parents asked for time. They said that we needed to grow as people before joining as mates.”
“And my father agreed, or at least, we thought he had.”
“Let me guess, he decided to move up the timeframe, demanding you mate sooner rather than later?”
I nodded. “Yup.”
“Okay…” Greg frowned.
I could see him turning the facts over in his brilliant mind.
“There’s a couple of things I don’t get. Why are you scared, who is after you, and—” his eyes burned into Jimmy, filled with promises of retribution, “—why the fuck did you hit Scarlett?”
Chapter Nineteen
Greg
Jimmy blanched, all the color leaching out of his skin and leaving his tanned skin pasty. “I didn’t want to.”
“It wasn’t his fault.”
I turned my head to stare at her. “What? His fist slipped?” I was doing a shit job of keeping the incredulity out of my voice.
“He was drugged.”
Jimmy cut in. “If it makes you feel any better, she punched me too.”
I glared at him. “It doesn’t.” My attention firmly back on Scarlett, I nodded for her to continue.
“Jimmy’s father—”
“Your alpha?”
“Yes. He decided to take matters into his own hands. We’ve pieced together what we know, but there is still a lot we don’t.”
The younger man leaned forward, steepling his fingers under his chin. “I remember having dinner with my father that night. Nothing unusual. Then he offered me a brandy afterwards, said he wanted to talk a few things out with me. Hinted at discussing the future of the pack; my future. He started on about Scarlett, saying that with a woman like her by my side, I’d be unstoppable. I tried again to tell him that it wasn’t going to work, that I didn’t see her as anything more than a friend, but he laughed it off.” Pain tugged at the edges of his eyes, digging grooves into his skin at odds with his youth. “He told me that I’d change my mind soon enough.”
Scarlett took over the story, wriggling in my lap in a way that had me grinding my teeth together. “I was in bed, Mom and Papa had gone out for an evening run—”
“We later found out my Father had engineered their absence,” Jimmy interjected.
“I heard a knock on the door. It was Jimmy. I let him in, why wouldn’t I? He was my friend.”
“Go on,” I murmured when she paused, though I had a good idea where this was heading. Sliding her hand into mine, I linked our fingers together, giving them a squeeze.
Shock, then pleasure lit her eyes.
Was I really that bad at this whole affection thing?
“He wasn’t himself, let’s put it that way
.”
“No, Scar, tell him what you told me. I remember fragments, flashes of time, but not the whole thing.”
She swallowed hard, her fingers tightening around mine. “He pushed me against the wall and kissed me.”
“Mauled you, more like.” Jimmy’s voice was hollow, void of all emotion. “Father had sent me to you, said that you really wanted me, but you were playing hard to get.”
Scarlett opened her mouth, but I pressed a finger against her lips. “I’ve heard enough. You fought him off? Before…?”
“Knocked him out cold.”
I didn’t have words, so I pressed a kiss to her neck, hoping she read everything in the small gesture.
“When I came to, I was groggy. I couldn’t remember everything right away. Scarlett filled me in.”
“I knew it wasn’t him, that something had happened,” she explained. “His eyes were all… weird. We put two and two together and came up with drugs.”
“The brandy. My father. He did this to me, to us.” Jimmy’s voice cracked for the first time, the slice of agony only a small glimpse into what he must be feeling behind the walls he had built around his pain.
I already knew what he’d been given. I didn’t have to imagine the mess his mind must be in.
I knew it all too well.
“I believe you.” At my nod, the man closed his eyes, but no relief eased his face. He would carry the guilt forever—I knew that as well too. “So that’s why you left?”
“If she’d stayed, my father might have sent me again. We couldn’t risk it.”
“Jimmy stayed to try and find out what it was he’d been given. With proof we could go to the Shifter Council and ask for a trial.”
Fixing Jimmy with a hard look, I asked, “You’d do that? Go up against your father?” At his nod, he shot up in my estimation. “For her?”
“And the pack.”
“Your mother?”
“Gone. She’s been dead a long time.” Long enough for sorrow to only touch his voice rather than swallow it whole.
“What did your father say when you told him you’d failed? That Scarlett had gone?”
His face screwed up in disgust. “He pretended to not know what I was talking about. Said there were plenty more women out there who’d be happy to mate his heir apparent.”
I nodded. It was sick, but it made sense. “How did you get past my security tonight?”
“Scar gave me the code for the gate, oh, and a jammer for the signal.” He fished a black box out of his pocket, laying it on the table.
My eyebrows shot up as I turned my scrutiny to the woman perched on my lap.
“I only gave him it for emergencies, and I expected him to use the front door!” She shot Jimmy a glare, one which he returned immediately.
Like a sibling.
“Why give me a jamming code then, Scar?”
“So you could get to the front door, moron.”
“I could have done that by walking up the driveway.”
“Have you seen the security on this place? I was just trying to make sure you didn’t get your ass handed to you at the perimeter.”
“Yeah, that worked out swell, didn’t it?”
I cleared my throat, a smile teasing at the corner of my mouth. “Kids, can we save the bickering for later?”
Scarlett let out a loud humph, folding her arms over her chest and giving Jimmy one last glare. Catching my look, she sighed. “Okay, I know a little about tech.”
“A little?”
“Don’t arch that eyebrow at me, Mr. Hot-Stuff! I’m sure there’s lots of stuff you haven’t told me yet.”
Ah. Yeah. “Okay,” then after a second, “Mr. Hot-Stuff?”
At my immediate agreement, she’d narrowed her eyes, then flashed me a big smile, all white teeth and plump cheeks. “Take it from me, that’s one of the better names.”
Filing that particular scrap of information away for later, and suppressing a smirk, I turned back to Jimmy. “What about Scarlett’s parents, how are they taking this?”
“They think I’m visiting friends across the state,” Scarlett volunteered.
“So, you were planning on going back … at some point?”
“No. Not unless Jimmy found the evidence.”
“Why? Surely your parents would have—”
“What? Gone up against their alpha without a scrap of truth? Lost their home, their friends, everything?”
I stroked a hand down her back, smoothing her metaphorical fur. “But why not tell them where you are?”
“Because if my father found out, he’d come and get her.”
“But, why?” That’s what I wasn’t getting; I was missing a vital piece of information.
“Because he’s worried I’m not up to the job of taking over from him. He’s got it in his head that Scar’s an alpha, that she’d level me up, so to speak.”
“When Jimmy met me downtown—”
“Ah, that’s what you were doing when you ran away from me. Making me chase you all over the city.”
Jimmy snorted, then burst into laughter. “You made him chase you? Geez, Scare Bear, you don’t like making life easy, do you?”
She shook her hair back, a smug smile on her face. “Trust me, he wasn’t that hard to get rid of.”
“I think you’ll find, you never actually got rid of me, sweetheart.”
Jimmy coughed, obviously hiding a chuckle. “I’m not surprised. You’re, what, special forces? Undercover? I know you’re an alpha, and I’m sure I’ve seen that kind of tat before—”
“I’m not up for discussion,” I growled, cutting him off before he had chance to say anything he might regret.
But interest had already sparked in Scarlett’s eyes, her hand tracing a path over my shoulders, following the line of ink. “You’ve seen these tattoos before, Jimmy?”
But, Jimmy, being an intelligent guy, shook his head. “Maybe, but I’m not sure. Lots of people have ink.”
I tilted my chin a fraction, meeting his eyes. We understood one another. She’d find out on my terms. That’s if she ever did.
Chapter Twenty
Scarlett
“So, that’s your plan so far?” The skepticism in Greg’s voice was clear. He didn’t think we had a chance in hell.
I went to stand, his hands pulling me back down with a firmness that had me squirming in pleasure. “What would you suggest we do?”
“You’re too close to this, you need to look at it objectively.”
Of course I’m close to this! Biting the inside of my mouth, I managed to not bite his head off. But I was this close.
Oblivious to my plotting his demise, he carried on, “You and Jimmy need to go back to the pack, act as if nothing’s happened. Jimmy’s father…?”
At his raised eyebrow, I supplied the name, “Tomas.” I was going to glue that eyebrow down … somehow.
“…Tomas will make his next move.”
“And then what?” Jimmy had stayed silent up until now, but he was staring at Greg with a look that clearly said he found the plan lacking. “He drugs me again and I—”
“That’s not going to happen.”
“Why not? He did it before.”
“I won’t let it.”
I nudged his shoulder with my elbow, snagging his attention. “You’re coming with us?”
He frowned at me, like I’d asked a stupid question. “Of course I am. Where you go, I go.”
Oh! Sparks fizzled and popped in my stomach at his declaration. What did he mean by it?
Jimmy’s frown deepened, his thumb digging into the groove and scoring the wood. “But we don’t know what we’re looking for.”
“I do.”
At Greg’s declaration, I couldn’t keep quiet a moment longer. “How?”
His mouth twisted, as if he couldn’t decide whether to frown or laugh. “Let’s just say … I’ve had some personal experience with this drug.”
“It could be any—”
&nbs
p; “Believe me. It’s the same one. How many drugs do you think are out there that affect shifters? With our metabolism, we should burn through a drug faster than it could take effect. This isn’t something new.” His voice was flat, but not devoid of emotion, more seething with it, a rage of volcanic proportions bubbling under the surface.
“When did—” My voice trailed off as his eyes flicked to Jimmy, who lurched to his feet, strolling out of the kitchen in a bid to give us the illusion of privacy.
“When I was younger. Barely older than a kid.”
“Who?”
A heavy pause, his eyes sliding from mine to look into the distance. “Someone that took me in and gave me a home. He got me started, I did the rest all on my own.”
Torn between rejoicing at the fact that he’d finally started to open up, and horrified to the point of feeling sick, I did the only thing I could think of, I threw my arms around his neck and hugged him tight. What could I say to that? I had questions. Horrible, sickening questions. The kind you never wanted to have to ask another person, especially not some one you cared for. Questions that shouldn’t be spoken out loud. So I hugged him tighter, pressing my cheek against his, silent tears leaking from my eyes as I forced my mind to stop thinking. To not go there. Because not knowing the facts, I could only think the worst.
“Greg … I … what …?” I didn’t know what to say.
“I’m broken, remember?” He was trying to make light of it, but underneath was an air of desolation. Embarrassment. And anger.
“So, take it from me, I’ll know the drug when I see it.”
I tried again, “Greg, I—”
He gripped my wrists, bringing them in front of him so I had to lean back. “Don’t look at me like that, with pity in your eyes. I escaped, I’m here. I’m alive.” The last was said with a hollow chuckle, forced and a touch manic. “If you’re going to look at me, at least do me the decency of undressing me with your eyes.” His thighs spread beneath me, the hard muscle pressing into my soft buttocks and tilting me forward.
With my hands bound I could do nothing but lean into him, letting my weight fall where he demanded.
“I should strip your jeans and panties off and bend you over this table,” he growled, dragging me closer, his eyes dark with hunger.