by Celia Kyle
“He betrayed you,” she whispered. “And I won’t be some substitute—”
“For the love of bloody, rare deer, woman,” he growled, and bared his fangs, the teeth growing longer and longer until they resembled the wolf’s.
A quick flip found her on her back, Declan hovering above her with his hips snug between her spread thighs. The hard ridge of his arousal nestled along the juncture of her thighs, the hot hardness stoking her arousal once again.
“I’m gonna say this one more time. You listening?” A light dusting of gray fur slid along his jaw, and blue eyes flashed yellow.
Her breath caught, heart racing with a combination of desire and worry. Which made her want him even more. It felt good—this contrast between need and fear.
“Listening?” He growled deeper, his whole body shaking, and his dick vibrated against her center.
Abby swallowed hard and nodded. She was listening. Ish.
“Pike is an asshole. My team can fuck off, and if UH even thinks of coming near you again…” His growl intensified, more fur sliding into place. “You. Are. Mine. You run, I’ll chase you. You hide, I’ll find you. You even think about another man, I’ll kill him.” He rocked his hips, a roll of his hard length along her cloth-covered slit. “Everything that’s happened since I met you has been for you.”
Her body warmed, not just from desire, but from another emotion as well. Caring? Hope? Soft tendrils of love?
That last thought had her freezing in place for a moment. They’d known each other for a handful of days and he was talking about mating and claiming and…
Declan lowered himself, more of his weight resting on hers, and she widened her legs further, wanting him as close as possible. She craved the feel of his soft fur on her skin, craved the closeness that would come from mating.
Mating. Her human mind still balked. Cougars didn’t…The she-cat reminded her that her parents did. Because her mother was a cougar and her father was a wolf who refused to let her out of his sight.
He looked at her the way Declan looked at Abby. A little creepy, a hint psychotic, but beneath it all was an instinctual need to simply have. All of her.
Abby’s inner animal told her that it felt the same. It needed Declan.
“I don’t know what to say.” She cupped his cheeks and lifted her head, meeting him halfway when he lowered his own. She brushed her mouth across his, a caress of soft flesh that she gradually deepened. He took more and she gave it, opening for him when his probing tongue demanded entrance.
He swept into her mouth, and she savored his taste. Abby entwined her fingers behind Declan’s neck, firm hold keeping him close while their kiss continued. A brush of his chest on hers, teasing her hardened nipples. The rocking of his hips so his cock taunted her hidden depths. Then the way his hand…He skated it down her side until he reached her ass. He cupped the right globe, gave it a hard squeeze, and then moved on.
He gripped her thigh and squeezed, then pulled and opened her to him even more.
Her whole body shook, her clit twitching and pussy growing heavy with wanting. She needed so much. Him inside her, him claiming her, him…
Abby rolled her thoughts back. Claiming?
Yes, her cat hissed. She wanted to be claimed by Declan, and she wanted to do some claiming of her own.
That realization, the confirmation of her feelings that’d prodded her only a day or two ago, forced her to tear her mouth from his.
“Declan,” she gasped, and he growled.
“Mine.” He took her lips once again, the kiss turning dominant, punishing. He lifted his mouth and tipped his head, going deeper, taking more. “Mine.”
On his next change of position, when he next put more than a hairsbreadth between their lips, she rushed out a single word. One that would irrevocably change their worlds forever. One she no longer hesitated to use. “Yes.”
“Oh, fuck no.” A familiar voice, one that belonged to a soon-to-be dead man if Declan’s sudden snarl was any indication.
Her mate—or soon-to-be mate—ripped his mouth from hers, lifted his head, and bared his teeth at the person near the door. She had a suspicion, but she hoped she was wrong.
Abby turned her head and released an annoyed huff when she saw who lingered. She’d just gotten her head wrapped around the mating thing and now they were interrupted. “Hi, Ethan.” Her attention drifted to the men crowded behind the lion shifter. “Hi, guys.”
The four members of Declan’s SHOC team waved. Well, Ethan waved while he shook his head. Birch looked everywhere but at her and Declan. Grant simply gave an absent nod as he stomped past them in search of the kitchen because “something smelled good.” While Cole stared and wiggled his eyebrows, before asking, “How would you guys feel about a threesome?”
Which officially ended any chance of their mating occurring in the next several hours.
Chapter Forty
Two hours and no sex later and Declan was ready to kill them all. Starting with Birch and his idea that agents should bunk with other team members.
Birch wanted him and Ethan to share a room, as if they were kids needing to learn to play well with others.
“You can fuck right the hell off.” Declan shook his head. He ignored Birch’s nod as well as Abby’s soft squeeze of his hand. “The answer is no.”
“What he said.” Ethan pointed at Declan, but his attention was on the grizzly. “I’m not sharing a room with those two. Do you know happened the last time we shared a space and the asshole brought some chick home? I didn’t get to sleep for days, Birch. They fucked for days. You know my cat gets pissy when he doesn’t get his sleep, and coffee doesn’t do shit for my whiny bitch.”
“If you’d stop calling your lion a whiny bitch, maybe it’d stop being such an asshole,” Declan drawled, and he tried to pretend Abby’s growl wasn’t vibrating through him. The asshole just had to mention a woman from his past. He wasn’t sure which one Ethan was talking about, but bringing up any of them in front of Abby was a dick move.
Even if her growl made his dick hard. Not that he could do anything with his stiff cock with the team hanging around.
“Both of you, shut it.” Birch growled low, his deep rumble filled with frustration and menace. The bear focused on Ethan. “The team bunks up. Always has.” The glare turned to Declan. “Always will.”
“The team hasn’t had a mated member before,” Declan pointed out. He wasn’t having a fucking unmated lion in the same room as his mate. He was only bunking with one person and that person didn’t have a dick.
“You’re not mated, are you?” Birch quirked a brow, and Declan glared at the man.
“I was gonna take care of that—”
“Gonna isn’t done.” The grizzly cut him off.
“I’ll show you done,” Declan sneered, and curled his lip. His wolf paced just beneath his skin, hunting for an opening so it could pounce. He wanted to work off the energy coursing through him, and taking it out on Birch was as good an answer as any.
“Okay, then.” Abby stepped between him and Birch, her hand on Declan’s chest to keep him still. The only thing that saved Birch was the fact that she didn’t touch the bear. “Let’s just calm down.”
A snort came from behind them, Grant strolling forward and joining their small group. They’d been having the same argument so long, Cole had started the grill. Now he shoved a paper plate of food at Grant. This was Birch’s attempt at having just a regular, relaxing barbecue.
Though the meat wasn’t exactly cooked—just a little seared.
“Just let ’em fight it out.” Grant spoke around a bite of his burger. The wolf needed to learn some manners and not talk until he was done chewing. “The winner gets his way.”
Birch sighed. “They both want the same thing.”
Grant shrugged. “Then let ’em have their way.”
“Grant, it’s important to—”
“Have a happy, cohesive team in order to effectively protect and care for our ki
nd. We’re given a great responsibility as SHOC agents, and we can’t betray the trust of our people by fighting among ourselves.” Grant took another bite of his burger. “I know. You say that every time.” He shrugged and kept chewing. “It’d save you a few minutes to just tell us ‘same shit different day.’ Save even more if you shorten it to ‘SSDD.’ We’ve memorized it; it doesn’t need to be repeated.” The wolf waved his plate toward Cole standing near the grill. “You know, Cole does the best impression of you.” Grant yelled to the tiger. “Yo, Cole, come show Birch how good you make fun of him. Do the happy, codependent speech.”
“Children. You’re all fucking children.” Birch pinched the bridge of his nose, closed his eyes, and sighed.
“With guns.” Ethan grinned and rocked back and forth. “Big ones.”
Abby sighed. One of those sighs. Dammit.
“Sweetheart…” Declan murmured, and placed his hand over hers.
“I thought you were calling her ‘baby.’” Cole joined them and stood beside Grant, eating a mostly rare burger, as well. Then the tiger turned to Birch and dropped his voice. “We have to form a happy, cohesive team in order to—”
Birch pointed at Cole. “Shut the fuck up.”
Cole shrugged and bent his head to take a bite of potato salad from his plate. Without a spoon. Then his attention came to Declan. “Baby?”
“She doesn’t like me calling her ‘baby.’”
“Can I call her ‘baby’?” Cole waggled his eyebrows, and Declan’s wolf surged. His skin rippled, his beast’s nails scraping his muscles and stretching his flesh. He pulled on the animal, yanking and tugging it away from the edge of his control. It was so close, so near to busting free, but a fight with Cole wouldn’t solve his problems.
It would make him feel better though, so maybe…
“No, you can’t, and if you even think—” His arms stung, fur sliding free of his pores, and a growl built in his chest. One that vanished beneath Abby’s soothing caress. She traced circles on his chest, a soft shhh escaping her mouth.
“He’s just messing with you,” she murmured.
“And I’m just going to mess with him.” Hard. Declan’s human half still felt the urge to kick Cole’s ass.
“Okay, I think we’re getting off-track here. Let’s refocus on the problem and discuss what can be done.” She laid both hands on his chest. She had to really want to redirect him if she was willing to get back to the “fuck no Ethan isn’t sharing a room with us” argument. They’d been having the same one for nearly two hours.
“There’s nothing to discuss,” Birch growled. “We work as a team, we live as a team—”
“We survive as a team.” The rest of them chorused, and Birch growled louder.
“Even after you all find your mates? Have pups and cubs? I mean, sharing a cabin on the lake is one thing, but what about when you’re at the home base and waiting for an assignment? How big of a home do y’all plan on building to house everyone?” Abby’s soft questions—true confusion in every syllable—silenced Birch. “And where?”
Their leader shook his head. “We’re not ‘mate’ kind of shifters.”
“Speak for yourself.” Cole spoke around a mouthful of burger. “Some of the other teams have families and crap. They have houses close to each other, but they each have their own. This asshole is no better or worse than the rest of us, and Abby is willing to overlook the guns and killing and shit.” He shrugged. “I don’t see why we can’t find someone if they’re willing to keep an open mind.”
“Aw,” Ethan drawled. “Cole wants a girlfriend.”
Cole swung at Ethan, plate balanced in his other hand while the tiger and lion sparred, trading insults and blows. The four of ’em just watched those two go at each other, alternating between laughing and growling while they fought.
Birch released another sigh—this one bone-tired. “We’re not like other teams. We do the jobs they won’t. We take the risks that send other teams running.”
Grant coughed and spoke low. “Pussies.”
“We don’t take mates because any-damn-one deserves better than a future cut short by tying themselves to an agent from Team One.”
Declan grunted and Grant did the same. Yeah, they did. Declan hoped Abby never realized the kind of wolf she tied her life to and the heartache that might await her down the road.
Abby withdrew her hands, and he slid his arms around her waist, unwilling to let her go far. She turned in his embrace to face Birch, and her next words came out as a soft whisper. “You see yourself as a poor choice, but any woman would be lucky to mate one of your men, Birch. Life is a risk. Mating an agent on Team One is the best mistake a woman can make.”
Birch gave her a questioning look, one eyebrow raised. Yeah, Declan wanted to know what she was talking about, too. Or what she was smoking.
“You take orders from SHOC, but you also ignore them when they go against what you feel is right. You’re all loyal to each other—to the point that you were ready to go rogue for Declan…and me.” She fell silent for a moment, and he lowered his head, pressing a soft kiss to her crown. “If that isn’t happy or cohesive, who cares? You’re dedicated to each other and doing what’s right. You’ve done bad things, but you’re not bad people. You take the jobs others won’t because you’re better than them.”
Grant grunted. “What she said.” He took another bite of potato salad. “Does this mean I can get the fuck away from Cole’s rank ass?”
“I don’t smell!” Cole had one arm wrapped around Ethan’s neck.
“Your boots, man! Get some insoles or something. Put those little odor eliminator balls in them. I gave them to you for Christmas and I still have to deal with your stink,” Grant called out, and Cole released Ethan, turning his anger on the wolf instead.
“How’d I get a bunch of babies instead of killers?” Birch grumbled.
“Aw, you know you always wanted to be a big papa bear,” Declan drawled, and Birch flinched, an old pain flitting across his features. Fuck, he was an idiot. “Birch, man, I’m sorr—”
The bear waved him off. “It’s fine. I’ll talk to the director. Find us a few options for a home base. See what’s available across the country and what it’ll take to get us set up somewhere. If we’ve gotta build six homes from scratch, it’ll take time, but maybe we can—”
“Six?” Abby voiced the same question he had. “I thought SHOC teams were five-shifter teams. I don’t want my own house or anything.” She chuckled, and Declan echoed her, but he didn’t take his eyes off Birch.
Which meant he saw the emotions that slipped over his features—guilt, worry, unease, regret…
“Birch?” Declan’s wolf added its own hint of a rumble to his voice.
“About that…” Birch hedged.
“Yo, Birch. I didn’t realize you’d talked to Dec and Abby about Pike already.” Ethan was still bent in half and wheezing, not that Cole let him breathe. “He coulda flown in with us.”
“Pike?” Declan’s snarl was all wolf. All furious beast anxious to rip out throats and shit on bodies. “What about Pike?”
Declan followed the direction of Ethan’s gaze across the yard until his eyes landed on what—who—had captured the lion’s attention.
Pike—brother, enemy, dead wolf walking.
Chapter Forty-one
There was knowing that Abby was missing part of Pike’s story and then there was knowing she was missing part of his story. She was still stuck on the first knowing, which was why her anger flared white-hot in an instant.
The man had threatened her, scared her, and hit her. More than once.
All while working for Unified Humanity.
Yes, there might be wholly justifiable reasons for his behavior when she’d been his captive.
Unfortunately, now that she was free, standing among shifters who’d risked everything to keep her safe, she kinda…forgot. Just for a moment, just a split second when her human mind experienced a distracting jolt of
fear, which gave her cougar a chance to snatch control. The cougar didn’t care about anything but the fear and pain. It only remembered the fight to ground Declan, to stop his wolf from taking over completely and turning him feral.
Pike hurt her. Stupid or not, the cougar wanted to hurt him back.
Declan released her, his arms withdrawing, and his wolf’s nails caught on the shirt she wore. Already his beast was on the surface and ready to tackle Pike. Abby would simply have to be faster, and her cougar leaped to her aid. Her body strengthened, legs adopting the power of her cat. And the agility.
The agility that let her dart ahead of Declan, quickness that let her duck his snatching grasp, and push of strength that allowed her to leap and pounce on the wolf from twenty feet away.
Snarls and growls came from behind Abby, but she only had eyes for Pike. She struck Pike’s chest, sending him falling backward, and she straddled his body. She dominated him, wrapped her claw-tipped hand around his throat until they penetrated his skin, and hissed once more. The coppery scent of his blood hit her nose, and her cougar purred. Pike had drawn her blood, and now she did the same.
Her other half gave her more power, infusing more of her body with the beast’s presence. Now she waited. Waited for his retaliation. Waited for him to throw her off and attack. Waited for him to…
Well, she sure as hell hadn’t been waiting for him to bare his throat. He turned his head aside, gaze on the ground while he also attempted to expose more of his throat. Then…a whimper. A whine. A wolf’s plea for…forgiveness?
No. She shook her head with disbelief, but her cat released an encouraging trill inside her mind. The beast recognized something Abby didn’t, but if identifying what the animal saw meant she didn’t get to cut Pike into tiny pieces…
Well, she didn’t want to know.
He made the sound again, more of his neck bared, his head turned as far as he could. Exposed. Submissive.
A stupid freaking apology, and now she didn’t feel quite so justified in her attack. It was no fun beating up someone who wouldn’t fight back. Abby huffed—frustrated and annoyed—before moving to sit beside him.