Wolf Rising

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Wolf Rising Page 27

by Paige Tyler


  Ruben seemed to consider that for a while, then nodded. “I think I’ll do that, but I’d like to do more. To pay everybody back for helping me.”

  “Like what?” Brooks asked, wondering if maybe he was talking about apologizing to Selena or something like that.

  “I could find out who’s making those energy drinks,” Ruben said slowly. “Ask around the gang people I already know, and get that info to you.”

  “No way,” Brooks said. “It’s too dangerous.”

  Ruben winced as he pushed himself up higher in the bed, dark eyes determined. “I’m not going to do anything stupid, and it might keep somebody else from overdosing.”

  Brooks opened his mouth to argue, but Selena and Marguerite chose that moment to walk in. Brooks gave Ruben a pointed look, making sure he realized the conversation was over, then he slipped off the bed, making room for Marguerite as he motioned Selena toward the doorway.

  “Everything okay between you and Marguerite?” he asked softly.

  The girl had taken a seat on the edge of Ruben’s bed, and the two of them were already deep in conversation. Brooks had been a little worried when Selena and Marguerite had gone to the cafeteria. The girl had seen Selena’s claws and fangs. The drunk, high gangbangers on the roof had seen them, too, but nobody was going to believe them. Marguerite was different.

  Selena nodded. “Yeah, it’s good. As far as Marguerite is concerned, she saw me save Ruben’s life. That’s all she cares about. And the only thing she ever plans to tell anyone.”

  “You believe her?” he asked.

  “Yes.” Selena glanced at her students. “Did you and Ruben get a chance to talk?”

  “Yeah. I think he’s going to be okay,” he said as Marguerite leaned forward and shyly kissed Ruben. “Now that he’s got someone to keep him straight.”

  He and Selena stood there for a few more minutes before she smiled at him.

  “We should go,” she whispered. “They’re okay on their own now, and I think it’s time the two of us had a long talk. Without me freaking out and running away.”

  Brooks let out a soft chuckle. “I’m good with that. And if we can avoid the part when I run after you naked, that would be good, too.”

  Selena laughed, taking his hand and tugging him close as they headed for the exit.

  Chapter 17

  Brooks opened the back door of his place and flicked on the lights, then stood back so Selena could enter. She stepped inside, hanging up her coat and purse on the rack by the door as if it was the most normal thing in the world. Like the fiasco from the other day hadn’t happened at all.

  “I’m going to leave the keys right here on the top of the rack. In case you need to grab them again, okay?” he said softly, closing the door and locking it. “And the truck has a full tank of gas, so no worries there either.”

  She turned and gave him an exasperated frown. “I’m not going to steal your truck again. We already talked about that. We’re going to sit here and have a nice calm, intelligent conversation about what it means to be a werewolf. There won’t be any claws, fangs, or drama. You have my word on it.”

  He moved over to one of the wall switches to turn down the lights. It was nearly three in the morning. They didn’t need it to be so bright in there, especially considering the conversation they were about to have.

  When they’d left the hospital, he thought they were heading to her apartment. But they’d stopped at Becca’s building just long enough for Selena to park her car in her friend’s visitor space, then she’d jumped in the passenger seat of his truck and said she wanted to go to his place again.

  “You sure?” he had asked.

  She’d nodded. “My apartment has thin walls. Talking about werewolves there is definitely a bad idea. And while Becca already knows about my situation, I’d prefer to keep the rest of the details from her for now.”

  Brooks hadn’t been shocked to discover Becca knew about werewolves. Obviously, Selena had needed someone to talk to after the crap that had happened the other day, and Becca struck him as a really good person. She’d been there for Selena at least, and that meant a lot to him.

  “You want something to eat?” he asked as he followed her over to the big sectional in the living room area.

  Her gaze lingered on the back of the couch where they’d made out. A moment later, she shook her head, as if clearing the memories, but not before he caught a whiff of her arousal. His thoughts immediately went there at the scent, but he pushed it away fast. They needed to talk without the complications of sex.

  “Thanks, but I’m good,” she said as she sat down. “I ate a muffin when I had coffee with Marguerite. Let’s just talk, okay?”

  Brooks grabbed a seat at the other end of the sectional, putting some space between them. He wanted to sit beside her and drag her into his lap so he could kiss her for the rest of the night. But this was important, and the distance would make it easier. At least for him.

  “I guess the best way to start is with an apology,” he said. “So, this is me saying I’m sorry for not figuring out a better way to tell you that you’re a werewolf. Springing it on you after a night of wild sex was definitely the very worst way I could have possibly handled it.”

  Selena tilted her head at that, as if considering whether she should disagree. “I can’t say you’re wrong, even if the sex was mind-blowing, since the evening did end in catastrophe. But if we’re being truthful here, I can’t imagine any way you could have brought it up that wouldn’t have freaked me out.”

  “Probably true,” he agreed. “Still, I wish I’d done better.”

  “Ditto.” She smiled. “Losing control and slinging you across the room wasn’t my finest moment, either.”

  “Don’t forget stealing my truck.” He grinned. “That ended up getting me called into my boss’s office because someone in the neighborhood saw me run after you completely naked.”

  She clapped her hands over her mouth with a laugh. Jumping up, she joined him on his end of the couch, curling her legs under her and staring at him with big, wide eyes. “You’re kidding, right? Did someone really see you?”

  “They did. Fortunately, one of Gage’s friends on the force took care of it. Still, having to explain to my commander why I was chasing after you naked wasn’t fun. Not that I’m blaming you for anything that happened. It wasn’t your fault. Some of it comes from you going through your change so fast. The rest is part of you being an omega.”

  “What do you mean, going through the change so fast?” she asked, still smiling. “And what’s an omega?”

  “Okay, Werewolf 101 time.” This was why they were sitting on the couch at three o’clock in the morning and not buried in a tangle of arms, legs, and sheets. “The period of time between the traumatic event that triggers the change and the first tangible evidence of that change—claws, fangs, and glowing eyes—is usually three or four weeks. But in your case, you did it in about three days. The speed of your change almost certainly made everything a lot rougher on you than it normally would be. And in my defense, it also forced me to tell you what was happening a lot sooner than I wanted to.”

  Her heart beat faster. “This just got real—fast. But let’s start there. Why is my change happening more quickly than it should?”

  “A lot of rules are changing for werewolves lately,” he explained. “From what we can tell, it’s because our pack has been discovered by hunters—people who kill werewolves like us because they hate us for what we are. We first became aware of their existence back in June, but they didn’t come at us directly until a month ago. We dealt with them, but it was costly. They know how to hurt us.”

  “Those inmates who broke out of Coffield,” she said.

  He lifted a brow. “How’d you know?”

  “Your heart only beat hard like it is now a few times,” she said. “When we were fighting on the
roof of that gangbanger apartment, when we were making out the other night, and when you talked about those men escaping from prison. The first two obviously aren’t in play now, so that leaves the men from the prison break.”

  It was his turn to sit and stare. Damn, she was good.

  “Yeah. There’s a chance they left the country, but it’s also possible they stayed around to take another shot at us. Regardless, from the moment we first heard of these hunters, strange stuff started happening to the Pack.”

  “Like what?”

  “Some new abilities for one thing,” he said. “But the biggest difference is finding our mates when we’d always been on our own before.”

  “And new werewolves going through a three-week process in three days,” she added slowly. “It makes sense, I guess. Like animals in the wild learning how to run within hours of their birth so they don’t get eaten by predators.”

  Brooks hadn’t thought of it that way, but the analogy was a good one. “We’ve pretty much come to the same conclusion. Sorry it makes it tougher for you, though.”

  “It’s not your fault,” she said, waving off his concern. “What about the omega thing? Does that have something to do with the hunters, too?”

  He hesitated. This part was going to be more complicated. “No, being an omega has nothing to do with hunters. It’s strictly a werewolf thing.”

  Selena sat there waiting patiently.

  “There are three kinds of werewolves that we know of.” Man, he hoped he didn’t screw this up by saying something wrong and messing up everything. “There are alphas, which are big, strong, aggressive werewolves. They can take a lot of damage and heal very quickly, and they’re generally in control of their inner wolf all the time.”

  “You’re an alpha,” Selena announced.

  He nodded. “Yeah, I’m an alpha. Along with nearly every one of my SWAT teammates.”

  “Your pack!” She grinned, her face lighting up. “Cooper and the other guys who helped rescue me. They’re all werewolves. And nobody knows?”

  Brooks returned her smile, forcing himself to stay on topic. “The second kind of werewolf is the beta. They’re smaller and not as strong as an alpha. In fact, they’re not aggressive at all. They don’t heal as fast as alphas, but in return, they have zero control issues and a strong instinct to bond with other betas. It helps them form tight, supportive packs.”

  She considered that. “Okay. So, alphas, betas…and omegas are obviously the third type of werewolf. I’m an omega. What are my defining characteristics?”

  His heart started to thud hard as hell at the question.

  Selena frowned, obviously picking up on it. “What is it? Is there something wrong with being an omega?”

  Brooks shook his head, taking a deep breath at the same time, both to control his heartbeat and make sure Selena didn’t take what he was about to say the wrong way. “There’s absolutely nothing wrong with being an omega. I’m only talking in generalities, okay? And for every rule in the werewolf world, there’s an exception. Like a few months ago, a beta ended up turning into an alpha because her pack was threatened. Just yesterday, I learned that one of the alphas in my SWAT pack is actually an omega, too. So, nothing I’m talking about is etched in stone, all right?”

  Her heart pounded as hard as his now. “Jayden, you’re starting to scare me again, and I don’t think either of us wants me to be scared. What is it about omegas you don’t want me to know? Is being an omega why I freaked out so badly the other morning?”

  He nodded. “Omegas are a lot like alphas. They’re big, strong, and fast. They can take as much damage as an alpha and heal just as quickly. But they generally have aggression issues and tend to lose control when exposed to strong emotions, like anger or fear. It can take a real effort on their part to bond with other werewolves.”

  She didn’t say anything for a long time. He wished he knew what she was thinking, but unfortunately, werewolves couldn’t read minds.

  Brooks took her hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m not saying it’s going to be like that for you. Like I said, there’s an omega in the Pack who doesn’t have any of those issues because he figured out how to overcome them. If it’s okay with you, I’d like to introduce you to him, so he can teach you how to stay in control. Would you be okay with something like that?”

  He spoke the words so softly, he wasn’t sure Selena could even hear him over the thundering of his heart. Hers was still beating nearly as hard. He wasn’t sure what that meant.

  All at once, Selena climbed onto his lap. Brooks shifted on the couch, making it easier for her to straddle his thighs. She tugged his head down, resting her forehead against his.

  “Jayden, I know you’re freaking out right now, but there’s nothing you just told me about omegas I didn’t already know about myself,” she said softly. “I’m fine meeting your teammate and talking to him. But when it comes to learning how to be in control, I’d rather learn that from you. Because at the end of the day, you’re the man I care about, the man I trust.”

  Brooks opened his mouth to tell Selena there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her, but she kissed him. Not a crazy kiss from an omega. A warm, inviting kiss from the woman he loved.

  * * *

  Jayden’s tongue slowly played with hers, his hands resting lazily on her hips as they made out on the couch. Selena could tell he was trying to keep things chill. Like that was possible with a guy as hot as he was. As her fingertips tingled and electricity zipped through her body, she had the urge to nip, bite, and claw.

  To rip both their clothes off.

  To take and be taken.

  She knew now that was the omega inside her. There was a certain amount of power—and relief—knowing where that intense desire came from. Maybe now, she could control the wolf inside her a little better.

  Moreover, Jayden had poured his heart out to her, revealing his darkest fear that the omega would take over and leave him with the creature who’d nearly clawed him to shreds, thrown him across the room, then run away like a wild animal. Leave him with a werewolf that had no interest in bonding with anyone—even him. It had been humbling to be gifted with that much honesty, and Selena promised herself the gesture wouldn’t be wasted. If that promise meant going slowly and carefully when they made love, she was fine with that.

  So, when Jayden pulled back to gaze at her, she forced herself not to complain, even if there was a part inside that wanted to growl and snatch his mouth back down on hers.

  “I’m okay,” she said softly, lifting her hands. “See…no claws.”

  His sensuous mouth curved. “I wasn’t stopping because I was worried about your claws coming out. I wanted to ask if you still wanted to go to the wedding tomorrow. I understand if you don’t, but there’ll be a lot of other werewolves there I’d like you to meet, including the omega I mentioned—Carter.”

  She caught her lower lip between her teeth, hesitating. “Do they all know about me? That I’m an omega, and that I attacked you? Your teammates, I mean.”

  He nodded. “We’re a pack. It’s almost impossible to keep secrets from each other, so we usually don’t try. So yes, they know what happened, and yes, they’ll likely rib the both of us about the whole thing, but they don’t care that you’re an omega, and they certainly won’t treat you differently because of it. Everyone in the Pack has had to deal with tough issues at some point in their lives, either as a result of the trauma they went through to become a werewolf or because of the problems they faced when they found their mates. In one way or another, they’ve all been where you are, so you won’t catch them throwing rocks. In fact, you’re going to find more than a few of them willing to help you out with what you’re going through.”

  She considered his words for a moment before taking a deep breath and nodding. “Okay, I’ll go. But you’re going to stick close, right? Because ge
tting nervous probably isn’t good for me, and something tells me this is going to be a completely new experience.”

  He slipped a finger under her chin, tipping her face up and kissing her so gently, it almost brought tears to her eyes. “I won’t leave your side for a second,” he murmured against her lips. “Promise.”

  That was good enough for her. Of course, with everything going on, she hadn’t given even a second thought to what she’d wear tomorrow. On a teacher’s salary, it wasn’t like she had a closet full of fancy dresses and shoes to choose from. She only had a few to work with, and without knowing the bride’s color scheme, it was going to be tricky.

  But then Jayden slipped his hand in her hair and captured her mouth in another kiss, his tongue easing inside to play. Her body immediately responded, and she forgot about dresses, shoes, and how she was ever going to get her hair done in time for a wedding the next day. Instead, she focused on how good it felt to kiss him. She could gladly do this for the rest of the night…what was left of it. And from the hard-on in Jayden’s jeans, he was thinking the exact same thing.

  Caressing his bearded jaw, she opened her eyes ever so slightly and saw him looking at her with a smolder that took her breath away. But the thing that captured her attention even more than the passion in his eyes was the glow there. The gold was impossible to miss. Until she realized she had missed it before—lots of times—when she’d assumed it was nothing more than the reflection of a nearby light. How could she have possibly thought something so remarkable was simply a funny bounce of the light?

  Selena pulled back, gazing at him in awe and fascination. “Your eyes are gold. Do all werewolves’ eyes glow like that? Do mine?”

  He chuckled. “Werewolves’ eyes only glow when they’re really riled up, like with anger, fear, or arousal. When it happens, male werewolves’ eyes turn gold, while female werewolves’ turn green.”

  She tried to imagine what she looked like with eyes that were a different color but couldn’t. “Do I look strange with green eyes?”

 

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