He winced at that. “Ash, there’s a lot you don’t know.”
“You mean the curse?”
The smirk fell away. “I’m going to kill those twins,” he muttered.
“They’re just trying to be honest,” I said. “Something friends do.”
He grimaced. “Look, we might not have an alpha, but there are a few things the pack agrees on, and this is one of them. We don’t talk about the curse.”
“Don’t or can’t?” I cocked my head. “It seemed like they were literally unable to say the words.”
“Both.”
I crossed my arms. “How are you able to say the words?”
He rolled his eyes. “I can say the word ‘curse,’ Ash. It’s the specifics that get complicated.”
I hated the way his tone made it sound like I was somehow slow for not understanding it all.
“And Silas and Presley trying to kill me just now,” I snapped. “Is that complicated too?”
His expression tightened. “Their wolves see outsiders as a threat. It’s instinct to protect the pack.”
“Then why are you protecting me?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” he growled.
It wasn’t an answer, really, but it felt closer to honesty than we’d been before. Something told me he was holding back. And not just about the curse or the pack. This was something between us.
“Does it piss you off that I trust you?” I asked, trying to understand.
“It pisses me off that you’re here at all.”
My chest panged at that, and I wondered why it hurt me so much to hear a rejection like that from him. Kai had never been nice to me. Had never given me reason to think he would want me around. So why did it bother me to hear him say it?
“Well, don’t trouble yourself anymore,” I said, refusing to push it. If he wasn’t going to talk to me willingly, I refused to beg. “Just take me back to Oscar’s, and I’ll be out of your hair.”
I started for the bike, but Kai grabbed my wrist, pulling me toward him. He stepped forward, closing the distance until our bodies collided. Chest, hips—and mouths.
Just like the first time, I felt my body go still in utter surprise. Kai had a way of doing that, apparently. But then his mouth moved against mine, and I felt myself responding instantly. My hands came up, wrapping around his neck as I clung to him, pressing in close before he could push me away again.
Except, this time, he didn’t do that.
His hands gripped my hips, sliding up my body and around my back. Tangling in my hair. His lips parted, coaxing mine to do the same, and his tongue explored my mouth in that same confident, pushy way he’d had since day one.
I couldn’t get enough.
A small sound escaped my throat, and Kai groaned, lifting me off my feet and backing me against a tree, kissing me harder. His hands roamed my body, and when they reached the hem of my shirt, I lifted my arms so he could pull it over my head.
Our kiss broke then, and he stared back at me, his dark eyes stormy and unsettled. His expression was intense, like he was just about to walk away. Or just about to strip both our clothes off right here and take this all the way.
My need for the latter was a liquid fire in my veins.
I reached for him, and he started to lean close again, but then his eyes dropped to my bared hip and he stopped, leaning away to look closer at the black mark on my skin.
“What is that?” he asked, looking back at me with eyes quickly turning cold in the wake of what we’d just done.
“A tattoo,” I lied in a strangled whisper.
Shit.
How could I be so stupid?
I’d completely forgotten. But then, Kai had a way of doing that to me.
“Where did you get it?” he demanded.
He’d stepped back, putting distance between us. A foot of space that felt like a chasm. His expression shuttered. Cold. Detached.
I swallowed hard, trying to think of something that wouldn’t make me sound like the enemy they thought I was.
“I’ve had it for a long time,” I said finally.
His eyes narrowed. “You lied.”
His voice was hard, but underneath the stone-like quality, I heard a trace of hurt.
“I didn’t lie,” I said firmly. “You didn’t exactly volunteer your secrets, so neither did I.”
“Ash…” He trailed off, and his eyes flashed with something I couldn’t read. It felt like distance, and the idea that this could end, whatever we were heading toward wasn’t something I could handle.
Quickly, I reached down and pulled the waistline of my pants back into place, covering the image of the wolf on my skin that was very clearly an exact match to the Lone Wolf pack symbol.
“Fine, I’ve had it my whole life,” I said, the truth tumbling out. “My dad says I was born with it. I don’t know how that’s possible, but he refused to explain. In fact, there wasn’t much he would say except that I should never stay in one place too long or people would hunt us down and hurt us. I have no idea who or what he meant. Maybe he meant shifters. Maybe I’ve just walked right into the den of monsters he spent his whole life running from. I don’t know. But it’s just a birthmark. And I’m just a girl.”
Kai looked at me with an expression that stirred me in places I’d never known I could feel. “Ash, you are never going to be just a girl. Not for me.”
But just as quickly as the heat had come, it vanished. He looked sad. And that terrified me most of all.
“Why do you sound like I just ran over your dog?” I tried to joke.
His hand cupped my cheek, and my skin tingled from the contact. It was everything I could do not to lean into his touch.
“You have no idea what you are,” he said, his nose brushing my jawline as he inhaled deeply against my throat.
“Tell me,” I whispered, willing to plead and beg if it meant Kai admitting what he really felt.
But he pulled away and dropped his hand, the longing in his expression freezing into something colder. More aloof.
“I believe you,” he said.
“About what?”
“That you have no idea what the mark means. Your dad was clearly protecting you.” He took a breath and said, “Twenty years ago, a witch cursed our pack. No alpha can ascend and no wolf can mate. Without either of those to ground us, our wolves are restless. Untethered. Wild. It’s why we’re so full of violence and chaos.”
“Hence the name Lone Wolf Pack,” I realized, stunned by the story until confusion took over. “But what does that have to do with me?”
“I can’t—” He started to shake his head, but then his eyes cleared and stared at me in shock.
“What is it?” I asked.
“I think … I can say the words.”
“What words?” I asked, but then I remembered the way Isaac and Idrissa had been bound somehow to keep them from explaining things to me. “The magic isn’t stopping you?”
“I don’t know.” He ran a hand through his hair and started to pace. “My throat usually closes up if I so much as think about uttering the story.” He stopped and pinned me with a look. “What did you do?”
“Me? Nothing. Why the hell would you think it was me?”
“Because.” He jutted his chin toward my hip. “That wolf is the mark of the curse breaker. The one who’ll come to free the pack from the magic that binds us.”
“You think I unbound you or whatever?”
“No idea, but I couldn’t even say that much ten minutes ago. All I know is the symbol of our wolf is on your skin, and now I can tell you whatever you want to know about it, apparently.”
“Okay,” I said, “Let’s just say there is a curse breaker—whether that’s me or not—what’s the rest of it? How is the curse supposed to be broken?”
He shrugged. “There are only legends and rumors. Stories. Tall tales. No one knows for sure. But the marked one will come, or so they say. And free us.”
The marked one.
I took a
step toward him, caught up in the story now. “But if it’s true, and I can break the curse, that’s good, right? I mean, wouldn’t the pack want that?”
But even as I asked the question, I knew there was no way this could be good. If it were, my dad wouldn’t have hidden me away my entire life.
Kai shook his head. “Legend says the curse breaker will be the next alpha. You’ve met Silas and the others. They aren’t the type to let that role go to an outsider.”
“But…I don’t want to be an alpha. Even if I did manage to break the curse, I’d just give up the role,” I said, stepping forward. Reaching for him.
But he backed away. “They would never let you live long enough for it to get that far. You’re not safe here. You need to go. Now.”
Panic clawed at me. I was so stupid. Walking right into the danger I was supposed to be running from.
“You just told me I couldn’t leave or the pack would hunt me down.” My voice rose as frustration built. “This whole thing is insane. A cursed pack. Killer wolves. What the hell, Kai? What am I supposed to do now?”
“Dammit, Ash, I don’t know,” he yelled. “I don’t have the answers. I just need you to live.”
“Why the hell do you even care?” I demanded.
We were yelling now. Taking our anger out on one another. It was toxic as hell, but I was past caring.
“You don’t even like me,” I pointed out.
“Fuck, Ash. Of course I like you. Don’t you get it? That’s the problem.” He was in my face now. His breath hot on my lips. I backed away until my shoulders hit the tree again.
“And now we’re back to this being all my fault somehow,” I said. “Well, I’m so sorry I’m here ruining your life,” I ranted. “Maybe you’re the one who should leave.”
He blinked. “Maybe I should,” he said softly, and the words were so heartfelt I immediately wanted to erase them.
“What?”
“But I can’t.” He hung his head, closing his eyes for a moment. Then he opened them again and looked right at me. “You’re all I see, Ash Lawson. You have been from the moment I laid eyes on you.” He laughed humorlessly. “It’s insane how far gone I am, considering the curse prevents the mating call from ever happening, but here we are. I can’t leave you, and I can’t let them kill you.”
“Mating call?” I squeaked, confusion and disbelief coating my words. “I thought that wasn’t possible.”
He shook his head. “It shouldn’t be,” he agreed. “I mean, it’s not. Fuck, I can’t figure it out, and it’s been driving me half crazy ever since you arrived.”
“What has?”
“This…thing between us. I know you feel it too. The pull.”
I bit my lip but then nodded. “I do,” I admitted.
He ran a hand through his hair. “Our pack can’t recognize a mate, so it doesn’t make sense, but from the moment you showed up, nothing has been the same for me.”
“You’ve felt this way since I got here?” I asked.
Anger, surprise, pleasure, and desire all slammed into me at once. For someone who claimed to be interested, he had a damn funny way of showing it.
“I wanted you the minute you walked into the Throttle,” he said. “Of course, I chalked it up to lust, but then the next day, I caught your scent, and well, let’s just say my wolf agrees with me.”
My thoughts drifted back to that moment when he’d backed me against the wall in the front office. I’d watched, no, felt his whole energy change. He’d gone from irritated at my very presence to interested to completely confused before he’d slammed out the door. Now I knew why.
“What does this mean?” I asked.
“I wish I knew. My wolf feels strange. Like it doesn’t know what to do with you. It can’t recognize you as a mate, but it can’t let you go either.”
I didn’t understand any of the mate-talk, but I knew how he felt about not wanting to let go. Even if it did mark me as insane. Who fell for a guy they’d just met?
“And what about you?” I asked quietly. “Your human side or whatever?”
His eyes darkened, a storm of unspoken emotions swirling in their depths. “I’m yours, Ashes. Even if you don’t want me.”
He was a walking contradiction. Hot and cold. And he wasn’t denying the fact or even apologizing for it. But all I could hear were those three words playing on repeat over and over again in my lust-filled brain. I’m yours, Ash.
I cleared my throat, hating the way my cheeks were already flooding with heat as I made myself say the words I was thinking.
“What if I do too?” I asked quietly. “Want you, I mean?”
His dark look shifted into pleasure, and he leaned close. “That makes things easier,” he said quietly. “Especially considering there’s nothing you can do to get rid of me now.”
“I know,” I said, a smile forming on my lips. “I’ve already tried.”
He laughed, a dark, mysterious sort of sound, and kissed me again.
Chapter Fourteen
I wanted that kiss to go on and on. Forever, like he’d said. But too soon, Kai was pulling away and looking down at his phone. It took me a minute to realize he’d stopped because the stupid thing had dinged.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, noting the slant of his mouth as he read the text.
“Something happened.”
“Silas?” I asked.
“No. Worse.” He grabbed my helmet and held it out to me.
I hesitated. Considering everything I’d learned, was going back to town smart? Or was I walking right into the very danger I was supposed to be running from?
Kai met my eyes steadily, and the fear receded. He wouldn’t let anything happen to me.
I took the helmet and shoved it on my head.
“What’s worse than Silas?” I asked as Kai hurriedly reached over to secure the strap underneath my chin.
“Witches,” he said and then swung a leg over onto the bike.
He didn’t wait for me to climb on before starting her up, and by then, my questions were lost underneath the sound of the revving motor. Just as well. Where the hell did I even begin? I’d just wrapped my head around wolf shifters, and now they were talking about witches?
Was anything make-believe anymore?
My lips still tingled from the kiss as I climbed on behind Kai and wrapped my arms around his torso. This time, there was no hesitation as I pressed my palms against his chest, and I secretly hoped we never made it back to town. Not just because I dreaded another crisis—and Kai’s reaction certainly seemed to suggest that’s what waited for us—but because riding on the back of his motorcycle gave me a valid excuse to touch him.
My body thrummed with the vibration of the motorcycle. It didn’t hurt that I’d pressed myself tightly against the guy who’d proclaimed to hate me then kissed me like I was his oxygen.
I still wasn’t completely clear whether we’d resolved the hating part, though. Kai was hard to read. One minute, he wanted to strip me down to my barest parts, and the next, he wanted to be rid of me forever.
He’d told me he was mine.
That meant something. Even if he’d also wanted me to leave town and never come back.
The guy was confusing as hell.
The moment we hit the main street cutting through downtown, I knew something was wrong. No traffic clogged the streets, and I didn’t spot a single pedestrian strolling from shop to shop as we sped past cafes, shops, and offices.
We pulled up in front of Oscar’s, and Kai cut the engine, pulling me along with him so that I barely had time to shed the helmet before we were hurrying around back to the gravel lot.
A crowd had gathered inside the chain-link fence that made up the back lot where Oscar stored his customer bikes. The moment we rounded the corner and into view of them all, Kai dropped my hand and increased his pace, putting some distance between us.
I tried to ignore the pang of hurt at his actions. Maybe he’d been bullshitting me about how he felt.
Maybe he’d just wanted information. That thought hurt worse than anything Silas or Presley had tried to do to me. But I shoved it aside.
It didn’t matter. None of it did.
Kai had his pack to think about, and I had myself—and this damned mark. Whatever the hell that meant.
At the end of the day, we were enemies.
I needed to remember that. Especially here.
Up ahead, I spotted Idrissa and Isaac. When they saw me, they broke away from the crowd and rushed toward me. Both of them grabbed me in a tight group hug.
“You’re okay.” Idrissa breathed in relief against my windblown hair.
She drew back.
Isaac grabbed my cheeks in his hands and brushed his nose against mine. “You scared the doggy biscuits off us, girl.”
“Sorry,” I said.
“You smell like the road,” Idrissa added, her expression framing it like a question.
“Kai gave me a ride,” I explained.
She gave me a look that I knew meant there’d be an inquisition later.
“Oh, did he now?” Isaac said with a sly grin.
Rather than answer that innuendo, I pulled his hands from my face, craning my neck toward the gathered crowd behind him.
“What happened with Silas?” I asked.
“Not enough,” Idrissa muttered, but before I could ask more, someone screamed.
I jerked toward the sound, but whoever had made it was obscured by the bodies pressing in around one another. They were all focused on something in the center of it all.
The scream came again.
I shoved past the twins, who both tried calling me back, and into the crowd, moving shoulders and arms out of my way until I broke through into the middle.
I stopped short, taking in the scene before me.
Silas stood across the circle, his hands fisted and bruised as he loomed over a man crouched on his knees. Blood leaked from the stranger’s nose and a nasty cut below his eye. His lip was puffy and swollen, and his entire body was covered in sweat and gravel.
Beside Silas, Drake and Presley stood like sentinels. Behind them, Devon and Cade crowded in. I even recognized that girl Tiffany from the bar inching over so she could stink-eye me. They all wore matching expressions of absolute hate, and my memory flashed to Vorack; to the night he and his men had come for my father. Ganging up in this way so we never stood a chance.
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