If he wasn’t cocking everything up.
Sienna scrunched up her nose and squeezed her eyes shut. She lasted a second before peeking at him from under her lashes.
Jensen let a tiny growl of warning rumble in his chest. The little pup gasped and shot to her feet.
“Mr. Wolf!”
“That’s right. You’re supposed to listen, aren’t you?”
She clasped her hands behind her back and rocked from side to side without answering.
“Sit back down and close your eyes.” He waited until she did, then closed his own and let the sounds of the neighborhood roll over him. Focus became control, that was what his old man used to say. “Can you hear the dog barking? Bark, bark.”
“Uh-huh,” she whispered.
“And the car that just went by? Vroom.”
Fuck, was that what he was supposed to do? She seemed too old for such simplistic sound identifiers.
Dammit, he wasn’t a father figure. He didn’t know how to relate to her. Give her about sixteen years and a bottle of whiskey, then maybe he could find something to talk about.
Seven strands of beaded necklaces clattered together with her nod. “Birdies!”
“Noisy little shits, aren’t they?” he grumbled.
“Shits,” Sienna repeated. She poked his nose and giggled. “Don’t say that. Mommy will be mad.”
Jensen blinked in surprise. Him, former enforcer for a wolf pack, had his nose bopped by a kindergartener. He expected his wolf to snarl and snap, but his inner animal just lolled his tongue in amusement. “You’re right, little pup.”
He glanced to the porch where Noelle sat in a lawn chair, watching them carefully. Mother protective of her pup. She looked fucking regal the way she regarded him. Like she’d snap his neck if he hurt Sienna in the slightest and continue on her way without a second thought.
Discomfort settled in his stomach. She’d been through so much on her own. The doctor visits and first kicks. The sore back and morning sickness. First shifts. First words. All on her own.
Impressive, gorgeous woman.
“Can I be a wolf now?” Sienna asked with another poke to his nose.
“Not yet. We’re supposed to listen and smell first.”
Like that intoxicating almond and vanilla combination swirling up from Noelle and making his mouth water. It was almost as much of a tease as the short skirt he remembered her wearing when they crossed paths years ago. He’d been hooked then, the same as he was now.
Jensen’s wolf shoved forward to inhale the sweet scent, too. The beast had been on high alert from the moment Noelle stepped into the bar.
Now? New possessiveness awoke in his animal, despite the objections of his human half. Nothing would ease the tension riding him hard until he’d laid his teeth against her skin and claimed her properly.
Jensen sucked down a steadying breath. Not his. His wolf wanted to lay claim when he knew he’d only bring disaster.
And that was the problem, wasn’t it? He was out of place in their lives. A tourist. He didn’t belong. Trenches were dug and walls built using all his sins as the individual bricks.
Sienna jumped upright and stomped her foot, sucking him back into reality. “No. Now!”
“Later.” Sendings swirled in Jensen’s head as he killed his inner beast’s desires. “Our lessons come first. Then we shift.”
Gold eyes flashed right before a black wolf pup clawed out of the little human. Small growls matched her bared teeth. She crouched down, snarling and not backing off even the tiniest bit.
Jensen chuckled. Too tough for her own good. She was definitely his pup. She’d be hell on the boys in her teens.
His own wolf prowled through his head, wanting to snarl at anyone who came close to her until he deemed them worthy. Years away, and he was already—
No. He shut down those plans of eyeballing future dates and having words with anyone who made her cry. Those years wouldn’t be his. He was there for days, a week, tops. Just enough to get her paws under her and ease some of the little family’s troubles.
They weren’t his family. He’d been running with a motorcycle club and wandering wolf pack for years. That wasn’t the life to bring an innocent pup into. He’d ruin Noelle and Sienna if he didn’t drop them both.
His wolf howled.
“Sienna!” Noelle scolded. She jumped to her feet and was halfway across the yard when Jensen threw out a hand to stop her.
He pitched forward and put his weight on his fists. Sienna didn’t let up in her pint-sized threats, so he leaned closer, snagging her eyes with his own. He was the bigger monster. His wolf demanded her obedience with a sharp growl.
The wild pup flattened her belly to the grass, lowering herself further than her angry crouch. Her chin ducked and she whined, low.
“That’s enough, little pup. Shift back,” he said gently.
Another whine, of frustration and pain. Well, she needed to learn the quick shifts weren’t pleasant. Children took them easier—growing bodies, he figured—but they still stung. It’d be worse if he had to order her. He’d loathed nothing more than those moments with his father. That figurative grab of the scruff and kicking the inner beast aside under someone else’s command was a reality check on who held the power. He’d rebelled hard against that knowledge.
Sienna’s shape shimmered and twisted until a naked girl replaced the wolf. Noelle quickly dropped to her knees and dressed the girl in her clothes, despite Sienna’s protests of being able to do it herself. Jensen huffed a quiet laugh. Willful wolf.
Noelle shooed her back inside as soon as she was clothed. Which left them outside, alone.
Something he’d attempted to avoid since that first night.
He didn’t trust his wolf around the woman. She was too tempting. Too sweet. Too easy to drag down into the gutter with him and never let go.
And now they had an undeniable, permanent connection between them.
Noelle cracked the door closed. Worry entered her scent and welled in the green eyes she turned on him. “I don’t know how much I like you scaring her into obeying.”
“It’s not fear. It’s dominance.” She made a face that stopped him in his tracks. Humans didn’t understand his world.
One more reason why he couldn’t let his wolf run the show. Noelle wasn’t meant for his life.
He tried again. “It’s knowing the pecking order. That other part of her needs to know when to back down and listen. She’s not in charge.”
Noelle caught her lip between her teeth. “You’re right. I can’t exactly put her in time out. Can you imagine a wolf with her nose in the corner?” She shook her head and let off a soft, tinkling laugh.
Jensen snorted. “About as out of place as you were back then.”
She swept her gaze from his face, down his chest, and landed right on his cock. And fuck, her delicious scent sweetened even more.
Jensen’s fingers twitched. He wanted to reach for her. Drag her into his arms and make her scream for him. He’d barely strayed a hundred yards from her since they reunited, even following her to the school where she worked. All for another glimpse, another inhale, another...
Another chance.
Not his life. Not hers, either. He’d never amount to anything and here she was, human raising a wolf pup on her own. They didn’t exist in the same universe.
He cleared his throat. “I should get going.”
“Oh. Right. Don’t let me keep you.” She hesitated, hand on the doorknob. “Do you want to stay for dinner?”
“Better not,” he answered gruffly.
Disappointment flashed in her eyes. He steeled himself against the thread of hurt in her scent. He couldn’t get close.
Besides, he had elsewhere to be.
“Same time tomorrow?” he asked before she could say anything.
Noelle packed away her confusion and disappointment with a single blink and step backward. “We’ll be here.”
But he wouldn’t. Not for
long. He couldn’t get involved, even with his wolf howling for him to keep his girls close.
Chapter 6
The ride through Redwater was over almost before it began. The quiet set Jensen’s wolf on edge after an afternoon of childish laughter and sweet scents from his mate.
No. Not his mate. Never his mate. A single night that resulted in a surprise ending, that was all.
One he’d missed out on.
Mates showed themselves at the right place and right time. Two people could go years before their inner animals sat up and recognized their other half, or it could happen in an instant. One random strike of lightning was all it took.
But after he’d ripped apart his pack and rode rogue? Fate had some serious rethinking to do.
Fuck. Jensen shook his head to clear his wolfish thoughts. Noelle and Sienna couldn’t be at the top of his mind. He’d been called to meet with the rest of the splintered pack. He’d avoided them since the fight at Moonlight Saloon, but there would always be a reckoning.
Jensen pushed through the entrance of Redwater’s liquor store. The owner, a wolf himself and scent full of apprehension, nodded toward a door with an Employees Only sign nailed to the middle.
“Shit,” Jensen heard as he swung open the door.
Jensen glared at the dart planted in the frame at eye level. “You’re throwing wide.”
They didn’t have access to the bar in town, so they went for the next best thing. The owner remembered the last time the Vagabonds rode through town. Or maybe he spied for the Moonlight Slayers. Either way, the six wolves that’d broken from the pack with Jensen had converted the back room into their own personal bar.
The entire place made his skin crawl. Dank, smoky, boozy. Too much like old clubhouses.
But they weren’t in a pack anymore. Hell, they weren’t even a club.
Lars nodded in agreement and stepped up to yank the dart from the wood. The remaining ones were collected by Wyatt, who took his position to shoot as soon as Jensen shut the door behind him.
Bryce threw back a shot of whiskey, then pointed a finger at him. “Where the fuck have you been?”
Right there in Redwater. After the first meeting, his wolf hadn’t let him leave Noelle and Sienna alone. Jensen justified it to himself as keeping a lookout to make sure no Slayer found his way to Noelle’s door. He needed to learn the area, spot the points of weakness.
That first night, after making his promises at the front door, he’d left long enough to let the sound of his ride fade in the night, then doubled back on four paws.
Noelle and Sienna were under his protection.
Jensen shrugged and pulled up a seat to the folding table. Rocco, Ellis, and Dillion took their turns tossing chips into the pot in the center of the table.
He dragged the bottle of whiskey closer and poured out a shot for himself. The burn down his throat centered him. As much as his wolf wanted something more, this was his life. “Had some things to take care of. You all settled?”
Bryce didn’t ease up. “You start a brawl with a rival club, then disappear on us? The fuck, man?”
“We should move on,” Wyatt said darkly. “Nothing for us here.”
A growl built in Jensen’s throat. His wolf wanted to rip out of his skin and tear into the man. Nothing there? Tell that to his pup. “I can’t leave yet.”
Yet, he insisted silently. Yet. That word had an ending. A conclusion that saw him kicking the dust of the town off his boots and leaving Noelle and Sienna behind. They were innocent. Pure. He’d just dirty them up and bring them down.
His wolf snarled at him.
“Been talking,” Bryce said without meeting his eyes. He took another shot and tossed in more poker chips. “We can’t let the Slayers treat us like that. We need to go back there and teach them a lesson.”
“A lesson?” Jensen huffed a laugh and sat back, arms folding over his chest. “Listen to yourself. You want to start a war, go ahead. Count me out.”
“They disrespected us.”
“And they took their punches for it.”
“Not enough,” Bryce smirked. “But we met a couple last night. They went home with a few more broken bones than before.”
Lars and Dillon chuckled.
Fucking hell. Damn fool idiots. The Slayers wouldn’t just be unhappy with them in their territory. They’d be fucking pissed Bryce fucked with the order of things.
“What do you want?” Jensen snarled. He slammed his hands to the table and slowly pushed to his feet. “You going to throw down in the middle of town again? That’s what’s going to happen if you keep tugging their tails and picking off their club.”
“I want you to fight. I want to know there’s something left of you in there.” Bryce pounded a fist against the table, the shoved a finger under his nose. “The Jensen I know wouldn’t back down from a fight.”
The men in front of him were idiots if they couldn’t sense the danger in the air. The Slayers owned the fucking town. Why else did every person he saw scramble quickly to their destinations with their eyes averted? Starting a fight with the pack wouldn’t just be with the pack. They’d be up against whatever grocer and liquor store clerk the Slayers could force into fur.
Provoking them would end in blood, and he couldn’t afford any blowback for his girls.
Jensen snarled at his inner wolf before the bastard could shove sendings of moving trucks and new home smells into his brain.
He spread his hands wide. “This is your mess. Get yourselves killed if you want. I’m out.”
Bryce lifted narrow eyes to his face. “You’re betraying your pack.”
“I’m not your alpha. This isn’t my pack,” Jensen snapped. A growl tumbled out of his throat. He knew his eyes flashed gold from the dropped looks of the others.
But not Bryce. Unwavering, unblinking, his gaze was an unspoken challenge.
Their pack? A bunch of assholes devoted to a death-mad wolf on a suicide mission. How many did Viho need to con into a bite or force an animal on someone before they saw the truth? How many had to die in a fucking senseless war for land no one gave a shit about?
That haunted face of Viho’s forced mate welled into Jensen’s mind. Fuck the Vagabonds. Fuck Viho. He’d done the right thing splitting from him. And if Bryce and the others had regrets, fuck them, too.
“You’re free to go anywhere you want. I’m staying.”
“Weak,” Bryce muttered.
Jensen swiveled his attention to the man. “What did you say?” he gritted out.
Bryce lifted his gaze. Silver eyes blazed with the turmoil that’d plagued them all since splitting from the Vagabonds. He pushed to his feet and walked around the table to square up with Jensen. “I said you’re weak.”
Dillon, Lars, and Rocco dipped their chins. Wyatt and Ellis looked everywhere else, eyes bouncing around the joint and never settling anywhere near the men in the middle.
“You’re letting a female cloud your judgment,” Bryce snarled.
“You want my judgment?” Jensen kept his eyes on the man making his challenge. His wolf wanted to snap him in two. Hell, he wanted it, too. Could just about taste the blood. “You’re an idiot. A righteous little prick. I didn’t ask to be in charge. You’re looking to me for answers? Well, shit, I’m running low myself.”
“Viho wouldn’t have walked away because of some used up pussy,” Bryce snapped. “Maybe she needs to go so you can clear your head.”
Some pussy. Some pussy? That was the mother of his pup the man scorned.
His woman. His pup. He didn’t care what ties to the past he had with the men in the room. He’d draw blood from every last one of them if they threatened Noelle and Sienna, same as he’d fight any of the Slayers.
Red colored Jensen’s vision and he threw a punch into Bryce’s face.
Hands grabbed at his shoulders and at Bryce, but they were too few and not determined enough.
Bryce elbowed him in the side of the head. The poker table went over
on its side. Jensen slammed a fist into his gut. Punches and kicks and twisted ducks shuffled them around and around until the scent of blood hung heavy in the air.
Rip. Kill.
His wolf forced sendings into his head. Images spiraled, all pointing to the same conclusion. Blood on his muzzle, Bryce’s still form at his feet.
Jensen slammed Bryce against the nearest wall, holding him in place with one hand. The framed first dollar earned by the poor schmuck out front fell to the floor with a crash.
“I’m not your alpha.” Jensen squeezed harder on Bryce’s windpipe. “I’m not your friend. Threaten me or mine again, and I’ll rip your tongue out and make you swallow it back down.”
He pulled back on the murderous rage and let the man sag against the wall.
Fuck.
He shoved his hands in his hair and paced, then pointed a finger at all of them watching him with uneasy eyes. “Leave me out of your shit.”
“Asshole,” Rocco muttered.
Jensen shot him the bird over his shoulder and stormed out of their shitty makeshift clubhouse.
Chapter 7
Noelle juggled zipping her purse closed and pushing the grocery cart through the parking lot with an antsy five-year-old currently in the midst of telling a rambling story of a dream involving her inner wolf.
“What were the ducks doing in space?” she asked when her daughter paused to take a breath.
“They got there on clouds.” Sienna made a fist with one hand and shot it into the air. “Zoom!”
Truthfully, it sounded like the plot of an animated film she’d be forced to watch on repeat until the songs replaced some vital, real-world knowledge.
Sienna didn’t fight being strapped into her seat in the car and continued to chatter on about her dream, complete with boom explosions and whoosh dives of her now-winged wolf. Noelle kept the door open while she loaded the first bag of groceries.
Whiskey and Wolves: Book One: Shifters and Sins Page 4