Jensen turned at his father’s nod and watched Noelle pat Sienna’s head before the little pup darted off to play with a group of wolves her age. There was no hiding a new arrival from the rest of the pack.
“She’s your mate, isn’t she?”
“Yeah.” One word, one admission, felt like the weight of the entire world.
Jensen leaned against the railing and watched the three generations of women. His mother said something quiet to Noelle, and she twisted to look back at the house. Just like the day he’d ridden back into Redwater, the sun caught in her hair and made her look like a damn angel. An angel with a perfect scowl meant just for him and his damned soul.
“I think I fucked it all up by being me.”
Noelle wouldn’t accept his darkness. And it was there, crawling through the back of his head right along with his wolf. He had no remorse for whatever happened to the Slayer Ellis caught snooping around Noelle’s home. If Ellis didn’t rip out his throat, Jensen had no qualms doing it himself. The man had threatened what belonged to him. There was a price to pay for that.
But Sienna shouldn’t see her father beat to shit, or trying to do the same to someone else.
He was rotten at his very core and those innocent women didn’t deserve the rot spreading to them. He had to put distance between them because he’d bring them down otherwise.
They’d be safe with his father’s pack. Already Sienna had friends to run around with. His mother looked at the little pup fondly. She’d welcome Noelle into the fold, too.
Wood creaked as Samuel stepped forward. “Maybe,” his father said from his side. “Or maybe this was what you needed to find the right path.”
Jensen snorted. “And what am I supposed to do? Not exactly a lot of openings for the shit I know how to do. She teaches young kids; I can only make her life worse.”
“Or she can make yours better.” Samuel shrugged. “There’s always time to change things. Right now, it’s time to fight, son. Not just because you’re bullheaded stubborn and have a bone to pick with the world or want to stick it to your old man. No, now is the time to laser focus on the reasons why you need to draw blood. I’m looking at two of them right now.”
Rambunctious little pup zipped between her mother and grandmother, then flung herself in the middle of the tiny pack around her. The young wolves scattered, then clumped up together and hunted their new target. Some spread out to guard the flanks, but others raced right down the center. Sienna joined those at the front, and soon the pack nipped the hind legs of the runner. Excited yelps filled the air, then the group shifted and chose another to run and hunt and began the game again.
Jensen didn’t play a game. Those hunting him wouldn’t stop with just a few bites.
“I have an entire pack gunning for me. I can fight, but I need them safe.” Jensen swiveled his head to study his father’s profile. Strong jaw covered with a day’s worth of stubble clenched in determination.
“They’ll be safe here,” Samuel said. “You have allies?”
A pack. He needed a pack. “Maybe. One or two, if they haven’t gotten sick of me yet.”
“Good. Build those numbers. One or two become three, four, five. You draw them tight around you and you keep your mate and pup safe. That’s how you change things. You make their lives better.”
“And if I can’t win this one?”
Samuel met his look. Gold churned in the depths of his eyes. “They’ll be safe here.”
Jensen straightened and nodded. Without another word, he turned on his heel and clomped down the porch steps. His mother looked up, silent, then Noelle noticed him. Her sweet scent filled with annoyance, anger, and a trace of fear that drove his wolf insane.
The beast threw himself at the bars of his mind, desperate to get out and unleash unholy fury on everyone in the fucking world that dared displease Noelle. No one was safe. Not even Jensen.
With a silent snarl, Jensen locked the wolf away and drew Noelle to the side. She shot a reluctant look to his mother, then checked again on Sienna. Jada waved them on and Sienna paused only briefly before darting back into the hunting game.
“I need to head back soon,” he said. When she didn’t answer, he stepped in front of her. “Noelle.”
“Fix this,” she ordered. The eyes she flashed at him were full of the anger and fear that clogged up her scent. “Make this right for Sienna. We want to go home.”
“I will.” The vow cut into him as surely as if he’d sliced open his hand and signed it in blood. “Not just for Sienna. I’m going to make this right for my mate. Your safety is the most important thing to me.”
“Mate?” she said on a breath.
Jensen dipped his chin to his chest. She deserved to know. Needed to. He was in this for the long haul. “Mate. Do you understand what that means?”
“A... a little.” Noelle ducked her face, then raised her eyes to his. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“It’s not always instant. Right place, right time. Couples growing up together can take years before the spark materializes.” He pressed her knuckles to his lips, then tossed her a devilish smirk. “You were hot as fuck the night we first met. You were utterly heart-stopping the second time. I didn’t want to admit it, but I think the moment I saw you standing there with our pup, I knew. You’re the reason for everything, Noelle. I don’t want to lose you.”
On her gasp, Jensen swooped in. He landed a hand on the back of her neck and at her waist, drawing her close to his body as his lips claimed hers. If everything went down the drain, he had one final kiss to remember her in his last moments. If he clawed his way to victory, he had a lifetime of kisses to keep him on the right path.
Her lips parted under him and he licked into her mouth. Her hands tightened in his shirt and the spiky anger of her scent smoothed over to the sweet almonds and vanilla he loved. The slow twisting of their tongues bound him to her, to their little family.
When he finally eased back, he memorized the look on her face. Her plump, well-kissed lips. The fog in her eyes she blinked back. The rosy color on her cheeks. Perfect woman. Strong woman. He had to make himself worthy of her and their pup.
He had to make them safe.
Jensen sipped at her once more, then stepped away. He strode around the house, settled himself on his bike, and fired up the engine.
A fight was coming. He could feel it in his bones, sparking against his skin, ruffling in his hair. The scent of blood called to him, but not for the old reasons. He didn’t need the fight just to crack some skulls and prove he was the big wolf on the block. He wanted this one. Craved it. He had to guarantee his mate’s safety. He had to make a safe place for his pup to grow up.
His old man knew he could be better than the mouthy asshole he’d been. He’d tried to push him into being a better person. A better wolf. His younger self had refused to listen to the right lessons and let himself live by the wrong ones.
Jensen was done with that. He had to be the man his father knew he could be. Noelle and Sienna deserved more than a broken man with a motorcycle.
Chapter 13
Mate. He said she was his mate.
Noelle pressed her fingers to her lips and watched the man drive away. Riding off into the sunset, so to speak. Gearing up for war.
She felt like the partner left behind when their other half deployed into battle. Because that was what she asked of him, wasn’t it? She told him to fix everything. A man like Jensen, with his past, only had one way of solving his problems. He had to fight.
She didn’t know if she’d see him again.
The reality hit her hard in the stomach and threatened to bring her to her knees. She’d tried to toss him from her life and found herself in his childhood home, instead. She didn’t want to lose him. Not again. Not when there was so much more at risk than a single night of pleasure.
In a daze, Noelle turned from the long driveway and started back toward the field where the pack of pups still chased each other in a wil
d frenzy.
Mates.
She knew vaguely the implications from what she’d learned on the news and dubious websites. Neither source had been much help with parenting knowledge, so she didn’t put much stock into the details. They all agreed, though, that mates were a Big Deal. The bond was sealed with a claiming mark, where fangs would scar her for the rest of the world to see. That mark came with threats or promises of possessive qualities, depending on the source.
Noelle liked the idea of it being a promise. And wasn’t Jensen proving that right by riding off to fight to keep her and Sienna safe?
Jada, Jensen’s mother, laid a hand on her shoulder. “Are you all right, dear?”
Noelle started, shook her head, then nodded. “I’m fine.”
Jada smiled knowingly, then nodded toward the house. “Come on, it’s still early. Let’s have a cup of coffee or tea while these little ones run themselves into a nap.”
Noelle chewed on her lower lip and watched the group, still howling and yipping with excitement. The patient cows in the field did little more than shift over several steps and moo loudly when the wolves ran too close.
“It’s okay,” Jada said softly. “We can take it out on the porch or watch from the kitchen window. Sam will keep an eye on them until we return.”
“Are you speaking for me, woman?” Samuel called from his perch on the railing.
“Making you seem kinder than you are, you old fleabag,” Jada teased.
Samuel waved a magnanimous hand. “Oh, well, carry on, carry on.”
Noelle followed Jada up the porch and through the back door. The tour inside had been a whirlwind of dropping off bags in a guest room, then heading back outside for a big breakfast in the morning air. Jensen had disappeared during that first hour, which hadn’t bothered Noelle at the time. She’d still been pissed at the sudden need to uproot her entire life.
Her heart kicked against her chest in his absence.
“Thank you so much for letting us come here,” Noelle said once Jada sat her at the breakfast bar and started tinkering with a tea kettle.
“Say no more.” Jada waved a hand of dismissal. “Consider it making up for lost time.”
Guilt washed over Noelle. Jada and Samuel had readily welcomed her and Sienna into their home. A single phone call, and they were standing on the front porch when Jensen led the way up the long driveway. Neither had a single word about where she’d come from or expressed shock over the five-year-old stirring from an uneasy night’s sleep in the backseat. They simply offered them a room and breakfast.
“I’m sorry for that. I didn’t know—”
“It’s fine, dear. These things happen. We know each other exist now. All we can do is move forward. Though, expect me to ask tons of questions and demand all the pictures you have.” Jada squeezed her shoulder. “Keep an eye on that kettle. I’ll be right back.”
Jada passed out of sight and returned a moment later with a big photo album in her arms. She plopped it on the counter in front of Noelle and flipped to a page she marked with her thumb. She tapped the photo right in the center. “Here he is, learning to ride his bike without training wheels.”
“I bet you regret teaching him that,” Noelle murmured.
Jada laughed softly. The kettle whistled, and she turned to pour the water into two mugs. “Oh, don’t you know it. But there was no denying that boy. If he wanted something, he’d figure out a way to get it. With or without our blessing.”
On the next page, Jensen showed off baby muscles and missing front teeth in one photo, and swung from a rope swing in another. Those were paired with pictures of a fluffy black pup, not unlike Sienna’s other form.
“Has he asked you to be his mate?”
“Asked? No.” Noelle’s frown formed in the opposite direction. “Told me.”
Jada chuckled. “See what I mean? No denying him.”
No. No denying. She denied him nothing their night together long ago. She couldn’t deny him the chance to earn his place in Sienna’s life. He’d worked his way into her world and she found it hard to imagine anything else, despite all the logical objections.
But the heart wasn’t made for logic.
Noelle toyed with her mug and flipped the page. Young Jensen matured before her eyes. The happy little boy grew into a rebellious teenager. Long hair turned into a mohawk, which turned into a side swoop. She could imagine the girls swooning every time he brushed his hair out of his eyes.
Mischief shined in his eyes when he wasn’t scowling at the camera holder. Noelle could just tell he was a teenage heartbreaker. The rebellious bad boy every girl wanted. Heck, those charms worked on her within minutes.
“I just don’t understand it, I guess,” Noelle said softly.
“Which part?”
“All of it.” Noelle barked a laugh, then covered her mouth. “No one would talk to me about this stuff. I didn’t know which way to turn, if we’d be safe, or if I’d unwittingly give Sienna over to someone who wanted to hurt her. I’m the mother of a wolf pup and I feel like I’ve just stepped into this yesterday. And now the man I thought I’d never see again is back in my life and telling me I’m his to protect.”
“It doesn’t get any easier.” Jada patted her hand. “I’ve been mated to Samuel for close to four decades now. Each one of them brought a challenge unlike the others. That’s the universal experience of life, though, isn’t it? Your first ten years aren’t anything like your third set.”
Noelle ran her finger down the edge of the photo album. “You never know what the next page will bring, huh?”
“Not ever,” Jada agreed. “Sam, he knew his place wasn’t to rule. He’s a tough old dog, but making all those decisions and having others look to him, that wasn’t him. He’s a supporter. A fighter to his core, but a supporter. He’s there to ensure our alpha’s word is law. There have been hard times and good ones, difficult decisions and easier ones. Sam stuck by them all. And I stuck by him.
“That’s the biggest job of a mate, as I see it. And this isn’t some old school, ‘a woman’s place is in the home,’ speech. Your place is wherever you want it to be, and it’s also by his side. You have your lives outside of one another, then your lives in the pack. Doesn’t matter where anyone is ranked, who wields the power, who enforces the law. A mate’s responsibility is to make sure his or her other half is challenged to be the best damn person they can be. The rewards of that are simply breathtaking.”
* * *
Noelle stayed distracted throughout the morning and past dinner. Her stomach hurt like she had the beginnings of a bug, but she didn’t feel weak or sick. Her heart ached and her mind kept returning to Jensen.
She kept finding herself glancing out a window or stepping onto the porch to get another look at the long driveway. She paced from room to room, outside and in, unable to keep still. Sienna was a good distraction with excitement bouncing her around to show off new discoveries or relay tidbits of information, but even that had an end when her little body finally gave over to exhaustion and left Noelle to fend for herself.
Back out on the porch, the last streaks of daylight faded away into deep blues and purples of approaching night. Jensen should have made it back to Redwater by then. Apprehension prickled the fine hairs all over her body and she wrapped her arms around herself to settle the chill.
Would it start fast? Would he slam open the door of the Moonlight Saloon, guns blazing, and demand a fight to the death? Or would he need to talk it out with that big man, Ellis, first? She didn’t have the first idea of what the night would bring—if anything.
Noelle turned at the sound of steps behind her. Samuel stepped onto the porch, looking so much like an older Jensen that her heart skipped a beat in longing.
“You’re still here? I expected you’d be long gone by now.”
Confusion shot her eyebrows together. “What do you mean? Do you want us gone?”
“Skies above, woman, no! I mean, your mate is out there and you’re
still here twiddling your thumbs. I’d have been on Jada’s heels five times over by now.”
She gestured down at herself. “I can’t fight. I’m just human.”
Samuel snorted. “Fighting ain’t just about what you can do with your fists. You have to be smart about things. Plan. You got a brain on you—I hope, since you’re teaching pups.”
Rude... but accurate.
Think. Think. Noelle grasped at straws. She wasn’t a fighter, but she was a thinker. And Jensen said that his old pack ran the Slayers out of town once.
He needed numbers. People with skin in the game. All the quiet hardships and ducked glances when the bikers rode down the street weren’t just a little quirk of Redwater. They marked the serious undercurrents threatening to drown the town.
Noelle couldn’t let him flounder. She needed to take her place at his side, prod him into making good decisions, and challenge him to be better than he was the day before.
He didn’t have to fight alone. He had her.
Sure, she didn’t possess claws or fangs or a big wolf to sail her into enemy lines with one smooth jump. But she had her words. Her acquaintances. Her town.
Jensen wasn’t alone. Not now. Not ever again.
She’d hate herself if she let him go to his death without trying to help.
A light bulb must have gone on above her head because Samuel grinned. “Go on. You stick to his side like a burr. Remind him who he needs to be and what he risks if he steps back into the muck.”
Noelle hesitated. “And Sienna?”
“I’m just happy to get some time with my grandpup. She’s a wonderful girl, Noelle.” Samuel smiled, eyes crinkling with kindness. “Now go be a wonderful mate.”
A mate’s responsibility was supporting her other half.
Well, it was time to do her part.
Chapter 14
Whiskey and Wolves: Book One: Shifters and Sins Page 9