Phoenix Rising

by Cara Carnes

  “No meat,” Logan said.

  “I remember.”

  He remembered? How did he know? I hadn’t met Lane before. For that matter, how did Logan know? I was too distracted with the impending train wreck which was the second floor to worry about that right now. We bypassed the register entirely—which made me wonder why it even existed since no one respected the card thingies anyway.

  Wolves.

  We trudged up the stairs, and the buzzards picking away at my gut returned swiftly, swooping in the moment my gaze captured Stacy’s. Her blue eyes widened, a few gasps rose around her. Chairs shifted, trays disappeared as several of the table’s inhabitants stood to leave.

  “Sit.” Logan’s booming voice echoed off the walls.

  Lane set my tray down at a seat and claimed the one to my right. Logan paused to my left, where Missy sat.

  “Move.”

  “I was actually about to leave.” The girl jumped slightly and moved a couple of seats over.

  “No. You stay. You all stay.” Logan placed a napkin into his lap and looked over at me. “We shall have breakfast together like a civilized pack.”

  “Well, isn’t this sweet? My favorite people all together.” Lane put a napkin in my lap and then did the same with Van, who’d been seated to his right. “It’s like a little reunion.”

  “Lane took a leave of absence to deal with some family stuff. This is his first semester back as he works on his MBA,” Logan offered. “He was Alpha before Macen.”

  “Thank fuck he showed up. Being Alpha with this bunch of bitches and dumb ass pussy betas is a pain in the ass.” Lane shoveled a few forkfuls of egg into his mouth. “So, Riles. I hear you had your first experience at Temple last night. Freaky shit, right?”

  “You could say that.” I chewed on my toast, the déjà vu almost knocking me out of my seat. “Thank you all again for your kindness yesterday. I’d left my appreciation with Stacy earlier since she’s Macen’s Alpha female.”

  Logan choked on his bacon for a few seconds. Lane chuckled beside me. The people around Stacy shifted uncomfortably. She glared at the two of them.

  “Do you have something to say?” she demanded.

  “Not at all. I think we’ll leave that to Macen when he arrives.” Logan winked. “And here I thought sleeping in would be fun.”

  “It sounds like we missed a hell of a conversation earlier,” Lane said. “Anyone care to share?”

  Mimes made more noise than the people at the table did. I shifted between the two guys and cleared my throat. “There’s really nothing to share. They were kind enough to impart some pack culture.”

  “Oh, really? We have culture to impart? Do tell.” Lane leaned back in his seat.

  I could feel the people at the table stop breathing.

  “Really, it’s not worth mentioning. I’m truly thankful to understand things better now. It’ll make my university experience much simpler.”

  “How so?” Logan asked.

  I didn’t want to air this before the two men. They were Macen’s friends, his fellow pack mates. Shame rose in me as heat engulfed my cheeks. Did they know about the crypt last night?

  They had to if Stacy did.

  “I’d rather not discuss this.”

  “Very well,” Lane replied. He cut a wedge of pancake off and shoved it into his mouth. Chewing for a few, he swallowed. “We’ll discuss it when Macen arrives.”

  Stacy growled. “He has more important things to deal with than this freak. It’s an insult she’s even here. She isn’t pack.”

  “Get that tone around me again, bitch wolf, and you won’t be pack, either.” Lane slammed his coffee down. “Unless you want your next meal coming from a straw, I’d advise you all to sit here like the cute, meek, and silent little pack we wish for every night.”

  “Told you those wet dreams of yours would disappoint,” Logan commented. “Now, where were we? Oh, yes. What is this culture you have learned?”

  “An Alpha’s duty is to his pack. Any extension of that protection and care to an outside person is a gift—one which shouldn’t be taken advantage of long term. I believe that summarizes my lesson quite succinctly.”

  “Unsuccinct it for us, babe,” Lane leaned in to whisper in my ear. “A couple of the bitches across the table need shit dumbed down. Think of it like a mama bird chewing food, then puking it back up to feed them. You can do it.”

  “That’s disgusting,” Van said as she pushed her tray away.

  No kidding. I swallowed the bile in my throat and accepted the grim reality I wasn’t getting out of here without exposing my shame to the table yet again. Embarrassment crept within me.

  “I am merely a project—a charity case, if you will. Macen is a kind Alpha who also cares for and protects needy, defective people like me. What happened at Temple and the crypt was him feeling sorry for me. I shouldn’t expect it to happen again.”

  There. I’d ripped the bandage off. I could ignore the burning pain and the itching shame pulsating within me. I inhaled the tension in the air as the two men beside me dropped their forks.

  “At least we know where you skulked off to last night. You followed them. That’s pathetic, Stacy, even for you,” Logan said.

  Footsteps thudded up the stairs and my oh shit meter went nuclear red. Macen squeezed my shoulders. His voice was low and growly like liquid velvet across my skin. “Do you believe that shit, Riles?”

  I didn’t want to, but the truth settled in my belly like a heavy, scratchy monster. I was nothing to him. We’d just met yesterday. He pitied me.

  I swallowed my tears and bowed my head as far as I could, hoping the guys beside me couldn’t see the tears dropping from my eyes.

  “Out.” The booming order came from behind me, a malevolent rage which rumbled through me.

  This wasn’t good. I wanted invisibility, the anonymity I was accustomed to. Taking a deep breath, I focused on trying to handle the situation, the man before me. “Macen, please. You have better things to deal with. We’ll talk about this later.”

  I heard people racing down the stairs. The seats beside me scraped along the floor when the guys stood.

  “We’ll sentry at the bottom.” Lane and Logan headed down.

  My heart beat wildly when I was lifted from my chair and set on the table. I didn’t want to look at him, was terrified of what I’d see. Yet a part of me needed the contact, the awareness to finally sink in.

  I was drowning in my fear of what last night meant. Had it meant nothing? Did I deserve for it to be anything beyond a good time?

  Chapter Five

  Macen

  What the fuck?

  If I didn’t know better, I’d swear Riles was trying to piss me off with over-the-top melodramatic bullshit, which was more Stacy’s style. No telling what the bitch had said to unravel the bonding thread Riles and I had woven last night.

  I’d spent most of the morning dealing with drama because someone had called in a complaint about me offering Riles a place in our wolf pack. My fucking wolf pack.

  It may be a shit campus in the middle of nowhere, but every wolf here was mine to handle and take care of. I took pride in being a decent Alpha for them. The call pissed me the fuck off.

  And now this.

  I couldn’t handle chicks crying. My dad would’ve knocked Riles upside the head and told her to calm the fuck down. I’d be fucking damned if I was my old man.

  “You’re killing me, sweetheart.” I drew her into my embrace, ignoring the tension in her shoulders and the way she held her arms between us, protectively covering her face.

  Her shoulders shook as she silently broke down. Mother fucker.

  I wanted to charge down the stairs and shake Stacy until I knew what I was dealing with, but I’d heard enough to establish the terrain. That bitch was predictable if nothing else.

  I took a chance the sweet submissive little minx I’d had on my Harley the night before was there, buried beneath the layers of bullshit she’d been f
ed this morning. Tugging on her head firmly, I growled in her ear, low and long, until I felt the tension flow from her.

  She shivered within my embrace, her arms falling between us. Blood surged to my cock. “You with me again, Riles?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t want you to speak. We clear?” When I felt her nod, I sighed into her ear, and let a few moments pass. Holding her made me want to spread her out on this table and feast on her.

  “I don’t give a shit what you heard or what went down here. All you need to know is I want you. I want you so fucking bad, Riles, all I can think about is stripping you bare and burying my dick in you so hard and deep you feel me in your throat. I’m a dominant son of a bitch, but you bring out a part of me I haven’t unleashed. Ever.”

  Her pulse quickened beneath my lips. Her breathing became ragged against my ear. My dick hardened, and I couldn’t help but pull forward on her ass until my hard length rubbed between her legs.

  “Fucking Christ, I want to fuck you hard and long right here, so my whole pack hears you howl my name. I want this sweet pussy of yours seizing and gripping my dick when we come.”

  She fisted my shirt and gasped softly as her hips bucked against me.

  “Is your sweet pussy wet for me, Riles?”

  “Yes.”

  Fuck it. “Lean back and brace your hands above your head on the edge of the table.”

  “W-why?” She obeyed even as she questioned me. I didn’t deserve her complete trust, but she gave it to me anyway.

  I wanted to carry her to my room, but we’d never make it there. I wanted to bury myself deep in her, but she deserved better than a roll on a cafeteria table.

  I wasn’t about to let my girl roam around campus this needy. Hell no.

  I unzipped her pants and gently drew the denim material and her little white panties down from her hips. I loved the fullness there; she’d feel good beneath me when we were in the depths of passion.

  “Macen, we can’t.”

  I leaned down and brushed my lips across hers, licking until she opened her mouth. She was sweeter than I’d remembered and so responsive my wolf surfaced, rumbling just beneath my skin.

  He wanted to claim her, bite and mark her until everyone accepted she was mine. He was the most brilliant mother fucker around, but she deserved better than a quick romp on a cafeteria table.

  My wolf would have to wait for his happy ending.

  Right now was about Riles.

  She relaxed beneath me. Her skin was warm when I explored beneath her top, pausing long enough to pay homage to those gorgeous tits. They spilled over my palms. Fuck, I loved curvy women.

  She swallowed my growl with a hungry kiss that made my dick swell in my pants. I ground against her, grabbing her hips until she stilled. I’d forgotten she was bare below the waist until her wet heat coated my fingers.

  I severed the kiss, licking and nibbling a path down her body until my mouth was there. Her ache for me matched mine for her. A small gasp escaped her as I spread her folds and licked.

  Her fingers wound in my hair. The dominant in me wanted to put them back, but I liked the way she clawed at me, pressing until my tongue was buried in her wet heat. I rubbed her clit until she was writhing.

  I’d never get enough of my Riles.

  Mine.

  My wolf remained within striking distance as I licked and nipped her to the edge of release. Not burying my dick in her was the hardest thing I’d ever done, but I wanted her to know she was more than a quick romp.

  Words were shit compared to proof. I intended to spend every waking moment proving that to her. I wanted her release on my tongue, in my mouth, so I could taste her all day. Her soft, panting moans had grown more intense. Louder.

  I growled and rose to claim her mouth. Her eyes flew open, no doubt because she was startled to taste herself. The act was raunchy and the sexiest fucking kiss I’d ever shared. She worked her body against my hand, her clit striking my thumb with each movement.

  Our gazes locked, and I swallowed her cries of release as though they were my own. Her arms wrapped around me as I deepened the kiss until we were both gasping for air.

  If dudes were supposed to be cool about sex afterward, I was about to turn in my man card because that was the hottest thing I’d done. I grimaced when I realized I was still possessively gripping her hair.

  I rose, releasing her completely. “You okay?”

  “Y-Yeah.” She smiled at me, a sexy pink appearing on her cheeks. Cuter than hell. “You?”

  “I’ll live.” That was still being decided. I could break boards with my dick because it was so hard, but she didn’t need to know that. I basked in her innocent smile.

  I was king of the fucking world right now.

  She straightened her clothing and cleared her throat nervously. “Wow. That was unexpected.”

  “Riles.” I cupped her face and waited for her gaze to dart to mine. “I won’t apologize for what we just did. Like I said, I’m not a good man. The next time we’re alone, I’m going to have you. All of you.”

  She nodded.

  “Now I’m going to have Van take you back to Ruger unless you have somewhere else you need to be. You ready for your first day tomorrow? You got enough supplies and stuff?”

  She didn’t have shit. I’d seen the pathetic suitcase the fucker had left her with. I’d seen the thirty bucks and change.

  “I’ll be fine.”

  “Van will help you pull some stuff from our stock. We’ve got truckloads of shit which never gets used because families keep donating it to our hall for their kids.”

  “I couldn’t possibly impose.”

  “I’m only saying this once, sweetheart. You’re mine, which means you’re pack as far as I’m concerned, and I don’t give a rat’s ass what anyone says. I take care of my own.”

  She nodded.

  I hated leaving her alone. Spending the day with her would go a long way to taming my wolf, but shit was hitting the fan in a big way, and I didn’t want her to know I was neck deep in it because of her.

  We made our way downstairs. Van waved from across the room. I kissed Riles on the forehead. Hopefully, Van would behave and be a good ally for her. I’d have to set Stacy’s shit from today straight at some point, but I didn’t have time for childish drama right now.

  I didn’t know Riles was on the menu this morning, or I would’ve placed my order.

  I shoved Lane against the wall and allowed my wolf to lurch forward in my voice. “Touch her, and you die.”

  Well, that went well. Logan headed toward the door. I told your dumb ass to stay out of it.

  That’s the table I eat on, Lane grumbled.

  Please. You got more pussy up there than most humans get their whole lives. Don’t pull the grossed out bullshit with me. I wasn’t in the mood.

  “So, what now?” Logan asked when we got outside.

  “We find out what ROAR has learned.”

  “Sort of early, isn’t it? They haven’t even had a full day.”

  “Can’t handle her being there for long, man.”

  “I heard about the challenge,” Lane stated.

  “Fuck the challenge. Fuck Diego. This isn’t about him. I want her in my hall. In my bed.”

  “Let’s get to it, then,” Logan said.

  We made our way to the restricted portion of Wolf Hall. Taking a few moments before I reamed Stacy would be smart, but I came from a long line of hotheads, and I was about to channel every last one of those dead motherfuckers.

  The office was an archaic throwback to a different era—one where packs trembled before their Alphas, and female Alphas would never pull half the shit Stacy had. I was all for women’s liberation and empowering the pack, but I was envious of the dude whose picture stared at me from the wall.

  Elias Cumberland. The first Alpha Wolf Hall leader over one hundred years ago. I stared at the picture a few moments, wondering what I should do about this cluster fuck. While I wanted to r
ip into Stacy, I recognized her role within the pack. This whole situation was a prime example of why these so-called university packs were screwed up.

  She was supposed to be the Alpha female simply because she was voted in. Translation? My wolf was supposed to fully embrace her as my partner in all ways because she steamrolled herself over everyone three years ago when we were a bunch of strangers who made unilateral decisions with four-year repercussions.

  Totally fucked up.

  I sensed Logan and Lane behind me before a cloud of vanilla stench engulfed me. My body recoiled as warmth settled at my back and hands wrapped around my waist. Stacy pawed at me, running her hands across my chest and down my stomach southward to the remnants of my encounter with Riles.

  “Don’t touch me.” The feral growl drew her back, and for once, I was thankful for my wolf’s bluntness.

  I turned, allowing my rage to loom between us in a thick wave of disgust. She was a lot of things—a maniacal, self-absorbed bitch most days—but she wasn’t stupid.

  “I don’t understand all these pathetic little causes you take up, Macen. Really. You have more than enough to handle with this pack, not to mention your family’s issues.”

  “Don’t mention my family again.”

  “I’m supposed to be your lead female. It’s my duty to help, listen to your problems.” She approached, resting her hand on my chest. “To do whatever you need me to.”

  “What I need is for you to stay the hell out of my business and back the hell off Riles.”

  “She’s not pack.” Anger flared within her gaze when she stepped away.

  “Back off.”

  “You can’t control what I do with freaks like her. She’s. Not. Pack.”

  I grabbed her hair and flipped her around, bending her over the desk. My wolf snarled and nipped beneath the surface when her wolf surfaced in her moan. “This is what you want, isn’t it? You want me to bend you over, strip you down, and mount you right here in front of Logan and Lane. You probably want them to join in.”

  Her ass rubbed against my limp dick. Jesus, I couldn’t stand this bitch.

  I waited until she stilled beneath me. “If you do anything to her, or have any of your little pack go near her, I will make sure none of this pack will ever fuck you again. We clear?”