Carter had gone still and when I looked down at her, I found that she was staring up at me wide eyed in fear. She blinked it away as soon as she saw my confused expression, but I’d clearly seen fear. It was too late to take it back.
I pushed the older man away, lightly, and shook my head. “You’re an asshole.”
Muddy appeared and took charge right away. She glared at me and at the older couple, but her hand on Carter’s shoulder was gentle. “Mr. and Mrs. Manus. It seems that you two are at the root of a lot of trouble around here. Please meet me at the front desk so we can discuss your stay here. Mr. Patterson, I believe your fiancée is waiting on you at your table.”
I all but snarled at her. Squatting next to Carter, I studied my mate, unable to get the image of her frightened face out of my head. “You okay?”
Her cheeks burned red as she nodded. “Sure. Sorry to interrupt your meal. The mess will be cleaned up in just a bit.”
On cue, Chelsie’s red stilettos appeared under my nose. “Let’s go, Bay-bee. We’ve got things to do today. Starting with a little adult play time in the sheets upstairs in our room.” She used a grotesque sing-songy voice for the last part.
If I hadn’t been focused intently, I might’ve missed the way Carter’s fingers tightened around the glass pieces she held. The light scent of her blood assaulted my nose. Chelsie was tugging my arm, but I yanked free and focused on Carter. My mate was hurt, bleeding. I reached for her, but she turned on me, emitting a vicious snarl.
“Go!” Her eyes were no longer blue, but the golden-yellow hue of her bear.
I wanted to ignore my mate’s demand to leave, but she looked as though she was ready to shift right there if I angered her any further. I didn’t know what else to do. I let Chelsie pull me to my feet and away from Carter and a still glaring Muddy.
13
Alec
My skin was crawling. Sitting in the chair in our room, I watched Chelsie prance back and forth in front of me, chastising me about how it had looked when I’d helped Carter. I didn’t hear her. I was overwhelmed with a slew of new emotions. Concern. Worry. Yearning. Devotion. The fear I’d seen on Carter’s face alarmed me. Was she afraid of me? She hadn’t been afraid the night before. Had my display of anger frightened her?
I didn’t like the idea of any of that. Had someone given her a reason to be afraid? If so, I’d kill them.
Chelsie stopped and stood in front of me, her hands on her hips. “Are you even listening?”
“Yes.” No.
“I know you’re not interested in that fat, clumsy waitress. You can’t be. You and I aren’t even in the same class as her.”
I growled before I could help it and rose to my feet. “Same class? What the hell does that mean? We’re not in high school.”
“Social class, Alec. She’s a maid. Can you even imagine her rubbing elbows with the people in our circles? It would be hysterical.” She flipped her hair behind her shoulder and blew out a breath. “Let’s not fight, Bay-bee. We have things to accomplish today.”
The sensation of my skin crawling increased until I was ready to claw my flesh off. “What do we have to do?”
Problems forgotten for the moment, she grabbed her phone and scrolled through it. “We’re finding this waterfall today.” She waved it under my nose, but I had no desire to look. We’re going to have a picture taken in front of it. All the sorority sisters and their fiancés have taken this same picture. We’re only here for a few more days and I want to go ahead and get this one out of the way.”
“About that. We’re going to need to wrap this trip up and head back early.” I looked at my briefcase and thought of using work as an excuse again. I couldn’t exactly tell her that I’d found my mate and could barely stomach being with her anymore. “I have some urgent business I need to take care of back home.”
“Don’t even think about it, Alec. We’re not leaving this place until we have every snapshot for the album. Every. One. Whatever it is can wait two more days. If you need me to, I’ll call Daddy and ask him to help you out.”
There it was again. Another veiled threat. Until I figured out how to end our engagement diplomatically, the best thing to do might be to not enrage Chelsie.
“Let’s get moving then.” I sighed. The faster the better. “Let me get changed and then we can head out.”
Maybe I could use the next couple days to get Chelsie questioning our engagement herself? That could work. Make her think it was her idea to end it.
“Change out of those jeans. You’ll need to be in a shirt and tie.” Again with the fucking demands. Did she think I was a fucking lap dog?
I opened the closet and pulled out a collared shirt before stripping out of my T-shirt and tossing it on the floor. I looked down at it and envisioned Carter having to come into the room to pick it up. I bent down to grab it.
Before I could put it anywhere, Chelsie was behind me with her arms wrapped around my waist. Her skin was chilly against mine and her hands moved quickly down to my belt. “We could always stay in for a bit.”
I turned towards her and caught her hands. “I thought you wanted to get your pictures.”
She stretched up and pressed her lips to my neck. “Our pictures. They can wait for a teensie bit.”
I tried to gently edge away from her, but she was determined. She sank her teeth into the side of my neck and sucked hard. I jerked away from her. “What the fuck, Chelsie?”
She wiped her mouth and smiled. “Now everyone will know that you’re taken.”
I moved to the mirror over the dresser and looked. Sure enough, there was a mark. A big, bold one, made worse by her lipstick. I rubbed at it and scowled at her. “That’s fucked up.”
She just shrugged and grabbed her bag. “Get your shirt on. We need to head out already. I want to stop and grab a coffee.” I stared at her in mild disgust.
I dressed quickly and as I left the room tying my tie, I mentally calculated how much money I’d lose if I killed the deal with her father. I was angry, but my wolf was livid. At me. His anger wasn’t misplaced. But, to him things were simple, and I was making a mess of it. Things were not so simple in the human world.
As if on cue, Chelsie snorted and drew my attention to Carter standing at the bottom of the stairs with Muddy. Carter’s arms held a pile of folded sheets. It looked as if she was being removed from the dining room.
Her eyes traveled up the stairs at the sound of Chelsie’s snort and her face flushed. She watched as Chelsie wrapped her hand around my arm and I saw the exact second Carter spotted the bite mark on my neck. She jerked away from Muddy and disappeared in the direction of the back of the house.
Muddy looked up at me and her sharp gaze saw everything at once. Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest. “Mr. Patterson. Ms. Dames.”
Chelsie grinned and tightened her hold on my arm. “We’re going to be out for a few hours. Please have our room cleaned.”
Muddy’s eyes flashed a bright yellow, but thankfully, Chelsie missed it. “Enjoy your time out. I’ll have it taken care of for you.”
I wanted to follow my mate, explain what my situation was, but I couldn’t. It would have to wait. Too much was at stake to piss Chelsie off. So, I did what I had to do. I tucked my tail between my legs and followed Chelsie. Like a fucking lap dog.
Walking down Main Street through Helen’s Corner, I felt an odd but soothing peace envelop me. Things were calm and welcoming in the strange little town.
I passed an empty storefront and stopped to stare. Chelsie kept walking, talking on the phone to a girlfriend. I cupped my hands around my eyes and peered into the huge picture window. The large, vacant space beyond was dusty but had potential. A small cardboard sign at the bottom of the window boasted that it was for sale by a motivated seller for a reasonable price. It gave me an idea.
I jotted the number down and tilted my head to take in a deep breath of late summer air. I’d fucked things up with Carter, but I’d fix it. M
y plan was to get the damned pictures as fast as possible, get out of town, break it off with Chelsie, and then high tail it back to Helen’s Corner and claim my mate.
I’d beg forgiveness. I’d make it up to my mate that she had to wait a few days for me to iron things out. I didn’t like the idea of Carter being uncomfortable, but it wasn’t as though I’d known beforehand that I’d run into my mate on my engagement trip. Hell, I’d never expected to find a mate at all. Or take an engagement trip. This would all work out, though. I’d make it work.
A bitter, acrid scent caused me to stop walking. I turned back and then took off running before I’d even fully processed what I was smelling. Smoke. Coming from the direction of the bed and breakfast.
When I got closer, I spotted a couple people rushing out the front door. I didn’t see Carter. My heart rose in my throat and beat double time as I charged into the hazy, smoke-filled house. Barging through the door into the kitchen, I spotted the fire climbing the back wall behind the stove and Carter standing across from it, her eyes wide.
I grabbed her around the waist and yanked her back several feet away from it as I looked around for a fire extinguisher. I found it adhered to the back wall, and quickly doused the flames, putting out the fire.
I dropped the extinguisher, letting it clank against the tiled floor, and looked Carter over for injury. She was clutching a frying pan, but she wasn’t hurt. Her eyes were still wide and she looked like she was in shock.
The relief I felt was so immense that I shook as I dragged her into my arms and pressed my lips to hers. I could’ve lost her so easily. She could’ve died and I never would’ve held her again. I cupped her head and kissed her deeper. I had to make this situation right. Before I lost her.
Just as quickly as I’d started kissing her, a crashing pain shot across the side of my head, sending me stumbling backwards. I cupped my head in my hand and looked for the cause of the blow. We were alone.
“What the fuck?”
Carter, still holding onto the frying pan, glared at me. “Don’t you dare kiss me like I belong to you, Mr. Patterson. You’re still just a stranger and an engaged one, at that. Go back to your fiancée and then the two of you crawl back to wherever you came from.”
I watched in complete surprise as she slammed the pan down on the counter and then strode out of the room leaving me reeling and harder than hell. My mate could play rough.
14
Carter
I stared at the blackened kitchen wall and shook my head again. I’d been doing the same thing for almost an hour, despite the fire fighters coming in and out and Muddy pacing back and forth shaking her head, too. I’d nearly gotten myself killed. The fire had grown taller and taller while I just stood in front of it, staring like an open-mouthed idiot.
“The wall behind the sheetrock is flame retardant. Nothing else will be damaged. Once I change it out and do some heavy-duty cleaning, we’ll be good as new. We’ll be up and going again in no time.” Muddy sighed. “I’m sorry, Carter.”
I frowned. “It was an accident.”
“The grease fire was an accident. Running out of here in a panic wasn’t. I hate fire, yes. But, I just left you standing there.”
I snorted, unable to stifle the sound. “You’d think someone had dropped you in a pond.”
She frowned even harder, her nose crinkling. “Is that a cat joke?”
“If the purr fits.” I grabbed a pair of gloves and looked around. “What first?”
“No, I’ve got a crew coming in. You get the rest of the day off, since I almost killed you and all.”
“It was my fault, too. You started it, but I just stood there watching it. I could’ve let the whole place go up in flames while I just stood here, frozen in fear.”
“It scares the hell out of me to think of what could’ve happened if shit-for-brains hadn’t run in here when he did.” Muddy grabbed my arms and pulled me in for a hug. “It wasn’t your fault, though. Go home. Go shopping. Go out to eat. I don’t care. Just go. I’ll have tomorrow’s breakfast for the guests catered. Hey, you get time off, like you wanted.”
The idea of being at home alone didn’t appeal to me, though, after all. I didn’t know if I could handle being alone with my bear and my thoughts. I looked at her with a pleading expression, but she just pointed to the doorway.
“Out.”
“Fine. I want to get Jellybean a welcome home gift, anyway.”
“You were just talking about how much stuff she has. Besides, she won’t be home for a while. Just go home and rest.”
I scowled at her once more before strolling out.
“Love you, too!”
I grunted without turning back and just kept walking. Getting away from the place wasn’t the worst idea. I could tell that Alec was lurking somewhere and no part of me wanted to run into that man again. Okay, that wasn’t true. A lot of parts of me wanted to run into him, but the sensible part knew to stay away. The last thing I needed was another self-centered, self-absorbed asshat walking all over me. Been there, done that.
And, Alec was proving to be quite the asshat. He had sex with me the night before and then came down the very next morning smelling like another woman and displaying her bite mark on his neck. In the exact spot where my bite mark should’ve gone!
My bear had been clawing at me so badly to shift and rip her throat out, that I had to take off running as soon as I saw it. The worst part was that it wasn’t her fault. He was her fiancé. She hadn’t done anything wrong. I had.
I really had to keep that man out of my life. Jellybean had survived her father’s mean, ugly spirit unscathed. She was still a bubbly, loving, happy little girl. I wanted her to stay that way. I was sure she could not go through another of my bad relationship choices without being affected.
That night, while I was wallowing in my misery, I was blessed with a surprise visit from Cannon, Matt, and Jellybean. I was so happy to see them that I cried. Jellybean crawled into the chair with me, shoved the bowl of ice cream that I was eating away, and planted a big kiss on my cheek. Cannon followed with a kiss to my other cheek while Matt sat down across from me with the content smile of a man who had it all.
“Surprise!”
I stuttered out words that didn’t make any sense and then squealed. “You’re all here!”
Cannon sank down next to Matt and grinned. “We’re here!”
I wrapped my arms around Jellybean and held her close until she wiggled away from me and ran towards her bedroom. “What are y’all doing here?”
Cannon made a face. “She wanted to see you and we had some time off. We wanted to surprise you, but we won’t stay for too long.”
“Suckers. You drove all the way here because she got homesick?”
Matt looked pained. “She cried. It was heart wrenching.”
I laughed and stood up to put my bowl away. “Sounds like a pint-sized princess has two full-grown men wrapped around her little finger. Come on. I’ll make snacks.”
Matt trailed gratefully. “Sweets. Any sweets will be appreciated.”
“I’m having some issues with the sweets lately…” I pulled sandwich stuff out of the fridge, knowing that Cannon was always ready to eat and assuming Matt was the same. “Everything I make sucks.”
“Not possible. You’re the best baker I’ve ever met. No sweets?” Matt looked like he’d lost his best friend.
Cannon held a perplexed expression. “What’s happening? You only go through bad baking episodes when shit’s hitting the fan in your life.”
I kept my back to Cannon and focused on making the sandwich. “Nothing’s happening. Mayo or mustard?”
Jellybean screamed from her bedroom, the excited shriek of a kid with a new toy. “You got me a new animal!”
“I thought you said no more toys?” Cannon narrowed his eyes, came around the counter and wrapped his arm around my shoulder. “Talk to me.”
I looked up at him, into his caring eyes, and knew that I couldn’t. I
was ashamed of what was happening. Once again, I was involved with a loser. Maybe Alec wasn’t going to physically abuse me, but he certainly wasn’t the loyal, devoted family-man type.
I was a magnet for men who didn’t, maybe couldn’t, truly love me. The heaviness in my chest was too much to share with Cannon. It hadn’t escaped my notice how many times he and Matt had smiled lovingly at one another in the short time since they’d arrived.
Instead, I shrugged and faked ignorance. “I don’t know, honestly. I think it’s just been stressful getting settled in and not having Jellybean. It’s not a big deal, though. I’ll adjust.”
Cannon pressed his lips to my forehead and blew a raspberry. “Liar, liar. That’s fine, though. You can tell me when you’re ready. I think we’ll stay tonight and then head up to Wild Water tomorrow with Jellybean, if that’s okay.”
“You think you’re up for a kid at an amusement park?”
He looked over at Matt with a goofy smile on his face. “Now’s our chance to find out.”
“You’re using my daughter as a test dummy?”
Matt grinned. “As if Jellybean would ever let anyone do that. That girl’s a force.”
I was thinking the same thing the next morning. My daughter and I went out early to find Cannon and Matt a gift for bringing her all the way back home just because she’d cried a little.
I wanted to call them weak, but I knew for a fact that when my girl wanted something bad enough to cry, it was hard not to give in. Her face was made of happiness and sunshine, it seemed. Sadness didn’t sit right on her.
We wandered from shop to shop, her picking out things she thought they’d like while I looked with a more discerning eye. Her “it’s-the-thought-that-counts” choices of rice, a candle that smelled like sage and butter, and handmade leather pants wouldn’t go completely unappreciated, but I wanted to get them something special.
Wolf Boss (She-Shifters of Hell's Corner Book 1) Page 6