Fire & Gasoline: A Shifter Romance (Audax Pack Book 1)

by Colette Rhodes

  This was supposed to be my college experience. My brief reprieve from the life of duty and responsibility that was waiting for me. Fates, I could have just stayed at home with my pack if I was going to spend all my time holed up inside watching movies.

  “Come on, man,” Miles admonished, emerging from his room to find me sprawled out on the couch in sweatpants and an old t-shirt.

  “Are you going out?” I asked, taking in his dark jeans and fresh shirt.

  “Yes. You should be too,” he replied, giving my sweatpants the side-eye. “It’s another PKI party, maybe she’ll be there.”

  “Then I’m definitely not risking it,” I said with a shrug, flicking through the TV channels to find something decent to watch.

  “She’s your mate, not the enemy. Aren’t you at least a little curious about her? Her name? What she’s like? What she looks like? You kind of have a type, you know. Specifically, tanned women with long dark hair. And you’re definitely an ass man,” Miles mused. “I wonder if the Fates paired you with a mate who looks like that? She might have guys lined up around the block for all you know.”

  “The fuck did you just say?” I growled, sitting up on the couch ready to pounce.

  “Just stating facts. You can’t really get all possessive over her if you’re not interested in her.” Miles shrugged, and I contemplated adding a blood splatter to that nice, clean shirt he had on.

  “She is mine,” I grumbled.

  “Not yet. Maybe not ever. I’ll tell you if I see her out tonight, though,” Miles called over his shoulder as he headed out of the front door.

  “Text me if you see her! Straight away!” I yelled as the door closed. Dick. I was going to give him a refresher course about respectful Alpha-Beta relations one of these days.

  I flopped back on the couch and threw my arms over my face. In my quest to never think about my mystery mate, I had avoided thinking about her dating, but Miles had just taken that luxury away from me.

  Would she?

  No female on the planet smelled as good as she did. Without even seeing her face, I’d been put off by other women simply by their scent. Surely it would work the same way for her? Fuck, I’d been working on the assumption it worked the same way for her.

  She must have been able to scent me at that party. Why hadn’t she tried to track me down?

  Was she in love with someone else? Screwing them? Letting some other dude touch her? She was destined to be mine; the Fates created us for each other.

  Fucking Miles. Why’d he have to bring that shit up?

  I made some microwave popcorn, grabbed a beer from the fridge and settled on an old slasher film with zero romantic plotline to pass the time like the tragic fucker I was. I got through the whole movie before I resorted to messaging Miles.

  Archer:

  Is she there?

  Miles:

  Who?

  Archer:

  Don’t fuck with me. I am not in the mood.

  Miles:

  You don’t need to remind me. I live with your grumpy ass. No, she’s not at the party.

  Despite having zero right to feel relieved about that, I let out the breath I didn’t know I’d been holding. Three dots popped up as Miles started typing again.

  Miles:

  I picked up her scent at a house 5 minutes from here.

  Well, that would explain why I never saw her around. The PKI house was on the other side of campus where all the liberal arts classes were, I never spent any time there. Was she an arts student? That didn’t make any sense, I should have been able to pick up traces of her scent around campus if she lived around here.

  Fucking Miles. My curiosity about her was burning hotter than ever.

  Miles:

  Want me to check it out tomorrow?

  Archer:

  No. I’ll go.

  I went to bed for another restless night, knowing I’d just given Miles exactly what he wanted. It couldn’t hurt to look

  ✽✽✽

  Miles was still asleep at nine am when I hauled my ass out of bed, intent on solving the mystery of my supposed mate. Without asking, he’d come back from the party at three am and slid into my bed. He was a good Beta and an excellent friend because I had seriously needed the physical contact. Usually I could go for long stretches without it, but my wolf was acting like he was in mourning and having pack mates around eased it a little.

  I drove to the house Miles had described and sat in the truck, pretending to look at my phone so I didn’t look like a total stalker. After an hour of nothing, the front door opened and my heart stopped beating for a solid second. A tall black guy with glasses and headphones on emerged, speaking into the phone he was holding up in front of him. Was he her boyfriend? Why did she live with some human kid?

  I cracked the window of the truck as he walked past.

  “I’m on my way now, but I can only cover for, like, two hours tops. I have class later. Fucking Ella.” I picked up the faintest notes of a feminine voice, chastising him through his headphones. “Are you staying in again tonight? I’m down for more of those chicken enchiladas if you’re in the mood for cooking again.” His laughter trailed off as he moved further away from the truck.

  Was he talking to her?

  It couldn’t hurt to see where he was going. He was walking. It couldn’t be too far. I’m pretty sure it wasn’t stalking if I only followed him for a few minutes.

  Was he her boyfriend?

  I didn’t relish the idea of dismembering some human college kid, but shit. I might have to.

  I waited until he’d rounded the corner before starting up the truck and following him as discreetly as I could from a distance. He walked for around ten minutes, letting himself into a small, trendy coffee shop on the edge of the liberal arts part of the campus. I parked in the car park out front, getting as close to the enormous glass window as I dared.

  She wouldn’t be able to scent me while I was in the truck, but if she locked eyes on me, she’d know. Because I sure as fuck knew. There was no doubt in my mind which of the three girls behind the counter was my mate.

  Her golden brown skin was soft, perfect, lickable. She had huge, pouty lips that I wanted to sink my teeth into. Her black silken hair that must come down to her waist, though it was currently braided over one shoulder.

  It would look perfect wrapped around my fist.

  Her blunt bangs were long enough to touch her long, curly eyelashes that framed big, almost golden, doe eyes with hidden depths.

  She presented a relaxed, non-threatening front, but I could see the darkness that lurked behind her eyes. The fire that burned hot under her skin. She was the fire to my gasoline and when we finally came together, we would combust and burn down everything around us. It would be fucking magnificent.

  She moved out from behind the enormous coffee machine and I swallowed my groan. Fuck. Me. Curvy in all the right places. She moved with an innate sensuality that spoke to me on a cellular level. Game over. There’d never be another woman for me.

  I was hanging over the steering wheel, probably panting like a dog. The large tree on the sidewalk threw some shade over my windshield, disguising me a little, but I’d been here too long, probably drawing attention to myself. Indecision warred within me, rooting me to the spot.

  I had seen her, but she hadn’t seen me. The bond had deepened on my end. It wouldn’t just be her scent haunting me now, I don’t know that I’d be able to close my eyes without seeing that exquisite face.

  She was approaching the front door with a tray of food in her hand, moving towards some customers in the outdoor seating area. Panicking, I ducked down, pretending to look for something in the footwell on the passenger side.

  Fates, if my pack could see me now. There’s no way they’d be looking at me as their future Alpha, that’s for sure.

  I glanced up in time to see her perfect heart-shaped ass swaying back into the shop and let out a long breath. Once she was safely back behind the counter with the
double doors closed behind her, I chanced cracking the window a little to see if I could pick up her scent.

  Weirdly, it had been stronger around her house. Strange, considering she was here right now, and presumably spent a lot of time here if this was her job. There was an unwelcome lavender note to the faint traces of her natural jasmine aroma I could pick up. Maybe she was covering her scent on purpose? It was the most logical explanation, but also… odd. I’d never heard of a shifter doing that before.

  I didn’t know any lone shifters either, though. They probably didn’t want to draw attention to themselves.

  My fingers toyed indecisively with my key chain. If I walked away now, I’d be making the conscious decision to put this off, to put her off, to delay the inevitable. Was there any point? My wolf wouldn’t let me rest until I claimed her if I walked away now.

  Mine.

  Fuck. I was more than just base instincts. I could fight this. I wanted a normal college experience before a lifetime shackled to my Alpha responsibilities.

  Why did she have to come here?

  What the fuck kind of future Luna worked at a coffee shop, anyway? If she was a dominant wolf living among humans, she could do anything. Be anything. She’d attract them to her like flies to honey. Maybe the fates had got it wrong. She was beautiful, sure, but not right for me. She couldn’t be.

  Fighting every instinct in my body that told me to storm in there, walk behind the counter, grab the girl and throw her over my shoulder, I turned the key in the ignition and reversed out of the parking lot.

  The howl of my wolf rang in my ears, haunting me all the way back to my house.

  ✽✽✽

  Weeks. Nine weeks to be precise. The weather had turned cold; the sky was getting dark earlier each day, and still I hid in my truck, watching. Monitoring her. Being a fucking coward.

  It was a good thing my professors instinctively wanted to please me, because I’d spent far more time studying this woman than I had studying for my exams. I could describe the exact way her brow furrowed when she was annoyed, the way her shoulders tensed when the humans she worked with fawned over her too much, the absurdly sexy way her plush lips turned up in amusement.

  I couldn’t remember a single question from any of my exams.

  For months, I’d watched the most beautiful woman I’d ever laid eyes on leave work from afar. She finished her shift at four pm every weekday and trudged through the cold for ten minutes or so back to the house she shared with three humans.

  How did she cope living with them? The noise must be deafening for her sensitive ears. Plus, the smell would be nauseating. Human cleaning products and cosmetics were suffocating.

  She’d be much more comfortable at my place.

  Focus, Archer. This is not why you’re here.

  Honestly, I didn’t know why I was here.

  My beautiful enigma wrapped her arms around her middle and shivered slightly. I stifled the low grumble in my chest. Shifters ran hot but even I was in a wool coat today. Why was she wearing a hoodie? She had boots on, but they weren’t snow boots. I doubted they were even waterproof.

  Why wasn’t she taking care of herself? I could take care of her.

  Infuriated with both her and myself, I started the truck and drove back to the house, slamming the front door behind me. I may not be ready to claim her yet, but I’d never be able to if she froze to death before then.

  “What’s the emergency?” Miles asked, emerging from his room and looking at me like I’d lost my mind.

  “She needs a proper jacket,” I grumbled, dropping to the couch and pulling my laptop out of my bag. I’d have to order her something. If I picked it up in person, my scent would be all over it.

  “She?” Miles asked as he sat down at the other end of the couch, looking amused which only irritated me more.

  “My fated mate,” I gritted out.

  “Wren.”

  “I’m not sure now is the best moment to take an interest in bird watching, Miles,” I snapped, opening my laptop with a little more force than necessary.

  “Her name, man. Wren Marques. Your fated mate.”

  “How the fuck do you know that?” I growled, slamming the lid shut again and turning to glare at my best friend. “Did you talk to her?”

  “Of course not,” Miles replied, looking offended. “I bumped into one of her roommates, Ella, at Barson and flirted a little to get some information. You know, did some digging to learn who your fated mate is and where she came from. Like a Beta would do,” he emphasized with an unapologetic shrug. “She’s our future Luna, after all.”

  I sighed, flopping back against the couch cushions and staring up at the ceiling. Wren. The name suited her. It was unique, distinctive. Just like her.

  “You don’t know she’s our future Luna.”

  “You’re going to give her up?” Miles asked, alarmed.

  “No,” I groused, not explaining any further.

  “You know if you keep this up much longer, she might give you up,” he pointed out, like he had a fucking death wish.

  “She’s made no attempt to approach me, so I’d say she’s just fine with the way things are.”

  Miles snorted dismissively. "She is your fated mate. Maybe she's as weird about relationships as you are."

  I had a sudden urge to punch him in the face to defend her honor or some shit. This whole mates thing was a head trip.

  "Did you find out anything else about her?"

  "She's kind of a mystery. No social media profiles, nothing online. Unless she goes by a different name, she's not a student at the college either. I'm going to have to dig deeper a lot to find out anything about this girl."

  “Dig deeper then,” I affirmed, opening my laptop again now I had calmed down a little. It wasn’t so weird that she didn’t have a big online presence, a lot of shifters avoided anything overtly human, though it was strange she worked with humans if that was the case. That she wasn’t a student had surprised me. Why else would she have to come to Carson if not to attend the school?

  I pulled up a retailer that did priority deliveries and searched through their womenswear section. I'd never imagined myself buying clothes for a girl. Definitely never thought I'd enjoy it. Picking out something for Wren was far more fun than I expected it to be.

  I settled on a long, waterproof down jacket that would be perfect for winter. My mouse hovered over the plain black, but the dark green caught my eye. I didn’t know much about Wren, but she was almost always wearing green.

  I placed an order to have it delivered to her house, marking the item as a gift and using a fake name. She could probably do some investigative work if she wanted to, but I figured it was a lower risk than putting my scent on it.

  “Do you want to go for a run?” Miles asked hesitantly, hovering by the front door.

  I shook my head. “He’ll go straight to her.”

  Miles gave me a look that clearly said would that be such a bad thing? I ignored him again, closing my laptop and moving to the fridge to grab a beer.

  “I’m going. I’ll keep an eye out for you,” he called quietly over his shoulder, letting himself out. He’d keep an eye on her for me. Because she was all I could think about. My greatest fear, my biggest weakness, and the hottest goddamn woman I’d ever seen. Wren.

  I groaned, rolling the cold bottle of beer over my face. I was several shades of fucked.

  Chapter 6

  Wren

  New Email: Heather Marques

  I stared down at the phone in my hand in surprise. In the two years since I’d left the Azymus Pack, I’d never heard from anyone. Especially not my parents. I’d emailed them once, way back in Santa Cruz, and never heard a thing. Their silence had been expected, but it still stung.

  Their rejection was like a niggling pain in the back of my head that I couldn’t shake. If my own parents couldn't love me, it didn’t bode well for my chances with anyone else.

  I pulled the coffee pot off the stove and turned m
y attention to frothing the milk for my macchiato. Whatever my mother had to say, I was certain I’d need coffee to help me deal.

  I took a long sip of the liquid gold, and with a heavy sense of trepidation, opened the email.

  From: Heather Marques

  Wren,

  The Alpha Heir to Benedictus Pack has come of age and is still unmated. He and his father are willing to attribute your initial refusal to a youthful error in judgment.

  Alpha Mercer expects you back on Azymus Pack territory within the week to arrange the details of your mating.

  Regards,

  Heather Marques

  Fates, who signed off their emails to their own kids with their full name?

  I reread the email a few times, my smile growing wider and wider each time. Soon my body was shaking with laughter, and I took a few calming breaths because I doubted my roommates would appreciate me peeing my pants in the middle of the kitchen.

  Were they fucking serious with this? Zero contact for two years. Zilch. Nada. I’d made a whole new life for myself all on my own, traveled hundreds of miles, defended myself against shifters whose territory I strayed too close to, made a career for myself. They really thought they could just summon me back to mate with some random wolf after all this time?

  It wasn’t entirely surprising. Alpha Mercer would want the prestige of arranging a mating to a future Alpha. It would automatically result in a stronger alliance between the two packs and the potential to arrange more matings between lower-ranked pack members. Many wolves in the Azymus Pack were unmated well into their thirties because the Alpha struggled to find enough compatible packs to arrange pairings with. Paradigm packs. It was a weird, elitist system that kept submissive wolves reliant on their Alpha, and the further I got away from it, the more convinced I was it was a cult.

  Even if I were lonely and desperate enough to take them up on their offer, it wouldn’t work out quite as nicely as Alpha Mercer wanted because I’d do everything in my power to turn the Benedictus Pack and all of their allies against him.