A Handful of Wolf

by Sofia Grey

  *

  Megan needed to clear her head, to think. To make sense of what Dion had just said. His words swirled in her head like a tornado, sweeping up thoughts and feelings and smashing them into pieces. If it was true, if it’d all been a joke—another bet—then it hadn’t meant anything to Sasha. All his honeyed words had been just that. Case in point, look at how quickly he’d made up that story for Nessa and Lou. Her stomach churned and for a moment she thought she’d be sick. She had to get away.

  Ignoring her girls’ anxious gestures, she pushed back her chair and walked on unsteady legs away from the table. Nessa appeared by her side, one hand on her arm. “Megan—”

  “Don’t say it. Don’t say anything.” Nessa opened her mouth to speak and Megan shook her head. “I need a minute.” She meant to go to the bathroom, but could see the queue from here. The bar would suffice. She lurked in a slow moving queue for drinks, buying herself a few moments to collect her thoughts.

  One way or another he was a liar, and a very skilled one. Dion had no reason to make it up. What had he said to Sasha earlier? She racked her brains. Sasha had said to ignore him. Dear God, she’d been tricked again. What was it about her? Did she have Fuck Me For A Laugh tattooed on her forehead? Angry tears welled up and in desperation she tugged the scarf from her neck and used it to blot her eyes. She would not cry. Not here.

  Somebody nudged her shoulder and she looked up to a pair of bright blue eyes, startling in a dark skinned face. “You okay, miss?” The stranger gave her a kindly smile and she managed a tight nod in return. He looked like a student, tattooed and pierced, and skinny. They had to be colored contact lenses. Almost everyone in here had the same unearthly eyes.

  Megan took a quick breath. “I’m, uh, yeah. Thanks.” I’m falling apart. The man I thought I’d fallen in love with has been playing me for a fool. Maybe. There was still a chance that Dion had the details wrong, or had been making up a story of his own. It wasn’t plausible, not really feasible, but after what she’d shared with Sasha—and don’t forget the best sex ever—she owed him a chance to explain.

  Chapter 16

  Sasha needed to see Megan. The urge to hold her, to feel her melt against him, drove him to run up the flights of stairs to the club entrance, where he waited impatiently for the doorman to admit him. He’d fired off more texts to Jake, his parents, Tammy and his friends, but nobody had replied. Fear for Tammy wrapped round him like poison ivy, every tendril digging tighter. What was all that shit with the other wolves? Threatening Jake. They were just mouthing off. Was there some kind of uprising to replace Connor as the Alpha? That happened in packs, but there were clearly defined protocols. Challenges would be laid down and agreed to. The pack would be given the opportunity to vote. Jake would have known about it.

  He shook his head as he entered the club. Too many things to think about. His rapid gaze took in the stage—empty. The dance floor—no sign of Megan. Their table—Nessa and Lou, and the guys from the band, but no Megan. The bathroom? He took in the long queue and wondered if she was already in there. She hadn’t left the club, he’d have seen her.

  His wolf growled, a harsh, guttural noise inside him and he turned to see her standing at the bar with another wolf. The guy was talking to her and as Sasha watched, the shifter closed his hand around Megan’s shoulder.

  Sasha lunged and then pulled up short. Her scarf was gone, the Claiming mark showing clearly on her pale skin. He took a calming breath. The other wolf would not make a move on her. Sure enough, when he looked properly the other guy was just preventing her from being jostled. Yeah, he’d been jumping to conclusions. I’m an idiot. Right now, Megan was the only person who could make him feel better about the world and he moved steadily through the crowd, anticipating her touch.

  She turned a second before he reached her and their gazes locked. What the fuck? Her eyes were red rimmed, tears glistening on her lashes.

  Sasha barged past the guy in his way, ignoring the rumble of protest, and put his arms around Megan. “Cariad, what’s happened?” He traded glares with the young wolf, but the guy just shrugged and walked away. “Megan? What’s wrong, baby?” Even as he tried to hold her, she jerked free and took a step back, hitting the edge of the bar.

  “Don’t.”

  “What?” He looked back at the crowd but the young wolf had gone. What had he missed? He’d been outside twenty minutes. What had changed? “Did he hurt you? Say something to you?” She shook her head, mute. “Talk to me, Cariad. You’re scaring me.”

  Megan ran one unsteady hand through her hair and then wrapped both arms around herself. She looked smaller somehow, shrunken. “I want you to be honest with me, Sasha.” He opened his mouth to speak, but she carried on, and talked over him. “Brutally, completely, one hundred percent honest. Okay? Can you do that?”

  A new fear took hold in his gut. The other wolf had seen the Claiming mark. What if he’d explained the significance to Megan? Sasha hadn’t told her about the whole Mating thing yet, but there’d been no rush. He licked his lips and realized she waited for him to speak. “Of course. What’s up?” The wolf must have assumed she knew about shifters. Maybe that’s why she was upset? Lillian had been shocked at first, or so Jake had said.

  “There’s something you haven’t told me.” Her voice was harsh. Either she was on the verge of tears, or anger, he couldn’t tell. He itched to hold her, to pet and soothe her, to comfort her. Please don’t let this play out like I’m afraid it’s going to.

  He shrugged, as casually as he could. “Give me a clue?”

  “After you rescued my scarf.” She paused, seemed to compose herself a little, although her shoulders were stiff and her arms tense and strained. “Why were you so keen I go out with you?”

  Ah fuck, yeah, she knew. I love you, and want you as my Mate, by my side for the rest of my life. Having kissed you I can’t envisage a life without you. Which answer to give her? He decided to stall. “I hadn’t planned to tell you here, in a noisy bar.” He tried a smile, but got no response. Her lips tightened. “Come on, Cariad. Let’s go home. We’ll talk about this at home. In private.” Somewhere I can hold you and make love to you, put your fears at rest. Show you how good we can be together.

  White lines bracketed her mouth and she swallowed hard. “It’s true then.”

  His wolf whined and scratched at him. Dear God, he was not having this conversation here. “Uh, yeah.” He gazed deep into her eyes, saw her blink away more tears. Okay, this would be a shock. Come on, Sasha, think. “Megan? Let’s get out of here.” He held out a hand, tried another smile and then cried out, pain flooding through him. He could barely stay on his feet this time. Please God, let Tammy have a doctor with her. Doubled over, he gasped for breath, knowing it would clear in a second. His head spun, but he straightened to see Megan wiping her eyes.

  “You’re a liar, Sasha. Even now, you’re trying to avoid the truth. Why didn’t you tell me? I feel like the biggest idiot ever. You fooled me. How much did he pay you, huh?” Hang on, what the fuck was she talking about? “Is this how you get your kicks?” She dragged in a harsh breath and scrubbed at her eyes again, her tirade continuing. Sasha struggled to keep up. “I would never have known if Dion hadn’t told me.” Dion? What did he have to do with anything? “I should have stayed with Phillip. He might have been boring, but I least I knew where I stood.” She seemed to run out of words.

  It made no sense. None at all. What the fuck had he missed while he was outside? What was he missing now? He held out a hand again. “Come on, let’s go home.”

  “I’m not going anywhere with you.”

  His wolf stilled. Her voice had a final ring to it. In his peripheral vision he saw Lou and Nessa approaching. Great. A ticket-paying audience for this most difficult of conversations. A small part of his mind chimed in sympathy with Jake. He’d faced this too, although not with Lillian’s best friends watching. What the fuck should he do?

  *

  “Megan, baby.” Sasha l
ooked calm and collected, slightly puzzled. As though he’d done nothing wrong. As though he hadn’t ripped her heart out of her chest and stomped all over it. Anger bubbled inside her.

  “Don’t. Baby. Me.” She snarled the words, her jaw aching with the effort of holding back the tears. Lou and Nessa pushed their way toward her and stood, one on each side. Megan sucked in a ragged breath, taking strength from their presence. Boys came and went, but girlfriends stuck by each other.

  “Just tell me, Sasha, yes or no. Did you take a bet from Dion to date me?”

  His brow wrinkled and next thing, his lips curled upward, the dimple flashing adoringly at her. “Is that what—?”

  “Yes or no.”

  He laughed. The bastard had the audacity to laugh and hold out his hands. “Yes, but—”

  Fury held her upright. It also guided her hand in a wild and ungainly slap that caught his cheek with a noise like a gun being fired. Her palm stung and his head recoiled from the blow. “What the—?”

  “How dare you.” She wanted to say more, but the words all tangled up in her mouth. How dare you make me fall in love with you?

  “The bet was just a bit of fun, a laugh.”

  Her hands were shaking, but she lifted one and held it palm up, in front of his face. “And there you have it.” She had to force the words out. The trembling had extended to her jaw. “That’s all I was. A bit of fun.” He tried to speak but this time she screeched over him. “That’s all you were too, Sasha. A bit of fun. A bit of rough. Nothing more. I fancied slumming it with a chippie, winding up my brothers. You mean nothing to me.” Every lie hurt as it rolled off her tongue. Every word left an ugly taste in her mouth. “Now keep the fuck away from me, Sasha, or I swear I’ll set my brothers on you.”

  She knew there were people watching. For the first time, she didn’t care. As of right now, the only thing she cared about was getting out of the building and going home, before she fell to her knees and howled like a baby.

  Chapter 17

  Sasha couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Megan, his Mate, turning her back on him and walking out. Every instinct told him to stop her.

  Had he stepped into some weird, alternate dimension? Strange wolves threatening Jake and Lillian, and now Megan going into meltdown over a stupid joke. His wolf howled, upset and confused, while Sasha tried to find the words to fix this. Whatever this was, he still wasn’t sure what had just happened. “Megan,” he shouted, loud enough to be heard over the noisy crowd of clubbers, but she ignored him. He couldn’t let her leave. Ignoring the people around him, he barged his way through the crowd, colliding with a couple of guys that’d just bought drinks. Beer sloshed over them, glasses were knocked to the floor and he crunched forward over broken glass before being dragged to a halt.

  “Let me go.” He tried to jerk himself free, but the bouncer held him by the collar and shook him like a naughty pup.

  “You’re not going anywhere until you pay for the damages, and apologize.” He stared in disbelief. The bouncer, a shifter, was huge. For fucks sake. This was like a repeat of the night before. The two wolves whose drinks he’d spilled both scowled at him, and a small crowd gathered to watch. On the other side of the room, the door banged. Megan had left. Anxiety clawed at him and he dug into his pocket for his wallet, tugged out a twenty dollar bill and shoved it at the bouncer. “That do? I have to go.” He tried to moderate his tone. “Come on. That’s my Mate. I have to catch her.”

  “Should be treating her better.” The bouncer’s voice was cold. “You made her cry. That’s not how we treat our Mates.”

  Sasha blinked, drew a quick breath and slowly counted to five in his head. “I need to make it up to her. Let me go.” With agonizing slowness, the bouncer nodded at the other guys and then released him.

  By the time he reached street level, she was nowhere in sight.

  He couldn’t afford a taxi out to Megan’s house again, but Bessie was parked around the back. Should he go and tell the band? Nah. They wouldn’t be ready to leave for a couple of hours. He had time to find her, sort out this stupid argument and make up for whatever had pissed her off so badly. I fancied slumming it with a chippie, winding up my brothers. The insults had hurt. You mean nothing to me.

  He still had the keys in his pocket and he ran to the yard, clambered in and gunned the engine. She had only a few minutes head start. He might even get there first.

  He parked at the side of the road just before the start of her private driveway and waited. Ten minutes passed, but there was no sign of a cab. In desperation, he stripped, dumped his clothes under a bush and shifted, loping silently up the drive and trying to catch her scent. He remembered the security lights and was cautious as he approached the front door, staying out of range of the sensors. He paused, lifted his nose and sniffed. Nothing. She hadn’t come back, at least not through this door. On the off chance there was another entrance, he skirted around the house, constantly seeking her. He found her room easily, a ground floor bedroom drenched in her scent that overlooked a vast rose garden. She wasn’t here. The last time had been hours ago.

  There was another scent though, that made his blood chill. He froze, hackles rising, while he inhaled deep and confirmed his first thought. The rogue wolf had been here. Not recently, the smell was faint, but what the fuck would he have been doing here? Sasha prowled back and forth but it didn’t get any stronger. There were other shifter smells, equally faint, around the front of the house and it became impossible to separate out the scents.

  He headed back for the van, shifted and climbed behind the wheel, to check his phone again. She hadn’t called, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t call her. He shouldn’t have been surprised that she didn’t answer, that her cell phone went to voicemail, but he was disappointed. A bit of rough. Nothing more. How was he supposed to apologize if she wouldn’t even talk to him? Think, Sasha. He settled for a friendly voice message asking her to call him back and then composed a text:

  Cariad, I need to talk to you. Please call me.

  Why hadn’t she come home? Where would she have gone? Not back to his place, that’s for sure. He tapped his phone against the steering wheel while his brain turned over the options. She had to have gone back with Lou or Nessa, both of whom lived in town, but he had no idea where. His wolf whined. Was anything going to go right this evening?

  Sasha drove back to the club, parked Bessie and went back upstairs to find the band had played their final set and were sitting waiting for him. “At last.” Neil scowled at him. “Where the fuck have you been?”

  He was in no mood for histrionics. “I’m here now.” A thought struck him. “Did any of you catch where Lou and Nessa lived?” Blank faces and shaking heads greeted him. Great, just fucking marvelous. Inspiration finally struck after loading the van with their gear. He didn’t need his phone to speak to her, didn’t need to know where she was. She was his Mate. He could enter her dreams.

  *

  Megan fell into a drunken, miserable sleep hours later. Nessa’s flat had a more comfortable sofa than Lou’s and that’s where she’d ended up. Pride dictated she didn’t go home. Several large vodkas should be enough to knock her out, but all she saw, every time she closed her eyes, was Sasha. Not the moment when he laughed at how stupid she was, but the intensity in his eyes when he kissed her. It didn’t surprise her to dream about him.

  The dream started in the tree house. She opened her eyes to find herself sitting on one of the garden chairs, but in her dream world it was clean and soft, not dusty and forgotten. The floor sparkled as though it’d been polished and the scent of fresh roses drew her attention. A massive bunch of wild yellow roses sat near the ladder. Curious, she went to pick them up, and fingered the blue ribbon that bound them together. Unlike the cold perfection of the flowers in her father’s garden, these smelled sweet and enticing. Who’d left them here? There was no note.

  Peering down the short ladder to the ground below, she saw a wolf. Her pulse spiked and then
calmed again. Another wolf, but different to the ones she usually dreamed of. This one sat watching her, and gave a little yip. His jaws opened in a doggy smile and he tossed his head. She smiled. “You waiting for me?” Another yip answered her and she climbed down the ladder to join him.

  As soon as she reached the ground the wolf rolled over, exposing his stomach. Entranced, she dropped to the floor and ran her hand across the fine, soft hair of his belly. This wolf was a different color to the ones she normally dreamed of. His fur was dark brown, almost black, but with lighter patches around his neck. Same brilliant blue eyes though, eyes that reminded her painfully of Sasha.

  Crouched beside the animal, she lifted one hand to dig her fingers into the thick ruff around his throat and that’s when she felt the necklace. Almost covered by fur, lay a sliver of black stone on a threaded cord. Her heart thudded. The wolf wore a necklace the same as Sasha. Damn it, she couldn’t get away from him even here.

  A wave of despair swamped her and she buried her face in the wolf’s neck. He cuddled closer, as though he understood. “It’s not fair. I only met him yesterday and he’s turned my life upside down. I can’t believe I fell for his lines. Just like I did with Ryan.” The wolf whined and she managed a little smile. “If Sasha was an animal, he’d look like you. You’re a beauty.”

  The animal nudged at her and shook his great, shaggy head, then stood up. Her hand dropped to the grass. “Are you going now?” Funny how she felt perfectly comfortable talking to a wolf. He took a step back, stared into her eyes and then dissolved into a haze of shimmering rainbow sparks. It was the most beautiful thing she’d ever seen and bizarrely, seemed quite natural. Even when the sparks blurred and formed together into another shape, a naked man, she somehow wasn’t surprised to see Sasha standing there.