by Olivia Arran
“Mate me, Julie,” Nate pleaded around a mouthful of cake as he dropped to his knees.
Julie giggled, cuffing him around the ear.
“Hey, furball, watch it,” a voice growled from behind her, arms snaking out and snagging her around the waist.
She squealed as her mate pulled her onto his lap, but was beaming from ear to ear.
“Can’t blame a guy for trying,” Nate offered with a wink, rising to standing and brushing off the knees of his borrowed sweatpants.
Tom grinned back, but it was more teeth than lips, his wolf standing watch and letting the world know exactly how he felt. “Find your own mate,” he growled out before seizing Julie’s lips in a long drawn out kiss that left her sighing into the air and the tips of her ears turning pink.
Fucking wolves. Always feeling the need to assert their claim and maul their mates in public.
“Don’t judge man. At least not until you’ve found a mate to lose your head over,” Tom drawled with a self-satisfied smirk.
An image of a man approaching Leona flashed through my mind. My bear reared inside of me, fur bristling and jaws wide on a roar. Color seeped into my vision, casting a red haze over the world.
“Damn. It’s true then?”
I blinked, clearing the haze. Everyone in the room was staring at me, some with undisguised jealousy and others with open amusement. Daryl, the wolf I was pretty sure had spoken, was firmly in the second camp, astonishment warring with incredulity.
Okay. Maybe I shouldn’t be so quick to judge. Rolling my head, from side to side, I bit back the urge to jump in and defend myself, knowing that it would only add fuel to the fire.
“Is it the woman I saw you with earlier, Austin?” Julia enquired from her perch on Tom’s knee.
“Her name’s Leona,” Brent supplied with a smirk, helping himself to a second slice of cake.
Grant—yet another wolf shifter enforcer—stalked into the room, scraping a chair on the tiled floor as he swung it around and straddled it. “Leona … Leona … No, I don’t think I know her. Who’s she with?” Meaning, what pack, pride, team, clan, wing etc.
Owen’s other enforcers swarmed into the room, falling on the cake like a … well, a hungry pack of wolves. “Austin here’s got a mate in mind,” Grant declared, shoving one of the guys out of his face and snagging the poor guy’s cake for himself.
Tiny good-naturedly returned to the table and refilled his plate, adding a sandwich for good measure. He sent me a sly grin and gave me the thumbs up, but didn’t say a word. Which wasn’t a surprise; he didn’t talk much.
“She’s not with anyone,” I interjected into the din, raising my voice to a shout to be heard over the general ribbing and congratulations.
“Human?” Daryl froze. “Not that hot piece of ass you were with at the municipal building yesterday?”
I was out of my chair and had him pinned to the wall before he had a chance to draw breath. “Don’t—” Abrupt silence had my voice echoing and bouncing off the walls. What the fuck was I doing? I uncurled my fingers from around his neck, forcing them to obey while my mind still chanted for blood. Dragging my hand away, I patted him on the chest and shrugged.
“You’d better claim that woman before you lose your goddamn mind, Austin,” Owen called from his prime seat next to the table.
“I’m working on it,” I muttered, striding to the door.
“Work faster,” he shot back with a grin. “Or is your dick just for show?”
My team grumbled under their breath, rising to stand with a reluctance that had more to do with too much lemon cake than Owen insulting their Alpha.
“My dick works fine, and so do my balls.” A silent message passed between us, understood on both sides. I was watching him, and if he didn’t do what was needed, I would.
“Glad to hear it,” he finally conceded.
I was halfway out of the door when Jake, always the life and soul of any party, finally decided to add his opinion, “I’d rather suck my own balls than settle down with one woman.”
I threw an arm around his shoulders, waving a hand in the direction of the packhouse. “Don’t worry, I’m sure whoever is lucky enough to be your fated mate would prefer that too.”
Chapter Thirteen
Leona
“Have you been waiting long, sweetheart?” The anxious note in Austin’s voice had my lips curving up into a smile and my insides melting into a puddle. Hurrying up the steps of the infirmary, his broad shoulders and muscular thighs were enough to make a woman swoon. Forget the power of the scorching sun that was still beating down in relentless waves despite the late hour; it didn’t stand a chance against the vision of hotness strolling toward me.
Pretending to shade my eyes, while really giving myself a couple of seconds to calm the sudden surge of estrogen exploding inside of me, I shook my head. “Not long at all. They kicked me out so Harper could take a bath and get some sleep.”
Reaching me, he pulled up short and stuck his hands in his pockets.
I wasn’t disappointed. Nope. Not me. So what if he didn’t hold my hand? “I wasn’t sure whether to wait or…” I let the sentence hang, hoping he’d give me a hint of what the hell to expect. Because I sure as hell didn’t have a clue.
He was staring at me, but not in a weird way, more as if he were trying to mesmerize me, his eyes tracking over my features in slow motion.
Okay, enough of the standing around and admiring each other. It was beyond scorching out here. I lowered my hand from my eyes and flapped it in front of my face. It was as effective as a slug with wings. “Austin?”
“Hmmm?” He appeared quite content to carry on this staring competition, appearing completely at ease and not showing any indication of moving any time soon.
Right. Direct approach, then. “Take me for a drink?”
He startled, as if coming out of a daze, the tips of his ears pinking. “Sure! Where would you like to go?”
I’d never thought it of him, but the man was adorable as well as goddamn sexy. “The cafe has outside seating, doesn’t it?” We set off down the steps.
Pulling his hands out of his pockets, they swung by his side. “Yup. Shade, too. And Julie does a mean raspberry shake.” His fingers grazed mine with every backward swing, sending little shivers racing up my arms and down my spine.
I sucked in a lungful of balmy air, while surreptitiously trying to unstick my dress from my ample chest where it was clinging a little too lovingly for my liking. Geez, it was hot. “Does the weather not bother you?” He looked fine; clad in a dark t-shirt that would have had rivers of sweat pouring off me in a matter of moments. And jeans! Though I could appreciate how he filled them, denim clinging to hard muscle in all the right places, I did wonder how the hell he was managing to stay so cool and collected.
“We’re always hot.”
“You can say that again,” I muttered under my breath, a flush spreading up my chest and into my cheeks as he cocked an eyebrow at me.
“I like it hot,” he eventually answered, his lips twitching.
Oh, he was asking for it. I double checked out of the corner of my eye. Yup. He was messing with me. Flirting. Pleasure was my first response, panic chasing at its heels like a little, yappy dog, demanding attention. Flirting? What the hell did I know about flirting?
His hand brushed mine again, the sensation so intense my gasp slipped out. Strong fingers slid between mine, twining in a brush of skin and silent question.
“How old are you?” I blurted out. Great. Real smooth. I gave myself a mental slap.
“Thirty-seven.”
I’d wondered how it worked—the whole shifter thing and whether they aged like us. “Thirty-seven is completely doable.” What. The. Hell. Had. I. Just. Said? “I mean, in a wrap-your-head-around-it kinda way!” I tacked on. He was going to either think I was a sex crazed nymphomaniac or lame. Or possibly both.
He let out a noise that sounded like a cross between a chuckle and choking. “T
hanks. I think.” He winked at me. “How about you?”
“You shouldn’t ask a woman her age,” I replied with a huff, then pretended to cave, “Thirty-Two.”
“Totally doable.” His face was completely deadpan.
I shoved him. Hard.
Clutching his chest in mock pain, he staggered back. Problem was, he still had hold of my hand, taking me with him.
I ricocheted off his chest with an undignified umph, grabbing his shirt to steady myself.
Our eyes clashed. My breath caught in my throat. Birds continued to sing in the trees, leaves rustling in the soft breeze, time standing still as we drank each other in.
A little tug and he pulled me closer, until our bodies bumped together in all the right places. “Totally doable,” he murmured on a low growl, his free hand smoothing up my back and anchoring me to him.
My lips parted in preparation as his lowered to meet mine, anticipation tightening my chest.
A loud cough sounded directly behind me.
“Go away,” Austin muttered, his eyes still on me.
“Fuck. I would if I could. Do you think I want to watch you paw the poor woman?” a man drawled.
The moment slipped through our fingers. I knew it and so did Austin, his eyes closing on a drawn out sigh of exasperation. “What the fuck is it, Danny?”
Danny? The name rang a bell. Twisting around, I peered over my shoulder.
The night receptionist from the hotel waved back at me, a smirk sliding over his ridiculously handsome face. Angular cheekbones paired with a strong jaw set him just on the right side of masculine. His smile grew under my stare, his chest puffing out and muscles flexing.
That’s what it was! I was used to seeing him in the starched white and black of the hotel uniform and my brain was having a hard time adjusting to this version of Danny-relaxing-at-home, his denim jeans and tight tee looking just plain weird and throwing me off.
A low growl trickled past my ear, from directly behind me. Austin’s hand slid around my waist, pulling me back and tucking me into his chest.
Oh, my! Pleasure rippled through me at the feel of his hard muscles nestled up close and personal. Hot and hard and delicious, especially the bulge that was pressing into my lower back. Belatedly, I gave Danny a halfhearted wave, but he, right now, was the farthest thing from my mind.
I couldn’t resist a little wriggle, just to see … yup, that was all Austin digging into me.
His groan was low and strangled.
Danny looked away, the smile disappearing. “Geez! If I’d wanted a peepshow I’d have stayed at work.”
That grabbed my attention. “What do you mean?”
“He means that in his job he sees a lot of people coming and going, and a lot of them are not too worried about being caught in public,” Austin answered with a low chuckle.
I finally caught his meaning. “Oh!” Pulling a face, I winced. “That must be very … weird,” I finished weakly.
The other man shrugged. “You get used to it. It takes a lot to surprise me now, and it’s not like I don’t get my chance to indulge. Working in tourism has, shall we say, certain perks.” The smirk was back.
Tourism. Humans. He was so blasé about it, while it still shocked me that some of my kind came to Heartsridge for that kind of entertainment. Call me an old fashioned prude, but one night stands with strangers who nine times out of ten wouldn’t remember your name in the morning didn’t do it for me. But who was I to judge? It wasn’t like the thought of wrestling the big bear behind me into bed at the first opportunity hadn’t crossed my mind, and there wasn’t a future for us. Was there?
“Get to the point, Danny.” Austin’s voice interrupted my musings, bringing me back to the present.
“You’re needed in town.”
“I’ll be back on shift tomorrow; I’ll be on days then.” I felt Austin bristle, tension running up the arm he had looped around me.
“You’re needed now.” Danny held up his hands, taking a step back with a don’t-shoot-the-messenger air.
“It can wait.” There was a finality in Austin’s voice. One that brooked no argument.
I smoothed my hand over his forearm, tickling the tiny hairs and squeezed. “If you’re needed, you should go. I can go back and wait for Harper to wake up. They’ve offered to set up a cot for me, so I can spend the night.” A tiny part of me was disappointed, but a larger part of me had recognized that I was in over my head. I was getting emotionally attached to this big man and some breathing space—to get my head screwed on straight and expectations untangled—might be a good thing. A sensible thing. Because if I fell into bed with him expecting more, I was pretty sure my heart was going to get broken.
“Listen. I don’t give a crap if you show up, or not, but it’s an all Alpha meeting and I was told to come find you. Municipal building in twenty minutes.” With that, Danny turned and stalked off, grumbling under his breath about how he was sick of this shit and how Carter could find another lackey to run his errands.
Twisting out of Austin’s arms, I took a step back, putting enough space between us that I could think straight again. “Seriously, you should go. I wouldn’t want to get you in trouble.”
He waited a beat, as if searching for another option, then eventually nodded. “Okay, then.”
The woman inside of me was stomping her foot and scowling at being denied time with this sexy man who sure as hell was showing all the signs of being interested, but outwardly all I said was, “Okay, then.”
“I’ll walk you back—”
I looped my arms around my waist, hugging myself. “No, it’s fine! The infirmary is only a couple of minutes back that way.”
He shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking back on his heels.
Okay, then. We were back to acting like strangers. Had he only been friendly because he’d thought he might get laid. Which he would have done, I reminded myself. I backed away, turning to retrace my steps.
Hands spun me around and crushed me close, warm lips sealing against mine in a frantic rush of skin and teeth, arms tilting me back until my head swam and my legs wobbled.
He broke away, hands steadying me as I swayed. “I needed to do that,” he whispered, his breath dusting over my skin.
“I’m glad you needed to,” I whispered, lips tingling and head still spinning.
A self satisfied smirk lifted the corner of his mouth. “I want to do this properly. Let me take you to dinner tomorrow night, after I get off work.”
I blinked away the last of the lust induced haze. “Are you asking me out on a date?”
“Yes.”
“It didn’t sound like a question.” My mind wasn’t working properly, but one thing was for sure, inner me had stopped stamping her foot and was busy doing cartwheels at the thought of some alone time with him.
He chuffed, the sound more bear like than human. “Pedantic to a fault.” But it was said with affection. His thumbs smoothed over the bare skin of my upper arms. “Can I take you out to dinner tomorrow night, on a date?”
“Yes.” I didn’t dare to try and read too much into it, not while he was stood there staring at me, anyway. I’d dissect everything later with Harper’s assistance. She was much better at reading the nuances of social situations than I was.
“Good.” He was beaming from ear to ear, as if unable to hide his happiness. “Either myself or one of the guys will come meet you at the infirmary tomorrow after lunch and walk you back to your hotel.” His thumbs stroked over my hips, where they had come to rest with a proprietary air I didn’t mind in the slightest. “I’d offer to come back tonight, but I don’t know how long this meeting will run on for and I wouldn’t want to keep you waiting for me.”
“I’ll be fine walking on my—”
His eyes darkened, swirling with silver flecks. He gently prodded me to start walking, keeping step at my side. “Your sister was attacked. I don’t want you going anywhere alone until I’m sure it’s safe.” We rounded the corner
, the infirmary coming into view.
It wasn’t a big thing he was asking and it wasn’t like it was a hardship to have someone watch out for me. I just wasn’t used to it. “Okay. I’ll wait here for someone.”
He tilted my chin with his hand, as if trying to decide whether to steal another kiss.
Yes, please, my inner floozy—as I’d now named her—whimpered.
“Thank you,” he murmured, smoothing his thumb over my cheek. “If I don’t get a chance to see you before, I’ll pick you up at your room tomorrow night. Now, go. Say hi to your sister for me.” He gave me a little push in the direction of the infirmary steps.
Chapter Fourteen
Austin
Voices rose up around me, crashing into one another in a bellow of discord. It had been hours. Wasted time arguing.
“Enough!” Carter slammed a hand on his desk. “One at a time.” He pointed at Owen, the wolf Alpha.
Owen surveyed the room, his eyes resting on each of the other Alphas in turn. “We had a breach. It’s been plugged. End of story.”
If Carter’s frown dug any deeper he’d be looking into that fancy stuff that some humans used. What was it? Buttocks? Botox? Whatever. He’d be the first shifter to ever need it. Bracing my hands behind my head, I leaned back and waited for the explosion.
“End of story?” Carter purred, his lion heritage spilling over his polished political veneer. “Fuck you. You don’t have to deal with the fucking mess this has made. How the hell did rogues manage to sneak into Heartsridge without us knowing?”
“You need to watch who you’re talking to, cat,” Owen growled, his hands flexing and forming fists.
“It’s your fucking land.”
“Actually, it also falls under furball Team North, seeing as it was their fence that had been breached,” Owen shot back.