“How’s that been for you?” Thomas asked softly. “Seriously.”
“I’m playing politics. No, I’ll not try to have a larger Pride outside of family. No, I won’t take new members. No, I won’t do any of that shit.” The lion groaned. “I just want to be left alone. Me, the Pride, and my businesses. Don’t fuck with me, and I won’t fuck with them.”
“Helping us won’t change that?” Tony needed to make sure. He wasn’t in the mood to have the feline world on his head.
The waitress kept Brenton from answering as she brought their drinks and they waited patiently for her to leave. “You haven’t figured it out yet?” Brenton chuckled, looking over all of them. “I let you stay in Wild Junction. Anyone who fucks with you, fucks with me. This is the seat of the Kingson Pride, regardless of species. It’s fucking mine. So, I don’t think you’re going to get any trouble.”
“Felines.” Thomas grinned at the lion. “You thought this through already.”
“I did, and Riley likes your shaggy asses, so I figured I should cover my bases, so you will stay.” Brenton’s returning grin was dangerous. Tony snorted, shaking his head. She loved Thomas, sure. His shaggy ass and that cheetah were close now. She liked the rest of them by association. “How are things for you? Truly.”
“Tiresome,” Thomas answered quietly. “We don’t have as many problems as you but…”
“We don’t talk about the hunting compound as much as we should,” the lion said, looking down at the table. “You know…I keep looking back at how fast you guys moved to create more of a place here after the hunting compound. You lost five brothers, men you cared for as much as I do mine. I couldn’t do it. Nearly losing Zachary and Andrew…nearly destroyed me. If I had lost them in the hunting compound or to my aunt, I wouldn’t have been able to do what you guys have done.”
“We have our moments,” Tony whispered. “When things are harder as we remember that just a few months ago, everything was different. Then we picked a fight we couldn’t win and lost the war.”
“Nightmares,” James mumbled. “Doing things that we normally shared with the others. Every time I look at my bank account, I think of Lochlan. He played accountant for all of us, managed our finances.”
“So it’s not as easy as you make it look,” Brenton noted, looking between them.
“No,” Thomas sighed. “Not at all. Moving forward is really all we can do, so we do. That just makes it look easy.”
“We share stories,” Tony added. “Happy ones. Remember the guys. We always say ‘honor them.’ Honor who they were. Honor them by living a good life now that they are gone. Honor them by being better than we were, not making the same mistakes as the ones that got them killed.”
“I like that,” the lion replied, nodding slowly. “Honor them.”
“Honor them,” the wolves replied in unison.
“You don’t need to though.” Tony chuckled after that somber moment. “I’m not sure Zachary knows the meaning of death. If two shots from a sniper rifle couldn’t do it, I’m not sure what can.”
“Riley,” was all Brenton had to say on the matter. Tony watched the straight-face of Brenton Kingson crack and the lion began to laugh. “She will be the death of him. Probably the rest of us, too.”
They were laughing at that as the girls came back to the table. Tony eyed the small pack of them. Riley was leading Jessie, a pregnant female lion that showed up to help the Pride with their mess, and Phoebe, a human Riley had been friends with since she moved to Wild Junction. Jessie wasn’t drinking at all, but it was obvious that the other two were.
“Baby,” Riley giggled, leaning on Brenton, who seemed immensely pleased with himself.
“Yes?” he purred, leaning down to her level.
Tony felt like he was watching something he shouldn’t be.
“I want to dance with you,” she commanded, and Brenton began to laugh.
“You know what happens when we dance,” Brenton growled softly at her, the sexual tension between them ramping up immediately. “You start that, and your ladies’ night will end early.”
Thomas nearly choked on a swallow of his Jack and Coke. Tony did look away at that point, snorting, and James mumbled about needing to get to the bathroom.
“Fine, later then,” Riley promised. “You boys have fun over here.”
“Of course. We’ll watch your things,” the lion crooned as she turned and began to walk away.
“Damn, Brenton,” Thomas grumbled, and Tony could see him trying to keep a grin off his face. “Right in the middle of the bar?”
“I never miss an opportunity to remind her that she’s everything to me,” Brenton reminded him, chuckling. “Here, at home. I don’t really care.”
Tony was laughing. He couldn’t stop. He should have, but something about Brenton and what he said was giving him a fit. “You basically told her that if you danced with her, you were going to take her home after, and-”
“Do not finish that,” Brenton growled, pointing at him. “That is exactly what I told her, though.”
They just sipped on their drinks after that, James coming back after longer than expected. It was an hour into the girls’ night when a phone started going off at the table, vibrating hard enough to shake the drinks.
“Damn it,” the lion groaned. “Where is it?”
Tony checked his own, then frowned at Brenton, who was digging through a bag on the table. He watched Brenton pull out a cell phone and answer.
“Brenton,” he said quickly. He listened for a long time, but Tony couldn’t hear the response. “I know this is her phone. We’re at Rocker’s right now, and she’s off dancing. Stop by. She’ll be happy to see you.” The call ended just like that and Tony decided that he shouldn’t be nosy. Thankfully, Brenton gave them an answer anyways. “Abigail flew back in. She’s here in Wild Junction and was hoping to make plans with Riley.”
Tony felt that bit of information make a chill night at the bar into a hunt. His wolf quickly rose up and nearly came out, hoping to catch a scent of the doe. Tony swallowed as Thomas turned to him and narrowed his eyes. Even Brenton, not his own Alpha, gave all the wolves looks. Alphas were attuned to the animals, so it made sense that the lion noticed.
“Am I missing something?” he asked curiously.
“We asked her to join the Pack right before she left for the holidays. Riley told me she wouldn’t be back until January,” Thomas informed him.
“She wasn’t supposed to be back until January, but it’s no problem,” Brenton said, ignoring that they gave her a Pack invite.
“You don’t have a problem with…” Thomas was looking pretty nervous.
“Not at all,” Brenton chuckled. “Should I? I can’t grow my Pride, Thomas. I never had any intention to. You want her? Have a go at it. Is there a particular reason?”
“She doesn’t take care of herself. Shift enough, have a community. Brings out my own Alpha tendencies every time she’s around. Figured, give her an invite and offer her something she’s obviously missing,” Thomas told him quietly.
Brenton just hummed, nodding. He didn’t offer much else on the topic as they went back to their drinks.
Then she arrived. Tony caught her scent, even over the stench of alcohol and humans. The moment the night’s cold breeze blew in as she walked through the door, he could smell her. She had run from them and Tony, against his own decision after she had, still wanted to chase. The wolf in him pawed and begged for him to get up and stop her before she found Riley to drink and dance. He hoped she would dance. With him.
James gave a soft growl as she walked through the crowds and Brenton began chuckle knowingly. Thomas just watched her, like he was ready to call the hunt and send them after their prey. Tony was having a hard time with his own instincts. What was it about this doe that drove him mad? He’d been around prey shifters before, but she was taunting him there as she hugged an excited Riley. He knew it wasn’t purposeful, but something about her was driving him up t
o the edge of his own control and threatening to throw him off the edge.
He watched her face light up as a drink was handed to her.
And it hit him.
He knew exactly where he remembered her from.
“Thomas,” he swatted his Alpha. “Thomas, I figured it out.”
“What?” Thomas frowned at him, looking upset to have to take his eyes off the doe.
“She’s Gavin’s ex. We were there, guys. She ran off after finding him fucking a few females and a member or two of his inner circle gave her a fucking hard time. Thomas, you stopped one of them from grabbing her as she left.” Tony’s heart was pounding. No wonder she was so damn skittish. No fucking wonder.
He watched Thomas’ eyes go wide. Tony’s own feelings about her quickly shifted. He wasn’t upset anymore. He fucking understood. She’d been screwed over by their kind. No wonder she was freaked by what happened between them in the woods. No wonder she tried so hard to keep her distance.
“Shit,” James breathed out. The lion looked between them and shook his head, checking back out of the conversation to watch the females dance.
“Well, that changes things,” Thomas said carefully, looking shocked as fuck. “You’re right. God, that was…seven, eight years ago? We were trying to smooth things over between Chris and Gavin. Gavin threw a massive barbecue and invited us to play politics with his Pack. He disappeared about halfway through, pissed Chris off.”
“This changes things,” James groaned, running a hand through his hair.
“No,” Tony snapped, huffing in irritation, “it doesn’t.” He stood up and dove into the crowd. He was going to woo this girl even if it killed him. She didn’t get treated right by that damn wolf and Tony was going to change her opinion of them. They weren’t Gavin, and he was going to prove it.
He found her in the middle, jumping up and down with Riley and Phoebe. He didn’t know where the lioness had gone off to and he didn’t care as he cut in, capturing Abigail’s gaze.
“Welcome back,” he greeted her, grinning. He watched her blush; the deep pink taking over her cheeks was enchanting. He could smell the arousal this close as she took a moment to look over his clothing, and he watched her throat work through a swallow.
“It’s nice to be back,” she answered, trying to speak over the music. “I’m sorry I missed everything that happened.”
“It wasn’t much for me and the guys,” he chuckled. “We just worked bodyguard duty. Would you like to dance?”
“Uh,” she seemed nervous and Tony loved it. He adored it. She wasn’t running from him this time.
“Please?” he pressed, leaning down, and saying it in her ear. She nodded, and he wrapped an arm around her waist.
Tony knew how to seduce a woman and he wanted to seduce this one. He wasn’t sure if it was because she was a challenge or if he was just that attracted to her, but no other woman had caught his eye all night. She instead took over his thoughts. The way she moaned in his arms out in the woods. The way she blushed. The way she could bend and be sweet, but also had some strength in her that Tony wanted to know more about.
He led, spinning her around so her back was to his chest. She was an easy dancer, just letting the music guide her, and that worked for him. It was like she was in the breeze, just swaying with the wind. He buried his face in her hair and whispered.
“Why can’t I stop thinking about you, Abigail?”
“I don’t know,” she answered, smelling honest. He turned her back around.
“Are you going to run again?”
“I don’t know.” Another honest answer.
Tony didn’t have the chance to ask another question as James came up to the group.
“May I join?” He was speaking quietly, pinning Abigail between them. Tony would have told him to back off, but he was positive Abigail knew exactly what they thought of her. She only nodded, and they just kept dancing.
Thomas never joined, and by the end of a few songs, Riley was yelling at them to break it up. She and Abigail were going to go get drunk without them. He laughed and elbowed James.
“That was fun, Jay. We should do it again.”
“We should,” James growled, grinning. “Let’s teach her how real wolves operate. Then she’ll join the Pack.”
“You know, Gavin never let her join his Pack,” he remembered, whispering to James. “Engaged and everything but never made her a member.”
“And here we are, offering her a membership into something denied. I really do see why we freak her out now.” James sighed. “How do you remember all this?”
“It was my job to be the social guy. I needed to remember these things when I had to sit in meetings with other Packs. A little bit of personal information goes a long way.”
“Good point,” James acknowledged, nodding slowly. “Let’s get back to the table. We don’t need to get her with us tonight. Let’s give her a night with her friends.”
“Sure,” Tony chuckled. They sat down in the original seats as the Alphas laughed over something.
Thomas gave them a look and smiled. “Enjoy yourselves?” he asked, his nostrils flaring as he took in a scent. Tony knew which scent that was. The raging hard-on he had from dancing with her. James probably had one too.
“Yeah,” Tony answered, smirking. “What are you two talking about?”
“I’m trying to offer your Alpha some advice about convincing a woman to settle down with more than one person,” Brenton said mildly. “I figure you three are aiming for that.”
James coughed and hit his chest, shaking his head. Tony patted his back and handed James’ drink to him. When James was settled, he looked at the lion. “How would you know?”
“Let me give you some advice.” Brenton chuckled. “Handle it between the three of you first. How far you want to take it, the rules. All of it. Offer her the final deal and let her alter those rules. Don’t get involved and then all be on different pages.”
“I agree with him,” Thomas laughed. “He’s right, you two. Tony, you can’t just sleep with her like she’s a normal Packmate if James, for example, wants to date her. She won’t know how to handle all that.”
“Pack first,” Tony offered. “Brenton, you’re cool but we’re wolves. We can handle this.”
“But she’s not,” Thomas pressed. He knew what Thomas was saying, but damn, it would slow Tony down. He could have her by the end of the week if he could just bring her in and treat her like how a wolf properly treats a potential sexual partner. “And when we tried that last time, she ran.”
That just made him feel very small. And a bit like an idiot. He was nearly going to make the same mistake he already had.
“Worry about it tomorrow,” Brenton recommended. “Let the girls have their fun. Abigail will be too drunk to drive home - one of you take her home. I advise Thomas. He can keep his hands to himself.” That last part had a bit of humor to it, letting Tony know it wasn’t an insult to him or James. They were both Alphas, and they had a natural way of knowing what others needed. Thomas would be the last of them to possibly screw up.
Tony didn’t dance for the rest of the night. He leaned back in his chair and they all just watched the women dance. Jessie had disappeared off home, Riley told them hours later. Phoebe picked up some poor human boy and dragged him home. Abigail was giggling as she hung on Thomas, ready to head out.
“I did miss you guys,” she continued to giggle between words. “The Herd sucks. I like Wild Junction.”
“We missed you, too,” Thomas chuckled. “Let’s get you home.”
Tony was covering his laughter with a hand. Riley was in worse shape, singing at the top of her lungs. Brenton just picked her up, grabbed her bag, and left. Tony was snickering harder at the scents he picked up from the felines.
Soon, it was just James and Tony sitting at the table.
“This has been a good night, Jay,” Tony said to him, leaning on his friend’s shoulder.
“It really fucking has
,” James agreed, sounding lighter than he had in months. “We’ll need to do this again.”
“I think we’ll be doing this a lot once we own this fucking bar,” Tony reminded him.
“I can’t fucking wait.”
“Me either, my brother, me either.”
16
Abigail
Abigail spent the next week hiking every moment she got the chance. She breathed in the mountain air and just ignored the world.
“Is this enough?” she asked herself softly on a bright December afternoon. They hadn’t had the first snow of the winter yet, and the sky was clear. It was expected to be a mild winter and Abigail planned to enjoy all of it in the sun and cold breeze.
She continued to walk the trail and considered where she was. She hadn’t expected to find this internal peace when she’d gotten the call from Brenton, and going home for even a week had proven to her that it wasn’t the same. South Dakota and the Herd didn’t have this, whatever this was.
She heard the wolves before she saw them and sighed, putting her bag down to wait on them. She’d promptly avoided them the moment she woke up after the night at Rocker’s. They had texted her a few times, but they knew she was off for the month. None of it was work-related; they just kept asking if they could talk about what happened between them.
She focused on the sounds and realized they were still a few minutes out. Her hearing was too good sometimes. She didn’t know whether to feel excited, nervous, or anxious about them approaching. Dancing with Tony and James had made her horny that night and she knew they wouldn’t have missed that. She hadn’t missed their feelings either. She hadn’t needed a sense of smell. Erections were hard to hide.
Then she’d had to ride in silence with Thomas. She fanned her face at that. He’d helped her all the way to her hotel room and she was left alone, drunk. He had been a perfect gentleman, and she had wanted him to be the big bad wolf.
“Abigail, didn’t expect to find you out here.” Thomas chuckled as he said it, having shifted into human form when he was close.
Prey to the Heart Page 17