by Dannika Dark
Austin’s voice changed, becoming like a sergeant giving orders. “Jericho, cut the bullshit. I want you to shift.”
“Now? What for?” he asked apprehensively.
“She needs to see what we are because she’s still skeptical. Lexi’s never been around our kind and just went through the change.”
Something wild stirred in their eyes and they looked at me like a succulent steak they wanted to pour sauce all over and devour.
“Fine. But put me outside before I shift back. This better not be some fucking joke to get me naked in front of a girl.”
“Yeah, like that’s never happened,” Denver said with a snort.
Jericho took off his socks, slowly slid his belt out of the loops of his jeans, then pulled his shirt over his head—scorching me with his gaze the entire time.
And all while retaining a panty-dropping smile on his face.
Jericho possessed an ample supply of charisma and confidence—a vibe that drew women to a man regardless of what he looked like. Before tossing the shirt down, he glanced up at his brother. Something transpired between them, as if Austin wasn’t happy with the striptease act.
“Sorry, Austin, but it’s one of my favorites and I’d be pissed if it got torn. It was a badass tour.”
He neatly folded the Pink Floyd concert shirt and set it on the armrest of the couch.
“My neighbor would worship you,” I said, watching him stretch out his arms.
Jericho might have been lean, but one had to admire his physique. There was something compelling about the way he carried himself, or maybe it was the awesome tattoo of a guitar on his left arm. It was black and wavy—the neck looked like a lick of fire—and one side was not filled in. It resembled one of those yin-yang designs.
Without removing his eyes from mine, he asked Austin, “Sure you want me to shift? I’ve got a pretty wolf, and she just might take a shine to me.”
Austin cleared his throat when Jericho unbuttoned his jeans. “Drop your pants and I’ll shave your wolf.”
Jericho’s expression darkened. With a wink of his eye, he shifted so fast I could barely comprehend what had just happened.
I gasped and leapt back. Standing before me was a brown wolf with rust and cream-colored markings. He was bigger than I imagined a wolf should be—as big as the one that chased me in the cemetery. Holding my attention were milky-green eyes with black rims.
“That’s impossible. That’s just not possible,” I babbled, stepping back even more. Austin caught my arm.
“Don’t run from a wolf, Lexi. This is who you are,” he said in a patient voice.
I stood there shaking, palms sweating, heart racing, knees close to buckling. This was too much. All this time he’d been telling me the truth.
“Damn, Austin, she doesn’t even know what she is?” Denver tossed a green pepper into his mouth. “Maybe you need to explain why a Shifter was living with a human family.”
“Later,” Austin snapped, his eyes still on me. He reached his left hand out—palm down—and the wolf stepped forward and sat down submissively.
“I’m the Packmaster, so you don’t have to worry. They won’t attack as long as I’m in the room.”
“And when you’re not in the room?” I asked, wide-eyed and looking at Austin as if I’d just stepped into the Twilight Zone.
A shadowy crease appeared between his brows. “Then you’re not in the room. Trust has to be established with the animal, and that’s one reason I don’t want you shifting around them. You lunged at me, so there’s no telling what you’d do to these sorry asses.”
“She did that to your arm, bro?” Denver grinned. “’Bout time someone put you in your place.”
Austin swung his eyes up at Denver, who quickly shoved a pepperoni in his mouth and suddenly became engrossed with a Golden Girls rerun on TV.
“You believe me now?” Austin asked in a soft voice.
I nodded. The evidence was panting in front of me. Jericho had the same haunting eyes in human form.
“Doesn’t he have control?”
“Did you?” Austin asked. “Only alphas have the gift to remain in control when they shift and remember everything. Not all, but some do. Once the animal’s in charge, then that’s what we’re dealing with. An animal. Jericho’s in there, but he’s not in the driver’s seat.”
I reached out to pet him and Austin snatched my wrist. “No, Lexi.”
He tapped Jericho on the snout and called out to Denver. “Take him outside; I need to be alone with her.”
Denver obediently got up, dropped the box of pizza on the floor, and walked Jericho outside. When the door slammed, a few glasses tinkled on the bar.
“You okay?”
I stared like a zombie at the spot the wolf had been.
“Lexi?” He dipped down and tried getting my attention. Then he lifted my chin and grinned. “It’s pretty exciting stuff, admit it.”
Then my head began to shake. “No, no, no. I can’t be one of you. I can’t do this, Austin. If it’s true and I shift in front of Maizy…” I began to panic. “How could I have not known?”
“Calm down,” he said, taking hold of my arm and leading me to the sofa. “I know it’s a lot to take in. Here, sit down.” Austin knelt before me and placed his hand on my knee.
I didn’t know whether to laugh, cry, or throw up. My hands were shaking uncontrollably and I was suddenly thirsty. Austin smoothed his hands over mine and patiently waited until I simmered down. Or until my heart rate stopped breaking the sound barrier.
“If you don’t develop a relationship with your animal, then you can’t be trusted with your own family. I can supervise your visits, or…”
“Or what?”
He stood up and walked to the other side of the room, where he leaned against the doorframe.
Damn, that lean.
“Or we can tell them. We can sit down and show them what you are. It’s something you should be proud of, and while we keep our world secret from humans, this would be one of the exceptions. She’s your mom, and eventually she’ll notice you’re not aging. But it’s important they don’t tell anyone, and I don’t know about your daughter.”
I blinked.
“My daughter?”
“She’s young, and you know how kids are. Not that anyone would believe her, but they won’t tolerate any disloyal—”
“Wait a second, Austin. My daughter?”
He furrowed his brow and his blue eyes flashed. “Yeah. And if that piece of shit I dragged down the stairs was her father, then I don’t want him hanging around or there’s going to be trouble.”
“Maizy isn’t my daughter, Austin. She’s my sister.”
Something shifted out of place in his expression, a new look I’d never seen before.
He closed the distance between us and instead of kneeling down to eye level, he leaned forward and put his hands on either side of the sofa cushion behind my head.
“Your sister? Wes’s sister?” he asked in disbelief.
I nodded.
I’d never really been scared of Austin until that moment. His eyes bored into me and I looked away. For a minute there, I thought he was going to yell, or maybe I fantasized a little bit that he was going to lean down and kiss me fervently.
But he came to some kind of conclusion after a hard stare and straightened up with his arms folded.
“I don’t want your ex coming around again. If I find out he has, I’m going to track him down and personally deliver the message.”
A knuckle cracked.
“Don’t worry,” I assured him. “I have no intention of seeing Beckett anymore. We’re over.”
I stared at Jericho’s belt on the floor, then at Austin’s. I remembered the slow precision with which Jericho unlatched the leather and slid it out, imagining Austin doing a move like that. Maybe it was for the best he didn’t shift after all.
I really wanted to kick myself.
“Does he have anything of yours? You men
tioned the car title. I don’t want anything holding you to him.”
“Yeah,” I said. “But I read up on it and I can get a new one.”
“One of my brothers may be looking for a car,” he suggested.
“No.”
He titled his head. “And why not?”
“Beckett had sex in that car and I’d rather see it burn. I want to sell it to a stranger so I never have to see it again.”
“Tell you what. I’ll see what I can do about taking the car off your hands, and I promise—it’ll be gone for good.”
That was a relief. Buying or selling a car was stressful, and I didn’t really know how to handle those things. “Thanks, Austin. I’d appreciate it.”
Denver appeared and his voice boomed. “We got company!”
“Who?” Austin’s eyes were bright and alert.
“Jericho’s hunting them down.” Denver hopped on one foot while shoving the other into a sneaker. “We were twenty yards from the house and—”
“Shifters?” Austin peeled off his shirt and his abs tensed.
Denver flicked his eyes to me. “Yeah. One of them said we have an unclaimed bitch and he wanted to meet her.”
My eyes narrowed. “Who’s he calling a bitch?”
“Word’s out then,” Austin muttered. “Doesn’t take long. How the hell do they know about her?”
Denver shrugged as he tied his laces. “Only an alpha would have smelled her if she was close to the change. You been near any alphas?” Denver asked.
“How would I know? I get a ton of customers coming in and out of my store and I couldn’t tell you an alpha from a beta. Are you saying you can smell me?”
Denver quirked a smile and quickly switched over to a serious face. “They didn’t state what pack they belonged to. If Jericho tracks them down, you should have a talk with their Packmaster. I wouldn’t recommend going after them yourself,” he said, eyeing Austin who was squeezing his hands into fists. “You know the consequences if an alpha attacks another pack on the offense without provocation, especially if they’re not on our turf. Rules, bro. Play by ’em.”
In that moment, I saw wisdom in Denver as an older brother, even though he didn’t look it. Austin was in charge, but their experience would serve to provide him with invaluable advice.
Austin pointed at him and replied in a chillingly cool voice. “He’d better find them. Stay outside and keep guard. I don’t want anyone sniffing around my territory. Have Jericho mark the perimeter and leave a warning.”
“Let me just go get him some Gatorade,” Denver said with a suppressed smile and a song in his voice, hitching up his jeans in the back as he sauntered out of the room.
Austin looked me over and released a breath he must have been holding in. “You’re staying here tonight.”
I sprang up. “I have to go to work tomorrow, Austin. I feel better and my work clothes are at home.”
“Call in sick and I’ll go pick up your things. They’re not going to fire you for having the flu.”
“Wait a second,” I protested, inching my way toward the hallway. “I’ll agree to stay here the night, but I go home tomorrow. Period. This isn’t a request. You can’t waltz into my life and start making decisions for me. I have a job, a family, and a life to live. Okay, so maybe I’m dealing with a little bit more… like the fact I’m a wolf.”
I paused. This was too much.
“Do you guys really call us bitches?”
Austin made a little grunt that sounded like he found my question inane. “It doesn’t have any negative connotations with Shifters. It just is what it is.”
“I still have a problem with it.” The bottom of my feet were sticky against the wood floor as I paced in a small circle. “Better warn your brothers, Austin. I’m dead serious. I’ve been called a lot of things, but bitch is one name I don’t tolerate very well.”
He leaned forward. Just a little. “Who’s calling you names?” he asked, and I didn’t care for the darkness in his voice.
“No one. Since when did you become so concerned with my life?”
There was an uncomfortable silence between us as he swallowed thickly, like he wanted to say something. “I’m going to check the locks on the doors and windows. If you’re hungry, there’s plenty in the kitchen. The boys will be out all night; that’s usually the deal when it’s Shifter’s night at the bar. Denver will let us know if something’s up. I don’t have any concerns. This is my turf. Sounds like they were just checking you out. Someone got them riled up about an unclaimed woman in town—someone knows about you.”
I shrugged. “I don’t know who that could be. I wouldn’t know how to spot a Shifter.”
“I’ll be back.” When Austin stalked out of the room, the stupid teenager in me actually turned my head to stare at his ass.
As alarming as it was to know a bunch of strange men were snooping around to get a look at me, I felt safe with Austin. I was never the kind of woman who sat around dreaming of a man protecting me, but since Wes died and my dad left, I’d missed out on all the luxuries most other girls got. Having someone help change the oil, sell the car, or shop for a new apartment. A man to stop by and figure out what was going on with the leaky faucet or have my back whenever someone gave me shit.
Not that people gave me shit. I wasn’t a troublemaker and didn’t hang out with the rowdy crowd. Those were Beckett’s friends, and usually I dodged their parties and went out with Naya. Maybe the whole “tough guy” thing was why Beckett was so appealing in the beginning. Then I realized that sometimes being a tough guy simply meant you were a jerk.
He never changed my oil, either.
I had a small panic attack in the bathroom and spent a long time digesting the facts. Nothing would ever bring Wes back and over the years, I’d accepted his death. But now that sorrow was replaced by anger that his life was cut short unnecessarily. Maybe I wasn’t related to my family by blood, but I loved them fiercely. Being a Shifter? A whole other ball of wax. I didn’t even begin to know how to process it.
I found a chicken potpie in the freezer and heated it up. After devouring the entire meal in less than five minutes, I curled up on the sofa with a bag of Doritos and fell asleep watching Die Hard. I’d found the movie stacked in a large box labeled “Reno.”
The bag crinkled and someone jostled me around.
“Stop,” I mumbled.
“Time for bed,” Austin said, and then I was in his arms.
He set me down on top of a comforter and I nuzzled into the pillow, listening to the sound of a window unit circulating air.
The bed moved in the darkness and my eyes popped open. “Austin?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re not sleeping with me.”
He threw the comforter from his side over my legs.
“It’s my bed, so I’m pretty sure I am. Plus, it’s the only room in the house with a window unit,” he murmured sleepily. “I run hot.”
Then I heard a zipper and the bed moved some more. I stayed very quiet, because honestly, I had no idea how to react. I felt a connection with him that time never erases with someone you know, like when you hear a song on the radio and all those old feelings of a special time in your life come flooding back.
That was Austin—he was my song.
I still remembered the sleepovers and how I’d pretend to doze off beside him while we watched a movie on the couch. It was strategic, of course, so I could slide against his shoulder. Wes always had to play bad guy and drag me off to bed, but Austin never seemed to mind. I loved those moments, because when he laughed, I could feel it.
Austin released one of those long sighs with a satisfactory moan once he settled beneath the sheets. Then I started wondering things like what kind of underwear he wore, or if he slept Tarzan style.
I immediately threw the blanket over to his side.
His warm laugh filled the chilly room. “I’m not cold, Ladybug.”
“Why do you call me that? You’ve been cal
ling me that name since I can remember.”
He exhaled through his nose as if he were going to tell me something he didn’t want to.
“Your freckles.”
“Oh. Those.”
“Yeah, those.” He was quiet for a minute and then his voice changed up, softened a little, but had an edge like maybe he was embarrassed to talk so intimately with me. “One summer when you were about five, your mom bought you one of those moving sprinklers. You practically lived outside and ended up with a sunburn.”
I smiled. “I don’t remember.”
“That’s when you first got ’em. It was just a little spray across your nose and high on your cheeks. I was being mean when I gave you the name, but then it kind of stuck. Not in a mean way.”
I still had them, but they were small and faded, and invisible whenever I wore makeup.
“You shouldn’t cover them up,” he said, as if he could read my mind. His voice was soft like melted chocolate, and I turned on my right side, giving him my back.
“Why did you kiss me that night?” I finally asked. That question had plagued me for years, ever since the night Wes was killed.
The cover snapped off the bed and Austin rolled over behind me. “I planned on leaving town that night; I was trying to talk Wes into going. Hell, I thought he was going. We had a deal, but Wes wanted to be Breed, wanted immortality so much it blinded him from making the right decision.”
“What decision?”
“He got mixed up with the wrong people, and they asked him to be a hitman. I told him the last thing he ever wanted was to be in debt with one of us. Breed don’t mess around when it comes to paying debts. I guess he didn’t have it in him to do what they wanted, and he paid with his life.”
Tears sprang up and I pressed my face against the pillow. Austin’s hand touched my hip.
“Don’t,” I warned him. He immediately retracted. “Is that all, or are you hiding something else?”
“There’s nothing else.” Then his voice switched over to dark and threatening. “One of these days, I’m going to find out who he was bargaining with, and they’re going to pay with their life.”
“So why did you kiss me?” I asked again.
Austin didn’t answer but rolled over and pounded on his pillow a few times before settling in. I had a feeling I might never know the answer to that question, and maybe there was no answer. Maybe all these years I had built up in my head something that had meant nothing to him.