Taryn scowled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Denying guilt—how typical. Jordan’s upper lip curled in disdain, and her heart knocked against her rib cage like a hungry woodpecker.
Gina, a fiery redhead, planted her hands on her hips and glared at Jordan. “Why would Taryn do such a thing?”
“Because her brother and I humped during patrol, and Chase and I screwed last night,” Jordan shot back, letting it all out in the open.
Janelle winced, and Gina glared, but Taryn’s face was the most telling of all. Red blotches sprang up her neck and burned her cheeks between gnashed teeth that appeared hungry to rip out Jordan’s flesh.
Jordan snarled back. “You pushed me into the river from up there.” She pointed to the top of the plateau.
“You saw her?” Gina demanded.
“No.” Jordan grit her teeth. If her friends had seen Taryn go off alone, they weren’t admitting it—yet.
Placing her hands on her hips, Gina looked Jordan up and down with scathing green eyes. “We all saw how drunk you were last night. You probably tripped and fell in.”
Janelle nodded her agreement and aimed a frown of disapproval at Jordan.
Gina waded out of the river and crossed her arms over her chest. “I’d be careful about making false accusations.” She took a step closer. “And I’d be even more careful about who you go spreading your legs for. It could come around and bite you in the ass.”
With a scoff, Jordan tossed her hair back and lifted her chest, not caring that she’d seen her sisters make the same annoying gesture hundreds of times. Maybe they weren’t so different after all—not when it came to sexuality, anyway. Her family treated sex with the same reverence as food and shelter, considering it a vital and gratifying part of life. To go without it too long was unnatural.
“My ass has never felt better,” Jordan said, giving it a loving pat. “Maybe if you spent less time bitching and more time bending over, you wouldn’t be so cranky.”
Gina growled.
Water sloshed around Taryn as she rushed out of the river. “Come on, girls. We don’t have to stand around listening to her filthy tongue. Consider the source.”
Jordan folded her arms and watched Taryn and Janelle storm for the woods. Gina lingered behind, eyes locked on Jordan. If she meant to try and intimidate her, it wouldn’t work. Jordan wasn’t afraid to go head-to-head with the redhead—nor muzzle-to-muzzle.
“Maybe you should look a little closer at your own sisters,” Gina said.
Jordan’s eyes narrowed to slits. “What does that mean?”
“If you hadn’t been so drunk, you might have noticed Camilla throwing a tantrum after Emerson cut in to dance with Raider. She got even angrier when Emerson told her that you and Raider are going to be patrol partners, and then she stormed off in a rage.”
Jordan guffawed. “Nice try. Camilla knows I have no interest in Raider, and if I did, she’d confront me to my face, not shove me into the river from behind then run off like a coward.”
Gina frowned. “Taryn wouldn’t do that, either.”
“Are you sure about that? Were you with her all night?” Jordan leaned into the other female’s face. Gina surprised her by flushing in a way that appeared more bashful than angry. An instant later her eyes hardened, the greens darkening.
“What’s the matter? Can’t lie for your friend?” Jordan taunted.
When Gina pressed her lips together and made no answer, Jordan huffed in disgust.
“That’s what I thought.”
Taryn’s friends weren’t going to be any help at all. Jordan spun on her heel and kicked up dust with each fast footfall that took her away from the river.
Gina’s arms drifted to her sides as Jordan stormed away. She was annoyed that she couldn’t help admiring the way the shifter’s jeans fit snug around her slender legs and taut around her ass. It really was a shame that more females didn’t wear pants. How would Taryn look in a tight pair of jeans? That was a visual she definitely should not entertain.
“Is it true?” a feminine voice sang out. “Did your friend really try to drown my sister?”
Gina grimaced as Emerson sauntered out from the trees, her long blond hair gleaming as it tumbled into the sunlight.
“I know you weren’t with Taryn all night.” Emerson dropped her voice. “I was watching you during the ceremony.” Her eyes ran up and down Gina as though backing up her words.
“I’m surprised you noticed anyone other than Raider,” Gina snapped.
Emerson’s eyes lit up as she smiled with delight. “Jealous?” she asked.
Gina glared back. “Not at all, and I don’t like being toyed with.”
Rather than back off, Emerson leaned in closer. “What do you like?”
Gina’s nostrils flared. Moon above, Emerson was shameless. Her whole family lacked tact of any kind. “Being left alone.”
Emerson wet her lips and stared into Gina’s eyes, which unwittingly drew her into those sky-blue irises. They shone with mirth.
“No. I don’t think so,” Emerson said. “Someone as lovely as you should not be ignored. I saw you dancing alone, skirt twirling, hair flickering like a flame in the glow of the bonfire. Beautiful.” The last word whispered out of Emerson’s lips. With a rare show of serenity, she lowered her lashes and her lips parted slightly. She replaced the coy smile with a soft grin.
Gina’s heart rate quickened, and her breathing became shallow. Heat sizzled in her veins. Angry heat, she told herself. The males might let Emerson get away with that kind of callous teasing, but she would not.
It was on the tip of her tongue to tell the blond shifter to save her flattery for someone more gullible when Taryn yelled her name from a narrow opening in the trees.
“Gina! You coming?”
She stood, frozen, stuck between the two females, not trusting her body to move in the right direction.
Noticing her hesitation, Emerson winked then turned and walked away.
So much for getting in the last word before storming off. Instead, Gina’s legs were rooted in place watching Emerson swing her hips as her last word echoed inside her mind. Beautiful.
“What did she want?” Taryn frowned as Emerson disappeared into the trees.
Gina turned to her friend, searching her face. Some shifter pups grew into their beauty, but Taryn had always been gorgeous with her long, brown, silky hair, often worn in a ponytail that swayed just above her ass. She had full lips that pouted in the most cruel, kissable way. Chase was a fool not to claim her.
Taryn said he needed more time to get over his sister’s death, but Gina could see that no amount of time would bring the male shifter back around to her.
Taryn could do so much better, but Gina understood what it meant to hold out hope for someone who would never return her love.
Janelle joined them. Getting any time alone with Taryn was nearly impossible when the three friends stuck together like sap.
Gina exhaled, lashes fluttering.
“Is it true? Did you try to drown Jordan last night?”
Taryn blinked rapidly then sputtered, “Of course not.”
Janelle glanced at Gina and raised her brows.
“Did you push her into the river?” Gina rephrased.
Taryn’s head dropped, those luscious lips of hers flattening.
“How could you ask me that?” Taryn’s gaze cut through Gina, conveying hurt and betrayal.
A pit opened in Gina’s stomach, and guilt flooded in, but still, she would have liked to have known the answer.
chapter five
The next morning, Jordan woke up in a furry mass of wolves cuddled together beneath a tree. Every night, small groups like theirs slept near the glade.
Jordan was the first to rise and stretch as the moon dissolved in the sky
with the rising sun. As she trotted to the glade, she was soon followed by Amber and Sydney. The only sound they made was the soft patter of paws against the compact earth on the path leading them to their clothing, tossed into piles beneath a dense canopy on the fringe of the glade.
Jordan shifted first, yawning as she did. When she stood up on her human legs, she finished her yawn.
Amber shifted next, her golden eyes sparkling in the morning sun as she lifted her head and smiled. “What a beautiful day to start a new patrol cycle.”
Jordan snatched her jeans from a log, smirking. “You’re just happy meal duty is over. Not that I blame you. If I had to work with Francine, I’d tear my hair out—or, better yet, hers.” Jordan bent to step into each leg of her jeans and yanked them up to her waist.
Suppressing a laugh, Amber shrugged one shoulder. “It’s not that bad.”
The poor girl probably didn’t want to complain about Francine in front of her two stepdaughters.
What is Sydney doing here, anyway? She usually clung to Camilla like moss to a tree. The moment her little sister shifted, she grabbed her dress and pulled it over her head. Yet Sydney hovered beside them, listening and staring in that intense and unsettling way of hers.
Jordan might have said more to put Amber at ease on the matter of Francine, but she didn’t appreciate such blatant eavesdropping. Sydney stared as Jordan pulled her tank top over her head.
“Why do you wear pants?” she asked.
Jordan tugged at the bottom of her tank. “Because they’re more comfortable.”
“Males wear pants,” she said in a snippy voice Jordan didn’t appreciate.
“So?”
Rather than answer, Sydney stared at her for several seconds before walking off.
Brat.
Amber rubbed her hands together. “We should head in and grab a bite before Jager assigns partners.”
Ugh, right. How could Jordan forget?
From all directions, shifters lumbered into the clearing, stretching and yawning, a flutter of motion gravitating toward the line forming in front of the communal cauldron, like bees returning to the mother hive.
Hudson and Chase strolled in, David tagging along behind them. Smiling to herself, Jordan could just imagine the kind of influence the guys could be on an impressionable teen shifter.
As she glided toward the males, she scanned the crowd for Taryn and her stalwart friends, but they had yet to show their faces. She did, however, spot Raider, standing tall on the edge of the clearing, his thick arms folded as he monitored the glade like some kind of overlord keeping an eye on his underlings. Heat curled and roiled inside her belly. “I need to eat something,” Jordan said, pushing past Chase to get to the line. He and Hudson fell into step behind her, quickly followed by David.
At the cauldron, Jordan dished herself a heaping bowl of porridge. No matter what state her emotions were in, they never got in the way of her appetite. If anything, agitation increased her hunger.
Chase and Hudson laughed when she began scarfing down porridge while they dished up.
“Easy there, Jordan,” Hudson said. With a sideways look at Chase, he said, “She must be really agitated today.”
They knew her so well.
“Are you nervous about the new pairings, Jordan?” David asked.
Chase coughed and shared a look with Hudson, who turned slowly to face the younger shifter.
“We ask the questions, Davey Boy. You watch and learn.”
Chase’s lips puckered as he nodded in agreement while Hudson spoke.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to butt in.” David hung his head and stared at the ground.
“Just don’t let it happen again. Now, why don’t you go eat with Wiley and Justin?” Hudson jutted out his chin. “I’ve got mature business to discuss with Chase and Jordan.”
David’s lower lip pouted. Before slinking off, he said, “I’d rather eat alone than with those two mongrels.”
“Smart boy.” Chase smiled with approval.
Hudson puffed up his chest. “He’s learning from the best.”
Jordan just shook her head. “Did the two of you adopt a teen pup? That’s so cute,” she said sarcastically.
Hudson turned to Chase. “I think what Jordan meant is that it’s very admirable of us to take David under our wing.”
The two males laughed as they followed her over to their usual log. Other shifters respected it as the trio’s unofficial territory. The log had a solid thickness that worked well for sitting with their knees comfortably bent and feet flat against the earth. Before their butts rested over the bark, Jordan had polished off half her breakfast. It didn’t take her long to finish off the rest.
She wasn’t the only one who ate fast. A flurry of movement circulated around the clearing like wind. Shifters placed their empty bowls in baskets then proceeded to pace. Jordan envied them wondering who their new partner would be.
She had the misfortune of knowing already.
Does Raider know? She stole a quick glance at him, but it was too quick to see anything other than a towering bulk of muscle. Heart flipping like a beetle on its back—and legs flailing—she tried again. Just looking at him increased her agitation.
He looked stiffer than a birch tree as Camilla moved in, her arm brushing against his. As she leaned forward, Raider leaned back. Emerson set her porridge on a nearby log and sauntered up to Raider, fresh-faced and all smiles. Camilla scowled at her.
Something Emerson said piqued Raider’s interest enough for him to turn his body and face toward her, effectively cutting Jordan off from seeing his expression.
Her eyes had lingered on him long enough already.
Turning her attention back to her friends, she found she wasn’t the only one watching her sisters and Raider.
Heads bent close together, Hudson and Chase spoke in low voices.
“Our candidates aren’t wasting any time this morning,” Chase muttered with a shake of his head.
“Candidates?” Jordan repeated, blinking in confusion.
With a wiggle of his brows and a nod at the threesome, Hudson’s eyes gleamed.
“We’re placing bets on which of Palmer’s daughters will end up with Raider.”
Air hissed between Jordan’s teeth as she sucked in and put her hands on her hips. “You mean which of my sisters.”
“We never think of you as one of them,” Hudson said. “You’re different. Anyway, losers have to serve meals to the winners for an entire patrol cycle.” Hudson placed his hand on her shoulder. “Don’t worry, Jordan. Everyone knows you’d never compete for Raider.”
“Choosing a mate isn’t a game.” Jordan leaned back to free herself of Hudson’s hand. She might not have appeared to be a romantic, but she took the process of choosing a life mate seriously. Being independent didn’t mean she had no desire to find her forever wolf. Sasha had, and she’d been the last shifter Jordan ever expected to settle happily into mated bliss… and with a half-breed, no less. The recent claiming gave Jordan new hope.
“Hey, don’t take it personally, Jord,” Chase said, forehead wrinkling. “Everyone’s talking about it whether you like it or not.”
With a grumble and a huff, she tamped down her irritation. One of the many reasons she liked hanging out with Chase and Hudson was because they gave it to her straight.
“Lately, all my family does is give the pack things to talk about,” Jordan acknowledged begrudgingly. “Which mongrel volunteered to keep track of the bets?”
“Ford,” Chase answered.
“Raider’s cousin.” Jordan gritted her teeth. “Perfect.”
Chase rolled his eyes and nodded. “We tried to put Aden in charge, but he seemed to think it was in poor taste.”
Jordan’s head lifted with admiration, and a small, satisfied smile lifted her lips. Aden, the h
ollow’s only werewolf, had always struck her as a decent guy.
“After Aden refused, we figured the next best thing would be a wolf from the den,” Chase continued. “Flynn was going to step in until his mate, Chloe, chewed him out.”
“Mates,” Hudson said with a sigh and an eyeroll.
“Anyway, we got Ford, who was more than happy to take bets and remain impartial despite his relationship to Raider. It’s not like they’re close friends or anything.”
Hudson sniffed. “Raider doesn’t need friends. He’s got himself.”
Chase chuckled, but Jordan’s gut churned over her family going from a topic of scandal to entertainment. Usually, she had no trouble joking around with the boys. Her sister’s hint about Raider being a prize they were supposedly competing for still hadn’t prepared Jordan for the pack’s involvement in such a personal family affair. There were few times she envied “the old ways,” as Jager referred to them, when humans lived in houses and could block out their neighbors. At the moment, isolation sounded pretty damn blissful.
Shoulders tensing, she looked from Chase to Hudson. “Dare I ask who you bet on?”
Hudson grinned. “Chase and I disagree on who will ultimately wear Raider down, but that’s okay. I look forward to having buddy-boy fetch my meals for a month.”
Chase snorted. “You wish.”
“Camilla is no match for my girl, Emerson,” Hudson boasted. He jutted his chin in Emerson’s direction. “Look how she stole his attention away in two tail shakes. I’m telling you, this one’s as good as bitten.”
Chase smirked and shook his head. “Camilla’s determined. And while there’s no question Emerson’s capable of outshining Camilla, she’s also a known tease.”
“A competitive tease,” Hudson cut in, “with extra motivation being that she’s up against her sister. She knows how to play the game, and win.”
“But what if she doesn’t really want the prize?” Chase raised his eyebrows. “You know how she likes her fun. She’s probably laughing behind all our backs. I wouldn’t be surprised if she placed her own bet.”
Mating Games Page 5