by May Dawson
“I’m not anything,” I said, some of my memories of the night before returning. “But you’re a…wolf.”
“Now and then.” He ran his hand over my leg, through the blanket, his touch warming me like nothing else.
“Hold me,” I said. “I’m warm when you’re near me.”
His lips twisted, in an amused smirk, although he moved to obey. Before I knew it, he lifted me easily, and my head was on his hard shoulder, his arms locked around me. I rested my cheek against the soft flannel of his shirt.
“Princess,” he accused gently. Then he fell silent, as if he was thinking about something.
“What is it?” I asked.
“Something impossible,” he said.
“Everything I learned about tonight is impossible,” I said. “Enchanted necklaces. Binding spells. Werewolves.”
His fingers traced my throat, just beneath the curve of the cold metal that seemed to bite into my skin. “You seem to be taking…this…well.”
“Callum said you guys would help me get it off,” I said.
“And you trust us.” His big hand swept the hair from my forehead. Despite himself, and all he’d said, his lips grazed my forehead again.
“Shouldn’t I?” I yawned.
“Maybe,” he said softly. “But I’m glad you do. And you have my bond.”
“I don’t know what that is.” I turned my face into his chest, letting my eyes drift shut again.
His fingers ran through my hair, sending gentle tugs of pleasure racing down my spine. “It means we’d die to protect you. It means we’ll always come when you need us.”
“That’s crazy talk,” I muttered. “No one’s going to die.”
“Eli Kingston just might,” Kai said, his voice bleak.
We’ll always come when you need us.
They were sweet words to think over while I fell into sleep.
When I woke again, Nick held me in his arms. I stared up at his big jaw, those beautiful green eyes.
Beautiful green eyes.
The limp.
I bit down on my lower lip as he smiled down at me.
“Go back to sleep, sweet girl. I’ve got you.”
“I hit you with my car,” I said flatly.
“It wasn’t your fault.” He tucked a strand of hair back behind my ear. “I was out of control. The werewolf thing…it’s a bit new to me.”
“Why’s that?”
“It starts around eighteen for most males,” he said. “I had my birthday a few months ago. Right after Callum finally tracked me down.”
“What happened to you guys?” I asked.
“I don’t remember any of it, really,” he said. “I was just a baby. A coven attacked our pack and destroyed our pack. Callum was barely a teenager. He had to take the cubs—Kai, Josh and me—and run. We were the only survivors. Well, we thought.”
“Who else survived?”
“There was a brand-new girl baby.” His eyes clouded. “They took her. A born shifter female is powerful. Her magic can be used to fuel a coven’s spells.”
I finally put together the pieces. Their mission. Their talk about a bond with the right girl. “And you’re looking for her here.”
He nodded.
“And you think it’s… Misty.” God, the thought twisted in my chest, leaving a dull ache behind. I wished I was special. I wished, most of all, that I was special to these three.
“They hid her right in town,” he said. “Right under our noses. Not that any of us could look. Callum tried to keep us together, but we were scattered to foster care and adopted to different families.”
“That must have been so hard,” I said softly.
“I didn’t know anything else,” he said. “I didn’t know I had another family. All this.” He jerked his chin, encompassing the big house, the estate. “It’s almost everything I ever wanted.”
“What’s the other thing?”
His lips pursed to one side, and he shook his head. He wasn’t going to answer.
“Misty,” I said softly. “Your…mate? Is that how it works?”
“I don’t want Misty,” he said. “She’s a nice girl, but I don’t feel anything when I look at her. Maybe they found the wrong girl. And either way…”
“Either way, what?”
“Traditions don’t matter to me,” he said bluntly. “Like Callum said, we have a lot to learn about being a pack. Well, I don’t care about the rules of a world I didn’t grow up in. I don’t want to share one pack princess I don’t even love.”
“And here I thought Kai was the bad boy type,” I said softly. “Wait, share?”
He nodded, but didn’t volunteer any more information. My cheeks heated at the thought of how much I’d like to share all four of them. Even cranky, bossy Callum, with his powerful body and his distant attitude.
Actually, maybe especially Callum. It was inappropriate, but just thinking about him sent a spike of lust throbbing between my thighs.
Apparently, I was feeling much better.
I frowned. I finally had the chance to unravel all their secrets, and I wanted to ask every question I had. “And you and Josh are brothers?”
“No, not really,” he said. “Just part of our awful cover story.” He crinkled his nose at this admission. “We didn’t really think it through. Callum and his nephews.”
“Phew,” I said out loud.
He cocked an eyebrow at me. “Why phew?”
I shook my head. I was not going to discuss the inappropriate lust-soaked thoughts that ran through my head when it came to all three of them.
“Why are you telling me all this?” I asked.
“Because you won’t remember later,” he said, “after the enchantment’s been broken. I can finally tell you everything it’s been making me crazy to hide.”
“Then what?”
He groaned. “I don’t know. Can we not talk about the future when it seems more than bleak right now?”
“Why would it be bleak?”
He turned exasperated eyes on me. “I don’t know, why do you think fated love would feel bleak to me right now?”
“Misty’s a sweetheart. And she’s so pretty. You could do worse.”
He growled, the sound half-animal and half lust-filled, frustrated man, and it made me grin.
“I want what I want,” he said. His gaze was on my lips, and my cheeks flushed hot.
“And what is it that you want?” I asked archly. “If there was no fate? No pack?”
He took my chin in his grip, his thumb gentle against my jaw. “You know damn well.”
“Maybe.” I couldn’t hide my grin. “I want to hear you say it.”
“I want you, you brat,” he said, and his lips brushed against mine.
This time, when he kissed me so tenderly, I kissed him back hard. We traded quick, frantic kisses. He kissed me like he needed me, his fingers tangling in my hair, his forearm tightening against my back, holding me tight to him. My fingertips dug into his broad, powerful shoulders, holding him against me too, making sure he wouldn’t escape.
When he broke away from me, I could feel how hard he was, pressing against me through his jeans.
“I wish I could be special for you,” I said softly.
“Don’t you worry about being special,” he said, his voice low and rough with desire. “Just be mine.”
I pressed my palm against his cheek, looking into his eyes. I wanted him so badly, yet everything in that wild story said they had a pack to rebuild, something that mattered more than the crush between us. As powerful as this desire felt, he had a mission. I should be practical, and so should he. I shouldn’t let my heart get too deeply twined with his.
“You know there are rules,” I said. “But I’ll take what I can get of you, if you’ll take what you can have of me. Until you have to leave.”
“Fuck the rules,” he said, and he kissed me again.
We traded quick, frantic kisses. I took his big jaw in my hands, wanting to savo
r every bit of his mouth: the quirk at the corners, the fullness of his lower lip, the way his lips parted, welcoming me in. I ran my fingertips under his t-shirt, feeling the hard plane of his abs, the warmth of his skin, and he moaned into my mouth.
The door creaked open. Nick’s lips nuzzled the corner of my mouth, and he pulled away reluctantly.
Callum came around the corner of the couch. His eyes flickered over my mussed hair and swollen-sore lips, then looked to Nick.
“Well, you were the one who hadn’t pissed me off lately,” Callum said to him. “Christ. The three of you…”
“Kai thinks there’s something going on here,” Nick said. “There’s got to be a reason we’re all drawn to Piper…”
“Just wait until the magic binding Misty is broken,” Callum said. “Someone put spells on her, and when they’re released, you’ll see just how much power she really has.”
“It’s not power I’m drawn to,” Nick said.
“You will be,” Callum promised. “The power of the pack princess is… intense. She bonds the whole pack together.”
“We’re already pretty bound together,” Nick said.
“You don’t know,” Callum said, his voice gentle. “You don’t remember anything about the life we had before. But it’s worth all this, Nick. It’s worth fighting for.”
When Callum’s eyes met mine again, as kind as his gaze was, it was clear I was thing he was fighting against when he fought for the pack.
“What if it’s not Misty we’re looking for?” Nick asked.
Callum sighed as he drew up a chair across from the couch, and he leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I don’t know everything there is to know about the witches. But I do know there’s magic binding Misty, somehow. Why would someone do that to her if she weren’t our princess? And she wasn’t born in that hospital…her records were obviously forged. All signs point to her.”
His gaze lingered on us both in turn. “I’m sorry. I know you want Piper to be…special.”
“She is,” Nick said firmly.
Callum nodded. “Of course. In her way. All right, Nick. Say good night.”
Nick shook his head, his lips tightening rebelliously.
I took his hand in mine. “I don’t know anything about this wolf business or fated love or any of that,” I said softly, “but what you have here is special already. The four of you. You’re a family. Callum’s right—it is worth fighting for. I bet he’s been fighting for it for a long time.”
Callum’s eyes widened, and he glanced away, as if I’d accidentally pressed on a tender spot.
“Piper,” Nick said.
“I’m already special,” I promised him, drawing his hand to my cheek, feeling the warmth of his calloused hand against my skin. “Special enough to have a plan, and my own life going forward. And lucky to have met you.”
He shook his head, but he couldn’t stop me from saying what else I had to say. “I need you, though. All of you. So I can have my own family—so I can save my little sister—and I can get us out of here. Away from this place, from my father and Eli.” The thought of leaving the four of them behind hurt, but it was nothing compared to how badly it would hurt me to stay. “Will you help me with that, Nick? And make your own family, here, because we all need that?”
“You know you have my word,” he said reluctantly, “I’ll protect you.”
“That’s not what I’m asking,” I said.
“Don’t make me promise to send you away,” he said. “I want to keep seeing you.”
“I know.” Tears filled my eyes as I tried to smile. “I want to keep seeing you too. But that’s not what’s right for either of us. That’s not what’s right for our families or our future.”
“God damn it, Piper,” he said.
“Promise me.”
His big hands suddenly spanned my jaw, and he kissed me hard. There was so much need in the way his lips devoured mine, and I pressed my palms over his hands, holding him against me, kissing him with just as much desperate need.
But still, when we separated, when there was a breath between us, I stared at him, waiting for my answer.
Finally, he whispered, “I promise.”
I nodded, grateful, but it didn’t stop the tears that burned my eyes.
Nick suddenly rose from the couch and without looking back, he strode from the room. The door slammed shut behind him.
For long seconds, silence hung in the room. Callum rubbed his hand across his face. Then he finally said, “Thank you, Piper. That was the right thing to do. For you and for him.”
“I know,” I said dully. “Doesn’t make it any easier.”
“You’re a brave girl,” Callum said kindly. “You’ll find your way to a happy ending.”
“I don’t doubt it,” I lied. I ran my fingers over the jeweled collar I wore, the one that bound me to Eli. “Now, you made promises to me too. I can’t get this off on my own. I need your help.”
“Of course,” he said. He looked at me strangely. “You know you didn’t need to do that for me to help you.”
“I know I didn’t need to.” They were good guys. That was why this was so hard, and why I had to make them choose each other. Not me.
“To put our pack first…” He shook his head. “It was a generous act.”
“I’d give anything to have a family like this. To have a pack. I wouldn’t ask any of you throw that away.”
Callum rose and turned his back to me, walking away toward the fireplace. Had I offended him? I stared at him, at the tension in his powerful back and chiseled body.
But after a few long seconds, he said roughly, “Let’s get you free, Piper.”
Chapter 20
Josh
I knew the tap on the door was Callum, even before I scented him. His knock gave away his personality: heavy-handed and confident.
“Coming.” I glanced out the window, at the darkness over the pines, and cursed as I rolled out of bed. Pulling a shirt on hastily over my head, I threw open the door. “You didn’t wake me?”
“You’re welcome,” Callum said, without smiling. “I thought you could use the rest.”
“I didn’t need rest,” I said. “I want to look after Piper.”
“You will,” he said, and I looked at him uncertainly. I wasn’t sure what to make of the promise in his voice. “But how is up to you.”
“What are you talking about?” My tone sounded grumpy, but for once, Callum let it pass.
“We need to find Eli Kingston and bring back his blood,” Callum said. “Well. Just enough to break the enchantment. We’re not going to kill the boy.”
He knew how I felt about that, which was probably why he pressed. “Right?”
“Right,” I said. “Sure.”
“But it’s up to you. You can stay here and watch over Piper, or you can go hunt down Eli with me. Either way, you help the girl.”
Of course I wanted to stay with Piper. But I was bigger—and meaner—than Nick or Kai. I shoved my hands in my jeans pockets. “You can’t hunt him alone. You’ll be crossing onto coven land.”
“I won’t hunt alone,” Callum said. “I’m only leaving one of you here to keep the girl company.”
“What if Eli comes here looking for her while we’re hunting him?” I absently touched my collarbone through my shirt; the thought of wearing a collar like Eli had put on Piper, binding her to him, made my skin burn.
“The witch shouldn’t be able to cross our boundaries,” Callum said. “If he does, I expect any of you can bring him down.”
I didn’t like the idea of Kai or Nick facing him alone. I’d only recently learned witches were real, but I knew too well just how evil humans could be, even without dark magic on their side.
If I were here, I’d get a few more hours with Piper. But that was selfish. The most important thing was to make sure she was free.
“We could leave Kai and Nick here,” I said. “Just in case.”
Callum’s eye
brows arched. “I was sure you’d want the time with Piper.”
“Of course I do,” I said roughly. “But priorities.”
“Look at you,” he said. “Making the hard choices. You might have the makings of an alpha in the end, after all.”
“I won’t be an alpha as long as you’re alive,” I said. “And as much as I might not like being second…”
The thought of losing Callum was jarring. I barely remembered my parents now, or the night we lost everything. Things weren’t easy between the two of us, but I did remember one thing.
Callum had saved my life.
“You don’t plan to kill me yourself?” Callum finished my sentence drily.
“I’ve got your back,” I said. “You know that.”
“I know,” he said, but I wasn’t sure he did. Callum claimed we’d all gone feral, but he’d been alone for a long time, trying to draw the pack back together. He was single-minded, and he’d turned cold trying to rebuild the family he lost. Sometimes, I didn’t think he really believed he’d keep us, in the end.
I wasn’t going anywhere, no matter how much he pissed me off, but I didn’t have the words to tell him that.
Instead, I said, “Well? You ready to rip an arm off that rapey pretty boy?”
“Josh,” he chided. “If we can take him unseen and destroy his memories after, we keep our tactical advantage.”
“Fine,” I said. “But I hope he fights back.”
Callum hid a smile as he turned down the hall.
“What?”
“You might not remember,” he said, “but our betas are nothing like humans think when they say beta. They’re the knights, the warriors of the pack.”
“Yeah?”
“You remind me of your dad,” he said. “That’s all.”
That was a lot, but I couldn’t ask. I nodded.
“Say goodbye to Piper, if you want,” he said. “I’ll wake Kai to watch over her for now.”
I went down the stairs without answering. In the living room, Piper was asleep again. Her arm was tucked under her cheek, and her lashes rested just above her cheekbones, which were flushed pink from fever. I wanted to touch her—to kiss the round curves of her cheeks, to push her honey-blonde hair back from her face—but it would have been selfish to disturb her sleep. Instead, I gazed at her for a few long seconds.
