by Ivy Asher
His eyes rake slowly over me, eventually making their way up to mine. When his black irises meet my seafoam green ones, he stills. I have a sinking suspicion that I’m committing some kind of shifter faux-pas, and I want to punch myself, and then Mave, for not going over what was appropriate when meeting the Alpha of the pack.
I suspect eye contact with certain members of the pack is a big shifter no-no. But, fuck it, it’s already happening, and there’s nothing much I can really do about it now. A fleeting thought flashes through me that maybe I should play nice and drop my eyes, but he’s not said a word to me or made any effort to make this introduction less awkward. He’s looked me over like I was some chewed up dog toy covered in drool, and it bothers the shit out of me.
So, I keep my eyes fixed on his.
“Are you challenging me for my pack, Vinna?” He asks, his body language calm and self-assured.
His voice is smooth and accent-free. Bummer, I was really hoping he’d sound British.
“No, sir. I’m simply challenging you for your respect.”
He lifts one brow in question.
“I saw what you thought of me when you looked me over, or maybe it’s just my kind that pisses you off, but I’m not them,” I explain, my easygoing tone matching his.
His nostrils flare, and the hint of a smile twitches at the corners of his mouth. “I suppose time will show if that’s true.”
He gives me an almost imperceptible nod, and I drop my gaze immediately. The strained silence that was cocooning us shatters, and the shifters surrounding us relax and pick up their conversations. The alpha gives a deep rumbling chuckle.
“Vinna, allow me to introduce you to my Betas.”
Trent Silas puts a large hand on the shoulder of a big man in a green t-shirt. The large man ends the conversation he’s currently involved in and turns around at the touch.
“This is my second Mateo--”
“Torrez?” I interrupt.
Torrez’s face shows his surprise, and I’m shocked at how different he looks from the last time I saw him. His mohawk of dreads is gone. His ebony hair is short now and trimmed cleanly in a stylish undercut rockabilly look. His beard is also missing, leaving a light dusting of sexy scruff in its place. He’s wearing dark jeans that look like they were made for him and a t-shirt that says Ripped for her pleasure.
I turn to Mave after seeing his shirt and glare daggers at her. So he can wear t-shirts that say shit, but I can’t? Following my train of thought, Mave rolls her eyes and smirks, mouthing the word puppy pile at me. I try not to snort and turn back to Torrez. His dark brown eyes light up, and a smile takes over his face.
“Bitchless witch? Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world, you walk into mine?”
I chuckle at his butchering of the famous movie quote. “Well, you look a hell of a lot better than the last time I saw you.”
Torrez laughs, and the eyes of everyone around us ping pong from him to me and back again.
“What am I missing here? How do you guys know each other?” Mave asks, the confusion in her voice matching the look on the Alpha’s face.
“This little Vixen and I went head to head in the ring a couple weeks back. She ended my undefeated winning streak by almost ripping my face in half.” Torrez explains. He chuckles like the lunatic he is and rubs his jaw for good measure. “I just started eating solids less than a week ago,” he tells me.
I dismiss his play for sympathy and stick out my lower lip in an exaggerated faux pout. I bring my hands up in front of me and mime playing a tiny violin. “Them’s the breaks wolf-man. I did warn you about your imminent loss. It’s not my fault you didn’t listen.”
Torrez lets out a roar of laughter, and Alpha Silas looks me over with renewed interest.
Questions and mumbles of disbelief sound off around us, and I look at Torrez confused.
“Did you not tell anyone that you had your ass handed to you by a female?”
“I did, but I can’t help it if they chose not to believe me.” He gives me a wink and turns to the group surrounding the Alpha. “This little spitfire walked right into the ring and said, I’m going to fuck up your undefeated record. I thought for sure one of you fuckers was playing a prank on me.” He slaps the chest of the shifter standing next to him and gestures to the rest of them with his other hand. “I couldn’t scent any trace of lies in the air. There wasn’t even a hint of fear or hesitation. I didn’t know what to think.” He looks from the amused faces of the big male shifters around us, back to mine. “I want a rematch, Witch.”
“Anytime. Anyplace. Wolf-man,” I say, with a sweet smile as I pat his cheek.
His eyes heat up at my declaration, and I have to admit the thought of fighting him again excites me.
“Vinna, I’d like to invite you to run with the pack tonight.” Alpha Silas announces.
Heads snap to him in shock. The conversation around us dies like someone went and turned the volume off at this party. Alpha Silas looks nonplussed by the reaction of his pack.
“We don’t typically welcome outsiders, but something tells me you’ll be able to keep up.”
I get the sense that what he’s offering is a big deal, but I’m not sure what to think about it. I feel a squeezing pressure at my elbow, and I look over to find a rigid-looking Pebble. I’d completely forgotten he was even here.
“I don’t think this is a good idea,” he admonishes.
He’s not looking at me when he says this. Instead, he looks past me to the Alpha and the shifters that surround us. That alone helps me make up my mind.
“Well, it’s too bad no one asked your opinion then, isn’t it, Pebble?” I pull my eyes from where he’s gripping my elbow and meet his aggravated stare.
“This isn’t a good idea, and I’m sure the elders would agree,” he grits through his teeth.
“The thing is, I don’t really care what they would and wouldn’t agree with. If the elders have a problem with my choices, they can fuck off, and if you don’t let go of my arm in sixty seconds, I’m going to give you and this group a demonstration of how I fucked up one of their Betas.”
Pebble huffs out a sigh. “This isn’t about the elders Vinna; this is about your safety.”
“I can take care of myself.” I remind him again, yanking my arm out of his grasp.
He takes a step towards me, and a chain reaction of deep menacing growls begins to rumble all around us. Pebble’s eyes shoot daggers at the surrounding shifters, and his body language tells me that he’s getting ready to square off with them.
“Think about what you’re doing. You’re on their land and outnumbered. You can either start some shit you don’t have a chance of winning, or you can step off and go back to babysitting me like you’ve been ordered... your call.”
He looks past me again and then at me. I plead with my eyes for him not to do anything stupid. I won’t be able to just sit by and watch him get torn to shreds by shifters, and I sure as fuck don’t want to die that way.
“Magic cross,” Mave throws out nonchalantly.
I have to fight my smile at her veiled threat, but it breaks free when Pebble finally relaxes and steps away from me. Someone steps up directly behind me, and I feel the vibration of a growl radiate from them as their chest skims my back. I turn to find Torrez towering over me. I stare at him until he drops his eyes from Pebble’s to mine.
“You of all people should know I can handle myself,” I remind him.
“Oh, I know. Doesn’t mean you should have to.”
I expected a snarky comment or some other kind of teasing, witty, retort since that’s kind of been our dynamic up to this point when communicating with each other. So his declaration and the fierce look in his eyes when he says it throws me a bit.
“Mave. Mateo. Make sure our guest is well taken care of.” Alpha Silas nods at them, then at me, before he moves away from us disappearing smoothly into the crowd of shifters.
14
I quickly t
oss back the shot of moonshine that was just handed to me. I expected it to taste like battery acid, but the taste of gummy bears coats my tongue, and I let out a surprised squeak as I swallow it down. Mave hands me another shot right away, and we clink glasses and throw them back. Holy shit, this stuff must be lethal. It tastes like candy and kicks like a mule. Torrez tries to hand me another shot, and I glare at it like the sneaky fiend it is.
“Two’s enough for me,” I confess, with a shake of my head when he tries to hand off the shot again.
I’m warm and fuzzy from the six ounces I just consumed. There’s no way I’m letting any more of that deliciously potent elixir past my lips. Mave shrugs and steals the shot from him, downing it first and then following it up with the shot in her other hand. She licks her lips appreciatively and wiggles her eyebrows at me.
“Sooo good, right?”
“Like I’m drinking super-sweet Kool-Aid,” I admit, with a giggle that has me instantly judging myself.
Mave laughs at me and throws an arm around my shoulders. “How can you be a lightweight when you’re such a badass? I thought fighting and drinking went hand and hand.”
I shrug my shoulders, which Mave seems to find hilarious. Torrez throws back another shot and smiles at the both of us.
“So, Vin, you ready to run with the big dogs? I mean wolves. Like really big wolves. Huge ones. Bigger than you’ve ever seen.” Mave’s eyes get wider as her hands grow farther apart. “Have you seen how big they are? Sooo big.” She looks at her outstretched hands and starts to crack up. “I’m not talking about that, you dirty birdy. Although the dick size in this pack is above average.” She wags her eyebrows at me but seems to get distracted by the movement of her hands again.
“And you’re cut off,” Torrez tells Mave when she makes a grab for another drink.
He pulls the drink smoothly out of her reach. She huffs her disapproval but doesn’t put up more fight beyond that.
Torrez motions between me and Mave, and leans down toward me. “So, how do you two know each other?”
I open my mouth to answer, but Mave beats me too it.
“Amazing people always find their way to each other. Our bestieship was written in the stars, that’s how,” she declares.
She throws her head back and closes her eyes to the starlit sky, like she can feel fate looking down on her at this exact moment. Slowly she starts to tilt back, and I rush to catch her before she falls off the chair. I get her straightened out as she chuckles and pets my face. I laugh. Apparently, looking for a better explanation than the one he just got, Torrez looks to me for a coherent answer to his question.
I smile at him and point my thumb at Mave. “What she said.”
Mave hugs me and then throws her head back and howls. Answering howls sound off around the party, and something about it comforts me. What would it be like to call out like that and know that there’s always someone there to answer you? I realize that Torrez is watching me as I blink away the thought, and I get the sudden desire to activate my runes and reach out to the guys.
“What?” I ask him, as he continues to look at me with that same intensity he had right after my chat with Pebble. I wipe at my face, wondering if I’ve got something there.
“Are you really going to run with us?” he asks.
“Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know. I’ve just never known a caster that would want to, let alone be invited to,” he admits.
“Well, I’m not really a caster, so that probably still applies.”
As soon as the words are out of my mouth, I want to grab them and shove them back down my throat. Why the fuck did I just say that? Torrez tilts his head, and I can see the questions written all over his face and spilling out of his gaze.
“What do you mean?”
“Uh…I...uh...just meant that I wasn’t raised like one. I don’t think like they do or have the same hang-ups.”
He stares at me for a couple of seconds and then gives me an understanding nod. I don’t miss the slight flare of his nostrils before he looks away at a group who’s yelling and getting rowdy. Shit! Can he smell the half-truth in what I just said? I reign in my panic figuring he’ll smell that, too, if I let it take over. I school my features and look around for a distraction.
I gape for a moment in shock, when I look over and find Mave snuggled up in Pebble’s lap. I’m not too surprised on Pebble’s end, as he’s been checking her out since the tattoo shop, but I didn’t know she was feeling him too. I scan the shifters all around them to see if Mave and Pebble’s closeness bothers anyone, especially after the dick move he tried to pull earlier, but no one seems to be paying them any attention.
A finger glides over the line of runes on my exposed shoulder, and a familiar wave of heat travels through me. I smile. How the hell did they find me here? A shiver rolls through me at the contact, and I turn, fully expecting to see one of my Chosen. I freeze when the finger trailing over my shoulder belongs to Torrez and not one of my guys.
I slap his hand away and push off of the tree stump I’m perched on. He rises at the same time, and I step to get in his face.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
My aggressive stance has unintentionally brought our faces closer together, and I see Torrez’s eyes drop to my lips for a millisecond before they shoot back up to meet my glare. I shove him away from me before he can do anything that will get him stabbed. I push my way through the crowd and into the surrounding tree line. I stomp back towards Mave’s house where my car is parked.
I debate for a quick second if I should tell Pebble that I’m ready to bail, but fuck it. He and Mave looked adorably cozy. Who am I to get in the way of the hot sex they’ll hopefully be having later? Leaves crunch behind me, and I whirl around to find Torrez.
“You crossed a fucking line. What are you thinking? I was being friendly. Not giving off make a move vibes. Can no one tell the difference in this town?” I shout at him.
I throw my hands up in the air like I’m waiting for the universe to answer my question. When it doesn’t, I turn back around and continue to stomp my way back in the direction of my Jeep.
“Vinna, I’m drawn to you.”
I round on him. “Don’t say that. Don’t you fucking say that! I am not available. I’m not interested in drawing anyone else in. I have Chosen. I don’t know where any of them are today, but that’s beside the point. They’re mine. I’m theirs. That’s it. You need to go find someone else to scratch your witch itch, or whatever it is that has you interested.”
Torrez doesn’t look deterred at all by my rambling declarations. In fact, he just smiles and dares to take a step closer to me.
“I thought casters liked to share. I’m failing to see the problem with being drawn to you?”
“I’m not a fucking free-for-all. You flea-bitten ass licker. This is not a Vinna buffet.” I motion to myself with a sweeping hand, but I’m pretty sure my point doesn’t sink in when Torrez’s brown eyes bank with heat. “You have to go to my Chosen to get to me. Wait, that’s not right. Go through them? Go to them? Fuck, which one is the threat? I mean the threatening one because they will kick your ass. Fuck it; I’m going to kick your ass.”
Torrez puts his hands up palms out when I step towards him with clenched fists. “Okay, I’ll back off until I can go to them.”
“No. That’s not what I mean. This…” I gesture from me to him, “is not up for discussion.”
His smile gets bigger, confusing me even more. Why is he not getting it?
“What the fuck? Don’t wolves mate for life? As in one mate for life. If you got involved with a caster, that would pull you away from your pack. You’re what, second in line to take over? I think the moonshine has addled your brain. Or maybe you need a snickers; you’re not yourself when you’re hungry—or at least that’s what the commercials say.”
I slam a hand over my mouth to keep any more dumb shit from dribbling out.
Motherfucki
ng moonshine!
No more gummy-bear flavored alcohol for me. Ever. A laugh escapes him, and I can tell that he’s trying hard to keep more in, but he’s fighting a losing battle. Dick. A howl tears through the night, and then suddenly the air fills with the beautifully haunting sounds of other answering howls.
“Are you going to run with us, or run away scared, Little Witch?” Torrez challenges me.
“Please, are you going to double-dog dare me next and call me a sissy?”
He laughs again and shakes his head at me. “You might want to change into something that you can run in, unless you want to go naked. That’s how we’ll start; you could consider it embracing your inner wolf.”
I glare at him, but his smile just widens. I look back in the direction of Mave’s house. I should really leave, but judging by the word vomit I just spewed, I might be a little more under the influence than I thought.
“I’m sure Mave won’t care if you raid her closet real quick.” Torrez offers, as if he can read the debate going on in my mind.
A run might be my best bet at sobering up enough to get the fuck out of here.
“Fine.” I agree. “But you stay out here while I change, and keep your hands to yourself from here on out. That is the only warning you’re going to get from me.”
I turn around and close the distance between me and Mave’s cabin. Here’s hoping we wear the same shoe size because these sandals are not going to cut it for a run.
15
The night feels even colder than it did before, but I dismiss the bite of the chill knowing that as soon as I get moving, it will feel good. Everyone around me starts to casually strip down to their birthday suits. I train my eyes on the sky in an effort to avoid all the body parts that are none of my business. After a couple of minutes of looking like an immature idiot, I deem the situation safe and pull my head down and try to keep my eyes from landing on anything for too long.
