“Don’t be rude, Nora. Part of being a shapeshifter means not bringing stuff like that up. It feels a little like you want to talk about me in an effort to keep from talking about the bad decisions you made this weekend.”
She scuffed her foot and kicked at the floor. “He treats me like a little kid!”
“And when you show you’re responsible enough to take on more privileges, he’ll allow you to do more things. Acting like a small child with no impulse control will get you stricter rules. If you want more freedom, show him you’re ready for it.”
The boys came banging in the front door, and I couldn’t help my smile. I had the pizza dough ready, and all the toppings at hand so we could each make our own pizza. We also had plenty of snacks to eat while our pizzas were in the oven.
I pointed to each bowl as I went. “Sausage, beef, ham, pepperoni, mushrooms, olives, onions – put the red sauce on, then the toppings and then the cheese, which is already blended.” I helped the boys a little, but they mostly knew how to do this now. Five minutes later, Nora helped me get everything into the oven, and then we sat and snacked on finger foods while they cooked — fried cheese sticks, chicken nuggets, boiled eggs, sausage balls, and bacon-wrapped goat cheese.
Once again, I sensed the boys’ wolves. If they changed soon, we’d have to figure out how to home-school them, since the Pack doesn’t have classes for their grade. It should still be years, but I had a feeling they weren’t far from it. Their dad saw what I did, so it wasn’t just me imagining it.
When the pizzas were ready we each ate our creation, and then I brought out the apple pie and vanilla ice cream. We had a nice meal, and I walked them far enough I could see them go in the front door. Gil had done the same with Nora on her way over. He didn’t trust her after her recent behavior, so I’d follow his wishes.
And then I returned home and finally focused on the rest of my evening. I was both excited and concerned about Frost coming over. He hadn’t asked for an invitation — he’d just told me what was going to happen. On the one hand, it felt a little too much like being ordered around in the clubhouse, but on the other hand, it was different. He’d listened when I told him about my day. He knew the kids wouldn’t be here.
And he didn’t assume he could spend the night, but it sounded like he hoped he’d be able to.
Frost
I woke in Cheyenne’s bed Monday morning. The walls were different shades of tan. The floor was hardwood. Every fabric in the room was flowy white. I’d expected an artist to use color, but she’d used earth-tones and white to create a striking, feminine room. The owl approved.
She rolled away from me, turned her alarm off, and rolled back to me. I snuggled her into my side.
“I don’t usually sleep well away from home, but I crashed last night. Your home feels safe.”
“Thank you. I was accused of going overboard with safety, but it felt important.”
“It is, and this room fits both you and your cat. It wasn’t at all what I expected, but it’s perfect.”
“I’m going to change and have a morning run in the backyard before I go to the jobsite. Not complaining, because last night was incredible, but I need to heal before I spend a day working.”
My chuckle was perhaps a little too smug, but I was pleased with myself. She’d orgasmed every time I’d ordered her to, even when it was only moments apart.
“If you have regular breakfast foods, I can get it started while your cat enjoys the morning.”
“That would be nice. I have plenty of eggs, bacon, and sausage.”
Cheyenne
Frost didn’t call me for a few days, but he texted me every evening. Nothing important, just to tell me good night, and he hoped I’d had a good day.
We made plans to have dinner Thursday evening. He’d asked me to eat with him at the Rolling Thunder restaurant, but I’d told him I wasn’t ready for that yet.
He picked me up at home. I wore jeans and my light brown leather jacket with lightweight boots. Felt a little silly in the summer, but I understood his reasoning.
I wasn’t expecting to see his brothers at the steakhouse when we arrived, and I froze, halfway through the restaurant. I glared at him, but he shrugged. “They need you to know they’ll respect you. It won’t be like before.”
We were still standing fifteen feet from the large, round table at the back of the restaurant when Velvet stood and walked to us.
“Cheyenne, we’re so glad you came. Come sit with us. You’re beside me.”
She hugged me, and I had no choice but to hug her back and then follow, because she held onto my hand. She’d barely acknowledged my presence before, and now she was hugging me?
Mad Dog stood and hugged me as I neared. “Frost says you go by Cheyenne and Shy, is that right? Do you have a preference?”
“Most people call me Shy.” My voice didn’t want to work. My throat was so tight, I barely got the words out.
Mad Dog had never fucked me, but he’d been the one who told me the rules. He’d been the one to ask those horrid questions on the video. He’d also ordered me to give a blow job to a new-ish prospect once while they talked to him about his new duties, and he’d ordered me to bend over and spread my ass cheeks for another prospect after the guy had beat someone up who’d bothered one of the apartment complex residents. I’d been his reward. Now Mad Dog was telling me I was welcome to go into the MC’s restaurant with Frost anytime we wanted.
But not the clubhouse. He didn’t tell me I was welcome there. Also, I was welcome in the restaurant with Frost — the unsaid words being that I still wasn’t welcome to walk in alone.
I didn’t want to look around the table. How awkward, when I’d fucked six of the eight people present. I needed to say something, so I looked at Mad Dog and said, “Ya’ll must not be as short staffed as you were.”
He glanced around the table and looked back to me. “Things are still tight, but our businesses are operating without their managers for a few hours because we want to make you feel welcome. You’re important to Frost, and Frost is important to us.”
It was on the tip of my tongue to remind them that I’d walked away, but Frost pulled my chair out and ordered me to sit. I was getting way too used to obeying him, because my legs bent and I sat before I realized I was going to. He pushed my chair in, sat beside me, and held my hand.
The waitress arrived, everyone placed their order, and then there was conversation. It felt surreal. I wasn’t used to these men seeing me.
I think part of me had seen my little fling with Frost as just that — a fling I’d look back on with fondness in a few weeks. Clearly, he saw it as more. He was working to integrate me into his life. I hadn’t thought that was a possibility.
Frost was obviously moving forward with it.
And his brothers seemed to want me to know things would be different now that Frost had claimed me.
When Frost took me home, a wolf was on my front porch, but it wasn’t Gil this time.
I came off the back of the bike and took my helmet off in the same motion.
“Nora! Why aren’t you home?!”
She came off the porch towards Frost, growling and snarling, with the hair at the back of her neck standing up.
Instead of showing fear, Frost squatted so he was eye-to-eye with her. “Well, aren’t you pretty. What has you so upset, pretty girl?” He’d moved so fast coming off the bike and taking his helmet off, but now he seemed completely relaxed. I tried to breathe easier, too. He’d been around new shifters, he knew it was up to us to help tone things down.
She snarled a little louder, and he chuckled. He never lost his smile, nor did he sound threatening. “If you come at me, you’ll find yourself on your back with my hands around your throat. You’re more than welcome to sniff me, but no teeth. Nora? Can you control the wolf?”
She gave an even more vicious snarl, and turned to go back to the porch, where she stood, still aggressive.
The message was clear
— she wasn’t letting him in the house. She didn’t want him to put her on her back, so she’d moved away, but she wasn’t backing completely down.
“Oh no you don’t, girly,” I told her, my hands on my hips and my feet shoulder width apart. “Frost is my guest, and you’re disrespecting me with your actions. Straighten up this instant, or I’ll strip right now and we’ll address this when we’re both in animal form.”
When de-escalation doesn’t work, escalate, but make certain you can and will do whatever you threaten. If we had to, the cat would kick her ass. No way could we let a wolf threaten a guest on our territory.
And just like that, Nora’s wolf went submissive and slunk off the porch, away from us, back towards her father’s house.
“Nora.” I didn’t raise my voice. Wolves have excellent hearing.
She stopped but didn’t turn towards us.
“I’ll have you and your brothers over for lunch or dinner to meet Frost in the next week or two. I expect you’ll do something in the coming days to try to make up for the disrespect you’ve shown me this evening. I’m disappointed in your actions. I would expect this of a small child, not a teenager.”
She kept walking, and I stepped to my garage and opened the door. “Put your bike in here,” I told Frost. “I’d like to say she won’t do anything to fuck with it, but I’m not sure I know who she is right now. I never thought she’d...” I sighed. “I want her to feel as if this is her home, too. I suppose I’ve done my job, since she’s trying to defend it.”
He pulled me into his arms. “She’s a kid. She’s lost a lot of people in her short life, and now she’s worried she might be losing you. Dinner is a good idea.”
He put his bike in the garage, and I closed the door. She had the code to get in, but we’d hear the door going up and could come check on her.
“After what I just put you through, I can’t bitch about a little fourteen-year-old pup.” He followed me onto the porch. “What’s the deal with your cat? Has Nora seen you fight? She calmed right down.”
“Yeah, she’s seen the cat in action.” And I wasn’t going to tell him anything more about that. Gil had tried to shift into wolf to intimidate me once. I’d gone cat and attacked him. It hadn’t been pretty — we tore each other up, but the wolf took way more damage. Gil showed me his belly before it was over. Flat on his back while the cat bit his throat.
The cat had jumped on top of his SUV when it was over, clearly prepared to pounce again if he did something else, but he’d changed to human and just sat on the ground, defeated.
And Nora had watched from inside the house. If the cat could beat her father, she knew she didn’t have a chance.
I stopped and texted Gil once Frost and I were in the house. You have a naughty wolf on the way back to your house. She and I are not okay right now. She was aggressive with my guest. You and I need to talk tomorrow, to strategize how we’re going to deal with her.
Agreed. She’ll spend the night in the cage. That kind of aggression won’t be tolerated, and she knows it.
If you don’t have lunch plans tomorrow, maybe we can meet somewhere to eat and talk.
Works for me. Have a good evening.
Because it’s rude to text when someone’s standing and watching, I showed Frost what had been said.
“It’s good the two of you are working together.”
“It’s the only way this works. If I want the kids in my life, I have to respect their father. If he wants his kids to continue to have a mom-figure in their life, he has to respect the mom-figure. It’s awkward at times, but we’re figuring it out.”
“He wants you back.”
“I honestly don’t know if he does or not. I mean, I know he doesn’t want anyone else to have me, and I know his wolf hasn’t let go of me, but I’m not certain the human actually wants me back. It feels more like an ownership thing than a relationship thing.”
He sighed. “Wolves are fiercely loyal. Nora’s wolf is likely confused, if she thinks her father wants you back. Also, Nora’s probably hoping the two of you get back together, which would also have her wolf acting up. Gil’s feeling the need to keep you in your little family pack, I imagine.”
“Loyal. Yeah. Maybe I can figure out how to use that to bring them around.”
He chuckled. “And cats are master strategists.”
I met his gaze. “I’m pretty sure owls are, too.”
His grin told me I was right, and he wasn’t the least bit remorseful. “Guilty as charged. Our evening seemed to go okay. You were more comfortable once the food arrived. Are we good?”
I waited until we were in my sunroom to answer. “I have no idea what we are, but it feels like you’re wanting this to go faster than I think I’m prepared for.”
“Fair enough. I love this room.”
“Me too.”
He walked to the back of it, where I have easels set up, and a worktable. Several low storage units hold my painting supplies.
“What an incredible workspace, with all the natural light you can stand during the day, I’m sure.”
“Yes. The lighting in here is full spectrum, for when my creative jags go into the night.” It was twilight outside, so the room was as softly lit as the landscape outside.
He looked out, towards the pool area, and asked, “Was the waterfall flowing into the pool already here when you bought the property?”
“It was, but it was growing green things when I viewed the house. Didn’t matter — my cat wanted it as much as me.”
“I can see her on top of it, watching over her territory. You didn’t show me this room before.”
He said it as a statement, but I heard his unasked question.
“No. It’s personal. Not for guests. My space. The cat wanted me to show you.”
“Your bedroom is your space, too. I smelled a hint of Nora, but not the boys. Their scent is mostly in the kitchen and media room.”
“And the backyard. They love the pool in particular, but they also climb the trees and run and play. Little wolves in training.”
“The cat sees them as kits?”
I shrugged. “Pups. She’s a realist, but they’re still our pups.”
“Nora is beyond pup.”
“Children most need to be loved at the exact moment they are the hardest to love.” I turned to look out at my backyard again. “She’s teetering on the line between child and young adult. Between pup and wolf. I need to love her like a child while expecting her to figure out how to be an adult.” I turned back to him. “We can’t coddle her. I guess I’m learning what the term tough love means. She can’t show aggression to guests, especially not while in her wolf form. I have plenty of yard work that needs to be done. I’m going to tell Gil that his naughty little princess needs to mow and trim and weed my yard Saturday. Maybe pressure wash the portion of brick fence you see as you pull into the driveway.”
“Sounds reasonable.”
I sighed. “You think she needs more?”
“I have no idea what she needs, but I know if she pulls that shit as an adult, the Pack Alpha will have to take action a whole lot worse than that, and if she does something like that to a human, she’ll face the Concilio.”
He wasn’t wrong, and the thoughts of her screwing up and coming to the attention of the Concilio turned my stomach to lead. “Yeah. Might be good for me to remind Gil of that.” I was ready to talk about something else. “You gave me orders, tonight.”
“Only when you needed direction.”
Was he right? I considered the times he’d given them, and he was. It’d been when I wasn’t sure what to do. He hadn’t just bossed me around willy nilly.
“You caught me off guard. I wasn’t prepared to face... them.”
“I know, and you’re welcome, since you didn’t have to stress over how it would go ahead of time. I helped you through the rough parts, but you did fine. I have a few texts from my brothers, telling me they understood what I meant now. You’re Cheyenne now, not B
anshee.”
“Yes, but I still have to make things right — with the club as a whole, and with Squatch, personally.” I’d talked to Squatch when he came out of the bathroom and apologized to him, but I knew that wasn’t going to be enough.
“Yes. The other sweetbutts need to see a resolution.” He shrugged. “It’s more than that, but I don’t think I have to explain it.”
No. He didn’t. I got it. You can’t disrespect a biker and expect things to be okay. Payment had to be made. It wasn’t even about them saving face, but about making a point. That wasn’t exactly it either, but I still understood that I’d have to publicly show humility and accept pain.
“Yes,” I told him. “Which is why I’m surprised you seem to be moving so fast. What if I won’t go through with whatever has to happen?”
“We’ll figure it out.”
“You keep saying that.”
“Because I mean it. Am I invited to spend the night?”
I sat on the loveseat and looked up at him. “It feels like you’re going to rip my clothes off if I say yes.”
He smirked. “Maybe.”
“Then no. I have an eight o’clock meeting with a prospective client for some custom work, and it’s north of the city, so I’ll need to be out of here by seven.”
“Okay. I’m supervising a crew Saturday for a demo and rebuild for an interior. I’d like to do something Saturday evening, but I can’t give you an exact time. They’re paying extra for us to get started with the demo Friday evening and be finished with the reno by Monday morning.”
“Saturday can work. I should be home around six or possibly seven in the evening. Text me when you have an idea of the timing, and I’ll let you know my timing.” I sighed. “Honestly? You’re welcome to stay tonight if you aren’t going to keep me up for hours with sex. I wouldn’t mind a quickie, but I’m not sure I’m up for pain tonight.”
Frost
I awoke before the alarm the next morning, but I didn’t move. I didn’t even open my eyes. Cheyenne was spooned against me, her butt to my cock, and our feet intertwined.
Frost (Rolling Thunder MC Birmingham Book 3) Page 7
