by Sam Hall
“No.”
Interestingly, it wasn’t my suitors who protested, it was my family. Nance strode into the room, my uncles and some of my cousins behind her.
“There’s been no consultation, no approval process.”
“I don’t need it,” I said, meeting her blazing eyes.
“You’re just going to turn your back on what? Hundreds of years of tradition? Your own family? No, no, this is not—”
“And what’s your alternative?” I arched an eyebrow, then scanned the crowd. “Am I not the heir?” There was nearly unanimous agreement. “We tried it your way, we tried to put Selma forward.”
“She can step up once you’ve found your…harem and left.”
“No,” several men replied in response. Some were already mated and saw this as a great loophole, others wanted my favour. I’d been thinking hard before Mason let the men in, but this was going to work, I could feel it.
“It’s done, Nance. I’m sorry for what it means to you all, but the Spehrs are finished in this role. They should’ve been some time ago. If there’s good men who find their mate early in life,” my eyes strayed sideways to where Callum stood quietly, “who’d be worthy leaders, why shouldn’t they have a chance at alpha? There’s a whole world out there where people get ahead based on merit. It’s about time this town did the same.”
I’d never seen my aunt so angry. Her face was bright red, her eyes blazing silver as she just stared at me. Alan, Bill, they came to stand beside her, some sort of moral support, but what would that do? Their power came from me, and I wasn’t going to give it to them anymore. It’d mean a change. I’d need to look into ownership of the alpha estate. Was it in our name or the town’s? Maybe a nominal fee or even rental situation could be worked out with the next alpha? I shook my head. We needed to get through the initial steps first.
“So if you are purely interested in the battle for succession, the roster will be drawn up once we know what the town wants. We’ll be in touch with everyone who puts their name forward, but you don’t need to stick around for this.”
I was relieved to see a bunch of men turn and walk out the door, though I noted a few of my potential suitors didn’t like the loss of some of their support base, particularly Aidan.
“You’re really going to do this?” Nance asked. “Interview…men for you to collect, like you did Barbie dolls? This house—”
“I know the history of this house. I was raised in it like you were.”
“Your father—”
“Knew all about what I am. He was trying to find a way for me to accept that and be happy. He stopped me from taking Mason as a mate, knew the expectation of having just one would kill me, just like it did Mum. That’s why he thinks she died, Nance.”
I watched my aunt flinch at that.
“Go about your lives. Do what makes you happy. Find your mates. Focus on you rather than maintaining a bloody stranglehold over this town. See my family out, Mason. If I’m going to get to the gym in time to start talking about the bouts, I don’t have time for this.”
That was high-handed and bitchy, but damn, these people knew what I was, could guess at the misery they’d put me through, and hadn’t flinched for a minute at the prospect. I couldn’t afford to either. Wolves responded to clear and definite displays of power, and I was demonstrating mine.
“Proud of you,” Zack murmured, moving in closer and putting his hand on my shoulder.
“If these boys need a demonstration of what they’re getting themselves in for, I, for one, am ready and waiting,” Lorcan muttered.
My eyes jerked up, shocked, then I laughed. I settled back in the chair as the suitors lined up to make their case.
I was in for a long afternoon.
Chapter 29
I was starting to see a pattern.
We’d ended up moving things into Dad’s office. The first few blokes had stumbled through their offers, eyes more on the other guys than me. I got it. Asking someone out was nerve-racking enough, doing it in front of an audience of your peers was crushing.
So everyone had lined up in an orderly fashion as I moved into the office, Zack and Lorcan by my side, and then Mason ushered them in, one by one.
“I… You’re so beautiful,” guy number twelve, I think, stammered out. He took a step closer, then another, drawing growls from the guys. “I just need to touch… It’ll…”
There were those that came in like this—silver eyed, half feral, the bags under their eyes and personal grooming making it clear how they’d been coping since I got home. I felt sorry for them, what they were going through. It was as if I were a bomb that had gone off in this town, laying waste, no matter what I’d intended.
“I need…” The man’s words came out a long, drawn-out growl now, his beast too close to the surface. The guys moved in, blocking all sight of me as I called out for Mason to remove him.
For these men, the call I was emitting made them savage, and not in a hot way. All they were aware of was their own artificially enhanced desire, their wants and needs. I was but a receptacle for them, willing or not.
“NO!” the man howled, his fingers going to claws, his face wildly distorted as he almost went to fur. The door slammed open, and Mason and several other enforcers barged in, grabbing the man in a headlock before dragging him away. Mase looked at the way the two guys were hunched over me, ready to attack, and he nodded.
“Who’s next?” was all he said though, but he was surprised by the answer.
“I am,” Declan said, walking over and taking a seat as the men slowly moved back, letting me see the pleasing way he filled the chair, all laid-back allure.
He was one of the other ones, the ones that had potential. When Declan looked at me, he saw a woman. A woman he liked, if that smile was anything to go by. One he liked the look of, as his eyes slid slowly over my body. So I did the same, cataloguing all the ways that teenage body I’d enjoyed so much back in school had changed.
Then he was all loose-limbed swagger, his body hard and lean, but his shoulders had broadened exponentially and being an enforcer had packed some serious muscle to his frame. He wore a blue button-down work shirt, unbuttoned at the neck, a sprinkling of reddish hair and freckles on the brown flesh revealed there. His jeans hugged a tight pair of hips, thickly muscled thighs, and clear evidence that everything had grown proportionally. He smiled when he caught me looking, pressing down on his obvious erection with the heel of his palm.
“Let me take you out.”
“Where, when, why? Usually, there’s some details to go with the offer, Dec.”
“Where? I’d probably take you to the steak house you always liked. They still do a damn good T-bone, and no one can put a slab of meat away like you do, love. I still get a little hard when I see a girl with BBQ sauce on her chin. Then up to Lasseter’s hill before the sun sets. The flowers are pretty this time of year, the place is quiet. We could be alone and…talk.”
He waggled an eyebrow at me.
“Why? Because we were good together. You were my girl and my best friend rolled up into one, and I’d be an idiot to not see if that’s still true. I didn’t want us to break up. You know that.”
I did. We’d cried hard about it, holding each other close as we realised what we needed to do. I’d been devastated mainly, not realising what a rock he was in my life until he was about to be taken away. But I’d also been scared of what that would mean and… I looked at the door, the wavy glass inset into the wood. And excited to see what would transpire between Mason and I when I turned eighteen. So there was a weird feeling of coming full circle, to see him sitting there, that cheeky smile on his face, but now with heavily lidded eyes that promised to show me allll the tricks he’d learned while we were apart.
So did I want to go back there? Was there anything other than nostalgia and the echo of teenage feelings?
“But mostly, I want you to go out with me because I want a chance to get to know this Paige and I want you to k
now this Declan. You were always my favourite people, but you left town, trained to become some kind of kick arse fighter, built a whole other life. You were my best friend and I lost you, and I don’t want you slipping through my fingers again.”
“Paige?” Zack prompted.
I came to with a jerk. A parade of memories of Declan and I together had been taking place, overruling what was right in front of me, but that’s where I needed to focus.
“You know what I’m going to say.”
“Let me hear the words from those pretty lips. You know I like hearing them. ‘Yes, Declan! More, Declan! Give me all the steak, Declan!’”
The guys growled when he threw himself at my feet, landing on his knees, his hands held out in exaggerated prayer. His eyes shone, of course they did, with thinly concealed amusement, and I found myself doing something I hadn’t realised I missed—smiling.
“When? You didn’t say when.”
“Right now, if I could swing it. Definitely tonight. Weather seems like it’s gonna hold. We could… What?” My grin spread wider at his hurried discussion before he stopped himself. Still some of the old Declan then, throwing himself headfirst into things.
“Make a tentative booking. I’ve got some stuff to do first.” I waved vaguely at the door. “But I’ll make sure to let you know.”
“You won’t regret it.” He moved to come closer, to put his arms around me and hug me like we used to, but he stopped short when he looked at the guys. “How do I…?”
I got to my feet and wrapped my arms around him, feeling and smelling Declan. There was an emotional punch I hadn’t expected when I did, but it didn’t stop me from burying my face in his chest. When you break up with someone, you try and turn off that tap, of desire, of need, of love and affection. It doesn’t stop overnight, if ever, and sometimes the healing process was just learning to live with the fact it never does. I pressed my face to his chest and realised something.
I’d been damn lucky with the men I’d had in my life growing up. Probably a lot to do with the whole pack princess and that, but Dad had made sure I was surrounded by men who cared about me, who valued me. When I hugged Declan, I welcomed that back into my life. It didn’t change anything, and yet it did.
“Damn, I don’t want to let you go.”
I felt the same but forced myself to do so. I may be a nix or whatever, but getting my emotions tugged hither and thither by these men was really intense. I smoothed my hair back from my face and took a step backwards, but he reached down and tipped my chin up.
“So I guess I better let those other losers in, huh?” I nodded. A thumb brushed over my lips. “Save some of those kisses for me.”
And then he turned on his heel and walked out, whistling jauntily.
“You OK?” Lorcan asked, taking up the space Declan had vacated.
“It cuts both ways,” I said in a low voice. “Being around me seems to hit you hard.” He nodded in agreement. “But when there’s someone I feel a connection to, it hits me too. I made Zack my mate yesterday. We did…whatever we did today. Why do I think that if I was just allowed to do this on my own, I could spend days, weeks, years finding my mates?”
“The call says otherwise,” Zack said. He moved in closer, then stroked my back to soften the words. “The amount of energy you’d have to expend to keep it up, to prevent those you weren’t compatible with from just taking what they wanted… I think rather, you’d have been taught to expect and embrace these connections like all shifters do when they find their mates.” He lifted my plait and placed a kiss against my nape.
“Fuck ’em,” Lorcan declared, brushing his hair out of his eyes. “They want you. Plenty girls make a guy work for it, so make them. You don’t owe them shit. If being with us—” He stopped, then corrected himself. “If being with your mate is what you want, then why fucking shouldn’t you?”
He looked harried and brittle and ready to slam open that door and kick everyone’s arses, which for some reason, I needed to see, even if I was perfectly capable of fighting my own battles.
I nodded, pulling away from the two of them, the small distance between us feeling like way too much. But I went to the door and opened it and gestured for Mason to come in.
“You need to let the crowd know I’ll only be able to see a few more.”
“Well, they won’t like that. We’re keeping them controlled through a series of flimsy promises. That gets harder when they get broken.”
“Not broken, delayed.” I settled my butt against the desk. “It’s hard, draining. Guys come in here spilling all their hopes and dreams and fantasies. Some are about me and they cut me to the core, others are totally alienating because they have absolutely nothing to do with me as a person. My father only just died, we only just buried him. I took Zack as my mate yesterday, and if I were any other wolf shifter, no one would expect to see hide nor hair of me for days, maybe weeks.” I felt a flush as the memory of yesterday rose. How could it feel like so long ago? My eyes darted to Zack as I remembered sprawling out on the bed together. “But I don’t get any of the same consideration?”
“You chose this,” he said, his arms crossing his chest.
“God, were you always this much of a cold bastard?” I asked, shaking my head. “How can you act like this? Have you ever felt the pull like I feel? Like not having your hands on them is too much to bear for a second more? Your skin screams for them, to just—”
“Every day,” he said flatly, staring into my eyes for a second too long, then shaking his head. “I’ll tell them five more, make up some excuse, then go to the gym, Paige. This can’t be delayed forever.”
“You don’t get to dictate to me, Mason Klein.” I was using my best lady of the manor voice. “You get to manage security around my dictates. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to leave. I stink of sex, and I need to get cleaned up before I go anywhere.” I turned on my heel, marching back to the desk. “Send in five with the silver eyes. None of them seem to be viable. I’ll listen to the fevered imaginings of their horny little brains, and then the boys and I are going upstairs until further notice.”
I sat my arse down, legs crossed, back straight, like a queen, then gave the furious shifter a little hand wave to indicate he could go. He did as I asked without a word, but he slammed the door, hard, as a token act of rebellion.
The hunger grew as I walked up the stairs. Each step was like some kind of foreplay as the two men climbed ahead of me.
Mason had stayed true to his words, clearing the house of intruders after I saw the last five. They were as I expected, just vomiting freeform montages of their favourite PornHub clips at me and wondering why I didn’t climb on and take them for a ride immediately. But I told them politely, firmly, that I wasn’t going to accept their kind offers, and while some looked insultingly at Zack or Lorcan for confirmation that they were gonna back me, off they went. I felt tired, irritated, faintly dirty, and not a little soggy when we exited the office, but hitting the stairs was a whole other thing.
Wolf shifters experienced a heat—harder, more intense sexual energy, easier arousal, greater receptivity to their mates. While I was fairly sure mine hadn’t hit yet, something was definitely in play. Jeans and sweats were like fucking catnip for me. The soft grey fleece moulding itself to Zack’s arse when he moved and Lorcan’s jeans quite blatantly hugging his had me stumbling over the top step. The two of them turned as one, then gave me that uniquely male look of satisfaction when they worked out what had happened.
Zack hauled me to my feet, shoving me up against the hall wall and slamming his lips down on mine, right as his hand collared the side of my throat. Yes, yes, this was what I needed. I clawed at his clothes and made little needy noises when they didn’t instantly fade away. But he pulled back, pressing his forehead to mine before turning to Lorcan.
“Take her in her room and wash her very thoroughly.”
“Yeah? How come you’re tapping out?” Lorcan asked, eyes glittering.
“Because it’s come to my attention that I’m a micro-managing, manipulative fuck sometimes. I’m not getting between the two of you again until I’m invited.”
And with that, he pushed himself off the wall and disappeared into one of the spare rooms.
Things got a little awkward after that. Jumping into bed and making heartfelt declarations to almost strangers would probably do that to a person, but Lorcan just nodded to himself, then held out a hand. He wasn’t sure if I’d take it, I realised, feeling the little jolt when our hands connected. But he took the opportunity and pulled me close, tucking my arm under his and then steering me into the room.
The awkward was still there when he started to strip off. He’d been naked before obviously, but I wasn’t really focussed on it like I was now. He yanked off his T-shirt, tossing it on the bed, snapped off his watch, unbuckled his belt, and I watched it all like I could determine the world’s secrets in those quick economical motions.
“Changed your mind?” he asked.
I realised he was staring at me, hands on his fly, not willing to take a stitch more off until I did. Actually make that ready to put more on. His hands dropped down, reaching—
“Don’t.”
He froze where he was, then straightened up, searching my face for answers. Of course he did. I was acting fucking weird.
“I haven’t changed my mind about anything.” And wasn’t that terrifying? The life of a wolf shifter was always a weird place between thought and instinct, and it was the beast that ruled my mind now. “Especially about the surprise anal. If you’re gonna stick around, you’ll find I won’t budge on that.”
His grin was sudden and blinding, dazzling me in its light as he swaggered over, and I just followed every movement. I wanted to suck him up, every move, every muscle, file him away in my brain for retrieval later. But he came in close, close but not touching me, until I was pulled away from the wall and then turned around to face it. His breath was on my neck, his hands sliding down my hips to cup my arse to the sound of his low growl.
