by P. Jameson
She couldn’t let him win.
On the third and final lap, Ella decided a rub was in order. Drake was taking up the lane, making it hard for her to gain enough speed to pass him. She pressed the gas enough to catch the side of his car. Just a little, to make him scoot over. And as soon as he jerked away, she took advantage of the room, put the pedal to the metal, and zoomed ahead.
“Wahooooooo!” she screamed, gripping the wheel to slide into the turn.
They were on the last stretch now. All she had to do was maintain her lead and she was in.
The Dogs gathered at the line waiting to see the result. And it was going to be close. Drake’s bumper was even with her steering wheel.
“Come on, come on…”
Ella gassed it as far as it would go and said a little prayer. She squeezed her eyes closed as they crossed the finish line, taking her time to slow down and park.
Terror gripped her. Did she do it? Did she make it?
She bent over the steering wheel, struggling to catch her breath. The dull hiss of the engine cooling down was not the comfort it usually was.
Footsteps pounded the earth and then Surge’s excited face was in her door. “You did it, Tiger!” He hooted obnoxiously. “You smoked No-brake Drake. How the hell did you manage that? Shiiiiiit.”
He went on and on as he swung her door open and yanked her from the car. He clapped her on the back hard enough to make her gasp. Ella peered through the settling dust to find Drake pacing a furious path near his car. He shoved his hands through his hair while Beast trailed him, clearly upset.
The other guys stood back, looking shocked and bewildered.
Salty hot tears burned her eyes until all she could see was a cohesive blur of colors.
“Wait, what the hell’s the matter?” Surge asked, his voice so loud it probably carried over to the next county. “Is it the guys? Don’t worry about them. They’ll all come around. Just give ‘em a day or two.”
Ella shook her head, trying to shut him up, but failing. He was really sweet and all, but the last thing she wanted was for the others to see her crying.
She swiped at the wetness, trying to catch her breath so she could explain. But before she could, a gruff voice interrupted. “What’s wrong, female?”
Ella turned and her breath caught in her throat. She hadn’t noticed before. He was standing in the shadows when they were in the garage. And on the track his right side was facing away from her. A horrible burn scar marred one whole side of his face. The opposite side was perfect except for the downward slash of his eyebrow and his eyes that looked ready to slay a dragon.
He must’ve noticed her shock, and she regretted not being able to hide it. Her nursing brain kicked in. What could have happened to him?
“Answer me,” the man demanded.
“Uh, this here’s Blister,” Surge explained. “Don’t worry. He won’t hurt you.”
Blister frowned even harder. “Of course I won’t hurt her.”
“Well, I know that,” Surge snapped, exasperated. “But I wanted to make sure she knew it too.”
The man she didn’t recognize appeared next to her, a concerned look on his face.
“And this is Diz,” Surge introduced. “And you already know Beast.”
They were all there. While her tears made tracks in the dirt on her face. Crap.
Drake pushed past the guys. “What is it? What’s wrong? Didn’t Surge tell you, you won?” he asked, bending to meet her eyes.
“Yes, yes. It’s not that.” Her voice shook embarrassingly. She dashed her tears away, stalling, and trying to find the right words to explain to these strangers why she was crying.
“Well?” Blister prodded. “What is it?”
“It’s… It’s just that…” She took a deep breath. “The thought of losing this car. I don’t think you can understand how much it means to me.” Her voice broke at the end, but whatever. She was in the club now. They couldn’t go back on their word. It didn’t matter how they judged her.
There was a short silence and then a collective sigh of relief. The tension bled out of their small circle.
“Well, hell,” Beast muttered, his voice less hostile than it had been earlier. “Anyone who cries over their race car… that’s a person I can respect.”
Ella shook her head. “I’m just really relieved is all. This thing was my dad’s and it’s all I have left in the world.”
Somehow, she managed to sneak a glance at Drake. He frowned, but other than that she couldn’t read him.
“Not now,” Surge said softly. “Now you have us. The club. We’re like a family, you know. It’ll take some time for everyone to get used to ya, but we take care of our own.”
She appreciated his sentiment, but she wasn’t so sure the others felt the same. It didn’t matter though. She didn’t necessarily need their approval.
“Thanks.”
“Alright,” Beast said. “Let’s leave things for tonight. We’ll haul the cars back in the morning. But right now my wol—uh, stomach needs food.” He frowned. “Yeah, I’ll see y’all in the morning.” He stalked off.
“There’s uh, one more thing,” Ella mumbled. Crap, this probably wasn’t going to float, but she had to try. “I need a place to stay for a while.”
Four sets of eyebrows shot up and then all focus seemed to switch to Drake. But she knew they all lived here. There was a small house, a trailer, and a large shed with a porch on it that she assumed was a living space. And she’d seen stairs in the garage. There must be a place she could crash for a while. Preferably a place that could be her own until she could buy her trailer. Otherwise she’d have to sleep with her pepper spray until she could be sure she could trust these guys. But their reputation was outstanding otherwise she wouldn’t be here in the first place.
Her request sent Drake pacing again, his hand ripping through his hair with no regard to potential baldness.
“She could take the loft above the shop and I could move into the house with Surge,” Diz suggested. He’d been pretty quiet until now.
Drake stopped and stared at him.
“Yeah,” Surge said, “that could work.”
Drake turned his gaze on Blister.
He raised his hands. “Don’t look at me,” he said. “Even if I wanted to give up my tent, I doubt she’d want it.”
Tent? He lived in a tent? Huh. And she thought couch hopping was roughing it.
Drake nodded. “Yeah, okay.” He eyed her. “Above the shop sound good to you? We aren’t fancy out here, so it’s the best we got.” His voice was rough. He didn’t like any of this. And was probably pissed at her for beating him.
“Sounds perfect.”
“Great. Let’s go.”
He stalked off, and Ella was forced to follow.
Chapter Three
The assault of emotions was confusing the hell out of Drake. He was angry for losing. He was frustrated for putting his boys in this situation—though they seemed to roll with it better than he’d expected. He was surprised and sad that Ella didn’t have a place to stay. That she was all alone in the world. His protective instincts were screaming over her, and that brought him to his most confusing feeling…
He wanted to bend her over his fucking car and mark the hell out of her. His wolf rumbled in agreement. She was his. His… fuck, she was his intended mate.
What would the guys say? They’d been celibate since forming a pack all those years ago. It wasn’t easy, and their wolves didn’t like it, but it had allowed them to focus their attention on things that mattered. Healing, for one. They’d each been through shit. But they were in a good place now. Well, mostly. The no female policy had served them all well.
But intended mates… that was a different thing entirely. Drake couldn’t—wouldn’t—deny his mate for the pack. Especially when she needed him.
“And now, you’ve seen the whole place.” His voice was gruff, but he was ready to be done with Tour de Dogs.
“What abou
t Blister? He has a tent?”
Drake frowned. “Why do you wanna know where Blister stays?”
Ella shrugged. “You showed me where everyone else stays.”
“He lives past the holler, down by the creek. Stay away from there.” Drake turned and led her back to the shop.
“Listen,” she began, nearly running to catch up to him. “I’m sorry if I made you look bad in front of everyone. It wasn’t my intention. I just need the support of your club. I… I have goals.”
He spun, stopping so that she almost slammed into him. “Yeah? And what are they, your goals?”
She was tall, but the top of her head still fell level with his shoulders. She stared up at him with pale eyes that were still puffy from her post-race tears. Her dark hair blended into the black of the night, causing her sweet face to be center of attention.
Drake swallowed a growl.
“I… I want to win the Ark-La-Tex so I can buy myself a trailer. I could sell my car and get half of the money I need but… I can’t bear to part with it yet. I’d rather work for it. Win it.”
Well, damn. Some of the anger bled out of Drake. She was only trying to make it. To survive. What had happened to his mate that she was in this desperate position?
“You didn’t think twice about betting it in a race.”
Ella ducked her head. “It was risky.” She put a hand to her stomach and squeezed her eyes closed. “I don’t want to think about it anymore. I won. It’s all that matters. And I’ll win again. And again, until I have enough to buy a place to live.”
Silence spread between them. His mate was a fighter. A survivor. She fit in this club better than she knew.
“You have a place to live,” he said, trudging past the parked vehicles and throwing open the door to the shop. He held it for her and when she passed by, he breathed deep her scent.
She smelled dark and sultry. Like cinnamon and rum and something uniquely… wolfy.
Drake frowned.
Diz stomped down the stairs carrying several boxes. He gave Ella a lopsided grin. “It’s all yours, Tiger.”
“Are you sure you don’t mind?” she asked.
“Nah. Not even a little. You smoked Alph—er, Drake. You earned it.”
Drake glared at the wolf. They were going to have to be more careful with their words. Their actions. Everything. At least until he broke the news of what they were.
Yeah… how the hell to do that?
Diz shuffled past them, and Ella took the stairs. Drake followed her up but lost his footing when he got a look at what was in front of him.
Damn. His mate had a fiiiiiiine ass.
His knee hit the step with a bang, but his eyes never left her. He could watch her climb stairs from the fires of hell and not mind the burning.
She turned to find him knelt behind her. It was obvious he’d fallen. “Are you okay?” But then she followed his gaze to her own rear. “Wait, were you staring at my butt?” Her voice rose in surprise.
Drake scrambled to his feet. “Yes,” he groused, urging her up to the loft. Closer to her again, her unique scent assaulted him. She was fucking candy for his senses, but there was still that slight hint of shifter in the background. It confused the hell out of him since she also smelled human.
Inside, Ella took in the surroundings. “It’s much nicer than I expected. Huh, I was sure this would have bachelor pad written all over it.”
Drake shrugged. “Diz is a bit of a neat freak.”
“Well, I promise I’ll take good care of the place for him.” Her careful gaze slipped to his. “I won’t give you any trouble.”
Trouble. Yeah, he didn’t believe her for a second. But damn, he didn’t necessarily hate trouble. The right kind of trouble could be good for a person.
Desperate to imprint her scent, he bent close to her head, taking her in. To his surprise, she didn’t back away. Not even an inch. The door was still open. Maybe she didn’t feel threatened.
But she should. Unless…
“Why do you smell like a wolf?”
Could she be one of them? There hadn’t been female shifters in Cedar Valley since the forest fire twenty years ago. In fact, there were five shifters in total and they were all Dirt Track Dogs.
Ella’s cheeks flamed pink and she took a big step back, looking horrified and confused. “I uh…” She brought the neck of her shirt to her nose, sniffing. “Well, uh… Punk has a German shepherd? The dog and I shared the couch sometimes. Maybe… I guess that’s it.” Her mumbled reply sent a chill up his spine, but not because he thought she was a shifter.
“Who’s Punk?” he demanded.
The tips of Ella’s ears were on fire. “My friend.”
“What kind of friend?”
She tilted her head, her gaze narrowing on him. “How is it any of your business?”
Drake moved closer, crowding her until her back was against the wall. They were so close, her heavy breaths puffed against his chin and he could see her pupils dilating. His gaze fell to her slightly parted lips. He didn’t like her defying him. He wanted to kiss her mouth until she submitted and the answers flowed.
“What. Kind. Of friend, Ella?”
“Just a friend,” she rushed out. “She works with me at Red Cap. She let me stay on her couch when I couldn’t afford a hotel room anymore. She’s been kind to me.”
The tension left Drake. Relief. If Punk had been… more than a friend…
“You work at Red Cap?”
Ella nodded. “Now, can you back off? I don’t love that you think I stink and would prefer you weren’t close enough to smell me again.”
Drake pressed closer. Couldn’t help himself. She was a magnet, drawing him in.
“I never said you stink.” He bent until his nose grazed the skin below her ear. It was soft, and her hair danced around his face. Fuck, how long since he’d touched something soft? Since he’d smelled something so sweet? He breathed deep, expanding his lungs to full capacity and released a shaky breath. “You smell divine,” he whispered.
And like a rose unfurling, her scent intensified, blooming all around him until it resembled something else altogether. Something exquisite. Something that made his wolf crazy with want.
His mate was aroused.
If he didn’t pull away now, if he didn’t get the hell out of here and breathe the open air, he was going to chase her away. Aroused or not, he couldn’t risk scaring her before he could figure out what to tell her.
With a growl, he forced himself back, keeping his eyes on the floor, on the door, anywhere but her eyes.
“Breakfast,” he mumbled, digging in his pocket for his Bubblicious. He fumbled with the wrapper until he had a chunk free. “Surge cooks breakfast every morning in the big house. It’s his thing. Be there, and we’ll settle the schedule, figure out who’s doing what.”
From the corner of his eye, he saw her nod, her hands fluttering to her throat. “Yeah, okay. Thanks.”
He didn’t hang around for her to ask any questions. Instead, he beelined it outdoors. In the fresh air, his head cleared. Not enough, but the walk to the big house, putting distance between his wolf and Ella, helped.
Just as he suspected, the others were waiting for him when he got there. Their chatter went quiet when Drake slammed the door behind him.
“How’s our pet?” Surge asked, his eyebrows waggling.
“I personally, think this is a bad idea,” Beast said. “But clearly she needs us. We can’t very well throw her out.”
Diz threw a fry at Beast’s head. “Shut the fuck up, Beast. You know you’re as excited as the rest of us.”
Beast caught it before it hit, tossing a brutal glare at Diz. “How many fucking times do I have to tell you not to throw food at the dreads?” Beast was meticulous about his locks. He took great care to keep the dirt from the track out of them. Diz was always trying to fuck up his efforts with random shit.
“She’s not a pet,” Drake corrected.
Blister sat on
a stool by the bar, his hands curved around a steaming mug. He stared into the cup, clearly avoiding the conversation.
“She’s my intended. And if any of you touch her, I’ll kill you.”
Blister’s head swung around to stare hard at Drake. In fact, all four of them looked at him like he’d grown another head.
Surge started laughing. It was like he couldn’t help it. Drake swore he’d laugh at a cricket rubbing its wings together.
“She’s… she’s your mate?” Beast’s voice was hard with unbelief. “Did you know? Did you let her win that race?”
“No,” Drake snapped. “I would never put you guys in that position. If I’d known what she was, I would’ve just left with her. She won on her own.”
“Wait,” Blister rose from his stool, “you would’ve left us?”
Drake sighed. Blister looked furious. Shit.
“What else could I have done? We don’t do females, and you think I’d bring mine into this camp, expecting you all to live with her. Should I have taunted you all with our relationship? Or should I have just forsaken her to remain alpha? What option makes you happy, Blister?”
The wolf hooked his hands on his hips, shaking his head. “Whichever option makes you happy, asshole.” He stalked off before Drake could muster a response.
“Blister’s right,” Diz said. “Isn’t that what we’ve been trying to accomplish here? All this resisting our instincts and urges is for a purpose, right? To get our heads straight so that one day we can have what’s meant for us. What makes you think we wouldn’t want to see our alpha happy? Like, what, we’d be jealous or resentful? For fuck’s sake, tell me you don’t think that little of us.”
“No. It’s not like that.”
“Look, we’re doing better, Drake. So much better. I hardly think about the fire anymore. And Surge doesn’t do that fucking nervous laugh when he sees things burn. And Beast is a tad less controlling and Blister… well, Blister still lives in a tent, but my point is we’re making progress. Why can’t one of us find happiness with a mate? Hell, maybe one day we all will.”
In the silence of the room, Drake had to admit it was a nice thought. That they might each somehow find a home for their heart. He wanted that. For himself and for the guys.
