by Lynn Howard
Eventually, everyone settled into their seats, beers in hand while Reed, a wolf from Big River, and Colton, a bear from Blackwater Clan, argued over the grill.
Campbell watched and listened for the first thirty minutes or so, laughing at the banter. Polo sat at her feet, but his attention was on the toddlers playing nearby.
“Hey, Gray. Would it be cool if Polo played with the girls?” Brax asked, nodding at the dog.
“Polo? You named your dog after a shirt?” Reed said from the grill.
Campbell rolled her eyes, but there was a smile on her face. But she didn’t argue over the name.
“He’s Campbell’s. And he’s my buddy.”
“Will he bite them?” Gray asked, his brows lowered as he stared at the dog.
“Nah. He’s a good boy. Hasn’t bitten me once,” Brax said.
“Since when do dogs like Shifters?” Daxon asked from Brax’s left.
“I’m not sure he likes you guys or only realizes you’re not a threat,” Campbell said. She reached down and scratched behind Polo’s ears. “He won’t hurt them. I promise.”
Gray looked down at his daughter then up to Reed with wide brows.
Reed shrugged. “If Brax thinks it’s cool, I think it’s fine. Just keep an eye on them.”
Looking back to Brax and Campbell, he nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Just…make sure he doesn’t hurt the babies.”
Brax took the leash off Polo’s collar and pointed to the girls. “You want to go play?”
Polo lifted his head and looked at his momma for confirmation. Maybe Brax couldn’t truly communicate with the dog, but Polo sure seemed to understand what he and Campbell were saying to him.
“Go ahead, baby. Don’t run off.”
Polo’s tongue flopped out of the side of his mouth in a doggy grin, then he climbed to his feet and trotted to where the girls played.
They both stopped playing with the toys at their feet and stared at the massive dog. Then, in unison, they both squealed and ran their hands down his fur. Within minutes, they were running in that wobbly toddler way and playing with Polo.
For some reason, seeing Campbell’s dog playing with the two youngest members of the Pack and having Campbell talking to his friends, a sense of home engulfed Brax. It was so fucking perfect.
After a while, Campbell stopped hawk eying the dog and the girls and relaxed into her chair. And then she joined in on the conversation and even teased Daxon. The panthers did as he’d warned her and only interacted with her when she spoke to them directly, but Campbell didn’t let it bother her.
Taking a chance, Brax reached over and laid his hand over hers. She turned hers and threaded her fingers through his, glancing up at him with a soft smile on her lips before turning back to the conversation. Just a glance, but it held so much meaning, was filled with so many words.
Brax looked around to find a few of the women watching with wistful looks on their faces.
“What?” he asked.
“I love the beginning,” Nova said with a sigh.
“The beginning of what?”
“The bond. Love. Relationships. You have to tell me everything. First kiss. First time you made love. Everything,” Nova said, batting her lashes at Campbell.
“Oh, uh…” It was obvious Campbell wasn’t comfortable with the new topic.
“Don’t say a word. She’ll use it in her next book,” Emory, a wolf who was formerly with Big River and now mated to the Alpha of Hope Pride, said.
“Right. The romance author,” Campbell said, her cheeks flaming bright at all the attention.
“She’ll use anything you tell her for her next book,” Emory said, shaking her head with a smile.
And then they were back to the banter, back to playing, while the women were back to digging for gossip about Brax and Campbell.
“So how did you guys meet?” Callie, the quiet lioness and mate to Second in the Big River Pack, Micah, asked.
“Oh…” Campbell turned to Brax with brows high and a grin pulling her lips up.
“She kicked my ass,” Brax admitted.
Campbell grinned wider and rolled her eyes as she turned to look at Callie. “I kicked his ass.”
“She kicked all their asses,” Mason said.
“Wait, what?” Emory said, sitting forward with her hands held out. “Hold on. She kicked all your asses? How is that possible? I thought you said she was human.” She turned impressed eyes on Campbell and was smiling as wide as the rest of the women surrounding the fire pit. Hell. Even the timid lionesses from Hope Pride were nodding and looking at Campbell with the utmost respect.
“Where were you?” Reed asked Mason.
“I was waiting by the SUV. Those three went up top to hunt for rogues, and –”
“Rogues?” Nova asked, her brows dropping as the smile fell off her face. “They’re here?”
“They’re everywhere,” Daxon said as he plucked a fresh beer from the blue cooler.
“You all know about the rogues, too?” Campbell asked.
Brax looked down at her and wondered what was going through her mind. Hopefully, she didn’t fault the men and women sitting around the fire pit for doing what Ravenwood did on a regular basis. They’d only recently learned about rogues and they had families to watch over. Females and cubs were far too precious to leave unprotected, even for a short period of time.
“Aron filled us in shortly after Hollyn came to us,” Gray said.
“Who’s Hollyn?” Campbell said, looking to each woman.
“She’s not here. She and Noah, her mate, work at his bar most nights. They rarely take a night off. Shawnee – you’ll meet her eventually – works for them, too. And that’s where Colton is,” Nova rambled.
“She doesn’t know who Colton is, either,” Brax reminded the outgoing and somewhat nosy wolf.
“You’ll meet them,” Nova said with a shrug.
“Can I finish my story, please?” Mason said.
Nova waved for him to go on. “Sorry. Had a few beers.”
Everyone chuckled and turned their attention back to Mason.
“Those three big men went up looking for rogues when they scented Campbell there. From what I’ve heard, she knocked Brax on his ass, then Daxon, then Aron.”
“You let her hit you?” Emory asked Brax.
“Shit no. She came out of nowhere and broke my nose. Put me on my ass.”
“Dammmmn!” Reed guffawed. “You got beat up by a girl!”
Ball busting commenced for the next thirty minutes, but at least there were no more questions about Campbell’s and Brax’s sex life.
Brax knew no matter how often the girls asked, Campbell wouldn’t say a word.
Probably because there were none to disclose. They’d only kissed for the first time this morning. And they’d yet to make love.
But when Campbell turned her eyes up to him, the fire light dancing on her face and casting half of it in orange hues, Brax knew their bond would come closer to being completed tonight. He’d finally feel Campbell beneath his hands and beneath his body.
Chapter Ten
Campbell leaned against the seat of Brax’s Camaro and watched the scenery pass. Never in the last year would she have thought she’d not only be committing herself to a Shifter but hanging out with a rather large group of them and having a good time.
And she had. It had been so laid back and fun. Like with Brax, they’d all seemed like regular people. They’d teased each other and played and talked about things like the cold weather, sports, even local and national news.
They’d all been so nice and welcoming to her. The hugging had been a little much when she’d first arrived, but some people were huggers. She wasn’t one of them, but she wasn’t rude, either.
Even Polo had a good time. He’d acted like a puppy with those little girls.
Toddlers. Babies. The Shifters had children. They’d acted like regular parents worrying over their children’s safety. They were families. No different tha
n hers.
She’d been so wrong about their kind for so long.
Didn’t mean she wouldn’t head back out to kill the fuckers who were preying on humans the first chance she got.
She was looking forward to testing whether or not Brax was genuine when he’d said he supported her duties. She was also looking forward to the two of them getting back to her place.
Watching him with his friends had helped her see a whole new side to him. At no point had he tried to shield her or force any friendships on her. He’d sat by and watched as she’d made her own way among the group.
And then he’d slipped his hand onto hers. So warm, slightly calloused, but she loved the feeling of his touch. It felt so natural, as if they’d done it a thousand times instead of that awkward start of…whatever they were. It didn’t feel right to call it a relationship. It felt so much bigger. So much more intense. It was like she could feel his heart beating inside her own chest.
“Did you have fun?” Brax asked, pulling her out of her own head.
“Yeah. I did. Your friends are great.”
“I knew you’d love them.”
“The Pride was getting on my nerves, though.”
“Which one?”
She rolled her head to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“The women who sat a little further from the group are from Hope Pride.”
“No. They were nice. I meant your Pride. Your brother and friends. Did you see how many times I made them talk to me?” she said with a grin.
She’d made it a mission after a while to see if she couldn’t get them to interact. She’d reached across Brax at one point and tapped Daxon on the knee to ask him to grab her a beer out of the cooler. He’d tensed and yanked away from her but reached into the blue cooler sitting near his feet and grabbed her a cold one, handing it to her in a way she couldn’t touch his hand or fingers.
“It’s out of respect. I promise. Seems backward, but it’s their way, our way of showing respect to the mate bond. They’d lay down their lives to protect you, though. You’re part of the Pride now. You’re a Ravenwood Pride mate.”
Whoa. She hadn’t thought about that. All this time, she’d only thought about her connection to Brax. She now had four large panther Shifters as her family? He’d said they’d lay down their lives for her. Something she’d never ask. But why would they? Simply because she was with Brax?
“I... I don’t know what to say to that,” Campbell admitted as Brax pulled into her small driveway, parking beside her tiny car his headlights flashing over her motorcycle parked on the side of the trailer. “If I’m part of the family, why won’t they talk to me? I get the whole respecting the bond thing. But they could treat me like a sister instead of some diva celebrity who doesn’t want her lowly servants to make eye contact.”
Brax chuckled deep as he shook his head. “You’re a trip,” he said as he pushed from the car.
“So,” she said, taking Polo’s leash and leading him up the stairs to her house. “When are we going hunting again?”
Brax’s brows lowered. “Do you feel one hundred percent?”
Not really. It no longer ached nonstop or throbbed to her heartbeat, but it was still a little on the sore side when she stood for too long. But she wouldn’t tell him that. “Ninety-eight percent.”
He snorted and rolled his eyes as he followed her into the house.
“I thought we had other plans for the night,” he said.
He looked almost innocent as he watched her. No. Not quite innocent. Confused, maybe. And a little disappointed.
“Oh? And what plans were those?”
Really, she knew what he thought. If she had him figured out the way she thought, he’d smelled each time she’d become turned on by his glances, by the way he’d caressed the back of her hand with his thumb, each time he’d leaned over to whisper in her ear, his lips grazing the lobe.
When they’d been back with his friends, she’d made up her mind that they’d finally go to bed together. Nerves were giving her second thoughts, though. For one thing, she hadn’t had sex in over a year. Hard to date when she was constantly darting off into the woods the second the sun set.
And two…what if he turned into a panther while they were in the middle of hot, sweaty sex?
A shudder worked through her, spreading chill bumps across her arms and legs.
She might be coming to turns with being linked to a Shifter by the universe, and even gaining a family of Shifters. That didn’t mean she was ready for all kinds of freaky crap in the bedroom.
“Why do you look freaked out all of a sudden?” Brax asked, narrowing his eyes at her.
“I have…questions,” she said, biting her bottom lip. Suddenly, she felt silly even thinking some of the weird shit swirling around in her head.
“About?” He moved closer, his hand raising to push the hair over her shoulder.
“If we…when we sleep together, what happens?”
His dark brows pulled together. “You’re not a virgin.” It was a statement, not a question.
“Of course, not.” She was pushing thirty. Maybe she’d never been married but she’d had long term boyfriends and lovers over the years.
Oh. He’d thought she meant what would happen as in, what would happen once they were naked.
“No. Oh my gosh. That’s not…no. I know what happens when people have sex. When humans have sex.”
“You’re wondering if I’m going to Shift into my panther and try to pounce?”
Having him say it out loud made it sound even more absurd than it did in her own head.
Brax sucked his lips into his mouth to hide the smile. But he couldn’t hold back the laughter. It burst through his mouth and he actually doubled over with it. When the chuckles and guffaws slowed, he dragged a hand across his eyes to wipe away the tears.
“No, Camp. We don’t lose control and turn into our animals when we have sex. We’re still human. Well, mostly. Or at least half. We’re not driven by a full moon. Most of us are in control of our beasts, although some tend to lose the battle when they feel their mate is threatened.”
Campbell couldn’t help but chuckle along. “Well. Now I feel like an idiot,” she said, throwing her hands into the air.
“Nah. If you’ve never had any encounter with a Shifter other than those assholes in the woods, there’s no way you could know.”
Now that that part was over, Campbell was beginning to feel awkward. They’d both had it in their heads that tonight would be the night. She’d been waiting for him to make a move, waiting for him to take this another step further.
So why the hell was her nerves getting to her?
Was it because she felt something so much deeper for Brax? Was it because it would further their bond? Or had the moment simply passed with all their conversation?
As Brax pushed a hand through his hair, his eyes dipping to her chest when she shrugged off her jacket, she knew it had nothing to do with any waning lust. She still wanted him. She wanted him more than she had any man in her life.
And it was more than merely sexual. Yeah. There was a crap ton of want and lust as she watched his eyes take on a glow. But it was so much more.
It felt like that weird tie between them, that magnetic connection was pulling her to him, begging her to be close to him, begging her to deepen whatever it was that caused the feeling to begin with.
Still, the mood had been doused with her silly question. Not that he seemed offended by it. Not at all. Instead, he was amused, a hint of a smile still teasing the corners of his lips.
She needed a distraction. They needed a distraction so they wouldn’t dwell on the charged energy zipping between them.
“You want to watch a movie for a while?” she asked and was half tempted to put on something sexy, something to help ease into the moment.
Campbell had barely gotten the words out of her mouth before Brax crossed the space separating them with three long strides, cupped her face, and slam
med his lips down onto hers in a bruising kiss. Her arms instantly wrapped around his neck and she pushed her body as close to his as she could without climbing inside his skin.
She could feel his hard length against her as she pushed her hips forward, moaning when he tilted his head and deepened the kiss. His tongue dipped into her mouth, his hands moved to tangle in her hair and Campbell was lost. She was lost in the moment. Lost in Brax.
Brax’s hands left her hair and scorched a path down her back to cup her ass, pulling her to him. They went to her thighs and urged her up, urged her to wrap her legs around his waist. She did with zero resistance.
She couldn’t resist if she wanted to. It was as if her mind and body were possessed by someone else. And maybe they were. Maybe they were possessed by Brax, possessed by the bond.
Pulling her mouth away, Campbell looked into his luminescent eyes. “Bedroom. Now,” she breathed out before crashing her lips onto his again.
Air breezed past her as he turned and carried Campbell into her bedroom, kicking the door closed behind her to keep Polo from entering the room and watching. She almost giggled at that thought. What she wanted to do to Brax didn’t need to be witnessed by anyone, let alone her dog.
Brax turned and lowered onto the bed with Campbell still wrapped around him. His hands roamed her back, moving up to tangle in her hair before moving back down to cup her ass.
“Is this okay?” he asked as he kneaded each cheek in his hands.
“Yes. I’m giving you the green light, Brax. Take what I’m giving you,” she said before claiming his mouth again. She needed more of his lips; the man could kiss.
Campbell had said the magic words.
Standing so fast her stomach dipped, Brax turned and laid her on her back, immediately tugging the hem of her shirt up her stomach and yanking it over her head. He then did the same to his, tossing it over his shoulder to fall somewhere on her bedroom floor. She’d have preferred to stare at him a while, study his torso completely covered in tattoos, but the need was too great for both of them. She’d simply take her time later and ogle him all she wanted.
