by J. L. Wilder
"Are you serious?" asked Echo over the roar of the engine as they sat stopped at a red light. "What is that?"
"My usual hotel when I come into the city."
Before Echo could express her shock, Mace pulled through the green light and parked in front of the building. A well-dressed valet approached, and Mace nodded for Echo to get off. The valet pulled the bike off into the distance, the sound of the engine replaced by the din of the city.
"The Hotel Le-St. James," said Mace, putting his hands on his hips and looking up at the building. "The only place in town to stay. Let's go."
He grabbed their things out of the storage compartments, and they headed inside. The lobby was just as grand and beautiful as Echo would've guessed from the outside.
The faces of the staff lit up as they spotted Mace, and he gave his hellos to them as he passed.
"You're a popular guy here," said Echo.
"Something like that," he said. "You come in and spend money and all of a sudden you're everyone's best friend. Imagine that?"
He flashed her a grin and they continued on. Mace stopped at the front desk, the face of the pretty young woman working there breaking out into a broad, flustered smile. She handed him a key and Mace turned back to Echo, nodding in the direction of the grand staircase that led to the second floor.
After a brief trip up to the top floor, Mace opened a door on the far end, revealing an incredible, spacious room with a view that looked out onto the city and the river beyond.
Echo couldn't believe it. She stepped into the room, taking it all in. Sunlight filled the space, making it seem almost magical.
"This is where we're staying?" asked Echo.
"Yep," said Mace. "But just for the night. The guys might not be too happy if they find out we were living large while they were roughing it out in the woods with the other tribes."
"Good call," said Echo.
"But this can be our little secret," he said with a wink.
Echo dropped down onto the nearby couch, letting her muscles rest.
"Listen," she said. "Thank you. I don't even know what to say."
"Don't say anything," he said. "Just enjoy yourself. I ordered some room service at the front desk—should be here any minute. I'm gonna take a shower, you get comfortable."
With that, he pulled off his shirt, revealing an upper body of taut, toned muscles and a wide back shaped into a perfect "V." Echo had to use all the restraint she was capable of to not ogle Mace, and she wondered if he knew just what he was doing.
The shower turned on, and after a few minutes a knock sounded from the front door. Echo opened it to reveal a hotel staff member with a large cart in front of him. He pushed it into the room after Echo signed, and when he left, she peeked under the trays to spot two delicious-looking cuts of meat accompanied by vegetables. And, of course, there was wine for the two of them.
After the shower cut off, Mace stepped back into the room, a towel wrapped around his waist, exposing his Adonis belt. The man was like nothing Echo had seen before, he and Jack and Cutter like a trio of male models who'd come to her rescue—almost as if by magic.
"Hell yeah!" said Mace, hurrying over to the food. "Figured we'd need some fuel for the night ahead."
"Sounds perfect," said Echo.
They set out the food and went to work on it; the steak melt-in-your-mouth perfect and the vegetables cooked to perfection, and the rich, flavorful wine complimenting them.
"I have to ask," said Echo. "Because I'm...kind of curious."
"Yeah?" asked Mace, wiping his mouth. "What's up?"
"How did you..."
She didn't want to be tactless and ended up gesturing at the luxury all around them.
"Money?" asked Mace with a grin. "You can just come out and say it."
"How'd you guys get so rich?" she asked. "I mean, I've only been with you all for a few days, but I haven't seen any of you work once. And you all left your clans like me, and I certainly don't have any cash to throw around."
"Well," said Mace, setting down his glass of wine after a long sip. "You're right—when I left my clan I was broke as shit. I had enough money to get to Montreal and crash at some shitty apartment while I figured my situation out. My clan was a motorcycle club, and that's all I knew how to do."
"You were all alone here?" asked Echo.
"Yep, but not for long. I fell into the shifter scene and found Cutter and Jack. When we all realized we were wolves who'd run from our clan, all of us in the city with no idea what to do with ourselves, we figured we might as well stick together. So, we started running jobs for other clans, doing mercenary work that they didn't want to dirty their hands with. Some of it was...shadier that others."
"And then what?"
"We ended up, between the three of us, saving up a bunch of money. Then Cutter talks to us, tells Jack and me that he's always had a knack for investing, that he managed his clan's finances. He said that if we started passing him a little of our money, he'd invest it, make some more."
"You trusted him to do this?" asked Echo.
"Sounds crazy," he said. "But..."
He glanced away for a moment.
"When you do the kind of shit we had to do together to make it in the city, bled at each other's sides, you tend to find out whether or not a man is trustworthy. And Jack and I decided he was. Over the next few months, we carved out a little of our earnings from doing protection work and security details and one day Cutter sits us down, tells us we didn't have to work anymore if we didn't want to."
"Really?"
"Yep. Said that the investments had already reached a point where each of us was making a small fortune every month, more than enough to take early retirement. But the three of us had all, over the course of the last few months, realized two things—that we were the only ones we could trust, and that we wanted to be away from the city. So, we got our place in the woods and that was that."
"And then it was just the three of you," said Echo.
"There...was one more," said Mace.
His tone suggested he didn't want to talk about it. Echo didn't push.
"But enough of that shit," he said, standing up. "We got a hell of a night ahead of us. Come on!"
CHAPTER 16
MACE
Echo looked so good Mace could hardly think straight.
They'd stopped to pick up a few things for the night, ordering more clothes for tomorrow so Echo would have something of a wardrobe while she stayed with them.
But Mace was focused on what she had on right then and there. The jeans, specifically.
Damn, he thought. Those fucking jeans.
They were dark blue and high-waisted, tight enough that he could easily picture what she looked like underneath them. Her ass was fucking sublime—round and full, her legs long and lean. Up top she wore a gray T-shirt short enough to show off her toned belly whenever she had to stretch or reach. Her dark hair was in a high ponytail, framing her gorgeous face perfectly.
Mace knew, without a doubt, just how hard it was going to be to focus on the music with a girl dressed like that.
The evening was well on when they arrived at the club, a massive building with stone columns that contrasted with the neon sign that read "The Burn" in flaming letters, the word "Brule" written nearby. A huge crowd of stylish twenty and thirty-somethings was out front, and as soon as Mace killed the engine, he could smell the scent of dozens of shifters in the air.
The scents mingled, and he was able to make out just about every species there was, from tiger to wolf to bear to fox to everything in between. Their region in Quebec was almost exclusively bears and wolves, but in a city like Montreal all bets were off. Shifters from all over the world mingled in these metropolises, and Mace made a mental note to keep a close eye on Echo. After all, if her scent and body had such an effect on him, other shifters would surely be just as attracted.
"Nice place," said Echo as the two of them crossed the street towards the entrance. "Too bad t
he line to get in is halfway around the block."
"Let me worry about the details," said Mace with a grin.
Together, the two of them strode up to the pair of guards posted at the front door. Each of them was in the process of looking over the next man or woman in line, judging them by criteria that Mace could only imagine.
"Yo!" said Mace. "What's up, boys?"
With pissed-off expressions on their faces, the men turned their attention to Mace. But as soon as they realized it was him, their hard glares softened.
"Yo, Mace!" said the man on the left, a big smile breaking out on his ugly mug. "What's happening!"
"Long time, no see, buddy," said the other guard.
Mace approached the two men, giving them handshakes and backslaps.
"Jake, Mike, good to see you," said Mace. "You both keeping the riffraff out?"
"Yup," said the guard on the left. "Storm Runners have got this place blowing up. Everyone and their fucking grandmother are trying to get in."
"Shit," said Mace. "I was looking forward to seeing the guys. Not often we're in town at the same time. Plus, my friend's a huge fan."
Echo smiled and made a finger-wagging wave. Mace realized how silly it was to even bother trying to talk his way in—a girl like her would just need to flash a smile and she'd be able to open any door she wanted.
But tonight, Mace wanted to do all the heavy lifting.
"For you, Mace?" asked one of the guards. "Hell yeah!"
"You're always welcome here, bud," said the other guard.
The guards stepped aside and let Mace and Echo enter.
"Have fun!" said one of them.
The crowd made their disappointment audible as Mace and Echo entered the club.
"Hey!" said one of the guards. "You want to get treated like a VIP? Then make yourself a VIP!"
Mace laughed to himself as the two of them entered. But the commotion outside quickly died as the pounding music of the club and the crowd that filled it overwhelmed Mace's senses. The Burn was the typical zoo it normally was, with hundreds of people packed into the multi-level space and grinding to the pulsing beats of the DJ.
"Holy shit!" shouted Echo as they made their way further and further into the club. "I've never seen anything like this!"
"Band should be playing after the DJ!" shouted Mace. "So, let's have some drinks and dance until then!"
"Sounds like a plan!" shouted Echo, a big smile on her face.
Mace had been ready to party since he came into town, but more than that he was eager to show Echo the night of her life. Hearing her story, how she'd been essentially held prisoner by the Hearteaters, tormented by the other women in the clan, made him realize how badly she needed to learn how to have fun, how to live.
He could tell by the way she moved that Echo had the same thing on her mind. She moved her hips like she was born to dance, her body slinky and sensual, flashes of bare skin blotting out everything else to Mace.
After grabbing a couple of drinks from the bar, Mace moved to Echo and began to dance.
The pull between the two of them was instant and unlike anything else he'd ever before experienced. He pressed his body to hers without thinking about it, her skin hot and her eyes wide with excitement.
Mace put his hands down hard onto her hips, squeezing the ripe flesh beneath as she grinded into him. Echo bit down softly and playfully onto her lip, running her hands along the curves of her body before grabbing onto Mace's wide shoulders and digging her fingertips into the muscle.
His cock went hard as they danced, and Echo didn't seem to mind one bit. As soon as she noticed what Mace was packing, she turned around and pressed her ass against it, moving slowly and seductively, giving Mace a clear image of what it'd be like to peel off those skin-tight jeans and fuck her hard from behind.
Time passed, both of them losing themselves in the beat and the booze and the feeling being the middle of a writhing, hot mass of dancers. Mace could tell that there were shifters all around them, and he did his best to keep his guard up. After all, he had to keep Echo safe.
But the moment her lips grazed his, all bets were off. His hands still moving up and along her body, Mace responded to her touch with a kiss of his own, putting his hand on the small of her back and pressing his lips to hers.
The kiss was like the sweetest wine he'd ever tasted. Echo was like no woman he'd known before, and his arousal for her was so intense that he could barely think straight.
They kissed more, both of them falling into it as they danced, their tongues flicking together and their hands exploring on and under one another's clothing.
Finally, Mace took his lips from hers. Echo glanced at him seductively, her dark, curly hair still bouncing to the beat.
"Need to use the girl's room," she said. "I'll be right back."
"I'll be at the bar," he said. "Don't go far."
With that, she vanished into the crowd, Mace's eyes on her perfect ass while she disappeared.
"Fuck," he said to himself, folding his hands behind his head and trying to process what had just happened.
Mace slid through the crowd, taking a seat at one of the nearby bars and ordering another drink. After it was placed in front of him, his eyes moved from here to there. There were women all around, many of them glancing at him with hungry eyes and smiles that suggested they wanted to get to know him much, much better.
But like the girls before, he simply wasn't interested. They were beautiful, sure, but they didn't inspire anything in him. He appreciated them like a well-done piece of art, nothing more.
Echo, on the other hand—Echo was different. She made him burn, made him desire, made him want to fuck like he'd never fucked before. Her scent and her body and her face all cast a spell on him, making Mace unable to think about anything other than her on the end of his cock.
"Fucking focus," he told himself, turning to his drink.
He sipped his whiskey and ordered another. But by the time he finished the first he realized that Echo hadn't returned. Mace didn't know how long it had been since she left, but it had to be longer than what it would take for a simple trip to the bathroom.
And more than that, he had a tense feeling in his gut—and he was a man to trust his gut. Something was wrong, and he knew he needed to figure out what it was.
Mace threw back the rest of his drink before slapping some cash down onto the bar and heading off. He made his way through the crowd, trying his best to ignore the pulsing beat as he searched for Echo. He'd been to The Burn enough times to know where to go to get the best views of the place for the purpose of looking for someone, but even then, he couldn't find her.
"Shit, shit," he said to himself. "Tell me I didn't lose her."
But the more he looked, the more he realized that this was indeed the case.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck," he said under his breath, his heart racing.
Then he spotted it—off in the far corner of the club was her unmistakable high ponytail, curly and dark. Mace looked just in time to see it disappear through an open door, one that shut behind her.
"What the hell?" he asked himself.
Mace picked up his pace, hurrying through the crowd and making his way over to the door. It was a thick steel exit door, one that wasn't intended to be opened. But Mace didn't care—all he could think about was making sure Echo was safe.
He yanked open the door and stepped through into a narrow hallway, the music quieting and the thump of bass pounding through the walls.
"Help!" shouted a woman's voice from around the corner.
Mace knew it was Echo.
He started off in a run, his arms and legs pumping. Mace turned the corner just in time to see another door close at the far end of the hall, this one with a large exit sign above it.
Mace ran to it and pulled it open and stepped into a large, dark alleyway, the towering buildings on both sides.
And there she was. A panicked look on her face, she was surrounded by a pair of men, both
dressed in denim and leather, their hair long and their beards matching.
"Mace!" shouted Echo, her frantic eyes on him.
"What the fuck is going on here?" asked Mace as he stepped into the alley, his eyes moving from man to man.
"None of your fucking business, wolf," said one of the men, a towering man with a black beard and arms covered in tattoos.
"Step the fuck off now," said the other, a trim, muscular man with a shaved head.
"Not until you tell me why you're dragging her out of the club."
"What part of ‘none of your fucking business' do you not get, prick?" snarled the blonde. "Now leave us the fuck alone before we break your goddamn neck."
"They're from my clan!" shouted Echo.
She didn't get another word out before one of the men pulled his hand back and brought it down hard on her face, the crack sounding out through the alley. Echo let out a scream and dropped to her knees.
Mace didn't need to hear anything else. He closed his eyes and shifted into his wolf form and lunged towards the man who'd hit her. With incredible speed, he bit down onto the man's neck and sunk his teeth into his skin. The man shouted and gurgled before Mace gave his neck a twist, snapping it like a dry stick.
"What the fucking shit?" shouted out the other man as he stepped back.
But he figured out quickly that it was life and death, shifting into his bear form and letting out a roar.
Shit! thought Mace. Bear against a wolf is a bad matchup.
Mace wasn't scared, however. He moved towards the side as the bear swiped down with his paw, bringing it onto the concrete and sending cracks through the pavement.
Damn, thought Mace. Fucker hits hard. Just means that I need to hit harder.
Mace juked to the side, using his smaller size and higher speed to his advantage. The bear quickly recovered from his miss, turning his dark, enraged eyes back onto Mace.
Okay, okay, he thought. Fighting a bear. Trick is to use their weight against them. Don't let them get the upper—
Before he could finish his thought, the bear was on top of him; his claws a wild blur as he swiped through the air.
